Chapter 23!! Yay!!
Just a bit of a filler chapter really – a nice relief from the drama, and a setting for the sub plot you will see introduced at the end of it. Hope you all enjoy!!
PS. Shout-outs to Lil-Evans and Jessa, who now have a new favourite word, everyone who said they missed this story while I was away (aawww), and everyone who hates Riley Hutchinson. I do too, but believe it or not...there are people like him out there, and he is loosely based on a real life person (over exaggerated just a little though). And of course a shoutout to Em for her patience during our all-day MSN conversation letting me copy and paste her what I was writing hehe. And for the in-jokes (wink wink).
And, because she has to go pack now I'm gonna shut up and post!!! Here ya go Em!!!
Chapter 23
"A little more to the left...Mmm...more...a little more. Ok that's it. Now higher. Mmm...lower...no a little higher..." Gabriella giggled as Troy looked down at her from high up on the ladder and raised an eyebrow. It was a cold Saturday morning, and Troy was at the Montez's house helping them put up their Christmas decorations. Gabriella was laying on the lounge, directing him as he worked.
"Miss Montez," he said with a smirk, stepping slowly down the ladder rung by rung and letting the tinsel he had been hanging fall limply from the curtain rail."I have a theory."
"Oh really?" Gabriella replied, shifting on the couch to prop herself up on her elbow.
"Mmhmm," Troy confirmed, stepping off the ladder.
"And what would that theory be, Mr Bolton?" Gabriella asked innocently.
"That theory, Miss Montez, is that you are just trying to keep me up on that ladder for as long as possible so you can...check me out."
Gabriella snorted with laughter. "Oh I am SO not!" she teased.
Troy smirked again as he headed towards her. "Oh you SO are – I can feel you watching me...raping me with your eyes – I feel so...violated!"
Gabriella's shoulders were shaking she was laughing so hard, tears rolling down her cheeks. "R...r...raping you with my e...e...eyes?" she managed to gasp out.
"Uh huh," Troy nodded in what he hoped was a serious manner. "And do you know what the punishment is for eye-rape these days?"
Gabriella's eyes widened and she gulped down more laughter as Troy raised his hands in front of him and wiggled his fingers. "Not tickle torture!" she wailed. "Anything but that!"
It was too late – Troy had already launched his attack, and Gabriella squealed as she struggled beneath his fingers.
"Troy! Troy watch out for my line," she shrieked, trying to use the end of her central line - which was taped to the right side of her chest when not in use – as a get-out-of-jail card.
"Nice try Gabi," Troy replied. "Your line is on the other side."
"Damn."
"Aaah, so now we need to be punished not only for eye-rape but for lying as well, huh?" Troy's fingers were creeping towards her again.
Gabriella did the first thing that came into her head and leaned up, kissing him soundly. Almost immediately Troy's hands fell limp as he gave in to her kiss and pulled her close.
"Gabi?" Gabriella pulled away from Troy as her mother called her from the kitchen.
"Yes Mom?"
"Time for your meds, honey."
"Ok," she called back, pushing Troy off her and in the direction of the ladder. "I'll be right back, now go on my little decorating elf – work your decorating magic!" she slapped him cheekily on the butt as she left the room and he started back up the ladder, shaking his head and grinning.
"Wait," he said to himself suddenly, pausing half way up the ladder and frowning in disbelief. "Decorating elf??"
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
Maria, Gabriella and Troy were just finishing off lunch when the doorbell rang. Maria answered it and smiled when she saw Taylor, Chad, Sharpay, Ryan, Zeke, Jason and Kelsi on the doorstep.
"Hey Ms. Montez...I mean Maria," Chad corrected himself sheepishly at the look on Maria's face. "We uh...we thought maybe we could hang out here for the afternoon? If Gabster is feeling up to it of course."
"Gabi is feeling great today. Actually, Troy is here too – he's helping put up the Christmas decorations...we're a little behind on the decorating this year with everything that's been going on...Anyway, come in! Gabi and Troy are just in the kitchen."
Maria stood back as her daughter's friends filed through the front door and into the kitchen.
"HEY!" Gabriella exclaimed excitedly as she saw their friends. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We heard there was a little decorating going on and thought you might need some advice from the number one decorating expert on the face of this earth," Sharpay boasted.
Gabriella raised an eyebrow and Sharpay sighed.
"Ok, ok - we thought we would surprise you with a visit and your Mom told us you guys have been putting up the Christmas decorations."
Troy coughed loudly and everyone looked at him.
"What?" Sharpay asked, confused.
"Us decorating? More liked I've been decorating while Gabi ra..."
"Gabi what?" Maria asked curiously as she re-entered the kitchen, the cordless phone in her hand.
"Er...Gabi...rated my...decorating skills?" he finished meekly. Gabriella squeezed her eyes shut and slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Riiiight...well, Gabi – phone's for you," she said, passing her daughter the telephone. "It's Mackenzie."
"Hey Kenzi!!" Gabriella said happily. "How's everything in the Big House?"
"Haha funny," Mackenzie replied. "Things are ok here; actually I'm ringing you with some really good news!"
"Yeah? What happened??"
"Engraftment happened, that's what!"
"Huh?" Gabriella was confused.
"Sorry, sorry, I should have explained myself better – I'm just SO excited! Savannah's mother Kathryn was just in here speaking to Mom and I - they just got word that Van's Bone Marrow Transplant looks like a complete success!"
"OHMYGOSHTHATSFANTASTIC!" Gabriella's words came out in a rush.
"I know, isn't it?" Mackenzie replied enthusiastically. "What an awesome Christmas present!"
"I bet they are rapt," Gabriella agreed. "Speaking of Christmas, what's happening with you Miss Mack? When are you getting out of jail?"
"Uhh, soon I guess...look Gabi, I gotta go – Kirsten needs to draw blood."
"Oh...ok. Well, I'll talk to you soon, right? Say hi to Kirsten and give my love to Savannah and everyone who's in at the moment."
"Will do. Bye Gabs."
"Bye," Gabriella hung up the phone and placed it on the counter. "Savannah's transplant worked!" she told her mother happily.
"Oh that's wonderful news! We'll have to give them a call later," Maria smiled.
Troy kissed Gabriella on the cheek. "That's really great to hear, Gabs. Aaaand you know what else is great?"
"What?" Gabriella asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Your Mom found the boxes of Christmas lights from your old houses while you were on the phone," Troy said, gesturing to three taped up cardboard boxes labelled 'Xmas Lights – FRAGILE!'
Gabriella's smile was a mile wide. She LOVED this time of the year and she was so thankful that she was home and feeling well enough to enjoy it. She felt a little sad when she thought about Mackenzie stuck in the hospital, but kept her fingers crossed that her friend would be able to be home by Christmas. She followed her friends outside as the guys grabbed the boxes of lights and outdoor decorations and set them down on the front steps.
"Ok," Maria said, pulling open one of the boxes. "This one looks like it's all decorations, the other two will be the lights so girls why don't you take this box and do around the windows, and boys you can be in charge of the lights if you like. Troy do you want to grab the tall ladder from the garage? I'll go get the step ladder from the lounge."
An hour later, the front yard of the Montez house was beginning to look like a winter wonderland. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the Wildcats that everyone was to put in 110 percent effort to make this the best Christmas ever for Gabriella. Strings of plastic icicles gleamed along the window sills, decorative wreaths hung near the door, oversized candy canes edged the path to the front door, and coloured fairy lights snaked their way up the pillars either side of the steps, and across the awning.
Gabriella's attention was drawn from admiring their efforts when she noticed Troy and Chad standing on the front steps looking like they were in the midst of a serious discussion.
"...well if we put them over there they look wrong..."
"...but if we set them up here, someone might knick them!"
"Why the heck would someone want to steal a pair of light up reindeer?"
"Trust me Troy – stranger things have happened..."
"Well how do you propose we keep them from being stolen then?"
"We could...we could chain them to the front door with a bicycle lock! That way the thief would have to take off the entire door before they could get away with the reindeer!" Chad seemed immensely proud of this idea.
"Who's taking off my front door?" Gabriella asked as she snaked her arms around Troy's waist.
"No one," Troy laughed, kissing the top of her head. "What do you want us to do with these reindeer?"
"Oh, they go right here on the doorstep," she explained. "My Dad used to chain them to the front door with bicycle locks when I was younger, to make sure no one knicked off with them," she laughed, shaking her head before shrugging. "It worked though."
Gabriella kissed Troy on the cheek before heading back over to the girls leaving a miffed Troy to deal with an extremely triumphant-looking Chad.
HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM
"Ok - Taylor sweetheart, if you could grab the salad and take it to the table that would be great, Troy and Chad are just finishing up with the meat on the barbeque so we're nearly ready to eat. Sharpay, you've got the bread rolls under control...great! Kelsi do you want to round everyone else up while I finish off the potato bake and then we're set," Maria nodded her head with satisfaction. She had decided everyone was invited to stay for a barbeque dinner to say thanks for all their help through the day.
As everyone made their way to the table, Maria looked around. "Ooh! Gabi!" she exclaimed suddenly. Gabriella had been exhausted after all the excitement of the day so far and had gone to lie down for a bit once they came inside.
"I'll go, you relax," Troy said, pulling out Maria's chair for her and heading towards the stairs, climbing them two at a time.
Reaching Gabriella's half-closed door, he quietly pushed it open and smiled to himself as he saw her curled up on top of her bed, fast asleep. He sat down next to her and stroked her head softly. "Gabi," he whispered. "Time to wake up baby."
"Hmmm?" she murmured, only half awake.
"Dinner's ready," he told her, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek as she struggled to pull herself out of sleep.
"Huh...I must've fallen asleep," Gabriella commented sleepily and Troy smiled, laughing softly.
"Yeah, must've done," they fell silent for a moment, Troy's thumb tracing circles on her cheek, before Troy spoke again. "You're so beautiful," he said in a voice full of raw emotion.
Gabriella smiled softly at him. "What brought that on?"
"Nothing. I just wanted you to know..."
"Urgh, you two! Enough of the love-fest – dinners getting cold!" Sharpay ordered. Troy took Gabriella's hand and helped her up off the bed and out the door. "Honestly," Sharpay muttered, following them down the stairs. "Send a man to do a woman's job..."
The gang and Maria laughed and chatted their way through dinner and were just finishing off their dessert in the lounge room when there was a knock at the door.
"Geez, this is the popular house today!" Chad joked as Maria put her bowl of ice cream down and went out into the hall.
On the doorstep there was a friendly looking middle-aged woman holding a folder. When Maria opened the door she smiled.
"Maria Montez?"
"Yes, that's me," Maria replied, her curiosity rising.
"Hello Maria, I'm so sorry to drop in without calling especially so close to dinner time...my name is Angela, and I'm from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I don't know whether you've heard about us or not, but I was wondering if I could sit down for a chat with you and your daughter, Gabriella."
Maria smiled warmly. She had heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation – and the wonderful work they did - up at the hospital and felt excitement bubbling in the pit of her stomach at the prospect of Gabriella being referred onto them for a Wish. After everything she had gone through so far and with what she was still facing, there was no doubt that she deserved this.
Angela followed Maria through to the lounge room where everyone was talking and laughing quietly. "Her best friends are here with her at the moment – would you rather talk to her alone or is it ok for them to be there too?"
"Oh, it's fine – they can stay!" Angela responded brightly. Maria liked her already.
"Gabriella," Maria said as they entered the room. "There's someone here to see you. This is Angela."
Gabriella stood up and Angela shook her hand. "It's lovely to meet you, Gabriella. Like your Mom said, I'm Angela and I'm a wish-granter from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I'm here to let you know that you have been referred onto us by your medical team up at the hospital, and to talk to you about making a Wish with us."
Maria had tears in her eyes at the genuine look of shock and excitement in Gabriella's eyes.
"Really?!" she exclaimed.
Angela nodded. "We've checked out our case and are pleased to say that you are completely eligible for our Wish Making program. Every year we make dreams come true for seriously ill children all over the world. We've granted 157, 819 wishes since our organisation first began. I'm so happy that we will hopefully be able to bring a little light to you and your family."
"So...so what do I have to do?" Gabriella asked breathlessly as her friends exchanged excited looks. They were so proud of her and knew that this was going to be a beacon of hope during a bleak time.
"Well, now that we have confirmed that you fit all the criteria required to be eligible for a Wish, we get to the fun part – you get to decide what you would like to wish for. Now, I have a load of information to leave with you to read through before you decide what you would like to do, but the options are pretty much endless, within reason. Many children wish for things like holidays, computers or other electronics, meetings with their favourite celebrities or sporting stars...all sorts of things like that. But your Wish can be as simple or creative as you like," Gabriella nodded as Angela continued. "So your job now is to choose three wishes – three things that you would love to have or do. Then we decide which one is your Primary Wish, and the other two become 'back up wishes' just in-case, for some reason, your main wish is unable to go ahead."
"Wow, there are so many possibilities!" Gabriella was a little overwhelmed.
Angela handed over a folder full of information sheets and pamphlets. "I'll leave you with these, you have a read and have a think and a chat to Mom about what you might like to do, and I will schedule a meeting with you and your mom in a few weeks' time so you can make your Wish!"
Gabriella nodded eagerly. "Ok, that sounds amazing! Thank you so, so much!"
"You're very welcome, sweetheart," Angela smiled as she stood up to leave. "I'll be in touch!"
Gabriella sat back down after waving goodbye to Angela, giddy with excitement. A thousand thoughts were running through her head about what she might like to wish for – it was going to be a tough choice.
Maria felt herself choke up once again, watching Gabriella talking so animatedly with her friends about this new opportunity. They had had to make many big decisions over the past couple of months and they were going to have to make many more in the near future, but – just for once – it felt nice to be facing a big decision that was guaranteed to have a happy outcome no matter what.
Yeahya! Some good times for Gabriella! Will the happiness last? Only time will tell...
Next up, it's Christmas! Lots of Christmastime fun, and a guest appearance from... Aunt Gladys! Tehehe...
Please revieeeeew :) I love longggg reviews hehe. It's awesome to hear you guys thoughts on the story and your predictions for the upcoming chapters!!
Oh and if anyone would like more information on the Make-A-Wish Foundation, please PM me:)
Charli xox
