Okay, I think I know why this story lost it's spark when Isabelle and Sarah came into the picture (no offense to our contest winners) This is what I think is going on...
I changed the story line. This story started out as a Troy/Brandon fighting Troy/Gabby love story and ended up being a Brandon/Izzy story and nothing about the Troy/Brandon situation. Personally, I'm disgusted with myself. Bad Rachel, bad! So, all in favor of me rewriting chapters 20 through 26 say I. I want to thank the two girls who helped me with the summary, but adding you in the story was a bad move. It changed the story line and kicked the spark in the ass. I feel really bad, but I just think that I need to rewrite those 6 chapters and go along with what I had in mind since the beginning. Send a review and tell me if I should rewrite chapters 20-26 and completely erase Izzy and Sarah from the story. Thanks guys :)
...The Girls That Night...
Gabriella lay on Sharpay's large bed staring out the window. Gabriella, Sharpay, and Taylor had all met up at Sharpay's house to have a girl's night out. They had just come back from the mall and right now, Taylor and Sharpay were talking about their crushes. They didn't, however, ignore Gabriella's distant and sorrowful look.
"Gabby? Are you okay?" Taylor asked, crawling over to her best friend. Gabriella snapped out of her trance and nodded "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?" Sharpay doubted, scooting over to her friends. "You've been quiet all night. Is something going on?"
Gabriella shook her head and replied "No, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind."
"Troy?" Taylor guessed.
Gabriella sighed, but nodded. "Yeah. I'm just so worried about him. What if he goes into another coma?"
Sharpay scolded "Gabby, don't even think like that! If he woke up once, then he'll wake up a second time. Trust me, he's fine. He'll pull through this. You know him."
Gabriella looked back out the window, taking in her friend's words like a sponge. She knew that the blonde was right, but she still couldn't help but think the worst. She didn't want to see him get hurt again. That gave her an idea.
"Guys?"
"Yeah?"
"What if I said I knew of a way to protect Troy from Brandon until this fight's over between them?"
"It depends. What's the idea?" Sharpay asked, fully listening to her friend.
Gabriella sighed and explained "Okay, so the main reason that Brandon cranked up the intensity of his fights is because Troy's dating me, right?"
Taylor and Sharpay shared worried glances, but nodded all the same.
Gabriella reluctantly continued "I decided that I need to break up with Troy."
"WHAT?!" Taylor and Sharpay both screamed at the top of their lungs.
Gabriella looked at the floor in guilt, knowing that this would be their reaction to her decision. She just concluded that it was for the best.
"Guys, I'm sorry. But I was just thinking that this was the main reason that Brandon was fighting Troy with so much hate. I have to do this."
Taylor stuttered "B-but what about your love?! You two are soul mates!"
Gabriella shrugged "I need to forget my feelings for him and just do my part to protect him. I don't want him to end up in the hospital again because of something I took part in. Brandon can't handle us together, so I have to do something about that. I have to break up with him."
While Taylor was trying to find her voice, Sharpay was advising "Gabby, I'm not telling you that it's not right to break up with Troy, but I just want to make sure that this is what you really want to do. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Gabriella nodded and replied "I'm positive. I love him too much to see him get hurt again. Especially by my own brother."
Sharpay moved closer to the brunette and draped her arm around her, stating "Well, I don't know about you Taylor, but I support her decision. It sounds like she put a lot of thinking into this and since she's way smarter than me, I have to agree with her. What about you?"
Taylor sighed "I'm fine with it. The only thing that bugs me is that Troy is Chad's best friend and if Troy's depressed, Chad's depressed."
Sharpay and Gabriella gave her knowing grins and Gabriella joked "And heaven knows that Taylor can't stand to see her beloved Chad sad."
Taylor playfully smacked her friend's arm and growled "Shut up. You know I care about him."
Sharpay smiled "Yeah, and Sharpay plus a sad Zeke doesn't equal a very happy Sharpay, now does it?"
Gabriella groaned and let her head fall into her hands. She grumbled "This is gonna affect everyone, isn't it?"
Sharpay stroked Gabriella's back and comforted "Don't worry. I'm sure that when this whole thing is over, you two will make up and so will Brandon and Troy. Okay? Just do what you think is right."
Gabriella nodded "Thanks Sharpay. I really needed that."
Sharpay smiled "What are best friends for?"
Taylor rolled her eyes "Okay, okay. Can we please go see Prom Night now? We'll be late if we don't leave in the next 3 minutes."
Gabriella and Sharpay nodded, grabbed their purses, and walked out to Gabriella's car, the thought of the breakup to be still latched to their minds.
--
...Gabriella The Next Night...
Gabriella stared at the steering wheel in front of her, her plan still coursing through her jumbled mind. Should she really do this?
"Oh just get it over with Gabriella!" she thought to herself. "What's the worst that could happen? You won't get kicked out or anything. You need to see if he's alright and where you think he is."
Gabriella took a deep breath and waved to her mother. She told Gina that she was sleeping over at Taylor's house and helping her with her outfit that she should wear for her date with Chad. She had met Chad at the movies the night before and reconsidered his offer for a date. He was obviously ecstatic, but handled himself very well. They were going to the new amusement park that was opening next Friday.
The twist was, she planned on helping Taylor with her outfit night before the date. She just told her mom that the date was tomorrow at Ruby Tuesday. She was all set for her plan. The only problem was that she had trouble telling herself to drive.
"Come on Gabby!" she took a deep breath and started the car, feeling a pang of guilt. She hated lying to her mother, but it was for the best, wasn't it?
"Okay, here goes." She took off down the highway and through the familiar streets that she called home for 4 years. Nothing changed. She sighed. She didn't expect it to.
She pulled up in the driveway and opened the car door, seeing 2 cars in the driveway. She grinned. She was right after all.
She walked up to the front door of the house and took another breath before ringing the doorbell. She waited a few seconds before the door opened to reveal a sober looking man who she called father.
"Gabriella?" Chase gasped, not believing this.
"Hey dad." Gabriella whispered, trying to look into the house to see if she could locate the one she was looking for.
"C-come in." Chase invited, blinking slightly and opening the door wider to let his daughter in. Gabriella smiled and accepted the offer, stepping inside the house and gasping.
Chase had gone to rehab. The house no longer had that alcohol odor, he had gotten new furniture, the kitchen wasn't a mess, and the living room didn't have some whore sitting on the couch waiting for a one night stand. It actually looked like a home.
"Oh my God dad. You cleaned up?" Gabriella asked, turning to her father.
Chase smiled warmly and replied "Yeah, I cleaned up my act. You like it?"
Gabriella nodded and was about to say something else when a voice came from upstairs. "Hey dad, who was at the door?"
Gabriella turned to the staircase and teared up as he came running down the stairs, energy rushing through him. She hadn't seen that in a long time.
"Hey, you ther-" He was cut off by the sight of Gabriella standing there and staring at him. He could do nothing but stare back.
"Gabby..." He whispered, his blood turning to mush.
"H-hey Brandon. It's good to see you again." Gabriella sheepishly replied, studying her flip flops.
Brandon slightly laughed "Yeah, it's been a whole week. Can't we go 3 without going crazy?" Gabriella just smiled back at him.
After a few moments of silence, Brandon piped up "Uhh, dad? Can you go make dinner for 3 please?"
Chase nodded and answered "It'll be ready at 6." With that, he walked out of the room to the kitchen.
Brandon sighed and darkly started "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk about what happened." Gabriella confessed, leading herself to the couch. Brandon reluctantly followed.
"Did anyone tell the cops?" Brandon worried aloud, afraid of the answer.
Gabriella shook her head "Chad told the doctor, but Troy said that he fell on the sword when he woke up. His dad, against his will, agreed with him. You should've seen Jack's face when Troy lied to the doctor."
Gabriella grinned when she saw the glint of hope in Brandon's eyes. "He didn't rat me out?"
Gabriella once again shook her head "Nope. See, I told you he doesn't hate you."
Brandon absentmindedly made one smooth movement and pulled Gabriella into a tight, loving hug. "I missed you Gabby. Thanks for coming."
"You're my brother. Why wouldn't I worry about you?"
"Because I almost killed your boyfriend."
Gabriella shrugged "Okay, I'll admit that I'm still a little shaken up by that, but we're family. We need to stick together through thick and thin."
Brandon smiled warmly and sighed "So what do we do now?"
Gabriella copied the sigh and replied "Well, I guess you just hide out here before going back to school. None of the teachers saw what happened since it was lunch they were all in the teacher's lounge. Well, Jack's the assistant coach, so he being a teacher doesn't really count."
Brandon recalled "Yeah, and I think I saw the head coach there too. And I think he was smiling."
Gabriella bit her lip. She couldn't say anything now. Not until Troy gave her the okay.
But Brandon was her brother. She couldn't lie to him. Especially not when people's lives were at stake. She sighed.
"Brandon? Do you remember Samantha Wolf? The girl you dated 5 years ago?"
Brandon nodded sadly. "She killed herself after I broke up with her. I'll never forget that. I feel so guilty. Wasn't she the coach's daughter?"
Gabriella nodded carefully, not replying. It was too risky.
Brandon shrugged "I'm surprised that he doesn't hate me. Any father would call that murder. She killed herself because of me."
Gabriella sighed, not being able to take it anymore. She had to tell him.
"Brandon, there's something you should know."
Brandon, curious, asked "What?"
Gabriella sighed "Well, the reason Troy doesn't hate you is because the-"
I've seen love die way too many times when it deserved to be alive, and I've seen you cry way too many times when you deserved to be alive, alive...
Gabriella groaned as her cell phone rang in her ears, signaling a call from Troy. She answered the phone and answered "Hey Troy. How are you feeling?" She saw Brandon's gaze drift to the floor in guilt.
"Fine. Where are you?"
"At Taylor's house. I told you that before I left the hospital."
"Oh that's funny. Because her and Chad just came by and Taylor said that she had no idea where you were."
Gabriella froze. She had completely forgotten to tell Taylor about her plan.
"Oh..." She couldn't say anything after that.
"What's going on?" Brandon loudly whispered. Big mistake. He didn't sound like himself over the phone and the two were sitting close together.
"Who was that?" Troy asked on full alert.
"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked, getting worried.
"That person in the background. It sounds like a...it sounds like a guy..."
"Troy I gotta go." Gabriella quickly finished. Mistake number two. "I'll call you later."
"Gabriella-" Troy tried, but it was too late. She had already hung up. And he had a huge feeling that she wasn't calling back...
Wow! What do you think is running through Troy's mind right now? What about Gabriella? REVIEW and find out for sure! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
Sneak at Next Chapter:
- The phone call just adds to Troy's distress
"What happened Troy?" Taylor asked.
"I heard a guy in the background. I think Gabriella's cheating on me..."
- Gabriella goes through with her plan
"Hi Troy." Gabriella smiled sadly, trying to put across the fact that something bad was about to happen.
"Hey." Troy replied flatly.
"Troy, you know that I love you, rig-"
"Just say it." Troy sighed.
"Say what?"
"We're breaking up. You've found another guy and you want to be with him more than me. It's okay Gabby. I understand."
"WHAT?!"
--
REVIEW!! Thnx :)
Rachel :)
Trivia:
- Gabriella's ringtone is Emergency by Paramore. I used that song earlier in this story in the chapter "Emergency". Her ringtone was Never Too Late by Three Days Grace a while back, but I changed. I didn't want to use the same one twice...
- ANOTHER HUGE CLUE TO TROY'S REASON!! This is another missing piece of the puzzle. See if you can guess what it is. It's kinda obvious...
- The beginning of the chapter was supposed to the end of last chapter, but last chapter was getting too long
Question of the Chapter:
Do you think that this story's getting too long? There's still a little bit to get through until the end and we're already at chapter 28. Include your opinion in your review please :)