Hey, guys! Sorry for the delay, although I promised you, but sometimes it's impossible to keep them. I got sick again, which seemed highly unlikely at first, because I'd been sick so often lately, until we found out that I had the kissing disease. Ever heard about that? If not, then you probably know the medical term: glandular fever. It's relatively harmless, but it had me in bed for some time. So, sorry for not updating earlier.
Happy news for all of those who read my other story 'First Bad Habit': I've finally started on it and it seems as though I'm finally having fun with that story again, so maybe you'll get it by the end of this month. If you don't find it up here by then, you can gladly blame my teachers, who are responsible for making me take a Spanish test on the upcoming Friday, a Latin test on the Tuesday afterwards, then a Maths test after the Latin one and finally a German one on the Friday the week after Spanish. Can someone tell me how to do all of this and keep up with the rest of my life?
Disclaimer: This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved and High School Musical 3, copyright 2008 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on FanFiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.
Recap of the last chapter:
"At least I didn't let myself get seduced by a sluttish cheerleader!" Gabriella was raging, her blood boiling, and she didn't care any longer about what she said. Much to Troy's dismay, because after her announcement, the entire gym had fallen silent once again, until the first whispers started to go round, jumbled voices ringed through the hall, and everyone was speculating about what was to come now. Would Gabriella finally break? Would she tell all of them what happened in Sophomore Year by finally accusing Troy of whatever he had done? Would she finally let her feelings out and shower him with it?
There wasn't one in the room who wished Gabriella would shut up. Well, no one besides Troy. He was more than afraid of what was to come. Of course he knew why Gabriella had broken up with him, the reason why she had dumped him, but he didn't exactly know what she thought. She could have jumped to wrong conclusions, she could have thought whatsoever and he had never known, because she just wouldn't talk to him about that. So what would he be told? What was Gabriella's point of view from Sophomore Year?
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Chapter eight – Sophomore Year
Yes, what was Gabriella's point of view from Sophomore Year? As much as Troy wanted to know, he would have appreciated it if she had told him in a less public place. He really didn't want their relationship spilled out to the gossiping student body of East High. But what could he do about it? It wasn't as if Gabriella was going to calm down in the next five minutes and even if it was possible for somebody to calm her down… it certainly wasn't him; that was for sure. If anything he would only make her go off quicker than she already was bound to.
So, regarding her suspicious, waiting for her to continue with her accusations, he stood still in his place, his mind racing. This wasn't going to get pretty and he didn't exactly know if he really was up to it. Getting insulted and possibly embarrassed had never been his favourite part. The other way round – insulting and embarrassing – was more likely him. Not that he would do that very often, but it suited him way more than being the victim of harassing.
But it seemed like it had to be this way and Troy decided to relax a little bit. There was no use in staying this tense, he would only get uptight. But relaxing obviously was the wrong move. Misinterpreting his actions, Gabriella was fuming even more. Apparently, Troy didn't care the tiniest bit about what had happened. Otherwise he wouldn't be so calm right now. That he could be resigned didn't even strike her mind.
She glared at him intently, only to have him meet her eyes in a serene manner. It wasn't like he wasn't nervous as hell, but what was the use if he showed it on the outside? It wouldn't get him anywhere. Standing here and letting her stare at him for the next twenty minutes indeed wasn't useful either. And it didn't seem as if she would continue with a flaming speech, so he decided to answer her. "What sluttish cheerleader?"
He had to do his best to restrain himself from grinning slightly. This situation was nowhere near funny, but nevertheless, the question was ridiculous. Of course he knew what sluttish cheerleader Gabriella was talking about – well, he didn't exactly remember her name -, but he wanted to hear it from her herself. Gabriella, though, just shook her head. She wasn't going to answer that question, knowing that Troy had only asked it to get it from her. And she wasn't doing him that favour, certainly not.
"You know what I'm talking about!", she declared, her voice cold and emotionless. All of the girls groaned. Heck, even if Gabriella did know it, they didn't and they wanted to know. And if Troy and Gabriella decided to beat about the bush, they wouldn't get the information they wanted so badly. But they didn't have to worry: Troy, not wanting to dance around the topic any longer, finally spilled, what all of them wanted to hear: "Hell, Montez! I already said this about a hundred times and I'm only going to say this once again: I did not cheat on you!"
Whispers broke out all around the hall. So this whole fighting revolved around cheating? Gabriella supposed that Troy had cheated on her? With a cheerleader? Wow, that undoubtedly was news. And very hard to believe. To the time the two of them had still been an item, everybody had been of the opinion that the two of them made the perfect couple. That was until the break-up, but that didn't matter. There had been many that had believed that they had never seen a relationship that was so perfectly fitting.
*
The sun was shining warm and the birds were chirping all around the country. Life was peaceful, both in everyday life and in business. And East High School didn't build an exceptional case. It was second period and most of the girls and boys that attended East High were participating in classes, not yet too tired to follow the declarations of the teachers. But, as it was common knowledge, the exception proved the rule. And so it was a class on the second floor of the school building that didn't even try to be attentive.
It was, how could it be another way, Mrs. Darbus' drama class. The sophomores, having the uncomfortable pleasure to take part in her class, were anywhere with their thoughts, but not in the teaching of the unpopular teacher. After all, Mrs. Darbus wasn't known for her interesting stories or any stuff that was necessarily to be learnt, all she ever talked about was her personal life, the fact that half the life consisted of acting and cleaning your souls and, naturally, that you needed to study hard and thoroughly if you wanted to make it through living. And none of those rants was interesting for any of the pupils.
That was the reason why many had already logged-off and flew away in their dreamlands, where they didn't have to suffer under Darbus' influence. However, some were still, but they too weren't paying any attention to the teacher. Flying papers were sent right through the class room, notes were thrown to friends sitting ten metres away without being noticed and some even chatted with each other, knowing they wouldn't be caught. To the ones starring into space without thinking anything belonged Troy Bolton. East High's golden boy even at this young age, the dream of many girls and the boyfriend of Gabriella Montez.
The said girl was sitting in the back of the classroom, looking at Troy's back, thinking about the last date they had had. He had taken her to a hidden lake somewhere outside of East and they had definitely had a blast, going swimming and having a picnic. Troy surely was the perfect boyfriend. At this specific moment, the boy turned around in his seat and saw her looking at him. She smiled at him, waving shyly. His mouth twisted into a grin and he winked at her. Several sighs could be heard from different girls. Why couldn't it be them he was winking at?
Gabriella laughed quietly, ripping a little piece of paper from her writing block, and scribbled a short note on it. Throwing it to him, missing only by a few centimetres, she indicated for him to read it and he did as he was told. The words written on the paper sent another smile to his face. Still that famous?, it read, with smiles all over the paper. He hastily searched for a pen, but didn't found any. Shorthanded grabbing over at Chad's desk, he borrowed his without even asking. Despite the protest from his best friend, he wrote back, always keeping the pen away from Chad's desperate grasp.
Seeing Chad grabbing for his pen hopelessly sent the whole class laughing, practically rolling on the floor after seeing his facial expression. Eventually overcome by pity, Troy finished writing and gave the pen back to its owner, who cuddled up to the tack as if it was his most prized possession. Shaking his head, Troy threw the note back to Gabriella, hitting her desk perfectly well, due to his basketball skills. Smiling, Gabriella opened it and read what was written under her own writing. Yeah, but you're still the only one :)
Gabriella's smile got even wider than it already had been. Curious about Troy's answer, Amy Garner, one of Gabriella's friends, elongated herself over to her desk to read the note, smiling at Gabriella after seeing Troy's sweet answer. Gabriella just shrugged with raised eyebrows, her joy visibly played in her eyes. Amy sat back at her own desk, being asked what Troy had written only a few seconds later. Within only one minute, everybody in class knew what the golden boy's answer had been. And again about fifteen heavy sighs displayed as one could be heard. Those two together were just perfect.
*
The happy memories of the past floating through Gabriella's mind hit her hard. After what had happened she had buried those memories far away from her mind, somewhere deep down in her heart, not intending on ever letting them come up again. And now here they were, confronting her with the past happenings more than she wanted them to. Shaking for she was trying to get them out, she spit out: "You already tried lying, Bolton, and it didn't get you anywhere. So why trying again? It's no good. I won't believe you and you know it!"
Troy took several steps forward, pointing his finger at her. "See? That's your freaking problem, Montez! You won't believe. But that's not because you've got anything that proves the opposite of what I'm saying, no it's because you don't want to believe me! You're too stubborn to admit it! You didn't see anything; there wasn't anything you could have seen, because there was nothing! I sure as hell didn't cheat on you and you've got no right to say so! I'm no liar and certainly no cheater! But that's besides your thinking, isn't it? You don't care, because you need to be right. Otherwise you would have to admit that you wasted two years with hating someone who doesn't deserve your hate!"
He swallowed hard. This was the first time he had ever admitted that he did care about her hating him and the other way round. He thought that it was unfair of her to hate him, he freaking hadn't done anything wrong! Too bad, that nothing of what he said brought Gabriella to think about it. If anything, it heated her boiling blood even more. "You're not thinking your damn excuses are any help, do you? Because they're not, Bolton! You know I've got reasons to believe you cheated on me and I know that you did it! I saw it and there's nothing you can do to refute that! Heck, you even ran after me, right after I saw you and … and that slut! You told me you were going to play basketball with your friends and instead you go and sleep with her!"
*
The sun shone through the window of Troy's room. He himself sat in front of his computer, searching the internet for information he needed for his school project. Yawning out of boredom, he leant back in his chair and threw a look at his watch. Damn, it was already three o'clock. He hadn't got any more time, he needed to hurry up. After all, he had a meeting in only half an hour and he needed to be ready for that.
Speedily, he jumped up from his chair, preparing to leave the room, but before he had even made half of the way to the door he heard his cell phone ringing. Sighing and glancing at the clock one last time, he ran back and snatched the phone from his nightstand and answered the call. "Yeah?" A giggle came from the other end of the line. "Hey, handsome!" He recognized the voice the instant he heard it. "Hey, baby. What's up?" He prayed to god that this wouldn't take too long; he really had to hurry if he wanted to make it in time.
"Uh, I was thinking that maybe we could meet up in an hour to watch a movie or something like that?" Troy cursed silently, Gabriella had sounded hopeful. And he hated to disappoint her. "I'm so sorry, Ris, but I've gotta meet with Chad and the other boys, we decided to set a basketball practice early today and I'm already running late to meet up with them." He really was sorry to stand her up, but he didn't have another choice. He couldn't make it right for everyone.
"Oh, okay then, I guess. I'll see you tomorrow then?" She really was sad, for she hadn't seen much of Troy for the past few weeks, but she knew that basketball was important to him and she really understood if he had to train for the championships. Beating the Brighton High players was his biggest wish and she really wished for him to fulfil his dream. And so she had held herself back for the past days and had limited her own wishes to a minimum.
Troy knew that very well, but still he couldn't seem to find the time for his girlfriend. Heavy-hearted, he nodded silently, before remembering that she couldn't see him. "Yeah, I guess. I really got going, so until then… love you." He quickly ended the phone call and scurried out of the door. Now he was really running late.
*
Three hours later, Gabriella closed the front door of her house, whistling happily. She had just gotten a text from Troy, asking her to come over for a few hours. Apparently he had just come back from training and was hoping to see her. And who was she to refuse? So she had grabbed her cell phone and her coat, leaving the house in a very good mood. Arriving at the Bolton' after a good five minutes, she rang the door bell, waiting for Troy to open up.
That was what he usually did. Every time he knew she would come over, he already was waiting at the door to greet her with a kiss, mostly one his parents weren't supposed to see, otherwise they would be seriously thinking about giving him 'The talk'. But this time he wasn't waiting. It was his mother, Mrs. Bolton, who opened the door, surprised to see her son's girlfriend standing in the doorway. "Gabriella! Fancy seeing you again! It's been long since the last time you were here." Gabriella smiled at her. "Yeah, Troy's been busy a lot."
That obviously wasn't news to Mrs. Bolton. "Yeah, he and his dad really are training hard for the championships. Really, I don't know why. What's the use in throwing and dribbling a ball around a court just to make points? I guess I'll never see it!" She sighed playfully. "Well, anyways, who am I to let you stand there? Come on in. You know where Troy's room is, I suppose? This other girl didn't, I had to show her. To be honest, I don't even know her, but she said she was a class mate of his. Well, you'll know her, won't you? She's up there with him."
Gabriella frowned, her smile fading. Another girl in Troy's room? What the hell? As long as she knew Troy hadn't any partner projects at this time and what other reason could there be for a girl to visit him? She didn't know, but she didn't intend on staying unsuspecting any longer. Nodding at Mrs. Bolton, she slowly went up the stairs, half awaiting, half dreading what was to come.
*
The door banged open. Troy froze in shock. Turning around very, very slowly, he came face to face with Gabriella. A very shocked Gabriella. Starring at him and the girl behind him, her eyes went big and immediately filled with tears. Troy raised his hand to grab for her arm, to make her stay and let him explain, but Gabriella wasn't having it.
Casting one last look at him, eyes filled with hurt and anger, she whirled around and made a run out of his house. Troy shot one fired look at the girl standing behind him and started to sprint after his girlfriend. There was no way he would let her go the way she intended to.
"Gabriella!", he shouted, already out of his house, seeing her running down the street, face in her hands. He knew she was crying, he knew how much she was hurt, because he felt the same pain burning inside him. "Gabriella!" Using all his strength, he managed to catch up to her, to grab her arm and swing her around, so she was facing him.
Struggling, Gabriella did all in her power to break free from his grasp, but he was way stronger than her. Holding his dead-pan grip around her elbow, he fought to make her stand still, to listen to him, but there was no way Gabriella was doing that.
"Let go of me, Troy!", she demanded, tears freely running down her cheeks, her voice breaking, but still filled with venom and loathing. "Let me go! I want to never see you again! Search for another girl you can fool, for all I care even Amber or that other bitch, but I'll never care again, I swear!"
*
Relieving that memory, Gabriella's eyes immediately filled with tears again. Trying her hardest to hold them back, she looked at Troy accusingly, seeing him struggling for a response. How the hell should he explain to her what had happened that one fateful evening? She hadn't listened in the past; certainly she wouldn't listen now, would she? But, he noticed, she wouldn't have another option than listening, seeing as she couldn't run away this time. Her knees were weak and she was shaking from the strenuousness of holding the tears behind her eyelids.
Finally not able to put up more effort, she broke out in tears, now freely flowing down her sun-tanned face. Fighting the desire of wiping her tears away, Troy stayed put in his place, watching Taylor coming up to her and hugging her. For the first time in two years, he allowed himself to go back to the time Gabriella had been thinking about. He knew what she had seen in her imagination, he could tell by just looking at her. And for the very first time, he tried to see what sight it had to have been for her. Of course she couldn't have seen what had happened before she had barged into his room.
*
"Yeah, man!" The cries of his friends reached Troy Bolton' ears, after he had made the winning basket in the two-on-two game they had started to play nearly two hours ago. He smiled, satisfied that he and Chad had once again won the game against Jason and Zeke. Sweat dripping from all of the boys, they decided to leave the court for today and go home. Taking a gander at his watch, Troy deliberated whether he should call Gabriella or let her be for now and take her on a date tomorrow.
Knowing that she would probably be ecstatic about a date, he came to the decision that he should take her out tomorrow. There was no use in asking her to come over for a few hours if he could be with her for the whole day if he just waited for another twelve hours. Concentrating back on his friends, he received three back-slaps and returned them, in his thoughts already under a cold shower.
Grabbing his bag, he left the gym with a last: "Bye!" and made his way back home, whistling the whole distance long. Reaching the house, he was greeted by his mother, who had just come back from the groceries. "Hi, mom!" Mrs. Bolton looked up, delighted to see her son back home. "Hey, Troy. Did the practice go well?" She wasn't really interested in basketball and Troy knew that, but she was glad that he had found a sport he was happy with. And to say that Troy was happy with basketball was the understatement of the century. Basketball was his life. Well, besides Gabriella, of course.
Entering the house, he sprinted up the stairs – the last sport he was going to do today – and into his room. Throwing his training bag onto his bed and placing his cell phone on the nightstand, he disappeared into the bathroom next to his room, taking only a towel with him. A quick shower would do wonders to his groggy condition. At least he supposed so. From downstairs he could hear voices and for a short moment he thought that his dad had already come from work.
But listening more intently, he could make out two female voices, of which one he could make out as his mother's. Troy was speculating who the other woman could be, but he didn't have a clue, so he just thought it would be one of his mother's friends. She didn't have any over very often, but it did happen …from time to time. Coming up from his thoughts, Troy asked himself why the hell he even thought about that. It wasn't his concern who was downstairs; all that mattered at the moment was the shower and the water that was going to come out of it.
Ten minutes later, Troy had finished taking a shower and went out of the bathroom, back into his own room, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. All at once, he heard some noises coming from his room. What the heck? It couldn't be his mother, she hadn't been in his room since he had started going to East High. To that time he had started to want to become more independent from his parents and so he had insisted on getting his privacy and he had got it. The only disadvantage was that his mother had practically jumped on the chance and told him that – if he wanted his privacy – he had to clean his room. And he hadn't known how hard that work really was.
But anyways, that all was meaning that there was someone uninvited in his room. It could be Gabriella, of course, but knowing her, she would probably stay downstairs with his mom to chat with her while he was still showering. So it couldn't be her either. Well, that was interesting. Who else could it be? Who else would his mother let in without asking if he knew her beforehand? He didn't know, but he intended on finding out as soon as possible.
So, not bothering to slowly come in, he threw his door open, revealing a blonde girl standing in front of his bedside table. What the hell? The girl, having turned around, as she had heard the door handle being pushed, smiled kind of seductively at him and winked. Troy was sure that he had never seen her before. Forgetting that he was only in a towel, he made a few steps into the room, questioning her: "Uh, who are you, pray tell?" He gazed at her in a rude manner, but who was he to care if she had barged into his room without even asking him for permission.
The blonde girl didn't even seem to be offended. "Tiara Rutherford. I'm in your German class. Don't think you've ever noticed me before." Well then, what was the point if she came to him? He usually didn't want to notice the people he didn't notice. And even if he had noticed her before, there still was no reason for her to pay him a visit. "And what are you doing here? To the best of my knowledge our German project is no partner project, is it? I certainly would remember if we had assigned partners." He really didn't understand. What was she doing here?
"Oh, no, no! We're not doing the project together. I came here because I thought we could do something else together." Tiara suggestively said to him, settling down on his bed. It was only now that Troy noticed how short her outfit was. Within two seconds he had figured out why she had come here. And he couldn't help but laugh out loud. She certainly wasn't thinking …, she couldn't be. This was just ludicrous. How old was she? Fifteen? Sixteen? Not older than him if she was in his German class. How could you be that debauched at that age?
Whatever it was… it wasn't only that. Tiara wasn't just depraved; Troy got the impression that she also was dumb. How could you misinterpret someone who was laughing at you for a suggestion? You certainly didn't think he was keen on the idea, did you? Troy didn't know when he would do something like that, but he did know that he wouldn't do it that early and above all certainly not with some random girl who just happened to fall down to his feet and kiss them.
However, Tiara didn't seem to get the message. She stood up again and approached him at a fast pace. "Come on, you know you want it." Wow, this was bold. Troy shook his head in disbelieve and also to signal her that she was thinking the wrong thing. And although he couldn't express his disgust any better, the blonde didn't care. Reaching out for him, she pressed herself into him and tried to kiss him.
Shoving her away with full force, Troy took about five steps backwards, looking at her with an unreadable face. She nauseated him. She had to know he had a girlfriend. Heck, everyone in this freaking school knew that he was going out with Gabriella Montez. And, happy or not, until now that had been respected by everybody, so Troy didn't know how to react to Tiara.
Needing space to think, he shot her a stern look, demanding her to stay in here while he would be out to pop on some clothing. Grabbing his blue jeans from a chair nearby, he went out off his room, his eyes never leaving the now dumbfounded looking girl. His eyes, however, seemed to have a spiriting effect on the blonde, seeing as she lit up as she met his gazing blue ones.
Troy once again shook his head. He was dreaming or something like that, this couldn't be real. Hastily stripping over his jeans, he noticed that he had forgotten his shirt, but couldn't care less at the moment. Tiara had already seen him with less clothing than trousers, so a shirt wasn't going to make any difference. Had he just known how much of a difference it would make.
Entering his room hesitantly again, he detected for the first time that his cell phone wasn't lying on his nightstand, but on his bed. Hadn't he placed it on the little table? He was sure that he would never lay it on his bed. He had broken his last one on accident, because he had thrown it on his bed, forgotten that he had done so and laid down in the evening, directly on his phone. His parents hadn't been too happy and so he had taken to be careful with his new one. But what the hell could Tiara have done with his cell phone? There was no reason why she should have used it. Shrugging, he thought to himself that she could have looked at it and then misplaced it after doing so. He didn't blame her for it; after all it was the latest model.
So, riveting on the blonde again, he deliberated what he should do with her. To throw her out would be the best option, but that was really rude and as much she would have deserved it, he couldn't bring it over him. Trying to explain things to her? Could work, he wasn't sure, but it was worth a try. Carefully approaching the girl, who seemed to be lost, he opened his mouth to start with the explaining: "Look, Tiara, you know that this is ridiculous, don't you? You're barely sixteen and you're trying to get me to sleep with you? Not to be rude or anything, but that's really, really dumb."
Desperately trying to search for words how to explain this anymore, he didn't even think about him being shirtless and he also missed the voices ringing through the house. Tiara, though, had been waiting to hear them, recognizing one of them as Gabriella's. Smirking satisfied, for she had reached her goal, she took two steps forward, so she was standing directly in front of Troy. Perplexed by her actions, Troy looked at her astonished, before being pulled into a stormy kiss. What the hell? Hadn't he just tried to break it to her that this wouldn't be happening?
He was so shocked that he didn't find the strength to push her back. Elated by this, Tiara put her hands on his abs, rubbing them up and down. This brought Troy back to his senses. Detaching his lips from hers just in time, he couldn't manage to get her hands off of him, as the door banged open. He froze in shock. Turning around very, very slowly - not wanting to see what he thought was happening - he came face to face with his girlfriend, Gabriella. A very shocked and hurt Gabriella.
Starring at him and Tiara behind him, her eyes went bid and immediately filled with tears. Finally pushing Tiara fully off of him, Troy raised his hand to grab for Gabriella's arm, to make her stay and let him explain, but the brunette wasn't having it. Casting one last look at him, eyes filled with hurt and anger, she whirled around and made a run out of the house. Troy shot one fired look at the blonde standing behind him, a grin playing around her lips, and started to sprint after his girlfriend, not even caring to put on a shirt.
There was no way he would let her go the way she intended to. "Gabriella!", he shouted, already out of the house, seeing her running down the street, face in her hands. Oh God, hopefully she wouldn't be run over by a car before he got to her. He knew she was crying, he knew how much she was hurt, because he felt the same pain burning inside him. "Gabriella!" Using all his strength, he managed to get directly behind her, grabbing her arm and swinging her around, so she was more or less facing him.
Struggling, Gabriella did all in her power to break free from his grasp, but he was way stronger than her. Holding his dead-pan grip around her elbow, he fought to make her stand still, to listen to him, but there was no way Gabriella was doing that. "Let go of me, Troy!", she demanded, tears freely running down her cheeks, her voice breaking, but still filled with venom and loathing. It hurt Troy so much to see her like this and to know that he was the reason. "Let me go! I want to never see you again! Search for another girl you can fool, for all I care even Amber or that other bitch back in your room, but I'll never care again, I swear!"
She couldn't believe that he had actually lied to her on the phone, saying he would play basketball with his friends and instead go and cheat on her. He could see her feelings in her eyes, breaking her heart into pieces, and he couldn't do anything about it. "Ris, please let me expl…" She simply cut him off. "Don't talk to me, Bolton! And it's Gabriella to you. I'm not going to let you call me Ris any longer!" And with those last words, she turned around and finally wriggled free from his grasp, escaping him, running through his fingers like sand on the beach.
He stood still, knowing that it was useless to run after her again. Following her with looks until she had vanished around the corner, he felt a sharp pain in his heart. Damn it, how could he have been so stupid? How could he already have managed to loose the best thing that had ever happened to him in his young life? He didn't know. And coming to that cognizance hurt more than he could believe. He had lost Gabriella for a reason he didn't even grasp fully.
So he stood still, his feet stuck against the pavement, and loosing the hope of Gabriella returning to him with every minute that went by. It was only after five minutes that he realised that he hadn't a shirt on. The cold wind blowing against his chest, he finally turned around, noticing an old man standing behind him, who obviously had been watching the whole scene unfold.
Taking in the sight of a young man, trying to hold his girlfriend – or, better, ex-girlfriend – back, he cocked his eyebrows. "You didn't try anything on with her, did you?" He obviously hadn't a very good opinion of today's youth and a young man shirtless on the street only seemed to confirm his persuasion. Troy was shocked: "Hell, no! I'd never do something like that!" He looked defensive, but the man was still looking like he was pondering if he should call the police or leave it be. Casting one last look at the street corner where he had gotten the last look on Gabriella, Troy sighed heavily, strolling out of the street and back to his house, before the man could actually call the police.
*
Troy had to really hold himself back; otherwise he would have buried his face in his hands. But that wasn't going to help anything, so he didn't do it. But what should he do on the other side? He didn't know, but he could once again try to explain to her. However, that hadn't gone well the last times he had tried to do it.
*
It was two weeks after Gabriella had found Troy and Tiara in his room and until now she had blocked every chance for him to speak with her. He supposed that she had told Taylor and Sharpay what had happened, because they had obviously taken her side, holding him back from her whenever they saw him approaching her. And they were good at it, he had to admit. Especially Sharpay, she could scare the wits out of you.
But that didn't restrain Troy from trying even harder. This was Gabriella it was all about and he didn't intend on letting her go so easily. He had to speak to her and he had to do it now. So he had screwed up his courage and approached the girls' table at lunch time. Usually they had sat together for lunch, but since the incident boys and girls had been separated, for Gabriella didn't want to be near him in a distance of twenty metres.
But this time it was going to be different. He would talk to her and everything would be alright again. At least that was what he was trying to tell himself. Walking over to the table, his courage grew smaller and smaller. Swallowing hard, he tried to compose himself for what was to come. He reckoned that he would have to get past Sharpay and Taylor first, but to his big surprise, it wasn't that way.
Looking up and seeing him coming, Taylor whispered something to Sharpay. Troy didn't know what exactly it was, but it had to have something to do with him coming, because shortly after he was confronted with one of Sharpay's famous glares. Uh oh, didn't look to good for him. But surprisingly the two girls excused themselves from the table and left the cafeteria, but not without shooting him a warning look.
With a shrug, Troy picked up his pace to get over to his ex-girlfriend. He couldn't worry about the reason they let him speak with her, he had to talk to Gabriella. And it was urgent. And maybe… maybe they letting him talk to her meant that she was ready to talk to him! It wasn't likely, but everybody could dream, couldn't they?
But his hopes were getting crashed as soon as he had actually reached the table. Apparently not wanting to look at him, Gabriella kept her head down and only told him in an emotionless voice: "Don't speak to me, don't try to apologize and don't sit down. I don't want to hear you, see you or, even worse, feel your body next to mine and I would really appreciate it if you just went lost!"
Her words stung hard, but he wasn't going to let them get to him. Instead he did exactly what Gabriella had told him not to do. He sat down and started talking. "Okay, listen, I know you don't want to, but this is important!" He paused, hoping for her to look at him, but she didn't do him the favour. So he just went on: "I … didn't … cheat … on … you, Gabriella!", he emphasized every single word. "You have to believe me!" By now his voice had gotten desperate. But his ex-girlfriend didn't care.
Looking up and taking her first look on him since two weeks, Troy could make out the dark circles under her eyes, making her look like she hadn't gotten much sleep in the last days. Which she probably hadn't. And that made Troy only feel even worse, if that was possible. "I don't believe you and I won't! I know what I saw and I'm not believing a liar and a cheater. So you can spare your words, Bolton. I hate you and I want nothing to do with you, are we clear?" Her voice was crystal clear and her tone strong, though really cold.
Troy froze. She hated him? She couldn't hate him! How was he supposed to go on with life if she hated him? She was half of his life; she couldn't just say she hated him! It was like stabbing him and turning the knife in his back and it hurt just as much. He bit his lower lip, desperately trying to get along with what she had said, only to find that it was impossible. And slowly there was anger building up inside him.
How could she just not listen? Didn't she have any faith in their relationship? Didn't she have any trust in him? Was she willing to just give up and go on with life as though nothing had ever happened between them? As if they had never been an item? Well, if she insisted on it, then he would do the same. "Alright then, I suppose this is it?", he asked, his voice growing cold and dark. "We're going from being a couple directly to being enemies? Hating each other? Works for me, … Montez!" The last word being spit out of his mouth was filled with the same venom she had used when she had run away from him two weeks ago.
He looked her sharp in the eye, and could have sworn that he saw a flicker of hurt crossing her look, but it was gone only milliseconds later. He was hallucinating. "Bolton!" Now her tone matched his, her glare was just as intense as his. In one swift motion, Gabriella stood up and left him sitting there, feeling coldness fill his whole body. In this moment he had lost Gabriella Montez, his best friend and girlfriend in one.
*
Troy sighed. He knew he had to try it anyways if he ever wanted to come on good terms with Gabriella again. "Gabriella, I didn't cheat on you. How many times do I have to repeat that until you believe me? She set us up; she sent you the text you got. I never wrote you should come over to mine!" Gabriella laughed wryly. "Of course you didn't! You didn't want your lie to be busted, did you? To say the truth, I'm glad she sent it. If she hadn't, I would have never known the truth about you and your lies." Troy shook his head. Already resigned, he tried to convince her one last time: "Damn it, there wasn't anything to be busted. She tricked me, she tricked you, she tricked us! I never meant to hurt you, Gabriella!"
Gabriella didn't believe a word he said. "Oh, of course, and saying I'd be a prude, who wouldn't understand if there were other girls liking you doesn't mean to be hurting either, or what? Even if you didn't intend on hurting me: that certainly was the best way to do so!" Troy starred at her in utter shock. "You heard that? How the hell?" Gabriella just laughed irritated. "Oh, of course you didn't think I would ever hear it, did you? You thought you could fool me with your pathetic tries to apologize and saying you didn't cheat? Well, then you thought wrong! I did hear your words and even if I didn't… Taylor was standing right next to Chad as you said it. You don't think she wouldn't have told me if I hadn't known it already?" Troy grew white as if he had seen a ghost. That really hadn't been his cleverest move.
*
After that conversation, Troy had lost every faith in them ever getting back together. And now he saw no reason to dwell on the past. Moving on as fast as possible was his motto and he did everything he could to fulfil it. Gabriella and he had become enemies and both of them fulfilled their new roles with perfection. Mocking, harassing, insulting… they were really good at in when they were both into it. And there wasn't a day when they weren't into it.
While they seemed to have no problems with the new situation, their friends seemed to have a harder time. Being torn between two of their friends, they tried to find a compromise, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. At some point eventually, they had managed to arrange themselves. And so there was hardly a time at school when more than three of the previously inseparable group were standing together.
But sometimes it just happened, and so it was on a Friday about one month after Troy and Gabriella's break-up that Troy was standing together with Chad, Taylor, Sharpay and Zeke. Still anxious not to mention Gabriella around him, there had been some really awkward silences between them, whenever it seemed inevitable to mention her. And finally Troy was getting fed up with it.
Eventually he exploded. "God, why can't you just be normal around me? I'm not the one having a problem with Montez' name mentioned, she's the one being uncomfortable with mine. So please, don't feel the need to shut up whenever you are going to mention her. I've gotten her message that she doesn't want anything to do with me. It's not my problem that she's a prude who can't deal with the fact that there are other girls out there that could possibly like me!" After that announcement it was silent.
Nobody knew what to say after it and nobody knew that Gabriella was standing right behind the corner, listening to them. She hadn't intended on spying on them or anything, no, she was just in search for Taylor and Sharpay, because they had to plan the foundation of the new dancing squad, which the principle Mr. Matsui had given permission to for the new school year.
And now here she was, having to listen to Troy saying she was a prude. Awesome! It was exactly what had been missing in her life: getting insulted that way. No, it wasn't enough that she was already miserable enough without Troy making it even worse, no he had to pick at her every time he got the chance to. Tears starting to get into her eyes, she turned around on her heels, not wanting to speak to anybody any longer. The dancing quad could wait. She wasn't ready to face anyone in this condition. And once again Gabriella Montez was devastated, just because of a boy getting to her.
*
Gabriella shook her head at the memory. "You really blew it, you know? If I had believed you under any circumstances, then it was gone by the time I heard you saying that. This is something you really messed up, Troy!"
So, how did you like this one? The secret's revealed, not only to you, but to the whole school. What are they going to do with that? Anyone has got any ideas? Well, you'll see in the next chapter. Please review and tell me what you thought about Sophomore Year. Do you like what happened? Do you not like it? How many of you are wishing Tiara to hell right now? :) If you want to tell me, I'd really appreciate you pressing that little button down there… and I still haven't figured out the colour…
Until next time,
xoxo
Lena