A/N: I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter yet, so let me know what you guys think. It's not very powerful, lol so it feels weird to write two strong ones in a row and this one not be as much. You're reviews from last chapter made me so happy, I seriously don't know how to thank you guys. So, I'm just gonna deicate this chapter to all of you lol! Like I said, not quite sure if I like this chapter yet, so please tell me your honest opinion. Thank you! :)
Gabriella's tiny heart beat increased to a dramatic level as panic flew through her body. The completely black room had small shadows looming in the dark, as though one of them was going to pounce on her. Her small stomach had fear sitting in the pits, before she continued to cower on the other side of the bed, furthest away from the too thin white door. The deep tearstained eyes drilled two holes into the looming door that was taunting her by not moving.
The dark scared brown eyes were slammed shut as she bit the edge of her thin nail, praying that he wouldn't come into the ten year old's room. Trying to bargain with a higher power that he wouldn't come in the room. Her tiny hand covered the large bruise that rested on the ball of her shoulder, the bruise that was beginning to turn into a vomit colored yellow from where he pushed her against the cabinets last night.
"You stay away from her!" A shrieking voice echoed through the paper thin walls as Gabriella pulled the soft, fuzzy comforting light brown stuffed bear from the top of her comforter and pulled it to her chest. Acidic tears trickled down her smooth skin before dropping to the white carpeted floor.
A loud earsplitting crash before she heard heavy footsteps up the stairs. "You do NOT tell me when I can and can't see my daughter!" Her body completely tensed up in panic as she gripped the bear tightly, letting her raspy breathing fill the silence of the room. No, please don't come in. Please don't open that door. Please.
"Jose, please…" The woman's voice begged mercilessly before she heard another nails on a chalkboard as a body was thrown to the wall on the other side of the door. Her tiny hand gripped the violet comforter as the silent tears mutated into sobs in sync with the older woman's outside.
Another muffled voice from the black hallway before Gabriella heard another thudding stomp down the stairs. The ten year old body was trembling as she pulled her boney knees to her heaving chest in the fetal position. At ten, she shouldn't be having these thoughts. She should be thinking about the multiplication quiz that was on Friday, not if she was going to gain another bruise tonight.
Her racing heart came to an abrupt stop as the creaking of the door handle opened. The lungs beneath her chest collapsed as her tear stained eyes squinted in fear. Slowly, the white door swung open to reveal a frail shadow loom in the dark. Gabriella's soft eyes grew wide before she stood up with a quivering lip. "Mommy!"
"Ella." Maria breathed out as she rushed into the room and kneeled down before her daughter. In the blackness, Gabriella could make the outline out of the crimson bloodstain casting a shadow over the corner of her lip. The mother engulfed Gabriella into a tight squeeze before lifting her body up gently and sitting down on the bed. Gabriella's head found her favorite place in her mother's neck, letting the sobs volcano through her mouth. "Shh… baby, you don't want to wake Ari."
Maria smoothed her daughter's black hair and gently kissed her head. The trembling body attempted to grip at her mother tighter, though it was barely even possible.
In her mother's arms, she was safe. Safe from her father that was fuming somewhere else. She had made it through this night without having to take his wrath, but it was a complete lottery if she would be as lucky the next night.
"It's gonna be ok." Her mother soothed gently before placing her bleeding lips against Gabriella's hair in a kiss. "Everything's going to be ok."
If Maria Montez said it would be ok, Gabriella believed her.
No strings attached. It was dangerous. Every teenager knew that it meant there was nothing to the relationship, except for being physical. They weren't official, they could go screw any other person and it there would be no hard feelings. No spilt tears. They wouldn't have an anniversary, nor would they have to go to dances with each other. Neither would have to call the other just to talk. They wouldn't be walking hand in hand down the hallway with everyone staring at them in pure jealousy. The only difference they were compared to friends were the fact that they would have full rights to make out with each other whenever something went wrong. No strings attached was a slightly more polite way of saying "fuck buddies".
But if that's the only way she could have him, that's how she was going to take him.
Her small hands held the soft peanut butter sandwich beneath her long fingers. The fluttering of the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't subside, even if there was no physical contact present. She refused to look up to meet the weakness that had burnt her skin for a little over a week. The bright florescent lights beamed down onto her shoulders that were covered by a lime green t-shirt with the brand name written in cursive across her chest. She was also covered in jeans that hugged her curves perfectly.
"Chad, you can't just not study!" Taylor's harping voice protested across the bright circular white table with a giant scarlet "E" sitting in the middle of it. It was the twin of over twenty other matching ones that were scattered about the huge cafeteria.
"You don't own me; you can't tell me what Chad Danforth can and can't do." Chad protested snottily, something he was doing a lot of since Sharpay and Ryan's party towards Taylor. And Taylor had been a little more demanding ever since Chad's change in personality towards her.
"You're right, I don't own you," Taylor snapped back angrily as the rest of the table stayed silent with their heads down, knowing not to get into the middle of their arguments that had been frequently occurring over stupid things. Pointless things that normal people wouldn't think twice over. "But when you flunk out of high school and have live on the streets, no one here is going to feel sorry for you."
Her forehead suddenly burned as she could almost feel two bright blue eyes drilling holes into it. Unable to resist the desirable temptation, her sparkling brown eyes glanced up to meet the shining blues that were dancing with delight. Troy's head, which was directly across from her, flicked the dark caramel bangs out of his eyes, letting his smirk tug at the sides of his mouth. "I don't need you to feel sorry for me because I'm not going to flunk out! Just fucking stay out of my business ok?" Chad's angered face snapped back.
Sparks flew through her shins as she almost jumped at the sensation of something gently rubbing against her jean pants leg. It took a moment for her to realize that it was a black and white converse shoe before she gazed over again to see that Troy was looking at Chad, purposely avoiding her look. He adjusted the bright red basketball warm up jacket he was wearing over a plain white t-shirt that Gabriella knew made him look faint-worthy.
He'd do little things like that ever since the away game and when they had their talk. When they hadn't made out, which was four times since the car incident not that Gabriella was counting, Troy would pull subtle things, almost as if just to be sure that he was somewhere on her mixed up mind. Whether it was just a hand brush in the hallway, or maybe just a light caress of his fingers on her shoulder in music pro. But it didn't matter. It was the little things like that made Gabriella just as excited as when Troy's tongue was shoved down her throat. Well ok, maybe not a very good comparison.
"I'm just trying to be a good friend." Taylor responded forcefully as she shook her head, sandwiched in between both Gabriella and Zeke on her other side. Troy's foot increased it's pace, making Gabriella's lazy smile on her smooth face tighten from the tickle. She noted the tiny amused smirk on Troy's face, even if he was looking at Chad still.
"If you want to be a good friend then just leave me the fuck alone!" He yelled, catching the attention of envious teenagers who weren't sitting at their table. Chad angrily stood up and snatched his brown paper bag before shooting an annoyed look to everyone else. "Come on guys, I wanna work on my jump shot anyways." He stated referring to Troy and Zeke
Troy's head shot to his best friend just before shooting to Gabriella, his foot freezing beneath the table that hid it. Slowly, he swallowed the part of the shining apple he was eating. "I'm not done yet!" He announced before Chad's beady black eyes shot him atomic bombs. The baby blue eyes rolled before he turned back to the circular table and tossed Gabriella the half eaten fruit. "Knock yourself out." He offered before swinging one denim pants leg from under the table, almost making Gabriella whimper at the lack of his touch.
Gabriella watched his retreating figure with the other guys as Taylor groaned angrily. "Why doesn't he just stop it? He's gonna fail and come crying to me about it!" She complained before shaking her angered head. "What's with him lately anyways?
Both Gabriella and Kelsi lock eyes and do their best not to comment at that. They knew exactly what was wrong with him, and it was sitting next to Gabriella in an upset heap. "Well you know how guys get…" Gabriella tried to defend him as that only made Taylor groan in irritation more.
"Yeah, but you and Ryan never fought, and you guys were together!" She exclaimed, and for the first time, Gabriella's noticed Kelsi's eyes grow wide beneath her glasses. What? What was that about?
"Yeah, but Ryan and I didn't do much of anything." Gabriella confessed as she stared down at the fruit that sat in her had, with a single bite out of the sweet taste. She could feel the stickiness of the juices seep onto her soft palm, gently bringing the apple up to take a tiny bite right next to where Troy started.
"Why not?" Kelsi asked curiously as Gabriella glanced at her strangely.
"I dunno. We dated, but it was different. I didn't have a… spark with him." She commented before taking another bite of the juicy apple that tasted so much sweeter than a normal one. Maybe it was just because it came from Troy, whom she did have a spark with. She hadn't even felt this way with Ryan. Something about Troy's appeal was to die for, and she couldn't get enough of it.
"There isn't something wrong with him is there?" Kelsi grilled as Gabriella's nose scrunched. She seemed to be extremely interested in this topic, though Gabriella didn't care, it was just strange.
"Nope. I just… he's more of a friend than anything." She finished before raising a questionable dark eyebrow. "Why?"
"No reason." Kelsi quickly stated before popping a carrot in her mouth.
Gabriella eyed her suspiciously, before taking another bite of the forbidden fruit and shrugging, but kept the thought in the back of her mind for future references.
"I need a nap."
Gabriella's dark eyes shot up to the figure that had fallen lazily onto the black couch, draping his entire muscular body and forcing his head into the soft cushions. An amused giggle produced from Gabriella's tiny lips as she shook her head playfully at the boy. His heavy eyelids hid his sparkling blue eyes, but a happy smile grazed his features as he couldn't contain himself. "Then go home and take one." Gabriella responded flirtingly as his left eye gently opened up to focus on the thin girl on the floor.
"You just want me to leave." He joked amusingly before Gabriella shook her light head with giggle still vomiting from her mouth. Leaving was the last thing she wanted from him.
"I never said that." She coyly defended before kneeling up onto her boney knees and gently hitting the thick book that was lying open on the floor.
It was after school, and Troy and Gabriella had decided he should come over so they could work on their project, but both really just wanted to be with the other. So they were now lazily in Gabriella's dark living room with the only light shining was the one in the kitchen, plus the multicolored TV. Troy finally flipped over so he was facing upward, making his red basketball warm up twist around his body like a snake.
"Actions say louder than words," he wiggled his thick eyebrows before Gabriella rolled her dark brown orbs and slowly stood up, letting the blood drain back down into her legs. "What about this one? It's kinda got a catchy beat. We could do something like that?"
Gabriella snatched the snow sheet of paper before nodding her head to the lyrics. She was too involved with it to notice that Troy was staring at her, a genuinely happy smile on his face as he looked like he was staring at the world. "Yeah, if you like bubblegum pop!" she complained lazily before tossing the sheet back down onto Troy's lap, then sitting on the edge of the couch. "We have four of them. One's already extremely electronic. I want to strip things down to the basics."
Troy's amused eyebrows rose in delight as he eagerly pushed himself up so the arm of the couch balanced him. "Like, acoustic?"
"Yes!" Gabriella exclaimed excitedly before nodding her head off. "Yes, I want an acoustic song!"
"It's about damn time you said something useful," Troy mumbled before Gabriella angrily glared at him and snatched a squishy pillow behind her, chucking it forcefully in his direction. "Hey!"
It was curious to Gabriella. The two seemed to have completely skipped a step. When everything was calm and they were just hanging out, they acted exactly as they had before. Flirty friends. He didn't hold her hand, nor kiss her cheek or anything like that. They just acted as though the away game and the Evans' party never happened. But if either of them were upset, stressed, bothered, angry, sad, depressed, or any other strong emotion, they'd make out to kill the pain. There was no in between stage, which was what separated them from a couple.
"Why do I talk to you anyways?" Gabriella asked playfully as Troy's muscular arms flexed as he pulled the pillow to his chest.
"Because I'm your music pro partner." He responded cheekily. "And I'm hot."
A blush flooded her cheeks as she couldn't deny the latter. "Why the hell did you get in music pro anyways?"
The built shoulders shrug before he glances down at his large hands. "Garble loves my ass like everyone else."
Gabriella giggled flirtatiously. "I don't love your ass. It's kinda boney." She responded jokingly before Troy's soft features completely dropped in horror. She couldn't help the spits of laughter that erupted from her mouth at the serious face that almost looked like he was going to cry.
"You… you think I have a boney ass?" He asked depressed as he turned his head around as though to check himself out beneath the cushions. Gabriella couldn't contain herself anymore as she doubled over in hysteria and felt tiny tears from in the corners of her eyes at Troy's pretend depression.
Cutting through her laughter, the telephone rang in the distance, making Gabriella's stomach burn from the feeling. Tiny spits of giggles still vibrated in her throat as she slowly stood up and walked to the black phone that was flashing. Troy smirked cheekily at her before he placed a hand on his backside and rubbed it as though taunting her. "He…hello?" Gabriella greeted giggling at Troy's actions.
"Hey Ella." The crisp, business voice asked on the phone as the smile wiped off Gabriella's face. Her small hand reached up to her forehead as she closed her eyes almost painfully. She never called home unless she wanted Gabriella for something.
"Hi Mom," Gabriella's once amused voice dropped to be serious as Troy's dark eyebrows narrowed in confusion. He sat up attentively, watching her motions like a science project as Gabriella paced back and forth on the soft white carpet. The room suddenly flickered darker as a commercial on the TV turned black. "Err… what's up?"
"Just checking in on you. What are you up to?" Like hell you are. Gabriella nervously placed her sweating hand up to her mouth and gently bit down on the flimsy nail that wouldn't grow. Troy's sharp blue eyes took her actions in, almost taking notes with the change of demeanor.
"Oh uh… I'm just working on homework with a friend." She mumbled before her dark eyes glanced up to see Troy's burning with information ones.
"Who's over?" Her mother asked as Gabriella bit her bottom lip before glancing at the gorgeous basketball captain draped across her couch.
"Oh um… just Tay." She nervously lied while Troy's amused eyebrows rose again, but she couldn't help but feel like he was trying to get information from this conversation.
It was hard to believe that Gabriella and her mother had ever been close. But when her father was the enemy in the house, she and her mother were the victims. Gabriella could remember crying with her mother late into the night, but attempting to hide if from Ari. Maybe that was why her present habits hurt so much. Because they were inseparable.
"Oh, good…" Her airy voice trailed off as Gabriella let a small sigh escape her lightly glossed lips.
"Anything else?" Gabriella asked in monotone before almost cringing to hear her mother speak.
"Actually, yes…" The teenager's stomach sunk to the bottom of a deep ocean as her face cringed in pain. She knew there was something else coming, and a switch of anger was turned on inside of her. Would she ever just call to talk? Would she ever actually care about her daughter again if it wasn't for selfish reasons? Would she ever just be a mom? "I have someone going to drop something off, so I need you to stay in for tonight. Taylor can keep you company."
A mysterious shadow loomed over Troy's bronze face as the side of Gabriella's mouth twitched angrily. It wasn't the fact that her mom wanted her to do this. It was the fact that she was telling her to do it. That she didn't have any regard for Gabriella's agenda. It was when Maria wanted something done, everything else was dropped.
"I was going to go run at the track tonight." Gabriella hissed venomously through her white teeth as her non existent nails ripped at the edge of the couch. Troy stared blankly at her, probably shocked by her change in demeanor so fast.
"You can skip one day of running." Maria stated distantly.
"No Mom! I can't!" Gabriella contained her voice from rising.
"Ella, please calm down. He'll be there soon." She informed and that was the end of the discussion. "See you in a few hours."
An evil click of the phone on and Gabriella remained stationed in her spot with the jet slender phone still positioned at her ear. Poison ran through her bloodstream as her heart beat increased to a dangerously fast level. She didn't even notice that Troy had leaned forward on the couch curiously before her hand dropped down weakly. Her mother didn't control her life, so why should she tell her what to do when she wasn't even home half the time to see her?
"Gabi…" Troy's rough hand reached out in comfort but Gabriella's snakelike eyes turned to slits before matching with the rest of the room in a black haze.
"She doesn't even fucking ask me if I was too busy." An evil hiss escaped her mouth before chucking the phone carelessly to the floor. Was she making a bigger deal out of this then she should have? Probably, but little things like this were beginning to irritate her more ever since her mom told her she had to stay home from the Evans' party.
"Gab…" The deep calming voice tried to cut into her mind but Gabriella wasn't paying attention.
"Does she want me to go to state for track? Huh? I thought she wanted me to be fucking perfect!" She exclaimed as a hurricane was beginning to form above her head. She was so focused on the vomit feeling in the pit of her stomach that she didn't even notice Troy bound up from the spot he was sitting on in the edge of the seat and kneel down in front of her, letting her light jeans straddle him. "She's never home anyways…"
"Gabriella!" Troy's loud and dominating voice finally sliced through Gabriella's complaining one as his two calloused hands gripped the sides of her hard face gently. Fireworks exploded as heat traveled through his impact point. The cerulean eyes sparkled as they locked with the dark brown, nodding his head a little so he was looking through his brow. The thin light from the kitchen glowed in a diagonal light across his face, the only light in the room making him look so tempting.
She didn't even have time to remember that she now had Troy to help her before his lips shoved aggressively onto hers. He would take care of her now. Passionately yet sweetly, his thin lips suctioned on her puffy bottom one, taking a tiny breath before sucking again. Her arms forcedly wrapped around the back of his neck and attempted to pull him closer. The dark coffee eyes welded shut in bliss, caused by Troy's tempting seduction.
His tender hands fell from her face and trailed down the sides of her lime green fitted t-shirt before they rested on her hip. Gabriella wasn't able to take it anymore as desire overwhelmed her. She gripped at his scarlet warm up and angrily pulled him downwards and slightly sideways. Gabriella's boney back gently rested on the back of the soft couch before Troy's muscular body hovered over her in a sexual way that made the knots in her stomach disappear.
His soft lips above her held miracles. Anger at her mom was sponged out of her hip as Troy's gentle thumb cycloned around the bone. His wet tongue that now tangoed with hers was lapping up the feeling of helplessness at memories of the tears that dripped down her face with the woman who gave birth to her. The way the light denim pinned her hips to the couch, making the firing organ between her legs begin to pulsate, becoming a stronger beat than the weak one in her heart.
Gabriella's slender legs slipped around Troy's muscular calves as his tickling lips removed from hers and he began to pleasurably nip at her rounded jaw line. "Troy… Troy that feels incredible." Her hitched voice caused him to groan at her want as his magical tongue licked at her neck.
"She's… she's never home huh?" He whispered huskily before Gabriella's silk hands plunged into his dark caramel hair.
It was at that defining moment that Gabriella realized the first secret about either of their pasts was revealed.