Sorry about not updating in a while. I had to finish my other story Cheated and do a lot of other stuff. Anyway, here's a packed chapter. The end's a cliffhanger, so I'm sorry, but I didn't know how else to end it. Okay, READ!!!

The days have been going slower for Troy and Gabriella. Both felt horrible about what they said to each other. Gabriella felt bad about slapping him and saying those things, but what was she supposed to do? Say "Oh don't worry about it Troy. It was just a nude picture. It's fine."

She sighed and rolled off of her bed, walking into the shower. Hopefully this would clear her cluttered mind. She stripped and let the hot water cleanse her messy body, thinking "Why do I feel this way? Troy's just another jerk that hurt me. Why do I want to forgive him all of a sudden? Am I really that soft? I need to toughen up. I'll thank myself later."

After getting a nice, hot shower, she wrapped the towel around her bare body and walked back into her room. She reached for the doorknob and was about to open the door, but someone got to it first. She jumped back from the door and looked around for a spare object to defend herself, but calmed when she found that it was only Brandon. He stumbled out of the door and steadied himself against a wall. Blinking a few times, he said "Oh Gabby, I'm so sorry! I should've-"

"No, i-it's okay. I should learn to take my clothes in the bathroom with me."

The two shared a laugh before an awkward silence fell between them. Both had things to say, but couldn't bring themselves to say it. Gabriella was about to walk past him into her room when she noticed something on Brandon's face.

"What happened to your temple?" she asked.

"Huh?" Brandon asked, tensing up.

"You're bleeding. What happened?" Gabriella again asked. She walked up to him and adjusted his head so that the cut was facing her completely. As soon as she gripped his neck, he flinched and breathed sharply in pain. Gabriella stepped back slightly and apologized "Sorry."

"It's okay. You're just concerned." Brandon replied giving a weak smile. Gabriella nodded.

"Kay, I should be getting back to my room. See ya." Brandon excused himself. They walked past each other while Gabriella watched him limp back to his room. She sighed. He probably tripped over something and didn't want her to know. Whatever that reason was.

Gabriella closed her door and dived onto her bed. She closed her eyes and thought about why she was forgiving Troy so quickly. If Brandon ever found out...

Gabriella shook free of that unpleasant thought and grabbed a pair of pajamas. She threw the towel across the room and changed into her nightclothes. She was about to climb into bed when she forgot to put the towel back in the bathroom. She walked across the room and picked the damp towel off the floor, but something else caught her eye. Something shiny was lying under the towel.

Curious, she bent down and picked the silver object off of the floor. What she held in her hands cut her breathing. It was a necklace. But not just any necklace.

Troy was wearing it earlier that day. And it was bloody.

How could it be here? Unless...

"That's why." Gabriella whispered to herself.

----

...Brandon (His POV)...

I limped back to my room, totally exhausted. I fell back on my bed and cried out in pain. My side felt like someone was ripping something out of it. I slowly took my shirt off and looked at my hip. Just what I thought. He cut me. I tried to sit down, but the cut prevented that. I stood back up and fell back onto my bed, which hurt more than sitting. But I bit my lip to hold back my screams. Gabriella would come running in here and find out. She probably already did. The necklace was still there anyway.

FLASHBACK (5 MINUTES, NO ONE'S POV)

While Gabriella was in the shower, Brandon walked into Gabriella's room with a basketful of laundry. He sighed and started sorting out her clean clothes when something caught his eye from the side. He looked over and froze when he saw what was on her balcony. There was Troy, climbing the fence to get to the top of it.

He slowly put the basket on Gabriella's bed and walked to the door, glaring at the teenage boy the whole time. Troy was too busy grunting and cursing, so he didn't hear the door open and Brandon step out. He landed on the floor with a thump. Brushing himself off, he took a deep breath and held his head up, but not for long. As soon as he was facing the door, Brandon swung his fist and socked Troy square in the jaw. He screamed in surprise as Brandon just laughed.

"You really thought that you could sneak in without me finding you first, huh Bolton?" Brandon glared at him, walking forward.

Troy just rubbed his sore jaw and spat "This is none of your business Montez. I just need to talk to your sister."

"And what if I don't let you do that?" Brandon replied harshly.

"Don't let me? Well then, I guess I'll just have correct that sentence for you!" Troy screamed. He tossed himself onto Brandon and the two rolled around on the floor, throwing punches and kicks at each other, regretting nothing. Both fought for the same thing. Gabriella.

"She's my sister Bolton! What don't you understand about that?!" Brandon shouted.

"The part where you hog her! Ever realize that she has a life too?! You can't keep her locked up forever!" Troy screamed back.

"I'm not locking her up! I'm protecting her from the real world!" Brandon retorted loudly. His mother wasn't home and Gabriella couldn't hear because of the shower water, so he knew he was safe.

"The real world?! Is that what you call it?!" Troy rolled his eyes.

"No. That's what I call you!" Brandon finalized, throwing another punch in Troy's direction.

"Me? You're talking shit about me and I'm the one who came up to apologize?!" Brandon stopped at his words. He slowly lowered his clenched fists and stared into Troy's furious eyes.

"I know what you're gonna say! 'What do I have to be sorry for?!' You're the one who's keeping her away from trust. I'm trying to get her to trust me again and you're keeping her away from that! You're the one who called her when I sprained your ankle and you know what that did?! It tore her away from helping a friend in need! You're brainwashing and confusing her Brandon! She's not a little girl anymore! She's becoming too dependent on you! You don't need to be a father for her! She's already had enough of that! She came to East High looking for someone to help her forget about your dad and you're taking his place all over again! Just stop it and let her go! It's over!"

By now, Brandon's face had paled and his cuts had already bled to the bottom of his face. He stood there, staring at his ex-best friend with something that he hadn't felt in a long time for Troy. Admiration.

"I'm tired of fighting with you. I'm tired of fighting over her. So take my advice and stop being so damn selfish." With that, Troy turned and limped out the door, not noticing the fact that his neck was lighter from the absence of something very special to him.

Brandon stood there for a few minutes until he was sure he was going to pass out. He closed his eyes and slowly walked out the room, soaking in Troy's words. Was his worst enemy actually right?

Just as he was about to let his tears fall, he heard a small scream. Snapping his head up, he saw that it was Gabriella out of the shower. Clad in only a towel, he blinked a few times to get rid of the tears and apologized "Oh Gabby, I'm so sorry! I should've-"

"No, i-it's okay. I should learn to take my clothes in the bathroom with me."

END FLASHBACK

...Brandon's POV...

I laughed slightly at her joke. She always was the funniest out of the two of us. I was always trying to comfort her with the parents situation and... protect her. I sighed. Maybe Troy was right. Maybe I was protecting her a little too much. I couldn't believe that I was actually listening to Troy, but I couldn't help it. He was sometimes smart enough to make you think. I decided to listen to him. She needed to trust boys again.

"Don't make me regret this Troy." I seethed in between my teeth. Flipping onto my side painfully, I drifted off to sleep, not looking forward to tomorrow.

----

...At School...

"You did WHAT?!" Michael shouted at Brandon. The twin sighed and shut his locker, turning to his best friend and answered "I'm listening to my worst enemy. Mike, he has a point. I've been hovering over Gabriella for too long. It's time to let her go and let her live her own life. I should've been doing that from the start."

"But it's TROY!!! He'll say anything to get to Gabriella! Are you sure you're not sick?!" Michael retorted. Brandon nodded.

Michael sighed and calmly said "God, I sure hope you know what you're doing. What if it was just a trap?"

Brandon nodded "Let me take care of that. He'll pay for it if it doesn't."

Michael shook his head one last time and walked to his next class, mumbling things to himself.

"Hope Gabby's doing better than me." Brandon thought to himself, following Michael.

----

...Gabriella...

Gabriella groaned once again. She had yet again found another 'I'm Sorry' note from Troy. She was surprised that Brandon hadn't noticed them yet.

"Probably doesn't know yet. I'll go tell him." Gabriella thought. Just as she was about to round the corner, she felt someone push her into the lockers.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?! LET ME GO YOU RAPIST!!!" Gabriella screamed to the stranger.

"Gabriella, calm down! It's just me and Chad!" Troy quickly reassured. Gabriella looked up to find the blue eyed boy and his bushy haired friend. "What do you want?!"

Troy took a deep breath and started "Look, I'm sorry about what happened last week. It was a misunderstanding and it'll never happen again! Please forgive me and let us just forget that this whole charade never happened, okay?" Chad smiled cheekily and so did Troy. Gabriella just crossed her arms and laughed at the two boys.

"You really think that after that stupid apology I'm going to just up and forgive you just like that?" Troy and Chad nodded dumbly.

Gabriella scoffed "Well think again. I'm not going to be the weak link in the chain."

Chad leaned into Troy and whispered "What chain?" Troy rolled his eyes.

"Please Gabriella-"

"Forget it Troy!" Gabriella retorted "The day I forgive you is when you ride three wild pigs through these halls, yodeling at the top of your lungs, and dressed as a hobo! Now leave me alone!" With that, she walked away from the two boys.

Troy smirked to himself. Chad turned to his best friend and groaned "Don't even."

"Too late." Troy crooned, spacing out.

"This ought to end well..." Chad thought to himself before following Troy to the gym.

...That Night...

Troy lie awake in his bed, pondering Gabriella's words. He knew that she was just being sarcastic when she told him to ride around the school on pigs, but the thought stuck to him. Should he really do something that insane just to get one girl's attention?

"Worth a shot," Troy concluded "I'll stop by Uncle Sean's farm tomorrow." With that, he settled into his bed and drifted off to sleep.

The school was in for a big surprise on Monday.

----

...Monday...

Taylor clapped at Gabriella's recent news. "Good for you Gabby! You stood up for yourself! Especially to Troy! That's really some improvement!"

Gabriella smiled and replied "Well, I had to tell him how pathetic he was being. Just because he gives a stupid apology he thinks he can-"

"Oh my God." Taylor whispered, eyes wide, and looking in the direction opposite of Gabriella.

"What?" Gabriella asked, spinning around. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." She groaned.

----

...Brandon...

Brandon walked through the halls of East High with Michael by his side, chomping on his gum and rolling his eyes at some nerds.

"I really need to take care of this nerd problem." Brandon thought out loud.

"Dude, isn't that the king's job? Name wise Troy?" Michael asked.

Brandon was about to respond, but something at the front doors caught his eye. He grinned evilly and whispered "He won't be king for long..."

CLIFFHANGER!!! lol! Sorry about that. Now I hope to get even more reviews! So REVIEW and see what happens! Thnx :)

Rachel :)

P.S: Check out the new and improved trailer! It's a normal one that has scenes in between the dialouge, so you're in luck. There's future moments in the story and a hint as to what's catching everyone's eye. If you read this chapter carefully, you know what it is :)