AN: Another long update. I know. Sorry. My personal computer is broken, and I'm not sure when I'll have it working again. Thanks to my reviewers. I love you all!
Strength
Chapter Six
The next morning Troy and Elizabeth were ten minutes early for school. As her father pulled into the parking lot, Beth looked in wonder at the front entrance. News vans from channels 6, 9, and 12 were parked there, and three camera crews were positioned nearby.
"Did someone spray-paint the Wildcat statue in the foyer again?" Beth wondered.
Troy furrowed his eyebrows. The reporters were gathered outside the building. One pointed at his car as he got out. "This has got to be one of the strangest things I've ever seen," he said vaguely. He took Beth's gym bag. "Stay with me."
As soon as he made his way for the school entrance, the reporters swamped him.
"Mr. Bolton, may we have an interview?"
"How does it feel to be reunited with your wife after all this time?"
Elizabeth was cut off from him. She knew that once they realized she was his daughter they would be sticking their microphones in her face too. She looked around for an escape route.
"Psst! Lizzie!" Elizabeth saw Ms. Neilson stick her head out one of the side doors. "Over here!"
Beth ran over, sighing with relief when the door clicked behind her. "Are you alright?" Ms. Neilson asked, patting her on the back.
"Yeah. That was just weird."
They made their way down the hall and towards the main entrance.
"Did you see your mom?" Ms. Neilson asked. Elizabeth nodded happily. "And?"
"She's wonderful, Ms. Neilson."
"Lizzie, we've known each other forever. Call me Kelsi, or 'Aunt' Kelsi if you prefer," she insisted.
"Alright- Kelsi," Elizabeth said awkwardly. Kelsi smiled and put an arm around Elizabeth.
"I can't wait to see her," she said as they rounded the corner. Troy and the principal were standing in the hallway ahead of them, just next to the un-defaced Wildcat.
"What is going on?" Beth asked.
"They want to know about your mother," Principal Guthrie said.
"Gabby's doctor said they might," Troy said. He turned to the principal. "I'm sorry. I expected lots of phone calls and emails, not hounding at work. I'll be talking to the police immediately."
"A right to privacy outranks freedom of press, and our students deserve a place to learn where distractions are minimal," she agreed. "You can use the telephone in my office."
Troy put his arm around Elizabeth, giving her a quick squeeze.
"If any of your teachers need a note, have them call over to my office and I'll send one," he said. Elizabeth nodded, and Troy went off with the other adults.
"See you at practice," she called after him.
Elizabeth shouldered her book bag and walked to English class. Brooke was already there, sitting sideways in her seat. She was wearing a black shirt and jeans, and Beth could only assume that she was mourning the loss of Jonny Feldman. She smiled sympathetically, turning down the aisle that their desks were in.
"Miss Bolton, may I speak with you?" Mrs. Grier called. Elizabeth turned back to the teacher's desk.
"Yes ma'm?" she asked pleasantly.
"Do you have a note for your unexplained absence yesterday?"
"My dad said to-"
"You are not exempt from the rules just because your father works at the school, Miss Bolton," the teacher interrupted.
"But Mrs. Grier-"
"No 'buts' Elizabeth. Here is your detention slip for today. You will continue to earn detentions until I have a note. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'm," Elizabeth said again, this time in a different tone. Then she remembered that she was supposed to visit her mother right after school. "May I please serve this detention another day? My mother just woke up from a coma, and I am supposed to be at the hospital-"
"Would you ask a cop to arrest you another day? Of course not. Crime is followed by consequences, Miss Bolton. Please take your seat so that class may begin."
Elizabeth's cheeks flushed and she turned around. Brooke shot her a compassionate look as she walked over to her seat. She got all the way there before she noticed the very cute boy who occupied her chair.
"I'm sorry. Is this your desk?" he drawled, brushing wisps of blond hair out of brilliant green eyes. His voice was musical. Something about him made butterflies swirl around in her stomach.
"No, it's okay. I'll sit over here," Beth said, moving towards the seat behind Brooke. Old Lady Grier told the class to take out their copies Beowulf. Most of the class had not finished reading it, but Elizabeth had. So instead of reading, she pulled out her silenced cell phone and sent a text to Brooke.
WHO is that?
A reply came almost instantly.
Daniel. Tall. Dark. Mysterious. New Kid.
LOL why didn't u tell me?
my life sux
o. jonny iz a losR
There was a reply, but Elizabeth didn't get to see it, because an age-spotted hand reached for her cell. The phone was in the pocket of Mrs. Grier's sweater before Beth could even blink. Brooke's phone went right behind hers.
On the way out of the classroom, Old Lady Grier called the two over to her desk, and handed them each a detention slip.
"Having a difficult week, aren't we Miss Bolton? Your parents can pick your phones up in the office."
…..
As Taylor made her way down the corridor of the Highland Clinic, she stuck a pink "visitor" sticker onto her shirt. When she reached one of the last rooms, she stopped and looked inside.
Gabriella was sitting up in bed while a redheaded nurse drew blood. The nurse finished up and came into the hallway.
"Are you here to see Mrs. Bolton?" she asked Taylor.
"Yes, I am," Taylor said with a big smile.
"Do you know when Troy Bolton will be coming again?" the nurse asked dreamily. Taylor didn't like the look on her face.
"Sorry; I'm not sure," she said, noting that the nurse's name was Maggie. Maggie shrugged and continued on her way. Taylor shook her head. She hated when women flirted with married men, but it irritated her even more given Troy and Gabriella's circumstances.
Dismissing these thoughts to ponder later, she peeked into the room again. Gabriella was flipping idly through the television channels. Her lunch sat before her, mostly untouched.
"Hey Sleepy-Head," Taylor said cheerfully. Her friend dropped the remote and grinned up at her.
"Taylor! It's so good to see you!"
Taylor hugged her small frame with all her might. "Sorry to interrupt your soap operas."
"Please interrupt. I have no idea what is going on in any of them anymore," Gabriella said. "And I don't think that I could handle another bite of this hospital food."
Taylor looked down at her friend's meal. "You'd think with all this place charges Troy they could afford better food," she commented. "Yet my husband would eat it without a second thought."
Gabriella grinned.
"Troy said you and Chad have sons. I want to hear all about them." Taylor pulled a large photo album out of her bag.
"I thought you would," she said, flipping to a page near the beginning. "Three years ago, we got ambitious and decided to make a trip to Disneyland. That's Jack; he's eight now. I also have Jacob, but he's only eighteen months old, so he wasn't even thought of yet."
Gabriella pulled the book onto her lap.
"Troy and Beth went too," she stated, pointing to one of the pictures. "Was it fun?"
"Tons of fun," Taylor said with a nod. "Troy's parents came along, and so did Lizzie's friend Brooke and her family. I think we should make another trip, though, now that you can come along, Gabby."
Gabriella paged through the book. From time to time she would make a comment or ask a question, and Taylor did her best to fill her friend in.
"There's a lot of pictures of my family in here," she said when she finished.
"Well, Chad and I spent a lot of time with Troy after your accident. He had a hard time picking up the pieces, and we felt like good friends should be there." Gabriella's eyes glistened with tears.
"Thank you."
…..
During free period, Elizabeth went to the gym to make up some of the practices she'd missed. She probably should have tried to serve her detentions, but she was still upset about getting them in the first place.
To her surprise, none of her teammates were in the gym. However, it wasn't empty; the new boy was shooting baskets.
"That was a great shot," Elizabeth said after he'd sunk one.
"Um. Thanks. I didn't know you were there." She smiled.
"My name is Elizabeth Bolton."
"I'm Daniel Cunningham. Well, Danny," he said.
"It's nice to meet you, Danny," Beth said, extending her hand. He shook it with a grin. "So do you play a lot of b-ball?"
"I was on the team back in Wisconsin," he said. "We were the Bear Creek Beavers."
"What brings you to Albuquerque?" Beth asked, collecting the ball from where it lay near the net.
"My parents just got divorced and my mom decided she needed a change. She has a friend from high school that works at National Hospital, and he got her a job there. So here we are."
Elizabeth wasn't sure what to say to that.
"How about some one-on-one?" she suggested at last.
"Depends," he said lightly. "Are you any good?"
"Decently," she replied, starting to dribble.
Fifteen minutes later, Elizabeth had worked up a sweat. Danny was a very good basketball player, but he was still two points behind her.
"You're quite modest, Bolton," he said when she'd won. "You're a lot more than 'decently' good."
"It runs in the family," she said with a grin.
"It sure does." Beth and Danny both startled at the sound of the new voice. Neither one had noticed that Chad was observing them from the sidelines. "Her father and grandfather were both East High Wildcat Champions."
"Hi, Uncle Chad," Elizabeth said.
"Hi, Lizzie," he replied. "Mind introducing me to your talented new friend?"
"Oh, sure. This is Daniel Cunningham from Bear Creek, Wisconsin. Danny, this is Chad Danforth. He's a former L.A. Laker, my father's best friend, and the coach of the boys' basketball team here at East High."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Danny said.
"You're talented, Danny. I hope we see you at try-outs next season."
"You can be sure of that, Sir," Danny replied. Chad gave him a light-hearted grin, then turned back to his surrogate niece.
"Your dad was looking for you. Seems he got an unpleasant email from Old Lady Grier…"
Elizabeth groaned. Danny just looked amused to be hearing Mrs. Grier's nickname from a school authority figure.
"Tell him I'll explain later," she said. "After detention but before we go see Mom."
"Will do," he said, tossing a basketball over his shoulder. He made the basket.
"So do you have lunch 1 or 2?" Beth asked Danny. He pulled a crumpled schedule from his pocket.
"One. Then I have chemistry. Ick." He made a face to show his disgust.
"Ick is right," Beth agreed, sticking out her tongue. "What room are you in?"
Danny glanced at his schedule again. "Room 274, with Mr. Escalona."
"I'll be there. My friend Brooke and I have the same class."
"Brooke… the goth girl?" he asked.
"She's not goth; she's just…dramatic," Elizabeth said in defense of her friend. "Yesterday a guy she really likes decided to talk to another girl. It kind of devastated her."
"Speaking of drama… you said your mom was in a coma?"
"Yeah, well I thought she was dead," Elizabeth said softly. She was in a car accident a few days before my first birthday. Then she woke up a couple days ago, and I met her yesterday."
"That's a pretty cool story," Danny said. "So I guess you and your dad are close."
"Yeah. We're all each other had," Elizabeth said. "Listen, I have to go change, but why don't you sit with me and Brooke at lunch. I've never been the new kid, but it doesn't sound like fun."
"It's not that bad; I mean, I've got such a pretty tour guide."
Beth blushed. "See you at lunch."
…..
"So what about the others?" Gabriella asked after she and Taylor had been talking for awhile. "What happened to them?"
"Well Ryan has been producing Broadway plays for four years now. He's up for a Tony award. He is engaged to this pretty little singer that he discovered last year. They're really cute together.
"Sharpay is still a diva. She married Zeke about two years ago, and she's due to deliver her first daughter in a few weeks. Zeke opened a bakery in New York and that's doing quite well. Right now they're staying at Lava Springs until the baby comes. Zeke thought New York City is too busy and noisy for Sharpay while she's pregnant.
"Kelsi is going to marry Jason in May, and then they want to have a baby. She's been teaching drama and music at East High for ten years."
"It sounds like everyone is doing so well," Gabriella said with a sigh. "I can't wait to see them all."
"Well they can't wait to see you either," Taylor assured her. She leaned over to hug Gabriella. "Listen sweetie, I have to go pick up my boys from daycare and school. I'll come back when I can."
"The doctor said I'm going to be released tomorrow afternoon."
"Then I'll visit you at home," Taylor insisted. "Maybe we can throw you a big 'catch-up' party next weekend."
"I might like that," Gabriella said with a smile. "Bye,Tay."
"Goodbye Gabby!"
She had an idea. Taylor walked out of the door and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed Troy's number, then pressed a button on the Bluetooth that was in her ear. It rung twice before he answered.
"Bolton here," he said in greeting.
"Hey, Troy," Taylor said, getting into her car. "Gabriella said she's going to be released tomorrow. Are you excited?"
"I feel like a kid at Christmas," he admitted.
"I was thinking that we should get the gang together sometime to see her. I thought it would be best to wait until next week, but what do you think about tomorrow night?"
"I think she'd love that," he said. Taylor heard a smile in his voice. "I'm going to pick her up at about four tomorrow."
"So I'll call everyone and let them know to be at your house around six-thirty, seven o'clock?" she said, sealing a time.
"Sounds perfect," he said. "Listen, Old Lady Grier gave Beth two more detentions today. I have to go try and get her out of them. I'll talk to you later, though. We have to figure out what we're going to do about food."
"Leave all the details to me. You just focus on your family, and bring Gabby home on time. Okay?"
"Promise," Troy said. "Bye Taylor."
…..
"I don't know about this," Troy said. Elizabeth grinned up at him.
"It's only twenty minutes, Dad," she said. Her father had confronted Mrs. Grier, and the old lady had decided that she would let Elizabeth out of her two forty-minute detentions, if she and Troy each served twenty minutes that afternoon.
"Your mom is going to be waiting for us," he said.
"And you'll have an interesting story to tell her," Elizabeth countered. Troy sighed.
"At least I don't have to probe the mounting evils of cell phones," he mumbled.
"Don't be so sure, Bolton," Kelsi said from nearby. She pointed to Elizabeth and then to a candelabra and a bucket of gold paint. "You paint," she instructed before turning to Troy. "Paint or glue?"
"He wants to glue," Elizabeth answered for him. "He can't paint to save his life."
"Hot or super?" Kelsi asked.
"Not super," Elizabeth said. "We don't need another puzzle glued to the coffee table."
"It's unique," Troy insisted. "And I can too paint."
"That's why Bradley got painted when you tried to redo my bathroom. I had the only green cat in the neighborhood."
"It brought out the green in his eyes," Troy said with an easy grin.
"Follow me," Kelsi instructed merrily. "I think the staple gun is relatively harmless."
"I wouldn't count on it," Beth whispered as her father passed by. Troy balled up his detention slip and launched it at his daughter.
"Missed me," she teased, getting to work on the candelabra.
"Boltons," Kelsi said, shaking her head in mock frustration.
Troy and Elizabeth shared a grin. "That we are."