Hey! I'm feeling very good right now! The spark comes back in this chapter! Not completely, but it's here! That makes me very happy!
Oh yeah. And the end of this chapter's a cliffhanger. Sorry! I'll update soon though :)
"Okay, you got everything?" Troy asked Gabriella as they sat in his car.
This was it. Gabriella was officially moving out of the Bolton house and going back home. All of her bags were in the backseat and Troy kept asking her questions just to get her to stay longer. He didn't want to see her leave. Especially not right after Isabelle and Sarah left.
Gabriella rolled her eyes and sighed "Yes Troy, everything's in the backseat. Can we please leave now?!"
Troy groaned "I don't want you to leave Gabby."
Gabriella pecked his lips and replied "I know you don't Troy, but it's not like I'm moving out of Albuquerque. I'm only a few minutes away."
Troy threw his head back in the seat and sighed "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm still gonna miss it though."
Gabriella agreed "Me too. Now come on. I wanna get home before my mom does."
Troy nodded and started the car. He took Gabriella's hand in his. Gabriella smiled at him and looked out the window, enjoying the comfortable silence between them.
...Brandon at the Montez House...
Brandon stood at the counter in his kitchen, finishing off his algebra homework. It's been 8 hours since Isabelle moved away and truthfully, Brandon expected worse of himself. He thought that he would be locked in his room crying his eyes out but in reality, he was fine. A little heart broken, but he was doing okay.
The teen sighed and closed his eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake Troy's last words from his mind. Troy had actually thanked Brandon for saying goodbye to Isabelle instead of turning him inside out. He had really surprised Brandon. Maybe he really didn't hate him after all.
Brandon was stolen from his thoughts by the front door opening. He looked back down at his homework and was in the middle of the last equation when he greeted "Hey mom. How was work?"
"I don't have a job." Came a soft giggle.
Brandon's head snapped up. His breath hitched in his throat as he watched Gabriella walk over to the counter with a true, genuine smile. "Hey bro." she grinned.
"Gabby, what are you doing here?" Brandon asked, astonished.
Gabriella shrugged "I live here, don't I?"
Brandon's eyes didn't show any sign of laughter. "I'm serious Gabby. What happened to Troy's house?"
Gabriella sighed and walked around the counter so that she was standing right beside Brandon. She looked down at his homework and answered "I don't know. I guess I figured that you've had enough of all of this and now that Isabelle's gone, I don't want you to go off and do something...you know...stupid."
Brandon smiled at his sister. He said "Are you sure? I mean, I punched you."
Gabriella replied "You were angry. I forgave you for that last week. I just wanted to give you a little more time to get used to me and Troy being together."
Brandon gave her a warm, loving smile. Feeling tears of happiness well up in his eyes, he pulled Gabriella into a tight hug, whispering "Good to have you home Gabby."
Gabriella murmured "It's good to be home. I missed you."
"Same here."
Gabriella pulled apart from her brother and asked "Anyway, what did you tell mom?"
Brandon ran a hand through his long bangs and recalled "I told her that you had a big project for Spanish and it would take a week to do. You, Sharpay, and Taylor were over at Shar's house working on it since her house has more room. She was on that 2 week business trip so I didn't have to say anything. But there is this one thing that happened..."
"What?" Gabriella said, worried about getting caught.
Brandon answered "Mom came home late and thought that you were home by then. So she went up to your room to check on you."
Gabriella gasped "Oh my God, are you serious?! What happened?"
Brandon reassured "Michael was over, so I distracted mom while he put on a wig and pretended to be you. Man, you should've seen him in your pajama's."
"HE WAS IN MY CLOTHES?!" Gabriella demanded.
Brandon sheepishly replied "Uhh...yeah. The pink ones."
"BRANDON!!" Gabriella nearly screamed, mortified and disgusted.
Brandon rolled his eyes at her "Calm down Gabby. It was only for about 15 minutes. He changed and climbed down your balcony."
Gabriella groaned "I'm throwing out those pajamas..."
Brandon patted her head and commented "You do that. He didn't shower that day anyway."
Gabriella pretended to gag while Brandon just laughed "Drama queen..."
Gabriella hugged him one last time and said "Thanks so much for covering. I'm so sorry for leaving."
Brandon rubbed her back "It wasn't your fault. Like you said, he hates me, not you."
Gabriella pulled away, crossed her arms, and said "Brandon, for the millionth time, he doesn't hate you."
"Prove it."
"I can't. I promised Troy."
Brandon sighed in defeat and said "Whatever. But you know that I'll find out eventually."
Gabriella nodded "Oh, I know that you will. Just not now."
Brandon smiled "Thanks. Need any help with your bags?"
Gabriella nodded "Yeah, this one. I had to drag it up the stairs."
Brandon walked over to the bag and lifted it with ease. Even though her back was to him, Brandon smiled at Gabriella. He may have lost a loved one that day, but he had also reclaimed another. And it was the best feeling in the world.
...Monday...
The class groaned again. Ms. Darbus was ranting about the importance of not having cell phones in class after Amy got caught texting. She looked over at Brandon and mouthed "Sorry." Brandon shrugged and mouthed "It's okay." Amy smiled and turned back around. The two had officially broken up for the last time after Brandon told her his feelings about Isabelle. She understood fully. They were now just close friends and nothing more.
"...So Ms. Hartzler will be spending a week's worth of detention because of her barbaric and rude behavior towards her classmates and to me. Anyone want to join her painting sets?"
Silence.
"Good," Ms. Darbus nodded and turned to the black board. Amy glared at her hard and gave her the finger with both hands. This caused the entire room to burst out into laughter. Ms. Darbus spun around, only to find Brandon on the floor, his face red.
"Mr. Montez! Explain to me why you are out of your seat and on that filthy floor in your snow white shirt! Then after that, you can tell me why the entire class was being rude and laughing while I was about to explain your next project!"
Brandon froze. He had fallen out of his chair laughing at Amy, but he couldn't come up with an excuse good enough to save her from another month of detention and possibly suspension. He finally coughed "Uhh...I dropped my pencil and fell out of my seat trying to get it. That's why the class was laughing Ms. Darbus."
Ms. Darbus's red face seemed to cool off as she said "Thank you. Be more careful next time." Brandon nodded and sat back down in his seat, seeing Amy mouth "Thank you!"
"Don't mention it." He winked back at her. She blushed and looked down at her desk.
"Ah, back to where I was about to start. You are going to be assigned a poetry project that is worth 100 points. This is half of your grade for this marking period, so if you are one of those procrastinators out there," she looked directly at Chad, who whispered to Troy "Why's she looking at me?" Troy rolled his eyes with a "Gee, I wonder why?" Ms. Darbus continued "...You might want to change your habits. Now, this project has requirements. It must be at least a page long, front and back. Each stanza must have at least 5 words, unless it's a form of repetition that is also required. So in other words, you are writing a song. It will have a title that is school appropriate!" she glared at Chad, whose mouth dropped. He complained "Why do you keep looking at me?!"
Ms. Darbus rolled her eyes and replied "Remember your last poem that you handed in? It was titled 'In the Strip Club'."
This earned a laugh from the entire class while Chad just turned deep red, sinking back in his chair.
"Anyways," Ms. Darbus continued "Your project will need to have a rough copy and a final copy. You will have 2 weeks to do this. And finally, your poem will need to be about your biggest problem in your life or something that was a big problem. For example, if you're fighting someone right now and have been for a while now, like a few years, that can be one of your biggest problems to write about. Or if you're in love with someone that is off limits. These are all examples of topics for your poem. As said before, this is due on the 25th. Make it neat, appropriate, and most of all, creative."
Just then the bell rang. "You are dismissed." Ms. Darbus announced, walking back to her desk and watching her students flee. She smirked when she saw the thoughtful looks on Troy, Brandon, and Gabriella's faces.
"There's a good way to get them to finally pay attention..." she thought to herself as she crossed off an incorrect answer off of someone's drama test.
...After Class...
"So what's your topic for your poem gonna be?" Sharpay asked Gabriella as they stood at Taylor's locker, waiting for her to get her Spanish book. The girls always walked to that class together. Whether they were late or not, they would be late together.
"I don't know." She lied "I'm still thinking. I can't come up with the biggest problem in my life. My life's pretty good right now."
Sharpay rolled her eyes "Come on Gabby, you know that it's hard to date your brother's worst enemy. Come up with a poem about that."
Gabriella shook her head "I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Troy knows that it's hard already, so I don't wanna make it worse. Then there's the fact that I just told Brandon that I forgive him for controlling my relationship with Troy. I don't want to bring that up again."
Taylor nodded "You're right. You should just leave the Brandon and Troy thing alone and do something else. What about the situation with your dad? That was pretty bad."
Gabriella nodded "You're right, but she'd know that I'm lying. She used my worst problem as an example, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Sharpay groaned, walking beside Taylor. "Well then just make something up. That's what I would do."
"But I'm not like you Shar. I can't lie like that. It just doesn't feel right. Besides, I'm the worst liar you'll ever meet."
Taylor nodded "True, you are pretty bad. Okay, how about this. Just write about how you're gonna be there for Troy and Brandon when things get hard between the two of them. It's your biggest problem because one of them is gonna have a problem with you helping the other out."
Gabriella disagreed "That's not gonna work. Brandon knows that I love Troy and Troy knows that Brandon and I made up. That would be a lie too."
Sharpay rolled her eyes "You're not making this easy Gabby."
"I'm sorry Sharpay, but I'm just picky on my school work. Maybe I could do something about Troy and Brandon's problem."
"But then it wouldn't be personal. You don't know exactly what they're thinking. They could have kept something from you. I say you just do something about your dad."
Gabriella sighed in defeat "Fine. It wasn't my biggest problem though."
"It's something, isn't it?"
"I guess you're right. Okay, I'll do something about my dad. Thanks Taylor." Gabriella smiled.
"I still say that you make something up..." Sharpay muttered under her breath.
Gabriella sighed "That'll be my back up in case the dad thing doesn't work, okay Shar?"
Sharpay nodded "Thank you."
Gabriella kept her eyes ahead, still thinking about her project. She didn't want to do something about her dad. She wanted to just forget about him and move on with her life. She wouldn't let him hold her down. Not now, not ever.
...Troy...
Troy spun the combination to his locker, hearing Chad complain "Darbus is crazy! Why the hell did she keep picking on me? I'm not that bad, am I?"
Troy rolled his eyes, tired of Chad's wailing. "Dude, just shut up and ignore her. That's what I do and I'm actually passing that class."
Chad sighed and leaned against the lockers behind him while asking "Whatever. So what's your topic gonna be fore the project? I've got mine."
Troy playfully gasped "Oh my God, Chad's actually gonna do his project! Quick, call the media! This is big news!"
Chad shoved him off and whispered "I'm serious. Taylor said that dating me would be too weird and we should just stay friends. That really hurt and I wanna let her know how I feel about it."
Troy put on a hand on his best friend's shoulder and replied "Fine. If you told me that, then I'll tell you that I'm doing mine on Brandon. I'm not gonna tell him exactly what's going on, but I'm just so sick of holding all this in."
Chad nodded "Okay, but just be careful. Don't give out too much information or you're both dead."
Troy rolled his eyes "Gee, thanks for the positive attitude Chad."
Chad shrugged "Again, I'm dead serious. I don't want to see you get hurt man. You're my brother."
"Only Brandon can say that..." Troy thought. Chad had never called him his brother before. It was then he remembered how close he and Brandon were.
"Yeah, what you said." Troy mumbled under his breath, refusing to call Chad his brother. Brandon had that title and would be using it again. Troy didn't know exactly when, but he was positive that he would have his brother back. No matter what, he would make sure of that.
...Brandon...
Brandon sat in health class, not listening or caring what Ms. Fox had to say. All he could think about was his drama project that he had to do. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, but he didn't know if he could use it. He had an idea for the title, but he knew that it would be a dead giveaway. He couldn't let Troy know that he missed him deeply. He couldn't show his weakness. He had to be strong. He had to.
He saw a note make its way over to his desk when Ms. Fox turned her back to the students. Brandon opened the note and read "What's ur topic 4 the drama project?"
He wrote "I'll tell you after class." And threw it back to Michael right before Ms. Fox turned back around. Brandon breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through his hair. Ms. Fox was a rule-free teacher, but when she caught you passing notes in her class, you had better run.
Brandon thought back to his project. He was just so confused. He didn't know if he should just technically tell the whole class his feelings or if he should pick a topic about his father. He threw his head in his hands as a few lines for his poem started forming in his mind.
"What hurts the most, was being so close..."
...2 Weeks Later...
Troy sat in his seat with his poem face down on his desk. It had taken everything he had, but he finally finished at 1:30 in the morning. He didn't let anyone see it, not Gabriella, not Chad, and not his parents. And if Brandon caught a hold of it, he would diffidently be in trouble.
"Alright class, today's the deadline for your projects. Before you hand them in, does anyone want to volunteer to share theirs with the class?"
Chad scoffed and whispered to Troy "Yeah, like anyone would be dumb enough to tell Darbus their biggest problem." Troy laughed back at him, not seeing Ms. Darbus glare at the two.
"Mr. Bolton, Mr. Danforth! May you be so kind to tell me what's so funny?!"
Troy shook his head "Nothing Ms. Darbus. Sorry."
Ms. Darbus sarcastically smiled "Well then, would you be the brave one and share your poem with us?"
Troy's heart stopped. His eyes widened as Ms. Darbus snatched the paper from his hands and stood at the front of the class, saying "But before you do, let me read this to see if it's...oh my."
"Oh my what?" Troy croaked, not believing what was happening.
"This is beautiful Troy. Why are you so ashamed of it?"
Troy shook his head "I'm not."
"Well then come up and read it." Ms. Darbus ordered, slapping the paper back down on Troy's desk. Troy turned and glared at Chad, who was looking very frightened.
"You better watch your back Chad." Troy growled as he got up, the class cheering him on in the process.
Troy cleared his throat when he got to the front of the room and said "Uhh, this is called 'What Have You Done'. The biggest problem in my life is...uhh... I'm fighting this one guy and I just wanna let him know how I feel about it."
Brandon looked up at Troy with a wondering look, but was sure to put a little anger in his eyes.
Troy took a deep breath after looking at Brandon and read:
Would you mind if I hurt you?
Understand that I need to
Wish that I had other choices
Than to harm the one I love
What have you done now?
I know I'd better stop trying
You know that there's no denying
I won't show mercy on you now
I know I should stop believing
I know that there's no retrieving
It's over now
What have you done?
What have you done now?
I, I've been waiting for someone like you
But, now, you are slipping away
Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There's a curse between us
Between me and you
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done now?
Would you mind if I killed you?
Would you mind if I tried to?
Cause you have turned into my worst enemy
You carry hate that I feel
It's over now
What have you done?
What have you done now?
I've been waiting for someone like you
But now you are slipping away
Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There's a curse between us
Between me and you
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done?
What have you done now?
What have you done?
What have you done?
I will not fall
Won't let it go
We will be free
When it ends
I, I've been waiting for someone like you
But now you are slipping away
Why, why does fate make us suffer?
There's a curse between us
Between me and you
Ms. Darbus and the entire class clapped and cheered while Brandon just sat there, staring at Troy and trying to comprehend what he had just said. He didn't want to fight him?
"Beautiful Troy! Absolute genius!" Ms. Darbus commented truthfully as Troy walked back to his seat. "Anyone want to top that?"
Ms. Darbus's eyes fell on Brandon, who was pulling his hood over his head to hide his face. She smirked "Mr. Montez, you know how I feel about hoods in school."
"What?"
"Please share your poem with us."
Brandon groaned and walked up to the front of the room, seeing Troy snicker teasingly. Brandon glared at him before announcing "Uhh... this is called 'What Hurts the Most'. The biggest problem in my life is pretty much the same as Troy's only the main idea is different. Here goes." He read:
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house, that don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry
Every once in a while even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days
Every now and again I pretend I'm okay but that's not what gets me
What hurts the most, was being so close
And having so much to say
Watching you walk away
Never knowing, what could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doing it
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still harder getting up, getting dressed, living with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart that I left unspoken
What hurts the most, is being so close
And having so much to say
Watching you walk away
Never knowing, what could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
I'm not afraid to cry
Every once in a while even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days
Every now and again I pretend I'm okay but that's not what gets me
What hurts the most, was being so close
And having so much to say
Watching you walk away
And never knowing, what could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do
"Just as stunning! Brava Brandon!" Ms. Darbus admired, seeing Brandon slowly walk back to his seat and giving Troy a look that said "I hope you feel guilty now."
Chad rolled his eyes and, leaning up to Troy, whispered "That cheesy poem just proves that he's gay. Don't worry. We'll get him for you later."
Troy glared at him and replied harshly "Shut up Chad before we get into even more trouble!"
"You're right Troy," Ms. Darbus piped up, walking over to Chad "You have two choices Danforth. You either will be spending after school detention with me for a week or you can read your poem. Which is it?"
Chad mumbled "I guess I'll read my poem..."
Ms. Darbus again sarcastically smiled. She ushered Chad to the front of the room and nodded, giving him the signal to start.
Chad cleared his throat and started "Umm... this is called 'Over and Over' It's about this one girl that I asked out but she said no. I'm trying to forget about her, but she just keeps pulling me back in." He read:
I feel it everyday, it's all the same
It brings me down but I'm the one to blame
I've tried everything to get away
So here I go again
Chasing you down again
Why do I do this?
Over and over
Over and over I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over I try not to
Feels like everyday stays the same
It's dragging me down and I can't pull away
So here I go again
Chasing you down again
Why do I do this?
Over and over
Over and over I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over I try not to...
Over and over
Over and over you make me fall for you
Over and over
Over and over you don't even try
So many thoughts that I can't get out of my head
I try to live without you, every time I do I feel dead
I know what's best for me, but I want you instead
I'll keep on wasting all my time
Over and over
Over and over I fall for you
Over and over
Over and over I try not to
Over and over
Over and over you make me fall for you
Over and over
Over and over you don't even try to
The air grew still. Not one person in the room spoke. Everyone's mouth was dropped and for a second, a person could claim that time had stopped. Chad Danforth, air headed basketball star, wrote a poem? A good one?
"Wow..." Troy broke the silence, but still in shock.
"Oh my God..." Taylor mumbled, her head crashing into her arms in embarrassment.
"Danforth, did you actually write that or did you just find it on the internet?" Ms. Darbus asked, denying her question a bit.
Chad shook his head "Nope, it's all me. And just for the record, I would appreciate it if you didn't underestimate me. It hurts."
Ms. Darbus shook her head slightly, still shocked that her worst student had actually written something beautiful.
"Okay then. Very...nice Chad. You may sit down now."
Chad sighed, looking back at Taylor who was trying to hold in tears. Once she caught Chad's gaze, she turned away, not being able to take the hurt in his eyes.
"I feel the need to hear one more. Ms. Montez, would you be brave and read your poem?"
Gabriella nodded and grabbed her poem, walking to the front of the room. She announced "This is called 'Miracle' It's about not giving up on someone in their time of need, so here goes." She read:
I've gone for too long
Living like I'm not alive
So I'm going to start over tonight
Beginning with you and I
When this memory fades
I'm going to make sure it's replaced
With chances taken, hope embraced
And have I told you
I'm not going
Because I've been waiting for a miracle
And I'm not leaving
I won't let you
Let you give up on a miracle
When it might save you
We've learned to run from
Anything uncomfortable
We've tied our pain below
And no one ever has to know that inside we're broken
I try to patch things up again
To calm my tears and kill these fears
But have I told you, have I
I'm not going
Because I've been waiting for a miracle
And I'm not leaving
I won't let you
Let you give up on a miracle
When it might save you
It's not faith if
If you use your eyes
You'll lie
We'll get it right this time
Let's leave this all behind
Oh, I will get it right this time
It's not faith if you're using your eyes
Well I've gone for too long
Living like I'm not alive
So I'm going to start over tonight
Beginning with you and
I don't want to run from
Anything uncomfortable
I just want, no
I just need this pain to end right here
I'm not going
Because I've been waiting for a miracle
And I'm not leaving
I won't let you
Let you give up on a miracle
Because it might save you
It might save you
It might save you
Let's not fake this
If you use your eyes
If you use your eyes
If you use your eyes
Ms. Darbus had tears in her eyes as she clapped "Breath taking, Gabriella! Absolutely perfect!"
Gabriella nodded and took her seat, earning smiles from Troy and Brandon. Ms. Darbus walked up to the front of the room and congratulated "Well, this is surprising. They were all beautiful, well written poems. Well done. Now, everyone hand in your own and then take out your book."
Troy collected all of the poems from his row and handed them to Ms. Darbus. As he sat down, he could swear he saw Brandon mouth "I miss you Troy." Troy just ignored it and pushed it to the back of his brain, feeling a weight being put on his heart.
...After Class...
"Dude, how'd you come up with that? It was brilliant!" Chad asked Troy on their way to lunch.
Troy sighed "I don't know. I guess I just said what I felt. At least I'm getting an A."
"Yeah. So how are you holding up with the whole Izzy thing?"
"Fine. But I still feel bad for what I did to her."
"What did you do?" Chad concerned, getting worried.
Troy sighed "I threatened her. I said that if she didn't break up with Brandon in a week, I would call her abusive boyfriend back in California and tell him about Brandon."
"TROY!!" Chad yelled, earning strange looks from everyone around him.
"Shh! I don't want anyone else to know! I'm trying to forget about it!" Troy whispered.
"But why would you do that Troy? You know that they love each other!" Chad complained.
"Chad, I had to do it. Brandon couldn't be happy, so I had to get rid of the one thing that he had left." Troy replied shamefully.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" came a very angry voice behind Troy.
Oh boy! Guess who heard Troy and you get a virtual chocolate bunny! lol! :)
REVIEW!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
A Sneak at Next Chapter:
- Another Troy/Brandon fight
"I can't believe you Bolton! How much lower can you get?!" Brandon screamed, not believing how angry he was.
"Brandon, listen to me. I didn't want to-" but Troy couldn't finish. He soon found himself on the ground under a furious Brandon.
- The last "You'll hate Brandon" moment arrives. But it's bigger than ever this time...
"Oh my God!" Chad screamed while Gabriella broke down into sobs. "Someone call an ambulance!!"
- Brandon runs away
A knock came to the door. -- opened it and was surprised to see Brandon standing there in tears.
"Brandon? What are you doing here?"
"I-I need to stay here for a while. I think I might've killed someone..."
Trivia:
- Amy's last name, Hartzler, is Amy Lee's husband's last name
- The idea of Amy getting caught texting in class actually happened to me. I was in science and my teacher saw my phone. Haha :)
REVIEW!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
P.S: Everyone's poems are songs. Troy's is "What Have You Done?" by Within Temptation, Brandon's "What Hurts the Most" by Cascada (Originally by Rascal Flatts but I hate country), Chad's "Over and Over" by Three Days Grace, and Gabriella's "Miracle" by Paramore :)