A/N High School Musical Settings and Characters all belong to Kenny Ortega and Disney. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

A/N Camp Rock Settings and Characters all belong to Matthew Diamond and the Disney. Any original characters and this story are copyright © 2011-2018 to Hopelessromanticgurl, all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.


That weekend Troy and the guys had practice at his house so the girls were going to have a girls day out. Gabriella was in her room getting ready as she waited for Taylor to come get her. All Gabriella knew was they were going to swimming and she figured they'd go to the community pool. It had water slides and a diving board. She honestly didn't care as long as they didn't go to Lava Springs where her mother worked. The last person she wanted to see right now was her mother.

"Taylor should be here any second. Are you ready?" Troy asked as he walked into the room.

Gabriella turned to face him and nodded. "Yeah. Just need to grab a towel and I'm all set."

"Are you excited?"

Gabriella nodded once again. "Yeah. I can't wait!"

"Connie and Steve called this morning. They are thinking about having you go home for the weekend. Mitchie and Connie really miss you. Steve does too."

Gabriella frowned instantly. "I'm sure he does." She said sarcastically. "Did you say no?"

"Actually I said I would check with you and let him know."

"Well you checked with me and I said no so you can tell him now."

Troy sighed. "Gabriella…"

"Don't! I'm not going back to them! If Connie and Mitchie miss me so much they can come here. But I refuse to see Steve!" Gabriella said.

"Steve seems like a nice guy. Please tell me why you are so scared of him."

"They all seem like nice guys at first. Then once they gain your trust they throw it out the window and treat you like a bug under their shoe. Actually some of them treated bugs nicer than they treated me."

"Them?" Troy asked. "Who is them?"

Gabriella was quiet for a minute before she answered "All men."

"Even me?"

Gabriella sighed. "No. You're the one and only man that hasn't done that."

"But you gave me a chance to prove myself, why aren't you doing the same with Steve?"

Before she could answer Jack called up to them. "Taylor is here."

"Coming." Gabriella said. She grabbed her towel and went to leave.

Troy gently grabbed her arm to stop her. "Gabriella…"

"Drop it, Troy. Also…if you want to keep my trust in you, tell Steve I will return to him when I'm ready and not when he is ready and he needs to leave me alone and stop asking and pressuring me to return." With that she walked out of the room. Troy sighed. When was she going to open up to him?


The girls talked and laughed the entire car ride. Gabriella didn't really pay attention to where they were until they pulled into the parking lot and then she froze. "What are we doing here?"

"Going swimming. This place is cheaper than the community because we have free guest passes." Taylor said.

"How could you? I trusted you." Gabriella said.

"Gabriella, do you really think we would have come here if we thought you'd see your mom. We called and checked ahead of time. She's not working today."

"She hangs out here all the time. She has a free employee pass too." Gabriella said. "You guys know that."

"She isn't here today. The person we spoke to said she had a meeting or doctor's appointment or something to go to so she wasn't here. We checked and double checked, Gabriella. We're your friends we wouldn't bring you here if we thought it was going to hurt you." Taylor said.

Gabriella sighed.

"How about we go in and if we even see your mom we can leave right away. We will go somewhere else." Mitchie suggested.

Gabriella nodded. "Ok, let's go."

They all gathered their things and went through the gate. Everyone looked around and there was no sign of Maria. Gabriella sighed in relief. "Ok, we can stay."

"Great! Let's pick a spot to get some sun." Taylor said.

The girls laid in the sun with some magazines for a while. But Gabriella couldn't focus. She felt bad about how she left things with Troy. She didn't mean to be so mean or harsh, but she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't go back to Steve. She just couldn't do it. She felt so much safer and more comfortable at Troy's house. She knew Connie and Mitchie missed her and they were hurting because she didn't want to be there but she couldn't help it. Being at that house made her feel trapped and terrified.

"Gabriella ready to go in the water?"

She was thrown from her thoughts by Mitchie.

"Huh?"

"We're all getting hot. Are you ready to get in the water?" Mitchie asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

Gabriella set her magazine down and removed her cover up and followed her friends into the water.

"Are you ok?" Taylor asked. "You seem…far away."

"Just thinking. Troy and I got into a small fight before we left."

"What about?"

"Steve and Connie. They want me to go back and live with them again."

"And you don't want to?"

"No. I don't. I'm not going to either."

"Gabriella…look….I know it's hard for you to trust people but…"

"Stop." Gabriella said. "You don't understand, nobody understands. You guys have the perfect mom and the perfect dad. You've never had to move in with a new family who you barely know."

"You're right. But I do remember when we first met. You were so scared of me. You thought for sure I was going to tell your secrets or betray you or hurt you in some way. But you gave me a chance to prove myself and gain your trust. You did the same with Mitchie when you two first met at that camp. Why are you not doing it with Steve?"

"That's what Troy said."

"What is stopping you from doing that? You've done it with all of us, and even all of our fathers."

Gabriella sighed. "I can't."

"Why don't you at least go call Troy and make up. That will make you feel better."

"Thanks, Tay."

Gabriella got out of the pool and wrapped her towel around her body and sat down on her chair. She grabbed her phone and dialed Troy.

"I'm so so sorry." He said as he answered.

"No, I'm sorry, Troy. I don't know what happen. I just…I get really defensive when it comes to Connie and Steve. I don't know why. I'm really sorry." Gabriella said.

"I am too. I shouldn't have pushed the subject or tried to force you into going back when you aren't ready. I want you to know that I called them back and told them that you weren't going back and to stop asking. You would go back when you're ready."

"Thank you."

"Anything for you. I'm really sorry."

"I am too. I love you."

"I love you too. How is it going with the girls?"

"Good. We're just hanging out, laying by the pool, catching some sun, checking out the hot shirtless boys."

"Gabriella Montez!" Troy scolded playfully.

She giggled. "I'm just kidding. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Go back to practice I'll be home later."

"Ok, have fun with the girls."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

Gabriella hung up the phone with a smile on her face. She felt a lot better.

"Aww isn't that sweet."

Gabriella gasped at the voice and turned around. "Mom…"

"Hello Gabriella, long time no see."

Gabriella gulped.

"I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you were supposed to go home with your father."

"I can't believe you set me up like that." Gabriella said before she let out another gasp. She was started to feel the same weight on her chest that she got when Axel was around. It never happen around her mother before…until now.

"I'm not going to bother explaining myself to you. You know why. I know Chad heard everything and then went running to Troy who told you."

"Tell me." Gabriella gasped.

"Troy didn't tell you?"

Gabriella shook her head but stopped when she suddenly felt dizzy.

"Looks like you really can't trust him, can you? He's keep secrets from you Gabriella."

"Stop!" She gasped.

Tears filled her eyes and she started to shake. She could feel her heart racing.

"Fine, if you really want to know I sent you to live with your father because I didn't want to pay for you to go to Stanford. We could afford it, I just would rather spend the money on something more important, like me."

Gabriella continued to struggle to breathe, no longer able to speak. But hurt spreading through her entire body both physical and mental.

"Oh again with the panic attacks, Gabriella? Honestly! Stop being so dramatic."

"How dare you!"

Gabriella gasped and started to breathe even heavier at that voice. It was Steve. Had they planned this?

"Gabriella is your daughter. I wish I had the money to send my daughter to Stanford or any collage for that matter! You are a selfish witch who doesn't deserve a daughter as wonderful as Gabriella. Even IF it was just about not being able to send her to Stanford you sit down and tell her the truth and help her understand. You don't abandon her and try to send her back to her abusive father! You're a disgusting witch. I'm glad we got Gabriella away from you. Even if she doesn't live with us it doesn't matter as long as she is away from you."

Gabriella was shocked by Steve's speech. He was defending her, he was standing up for her. He was…protecting her. Suddenly the weight on her chest wasn't so heavy.

"I don't know who you think you are but this doesn't concern you." Maria said.

Steve laughed. "I'm Gabriella's new foster family so actually it does concern me. You are harassing my daughter I could call the police."

"Whatever. You can keep her. She was too much trouble anyway." With that Maria walked away.

Steve sighed and turned to Gabriella. "I swear I'm not following you. I'm here to get Mitchie. She called and said she wasn't feeling well and asked if I could come get her. I saw her harassing you and I wanted to come see if you were ok."

Gabriella just nodded too shocked to speak.

"Look, I can drop you off at Troy's if you want. I swear that's the only place I would take you. Please let me earn your trust."

Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut and continued to breathe heavy. Then she did the hardest thing she ever had to do and she nodded. "Ok."

Steve went to find Mitchie and the three of them headed home. Steve didn't question Gabriella when she sat in the back. He didn't talk to her unless it was to check to make sure she was ok and to encourage her to hang on they were almost there.


They pulled into the Bolton's driveway. Steve got out and opened Gabriella's door and helped her out. He could hear everyone outside so he led her to the backyard.

"Troy, Jack!" he called.

They both stopped and looked and ran right over.

"Gabriella!" Troy cried. He pulled her into his arms. She was shaking, crying, sweating, panting, and could barely walk. "I've got you baby. I've got you. Shhhh you're safe. Shhh."

"What did you do to her!" Jack growled. "Troy told you to leave her alone!"

"Stop!" Gabriella screamed out in a gasp.

"Shhh, Shhh." Troy soothed. "It's ok. Dad, not now." Troy said to his father and then turned back to Gabriella and rubbed her back and kissed her hair and whispered soothing words into her ear.

"I didn't do anything. I went to pick up Mitchie and I saw this woman harassing Gabriella. So I went to stop it. She was upset after the encounter so I took her here."

"Who was the woman?" Jack asked.

"Her mother."

"What? How? Where were they?"

"Some place called Lava Springs."

Troy sighed and held Gabriella tighter. Why they had gone there he had no idea but he was going to be sure it never happened again. Gabriella was slowly starting to calm down.

"I'll leave you guys alone now." Steve turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Steve turned back around.

"Thank you." Gabriella said softly.

"Anytime." Steve smiled gently and then walked away.

Gabriella sighed softly and snuggled closer to Troy. She always felt safe in his arms.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gabriella asked. "The reason my mother abandon me?"

Troy sighed. "I was afraid you'd give up on going to collage to try and get your mom back. Baby that was just an excuse. You have to understand that. Your mother would have done it anyway."

Gabriella nodded. She wasn't mad at him. She knew deep down he was right. "Thank you for being honest."

"I love you, Baby." He kissed her head once more. "So…is what Steve said true?"

Gabriella nodded. "He protected me. He defended me."

"I'm glad he was there."

"Yeah…me too." Gabriella said surprising herself.

"You're starting to trust him." Troy said.

Gabriella nodded again. "Yeah…maybe I am."


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