After school, Troy and Chad limped to Troy's house, Chad carrying both of their books.
"Thanks again man," Troy thanked "I feel really bad that you have to do this."
"Hey man, I'm not gonna let you get hurt worse than you already are. Isn't that what friends are for?"
Troy laughed "Yeah sure. Okay than, I can take it from here. See you later."
Chad waved and started off in the other direction. Troy turned and called "Mom! Can you come and get my books?"
Immediately, Troy heard footsteps stampede down the steps and his mother emerged from the porch. She bent down and grabbed his school books off of the ground and asked "Hey honey. How was your first day back?"
Troy shrugged. "Fine. A little crazy because people kept asking me how this happened but overall, it was pretty good." With that, the two Bolton's walked back to their house together.
"Did you see Brandon?" His mother asked carefully.
Troy sighed and nodded. "Yeah. But he didn't give me any trouble. I had Chad, Zeke, Jason, Brian, and Gabby there to keep him off my back."
"Gabriella? Isn't that Brandon's sister?" Lucy asked, confused.
"Yeah," Troy answered "She's pretty steamed at him for doing this to me. We're getting pretty close now. Did you know that she stayed with me in the hospital while I was asleep?"
Lucy laughed "Yeah. She wouldn't leave your side. We even tried to drag her out by her heels, but she kept her grip on your hand. I think she feels something for you."
"Mom!" Troy exclaimed, but blushed all the same.
Lucy suddenly asked "I bet you're wondering why Brandon's not in juvie jail, huh?"
Troy nodded "I already know. Nobody told on him."
Lucy nodded "I set up an appointment with my lawyer. You and I are going in next week."
Troy stopped short at that. He frantically turned to his mother and cried "What?! Why me?!"
Confused, Lucy answered "So that we can try and put him in jail. Don't you want to?"
Troy shook his head and replied loudly "Of course not! Why would I want to do that?!"
"Why wouldn't you?" Lucy asked, unlocking the door.
"A: His mother will bail him out and he'll probably kill me and B: I just can't. I made a promise to myself that I won't go to extremes with Brandon. Remember?"
Lucy sighed, but still nodded. "I remember. But I would still feel better if that boy was locked up somewhere."
Troy leaned against the railing and put a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Mom, there's a reason why I'm staying in this fight with Brandon. Remember the reason?"
Again, Lucy nodded. "I think it's a pretty good one too."
Troy nodded. "I just have to wait until the right time to tell him about it. I certainly can't tell him now since we hate each other so much. He won't believe me. This has gone on too long."
Lucy looked at her son with loving eyes. "You don't hate him, do you?"
Troy stared at her with a blank expression drawn across his handsome face. He looked at the ground and shook his head.
"Not at all."
----
...Gabriella...
Gabriella walked home from school feeling stalked. She rolled her eyes when she heard the leaves rustling behind her and the frustrated sighs coming from the person. Finally, the person revealed themselves by jumping in front of Gabriella suddenly.
Brandon. Just as Gabriella had predicted.
"Gabby, you haven't said a word to me the whole day. Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?" Brandon innocently asked. Gabriella didn't reply. She just pushed past him as though he wasn't even there.
"Gabriella!" Brandon called after her. "Gabriella, I know you hear me!"
Gabriella sighed quietly enough for him not to hear her. She whipped out her cell phone and dialed Sharpay's number. When she picked up, Gabriella asked "Hey Shar, wanna meet me at the mall in 5 minutes?"
"Sure! Still giving Brandon the silent treatment?" Sharpay replied knowingly.
"I love that top too!" Gabriella squealed. They had made a secret code that day for when Brandon was around. If they were talking about him trying to talk to Gabriella, Gabriella would say something positive as the yes and something negative as no.
"Okay. You gonna go back to talking to him in about a week?"
"Eww, I hate that one!" Gabriella said disgusted.
"I'll take that as a no. Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes." Gabriella walked up to her doorstep and brought out her keys quickly. She opened the door and just as Brandon was climbing the steps, Gabriella shut the door and locked it, knowing that he didn't have his keys.
"Gabriella! Gabriella, open the door! Gabriella!!!" Brandon shouted from the outside. Gabriella didn't say anything back. She just grabbed an apple and quietly crept out the back door, locking it in the process.
----
...At the Mall...
"He's stalking you now?" Sharpay asked in disbelief.
"Yup," Gabriella replied "He jumped out of the bushes and started asking me why I wasn't talking to him."
Taylor rolled her eyes "He's getting way too desperate. Why can't he just figure it out?"
Gabriella shook her head "I don't know. He was never good with stuff like this."
"So when are you gonna start talking to him again?" Sharpay asked.
"I don't know. When he finally figures it out I guess." Gabriella shrugged. The girls beside her nodded and walked into Hollister. Gabriella was looking at a light blue t-shirt when she bumped into someone. She spun around and started apologizing "Oh, I'm so sor... Troy?"
Troy looked at the person he bumped into and replied "Gabriella? What are you doing here?"
Gabriella answered "Shopping with the girls. What are you doing in the girls' section?"
Troy rolled his eyes and said "My little cousin. So what's with you ignoring Brandon?"
Gabriella smiled "I told you there was a nonviolent way to hurt him. He hates when I don't talk to him. Trust me, it's happened before. Remember the time in middle school where he was spazzing out for a week. That was an experiment I was doing."
Troy laughed at the memory. "Yeah, I remember that. That was the week of my birthday party and he crashed into the cake. Good times, good times."
"TROY!!! I WANT THIS ONE!!!" a shrill scream came from behind the two.
Troy groaned "Coming Bree. I'll see you later Gabby." Gabriella nodded and watched Troy limp off to the blonde girl. Gabriella turned around and just as she was about to walk to the cash register, she caught sight of someone that she didn't want to see.
"Oh shit!" Gabriella whispered to herself. She ran to the dressing room where Sharpay and Taylor were and called "Guys! Brandon's here!"
"What?! This is the girls' section! He can't come in here!" Sharpay cried, poking her head out from behind the wall.
"Yes he can! We came here a few years ago and he wasn't kicked out. What do we do? I can't ignore him in here!" Gabriella worriedly said.
"Hide in a stall until he leaves!" Taylor suggested. The girls slid under one small stall and jumped onto the wooden ledge to make their feet invisible.
A knock came on the door.
"It's occupied!" Taylor called, changing her voice a little just in case it was Brandon.
"Oh sorry! I'll come back later." The person apologized. Sharpay recognized the voice.
"Amy?" she called, opening the stall door just a crack.
"How do you know my... Sharpay?" Amy asked, confused.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Sharpay asked, looking around to make sure a certain boy wouldn't see her.
"I'm here shopping with Brandon. What are you doing here?" Amy replied.
"Here shopping with Gabby and Taylor."
"And you're all in a stall together... why exactly?" Amy confusingly asked.
"We're kinda hiding from your boyfriend." Taylor answered.
"Why?"
"Gabriella's teaching him a lesson and let's just say that it wouldn't be a good idea if he saw us." Sharpay replied, making the crack a little smaller due to the sight of Brandon.
"Oh yeah. He told me about that. The silent treatment, right?" Amy asked Gabriella, who nodded.
"He hates when I do this to him so I'm putting it off for as long as I can. He deserves it." Gabriella whispered.
Amy nodded "Okay. I'll text you when we're out of here. Just wait a few minutes. He's buying something." The girls nodded gratefully. As soon as Brandon was finished buying his shirt, Amy asked "Brandon sweetie, can we go to Aeropostale?"
Brandon nodded and followed Amy sadly. He had hoped that he would find Gabriella in here since it was her favorite store.
A few minutes after they left, Sharpay felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She opened it and read the text.
"Get out now!"
Sharpay closed the phone and announced "They're at the other end of the mall. Let's get out of here while we have the chance!"
The girls nodded and ran out of Hollister, leaving their shirts in the dressing room.
----
"God, that was close!" Taylor cried once they returned to the Montez house.
"You're telling me! I was so nervous I started getting pit stains!" Sharpay replied.
"At lease we're in a safe zone now." Gabriella reassured, crashing onto the couch in the living room.
"You spoke too soon," Taylor said with fright. "We've got company."
Sharpay and Gabriella raced to the window and gasped. Brandon was home.
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Sharpay yelled.
"This is just great," Taylor groaned "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Up to my room, turn on the stereo as loud as you can!" Gabriella demanded.
The girls didn't need to be told twice as they dashed up the stairs and locked the door behind them. Gabriella heard the front door open and Brandon yell "Gabby! Are you home?"
Gabriella didn't reply. She grabbed a random CD from her collection and put it in the stereo. She flipped the play switch and turned the volume up to its fullest. The girls started dancing and singing at the top of their lungs, trying to drown out Brandon's screams.
"Gabby! Turn that down! You're going to go deaf!"
I think we have an emergency
I think we have an emergency
If you thought I'd leave, then you were wrong
Cause I won't stop holding on
So are you listening?
So are you watching me?
If you thought I'd leave, then you were wrong
Cause I won't stop holding on.
This is an emergency
So are you listening?
And I can't pretend that I don't see this
It's really not your fault
That no one cares to talk about it
Talk about it
Cause I've seen love die
Way too many times
When it deserved to be alive
I've seen you cry
Way too many times
When you deserve to be alive, alive
So you give up every chance you get
Just to feel new again
I think we have an emergency
I think we have an emergency
And you do your best to show me love
but you don't know what love is
So are you listening?
So are you watching me?
Well I can't pretend that I don't see this
It's really not your fault
That no one cares to talk about it
Talk about it
Cause I've seen love die
Way too many times
When it deserved to be alive
I've seen you cry
Way too many times
When you deserve to be alive, alive
These scars, they will not fade away
No one cares to talk about it, talk about it
Cause I've seen love die
Way too many times
When it deserved to be alive
I've seen you cry
Way too many times
When you deserve to be alive, alive
Gabriella turned the stereo down when she felt the door slam under her feet. The 3 girls listened to the roar of Brandon's car take off down the street. They all smiled and high fived each other and collapsed on the bed, not feeling one ounce of regret.
----
...That Night...
At about 9:30, Brandon finally came home. He shoved past his mother and stormed up to his room. Gabriella cracked her door open and watched him slam his door shut and turn on his stereo. She knew that he had collapsed onto his bed, so she sneaked across the hall and slightly opened his door. Her heart broke at the sight of him. He was laying there, shaking and crying his eyes out.
"Why? Why does she have to do this to me?! I was just trying to protect her and she punishes me for it! Why Gabriella?! Why do you hate me?!" he screamed.
Gabriella could feel tears of her own building in her eyes. She closed the door, not being able to take it anymore. She slumped back to her room thinking "Am I doing the right thing?"
So Troy has a reason as to why he's doing this to Brandon. Find out what it is at the end of the story. REVIEW!!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
P.S: The song's "Emergency" by Paramore :)