DISCLAIMER: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.
A/N: Here is the next chapter! I really hope you all liked the last one; I know it's pretty sad but that's what happens, I should know. Anyway, enjoy this one, cause it might get a little bit sad soon.
Saving Me
CHAPTER 7
SAVIN' ME
Gabriella peeked into the gym, searching for Troy. It wasn't that hard to spot him, he was the only one in the gym. She smiled a little bit and walked in hesitantly. She hadn't spoken to Troy since she had broken down on him that morning; still she felt that she needed to talk to him. But, was he going to want to talk to her? What if he thought she was weird? It wasn't every day that someone broke down in front of you, but than again it wasn't every day that someone actually cared enough to take the person to a safe place so that they could compose themselves. Gabriella barely noticed that she had almost reached Troy, until she heard the basketball bounce on the hard wooden floor. She jumped and smiled at him weakly as he turned to discover her standing there.
"Hey" she said softly, unsure whether the shocked look on his face meant that he was happy to see her or not.
"Hi" he replied with a smile and Gabriella relaxed.
She stood in silence for a moment and watched as he took another shot at basket, she admired how he seemed to make what he was doing look so easy. She knew that he probably was barely trying; her father had been the same natural athlete.
"So, are you okay now?" Troy asked snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh yeah, about that, I kind of came to apologize-" he cut her off.
"You don't need to, it's fine" he told her smiling softly, Gabriella felt her stomach flip at his smile. How could he make that happen? No-one had ever been able to do that to her.
"It's just that I'm not usually like that, I don't break down like that. I can usually compose myself and get on with the day but……" Gabriella trailed off; she didn't know if she could tell him the rest, she didn't know if she could tell him he was one of the reasons that she hadn't been able to compose herself, she didn't know if she could tell him that he was the reason that she was thawing.
"But?" he questioned taking another shot.
"Um, today was different?" she tried weakly and he turned to look at her, Gabriella bit her lip as his bright blue eyes bore into her brown ones.
"You're a very bad liar Gabriella" he commented and broke the hypnotizing gaze.
Gabriella froze, how could he tell? Was she really that transparent? He'd only known her for three days, he'd only just met her and he could see straight through her. How did that work? It couldn't, could it? How could he just read her like that? Her own mother couldn't and he could, that didn't work, at least it shouldn't be like that.
"How do you know I'm lying?" she asked and than wanted to kick herself. Smart Gabriella, you just told him you were lying, she thought as he glanced at her.
"Because you just told me" Troy replied with a smug grin and Gabriella wanted to groan.
She didn't, instead she stood and watched as he did a lay-up, she kept on trying to think of something to say to him and every time she opened her mouth nothing came out. Gabriella sighed and closed her eyes, wondering if there was anything that she could say to him. What do you talk about when there's nothing left to say? But, what if there was? Maybe she just didn't know what had been left unsaid.
"Are you okay?" Troy's worried voice broke into her thoughts and Gabriella opened her eyes.
She jumped back as she realized how close they were to each other and than blushed when he gave her a strange look. She looked down at the floor and than up again to meet his devastatingly blue eyes.
"I……don't know, Troy" she replied quietly and than looked away from him, she had never felt so……forced. She felt as if he was forcing the truth out of her, Gabriella couldn't see a way out, she wanted a way out and she just didn't have one.
"Gabriella, how can you not know how you feel?" he asked and she stared at him; he sounded so practical, like he knew that you could always know how you feel and Gabriella wished she was that sure. She wished that she could have the confidence to say something like that.
"I just don't! There is no word to describe how I feel; it's like pain and sadness and safety and who knows what else mixed into one swirling vortex of emotion and I'm caught in the middle of it, how do you describe something like that, Troy?" she snapped at him and than looked at the ground, her eyes burning with tears, this wasn't fair. How could one boy manage to get the truth out of her, even when it was probably the thing she guarded the best?
Gabriella felt a single tear slide down her cheek and she looked at the ground, why had she come here? She should have just let it be and waited for him to come to her. Gabriella felt another tear slide down her cheek and she wished that he didn't get this reaction from her, how could he get this reaction from her? Her own mother had been desperately trying to get something like this from her for months and Gabriella had resisted every attempt, every tear her mother had shed trying to get her to talk, every sad comment, every time her mother had said something to a friend that she had overheard. Everything. And all it had taken was one boy and her defenses had crumbled. One boy and her numbness had begun to recede, one boy and the entire story had come out in detail, one boy who did something to her that Gabriella couldn't explain, one boy and she was falling towards him. Another tear fell and Gabriella lifted her arm to wipe them away only to discover that's Troy's hand was already there, wiping away her tears with his thumb. Gabriella looked up at him in astonishment as another tear fell; again he caught it with his thumb. Gabriella swallowed hard.
"You can't, Gabriella, you can't describe something like" he told her softly and Gabriella let out a sob and he pulled her too him, Gabriella buried her head in his chest again as she cried.
She wished that she wasn't doing this; she wished she had control over what was happening to her, over anything. She held onto to Troy because at the moment he seemed to be the only constant thing in her life, her life that had seemed to begun again three days ago when she had run into him.
"It's so hard" she choked out as more tears fell down her face in a now well worn path. Troy didn't reply he just rested his chin on the top of her head and tightened his grip slightly.
"Troy?" a shocked voice asked and they both jumped.
"Gabriella?" another voice asked at the same time.
Gabrielle pulled away from Troy in horror at being caught crying. Quickly she wiped her tears away and looked around to see who had spoken, her eyes landed on Taylor and Chad who were standing in the doorway with shocked expressions. Gabriella glanced down to discover that Troy's arm was still around her waist, she began to blush.
"What are you guys doing?" Chad asked with raised eyebrows and Taylor folded her arms with a scowl.
"Um, well you see, wait what are you guys doing here?" Troy shot back and Gabriella stepped away from Troy even more, his arm slipped from her waist and Gabriella felt a strange emptiness when his arm slipped away fully, she hugged herself to make up for it but found that it wasn't the same.
"Gabriella? Are you going to join in this conversation anytime soon?" Taylor asked sarcastically.
Gabriella turned her big brown eyes to Taylor who recoiled at the redness of them and the sadness in them.
"Sorry, what were you talking about?" she asked quietly looking at the ground and Chad and Troy stopped arguing to look at her, Chad weirdly and Troy worriedly.
"Gabriella?" Troy said and she looked at the ground.
Gabriella bit her lip and than looked back up. "Yeah?" she replied.
"Gabriella, we have to get to practice" Taylor jumped in before Troy could say anything.
"Okay, I'll see you later Troy" she said turning to him and wishing she could say more to him without breaking down.
"Yeah, we'll talk later" he nodded at her and Gabriella looked up at him with a questioning look.
"There were a lot of things left unsaid" Troy said and Taylor pulled Gabriella out of the gym before she could respond to Troy's words.
Gabriella kept on glancing back at the gym as Taylor dragged her to the science lab. What had been left unsaid? Did he know what she had wanted to say? Did he want to hear what she had to say? Gabriella shivered as she remembered how she had felt in his arms. She had felt so safe and protected, like everything was going to be okay.
"Gabriella, before we go in I have a question to ask you" Taylor and Gabriella stopped outside the science lab and Gabriella looked at her curiously.
"Go ahead" Gabriella said hugging herself again; she could still feel Troy's arms around her.
"Okay, I know I've only known you for like a day, but why were you hanging out with Troy Bolton and hugging him? Because you do know that Troy is a lunk-headed basketball player, right?" Taylor asked and Gabriella raised her eyebrows.
"What makes you think that?" she asked.
"He's a jock, doesn't that explain everything?" Taylor replied and Gabriella shook her head.
"Taylor, why are you saying this?" Gabriella said curiously.
"Because your paths shouldn't cross, ask anyone! You're the new girl and he's the popular guy, besides your smart, you guys shouldn't have been hanging out" she explained and Gabriella shook her head again.
"Look, Taylor, maybe there's more to Troy Bolton than meets the eye" Gabriella said and Taylor let out a disbelieving laugh.
"When I see something more, I'll believe that hell has frozen over" she replied and Gabriella gave up. She knew that Taylor wasn't going to believe her, Gabriella wasn't even sure that Gabriella believed herself. Still there was something different about Troy; Gabriella didn't know what was different, he just wasn't like any of the other jocks that she had met.
Taylor looked at the girl standing in front of her hugging herself and wondered why she had chosen Troy Bolton, of all people, to be caught with. Anyone else and Taylor would have been fine with it, but Troy Bolton most popular guy at East High? Would never waste his time on the new girl, Taylor had been in the same classes as Troy since grade four and he had always been the popular boy who had been living in his privileged, basketball orientated world, never once giving the outside world a second glance or a new student. Taylor liked Gabriella and she didn't see how Gabriella fitted into that world, the only thing that seemed to were the cheerleaders and even they only just fitted in. It was only a matter of time before Gabriella was pushed to one side and Troy hurt her.
"Look, Gabriella, I just don't want you to get hurt by the jocks that's why I asked" Taylor spoke without thinking and Gabriella stared at her.
"It's okay Taylor, thank you for looking out for me" Gabriella replied and Taylor shrugged and walked into the lab, if Gabriella wasn't going to listen to her than she couldn't do anything but be there for her when the time came.
Gabriella stood, leaning against her balcony railing, gazing at the twinkling stars; her mind replaying the days events. Gabriella sighed as she thought about Troy and his strange, yet appealing effect on her. How did one boy manage to make her forget her questions? How did one boy manage to break down all her defenses with one look? How could he make her feel so safe with one smile? What was she doing? What was he doing to her? Gabriella knew what she was doing; she was falling and thawing at the same time, but she didn't know what Troy was doing. Was she meant to? What was he doing to her? Gabriella groaned in frustration as a new song came blaring from her stereo.
Prison gates won't open up for me
On these hands and knees I'm crawling
Oh, I reach for
I'm terrified of these fall walls
These iron bars can't hold my soul in
All I need is you
Come please I'm calling
And oh I scream for you
Hurry I'm falling
I'm falling
Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth savin' me
Heaven's gates won't open up for me
With these broken wings I'm falling
And all I see is you
These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story
Come please I'm calling
And all I need is you
Hurry I'm falling
I'm falling
Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth savin' me
Yeah, yeah hey
And all I need is you
Come please I'm calling
And oh I scream for you
Hurry I'm falling
I'm falling
I'm falling
I'm falling
Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
And it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth savin' me
Hurry I'm falling
And say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth savin' me
Gabriella stood frozen as the song finished. Was that what Troy was doing? She had been yelling for someone to come and help her. While she had been numb she had been trapped as well by something that was like iron bars and she couldn't go anywhere, not even on her hands and knees. But now she was thawing, and that meant that she was falling from something that was close to something like an eighteenth story ledge. She needed someone to teach her wrong from right now, she needed someone to show her what it was like to be the last one standing, she needed someone to because she had forgotten what it was like to feel like that. Gabriella needed someone to save her and she wondered, was that what Troy was doing? Was he the one she was screaming for? Was he the one to teach her? Gabriella bit her lip. Was he saving her? Gabriella looked up at the night sky and closed her eyes. She remembered how she had felt in his arms, so safe and protected; his arms seemed to make everything okay. She remembered thinking that he was the one she was falling towards. Gabriella's eyes snapped open, she'd known him for three days and she knew that he was the one saving her. But her thoughts posed a different question, was the falling towards him or was she falling for him?
A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner, but our internet kept crashing and restarting again and we had to get it fixed. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! I know Carmen hasn't been featuring much in the last two but I wanted to concentrate on Gabriella's feelings towards Troy, but I promise Carmen will feature next chapter. I'll update soon!