Chapter Ten - Meeting the Enemy

Gabriella's Point of View

The movie had finished almost five minutes ago. I was now sitting on the couch watching some teen mom show with a sleeping Troy next to me. I had found him a blanket in the hall closet and was now watching his chest raise and fall slowly. Troy sleeping was like a puppy. His face was snuggled into the blanket and his face was so peaceful, it was hard to know that I had to wake him soon. He needed to get back to the shelter. Maybe I could go in with him? I wasn't very tired anymore and my headache vanished on it's own.

I stared at the t.v blankly. If I went it would give me about five minutes with Troy. Walking side by side and taking only one small touch to see what it was like to be close to Troy. We could just talk to each other and maybe take the next step that I have been avoiding.

I turned to look at Troy. He seemed so calm and looked adorable. I looked over to the clock. Troy had only ten minutes to get to the shelter. I looked back to Troy then got to my feet and ran up the stairs into my room. I looked through my closet to find my favorite pair of jeans. I pulled off my sweats and replaced them with my jeans. I then opened my dresser and got out a white tank top and found a light blue v-neck t-shirt.

I looked into my mirror and removed my elastic. I pulled my brush through my hair and let it hang off my shoulders. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth quickly then grabbed my bag and jogged down the stairs. Only five minutes. I went into the living room and saw a sleeping Troy. I smiled then kneeled at his side. I slowly shook him.

"Troy." I whispered softly. "Troy." I said again, shaking his arm. He blinked blankly then stared at me confused.

"Brie?" He said, pulling himself into a sitting position.

"Morning sleepy." I smiled. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. I got to my feet and put my cell phone into my bag.

"What time is it?" Troy asked, looking at his surroundings. I turned to look at the clock.

"Almost 1." Troy jumped to his feet. "We have to leave to the shelter or else we will both be late." Troy stared at me.

"I thought you were sick?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm feeling better now. Plus, I could use the fresh air." And a walk and talk with you. I thought. Troy's dimples appeared and his eyes lit up.

"Alright then." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "Let's get going."

Troy stood where he was, waiting for me to go first. I walked down the small hallway to the door and slipped on my shoes. Troy did the same. I opened the door for him, he smiled politely and walked passed me. He hopped down the steps and walked to the street, looking both ways before turning to me. I dug into my bag and searched for my keys. I couldn't find them. I turned to look back to Troy.

"I just have to go get my keys!" I called to him. Troy nodded and stretched some more.

Troy's Point of View

I watched Gabriella run back into her house to grab her keys. I yawned and tried cracking my back. That sleep was well needed, after the night I had had. I still had troubles believing that Gabriella might have seen me and Nick. To think, if I didn't have my hood up, Gabriella would be questioning me. I probably wouldn't tell her which means she probably wouldn't talk to me.

I couldn't imagine not talking to Gabriella. She always made me cheer up right when she walked through the doors and she listened to me. Even if it was some boring speech about my life or my dad. I couldn't risk my friendship, if that's what it was, with Gabriella over something as stupid as James. I just couldn't.

I turned back to the house to see if Gabriella was coming, but the front door was still propped open. I turned back to the street and saw broken beer bottles in her neighbors driveway. I looked back to the house, to make sure Gabriella wasn't there, and went over to them.

There had to be at least fifteen smashed bottles on the road. The only name that came to mind was James. I would bet any money that this was all his doing. I shook my head and started back to Gabriella's house. I crossed her lawn and was just about to call in the house, to see if she needed help when I heard something behind me.

"Well," A far too familiar voice said behind me. "If it isn't Troy Bolton."

I clenched my fists and thought about just going into her house. I took a breath and a step forward.

"He's still a chicken, I see." James said. I felt steam coming from my ears and turned to face him.

"What the hell do you want?" I said.

James had three of his basketball friends behind him. There was a short one, he played the second line point guard for the West Jets, he use to volunteer at the animal shelter downtown. Gabriella and I had dropped off food there once, last I heard he was dating a sophomore named Amber. I couldn't help but think it was the same girl who gave me her number. The two taller guys were fraternal twins and played the first line with James, the two posts' at the bottom of the basket. They defiantly had the height for it, they pretty well towered over me.

He turned to face his friend, then to me.

"We almost got busted last night, thanks to you and your friend." James said, walking onto Gabriella's lawn.

"You know," I said, pointing to their feet. "That's considered trespassing." James looked down then smirked.

"Your trespassing too, you know." He said. "You going to burn down another house?" James' his friends started laughing, but James stood locking eyes with mine.

I couldn't do it anymore, that just pushed the fiery through me. I took a step forward, my fist ready to make contact with his face. His friends stopped laughing and changed glances between us. I could feel the fire raising from my skin. The only thing I could think out at the moment was going up to him and seeing who would win the fight. I tried to think about something else .. but I couldn't.

I shook my head and cleared it of my thoughts. I felt the fire on my body go out and my fist started to unclench themselves. I turned to walk back into Gabriella's house.

"I knew he didn't have it in him." James said, I could feel his eyes still on me. I turned back to him.

"You should leave." I said. "Now."

"Sorry I took so long I was .. " A voice said behind me. I felt my heart stop and my eyes bulge open. James couldn't know who Gabriella was. If he knew about her he could hurt me through her, she would be the one he'd go after. James turned to his friends, a smirk forming on his face. He started to walk towards the porch steps. "Who's this?" Gabriella asked.

I didn't turn to face her. I kept my eyes on James. His friends stood where they were .. smart choice. James glanced at me then smiled to Gabriella, walking towards her. I stepped in his path, right in between Gabriella and him. James' eyes met mine.

"Troy, what's going on?" Gabriella asked, putting her hand on my shoulder. I didn't break eye contact with James.

"Nothing, we have to get going." I said. James looked to Gabriella.

Gabriella's Point of View

The boy standing in front of Troy looked strangely familiar, as if I had seen him in a dream or something. I felt Troy's shoulder tense under my hand. The boy put his hand out to mine, the one on Troy's shoulder.

"I'm James." The boy smirked. I gave a shy smile, touching my hand to his. I'd heard Troy and Chad talking about a guy named James when I stayed the night at Troy's. I wonder if it's the same guy?

"Gabri-" I started, but Troy cut me off.

"We have to go." Troy said, taking my hand. He turned to look at me, not meeting my eyes. "Did you lock the door?" He asked. I nodded. Troy turned away from me back to the boy, James. He looked to Troy then to me, smiling.

"We better get going too." He said, looking behind him at three boys. They all looked so familiar.

James smirked at Troy and then walked onto the street, the three boys trailing after him. Troy didn't face me. He still had my hand in his. His hand was sweating, it was a little uncomfortable. Troy didn't turn to face me until James and his friends were out of sight. His eyes were full of worry and his face looked a little more red then usual.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him. He nodded bitterly.

"Yeah," He said, coldly. "Let's go, were already late."

I nodded slowly and threw my bag over my shoulder. I didn't know everything there was to know about Troy, but I did know that whatever was going on between James and him he clearly didn't want to tell me about it. I debated to just ask him but I figured that if I pushed myself on him, he wouldn't open up to me any faster.

We started to walk down my street. The other boys were out of sight, but that didn't stop Troy from glancing over his shoulder every few moments. I was more than determined to know what was happening between the two boys, but if Troy wanted to tell me he would just tell me when he is ready. We came to the end of my street.

Troy glanced over his shoulder once again. His eyes were fierce with fire. I'd never seen Troy look so angry. He stuffed his hand into his pockets and kept his distance from me. He was never a meter close to me, he was practically walking on the road. Troy looked down to the side walk and looked everywhere but to me. Before we turned off my street, I glanced back over to where Troy had been glaring at.

James and his friends were standing on the road, forming a small circle. They all were staring at Troy and myself. James put his hand up and waved to me. I smiled, then looked to Troy. He was glaring at James. My street was now out of sight, but that still didn't stop Troy from looking behind us every two seconds. His behavior was starting to scare me a little. I had never seen him so .. worried? I wasn't really sure what he was, but I was sure that he wasn't one to talk about it.

We came to the set of lights before the shelter. The little red hand was blinking, normally, if I were running late, I would just hold my breath and run as fast as I could. Troy though didn't seem like he was in any mood to be running. I pushed the button and looked over to Troy. He still didn't look at me. What if he was angry with me, not James?

I felt my stomach start to tighten. Why was Troy mad at me? Did I do something wrong, say something? I wrapped my arms around my torso. Why else would he not be looking at me or even talking to me. I looked back at the street lights. The other light had just turned yellow. I repositioned my bag on my shoulder. Finally the white walking man showed across the street. I looked over to Troy, he had already started walking. I sighed softly and walked behind him.

When Troy reached the other side of the street I expected him to stop, but he continued to walk. For the rest of the walk back to the shelter I stayed behind him, watching each step he took. His shoulders were more hunched then they normally were and his steps were longer, quickening his pace.

Once we got to the shelter, Troy, opened the front door for me but still didn't look directly at me. I walked through the doors, not even glancing at him. Nicole was sitting at the front desk, staring at me. I shrugged my shoulders and looked back to Troy. We looked right through me, as if I wasn't even there, then walked down the hallway. I looked to Nicole and sank onto the couch.

Troy's Point of View

I burst into the kitchen, hoping that Nick would be there. I heard something from the freezer. There was a pop can squeezed in between the freezer door and the wall. I went to open it. Nick was standing inside putting away the dog meat that is was used for their training. He was listening to his head phones. I walked up behind him and hit his arm slightly. He jumped and pulled his earphones out of his ears.

"What the hell, man?" Nick said, catching his breath. "Didn't mommy ever tell you to knock first?"

"Look, James knows where she lives." I said angry. What if James goes and tries something? He's a phys-co, there's no telling what he'll do.

"Where who lives?" Nick said, laughing. My fists started to clench. I stepped towards Nick, pushing him into the freezers wall. Nick regained his balance. "I was just kidding, dude."

"Did you not hear me!" I shouted. Why wasn't he listening to me? Gabriella doesn't know how dangerous James is and now he knows where she lives! How was I suppose to not be angry! Nick wasn't even listening to what I was saying. "James knows where Gabriella lives!"

"Woah." Nick said, walking out of the freezer. I followed him. "That's a huge crisis." Nick turned to me, smiling. "Look man, it's not like you two are dating or together or anything, your just friends. James has know reason to be anywhere near her." I could feel my entire body tense.

"You didn't see the way James was looking at her." James never broke eye contact with her, unless he was going to smirk at me. I tried to keep my distance from Brie, but I don't think I fooled James at all.

"Troy, calm down. Why would James even talk to Gabriella?" Nick said. "He only saw her once. Plus, Gabriella is smart, she wont go near James. Give her more credit."

"I know Gabriella's smart, but it's not her that I'm worried about. It's James, you said so yourself, he's phys-co!"

"Troy, seriously, would you just stop for a second." Nick said.

"Stop until when?" I shouted, hitting the counter. "Until James hits her with a bat? Until he pulls a knife on her? Until he decides screwing up my life isn't fun anymore?" I kicked one of the racks and walked over to the wall.

"Why don't you just tell Gabriella about .. everything." Nick suggested. "That way you wont be holding a secret and she will know who James really is." I looked up to him. He was sitting on the island.

"Yeah, I could just tell her everything .. about the fire station and about the car." I said. "That wouldn't lose anything we have."

"Sorry, bad idea." Nick said, trying to defend himself. "You know though, neither of those were your fault."

"Yeah, just like winning the championships wasn't my fault either." I said.

"Look, Troy, they weren't your fault and if it makes you happy I'll .. talk to Gabriella. Drop hints about James and not mention anything about you." Nick said. I thought about it. It would give a chance for Gabriella to know who James really is and hopefully help her to keep her distance. Nick held out his hand. "We good?" He asked. I took his hand and we did our handshake. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, releasing a huge amount of stress. "Were good."

...

Hey guys! Thanks for everyone's reviews, they were all amazing and they meant so much. So, I just wrote this chapter pretty much all today. It was quiet around the house and I just got bored. This chapter is actually a pretty huge chapter for the story, that's all I'm going to say. I'm trying to get back on track with updating, I'm not doing terrible, but I'm not doing my best. The next few chapters might be a little dull, but your just going to have to read and find out! I am working on the next chapter right now. It should be finished sometime tomorrow and then there's the editing and publishing. So, the next chapter might be Tuesday? Not completely sure yet, it might be tomorrow and it might be Wednesday, anyways I'll try my hardest and stay tuned!

:)