What Do You Want From Me?
Disclaimer: We do not own hsm.
Chapter Four: The Funeral
Sharpay gently knocked on Troy's door, hoping he'd want to speak to her. She was kinda worried about him. She didn't know why but she just didn't get a very good vibe from Robert. She felt like he couldn't be trusted, but she didn't want to speak her confusion to Troy. It'd just hurt him even more if she started to accuse his uncle.
Troy didn't answer, and she didn't want to stay there forever, she slowly pressed down the knob, and pushed the door open. She peeked inside and saw Troy lying on his bed, face towards the wall. She stepped inside. He hadn't heard her, and if he had, he didn't acknowledge her presence. She closed the door behind her- not wanting to be interrupted, and walked across the floor.
She looked at his face and realized he was sleeping, his face- as he turned his head a bit- had tearstains on it. Sharpay felt…well she didn't exactly know what to feel. She just felt so bad for Troy. It must have been so horrible when he found out about his dad. Sharpay couldn't even imagine.
Suddenly, his eyes were fluttering, like a butterfly's wings.
She hated to wake him, but she knew she had to. She wanted to speak with him, and she hadn't gone all this way over here for nothing! She was worried about his well-being, and she just wanted to make sure her was okay.
She reached out and gently touched his arm, shaking him lightly. He groaned, and turned around, his eyes snapping open so she could stare into his ocean blue eyes. He seemed surprised to see her for a second, but when he realized what was happening, he sat up in bed, and rubbed his eyes.
"Sharpay?" he questioned, his voice broken and raw, "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
Sharpay swallowed, and took a seat next to him on the bed, "Your uncle let me in. I wanted to check up on you. How are you holding up?"
He bit his lip, not knowing hot to respond to that. He didn't want to be rude, and tell her to leave, but he also just wanted to be left alone for awhile. He was tired of everyone asking him how he was holding up. It was very sweet of her to care like that, but he was getting so sick of it! …he just wanted space.
"Troy?" she kept on, gently touching his arm, "You wanna talk about it?"
He closed his eyes, and leaned back against the wall, exhaling loudly, "No." he replied, kind of harshly, hoping she might get a bit offended and then leave him alone. He could always apologize some other time.
"You know I'm here for you right?" she continued, as she stroked his arm gently, "…they miss you at school." She continued, oblivious to the fact that Troy didn't want to listen to her, "PE and basketball practice has been cancelled. They haven't got another coach yet. It's so weird without you there and without your dad of course."
"Mmmhmm…" he mumbled, biting his lip lightly.
"But I started talking more to Chad." She told him, as she leaned against the wall, her head next to his, "He's really sad about this. I feel so bad for him. Of course it's not his dad, but y'know, your father always treated him as a son. So I sorta consoled him today. He started crying."
"He did?" Troy managed to choke out, now concerned for his best buddy. He had no idea Chad could even cry! The boy had never cried before, not even when he got hurt. But stranger things had happened, of course… Like Troy starring in a musicale, so maybe it was true?
"Yeah, I was so weirded out about it." Sharpay replied with a sigh, "We want you back soon. Are you coming after the funeral?"
"…"
"Troy?" she questioned, turning her head to the side, to look at him. She found his eyes closed, and silent tears running down his cheeks. Maybe mentioning the funeral wasn't the brightest thing she had ever done. She rushed off the bed, and stopped in the middle of the room, "I'm gonna go, Troy. I'm sorry I mentioned that, I was-" she cut herself off, and opened the door, "We'll talk soon. I miss you."
Troy didn't even nod, but breathed out a deep sigh, when the door closed. He just wanted to be left alone right now. Alone with his thoughts, and alone with his feelings. He needed to sort all this out himself. He really needed space.
Sharpay leaned herself against the door, once it was closed softly. Maybe she was annoying him by coming all the time? But she just wanted good things for him! She just wanted to help! Of course it was hard on him, when his father had just died, so maybe he needed more time? She could be bothering him more than she knew.
She gathered herself together, and silently made her way down the stairs again. She didn't want to bother anyone. Mrs. Bolton was probably just as hurt as Troy, and she was probably with Robert right now. But Sharpay still felt like she needed to talk to her… She'd feel guilty if she went home without showing her condolence again. Her mother had taught her well – that was what a real lady did, she'd said, since Sharpay was just a kid.
She peeked into the living room, but no one was there. She went towards the kitchen but stopped by the doorframe when she found the two grown-ups embraced in a huge. She peeked inside and was sorta confused by what she saw. They seemed awfully close to each other… Mrs. Bolton was just crying, but Robert was like… squeezing the living life out of her.
Something didn't seem quite right about that picture, and that nagging feeling about Robert came up in Sharpay's stomach again. Something was definitely up with that guy.
--
Troy was a bit happier when Chad showed up in his backyard the same evening, basketball in hand. Troy was sitting in the grass, just looking around the lane, remembering all the things he'd done with his father in there. It was painful to even think about him, he realized.
But when Chad stood there, he shot out of his seat, and enveloped him in a big hug, not needing to speak any words. He was surprised, how much he'd actually missed his best bud during these few days. Chad awkwardly let go of the orange ball, and hugged Troy back. He could feel his friend needed it – and frankly, he needed it too. He was so worked up about everything. He couldn't really believe that Jack Bolton was gone.
"Hey man!" Chad mumbled. Awkwardly, they pulled apart, "How're you holding up, dude? I know it's not well, but getting better?"
Troy shrugged his shoulders and dug his hands deeply into the pockets of his sweatpants, "Yeah, I'm-" he paused, "I'm holding up, all right. It's kinda weird not having him around, y'know? But I'm getting used to it."
"Well, that's good..." Chad replied. He didn't know what to say at all, but it was great just seeing Troy. What did you say in situations like this anyway? It's kinda stupid to start talking about his father, and it's hard figuring out what else to say, when the death is all you can think about. But it definitely eased his mind to see Troy in person after the accident.
"It's okay, I suppose." Troy said, and managed to shoot Chad a grin, "You wanna go inside? We might have some leftovers to eat," he suggested, knowing it'd be great to do something regular. He and Chad had always eaten the dinner left-over at the most unnatural times- at like, three o'clock in the morning when they couldn't sleep. So maybe it would make them both feel better, if they did stuff like that?
Chad shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, I just wanted to check on you. I have to go home again. Mom says I can't intrude for too long at this time. Would've been fun, though."
"It's okay," Troy said, not really disappointed. It would have been awkward to sit there in silence, too.
"I'm just gonna run again, alright?" Chad said, as he backed away from him, "I'll see you around?"
"See ya'." Troy replied, as Chad turned around, and ran out of the backyard. Troy just watched him go, a feeling he couldn't quite describe, eating him up from the inside. He didn't know what to do any longer. It was hard…
It was so hard.
--
The funeral arrived faster then Troy expected. The day seemed to fit the mood everyone was feeling- well mostly everyone anyway: dreary and cold. The wind was blowing fiercely as Troy stood, robotically greeting everyone as they arrived.
Once everyone showed up, Troy and his mother finally took a seat, which was next to Gabriella and her family in the front row. Gabriella immediately took Troy's hand in hers, for support. Troy would have smiled at her but for some reason…he just couldn't. His emotions were threatening to take over. His vision was going blurry with tears and his heart seemed to ache. It felt as though there was a hole in his heart. One that couldn't ever be repaired.
Troy slowly looked up. The priest was at the podium now, gathering everyone's attention.
He cleared his throat, "We are gathered here today because of a great tragedy-"
Suddenly, Troy couldn't hear what the priest was saying. He could only hear all of the people that were crying. His mother next to him was crying her eyes out, trying to hug him. But he couldn't feel her hugging him. He could vaguely hear some of the things the priest was saying, but they weren't exactly registering.
"He was a great man, father, coach,"
Troy looked towards Gabriella, she was crying, embracing her mom.
Tears threatened to fall as Troy continued to listen to everything that was going on. The crying…the priest talking. He was trying to stay strong. He didn't need his mother to see him crying. He didn't need anyone to see him crying damnit!
But he couldn't seem to hold it in any longer. The tears started to fall and Troy turned towards his mother and embraced her.
He couldn't seem to fight it any longer.
------
When the funeral ended, Robert Bolton couldn't be happier. All of the crying was getting annoying and listening to the fucking priest go on and on about how great his brother was and blah, blah, blah. Robert was glad to get out of there. Though now he was here at the house where all of the family and friends came to.
He walked around, bored out of his mind. Troy had gone outside with all of his friends. Robert knew he couldn't start his plan now. Waaay too soon. He'd have to wait a few days or so to start it. He didn't want to be suspicious. Lisa had gone into the kitchen with one of her good friends so Robert couldn't really talk to her either.
Suddenly, Robert came up to a group of men talking. They seemed to be talking about his brother, which immediately sparked Robert's curiousness. He stood a few feet away and casually listened into their conversation.
"I don't know what we are going to do without Jack. Now we have no coach for the team or gym..."
"I'm sure you'll be able find somebody."
"Yeah, I guess so..."
It grew quiet and Robert took this as his chance to speak up, to finally put his plan into action.
"Hey guys, I couldn't help but overhear…that you needed a new coach?"
Author's note: Hey guys, sorry for the delay! We hope you all are having a wonderful holiday. Merry almost Christmas to those who celebrate it!
review please? It'll make us verrry happy
-lilcutie0918 and stessa