Little Talks

"Why does your watch have two faces?" Jill, one of the bridesmaids asked. She was a thin, pale brunette ballerina who Sharpay had met during their first year at Julliard. Gabriella looked up from the list she was making (ensuring that whoever ordered salmon would indeed get salmon and whoever ordered steak would indeed get steak) and glanced over at her watch. Her simple watch; with the two faces and the thin brown band. The one that held more memories than she wanted to share.

Still, she swallowed and answered. "My ex-boyfriend and I were long distance through grad school, on different coasts, on different time-zones. So he bought me this so I could change the time to wherever he was on one face and wherever I was on the other."

"Aw," Jill cooed, "that is so sweet. Terribly romantic!"

Gabriella nodded, doodling idly in the margin of her notebook as she remembered what it had felt like to receive this watch. To deal with the loneliness and longing that came with being so far away from the person you loved the most. Some days she felt she couldn't bear it. Some days she couldn't.

"Yeah," Gabriella responded softly, looking down at her watch again with it's worn band. "It is."

"But you aren't together anymore, right?" Jill asked and Gabriella nodded. "Then why do you still wear it? I can never wear any of the stuff any of my old boyfriends gave me. They hold too many memories."

Gabriella shrugged. "We broke up a long time ago. It doesn't mean much anymore."

Jill sighed. "Still. As much as you move on, you still remember and that's always gotta feel a little weird. Don't you think?"

"Not all memories are bad memories."

"No," Jill said thoughtfully. "I guess not. Does your new boyfriend think it's weird? Does he mind?"

"He doesn't exist, so not really," Gabriella quipped. "I am single."

"Oh," Jill said again, blushing. "I just assumed. I mean. I'm sorry, you're just kind of gorgeous and successful. It's just surprising is all, I mean—"

Gabriella laughed. "Really, you don't have to explain. I'm single by choice, not by default. It's not a big deal."

Still, Jill looked embarrassed, and quickly exited the room awkwardly, making an excuse to check on the favors that would be given away at the reception, leaving Gabriella to her thoughts.

She remembered once when she briefly dated a man name Daniel. Daniel was a lawyer and he was very kind, dark haired with dark eyes and a seemingly ever present scruff on his cheeks and jawline. She liked him very much but he wasn't Troy, so naturally he had fallen short. But she had hoped to look past that and make it work, and about a month into their relationship, he leaned over and reached across to her night-table, picking up the watch she had removed before she took off the rest of her clothing.

"Why does it have two faces?" he had asked, and when she answered honestly, he got quiet.

He told her the next day that he liked her plenty, but he thought that maybe they should stop seeing each other. That maybe her heart wasn't in it. She had agreed and the last she had heard of him, he was engaged.

Not all memories were bad, but even the good ones became negative when you started to live in them. Sometimes, when Gabriella wrapped the watch around her wrist, she wondered if she had really moved on at all, or if she was still living a past life, biding time and waiting for things to get back to normal.

In Gabriella's experience during her seventeen odd years of friendship with Sharpay, all bad ideas led back to the blonde. It was Sharpay's idea to steal Ryan's Corvette and take it for a joyride, resulting in a car crash that involved said Corvette wrapped around a telephone pole and a broken arm. It had been Sharpay's idea to smoke pot in her garage as an experiment, setting off the smoke detectors and letting the whole Evans family (as well as the entire block) find out what they were up to. And it had been Sharpay's idea to force all of the bridesmaids into wedding dresses.

They were at the bridal boutique for the final fitting, to make sure that all hems were hemmed and all inches taken out or taken in. Things had gone surprisingly well (of course, a couple of the dresses seemed to be the exact wrong sizes, but given all of the ups and downs that were adding up to be Sharpay and Zeke's nuptials, things really did go well) and the girls were excitedly chatting and having a good time when Sharpay suggested that they all try on a dress.

"Oh come on, everyone!" she had said, "Try one on! It's so fun! You don't know what it feels like to feel like a princess until you've tried on a wedding dress!"

Gabriella shook her head. "Sharpay, you've really got to get back. You have an appointment with the entertainment to go over a final set list in an hour and your phone is at home."

"Text Zeke for me and tell him to bring it, Gabi, babe? It would be a huge help!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, doing just that. "Fine," she said, "But I'm not trying on a dress."

"Sure you aren't," Sharpay said with a twinkle in her eye. "You say that now."

One by one, the girls slid into extravagant wedding dresses. Jill into a classic, cap sleeve vintage dress with a plunging back. Kelsi into a tiered chiffon ballgown that practically ate her up. Natasha into a frilly number dripping with lace and jewels. Bianca (or Bee, as she insisted they call her) into a dress that had butterfly wings in the back. They laughed uproariously, snapping photos and posing like supermodels. Even Gabriella, despite her reservations, had to crack a smile.

But she was still determined not to get into a dress.

"Gabriella, come on!" Bee said, "just try this one on!" She held up a dress and waved it in her face. "This one screams you!"

"No," Gabriella said, shaking her head. "This is silly and I really, really don't want to."

"You have to!" Jill insisted. "We all did! It's just for fun, it's not serious!"

Gabriella bit her lip. "You guys—"

"Gabriella, please," Sharpay said, placing her hands on her hip. "It's my wedding and I really want you to do this one thing for me. We can put all of the photos into the slideshow that we're going to play at the beginning of the reception. Please?"

"Fine," Gabriella slammed her phone down. "I'll put it on. Zeke is around the corner with your phone by the way."

Sharpay clapped her hands in glee and did a little dance. "Excellent! Now put it on!"

Gabriella went into the fitting room and with shaking hands, pulled the taffeta gown up her body. It had a sweetheart neckline and hugged her around her waist and hips, extending down into an elegant mermaids tail. Staring at herself in the mirror, she felt herself shiver.

It was like looking at a ghost.

"Okay," she said, pulling back the curtain and stepping outside, onto the circular platform. "Let's get this over with."

Jill gasped when she walked out, and the chatter among the girls stopped, all pairs of eyes landing on Gabriella. She stood her, folding her arms self consciously. "What?"

"Oh my god," Natasha briefed, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "You are a vision!"

"Gabriella!" Sharpay squealed, jumping up and down. "You look gorgeous!"

"Insanely gorgeous!" Kelsi exclaimed.

"Gabriella, when you get married, you have to wear this dress!" Jill said, snapping a picture. "It was literally made for you!"

"Your body is banging in that, Gabi," Sharpay said. "I knew you should try it on. You look so, so good! Look at yourself!"

She spun Gabriella around to look at herself in the mirror and she couldn't help but feel sick. She felt like she was going to pass out at the sight of her in the white dress.

"Take a few more pictures of the back, Jill," Sharpay instructed, "that way when Miss Thang here walks down the aisle, we can remember what this one looked like and make sure she gets one just like it! If not this very dress!"

"Hello ladies," a voice said, and Gabriella felt like ice cold water had washed over her.

Sharpay turned away from the mirror and Gabriella. "Troy? What are you doing here?"

"Bringing your phone," Gabriella heard him say. She wouldn't turn around to face him. "Zeke didn't want to come in case you were wearing your dress. Bad luck and….all. Um, what are you guys doing?"

Gabriella made an impulsive move to run into the fitting room but Sharpay grabbed her arm. "The girls were just trying on wedding dresses for fun! But oh my god, you have to see Gabi in this dress. It is to die for. Gabi, show Troy."

"Sharpay—"

"I mean, isn't she just stunning?" Sharpay turned around and Gabriella's eyes met Troy's. He looked like he had been punched in the stomach. "Gorgeous right?"

The room was silent then and thick with tension as Troy gazed at Gabriella. She saw him swallow thickly before running a hand through his hair and looking away.

"Troy?" Sharpay asked, furrowing her brow. "Are you okay?"

Troy nodded quickly, clearing his throat. "Yeah. I gotta go. Zeke's waiting for me in the car. You girls have fun."

With that he made a quick exit and the girls turned to look at Gabriella. She felt like her knees were going to give out.

"Gabriella, I…" Sharpay trailed off. "What was that about?"

Gabriella shook her head, her throat suddenly feeling tight. "Nothing. Um."

And like a dam breaking, she brought her hands up to her face and burst into tears, her shoulders trembling as the four women gathered around her and embraced her. She felt the weight of the past few days and weeks and months collapse on her. Troy's face as he had looked at her in the dress felt like a knife through the heart. It was too much.

It was too much.