Disclaimer – I do not own High School Musical or any related characters
Summary – Gabriella Montez moves to New Mexico to escape a tragedy and heal from it. Once there she meets Troy Bolton and he tries to help her come to terms with what happened. It's a Troyella.
SAVING ME
CHAPTER 1
SOMEONE'S WATCHING OVER ME
Gabriella Montez sighed in frustration as she realized that the book she was reading was coming to a close. She hated it when another book ended; it meant that she had to return to her reality, a reality that she would love to forget. Her eyes began to wander around her room, it was big, she had the biggest room in the house, even though she had wanted her mother to have it. Her eyes drifted over the desk which was neat and orderly, her bookshelf, her stereo system and than found there way back to the page, which no longer held her interest. With another sigh of frustration, she marked the page and threw it aside. Standing up she stretched and glanced at the clock. 8:15pm. She froze and tears filled her eyes as she remembered why she had wanted to escape reality, why the time on the clock caused her to freeze and her eyes to fill with tears. It was the time she had last seen him alive and not, well not healthy, but definitely alive.
Flashback
"Come here Gabi, I want to show you something" Carlos Montez called to his only child.
Gabriella groaned but obeyed, setting her pencil down, she walked over to her father, who seemed more yellow than he had that morning. She sat down next to him and he wrapped an arm around her, giving her the sense of security that only a father could give a daughter.
"This is your mother and me on our wedding day, it was a photo that one of our friends had taken and given to us. I just found it and I want you to have it" he handed her the photo.
Gabriella looked at it and smiled her parents we're slow dancing and they were looking at each other like they were the only ones in the world. It was a good photo, her father looked strong and healthy, the way he did before he had gotten sick and her mother looked gorgeous.
"Thanks dad" she said hugging him.
"I love you Gabriella Anne Montez and don't you ever forget that" he whispered in her ear.
"I love you too daddy" she replied enjoying the moment, knowing that he wouldn't be around for much longer, moments like this were to be treasured and she knew that.
She pulled back and rested her head on his chest, glancing at the clock. 8:15.
"I have homework to do, I'll be quick and than we'll watch a movie okay?" she said standing up.
"Yes sweetie" he replied smiling sadly, a look in his eye that said he wouldn't be doing that.
Gabriella smiled and stood up.
"I love you Gabi" he said as she walked out.
"I love you too" she replied and smiled.
Finish
Gabriella felt the tears slide down her cheeks as she thought about how lucky she was that she had told him that she loved him, she'd heard stories about how some daughters had yelled at their fathers and never had gotten to take it back. She knew she had been lucky to have him for the time she had him for, she knew that he had cheated time for a bit. Still this knowledge didn't make it any easier to pick up the pieces, she was still broken and she still didn't know how to pick up the pieces. She didn't know if she could pick up the pieces, outwardly she was being strong for her mother, but inside she couldn't feel anything. She was numb; it was the strangest feeling in the world. She could laugh and cry and smile, but she didn't feel the happiness that came with that or the sadness. Well she did, but she didn't. Emotions were distant; she could still feel them but not the way she used to. Happiness didn't flood through her body; no emotion flooded her body any more. Glancing at the clock again she froze again and than started to shake. It 8:20 and her memory wasn't failing her.
Flashback
"GABRIELLA! Call an ambulance" her mother screamed in panic.
Gabriella jumped up and ran into the lounge room, panicked by her mothers tone, her heart filled with dread. She stood in the doorway, frozen; her father was on the floor twitching uncontrollably, his eyes were staring at her blankly.
"Gabriella!" her mother screamed again, Gabriella snapped into action.
She pulled out her phone and dialed 911. Quickly and efficiently she gave them the address and the symptoms and repeated the instructions that they gave her to her mother. She hung up and knelt down pulling her fathers head onto her lap. As she looked at her father's pain filled eyes, Gabriella was filled with indescribable fear. She was going to lose him.
Finish
Gabriella sat down on her bed, unable to believe that she could remember something like that. She wanted to block it out but it happened every night, every time she looked at the clock. She would remember what she had been doing that day and it drove her crazy. She'd taken to avoiding looking at the time, because every time she did she would zone out of whatever she was doing and be filled with another memory, memories that she wanted to block. A knock on the door made her jump.
"Come in" she called quickly wiping the tears away from her eyes.
Carmen Montez opened the door to her daughter's new room and walked in. She gazed at her daughter and knew that she had been crying, no matter how much she tried to hide it from her mother. Carmen walked over to her daughter's bed and sat down next to her.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly and Gabriella nodded.
"Yeah mom, I'm fine" she replied avoiding her mothers worried gaze.
"Okay, you've got school tomorrow" Carmen said gently, wishing Gabriella would stop lying to her.
Gabriella nearly groaned. She had temporarily forgotten that she had a new school to go to; in fact she had temporarily forgotten that she had moved. Her mother had needed to get away from the house; her memories and Gabriella had had to follow. As much as she hadn't wanted to.
"Thanks mum" Gabriella said and made an attempt at a smile.
"I know it was hard Gabi, but it was all for the best" Carmen said sadly.
Gabriella suddenly felt bad; she had been giving her mother short answers ever since she had told her that her company was allowing her to relocate to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Leaning over she gave her mother a hug.
"I know mom, I know" she replied and let her go.
"Don't stay up to late" was all her mother said as she left, shutting the door.
Gabriella sighed as she stared at the shut door; she had to remember that her mother was suffering as much as she was. Gabriella grabbed her remote and turned on her stereo, Hilary Duff's voice filled her room. As much as she hated Hilary Duff, she couldn't help but like this song.
I found myself today oh I found myself and ran away
Something pulled me back
Voice reason I forgot I had
All I know is your not here to say
What you always used to say
But it's written in the sky tonight
So I won't give up
No I won't break down
Sooner than it seems
Life turns around
And I will be strong
Even if it all goes wrong
When I'm standing in the dark
I'll still believe
Someone's watching over me
I've seen that ray of light
And it's shining on my destiny
Shining all the time
I won't be afraid
To follow everywhere it's taking me
All I know is
Yesterday is gone
Right now I belong
To this moment
To my dreams
So I won't give up
No I won't break down
Sooner than it seems
Life turns around
And I will be strong
Even when it all goes wrong
And when I'm standing in the dark
I'll still believe
Someone's watching over me
It doesn't matter what people say
It doesn't matter how long it takes
Believe in yourself and you'll find
It only matters how true you are
Be true to yourself and follow your heart
So I won't give up
No I won't break down
Sooner than it seems
Life turns around
And I will be strong
Even when it all goes wrong
And when I'm standing in the dark
I'll still believe
Someone's watching over me
Gabriella knew that her face was wet with tears as the song came to a close, but she couldn't be bothered to wipe them away. It had already gone wrong, and what if life didn't turn around? What if she was stuck like this forever? What if she was numb forever? What if she still kept on falling and no-one saved her? How did she know that he was watching over her? Why did this have to happen to her? The questions swirled around Gabriella's head causing her to feel dizzy. She knew that there was no answers, just endless questions that no-one could answer, least of all herself. No matter how hard she tried to answer those questions the only thing it led to was more questions, questions that she tried to answer. It was a never ending circle that led back to one simple question. Why? That was the question that Gabriella wanted to answer the most, but she couldn't. It was impossible, the question that no-one could give her an answer to. She hated the question, she hated it so much because it evaded an answer, no explanation seemed good enough, doctors could offer scientific answers, the church could offer ridiculous religious ones, her own mother could combine the two and offer an odd one, her friends could put all three together and offer an even stranger one. But none of them answered the question, maybe because she knew that they couldn't answer it. Gabriella wanted an answer that was different, an answer that maybe didn't answer the question but she could find comfort in and none of them were right, they were just opinions that were drilled into the person that offered them, she needed a real answer. An answer that could help thaw her heart and allow emotion back in and peace back in. A peace that she craved desperately, a peace that everyone seemed to have but her, a peace that had been evading her for what seemed like forever, a peace that she knew she needed.
"Brilliant Gabriella" she muttered as her head began to ache at all the thinking.
Gabriella stood up and headed to the bathroom, she pulled out some Advil and gulped down two of the blue pills, before brushing her teeth. She yelled a 'Goodnight' downstairs to her mother, who returned the favor and walked into her room and shut the door. Quickly she locked her balcony door and slipped under the covers, she reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. Rolling onto her side she stared into the dark, wishing that the answer would magically come to her. Wishing that the world was back to normal. Wishing that she didn't have to start a new school tomorrow. Wishing she knew if someone was watching over her.
"Don't be silly, Gabriella, no-one's watching over you" she scolded herself.
But what if someone was? What if someone was actually doing exactly that, protecting her from more pain and hurt? Her eyes started to grow heavy and her thinking slowly slowed down, before she went to sleep, she heard herself say something that she desperately wanted to believe.
"Someone's watching over me"