Author's Note: A flashback is going to be set off in Italics. Just a heads up. Please, all, I'm begging you. I love to hear that you're like my story but please, please, please, refrain from "This is good. Update soon!" Help me grow! Not stay the same! (copyright to DramaticStarlet) This chapter is dedicated to Kylaa who is my bestest reviewer. Thanks, Kylaa!
Chapter Eleven: His Last Hope
"Guys, I'm serious," Troy said, as Chad and Zeke (Jason remained missing in action) tried to get out of the car. They had just pulled into the Bolton's driveway; Mr. Bolton was coming home after a quick meeting with the referee. "Please, don't come in!"
"Troy, that's not going to work," Zeke said. "There's no way your dad will try anything with us all there."
"He tried it when it was just Chad and I," Troy snapped. The two others fell silent. "And Gabriella and I."
"But now we have three," Chad pressed on. "Come on! What's the worst that could happen?"
"Would you really like me to answer that?" Troy asked. Zeke and Chad threw him annoyed looks. "You know," Troy started sarcastically. "He has more than one belt… and more than one bed post."
"That wasn't funny," Chad said stiffly.
"I thought it was hilarious," Troy said jokingly as he walked up to his front steps. He dug a set of keys out of his gym bag and stuck one in the knob. He turned to his friends. "You guys can stay for a bit, but you have to leave before 2:15."
Zeke and Chad nodded, knowing perfectly that they were going to stay well past 2:15. Troy twisted the keys and swung open the front door widely. All three boys threw their bags onto the couch and stopped in the kitchen.
Troy opened the kitchen cabinet and fished around through the food until he grabbed out three bags of chips and a bag of pretzels. He turned to them, the brightly colored bags crinkling in his hands. "You think this will survive through the night?"
Chad and Zeke looked at each other and gave a laugh. "No!"
Troy shook his head. "I didn't think so."
"Would you stop being so loud?" A voice asked. "Some people are trying to sleep here!"
Just then, a woman clad in her pajamas padded into the kitchen, bathrobe billowing behind her, slippers padding against the floor. She put one hand on her hip and one on her very large stomach; she was very apparently pregnant. Troy almost dropped the food in surprise.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked, gathering himself up.
"Excuse me?" The woman asked angrily, her voice hitching higher. "What did you say to me?"
Zeke leaned over and whispered in Troy's ear, "Man, she's pregnant! You know how women can be when they're pregnant!"
"No," Troy whispered back. "No, I don't."
"Oh," Zeke whispered. "Well, they get really moody and lose their way pretty quickly."
"Why are we whispering?" Chad whispered to the two.
"I'm sorry, but what are you doing in my house?" Troy asked the woman.
The woman scoffed. "Your house? Your house?" She looked on the verge of hysterics. "This is my house!"
"Umm… No, I've lived here for fourteen years; I think I know what my house looks like," Troy retorted hotly.
"Oh!" The woman looked ecstatic that she had made a connection. "Are you Trey?"
"Umm… Troy," Troy answered. "Do you… know me?"
"I know your father," The woman replied. "What? He didn't tell you about me?"
"Umm… I'll just… call him and tell him you're here," Troy said, confused.
"Whatever."
Troy walked into the kitchen and dumped his bag onto the couch. The contents spilled onto the cushions and some skittered to the floor. Troy took no notice and fished for his cell phone. He finally found it hiding underneath an Ace Bandage and his warm up jersey.
"Dad?" Troy asked once his dad answered the phone.
"Yes, Troy?" Jack asked sweetly, as if he was concerned. Troy assumed there were other people in the room. "Is something wrong?"
"Umm… there's someone here to see you," Troy said, still utterly confused. There was a silence and Jack asked, "Who is it?"
Troy covered the mouthpiece with his chest and turned to the kitchen. "Who are you?"
"Cassidy Bolton."
"Cassidy B- what?" Troy turned to Cassidy. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that last bit."
"Didn't your dad tell you?" She asked, her eyes wide.
"No."
"We got married two days ago at City Hall," Cassidy explained.
"Oh," Troy said. "Okay." He turned to his phone. "Apparently it's my new mother."
"Oh. Tell her I'll be home in five minutes," Jack said.
"Is she even old enough to be legally married?" Troy asked, looking up and down at his stepmother. She looked young enough to be his sister with her bright blonde hair and piercing green eyes.
"Yes, Troy. She been twenty for two months now," Jack explained. "I'm really sorry but if you're not in any dire trouble, then I have to go. I'll see you soon."
"Okay. Bye, Dad."
"Bye, Troy. I love you," Jack responded.
"No, you don't."
But Jack had already hung up. Troy turned to his friends. They were both staring, open mouthed and wide-eyed. They mouthed like fish out of water, looking from Troy to Cassidy and back to Troy.
"So, Mommy…" Troy said sarcastically.
"You little brat! You will not speak to me that way and as long as you're under my roof, you will treat me with respect!" Cassidy demanded.
Troy gave his friends a look and responded, "First of all, it isn't your roof; you aren't paying for it. Second, you're three years older than me! You could be my sister! Speaking of sisters," He looked at her protruding stomach. "Please tell me that's not going to be my sister."
"It's not," Cassidy explained with a scoff. Troy let out a large sigh. "It's going to be your brother!"
Troy dropped his cell phone.
"Rainbow Sunshine will be born within the next month!" Cassidy explained excitedly. She turned to Chad and Zeke. "Isn't that exciting?"
"Oh, yeah," Zeke said, his mouth still part-way hanging open.
"Amazing," Chad said. There was a silence. "So, you're naming it Rainbow Sunshine Bolton?"
"My second choice is Lightning," Cassidy said, staring, bored, at her perfect nails.
"Lightning Bolton?" Troy asked, incredulously.
"Isn't it clever?" Cassidy asked gaily. The three boys nodded and stared at each other, awestruck. Cassidy cleared her throat and said, "By the way, Trey…"
"Troy," Chad corrected.
"Who cares?" Cassidy batted it away. "Umm, we need you to move into the basement. The baby is going to be in your room."
"But the basement is just storage," Troy said.
"But the baby can't live in the storage!" Cassidy said hotly.
"So, why doesn't the baby move into the guest bedroom?" Troy asked.
"Because!" Cassidy said. "Your room has the better view of the nice back yard! The guest bedroom has a view onto the street!"
"Why can't I just have the guest bedroom, then?" Troy asked, his head spinning. This was all happening so fast; his new mother moved into his house and she was three years older than him, also carrying his new baby brother who was going to take his bedroom away from him so he was stuck in the basement.
"Because, Jackie doesn't want you in there!" Cassidy explained, exasperated. At the word "Jackie", Chad started pantomiming getting sick behind Cassidy's back.
"The basement floods when it rains," Troy said.
"Well, maybe you can shove your face in the water and drown or something," Cassidy said madly. "You know, we really don't care; it'd make our life so much easier."
"Spoken like a true woman!" Jack said from the doorway.
Cassidy gasped and threw her arms in the air for a hug. "Jackie!"
"Cassie!"
They hugged and Mr. Bolton planted a kiss on her cheek. She giggled but then made a sour face. "Jackie, Troy was being mean to me!"
"Excuse me?" Jack whipped around to face Troy. Troy backed up, his back hit the counter corner and he urged himself not to moan out loud for he knew he was already in enough trouble.
"We're going to go up in my room now," Troy said quickly. All three boys turned to go up the staircase when Jack spoke. "They aren't."
"Why not?" Troy asked, his voice shaking.
"Because, I'm sure their parents expect them home," Jack said through gritted teeth.
"Nope."
"They don't."
"Well, Cassidy needs her sleep," Jack said. "You boys are really too loud when you are here."
"We'll be silent," Zeke promised.
"We learned sign language!" Chad said, moving his fingers in random directions, hoping he was making actual letters.
"No, I think you guys should leave," Jack said, shooting an angry glance at Troy. Troy stared at his friends desperately, silently pleading them to just go home.
"Oh!" Zeke exclaimed happily. "You guys can come to my house tonight!"
"Good idea!" Chad said.
"See ya, Dad!" Troy said happily, waving as he headed towards the front door. Troy ran as quickly as he could away from his father.
"Troy, where are you going?" Jack asked him.
"To Zeke's house," Troy said.
"Well, you can't go to Zeke's house without Zeke, can you?"
Troy groaned inwardly and spun around. Jack had a secure hold on Zeke's shirt. A pure look of terror twisted Zeke's features but he still said, "Go on without me. I'll be there in a minute."
"Umm… guys, I think my dad wants to spend quality time with me," Troy said. Jack was slowly releasing Zeke's shirt. "I'll call you later tonight to tell you all about it."
Chad and Zeke shot Troy worried glances and Troy urged, "We're going to watch a movie or something."
"Oh my gosh!" Cassidy squealed. "We should watch Material Girls! It's my favorite movie!"
"I don't think we have that one," Troy said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Cassidy looked wounded.
"I put it on the shelf yesterday!" Cassidy said.
"When were you here yesterday?" Troy asked, confused.
"Last night, you idiot!" Cassidy said, like it was obvious. Troy had a feeling that if a pregnant woman were walking around his house, he would remember it. "Um, I think you had just taken a shower or something because you were all wet but… it was like… just your head that was wet. What, do you like only wash your hair or something? That's kind of gross. I don't want my baby being near a boy as disgusting as that. But...anyway, you were like, on the ground asleep or something. That was rude, you know? You were right in front of the coffee! I really wanted a glass!"
"Right. I remember!" Troy said. "I fell asleep because I had taken a hot shower… with my head only… and I was tired… yeah, that's what happened."
Troy shot a glance at his friends; they weren't buying it.
---
Two hours later, Troy was on the phone with Zeke and Chad.
"Yeah, nothing happened," Troy said with a hitch in his voice. "We watched Material Girls; it's actually a pretty good movie."
"Troy, you can't be serious!" Zeke said. "I saw that movie with Sharpay! It was the worst thing I've ever seen!"
"No! It was good!" Troy said.
"What was it about?" Chad asked.
"I don't really remember; I fell asleep for half of it," Zeke lied. Sharpay had forced him to stay awake; he was checking to see if Troy was actually telling the truth. There was a silence that Troy was apparently supposed to fill in.
"Oh! It's about these two rich girls," Troy said. "And they lost all of their things in a fire that they started." Troy paused, trying to think of something to make up; these movies were all the same. It couldn't be hard. "They had to solve this mystery about their dead parent," The parent's death: always a must in Hollywood. "And then in the end, they get the money back."
Chad looked at Zeke who shrugged. That basically was the movie in a nutshell. Troy's breath caught and he let out a shuddering sigh. "Guys, I have to go; I might wake up Cassidy."
"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow at school," Zeke said.
"Meet us by the fountain in the front before first period," Chad said. Troy hardly let out his answer in fear of letting his voice crack. They hung up and Troy looked up, tears dripping down his face.
"Happy?" He asked.
"Very," Jack sneered.
---
Jack smiled at Zeke and Chad as he shut the door quietly behind them. Cassidy sneered at Troy from the doorway, crossing her arms over her chest. Troy sat on the couch, his body trembling. Jack slowly turned to his son, his smile faded away and was replaced with a look of hatred.
Troy waited for his father to speak or hit him- anything really. But instead, Jack walked into the kitchen and out of Troy's sight. Troy heard the refrigerator door snap open and the clattering glass bottles as they clinked together. Jack returned to the living room, an open beer bottle in his hand.
"Very sly, Troy," Jack snapped, after taking a swig of beer. "After what you did today, you thought that you could get away from me?"
Troy shook his head and stood up, getting ready to head for the nearest exit he could find. Jack stepped closer to him, took another long gulp of his drink, and spoke softly. "You're just so weak that you couldn't stay up until the game was over?"
Anger boiled in Troy's chest. "I'm sorry. Next time I pass out, I'll make sure to ask you if it's okay first!"
"I had an interesting talk with the referee, Troy," Jack cooed. He came even closer. "He told me that I should tell you not to joke about child abuse. Funny that that should come up, huh?"
"Hilarious."
Troy edged closer to the front door, hoping to find a moment to make his quick escape. Jack drained his beer, whipped his mouth off with his sleeve, and spoke with slurred voice, "Clever, Troy. You really are clever."
Troy nodded, a tad bit confused. "Yeah. Sure."
Jack looked dismally at his empty beer bottle, shot a look that plainly said "Stay here or you'll be sorry", and turned to the kitchen. Troy decided that he was going to be sorry and the moment that Jack turned his back, he dashed for the door.
It swung open at his lightest touch, as if sensing Troy's desperate need to escape. Troy jumped the first few steps and sprinted towards his car. He grabbed for the handle and pulled vainly, realizing that he forgot his keys; it was too late to go back now.
Jack's darkened figure stood in the doorway, his face blocked by the blinding pinprick of light from the porch lights flanking the front door. He made an incoherent babble and Troy decided to make a run for the backyard, knowing that once he jumped the back fence, he could take an easy route to Zeke's house.
Troy placed his hand on the fence about to hop it with ease (this was not the first time he'd made a break away out back) when he felt a strong hand grab the back of his shirt and yank him onto the ground. Troy's back hit the frozen ground with a thud.
Shit. He was caught.
Through the dark night, he heard his father's part way drunken laugh. A slice of moonlight fell onto the glass bottle in Jack's hand, the gleam poking Troy hard in the eyes. Troy tried to scream, hoping that someone would hear it but his words were caught in his throat; he was too terrified to let out even a whisper.
"Troy, you thought you could get away?" Jack asked. "That was quite stupid of you, wouldn't you say?" Troy turned his head back and forth looking desperately for a way to leave. He saw the next door neighbor's light snap on and a tiny figure's head stick up right above the windowsill. Troy blinked and hot tears fell down his face like dripping wax.
Troy watched as Jack pulled the bottle back, his arm extended over his head. Jack, being in a part way drunken state, missed aim and instead of smashing Troy square in the face, the bottle crashed down towards the right side of his face. Troy tried to roll away but only succeeded in having the bottle smash the left side of his face. The bottle shattered and he let out a blood-curdling scream.
Troy felt warm blood drip down his face as the glass cut into his skin. He closed his eyes and tried as hard as he could to hold back the tears as a hard lump formed in his throat. Jack grabbed the front of Troy's shirt roughly and pulled him to his feet. Out of the corner of Troy eye, he saw the tiny figure disappear. He sighed; that had been his last hope
Jack pulled Troy into the house and shoved him aggressively to the ground. Jack kicked Troy hard in the side repeatedly until Troy finally screamed through his tears, "Stop!"
Jack gave a satisfied smile and looked at Troy. "Had enough?"
Troy doubled up, clutching at his chest and gave a nod. Jack laughed and kicked him again. Troy moaned loudly but was interrupted by a voice in the kitchen. "Jackie?"
Jack stopped, his foot pulled back in the kicking position. "Yes, sweetie?"
"Do you have any pickles?" She asked. Troy heard her searching through the refrigerator. Jack looked utterly confused. "Yes."
"Do you have syrup?" She asked, still searching.
"Umm… yes," Jack said.
"Okay. Just keep doing what you're doing; don't mind me," Cassidy said. "Act like I'm not here."
Troy let out a moan from the floor as he tried to roll onto his back once more. Jack's attention returned to Troy and he said, "Your friends are expecting your call, Troy. Call them and tell them how you're just fine."
Author's Note: Bum! Bum! Bum! Okay, well, you weren't expecting Cassidy, I know, but I warned you about her! I need ideas, people! I can't think of ways to abuse him! (Wow… Never thought I'd say that.) Even my twisted friend CooCoo (the one who bit me) can't help! I'm crying for help! (Hee hee. I'm pun-y!) Long chapter, I know! Review!