A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thank you for all the feedback; I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I don't own and/or am affiliated with any of the characters, the movie, music, etc.
July 31st, 2010 7:00 am
I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world,
but its feeling just like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone,
After giving Troy a goodbye kiss, Gabi watched him walk out to his truck before getting in and heading off to Chad's to spend the day. Watching him drive out into the street, Gabi headed back inside and looked at the messy living room. Duke laid in his bed sleeping the day away as Gabi smiled.
Sitting in the living room, Gabi let her eyes trail around the bright yellow room. Seeing pictures of her and Troy sitting on the mantel caused a smile to cross her face.
Looking at the bookshelves, a bright blue binder caught Gabi's eyes as she got off the couch. Pulling it from the shelf, she cradled it in her arms before going to sit in the rocking chair. Opening it, she let her eyes trail over the front page.
The Gabriella Montez Wedding Planning Book
The tears formed in her eyes as she flipped through the book. The moment she had received the book flashed back in her mind.
The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour if that,
and started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?
"Gabi . . . come here!" Taylor hollered as Gabi rushed into the adjacent room.
Walking into the room, Gabi smiled seeing Belle, Olivia, Taylor, Sharpay, Lauren, Sharpay, and Kelsi all grinning in while sitting in the Duke dorm. "What am I doing here?"
"Girl you need a break from studying and what better way then to celebrate yours and Troy's engagement. So we're going to party the afternoon away." Taylor grinned as the girls grinned.
Rolling her eyes, Gabi played with the engagement ring before sitting in the circle. It was a couple of weeks after Troy had asked her and for some reason, Troy and the rest of the guys was MIA leaving her with her hyper girlfriends.
"So what are we going to do to celebrate?" The girls all giggled before Sharpay rolled her eyes.
"Funny you should ask that, Gabi. You're in for a real treat." Lauren grinned looking at her long time friend.
Standing up, Gabi shook her head before walking into her room. "Sorry but I have an anatomy test to study for. I'll be in my room."
Rolling her eyes, she headed back into her room and settled at her desk just as the door was thrown open. "Gabi . . . quit being a party pooper; just come hang out with us."
"But Taylor my GPA is depending on this exam. And I haven't done well on the last two." Taylor rolled her eyes at her friend's excuse.
"You'll have plenty of time to study. Besides the guys are out with Troy right now so while he's having a good time, so are you." Taylor tapped her foot before looking at her friend. "We're not going to do anything dangerous or stupid. We're just going to hang out and eat really good food."
Gabi shrugged her shoulders before following Taylor back into her room. Sitting back down in the circle, Gabi looked at her friends. "All right what are we going to do now?"
"Well first you need to put these on." Handing Gabi a sash and a crown, the girls laughed at Gabi's priceless face.
Stretching the sash out, Gabi laughed at the wording, "Recently Engaged Best Friend" and the crown had pink sparkles which Gabi guess was Sharpay's which she was lending to the party.
"Thanks you guys. I love it." Sitting back, the friends sipped Sparkling Grape Juice from Champagne glasses.
"Now, my dear friend, it's time for presents." Belle and Olivia grinned at their roommate as they brought out a box from their hiding place. "This is from the Duke Dorm girls. It's a little something to help you in your marriage."
But I believe the world is burning to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
Opening the box, Gabi quickly put the lid back on and a blush crept over her face. "Olivia Nicole and Anabella Rebecca I'm going to kill the two of you."
The two just continued grinning at their almost sister before nodding their heads. "You know, Bella, I don't know who's going to enjoy it more . . . Gabi or Troy."
"I'm going to kill each of you very slowly . . ." Gabi looked between the two grinning girls.
"Come on Gabi, what they got you can't be that bad." Kelsi grinned knowing full well what the girls had gotten their friend.
Sighing, Gabi knew they would continue to bother her. "Fine . . ." Opening the box, Gabi took out blue and red lacy lingerie. "What do you guys think?"
Catcalls and whistles were heard as blushes crept over Gabi's face again. "Troy is going to die when he sees that on you . . . actually his mouth will drop then he'll devour you."
Quickly putting the lingerie away, Gabi shook her head. "All right . . . not a word to Troy!"
After swearing the girls to secrecy, more boxes and bags were produced and placed in front of Gabi. "There you go girlie. Enjoy!"
Picking a box, Gabi tore off the paper before opening the lid. Sitting inside was a bright blue binder. Flipping through it, the girls included checklists of everything Gabi would need during her wedding and a list of contacts for everything she could ever want. Pictures of various locations, flowers, and anything else you could think of littered the pages in the binder.
With tears in her eyes, Gabi looked up at the group of seven girls. "Thank you so much. This is perfect."
"We kinda figured you didn't know where to start so this was the best thing we could think of."
Holding the binder to her chest, Gabi smiled and thanked the girls again. "You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for. And I love each of you dearly."
I think it turned ten o'clock but I don't really know
then I can't remember caring for an hour or so
started crying and I couldn't stop myself
I started running but there's no where to run to
I sat down on the street, took a look at myself
said where you going man you know the world is headed for hell
say all goodbyes if you've got someone you can say goodbye to
Hearing the door slam, Gabi was pulled out of her dream by the heels clicking on the marble tile. "Hello? Gabs you in here?"
"What's up?" Gabi asked as Sharpay, Lauren, Kelsi, and Taylor peaked their heads around the corner.
"We've been at the front door ringing the belle for like the last ten minutes. Where were you?"
Smiling, Gabi stood up and quickly hugged them. "I was here the entire time. I was actually daydreaming about the day you guys threw me the engagement party."
Laughing, Sharpay shook her head. "That was a great day. I remember the promise you swore us to which ended up being broke later that day."
The five friends laughed remember the moment Troy had come into the room.
I believe the world is burning to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
let's see how far we've come (right now)
let's see how far we've come
"What's this?" The girls whipped around hearing the familiar voice that could only belong to Troy Bolton.
"Get out Bolton! This is a girls' only party." Frowning, Troy looked at Gabi with pleading eyes.
"We're done . . . besides you told us to keep him until 5 and it's all ready 5:30." Zeke's voice yelled from out in the hallway. "Come on let us in."
Coming further into the room, the guys found their girls before giving them kisses. "Hello beautiful."
"Hey yourself handsome. Have a good day?"
"The best. What about you?" Gabi smiled before kissing him again.
"Pretty good. The girls wouldn't let me study so guess what I'm doing tonight in your dorm . . ."
Shrugging his shoulder, Troy grinned. "I'd love for you to come study with me. I have a math test tomorrow so I'm going to be quiet anyways."
"Sounds good."
"Hey Troy?" Sharpay's eyes danced with excitement.
"Yeah Shar?"
"So Gabi got a gift today that you're going to love . . . actually you're the only one who will see her in it." Gabi reached over and smacked her friend before hearing her yelp.
Turning to his fiancée, Troy's face showed confusion. "What is our blonde friend trying to say?"
"Nothing . . . besides you are not going to see it until we're married."
Troy kissed her neck before moving up to her lips. "Come on Gabi; you know you wanna show me."
Leaning up to his ear, she grinned evilly. "Maybe I'll show you later on tonight in your dorm."
And his smile was all the girls needed to see.
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
"Did you ever show him that lingerie?" Lauren asked as Gabi smirked.
A blush crept across her face as she hid it behind the red pillow. "Yeah I did . . . but it wasn't our wedding night."
Looking in the closet, Gabi's eyes fell on the lingerie before pulling it from the shelf. Troy wasn't due home for a few more minutes and Gabi had been craving time with him all day. "Gabs?"
Hearing him call from downstairs, she quickly changed before going to lay in the middle of the bed. He continued to call as he searched every room for her.
"Gabriella Bolton where are you?" His voice was full of excitement at what might be waiting for him.
She grinned before calling. "Come on upstairs, husband."
Upon walking into the room, his mouth dropped as he looked at his gorgeous bride waiting for him on their bed. "Good evening beautiful."
Walking over to the bed, Troy leaned over and kissed her before she pulled him onto the bed. "What's this?"
"I wanted to surprise you . . . mission accomplished?"
"Definitely. But Mrs. Bolton?" Troy whispered looking over at her.
Looking up into his blue eyes, Gabi smiled. "Yes Mr. Bolton?"
"When did you start collecting lingerie?"
"Remember the engagement party the girls held for me back in North Carolina?"
Confusion covered his face before he slowly nodded. "Vaguely yes."
"This was the present Sharpay kept teasing you about."
His lips covered hers before pulling back. "Got to love our friends."
"At the moment, our friends are not what is on my mind." And with that he kissed her again leading into their activities.
Its gone gone baby its all gone
there is no one on the corner and there's no one at home
well it was cool cool, it was just all cool
now it's over for me and it's over for you
"She's got that look on her face again." Lauren's voice broke her trance as Gabi looked up at them.
"What look?"
"The look whenever you've been thinking about Troy." Taylor smiled. "What was the daydream about this time?"
"The afternoon we conceived Ethan. That lingerie was involved." The smile on her face was priceless as the girls remained quiet.
"What's wrong?" Gabi looked at the girls before looking at the pictures on the mantel. One, in particular, caught her eye.
"We're just surprised on how you can talk about your deceased son like that." Sharpay said as Gabi rolled her eyes.
Choosing her words carefully, Gabi picked up the picture on the mantel before going to sit down. "Troy and I have worked hard to deal with our son's death. We know he's safe up in Heaven now and that's something we're thankful for. Besides, Troy and I both believe we will be parents one day and that day will hopefully come soon."
"You're so strong, Gabs." Lauren mumbled as Gabi shook her head.
well its gone gone baby its all gone
there's no one on the corner and there's no one at home
well it was cool cool, it was just all cool
now it's over for me and it's over for you
"No I'm truly not. If I didn't have Troy, I would be a mess. He's the one that keeps me strong."
"You've dealt with this on top of everything we put you through." Taylor shook her head at her friend's strength.
Gabi nodded before smiling slightly. "Listen, I just want to put everything behind us. We have a clean slate and it's time to make new memories. We're a whole new set of friends and this is the start of something new."
The girls fell into giggles at the saying of the song they couldn't stop singing back in high school. Hugs were given as the girls settled in for an afternoon of hanging out and doing absolutely nothing.
I believe the world is burning to the ground
oh well I guess we're gonna find out
let's see how far we've come
let's see how far we've come
Well I, believe, it all, is coming to an end
10:00 pm
Lying in bed later that night, Gabi sighed catching the attention of her husband. "What's going on in your mind?"
"Just thinking about today."
"It sounds like you had a good day with the girls. I'm glad you did." Troy smiled.
"Thanks but today just got me thinking about how much stuff you and I have truly been through."
"That stuff is what's going to make us stronger as individuals and as a couple. What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger." Troy kissed her lips before smiling.
"Come on, lay your head down and get some sleep. We've got a busy day tomorrow."
"Night Troy. I love you."
"Love you too babe. Sweet dreams."
And sweet dreams did accompany the sleep that she received.
The song is "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty. Feedback would be awesome. Thank you to all my readers and reviewers!