Chapter 1: Never Say Goodbye…

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The High School Musical characters.

"Gabby! Wait up!" Taylor shouted. Gabriella turned around at the sound of her name. Taylor looked upset and she wore an unhappy look as she skidded to a stop in front of Gabby.

"What is it? Are you alright?" a very surprised Gabriella asked. Taylor whispered something into Gabriella's ears.

"WHAT! Yea right, I'm sure she is", said Gabby, rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious! She really is!" Taylor said, insistently. Gabriella started laughing.

"Umm…Gab, did I miss something?"

"Oh..no, I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say that Cassie is leaving, ha ha, you had me fooled there for a second," Gabby said.

"It's true! I'm not joking!" Taylor said.

BANG. Gabriella felt the world crashing around her. It was as if everyone stopped talking. She stared, open-mouthed at Taylor for a whole minute and heard her voice at a distance,

" Wh-wha-what? No, this cant be happening. You're lying right? Yea, you must be. Yea, Dana is lying. Don't listen to her," Gabriella dropped her books and ran. She ran and ran without stopping. She didnt even know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to go away from this place. She just couldn't face Taylor or any of her friends now. They probably knew about this before she did. Everyone probably did. How come no one told her? Why didn't they think she had the right to know? Cassie was one of her best friends! How could they treat her like that! Gabriella couldn't take it anymore with these thoughts running through her head, she fell as her eyes bled tears that she was holding back. She sobbed as if there was no tomorrow. Darkness clutched at her heart, enveloping the once cheerful person she was. She sat there, her shoulders jerking with every unsteady breath she took, thinking about how miserable life was. She stayed there for a whole hour, letting sleep take control.

"Gabby? Gabriella! Oh God, Gabriella, are you ok?" Gabriella woke and found herself staring into Troy's eyes.

"I feel like my head's been split into two, what happened?" Gabby asked, stretching.

" I don't know, you missed class and lunch so I came looking for you. What were you doing? Taylor said she couldn't find you anywhere then I came here, you had me worried sick Gabby, What were you thinking?" asked a very concerned Troy. Gabby shook her head and then realization hit her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to not cry in front of Troy but tears seeped through her closed eyelids anyway and after a minute, she found Troy stroking her hair, whispering words of comfort. She relished that moment of comfort, glad that she had such a caring boyfriend.

"ca-Cassie is leaving", she managed to choke out after a while. Troy was silent for a while, taking in the information.

"its gonna be alright, she can still visit, and you know I'll always be here, right? Don't worry, everything will be fine. Although I don't really know Cassie that well but I'm sure she is a great person for you to cry like that, everything is gonna be fine, everything is gonna be fine", Troy whispered. Gabriella counted to 5 and at the end of 5, she felt calmer, it was something Troy taught her. She got up and brushed dust of her pants. Before she left, she turned back and said,

"Don't ever leave me, okay?"

"I'll always be here for you, I'll never leave, I promise…."

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