Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.
A/N: I'm am so so sorry for the massive delay with this chapter. As I said, I was on vacation, and I just got back. On top of that, I was having writer's block with this chapter, and I re-wrote the opening six different times. I just didn't know where I wanted to go with it, so I hope this chapter is alright. I personally feel it isn't up to my usual standards, but I'll let you be the judge.
So that last chapter was fun. This chapter deals with everyone else's reactions to Troy's death. That's about it. Enjoy!
Gabriella sat at her kitchen table, a bowl of dry cereal in front of her. She picked up her spoon and absently twirled it between her fingers, watching the light streaming through the window play off the silver, reflecting onto the wall behind her. It was February 15, a day after Troy's death.
Tears sprang into her eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time as she thought about Troy. On any other day, she would have been getting ready for school, kissing her mother goodbye as she climbed into Troy's car for their ride to school. Just thinking about that seemed to make her very soul ache with longing for her boyfriend. He hadn't been gone two days and she already felt like they'd been apart for a lifetime.
Sighing, Gabriella tossed the spoon carelessly to the side, pushing the bowl of cereal away from her. A soft sigh came from the doorway, drawing her attention away from the table.
"You need to eat something, Gabi" her mother said quietly, crossing the room and sitting across from her daughter. "You're killing yourself."
"I'm not hungry," Gabriella whispered, shaking her head slightly. She sat back in her chair, looking at the table rather than meet her mother's gaze.
"Gabi, I know how hard this is for you. But you have to take care of yourself. Troy never would have-"
"How do you know what Troy wanted?" Gabriella shouted, more tears pouring down her face as she stood up and faced her mother. Ms. Montez gaped, startled at the sudden change in Gabriella's emotions.
"Gabi, I didn't mean to-"
Gabriella cut her off by storming from the room, holding her sleeve over her face as she ran. Ms. Montez heard a door slam somewhere in the house, indicating that Gabriella had locked herself in her room. She shook her head in defeat, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed quietly into her hands.
Chad shut the door of his car and stood silently in the parking lot of the school for a moment, gazing unseeingly at the large group of students gathered in front of the building. News of Troy's death had spread quickly throughout the student body, and the night before hundreds of students had gathered at the front steps, placing flowers and cards atop the already huge pile.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Chad joined Jason and Zeke, who had each gotten out of their respective cars around the same time, and the three started toward the group. Chad noted sadly the bandage covering the row of stitches on Jason's cheek, a painfully obvious reminder of the way things had spiraled out of control.
"Let's get this over with," he sighed, slinging his bag over his shoulder and taking the lead as they walked toward the school. Sympathetic glances were thrown their way as they moved slowly through the crowd, glances full of pity and deep sadness. The three friends averted their eyes as they pushed their way to the steps of the school, afraid to look into the eyes of any of their classmates.
They reached the front of the crowd, and were immediately taken aback at the sheer number of flowers and cards that were piled there. No one had realized what an impact Troy had had on the school community, or even on the outside community. Thinking about the potential his best friend had held only made Chad feel sick.
"I didn't realize so many people liked him," Jason said quietly.
"I had no idea he touched so many lives," Zeke added, gazing in slight shock at the memorial.
Chad didn't say anything, too overcome with emotion to speak. Suddenly, he felt as though he were being suffocated. Overtaken by his need for air, he ran blindly away from the crowd of people, unaware of anything around him. The grief he had been pushing away seemed to have hit him all at once, and it seemed to be attempting to choke him with its sheer intensity.
Sobbing, Chad ran to the parking lot, falling to his knees the second his feet hit the pavement. Oblivious to the people that had followed him in concern, he leaned forward and retched violently onto the pavement in front of him, sick with grief.
Taylor stood on the other side of the crowd, not bothering to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt as though she were an outsider in all of the events, someone looking in from the outside. Gabriella had loved him, Chad had been his best friend for years. Jason and Zeke had played ball with him for so long. Even Sharpay and Ryan were more closely connected to Troy, having been present when he was shot. Only Taylor had no close connection with him, other than being his friend. What upset her most was that everyone close to her was hurting more deeply than she could fathom.
Wiping at her eyes, Taylor looked toward the parking lot, just in time to see Chad running from the crowd and falling to his knees on the pavement. Startled, Taylor took off running toward her boyfriend, reaching him just as he began to throw up. Biting back her own tears, she rubbed his back gently, pulling him into her arms as he sobbed uncontrollably.
"Come on, people, leave them alone," Zeke was shouting at the small crowd gathered around the couple, herding them back toward the front of the school. Jason was kneeling on Chad's opposite side, looking worriedly at Taylor.
"Is he alright?" Jason asked, his hand resting on his friend's shoulder.
"I don't think so," Taylor whispered, her heart breaking as she held Chad in her arms. "I don't think he ever will be."
Sharpay stood in her bathroom, staring at her haggard reflection in the mirror. The shooting and the ensuing events had affected her so greatly that she had refused to leave her bedroom since coming home the night before, worrying both Ryan and their parents.
She hadn't slept soundly since the shooting, afraid of the nightmare's that would plague her. The only time she did manage to fall asleep, the image of Troy's bloodied and lifeless body lying in front of her played continually in her mind.
"Shar?" Ryan asked quietly from outside the door, knocking softly on the wood. "Are you in there?"
"I'm here," she called back quietly, her voice void of all emotion and vibrancy.
"Are you okay?"
Sharpay contemplated the question for a moment, wondering if she should tell her twin the truth. Sighing, she answered.
"No."
She heard Ryan sigh on the other side, telling her he felt the same.
"Can I come in?"
Sharpay slowly opened the bathroom door, coming face to face with her twin brother. Ryan's face held the same haunted look as Sharpay's, his eyes dull and filled with sadness. In a single moment, the unspoken words passed between them, each silently sharing their pain with the other. Sharpay stepped forward and buried her face in Ryan's shoulder, sobbing heavily.
Kelsi sat at the piano in her living room, slowly picking out a tune on the ivory keys. She had decided against going to school, too afraid to face the reality of what had happened. She knew that others were skipping out, as evidenced by the fact that Jason had called and said he was coming over.
Kelsi picked up her pen and leaned forward, scribbling a few words onto her notebook. Troy's death had sparked a chain reaction inside her, and it had ended up leading her to the piano where she was currently working on a song in Troy's memory. Sitting up straight, she picked out a few more notes on the keys, stopping suddenly. She picked up the paper and looked at it, silently letting it slip from her hands and fall to the ground. Folding her arms, Kelsi rested her head on them, sobbing quietly as she pressed onto the keys of the piano.
The sound of the doorbell startled her, forcing her to dry her eyes and answer the door. Jason stood on her doorstep, his eyes red from crying, a bandage across his cheek and his left eye blackened.
"Jason? What happened to your face?" she asked, momentarily forgetting why he was even at her house at nine o'clock in the morning on a school day.
"I got into a fight with Chad yesterday," he said, brushing concern aside and walking into her house. "Thanks for letting me come over. I tried to go to school, but I just couldn't handle it. Everyone was crying, and then Chad lost it. Taylor had to take him home. I was too afraid to stick around and deal with the pity anymore."
"It's alright," Kelsi said, leading him into the living room and sitting next to him on the couch. "I know how hard this is for you, what with you being there and all."
Jason brushed tears from his eyes as he nodded.
"I wish I could have done something, you know? I wish I could have helped him."
"I know, Jase, I know," Kelsi said, wrapping him in a hug as the two sobbed together.
Kellie sat on the couch in the Bolton's living room, her sister, Angela, and her mother next to her, trying to console her through their own tears. Jack was dealing with the steady stream of people who had come to offer their condolences with the help of Kellie's father and older brother. Jack's parents were due to fly in later that day, but Kellie's lived only a few minutes away.
"Have you thought about the funeral?" Kellie's dad, Andrew, asked Jack as they put yet another bouquet of flowers on the table. Jack shook his head tiredly, unable to answer the question.
"If you want, I could take care of it," Liam, Kellie's brother, offered, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder in support. "You and Kellie shouldn't have to worry about it right now, Dad and I can handle the arrangements."
"There shouldn't have to be arrangements," Jack whispered, running a hand along the petals of one of the flowers. "No parent should have to make funeral arrangements for their child."
Liam and Andrew looked at each other sadly, knowing there was nothing they could do to ease Jack's pain.
"Look, Jack, if there's anything we can do to help, anything at all-" Andrew began, but Jack cut him off with a slight shake of his head.
"I just want to bury my son," Jack said quietly, tears falling from his eyes. "And then I want to bring the kid who did this to justice."
A/N: So, that was weird. I personally don't care for this chapter, but I wanted to get all that out of the way before I start focusing on individuals, and on the Ryella relationship. Reviews greatly appreciated, as always!
Coming in Chapter 8: The actual funeral. That's all I'll say. Maybe a little Drew part in there, I haven't decided. I think it's time he came back in the picture.
NOTE: I know this is a little crazy, but I'm going to try to update this as much as humanly possible the next week. July 11 I am going to Greece on a trip with my class and won't be back for nine days. Two days after that I go to Houston for a leadership forum. So pretty much any updates for July will be done in the next week, with the exception of maybe one in the middle. I hope to finish this story in August, before school starts, so I can start a fresh story with the new school year.