Okay, what can I say? A thousand apologies for the loooooong delay! Thanks so much to everyone who has been waiting so patiently for this update! I hope you enjoy it :)
Thanks as always to my fantastic beta Lela-of-Bast, you're the best hon!
A Family Affair – Chapter 6
Gabriella gazed out of the window, staring at her fellow students, envious that they could continue their lives carefree. To them, this was just any other day. Gabriella obviously knew differently.
As ever, her thoughts turned to Troy. She wondered what he was doing and if he was thinking about her. Above all, she prayed that he would be safe, wherever he was.
She was sitting in her and Troy's special place; the greenhouse. Sitting there now, she was dangerously close to tears. At least, in the little hideaway, she could feel close to Troy. She shut her eyes and pictured him sitting beside her, holding her hand and smiling at her.
She covered her face with her hands and allowed silent tears to fall. She had missed two classes already and knew eventually her absence would be spotted and she would be hunted down. Quite possibly her mother would be called and she would get into serious trouble for skipping lessons but she didn't care. All she wanted was Troy. And of course, there was that nagging doubt about their fight last night, how she had just let him leave. If they hadn't had that pointless argument, would Troy be missing now?
In her heart, she knew the truth. She had let Troy down when he needed her the most. Would she get the opportunity to make yesterday up to him?
Gabriella was so lost in her own musings that she didn't hear the footsteps on the ladder or notice that she was no longer alone on the balcony.
The newcomer coughed softly. Gabriella looked up abruptly, almost expectantly, but she could only smile regretfully when she saw Chad standing over her, waiting.
"You startled me, Chad," she said with a sigh.
"Sorry," he told her. "I guessed I'd find you up here."
Gabriella was surprised. "I didn't know you or the guys knew about Troy's quiet place?"
Chad glanced around and then nodded. "You kidding? Troy can't keep anything from me." He paused. "That's what best friends are for," he added quietly.
Gabriella got carefully to her feet and wiped at her eyes. She knew how red and swollen they must look but she didn't care. Every time she tried to stop the tears, more came, with a vengeance.
"You skipped math," Chad pointed out. "Didn't think you'd ever do that!"
Gabriella glared at him. "School doesn't seem so important when the guy you love has been kidnapped!"
She went to barge past Chad but he held out a hand, restraining her escape. Gabriella glared at him.
"Look, I'm going back to class, okay? You can move now!"
Chad stood perfectly still, simply watching her.
It hurt him to see her so scared, so upset. Noting how she was just barely managing to hold it all together, Chad wrapped his arms around Gabriella and pulled her close to him. Glad of the contact, Gabriella wept on his shoulder. Finally there was someone who understood how terrified she was, and how useless she felt. It felt good to share the burden, if only for a short time.
It wasn't as if any of them could hope for any sympathy from Troy's own father!
"It's all my fault, Chad!" Gabriella sobbed.
Chad shook his head firmly. "Don't be crazy. How could it be?"
"You don't understand," she continued, pulling away and turning her head away. "If I hadn't pushed Troy away last night, he'd be here with us now and everything would be normal!"
Chad was perplexed.
"Gabriella, what..." he began but she cut across him.
"Last night! We were supposed to be having a romantic night in. It was our anniversary. I knew Troy wanted too... you know... but I was nervous and I couldn't."
She stopped, her face turning crimson. She was pleased Chad couldn't see her embarrassment. The young man didn't interrupt her; he just waited patiently for her to continue.
"We had a stupid fight and he left. Chad, I didn't even try to stop him. I knew he was upset but I thought he'd be fine if I gave him time to cool off. It must have been right after that when he was grabbed. If I hadn't been such a bitch, he'd be here now..."
Chad was stunned. Gabriella had been torturing herself with this all morning with no one to help her? Well, now she had someone, he decided.
The Wildcat walked up to the crying girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Still, she couldn't look at him.
"Gabriella, none of this is your fault."
She shook her head forcibly. He was trying to be kind but she knew he didn't mean it, not really.
"What if they hurt him, Chad?" She choked out. "Where is he?"
"Gabriella." When she ignored him, Chad turned her around, forcing her to face him. His grip was firm, but gentle. "Babe, listen to me."
Her eyes met his. He wiped her tears away in a friendly gesture. She was glad of it. Right then, she needed someone to be on her side.
"You didn't make this happen. Whoever these people are, they would have taken Troy at their first opportunity and it would have come eventually, no matter how long it took. Yeah, you guys had a row but you're not the first couple to yell at each other! Ask Taylor!"
At that, Gabriella couldn't help but smile. At the mention of her best friend's name, she suddenly backed away.
"Oh no! Taylor! She has no idea what's happening."
"It's okay; I spoke to her just now. It was her who told me you didn't show in Math. She's worried about you." A beat. "We both are."
"What did you tell her about Troy?" Gabriella demanded.
Chad frowned. "That he's missing. That's the official line, right?" He shrugged. "You know Taylor though, she's so smart. She worked out there's more to it then Troy wandering off and needing some alone time." He looked down. "I didn't tell her anything though, for Troy's sake. The fewer people who know the better, I figured."
Gabriella nodded. "We don't want people rushing about and panicking."
Chad grunted at that. "Can't ruin the Coach's big game."
He looked away. Gabriella understood.
"He's still refusing to believe anything's up?"
It was now Chad's turn to well up. He kept his eyes averted, not wanting Gabriella to see his tears. "He won't listen to me. He's throwing everything into the match."
Gabriella nodded. "That's his way of dealing, I suppose."
Chad snapped round. "Dealing? Troy's been kidnapped! We need Coach Bolton to call the police, to get things moving! I thought he was such a cool guy, you know? I had total respect for him. Not anymore."
Gabriella slipped her hand around Chad's.
"We should go. Taylor will be worried – and I owe her an explanation."
Chad smiled. "You owe her? She'd my girl and I lied to her."
Gabriella glanced at him in surprise. "That's official now is it? You and Taylor?"
Chad shrugged, embarrassed. "As far as you're concerned. Can you keep it between us though? Just for now? I kinda wanted Troy to be the first person I told..." He lost his words, unable to finish his sentence.
Gabriella squeezed his hand. "You'll still get the chance, Chad. We'll find him."
"Why you so sure, Montez?"
"Because I know Troy."
They hugged, each taking much needed comfort from the other. The secret they were both sharing and the pain of it was becoming too much for both of them. At least they had each other to lean on.
"Gabriella!" A shrill voice made the two friends separate immediately. They gazed at each other, stunned.
"Hey, Gabriella! Are you and Troy up there?" The voice grew impatient. "Is your boyfriend hiding from me? I've been looking for him all morning."
Gabriella let out a big sigh.
"Sharpay," she moaned softly, so only Chad could hear. "That's all I need."
He gave her a sympathetic smile as he watched her climbing down the ladder, ready to face Sharpay and her madness. With a heavy heart, he slowly began to climb down after her.
Gabriella reached the bottom of the steps and turned to face Sharpay. The blond girl was wearing her usual pompous look, one hand pressed to her side as she glared at Gabriella, obviously annoyed.
Gabriella could only imagine what terrible troubles had befallen Sharpay that morning.
For some reason, Gabriella was having trouble mustering up any pity for the other girl.
Gabriella looked behind Sharpay and saw her brother, Ryan, leaning against a wall. He gave Gabriella a nod and a kind smile. Gabriella liked Ryan. He couldn't help who his family was, after all.
"Where's Troy?" Sharpay demanded.
"Nice to see you too, Sharpay." Gabriella replied with a sigh.
Sharpay tossed her hair, her aggravated stance strengthening.
"Give up the little princess act, Gabriella. I really want to talk to him but no one has seen him. Where is he?"
"I don't know." The other girl replied, quite truthfully.
Sharpay let out a high giggle.
"Oh please. Every one knows you've got Troy on a close leash. You never let him out of your sight. What, you afraid if he's on his own for more then five minutes he'll realize how much better he could do?"
Gabriella swallowed hard. Chad moved closer to her and put his arm round her. Sharpay saw this action and she smiled knowingly.
"Oh, okay then. I get it. That's why you don't know where Troy is!"
Chad took a step towards Sharpay but Gabriella grabbed his arm, giving him a warning look.
"Sharpay! That's enough!"
Ryan had stepped between Sharpay and Gabriella.
"Stay out of this, Ryan."
"No. Gabriella obviously doesn't know where Troy is. Maybe you should go look elsewhere?"
Sharpay eyed her brother. She knew she was outnumbered and couldn't hope for Ryan to back her up. Not anymore.
With one last flick of her hair and a scathing look aimed at Chad and Gabriella, the spoiled girl turned on her high heels and marched off. Before she was out of earshot though, they all heard her say to a group of ogling freshman: "You all know Troy Bolton right? Well, that's his soon-to-be ex, Gabriella Montez. Seems he's had enough of her. I can't think why. Maybe it's because of how close she is to his soon-to-be ex best friend, Chad. Why don't you kiddies go spread that around for me? That's just peachy!"
She looked back at her brother, Chad, and Gabriella and gave them a little wave.
"Toodles!"
Then, she was gone.
Ryan gave the others a small smile of resignation. "I'm sorry. There's nothing to be done about her."
Chad clapped him on the back. "We know man. And we know it's nothing to do with you."
Gabriella smiled warmly at him and squeezed his arm.
"We can't choose our relatives, Ryan."
Ryan shook his head. "She's not all bad, you know."
Chad didn't look so sure and Gabriella thought it best to stay silent.
Chad jerked his head to Gabriella and she nodded.
"Anyway, we've gotta go. We'll see you later, Ryan."
He nodded and as they went to take their leave of him, he said; "Is Troy okay?"
They both froze. Seconds later, the fake smiles were plastered on their faces.
"Sure," Gabriella replied.
"Everything's cool," Chad offered.
Ryan smiled politely and nodded. "Okay, good. If you guys need my help or just want to talk or anything, come find me, alright?"
They glanced at each other, unsure.
Gabriella, head bent, hurried down the corridor, leaving Chad and Ryan alone.
"Troy's missing isn't he?" Ryan whispered to Chad, looking towards Gabriella.
Chad frowned. Ryan was smart but that was just too easy. More people were going to find out. Troy was the most popular guy in school; his disappearance would spread like wildfire and there was nothing they could do.
"How long?" Ryan enquired.
"Since last night." Chad responded, quietly.
Ryan sighed. "If there's anything I can do..."
"Thanks man." Chad interrupted, his eyes again on Gabriella's quickly retreating back.
"Better stick with her, Chad. She needs you right now."
With one last small smile, Chad rushed off after Gabriella, leaving Ryan to stare after him, already deeply concerned for the missing Troy. Ryan decided he would watch Chad and Gabriella closely. If and when they needed his help, he'd be there for them, and for Troy. He was, after all, a Wildcat now, wasn't he? Time for him to prove it, to them and to himself.
He wasn't Sharpay's shadow anymore.
TBC