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Okay, there were no lyrics online, so I had to listen to the song to get them, I hope that they're correct! This was requested by sportyangel15 and is dedicated to her!
Courage Is...
Gabriella Montez looked ruefully at her surroundings, she couldn't believe she was here. Well, it was better than where she had been. She had been at home, in other words, in hell. "Might as well explore." She muttered. Opening her bedroom door in the mansion that housed abused children, she walked out into the large hallway. Sighing she decided to start with the grounds and work her way up.
She walked down to the first floor and straight past a group of teenagers about her own age. "Hey." A boy with a lot of hair called out to her.
"Don't." she warned him. Over the last 17 years, she'd learned not to get close to people, not to trust them.
Take all my vicious words
And turn into something good
Besides, these kids didn't look very nice. She walked out onto the patio and let each of their faces flutter into her mind's eye. The boys first. The kid with all the hair, dark skin, handsome. Never trust handsome guys, they lead to trouble. A boy with shaggy light brown hair and ocean blue eyes that you could probably lose yourself in. A boy with dark brown hair, almost as dark as her own, it was longer and he had dark brown eyes. Another dark-skinned boy, very handsome with short black hair. And finally a boy with longer blonde hair and light brown eyes, a pale complexion. Then there was the girls. A girl with long platinum blonde hair and big brown eyes, dressed from head to toe in sparkles. A darker girl with shoulder length brown hair, and finally a mousy looking girl with curly light brown hair that came to her shoulders and glasses. No, there was no way she could trust them, she couldn't trust anyone.
Take all my preconceptions
And let the truth be understood
She wandered through the grounds thinking of how the social worker had been so shocked when she'd showed up at her office one rainy Monday morning. She was supposed to be in school, but she'd runaway, with one suitcase. She'd left everything else at home.
Take all my prize possessions
Leave only what I need
FLASHBACK
"My name is Gabriella Montez, I'm 17 and I have nowhere to go except to the hell hole I call home. And I refuse to go back to the senseless beatings from my mother." She said confidently.
The worked, Anna Smith, stared at her before offering her a chair and beginning work on her case. Gabriella smiled at the thought of Anna, she'd taken her in and that morning was the last time she'd seen her mother, except in court.
END OF FLASHBACK
Take all my pieces of dark
And let me be what's underneath
Gabriella went and sat down on a rock by a little pond, unaware of eight pairs of eyes on her. She was so scared about being here, but she was more afraid of home, so this was good. She'd asked for this, begged for it, anything but home she'd told Anna, anything but her mother, Maria Montez.
Courage is when you're afraid
But you keep on moving anyway
Courage is when you're in pain
But you keep on living anyway
Somehow she'd managed it all. She'd covered up the bruises and no one seemed to notice. Although she really was a no one at school. She had no friends, she didn't want anyone's pity, it was pointless, you couldn't understand unless you'd been through it yourself.
We all have excuses why
Living fails something in us dies
Like a bird with broken wings
It's not how hard you fly,
But the song it sings
Nodding to each other the eight teenagers made their presences known. "Hi." Gabriella jumped a foot in the air and instinctively put an arm on her stomach and one over her face for protection, but she lost her balance and tumbled off the rock.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt you." The blue-eyed boy said, offering a hand to help her off the ground. She stared at it for a minute, shaking at the thought of trusting someone. Finally she reasoned that he was just being helpful and she didn't need to trust him, so she took his hand and hauled herself off the ground.
"Thanks." She mumbled, turning to go.
"Wait." He said, lightly grabbing her waist, "I'm Troy Bolton." She spun around and looked into his eyes, they were so sincere, so deep and full of compassion and pain. He'd seen what she'd seen.
"Gabriella Montez." She kicked herself. She'd looked into his eyes and lost all sense of keeping her distance. Damn hormones, damn eyes, damn Troy Bolton. Too late now, she introduced herself to Jason Cross, Zeke Baylor, Ryan Evans, Sharpay Evans, Taylor McKessie, and Kelsi Neilson. She gave them a small smile, they seemed nice.
Courage is when you're afraid
But you keep on moving anyway
Courage is when you're in pain
But you keep on living anyway
Keep on living anyway
Chad stopped and took a deep breath. "Almost dinner time."
Taylor groaned, "I swear, all you do is think about food." She lightly scolded him
He laughed good-naturedly, "That's why you love me Tay." He said, dropping a kiss on her temple. Ryan, Jason, and Zeke gagged, only to be hit by Sharpay and Kelsi.
"Where did Troy and Gabriella go?" Sharpay asked, looking around.
Troy and Gabriella had begun walking the rest of the grounds, Troy giving Gabriella the grand tour. "It's beautiful here." Gabriella whispered, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, it is, you'll like it here. Everyone's nice and we go to a great school and have lots of fun." He said.
"Really, is East High that good." Gabriella asked, looking up.
Troy laughed, "Yeah, I'm the captain of the basketball team, hang with us and you'll be fine."
"Oh, well I'm not really a sports person or a cheerleader." She laughed when Troy made a face, "I was on the Scholastic Decathlon team at my old school."
"Taylor's the captain, so you shouldn't have a problem getting on." Troy said, slipping his hand into her own, and smiling when she intertwined their fingers.
If not how many times you've been knocked down
It's how many times you get back up
Courage is when you've lost your way
But you find you're strength anyway
Courage is when you're afraid
Courage is when it all seems bleak
Courage is when you make a change
Walking back into the house they found their friends sitting in the living room fighting over the remote. Laughing, Troy went and sat down in a overstuffed chair, bringing Gabriella down with him. She squealed in shock, "You don't want to sit on the floor or stand now do you?" he whispered in her ear.
Giggling she responded, "I guess not." It was funny, none of them asked about her past, or why she was here, they just accepted her. She liked that, and she liked the new friends around her.
But you keep on living anyway
"Dinner!" Rang through the intercom system of the house.
Keep on moving anyway
"Yes!" Chad jumped up, knocking Taylor off his lap as he ran into the kitchen.
Keep on giving anyway
They all crowded around Taylor to make sure she was okay, "Yeah I'm fine." She assured her friends, "I should know better than to be sitting on Chad's lap before a meal." She muttered walking with her friends into the dining room for dinner.
Keep on loving anyway
Song: Courage Is… by The Strange Familiar
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Mollie XOXO