Time To Tell The Truth

By CorbinBleuFanatic1

Normal POV

Taylor McKessie awoke in a daze and looked around, her eyes finally resting on the alarm clock sitting by her bed. Its bright red letters flashed 8:45 over and over again.

Taylor jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. But as she did that, every bone in her body ached. She tried to dig through her memories to remember what had happened the day before. But the more and more she tried to remember, the more and more she longed to forget.

She took her time getting dressed and skipped out on breakfast yet again. With her body aching, what should have been a three minute drive to school took nearly fifteen minutes.

By the time she got into school, first period was over with and second period was just beginning.

When Taylor walked into English, Chad Danforth, Gabriella Montez, and Troy Bolton were watching her every move. She could feel their concerned gazes digging into her back. She knew that Chad, Gabby, and Troy were exchanging worried glances with each other.

The teacher looked up from her computer for a split second to look at Taylor. "Are you okay?" Mrs. Walker asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Walker," Taylor answered, wishing she didn't have to lie to a teacher. "I'm fine."

Taylor was sweating by the time English was over with. It was eighty degrees out but because of the bruises she got from Mike Benson, Taylor was forced to wear a long sleeve shirt.

"Where were you this morning, Taylor?" Chad asked, hurrying over to her as she walked to third period.

"I woke up late," Taylor answered without looking.

"You never wake up late." Chad grabbed her arm to stop her from walking. He was shocked when she nearly cried out in pain when he touched her. "Oh, Taylor . . . " He paused and looked into her eyes. "Taylor, are you okay? I didn't...I didn't mean to hurt you."

Taylor looked down at the ground and said in a whisper, "You didn't."

"Huh?" Chad wondered. "If I didn't hurt you then why did you almost cry when I grabbed your arm?"

Taylor still wouldn't meet his eyes. She pulled her sleeve up slowly.

Chad looked down at her arm, then up at Taylor. When Taylor wouldn't meet his eyes, Chad put his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him.

"Taylor...what happened?" Chad asked at last. "Where did you get those bruises from?"

"Mike Benson," Taylor answered.

"Your boyfriend?" Chad wondered, suddenly angry. He avoided her arms and put his hands on Taylor's back, guiding her through the almost-crowded halls until they got to a place they could talk privately. "What happened, Tay?" Chad asked again when he was sure they were alone.

So Taylor told her whole story to him, leaving out the not eating part. "Don't tell anyone about this," Taylor added when she finished her "sob story".

"You're kidding, right?" Chad asked her.

"No, Chad. Mike said he would hurt you and the others if I told you, or anyone, what he was doing." Taylor looked at Chad. "Promise me."

Chad blew out a sigh and looked at Taylor's fragile form. "Okay," he reluctantly agreed. "I promise."

"Come on," Taylor said, looking at her watch. "We missed third period but we can still make it on time to meet Troy and Gabby at their lockers and walk to Chorus with them."

Chad sighed again and walked behind Taylor to Troy's locker.

"Hey, Taylor," Gabby greeted Taylor when she and Chad came up to Troy's locker. "Where were you last period?"

"I...um...wasn't feeling well," Taylor lied with a look to Chad. Luckily he was deep in a conversation with Troy.

"Why did you come in late this morning, Tay?" Troy wondered, coming over to Taylor and putting his hand on her shoulder.

Taylor tensed up and willed herself not to cry.

"I slept in late," Taylor replied, her voice cracking. She wished Troy and Gabby didn't hear the sadness in her voice. "I went to bed late last night. I was watching a TV show. Something on the Discovery Channel."

Gabby and Troy looked at each, then at Chad and Taylor. "Come on, guys," Troy said then. "We have to go or we'll be late for Chorus."

Troy and Gabby walked ahead of Taylor and Chad.

"If we can't tell grownups about this, how about Gabby and Troy?" Chad asked. "They're our best friends. We can't keep something big like this from them."

Taylor looked at him. "I'll think about it," she whispered.

They got to Chorus class a second before the bell. "You're lucky. If you're late even one more time, all of you will have detention," the Chorus teacher warned.

"Sorry, Mr. Fletcher," they apologized.

"Don't be sorry," Mr. Fletcher said. "Just don't let it happen again."

The gang nodded their heads and warmed up to sing.

"Time for Taylor and Gabriella's duet," Mr. Fletcher told them.

Gabriella started to sing but Taylor didn't. Gabby looked over at Taylor and saw her sitting in her chair. "What's the matter?"

"I don't feel well..." Taylor paused and got a painful look on her face.

"Can someone walk Taylor to the nurses office?"

Chad jumped at the chance and put Taylor's arm around his neck.

"What's wrong, Tay?" Chad asked when they got outside of the classroom. When Taylor didn't respond, Chad said, "You have to tall me what's wrong, Tay, or I can't help."

"My stomach hurts."

"Okay," Chad replied. "Let's go. We're going to the nurse."

"No," Taylor said quickly.

"No?"

Taylor nodded her head. "If the nurse finds the bruises, she's gonna tell my parents. Then if they find out, it won't be long before Mike finds out I told someone. I can't take that risk with you or any of the others. I care about you too much, Chad."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Take me home, please?"

Chad sighed for a third time, put Taylor's arm around his neck again, and walked her quietly out of the school.

When they got to Taylor's house, Taylor begged Chad to stay.

"I can't, Taylor . . . " Chad started, about to say that he had to get back to class. But when he looked into Taylor's eyes, he found himself ready to do anything to see her smile again.

"Please?"

Chad nodded and said, "Okay, Tay."

Chad went straight to the kitchen and made him and Taylor, who was laying on the sofa, a sandwich.

But when Chad handed it to Taylor, her excuse was, "I'm too tired to eat." Chad wasn't buying it for a second.

"Come on," Chad urged her. "You have to eat something. You haven't eaten lunch all week."

But Taylor just pushed him away and went upstairs to her room.

Chad waited a half hour, then went upstairs too. "Hey, Taylor," Chad greeted her from the doorway.

"Chad, do you mind laying with me for a while?" Taylor wondered.

Chad kicked off his shoes, sat down on the bed, and pulled Taylor close to him.

Chad fell asleep to the rhythmic breathing of Taylor but was soon awakened by a door closing. Soon after that, Chad heard someone yell, "Taylor!"

Chad sat straight up in bed and Taylor woke up too. Chad looked at Taylor and knew by the look in her eyes that this person should not be in her house. He was pretty sure the person was Mike Benson.

Within minutes, Mike Benson was standing at Taylor's doorway. And he didn't like at all what he saw.

"What the hell are you doing, Taylor?" Mike asked, quickly coming over to her.

"We didn't do anything, Mike!" Taylor told him. "He was just laying with me."

Mike got a crazy look in his eyes and came at Taylor but Chad got in front of her and pushed Mike away.

Mike balled his hands into fists and knocked Chad backwards, causing his head to hit Taylor's night stand. He was totally indisposed to protect Taylor from her lunatic boyfriend. He was helpless to stop Mike from violating his best friend.

"No," Taylor said, crying out in pain. But Chad's head hurt too much and his body just wouldn't respond. It was as if every muscle in his body had shut down. He couldn't help Taylor like this and it hurt so much to hear what Mike Benson was doing to her. "Please stop...No..."

About a half hour later, satisfied with what he had done to Taylor, Mike left with one last look at Chad.

Chad, holding his aching cheek with one hand and his stomach with the other, hurried over to Taylor and stopped at the sight he saw. Taylor was sitting at the edge of her bed, tattered and bloody, holding her sheet around her. It hurt Chad so much to see her like this. And it hurt even more knowing he couldn't do anything to help.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Hey, Gabby," Troy Bolton said as the final bell for the day rang. "Have you seen Chad? Its like he disappeared after he took Taylor to the nurses office."

"That's just the thing, Troy," Gabriella Montez said. "Chad didn't take Taylor to the nurses office."

"Okay, you lost me," Troy told her. "What are you talking about? We saw them leave class together."

"Yeah but we didn't see them go into the nurses office, did we?" Gabriella wondered. "I went there after lunch. I wanted to see if Taylor was feeling okay. But when I walked in there, she wasn't there, so I asked the nurse if they sent her home." Gabby looked at Troy. "The nurse said that Taylor never came in."

"If they didn't go to the nurses office, where did they go?"

"Let's go get the others and we'll go to Taylor's house," Gabby said. "Taylor has some questions to answer."

A half hour later, Sharpay and Ryan Evans, Kelsi Nielsen, Jason Cross, Zeke Baylor, Troy, and Gabriella were outside of Taylor McKessie's house.

Gabby knocked on the door and a second later Chad opened it.

"Chad?" Troy wondered. "What are you doing here? How is Taylor? Is she okay?"

"Taylor has something to tell all of you." Chad opened the door wider to let everyone in and they took seats on the sofa, on the floor, and on the love seats.

They looked at Taylor and were shocked at the way she looked.

"For the past month, Mike Benson, my boyfriend, has been beating me." Taylor was wearing a tank top and shorts to show her friends how bad it was. "At first it was just little slaps in the face but then it started to elevate to full on beatings. Then today, he took it too far. He hurt Chad by pushing him back and making him hit his head on my night stand. Mike Benson raped me and hurt the one person I care about most." Taylor had tears in her eyes so Gabby came over and gave her best friend a hug, careful not to touch her bruises.

"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" Troy wondered. "We could've helped you."

Taylor shook her head. "Mike said that if I told any of you, he would hurt Chad and you guys. I couldn't take that chance. I didn't want any of you getting hurt because of me."

The guys were outraged, outraged that this could happen to one of the sweetest people. The girls were shocked, shocked that this could happen to one of their own, one of their family.

"We have to tell someone," Kelsi spoke up.

Taylor shook her head forcefully and Chad said, "I already tried to get her to do that, Kelse. She won't."

"Well we have to do something!" Zeke exclaimed.

"I know," Chad answered. "But I promised Taylor I wouldn't say anything." Chad paused and looked at Taylor, who had her head on Gabby's shoulder. "I know," he said again. "But what can we do?"

Did you like it? Plz R&R!

CorbinBleuFanatic1