The month of November was weird for Gabriella. She was bouncing around from the Bolton's to her Dad's secret apartment. She hadn't seen or talked to her mother in almost a month. It was sadly very nice. She felt relaxed despite all the bouncing around. Well, she was until her father said that they were both going home for Thanksgiving. They were going to have a meal and spend the day together as a family. She thought she was going to be sick. Nothing good was going to come of this.
She begged her father to let her stay with the Bolton's for Thanksgiving but he said no. If he had to endure the torturous day with her mother then she had to as well. All of break she was with the Bolton's but spent the night with her dad during the weekend since he was out and she could do laundry and get her homework done.
Here she was, driving back to her house with her dad. They were both kind of on edge with no knowing what was going to happen. Gabriella could lock herself in her room, gather more of her clothes or she could spend time with her sisters. She hadn't seen them much, only every other weekend like a part time parent. They were doing well though. Mom had apparently been going out more, leaving all the responsibility on Rose. Thankfully with Rose's influence, they would be semi-normal humans and productive members of society.
"Let's not go and say we got stuck in traffic as we hop on a flight to New York."
"Bunny. It's one day, you'll live."
"You say that because you're a grown man who can leave and has secret apartments. I'm eighteen. I have nothing without your money. She also didn't slap you across the face either."
Richard sighed and it got aggressively louder as he turned up to the Ridge. "I hate this place."
"Me too. Why did you buy a house here?"
"Why do you think?" He questioned.
Her mother, of course. "Why is she like this?"
He sighed again. "I wish I could answer that for you, bunny."
"Can you lease me an apartment until I move to New York?"
"No." His answer came quickly. "What about Stanford?"
"We're not having this conversation again, Dad. I don't want to go to Stanford. I want to go to New York. Julliard. I want to sing and make music. I will be the best female producer of my time." She said, leaning her head against the window. "I'm going to win at least ten Grammy's. I will have platinum after platinum records. I'm going to have so many platinum records that I'm going to buy a whole house just for my platinum records."
"Bunny… People in the industry are cut throat."
"I've trained for that my whole life…with mom, with Sharpay and the Evans family. That year I did beauty pagents. I have thick skin. I can take on anything."
"I wish I could protect you from the world."
"I don't need protection, Dad. I need support that's why I want you to come to New York with me for my audition. I want you there, Dad."
He sighed again as they pulled up to the house. "At least we have Camilla and Mariella, we each can have one and we can avoid your mother."
Gabriella let out a giggle. "I'll get Cami. She's kind of extra pissed at you."
"I know." He said, looking over at her. "Let's get this over with."
Gabriella climbed out of her father's car and took a deep calming breath. She walked toward the entrance with her father behind her. She opened the front door and held it open for him. He sighed as he stepped through. She closed the door behind her.
"Daddy!" She heard the squeal from the top of the stairs. Mariella came rushing down and jumped into their father's arms. He squeezed her into a tight hug. "Daddy, I miss you so much!"
"I miss you too, baby. Look at you, you're so tall, mi hija. Have you grown a foot since I saw you last?" He asked, setting her down and taking a good look.
"Probably." Mariella spun around in her dress. "Do you like my new dress, Daddy?"
"I love it so much. You look beautiful. Where is Camipillar?" Richard asked, stroking his daughters hair lovingly.
"I told you not to call me that." Cami said, walking down the stairs. She was wearing her blonde wig from Halloween. Gabi smiled up at her. "You like my hair?"
Her father turned her head quickly to look at Gabriella. "It's a wig. She was Sansa-"
"I was not Sansa, I was Daenerys." She said, walking down the stairs.
"Isn't that show on HBO?" He asked.
"Yep, and I saw a lot of boobs and ass," Camilla said, stomping her feet at the bottom of the stairs.
Gabriella giggled. "Bunny, why did you let her watch that? There are sex scenes."
"I'm not her mother. It's not my job to tell her what to do."
"You're her sister."
"Not like she listens to me anyway." Gabriella defended. "She knows what sex is. They go through that and periods in the sixth grade."
"I'm fourteen, Dad. It's not like I'm eight." Camilla said rolling her eyes. "Besides, if Gabriella can tell me what to do, I can dye my hair blonde at Seventeen."
Her father turned to look at Gabriella. "What? I told her to go to a salon so she doesn't fuck up her hair." Gabriella sighed. "Anyway, where is Rose?"
"Upstairs." Cami said.
"I'm going to go find her." Gabriella walked away from them and up the stairs.
"Gabriella." She heard her mother's voice.
Gabriella ignored it. She found Rose in Mariella's play room, tidying up. "Rose!" She rushed to hug the older lady.
"Gabi, my sweet girl." Rose hugged her tightly. "I miss you. Cami is doing a good job of keeping me on my toes though."
"How are they? Are they okay?"
"They're doing good. Camilla is still getting straight A's and Mari's doing so well in the gifted and talented program. You should see her notebook. She has the hands of an artist."
"I hope she shows me today."
"Gabriella." Her mother stood in the doorway.
Gabriella took a deep breath and turned to look at her mother. "Yes?"
"Can I talk to you?"
"You are talking to me."
Her mother sighed. "Gabriella, in your room."
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Be right back." She told Rose, squeezing her hand gently.
Gabriella walked out of the playroom, past her mother and into her bedroom. She stood on the far side of her bedroom from her mother. She looked at her mother and tried to remember what she looked like when she was a kid. She didn't look like this. She didn't have the botox or the lip filler or the fake boobs. Gabriella never wanted to look like that no matter how much money she made.
"Where have you been?"
Gabriella blinked. Was she serious? "It's been three weeks and now you're concerned where I've been?"
"I heard a rumor from Derby that a boy got you pregnant and you haven't been here. Have you been staying with some boy? Are you pregnant?"
She tried to hold it in, she really did. Gabriella burst out laughing. "I'm not pregnant. The daughter you wish you had, Sharpay Evans told my school that I was pregnant because she's a psychopath."
"How can you say that? She's your best friend. She's a sweet girl."
"She is not my best friend and she is not a sweet girl. Mom. Open your eyes. Do I look pregnant? Do you want me to pee on a stick for you? I will. I'm not fucking pregnant. If you… I don't know apologized for slapping me across the face and called me to have a conversation I would have told you that." Her mother stepped closer to her. "Don't come over here. I let you hit me once, I'm not making that mistake again."
"Gabriella."
"And I'm doing great without you by the way. Not like you were ever here to begin with. I'm been staying with Dad, which you obviously knew. I'm alive, I still go to school. I still get what I need to get done until May then I will be out of your hair forever. Six more months." She said with feigned excitement. "Is there anything else you need? I was having a conversation with the only adult in this house who cares about me."
Her mother didn't say anything. Gabriella walked passed her and out the door. She walked back into Mariella's playroom where her sisters, Dad, and Rose all were now. Camilla noticed me first. "Does Rose need to get blood out of your shag rug?"
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Not right now, but the day is still early."
"When are we going to get to see your play, Gabi?" Mari asked.
"Soon! I'm getting five tickets for family night. We'll see how many of you come."
"Three of us will be there." Rose said with a smile.
"Hey, Rosita, four." Dad teased.
"Sharpay is the lead and Ryan is the Emcee." Gabriella warned.
He nodded his head in understanding. "I'll be there, tell me when."
"I wish Troy was here. I wanna beat him at Super Smash Bros again." Mari said, reaching for Gabi's hand.
"Me too. I'll play with you but you can't cry when you lose."
"Yay!" Mari celebrated. Gabriella took a seat in a bean bag chair in front of the Wii and the TV.
Gabriella and Mariella played four rounds of Super Smash Bros until their dad took Gabriella's spot. She went to Cami's room after and got the middle school gossip as she French braided Camilla's hair. They went through Camilla's closet and got stuff to pass down to Mari before raiding what was left of Gabriella's closet. Camilla took what she wanted and Gabriella went through some of her things to get rid of.
Dinner was ready and she was hungry. She hoped the meal was delicious and drama free. She made her way down the stairs and into the dining room. She took her seat next to Camilla and waited to be served by whoever her mother paid to prepare this meal. The servers came out of the kitchen like a movie, with plates of food, setting them in front of all of them.
After an awkward prayer given by Rose, They were allowed to eat. "Bunny." Gabriella had to stop her eye from twitching. She did not want conversation during this meal. "Did you tell your mother about New York?"
"New York." Maria asked. "Who is going to New York?"
"I got an audition for Julliard. Dad is taking me, Camilla, and Mariella for the weekend before Christmas to my audition in New York."
"We should all go." Her mother said.
"What?" Her dad asked.
"No." Camilla said.
"We're going to New York?" Mariella questioned.
"Mom, it's going to be quick and not fun. Just the audition and spending time with Dad since we don't see him because he's working." Gabriella clarified. "You do not need to come. Rose isn't coming either. Just dad and us girls."
"Well Rose and I can come. I can shop, your dad can work, and Rose can look after the three of you."
Gabriella shook her head. "You are missing the point, mom."
"You are not coming, Mom." Camilla added.
"Camilla, stop." Gabriella said quietly. "The point is that we want to spend time with Dad. He is clearing time out of his busy work schedule to spend time with us. He can't spend time with us if he is working. You can go to New York any time you want to… just not this time."
"Well it sounds like you don't want me to go." Maria said.
Gabriella wished for strength to not say something to ruin the holiday. "Maybe next trip can be just the girls." Camilla said, adding something positive to the conversation.
"Yeah. Next time." Gabriella breathed out.
"Do you know what piece you are auditioning with?" Rose asked, changing the subject.
"Not yet. I've been writing a couple of songs but nothing feels like the song." Gabriella said. "For my classical audition, I think I'm just going to do a piece by Tchaikovsky."
"You should test it out for us." Her mother said.
Gabriella closed her eyes briefly. "Like the last time she was playing the piano went so well." Camilla said.
"Baby, how is school?" Her father asked Mariella.
Mariella spoke excitedly about school and Gabriella ate her food quietly. It was delicious and the perfect distraction from the room she was current in. Camilla spoke next about school, having the same complaints that Gabriella did when she went through middle school. It was her turn to talk next. She wished she would have stayed with the Bolton's.
"School is good. The musical is wrapping soon. I'm getting tickets for Family night so I will let everybody know the time and date. We are working on a new design for the yearbook. Instead of doing the traditional way, we are trying to make it more fun and worth the cost. Decathlon practice starts soon. I'm creating a fund raiser for our senior gift to the school and I am ahead on homework." Gabriella shared with the table. "How is work, Dad?"
"Work is going well. We acquired three new companies and the transition is a work in progress." Richard shared. "Rose, how is the family?"
"Everybody is in good health. I'm looking forward to seeing them for the New Year."
"Speaking of New Year, I will be at the Evans estate ringing in the New Year. Gabriella, I need you to be with the girls."
"What? No. I'm not their mom. You should skip one party and stay with them."
"I already made a commitment to be there, Gabriella." Maria said, glaring at her daughter.
"Well you have kids. You know Rose visits her family every New Year. You shouldn't have made that commitment." Gabriella said, frustrated. She looked to her dad for any kind of help but none came.
"You're going to stay with them or Rose can't visit her family."
Gabriella squeezed her fork in her hand. "What is the matter with you? What happened to you to make you this evil? This poor woman dedicated her life to raising your children and you're going to take away the one time she gets to see her family because you want to go to a party?"
"Bunny-"
"You better stay out of this or else you are not going to like what I have to say to you, Richard." Gabriella hissed at her father. "You guys are horrible people and it makes me sick that I am a combination of the both of you. Go to your fucking party, Maria. I will take care of your kids, once again."
"Gabi…" Rose said softly.
"No. You're going to spend time with your family." Gabriella said firmly. She scooted her chair back, throwing her napkin at the table, knocking over her glass of water in the process. It shattered across the table. Everybody flinched as Gabriella walked out of the room and up the stairs. She slammed her bedroom door and locked it.
Gabriella laid on her bed, pulling out her phone. She was still shaking with anger. She dialed his number, hoping that they were done with dinner and just relaxing. "Hey Cupcake, I almost ate the whole pumpkin pie but I saved you a piece."
She smiled to herself, despite her fit of rage. "How was dinner?"
"So good. I'm so full, I feel like I'm going to sleep the whole weekend. We have so much food left over. My mom went a little nuts."
"She's amazing." Gabriella said softly. "Are you guys just relaxing now?"
"Yeah, Mom is watching the parade for the third time so she can look at Mario Lopez' dimples." Gabriella giggled. "My dad is trying to change it to football by telling her that she needs to get ready to go shopping."
"Your mom is a black Friday shopper?"
"Oh yeah, she loves it. She usually gets Christmas done between the wee hours of three to seven am. Last year, she made Thanksgiving lunch and went shopping at 5pm. I don't think I saw her for two days." She wished she was born into their more normal family dynamic. "Should I ask how dinner went?"
"No." Gabriella said, sighing. "Not yet."
"I won't." He said softly. "You okay?"
"No… Not until I see you."
"Do you want me to come pick you up?"
"I told my dad I would stay with him tonight…" She trailed off. "Can you keep your phone on, just in case?"
"Absolutely, Cupcake. I will talk to you until you fall asleep or get fed up and come to my house. I'm hoping you come to my house because I want to kiss you."
"I miss you."
"I miss you more." Troy said softly. "If you can't sleep, you can always go shopping with my mom."
"I'm honestly thinking about it. I'm trying not to be financially dependent on my parents but I'm too damn busy to get a real job." She sighed. "I want to buy you something really nice for Christmas."
He chuckled. "In the wise words of Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas is You." Gabriella laughed. "Not in the sexual way, so get your brain out of the gutter Cupcake."
"Sex was not my first thought." Gabriella defended.
"Good, I have trained you well."
"You are such a dork." She said with a wide smile. "I wish I could take you to New York with me instead of my dad." Gabriella then groaned, remembering the conversation that made dinner go downhill. "So my dad brings up the New York trip to my mother and she said she wants to go! I had to talk her out of it. I don't even want my dad to go but he's been really cool about it especially with not working during the trip and being with me and Cami and Mari."
"He's probably grateful to get some time off to spend with you guys."
Gabriella sighed. "Yeah, I'll tell myself that."
"Something tells me that that isn't the worst part of dinner."
"It wasn't." Gabriella said. "Rose visits her family every New Year. This year my mom decides she wants to go to a party instead of take care of her kids. So who gets to watch them? Me. I tried to look at my dad for him to get his head out of his ass and say hey, why don't we spend New Year's Eve together but no. Then she has the gull to say that if I'm not going to watch them then Rose can't visit her family. Troy. I was shaking, I was so angry. I said some things that I shouldn't have said in front of Cami and Mari but they pissed me off so much."
"You didn't say anything about Sharpay's mom, did you?"
"God no. I didn't want my mom to stab me with the carving knife. I just told them that they were horrible people and it made me sick that I was a combination of the two of them. I broke a glass but that was accidental when I threw my napkin down and walked away."
"And you called me."
"Yep, because you are the only person stopping me from faking my death and starting a new life in Europe."
"Because you're in love with me."
"Troy." Gabriella said with a small smile.
"It's okay. You don't have to say it. I know how you feel. You can write more love songs about me."
"Knock it off."
"I want to hear the next love song about me. Can you make sure it mentions my blue eyes and manly physique?"
Gabriella laughed out loud. "I'm not writing love songs about you." She immediately shut up when she heard a knock at her door. She groaned. "Troy, I have to go. I will call you back later. Somebody is knocking."
"No problem. If I don't answer then I am in a food coma so you'll have to call me a couple times to wake me up."
She giggled. "Okay, talk to you later." Whoever was at her door, knocked again. "Coming." She said tiredly, pushing herself off her bed to answer her door.
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