The Guy Next Door
Chapter 29
Gabriella's POV...
It had been about a month since I broke up with Troy, and about three weeks since Ryan asked me to go to prom with him. His prom was next week and I had gotten my flight booked but I still had no luck in finding a dress. It was a Saturday, and Taylor and I were spending, yet another day trying to look for a good dress. So far all the ones we had come across that were even remotely cute were either too big or too small with no other sizes in between. Some had errors in the stitching, others zippers were broke or straps were broke. And some, were just too expensive. I sighed as we left, yet another store, empty handed.
"This is pointless Tay, I'm never going to find a dress at this point and his prom is next week. What am I going to do?" I said.
"It's okay Gab, just calm down. We will find a dress. We will, I promise, even if we have to spend the next few days till you leave, shopping non-stop." Taylor said, trying to be reassuring.
I sighed again and nodded. "Okay. Can we take a break now though? I'm starving. We've been shopping for hours and all I had was a granola bar before we left."
Taylor laughed. "Sure. Where do you want to go?" She asked.
I thought for a moment. "Let's go to Tully's. That sports bar and restaurant, you know the one I'm talking about?" I asked.
Taylor nodded. "Yep, my parents and I went there a couple weeks ago. Come on, let's go." She said. I nodded and then followed Taylor out to her car. We had chosen to carpool and she wanted to drive today. I didn't mind and had agreed. Once out to her car we got in and buckled up as she started the engine and drove off. As we drove, I looked out the window. Lost in thought. I was only brought out of though when Taylor pushed me a little, after parking at the restaurant.
"Huh? What?" I said, shaking my head. Taylor looked at me in a concerned way.
"We're here Gabs." She said, and I nodded.
"Okay." I said, as I undid my seatbelt and then got out of the car. Taylor was already out and waiting for me. I grabbed my purse before shutting my door and heading inside with Taylor. It wasn't busy so we were taken to a seat right away. As we were following the host to our table though I saw two familiar faces, one of which I had been trying to avoid. Chad was sitting with Troy at a table a little ways down from us. Thankfully, Troy's back was to us. Chad had actually stopped hanging out with Troy after what he did to me, and although I liked that he had been so upset that Troy had hurt me, and though I loved him being there for me with Taylor and Ryan, I had convinced Chad to try and not kick Troy out of his life completely because they had known one another longer and had been best friends. He agreed, but reluctantly. So he hung out with Troy still here and there.
Chad noticed Taylor and I walk in and then said something to Troy before getting up from the booth and coming over to Taylor and me.
"Hey Tay-Tay." He greeted Taylor with a kiss on the cheek and she smiled and said hey back. They had been on a few dates since Taylor moved here but they weren't official. They were taking things slow and I thought that was a great idea. After greeting Taylor he turned to me and smiled and gave me a big bear hug.
"Hey Brie" I smiled and hugged him back.
"Hey Chad" I said back. Just then Troy came over.
Troy's POV
I was having lunch with Chad at Tully's. He had agreed to hang out with me every now and then but made it perfectly clear that he was still pissed off at me for what I did to Gabriella. I didn't blame him but I was still upset that I practically lost my best friend. To top it off, Gabriella had been avoiding me the last month and a half. She didn't talk to me at school in any classes we had, she stayed away from me at lunch, she ignored my phone calls and text messages and would always make her parents give me an excuse if I tried going over to her place. It was such torture though I knew I deserved it all. I just wanted to try and make things better between us by talking to her or something but she was having none of it. So I backed off.
Chad and I were eating and talking when I saw Chad look past me at something, but I didn't know what. I figured maybe he was watching one of the many sports games playing around the restaurant. However, a moment later he looked back at me.
"Hang on. I'll be back." He said before wiping his mouth and getting up from his seat to go somewhere.
"Um…okay." I said, to no one but myself as he had already left. I sighed. Things weren't the same between us anymore. Things just weren't the same in general. My life had turned into a living hell and it was all my fault. Me and my uncontrollable hormones and anger issues. I just fucked everything up. I sighed again and waited. After a couple minutes I turned around to see if I could see where Chad went. I spotted his afro right away. He was talking to two girls and as I moved my head to get a better view I saw that he was talking to Gabriella and Taylor. I then turned back in my seat. "Why didn't he tell me they were here?" I wondered to myself before answering my own question. "Because Gabriella probably doesn't want to see me." That made me frustrated. I could talk to her if I wanted. With that thought I got up and went over to them. They all went silent as I approached.
"Hey girls. Funny seeing you here." I say. Taylor looks at me.
"Hello Troy." She said. Gabriella just looked away and down, saying nothing. I tried to provoke something from her.
"Hey Gabriella." I say as I turn to look at her. She closed her eyes and seemed to shake her head and sigh before mumbling.
"Hi Troy." In return. I wish she would look at me or give me more than a simple hi.
"What are you two doing here?" I ask, trying to make conversation. Taylor was the one to answer though.
"Just stopping for some lunch, we've been shopping all day and Gabi got hungry." She said with a small shrug.
"Shopping? For what?" I asked. This time Gabriella spoke.
"A prom dress." She said. I looked at her and blinked a few times.
"Prom dress?" I repeated. She nodded.
"For what?" I asked.
"For Ryan's prom. He asked Gabi to be his date and she leaves next week for it but hasn't found a dress yet." Taylor said. As I heard that I felt a bit of jealousy start up in me. I knew that Ryan used to be…well is…Gabriella's best friend, just like Taylor, but Gabriella and Ryan were much closer. I'm pretty sure he even had feelings for her before he moved, if he doesn't still have feelings now. That though made my heart ache. If he did still have feelings for her…what would happen when she went to prom with him? Would he make a move? Would they kiss or…more? Even I hadn't gotten that far with her before she broke up with me. The thought of someone else getting that far with her before me, made me really jealous. If they did kiss or more, or if Ryan did make a move like admit his feelings…would Gabriella give him that chance? Would she want to try a relationship with him? She is single now so I could see her possibly getting with Ryan. After all I fucked up big time. Maybe she would tell herself Ryan would be better for her than me…maybe she'd never want anything to do with me ever again. As these thoughts consumed me I started feeling sick to my stomach. It was too much, I couldn't think of that, I didn't want that to happen, I wanted Gabriella to myself…I wanted her to be mine again. I...I love her. Oh god….why didn't I realize that before? I love her! I love Gabriella! Why was I such an idiot? The thoughts of her and Ryan came back and I knew I was going to be sick.
"Excuse me..." I said to them all as I made a mad rush to the bathroom and puked my brains out.
