IMPORTANT NOTE: I made some VERY important changes to the ending of the last chapter. Before you read this, I advise you to reread the ending of Chapter 14 so that you're not lost. Anyway, I'm so very sorry for my lack of updating. I sorta forgot about this story and it's not my main priority now that school has started. My AP classes and extracurriculars have been hogging up most of my time lately. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this cute little chapter :)
Falling
A week later...
"Why does God hate me?" Sharpay screamed dramatically, launching her entire body on top of the plush cushions of the couch in the family room. She buried her head beneath a comfortable pillow, blocking out the noise of the world. Gabriella stood next to the sofa, leaning against the arm rest as she gnawed on the inside of her cheek idly.
When Sharpay finally removed the pillow, she hoisted herself up by resting her body weight against her forearms. Her infuriated brown eyes looked up to stare at Gabriella with annoyance.
"Why does my grandma suck so much?" cried Sharpay in hysterics, her head sinking down to stare at her painted fingernails. "I can't believe she's doing this. I mean, WHY? Why would she invite Bolton and Danforth with us on our drive down Italy?"
Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, hiding a smile from surfacing at the thought of seeing more of Troy. The two grew closer ever since the kiss by the sea, and within a couple of days, they already had an endless number of insiders. While Sharpay and Chad were off getting trashed, Gabriella and Troy spent the nights strolling through the boardwalk, stargazing, and stealing a few kisses here and there. They hadn't put a label on their relationship yet but they both agreed to take things slow and see how they go from there.
The past week was filled with the minimum amount of drama; if there was any, it was usually instigated by Sharpay.
"After what that jerk did to me!" Sharpay spat distastefully, her lip curling into a scowl. "Leading me on and crap!"
"Hey," Gabriella butted in. "He didn't do anything to you. You tricked yourself into believing that he liked you when he didn't. You should probably clear the air with him. Y'know, finally apologize for what you did two years ago," Gabriella subtly suggested. Both she and Troy agreed to keep their 'relationship' a secret from both Chad and Sharpay for awhile. Gabriella used the term 'relationship' loosely for she still had little idea on what exactly they were classified under. She wasn't his girlfriend yet she knew that she definitely did not want to be one of his summer flings.
"I can't believe you're on his side now!" Sharpay accused her with an incredulous tone, her finger pointing at Gabriella's direction in blame. "So much for chicks before dicks!"
Gabriella rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I'm not on anyone's side here. I'm just saying you haven't exactly done anything worthy of his respect so I don't understand why you expect him to like you."
Obviously, Sharpay wasn't pleased with her response. Chucking the pillow at Gabriella's head, Sharpay slid off the couch before stomping out of the room, her stillettos clicking away with every step.
"I can't wait to see daddy!" Bailee squealed excitedly as she sat down on her stuffed suitcase in an attempt to fit all her clothes in the overstuffed suitcase and zip it up.
"I can't wait to see Rome," Chad remarked, random articles of clothing scattered atop his afro. "I can't believe your rents are chill with this. My parents would never let me do this shit."
"Chad," Troy reprimanded him for what seemed to be the millionth time.
"Sorry," Chad shrugged innocently, "I can't help it if I have a potty mouth."
Troy rolled his eyes before walking over towards Bailee to help her zip her bag.
Bailee's grin widened as she thanked her cousin. Her chin lifted up to look at him in the eye, "So, what's the first stop, Troy?"
"Let's check, shall we?" He smiled at her warmly before edging towards the table where the map sat. Picking it up, his eyes briefly scanned the route that they would travel upon from their departure in Jesolo.
"Hm, we'll stop in Padova first to walk around and grab a snack. Then we can stop in Verona for lunch. And then we can drive the rest of the way to either Milan or Bologna depending on where the girls want to go."
"They're gonna say Milan," Chad answered instantly. "Fashion capital of the world. Go figure."
"I've been to Milan before!" Bailee declared proudly. "Last year! It was okay. Lots of cathedrals."
Chad grimaced, his eyebrows furrowing. "See, me and historical landmarks don't deal well. I'd rather be out partying or on the beach, not visiting cathedrals."
Troy smirked, containing his laughter as he patted his friend against the back. "Sorry to break it to you Chad, but the majority of the attractions in Italy consist of cathedrals."
"Ugh," Chad groaned, the palm of his hand rubbing the ache in his forehead, "Fantastic."
At that moment, Loretta entered the room alongside Lucille. Lucille smiled warmly at her son and niece, attempting to finish their packing before the big day.
"You have all our numbers, right Troy?" Lucille questioned. "And you'll call if anything goes wrong?"
"Yes, mama," Troy answered obediently in a sweet tone as he abandoned his suitcase to walk over to his mother.
Chad snickered at his behavior, messily throwing a T-shirt inside his own bag.
Lucille quirked an eyebrow, "You promise to call everyday?"
"Promise," Troy answered without hesitating. Lucille smiled in satisfaction, wrapping her arms around her son in a hug.
Troy smiled, gladly returning the hug.
"I'm going to bed. Since you're leaving early in the morning, I just wanted to say goodbye," Lucille bid her farewell, ruffling her son's hair.
"Bye mom, I promise I'll call as soon as we get to a hotel," Troy reassured her, pulling away from the hug.
"All right, goodnight sweetie. Take good care of Bailee," Lucille flashed the seven-year old a warm smile. "Make sure you call tuo zio (your uncle) when you arrive in Roma."
Her gaze then shifted to Chad, who was busily battling the zipper on his bag. Lucille rolled her eyes at his aloofness, stating, "And make sure Chad doesn't get into too much trouble."
Chad sprang up, suddenly attentive. He blinked for a moment before her words fully settled in. "Hey, I resent that!"
Lucille laughed kindheartedly before wishing them a safe trip and returning to her quarters.
Loretta stayed behind, exclaiming, "Buon viaggio (Have a good trip)!"
"Grazie, nonna," Troy replied before embracing his grandmother in a hug as well.
"Prendersi cura delle ragazze (Take care of the girls)," Loretta whispered into his ear. Troy knew that was her subtle message to look out for both Sharpay and Gabriella as well as Bailee. Troy nodded, indicating he understood her instructions.
"Buonanotte (Good night)," Loretta finally vocalized to the entire group, flashing them all a smile and a wave as she exited the room.
"Geez, Bolton. Is your entire extended family going to stage a goodbye ceremony for you before you've even left?" Chad remarked jokingly, throwing two pairs of jeans into his suitcase.
Troy chuckled drily, responding with a shrug. "My family's pretty tight knit. And I'm not going to see them for another two weeks, I'll probably miss them."
"Me too!" Bailee interjected, propping her elbows against Chad's bed. "But my dad's in Rome right now and I haven't seen him in forever! Mommy's letting me come with Troy so I can visit daddy."
"He's letting us stay with him for a few nights," Troy told Chad, "It'll save us heaps of cash."
"Cool," Chad replied offhandedly, finally zipping up his entire suitcase. He smiled victoriously at his accomplishment. "I'm done!"
The sound of a ringing telephone echoed through the walls of the room. Chad's eyes shifted towards the black vintage phone near his nightstand. He bit his lip, looking at Troy questioningly, "Uh, should I get that?"
Troy shrugged lackadaisically, "Why not."
Chad picked up the phone, mumbling into the receiver. "Uh, ciao?"
Troy snorted while Bailee attempted to stifle her quiet giggles.
"Oh, Gabriella," Chad's mouth formed into a casual smirk as his eyes darted towards his best friend whose back suddenly stiffened, "Hello."
Springing up from his comfortable position in the bed, Troy rushed towards the nightstand where the rotary phone rested against the wooden surface. His eyes stared pleadingly at Chad to hand over the phone.
Chad grinned evilly as he elbowed Troy's reaching hand away from his body.
"Nah, he's not here right now. He's taking a dump," Chad asserted into the telephone, causing Bailee to burst out into a fit of laughter and Troy to glare at him with the intensity of a blast furnace.
"Give me the phone," Troy whisper-roared, his hand gripping the phone in an attempt to pull it away from Chad's strong grasp. Finally, his strength overpowered Chad's and he managed to grip a hold on the phone, pressing it against his ear.
"Hey, sorry about that. Chad's being an idiot," Troy spoke into the receiver, plopping down onto Chad's bed. Chad simply rolled his eyes and sat up, muttering some incoherent words under his breath. Chad grabbed his toothbrush from the night stand and marched out of the room to brush his teeth.
Upon Chad's exit, Troy let out a sigh of relief at knowing that Chad could no longer listen in on the conversation.
"So, what's on your mind, beautiful?" The words flowed right out of his mouth, causing Bailee's eyes to bulge and her mouth to drop open. Noticing the reaction of his cousin, Troy mentally cursed himself for forgetting about Bailee's presence. Crap.
Bailee dropped her stuff on the floor before jumping onto Chad's bed, crawling next to Troy and pressing her ear against the phone that Troy held to his ear.
Troy cocked an eyebrow, frowning before addressing Bailee, "Bails, what do you think you're doing?"
Caught like a deer near headlights, Bailee flashed him a cheeky grin, the gap between her recent fallen baby tooth noticeable.
"Nothing," Bailee stated innocently in a sing-song voice.
When Bailee heard the chatter from the other line, she stared up at Troy questioningly as if she expected him to repeat what was just spoken.
"Oh, Bailee just basically crawled onto my lap and tried to listen in on our conversation," Troy responded into the receiver with a dry chuckle.
"Tell her I say hi!" Bailee exclaimed excitedly, grinning brightly. She paused with an afterthought and added, "Oh! And tell her, 'I told you so!' "
Noticing Troy's confusion, Bailee elaborated on her statement. "Y'know, cuz I told her you liked her and you do!" Bailee giggled and rolled her eyes playfully, "But you silly teenagers never listen to me."
Troy shot her a look of annoyance, covering the receiver of the phone with his hand, "Don't you have some place to be right now? Like in your own bedroom sleeping? It's late and we have to wake up early."
Bailee crossed her arms across her chest and pouted, "Stop trying to get rid of me!
"Bailee," Troy pleaded. "Please just give me a few minutes?"
"Hmph!" She huffed in discontent, hopping off the bed and stomping out of the room in similar fashion to Sharpay.
Troy let out a relieved breath before releasing his hand from the receiver.
"Sorry about that. She stomped out of the room angrily."
"Why is she angry?" Gabriella's melodic voice rang through the telephone eye, causing a lazy smile to surface on Troy's facial expression.
"I kicked her out."
"Troy!" She scolded him playfully, making a genuine grin surface on his face.
"Well, I can't have her listening in on us and then rushing to tell Chad about it. You know Chad can't keep anything to himself so sooner or later, Sharpay would find out."
She giggled and he was pretty sure it was music to his ears.
"That reminds me, Sharpay hates you now because you apparently led her on."
Troy cocked an eyebrow, a disgusted expression forming. "What the hell?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure how she came to that assumption either."
"Yeah..." Troy drawled awkwardly, "I have nothing to say to that."
"I hope you guys can at least get along on the trip though. Ooh, I'm so excited for tomorrow, Troy! You have no idea how much it means to me that you're coming along!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "And now none of us have to deal with Sharpay's road rage!"
They both laughed at the insider, remembering Sharpay's attempts to get rid of Chad in the back of her Vespa.
"No problem, Gabi. You know I love spending time with you so I really intend to make sure you have the vacation of the lifetime before the struggles of senior year come along."
He heard her sigh wistfully at the mention of school. Nevertheless, she thanked him repeatedly, "Really, Troy. Driving down the length of Italy is like a dream come true. And being with you is just an added bonus. I don't think I can be any happier."
Troy felt his heart flutter at her words. He knew he could never admit this to Chad but he always found himself blushing around her and even her voice over the phone had the power to make him do so.
"Honestly, I don't think I can be any happier about this either," Troy remarked. "I just hope that we can get some time alone in the midst of all of this. Being around bickering Chad and Sharpay for long periods of time can be rather frustrating."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Don't worry, we'll find a way to set aside some time," She reassured him. Suddenly, a shrill scream was audible over the line. "Ah, I'm sorry for cutting this short Troy but I have to go. Sharpay is pissed about something and you know how she gets! I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
"Oh," Troy responded, slightly disappointed. "Well, it's all right. Good luck dealing with one of her temper tantrums again. I'll see you tomorrow, bye!"
When he finally put down the phone, he lied down on Chad's bed. As he stared up at the ceiling, he attempted to collect his thoughts.
A girlish voice interrupted his thinking a few seconds later.
"Just so you know, I wasn't gonna tell Chad about this!" Bailee stomped back into the room the minute Troy hung up on the phone. Troy raised an eyebrow at her timing before realizing she must have been eavesdropping.
"You little sneak!" Troy sat up on the bed, pointing his finger in an accusatory manner. "You were spying on my conversation, weren't you?"
"Duh," Bailee said dramatically, "I'm practically your little sister. It's like my job to spy on you."
Troy merely shook his head, brushing his hair away from his eyes before climbing off the bed.
"Nonna's gonna be really happy about this!" Bailee exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands. "She was worried you'd end up forever alone!"
Befuddled, Troy stared at her oddly. "What? I'm only seventeen."
Bailee shrugged. "And I'm only seven but I have friends who've already had boyfriends. You like barely ever date! It's about time!"
"Dating in second grade?" Troy asked incredulously, unable to contain his laughter. "You kids are crazy these days."
"Hey!" Bailee objected, fuming. "In three and a half years, I'll be a pre-teen!"
"Right, right. Sorry little lady."
Bailee narrowed her eyes, "I don't like the word little. When I'm bigger, I'm gonna date Justin Bieber!" Bailee proclaimed proudly, grinning widely.
Troy roared with laughter, inching toward Bailee to ruffle her hair. "Whatever you say, Bails. Whatever you say..."
"Hey! It'll happen," Bailee stated confidently, holding her head up high. "Just you watch!"
Troy shook his head, his smile still plastered on his face.
"Bee tee wubs, what exactly are you and Gabriella?" Bailee asked him curiously, "Are you like boyfriend and girlfriend now?"
"No," answered Troy hesitantly, biting his lower lip. "I'm not sure what we are but... I like it," He admitted sheepishly, a red tint forming against his cheeks, "A lot. And I know this is all happening really fast but I think I'm really falling for her."
"Aww!" Bailee squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. "You-you should tell her how you feel and sing a Justin Bieber song to her! Be like, baby, baby, baby ohh!"
Troy snorted, biting his lip in an attempt to stop his laughter from erupting.
"Sure, Bails. Whatever you say..."
AN: I really hope you guys don't hate me for updating so late! Next chapter's when the fun begins, heh. :)