HOME SICK

CHAPTER 4

Gabi brushed a tear from her cheek as she looked out onto the green hills in the distance, her perch on the bench in the yard of East High mostly unnoticed by the students filing in.

She thought about how she would have met up with Lucy and Amy before school and they would have planned their pajama parties and mall trips before starting lessons.

Every Thursday and Friday afternoon she would leave school early to film her show and she would meet her favourite people, Billy and Fiona on set and they would drink cappuccino's and talk about who was wearing what.

She had been in Albuquerque for over a week now and she had texted her friends and called them but no-one much seemed to be responding and it worried her now that they had only liked her when she was famous. Now that she was out of town had they moved onto her replacement?

She frowned as she tried to think of times their friendship might have been forced or faked.

"Don't go EMO on me." Troy's voice husked as he came round the bench that Gabi was sat up on and he noticed her wipe tears away quickly, the sight shocking him.

She was wearing a cute red checked kilt with her biker boots and a black t-shirt with a cropped leather jacket. He found himself admiring her style even though it was the opposite of Gabriella's pastel, girly clothing.

"Missing home?" He asked gently, climbing up on the bench to join her.

She nodded, knowing that over the last week she and Troy had fallen into this comfortable friendship, still not knowing quite how that had happened.

"Boyfriend?" He asked not too subtly.

"Nope." She answered, shunting him gently. "I'm saving that position for you." She half-joked and he smiled in return.

"I'm sure there must have been someone…" He fished.

"None of my friends have called me since I left." She frowned. "I think they've moved on already," she mused.

"Wow, no way…" He lifted his brows, cuddling his arm around her body to comfort her.

"I guess they found someone more interesting to hang out with." She shrugged, her real fear showing through.

While she had been 'Gabi off the TV', friends came automatically. The girl she played was bright and funny and full of energy. The real thing wasn't quite the same but she had kind of let herself play that role on and off screen around those people. And now it was becoming obvious that the real Gabi was hiding and she had to be happy with what she found.

She might never be this fake-smiling, happy-go-lucky, goody-two-shoes that the show required her to be, but she wanted to make friends who cared about her. She wanted to laugh and have fun and do silly things.

"Lauren, you ARE interesting." Troy argued, rubbing her back. "I love hanging out with you…" He added and she turned around, circling his neck with her arms and seeking a hug.

Troy hugged her, her small body racking with her sobs and he wondered why she felt so lonely.

"You're only saying that because I watch the show every Thursday with you." She teased eventually as she came up and wiped at her smeared make-up.

"Hey, you do know that you're more important than a TV show, right?" He asked with a confused frown, worried she thought he was more wrapped up in Gabriella.

"It's okay, Troy, I know Gabriella is your number one." She smiled softly, and for the first time ever, Gabi felt like her TV persona was another person. A person she couldn't be anymore. And maybe she didn't want to be, either.

She collected her bag from where she had placed it at her feet and Troy pressed his lips together as she disappeared inside. There was no denying some of his attraction to Lauren was because of her striking similarity to Gabriella but he didn't want Lauren to feel like a TV show meant more to him. If he had to choose, he'd choose Lauren over Gabriella easily.

He followed her into school with a sigh as he thought of how he could cheer her up.

---

Gabi opened her notebook in art class and pulled her head back in shock at the drawing inside the front cover.

'Wildcats play tonight. We need groupies' the commentary stated and there was a rough pencil sketch of the crowd, the faces of her and Taylor clear and characteristic of how they sat at the game together.

She smiled at the surprise, flicking a look at Troy as he sauntered over.

"How did you get my notebook?" She asked as he sat next to her, the skim of his thigh against hers making her buzz warmly inside.

He was wearing his Wildcats stuff today but she noticed he was taking her advice and wearing it less often.

He looked at her with pretend confusion. "No idea what you're talking about." He said as he leaned back in his seat.

"Oh, sure," she scoffed, touched at his attempt to make her smile.

He shrugged with a warm smile at her.

"So, if I'm meant to be working my way into that spot you left for me…I guess I ought to ask you out on a date." He said bravely.

Gabi wondered briefly if he would be that calm and collected if he was faced with her alter-ego. Then she wondered why she wanted him to feel nervous about asking her out.

She wanted him to like her so much that his heart tripped a beat, just like hers did when he smiled or touched her without knowing he was doing it.

"Really? You make it sound like a chore, Troy." She teased.

"No!" He said quickly, blushing. "I mean, I'd like to ask you out on a date…" He amended. "I was just trying to find a way to do it, without sounding like an idiot." He muttered.

Gabi pursed her lips and elbowed him lightly, leaning into his warm body.

"Then go ahead…" She encouraged.

"You wanna come to the game?" He asked. "We can hang out with the guys after, get some pizza…" He offered.

Gabi considered him. She supposed in Troy's little world that his invite was quite romantic. Being asked to be his girl at the game and hanging out with his team mates must mean a lot. She just couldn't help but think of the difference between a date here and a date in NYC. Back home it would have been coffee or mall date or a film and walking home hand-in-hand.

But there was one major difference. She knew for certain that Troy wasn't asking her out because she was a TV star. He was asking her out because he liked her. And all her previous 'romantic' dates suddenly came under scrutiny as to the true motive behind taking her out.

"Sure, sounds…interesting." She replied carefully.

Troy flicked his eyes to her, his curly lashes capturing her gaze.

"You don't like basketball much do you?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I'm used to baseball in New York. It's just different, that's all." She explained.

"You know that Gabriella is a huge fan of the Yankees…" He led and she wondered once again if he had worked out that she was his favourite girl.

"I know." She said simply, thinking this would be a perfect moment to tell him the truth but knowing she couldn't.

"God, I'm doing it again, I'm so sorry…" He apologized, placing his hand on his face.

She giggled. "There's really no need…" She assured him quickly, sketching him as he hid from her.

"I just keep coming out and comparing you to her…I just…" He cocked his head. "You look like her, you're from New York, you're a fan of the show and have all her stuff…" He frowned.

Gabi's eyes went wide as he came scarily close to working her out.

"But I'm not her." She said softly, knowing she was lying and telling the truth at the same time.

She wasn't the 'Gabriella Montez' that everyone saw on their screens. She wished she was. She had pretended to be, faked to be and accomplished being her for two years.

But Albuquerque was teaching her that she wasn't that person.

"I'm not funny and pretty and lively like her, as much as I wish I could be." She sighed.

"Lauren, did something happen?" Troy wondered with concern, not having seen this side to his new friend before.

He watched as she pasted on a fake smile and once again he remembered seeing that before. When his crush, Gabriella came out of a car to meet paparazzi she pasted on that smile and it had often led him to wonder if she was as happy off-screen and she appeared to be on-screen. Something in his tummy told him that he might not be wrong in his comparison of Lauren with Gabriella, but he discarded it.

"I just miss home, that's all." She replied softly, applying harder strokes to the drawing she had made of him.