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Chapter 25: Divided

Gabriella awoke to something heavy on her stomach. The alarm clock rang nosily in her ears. She grabbed the pillow that her head was resting on and put it over her head, trying to drown out the annoying sound. It wasn't working. Deciding to roll over, she tossed the heavy weight from her stomach and positioned herself in a ball. Trying to distance herself from the sound. Again it wasn't working. Refusing to open her eyes she moaned out a response.

"Turn the God damn thing off Troy Alexander Bolton." She heard a grumbled response. And then silence. "Thank you." She muttered, she vaguely heard a 'no problem baby' as she drifted back off into a land of peaceful slumbers.

The door opened to Troy's bedroom. Lucy stuck her head inside and saw the two teens deep in sleep in the darkened bedroom.

"Troy, Gabi?" She asked.

"Go away." The response was simultaneous. Apparently they weren't deep in slumber, but they were definitely trying to get back to that place.

"It's time for school." Lucy informed them with a smirk.

"No it's not." They replied again in unison.

"Yes it is." Lucy smiled at their childish behavior.

She heard something indecipherable come out of her son's mouth as he rolled over and wrapped his arms around Gabriella's sleeping form, burying his head in deep into her tangled curls. Gabriella removed her head from underneath the pillow and turned over in Troy's arms, shoving her face into Troy's chest.

Lucy sighed, remembering the previous night. "I guess you're not going to school today."

"Later." Gabriella breathed out the response.

"Okay later." Lucy agreed.

"No never." Troy muttered unhappily.

"It's now or later." Lucy remained firm in her decision.

Troy moaned, "Fine later." He sighed, "But not now."

The bell rang and the Wildcats looked around uneasily. Troy and Gabriella were missing. Everyone stood still, no one wanting to leave their post by Gabriella's locker, near the front entrance of the school.

"Maybe they're already in homeroom." Martha looked around, trying to sound as confident as possible. It wasn't working.

"After what happened yesterday…" Taylor trailed off, afraid to finish her sentence.

"They had a fight babe, we all have fights. It's just what happens." Chad assured her.

"But she had a brother that none of us knew about." Kelsi quietly exclaimed.

"We should head towards homeroom." Zeke advised, taking Sharpay's hand and leading the way.

"What do you two know?" Ryan looked between Sharpay and Zeke.

"What do you mean?" Zeke asked. Sharpay's eyes remained focused ahead. She wasn't going to talk. But she knew something.

"Sharpay you're being awfully quiet." Jason pointed out.

"No I'm not." Sharpay shot back. The conversation ended as they walked into the quiet room and sat down. Slipping her phone out of her purse, Sharpay typed in a quick text, 'Where the fuck are you Boo?'

"Miss Evans?" Sharpay looked up to see a very unhappy Mrs. Darbus looking down at her, "Is that a cell phone?"

"No Mrs. Darbus." Sharpay's smile was sweet as pie, and her eyes were telling her it was Gabriella.

"Okay then." Darbus got the hint and quickly turned around. The room gaped at the two. Darbus hated cell phones, so why would Sharpay be able to get away with it.

Morning classes passed by and there was still no sign of Gabriella and Troy. The gang nervously looked at each other as they stood, once again, by Gabriella's locker ready for lunch. "Maybe they're just not coming in today." Ryan suggested. His eyes roving towards Zeke and Sharpay, who were in their own little conversation on the side.

"Sharpay, what's going on?" Zeke looked steadily down at his girlfriend.

Sighing, Sharpay ran a hand through her hair, "Don't tell Boo I told you and don't tell Troy you knew. He'll kick your ass." Zeke nodded, "Boo had a brother who died of cancer four years ago in April. His name was Michael. And the nightmares about her father have been back. She won't tell Troy because she doesn't want him to get distracted and lose focus before the big game." She took a breath, "There now you know."

"But he's losing focus by not knowing." Zeke paused "And what about Kyle?"

"She was telling the truth about that and I guess you guys will take care of it. I know he's not focusing, and he looked like he was going to single-handedly destroy Hong Kong yesterday when he heard her." Sharpay ran a perfectly manicured hand through her long blonde hair, trying to clear her head and get her thoughts together. "Let's go eat, I'm hungry, then maybe we can get a hold of them."

Zeke nodded, "Let's go to lunch." He interrupted the conversation that the rest of the gang was having and motioned to the cafeteria.

Ryan nodded absently and led the group away while he watched Sharpay and Zeke quietly talk up ahead.

"But I don't want to…" Troy whined as he sat on his bed pouting.

Gabriella sighed, "Well I'm sorry baby, but you have to." She walked over and sat on his lap. "We told Lucy that we would…"

"But can't we tell her no now?" Troy asked.

Gabriella giggled and shook her head 'no', "Sorry Wildcat."

Sighing Troy laid back, bringing his girlfriend with him, "But it's not fair…"

Giggling, Gabriella grabbed her phone off of Troy's nightstand, seeing a missed text, she swiftly opened it. Shaking her head she typed in, 'I'm trying to get Troy out of the house. We slept in. I'll tell you later, but he knows now.' She hit send, "Okay, Sharpay's expecting us. Move." Pulling out of his grip, she went to get ready herself.

30 minutes later, Troy was once again pouting, only this time it was in the car in front of the school, "Seriously dude, I'm going to kick your ass, let's go." Gabriella opened her car door and Troy reluctantly followed her lead.

Hand-in-hand the two walked to the front desk and checked themselves in late, before heading to their lockers to put their things away. Glancing at his watch Troy smiled and told Gabi it was time for lunch.

"Good, cause I'm starving." Gabriella gave Troy a wide smile as he tossed his arm over her shoulder. Raising her hand, she laced their fingers together before slipping her free arm around his waist.

Leaning down, Troy placed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lightly skimming over her soft skin. She sighed and leaned into him, "I'm glad you're hungry cause I haven't seen you eat a good meal in a while." Gabriella giggled and nodded her head, knowing it was true.

They pushed through the cafeteria doors and were met with silence. The couple that had been viciously fighting the previous day, and had been on edge for a week looked perfect. Eyes roved back and forth between the Wildcats and the King and Queen. The Wildcats looked relieved to see them. Giving the lunchroom a quick nod, Troy silently told them all to go back to their lunches.

As Troy and Gabriella sat down together, at their table in the center of the cafeteria they were bombarded with questions from their friends. "Quiet!" The table looked over at Sharpay who had her hands raised and her Ice Queen face on. "Leave them alone." Everything went quiet.

Kelsi glanced nervously at each person at her table, "Um, I'm just asking as a worried friend, but where were you guys this morning?"

Gabriella looked up at Troy, silently asking him not to tell anyone what really happened. "I got sick last night." Troy lied. "And El stayed up with me so my parents could rest since they both had early mornings." Gabriella offered him a small smile as a 'thank you'.

"Dude, will you be up for basketball today?" Jason asked, unaware of the lie.

"Sure thing dude, we gotta practice if we're going to beat West." Troy gave a shrug as if it were nothing.

"Right." Chad, Ryan, and Zeke said together. The Wildcats made awkward small talk for the rest of the lunch period. Everyone knew something was off about Troy and Gabriella. There was something that no one knew going on in their minds. Sharpay figured that Gabi had told Troy the truth.

Pulling out her cell phone she texted Gabi, 'You told him didn't you?'

Gabriella caught Sharpay's eye and saw her motion to her cell phone. Slipping her own out, she read over the text, 'Yeah, I had a nightmare last night and ended up telling Troy everything.'

'Bout time Boo'

'I know Pay, but not everyone knows right?'

'Zeke does'

Gabi's eyes shot up and narrowed at Sharpay's. "Sharpay, can I see you outside please?" Her voice was innocent, but Sharpay saw the anger floating across the bitter chocolate orbs.

"Of course Gabriella." She stood up and walked ahead of Gabi, who told the table they'd be right back before dropping a kiss on Troy's lips for Kyle and Meredith to see. "Okay, before you yell Boo, he cornered me. He knew I knew something and you know he's my only weakness."

"I cannot believe you told him when I asked you not to tell anyone! Sharpay!" Gabriella threw her hands up, "Now everyone's going to find out."

"No, Zeke won't tell and you know it. Plus everyone seemed to buy Troy's lie." Sharpay tried to calm the seething brunette down.

Taking a deep breath, Gabriella raked her hand through her hair, "I just can't believe you did that. I don't want anyone to know I'm having problems. I trusted you." Gabriella turned on her heel and walked back into the cafeteria.

Walking up to her table, she moved Troy's arm that was lazily draped on the red and white tabletop so that she could sit in his lap. "What's wrong El?"

Whispering in his ear she answered, "I told you that I'd told Sharpay about the nightmares right?"

"Right." Troy confirmed

"And I asked her not to tell anyone right?"

"Right."

"She told Zeke."

Troy remained silent. 'She'd tell Zeke, but she wouldn't tell me? I'm El's boyfriend if anyone had a right to know it was me!' He glared slightly at Sharpay as she sat down.

Sharpay looked at her lap and then up at Zeke. Reading her mind, he slipped an arm around her waist and sent a glare at Troy and Gabriella, telling them that they'd upset her.

"Cut the shit guys, what the fuck is going on with you four?" Taylor asked tiredly. She was sick of the lies and drama that came with Gabriella.

"Nothing." The four replied.

"That's bullshit. You know you three never kept secrets before," she stopped herself.

"Before what?" Gabriella asked, looking up from her spot in Troy's neck. No one moved. Taylor made no motion to respond. "Before what?" Gabriella felt Troy stiffen beneath her. "I asked you a question Taylor and I want an answer now."

Taylor looked up from her hands, her eyes narrowing at Gabriella's demanding tone, "Before you."

The air surrounding the table was thick with anticipation and fear. A fight was going to break lose. All eyes were wide as they looked back and forth between Gabriella and Taylor.

"Sorry to burden you Taylor. I'll just go." Gabriella pushed Troy's arms off her body and stood up. Brushing off her jeans and V-neck t-shirt, she gave a stiff nod before turning on her heel and walking out of the cafeteria. Everyone in the room jumped as the door slammed, but no one said a thing.

"She's right." Everyone at the table looked over at Martha.

"Excuse me?" Troy's voice was steady.

"We had no drama or problems before Gabriella." Martha pointed out.

"What's your point?" Sharpay asked. Her eyes narrowing and a scowl that could've made a living being drop dead formed on her pretty face.

"She's brought drama and chaos to our group, which is completely unnecessary." Taylor's voice was calm and loud. The cafeteria stopped what they were doing to watch.

Troy shook his head, "I can't believe I'm hearing this. It's El. She's the best thing that ever happened to any of us!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"Actually Hoops," Chad stopped for a second, "she's the best thing that's happened to you."

"Not just Troy, to me as well." She tossed Zeke a glance saying that she was just defending Gabriella that he also meant a lot to her.

"And me." Zeke stood up next to his girlfriend.

"I didn't realize you felt this way Martha." Ryan took a step back from Martha to go stand next to Troy.

All eyes gravitated towards Jason and Kelsi who had remained quiet. "Well?" The table chorused.

Kelsi and Jason looked at each other, "She has brought a lot of problems Jase." Kelsi whispered quietly.

Jason looked at her confused, "But it's Briella?" His voice was questioning, "She's a part of us."

Kelsi shook her head, "She's not an original Wildcat." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I don't think that matters." Jason said, moving next to Zeke.

The two sides looked at each other. The indivisible group was finally divided. And it was over Gabriella.

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Mollie XOXO