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Protecting Miss Montez

Chapter fourteen

The Aftermath

Gabriella was depressed, and that was the only way to describe how she became after Troy was fired. She was still in her ball gown, and it had already been two days. Her bed was messy and unfixed as crumpled tissues surrounded her, one currently clamped in her good hand. Her bad hand was lying on her stomach as she looked up at the ceiling. It had to be seriously hurt, broken or sprained, because it was still throbbing, but somehow she pushed that feeling away as it continued to stay deeply bruised.

As the blinds stayed closed, she wondered what the outside world looked like as her world sat at her feet, beat and wrinkled like her tissues. She had no idea how in love she was with Troy until he was officially gone, never to return and just the thought had her face contorting into a saddened expression, tears flowing into the tissue that was blocking them from falling onto her face.

The door opened suddenly, scaring her because no one had ventured into the room since the incident in the Oval Office. When she saw Rosy, she felt her head tilt the opposite way so she wouldn't have to look at her.

"Miss Montez, it's time to get you back together again." She said as she went over to the windows, pulling open the curtains, blinding Gabriella with the first glimpse of sunlight she had in the past forty eight hours.

"I don't need to put myself back together. I'm fine this way." Gabriella said to her, noticing that her voice was raspy and unused.

"Sweetheart, I could smell you when I walked in." Rosy said as she began to pluck the used tissues from her bed, throwing them in the trash can tucked under her arm.

"Do I really smell?" Gabriella asked with tears in her eyes.

"Like coffee and sweat." Rosy replied honestly to her, smiling sadly as Gabriella got up slowly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Do you remember when you told me about your nephew spraining his finger playing basketball?" She asked her quietly.

"Yes, why?" Rosy asked curiously, looking at the pathetically heartbroken women before her.

"Do you think you could get me one of those splints… or whatever they're called that he put on it… if you're out and about today?" Gabriella asked, finally looking up at her.

"Sure, but how do you know you need one?" She asked worriedly.

Gabriella held up the hand that had collided with Drew's hard jaw and Rosy's eyes grew wide as she saw it.

"I'll get one for you." She said again, nodding hurriedly. "And I'll bring you a few things that will catch you up on what you've miss in the past few days… why don't you take a shower so I can clean this mess up?"

"Unless you can get Troy back and convince my dad that I'm not a spoiled brat… then I don't think this mess can be completely cleaned up." Gabriella said sadly, standing up weakly with a sigh before trudging off to her bathroom, sniffling and teary eyed as she closed the door.

When Gabriella stepped out of her bathroom, her hair damp against her clean blue t-shirt, she observed her perfectly cleaned bedroom, seeing the non-wrinkly bed with new bed sheets and her cleared floor that had no shoes thrown carelessly on it. Everything was cleaned up, even her, and she realized that things went on when she felt like staying put in a tiresome moment.

As she walked over to her bed, ready to sink into the cushiony comforter, she saw a few newspapers on the end of her bed and she picked them up as she sat down. She felt her stomach ache as she saw the head line of one. "I Hate You" it read and the picture of her looking over at Troy as he faced the President in the Oval Office was enlarged in the center. Both of them looked perfect and out of a movie, but Gabriella knew that if they both turned around, you'd see her destroyed dress and his tired face, hands in his pockets.

Gabriella put her hand over her mouth as she read the article, feeling more hot tears flood the corners of her eyes like they always did when she thought of the past few days. The article said things about the ball, about her secret relationship with Troy, but no one made it clear who she was addressing when she said those three harsh words. To most, it would look like she was talking to Troy.

The next newspaper's headline read "The President Apologizes" and it went on about how he was sorry about how things have been lately and that he'd work on fixing them. Gabriella set them down, not wanting to see anymore as tears slid down her face.

Keeping her eyes on them, she heard the door open and a mystery someone walk in, but she was too afraid to look up. She didn't want the person who said he'd work on fixing things to be standing before her, ready to fix her, but when she finally looked up, there he stood. Her dad. The President of the United States.

"I see you've seen the papers." He said as he set the plate of food he brought her on her bed.

She shrugged, looking at them again, before pushing them further away from her, leaving a spot for him to sit even though she wanted anything but for him to try to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her.

"I haven't seen you in a few days." He said to her, sitting down across from her.

"I've been here." Gabriella replied with a shrug, looking down at the plate of food he brought her, suddenly realizing that she was hungry.

"How are you feeling? Have you had any panic attacks lately?" He asked her as if she had been in her room with the flu, staying home from school as if she was normal and actually went.

"I'm fine." She answered. "Someone very close to me said to stop freaking myself out… and I haven't had a panic attach since."

President Montez nodded, glancing over at the newspapers next to her as he ran a hand over his tired face.

"Gabriella… I think we need to talk about what's been going on with you lately." He said finally, causing Gabriella to roll her eyes. She knew he wasn't here to ask if she was okay, but to make sure she wouldn't be having any freak-outs in front of important people anymore.

"I'm a twenty three year old who is still told what to do by her father. I can't go to school, I can't date who I want, I can't be normal. That's what's been going on, Dad. Period." She said simply, still finding it hard to look at him.

"I don't want you to be mad at me." He admitted, looking guiltily at his daughter.

"That's a lot to ask." Gabriella replied quietly, looking into his eyes finally instead of at the space between them.

"When your mother and I invited Drew to the ball… we thought we were doing the best for you." He began. "I've always liked Drew. He's a good man."

"He's not." Gabriella shook her head, seeing her dad look at her somewhat impatiently. "He's really mean." Her voice cracked when she said this, her control on her emotions slowly crumbling.

"Is that why you punched him? Because he was being mean?" President Montez asked with a sigh, thinking that the reasons behind her actions weren't reasonable.

"No, because he threatened me." She frowned, thinking about his lie when he said he wouldn't say anything if she would have kissed him, but in a way it was her fault. If she hadn't have punched him, maybe he wouldn't have said anything.

President Montez raised his eyebrows suspiciously, wondering what kind of a threat he could have possible made.

"You could have told one of the security members to take care of that."

She shook her head, not agreeing with him.

"Troy told me that if I felt threatened and didn't have someone to help me immediately that I should take care of it myself… that I couldn't always rely on someone else to protect me." She explained, hearing his words echo in her head from the day he taught her self defense.

"I don't know what made him tell you that. You don't know how to defend yourself, sweetheart." President Montez said, thinking out loud as he became confused.

"He taught me." She whispered, feeling her throat become raspy with the feeling of sadness. "He's the only person who made me feel safe when I was alone… with no one else around."

She watched as her dad shook his head, clearly angry as he thought of her answer. The room was quiet as she kept her eyes on him, not forgiving him yet as he thought of something else to say to her. She knew more opinions were coming from him.

"You two aren't meant to be together. It's better now that you're separated."

Gabriella swore inwardly as tears slipped from her eyes while she grabbed the plate of food that her dad brought her. She picked up the sandwich on the plate and held it up so that he could see it.

"Peanut butter and jelly make the perfect sandwich." She began, seeing her dad look at her oddly. "If you pull them apart," She pulled the pieces of bread apart, looking at them. "Then jelly is a gross substance that tastes like mashed grapes and peanut butter is just a brown butter that gets stuck on the roof of your mouth. They don't work without each other…" She put them back together.

"Gabriella…" Her dad started, but stopped when she cut him off.

"When they're together though," She said as she looked at the now-back-together sandwich, finding herself thinking of Troy. "They're America's favorite lunch food." She nodded. "They taste like more than grapes and butter."

"But you and Troy aren't lunch food." President Montez sighed, slowly standing up from her bed. "You're my daughter who needs protection for as long as you're here, and Troy was an employee."

Gabriella watched as her dad went for her door, done with the conversation, not getting anything accomplished like he had hoped. Gabriella shook her head, now probably madder at him than before because he didn't understand a simple concept.

"Troy saw me as more than just the President's daughter, Dad." Gabriella said as he opened the door finally. "He believed that even I had the right to be happy. I just wish you believed that too."

President Montez blinked as no emotion showed on his face. He watched Gabriella from the doorway biting into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich as she laid down on her side, picking up the newspaper with the picture of Troy and her on it.

As he shut the door though, seeing that no one was guarding her door anymore because he decided to give her some freedom, he knew that she didn't know she had any because she hadn't been out of her room in days and the only freedom she'd actually notice now was if Troy was allowed to come back to put the sandwich back together again.

It had been a long week of bringing meals in and out of Gabriella's room. Of hearing her say nothing but complaints and making depressed comments. And finally, after tired of looking at her walls, Gabriella decided that she owed it to herself, and to Troy, to get out of her room and to move on with her life.

She made her way to the kitchen because she knew she wouldn't run into her mom or dad there and would only be talked to briefly by the kitchen staff. On her way there though she passed Charles, who gave her a sad smile, which reminded her of why she stayed in her room, only letting Rosy talk to her.

One of her sighs escaped her as she came to a slow stop by the ballroom doors, which were open and letting the glittering shine of the dance floor fall into the hallway as the sun hit it through the tall windows. Gabriella hesitated at first, but stepped in, slowly and quietly making her way to the center of the room.

Everything was cleaned up. There were no tables or chairs any more. No cheese trays or punch bowls arranged by the exit doors and she squinted as she looked at the large stairs that took up almost the entire back wall. They lead upstairs into another party room, one that had been used for donations during the ball and she closed her eyes, envisioning if something different had happened that night.

But it was almost impossible to envision anything good happening in that room, so as she took one last look at it, she picked up her pace, turning her walk into a slow jog for the door, picking up speed even more so she could get to the kitchen before she changed her mind and ended up back in her room and so she wouldn't have to stop to talk to her mom, who was smiling as she talked to one of the gardeners who was watering a nearby plant.

She caught her breath in the doorway of the kitchen, smiling softly as she walked in after, seeing that the staff was hard at work making something for lunch.

"Hello, Miss Montez." One of the chefs said to her when they noticed her by the island.

"Hi." She said softly, smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm good." He replied with a nod, chopping carrots up without even looking at them. "Can we fix you something to eat?"

"I'll just have whatever you're making… I'm definitely getting sick of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." She smiled hearing him laugh and he nodded, quickening his chopping with her explanation.

Gabriella watched the three chefs working intently for a while and her hair blew softly in the wind that was coming from the kitchen door. She gave the kitchen staff one last small smile before she went to explore the backyard by herself while she waited for them to finish making lunch.

The air was cool and the sky was a bright blue as she walked along the path in the backyard. She sat down on the edge of the fountain in the center of the yard and sighed, feeling the sun on her arms. The fountain was off, leaving only a few ripples in the water as the wind brushed against it. The lights were off; not giving the glowing effect that it had the night with the photographer incident.

She didn't realize how a fountain turned off could be so saddening, but as she felt a rumble of sadness in her chest, causing a shaky breath escape her, she saw how symbolic this random fountain was. How one night when she was with Troy it was on and now as she sat alone, looking at the tiled bottom of it, it was off, not giving off the magical feeling she was used to.

"I could tell someone to put this on if you want me to." She heard behind her, and she smiled softly as she looked behind her, squinting as the sun floated behind him.

"No thanks, Charles." She replied, running a hand through the warm water before standing up.

"How've you been, Miss Montez?" He asked her, knowing that the smiles he had seen on her face today seemed forced.

"I've been better." Gabriella replied honestly as they began to slowly walk together around the backyard.

They were quiet for a while and Gabriella smiled as she looked over at him, seeing that he was wearing a pair of sunglasses that she had gotten him a few years back and a colorful handkerchief that she had also given him was in his pocket, adding some color to his all-black attire.

"Have you talked to your friends lately?" Charles asked her, knowing that sometimes friends were the ones who made bad things better.

"No." Gabriella replied somewhat sadly, looking next to her as a butterfly fluttered past her. "They were all Troy's friends… and they have no reason to hang out with me anymore."

"I'm sure that's not true. They had to have liked you for you." He smiled, looking over at her as she shrugged.

"I guess I'll never know." She replied.

"Sometimes, Miss Montez, rules are meant to be broken." Charles started, smiling softly as she looked back at him with a raise of her eyebrows. "And I believe you chose the right ones to break."

"Wow, I never would have thought I'd hear this from Mr. Rule-Follower." Gabriella smiled, laughing softly.

"I surprise myself occasionally." He replied with a chuckle.

"But breaking the rules didn't get me anything, Charles." She said to him, shaking her head at the truth. "I lost my friends, disappointed my family, and got Troy fired… I mean… I have no idea what happened to him, or anything for that matter! I've been in my room for days."

"He's fine." Charles said to her seriously, knowing that her short rant wasn't about getting nothing… it was about knowing nothing about what happened to Troy.

"How do you know?" She stopped, facing Charles with a sigh.

"Because he said he would be fine as long as you were." He answered, seeing her now concentrating on her shoes.

"But I'm not fine." She replied, looking up finally, seeing him smiling slightly.

"Miss Montez, you've gotten over this. You've emerged from your room and finally ate something. You've talked to people other than Rosy. It'll just take time to get over Troy." He told her, seeing her eyes glaze with tears quickly, but she looked back at her shoes, hiding them.

"Thanks for coming out to talk, Charles."

"It's my job." He smiled, patting her lightly on the arm. "And your dad told me to, so give him some time. He'll come around."

He walked away with that, leaving her among flowers and gardeners, where they went on with their day happy and colorful, blooming and enjoying the days work, but Gabriella still didn't feel back to normal as she stood there, hands on her hips as she thought about what it would take for her to move on.

The small amount of wind that hit Gabriella's face as she ran quickly on the treadmill did nothing for her as sweat dripped down her back. It was late at night and after getting into an argument with her mom about Drew, she had ended up in the basement's gym, tired and pissed.

No one else was with her besides the security on the other side of the doors of the gym and the only thing she could hear was the swooshing of the treadmill underneath her. Everything else was silent, so that's why she turned on the TV with the remote control that was in the cup holder on the exercising machine.

She wasn't interested in watching reruns of Full House or of the Bachelorette, so that's how the basketball game was chosen. Instead of watching the players sweat, feeling bad that they were probably extremely hot and uncomfortable, she was experiencing it with them, knowing her cheeks were red as she pushed on.

Chad Danforth was currently running down the court, his hair bouncing as he dodged an oncoming threat and as he jumped into the air, throwing the ball towards the net, Gabriella held her breath, only breathing when the ball was safely flying through the white netting.

"Yes." She whispered to herself, turning the TV up so that she could hear the loud cheer of the audience.

As Chad pumped his fists in the air, causing Gabriella to smile as he ran to the other end of the court, trying to get the ball back towards the opponents' side, she saw a familiar figure sitting in floor seating, cheering on the team.

She swallowed, squinting and then swearing when she couldn't see the person any longer, but she kept running as she searched the screen for a glimpse of her past. Chad was at it again, running to the basket, passing the orange ball quickly to another teammate. The crowd was on their feet again, cheering as the ball went into the basket easily.

There he was, laughing and screaming with Sharpay and Taylor as Chad hugged a teammate as they celebrated their win. Gabriella could feel her legs numbing, but that was only because her speed had greatly increased. Her lungs were burning inside of her as she put either foot on each side of the treadmill, folding over the monitor as she breathed deeply, staring at the thrashing floor of the treadmill, zooming underneath her as she stayed still.

She wished that life could have been like her and the treadmill in this moment. She could jump to the side, staying still in a certain moment as the rest of her life zoomed by, going its own speed as all she did was pick when she wanted to slow down. But life wasn't like a treadmill and she couldn't press power to stop or go slower. She simply kept running, passing those who ran in the opposite direction, thrown into a different path that wasn't meant to pass hers again, moving on without her.

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