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It was Tuesday morning and Troy was going crazy at not having seen Gabriella since Sunday morning when she ran out of the hotel room. 'God, where is she?' he wondered as he paced outside her locker. 'I finally know what happened and I need to talk to her, to get her to understand.'
Chad and Jason sadly shook their heads as they watched Troy pace from down the hall.
"You're sure this was a total set up by Sharpay?" asked Jason as he watched Troy ball his fist tightly then uncurl it.
"I'm sure of it. Not only does Troy's recounting of the morning make sense with Sharpay's behavior as of late, it also connects with that self-satisfied smirk she had on Sunday," replied Chad. "If I didn't think it was, I would have moved that jerk away from Gab's locker a long time ago."
"True, but from what Kelsi told me, Gabriella is really torn up right now. She barely let the four girls see her yesterday after school," returned Jason. "But if what you say is true, we need to get her to recognize it has Sharpay's doing all over it."
"I don't know if we can," stated Chad. "Gabriella is so beyond hurt by this that I don't think she'll listen to reason. I wouldn't blame her if this was true though."
"Did Troy really go over to her house yesterday?" questioned Charles as he joined the two. "It's all over school, what happened on Sunday morning, rumors are spreading he got denied right at the door."
Chad sadly nodded his head. "Gabriella has made her mom promise not to let Troy in through the door. Troy told me he even climbed up to the balcony to Gabriella's room but that she wouldn't open the doors and had the drapes drawn so he couldn't really see inside. Sounds a bit stalker like but he's getting desperate to see her."
The warning bell went off and the guys made their way to homeroom. Troy entered behind the other three and groaned as Taylor and Martha shot him dirty looks. He sat down at his desk and noticed Gabriella's usual desk was empty again.
Just before the final bell rang, Gabriella scurried into homeroom, dressed in black jeans and a navy blue sweatshirt, and hurried over to her desk, ignoring Troy's presence completely. Right after homeroom was done, Troy got up and left the room to hide around the corner to wait for Gabriella.
As soon as she came out clutching her bag to her, Troy called out her name but was given even dirtier looks by Martha and Taylor both as they walked out right behind her. Troy ran and tried to get in front of her but Gabriella refused to look at him.
"Troy, just leave her alone. You've done enough," stated Taylor as she stepped in between the two. "Go back to screwing Sharpay or whatever it is you do these days. Chad may be stupid enough to believe your crap of a story but I'm not and neither is Gabriella."
"Taylor, honestly it's not what it looked like," protested Troy as the three girls walked past him. He let out a groan and slammed his hand into the wall as he welcomed the pain that shot into his hand.
"Hey, Troy, calm down, man," said Chad as he ran over to his best friend. "Hurting yourself isn't going to help anything."
"Why won't she even give me a chance, Chad? To explain, she always has listened before," wondered Troy.
"Because what she thinks you did, and what you did do, is far worse than anything that has happened before between you two. Come on, let's go to class. She's obviously already gone to hers," replied Chad.
Troy nodded and the two walked to class, but Troy for one didn't hear a word the teacher was saying.
"Hey Taylor, I forgot something at my locker. I'll be back, okay?" said Gabriella as she got up from the lunch table.
"Do you want me to go with you?" asked a concerned Taylor.
Gabriella shook her head and headed out of the cafeteria and into the halls.
"Well, well, well, isn't it little, Gabriella," greeted Sharpay, who was void of her two usual companions. "What a little shock for you the other morning. I am sorry you weren't there to see what happened after you left."
Gabriella just shook her head and tried to get around Sharpay, but the other girl moved to stand in Gabriella's way again. "Let me pass, Sharpay. I don't want to fight with you anymore about Troy. You won, he's yours, end of story."
"You really don't know what you're missing," replied Sharpay. "In fact, Troy has been telling me how frustrated he has been lately with your refusal to be intimate with him. I thought you were smart enough to know how to keep him satisfied."
This drew Gabriella's attention and she focused for the first time on the blond in front of her. Gabriella knew she looked terrible in comparison to the finely dressed girl and felt a lot worse than Sharpay, who looked ecstatic. She also felt the blood leave her face as she spotted something familiar around Sharpay's neck. "When did Troy give you that?"
Sharpay looked down and then toyed with the T adorned by a little gem around her neck. "Oh this? I don't know, a while ago. Probably when we started sleeping together again. You didn't think that was the first time, did you?"
Gabriella felt the tears build again and shook her head as she stared at the necklace that was once hers around Sharpay's neck.
"Gabriella, don't believe a word she is saying," called out Troy as he ran over to the two girls followed by Chad. "She's lying to you, Gabriella."
"Oh Troy, why bother lying to the poor girl? You're only making it worse," said Sharpay as she placed a possessive hand on his shoulder. "She knows you have sexual needs and that she wasn't able to satisfy you like I can."
Troy angrily shook her hand off of him. "Get lost, Sharpay, I can't stand hearing your lies anymore. That stunt you pulled, totally uncalled for and over the top. I can't believe you actually did that to me!"
"But Troy, didn't our moments together mean anything?" asked Sharpay.
Chad took this time to put a comforting arm around Gabriella as they watched Sharpay and Troy argue over the lies and the set up. 'God, who is telling the truth?' wondered Gabriella in her head. 'It has to be Sharpay, right? I know what I saw.'
"I don't believe her, Gab," murmured Chad as he saw the confusion on her face. "I saw the calculating look on her face on Sunday when Troy was crying his eyes out in the hall. This was not a moment of true passion between the two, more like another clever plan by Sharpay."
"How do you know though?" asked Gabriella.
Before Chad could answer, Troy turned his attention back to Gabriella. "Gabriella, please, let me talk to you."
After looking at the encouraging look from Chad, Gabriella nodded and followed Troy into a nearby empty classroom while Chad blocked Sharpay's entrance into the room after them. "You, Sharpay, you are staying out here, whether it is right here in front of me or somewhere else."
Sharpay tried to get around Chad a few times but found it impossible to get around. "Fine, they can have their little moment alone now, Chad, but I can guarantee you, the damage that was done this weekend is going to last a lot longer than Troy wants it to. The seeds of doubt have been planted and watered in Gabriella's mind. That's not something a girl easily lets go of."
Chad shook his head in disbelief at Sharpay's words and watched as she left the hall. He stayed where he was though, his back against the door, to ensure the two inside had their chance to talk.
Gabriella stayed a few feet away from Troy, an action that spoke volumes to him. "Look, Gabriella, it wasn't what it looked like. I haven't been cheating with Sharpay on you for weeks like she claimed, and Sunday morning, that was a result of me being so tired and confused. I honestly thought she was you."
Gabriella scoffed at this. "You thought Sharpay was me so you had sex with her? Troy, didn't it even occur to you that I had just told you the night before that it wasn't a good idea to be in the same bed?"
"Well yeah, but I thought you changed your mind or something. I don't know, my mind was all fuzzy, I swear," replied Troy as he thought back to Sunday morning.
Troy slowly awoke Sunday morning to the feel of lips on his neck and then his face as they traveled to his lips. "Mmm, Gabriella," murmured Troy as he wrapped his arms around her body to bring her closer to him. He opened his eyes briefly and saw brown hair on shoulders that had lacy lingerie straps on them. Troy turned his attention back to kissing her passionately as he closed his eyes to enjoy the moment.
Eventually, he moved over onto his back and continued to kiss her, not able to get his fill as he ran his hands up her lingerie covered body and then up to her shoulders to slip the straps off. That's when he heard the girl's moan and realized it wasn't Gabriella lying on top of him in his bed, especially when he heard Gabriella's voice from a corner of the room.
"I can't believe Sharpay was actually right, Troy. That's all you are after!" screamed Gabriella before he heard the door slam closed.
Troy opened his eyes wide as he saw a smirking Sharpay still sitting on top of him. "Sorry she interrupted us. Where were we?" asked Sharpay as she started to kiss Troy's neck again.
'What happened?' he wondered as he felt her lips travel his neck again before he suddenly realized what Gabriella saw. "Oh my God, Sharpay get off of me," exclaimed Troy as he put his hands on Sharpay's shoulders and pushed her away from him.
He quickly got out of the bed, which knocked Sharpay onto her side and onto the bed, and found a t-shirt to slip on over his bare chest. "Sharpay, I want you out of here before I come back or I swear you're going to wish you had. I can't believe you pulled this!" yelled Troy as he ran out of the room and right into his dad.
"Troy, what's going on? First, Gabriella in tears running out of your room and then down the stairs, and now you panicked? Did you two sleep together?" asked Jack.
"No, not even close, Dad," replied Troy before he took off for the stairs to try to catch Gabriella in the lobby, not caring he was only in his boxers and t-shirt.
"You thought it was me because of brown hair and because someone was kissing you? Troy, that's hard to believe. Why didn't you look at her face?" demanded Gabriella, who was struggling with his version of events.
"Because, I was just swept away by the thought that you came to me and seemed to have wanted me the way that I want you," replied Troy.
He was shocked when Gabriella quickly approached him and smashed her lips against his, using more force than she had ever before as she pushed him against a wall. Troy kissed her back with as much force but relented when she pulled away to pull her sweatshirt off.
"Whoa, Gabriella, what are you doing?" asked a confused Troy as he stared at her with only her bra on with the rest of her clothing in place.
Gabriella pushed herself at him again and he continued to kiss her before he managed to get himself to stop and push her back. "What's wrong, Troy? I thought this is what you wanted?" questioned Gabriella, bitterness in her tone before she smashed her lips against his again.
Troy responded but felt his heart ache as he tasted the saltiness of her tears. For good this time, Troy pushed Gabriella away from him and picked up her discarded sweatshirt. "Here, put this back on."
Gabriella wiped her tears away and did as he told her. "I thought this was what you wanted, Troy," replied Gabriella, anger and resentment in her voice. "I just want to get this over with. Isn't this what you thought on Sunday, that I came to you to have sex with you?"
"Well yes, but not like this, Gabriella. Not in a classroom when you obviously don't want to do it," returned Troy. "This isn't how I wanted it for us."
"Oh, so now you are being discerning as to how and when you want it from me. I offer you myself finally and then you tell me no, I wish you'd make up your mind, Troy," said Gabriella.
Troy grabbed Gabriella's arms and made her look at him. "Listen to me, I do want you, and I want us to share something special together, not just sex, not in some classroom. I want our first time together, and our first time for both of us, to be something we'll both remember."
Gabriella let out a harsh laugh. "To my understanding, it's too late for that for you. Sharpay already had you, several times it sounds like."
"Do you really think that little of me? I haven't lost my virginity to Sharpay, not even close," defended Troy. "And I don't think you want to lose yours in a classroom in our high school."
She let more tears that had built up in her eyes finally go as she yanked herself out of his grasp and ran out of the room, jumping over Chad, who had fallen on the ground when she opened the door and ran down the hall, away from the classroom where she had just humiliated herself and away from the prying eyes in the cafeteria.
Chad stared at a tortured looking Troy from the floor before he got up. "I'm guessing it didn't go well."
"Not even close," revealed Troy. "She thinks, God Chad, Gabriella thinks that I've had sex with Sharpay, not just on Sunday but well before that. She actually tried to throw herself at me just now to get it over with."
"Please tell me," started Chad.
Troy shook his head. "No, we didn't. I can't believe Gabriella would make up all those assumptions about Sharpay and me."
"She probably didn't. Sharpay just played up Gabriella's fears and it all just spilled out when Sharpay's plan worked on Sunday. Troy, how did Sharpay manage to get that necklace that used to be Gabriella's?"
"I honestly don't know, Chad. I know I had it in my letterman jacket's pocket for a few weeks now. I'd been debating on if I should give it to Gabriella again. Maybe it fell out?" returned Troy.
Chad thought on this for a second before he shook his head. "No, it was on the nightstand between our beds. I remember you taking it out and placing it there when you emptied your pockets looking for something. I remember because I teased you about re-gifting the necklace to the same girl."
"Sharpay must have taken it then on Sunday morning," concluded Troy. "Before or after the scheme."
"There's also something else. I found a brown wavy wig on the floor next to my bed when we were packing on Sunday," revealed Chad.
Troy stared at Chad in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know how it played in until you told me that you thought you saw brown hair when you did open your eyes. I have it in my duffle bag at home if it matters, but at this point, I don't think it does. Sharpay thought this plan out long and hard, man," stated Chad.
"I just can't believe even she would sink this low, it's unbelievable. But if she had on a wig, how did Gabriella know it was Sharpay?" wondered Troy.
"It must have fallen off sometime during your make out session," concluded Chad. "That is the only thing I can think of since she obviously forgot about it and Taylor swears that Gabriella saw blond hair."
"So Taylor knows about everything you do? Why isn't she trying to help Gabriella see reason then?" asked Troy.
Chad shook his head. "I didn't say anything about any of this to Taylor yet. I wanted to make sure that you were as innocent as I started to believe you were after I saw Sharpay in the hotel hallway. Taylor still thinks your scum."
"Great, glad I have that title attached to me again. What am I going to do about Gabriella, Chad?" questioned Troy as he ran a hand through his brown hair. "I mean, I knew I couldn't talk to her further after what just happened here but I need to make her see reason. I love her."
Chad let out a sigh. "I honestly don't know, you can try one more time today after school maybe, but that's the extent of it. I hate to say it Troy, but the damage that Sharpay wrecked this time may be permanent."
At the end of the school day, Troy ducked out of his last class early telling his teacher that he wasn't feeling well and stood outside Gabriella's last class. When the bell rang, Gabriella was one of the first out but stopped in her fast paced walk in front of Troy when she saw him blocking her way.
She gave him an annoyed look when he wouldn't let her around him. "What do you want, Bolton? To reject me some more?"
Troy closed his eyes for a moment at the acidity in her voice. "No, I just want to talk, nothing more, I swear."
"Tell me why I should even sit here and listen to you," demanded Gabriella. "With all that I know, you don't even deserve to be standing right there in front of me after everything you have done, Sharpay or not."
"Because I love you and I want to make sure that if you are ending it now between us that you at least know what happened, the truth of what happened, not Sharpay's twisted version. Come on, Gabriella, you know Sharpay lies whenever she gets the chance," pleaded Troy. "You know it's true."
Gabriella thought for a moment before she nodded her head. "Fine, let's talk, but I reserve the right to stop it at any time and you have to let me go."
He replied, "Agreed. Why don't we get out of here, away from all the interruptions and ears. We'll take a drive and talk."
Gabriella looked around the hall and saw that Troy was right, they couldn't talk in the middle of the gossip mill itself. "Okay."
Troy and Gabriella headed out straight to the parking lot and got into Troy's truck before he took off. Instead of driving towards their homes, Troy took a different route and drove along the highway, which was pretty straight, so he could drive and talk to her since he knew this was his last shot. "Gabriella, Sunday was a complete set up done by Sharpay, I promise. I don't know how she got into the room but Chad found a brown wig by the bed afterwards and that necklace she has around her neck now, that wasn't given to her by me. She must have stolen it from the nightstand that same morning."
"All convenient details, Troy, but why would you have the necklace with you at the hotel?" pushed Gabriella.
"Because I've been carrying it around with me in my varsity jacket because I didn't know if I wanted to give it to you again or not. I wanted you to have it again, but the more I saw that you still hurt in some ways from this summer, I didn't think you'd want it again as a reminder of my broken summer promises," explained Troy. "I took it out when I was emptying my pockets for something, Chad even remembers it being put there."
"Excuse me if I don't believe you, but this is all way too convenient, Troy. A wig, a stolen necklace, a mocked pre-sex session? How did you manage to create this all to cover your traces? And to bring Chad into this…" started Gabriella.
"Chad is only in this because he knows what happened, the truth. It sounds too easy to explain away all the doubts, and I can see where you think it's all a cover up on my part, but think about it. Chad loves you like his baby sister, why would he collaborate with me to dupe you? He wouldn't, that's not Chad," pointed out Troy. "Look, you mean the world to me, Gabriella. I've told you that plenty of times, but I mean that now more than ever before. We can't let Sharpay break us up like this."
Gabriella was silent for a few moments as she let her thoughts process everything. 'He's right. Sharpay could have made me see what she wanted, I wouldn't put it past her, but would she go that far? And how could Troy have really thought Sharpay with a brown wig was me? And why would he reject me after I offered myself to him in the classroom?'
Troy used this time to turn his attention back to the road as they were going up an inclined part of the highway. He was driving behind a flatbed truck that had some wood on its back that extended out a little ways off the flatbed and had an orange reflective tag to caution the people behind it. Unfortunately, it was a one-lane highway at this part and Troy couldn't pass it on the incline. When it leveled out, Troy sped up as the truck ahead did so he decided to stay behind the truck, a good distance away from the long pieces of wood that hung off the back of the flatbed.
"Gabriella, come on, talk to me," pleaded Troy as he took his eyes off the road to look at her.
"There's just so many questions, Troy. I don't know who or what to believe," confessed Gabriella.
"Do you love me?" he dared to ask, having to know. "I know I love you."
Gabriella took a moment and nodded slightly. "I still do love you, Troy, but that doesn't mean I am not hurt or that you're forgiven for this. Love just doesn't disappear that quickly."
"I know, but it means something, right? It's the start?" replied Troy.
Gabriella turned her attention back to the road in front of them. "I don't know, Troy. I'm just so freaking confused," returned Gabriella just before she saw the truck ahead had slammed on its breaks. "TROY, WATCH OUT!"
Troy whipped his head around to see that the flatbed truck had slammed on its brakes while both trucks were on another small incline as they got into the town and must have hit a signal. He slammed on the truck's brakes and felt his truck skid to a complete stop before he saw the wood from the flatbed slide backwards towards them. 'Oh my God!' he thought as he moved before the piece hit the truck and everything went black.