Hello everyone! Thank you so much to pumpkinking5, Grace and guest for your reviews! Yes guest, I noticed a bit too late that I had misspelt Decathlon, again… I was just tired and didn't read the correction my computer made as I changed the word. So sorry for that.
Grace I won't reveal to much but it will get worse before it gets better and yes I think we can blame the cheerleaders for much of it. Excluding Martha of course. I know it might be wrong but I have somewhat stereotyped some of the characters based on movies and TV series. Such as the smart people at school being seen as losers and geeks, the jocks are the popular once, theatre people are somewhat special and mean/manipulating in several ways and the cheerleaders as the other popular group who are "allowed" to pick on the groups beneath them. Sort of like a hierarchy/food chain. Also seen in the very first movie before Troy and Gabriela break the status que at East.
And yes! You all will learn more about Etrea in their project! That was one of the main reasons why I wanted them to have the project, I did in fact have one about Canada in my social science class two years ago, and through this project I could tell about Etrea and finally pen down the madness that has been going on in my brain ever since this story were created over a year ago!
Sorry long intro but hopefully answered questions I am sure some of you had, now onto the story, finally.
Saturday 19th of January
Gabriella's POV
As Saturday morning came I rolled over in bed and saw the clock just passing nine. Just lying in bed I couldn't hear any noise in the house. Completely quiet. Mom had sent me a text last night saying she was back at the hotel but also to wish me good night. I was rather used to being alone by now but it was still strange to wake up in a house where the only noises heard were made by no-one else than me. I pulled the blanket off me and gathered some clothes before I headed into the bathroom to take a shower.
Emerging twenty minutes later I felt more awake and ready for the day. Making my way down towards the kitchen I dialled Taylor's number knowing she should be awake by now. "Good morning Gabriella," Taylor said as she picked up the phone shortly after. "Good morning. I was wondering if you had plans today?" I questioned hopefully.
"I'm sorry. Mom, dad, me and my little sister are going to visit some relatives up in Santa Fe," she apologized. "No it's okay I understand Taylor. Have fun at your relatives and we'll see each other on Monday?" I questioned trying my best to sound cheerful.
"Thanks. See you at school," Taylor confirmed and with that we both hung up. I let out a small sigh as I placed the phone in my pocket before starting on breakfast which was simply toast.
As the clock dragged on throughout the day I was alone and my hopes of having someone over quickly vanished. Troy and Chad had a basketball match while Taylor were visiting relatives. By all means, I could have called someone from the scholastic decathlon team but to be honest I did not have much in common with them besides the academics at school. Most if the frowned upon the fact that I choose to participate in the musical last year despite it crashing with the competition.
They did not like me breaking the "status quo" at school.
What I knew could occupy my mind now was the project about Etrea…
Monday 21st of January
Mom had come home last night and offered to drive me to school the next day which was fine by me. Right now I was so nervous to the point that my hand were shaking.
"You are going to nail the test Gabi," mom encouraged me as we drove towards East High. "Thanks, but it doesn't help with the nerves," I confessed and she smiled a little taking a quick glance at me before returning her gaze to the road ahead.
"I am sure you are prepared enough and that you will pass with flying colours," she told me positively and put on the blinker as she turned the car in on the street the school was located. "Have a great day at school today and don't worry too much about the test," she told me as she stopped outside of the school. I turned towards mom and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks mom," I said releasing a breath. My heart beating hard against my chest. "I will see you tonight," I said and closed the car door behind me. I gave my mom a last wave as she smiled at me before driving away.
As I pushed open the door to the school building, the clock hadn't turned eight yet. School didn't start for another half an hour so the usually crowded hallways were now empty. My shoes didn't make a sound against the blank floor as I made my way towards the school's guidance counsellor. She had been nice enough to offer me that we could start before school so we could limit the time I had to be out of class.
Walking through the quiet halls of East High seemed surreal. Thinking back, I had never seen the halls this quiet… To be honest it was more than a little intimidating.
Continuing my walk down the dessert hallway I made my way towards the school counsellor's office. I knocked softly on the open door and Mrs Carver looked up at me with a smile.
"Good morning Miss Montez. Please come in," she invited cheerfully. "Good morning Mrs Carver," I said and entered her office, closing the door behind me.
"Are you ready?" she questioned holding up some papers. I looked at them briefly before meeting her gaze. Her green eyes were relaxed. Comforting to watch.
"As ready as I will ever be," I told her with a nod and sat down on the desk that was inside the office. "I am more than confident that you will do wonderfully on this test Miss Montez. Do you just want to start now and then we should be done by second period?" she questioned. "Sounds great," I nodded agreeing.
"Great. What we are going to do today is the speaking and listening part. The rest of the test will be based on your English exam. Sounds good?" she questioned and I nodded silently agreeing.
"Splendid. Let's get going," she said and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, starting the test.
Troy's POV
I was a little nervous on behalf of Gabriella today as she were having her test this morning. I knew she were going to excel because her English was impeccable. But there was still the chance that she misunderstood or misinterpreted the task which could cause her to fail or score low.
Why did I suddenly want her to attend Royal College of Etrea so badly?
I walked inside homeroom that morning and spotted two of the cheerleaders already there, speaking not so quietly. "Did you hear the rumours?" Brittany stated towards Alexandra. "It says that Gabriella has to take an English test to get into college," she snickered and I felt myself getting somewhat angry.
What right had they to talk about Gabriella like that? What had she ever done towards them?
"She's at the school's guidance counsellor now taking the test. I saw her on my way to class. I always knew she was special but this just takes it to a whole new level," Brittany laughed. I frowned at this because I knew that Brittany did not go that way on her way to class. I knew that her locker was on the other side of the school because I had seen her there several times.
"I mean she can't get accepted to an American college without taking an English test, so she has to apply in another country. Maybe she'll go back to Mexico?" Brittany said and Alexandra burst out laughing.
I couldn't pretend not to notice it any longer.
"Be nice to her," I told them calmly as I turned towards them. Both of them looked taken aback and my guess would be that they didn't notice me entering the room.
"She has never done anything towards neither of you so I think you should be a little nice towards her. When it comes to her taking the test, it is just because the one college she is applying to requires her to have it because she speaks another language fluently, which I think is a rather large accomplishment. Cut her some slack because she is much smarter and nicer than you ever give her credit for," I finished a little sternly and both of them didn't utter another word. There was no secret around the school that both of them were wishing to date me but, thankfully, they respected that me and Gabriella were together.
Did they try to break me and Gabriella up by speaking negatively about her?
Deciding to ignore them I found the recent book I were reading for Japanese class back home until either Chad or Taylor came.
I didn't notice how much time had passed until I heart Taylor's voice, "Hey Troy," she greeted and I looked up to see the two of them sitting down in their seats. "Good morning," I greeted them both, my eyes scanning the page until I found a place to put the bookmark.
"Umm Troy. I hate to say it but I think you're reading the book the wrong way," Chad commented almost carefully and I just started laughing. I looked up to see Taylor gently swat Chad on the shoulder. "What?" he questioned quietly looking at his girlfriend.
"If this book had been in English then yes I would have agreed, but this is written in Japanese using hiragana, katakana and kanji. We read from the back to the front," I tried to explain showing him the pages of the book. He looked at them confused as to him it probably lines scribbled around randomly.
"Wow, that is weird," Chad stated astonished his gaze mesmerized by the signs written in the book. "And you can read that?" Chad questioned tearing his eyes away from the page looking at me.
"Yes, just like the English alphabet. Japanese is the second most spoken language in Etrea but also the other official language besides English," I shared with them and Taylor looked a little impressed.
"That is quite an accomplishment," Taylor stated. "I don't know about that," I said sheepishly. "As far as I have understood it is the same as you learning Spanish."
"I meant to ask, are anyone of you free tomorrow after school?" Chad questioned suddenly remembering something. "I thought we could work on our project," Chad continued looking at the two of us. "I am," I stated and Taylor shook her head.
"Both me and Gabriella have our AP classes after free period so no sorry," Taylor apologized.
"Maybe we can work together in the library?" Chad questioned looking at me. "Sure it's just a week until presentation anyways," I agreed and the bell rung just as Mrs Darbus walked into the classroom.
"All right settle down, settle down," Darbus said and the class somewhat got quiet. "Today we are continuing to analyse the text you were given last week but first I want you all to remember that the signup sheet for this year's musical is being posted this afternoon by our drama club president miss Sharpay Evans. She has reminded us all that there is only a week of sign up so to all aspiring actors out there, good luck," she said making some large hand gesture that she had apparently become known for doing.
"Now we are looking at act two of the play so please turn to page 48," she said and started the lecture that seemed to go on forever.
Gabriella's POV
"And time is up," Mrs Carver said and I put my pen down a little relieved. "How do you think it went?" she questioned and I looked at her.
"Good I think. I am defiantly glad it is over because I was so nervous," I confessed to her and she gave me a smile.
"I would say you did really well. Now what the examiner think is another story," she told me and I couldn't do anything else than laugh a little. Mrs Carver walked around the desk and sat down in her office chair. "Now," she started and typed something on her computer. "All I need is to print the certificate stating that you have done the test and awaiting the results. Do you want me to send the results directly to the school as I receive them?" she questioned looking at me.
"If you could that would be great," I said putting my pencil case down in my backpack looking at her.
"That is no problem. All I need is your application number and the name of the school," she said and found a pad of yellow sticky notes along with a pen. "I don't have my application number at the moment but could I give it to you tomorrow morning?" I questioned.
"Absolutely. Now what was the name of the college?" she questioned. "Right, Royal College of Etrea. I believe the town was Saint Germains or something like that," I said to her and she wrote it down.
"Great. I will send it as soon as the answer comes. You will also receive a copy so you have it for later and there it will also state the expiration date of the test," she said and reached over to the printer to get the freshly printed paper. "Here are the proof that the test has been done and that should be sufficient until further notice," she said and signed off on the paper before giving it to me.
"When should I expect the papers to arrive?" I questioned curiously. "About three to six weeks but I don't think it should take that long," Mrs Carver informed me. "Now before you go," she said and handed me a hall pass and a note to Mrs Darbus stating where I had been.
"Thank you," I told her getting the papers. "Have a nice day," Mrs Carver wished me as I walked out of the office and towards homeroom.
"How was it?" Troy questioned as we were sitting together during lunch. We both wanted some time alone and had made our way to the rooftop garden. I was mostly picking at my salad not eating much. "Good. I was nervous but I think I did well. The final result should arrive within three to six weeks, however, Mrs Carver didn't think it would take that long," I told him. "How did it go with the basketball match on Saturday?" I questioned curiously putting my fork down.
"Great, we won so we are even closer towards the championship game. Both me and Chad feel like we could actually end up there. According to Chad it would be the second year in a row which is quite an accomplishment," he stated and I nodded remembering from last year. "How was your weekend?" he questioned and I faked a smile.
He saw right thorough it. "Good but quiet."
Lie number one.
"I called Taylor as well but she was going up to Santa Fe to visit some family. I was just alone until mom came home yesterday," I shared and he looked at me with a slight frown.
"I thought it was just Saturday?" he asked confused. "No mom was away on some business trip in New York so she was gone by the time I came home from school on Friday. She came home yesterday evening," I told him.
"You could have told me and you didn't have to be home alone for so long," Troy told me and I heard in his voice that he was slightly upset. "It's all right," I said shrugging my shoulders. "I don't mind it that much…"
Lie number two.
"Call me next time all right?" he questioned softly and the smile I gave him this time were genuine. "I will," I told him scooting closer. He wrapped his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.
"How did the meeting go?" I questioned suddenly remembering it. I turned my head so our eyes meet. His blue looking down into my brown.
"It was good. I don't think I ever said why they wanted me in the meeting. The incident involved several people being stabbed with a knife in downtown Iwaki. Luckily it doesn't appear that there are any fatalities but there were several people severely injured. They wanted my opinion on the best course of action for the country and something for a new project. It wasn't all that fun," he shared not breaking eye contact throughout the story.
"Oh and Darbus informed everyone about the musical sign-up sheet. Reminding everyone that we only had a week. Do you want to do the musical this year?" he questioned me and I thought for a split second. It was really fun last year but I had so much going on at the moment.
"I had fun," I started and he nodded agreeing. "But maybe not this year. I just have a lot going on right now with the Scholastic Decathlon team and I agreed to help Taylor with the yearbook," I told him.
"I understand. I don't think I will do it either. It won't be the same without you," he told me and I felt my heart getting warm. He did it because of me.
"It has been some time since we have gotten the chance to talk uninterrupted just the two of us," Troy reflected. "How are you?" he simply questioned and I felt myself sink together.
"I am good."
Lie number three.
Hope you all like this chapter! There will be a couple of filler chapters before a grand event in approximately chapter 26. Maybe you can spot the foreshadowing I have used in the past chapters? –Grace, you are really onto something *hint hint*-
That is the one I am most concerned about the feedback because you will either love it or hate it.
All my thought is with the families and kids after the Santa Fe, Texas school shooting yesterday. RIP
-FreeFlyingWriter