I'm not too happy right now. I just heard that there was a rumor going around school that I cut myself (the ground was icy outside my house and when I fell, my wrist landed in a prickly bush, so that's where the scars came from) I've been trying to find out who started it until I overheard someone saying that one of my best friends told the whole 8th grade. She tried to invite me somewhere, but I just kind of glared at her and stomped away. I'm too mad to talk to her right now. So yeah. If this chapter isn't as good as the rest, that's why. I'm just a little out of it.

Chapter 14 – Empty Threat

The day that followed was part of what the gang started to call routine. It was 9th period of the third week in school and on this day the students in Darbus's homeroom found themselves especially bored. There wasn't one person in the room who was even half conscious of what the crazy old lady was blabbering about. Some had a theory that it was about the importance of doing every homework assignment possible now that they were in their senior year and if they didn't, they wouldn't get the credits to pass. Some didn't even try to come up with a theory; they were trying too hard not to let their brains fry from Darbus's never ending words. She didn't see Brandon looking down watching a movie on his iPod and muffling his laughs, didn't notice Troy and Gabriella passing love notes and lustful looks to each other, and, most importantly, didn't spot Chad right in front of her, hood up, arms folded across his desk into a pillow, and snoring semi-loudly. Todd sat in his corner seat doodling random song lyrics in his notebook while thinking up new dance moves.

Troy just finished tossing the folded paper and giving a wink to his girlfriend when Darbus finished her speech with "…and so that is why you must always keep a well organized schedule of your study habits and always remember that once you start your work, you must complete it. Under no circumstances are you to give up on a problem just because you don't understand it. And, most importantly, you mustn't become distracted. If your phone rings and it's your girl/boyfriend, let it ring. Or, even better, turn your phone off. It's very easy to lose your train of thought, even if you are distracted for a few seconds. And furthermore-"

The normal, yet glorious sound of the last bell of the day sounded through the room, making half of the kids jump in surprise and the others let out long awaited breaths of relief. Brandon turned off his iPod and shoved it into his pocket, Gabriella crumpled up the paper, and Chad jolted awake, wiping the drool from the corners of his mouth and murmuring "What happened? Is it over?"

"We're getting out of this cruel prison," Brandon whispered, pulling him up out of his seat by the elbow "that's what happened."

Once the gang was out in the hallway, Troy complained "Darbus has to stop this before we all suffer permanent brain damage."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around his waist, grinning "What? You didn't have fun during our little note-passing game?"

Troy ducked his head to kiss her lips heatedly, totally ignoring the disgusted bystanders at their side.

"Hey! Think of the children!" Brandon whacked Troy's arm with a firm hand. "What's gotten into you guys? You've been like this all day."

Gabriella shrugged "We're just happy. Doesn't that deserve some celebration?"

"Your form of celebration scares me."

"Well then, that's your problem now, isn't it?" She turned back to Troy, who whispered something in her ear that made her shiver.

Brandon's eyebrows came together. "What's really going on here? Did you two get high last night or something? You didn't come home, Gabby."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and sighed "Calm down, bro. I just fell asleep over at Troy's. No need to get yourself penetrated in this." Troy cocked a grin as if he were enjoying some private joke, which did not go unnoticed by Brandon.

"Fine," he let it drop with his sister. "I'll see you in the car. I just need to ask Troy something."

"Kay." She kissed her brother's cheek and, with a sly wave Troy's way, skipped off out of sight.

Brandon turned to his best friend and snorted "Dude, she's gone. You can stop eye-groping her now."

Troy tore his eyes away from the spot that her butt had just been. "What?"

"My point exactly," Brandon crossed his arms across his chest and asked "Since I'm probably not going to get anything out of her, would you be so obliged as to tell me what the hell happened between you two?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "And the nosy, over-protective twin brother strikes again."

Brandon sarcastically laughed once and said "Seriously, man, what's going on?"

"Nothing, Brandon, everything's fine, just like she said." Troy turned and started off down the hall, trying to blend in with the other students fleeing the school.

Brandon easily kept pace with him. "Well, then, if it's so fine, you can tell me, right?"

"Just stay out of it." He was impatient now.

"Troy!"

"What?!" Troy spun around and threw his hands into the air, expressing his aggravation. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know why you're so goo-goo-eyed and lovey-dovey with my sister."

Troy gave an annoyed sigh and spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm always goo-goo-eyed and lovey-dovey with your sister, Brandon. Where have you been?"

"No, I mean you're so…sexual today. It's creepy."

"Sexual?"

"Yeah, should I be scared?"

Troy bit back the grin that he was longing to give Brandon and murmured under his breath "Terrified…"

"Huh?"

Troy sighed and, pulling Brandon to the side of the hallway, said in a low voice "Okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise that you'll keep your mouth shut. You can't even tell the gang, got it?"

"Depends."

"Brandon…"

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Okay, I got it. What happened?"

Troy took a deep breath, looking around to double check that no one was in earshot to hear the words that were about to leave his mouth. "Last night…Gabby and I…" He squeezed his eyes shut and continued quickly "gave ourselves up to each other."

He kept his eyes closed for a few moments, anticipating that Brandon would be utterly furious with him and waiting to kill him. Silence from his best friend was what followed. Troy thought that he was so angry that he couldn't speak. Better to keep his eyes closed.

His anger never lasts that long…Troy cracked one eye open, only to see something he didn't expect. Brandon stood there, frozen to the ground, arms still crossed, with a look of shock drawn into his features. His eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets while he stared at Troy with an empty, unprepared look. He blinked once, followed by multiple blinks, still in shock. Troy raised an eyebrow. "Dude?"

Brandon suddenly broke free of his silent trance and collapsed against the lockers, barking out fits of laughter and slowly sliding onto the floor. He gripped his stomach as it twisted into painful knots of amusement that only got tighter with every loud laugh. The rims of his eyes moistened with tears as he blinked them away quickly.

"Brandon!" Troy exclaimed, confused as to where his best friend found humor in the situation.

"Ha!" Brandon continued cracking up. "Ha, ha, HA!!!"

"Hello?!" Troy nudged Brandon's knee with his foot as if he were afraid to get close to him.

After a few more seconds, Brandon inhaled a deep, shaky breath to help stabilize himself and rid of the knot in his stomach. "I…I think I'm okay now. Sorry about that."

"Would you care to explain what the hell that was?" Troy sharply scolded him. "I don't think it's very funny."

Brandon shook his head, a look of feigned, sarcastic seriousness crossing his face. "Oh, of course not. I don't think that's funny at all."

"Well what is? I just told you that I had sex with your sister and you're laughing about it. Please explain."

The humor returned to his face. "I just think it's kind of hysterical that you had such a hard time telling me. Did you really think that I'd freak out?"

"You did, Mr. Hyena."

Brandon replied "I meant did you think I'd call the cops on you or something? If Izzy and I decided to do it, would you get mad?"

"Probably not."

"Exactly. Dude," Brandon started off down the hallway again with Troy at his side. "You two love each other. I can see that. And you're both eighteen, which makes it even more sensible. I'm not as big a control freak as I was last year, or haven't you noticed? I'm gonna let you two live your lives and your relationship as you want. I'm done telling people how to live their lives. Understand?"

Troy grinned. "Yeah. Thanks, man."

Brandon nodded and patted Troy on the back. "Anytime. Oh yeah, there's another reason as to why I was laughing."

"What's that?"

A sly smile curved Brandon's lips. "Nothing much. It's just that if you don't want me to play interrogator, you have to tell my parents." A frozen look took over Troy's face and his heart came to a stop, slowing his blood and giving him a lightheaded feeling. Brandon chuckled once and said "See you out at the car."

As he walked away, only one thought ran through Troy's mind. "Oh shit, I'm screwed…"

--

"I don't wanna!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time in just that moment. She was never going to get anywhere with him.

"Troy, don't make me come in there after you."

His voice turned seductive then. "That a threat or a promise?"

"Troy!!!"

Troy groaned from inside the car. "Do I have to?"

Gabriella walked over to the car door opening and tugged at her boyfriend's elbow. "You won't be alone, sweetie. And even if you were, it wouldn't be that bad. I doubt that she'll make a big deal out of it."

"Or she could and never allow me to see you again." Troy retorted, lagging behind his girlfriend and gently tugging himself back to the car.

Another roll of the eyes. "She knows that would kill me. Remember what I said yesterday when you said the whole thing with Wolf was your fault?"

"She'd get over it. She got over Chase, didn't she?"

Gabriella's face hardened a bit at that. "Not completely. She never took down their wedding picture from the main hall, now did she? She still wears her wedding ring on special occasions when she has other ones that match the outfit much better."

"Oh. Well, I still think that she'd scare me so much she'd force my family to move until I go to college."

"If anything like that happens, I'll start cutting myself."

"No you won't!" Gabriella and Troy spun around to face Brandon getting out of the car and slamming the door behind him. "You won't because I won't allow you to."

"Brandon-"

"Gabriella." She internally winced as he hardly ever used her full name unless he was being completely serious. "You will not ever do something that stupid and dangerous to yourself, do you hear me? If something ever happens to Troy, you'll have me and our friends to lean on."

Gabriella crossed her arms and retorted "So you're telling me that if Isabelle ever disappeared from your life, you wouldn't find some way to hurt yourself?"

Brandon raised his right hand and spoke "I swear on my life that I will not ever, under any circumstances, cut myself or somehow commit any form of self-harm. You have all rights to stop talking to me if I ever break that promise."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow. "Promise?"

"I swear. Besides," He grinned cockily. "There's no way Izzy's ever going to walk out on me. We were even talking about getting promise rings for each other last night."

"Wow. That's a big step, you know. If things don't work out-"

Brandon held up a hand to silence her. "Gabs, trust me. Minus the distance issue, things between us couldn't be better. You'll be seeing us together for a very, very long time.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, but smiled at her brother's kind words. "I'm keeping your word on that, bro. Now come on," she flicked her eyes to her boyfriend mischievously. "We have some news to spill."

Troy gulped as he watched his girlfriend's hips sway off into the house.

He took a deep breath and was about to follow her when he found himself spinning around to face his best friend. "Dude, did you mean that?"

"Mean what?"

"That thing you said about the self-harm. Do you seriously promise to never do it?"

Brandon gave him a disbelieving look, arms crossed and fists balled. "Troy, I swear to God I will never hurt myself because of something like that. Why do you ask?"

Troy shrugged, an unsure look crossing his face. "I don't know, just a precaution I guess. You know you're…sensitive."

Brandon rolled his eyes and assured him "I'm fine, I swear. I've been through so much in such a little time, I'm sure I can handle most anything. Besides, Gabriella's the one who brought up doing it to herself if something ever happened to you. How did all of this get turned on me?"

"You made that promise."

"Oh yeah…" He sighed. "Anyway, get in there. Your woman's waiting for you."

"Don't remind me…"

When the three were finally inside the house, Troy slowly shuffled up to Gabriella, his knees wobbling slightly and his gut screaming for him to run back out the door and make a break for it to anywhere parental supervision didn't exist. He told himself to keep dreaming.

Gabriella, on the other hand, was keeping her balance and seemed to be perfectly at ease, standing with one hand on her hip and the other supportively holding Troy's. She had that glint in her eyes that showed up when she was one-hundred percent sure of herself and positive that she was going to win an argument. She didn't speak one word, but the feeling of her saying "I got this in the bag" was rolling off of her in constant waves.

Brandon, on the other hand, was killing himself trying not to laugh and just simply walked over to the corner of the kitchen, sitting on the wooden stool and sat on his hands, as he did whenever he was concentrating on not doing something. He pressed his lips so tightly together that they could've been vacuum-sealed. He watched the odd couple eagerly, waiting for someone to say something.

Gina looked up from the mounds and piles of paperwork on the island in the middle of the room and arched an eyebrow. She wore glasses in front of those curious eyes, signaling that she was incredibly busy. She never wore her glasses unless she was sitting down and doing some kind of paperwork for an extensive amount of time. She turned her head to Troy, whose knee-shaking had spread to his whole body fearfully.

"You okay, hun?" she concerned to him.

Troy's breath caught in his throat for a moment, his eyes widening in shock, before answering nervously "Y-yeah! Peachy."

Gina's eyebrows now came together in deep suspicion at his reaction to her casual words. "What's going on here?" Her eyes never left Troy's, much to his distaste.

He reached up to the back of his neck absentmindedly and began massaging it, a nervous reaction that had developed over the last couple of months. He began his attempt at speaking with "Uhh…w-well…Gabby and I…umm…w-we…" he took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut and finished at an inaudible speed "lastnightwehadsex!"

"What?"

Troy's eyes opened now, the clear and slightly humorous panic evident in them. "What?!" he replied breathlessly. Gabriella bit back a giggle and Brandon suppressed a howl of laughter.

Gina gave up on her technical-son and turned to her daughter in hope of an answer. "What's he trying to say, sweetie?"

Gabriella gladly answered for him. "Something that really isn't all that hard to say. I don't know why he's freaking out but…" she looked at his chest heaving oxygen to and from his lungs. "I think I better do it for him before he has a stroke."

Gina nodded in approval. "Oka-wait, you're not getting married, are you?"

"GOD NO!!!" Troy exploded suddenly. Every face in the room spun around to stare at him, Gabriella in annoyance, Gina in surprise, and Brandon in surprise and humor. He bit down hard on his lip. Troy then stuttered "I-I mean, go on." He ducked his head, embarrassed.

Gabriella resumed before he had the chance to combust again. "Mom, remember last month when you gave me and Brandon that sex talk and you said that despite the tradition, you trust us to make good decisions with whoever we want to give ourselves up to? You approve of our lovers." She missed Brandon's grimace at the uncomfortable memory.

Gina was getting impatient now. "Where are you going with this, Gabs?"

"Oh sweet Jesus, please don't make us say it…" Troy squeaked. Everyone ignored him this time.

Gabriella took a confident breath and stated clearly "Mom, last night Troy and I had sex and don't regret a single second of it." She took a peek over at Troy's paling face. "Well, at least I don't." She added.

Things got very quiet after that. Gina just sat there, blinking at the couple through her glasses and switching her eyes back and forth between each person. Brandon was desperately rocking on the stool while trying to hold in his insane laughter, and Gabriella stood with confidence, blinking right back at her mother innocently. Troy was now completely frozen with fear, his face drenched in sweat and very, very sickly looking. The light tension wasn't sitting too well with his stomach.

Gina spoke up first, breaking the silence. "Gabby, I don't think he's breathing."

Gabriella waved it off. "Oh, he'll be fine as soon as you say something."

Gina took a deep breath, her face remaining expressionless. "Well, what do you want me to say?"

Brandon mumbled from his corner "How about the normal things that a parent would say?"

"Brandon…" the females warned, Troy too stunned to even notice.

Gina returned her attention back to her daughter. "Where were you at the time?"

"Troy's room." Gabriella answered immediately, completely content with the questioning. Troy just squeaked like a mouse.

"Were his parents home?"

"They didn't come home until an hour later."

"How long did it last?"

"All night."

"Did you enjoy it?"

Gabriella grinned. "From the second I walked into his house to when I left this morning." Brandon rolled his eyes in disgust.

Gina didn't move a muscle in her face except her mouth to speak "Really?"

"I don't lie when it comes to him." The teen said honestly.

Troy gulped "I think I'm gonna puke…" Gabriella elbowed him in his side, but he was too gone to feel it.

The room was still again with everyone basically in the same position, Brandon holding his breath and waiting for them to get hammered with punishment, Gina's face blank of anything that could something that she was thinking away, and Troy was trembling from head to toe, his face white as a sheet and his lips becoming tinted with blue. Only Gabriella looked a bit different, the only change being that she looked a little more sure of herself.

Gina finally said "Well, in that case, I don't think there's anything left to say but…" her eyes flickered to Troy, whose lungs gave up on his anxiety. Gina flashed a smile. "Congratulations."

Gabriella shrieks and stepped over to her mother to give her a hug while Troy just let out a huge, shaky breath and slumped his shoulders. Brandon sat there, his eyes wide and disbelieving, disappointed and shocked that they didn't get in at least a little bit of trouble for breaking the tradition. Gabriella walked back over to Troy, taking his numbed hand again.

He spoke for the first time in a minutes, his voice low and trembling. "Gabby?"

"Yeah, sweetie?" She rubbed circles in his back, looking up at him with concern. "Are you okay now?"

Troy nodded, his head heavy. "I think. But have you ever been so relieved that it brings back your lunch?" His stomach heaved and his eyes snapped to the bathroom door.

Gabriella shook her head. "No. Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

Troy bobbed his head fervently, his hand already coming up to cover his mouth. "Oh yeah." With that, he ran off to the bathroom door with Gabriella following after him.

Once they were gone, Brandon stood up from his seat and scoffed "Oh come on!" Gina looked back up from her paperwork. "Amy and I get in trouble for PDA last year and they get supported for having sex?!"

Gina rolled her eyes and replied "Oh, leave those two alone, Brandon. They've been through a lot and I think that they're ready to make that special connection." Brandon's face contorted into disgust at the irony of her words as she continued. "Besides, that thing with Amy happened more than once and that was Amy's father who scolded you. He never did like you very much, did he?"

"Neither did her mom…" he grumbled.

Gina nodded in understanding. "Oh. Well, I think they were right."

"What?!"

His mother sighed "Brandon, her little eight year old brother was watching you two shove each other's tongues down your throats. Don't you think that's just a little inappropriate?"

"The kid didn't have to watch!" he countered.

"You two could have saved it for some other time." Gina shot right back at him calmly.

Brandon threw his arms up in the air, exasperated. "We were on a date! I clearly think that's an occasion that it's suitable for."

Gina gave an impatient breath as well, pulling another packet of paperwork off of the stack in front of her. "You know what? I'm way too busy with all of this paperwork to argue with you about this right now. Don't you have a job interview to get ready for?"

He huffed "I like to call it a mixture of an interview and an audition. They'll only ask a few questions." He was still angry, but a smile pulled at his lips to show how excited he was to finally express his love for dancing.

"Well, either way, I'm happy for you, sweetie. Now shoo! I need to concentrate." She waved him off with a hand and ended the conversation by looking back down at the papers.

Brandon looked at the clock on the wall and gasped. 2:45 already? He only had fifteen minutes to get to the school for his interview. He rushed over to his mother, pecked her cheek and after speeding up the stairs to get his gym bag full of his dancing essentials, ran back down the stairs to get his car keys. Before leaving, though, his eyes caught wind of Troy and Gabriella coming out of the bathroom, Troy looking a bit better after releasing his nervousness and Gabriella looking proud of him for putting up with all of it. Troy looked up at Brandon and grinned evilly, winking at him and mouthing "You lose." Brandon narrowed his eyes and muttered "Lucky bastard…" before running out of the door and hopping in his car, speeding down the street to the dance school.

Troy and Gabriella walked back into the kitchen, hand in hand, and he asked "Gina?"

Slightly impatient, Gina looked up and said "Yeah?"

Troy gave a half smile and continued "Not that I'm not grateful that you approve of us doing what we did, but I have to ask…why aren't you mad?"

Gina giggled, removing her glasses from her face and rested her head in her hands. "The same reasons that I told Brandon. You two are both 18, meaning that I think you're responsible enough to make the right decisions as adults. Gabriella, you are my daughter and I especially trust you not to get yourself hurt or in trouble. You have a very clean record and just for that, I approve that you made the right choice. Troy, you're pretty much the second son that I never had. Your parents and I feel like we shared the job raising you over the course of your life since you were two. And from what I see in you, we've done a great job. You're basically adults, but I can still see that sparkle of innocence in your eyes that I saw when I first met you. You're really good kids, guys. And I'm sure that Chase will say the same thing when you tell him."

Troy gulped again, feeling his stomach churn once more at the thought of telling Gabriella's father. He didn't know Troy as well as Gina did.

Gabriella rubbed his arm lovingly "Don't worry, Troy. My dad will probably be a little disappointed that we didn't wait, but I'm positive that he'll understand. We're fine."

"Sure…"

Gina suddenly sprang up from her chair and rushed over to the medicine cabinet, exclaiming "Oh! I almost forgot!"

She pulled out two boxes from the cabinet and sped back over to the happy couple, handing them each one box out of her hand. "Here. It happened once and I'm sure that it'll happen again. This time you'll be completely ready."

They both looked down into their hands and Gabriella giggled while Troy groaned. "Mom, this isn't really necessary. It was probably just a one-time thing until we get married."

Gina shrugged "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Gabby. Once you get a taste of sex you'll only want more later."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and looked back down at the birth control in her hand and then took a peek over at the condoms in Troy's. He was just standing there shaking his head with a twisted expression upon his face. He shoved the Trojan pack in the pocket of his shorts and stammered "Uhh…thanks?"

"No problem, son." Gina grinned.

Troy cleared his throat and, speaking to Gabriella, said "So…I think we're done here. I think I need some fresh air, so why don't we head on over to the hill?"

Gabriella pecked his cheek once. "Sounds great." Troy made a quick break over to the front door while Gabriella called over her shoulder after him "Bye mom!"

She turned her had back around and almost collapsed to the floor as her body collided with Troy's back. He stood frozen at the door's entrance and stared at the floor of the porch, a solemn look carved into his features.

"Babe? What's wro-" She was quickly shushed by Troy, whose eyes never left the floor. "Look."

Gabriella followed his orders and peeked over his shoulder to look at the wooden ground beneath their feet. She gasped.

"Oh my God…"

--

That night, the whole gang was gathered together in the Bolton living room, totally silent. Sharpay, Zeke, and Ryan sat in the sofa opposite of them, Jason and Kelsi sat on the floor in front of them, and Chad and Taylor sharing the second sofa. Taylor had made sure to keep her distance from Chad, which he silently worried about. Troy and Gabriella sat in the loveseat, the reason for the get-together clasped tightly in Troy's hands.

"Again?" Sharpay spoke up, hanging tightly onto Zeke and Ryan's arms with a worried look.

"Yup." Troy simply murmured.

"But we just got Taylor back." Chad looked over at his girlfriend with a weak grin, which faltered when she cringed away from his hand when he went to touch her arm. She crossed her arms and stared at the wall, tears gathering in her eyes.

Troy sighed "We haven't even opened it yet, so we don't know if he's going to take someone first or attack. It could just be another harmless note, just to scare us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that one, Troy." Brandon warned. He had just come back from his audition at the school, but was fully focused on the note. He would find out if he got the job tomorrow after school. Deep in the back of his mind, he had his fingers crossed.

Jason shrugged "We won't find out if you never open it, Troy. Go ahead." Kelsi scooted a little closer to him. Taylor moved a little further to the wall when she saw Chad gaze at her again.

Troy took a deep breath and ripped the black envelope's flap off, pulling the red paper from the inside. He opened it slowly, the tension in the room rising. He looked up to the ceiling, though, instead of reading it.

"Troy?" Gabriella concerned, laying a hand on his arm.

Troy handed her the note, whispering "I can't do it."

Gabriella nodded in understanding, taking the note from his hands. She took a deep breath just like him and read:

"I wish I could be there to see your face when I laid this note on your porch, Gabriella. Must have been hysterical how you got all worked up over nothing. No, I'm not taking anyone or blowing up any buildings. Confused? Let me explain.

Wow, has this been fun. I got to reunite with some of my family and do things that were totally new to me. That was the first time that I ever had to use a grenade, which was AWESOME! Anyway, I'll just go ahead and say it. I'm done messing with you guys. And it's not you, it's me. Like I said before, I loved every second of the time I got to play with you, but I guess I'm just running out of motivation. I'm moving onto bigger and better things now. I hope you'll understand what I'm trying to say. I hope we can remain friends. You can all take the giant deep breath that you've been waiting for since you got the first note now. I'm through here. I've left my mark and I think I've avenged all that I needed to.

Oh yeah, and congratulations to Troy and Gabriella for fucking each other. Hope things work out for you two ;)

The room froze. Not even a breath was heard throughout the tense atmosphere. They all just sat there, their eyes glued to the note in Gabriella's trembling hands and their minds all blank. Confusion radiated off of every body as the sense of relief hadn't set in yet.

"He's giving up?" Brandon spoke flatly.

"Let me see it." Troy snatched the paper from her hands and held it up to view Brick's handwriting sprawled across the paper. He couldn't believe it. "Son of a bitch…"

Zeke said "Are you sure this isn't a joke? He could just be messing with our heads again."

Troy looked up from the paper and answered "No. I think he's serious."

"How can you be so sure?" Chad's eyes slid to Taylor again. She shuffled a little closer to the wall, staring off into space with a cold, but fearful, glint in her eyes.

"Chad, think about it." Troy stood up. "He's running out of people to chase after and I don't think he really wants to go all the way to California to get Isabelle." Brandon cringed at the thought of it. "Face it. He's getting bored with us."

"I don't believe it." Gabriella stated with a light grin, pulling Troy back down onto the couch.

Jason stopped them. "Wait a minute, he didn't get Kelsi yet. How do we know that he won't change his mind?" Kelsi bombed into her boyfriend's arms at his words.

Chad shrugged "Maybe he thinks that we'll react the same way with everyone that he takes. We get pissed and scared, but we just wait until he brings them back."

"True."

The room was quiet after that for a few short moments, everyone staring at the note with curiosity and hope in their eyes. Taylor was the only one who didn't look like she had even the slightest bit of interest in the letter.

"Soo…" Sharpay said "What do we do now?"

Zeke shrugged "Party?"

That caused a few laughs, even from Chad, who scooted over to Taylor and draped his arm over her shoulders, saying "Isn't this great, Tay? He's not coming after us anymore. We're okay."

No one was prepared for what happened next. Taylor threw Chad's arm off of her and stood up, the tears finally brimming over her eyes. She shouted "No, Chad, it's not okay and it never will be okay! How can you even say that, you stupid son of a bitch?!"

Shock took over the teenage man, freezing his body into immobilization. He stared up at his girlfriend with wide eyes which seemed to say "Did that just happen?"

He reached out and touched her arm, trying "Taylor-"

Taylor cut him off before he had the chance to say anything, violently pushing his hand off of her arm. "Don't touch me! And you know what?! I'm sick of this! You think you're so perfect, huh? You think that we're perfect and nothing can ever happen to this relationship? Well newsflash, curly que! It's not perfect! It's far from perfect, actually! It's gone to hell and it's all your fault!"

Chad stood up to face her head on with careful eyes. "Taylor, what are you talking about? What's wrong with us? Did something happen?"

Taylor held up both hands and slowly backed away from him, her voice shaking with rage and fear. "Stay away from me, Chad. Don't ever touch me again. I'm done."

"But-"

"I hate you, Danforth." With that she turned and ran out of the room, throwing the front door open and speeding out of the house.

Silence wasn't a stranger to the group as Chad was frozen in his place on the floor, staring at the space that Taylor had just been. Never before had he been so confused, so hurt. It was like someone had just stabbed him in the back while shooting him in the heart repeatedly.

Gabriella cleared her throat and stammered "Uhh…I-I'll go talk to her." She didn't have to wait to realize that she wasn't going to get an answer from Chad. She got up from her spot next to Troy and quickly walked after her best friend.

When she got outside, Gabriella found Taylor sitting on the top step of the porch, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. Her jeans were stained with teardrops as well as her cheeks. Her choked, muffled sobs could only be heard as Gabriella advanced on her.

"Taylor? What's wrong?" Gabriella asked, sitting down next to her sobbing friend on the stairs.

It took her a moment to sniff back the tears and take the deep breath to answer "M-my parents are forcing me to break up with C-Chad."

Gabriella's mouth dropped to the ground. "What?! Why?! He's such a good guy!" She was appalled. Sure, she knew that the McKessie's didn't exactly approve completely of the care-free Chad being with their smart, organized daughter but never did she think that they hated him that much.

Taylor shook her head, wiping away more tears with the back of her hand. "T-they don't think so. That's the problem. They think that he…" Her voice cut off then, not being able to go on.

"They think that he what?" Gabriella soothingly rubbed her back patiently.

"They…th…"

She finally sighed "Taylor, spit it out."

Taylor turned to her friend and exclaimed "They think that he beat me! They think that he gave me these bruises!" Her head collapsed into her knees again, her sobs now louder and more depressed than ever.

Gabriella found it hard to take in this devastating news, her face freezing her features into a serious, yet confused look. "What do you mean they think he beat you? Did you explain what really happened?"

Taylor nodded, wiping away more tears. "I tried, but they wouldn't believe me. They always looked for an excuse to get me to leave him, and now they have their chance and they won't let it go for anything. They said that I have to do it tonight or they'll call the police on him."

"But they don't have any proof!" Gabriella exploded. Chad was her friend too, and it would hurt her as well if something happened to him. "They can't prove anything, can they?"

"Brick's hand is almost the same size as Chad's and they saw his hand print on my arm. I'm stuck, Gabby. I don't know what to do! I can't leave him!"

She bombed into her best friend's arms, blubbering like a baby on her shoulder. Gabriella wrapped her arms around Taylor and rocked her back and forth, shushing her and trying to calm her down a little. This moment reminded her of her and Troy's moment last year, when she asked him if he could cry on him. Emotional, depressing, and very, very serious.

"Taylor, you need to tell him."

"What?" Taylor snapped back from Gabriella's body. "Gabriella, did you not hear the words that just came out of my mouth?! I can't leave him-"

Gabriella shook her head and cut her off "No, I mean you have to tell him about your parents. Maybe he can talk to them and show them how much he loves you, or-"

"He can't." Taylor wiped away more tears. "He's banned from my property other than tonight. He's driving me home and my parents are going to watch me do it. From then on out he can't come near me." She buried her face in her knees again and resumed sobbing.

Gabriella gently pulled Taylor's face up to meet her eyes. "You didn't let me finish." She softly said. "If you can't do that, then maybe you can just have a secret relationship, like me and Troy did last year in the beginning."

Taylor pointed out "Didn't Brandon find out that night?"

Gabriella shook her head and answered "Not technically. It was confirmed that Monday when he saw us holding hands." She sighed, thinking back to the moment when Troy's lips finally left hers and he walked off in the other direction, leaving her behind to meet eyes with her depressed brother who just couldn't take it. It was way too much way too fast. He disappeared as soon as she blinked.

She was so far gone in the memories of the previous year that she didn't notice the absence of Taylor. The only thing that woke her out of her retention was the click of Taylor's heels heading for the front door. She was already halfway in the doorway when Gabriella turned, startled, and asked "Where are you going?"

Taylor's tears had stopped, already have drained from her body and leaving her throat throbbing and her head fuzzy with dehydration and confusion. She paused, but didn't turn around. She sniffed once before whispering "I'm going make the biggest mistake of my life."

"No, Taylor!" She was too late. Taylor had already slammed the door behind her.

She walked into the house slowly, her head low with embarrassment as all eyes fell on her. She could feel them boring into her skin curiously, wondering if she had recovered from her sudden outburst. She looked up and took a deep breath. Chad had sat back down and previously had his head in his hands, but the sound of Taylor entering the house made him stand up abruptly, waiting for the worst that he expected to come.

Taylor spoke first, in control but low. "Can you take me home?"

Review please :)

~Rachel :)

Helpful Hint: There's a small, small conversation in this chapter that you'll need to remember for what happens in the future. You probably read it and said to yourself "How is that relevant to this situation at all?" But trust me, later you'll look back on this chapter and say "Ohh, now I see it..."

And can someone give me tips on where to start the next chapter? There's a lot happening and I need to find a starting point.