Disclaimer: I do not own HSM

Chapter 6: Cinderella

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

Cuz' I know something the prince never knew

Ohhh I will dance with Cinderella

I don't wanna miss even one song

Cuz' all too soon the clock will strike midnight

And she'll be gone

"Hey, Gabi. So what's your story?" Chad asked after they had finished eating their pizzas.

"You guys really want to hear my story?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, we don't know a thing about you and your life before East High." Chad said.

"Well, to be honest it wasn't really all that. Like I said to Troy and the girls, I didn't really have much of a life before coming here. Not counting East High, I've gone to eight schools and have moved every summer for the past five years."

"Please." Chad said.

Gabriella sighed and started her story. "Well, I was born in New York City, New York."

"Really? So you've been to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island?" Taylor asked excitedly.

"Sadly, no. We moved right after I was born to Seattle, Washington."

"How many places have you lived exactly?"

"Counting Albuquerque?..." Gabriella looked up at the ceiling while she tried to count all the places she had been in her head. "Eighteen."

"Eighteen?!" They all asked in unison.

"Yeah. I know." Gabriella agreed.

"Can you name all of the places that you've lived?" Jason asked.

"New York City, New York; Seattle, Washington; Juneau, Alaska; Salt Lake City, Utah; Atlanta, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Cape Cod, Maine; Denver, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Washington D.C.; New Orleans, Louisiana; Honolulu, Hawaii; Tampa Bay, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; Houston, Texas; San Diego, California; and Albuquerque."

The gang was silent and amazed at the same time. Suddenly they all started asking questions simultaneously.

"Have you visited the White House?"

"Did you meet any celebrities while you lived in California?"

"Have you watched the Detroit Pistons play?"

"Was the music good at New Orleans?"

"Did you live in an igloo with the Eskimos?"

"Have you been to Pearl Harbor?"

"Woah. Woah. Hold it!" Gabriella told them. They all silenced their questions. "One at a time, guys. I can answer questions fast but not that fast. Jason."

"Did you live in an igloo with the Eskimos?" He asked pleased that he was the first one to ask a question.

"No. We lived in a house in the city. Juneau is just like Albuquerque except a lot colder. But we were able to go dog sledding. But I was really little, so I don't remember all the details. Taylor."

"Did you visit the White House?"

"Yes. I went when I was in the fifth grade. I went with my school. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I've also been to the Smithsonian, the Lincoln and Iwo Jima Memorial, and Ford's theatre." Taylor was impressed. "Zeke."

"Have you watched the Detroit Pistons play?"

"I went to one game. It was pretty cool. We got court side seats."

"Sweet." He replied.

"All right. Martha."

"Have you been to Pearl Harbor?"

"Yeah. It was great. I got to see the Arizona. It was amazing. It's really humbling to see how many men and women died to protect our freedom." Everybody nodded. "Kelsi."

"Did you enjoy the music while you lived in New Orleans?"

"I guess. There were a few street performers on the way to school and all through downtown. Chad."

"Did you meet any celebrities while you were in California?"

"I almost met Angelina Jolie. But that's as close as I got to any celebrities."

"Awesomeness." Chad said. "So have you been to the happiest place on Earth?"

"Disneyland? Yeah. It was cool." Gabriella looked at everyone around the table and noticed that one person didn't ask one question. "You don't have an interesting question for me, Wildcat?"

Troy was thinking. He had been sitting silently listening to everyone. He was impressed that she had lived and visited so many places and all, but there was a specific question that had been nagging at the back of his mind since he met her. "I do have a question, but it has nothing to do with the subject that we're on right now. Well…it has a little bit to do with it, but not really."

"Hoops, just spit it out." Chad said.

"Well…Gabi…um…I know that your mom works for companies and all, but um…where is your dad?" The realization hit everyone. The table went silent, and Gabriella just sat there. Troy broke the silence and spoke up. "Sorry." He apologized. "It's not my place to-"

Gabriella cut him off. "No. It's all right, Troy. You guys are my best friends, you deserve to know." She paused. "He died the summer when I was eight." She stared at the table while she spoke. The table remained silent. Troy was the first to recover.

"I'm sorry, Gabi. I didn't know."

"It's fine, Troy." She went silent for a minute before continuing. "My dad and I were really close." Silence engulfed the table as everyone gave Gabriella their undivided attention. "Since my mom was always getting moved around, he didn't want me to have to deal with going to one school for a short period of time just to be pulled out months later, so he home-schooled me. He loved math and science. I guess that's where I got it from. He taught me to love to learn. He always told me that there was always something to learn." She paused and thought about what else she could tell them about the wonderful man that had loved her.

"Since my mom worked a lot, he would always spend as much time with me as possible. Once we tried to bake a cake for my mom's birthday. We had all the ingredients ready. The cake turned out well, but the kitchen was destroyed. There was cake batter everywhere and flour and the sink was filled with dishes. It was a lot of fun." She laughed at the memory.

"I was always scared of thunderstorms, so whenever there was one, we would sit on the couch and watch 'The Nightmare before Christmas'. On Valentine's Day, he would give me a bouquet of lilies and roses, my favorite flowers, and he would get me a king sized bag of hot cheetos. On my birthday, he would take me ice skating."

Gabriella checked her phone for the time. "Hey, guys, I gotta go. My mom's um…going to be home soon. And I haven't seen her all day. Could you take me home, Troy?" He nodded. "See you guys tomorrow morning."

Troy did what she asked. "Yeah. Sure. See you later, guys."

"Bye, Hoops. Bye Gabs." Chad called out.

Troy and Gabriella went out to the car. When they were on the way to her house, he looked at her questioningly. She didn't return his gaze. She was staring out the window the whole time. He was confused. He knew that her mom wasn't going to be home for at least another hour. Nonetheless, he drove her home without prying for questions as to why she wanted to go home so early. When they got to her house, she said a quick goodbye and told him that she'd see him at school tomorrow before she kissed him on the cheek. Before he could ask her what was bothering her, she shut the car door and went inside the house. He sat there for a minute thinking about what just happened. He started to make his way home and made a mental note to himself to ask her about it later.

The next day, Albuquerque was expecting a thunderstorm. The sky was covered in clouds. At school Gabriella's mood still hadn't changed. She was distant in all of her classes, and she barely paid attention to her Troy or her friends.

Taylor and Chad were getting worried and asked Troy what happened between the time they left and the ride home. He told them that he didn't know. As far as he knew, nothing happened; she didn't say anything. He didn't know what was wrong. Troy was getting worried. She was acting the way she had been when she and Troy didn't talk for a few days. He drew up all the memories of yesterday. She had been happy at the mall and the pizza parlor until he asked her the question about her dad. But she had said that it was all right that he had asked her. She didn't really start acting different until she had started to tell them all about the memories with her dad. He determined to himself that he would ask her when he drove her home later.

When Troy went to rehearsals, he was surprised to find out from Ms. Darbus that Gabriella had told her that she wasn't feeling well and went home already. They mostly did costume checks and ran through the transitions of the scenes, since the other lead was missing. Kelsi asked Troy about Gabriella, and he gave her the exact same answer that he had given Chad and Taylor. He was getting more worried by the minute. As soon as Ms. Darbus announced that rehearsal was over, Troy took out his cell phone and called her. It rang a few times, and he was relieved when she answered.

"Hey, why weren't you at rehearsals?" Troy asked.

"I wasn't um…feeling well. I just went home on the bus. How were rehearsals?"

"They were fine. We just went over the transitions from scene-to-scene, and we did a costume check."

"That's cool. Hey, Troy, I have to go. I have to finish my homework."

"All right. I'll see you later."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up and knew immediately that she would either be getting a call back in the next five minutes, or he was going to show up at her house. She went to her balcony doors and unlocked them. She sat on her bed and grabbed a book and tried to read. She was dreading the events that would happen in the very near future.

After she hung up, he stared at the receiver. Now he knew something was wrong. She never took more than an hour to do her homework. He went out to his car and drove the down the familiar route to Gabriella's house. The rain was slowly starting to come down. When he reached the house, he put on his hood and ran to the front door and rang the doorbell. No one answered. He rang again. Still nothing. He was just about to go back to his car, when a familiar idea popped into his head. He went around to the back of the house and unlocked the back gate. He made his way to the tree that stood by her balcony and climbed. He tried to remember every branch that he had held onto and stepped on. He made sure that his foot wouldn't slip from the water that had already wet the tree. He made his way over the railing and looked into her balcony doors. When he reached her balcony and looked through the glass doors, he saw that she was sitting on her bed reading a book. He stared at her for a minute. Her face wasn't the happy Gabriella that he knew. He could see anxiety on her face almost as if she knew that he was coming and was afraid. He tried the door handle and was surprised to find it open. When he stepped inside, he took off his jacket and asked, "How did you-"

"I know you." She replied putting the book down. "I figured you'd either call me back or come here."

"Care to tell me why you're acting like this?" Troy asked sitting on her bed.

"Like what?" He gave her a look that told her that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "Not really." She finally said. He was about to protest, but she knew him all too well, despite the fact that they've only known each other for a month; she spoke before he could get anything out. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because, Brie, I care about you."

"Brie?"

"Your new nickname is not important. What's important is that you've been acting weird ever since yesterday at the pizza parlor. I know that you lied to Taylor and Chad and everyone else about going home early because of your mom, and I know that your mom didn't come home till an hour later." She sighed. He knew her too. "Come on, Gabriella. You can tell me. Just tell me what's bothering you." He paused and looked at her. "Was it because I asked about your dad?"

"No! No, Troy." She answered in a rush. "It has nothing to do with you. You didn't do anything."

"Then what is it, Gabriella? Just tell me." He said. It wasn't a command but a plea. "Please, just tell me." He whispered. He kept her gaze.

She sighed. "It was never about you, Troy. You didn't do anything." She repeated before she continued. "I promise that it wasn't you. It was me. Everything was me." She was on the verge of tears. He scooted closer to her.

"What are you talking about?" His hand reached up and stroked her cheek while his other hand held hers. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

She regained control of her emotions and started to talk about the subject that she had been avoiding for eight years. "It was me." She said in a whisper that was barely audible.

"What was you?" Troy asked his voice coaxing her to tell him everything. "You can tell me."

"It's my fault." She said.

"What's your fault, Gabriella?" Troy asked her in a firm voice.

"It's my fault that he died, Troy." She said her voice cracking. Tears were threatening to fall. She looked into his eyes. "It's my fault that my father died."

He caught his breath as she said that last statement. "Gabriella, your father's death is not your fault." He tried to tell her.

"Yes, it is, Troy!" Gabriella lashed out. She realized what she just did; her voice softened. "I'm sorry." She apologized looking down at her hands.

"It's all right. Just tell me." He pleaded to her again. He put his two fingers under her chin to pull her face up so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "Please."

She nodded. "I told you that he died when I was eight; I was little; but I remember every detail." She paused so that she could get her emotions in check before she explained everything else. "It was a Friday night. We lived in Denver at the time. We were coming home from our weekly father-daughter date. We were about five minutes from home when a driver ran a red light and hit us. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital with two broken ribs and a broken leg. And my dad…" She trailed off. The tears that threatened to fall earlier came down her face.

Troy engulfed the weeping girl into his arms. He didn't know how long they were there. When her sobs had subsided, he pulled back and wiped her remaining tears with his thumbs before he crushed her to him again. He rubbed her back soothingly. "You listen to me, Gabriella. His death was not your fault. It was that idiot who ran the red light's fault. There wasn't anything you could have done to stop it."

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes once more. "Troy, you don't get it. When the driver ran the red light, he was about to hit my side of the car. My dad swerved the car enough so that he got most of the impact. He died saving me." Her tears started falling again. Troy finally understood. Suddenly the last twenty four hours made sense. He embraced her once again and let her cry. They sat there for what seemed like hours. Troy held her as she cried. He didn't try to stop her; he had a feeling that she had been holding it in since the event occurred. He didn't protest against it. He was happy that she trusted him enough to tell him. "I'm sorry." She said pulling him out of his trance. "I don't mean to dump all of this on you."

"It's okay." He assured her. He wiped her tears with his thumbs again.

"Thank you, Troy. For being here. For helping me with this."

"There's no need to thank me. Just doing the job of the typical boyfriend."

"Are you saying that you're my boyfriend?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. But only if you're saying that you're my girlfriend."

She smiled her first real smile since yesterday. "I guess I am." She smiled again. "Oh. I guess I kind of owe you."

"For what?" He asked.

"I only gave you a kiss on the cheek when I said goodbye yesterday."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. It was simple and just what she needed to reassure herself that he was going to be there for her. No matter what. It ended all too soon.

"So are you okay now?" He asked her.

"Yeah. I am."

"So do you visit him?"

"Yeah. Every year on the anniversary. I always go. No matter where I am. He's buried in Denver, Colorado at the Crown Hill Cemetery."

"Would it be all right if I went with you this year?" He asked and saw the surprised look on her face.

"You would want to go with me to visit my dad on perhaps the most emotional day of the year? You're prepared to handle the tears and emotional roller coaster?"

He nodded. "I promise that I'll be there just like I was there today."

She thought about how comforted she had been while she was in his arms. She thought about the future and how he would do the same thing for her again. She decided that she wanted him to be there. She didn't know how he did it. She never talked about her dad's death. Never. Even with her mom. Before Gabriella had thought it was because her mom didn't talk about it either, but now… Troy had gotten her to finally realize that it wasn't her fault. Deep down she had known that it wasn't her fault, but she refused to believe it. Until now.

"Thank you, Troy. I would like you to be there. I have never been able to talk about this. You are amazing, Wildcat."

"Thank you. You're pretty wonderful yourself, Brie."

"Again with the nickname. Now will you tell me?"

"Well, everyone already calls you 'Gabi', and Chad calls you 'Gabs'; I think that playing the role of boyfriend requires me to have my very own nickname for you. You already have one for me. It just slipped out. I wasn't even really thinking about it while I was driving over here earlier."

"Ah. Well, that explains everything." Lightning suddenly streaked across the sky followed by thunder. Gabriella looked outside.

"Hey, a thunderstorm. You know what that means? Don't you?" A confused look crossed Gabriella's face. "That means that it's time to watch a movie. I don't know about you, but I am in the mood for 'A Nightmare before Christmas'."

A smile replaced the confusion, and she led him down the stairs to the TV room. She grabbed the movie from one of the boxes. Troy noticed that there were still plenty of boxes lying around. "Hey, you guys still aren't unpacked?"

"No. Usually it doesn't take us that long, but my mom has been really busy, and I've been at school a lot."

"I could come over tomorrow and help you unpack." He offered.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, Troy."

"You didn't ask. I offered."

"But we have rehearsals and homework."

"I could come over after rehearsals, and we both know that you can get yours done pretty quickly. I can get mine done relatively quickly and if I get stuck, you can just help me."

Gabriella saw the point of his plan. "All right."

She put on the movie, and they watched. She sat as close to him as possible with his arm around her. "You want to hear another thing about my dad?"

"Yeah. Tell me."

"Before he would tuck me in at night, he'd always march me into my room on his toes, and he'd dance with me to my bed. I remember one specific night I asked him why he spent so much time with me. He said, 'One day, Mija, you won't be living with your mom and me anymore.' I got so freaked out.

"He explained it. 'You won't be living with us anymore because you're going to live with your husband. There'll be another man in your life. He'll be wonderful. He'll respect his parents, and not only you but your mom and me. He'll be a gentleman, and he'll treat you like you're his queen. But most importantly, he'll love you know matter what, and he'll never let you go. That's why I want to spend as much time with you as possible. One day your Prince Charming will come, and my Cinderella will be gone. Just like that.' I remember him saying that to me. and every night, he would say, 'Te quiero con toda mi alma, mi Cenicienta'."

"'I love you with all my soul, my Cinderella.'" Troy translated.

"Yeah. How did you know that?" She asked him surprised.

"I took a year of Spanish." He explained to her.

"Oh. You really paid attention."

"Just because I'm a jock doesn't mean that I don't pay attention in school."

"I know. We of all people should understand that."

Another streak of lightning and clap of thunder reverberated through the sky. She scooted closer to Troy, and they continued to watch the rest of the movie. Every time lightning or thunder could be seen or heard, he pulled her even closer to him. I could get used to thunderstorms. Gabriella thought to herself.

Author's Note: Thank you for all the support and feedback that I've been getting. I'll be gone for two weeks starting on Wednesday so I won't be able to update. Please review and thanks again.