AN: Whoa. That last chapter got a huge response. I figured I wouldn't get any reviews because you'd all hate me too much. But, alas, I got reviews – and a couple things thrown at me. But maybe I'll make it up to you... ;-)
This is the second to last chapter, so enjoy the story while it lasts!
Oh, and, by the way:
MY BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW!
Perhaps I'll give you an extra quick update if you wish me a happy birthday... and believe me, you'll want one after reading this...
Title: Where She Belongs
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: Ms. Montez's company transferred her back to San Diego, California. Troy and Gabriella lost touch after the move, but what will happen when they meet up again in college?
Genre: Romance/Drama
Chapter: Chapter 10
Gabriella was in a daze for the majority of the next day. She was engaged. She was engaged to Jeremiah. To the boy she loved.
Right?
Of course right! Gabriella scolded herself. You wouldn't have said yes if you didn't.
Well, I did have to think about it, she reminded herself.
Oh, I'm sure everyone thinks about it. It's a big thing, getting married.
She sighed. She was too afraid to call her friends and tell them the news, for fear they'd tell Troy, but when she got to her dorm after classes, she decided to at least call her mother.
"Gabi! How was your weekend with your friends?" her mom asked when she picked up.
"Oh, it was really fun," lied Gabriella. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. It had been fun on Saturday. "But guess what?"
"What, hija?"
"Jeremiah proposed when I got home!"
Her mother didn't answer right away. Finally, she said, "What?"
"Jeremiah! My boyfriend, remember?" prodded Gabriella. "Well, actually, now he's my fiancée!"
"Oh," said her mother, dumbfounded. "Um, well, congratulations!"
"Mom? Why don't you seem happy?"
"What?" her mother asked, feigning innocence. "I'm happy! I'm as happy as can be! My daughter is engaged! What's not to be happy about?"
"Mom, what is it?" demanded Gabriella.
Her mother sighed, defeated. "Well, I would've preferred you to be with Troy."
"Ugh!" cried Gabriella in frustration. "Why is everyone saying that? Well, for your information Mom, me and Troy got in a huge fight and he hates me now."
"What? About what, hija?"
"He... well, he thinks I really love him and that I'm just too afraid to hurt Jeremiah's feelings,"
"Oh." Her mother paused. "And you're sure this isn't... true?"
"Mom!" shouted Gabriella. "I thought you, of all people, would believe me! I'm not stupid enough to be with a guy I don't like because I'm afraid to hurt his feelings. I love Jeremiah, I'm marrying Jeremiah, and whether or not you come to the wedding is of no importance to me!" She hung up the phone and threw it on her bed, fuming.
She sat on her bed next to it and took deep breaths, trying to calm down.. After a moment, her anger turned to shame. She had just been rude to the one person who would always love her and had always been there for her. Her mother wasn't trying to pick a fight with her – she was worried. And Gabriella had obviously given her a reason to be, too.
Just as she was reaching down to pick up the phone to call her mom again, it rang.
Troy?... no, just Sharpay.
"Hey, Sharpay,"
"Heeeey!" cooed Sharpay over the phone. "Sorry it took me so long to call, but we got in late last night and I had classes today..."
"No, no, don't worry about it,"
"Okay. Well, last night Taylor told us about what happened between you and Troy."
"...Oh,"
"Yeah. I'm not gonna say that I think you really love Troy, because I know you love your boyfriend. But, do you think of Troy like that at all?"
Gabriella sighed. "I don't know. I think I thought I did. But I'm so mad at him right now." She paused. "I wasn't when it happened, but I thought about it and now I am. Besides, I'm over Troy."
"You're over him?" asked Sharpay in disbelief. "Already? It's been, like, a day."
"Well, I was always over him, in a way," explained Gabriella. "I didn't love him-," - if she didn't love him, why did it feel as though she were lying through her teeth?- "-but there was a little attraction. But now I'm over all of that, because guess what?"
"Um... what?"
"Jeremiah proposed!"
"What?"
"Um... hello? Taylor?" asked Gabriella. "Are you listening in?"
"Sorry, I picked up the phone to make a call and found you guys on it," said Taylor's voice.
"Taylor!" scolded Sharpay.
"You did it too, remember? So anyway, Jeremiah proposed?"
"Yeah," said Gabriella. "And don't mention Troy, my mom already fought with me about that."
"Gabriella," said Taylor patiently. "Everyone thinks you're making a mistake with Jeremiah. Everyone thinks you should be with Troy. So why are you fighting it?"
"Because you guys just think we'd be 'cute' together. My heart doesn't belong to Troy anymore. I'm over him. I don't love him."
"Whatever," repeated Taylor irritably, and she heard a click!
"Is she mad at me?" cried Gabriella incredulously.
"I think she's just annoyed," answered Sharpay. "She really, really thinks you and Troy should get married. But I'm happy for you, Gabriella. I haven't met Jeremiah yet, but he seems great."
"Thanks, Sharpay." Gabriella sighed. "Well, I need to go and call my mom back. I have to apologize for something."
"Alright, talk to you later! Oh, and I'll talk to Taylor for you. And do you want me to tell Zeke and Chad the news?"
"Um, sure,"
"What about Jason, Kelsi, and Ryan? Should I call them too?"
"Um... yeah,"
"And... what about Troy?"
Gabriella paused. Did she even want Troy to know? Maybe she could go on with life without Troy ever knowing she got engaged and married to Jeremiah. Maybe she'll run into him and ten years, juggling three kids at the supermarket, and then she'll tell him.
No. Even though I'm pissed at him, he deserves more than that.
"Sure," she sighed. "I gotta go. Bye." and she hung up.
She dialed her mom's number and apologized profusely. Her mother said she understood, but to at least think about it; about whether or not her heart really belonged to Jeremiah and not Troy. Gabriella promised she would, even though she'd thought about it enough.
She hung up again and sat at her computer, fiddling with the ring. It felt so weird on her finger, like it didn't belong – putting aside the fact that she absolutely despised the color yellow and she didn't like looking at the ring.
Were all brides-to-be like that? They couldn't stand looking at their own engagement ring?
She hoped so.
The rest of the week passed in a daze for Gabriella. The word slowly passed through campus that brainy Gabriella Montez was engaged to the Jeremiah Peris. Everyone was confused by it; why is he still dating her?
Gabriella didn't care about that though; what she did care about was how Jeremiah ignored her on campus. She passed him sometimes on the way to classes, and he'd always walk straight past her. A couple times she called out his name and he'd turn around, acting all surprised, and say, "Sorry, baby, I'm late for my next class!" or "Hey baby! I'll call you later! Love you!"
It seemed as though the week was dragging by, but finally, it was Friday. Gabriella couldn't have welcomed the weekend more. She collapsed onto her bed and sighed in relief. The weekend was here.
She glanced at the ring. She'd been engaged for five days, and she'd barely spoken two words with the guy that gave it to her. Was there something wrong here, or what?
Her phone started to vibrate on the desk next to her. She groaned at the thought of having to move, since she was so comfortable, but reached over anyway, hit Accept, and said, "Hello?"
"Gabriella?"
She sat up. "Troy? Why are you calling me?"
"Well, um... Sharpay called. You're engaged, I hear."
"Yeah, that's right," said Gabriella coldly. "To the man I love."
"I see," said Troy awkwardly. "Well, I, um, wanted to say congratulations."
"Well, thanks,"
"Okay,"
"...okay."
"Um... I'll talk to you later,"
"Sure,"
"Bye,"
She hung up. Uh, that was kinda weird.
She went to the bathroom, carrying some pajamas, and took a long, warm shower. Then she got re-dressed, combed her hair, and washed her face.
It was only about eight o' clock when her hair had finally dried, but she was so tired from the long week that she fell asleep right away.
The next morning Gabriella slept in. When she did wake up, her roommate, Jessyca, exclaimed "Oh, my God! When was the last time you slept in? I don't think I've ever been awake before you."
Gabriella yawned. She felt refreshed. "Well, not counting today, and last Sunday, it's been since summer, I think."
"Jesus," her friend muttered. "So, you haven't shown me your ring yet!" she squealed excitedly, jumping onto Gabriella's bed. She yanked her hand towards her and breathed, "Oh, my God, it's gorgeous!"
Gabriella smiled. "Thanks." She pulled her hand away from Jessyca and stretched. "I'm gonna go get some coffee," she declared. She stood up and stretched again before pulling a pair of jeans and shirt from her drawer. Glancing out the window, she saw that it looked like it was going to rain, so she grabbed a sweatshirt too.
"Ew," said Jessyca, sitting at her desk. "Coffee's gross. And expensive. You should drink tea!"
Gabriella smiled again but didn't answer. She quickly changed, tied her hair up in a ponytail, applied some mascara and lip gloss, and left.
After she'd gotten her usual coffee and muffin, she went back to her dorm, expecting it to be empty. But it was occupied, and not by Jessyca.
By Troy.
"Troy?" exclaimed Gabriella when she saw him, sitting at her computer, supposedly waiting for her. She dropped her half-finished coffee cup and it burst when it hit the ground, splattering coffee all over her shoes. Some of the coffee leaked into her shoe and burned her foot. "Shit," she muttered bending down to pick up the coffee cup. She tossed it into the trash can took off her shoe. Then she looked back up at Troy and demanded, "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to tell you," said Troy, standing up. "how much I love you and want to be with you."
Gabriella sighed. "Thanks, Troy, but-,"
"Gabriella! Get over it! You don't love Jeremiah!"
"I do!" screeched Gabriella. "Why doesn't anyone seem to get it? I do, I do, I DO!"
"I know you better than almost anyone," Troy countered. "And I know when you're lying."
"You just wish I was lying!" shouted Gabriella. "You wish I would say 'I love you too, Troy' so you can be happy! But I don't! I don't love you!"
"Damn!" Troy yelled, kicking the wall.
"Troy, stop it!"
"You just don't get-," Troy stammered in his anger. "-how – how frustrating it is to see the woman you love – more than anything in the world – wasting her time with some other guy!"
"And you don't know how frustrating it is to see a guy I care about, but not in that way, refusing to move on!"
"Damn it, Gabriella! Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"Why are you doing this to me?" she screamed. She could hear people coming to stand outside her door, wondering what the noise was.
Without waiting for an answer from Troy, Gabriella wrenched open the door and stormed out, pushing through a small crowd of her peers. She ran outside the school, only to find that it had started raining and she was only wearing one shoe. But she didn't turn back. Instead she ripped off the other one, tossed it away, and kept running.
Troy is an idiot, she thought furiously to herself as she ran blindly through the city, barefoot. She hadn't bothered to put up her hood, and she knew her mascara was running and her hair was getting soaked. Why won't he just leave me alone? I don't love him, and he can't let go...
...it happened so fast.
She'd turned to cross the street, without really looking where she was going and not seeing properly. Her vision was so obscured from tears, rain, and her running mascara that she stopped in the middle of the street to wipe her eyes on her drenched sweatshirt. It didn't help much.
She sighed and had turned around to walk back to her dorm when she heard a loud Hoooooooooooonk! from somewhere right next to her. Gabriella whipped her head around and saw two headlights belonging to a car.
She threw her arms over her head but it did no good. The car tried to brake, but it hit her anyway. She felt the impact into her stomach. It was so strong that she rolled all the way over the car and then fell off of it from the back. But she kept rolling; rolling and rolling for twenty, maybe thirty, feet, until she finally stopped.
Gabriella could feel blood seeping down from under hair hair; a moment later she saw it in her eyes. It was still raining, and the rain was getting in her eyes, mixing with the blood. She could see people running around like lunatics.
She didn't know how she was still conscious – she was in more physical pain than she had ever felt in her life and she wanted more than anything for it to end – for her to die.
It was hard to breathe – every breath she took felt like torture. Her ribs must be broken. She could feel herself bleeding in other places too, but her brain was too rattled to figure out where they were coming from.
She had to close her eyes to keep the blood and the rain out. As she did, she heard people shouting. She couldn't figure out what they were saying.
But, aside from the physical pain, she was having an emotional crisis inside.
Her brain may be rattled, but the same thoughts kept floating through it.
What is wrong with me? I love Troy. I love Troy more than life itself, more than anything in the world. Why didn't I just tell him? Why didn't I just dump Jeremiah for Troy? Everyone else could see it, except me. And now I'm dying. I deserve it. Troy is going to get over me eventually, marry someone else who's much better than me and who'll never turn him away, and he'll forget about me. Jeremiah will forget too. Everyone will forget... well, maybe not my mom.
I am so, so stupid. I shouldn't have been thinking about hurting Jeremiah's feelings... sometimes you need to just think about yourself. And what was best for me – and Troy – was for me to be with him, not Jeremiah. Jeremiah doesn't even love me. Troy loves me.
And I turned him away.