The moment you've all been waiting for...
Chapter 9
Trying to Matter
Troy remembered not even an hour and a half later getting the news that Kelsi was dead. Gabriella had been inconsolably devastated. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to his heart as he watched her collapse on the wet sidewalk just outside the emergency room doors. Watched her sob and sob until she could hardly breathe. Kelsi's blood still lightly speckled her shirt, dyed brightly into her hands. Troy just stood there. Stood there unsure of what to do. What could he do? Nothing. He could do absolutely nothing.
"Gabriella," Troy placed a shaky hand on her back, kneeling down to her. She refused to make eye contact with him but fisted the fabric of his shirt up in her hands and it through with tears as she screamed agony into his chest. People hurrying through the emergency room doors merely gave them a passing glance as they refocused their attentions to their own emergency. Troy tugged Gabriella as gently as he could away from the entrance to sit just a few feet nearby. A gutter near their feet over flooded with the much needed rain water. Troy's wet bangs stuck to his forehead and fell into his eyes as he held Gabriella as tightly as he could. She began hyperventilating against him, her fresh wave of tears just making it harder for her to breathe.
"Gabriella," Troy said softly. "You have to calm down. You're going to make yourself sick baby. Please…please look at me." But Gabriella was too far gone for any condolence.
"It's my fault!" she screamed kneading her knuckles into the denim of Troy's soaked jeans. "She's dead! Kelsi's dead and it's all my fault…"
"Please don't say that Gabriella…listen to me," getting slightly frustrated and beginning to feel hopeless Troy pulled Gabriella off of him and took a firm hold of both of her arms, forcing eye contact with her. "Listen to me! Okay? Just listen to me. It's not…your…fault. You couldn't have done anything more then you did. Kelsi's dead. But it's not your fault. You have to understand that." Gabriella stared up at him. If looks could kill Troy would have been dead.
"Get away from me Troy," Gabriella's gaze burned into his eyes. Her voice had dropped significantly as she was still struggling to catch her breath.
"What?" Troy asked gently, confused. Only then did he notice how hard he was gripping her. Only then did he realize his voice had risen and his tone had turned low and unfamiliar.
"Let…me…go!" Gabriella screamed at him. She squirmed violently to get away but Troy only embraced her tightly to him. She fought against his chest for only a second before giving up and returning to her devastated sobs.
"I'm so sorry Gabriella," Troy whispered, hot tears rolling off of his face and soaking into her hair.
Absolutely nothing he could do.
"I'm so sorry."
That night had so far proven to be the worst of Troy's entire life. He still had nightmares about sitting with her out in the rain. He had nightmares about himself towering over her and bruising her skin. He still regretted having scared her.
"This dog better stay clean is all I can say," Chad replied. He was lying on the grass, one of his hands resting behind his head and the other rested on Mozart's back. Taylor, Troy, and Gabriella sat at Taylor's picnic table sipping on iced tea and nibbling at some oatmeal cookies.
"It was really Docker's fault," Taylor replied, rolling her eyes, giving no remorse about blaming her own dog. Troy laughed.
"You're not a very good doggy mommy." Taylor shrugged.
"He was thrusted upon me…I had no say in the matter." Docker nuzzled his snout underneath Taylor's hand and gave it a thorough licking. She groaned. "Thanks boy." Gabriella stared at her friends smiling gently. She wondered if it was time to speak up. Time to spill what she knew. These were the three people she knew she could trust more then anyone in the world. She jumped as she received a poke to the side.
"Hey!"
"Something on your mind?" Troy asked a smile on his face as he kept a hand clutched on to her. Slowly she nodded.
"I need to tell you guys something." Chad sat up, immediately more alert and intent on Gabriella then he had been before. Taylor and Troy set their gazes on her. Even Mozart seemed to perk her ears up at the ready. "You guys don't know everything that happened that night. And because you were all as much Kelsi's friends as I was I think it's only fair that I tell you what happened."
"What's wrong Gabby?" Chad sat up anxiously. Troy gripped her hand. He wondered what she could have possibly kept from him. Gabriella took a deep breath, knowing what was to come.
It was time to relieve the remainder of that night.
Flashback
Gabriella had taken the wheel of Troy's car and after watching Taylor pull out of the parking lot she stuck the keys into the ignition. Troy stared out the window, hoping that she would be safe. As cautious as she was Gabriella wasn't willing to take any risks in the rainy weather and started off slowly down the road.
"Thanks for doing this Gabby," Kelsi said softly, her hands folded in her lap. She had her head bent and her eyes averted from her.
"No problem Kelsi," Gabriella smiled and punched her lightly in the shoulder, trying what she could to loosen the mood a little. "So what have you been up to lately?"
"Oh not much," Kelsi looked up and smiled, shaking her head. "Just…everything that's been going on has been all a little surreal for me."
"I can imagine," Gabriella said. "Do I turn up here?" Her voice was timid. The road was unfamiliar and slightly curvy. It inclined itself up and the dread of getting lost on the way back crept into her stomach. Kelsi nodded.
"Yes…it's just right over this hill."
"So…how is your aunt?" After Gabriella had asked it she wondered why. The subject of her aunt was probably ranked the lowest thing on the 'things to start a conversation with Kelsi with'. "I'm sorry," she was quick to apologize soon afterward. "You don't have to talk about it. I know it upsets you."
"Oh no it's fine," Kelsi managed a small smile. "She's actually doing a little better then she was a few weeks ago. This cancer…it just keeps coming back and it's hard."
"What are you going to do?" Gabriella asked gently, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she felt the steepness of the incline on her way up the slick road. Kelsi shrugged gently.
"I don't know Gabby. I'm just trying. Trying to stay me you know?" Gabriella gently smiled and squeezed her hand.
"Trying for your aunt?"
"Exactly." The slow trip up the hill became awkwardly quiet and Gabby wished that she had asked Troy to come along with them. She would have felt a lot more comfortable with him behind the wheel then herself. He would know just the right thing to say to Kelsi to make her forget about everything for the short time that she could. Gabriella felt guilty that she had done just the opposite and had now cornered her kind hearted friend into silence as she had nothing left to say. Just as she was about to try and mend things the car began to stall and then the motor cut out completely.
"Oh no," Gabriella moaned, trying anxiously to get the car started again, turning the key around in the ignition. She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. "Just perfect."
"Should we get out and see if we can do anything?" Kelsi asked her eyes wide with worry behind the lenses of her glasses.
"We can try," Gabriella said all the while feeling dread in the pit of her stomach as rain pounded at the roof. "I'm sorry Kelsi."
"It's not your fault Gabby!" Kelsi insisted. "Come on. We'll figure this out together." Gabriella reluctantly opened the car door and stepped out into the wet conditions. A bolt of lightning lit up the otherwise blackened area. The only source of the light the two tense girls would get would come from the dome lamp positioned on the inside of the car. Luckily the road was pretty secluded and they were off to the side pretty well.
"How come I knew something like this would happen?" Gabriella asked as she helped Kelsi open the hood of the car. Kelsi shrugged, smiling as the rain soaked her hair and stuck it to either side of her face.
"It's an adventure Gabby," she said, peering into the engine. She didn't really know what she was looking at.
"Well I'm glad one of us can see it that way!" Gabriella playfully rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should call Troy." At that minute a pair of foreign headlights blinded them as a car made its way behind them. A man, about mid twenties, stepped out of his car (from what Gabriella could tell in the dark it was some sort of fancy mustang) and yelled over at them.
"You girls need any help?"
"Oh yes! Thank you!" Kelsi called back, the rain and wind carrying her voice into the night. Gabriella stared at him skeptically, getting an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Kelsi…," she moaned through gritted teeth. "We don't even know this guy." By this time the stranger had made it over to the two of them and was smiling helpfully. He smelled like smoke and leather. His coat was already fully drenched, his dark hair falling into his face. Gabriella's heart began to beat faster.
"You seem to have gotten yourself into a little situation eh?" he walked over to the front of Troy's car.
"Yeah…it's pretty slick out. I'm thinking that maybe earlier the engine could have flooded a bit," Kelsi said timidly, watching the man reach in and fiddle with something.
"I guess that could be," the stranger said. His voice was gruff, the stubble on his face making Gabriella like him even less. "But I don't know if it's very likely unless you ran through some pretty high flood waters." He turned to look up at Kelsi. He grinned. "You're pretty smart." Kelsi blushed.
"Thanks." Still leaning over the car he caught sight of Gabriella who was hugging her arms close to her body, her shirt thoroughly drenched and her body clearly shaking from stress. Her wet locks hung at her side and her gaze was burning daggers into the strange man. His eyes were making her extremely uncomfortable as he held his gaze longer then would have been acceptable.
"Don't quite have the looks as your friend over there though," he said in a low voice, straightening himself up, still gazing at Gabriella.
"Excuse me?" Kelsi snapped, clearly offended. Ever since becoming friends with Troy and Gabriella and sticking up to Sharpay the night of the musical callbacks Kelsi had become more daring then anyone ever would have thought possible. Not being able to stick up for herself was definitely a thing of the past. Ignoring her completely, the stranger began making his way over to Gabriella.
"You know some one so beautiful shouldn't be out here this late at night. Could get yourself into some trouble," he remarked, reaching a hand out to touch Gabriella's cheek. Gabriella screamed and jumped back.
"What's wrong with you?" Gabriella asked feeling like she was going to throw up. "Don't touch me."
"Get in my car baby girl," he said clearly.
"What?" Gabriella stuttered, her voice wavering dangerously. He reached out and took a bruising hold on her arm.
"Oh my god…please let go," Gabriella started to cry; more out of complete and utter terror then pain. She felt all the awful scenarios from various TV shows about girls getting kidnapped and raped and murdered flood her head. The strangers' free hand reached into the pocket of his coat and he pulled out what looked like a household butcher knife. Gabriella let out a terrified whimper and continued to cry, struggling hard to get away.
"Let…me…go!" she shrieked, continuing to fight as he pulled her in close to his chest. She felt him inhale the scent of her hair. Kelsi launched herself at him from behind and clutched her hands tightly around his neck. Gabriella screamed as the stranger let her go but swung around and managed to hit Kelsi on the side of her neck with the knife. Kelsi's grip immediately was broken as blood flooded down her neck. The stranger seemed to panic. Gabriella saw in his eyes that using the knife hadn't been part of his plan. That slicing into Kelsi was totally an accident. A bad one on his part.
"KELSI!" Gabriella screamed and scrambled down to her wounded friend who was clutching the gash in her neck. She was losing blood fast. The stranger shoved the bloodied knife back into his coat and bulleted towards his car. Soon the headlights illuminated the two helpless girls on the ground and disappeared into the night.
"Hang on Kelsi!" Gabriella pleaded as she held her cell phone, her hands shaking violently as she dialed 911.
"Are…are you okay Gabby?"
"I'm fine Kelsi," Gabriella said not believing the courage coming out of her friend. She clutched her hand tightly and stroked her face. "You're going to be alright Kelsi. I promise. I love you." Kelsi smiled and before Gabriella even had a chance to explain to the 911 operator what had happened, she lost consciousness.
Wet tears raced down Troy's flushed cheeks, fat and hot.
"Gabriella…," he reached out a hand to stroke her cheek. That night began flooding back to him. The moment when he had gripped her outside the hospital. For a minute, he had turned into Kelsi's killer in Gabriella's eyes. For a minute the whole awful scenario had become real for her again. He had gone beyond scaring her.
"So…Kelsi…she…she didn't die in any car accident?" Taylor whispered, her cheeks a sloppy mess of tears as well. Gabriella shook her head, her beautiful doe eyes glistening as the old pain took hold of her. That's what her friends had been told. That it was all just a car accident. Kelsi had died the victim of an unfortunate accident in their minds instead of a hero.
"She saved me," Gabriella murmured, tears dribbling down her chin.
"I…can't believe it," Chad was on the ground, his eyes wide with obvious shock. "How are they going to catch him? The killer? The sorry…sorry bastard that did this?"
"I've been going to the police station to look at line-ups," Gabriella said, her voice barely above a pained whisper. "As of right now there aren't any leads." Troy locked his arms around Gabriella, resting his chin on the top of her head as she started to cry. Everyone grew quietly, only Gabriella's quiet sobs escaping now and then. Mozart stood up, her head tucked low as she trotted over to Gabriella resting her head into her lap. She whined gently, soaking in some of Gabriella's pain. Troy rubbed her back, wiping a tear off his own cheek.
"I'm so sorry Gabriella. I know nothing I can do will take away what happened." She nuzzled under his neck, the bridge of her wet nose tickling his skin.
"But you're trying." Troy grew quiet for a long time. Gabriella managed to keep down a rising sob.
"You're just trying to matter."
More coming soon...
