Chapter 56
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.
"Does East High hold a junior prom?" Gabriella asked seeing the posters for Senior Prom in the hallways.
"Yeah it does but it was in December" Kelsi replied. "Troy didn't go, though I think he had a dozen invitations."
Gabriella laughed. "Of course he wouldn't if he accepted one invitation he would have upset all the others and made that girl think she meant more to him than she did."
"I'm glad you know about all of that" Kelsi said.
"Troy and I have no secrets. He told me all about it while he was helping paint my room before I started here" Gabriella said smiling at the memory. "It's hard to believe I've only known him less than five months and yet he's changed everything about my life."
"Everything?" Kelsi asked.
"Yeah if I hadn't met Troy I would never have tried out for the musicale or approached anyone to make friends. I might have joined the decathlon team though I'd decided against it unless they recognised me. I was planning on working my butt off to be able to graduate at the end of the year.
"It sounds like you were planning to dislike East High" Kelsi said.
Gabriella shrugged "I've disliked all but one of my previous schools, and I knew Mom would probably be transferred again over the summer if not before."
"Has that changed, are you staying here next year?" Kelsi asked.
"I have no idea, she promised we would but she's promised that before" Gabriella said suddenly depressed. "Things haven't changed, I just stopped thinking about it."
"What will you do if your Mom gets transferred again?" Kelsi asked.
Gabriella sighed. "I don't know. She wouldn't let me stay here without her even if someone did offer to have me stay. Probably try to graduate early so I can go to Stanford next year instead of being moved around again at Mom and her bosses' whim, but that still doesn't solve the problem of not wanting to leave you and Troy."
"Do you think Troy will go to a college near Stanford?" Kelsi asked.
"No Troy will go to U of A" Gabriella replied with certainty. "I thought about going there too to stay in Albuquerque with Troy but Mom would kill me. Stanford's been her dream for me ever since I can remember."
Kelsi laughed "you bet she'd kill you making lifelong decisions because of a boyfriend" she said then hesitated. "I don't mean to pry but sometimes it seems your Mom doesn't like Troy very much?"
"She liked him just fine until we started dating. She doesn't like me having a boyfriend, especially when she knows the house is empty so much of the time if we wanted to misbehave."
"Could she have heard of Troy's reputation?" Kelsi asked.
"God I hope not" Gabriella blurted. She thought for a few moments "I don't think so, she's still friendly enough if we're not going to be alone. I think she's just not used to me having male friends and doesn't know how to cope with it."
-o0o-
The weekend Troy was dreading arrived and Jack drove him over Friday after school to provide the first donation. Steve had offered again to let him stay the weekend and Debra had suggested when they arrived home Thursday night, that he stay the evening and babysit so he could provide a second sample that night.
"I have a date" Troy said bluntly. "I'd be happy to stay the evening if Gabriella could come too."
"I don't want your sluts hanging around my son" Debra said waspishly.
"Gabriella's not like that. I wouldn't want the cheerleader sluts anywhere near Jakie either. But you've met Gabriella and Jakie liked her" he said looking at Steve.
Debra glared at her husband. "I gave her a ride home one afternoon when I picked up Troy and it was raining" he hastily explained. "What would you do on this 'date'?"
Troy shrugged, "eat dinner play with Jakie, watch movies when he's in bed" he said casually, the same things we'd do at her place if we weren't here.
"I don't want you wasting your sperm, you're going to need it" Debra said offensively.
"I've already told you Gabriella's not like that" Troy said angrily.
"We could go out Saturday night instead" Steve suggested to his wife.
"Yes you can have your little date Friday and then babysit Jacob on Saturday instead" Debra said.
"That wasn't the deal. I'm babysitting tonight. I will come and give you the donations over the weekend but I do have a social life of my own and I have plans Saturday night" Troy refuted.
"Okay then after school Friday, first thing Saturday, then you can take Jacob to the park, again after lunch and the same again on Sunday?" Steve said. "Does that sound fair?"
"Do you mean first thing when I get up or when you get up mid morning?" Troy asked.
"Why?" Steve asked.
"Well I thought you'd want to limit the amount of exercise I do this weekend and the best way to do that is to pick me up at five before Dad and I start training" Troy said cheekily.
"You could stay the night" Steve grumbled.
"I have a date" Troy said not wanting to say that he didn't trust Debra enough to sleep in an unlockable room while she was in the house.
"Twice a day isn't enough" Debra complained.
"I can stay all afternoon Saturday and give you a couple of extra" Troy offered. "Can you take me home now? I have to get up in six hours to run" he asked his uncle.
In the end Troy provided a sample Friday after school and Steve took him home and picked him up again at five on Saturday morning. Debra ended up demanding a sample every two hours from Troy on Saturday and Troy decided he'd rather run Sunday morning than go through another day like that. He got through it with the support of Gabriella though thankfully he didn't need to call her for assistance filling the cup, just with the feelings it stirred up in him.
"You're doing this for Jakie, so he won't be as lonely growing up as you and me" Gabriella reminded him.
"Yeah but it just feels so sordid and horrible" Troy replied.
"Has Debra been hassling you to have sex with her again?" Gabriella asked worriedly.
"No but everything she said today was about the sperm samples, I couldn't run to the park because excessive exercise is bad for my sperm count and she stuffed me with bananas and avocado and asparagus and dark chocolate and some herbal shit to increase sperm motility. I feel like a prize bull" Troy complained. "I wish you could come with me tomorrow."
"I wish I could too but you know your aunt doesn't want me to know what's going on. I thought Steve was going to be angry when he saw me at the park today" Gabriella said.
"He was upset by how well Jakie seems to know you" Troy confirmed. "I pointed out that you and Jakie are both a huge part of my life and you deserved to know each other."
Gabriella winced she bet that hadn't gone down well with Steve Bolton.
-o0o-
Weeks passed and Gabriella tried not to worry too much about her mother being transferred though she still breathed a sigh of relief every time she arrived home and didn't find packing boxes. Her mother seemed happy in her current job and was actively establishing a limited social life. School was going well and Gabriella was becoming more comfortable with her feelings for Troy. If Troy was disappointed not to get a repeat of the Sunday after Melissa's party he didn't show it.
-o0o-
"Erin's having a birthday party this Saturday. Do you want to go?" Gabriella invited.
Troy smiled, "Yeah sounds like fun, who else is she invited? I can't see Erin wanting to invite the whole senior year" he said.
"No probably not, I know she invited all the decathlon team and the science club. She did warn me not to tell everyone if you were going to some because she doesn't want it to get out of hand" Gabriella replied.
"That's fine, one of the seniors on the baseball team is having a party that weekend too so most of the guys and cheerleaders will go to that."
"Do you want to go to Aaron's instead?" Gabriella asked.
"No, Erin's sound more fun" Troy said. In truth after Melissa's he didn't want to take Gabriella to another party like that. He hoped he could trust her not to react like that again if she saw someone nude and he knew she didn't want to stare like that but he didn't want to risk it.
"Do you think it might be a bit like Ryan's party?" Gabriella asked.
"I don't know. I doubt there'll be singstar though" Troy said laughing.
"Martha loves to dance so there might be dancing" Gabriella suggested.
"Probably not if it's just a small party without drinking it gets a bit awkward" Troy replied.
-o0o-
Steve was grinning like a loon when he picked Troy up from his house on Friday the 20th of May. "Thanks for agreeing to babysit on date night" he said.
"It's fine, I'll see her tomorrow" Troy said mildly. It really wasn't but he was sure that Debra had changed nights deliberately to try to get him to refuse and Troy didn't want to give them the satisfaction. It was a pity that Maria hadn't let him take Gabriella out last night instead.
"I've got good news" Steve said.
Troy looked at him properly. "Debra's pregnant?" He asked.
"Yes the doctor confirmed it yesterday" Steve told him excitedly.
"Have you told Jakie?" Troy asked. It sounded stupid seeing the little boy was right there but Troy meant to ask if they'd explained to him that he was going to be a big brother.
"No it's too soon. We'll probably wait until Debra starts to show or the baby starts to kick. We're not telling anyone for another couple of months but I thought you deserved to know as soon as possible"
"Thank you" Troy said grinning. "When's the baby due?"
"The last week of October but we'll be telling everyone once Debra's in her second trimester you'll need to keep it a secret until I tell you otherwise" Steve said warningly.
"That's fine but I'll have to tell Dad in a couple of weeks when I don't need him to drive me over" Troy replied. 'And Gabriella that I'll be around that weekend after all' he added silently.
"Yes I understand that but tell him to keep it to himself" Steve agreed.
"Twoy" Jakie called unused to being ignored by one of his favourite big people.
"Jakie" Troy replied grinning at the little boy and reaching over to give him a little tickle.
Jakie giggled and squirmed in his seat happy now and the rest of the ride passed with Troy gently poking the child and Jakie trying to catch his hands.
They arrived at the house and Troy got Jakie out of the car and slung him over his shoulder. He carried him into the house and flopped him down on the couch.
"Hi Debra congratulations" he said.
"Thank you Troy" Debra said frowning at her husband.
"Sorry" Troy mouthed once her back was turned.
Steve looked resigned. "He deserved to know" he said.
"It's not his baby" Debra said angrily.
"He needed to know we didn't need more samples this month" Steve said tiredly. "Surely you weren't planning to put him through that again just to avoid telling him for another month."
"Of course not but that was still two weeks away" Debra said crossly.
"Well now he can stop worrying about it and make other plans for that weekend. It can't have been easy for him to come here one weekend a month and not be able to tell his friends about it."
"Particularly since it falls on the full moon, my friends were starting to think I'd been bitten by a werewolf" Troy said sarcastically making Steve chuckle and Debra glare at him.
"Take Jacob outside, dinner will be ready at six" Debra said pointing to the slow-cooker.
"Thanks Debra" Troy replied scooping up the little boy and running with him out the door.
-o0o-
Troy rang Gabriella as soon as Jakie had gone to bed.
"Hey Troy, how's Jakie?" Gabriella asked.
"Debra's pregnant" Troy said excitedly.
Gabriella smiled, she wondered if he was so excited because he wouldn't have to provide any more donations or because he was going to be a father again. "That's great Troy" she said. "How was Debra tonight?" she asked worried that now she had gotten what she wanted from Troy her behaviour towards him would become more of a problem.
"She seemed well. She wasn't very happy that Steve told me she was pregnant she wanted them to keep it to them selves for a while" Troy said. "Why wouldn't she want anyone to know yet?"
"From what I read the risk of miscarriage is much higher in the first trimester so a lot of people wait until 13 weeks before they tell everyone unless they have to for work or something" Gabriella explained.
"Oh okay I guess that makes sense" Troy said thoughtfully. "But she needed to tell me I didn't need to keep the weekend free every four weeks. Why would she want to keep me coming over to do that?"
"I don't know Troy. How is Jakie?" Gabriella asked.
"He's great. Steve and Debra haven't tried to explain about the baby to him yet" Troy replied.
"No I imagine they'll want to wait until you can see the bump so it makes sense to him" Gabriella replied. "Do you think he will like having a baby brother or sister?"
"I don't know. I hope so he likes the baby at day care. I always wanted a brother, even a sister would have been better than being an only child but I don't remember being that little" Troy replied.
Gabriella laughed "I always wanted a sister" she agreed.
"Yeah but so did Chad until Charlotte was born" Troy said.
"I think there may be too much of an age difference there, Chad would have been seven when she was born so they will never be interested in the doing the same thing" Gabriella said. "Jakie and the baby won't have that problem they'll be close enough to play together."
"I hope so" Troy said.
"I'm sure they'll fight sometimes like all brothers do, just like you and Chad do sometimes and then they'll get over it and love each other again" Gabriella said reassuringly.
Troy grinned thinking of the fun he'd had with Chad when they were little. "Yeah" he agreed. "I better get some homework done" he said regretfully.
"Okay Troy, call me if you want some help staying awake" Gabriella replied knowing how tired her boyfriend was from training with his father.
"Night Gabriella. Love you" Troy said.
"I love you too" Gabriella replied. "See you tomorrow."
-o0o-
Troy and Gabriella arrived at Erin's a bit late. They hadn't seen each other all day and had taken extra time walking over to catch each other up with their respective days.
The atmosphere at the party was a bit strained when they arrived. Erin's parents greeted them at the door and there was music playing in the background while small groups of people stood around awkwardly. The food on the table was mostly being ignored.
Troy looked around, noticed that Erin and Bec were huddled in the corner looking miserable and walked over that way.
"I won't mind if you want to go to Aaron's with Sam" Erin said trying to be brave.
"I will" Troy butted in. "If that arse can't even come with you to your best friend's party he needs a good kicking."
"Troy" Gabriella scolded.
"He said he'd break up with me if I don't come to Aaron's party" Bec explained. "I wouldn't leave Erin otherwise."
"You shouldn't go anyway. If you act like a doormat you'll be treated like one" Troy said cynically.
"Troy's right Bec" Gabriella said. "If he cared about you he wouldn't try to stop you coming to your best-friend's party."
"You're right but he's the only boy who's ever even looked at me twice" Bec said sadly.
"No he's not. You're attractive" Troy said.
"Don't lie to me Troy Bolton. You ever would have looked at me even a first time if I wasn't a friend of Gabriella's" Bec retorted.
"I've been in the same home room as Taylor McKessie for the last three years. After dealing with her attitude it never would have occurred to me that you would give me the time of day" Troy said quietly.
"Troy Bolton king of east high insecure about a girl's reaction?" Erin scoffed.
"Well yeah, you wouldn't have talked to me if it wasn't for Gabriella either" Troy stated.
"So you mean there's probably other people out there that would be friends if we didn't keep to ourselves so much?" Bec said.
Yeah probably but do yourselves a favour, stay away from the cheerleaders, they really are as bitchy as you think they are" Troy said. "The only reason they leave Gabriella alone is because I threatened them into it."
Erin laughed. "You really did?" she asked.
"Yeah I did. I'm starving what's wrong with the food?" Troy asked.
"Nothing's wrong with it" Erin said shocked.
"Then let's eat" Troy said enthusiastically. He led the girls to the table and once they'd helped themselves others came over to eat and mingle as well.
A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, stordec23, Ceciliaa93, LaueeeCarter, fishing, sugstar09, prof M, Alexandrea Elizabeth Cullen and Wildcats2016 for your support.
