A/N: Guys I am so sorry. I've been much busier than I thought, and well unfortunately it turned out like this! To the people who guessed right, I'm sorry I didn't get to send you part of the story. I just now finished it and I figured that I had let you guys waiting too long! However the winners were: ibelieveintruelove and HaloAngel504. I hope those were the only two that got it right, and if I missed you I'm so sorry, just PM me and I'll add you! I really hope you guys enjoy this last chapter...I'm actually glad I didn't get it up sooner, because I just had some new ideas in the past few days that I really like. I hope you like it too. :-)

Please R&R!!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any related characters.

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Chapter 16

Hearing the clicking of the door, Gabriella swiftly moved in letting out a big sigh, and closing her door behind her. She glanced over to the right and saw the Christmas Tree that her mother had just put up a few days before and smiled softly. "Mom?" Gabriella called out, hearing the echoing of her voice, as she set down her purse and schoolbag.

She heard her mother's heels clicking on the floor and Gabriella made herself right at home, flopping down on the couch and closing her eyes tiredly.

"Gabi...how was school?" Ms. Montez asked her daughter softly and Gabriella's eyes snapped open to see her mother's hopeful ones. Gabriella's sigh made her mother frown a little, wondering if she was ever going to go back to normal.

Ms. Montez moved to sit next to Gabriella on the couch, wrapping an arm around her daughter and putting her head atop of hers. "I'm really sorry honey" She gave her daughter a squeeze on the shoulder, "I may not know how hard this is for you, but I know it's hard."

Groaning, Gabriella moved the couch pillow to cover her face, "Mom, it's not really about the whole cause of the situation that's bugging me...it's the aftermath of it. I mean I feel like I've been cut off all of a sudden..." After saying this, Gabriella removed the pillow from her face and looked her mother straight in the eye.

"Troy's still not even looking at me; I'm pretty sure he didn't believe a word I said...Sharpay has been giving me glares all week, although sometimes I see her soften when she's around me; even Taylor has been trying to avoid me and speaks to me as little as possible, God, I mean I wish I knew what everyone was thinking!"

Mrs. Montez could hear the frustration in her daughter's voice and her eyes softened while giving her a smile. "Mija, you can't expect life to be perfect-"

"I know, mom" Gabriella growled and slapped the pillow into her face, before pulling it away slowly and blowing away the strands of hair that got messy. "But everything's not alright...and when it's not, it bugs the hell out of me. You know that! It was how I was when dad...well..."

Both Gabriella and her mother were strickly silent, as they both remembered the events leading after Gabriella's father's death. Lisa held in her memories and quickly gave her daughter a watery smile. "I've learned things Gabi..."

In interest, Gabriella looked up at her mom with the same watery glaze in her eyes, "And what would that be? Is it better than learning who to trust and not who to trust?" The cold bitterness in her voice, made her mother rethink her choice of words, which left another slight silence in the room.

"You know..." Lisa Montez smiled slightly, before clearing her throat and continuing, "I think it's time for me to share something with you, about your father and I...we were a lot like you and Troy."

That had snapped Gabriella's full attention and her brow furrowed with confusion. Lisa continued, "There was a time long ago where your father, didn't believe how much he could trust me...it was over something stupid, hardly as important as believing in cheating..." At this, Gabriella seemed to choke a little, "But anyways, he still didn't believe..."

Lisa smiled to herself and chuckled, "But then, finally, he came back. Like I always believed he would...he repeated this saying to me; Trust is...is a hard word to think about sometimes. Sometimes you might just want to forget about that fact in the heat of the moment, only to regret it in the long run."

Kissing her daughter's forehead affectionately, Lisa Montez made a move to leave the couch. "I love you sweetheart, and your dad loved you very much. But I'll bet you anything Troy Bolton loves you too. It just might be worth the wait to give him time."

Gabriella's eyes followed her mother as she glided up the stairs, leaving her daughter in her thoughts. Sighing and biting her lip furiously, her eyes landed on her coat hanging next to the door. With one last glance towards the stairs, Gabriella made a move towards her coat.

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Shelly was tired. Tired of having to sit around Lucas all the time at the lunch table and not being able to burst out into flames while she happened to be around him. For all the things he put Gabriella into, all he could do was sit there with a big perky smirk on his face while he flirted with all of her best friends.

With a roll of her eyes, Shelly practically had to bite her lip to keep her from bursting. She knew she couldn't. She knew that Gabriella didn't want the whole school knowing about her problems and Shelly respected her feelings.

Glancing over at Lucas once more, she noticed his eyes on hers, and she knew that he knew she knew. Wait...that doesn't even make sense... Shelly thought to herself, before shaking that thought.

Suddenly, looking back into Lucas's curious eyes once more, a light bulb went off into her head. "That's it!" She squealed out loud, and the whole table managed to turn heads and look at her strangely. "Uhh I mean...nothing...Jessica..." Shelly laughed out loud, then murmured over to her friend next to her. Shelly managed to slip her pink phone into her hands, without anyone noticing.

"I want you to take this phone and set it in the bush just right outside the cafeteria doors with the video camera on and recording" Shelly whispered and with one more glance over at Lucas she hissed, "Go!"

Jessica was more confused than ever, but managed to squirm out of her seat and scramble out the doors. "Lucas, hey, I need to talk to you for one moment" Shelly suddenly announced, and she glanced at Lucas with a raised eyebrow. "Now, outside" She ordered with a hint of bitterness.

Not quite sure what to make of this order, Lucas followed Shelly reluctantly, a bit confused as the strutted over to the cafeteria doors, where Jessica was just coming out of.

"Thanks Jess!" Shelly whispered quickly before noticing the pink carefully hidden in the bushes, yet clear enough for it to see what was about to happen. "Perfect!" She whispered, before whipping her head around to Lucas.

"How can you be so STUPID? I hope you have some great excuse for whatever reason you had to completely ruin Gabriella's life, actually wait no, there is no excuse is there?" Shelly fumed out and in the end only got a smirk in return.

"Why, whatever do you mean Shel?" Lucas cracked a cocky smile, which made Shelly even more furious.

Grabbing ahold of Lucas's shirt collar, her eyes darkened. "Why did you want to break up Troy and Gabriella?" Shelly questioned, as if she was a lawyer questioning her witness.

"Ohhh...so that's his name. Troy?" Lucas pretended to care for a moment, until he saw Shelly's death glare, something he had never recieved from her. "Okay, so maybe I was a little out of line...but come on! I never expected her to have a boyfriend so fast after she moved, especially not in cow town..."

"Now hold it just a minute!" Shelly argued furiously, the angry glint in her eyes burning holes in Lucas's face, "Those people in that town are most definitely the most down-to-earth people I know! So don't you go dissing them, because I know you will lose. And secondly, Gabriella is in love with Troy, like she was NEVER in love with you, so I suggest you get over it and accept that! Not try to ruin her life!"

Without another word, Shelly stomped over to the bushes and grabbed the pink cell from it, saving the whole masquerade into her phone. Smiling cheekily over at Lucas's shocked expression, she brushed past his shoulder and back through the cafeteria doors.

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Sharpay sighed to herself, while drumming her newly polished nails on the cafeteria top of the table. A few people from the gang were still hanging out around after school, mostly just her, Troy, and Taylor. They were all silent and quiet as if they all were thinking about the same thing.

"Why are we still here guys?" Taylor finally breathed out, as Sharpay's cell phone dinged, and she hurried to see what she got. Knowing Sharpay was too busy checking her messages to noticed, Taylor sighed and glanced over at Troy.

He shrugged and whispered softly, "I have nothing better to do anymore."

Before Taylor could respond to that, Sharpay gasped loudly, causing both Taylor and Troy to look up with interest. Snapping her head towards Troy, her gaze softened, "Troy I think...I think you might want to watch this..."

Sharpay handed over her iphone to Troy, who grabbed it curiously, flipping it over to reveal her video screen...

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Gabriella felt the chilly wind against her cheeks from the cold, fall air and closed her eyes while breathing in the pine tree scent through her nose carefully. Winter was just around the corner and Gabriella shivered as she looked down towards the lake, wondering just how cold the water would feel if she happened to jump in. She sighed, smiling slightly through her eyes, as she remembered that one magical camping trip...oh, she missed them all. So, so much.

A sudden gush of wind made Gabriella gasp, as she reached up to remove a few strands of hair that blew straight into her face. Once done, she moved her hands down towards her neck, tightly grasping onto the simple silver chain that she wore under her clothes.

Closing her eyes, Gabriella held on tight to the chain, while looking up towards the sky, letting the wind take her in. Gabriella sighed loudly before muttering,

"I'm sorry I let you down, dad."

"I disagree with that" Someone's voice cracked and Gabriella felt as if she couldn't whip her head around faster. She only gasped at the sight that she never dreamed would happen again,

"Troy."

She watched carefully as her ex-lover took a step closer to her, as if he was about to add more onto his argument. Gabriella shivered suddenly as he got closer, but she wasn't sure if it was the wind this time.

"Your father would be very proud of you, Gabriella" Troy stated in such a serious tone, that Gabriella was surprised with. She had never heard him speak like that. "You got through all of your hardships, which is more than what you could say for half these people in the world. And...your mother...your father would be so proud that you two realized you need each other more than anything."

Gabriella said nothing in response, only slightly pursed her lips, while staring awkwardly down towards her shoes. Troy's hands were stuffed into his pockets and he seemed to be rocking back and forth on his heels, as if he didn't know what to say next.

"Gabi...from the way you talked about your father...I know he would" Troy insisted, with despair slighltly filling his voice.

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh slightly; what was he doing here? Crossing her arms, to shield them from the cold, Gabriella blinked as she looked back towards the icy lake. "I-uh-I thought you really didn't care anymore..."

Looking back towards Troy, she saw him frown slightly, as if he was slightly dissapointed in her for saying such a thing. "Gabriella-I don't think anything you could do, could stop me from caring..." His voice was much softer this time around, as if he was really falling back in love with her.

With the same glint in her eye that she always had when Troy was around her, Gabriella took a chance, softly padding through the ground to be closer to Troy. He watched her carefully, as if he was trying to relive all of their memories in five seconds.

"What made you change your mind?"

Troy could instantly smell her sweet scent once again; her hand came up to rest upon his cheek, and Troy had to resist himself from sighing in content. Instead he seemed to swallow hard, reaching up to grasp her by the wrist, pulling her hand off and tucked safely into his hand instead.

Then, as he reached over to grasp her other hand as well, he spoke, "I'm so sorry. I-I should've trusted you...you're right. Nothing in a relationship works if we can't trust each other...and I'm ready to give you that now" He looked straight into her chocolate brown eyes as he spoke, each word he kept true to his heart.

"That is...if you're willing to take the asshole back."

Gabriella giggled softly, feeling Troy's thumb move side to side around her fingers. Smiling to herself, she felt herself remembering her mothers words. Feeling a sudden rush of love for her mother, she put her hand to her heart.

Deciding to make the first move, Gabriella couldn't wait any longer. She moved forward, placing both her hands against his cheeks, as she pressed her lips against his. Troy smiled into the kiss, reaching to grasp her around the waist and pull her up. Gabriella responded by jumping and wrapping her legs around his waist, not breaking the kiss.

Their kiss was soft and sweet, but filled with pure love. And Gabriella knew she wasn't the only one to feel it. Breaking apart slightly, Gabriella still kept her lips within mere centimeters of his.

"I love you" Gabriella whispered softly, repeated the saying he had told her just a few weeks earlier. Troy was grinning from ear to ear after that, and as he put his hand on the back of hers, pushing her lips back onto his again, Gabriella knew she had his response.

Clapping suddenly erupted from behind tress and they both blushed, breaking apart as they realized all of their friends plus Gabriella's mom were standing behind there the whole time.

Slipping out of Troy's hold and back onto the ground, Gabriella's mouth was open with shock as she saw all of her friends, that just earlier today weren't speaking to her, shouting out all of their ways of congratulations.

Her mother was first to reach her, "Honey! I told you it would work out!", her line of congratulations made Gabriella laugh out loud. Everyone got their turns at hugging Gabriella, each one sharing their apologies as well, Gabriella declining, insisting that they had nothing to be sorry for. After all, it was a huge misunderstanding that no one could control.

Gabriella looked around suddenly, her eyes reaching her blonde-headed best friend, who was smiling softly in Gabriella's direction, before her gaze retreating to the ground.

Squeezing Troy's hands slightly, Gabriella nodded over towards Sharpay, and Troy understood perfectly, only encouraging her to go on over there.

Gabriella shuffled over in Sharpay's direction and soon was standing right in front of her best friend, who she was suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm so sorry Sharpay...I really didn't mean to..."

"No-let me start, please" Sharpay insisted, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry...I mean, I invaded your personal business, and you had every right to keep all of it to yourself, and you had every right to tell whoever you wanted to. You weren't in any fault here; I guess I kind of got carried away. I'm sorry" Sharpay repeated again, reaching up to touch her friends' shoulder lightly.

Gabriella giggled softly, "It's alright Shar, you've always been forgiven. Besides...I do actually, take part of the blame. I shouldn't have yelled at you; at anyone, for that matter...I was upset, I know, but that doesn't excuse my actions."

Sharpay just nodded, smiling, and Gabriella knew she was forgiven. "And" Gabriella continued, wanting to get something else out, "You are one of my best friends Shar, and I would never want to lose you. Taylor...she's another one of my best friends, and she just happened to be the one that was there the moment I broke down...I'm so sorry. I really would have told you..."

"It's alright, Gabs" Sharpay put up a hand. "I think, now's the time where I'm supposed to say you're forgiven, and that we should forget the whole thing ever happened."

Both girls giggled together, as Sharpay linked their arms. "Shall we?" She asked and Gabriella smiled with a reply, "We shall."

Returning towards the group, Troy turned around quickly as he saw his girlfriend approach, and he grinned whilst wrapping an arm around her again pulling her close.

"I say we jump in!" Chad's voice rang out suddenly, and everyone turned to him confused. "In the lake...I mean it'll be a thrilling expreience...something to remember this awesome day with."

"I brought my camera!" Gabriella's mother yelled out suddenly, winking at her daughter while holding up the camera for everyone to see.

Troy turned to look down at Gabriella, who looked up at him with uncertainty. "Oh come on...you aren't going to try and run away this time Gabriella, are you?" He asked her cheekily, and Gabriella just shoved him quickly, feeling Taylor coming over to grasp one of her hands.

Looking at her weirdly, Taylor smiled, "We're all going to jump in together with our hands linked...it'll be more fun that way!"

Troy came around to grasp Gabriella's other hand, giving it a slight squeeze. Kissing her on the cheek suddenly, Gabriella was brought back to life when her friends started counting down from ten before they would run.

Glancing back at her mom quickly, Lisa gave her daughter a thumbs up and a big smile, holding the camera up from a view behind them...

Oh yes, that would be an amazing picture.

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And there you go! One more final chapter, the epilogue, and don't think Shelly out of the picture yet...I haven't forgotten about the great deed she has done. I am not certain in how long it'll take for me to get the epilogue up, so I'm sorry if it takes awhile, although I'm hoping not! I also hope this wasn't too rushed...I don't know.

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