Hey everyone! Your reviews have been amazing! I'm so happy to see more and more coming in each week. Thank you so much! On a seperate note, I met Katharine McPhee today at church. Yup, just thought I'd share... AWWWWW! I'm so excited. She is awesome! I recommend getting her CD, it's really good- definitly something that makes the writing process easier.

Protecting Miss Montez

Chapter thirteen

Goodbyes

When Gabriella opened her eyes the next morning, it was dark. And that scared her. Usually by now, Rosy would be pulling her curtains apart to let the sun in, but as she looked at the clock, seeing that it was 9:30, she sighed, liking that no one was yelling at her about last night's bad behavior. She sat up slowly, seeing that she was still in her dress and heels. Her dress was wrinkled and while looking around her room, last night played in her mind. Troy tripping over her shoes that were still on the floor, Troy leaving, Troy breaking her heart and then suddenly she realized… TROY!

She jumped off of her bed, running towards the door, but before she opened it, she leaned her head against it, seeing if she could hear anything on the other side, but she knew the doors were sound proof. She took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what she may or may not see.

She did not prepare herself though for the burning hot substance that ran down the front of her dress when she stepped outside, running into a cup of coffee that was held out for her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in her life ruined by her morning coffee that she used to expect.

"Sorry, Miss Montez!" She heard a familiar voice next to her, causing her to open her eyes.

"Charles?" She said after a moment of starring, seeing that he was setting the coffee cup on the floor, pulling out a handkerchief from his suit pocket, handing it to her.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Montez. I didn't think you'd run into it!"

"Charles," She started calmly, feeling her skin itching from where the hot drink landed, but she looked at him, ignoring her discomfort. "The coffee isn't the problem." She smiled quickly, giving him a look. "Where's Troy?"

Charles didn't reply right away, which was what made her pick up her long dress, pull out her loose pony tail that was already falling out of her hair and run as fast as she could to where the only person who had control over the people who protected her would be.

Obviously without knocking, and with Charles hot on her trails, she slammed open the door to her father's office, stopping quickly when she saw Troy standing before her dad, his suit jacket off, leaving only his white dress shirt and black tie visible as he put his hands in his pant pockets. Everyone in the room, including her mom and dad, looked her way when she entered.

Troy's jaw clenched tighter together when he saw Gabriella standing before him, her eyes red and puffy, her hair messy and out of place, and her dress completely drenched with what smelled like coffee. He looked away when she made eye contact with him, walking calmly over to her father's desk, seeing that he was avoiding eye contact with her.

"What's going on?" She asked strongly, looking at her mom with pleading eyes, only to see her look away, back down to the pass and jacket that she had in her hands, obviously items that once belonged to Troy.

"Is anyone going to look at me or are you all going to act like a bunch of cowards?" She asked, causing her dad to look angry and the security and other members of Congress raise their eyes distastefully.

Suddenly, all eyes were on her and no one looked happy or joyful, most gave her pitiful looks as the beautiful girl they saw the night before stood ruined before them. She looked angrily at her dad, who returned the look easily. Someone behind her cleared their throat, interrupting the tension and Gabriella clenched her left fist tightly together in anger, still feeling her right hand throbbing from the night before.

"Hello!" She said louder, seeing out of the corner of her eye Troy shifting uncomfortably in his spot.

"Why don't you sit down?" President Montez said, motioning for a chair to be brought to her, but she didn't sit once it was placed behind her.

"I don't need to sit down." She said back to him, wanting to cross her arms over her chest, but she would get coffee all over her arms, so instead she left her arms swaying at her side.

"You're making this a lot harder than it needs to be, sweetheart." Mrs. Montez said to her, smiling over at her sadly from her spot next to her husband.

"Maybe it would be easier if you hadn't invited Drew to be my date last night." She said back, giving her mom a blank look that indicated that she was still fuming with madness over her act of butting in.

"What you did last night was inappropriate and uncalled for, Gabriella." Her dad said seriously, clearly upset with her as he looked up at her, then glancing at Troy. "Thankfully Drew called me this morning to stop… any further inappropriate acts on your part."

"Do you really think I would sleep with Troy in this house, Dad? The White House?"

Mrs. Montez gasped and the person who had cleared his throat earlier was now hacking behind her as if he had chocked on something, and there was a quiet murmuring among the security, probably gossiping through their communication devices. Troy rocked more steadily in his spot next to her, his hands still in his pockets. The President looked at the both of them seriously, not sure of what got into his daughter… she was… honest and verbal, nothing like she used to be.

"You can scratch that from the records." He said, looking beyond Gabriella and Troy and as Gabriella asked what he was talking about, she turned, gasping when she saw the representatives of the press sitting on the couches behind her. They were obviously here to get an appropriate statement about the events last night.

"Shouldn't this be a private moment?" She asked him.

"Well, I was saving the private moment for later, but it looks like you have a mind of your own now."

"It's about time." Gabriella said back, glad to be talking for herself, rather than having someone talk for her.

"Why don't you put a different outfit on and then we'll talk." Mrs. Montez said to her, getting a shake of the head from Gabriella.

"I should get use out of my first ball gown because that was my last thanks to you."

"Don't go blaming your mother, Gabriella. She just had your best interest at heart when she invited Drew."

"Dad! He was a security threat! Who the hell signed him back in?"

"Watch your language now." President Montez said angrily, causing Gabriella to raise her eyebrows in surprise, seeing that he was being truly serious about her being appropriate as they talked. Troy cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair.

"Just give it to me Dad. I'm sure this can't be any worse than you telling me I couldn't go to college, or live somewhere else other than this prison." Gabriella replied as she put her hands on her hips.

"Well, you've been dating a White House employee for weeks, which is lying to both me and your mother and going against all of our rules. You've tarnished our reputation with your tantrum last night and you've just made everyone in this room see that you've become a spoiled brat with time." He said to her, causing her heart to race as she tried not to cry, tried keeping her emotions under control.

"And." She said, wanting him to continue.

"And this will be the last time you see Mr. Bolton, so you better get to saying goodbye. You have fifteen seconds before he will be escorted out of the building."

That's when the tears broke her strong hold on them, when they trickled down her face slowly as she looked at her mother, who was watching her with sadness clear in her eyes. Everyone was quiet in the room, no one was hacking behind her, and only one flash of a camera was seen as she looked at Troy, her left side of her face reveal to the press, giving them the perfect picture.

"Bye." She said simply, looking away from him when she couldn't make eye contact, finally hugging herself with her arms, not caring about the coffee on the front of her dress.

"Bye." He said back quieter, his voice sad and fading like he wanted to explain more, but could only use a word with one syllable, a word that meant nothing but the opposite of Hi.

With that, the President nodded, looking at each of them slowly before he gestured to Charles to walk Troy out. Troy took that obvious hint to make his way to the door, keeping his eyes on his shinning shoes so that he didn't have to look at Gabriella. She tried to regain composer as he said something to Charles as he opened the door, disappearing behind the heavy door without another word from anyone else. Gabriella felt her head become heavy as she cried, putting her unhurt hand over her eyes while she slumped over in exhaustion.

Never before would she have cried in front of a room full of people with a coffee stained dress and broken heart, but today was the start to the second worst day of her life and she knew that it was because of her that Troy was gone, never to be seen again, and that called for a public display of depression.

She wiped at her watery face, breathing out as she looked back at her dad, trying not to look like he had won this battle. She rolled her shoulders back stiffly, feeling the people behind her just by the silence coming from them.

"Do you have something to say for yourself?" President Montez asked her.

Gabriella glanced down at her dress, looked at her mom, and then made her way back to the door so that she could crawl underneath her covers for good, waiting for her prince to come wake her up, but as she stood in the doorway, she turned to face the group of people watching her, focusing on her dad.

"I hate you." She said with a nod. "That's my statement."

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