Chapter 12
Interstate 10
Troy let out a huge yawn. It was getting dark out again. He and Sharpay had left the night before at one in the morning. It was now about seven at night. Troy hadn't slept in more than a day now, and he was tired.
He yawned again. Sharpay was sitting next to him, fast asleep. She looked so peaceful. Troy was jealous. He wanted to sleep. No. He needed to sleep.
At the next exit was a sign for lodging, so he pulled off the highway. They were only about 150 miles away from Los Angeles, but Troy just couldn't make it any further.
As he slowed the car down and turned into a Holiday Inn, Sharpay stirred.
She mumbled, "Where are we?"
"We just passed Phoenix and I'm stopping at a hotel because I desperately need some sleep," Troy replied.
Sharpay opened her eyes. "How far away are we?"
"The last sign I saw said we were 150 miles away."
Troy pulled into a parking spot and put his car in park. "I'll be right back," he said.
"I'm coming," Sharpay mumbled.
Troy got out of his side of the car and stumbled a bit. He had hardly walked all day.
The two walked into the building and up to the reception desk. "Hi," Troy said to the bored looking woman sitting behind the desk. "We need a room."
"Smoking or non?" the woman asked in a voice that sounded about as exciting as the expression on her face.
"Non," Troy replied.
"Single or double? The single is 50 dollars a night and the double is 65."
"Double."
The woman typed some stuff on her keyboard. "That will be 65 dollars," she said.
Troy pulled out some cash. The woman raised her eyebrow, surprised that somebody was paying in cash. He handed it to her.
"All right. Here's your room key. Go up to the second floor and turn right. You're room is 212. You need to be checked out by 11 tomorrow morning. There's a free continental breakfast in the dining room tomorrow from eight to ten. Any questions?"
"Nope," Troy replied, accepting the key card from the woman. "Thanks."
Troy started towards the stairs, Sharpay at his side.
Once they got to the second floor and entered their room, Troy hit one of the beds, falling asleep before his head even reached the pillow.
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Sharpay looked at Troy's lifeless body. She didn't blame him for falling asleep the second they entered the room. He hadn't even made it under the covers. They had been on the road for 18 hours. She imagined that if she had been driving, she would be tired too.
Sharpay wasn't tired yet, so she decided to take a shower. She went into the bathroom and turned on the water. After she got the temperature just right, she got in.
The shower was much appreciated after such a long day on the road. It had really made her feel pretty gross.
After her shower, Sharpay dried off and changed into her pajamas. Then she grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth.
While she did so, she studied her reflection in the mirror. She looked so groggy. Sharpay had never been in a car for 18 hours before. In fact, she had never been in a car for 20 consecutive minutes before. The only time she had ever been in one was to go to the grocery store with her mother once a week.
Being in a car for so long wasn't the only new thing Sharpay had experienced. It seemed like there was something new around every bend in the road. Even the road itself was new to Sharpay. It was so smooth. She had no idea that asphalt was black, either. She thought it was more of a dusty brown.
The hotels they passed were surprising too. Sharpay didn't know that businesses were actually designed for somebody to sleep in for a night or two. She had never needed to stay somewhere besides her home. The only time she didn't sleep at her house was when she was having a slumber party at a friend's house.
Seeing everything had made Sharpay even happier that she had chosen to go with Troy. She had no idea what she had been missing out on her whole life.
Sharpay thought about Troy. He had seemed so intrigued by all of her firsts. She was so glad that she had someone to experience this new phase of her life with. She was glad that it was Troy.
Sharpay smiled at herself in the mirror, a faint blush creeping into her cheeks. Troy had been so wrong to kiss Gabriella when he knew that she was engaged, but then he had spent an extra 15 dollars just so that the two of them could have their own beds. Sure 15 dollars wasn't a ton of money, but Troy had made the sacrifice, and Sharpay had noticed.
While they were in the car, Sharpay had also finally gotten Troy to talk about himself. She had spent the week so absorbed in finding out about what life was like outside of Nowhere that she had forgotten to get to know Troy.
Troy explained to her that he had left his home because his parents had done something absolutely detestable.
Then Troy told her about how he got a message from his mom telling him that his grandpa was sick and he only had about a month to live. That's when he decided that he needed to leave.
Troy didn't go into the details of what happened between him and Gabriella. Sharpay was relieved about that. She really didn't mind that he spared her the details, at least for now.
Sharpay asked Troy where his grandfather lived, and when he told her Los Angeles, she almost did a dance right in the seat of Troy's car! She was going to see the ocean!
After that moment of excitement, Sharpay wanted to know about Troy's friends, his hobbies, and what life was like growing up. She had just been so interested in him.
Sharpay started to realize that she didn't think Troy was interesting just because he was the first person she had met that didn't grow up in Nowhere, although that was a big part. Sharpay was also curious because he just struck her as such a likeable person. She wouldn't be one bit surprised if he had a ton of friends.
Sharpay's thoughts about Troy continued as she finished brushing her teeth and slipped under the covers in the hotel bed. He really did seem like a nice guy.
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Gabriella was swimming with a sea of emotions as she stared out of Ryan's car from the passenger side into the night. She felt guilty about lying to her mother earlier that day. She was nervous about leaving Nowhere. She felt like a bad person because Ryan had begun to open up to her while she just bottled up what she had done with Troy. She was giddy because it was her first time really getting away from Nowhere. And she was happy because she was sitting next to the man she had known as a boy.
Unfortunately, her negative feelings were outweighing her happy ones, and Gabriella was rather grumpy.
She saw Ryan take his eyes off the road to glance at her.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Ryan, I feel like I'm sitting next to the person I fell in love with a long time ago. I haven't felt that way about you since, well, since we've been engaged."
"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.
Gabriella was excited to finally have Ryan's attention, and she didn't want to lose it, but she also knew that she needed to be honest about how she had been feeling.
"Well, I know that we've had a really rough week, and I blame it on myself. I was really judgmental of you last week, but my frustrations were based on something that ran so much deeper than just last week. Ryan, I feel like you haven't been yourself since you asked me to marry you."
"I haven't?" Ryan sounded somewhat offended.
"How do I say this? I guess once we got engaged, I felt like you started feeling like you had to start acting more like a man."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. It's just that, well, the man you were turning into was not the man that I fell in love with. Ryan, I love you. I still do, but you don't have to prove yourself to me. I trust you. You don't have to constantly assert your authority over me in order for me to trust and respect you."
Gabriella studied Ryan's face for a moment. He looked a little hurt, but she couldn't stop. Not yet, anyways.
She continued. "You know when you took me up that hill to that rock? And then you cried? I felt more love for you at that moment than I have in a very long time. Maybe even since you asked me to be your wife. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's okay for you to be vulnerable around me every once in a while. It makes me feel valued and it makes me feel like you need me. I like that feeling."
"Gabriella, I have to get a job and provide for the family we plan on having. Somebody has to be the man in our relationship, and I just assumed that role would fall on me."
"You are the man in our relationship, but we don't have to try to compartmentalize our roles so neatly. Part of spending the rest of your life with somebody means that you share it with them. How can you honestly share the rest of your life with me if you won't even share any of your emotions with me? Ryan, I love you, and I'm not going to leave you, so can you please let me in?"
Ryan sighed and stared at the road. Gabriella could tell that he was thinking, but she couldn't tell if what she said had made him angry or if he was considering how he could change.
Finally, Ryan cleared his throat. "You know, I really miss singing and dancing."
Gabriella smiled. "I could ki-" she cut herself off. "I could hug you right now," she said. She was thrilled! Ryan was coming around.
Ryan smiled. "You better not. I'm driving."
"I missed you," Gabriella whispered.
She was so happy, but she couldn't shake the pangs of guilt that stung her heart as she enjoyed talking to Ryan again about everything, like they had before they were engaged.
A/N: I feel like I'm asking you random questions just about every chapter, and guess what...I have another one! Are daily updates working for you guys or is it too much? I can easily go to every other day or even weekly if that's what you would prefer, but if you like the daily updates, then I can easily do that to the end of this story too. And don't forget to throw in all of the opinions and thoughts about this chapter you have running through your head. ☺☼☻
