"It's dead in here!"
The drowning ocean blue eyes slowly glanced up from the flimsy magazine he was looking through with a snowboarder catching air on it. The first thing he saw in the dark light of his work was Chad's ringlets walking towards him. He had his letter jacket draped over his body, but that wasn't what caught Troy's attention. His eager eyes looked down to see his favorite girl in the world practically jumping with excitement. The muscular legs pushed off of the counter he was resting them on and jumped up to meet her at the end of the leash Chad was holding her on. "Sade!"
Sadie barked happily as Troy's fingers ran through her soft salted grey fur. He had barely came home after basketball practice that day, enough to let her out to do her business then let her back in. The whispering sound on the strong wind creaked against the shop as he continued to pet her. "Dude, if John sees you with your bitch in here he's gonna freak." Another voice entered the room as Troy's hard eyes glanced back to see a lazy Alex staring at him with his sea green eyes.
"Chill man." Troy responded at ease while Sadie barked happily and waved her excited tail. Whatever, whenever Sadie was around, it always made Troy feel a little better about his life. Maybe just a little. His rough hand on her fluffy fur made him forget about the image of her mother's sick boyfriend. The excited sound of her yelp made his brain become completely wiped from all thoughts of the run down shack he used to live in. Even the look into her cloudy eye made him completely forget about that other evil, twisted three letter word that started with a D. "John's not even here."
"Whatever man, you're funeral." Alex responded boredly as he swung his legs down from where they were resting and walked over to kneel down next to Troy. "It's been dead all night." he stated irritably before running his own hands through Sadie's fur, the blue stone glinting in the light to match Troy's fire red.
There was a sudden questionable feeling as he glanced up at his best friend in confusion. "Why the hell were you in my house anyways?" He asked confused while raising a dark eyebrow and standing to his full length, Alex still petting his dog.
Chad shrugged his covered shoulders. "I forgot you worked. Then I saw Sade looking depressed so I thought I'd reunite you too. You can thank me later," he suggested before looking at the evergreen floor for a moment. His normally energetic body stiffened hardly, avoiding Troy's eyes. "Uhh… I have something else for you too… but don't take it out on me alright? It's not my fucking fault."
The cerulean blue eyes narrowed in hesitation. But he slowly watched as Chad's shaking dark hand reached insides his pocket and pulled out a small, bright white envelope that hadn't been opened yet. "What the hell is that?" Alex asked confused as he stood up from his spot on the floor, Sadie whimpering from the lack of attention.
Troy's calloused hands timidly reached for it as his fingers seemed to burn with the grasp of it. He slowly lifted the thin envelope up and immediately recognized the loopy handwriting that held his name. A pained groan erupted from his mouth as he ripped open the sleeve.. "Damn it!"
"Who is it?" Alex tried to peer over Troy's angered hands as his eyes were starting to turn to bright white lights again. Slowly, he read the letter, in the bubbly cursive handwriting he hated more than anything else. It was barely processing, but anger and pain shot through every blood vessel in his body.
"Al, go take Sadie to pee." Troy spit out as his eyes were almost the same color as Sadie's cloudy one.
The green eyes grew wide in shock. "What? No way man, I'm not taking your bitch to…"
Ice stopped whatever else was about to come out. Troy's face was completely hard as his hand was shaking in a violent matter. His cheeks were burning a red pain as Alex slowly grabbed the leash from Chad's hand. "Go." Troy hissed venomously.
As soon as he heard the ringing that meant he and Chad were the only ones left in the store, Troy shoved the letter into Chad's hands and felt his nose begin to twitch. "You want me…" Chad started to ask sacredly but Troy's shot of ice eyes answered his question. "Ok… reading."
His feet slowly began to pace the floor, a hot acidic trail almost caving into the floor. He shot poisonous looks at Chad every so often as the black eyes scanned the snow white page. When he was finished, he finally looked up. "Isn't that bullshit?"
The beady eyes rolled as he handed Troy the evil letter back. "So she wants to take you to see your mom? Big deal."
"Big deal?" Troy asked loudly as the strength in his voice was rising. "It's a fucking Friday night; she should be screwing that bastard she's dating anyways instead of taking me with them! She didn't even ask me! She just fucking showed up the day before and told me she's fucking taking me to see my mother. MY mother. Shouldn't I be the one to decide when I see her?"
Chad shrugged his shoulder cluelessly. "She said she gonna meet Robert for dinner or whatever after if you wanted to go. See, Sydney does care a little. She just wants to take you so you won't have to do it alone."
Troy felt his knuckles crack as he angrily clenched his fists. "I visited her last weekend. She could have fucking called then."
"Yeah, but she said you and your mom had to sign the renting of your house or whatever." He pointed out, earning another heavy glare from Troy.
"I hate that bitch." Troy mumbled before running rough hand through his silky hair and closing the white lighted eyes in pain. He suddenly saw the huge, brick building that was almost the same color as East High before his eyes shot open again to rid of the rehab center. "Guess I'm gonna be late to Sharpay's party…"
It wasn't only he was going to be late. He knew he would be in a messed up mood too. He let out a heavy breath before glancing out into the dark to see that Alex was standing disgusted as Sadie was squatting down in the snow. His mind was reeling of what tomorrow would bring. And how desperately he wished he could be anyone else but him. The wind whipped against Alex's body as Sadie shook herself, then the two began to walk towards the shop again.
"I'll go with you if you want. We can ride to Evan's party together." Chad suggested as Troy's hard eyes turned back to him, each snowboard glinting in the process.
"No. Whatever. I'll deal with Sydney myself." Troy venomously said just as the ringing echoed through the store once again.
"Dude, that's the last time I take her out for a piss!" Alex exclaimed as he stomped his snow covered sneakers off on the mat leading towards the dark green floor. Troy's eyes softened gently as Sadie ran to him and Troy bent down again. His fingers ran through silk as Sadie whimpered slightly, looking at the depressed look on her owner's face. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing important." Troy mumbled as he kissed the top of his furry dog's head.
A heavy silence filled the cracks of the air as Troy's hands furiously worked through Sadie's hair. He wasn't mad that he would go see his mother, not at all. He was just angry that Sydney was dragging him. She had no right to tell him what he was doing when he was doing it. He had a mother, and didn't need a new one. "Tay's going tomorrow." Chad stated to break the heavy awkwardness that had fallen.
"Yeah?" Troy asked at his slowly returned to blue eyes flashed up and looked at his best friend. "You gonna make a move or what?"
Chad shrugged lazily. "We'll see how much she wants me."
The cyan eyes rolled as he smirked evilly up. "Then you'll never do anything about it."
Troy felt a sudden sharp "whack" on the back of his head. He opened his mouth in a slight pain as he grabbed the back of his head and began to rub the impact spot. "Shut up man. I don't see you asking Gabs out or anything."
His frozen heart dropped another twelve degrees just hearing her name. Alex's green eyes danced with laughter. Troy had told him about the successful "study session" he had with her, and they were now friends. But that scared Troy. "That's because I'm not gonna ask her out. We're just friends." It scared him to no end. No other girl had made him feel this way. No other girl had made him feel in general. He was well aware that they were just friends, but something about just being around her gave him a light, careless feeling. It seemed that he couldn't get enough of it.
But that caused ripples of fear even more through Troy's body. Why? Because even though he had been waiting since freshman year to talk to her, be around her, he couldn't do that to her. It had finally sunk in the past couple of days that he had been talking to her. He wouldn't want to hurt her. Not with his twisted past. He couldn't put someone that great through it. Gabriella was so nice, so kind, so… innocent. He wouldn't want her to go through any pain on his doing. So he was just going to be the closest friend to her as possible, since that was all he could be with her.
He had no idea who he was dealing with.
"What the hell do you mean he's coming?"
The accusatory voice rang through the empty room as the slender girl lying on her bed suddenly shot up. Her dark chocolate brown eyes widened as she griped the thin black sliding plastic tighter against her ear. Her toned legs beneath the sky blue velour sweats folded beneath her butt as she kneeled onto the violet bedspread. Though the girl on the other line couldn't see her, panic was stricken through her voice.
"He asked if I wanted to hang out tomorrow, so I just invited him to Ryan's party! I'm so excited!" Taylor ecstatic voice squealed on the other side of the phone line. Gabriella shook her weary head angrily. No! He couldn't come.
"Tay, he's in college. He's not going to want to come to a stupid high school party!" Gabriella exclaimed persuasively, trying to get her best friend to change her mind.
After running with Emily after school, she dropped her friend off at home and then came back to her own bare house. Her mother was downstairs somewhere, probably attempting to make dinner, which Gabriella had to admit, she was a good cook. But even the food she made seemed to be a sweet poison to her. It wasn't that she hated her mother; it was the fact that she couldn't stand her mother's behavior. Ever since three years ago, she hated what her mother did to kill her own pain.
"But Matt's different Gabs!" Taylor defended as Gabriella leaned her thin body back and crashed back down, bouncing on the large queen sized bed. "I think he likes me, a lot. And I really like him ok?"
Gabriella's mouth rang out a sigh. "So, are you meeting him there or are you guys coming together?"
"He's picking me up, then we're going!" Taylor's voice rang out as though she was singing a song. It would have been amusing, if one of her other best friends wouldn't be heartbroken at the sight of the two. "Do you realize how romantic this will be? We're going to be on a mountain, skiing at night."
Gabriella suddenly hoped it would blizzard. "Yeah. Sounds romantic." She responded distantly while letting her thin fingers pick at a loose string that was jetting up from her purple bedcover.
She hated watching Chad have to sit back to view her best friend fall for someone else. He had been waiting so long for Taylor, and liked her so much that it pained her to see him in this state. He deserved someone like her. "Speaking of romantic, I saw you and Troy after school."
The small heart skipped four beats at the sound of the four letter word. Gabriella's fingers immediately shot up to her wet mouth as she gently bit down on the short nail placed on her pointer finger. "Yeah? And?" She questioned accusingly, even though her vital organ in her chest was beating at an irregular rate.
Taylor sighed through the phone obnoxiously. "Well, I know both of your looks. He's into you. And you obviously like him."
Gabriella nipped down on her flimsy nail harder at the sentence. Hot blood rushed to her face in a flush as she shook her head; though it was evident Taylor would never be able to see her through a black sliding cell phone. "Ok, one? He's not into me. He's into anyone who has a vagina." She informed as Taylor clicked her tongue redundantly. "And two, I don't like him. We haven't even been friends for a week."
Her soft eyes stared blankly at her powdered blue walls, not being able to help the vision of Troy's smooth face, silky brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes plaster across it. God, he was gorgeous. The sudden picture of the two of them, standing in the cold tomorrow night, on top of the mountain top flooded her mind. She suddenly didn't want a blizzard anymore. His built basketball arms would keep her warm as she pressed her head against his chest. Taylor was right, mountainsides were romantic. "Well hate to break it to you sweetie, but you two have basically been sexually dancing around each other since we dated."
The dark brown eyes rolled in annoyance just as there was a creaking sound from the side of her room. Her light head immediately shot towards the door to see it reveal a thin, sinfully beautiful woman standing behind it. That was Gabriella's cue to immediately jump up from her lying position on the bed and alertly turn to the door. "Look Tay, I gotta go."
Maria Montez slowly glided into the room as she shut the heavy door behind her. "No way Gabs, you're not getting out of this one that easily. You and Troy would be hot…"
Gabriella's now thick head shook violently. "No, Tay, you don't understand. I'll see ya tomorrow."
The faint cries of protest were stifled as Gabriella's thumb harshly pressed down on the glowing end button. Her mothers light brown eyes were dancing with delight as an amusing smirk was plastered on her smooth, yet perfect face. "You didn't have to hang up. I could have waited."
Gabriella's slender shoulders raised in a light shrug as she stared the goddess down. "I was done talking to her anyways." She informed bored in a timid voice, the way she always did when her mother was in the room. "What's up?"
Maria gently slid down onto Gabriella's soft bed as she again smiled sweetly. Too sweetly for Gabriella's liking. "The colors in here are so bright. We could soften them up a bit if you'd like." Her mother observed as her light brown orbs swam around Gabriella's room. Obviously, she was making small talk.
"I like it that way." Gabriella responded bitterly. She didn't want to conform to the gray rest of the house.
Her mom turned back to her almost surprised by her daughter's tone. "I just didn't know if you wanted something a little more… mature." She stated the last word as though she was a pre-teen attempting to say penis or vagina. It was taboo.
Memories suddenly flooded her mind of a time when she was nine years old and a built man stood in the very room with light violet extra paint plastered on his shirt. But then a more hideous memory of that same man slamming her into the same wall causing a bruise gave her shiver that would never be repressed. At least, so she thought.
"I'll be gone in a year anyways, and then you can do whatever you want with it." The irritation was evident through her voice as her mother's head snapped back to her. "You didn't come up here to ask about the walls."
Maria sighed, obviously caught as she nodded. Her bouncing curled hair sprung as she tossed it a little behind her shoulders. "I need you to watch Ari for me tomorrow night. I have a date."
Gabriella's rapidly beating heart sank to the floor. Panic struck her body as all of the daydreams of Troy's arms wrapped around her were smashed into a million pieces. No. She would not stay home. "I have plans."
The hopeful eyes dropped in depression as her mom's tongue clicked annoyingly. There was no way she was going to miss this party. It would most definitely be what everyone would be talking about for the next century. Plus, she and Troy had just become friends. But for some reason, her protectiveness over that friendship shot through the roof. Troy Bolton hooked up at parties. It was known throughout the entire student body of East High. A wave of pain shot through her veins at the thought of Troy with any other girl. She didn't wan that. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She wanted to keep him in her sight.
"Well, you're going to have to change them. Your sister is more important." Her mother stated hypercritically.
Gabriella's thin mouth practically slammed to the bed. Her sister was more important? "Then why aren't you staying home?" Gabriella's voice was shaking irritably.
The light brown eyes narrowed as they matched Gabriella's own angered ones. "Because I told Greg I would go with him two days ago."
"I told Ryan I'd come to his party on Tuesday!" The upset teenager rebutted while throwing her toned arms up in the air to add to the dramatic effect. "Mom, just call a babysitter or something!"
Maria crossed her arms angrily and shook her head. "I called three. They all have jobs already. Gabriella, its one party you can miss."
A hurricane grew beneath her coffee eyes as she shot daggers towards her mother. Venom seeped through her veins as it seemed that her body was on fire. "Mom, it's one date you can give up."
Her mom's own eyes grew a storm of anger as she tapped her long fingers against the bare skin that matched her daughter's. "But I'm the mother."
Like hell you are. The thought crossed her mind. But then another image was painted into her brain at the thought of the basketball captain's bare skin rubbing against another girl's. For some reason, she could see Sharpay's nude body pressed up against Troy's as he placed kisses onto her neck. She needed to go to this party. "Come on Mom! Please?"
Mrs. Montez shook her head angrily and shot up from the comforts of Gabriella's bed. "No. I need you tomorrow ok? You can miss one social event." She stated demandingly. It was final. Her hard features suddenly softened as her eyes stopped glowing in a firestorm. "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."
Gabriella felt atomic bombs shoot from her eyes as her mother placed a hand on the door, patiently waiting for a response. Instead, Gabriella's body turned the other way, staring towards the wall, poison about to shoot out from the openings of her skin. She heard a defeated sigh and then a small click of the door closing. Her eyes closed painfully before she brought her hand up to gently bite down on her pinky nail. She had to get to that party. No, she NEEDED to get to that party.
She needed to make sure Troy Bolton didn't screw another girl.
A/N: Sorry, this chapter is kinda a filler. But I hope you guys like it anyways. I want to thank everyone for reading this story, I know it can be a little confusing at sometimes, but hopefully as it goes on things will be cleared up. Anyways, I love your reviews! I love hearing about what you think is going to happen. But thanks so much! You guys are amazing.
But there is something I want to bring up also. Someone told me there was a story out there that basically took the words of Time Changes Everything and just changed them around a little. Please, please don't do that. I'm totally supportive of people writing stories, and I will definitely take a look at it. But please, I work so hard on my stories, I really do. Especially Time Changes Everything. A lot of you know how close that story is to my heart, and it really pains me that someone else stole my work. Just, write your own work! Be creative, but don't take other people's! So, I'm not going to say any names just in case, but to who told me (if you're reading this) thank you a million times over. It's really amazing that I have people who have my back. So, a shout out to you! And if anyone else sees that someone stole some of my work, please let me know. Thanks you so much.