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Chapter 4: Inverness

The following morning the J.S.O picked Greg Montez up at Jacksonville International Airport. They were holding on suspected child abuse charges. Of course he hired a lawyer and was refusing to speak, on the Fifth Amendment, but the police were sure that they nail him.

Back in Albuquerque, Troy had been exempted from school, the same went for Gabby seeing as how she wasn't even in Florida. After school the gang came by to officially meet Gabby and find out why she was here. Before they arrived, "You know Gabby, you don't have to tell them why you're here. Just because your father's in custody doesn't mean that they need to know."

"Thanks, Troy, but everyone's been so nice to me, and I don't even know all their names. It only seems right." Gabby replied with a grateful smile. Soon everyone arrived at Troy's house and knocked on the door.

"Come on in guys." They all walked into the kitchen where Gabby had begun cooking dinner.

"Wow…this smells…amazing? No that's not the right word. I don't think I can describe how awesome this smells." Chad exclaimed skipping through the kitchen.

"Thanks, I'm Gabby." Gabriella replied. The only person she really knew was Sharpay. She and Sharpay hit it off immediately and were very fond of each other. Shar often came by after school to see how she was doing. Gabby had told Sharpay why she was here, without Troy knowing of course since she was supposed to keep it a secret. But for some reason, unbeknownst to her, she trusted Sharpay immensely. And Sharpay felt the same way, telling Gabby almost all of her secrets.

Sharpay came up and gave Gabby a big hug, "Hey Boo! How ya doing?" She asked placing a sweet peck on her cheek.

Gabby smiled and said, "I'm fine Pay." She also placed a peck on her cheek.

Everyone looked back and forth between the two, "I didn't realize ya'll were that close." Troy said, smiling at the two girls. Even though he had only known Gabby for a few days, he held her very close to his heart, and Shar, well, despite what everyone says about her being the Ice Queen for standing up to some football players, he loved her like a little sister.

"So this is where you've been these past couple of days." Zeke said, a little hurt that he had been kept out of the loop, after all, he was Sharpay's boyfriend.

The gang introduced themselves to Gabby, this included Kelsi Neilson, Taylor McKessie, Martha Cox, Jason Cross, Chad Danforth, Ryan Evans, Sharpay's twin, and Zeke Baylor. Everyone hit it off at once and continued to talk in the kitchen as Gabby and Sharpay cooked.

"What about dessert?" Zeke asked, he's a big baker.

"I haven't started it yet. I'm making coconut cream pie."

"Need any help?"

Gabby looked at him skeptically for a minute, then she recalled her conversation with Pay, Zeke loves to bake! She quickly smiled and said, "The ingredients are in the fridge and the pantry, help yourself."

"YES!!" he screamed, and pumped his fist in the air. The gang just laughed, Gabby really like them all, they were so much more fun than her friends back home, she sighed thinking of having to go back to Jacksonville, that wouldn't be fun at all.

Troy saw the forlorn look on her face and walked over. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered, "You okay Ella?"

She turned to face him and said quietly, "I don't want to go back to Jacksonville. I like your friends, and I like being here with you."

He looked into her big brown orbs and realized that he hadn't thought of her going back to Jacksonville, he figured that she could stay here with him. He frowned, "We'll just have to see what we can do about that."

Sooner or later dinner was ready and the gang decided to eat outside. So the guys got a bunch of towels and set them out on the basketball court in the back yard. They ate and laughed until the phone rang. Troy answered it, "Hello? Hey Chad don't throw the food! You're wasting what you could be eating!" He scolded Chad, knowing that since it involved food, he'd immediately stop. Chad looked horrified at the thought of wasting food and immediately apologized to the grapes for wasting them. Everyone laughed.

"Troy." His father impatiently interrupted his antics. "You and Gabby need to come to Jacksonville. I booked a red eye that leaves at 1:30 in the morning. You need to be at the airport at 12."

"What, dad? Why?" Troy was really confused

"Gabby needs to come back to testify against her father. Then after that he only living relatives will take custody."

"What?! No! Dad! That can't happen!" Troy yelled "Where do they live?"

Jack sighed wearily, "Damn it," he thought, "Troy's attached to her." "They live in Inverness, Florida." He replied

"What Inverness! That's too far away. Dad, no, why can't we get custody." At this point Gabby knew that it was about her and walked over to Troy with tears in her eyes.

"Look Troy," Jack said impatiently, "Just come to Jacksonville and we'll see what we can do, okay?"

"Fine, we'll be there." Troy looked at Gabby who had started crying. "Shhh, Ella, we'll fix it."

"I don't want to live in Inverness!" She sobbed, "I hate it!" Everyone was looking at the two like they were crazy. "What is going on?" They all thought, well except Sharpay, who walked over and engulfed the two in a hug of her own.

"I guess ya'll should know what's going on." Gabby said, and proceeded to tell them her sad story. When she finished the 10 teenagers sat quietly until Zeke spoke.

"We're all going to Jacksonville with you for this hearing." Everyone nodded and began to call their parents begging for permission. After about an hour they all had tickets on the red eye to Jacksonville.

When the teenagers landed they took a few taxis to the hotel that they were staying at and went up to their rooms to get a little sleep. The next day Gabby decided that she should probably go to school to catch up a little bit on homework and classes. She hadn't been for about a week. Troy insisted upon going with her to make sure she was fine. After arguing for about 10 minutes Troy won.

When they got to school Gabby went to check Troy in and tell the school that she was back for the day at least. The two went and sat in the locker bay, with all of Gabby's friends. Most of the guys were a little defensive, not sure how to take Troy being there. The girls however, even those not in Gabby's group, were swarming them. All of them wanted to know who Troy was and if he was dating anyone. "This is why I should've brought Pay if you were so concerned about me being alone." Gabby reprimanded him.

"Look, I figured you needed someone strong Ella, in case something happens. I worry because I care, you know that baby!" He reminded her. She smiled and said,

"Fine, you win, but just because your cute and can play basketball." She joked

"Why would she need protection?" Peter, Gabby's overbearing friend asked. Gabby and Troy looked at each other and mentally agreed to ignore the question. The day was pretty uneventful. Troy got along well with Stephen and Christine. He also met Mr. Crandall and Mr. Philips. Finally they headed back to the hotel to be with their other friends.

When they got their Gabby was met with a surprise: her Aunt Julie, Uncle Jimmy, and her cousins Mary Jane and Jim. They were all from this hick town in south Florida. Inverness was literally in the middle of nowhere, the last place that Gabby wanted to live.

"Hey" Gabby weakly greeted her family.

"Hello Gabriella." Her aunt said rigidly.

Everyone sat there awkwardly until Troy stood up and introduced himself. Soon everyone knew everyone and there was again the awkward silence. Soon Jack and Lucy emerged with Mr. Hogan, the attorney. "The trial is set." Jack stated. Everyone acknowledged him, but no one responded.

"Where am I going to live?" Gabby finally asked timidly.

"Well, you can finish your junior year out here." Mr. Hogan said

Before he could continue Julie interrupted, "We can't move up here, that's unheard of, we have a store to run, she must move immediately!"

"I'll move out here for the last few weeks of school." Lucy volunteered. "She's been through so much already, and so much is going to change next year one way or another. It's only fair that she have some constant through the trial. After this is over she can make the move." Lucy must of have pleaded a good case because Julie didn't argue, which was unusual.

"Glad that's settled." Mr. Hogan began, "Now, as I was saying, after this school year you'll move to Inverness. Your only living relatives are the Greens, your mother's brother and his family. You'll continue your senior year there." Gabriella looked up at him with complete dread and sorrow in her eyes. She suddenly burst into tears and ran out of the room, needing to get away, and dragging Troy with her.

Gabby ran with Troy trailing after her until she was out of the hotel. She went and stood by the St. John's River. Troy came and stood by her, he wrapped his arms securely around her waist and held her close as she sobbed into his chest. "I want to stay with you and Pay. And how can I leave Chad, he's hilarious. And Zeke? He shares my same passion for baking. And Kelsi writes music like me. Ryan is already my big brother. Jason, he makes me laugh he's so clueless. And Taylor's sarcasm, now that I've found it I don't think I can live without it. Martha dances…I love to dance…There's so much that we can teach each other. I can't lose them…And you Troy…You're the most important thing in the world right now, you've become my rock. Plus there's not even a mall in Inverness. What am I going to do?" She wailed

Troy didn't know what to say, he didn't want her to leave but he didn't know what to do. He really cared for Ella, in more than a sisterly way, and now he was going to lose her. "It's not fair Ella. I just found you and now I'm going to lose you, it's just not fair."

When Gabby had rushed out of the room with Troy, the others slowly followed behind to see what would happen. They listened quietly, unnoticed by the couple, to their conversation, and to Gabby's sweet words. Even though they'd only known her for about two days, well more for Shar, they really cared for her. She was their little sister, their friend. If she could be with them, instead of with her relatives, who she obviously didn't care for then they wanted her to be in Albuquerque.

Finally they all went in to leave the two lovebirds alone. "I want to fight for custody." Lucy stated boldly, for everyone to hear. "If she wants to be in Albuquerque, then she should have what she wants. She's been through more than anyone should have to go through in their lifetime."

Terrell Hogan was quiet for a moment, and the tension was so thick it could've been cut with a knife. "Fine, after this case is done with you may sue for custody." Everyone nodded their understanding knowing that the next few weeks would be tough.

A couple weeks later, Lucy and Gabby were growing extremely close, living together in Jacksonville. Every weekend the gang and Jack would fly out to Jacksonville Friday after school and leave as late as possible on Sunday. Needless to say they were all jet lag, but they didn't care. Troy and Sharpay would sometimes skip school with their parents permission to spend more time with Gabby, whom they both adored.

Finally it was the day of the trial. The trial went on a couple of days, but was fairly swift. Gabby was a convincing speaker and the evidence that he'd been drinking had been evident in the house. Finally the jury reached a verdict, Greg Montez was guilty of child abuse and was sentenced to five years in prison (AN: I really don't know how long the sentence is or what goes on in court cases, sorry!). Now the only thing left was the custody dispute.

The two sides hired attorneys for fight their cases, but it looked like it was a losing battle. The Greens were blood relatives, the Boltons hadn't seen Gabby in years, until a few weeks ago. School was coming to a close as were the custody trials.

The verdict, according to the jury, was a unanimous decision, the Greens should get custody of Gabriella Elizabeth Montez, the juror announced. The court room fell silent, except for the loud sobs that wracked through Gabriella's body, and the quiet sweet nothings that Troy and Sharpay whispered to her while they tried to calm her.

When they left the building Gabriella began shaking, "I don't want to go Troy, I hate Inverness, I always have, I want to be with you." All of her friends had attended the trial, knowing how important this was for her, even some of her teachers were there. Troy just held her close and said, "It's going to all work out Ella, I promise, I don't know how, but I do know that everything will work out for the best, we just have to stay positive."

Julie approached Gabby and Troy and said, rather harshly, "When school is over you'll move to Inverness." With that she walked off, the rest of her family following meekly behind her.

Gabriella's grandmother came over and said, "Sweetie, I know you don't want to move to Inverness, but we'll figure something out. I'm just so sorry. I love the town, but I'm old, you deserve to live in a town full of life, plus your aunt is awful, no one should live with her. I'm sorry my son married her." With that she gave Gabby one last hug and went to get in the car for the three hour ride back to Inverness.

AN: Okay, so sorry I haven't updated in a couple days. I don't know what everyone believes in, but if you could at least have some positive thoughts, if not prayers for my dad, we just found out last night that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. It's not the worst thing that could happen, but it's tough, so yeah, just some happy stuff. Thanks! Read and review please!

Mollie XOXO