Disclaimer: No, I still don't own High School Musical, but screw them, im going after the sequel…hehe
A/N: here's a quickie, I have changed my pen name you guys, from Sunkissed220 to Sophie220 for many reasons, one because that was the account my cousin made for me and she used sunkissed, other reasons remain unimportant
Oh my lovelies, how happy you are all making me feel. I would love to inform you that this story is averaging about 10 reviews per chapter. A few times a bit more. And that is amazing for me. I have a few general questions to answer for you guys. 1. How long do you think this story will last: a few of you guys asked me this question in this review. I think some of you think that its over because of the way I ended it? No, no, I only ended it that way because Troy doesn't want to hurt Gabriella. But that's not the ending of my story. I think it will last a few more chapters. Its not going to be around 20 chapters. Maybe just 10 or 11, or even 12, but that may be pushing it. It might seem like a short story all in all, but if I keep stringing it along, people will get tired of it and it will just be repetitive drama and problems over and over again. So, yah, three or four more chapters. But that's not decided completely yet you guys, who knows? It maybe even be five more. If im generous (which I usually am).
I also wanted you guys to notice that I barely used any curse words in my last chapter, which I believe is quite an achievement, since some of you were wondering about that. Yay! Can I get get a clap please? Or a cookie?
I got a beta, I got a beta!! Her penname is Smartgirl3.14, thanks a bunch babe.
Now, she didn't get to look over this chapter, so please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes I have made, okay. I'll make sure that this is the last time, alright? Hopefully.
PERSONAL THANKS TO EACH REVIEW WILL BE UP NEXT CHAPTER, I promise, so if you review next time, ill be able to give you all feedback on everything.
Chapter 9:
Gabriella played with the food on her plate as her mother hovered around her trying to clear the table.
"Gabriella, will you just put that in your mouth already?" Her mother scolded her half heartedly. She was too busy preparing for her latest installment in the ever-so-long saga of boyfriends she was going through, "Dan will be here any minute now!"
Gabriella sighed and pushed her plate further away from her, "I'm just not hungry now mom" she let the fork drop into her plate, making a harsh clattering sounds as it hit the thick glass. Gabriella stood up and made her way up the stairs, leaving her frantic mother to figure out where the vase should go.
Gabriella was getting tired, tired of everything these days. She was tired of Taylor worrying about her latest eating habits, or lying to Sharpay about what she had for lunch. She was tired of seeing his face everyday, passing her by in the hallways, or a few tables away in the cafeteria. She was tired of wondering if he really meant that he still loved her. She was tired of trying to figure out why he wouldn't try. And lastly she was tired of all the glances he stole, the ones that she tried so hard not to notice.
And between being so tired, she had lost her appetite.
Gabriella moaned as she collapsed onto her bed, shutting her eyes and refusing to cry the third time this week. She was so lost and so confused.
The alarm rang out annoyingly the next morning, her hand struggling to target the snooze button. Finally, after a few unsuccessful seconds, she managed to quiet her room again, and shut her eyes.
"Gabriella, wake up already!" she heard her mother yell from her own room. Gabrielle yawned and turned around, rubbing her eyes to adjust them to the bright light seeping in through the curtains. In her usual mood, she would have appreciated this, but at the moment, it just seemed so unimportant.
At the moment, her main goal was saving Troy. Over the past week, she had flushed the stash she had stolen out of his gym bag in the toilet. He thought it was one of his team mates. She had dropped brochures of help centers he could call in, as well as placing her own phone number on top of the pile. She knew he had already had it on his phone, in fact, at one time, it was on his speed dial, but she wanted him to know that he could call her with anything. Even after he told her that he couldn't be saved, she needed to try, she needed him back.
In fact, in all the effort of saving him, she was beginning to lose herself.
Gabriella hopped out of bed and managed to make her way into the shower, and later get dressed. The yellow school bus was waiting for her outside, just as her mother's packed lunch was on the table. Gabriella took neither.
Maybe if she walked, she would clear her head. As for the eating, it just wasn't in her anymore. She couldn't be bothered.
School was its usual crowded bustle. Students flooded the hallways, in search of their lockers or their friends. Gabriella found hers in the same place. All three, including Chad, had worried expressions stricken over their faces. Gabriella immediately panicked as she walked towards them, hoping nothing had happened to Troy.
"What's up, you guys?" she asked as she finally reached her locker and her friends. Shraypay shot both Taylor and Chad a weird look and then turned towards Gabriella. She breathed in deeply and then spurted out,
"We're all worried about you not eating anymore and are afraid for you" she managed to rush out in one breath.
It took Gabriella a few seconds before she was able to decipher Sharpay's words. Once she did, however, she rolled her eyes and sighed, reaching for the dial on her locker.
"you guys, come on, don't get worried over me, please" she shook her head as she turned to them, "im fine, I've just been so busy lately, and life hasn't been going too well. But im eating I promise" she replied softly.
All three glanced at each other before Chad spoke up, "Gabbs, even I haven't noticed you eating, and im a guy, I barely see things like that"
Gabriella smiled a bit at his comment and shrugged, "you guys don t have to worry for me, im getting back on track as we speak. I've actually gotten pretty hungry my stomach spoke up the answer to the biology question yesterday"
They laughed at her response and all seemed a bit more relieved. Taylor said, "alright fine, we'll let go of our worries if we see you eating properly today at lunch. Its on me" Taylor winked and Gabriella giggled.
"Fine, fine!" she put up her hands as a sign of acceptance, "ill eat whatever you give me. Im freakin starving"
Sharpay nodded and glanced into her locker, "where's the lunch your mom packed?"
Gabriella turned to Sharpay and grinned, "I told you I was strarving from not eating lately, I wolfed down the sandwich and apple, and handed my chips to Bernie, it was the salted type and you know me"
Sharpay laughed and nodded, "alright you guys, I guess our work here is done. How about we three get our asses to chemistry and leave Gabriella to find her way to English? We'll reconvene at lunch"
They all nodded and followed Sharpay in a walk towards Mr. Angal's first period English class. Gabriella breathed out a sigh of relief as she watched their retreating bodies. Thankfully, they hadn't questioned her but instead trusted in her. Sure, she felt bad for lying to her friends, but she didn't know what else to do. She let her head rest on the locker to calm her headache for a few seconds, before rushing off to class when the bell rung and echoed the hallways.
Sharpay searched the cafeteria for her friend, 10 minutes had already passed and Gabriella was no where in sight. She began to worry. She knew Gabriella had lied about eating to them this morning. She had become close with Gabriella two years now. They have shared many lies and secrets between each other, and from this Sharpay learned, that Gabriella's kind and soulful eyes can never lie. She didn't know what to do so she looked in the only place Gabriella would have gone.
The science garden on the roof. The one Gabriella told her she shared with Troy. Sharpay made her way up the stairs, carefully to not make a sound. When she reached the top, she found her best friend hunched over a bench, with her back towards hers, sobbing quietly.
Sharpay didn't know what to do. She knew if she confronted Gabriella, Gabriella would just recline and shrug off her feelings, but she couldn't just leave her, because she knew things would just get worse.
Gabriella was a loving and caring person, but at times, she cared almost too much. She always tried to help everyone, even those she knew she couldn't. She believed that everybody needed to know that someone was there for them because Gabriella didn't have anybody to help when her father died. So she took it upon herself to try and change that for others.
But another problem Sharpay found in her friend was that to Gabriella, failure was not an option. She would not give up and she would never let go. And finally, when Gabriella had found someone who she loved more than anyone else, Sharpay knew it was going to be harder than anything else, to let go.
Because that would mean Gabriella would have to lose another love, just like she lost her father, but the problem was, Troy had her heart.
Sharpay retreated down the steps and wandered through the halls. Her idea was a fragile and trail one. It was a risk she would have to take, one that might not succeed. She had to tell Troy.
Troy got out of his father's car and slammed the door. He was finally sober and ready to make it to third period. Skipping school became regular, the administration excused it because of his circumstance, under the conditions that he takes therapy. Troy refused to seek counseling, but his father didn't agree. Troy threatened to tell people that it was his father's disloyalty that pushed his mother to the edge, and Jack Bolton backed down.
So a few days later, a paper was sent to the administration that claimed Troy was seeking help from a therapist on three times a week during first and second period. Jack Bolton's named adorned the bottom line.
Troy shoved his lighter into his back pocket and walked through the parking lot. His vans were pretty worn, with the bottom of his jeans getting caught under, as they hit the gravel ground. His t-shirt reading the words "I've got cash and a backseat, hop on". His soft brown hair brushed his forehead and at times covered his striking blue eyes.
He squinted as he saw a familiar blonde running towards him. She stopped breathlessly in front of him, kneeling over to catch her breath.
Troy glanced at her with a smirk, "what's up Sharpay, run out of guys to do in the building, you had to find some out here?"
Sharpay shot him an angry glare, "nice t-shirt"
Troy grinned and looked down, "this old thing? The ladies threw at me in the strip club." He replied, "they say hi by the way, they wanted to know what you're doing Tuesday, they're short a stripper"
Sharpay rolled her eyes, "Ha ha. Im sure that t-shirt will cheer Gabriella up too then"
Troy stopped smirking when she mentioned her name. His face grew serious, "what do you want Sharpay, because im not giving you any cash and im locking my backseat"
Sharpay sighed, "fuck you Bolton. I dont remember when you became such an ass, but you know what, I really don't care. Right now, my main concern is Gabi, and if you cant be bothered then fine, ill leave"
Sharpay turned around and began to walk away, when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She then came face to face with a pair of worried blue eyes. She remembered then that Troy's eyes were the same as Gabriella's.
"What's wrong with Gabi"
Gabriella sat at her computer, trying to figure out what the next words to her essay should be when she heard a tapping at her balcony door. She turned around and jumped when she saw Troy standing outside. She couldn't read his expression, it too was a stranger to her at the moment.
She walked to the door and pulled down on the handles, allowing the boy on her balcony to enter past her.
"What's wrong Tr-"
"Why aren't you eating Gabi?" Troy cut her and asked in a concerned and almost angry voice. Gabriella was a little taken aback at his question, but she knew what was coming.
"I don't know what you're talking about Troy, im eating just fine" She shrugged and walked back to her computer.
She felt him grab her arm and turned her towards him, "cut the bullshit, Gabriella, Sharpay told me everything. She even called your mother and asked her about the 'packed lunch' that you supposedly ate. Your mom said that you forgot it at home" he replied, the frustration present in his voice.
Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Troy, it doesn't matter. Im not sick or anything, I just haven't been feeling too well and so I didn't eat". It sounded pretty convincing to her but he didn't seem to let go yet.
"Why are you lying Gabi?"
He saw it in her eyes, the fear, the lies, the everything. That's what he loved about her so much, her eyes told her story. But now he was almost afraid to read them. He was almost afraid that Sharpay was right and Gabriella was sick.
"I'm not Troy, im perfectly fine. I just ate in fact" she replied nonchalantly.
Everything shattered. It was lie and he knew it. Gabriella was not eating. She was hurting herself and everyone else. He had to let her see that.
"Gabi, please, I know its not true" Troy pleaded with her.
Gabriella turned away and looked at her wall instead, "what do you want me to say Troy? I'm not eating, happy?" she looked into his eyes, her own watery and tear stained, "I haven't been eating for the past week. The only thing I've consumed was a granola bar, but even that I couldn't stomach."
Troy let go of her hand and stepped back. What? What was happening, when did all this take place? And more importantly, how could he not have noticed.
Gabriella breathed in and continued, "I've gotten skinnier, about 11 lbs skinnier I think" she lifted up her baggy shirt up to her bra, where he could slightly see outlines of her bones through her skin.
"I want to eat, Troy, I want to more than anything" Gabriella cried.
Troy looked up at her and then back to her stomach, his fingers tracing under her bra, where the outlines of her bones lay, "then why the fuck aren't you?" he replied angrily. She knew she was hurting herself but she wasn't even doing anything about it, "why the hell are you doing this Gabi? To lose weight? Cause if that's true Gabi, then I don't know what I would…" he couldn't finish.
Gabriella shook her head and gave him a small smile, "it's not because of that Troy"
Troy shook his head, "then why?" he burst out angrily, stepping towards her so her face was only inches away, "why are you starving yourself and hurting yourself Gabi, why the hell are you doing this?"
His saw how his anger startled her, but he couldn't find control of himself, he couldn't believe this. This was his Gabi. She wouldn't do this. Can't she see how seeing her like his is killing him?
Gabriella placed her hands on his face and rested her head on his chest. His hands immediately found their way around her, almost as a reflex reaction since he'd done it so many times.
"Gabi, why? Why are you doing this?" Troy whispered into her strawberry scented hair. Gabriella looked up at him and pushed herself back,
"For you Troy. I'm doing this for you"
Troy's eyebrow's furrowed and he blinked back in confusion, "for me? What's that supposed to mean Gabriella?"
"You keep hurting yourself Troy, you keep doing things like drugs and drinking. You skip school, you lie, you get into fights, you get drunk, you get high. I see you like this Troy and it kills me. It hurts so much because I know this isn't you"
Troy stepped back, feeling how familiar those words sounded when he thought them about her a few minutes ago.
"Gabriella, this isn't about me, this is about you"
"No Troy!" she cried out, "this is all about you! You keep doing what you do, and ill keep starving myself. Get that? If you really cared about me, then prove it. If you really love me, show how you do. Because I really love you Troy. And I want you to know how I feel. How its been for me! And you know that I wont give up."
He heard the firmness in her voice. He wanted to grow angry and he wanted to shake her and tell her that it wasn't right. That she couldn't do this. But he couldn't. He couldn't because she was right.
"Gabi, don't do this. Please Gabbs, im begging you" he pleaded as he held her close, "You'll hurt yourself". He had to stop her and he had to try. But he knew that the girl in his arms was not like that. And that she would do whatever it takes to save people. Even if it means sacrifice, "Its not worth it, I'm already going down"
Gabriella shook her head and placed a soft kiss on his lips, "then we'll go down together"
A/N: Alright, I have another idea for a story as well, which I will begin to post after Losing Soul is done. Let me just give you guys a brief summary and tell me what you think about it:
Gabriella Montez is forced into marrying Jordon Dues, a malicious but rich business man, by her family, in order to help her father keep his job. She is treated as a sexual and abused object by her husband in this loveless marriage. She is stuck alone, cold and afraid, until she meets Troy Bolton, that is.
Troy is a young and broody man with many talents on the court, which is why he is recruited by Jordon Dues, owner and manager of the L.A Lakers. Troy meets his manager's wife, a shy and sweet young woman by the name of Gabriella. A puzzling attraction draws him to the small and quiet woman, knowing that he is putting everything on the risk for her.
Troy and Gabriella fall in love but are strained in keeping their love hidden, but all fails when Gabriella falls pregnant.