I had survived my first day at their well my school and it had gone fine. I didn't break down into tears at any point, nobody asked me why I had transferred and in the afternoon with troy as my introducer I had met many people all of whom seemed really nice and welcoming. Now we had gone to the Diner to celebrate.

I'm not over what happened yet and even though it's been two months since it happened I still sometimes wake up in the night screaming because I dreamt what happened. I'll cry myself back to sleep and wake up in the morning feeling awful. But I know I made the right choice in moving here. Because although I miss my home I know that if I was still in Colorado I would still be in the state I was when I left. I have made some amazing friends here and sat around this table with them all laughing and joking I'm starting to feel normal again. Like I belong it's nice to know that with their help I'll get through this.

"Hey gabs you ok" troy asks as he walked into my room. I was just lying on my bed studying.

"Yeah…I'm ok...you?" I answer distractedly trying to understand what on earth this textbook is on about.

"No you're not..." he lies down on the bed next to me "now spill"

"It's nothing honestly I'm ok"

"Gabby it's me…tell me"

"Well it's nothing really … I'm just really stressed over this work…. I don't get any of it and no matter how many times I read this textbook none of it will go in. And to top it off the teacher I have for this class has just set a huge assignment about a subject I know nothing about that's in for next week and I just know that I'm never going to be able to write it by then" I pushed my text book of the bed and put my head in my hands.

"Well you do know the only way you're going to get it done don't you?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah I know… I just have to stick it out and eventually it will go in and I can write the assignment"

"No. You have to go out, have fun and not think about it all day" he grinned at me

"What?"

"You have to go out, have fun and no think about it all day then when you come back to it tomorrow your mind will be clear and it will be a lot easier"

"Yeah as good as that sounds I don't think it works like that" I got up and went to pick my text book up but before I could lie back down troy had thrown the textbook on the bed.

"What are you doing troy?"

"We are going out all day and I'm taking your mind off this assignment…now get your stuff I'll meet you downstairs in 5 minutes" he left the room while I just stood there slightly in shock.

"AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING BACK TO STUDYING OR I WILL PHYSICALLY COME UP THERE AND CARRY YOU OUT!" that last comment made me move. I would rather leave voluntarily than be fireman's lifted out of here.

I wander downstairs and tell Taylor that we're going out on the way. She just smiles at me and tells me to have a good time. I find troy waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with the grin of a young child on his face. I just smile at him and he grabs my hand and pulls me outside to his truck. We get in and start driving but no matter how much I ask he will not tell me where we are going. Instead he just puts load music on and we both start singing along at the top of our lungs. We end up at a bowling alley. After winning the first game troy is slightly cocky.

"You ready to be beaten again gabs"

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself there troy…you just lucky that's all"

"Please its pure skill….I don't need luck" he grins after to let me know he's not tally serious but I can still tell he is desperate to win.

"I never knew you were so competitive…but then again I should have realised"

"And whys that then?"

"Well you're the captain of a winning basketball team…you couldn't have got to there without having a competitive streak" I went to bowl and got a split and then totally failed the second go.

"Well I suppose your right" he grins and picks up his ball and bowls and knocks over every pin but 1.

"Ooh tough shot there...Good luck"

"Like I said it's not luck its skill. Watch this" he picks up another ball and goes to bowl it with a goof amount of force behind him. But instead of him letting go of the ball he went flying down the alley with it. In shock I ran up to him to see if he was ok cause he was half way down the alley.

"Oh my god troy are you ok?" I asked kneeling by his side. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Yeah I'm fine" and right then I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing. And I don't just mean a little giggle I mean full on in hysterics laughing. I don't know what happened but I just couldn't hold it in and I could not for the life of me gain control of myself. Troy just looked at me confused unsure of whether he thought it was funny or thought I was mean but before long he was laughing alongside me. And we just sat there ridiculously laughing for about 10 minutes until the manager came over and asked us to leave. So while still laughing we got up got our stuff and left.

About an hour later we had calmed down and were sat on a dock that went out over a small lake that troy knew. There was nobody else here and we were just sat dipping our feet into the cool water.

"So…that was pure skill was it?" I said giggling

"Well I'll have you know that the ball was perfectly aimed and would have hit the last pin if it wasn't..."

"For you flying down the alley with the ball as well?" I asked interrupting him.

"Well…..yes" we looked at each other and started laughing again. After we had calmed down again.

"I haven't laughed like that in so long….not since josh died" Troy went quiet at the mention of josh.

"I'm sorry Troy I shouldn't have brought him up; I don't want you to feel awkward"

"I don't feel awkward gabby. It's ok if you want to talk about it…you know I'm here for you?" he smiles down at me and I smile back.

"You know that you're the first person to make me properly laugh in 4 months"

"Really?"

"Yeah" I smile at him and he grins back

"Well I'm glad to hear it

We spent the rest of the day lounging about at the lake talking. Troy went and bought us some food from a nearby café as I waited on the docking. We spent all afternoon talking about our lives and telling each other stories about the past. When it got dark troy made a campfire and brought out marshmallows and skewers that he'd bought earlier when he had gone to get food. We toasted marshmallows and when it got cold he gave me his jacket and put his arm around me to keep me warm. We sat there for a while looking at the lake and talking some more before he drove me back to Taylors. He walked me up the drive when we got there.

"Well I have to say troy your idea of getting out of the house really helped. I feel so much better"

"I told you" he grinned at me.

"Thank you"

"Anytime"

"I had such a good day today you know" I couldn't help but smile thinking about the day.

"So did I….and seriously Gabriella anytime you need to talk...you know where I am" He smiled and lent it towards me. For a small second I thought he was going to kiss me but he just pulled me in for a hug. He pulled back and smiled at me.

"Well I guess I'll see you later then. Bye Gabby"

"Bye Troy" He paused for a moment before walking back to his truck. I waved as he drove off and then went inside. After going upstairs I got changed and got into bed.

I can't stop thinking about today. I've not been that open with someone ever, well apart from josh of course. I just felt so comfortable talking to him. We even talked about Josh and I was fine. Only very briefly and it wasn't anything personal about him but he was still mentioned. It's weird, ever since I've come here I've become really good friends with troy. I'm so close to him and to be totally honest he is the one that is really helping me through what happened.

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