CHAPTER 6

((I'm baaaaack! I know lovely…you have to read another note from me…it's your lucky day…alright this chapter skips some time…it begins at the first day back at school after Christmas break…the date is January 8, 2007…right now I have thirty-two reviews…I would love some more…my first story brought in 433 reviews…my second story brought in 202…if I cant get higher then my first story I would love more than my second one…I know my first story got so many because there were so many chapters…but my goal is 400 for this one…the more reviews I get…the more often I'll write…so here comes chapter 6…Read and REVIEW!...XOXO,CHRISTINE))

a man is placed upon the steps, a baby cries
and high above the church bells start to ring
and as the heaviness the body oh the heaviness settles in
somewhere you can hear a mother sing

The school had become one clash of whispers, rumors about the death of Troy Bolton and how that Montez girl was dealing with it. A few twisted rumors had convinced a fair few that Gabriella had caused the accident which would rob East High of a basketball title. Most of the kids didn't care about Troy as much as they cared about pummeling the West High Knights which wasn't going to happen this year. There was no Troy to carry the team this time, to score the winning shot at the buzzer, or to lead both the team and school to a sweet victory.

Troy's close friends couldn't care less about the championship. They all were grief-stricken from Troy's tragic death. Taylor and Chad hadn't talked to anyone but each other since the death. Kelsi and Jason's relationship had been on the rocks since the funeral. Sharpay had publicly humiliated Zeke, screaming and shouting at him for his wretched behavior, breaking up with him. Coach Bolton had barricaded himself in his office to avoid both the staff and the student body. Mrs. Bolton hadn't left the house since the funeral, grief-bound to crying in her house all day long. She couldn't understand why her only son, her baby, had been so violently taken from her. She regretted giving him the car for Christmas. If he would have driven with his parents, he wouldn't have been driving when the drunken mystery man was. Gabriella's mother had forced her to begin counseling with Dr. Michelle Hill (completely made up) to cope with her loss. Ms. Montez had to force her to eat, and even then, Gabriella refused to eat much. She wished Dean hadn't shown up when he did. Troy never understood. Dean and Gabriella were the best of friends when they were little. Then Gabriella had moved, and they had managed to keep in touch, but only occasionally. Neither of them liked each other like that. Gabriella was like a little sister to Dean.

Gabriella emerged from her car. As soon as she was noticed by the other students standing on the front lawn, an awkward silence took over. Everyone stared at the unnaturally thin Gabriella, the girl who had once been gorgeously beautiful in the eyes of everyone, the girl who had been envied by every girl in the entire freaking school. Now everyone stared at her, not knowing what to think. Some said Gabriella killed Troy. Some said Gabriella paid the drunken driver to do the dirty deed. Nobody knew what to think. Gabriella had always seemed sweet and innocent, but that could have been just an act. Maybe on the inside she was a plotting murderer who was planning her next strike.

Gabriella stuck her head down and hastened into the school to find the inside just as eerie as the outside. She stared at her surroundings, searching frantically for one of the members of the group. None of them were to be found. She quickly made her way to her locker, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. She grabbed the required books for her classes and headed to homeroom, Ms. Darbus's class, her first class without Troy.

"Ah, Ms. Montez, welcome," Ms. Darbus greeted her sadly. Gabriella took her seat at the back of the class. Slowly, the rest of the class filed in, everyone but Troy. Gabriella stared, longingly at his seat, wishing he was still with her, wishing he was still sitting in that seat up there staring back at her smiling. "As we all know, quite a tragedy took place during Christmas Break. I hope that we may all be able to move on, remembering Mr. Bolton as quite a man."

Gabriella began to cry silently as Ms. Darbus made her speech. "May I be excused?" she managed to choke out.

"A guilty conscience," a girl Gabriella didn't know whispered loudly, causing Gabriella to bolt out of the room sobbing, Taylor following her.

"Ms. Baird, that is quite enough!" Ms. Darbus angrily shouted. "You have a weeks worth of detention for such an outcry! How dare you! Actually, I've changed my mind! Go to the Principal's Office this instant!" The girl named Baird left to be sentenced to a punishment that she quite deserved.

"Gabriella, are you alright?" Taylor asked giving her a friendly hug.

"Why do they think I did it!" Gabriella cried. "I loved Troy! It's them who don't! They only care about winning the basketball championship! I loved Troy for being Troy, not for winning a stupid trophy!"

"I know, Gabriella," Taylor comforted. "They're just jealous of you."

"What is there to be jealous of?" Gabriella questioned. "I haven't stopped crying in days, not to mention eating. I look like an ugly cow, and that's just the beginning!"

"Gabriella, you're smart and confident, and every guy likes you."

"Yeah, right," Gabriella mumbled.

Their conversation was cut short by Principal Matsui with the announcements. He went through announcements about the winter musical, the decathlon, basketball tryouts for an open position, and finally… "now, as we all know, over spring break our school suffered a terrible loss. The loss of a student, player, and friend. We have to act maturely, which I am sorry to say, has not been happening. Troy Bolton was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. I'm not supposed to be explaining his cause of death to you all, but since you cannot act like the grown ups you are I must say this: any rumor about the death of Troy Bolton is completely false. If I find out who spread any of the rumors that have been spread, I will personally make sure that student is expelled. Good day, everyone."

The bell rang signaling the end of the class period. The students demeanors didn't change. Everyone stared Gabriella down as if she was some sort of criminal.

((I hope you liked that chapter…it's not quite as intense with all the sadness but it's not very happy…the faster you review, the faster I write again…the next chapter will be up tonight or tomorrow…not sure which…XOXO,CHRISTINE))