"Just go, James." Mrs. Montez on the verge of tears.
"But Jen.."
"Please, just go.." Mrs. Montez pleaded. Mr. Montez just nodded, and hung his head low as he stepped out the door. Mrs. Montez shut the door behind her, and cried softly for a few minutes. After pulling herself together, and locking up the house, she slowly walked upstairs to check on Gabriella. Mrs. Montez opened the door to Gabriella's bedroom, and saw her daughter asleep. She stood at the door for a while, just starring over her daughter, then left to go to bed herself.
Gabriella awoke the next morning, her eyes puffy from crying herself to sleep. She got out of bed, and got ready for school. When she and Martin got downstairs, there was a note from her mother.
Gabby & Martin,
Sorry I'm not here. I forget to mention that I had an early shift today. I'm not sure what time I'll be home, I want to try to get as much done possible today. So, I'll call later. And Martin, your mother called early this morning before I left. She's going to pick you up from school today, and spend time with you, then drop you off here. Tom won't be there, so don't worry. Well, I'll see you two later.
-Mom
"Great." Gabriella sighed, still thinking of the night before.
"Yay! I get to see my mom!" Martin said excitedly after Gabriella read the note aloud.
"Yeah." Gabriella smiled. "Well, we better get going so I wont be late to class."
The day went by quickly. The news about Gabriella and Troy's relationship had spread around the school with the most common response being "Finally." or "It's about time." Troy and Gabriella were sitting at the table during lunch when he noticed that she wasn't as happy as she usually was.
"Hey, you okay?" Troy asked, concerned.
"Hmm?" Gabriella asked looking up from her food. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Don't lie, Gabby. You know you can tell me anything." He said, taking her hand in his.
"I know." She sighed.
"Well, did you want to tell me? It's fine if you don't want to talk about it." He looked her in the eye.
"It's my dad." She said.
"What about him? He seemed pretty cool last night. And from the way I saw it, you two were getting along just fine."
"See that's the whole point. I mean, he is nice and all, and we were getting along after I gave him a chance like you said..."
"But.."
"He left again, Troy." She said, tears starting to come down.
"C'mon." He said standing up, grabbing his and her things, then leading her out of the cafeteria. Troy held both of their books, and held her close to him as he led the way to his "secret" spot. After seating themselves on the bench, Gabriella had stopped crying.
"I don't get it, he left?" Troy asked, puzzled. Gabriella nodded.
"He has to be coming back. He wouldn't just come all this way, and go through all that just to find you and your mom for nothing." Gabriella shook her head at his response.
"I overheard my parents last night when I was going to go to the kitchen for a glass of water before i went to sleep. My mom asked if he was staying at the house, but the military got him a free room at a hotel in town. But my mom insisted that he should stay, then he said he couldn't because he had to leave in the morning anyways." She said, starting to cry again. Troy pulled her into a hug, and let her cry into his shirt.
"I'm so sorry." He said sympathetically. Gabriella said nothing, and continued to cry.
"Shh," He rubbed her back. "Hey, do you wanna go out after school or something? I don't have any homework so far. I tried your little method of finishing it in class during free time." He smiled. Gabriella sniffed, and put on a small smile as she nodded.
"Wow, I made Troy Bolton do his homework in class like a nerd." She let out a small laugh as he wiped her tears.
"Hey, I just so happen to like a nerd." He winked, happy to see her smile.
"Well, I just to happen to like this jock." She slapped him playfully.
"Hmm, sounds perfect then." He said, and kissed her lightly on her lips.
"You always know how to make my day don't you?"
"Of course, I'm a pro don't you think?" He said.
"Hm, we'll see. We should be heading back down. The bell is about to ring." She said getting up to grab her books.
"Always on time..." Troy smirked.
"Yep. It's like practicing perfect timing." She said. With that, Troy kissed her again, deepening it.
"How's that for perfect timing?" He grinned, as they broke apart.
"Right on the dot." She smiled, suddenly the bell rang.
"See, perfect." Troy raised his eyebrow.
"Mmkay, don't get too cocky now..." She laughed.
They made their way to their next class. After class was over, Troy waited outside, and walked with her to their lockers to switch their books. An announcement was made over the intercom, while they were at their lockers.
"Gabriella Montez, please report to the front desk. Gabriella Montez, please report to the front desk."
"I wonder what they want." Gabriella said closing her locker.
"Me too." Troy said. "C'mon, I'll walk you, I pass by that way on my way to class."
"Okay." Gabriella said.
"I'll meet you at your locker after school?" Troy asked before he left her at the office.
"Yeah, I don't have to pick up Martin today since his mom is."
"Okay, I better get going to class. See you later." He said, then kissed her on the cheek.
"See you." She said before opening the door to the office.
"Hello dear, how may I help you?" The secretary asked, as Gabriella walked up to the desk. She saw a few students sitting in seats against the wall looking around the room.
"Um, I was called up over the intercom during passing period."
"Okay, and what's your name?"
"Gabriella Montez."
"Montez... Montez..." The secretary said, rummaging through papers. "Ah, yes, Gabriella Montez. You're father is here to speak to you." She said reading the paper. "He's in conference room A, so you two can speak in private." Gabriella gasped.
"My father?" She asked.
"Yes. The conference room is just down the hall, on your right." The woman directed.
"Oh, um, okay. Thank you."
"You're welcome." She smiled.
Gabriella turned, and slowly walked towards the conference room.
Why is he here? I thought he had to leave. What's going on? She thought, then she reached the door, and walked in to find her father in his uniform.
"Hey, Gabby."
"Hey, uh..Dad." She hesitated. She took a seat. There was an awkward silence so Gabriella spoke up. "So, why are you here? At my school I mean."
"I wanted to talk to you."
"About?"
"Well, your mom and I sort of got into a little fight last night."
"Yeah, I heard." Gabriella said softly. "I was going to get some water when I overheard you guys... I didn't listen to everything though."
"Oh. Well, how much did you listen to?"
"Just until the part where you said you had to go back to the base today, so you couldn't stay at the house."
"I see. Well, after that your mom basically pushed me out before I could explain myself."
"So is that why you're here?"
"Well, yeah. I just want you to know that I love you, and that the reason I had to head back to the base today, was to tell them that I was considering quiting my job."
"What?" Gabriella gasped. "Why?"
"Because, it's keeping me from both you and your mother, and it's already kept me away for too long. I've missed watching you grow up, and now you're almost done with high school, and going out with boys, and doing musicals, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. You had to do what you had to do. But you don't have to quit... I mean, can't you just commute or something?"
"I never really thought of that. Hah, you really are a smart one." He smiled.
"So did you already tell them?"
"Yeah, I just got back."
"How'd you get the school to let you talk to me?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, I told them it was a family emergency... which I thought it was at least." He laughed.
"Not exactly what they consider to be an emergency.."
"So did you want to do something after you get out of school?" He asked hopeful.
"Oh, I was kinda gonna hang out with Troy since we don't have homework, and Martin is gonna spend time with his mom..."
"That's fine, Troy can come too if you like. But it's fine if you just want to be with Troy." He said.
"Really? You're okay if Troy goes to?"
"Well, of course. You are my daughter, and he's your boyfriend. I don't want to play the mean father who scares away all the boys. Troy seems like a nice kid."
"He is a great guy." Gabriella smiled. "I'll ask him if he wants to. Maybe we could show you around town."
"I'd like that."
"Cool. Well I think I should get to class so I don't miss out on too much."
"Oh. Right. I'm sorry, I forgot for a second."
"It's fine, I can easily catch up. I'm a quick learner."
"Hah, so, I'll meet you in the front of the school, after you guys get out?"
"Uh, yeah, that'll be fine. I'm pretty sure Troy would love to show you around."
"Okay, I'll see you later then Gabby." He hugged her, and kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you to... Dad." She hugged him, then walked out to go to class.
So, how'd you like it? Well, REVIEW PLEASE! Thanks a bunch guys! Okay, I gotta go, but I'll try and squeez in another update tomorrow! If not, then I wont make you guys wait sooo long again, and if i do, I'll do a double update to make it up to you guys. Ok, byee.