Stay Close, Don't Go

About an hour into the movie, Gabriella felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and lowered her head; she didn't want the other movie patrons to get angry at her for not turning off her cell. Looking at the caller ID she almost choked on her own saliva. The name read Roberto M. Daddy was calling.

"Hello?" She whispered, pressing her cheekbone into the crevice of the phone.

"Hola, mija." Robby replied.

"Um…I'm kinda busy. Can I call you back?" She whispered into the phone. Gabriella tried to lower the volume on her cell, but somehow pressed SPEAKER.

"Sorry, mija. This will only take a second. I just wanted to tell you that I sent you the tickets for your NY vacation to visit me. I can't wait! I'll see you on Wednesday, mija. Adiós!"

Gabriella snapped the phone shut. Why was the volume louder? She turned and looked at Troy. His eyes were cold and staring. His jaw was locked.

"Troy…I…"

"Save it! I can't believe you didn't tell me this! What? Am I not important enough to tell this to? This is what everyone knew and didn't tell me? You're going to New York with your dad…on Wednesday…?" Troy looked at her; this wouldn't hurt as much if Troy had not planned something special for them that Wednesday night, yet, Gabriella did not know that. He added bitterly, "Don't expect me to come to the airport to send you off!" He stood up, knocking over the large carton of popcorn that had been sitting on his lap.

"Troy…please don't make a scene."

"I'm leaving!"

"I'll go with you! We can talk about this…"

"Correction. I'm leaving alone."

Troy stumbled over the feet of Kelsi, Jason, Zeke, Taylor, and Chad as he ran out of the dark theatre.

-----

That night, Troy stayed up all night, playing around with a few strings on his guitar. It was one of Troy's deepest, darkest secrets…that inside his very messy basketball-themed room (with the exception of pictures of him and Gabriella and his scrapbook of her hung in the center) there would be a guitar lying off to the side. His grandpa had taught him a few chords last summer and from then on he had secretly played some tunes.

No one knew that Troy Bolton played the guitar. Well, with the exception of two people.

His mother.

And Gabriella.

Troy Bolton had been planning on surprising Gabriella with this song he had written for her. He began :

It's undeniable how brilliant you are
In an unreliable world you shine like a star
It's unforgettable now that we've come this far
It's unmistakable that you're undeniable

Troy dropped the guitar on the floor and grabbed his pillow, muttering, "Who am I kidding? She's gonna have to wait to hear it."

He sighed, looking across the room towards the penguin. He knew he shouldn't be as upset as he is, considering it's not going to be like she'll be gone forever. She'll be back for school next Monday, and things will be back to normal. So why did Troy Bolton have a really, really bad feeling about this?

He hummed to a song he had heard at the movie that night. Now he knew why Gabriella seemed to act oddly when the movie played. She knew she was going to be going somewhere, and she didn't even bother to tell him.

If you leave me tonight, I'll wake up alone,
Don't tell me I will make it on my own,
Don't leave me tonight,
This heart of stone will sing 'till it dies
If you leave me tonight.

Suddenly it hit him. Troy bounced up from his bed, and grabbed his coat. He knew what he had to do.

---

Gabriella sighed, lying down on her bed. She sniffed knowing she brought this all upon herself. If she had only told him she'd be gone for a few days…Troy would understand, right? She glanced towards the spot where she had her Troy-penguin. She gasped when she saw it was missing. Springing up from her bed, she frantically ran to the side of her room where she placed the penguin. There was nothing there. Troy penguin had been kidnapped.

Suddenly, she felt a knock from her balcony window. Turning around she saw Troy standing on her balcony, holding the Troy penguin having wrapping around it. Gabriella quickly ran over to open her balcony door and once she did, Troy immediately cupped her face and brought her into one of the most passionate kisses. When he pulled away he gave her the Troy Penguin.

"Oh, there it is! I thought it was missing!"

"No worrries," Troy smiled, "I just wanted to give this to you all wrapped before you went to New York tomorrow," Troy sighed. "I'm sorry about the way I overreacted at the theatre today. I know, I know, it was uncalled for, and I guess I was just…hurt. I didn't know that…you would be going with your dad and, I guess, that knowing that I was the last person to find out about it sorta hurt."

"Troy, I'm so, so—"

"Sorry?" Troy chuckled, "Me too. Here, as long as we have our penguins, everything is good, right?"

Gabriella just smiled and nodded as she hugged the penguin towards her chest.

"And I also inserted a note inside the wrapped penguin. So, when you get to New York you can open it up and read it," Troy said, "But not anytime earlier!"

Gabriella giggled, "Alright, Troy. I will. And Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Troy smiled as he wrapped his arms around her again and brought her into a tight hug, "I love you, too."