Hey everyone! Mid-terms are over! Yay! I'm updating now because I don't have anything to do and because all the reviews I got made me want to update now instead of waiting until tomorrow! Enjoy!

I'll Email You

Chapter twenty one

I'll email you

Troy sat on the sandy beach, the evening air swirling around him as the waves crashed in front of him. The sun was setting, a loner pelican sitting on the ledge of the fence behind him as if it was watching it with him. It had been a few days since he left and he was now pondering his decisions as he let the soft sand run threw his fingers.

When he first got to California, Troy was happy, so excited as all of his Californian friends greeted him on the beach. It felt like old times as he surfed with Will and his other guy friends and it felt just as great as he watched the tan and toned beach girls that he grew up with since kindergarten walk past him. Everything seemed just how he left it, but at the same time, everything felt oddly different.

Zeke wasn't manning the smoothie sack and his mom wasn't in her usually lounge chair reading one of her romantic novels like he was so used to seeing and he also wasn't getting any emails from the one girl that always seemed interested in his Californian adventures. He felt like a visitor, a tourist observing something they've never seen before.

Tossing a handful of sand to the side, Troy sighed and inhaled the salty air. He smiled as he saw dolphins in the distant ocean and he turned when he heard someone coming up behind him.

"Hey, man." He smiled as he saw Will.

"You disappeared after dinner." Will observed. "Have you been here?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded. "It's my favorite spot." He smiled.

"I didn't know that." Will told him.

Troy expected him not to know, but he felt a weird feeling in his stomach as he nodded. He was too used to someone always knowing his favorite things.

"What's going on with you, dude?" Will asked his friend as he sat down next to him. "You don't seem like yourself." He pointed out.

Troy shrugged, not knowing himself as he looked out at the sunset.

"I guess I'm just homesick." He told him.

Will nodded slowly, picking up some sand in his hand.

"But this is your home." Will replied.

Troy sat still as he heard Will and he sighed, knowing now what was wrong with him.

"You know when I left California with my family, I don't remember once feeling homesick, man." He told him. "I missed the ocean being right next to my house, sure, but I didn't feel lost without it."

"And now?" Will asked him.

"I feel lost." Troy told him quietly. "I left the important things behind."

"I understand." Will nodded, honestly knowing what he meant. "I lied when I said I missed the ocean when I was in Albuquerque. I actually missed Tammy."

Troy chuckled softly, poking the sand with his hand. He nodded, understanding.

"You're whipped, man." He smiled.

"Hey, you're the one sitting in front of a beautiful ocean, wanting to go home." Will said with a laugh, shoving Troy lightly.

Troy shrugged looking out in front of him.

"So, it's the girl, isn't it?" Will asked seriously.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked with a soft laugh.

"You love her?"

"My mom? Of course." Troy joked, shrugging as Will eyed him. "I guess you could say that."

"I have to tell you something, dude, before you go." Will said to him, sighing.

"What?" Troy asked.

"Gabriella invited me to Albuquerque. It wasn't just some spur of the moment thing like I said it was." He told him.

"But… how?" Troy asked in shock, not expecting this at all. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"She wanted you to be happy, Troy." Will explained. "She wanted you to have the best time and not have to thank her for it. She knew you missed California and she thought it would be a good idea."

"And then I left." Troy whispered.

"You didn't know, man." Will replied. "I should have told you, I guess."

"Dude, I have to go." Troy said as he stood up, worried. "Thanks for telling me." He said, jogging away.

"Hey, Troy!" Will called after him, catching up with him.

"Yeah?" Troy asked.

"I'll email you." He chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.

"Shut up, man." Troy laughed, leaving Will as he ran towards the nearest airport, not even considering the fact that Will could have easily driven him.

***

Troy looked at the clock on his cell phone as he bent over, setting his hands on his knees as he panted, his chest burning, over worked. It was eleven o'clock at night and he had caught the earliest flight back to Albuquerque after running about three miles to the airport. He picked his shirt up off of his chest, sniffing it, making sure he didn't have extreme body odor and he started his run again, reminding himself to thank Chad for giving him extra strength deodorant after the last practice at East High. He laughed at himself, thinking as he jogged onto the Montez's front porch.

Ringing the doorbell, Troy became nervous. He had no idea what he was going to say. He had no idea why he didn't plan this out more; why he didn't catch a plane in the morning! He heard footsteps and then the door open and he couldn't help but gasp. A middle aged woman stood at the door, looking at him suspiciously, as if he was a stranger, and to her, he was.

"Can I help you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who are you?" He asked, although he already had a pretty good idea of who she was, he had to ask, and he couldn't help but notice that he sounded rude.

"Shouldn't I be asking the questions to the strange teen on my doorstep?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I'm Troy Bolton." He said.

"If you're selling something, we don't want anything. Read the sign." She said, pointing to the left hand corner of the window next to the door that had a 'no solicitation' sticker on it.

Troy couldn't believe it. She had no idea who he was!

"I'm Gabriella's best friend." He explained.

"Last time I check, Taylor and Sharpay were her best friends." She said.

Was she testing him?

"Okay…" He whispered, trying to think of something to say. "Is Gabriella here?"

"No." Mrs. Montez sighed. "She had a fit and left."

"A fit?" Troy questioned.

"You know, how do I know you're not some kind of stalker? Should I really be telling you this?" She asked.

"Mom, who's at the door?" He heard Charlie asked and then he saw him appear behind her, looking shocked when he saw him. "Troy?" He asked.

"Oh, good, you know him." Mrs. Montez said. "Take care of him, will you?" She ordered, leaving Troy rudely at the door.

"What the hell, Troy?" Charlie said, his eyes darkening.

Troy furrowed his brow, watching as Charlie stepped closer to the door way, leaning against the door frame.

"I'm looking for Gabriella." He explained.

"She's not here." Charlie told him, shaking his head. "Why are you back?"

"I realized that I shouldn't have left in the first time." Troy admitted.

"You freaking realize that now?" Charlie whisper yelled, reaching his hand out and grabbing Troy by the shirt, pulling him towards him so that they were face to face. "You hurt my little sister, Troy." He hissed. "If you don't find her by the end of the night, I'll kill you, do you hear me?" He asked angrily.

"I'll find her." Troy said angrily, pushing Charlie away from him.

"I hope you do because Gabriella would hate me if she never gets to be Mrs. Bolton, ass hole." He said, slamming the door in Troy's face.

If Charlie was any indication of how Gabriella was going to react, Troy was scared and he wasn't afraid of admitting that as he ran to his house, got in his car, and drove everywhere he thought she might be and in each place he looked, she wasn't there.

Troy parked his car in his driveway, slowly walking into his house.

"Jack is that you?" He heard his mom call from the family room.

"No, mom, it's me." He said as he maneuvered his way through the dark house.

"Troy?!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing home? You look terrible!" She commented as she saw him.

"Thanks." He mumbled as he came closer to her, sighing as she put her hand on his forehead.

"Are you getting sick?" She asked him.

"No. I just ran home." He explained.

"Where's all of your stuff?" She asked him.

"I left it there." He sighed.

"Are you getting it back?" She asked. "That stuff was kind of important to you."

"Don't worry." He sighed softly. "Sharpay already sent me a new picture of Gabriella." He explained, making his mom smile.

"Sweetheart." Mrs. Bolton said in a motherly tone as she gestured towards the couch, sitting down next to him. "What happened?"

"I came back." He told her. "And I can't find Gabriella."

"Did you see if she was home?" She asked him.

"She wasn't there." He sighed, breathing deeply. "I think you were right, mom. I think I did lose her."

"No." Mrs. Bolton replied quickly, shaking her head. "You didn't, honey. Maybe you're just not looking in the right places." She smiled.

"But I looked everywhere. It's not like she'd be standing…" Troy slowly trailed off, jumping off of the couch and over the coffee table as he ran outside.

Troy sprinted towards the street corner a few houses down from his and he slowed down, breathing deeply and feeling his knees become weak as he saw her. There she was in his East High basketball t-shirt, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a few tears running down her cheeks. There she stood, his best friend, in her spot on her balcony, watching him, waiting for him.

He jogged towards her house, too tired to run as fast as he could and he stopped when he was standing on her front lawn, staring up at her.

"Gabs…" He started.

"Why are you here, Troy?" She asked him between sniffles.

He wasn't sure if she sounded happy or pissed, but he smiled anyways.

"I realized once I got to California that where ever I am, it won't be the same without you there with me." He told her smiling.

"Well, I'm not going to California with you." She said harshly.

"I'm not asking you to." Troy answered.

Troy kept his eyes on her as she looked down at him, her tears disappearing in the air as they fell the long distance. He waited, wanting her to say something.

"You left me." She said as she gripped the railing of her balcony, letting the blanket slide off of her shoulders.

"I know." He said, ashamed. "I promise, Gabs, that I'll never leave you again."

"I can't believe you." She told him, shaking as more tears escaped from her eyes.

"Why?" He whispered.

"Because you already did once. What will stop you from leaving again?" She asked him, feeling her already broken heart break some more as she looked into his pleading eyes.

"Because that's not what best friends do." He told her, smiling. "And that's not what you do to the people you love."

She let out a soft cry, putting her hands over her eyes as she let tears pour out of her eyes. She never planned on letting him see her like this again, but just like before, he was putting his arms around her before she fell to the ground. The only difference this time was that he had to climb a tree to get to her and she was crying because she loved him too.

"I still can't." She said against his chest, wiping away her tears before she moved away from him.

"Why?" He asked her sadly.

"Because I can't promise you the same thing." She sniffled, stepping away from him so that she was closer to her balcony doors.

"I don't understand." He said quietly, looking intently at her.

And then he saw them. The bags on her bedroom floor, the luggage packed to their fullest, the empty dresser drawers. He frowned, stepping away from her and towards the tree, pulling himself off of the balcony.

"Goodbye, Gabriella Montez." He said to her, watching as tears fell from her eyes.

"Goodbye, Troy Bolton." She replied in a whisper.

Troy climbed down the tree, sticking his hands in his pocket as he walked away from the balcony. He felt tears streaming down his own face, swearing as he wiped them away in embarrassment. Gabriella yelled after him, leaning against the banister.

"I'll email you!" She screamed to him, her voice cracking.

Troy picked up his pace, his legs moving quicker than ever and Gabriella watched him leave her again, knowing it was her fault.

One more chapter! Review!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22