Author's Note: I had to change the landscape a little bit for what I wanted to happen. Obviously there is no subdivision just a few miles outside of Albuquerque, well, at least I don't think there is, but I hope you guys don't get too made at me. I don't own the books, those are real and copyrighted.

Troy. Now.

I rolled to a stop in front of the local ice cream shop. Taylor, Chad and Sharpay were waiting for me. I took a deep breath, turning off my car and stepping out. They gave me forced smiles when I approached.

Taylor walked forward and hugged me. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." I hugged her back lightly, emotionless.

Chad's hand found my shoulder and he gave me a hesitant smile. "We haven't ordered yet. We waited."

"You didn't have to do that." I answered, walking up towards the order window.

"We thought it would be rude to order without you." The words came from Sharpay's mouth and I couldn't hold back a grin. "We didn't know what you would get."

"The usual." I shrugged and then frowned. It's what she used to get. A vanilla sunday with hot fudge, caramel and crushed Oreos. Everyone's face fell and we ordered in silence.

Chad cleared his throat when we found a picnic table to eat at. "So…"

"Yeah." Taylor mumbled. "So."

Then Sharpay barreled right into it, typical. "They'll find her guys. It's just a matter of time."

"I was with her that day." Taylor whispered. "The day she went missing. I dropped her off at her house. I could have stayed. I could have done something. But — but I just didn't know."

"It's not your fault." Chad wrapped a comforting around her shoulder. I hoped I would get the chance to do that again with the one I loved.

"Did you know that most missing persons cases that exceeded 48 hours never get solved." Taylor whispered, taking her head in her hands.

"Are you serious, Taylor?" Sharpay growled, her eyes hardening. Her back had gone ridged at the words pouring from Taylor's mouth and her hand had clenched on the table. "You're already giving up? She's your best friend for gods sake!"

"I'm still trying, Sharpay?" Taylor snapped back. "It's just hard. We haven't gotten anything for three days. Nothing."

Sharpay just growled and turned on me, her eyes sharp. "And what about you, Troy? You already given up?"

"No."

"That's really reassuring." The blond snapped back. "I hope you aren't trying to convince anyone that you're fine. I can see it in your eyes. You're depressed. Where is that going to get you? Nowhere."

"What do you expect!?" I yelled, tired of where this conversation was going. "My girlfriend's gone missing and there isn't even an ouch of information! How did they get her in broad daylight? Is she even alive?" The three cringed at the word and Sharpay eyes softened, backing down. "Don't you realize that it's killing me, Sharpay? I can't take it. I'll die if she does."

"Troy, I know." She tilted her head at me, reaching for my hand. "You just can't keep everything inside. That's a path to your own destruction. We can't give up hope until they've found her."

We grew silent again and I glanced around. Many people had been staring at us, the commotion stirring their curiosity. But most of them, once they saw who we were, just turned away, shaking their heads. It had been the biggest story to hit Albuquerque in a long time. Some people were already starting to grieve, giving up. Others, like Sharpay, had developed a strong will to believe in the good in life. Nothing bad would happen to high school sweethearts who had just graduated from high school. Life was cruel, but not that cruel. I hoped we wouldn't get proven wrong.

"I miss her." I whispered, holding back tears. There. I had said it. "I just wish I could know what happened. I'd give anything to know why it happened to her."

"We would too."

Gabriella. Three days ago.

"Where's your car?" Taylor rested her chin on the steering wheel of her Dodge and looked out my window.

I sighed, unlocking the car door. "My mom took it to the shop this morning. The hydraulics in the breaks are messed up. The pressure's all wrong and the rubbers stripped down to the metal."

Taylor hissed between her teeth. "I'm glad you found out now rather then later."

"I'm not out of the clear yet." I cringe at the thought of the conversation my mom and me were going to have when she got back. "The bill's going to be insane."

Taylor made a face. "Well, call me later if you survive."

"I will. See you later girl." I laughed, tapping her car door. She nodded her head at me and I stepped back. She drove off, waving at me from her rear view mirror; I waved back, knowing I would see her tomorrow.

My house was anything but extraordinary. It was white; the only white house on my street considering my mom liked the old farmhouse look over the red of the bricks. Besides, everything was red in Albuquerque. I grabbed the mail from the mail box before I entered my house through the garage.

"Bills. Bills." I flipped through the envelopes. "More bills." My hand found a manila one addressed to me from the library. I tilted my head a little. It was hand addressed, which was strange because I though all the publicly owned buildings did there mail through other companies. I opened it, setting the others on the island in the kitchen.

Dear Gabriella Montez,

We are pleased to inform you that your books for AU arrived yesterday. It would be greatly appreciated if you picked them up in a time frame of two days after their arrival.

The contents include Chemistry in Context by: The American Chemical Society and Introduction to Genetic Principles by: David R. Hyde. Again, we would greatly appreciate it if you could pick up these materials as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Library Staff

I groaned. I didn't even remember ordering any books from the library, but then again, my mom probably did it for me. I was going to have to go and pick them up. I set down the letter on the island. The wind from the fan over my head blew it off and it floated down to the floor where it skimmed underneath the refrigerator. I rolled my eyes and dropped to my hands and knees.

It was too far under for my arm to reach. "Whatever." I sighed and walked towards the stairs, taking them two at a time. Turning right at the top I entered my bedroom, grabbed the extremely overdue library books and shoved them into my backpack. I couldn't procrastinate any longer. I found my bike out back, dragging it around front. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and started my long trek to the library.

I pedaled for the main road, and town. My house was in a rural subdivision a few miles east of Albuquerque in the Sandia Mountains. I knew that because I had gone to the library many times towards the end of senior year, but never on my bike. It was going to be an adventure, but I needed the exercise. The road between Sunrise Valley subdivision and Albuquerque was beautiful, winding country roads that snaked up one side of the mountain that bordered my community, through a dense pine forests and down the other side into Albuquerque. As much as I focused on getting to the library as quickly as my legs would bring me, it was hard for me not to notice how beautiful the mountains were.

The sun was on its way down, creating long pine-tree shadows across the road. The amber rays sparkled through the trees as I rode, making me feel as if I was escaping the light, only to be blinded by it seconds later. I passed an open meadow, daisy and other wild flowers blowing in the wind. I could hear the birds chattering in the trees, and even saw a couple of fireflies dancing among the trees. It was a rather pleasing ride. I promised myself that I would make the trip again, maybe on a Sunday with my mom, or even Troy.

The road inclined quickly as it brought me up into the mountain. I was in shape, but still, a steep climb is a steep climb, any way you look at it. It was no problem, but I didn't like to get sweaty. Never did. Lugging the library books I had to return almost seemed like a bad idea, because it would have been an easy drive into town on any other day. But there was no turning back now. I had to gut it out, sweat and all. Yuck.

The road got even steeper and wound sharply to the right. Out of all the years I had lived in Albuquerque, going on three, I didn't remember it being so steep, though I had almost always been in my car. Roads never seemed as steep in cars as they did when you were riding or running. I rounded the bend and saw that the road continued to bend around the mountain. I couldn't see how much farther it was to the top, but I knew it must be just around the curve ahead.

That's when I heard the car.

It was faint at first. I was breathing so hard that I couldn't make out what it was right away. But the sound quickly grew louder. Soon there was no doubt in my mind. A car was coming up behind me. Fast. I glanced back out of instinct, but there was nothing to see except the bend I had just come around. The oncoming car hadn't gotten there yet. In a few seconds it would careen around the corner and be right behind me. The road was pretty narrow, and I thought about getting off and moving to the side for safety. But the idea of having to start up again on this steep hill wasn't a happy one. I did a quick calculation and figured the car would see me in plenty of time to move over. I stood up and pumped harder, hoping to get to the top of the rise before the car. It was just starting to dawn on me how stupid this idea had been.

Behind me, the car rounded the curve. The engine was working so hard it sounded as if it were roaring at me. A quick, scary thought came to me. What if he tried to run me off the road? I hadn't thought about it. My heart raced, faster then it had from the climb. All I wanted to do was get around the next corner and see the top of the rise.

The roar of the car grew louder. I decided to jump off my bike, but a quick look to the side showed me that the shoulder was too narrow. There was a steep drop-off. If I dismounted now, there would be no place to go. If this car wanted to run me down, it had found the perfect place to do it.

Seconds later the car was on me. I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact of the hit. I gritted my teeth, tightened up, and — the car roared past — It was so close I felt the breeze as it sped by. I opened my eyes and saw that it was a minivan full of little kids being driven by a soccer mom. The woman tried to move over to get clear of me, but there was just so far she could go without passing into the oncoming lane, with a blind curve ahead. If the van was in that lane and a car came around the other side — crash.

I looked up to see the little kids pressing their faces against the rear window, waving at me. I smiled and waved back. I was exhausted, but relieved that it had been just a minivan full of kids. I laughed at myself for being so paranoid. Running me off the road, yeah right! Now all I had to do was get to the top of the rise and the work would be over. The minivan had disappeared around the corner. I put my head down and stood up again, digging into the pedals for the final push home. The roar of the minivan echoed off the side of the mountain.

I guess that's why I didn't hear the car that was coming from the other way.

I downshifted, pumping my legs, and looked ahead in time to see a jet-black Nissan Xterra screaming around the corner, heading directly towards me. The driver wasn't worried about being in the wrong lane. The car had crossed the centerline and was charging right for me. There was only one thing I could do.

Bail out.

I threw the bike at the car and dove to my left. The black Nissan hit the bike's front tire before I was completely clear. I heard the screech of breaks and the shrieking sound of the tires skidding on the asphalt. The driver didn't mind hitting me, but wasn't prepared to crash over the edge while doing it. He didn't want to kill me that bad. The thought was kind of reassuring.

That was until the force of the impact twisted me around so quickly and violently that I had no hope of making a controlled fall. The weight from the books on my back made it even worse. They acted like a counterweight, twisting my body around with even more force. Before I hit the ground, I had one brief thought:

"Why didn't I wear my helmet?"

My shoulder hit a tree. The force snapped my head back. I smashed to the ground and hit hard on my other shoulder. The ground was so steep that I kept moving, tumbling head-over-ass-over-arms-over-legs. I was an out of control rag doll, slamming into trees and boulders on the way down. Finally, with a rude thud, I slammed into one last tree and stopped. A second later, the forest around me grew silent. I was on my back, staring up at the clouding sky above me.

I was in shock.

I had no idea how badly I was hurt, or if I was even bleeding. There was too much pain to concentrate on anything and it felt like being in a dream, half asleep, but unable to move. I glanced to the destructive path I had created down the slop to see that I had fallen far from the road. Even if I could move, there was no way I would be able to crawl up the steep hill. Worse, I feared that I had fallen so far that nobody would see me lying here, and night was coming. I moved my eyes slightly to get a better look at where I had fallen, and saw something that made my breath catch.

Parked on the edge of the road was the black Nissan. The sun was long gone, so it's headlights were on. Behind the gleaming beams, the chrome bumper grinned at me, dented from where it had hit my bike. The driver's door opened. I was finally going to see the monster that had run me off the road. Who could it possibly be? The driver walked to the front of the car so he could be seen in the headlights. It was like he wanted me to see him. It didn't make any sense. Standing on the edge of the road, looking down at me—was Dillon Chase.

The West High, wavy-haired, point guard stood in the lights of the black Nissan with his hands on his hips, staring at me. Hope built up in my stomach. He wouldn't' be so stupid as to try and hurt me again. He had to be here to help me. If I went missing, he had to known that he would be the first person suspected. This was all just a horrible misunderstanding. But then again, we never did tell anyone about that night at the beach last year. I cursed inwardly at my previous decision to let it be. Another thing that caught my attention was that Dillon was making his way down the hill, which seemed way too easy, towards me.

I gritted my teeth, trying to move. I managed to roll over to my stomach, but going anywhere was a lost cause because too many things were broken. I couldn't see very well, my vision had narrowed considerably after the fall. The back of my head felt like it was split in two and I was vaguely aware of some kind of sticky wetness running down my face. Blood, which didn't surprise me at all. I tried to push myself up with my arms but a wave of nausea hit me so hard and fast that I gagged. Pain splintered from my right shoulder and down my arm and I knew it was broken, I couldn't move my fingers. Wrist too, probably. My whole right side felt like it had been shattered into a very fine powder and my left wasn't feeling to hot either.

"You don't need to get up for my sake." A foot found the middle of my back and I was pushed back to the ground. I closed my eyes, swallowing as my mind finally started to piece together what was really happening. Dillon had run me off the road, and wasn't going to do anything to help me. "That fall looked pretty cool, I might send it into that Holy Sh..! TV show. It was killer."

"It felt…pretty cool," I rasped out, annoyed. "You should…try it…sometime."

"Ehh, no thanks." He moved his foot off of my back and I took in a shattered breath. "I think I'll leave the dying to you."

"Well, thanks…I guess." I rolled my eyes. He always was a heartless bastard.

"You sure you're okay?" His mock concern made my stomach roll. I choked and blood ran from my mouth.

"What do…you want?" I sighed, getting my breath back. I tried to find his body through the hair that had fallen across my face when I tried to move.

He knelt down next to me; I could hear his knees crack. A second later, he brushed the stray hair out of my eyes. He smiled at me, a soft smile that completely counteracted what he was currently doing. "Troy Bolton's destruction. What else?"

His response came from so far out of left field that I didn't know how to respond. I'm pretty sure my mouth fell open and my eyes went wide, though I still couldn't see very well. "Excuse…me?"

"I've never seen someone quite like you before Gabriella Montez." He stood, I felt the ground move slightly as he walked around my body. "The new kid on the block and you nab the unreachable, East High's Golden Boy: Troy Bolton."

"The feelings…mutual." I rasped, smiling. "It…goes both…ways."

"I know." Dillon laughed. "That's why it was so surprising. I had to see for myself. So when we played him for the Championships," he sighed, his voice radiating right next to my ear. "Well, you know what happened. Technical difficulties with the scoreboard and then we all watched you in the auditorium. While everyone was so transfixed by the fact that Troy Bolton really did love you of all people, I was only focused on how I was going to use that to my advantage."

"…bastard." I growled. I hated anyone who used peoples loved ones against them. It was a cowardly act. I hated it.

He gave a pleasing laugh and it felt like he sat down next to me. "I watched you after that. Constantly. I couldn't get you out of my head. How I was going to use you to get revenge on Troy." He paused and sighed like he was pouring his soul out to me. I didn't care. "How could you love Troy Bolton? What made your relationship tick? How could he love you — the "freaky-math-girl?"

I tried to yell curses at him, but the action was too strong for my lungs and more blood entered my mouth. I spit it out on the ground next to me, hoping to hit him. It missed by inches. He cleared his throat, ignored me and continued.

"Then I saw you two at the beach last summer, and I saw that my opportunity had finally arrived. I waited, of course, till you were alone, which took quite a while," I felt him shrug. "The day before we all left if I'm not mistaken." I watched him snap a small twig with his unshaken hands. "But he did, and that's when I struck. Or tried to anyways. I've never really figured out why you saved me that night. I was going to hurt you — badly. To the point where you would have begged me for death — But you save me from going over the edge and I saw it as a sign from God. My plan was meant to continue. And I still knew that you were my tool for breaking Troy." He tilted his head down at me, a grin spreading across his face. "You escaped me once. I wasn't going to let it happen again."

"So you tried…to throw me off…a cliff to get…at Troy." I snapped with as much anger as I could muster between my pants from my oxygen craved lungs. "And when that didn't…work, you ran me…off the road with…your car."

"I make it up as I go." It was a board tone and I couldn't believe that an actual human being was doing this to me, let alone someone my own age. "I saw your mom take your car to the shop and then planted that fake envelope from the library in your mailbox. It surprised me when you brought that poor excuse of a bike out from the back, but it didn't make a difference. It would still be like you were walking. Unprotected either way."

"…you son of a…bitch." The words flowed like venom from my mouth. "You're…insane."

"I'll make a deal with you, Gabriella." His eyes were bright, and touched my cheek. I glared daggers at him. "You give me your word that you'll break up with Troy — that you'll leave him and never look back — And I'll call the paramedics. They'll be here in minutes and we can get you out of here and to safety. All you have to do is forget about Troy Bolton and you'll be saved." A small smile curved at the edges of his mouth, encouraging me gently.

"…Never…" I growled with the last of my strength. I would never betray Troy for my own safety. I knew that I would be the cause for his infinite pain, for the deep depression that was bound to hit his full force. I was certain of this because if he ever left me, I would feel the same exact way. Empty. Devastated. Alone.

"You would rather die knowing he loved you, then live knowing he didn't?" Dillon's question was thick with surprise and he tilted his head to the side. Obviously he had never felt true love before.

"…ab — absolutely…" I whimpered, cringing as another wave of nausea crashed into me. The world tilted and my vision blurred around the edges, stomach churning. Now that the conversation was almost over, my concentration was beginning to focus on something else. Pain. My head was splitting and my chest and stomach were on fire. At least I could feel my arms and head, but everything below my waist was lost to me.

"Well then, let me be the first one to say that you've just dug your own grave." Dillon said with an arrogant air, his tone laced with hostility. He stood and made his way back up the hill to his parked Nissan. "I've just seen the similarity's between last summer and this moment. We're alone again and someone has fallen over a steep hill. It wasn't a cliff, but the condition of your body is telling me that it was enough." He paused, silence meeting me before he spoke again. "But there's one thing that's different." His voice echoed back over his shoulder before he turned and smiled, his eyes searching for blood. Mine. "I'm not going to save you."