Chapter 3:

The remaining color drained from Sharpay's face as Ryan's words slowly sank in. Slowly, she shook her head.

"No," she said. "No! That's not true!" Ryan grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, and stared deep into her eyes.

"Listen to me, Shar. He's been shot in the back. We were in the room that it all started in." Sharpay's attention was drawn to an ambulance about a hundred yards away. On the stretcher was none other than Zeke. Sharpay broke free of her brother's grip, and began to run towards the ambulance. Ryan immediately took off after her.

"Gabi, are you alright?" Troy asked his girlfriend. Gabriella had clung to Troy since they had moved away from the building. She nodded slightly, but didn't look up.

"Thank God you're all alright," Troy's Dad said as he rushed up to the group.

"Dad, what happened?" Troy asked.

"Two students began to open fire down in the science hallway. We don't know how many people are dead or hurt. Your Mother's on the way coming to take you all to our house. They want to get as many students as possible out of here so they can get inside the school easier."

"Dad, Zeke's been shot. Sharpay just went to the hospital with him." Jack nodded curtly.

"Other than that, you all are alright, right? I'll call the hospital to find out about Zeke as soon as things calm down here. Do not talk to any reporters right now. We want to find out who did this first. Make sure you guys call your parents to let them know that you're safe, and that you're at our house."

Ten minutes later, Anne Bolton pulled up in her light blue mini van. Ryan's parents were on their way, so he was going to stay behind.

"I came as soon as I heard. Are you sure that you can just leave?" Anne asked quickly.

"We're sure, Mom. Let's just get out of here," replied Troy. Outside, East High was complete chaos. Police officers were interviewing witnesses to the shooting while EMTs were tending to the injured, and reporters interviewed other students.

Gabriella leaned against the window with her eyes closed, and her arms crossed across her chest. She appeared to be in her own little world.

"Hey, Gabi, we're here," Taylor said when Anne pulled into the driveway. Gabriella opened her eyes, and stretched a little. Taylor opened the van door, and everyone climbed out, and went inside.

Inside, everyone crowded around the TV, and flipped on the local news channel. Sure enough, they were talking about the shooting. Gabriella cuddled as close as possible to Troy, and closed her eyes.

After half an hour of watching the horrific images come on screen, Troy asked Gabriella, "You alright, baby?" Gabriella nodded.

"I'm just really tired," she replied.

"Do you want to go upstairs and lie down on my bed for a little while?" Gabriella nodded as she stood up. Silently. She gave Troy a kiss on the cheek, and went upstairs.

"Maybe I should go and check on her," Troy said after fifteen minutes. He was really worried about how Gabriella was handling everything.

"She's your girlfriend, man," Jason said. Troy got up, and went upstairs. Gabriella appeared to be asleep on his bed with her back to the door. Troy coughed quietly, and Gabriella rolled over; she was crying. In a few quick movements, Troy was sitting on the bed next to her.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" He stopped; what kind of question was that? "Sorry, bad question. Do you want to talk about it?"

Gabriella pulled Troy into bed next to her, and had him rest his head on her chest. After a few minutes, she began to tell her story.

"You remember the Columbine shooting a little while ago, right?" she said as she began to run her fingers through Troy's hair. Troy nodded as Gabriella continued. "Well, that's where my cousin Tomas went to school. He was in the library when the shootings started; that's where the shootings were the worst. He wasn't dead on the scene, he died a few hours later at the hospital." Gabriella began to cry harder. Troy propped himself up on one elbow, and gently stroked her cheek. "How could this have happened? What did we do to deserve this?"

Troy said in a soothing voice, "Shh, shh, don't you worry about Zeke or any of this, Zeke'll pull through. We all will, but I'm not going to lie to you, it won't be easy. I'll always be here for you, Gabi. I love you." Gabriella smiled weakly.

"I love you too, Troy," she whispered. Troy lay back down, and Gabriella rested her head on his strong chest. Pretty soon, they were both fast asleep.

Carla Montez rushed over as soon as she got the call from Anne saying that Gabriella was safe. By the time she had gotten there, Chad, Taylor, Jason, and Kelsi were gone. Carla went upstairs and gently woke up her daughter.

"Bye, Troy," Gabriella whispered in Troy's ear before softly kissing his cheek, and leaving.

"Do you want something to eat?" Carla asked Gabriella when they got home. Gabriella dropped her backpack on the floor with a thud, and shook her head. When she turned on the TV, every news channel was covering the shooting.

"God! Don't they have anything better to cover?" Gabriella exclaimed before storming up to her room. Carla sighed. This wasn't going to be easy for anyone.

Gabriella flung herself on her bed facedown, and cried herself to a restless sleep. Her cell phone ringing in her pocket waked her up. Fumbling in the dark, she found her phone, and answered it.

"Hello?" she said sleepily.

"Gabi? Oh, I'm so sorry for calling you so late!" Sharpay said on the other end. "I wanted to let you know how Zeke's doing. He's going to be in the hospital for a while. The doctor said that if the bullet had gone in another centimeter or so over, he'd be paralyzed."