AN: Oh, rejoice, for I have updated.

Sooo, this is a pretty sad chapter, I guess... I don't know. You'll feel bad for a character. The next chapter is a little happier, but not really.

Okay, I'm not makingany sense. Just read and review please!

Title: Time Will Tell
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: Gabriella is raped in senior year and falls pregnant. Without telling her friends about it, she and her mom move to Florida. Six years later, she sees an old friend... and it all goes downhill from there.
Genre: Romance/Tragedy
Chapter: Chapter 2

"T-Troy?"

Gabriella stared at him, barely aware that her mouth was wide open. He looked almost the same as he had six years before. The same long, light brown hair, same blue eyes... he just looked older, more defined.

"Gabriella? Oh, my God..." Troy breathed, running a hand through his hair.

"Wow," she agreed.

There was an awkward silence between them, before Troy asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," answered Gabriella, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm a teacher at West High."

"Oh, traitor," joked Troy.

She smiled a little. "Do you still live here? I haven't seen you."

Troy shook his head, but then shrugged. "I didn't, but now I do."

Gabriella nodded, even though she really didn't understand. "What do you do?"

"I'm unemployed right now. I'm living off my previous jobs' salary, which was pretty high."

She nodded again before inquiring, "What happened to Mr. Basketball Star?"

He shrugged again. But then his face hardened and he said, in an accusing voice, "You would've known the answer to that if you ever returned any of my calls."

Gabriella remained silent.

"What happened to you?" Troy pressed on. "You didn't talk to any of us once you moved to Florida! Were you angry or something?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, I wasn't angry."

"Then why?"

"I just got busy, okay?" snapped Gabriella.

"I don't believe that," replied Troy instantly. "Not one bit."

"Well, fine. You don't have to."

They were silent for another moment.

"We need to catch up, Gabriella," said Troy quietly.

She nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to come over?"

Hesitating, Gabriella said, "Um, how about my place? It's just about a mile away."

Troy shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay, I just need to pay,"

"Me too,"

They got in line, but didn't talk. After a few minutes of waiting, they paid and went to their respective cars.

"Just... follow me," said Gabriella lamely as she got into her car and started to drive.

A minute later they reacher her small, one-story, two-bedroom house. She lugged in her three grocery bags, which Troy didn't help carry in. He must be pretty pissed.

She unlocked the door, which was a challenge, and let Troy in. She placed the bags of food on the kitchen counter and gestured for Troy to sit at their kitchen table.

"Nice place," said Troy awkwardly, looking around.

"Yeah," said Gabriella, putting the groceries away. "Small, though. It's hard, living off a teacher's pay."

Troy nodded. Once Gabriella had finished putting away the food, she pulled out a chair and sat across from him. All too late, she noticed a couple of Eva's dolls scattered around the living room and prayed Troy wouldn't notice.

"So," said Troy bluntly. "Why didn't you return any of our calls?"

"I-I don't know," stuttered Gabriella..

Troy laughed bitterly. "Great answer."

"Well, I'm sorry!" she cried. "I wish I could go back in time and fix things, but I can't. It-," she racked her brains furiously for some excuse. "It was too hard letting you guys go."

"But you didn't have to let us go!" exclaimed Troy. "We could've seen each other over our breaks, or planned to go to the same colleges, or at least colleges near each other! But once you left for Florida, giving us only two days notice-,"

"That's not fair," interrupted Gabriella. "I only had two days notice."

Troy ignored her. "-we never heard from you again. It was as if you disappeared from the face of the Earth."

"Look, I-," she started, but then stopped dead.

The front door had opened and she heard Eva shout, "Bye, Zack!" before running into the kitchen.

Uh-oh.

"Mommy, today at school was so fun! We-," but then she stopped when she saw Troy. "Oh, hello. My name's Eva. Pleased to meet you." She extended her hand politely.

"Troy," he answered, clearly shocked, as he shook her hand.

"I'm gonna go play in my room, mommy," said Eva before running from the room.

There was a long, awkward silence.

"You... have a daughter?" asked Troy hoarsely.

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"Are you living with someone? Are you engaged? Married?"

She shook her head.

"How old is she?"

Gabriella was going to try and lie, but stopped herself. Enough with the lies, she thought. He's going to find out someday.

"Five,"

Troy thought about that. "When's her birthday?"

"...June 1st." She knew he was putting the pieces together.

"That means..." he mused. "You got pregnant around September... of our senior year?" he breathed.

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"So that's why you left," he said, staring at her.

"Partly," she said quietly. "I couldn't stand it. I almost felt responsible."

"Well, you were responsible,"

Gabriella stared at Troy, shocked. "Wait, what?"

"Who else is there to blame?" asked Troy, his voice building.

Gabriella stared at him.

"I mean, you're the one that had sex with some guy while we were dating!"

Her mouth fell open. He thought she'd done this by choice? "No, Troy, you-,"

"Who was it?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Gabriella paused. Realizing how bad this sounded, she muttered, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he shouted, standing up quickly. "You were with more than one guy?"

"Of course not, Troy, you don't understand-!"

"I understand perfectly!" he roared, striding towards the door.

"No, Troy, please listen-,"

"I've had enough!" he yelled, opening the door. "You caused me enough pain and hurt when you disappeared, but now this? I'm sorry, Gabriella – no wait. You're the one who should be sorry." And he walked out, slamming the door behind him so forcefully that the house seemed to shake.

Gabriella stared at the door as she started crying. He didn't believe her. He wouldn't even listen to her.

She broke down and sobbed, crying and sputtering like a child into her arms. She felt small hands encircle her as she lay crying.

"It's okay, mommy," came Eva's calm, soothing voice. "Shh, mommy, it's okay. I'm still here for you. I love you."

Gabriella's nose was running. She hadn't cried in so long; it felt great to relieve all of her emotions. Finally she broke away from her daughter and stood up shakily. "Thank you Eva," she whispered as she went into the kitchen to grab a tissue. She blew her nose. "I love you too."

"What did he say, mommy?" asked Eva gently as she sat on the bar stool. "What did he do that made you cry?"

She hesitated. "Eva, remember when I told you about your daddy? About how he made me play the game but I didn't want to?"

Eva nodded.

"Well, Troy was my friend in high school, and he thinks that I wanted to play the game with that boy."

"Oh," Eva said simply. And then, "But why didn't you just tell him?"

"I tried," said Gabriella softly. "But he didn't want to listen."

Eva paused. "So maybe he's not really a good friend."