Author's Note: These few chapters are when everyone is finding out about Troy and his dad so as many as three a chapter (maybe even more) will find out. Thanks! Read on!

Chapter Six: Like a Slap to the Face

Chad covered his mouth with his hands to stifle even his shallow breath. As quietly as he could, he backed up and made his way back down the staircase. He dared not make a noise as he stepped on the creaky stairs and got to the landing. Very suddenly, a loud cry emitted throughout the house.

Curiosity gripped him, and he just had to make his way back up the staircase. Stealthily, he climbed up the stairs, doing his best to avoid the stairs that moaned once pressure was applied to their old boards. Chad inaudibly stood back in front of the ajar door and strained his ears to listen.

"You told someone?" Mr. Bolton asked, sending another sharp kick into Troy's side. Chad could hear Troy groan and saw his face twist into a grimace. Very slowly, Troy's eyes fluttered open and widened upon the sight of Chad's face appearing in the crack in the door.

"I didn't tell anyone, Dad," Troy moaned, his eyes darting to signal Chad that he had to move out of the way of the door for he was in plain sight. He flipped onto his back so that he could look his dad straight in the eyes. "They figured it out."

"Who?" Mr. Bolton demanded, once again stabbing Troy in the chest with his foot. Troy gave a slight moan and bit his lip, shaking his head. "I said who, Troy!" Once again, Troy just shook his head and braced himself for the pain. Mr. Bolton pulled Troy roughly to his feet and shoved him to the door. Troy stumbled forward but stopped himself from falling again. "Now, why don't we let Mr. Danforth inside?"

----

Troy slowly opened up the door and gave his friend a very petrified look, afraid of what was going to happen. Chad took shaking steps in the room and Troy shut the door behind him indolently, delaying the time as much as possible. Jack followed Chad with his piercing eyes as Chad made his way to sit on Mr. Bolton's unmade bed.

"So, I'm assuming Chad has no clue, considering the idiotic look on his face?" Mr. Bolton sneered, looking at Chad with absolute disgust. Troy shook his head and looked at his feet; this was all his fault and now Chad was probably in trouble, too. He could stand himself getting hurt but when one of his friends were injured at his expense, he would do anything to get them out… even the stupid decision he makes at the end of this conversation.

"So, Troy," Mr. Bolton said mockingly, moving dangerously close to Troy's face. "Who does know, huh? Is it that little Hispanic slut?"

"Her name is Gabriella!" Troy said boldly. "And lay off her, all right? She hasn't done anything to you!"

"So who knows, Troy?" Jack said, returning to his mocking tone. "Enlighten me."

Troy gulped and said, "None of your business."

"On the contrary," Jack sneered. "This is every bit of my business. Now tell me or I'll-"

"You'll what, Dad?" Troy asked with a bitter laugh. "Beat me? Oh, there's a surprise."

"Beat your friend, actually," Jack said, a malicious smile curled on his lips. Chad froze, unsure of what to do. Jack advanced on him and Troy jumped in front of Chad and said, "Don't touch him."

Jack chuckled and said, "Touching, Troy, really touching. You can defend your friend, but to yourself, you're worthless." Troy watched him, his eyes blaring with hatred as his father continued to talk. "You're pathetic! You'll never amount to anything, you worthless-"

But what it was about Troy that was so worthless, we'll never know because Troy had reached out and punched his dad square in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Troy turned to Chad and said shakily, tears spilling down his face, "Go! Get out of here!"

"Troy…" Chad said, not moving from his position. "What did you do?"

"What are you waiting for?" Troy asked, still crying. "Go! Hurry!"

"We need to…"

"No!" Troy shouted. "Chad, get out of here and go home. I don't want you here when he wakes up."

"Have you even…"

"Chad!" Troy shouted, frustrated. He wiped the tears off his cheek and said, "Do you know how much trouble I'm going to be in for that? Just get out of here!"

Chad dashed out of the room, thundering down the stairs, and made it to the car panting heavily. He then threw Troy's car keys onto the porch and heard it land on the front stoop with a clang. He jumped in his car and sped off towards home and for the rest of the weekend, didn't speak a single word.

----

Troy ran a hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. He knelt down next to his father's face and checked for any signs of blood or bruises. He vaguely wondered why he even cared to look. His father never did the same for him. Without another moment's hesitation, Troy carefully lifted his father onto the nearby bed with a small amount of difficulty.

He walked to the doorway and looked back with a heavy sigh and an aggravated shake of his head. Troy flipped off the light switch and shut the door with a tiny click; not wanting to face his father's vengeful wrath was he awoke from his unconscious sleep. He considering leaving but that would only make things worse when he came back; this he learned the hard way.

So Troy Bolton walked down and sat on his living room couch, waiting for the sure beating he was going to receive for his awful decision.

Troy found that he couldn't sleep, knowing what was lying ahead, so he grabbed his backpack from his room and lugged it down the staircase, hardly letting it touch his back. He dropped it heavily on the floor, letting its thud resound through the lower level of his house. He cursed himself for being so tactless and unzipped his backpack slowly, letting its grating noise fill his tired ears. Troy pulled the newest script by Kelsi, A Day in the Life of Rick Resnick, and opened the first page, letting his new life swarm in front of his eyes.

Maybe that was why Troy liked acting so much. He played a new part; he had someone's life. He was someone, anyone but himself and to be able to escape this hellhole he called his life was okay. Even if it did mean his new name would be Rick Resnick.

----

Jack Bolton groaned and rolled over onto his back, rubbing his gently throbbing head with his strong hands. He blinked, his eyes getting used to the darkness, and sat up. Jack's head pounded with pain as he slowly rubbed it in vigorous circles. Jack began to wonder how he got on the bed in the first place; he didn't go to sleep here.

The memories flooded over him in a giant wave: Chad looking through the crack in the door, Troy screaming at Jack, Troy's fist flying at the side of his head…

Jack let out a howl of rage and screamed, "Troy!"

He pounded down the stairs, his feet straining to get to his son as fast they could carry him. He shouted Troy's name again and stopped, still as a statue, on the landing. Troy was sitting on the couch, reading what looked to Jack to be a huge stack of white paper that was filled with typed out words. Troy looked over at his dad and sighed, shutting his script carefully. He set it on the coffee table in front of him and stood up, smoothing out the fake wrinkles on his jeans and said, "Are we ready?"

Jack stared disbelievingly at his son. How dare he be so damn calm about it! Jack walked over, his long strides getting him over to his unmoving son in seconds. He looked Troy in the eye and asked, "Are you mouthing off to me?"

Troy shrugged. "Sorta. Yeah."

"Why you little…"

"Now think before you finish that statement," Troy interrupted. "Is that really necessary?" Troy decided that he should have some fun: he'd be beaten either way.

"How dare you speak to me that way!"

"How dare you beat me!"

Jack stared daggers into Troy's calm, collected face. Troy gave a smug smile and said, "Can we hurry up? I have to go somewhere in-" he checked his watch. "Eight hours."

Jack circled Troy, has hands latched behind his back. Troy yawned and looked at his watch again. He loved making his dad mad. It brought a speck of joy in his dull, dull life. Jack growled at Troy, "You do realize how much trouble you're in?"

Troy nodded, a childish grin spread across his face. "Yup!"

Jack let out an aggravated howl and punched Troy square in the jaw. Troy stumbled but looked but up at his father, his face now grave and serious. "Oh, so now you stop talking?" Jack asked mockingly. Troy didn't speak, instead he looked ahead austerely, eyes darkened in pain.

Jack let out a chuckle and shoved Troy to the ground… well… tried to shove Troy to the ground. Troy planted his feet firmly into the ground and smiled as his father struggled to push him over. Jack then swung his leg up and kicked Troy hard in the back of the knees and Troy buckled to the ground with a yell.

"That's what I thought," Jack whispered evilly in Troy's ear. Troy then brought himself up painfully and stared his father right in the eye, shaking his head. He said, "I don't know what makes you think this is right, Dad."

Jack's face softened for a brief moment and Troy thought he saw a change in his father that he never thought possible before. He was wrong. Jack let out a howl of rage and shoved Troy so that Troy fell back towards the kitchen. Troy, caught off guard, fell flat on his back on the wooden floors. He pushed himself backwards with his elbows and heels as Jack advanced on him.

Jack's leg was brought back and Troy shut his eyes tightly, bracing for the pain. He felt a sharp kick in the side and heard a resounding pop go through the kitchen. Troy moaned in pain and clutched his side tightly. He rolled onto his side for a brief moment and rolled back, his teeth clenched securely to block the pain, air slicing through his teeth.

Troy looked up at his dad, his hands still wrapped around his rib cage. Jack stared down with a looming air of rage and Troy continued to stare with a hatred so large that he was surprised it didn't burn a hole through Jack's skull. Jack nudged Troy with his foot and said, "Get up. Get up, you worthless little punk."

Troy scrambled helplessly to his feet, his hand clutching his chest. He then limped into a square position in front of the wide-open basement door. As you can imagine, it wasn't his best idea. Jack charged at Troy, shoving him roughly. Troy lost his balance and fell right down the open stairway.

Troy flipped head over heels smashing his back and head various times on the wooden steps that soon folded out into a concrete basement floor that stretched into a concrete basement wall, which Troy managed to smash into both.

He moaned, his entire body aching. He felt a trickle of blood run down the side of his face, which he took no care to wipe off. It slid down his cheek and dripped onto the floor, forming a tiny puddle next to his right ear. Troy breathed deeply, causing his insides to feel like they were splitting and straining and stretching against his rib cage and his now broken rib.

His back relaxed and he breathed in deeply once more. Then, the world faded slowly into black.

----

The weekend passed with flying colors and Monday came sooner than Troy had hoped; he had stayed at home all weekend, nursing his wounds that had hardly begun to heal. As soon as he got out of his car on Monday morning, he made his way into the school, hoping to avoid immediate confrontation with his friends.

To Troy's complete dismay, his father's flying fist had clipped the side of his face, blotching the skin purple and black. Luckily, it wasn't very noticeable… if you were on his left side, that is. So Troy's plan was to keep everyone on his left side the whole day.

Okay, so his planned sucked. Do you have a better one?

As Troy walked down the hall, he pushed on the tender bruise tentatively. He winced but kept moving, avoiding the looks on people's faces as they walked by him. As Troy passed the theater, a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and he was yanked inside. No one noticed his loud yelp in the confusion of the hallway.

The theater was dark; the lights had yet to be turned on. Troy whipped around and looked into the brown eyes of his attacker: Sharpay. Even though she was shrouded in the shadows, Troy could tell her make-up was pristine and her hair was absolutely flawless; she was perfect. The kind of guy he needed to be.

"Troy," Sharpay said, in a soothing, sad voice. She looked at the side of his face, her eyes obviously used to the dimmed light and graced it with a soft, manicured hand. "Come on. Let's get some make-up on that."

"Ryan told you, didn't he?" Troy asked Sharpay as she dug through her backpack to grab some stage make-up. Sharpay looked up at him with large, sad, brown eyes and shook her head.

"Chad told me this morning."

"Shar…" Troy began, but she cut him off, still searching through her backpack. "I think it's stupid, Troy. You should really tell someone."

"It's not that simple, Shar," Troy said exasperatedly as Sharpay pulled the make-up out of the bag. "If I told, he'd be gone forever. I can't do that to him."

"What will you be missing?" Sharpay asked, dabbing a bit on his face. "Your nightly beating?" Troy winced not only at the pain, but at the words, too. She was so… calm about it that it nerved Troy.

"He's still my dad, Shar," Troy said acidly. "I owe him something."

"Yeah," Sharpay snorted. "A 'Thank you for beating me, Dad! I really enjoy it!'"

"Sharpay, stop!" Troy growled, pulling away from the make-up. "I don't want you to come tell me how to run my life. I know what I'm doing and I know the price, okay? Don't come in here and act like you know what I'm going through because you don't, and I'm going to keep my mouth shut."

"I think you're ruining your life, Troy," Sharpay said, not taking in his words seriously.

"I don't think I asked you," Troy snapped indifferently. Sharpay looked taken back and stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. She was crying not only because Troy's words were so harsh, but also that the things being done to Troy were just so unfair. Troy's face fell and he pulled her into a hug whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm just… stressed."

Sharpay sat there, sniffling as he wrapped his arms around her. "Stressed or not, Troy, he's your father and he shouldn't be doing this to you." She pushed herself out of his embrace, grabbed her backpack and stomped out of the room, letting the theater doors swing shut behind her, swallowing Troy in the darkness.

----

Troy traveled down the hallway, lost in thought. The floor zipped under his feet as he moved. As soon as he lifted his head, he had wished dearly that he hadn't. His father was heading straight down the hall, making a beeline path for him. Troy opened his mouth but shut it again and decided to make a detour away.

He ran around a corner, looking over his shoulder for his promptly approaching father. Quickly, he dashed out of Jack's line of vision and fled to a large door that clicked open at his lightest touch. Troy ran through it and sprinted up the staircase, the concrete damp with the past few days rain.

He made it to the top and stopped abruptly, his feet grinding to a squeaking halt that the brunette paid no attention to. She was sitting with her back towards him, humming a song, and staring out onto the landscape that stretched below her.

Gabriella looked softly upon Troy's face and he stared at her, tears welled in his eyes. He sniffled and gave a weak smile, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah," Gabriella said, giving him the same look as before. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Troy said with a false nod.

"Okay," Gabriella said slowly, not believing Troy one bit. "Hey… we should catch a movie sometime this week."

Troy gulped. He had made a decision one of his restless nights (One that, I'm afraid, you readers will not enjoy), but he hoped that it wouldn't've arisen so soon. It wasn't even first period on Monday!

"Um, Gabi… about that," Troy said, walking over to the balcony part that overlooked the stairs. He rested his hands on the bar and took a deep breath, about to make one of the worst decisions of his life. "I don't think we should… see each other."

"What?" Gabriella breathed.

"Not yet," Troy added quickly. "Just… can we hold it off for a bit?"

Gabriella looked mortified at Troy, who didn't even turn in her direction. She walked up to him, tears forming in her eyes and she asked, "So that's it? After you- after… after you give me my first kiss, you decided to dump me like that?"

"Gabriella!" Troy said. "You have to understand me, I want to go out with you…"

"So why don't you?" Gabriella asked acidly.

Troy bit his lower lip. How do you say "I don't want to put you in danger of my abusive father" without letting slip the "I don't want to put you in danger of my abusive father" part?

"Not now, Gabi," Troy said with a sigh. "Later but not now. Believe me, I would date you now if I could… but…just… not now."

Gabriella looked at Troy and raised her palm. Troy saw it out of the corner of his eye and cringed so deeply that Gabriella paused. She lowered her palm and asked, "Troy…"

Troy gathered himself up and said, "Were you going to…"

"Yeah!" Gabriella said with a bit of defiance toning her voice. "And I'm going to finish it, too."

Gabriella slapped Troy hard across the face. Troy's face flipped to the side and his hand flew to his jawbone. He looked at Gabriella, his eyes filled with pure undeniable fear. Gabriella instantly felt sorry for what she had done and stared at her hand in horror. Troy opened and closed his mouth many times and tried to get words to form. In the end, he just shook his head and headed down the stairs. Troy stopped and looked up at her and said, "I thought you were better than that," before disappearing down the staircase.

"I did, too," Gabriella said, a tear spilling down her face. "I did, too."

Author's Note: You probably want to strangle me with my mouse cord right now. I understand, but I wouldn't considering you need me to finish the story. Tell me what you thought! It wasn't my favorite chapter but, I didn't despise it. Review por favor!