Chapter 6: Superman
"Who did this to you?" Troy said through his teeth. "Was it Ian? Tell me!" Gabriella was sobbing; all she could do was nod. "That's it, I'm telling my parents. You should have told me right away, Gabi. I'm going to help you."
"No! You can't tell anyone. My Mom loves Ian, and she deserves some happiness in her life, and that's what I'm going to give her!" exclaimed Gabriella.
"She wants you to be happy too! How do you think she'd feel if she knew that her only child is being beaten for no apparent reason?"
"I did talk back to Ian once, so maybe I did deserve it," she said quietly. Troy pulled her close to his bare chest. He had been in such a rush to get Gabriella that he didn't pull his shirt on.
"No one deserves to be treated like this." Gabriella closed her eyes, and buried her face into Troy's chest. Troy silently had decided that he was going to tell his parents that night after the party was over.
Troy didn't have to worry about telling his parent, though. Anne came upstairs to get something, and saw Troy holding Gabriella.
"Gabi, what's wrong?" she asked before she had a chance to look at Gabriella's back. As soon as she saw it, she exclaimed, "Oh my God, what happened to you? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Mom, Ian did this to her," Troy replied quietly.
"Ian? You mean your Mom's boyfriend?" Anne put down the plate she was carrying. "That's it, I'm calling the police. You should have told us that this was going on. I can't believe he would beat a young girl that he barely even knows!"
"No, Mrs. Bolton, please don't. I don't want to make a big deal about it. It's nothing, really," Gabriella said. Troy looked into her eyes. He could tell that she wasn't telling the whole truth.
"Do you mind on telling me what else is wrong?" he asked her. Gabriella looked scared and helpless now.
"Nothing," she said quickly. "Nothing's wrong." Troy looked at her. She could tell that he was definitely not buying it. He brushed his thumbs over her wet cheeks. He figured that her cheeks were wet from crying more than from her little dip in the pool.
"Gabriella, I want you to tell me the whole story," he said sternly. Normally, his serious face would have sent Gabriella into peals of laughter, but not today.
"Gabriella, please?" begged Anne.
"What's going on?" Jack asked as he came upstairs. He froze when he saw Troy and Gabriella. "What happened?" Anne quickly filled her husband in. "We're calling the police, and you're staying here tonight."
"Please don't, I can take care of it myself," Gabriella pleaded.
"Gabriella, you're like a family member to us, and we care about you, so we're going to call the police, and then your Mother."
"Dad, Dad, slow down for a second," Troy said, motioning with one of his hands. "Gabi, I want you to tell me what else Ian did to you." Gabriella bit her bottom lip. Once she told the Bolton's what else Ian had done to her, there was no stopping them from calling the police. She looked at the ground.
"He…" she paused. Her voice was barely above a whisper, and yet to her she felt like she was yelling at the top of her lungs. "Not last night, but the night before that, Ian came into my room in the middle of the night, and he….he tried to rape me."
That was it for both Troy and Jack. Anne looked at Gabriella in disbelief. She instantly picked up the phone, and dialed the number for the local police department.
"Um, yes, this is Anne Bolton, and I have my son's girlfriend here who just told us that her Mom's boyfriend has been beating her and tried to rape her this week," Anne told the operator on the other end of the phone.
"Our address is 1539 Maple Way. Okay, you'll be over in twenty minutes? Thanks." Anne hung up the phone. "You'd better get some dry clothes on before the police come," she said to Gabriella. Troy grabbed her hand, and led her upstairs to his room.
He said to her, "Come on, I have a pair of sweats you can borrow for right now."
When Troy and Gabriella got up to his room, Gabriella sat on his bed, while he pulled out a pair of black sweat pants and a matching sweat shirt.
"Here," he said.
"Thanks," Gabriella said quietly. She held them on her lap, and stared blankly at them. "I'm sorry I'm being so much trouble, Troy," she said. Troy crouched down across from her, and took her hands in his.
"You're not causing any trouble. I just wish you told me sooner. My Father and I could have stopped the bastard from doing any of this to you if you had just told us. Gabi, will you tell me why you didn't tell us right away?"
"The first time, I thought it was a one-time thing. The second time, I started to feel like I deserved it, even though deep down inside, I knew that I didn't. I'm sorry." Troy ran his fingers through her wavy hair.
"No," he said. "Don't you dare be sorry. The only thing you're guilty of is being afraid to come out and get help this week." He stood up. "Do you want me to go tell the gang what's going on? They're pretty worried about you." Gabriella nodded.
"You should, so they don't worry when the police car shows up." Troy kissed the top of her head, and left her alone in his room. "Troy?" she said quietly right before he got up to leave. "Did I ever tell you that you're my Superman?" Troy smiled as he shook his head.
"No you didn't baby. Now, get changed." And he left.
"What do you think is taking them so long?" Sharpay asked Zeke. Zeke just shrugged. Everyone was starting to get worried. Suddenly, they saw Troy jogging towards Chad's house.
"Hey, is everything alright man?" Chad asked. Troy shook his head as he sat down.
"Gabriella finally told me what was wrong, and I can't believe it," he replied.
"And?" Taylor asked.
"Ian beat her. Bad too, I saw it. Her whole torso and back are covered in bruises. There are also welts on her back." A few silent tears began to slide down Taylor's face.
"That's horrible! Why would anyone do that to her?" asked Kelsi.
"Your guess is as good as mine, but it gets worse," replied Troy.
"How much worse can it possibly get?" Bri asked him.
Troy said, "He tried to rape her." Nobody said a word for several minutes, because no one knew what to say.
"You're sure?" Sharpay asked at last. Troy nodded gravely.
"She told me herself. She's staying at my house tonight, my parents aren't letting her go home," he explained.
"Well, good!" exclaimed Taylor. "I just got an idea."
Chad rolled his eyes, and mumbled, "Here we go." Taylor shot him a dirty look, and continued.
"Do you think your parents would mind if we all stayed at your house tonight. You know, just to help Gabi out."
"you know," Troy said. "That might actually help her out a little bit. I don't know though. I have to ask my parents and get back to you after the police come." Taylor nodded.
"We'll wait here until after they leave. Chad you should explain this to your parents so they don't freak out when they see the police car," Ryan said. Chad got up, and rushed inside. As if on cue, the gang saw a police car pull up in front of Troy's house.
"I should get going," Troy said, and he jogged back to his house.
Gabriella was curled up on the couch in the family room with a glass of water in her hands when Troy got back. Troy pulled her onto his lap, and gently kissed her cheek. They looked up when they heard Anne and Jack come in with two police officers. One was a short, heavy man and the other was a tall blonde woman. Both had kind faces, which made Gabriella relax a little bit.
The woman held out her hand, and said, "My name is Officer Smith, and this is my assistant, Officer Grier. I assume that you're Ms. Montez?" Gabriella nodded as she shook Officer Smith's hand.
"I'm her boyfriend, Troy Bolton," Troy said as he shook both Officers' hands. Officer Smith sat on the foot stool for the wing-back chair, while Officer Grier remained standing.
"Gabriella, I know this may be hard for you, but I want you to tell us exactly what's been going on at your house this past week," Officer Grier said. Gabriella nodded.
"It all started when Ian got mad at me when I told him that I was coming to Troy's early for this party we're supposed to be at next door right now. My Mom had forgotten to tell him that I was coming early, and he kept on making excuses to that I wouldn't be able to come to Troy's. When he asked me about my homework, I told him that I had nearly 2 hours to finish it before I came here, and all weekend. Then, then he slapped me, and that's how I got this." Gabriella pulled up the bottom of the sweatshirt she was wearing, and pointed to her side where there was a large bruise. She then went on to tell the Officers the rest of her story. She remained fairly composed until she got to the part about the other night. The police officers didn't pressure her, they simply waited for her.
When Gabriella had finished telling her story, Officer Grier asked her if she had anything on under her sweats. She told him yes, her bikini.
"Would you mind taking off the sweatshirt so we can get some pictures of the wounds?" Slowly, Gabriella pulled off her shirt, and stood up. Officer Smith took pictures of her torso and back, and Gabriella sat back down.
"I think we have enough for an arrest, if you could just give us your home address," she said. Gabriella quickly gave the officers her address, and they left. She curled back up on the couch while Troy went to go and talk to his parents. A few minutes later, she heard her friends come through the back door.
"Oh, God, Gabi!" Taylor exclaimed when she saw her.
A/N: So, there you go, only 2 or so more chapters left, so enjoy it while you can! But hey, this was a pretty long chapter! And it answered your question, yes, Ian did try to rape Gabriella.
