Chapter 19
Gabriella was now two months pregnant. Her album had been released and it was successfully selling. Troy and Gabriella had bought a house together and they had settled down. Gabriella's cravings had started and Troy had to spend sleepless nights finding the exact food that Gabriella wanted. The paparazzi followed them everywhere. Both Gabriella and Troy were starting to get tired of it.
One afternoon, just after both Troy and Gabriella had had their lunch at the KFC, they found that the entire restaurant was surrounded by the paparazzi. They could not go out through the back, because that was surrounded, too. Gabriella was freaking out and Troy was trying to calm her down.
"Okay, why don't we just tell them that we are dating?" Troy asked.
"Okay," Gabriella said. "I'll call Jessica and ask her. Maybe you should call coach, too."
"If you want me to," Troy smiled.
After both Gabriella and Troy had called Jessica and coach, they decided to leave the restaurant. Questions were fired at them at once.
"Are you two together now?"
"Mr. Bolton, is Gabriella your fiancée?"
"Is it true that the two of you are engaged?"
"Miss Montez, is Troy your boyfriend?"
"Okay," Troy said and the crowd quieted down. He put his arm around Gabriella and flashes went off. "This lady here is my girlfriend. She's not my fiancée. We are not engaged. Everyone satisfied?"
A chorus of 'thank you' and 'yes' came from the crowd, and Troy and Gabriella left quickly.
"You know, the next rumors that are going to arise are that I'm pregnant," Gabriella chuckled.
"Well, you are," Troy smiled.
"But, we don't have to tell them, too soon, do we?" she asked.
"Not if you don't want to, Gabs," Troy smiled as he opened the car door for her.
"Hey, can we go visit Isabel?" Gabriella asked, suddenly.
"Sure," Troy replied. "When? Now?"
"Can we go, now? Please?" Gabriella asked, pouting.
"Why not?" Troy shrugged.
Isabel's university was not far from Albuquerque. The couple arrived there within two hours. Isabel ran towards Gabriella happily when she saw her.
"Gabi!" she exclaimed. She placed her hands on Gabriella's rounded stomach. "How's my niece or nephew?"
"Good," Gabriella smiled.
"And, you Troy Bolton," Isabel smiled as she gave Troy a hug. Troy was like her elder brother. "I would've killed you by now but I want my niece or nephew to know that his father was an idiot. And, then, I'll kill you."
"Oh, well," Troy sighed. "I'll be ready for you when you decide to kill me."
Isabel laughed. "I've missed you, Troy," she grinned.
"I missed you, too, Iz," Troy grinned back.
"You'll be back in time for the baby, right?" Gabriella asked. "I mean, you'd have finished college, right?"
"Yeah," Isabel said. "But, from now on, I'll try and visit on the weekends."
After about an hour or so, Gabriella left to go to the bathroom leaving Troy and Isabel alone.
"You make her really happy, Troy," Isabel smiled.
"She makes me really happy, too, Iz," Troy smiled.
"Don't make her sad, again, Troy, please," Isabel begged Troy.
"I won't, Iz,' Troy assured her. "I love your sister and I'm never going to hurt her again. I won't let anyone else hurt her either."
"You promise?" Isabel asked.
"Bet on it!" Troy said.
She smiled. "I don't want to see her sad, again," Isabel told Troy. "She wasn't happy for a long time while we were still living with our mother, and you brought happiness to her face again when we moved here."
"But, I also took it away when I broke up with her, right?" Troy asked, his smile disappearing.
"Yeah, you did," Isabel said, quietly. "Why did you do it, Troy?"
Troy explained to Isabel why he had broken up with Gabriella and how he had never wanted to hurt her.
"So, you didn't want to hurt her, right?" Isabel asked just to make sure.
"I didn't want to hurt her," Troy repeated. "And, I won't hurt her."
"Thanks, Troy," Isabel smiled as she gave Troy a hug. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Iz," Troy smiled a he hugged back.
The two had always shared a special bond from the time Isabel had yelled at Troy in high school. Troy had always treated Isabel as his sister from that day and Isabel loved Troy like her brother.
Gabriella and Troy returned home late at night. Gabriella was tired and Troy was also worn out because of all the driving. They both got into bed and Gabriella fell asleep quickly. Troy was drifting off to sleep, when Troy's cell phone rang. Troy groaned. He reached over to get his cell phone and Gabriella woke up.
"Sorry, baby," Troy said. "Go back to sleep."
Troy grabbed his cell phone and saw that it was his basket ball coach. He answered it quickly.
(Troy/Coach)
"Hello?"
"Hey, Troy. I know it's late but I need to talk to you, alright?"
"What's up, coach?"
"We have to leave to the game tomorrow."
"What? Why so soon?"
"Change of plans, Troy. Anyway, we'll be gone for two months, alright?"
"Two months? Are you kidding me?"
"No, I'm not kidding you, Troy. What's wrong?"
"Coach, Gabriella is pregnant. I can't be gone that long."
"Why didn't you tell me that Gabriella was pregnant sooner? Maybe, I could've tried to change all this, but, now it's too late."
"Are you sure you can't do anything, coach?"
"I can't, Troy. I'm sorry. I know how it's like to leave Gabriella while she's pregnant. I've been there before."
"But, I really don't want to go for that long"
"Tell you what! If something's wrong, I'll send you back to Albuquerque on the next flight, alright?"
"Okay, coach."
"Thank you, Troy. Say hi to Gabriella I'll see you tomorrow your flight is at five in the afternoon."
"Okay. I'll see you later, coach. Bye."
"Bye, Troy."
Troy sighed as he put his cell phone on top of the night table.
"What's wrong?" Gabriella asked.
"I have to leave tomorrow afternoon," Troy said.
"When will you get back?" Gabriella asked. "It's just for a week or two, right?"
"I'm sorry, Gabs," Troy said, softly. He put his arm around her and rested his hand on her rounded stomach. "I'll be gone for two months."
"You're just going to leave me here?" Gabriella asked.
"Gabs, don't be like that," Troy said as Gabriella got out of the bed. "You can come with me if you want to."
"I don't want to go with you," Gabriella said. "I want you to stay here."
"Gabi, I have to go," Troy said patiently, knowing that Gabriella's hormones had kicked in.
"I know, Troy," Gabriella sighed as Troy walked over to her. "But, what if something happens while you aren't here?"
"Then, I'll be on the next flight home," Troy smiled at her.
"I love you, Troy," Gabriella said hugging him.
"I love you, too, Gabs," Troy smiled.
The next morning, Troy and Gabriella were having breakfast when the doorbell rang. Troy got up and went to answer it. Gabriella was behind him. When Troy opened the door, he saw a woman standing outside. The woman looked oddly familiar, but, Troy could not remember exactly where he had seen her.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"Mom!" Gabriella breathed at the same time.
Troy glanced over his shoulder at Gabriella in surprise. She had gone pale and he put his arm around her to calm her down.
"I just want to talk to you, Gabriella," Maria (Gabriella's mom) said. "Please."
"I don't want to listen to you," Gabriella said just as Taylor, Sharpay and Kelsi arrived.
"But, Gabi, I've missed you and Isabel a lot," Maria said. "Please come home."
"I'm already home," Gabriella snapped. "Just go away, mom. Go away and leave me alone."
Gabriella pulled herself out of Troy's arms and ran into the house, tears running down her cheeks. Taylor, Kelsi and Sharpay ran after her. Maria made to follow, but, Troy blocked her way.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Montez," Troy began.
"Please, call me Maria," Maria said.
"Okay," Troy said, slowly. "I'm really sorry, but, Gabriella doesn't want to see you right now."
"I know, but I just want to talk to her," Maria told Troy.
"I know that, but, this is probably putting a lot of stress on her," Troy said. "And, right now, that's not what she needs."
"What do you mean?" Maria asked.
"We're trying to keep this away from the paparazzi for now," Troy told Maria. "Gabriella is pregnant."
"Oh, my," Maria gasped. "My little girl is pregnant."
"So, you can understand why Gabriella shouldn't be having any stress, right?"
"I understand," Maria said. "But, please, Troy. Try and get her to talk to me."
"I'll do my best," Troy told her. "I'm not saying I will get her to talk to you, but, I'll try."
"Thank you," Maria said. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Troy said and shut the door.
"Troy!" Sharpay called, hurrying over to him. "I don't know what happened, but, Gabriella's is crying a lot, and I don't think it's good for the baby."
"I know, Shar," Troy sighed.
He pushed past her and hurried to the bedroom where Gabriella was crying hard. Taylor and Kelsi were sitting on either side of her trying to comfort her. They got up when Troy came. Troy went and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him and then wrapped his other arm around her, too. Gabriella cried into his shirt and Troy placed a gently kiss on top of her head.
"Stop crying, baby girl," he whispered. "Please, stop crying."
"I won't be like her, right?" Gabriella sobbed.
"You won't be like her, Gabi," Troy assured her. "But, please, stop crying…for the baby's sake, Gabi, stop crying."
He lowered one hand onto Gabriella's bump. Gabriella nodded. Slowly, she stopped crying and her breathing became even. She buried her head in Troy's shirt and hugged him. Troy hugged back, resting his chin on her head.
"Gabi," Troy said, suddenly, a memory coming to him. "Remember the day we met."
FLASHBACK
After taking a couple of deep breaths, Gabriella walked into a classroom…and bumped into someone, making her books fall out of her hands and onto the floor. She almost fell, but, the person that she had bumped into had caught her. She looked up and saw a blond guy, who had the bluest eyes that she had ever seen. He was very handsome. She blushed a bit.
"I'm really sorry," Gabriella apologized quickly.
"That's okay," the guy said. He gathered Gabriella's books for her and handed them to her. "Here you go."
"Thanks," Gabriella smiled.
"You're welcome," the guy smiled at her.
"Okay, people, take your seats," a woman walked into the classroom before either one of them could say a word.
"That's Ms. Darbus – our homeroom teacher," the guy explained. "Pretend to like drama and theatre stuff if you want to stay on her good side."
"Okay," Gabriella smiled.
"Mr. Bolton," Ms. Darbus said. "I really don't think that I shall need to tell you twice to sit down
"Sorry, Ms Darbus," the boy who was talking to Gabriella apologized. "Um, this is a new student, Ms Darbus."
"Oh," Ms Darbus said, peering at her over her glasses. "What's your name?"
"Gabriella Montez," Gabriella answered.
"Nice name," the Bolton boy whispered into Gabriella's ear making Gabriella smile.
"Mr. Bolton," Ms Darbus snapped. "Would you care to share whatever you said to Miss Montez with the class?"
"Uh…" the Bolton boy blushed. "I was just saying that Miss Montez here has a very nice name."
"Anything you'd like to say to Mr. Bolton, Miss Montez?" Ms Darbus asked.
"Um, what's your first name, Mr. Bolton?" Gabriella asked.
"Right, I never told you my name," the Bolton boy said. "I'm Troy, Troy Bolton."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Bolton," Gabriella grinned.
"The pleasures all mine, Miss Montez," Troy winked at Gabriella.
"Okay, that's it," Ms Darbus said. "Mr. Bolton, please take your seat. Miss Montez, you can take that seat, behind Miss McKessie, after you tell us a bit about yourself."
"Uh, okay," Gabriella said. She faced the class. All eyes were on her and she was nervous. "I'm Gabriella Montez. I used to go to West High School. You guys will probably hate me because you are one of their greatest rivals, but, to tell you the truth, I hated the West High Knights. I was quite glad to move here."
"Why'd you move?" a dark girl asked.
"I, uh, um…" Gabriella stammered, not wanting to go to the details of her past with some people who she did not even know. "I'd rather not go to that, right now, if you don't mind."
"Well, students, get to know Gabriella," Ms Darbus said. "I have to go to the office to pick up some materials for that new sets and I'll be right back."
"Hey, Montez," a blond girl called. "We need to know your past, or else, there is not much of a chance that you'll get to know us."
"If you don't tell us, we'll make sure your life here at East High will be like hell," a bushy haired boy said.
"Chad!" Troy said, warningly.
"Come on," a blond boy yelled. "Tell us everything about you."
"Why do you even want to know?" Gabriella asked, fighting to keep her voice from quivering. "You don't even know me."
"We'll only get to know you, if you tell us," the dark girl said.
"Guys, SHUT UP!" Troy yelled, jumping onto his feet. "If Gabriella doesn't want to tell you anything, she doesn't have to. So, you guys might as well leave her alone."
"Why are you sticking up to her?" Chad asked.
"I…uh…I," Troy stammered, not wanting everyone to know the answer.
He knew the answer of course. He was attracted to her. Sure, it had not been yet an hour since they had met, but…Troy believed in love at first sight. He knew that Gabriella was different from all the girls who drooled over him, and, that was the reason he liked Gabriella.
"Look, guys, I'll tell you about my past, but, just don't make me repeat it again," Gabriella said. She had sensed that Troy was feeling uncomfortable, though she did not know why. "My dad passed away a few years ago. My mom is quite abusive towards me and my sister. James – my brother – is the only one that she treats properly; probably because she only wanted a boy. Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday and I was legally an adult, so my mom didn't have to look after me anymore. So… my mom kicked me and my sister out of the house. Adrianna – my father's sister – took us in. she lives here in Albuquerque and now, here I am."
Everyone, including Troy, stared at her, feeling sorry for her. They had begun to wish that they had never asked why Gabriella had moved and all those things that they had just asked.
"I'm really sorry," Troy whispered, finally.
Gabriella looked up and saw in his eyes that he really meant it. She smiled at him.
"It's okay," Gabriella said. "Honestly, I'm happier here."
"Well, we'll make your life here even happier, right, fellows?" he turned to the other students
No one answered. Troy looked a bit disappointed and embarrassed. Gabriella looked really sad. A fair boy in the back raised his hand, slowly.
"What's up, Jason?" Troy asked.
"Um, what the hell is going in here?" Jason Cross asked.
Gabriella could not help, but, laugh, as everyone else in the room groaned. The bell rang and everyone rushed out of the classroom.
END FLASHBACK
"Do you know where James is, then?" Troy asked.
"No, probably with my mom," Gabriella replied, softly. "I want to find him. He did nothing wrong and I want my baby to know about James."
"We'll find him, then," Troy suggested. "After I get back, we'll find him."
"Thank you," Gabriella said.
"No problem, Gabs," Troy said as he hugged her again.
Troy left that afternoon and Gabriella was very sad, but, she did not show it. They had also decided to tell the public that she was pregnant if they asked. Troy knew that he would probably be asked that while he was away and Gabriella told him that it did not matter if they were together or not when the fans found out.