I cannot TELL you how sick I am right now! When I walk, I get really dizzy and when I cough, my throat burns! Plus, my voice is really shitty right now. Idk what's goin on wit me, but I hate being sick! I barely ever get sick! Arthur's always the one to get sick!
Right, now time for something positive :) Okay Sarah590 and heart11broken, are you two ready for your big debut?! And don't worry heart11broken, I got ur PM and I changed ur name to Isabelle, just like you asked. But it's really obvious what Sarah590's name is :) Okay, READ:)
...At the Montez House...
Troy and Gabriella pulled up to the Montez house with huge knots in their stomachs and both feeling very nervous, even Troy. But he couldn't show weakness. Not with Gabriella around.
"Okay, you got the list?" Troy asked, turning to her.
Gabriella nodded and handed him a piece of paper with a few items listed. "Everything's in my room the last time I checked. Just be careful. And Troy?"
Troy was about to reply, but Gabriella pulled him into a loving kiss. "I love you."
Troy smiled warmly and replied "I love you too. Okay, wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Gabriella nodded and let her head rest in the seat. She took a deep, nervous breath.
"Come back safe Troy." She prayed silently through closed eyes.
----
Troy stepped onto the tree he used to climb to Gabriella's room and studied it. Gabriella was right. He would have to change his route. He thought and thought until he finally found his new imaginary map of the tree. He placed his hand on the first branch and climbed to the next one, trying to muffle a grunt. If Brandon heard him, the cops would come rushing down the road.
Just as he reached the middle of the tree, Gabriella's door swung open, revealing Brandon, whose face was red and tear stained.
Troy froze, not knowing what to do now. He knew he had been silent, so why had Brandon come out here? He couldn't have been heard.
His question was answered a few second later when Brandon whimpered "I'm sorry Gabriella. I love you." With that, he turned to leave. Troy gave a sigh of relief, but to his disadvantage, it was too loud. Brandon froze and turned his head to the fence of the balcony. Was someone trying to break in?
Brandon was about to call "Who's there?" when he saw a piece of paper being slapped on the floor. He read the words "Gabriella's Things." and stopped. He knew exactly who it was.
Thinking that Brandon had left, Troy climbed to the top of the balcony and swung his legs over, bending over and grabbing the list he just put on the ground. He looked up and his blood came to a halt. There stood Brandon, staring at him with an empty look in his eyes. Troy was about to prepare for defense, but Brandon asked "What are you doing here?"
"Getting Gabriella's stuff. She's staying with me." Troy replied, his voice ice cold.
Expecting to see Brandon lunge at him, his eyes showed confusion when the Montez stepped to the side.
"Hurry up before I change my mind." Brandon seethed, not making eye contact with Troy, not being able to handle it.
Troy didn't move. He just stared at the young man, his eyes not showing any hate. He could see the tears lining Brandon's eyes and his jaw locking, trying not to break out into sobs.
He took a step forward and waited. Brandon didn't budge. Troy sighed and finished his trip to her room.
The whole time he was getting her clothes, tooth brush, Proactive, iPod, and laptop, Brandon just stood there, not stopping him. When Troy slung his full book bag over his shoulder and started walking out, Brandon stopped him with "Bolton!"
Troy turned around slightly, suspicious. Now, after he got all of Gabriella's stuff, he decided to fight him?
"What?" Troy replied flatly.
Brandon walked over to him and whispered through a tear "Keep her safe."
Troy didn't reply. He just lightly and almost invisibly nodded and ran down the balcony, not once looking up. In a matter of seconds, he was gone.
Brandon took a deep breath, wondering if he did the right thing in letting her stay with him. He couldn't help but ponder one thought...
"Will she ever come back?"
----
...Back in the Car...
Troy jumped in the seat and took a deep breath, still confused as to why Brandon just let him in. He would never do that. He must've been sick. It was impossible.
"How did it go?" Gabriella anxiously asked.
Troy kept his eyes in front of him, refusing to look at his girlfriend. He didn't know what to say.
"He just let me in." he whispered.
"He caught you?!" Gabriella gasped, worry filling her voice.
"Yeah, but he didn't try to stop me. He just... let me pass through." Troy answered, finally taking a look at her pale, yet confused face.
"What? He didn't stop you?" Gabriella asked, the worry lost and abandoned. It was all replaced with confusion.
"Yeah. I don't know why though. He would never do that. I guess he was just tired and fed up with fighting for tonight." Troy thought out loud. Running his fingers through his hair, his head fell into the headrest and he just stared at the ceiling.
"Wow. Are you sure that he didn't even try to step in front of you?" Gabriella surveyed, not believing the words that were coming out of her boyfriend's mouth.
"Nothing. He just stood there and watched me get your stuff. I don't know what's going on."
Gabriella sighed. She knew the reason. Brandon wanted her to be happy. He had punched her for absolutely no reason and he wanted her to stay away from him. And for that, she was truly grateful.
"I'll be back." She sighed, starting to open her door. She was stopped by Troy grabbing her arm. "You're not going in there, are you?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"I have to do something. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be back in about 5 minutes." She replied, getting out of the car. Troy watched her with a worried gaze, hoping that she knew what she was doing.
----
Gabriella climbed the tree with some ease, knowing Troy's route but still having to climb it. When she reached the top, she looked around, not seeing her brother, much to her relief. She walked through her room and down the hallway into her mother's room. She took out a pen and a spare piece of paper from her purse and wrote:
Mom,
I'm sorry, but I have no choice. I need to take a break from this house and who's in it, if you know what I mean. Something happened while you were away and I can't deal with it at home. I hope you understand. I'll only be gone for about a week or so, and then I'll be home. I promise. Don't worry, I'm not in a different country or state. I'm still on the block. I'm not going to tell you where I am, but I assure you that I'm safe. I love you.
Gabriella
Just as Gabriella was about to place the note of her mother's pillow, she felt a strong hand stop her and take the note out of her hands. She looked up and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Brandon.
"Mom's never really understanding when it comes to stuff like this," he said, his voice breaking from past tears as he tore the note in two. "Don't worry. I'll cover for you. Just be sure to come back and I'm sorry."
Gabriella froze. Was he actually helping her? Or was it just a way to get her to leave and he would call her right after she left? She decided to take a chance and said "Brandon, I'm sorry it had to be like this, but I just can't do this right now. You punched me."
Even in the darkness, Gabriella could see him silently sobbing, the tears pouring down his face like a waterfall.
"I'm not complaining. When you come home from school with him on your arm, I know that I'll explode again. I just want you to be safe and I can't do that if you're with him around me. So go. I know that you'll be safe with him. He hates me, not you. I can see that he's in love with you. I know that he'll keep you safe." Brandon whispered, trying to stop his tears, but with no avail.
Gabriella stared at him. He really did care about her if he was willing to lose her and have his life change forever.
She didn't say anything else. She just leaned up and kissed his cheek with a light "Thanks." and sped out the door, not looking back.
Brandon stood there, the tears still cascading down his face. He smiled lightly and looked down at the note. He couldn't let his mother see it. He slowly tore it into shreds, feeling his heart do the same.
----
...Back at the Bolton Residence...
Troy and Gabriella walked through the door only to be met by Lucy, a smile drawn across her face.
"How'd everything go? I see that you're not bleeding anywhere." She commented.
Troy replied "Fine. He didn't catch me, so you know that everything went well."
Gabriella's head snapped towards him. What was he talking about? Was he actually lying to his mother?
"I'm relieved to hear that," Lucy answered, taking a deep breath of relief. Turning to Gabriella, she asked "Is your mother okay with this? Because you know that we can't do this without her approval."
Gabriella was about to explain when Troy piped up "She knows and she's fine with it. She understands that Gabby needs some time off and that she's scared, so she's letting her stay for about two weeks."
Gabriella's mouth dropped. Why was he lying to his mother?
"Good, good. Okay, so I have some news." Lucy beamed, happiness glowing in her eyes.
"What's that?" Troy asked, curious.
Just then, he felt someone jump on his back and shriek in his ear "TROYSIE!!!"
Troy laughed, knowing exactly who it was.
"Sarah! It's so good to see you again! Wow, you've gained some weight since the last time you jumped onto my back!" Troy joked back, hearing the 11 year old laugh in his ear.
"Yeah, I've been eating a lot more. Mom said that I should or people would think that I'm anorexic." Sarah replied.
Troy laughed. Olivia was right. Sarah was too skinny before.
"Well your mom was right. Now get down before you throw my back out. I do have to play basketball, you know." Troy laughed.
Sarah giggled as she made her way down Troy's back. Just as she was about to say something else, she noticed Gabriella standing beside him.
"Who's this?" Sarah asked.
Troy replied "This is Gabriella, my girlfriend. She's going to be spending some time with us, so this house is gonna be like a hotel, okay?"
Gabriella giggled at his comment, rolling her eyes. She waved at Sarah with a "Hey."
Sarah nodded and said "Cool. Are you sure she's not gonna be another Sharpay? I didn't like her. She was too mean and controlling."
Gabriella laughed and replied "Don't worry, I'm not like her. Besides, Sharpay changed. She's one of my best friends now. Troy knocked some sense into her when they broke up in middle school." Sarah nodded.
Troy then piped up "Okay, so where's Isabelle? I need to say hi to her."
Sarah nodded and called up the stairs "Izzy! Troy's home!"
A pair of feet automatically came bounding down the stairs and before Troy know it, he was enveloped in a very tight hug, crushing his lungs.
"Troy!!! Oh my God, I can't believe this! I haven't seen you since summer of '01!" Isabelle shrieked, not noticing Troy's blue face from lack of air.
"Good to... see you... too Izzy. Can't breathe... get off... me." Troy choked out, losing the feeling in his head.
Isabelle laughed "Sorry about that. I just can't believe that I'm looking at you right no- who's this?"
"That's Gabriella, his girlfriend." Sarah crooned, emphasizing the word 'girlfriend'.
"Oh God, not another Sharpay. You said that you would lay off girls for a while." Isabelle groaned, not noticing the annoyed look on Gabriella's face. "Why does everyone think that I'm another Sharpay?" she whispered to Troy.
"Don't worry. She's completely different than Sharpay. And Sharpay's not that bad now." Troy answered.
Isabelle gave a relieved nod. "Well," she said "We'll be staying here for a few months, so that gives us a while to catch up. Are you still fighting that ass Brandon?"
Troy and Gabriella exchanged worried glances, afraid to tell them about the current situation that was going on.
Troy answered "Uhh... about that. Did I mention that Gabriella's last name is Montez?"
Isabelle and Sarah's mouths dropped to the ground, trying to take in Troy's words.
"T-this is Brandon's s-sister?" Sarah stuttered, pointing to a very red Gabriella, who was looking at the floor.
"Yup." Troy nodded.
"What the hell Troy?! Does Brandon know about this?!" Isabelle loudly asked.
Troy again nodded "Yeah, and he's fine with it."
"He wouldn't do that! Something's up." Sarah thought out loud.
"Yeah, something did happen, but we'll tell you later. The important thing is who burned down your house. Who do you think it is?" Troy replied.
Sarah's face darkened as she seethed "Marissa. She hates me and I think she's jealous of me because I have more friends than she did. I can't believe that she burned my house down."
Gabriella added "I doubt that she did it herself. I think she got someone else to do it for her. I don't think that she would risk going to jail unless she's stupid enough to do that."
Sarah nodded "I think that she got her cousin Brick to do it. He's like 250 pounds of muscle and he's a real butt hole. He's been in jail like 5 times and I don't think he'd care if he was in again."
Troy shook his head. He couldn't believe that a little 11 year old girl would get her cousin to burn down someone's house. But he heard of Brick before and he had a bad feeling about him the second he saw him.
"That's a damn shame. I may be fighting Brandon, but I would never burn his house down." Troy commented.
Isabelle said "Yeah, because it's your girlfriend's house too! Duh!"
Troy and Gabriella laughed while Troy replied "Yeah that too, but I don't think burning his house down would solve anything. It would just make things worse."
Sarah was about to say something when a shriek came from behind the crowd.
"TROY!!!" A woman screamed, rushing over to the teenager. Troy smiled as his Aunt Olivia came running over to him and surrounded him in her arms. Troy greeted "Hey Aunt O! How've you been?"
Olivia replied "I've been better, but I'm fine now that you're here. I haven't seen you in how long? Summer of '01?"
Troy nodded "Something like that. I can't believe your house got burned down."
Olivia sighed sadly and answered "Yeah, me neither. We think that it's that Marissa girl who doesn't like Sarah. I never thought that she hated her that much though. Sarah's been blaming herself for it since it's her enemy." At that, Sarah looked at the floor and tried to not cry.
Troy knelt down and gathered Sarah in a tight hug, whispering comforting words in her ear. Sarah just broke down and cried "It's all my fault! I never should have told her how many friends I have! She barely has any!"
Troy rubbed her back and looked over at Isabelle, mouthing "Help me!"
Isabelle nodded and took Sarah from Troy's arms, saying "Come on Sarah. Let's finish getting settled, then we can meet back up with Troy, okay?"
Sarah nodded, wiping some tears away from her eyes. "Sorry. I just can't stop blaming myself for this. Me and my stupid big mouth!"
Gabriella sat beside Sarah and whispered "Don't worry. It wasn't your fault. Marissa was just being really immature about it and decided to do something stupid. Sharpay has more friends than I do and we're still best friends. I have a boyfriend and she doesn't, but she doesn't care."
Sarah smiled and absentmindedly hugged Gabriella, joking "You're diffidently not another old Sharpay."
Gabriella hugged her back and looked up at Troy for approval. He gave her 2 thumbs up and smiled widely.
"Wow. 5 minutes and they're already bonding." Isabelle whispered to Troy.
Troy nodded and whispered back "Gabriella has that trait in her. She's friendly with almost everyone."
Isabelle grinned "Thank God your taste in girls is improving."
Troy rolled his eyes with a smile and lightly pushed Isabelle by her shoulder. She laughed and said "Hey, are you sure that Sharpay's changed? I'd like to see some proof."
Troy nodded "Don't worry, I'm sure that she'll be over here tomorrow. They always go to each other's houses and once she finds out that she's not there-"
Suddenly, the door burst open and in stomped a very angry looking Sharpay.
"GABRIELLA ANNE MONTEZ!!!"
Troy groaned. He had expected this.
"Sharpay? What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked, confused.
Sharpay ran over to Gabriella and grabbed her by the collar, screaming "YOU MOVED OUT?!"
Gabriella smiled sheepishly and whispered "Surprise."
Sharpay seethed "What the hell were you thinking?! Just because you just got together with Troy doesn't mean that you can just move in with him! Whose idea was this?! Cause if it was Troy, than I swear, I'll-"
"Brandon punched me." Gabriella simply interrupted, having Sharpay turn toward her.
"What?"
"Brandon punched me. We were having a fight about Troy and he punched me. I was scared to live there anymore because Troy and I are together and he even said that he was going to blow a gasket when he saw us arm in arm." Gabriella explained.
Sharpay's mouth was now agape, her eyes wide. She let go of Gabriella's shirt and whispered "He did what?"
"He hit me. He hit his little sister." Gabriella answered.
Sharpay's face now became red with rage as she seethed "I'm gonna kill that little punk ass! How dare he even lay a hand on you! I can't believe him!"
Gabriella soothed "Shar, calm down!I'm going back in about 2 weeks and we can just forget about all of this. Brandon needs some time to get used to it and he can't do that if I'm constantly with Troy around him! So just chill out and go with the flow, alright?" She leaned in closer to the furious blonde and whispered "And whatever you do, don't tell my mom about this. She doesn't know and we're trying to keep it that way."
Sharpay took a deep and angry breath, trying to calm down. She couldn't believe that Brandon would do that to someone that he loved so much. Whether he had lost control or not, he still shouldn't have done it.
"Fine. I won't say anything. But I swear, if he comes within 5 feet of you, I'll kill him with Troy's help."
Troy shook his head and replied "No way! I'm done fighting him for 2 weeks! You can find someone else to help you, like Chad. He'll be sure to help."
Sharpay rolled her eyes and turned back to Gabriella, saying "Kay, so what are you gonna do? It's gonna be really awkward when you go back, so you need to talk to him sometime. You do realize that, don't you?"
Gabriella nodded and answered "Yeah, but I plan on doing it sometime next week. I just need a really big break from him. So don't go off killing him, okay?"
Sharpay reluctantly nodded and turned on her heel, walking out the door to her car and speeding down the street.
"Wow. She really has changed." Sarah commented, astonished.
"Yeah. What did you do to her Troy?" Isabelle added, just as confused.
"Nothing really," Troy answered "I just told her about her nickname, The Ice Queen and how self centered she was being."
"All a part of the Bolton Charm." Isabelle teased, giving Troy a high five.
Troy smiled back "Yeah, I think we all have it. Anyway, I'm tired. I got a girlfriend, my girlfriend technically moved in with me, and my enemy just let me in his house without protesting. You would be tired too, even if it is just 8:30, so don't call me a sissy."
Isabelle and Sarah nodded while Sarah said "Night Troy. Night Gabriella." With that, the 11 year old turned and went up the stairs to her new room.
Troy hugged Isabelle and led Gabriella to his room, which she was already familiar with. She collapsed on the bed and automatically felt her body start to shut down. In a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep.
After showering, Troy walked into his room to find Gabriella curled up on the bed with her eyes closed. He smiled, knowing that she was asleep. He crawled into the bed beside her and kissed her forehead, whispering "You're safe with me Gabby. I promise."
Yay! I bet Sarah590 and heart11broken are feeling very happy right now! If not, srry. Are u surprised that Brandon just let Troy in his house to help Gabriella stay with Troy for 2 weeks? I was when I typed it up :)
Extra
K, I know that this is kinda weird, but I know that I'll forget if I don't do it now. This is the trivia for previous chapters and from the oral story. It's stuff that I changed or stuff that didn't make it into the story :)
- Brandon was supposed to be the head of the hip hop dancing team, but I decided against it
- Brandon was only supposed to slap Gabriella, not punch her and make her bleed heavily
- (Chapter 11, Wild Hogs) Troy was never schedualed to crash into the pool. He was only supposed to fall at Darbus's room
- I never planned the "Thoughtless" chapter. But that filled the hole in the story and cured my writer's block
- Gabriella was supposed to become friends with Troy the first day she arrived at East High, but the story would be way too short then
- I love Evanescence. Their lead singer is Amy Lee. Brandon's girlfriend Amy is not named after Amy Lee. I wasn't thinking of Amy Lee when Amy first popped up in the story
- Brandon was never planned to have a girlfriend
- You were never supposed to hear of Amy after Brandon shot the spitball in her mouth. They were supposed to break up for good
- The silent treatment was never planned. Brandon was supposed to get mad because Gabriella was friends with Troy
- Troy wasn't supposed to kiss Gabriella at the doorway. I just couldn't help myself :)
- The first scene in the trailer never happens
- This story was planned in a Wal-Mart parking lot
- Joe Jonas wasn't planned to "play" Brandon. I was just going to say how much Gabby and Brandon looked alike, but then I started reading a magazine and I noticed how much the two look alike so I was just like "Hmm..."
- (This Chapter) Brandon was supposed to talk to Gabriella in her room when she was leaving. He was supposed to go back to his mom's room and find the note and rip it up
- Sharpay was supposed to yell at Gabriella in the beginning of next chapter
Okay, so there it is. I'll probably be doing this at the end of every chapter if there is some trivia. Right, now REVIEW!!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)