Hey everyone! I loved all the reviews I got (FeJoy29 you made me smile) and since I got so many, a lot of which from people I haven't really seen review my stories, I decided to update today instead of waiting. So, here's a chapter that I have nicknamed "The Intense Chapter". Enjoy!

I'll Email You

Chapter eleven

Bad News

Gabriella started to email Troy and smiled, knowing that he was downstairs with her brother watching TV. She typed away as she hummed softly to herself.

To: TroyPROBolton(at)comcast(dot)net

Subject: Dance Partner

From: GabriellaSWEETMontez(at)Comcast(dot)net

So, I took a walk early this morning and I went back towards the dance studio and I was extremely surprised to see Danny Simmons dancing like crazy inside. I just stood there, starring through that huge window and the second I walked around the corner, I laughed so hard that I almost passed out. I have no idea why I ever had a crush on that guy.

How was your morning practice? Charlie was in pain when he got home, so I imagine that it wasn't very fun. Your first scrimmage game as a Wildcat is coming up! Are you excited? I know I am.  I can actually cheer for someone! Charlie doesn't let me cheer for him. He says it draws too much attention to the fact that I am his sister.

Well, I'll talk to you later. I think Sharpay wanted me to call her to help her figure out what to wear when she goes out with Zeke.

Your Friend,

Gabriella Montez

P.S. Now that you're my official dance partner, is there any chance you'd like to be my running partner? I'm getting lonely when I'm jogging by myself.

The family room was dark as Charlie, Troy, Chad, and Zeke sat on the couch, watching a basketball game. They were loudly eating popcorn and they looked up when they heard someone clumsily stumble into the room. Taylor was standing in the doorway with tears running down her perfect skin and Chad suddenly sat forward, knocking the bowl of popcorn that was in his lap onto the floor.

"Where's Gabi?" She asked as she hiccupped and breathed deeply to control her shaking voice.

"In her room." Charlie answered without questioning as a serious look appeared on his face.

Taylor turned quickly and ran towards the stairs, gliding over the stairs with ease as she made her way towards Gabriella's room. Chad stood up and the guys followed him upstairs quietly. Gabriella immediately jumped off of her computer chair when Taylor barged into her room and she was embraced in a tight hug before any words could be spoken.

Gabriella felt Taylor's body become weak in her arms and she held onto her best friend tightly as they both slowly sank to the ground, not able to hold themselves up any longer. Gabriella's heart pounded as she felt Taylor's back move abnormally with each of her sobs and she looked up at her doorway when she heard the deep breathing of the boys who had run after Taylor.

Charlie gave Gabriella a worried look and she shook her head, indicating that she had no idea what was going on. Troy and Zeke exchanged a look as Zeke dialed a familiar number, belonging to a near by bakery, knowing that cookies may help the situation. Chad's eyes were wide as he stared at Taylor sobbing into Gabriella's shoulder and he suddenly felt an ache in his chest and a pinch in the back of his eyes. He looked away from her and before his friends knew it, he was walking away from the room, not able to take the sight in front of him.

The guys left slowly, knowing they would be no help to the situation and Taylor looked up at Gabriella, unaware of the audience she just had. Gabriella had tears in her eyes and Taylor shook her head angrily.

"My parents are getting a divorce. My dad's gone." Taylor explained as her voice shook uncontrollably.

"What?" Gabriella whispered. "Why?" She asked as she grabbed a tissue from her nightstand and handed it to her upset friend.

"Apparently they don't love each other anymore." Taylor said in disgust. "How is that even possible?" She cried in disbelief.

"I don't know." Gabriella said sadly. "Are you okay? I mean, do you need anything?"

"I can't go home." Taylor said as she wiped her damp cheeks. "I can't look at my mom the same way anymore. This is so stupid."

"You can stay here as long as you want to. There's always a spot for you here." Gabriella said as she hugged Taylor tightly.

"I don't agree with this, Gabriella. I don't agree with where my life is now headed. You know, I held protests against this and now I'm living the life of a kid in the middle of a nasty divorce." Taylor sobbed.

"Everything will be okay." Gabriella said softly.

"The house is practically empty, Gabriella. I came home from work and my mom was sitting on the couch, staring at the empty space where the TV once was. My dad took everything that was his. He just left… and my mom didn't stop him." Taylor cried quietly.

"Did you talk to your dad?" Gabriella asked.

"No." Taylor shook her head. "How could I after what he did?"

Gabriella felt a few of Taylor's tears fall onto her arm and she shook her head as she hugged Taylor again, letting her let out anymore of her sadness. Taylor wiped her eyes dry after a few more minutes and stood up slowly as she sighed.

"I'm sorry that I broke down." She said slightly embarrassed as Gabriella stood up too.

"Don't be. Best friends are for helping you get back together after breaking, right?" Gabriella asked.

"I guess." Taylor shrugged.

"And providing ice cream." Gabriella added with a smile.

"Cookie Dough?"

"Cookie Dough." Gabriella repeated as she linked her arms with Taylor's and led her toward the kitchen.

Gabriella excused herself from the kitchen once she got Taylor her ice cream and went into the family room where the guys were sitting on the couch, barely paying attention to the game on the TV, instead whispering softly about the recent dilemma.

"Hey, is she okay?" Chad asked when he saw Gabriella, instantly standing from his spot.

"What happened?" Zeke asked.

"Her parents are getting a divorce." Gabriella whispered sadly.

"What?" Troy asked in shock, knowing fairly well that this was unexpected.

"Can I talk to her?" Chad asked Gabriella, pleading with his eyes.

"Chad, I don't think that would be a good idea…" Gabriella started.

"Please. I need to know that she's okay." Chad explained as he stepped closer to her.

"Be careful. Don't make her upset." Gabriella said worriedly as she watched Chad walk toward the kitchen.

Chad walked into the deadly silent kitchen and his heart sank as he saw Taylor sitting at the island on one of the bar stools, leaning forward as she swirled her ice cream around in the glass bowl. He sat down on her right side and she looked up at him sadly. He placed his hands on the counter, basking in the awkward moment.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a whisper. He quickly cleared his throat when he realized he could barely talk to her in a regular volume.

"No." Taylor stated as she poked at her ice cream. "My parents are getting a divorce." She told him, although she had no idea why.

Chad nodded softly and glanced at Taylor quickly before looking back at the counter.

"My parents got a divorce when I was eight." Chad told her as he swallowed quickly.

"I didn't know that." Taylor said quietly as she looked over at him. "I'm sorry."

Chad shrugged and looked up from the counter so that he was looking at Taylor. She felt her eyes burn with tears and looked away from him, focusing on her melting ice cream. It was so quiet. It felt like they were paused in a movie and they were both staring out in front of them, scared of what to say next.

"What's the worst part?" Taylor asked Chad quietly. "Besides finding out and having your family torn apart?"

Chad turned his body slightly so he was facing her and he sighed deeply.

"For me it's having doubles of everything." Chad said.

"What?" Taylor asked in shock. If he was having another stupid Chad moment, thinking only about material things with no emotional attachment, she was going to kick him!

"Let's see. I have two families; one with my dad and one with my mom. Two houses, two cars, two basketball courts, two rooms."

"So…" Taylor whispered as she shook her head.

"My whole life I've been searching for just one thing that I can love without the fear of competition between my mom and dad. I grew up wanting to find something that my mom could love and my dad could love; kind of something that could only be loved once instead of at two separate times when I had to move from my mom and dad's. I hate having to love something when I'm with my mom and hate it when I'm with my dad just to please them at different times." Chad tried to explain.

"So you hate not having the feeling of having everything just once. You'd want one car, one house, one family?" Taylor asked.

"I want to be able to love something all of the time; to find that thing that I don't have to change for when I'm at my houses or in my cars or with my families." Chad explained shortly.

"Does it ever get easier?" Taylor asked him as a few tears slipped from her eyes.

Chad blinked heavily as he looked back at the counter and then back at Taylor. He moved his hand gently over her cheek, wiping her tears away and she leaned into his touch slightly.

"It takes a while." Chad admitted. "But you'll be fine. You can't blame your parents though." Chad told her, knowing that was the first thing he did when his own parents got a divorce. "Some people just aren't meant to stay together; no matter how much we might want them to."

"Thank you." Taylor whispered softly.

Chad nodded softly and stood up, walking towards the exit. He stopped when he heard Taylor call after him.

"Chad…" Taylor started as Chad turned to face her. "Did you ever find that one thing you could love no matter where you are or who you're with?" Taylor asked hopefully as she sniffled just barely.

Chad nodded sympathetically as he looked at Taylor.

"Yeah. I met her in middle school. Best day of my life." Chad nodded as he watched tears roll down her cheeks steadily.

She nodded slowly as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Who was it?" Taylor asked.

Chad felt tears glaze his own eyes and he looked down at the floor, hoping and praying that the guys weren't listening to his revealing conversation.

"You." He whispered softly, making Taylor gasp inwardly as she looked at him directly in the eyes from across the kitchen.

He turned to leave as he felt his heart beating tremendously fast. He walked past his friends and a teary eyed Gabriella, knowing they heard it all and grabbed his jacket before he left the house, walking towards his car. He drove away and pulled over at the corner and he leaned into the driver's seat with a sigh.

Never had he been so serious in his entire life. He stopped being serious the second his parents got a divorce, afraid that his serious attitude caused the divorce of his own parent's years before. He closed his eyes, seeing Taylor's sad eyes, making him quickly open them again. Something was wrong with him, he thought. He was developing serious feelings for Taylor Mckessie.

Gabriella twisted in her computer chair as she sat in her dim room. Taylor had fallen asleep a few minutes ago and she was watching her from across the room. Tears brimmed her eyes as she thought of the amount of pain one of her best friends were in and she sighed softy, sad that the Mckessie family wasn't as strong as she thought they were. She figured every family had a minor glitch in them, but she wanted so badly to think that one family could be so much better than hers, that she could believe there was still hope for her.

Gabriella's bedroom door open slowly and Charlie appeared with the house phone in his hand. He gestured towards the hallway so that he wouldn't wake Taylor up and Gabriella walked out of her room quietly.

"It's mom." He told her as he handed her the phone.

Gabriella sighed and made her way towards the spare room, sitting on the bed and taking a few deep breathes before she put the phone to her ear.

"Hey." She said tiredly.

"Gabi! How are you?" Her mom asked happily.

"Not good." Gabriella told her with a sigh.

"I'm sorry to hear that. What's wrong?" She asked as the happy tone in her voice slowly disappeared.

"Taylor's parents are getting a divorce and she's over right now." Gabriella said, brushing her bangs away from her eyes softly.

"Well, we all saw that coming." Her mom replied as if nothing bad had even happened.

"Um, no, mom, we didn't." Gabriella said as she furrowed her brow angrily. "How can you even say that?" She asked loudly.

"Honey, I'm just commenting. That family has always had some rough times… it's hard to get through things like that." She explained herself.

"What rough times, mom? Thanksgiving dinners when the turkey accidentally burnt down half of the kitchen?! Or Christmases when a few presents didn't show up because Santa a.k.a. Mr. Mckessie forgot to put them in the stockings?!" Gabriella asked angrily. "At least they were all together when rough times happened!"

"There's no need to get upset now, Gabi." Mrs. Montez said with a sigh.

"There is a reason, mom!" She yelled angrily. "It's like our family got a divorce a long time ago and Charlie and I didn't get a say in it!" She said as tears came to her eyes.

"Gabriella Montez, watch you mouth!" Mrs. Montez said angrily. "I was calling to talk to you not get into an argument with you!"

"That's not why you called, mom." Gabriella said loudly. "You're calling because you're not coming home tomorrow like you said you were!"

"Well, at least Charlie didn't yell at me about it." Mrs. Montez said harshly. "You're being a brat, Gabriella."

"How long are you going to be gone?" Gabriella snapped.

"We'll be back when school starts. We're leaving for Australia for a business trip tomorrow." Mrs. Montez answered.

"Have a wonderful time." Gabriella replied sarcastically.

"Goodbye, Gabriella." Mrs. Montez said with an irritated tone in her voice, hanging up the phone.

Gabriella hung up the phone and let out a scream as she chucked the phone at the wall, watching as the batteries and the back of the phone slid along the ground as the phone twirled on the wood floor. She bent over and started to cry, holding her face in her hands.

"Gabriella?" She heard Troy's voice, making her look up.

She sniffled and shook her head, wiping at her eyes to stop the tears from appearing. He took a few steps towards her and she stood up weakly, holding in her sobs as she sniffled.

"I'm fine, really." She said quietly.

Troy nodded softly and pulled her into a hug. Gabriella held onto Troy tightly and let her sobs out, feeling him rub her back while holding her securely. She was so mad. She was mad that Taylor was upset because of her parents. She was mad that she and her mom had no loving relationship and she was mad that it took until now, while crying her eyes out in her best friends' arms, that the only person that had been there for her whenever or for whatever reason was that friend. The friend that was telling her that everything was going to be okay.

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Much love,

unknownbyhim22