It was Thursday afternoon and the final cast list for the fall musicale was promised to be up on the drama bulletin by the end of school. There were no call backs this time around as Darbus said there were more than enough roles that had equal lead weight, which of course helped soothe the competitive vibe between the students. Gabriella, Sharpay, and Hunter all stare at the clock from Family Living as the seconds seem to creep by slower and slower. Zeke notices and chuckles, distracting Sharpay.

"What are you laughing at Zeke?" she asks in a not so quiet voice, disturbed that her boyfriend started laughing out of nowhere.

The teacher notices and asks, "Is there something you would like to share with the class Ms. Evans?"

Sharpay rolls her eyes. "No Ms. Kline. Nothing at all."

The bell rings and Gabriella, along with Hunter, are the first ones out, running down the hall to the bulletin board. They aren't the first ones there though so they have to wait behind a group of kids who are already there. Hunter, being taller than most of the kids in front of him, spots the list and smiles. "We both got in Gabriella!" he exclaims, looking at her as a grin spreads across her face.

"Really?" she asks. "What role?"

"I don't know. It just has a list of who is in and not. Says there is a meeting in fifteen minutes in the theater for those in," he reads from the instructions above the list.

Gabriella hugs Hunter out of excitement of even getting in again after skipping out on the spring musicale, a hug that Hunter returns. He pulls away and grimaces as he sees Troy shooting him death glares from down the hall. "Uh oh," Hunter says to Gabriella, causing her to look up concerned into his brown eyes. "I think I better send you down the hall. Your boyfriend looks none too pleased."

Gabriella turns her head and spots Troy who is standing in the hall, looking devastated. Without a word she leaves Hunter and walks down the hall, grateful that Troy seems to be waiting for her. "I think we need to talk," he says, never taking his eyes off of Hunter who is watching the pair near the bulletin board.

She nods her head and they turn to walk out to the field together, not even touching arms. Ryan comes by and sees the two, making his way to his locker from the drama posting. "Congratulations you two! See you in ten minutes in the theater!" he calls out, not slowing his pace as he had a lot to do before that meeting with Darbus.

Troy shoots Gabriella a questioning look. "You and I both made it in but Darbus has not assigned roles. She's going to assign them at the meeting I think."

He nods his head in understanding and takes a seat on a nearby bench, which Gabriella also sits down on. "So, want to tell me what that was?" he asks, studying his hands.

Gabriella takes a deep breath and answers by saying, "It was a hug, an innocent hug that was done out of pure excitement that we got in. Nothing more and nothing less."

Troy doesn't say anything for a few moments so Gabriella reaches out her left hand and gently turns his head towards her so she's looking into his eyes. She is brought close to tears as she sees the amount of pain and sadness that resides behind the normally sparkling blue eyes. Her intuition kicks in, giving her only a hint about what was coming.

He searches Gabriella's face and sees the tears start welling in her eyes. 'She knows,' he thinks, laying his head a little into her injured hand, which he feels guilty for all over again as he feels not her soft palm on his cheek but the bandage from the accident. "I don't want to do this Gabriella, in fact it is breaking my heart to do this, but…I'm breaking up with you."

Gabriella just stares back at him, shocked to hear those words coming out of his mouth. She felt a few tears slide down her cheek, leaving a salty wet trail in their wake. Troy's fingers move to softly brush them away as they threaten to fall from her face, allowing Gabriella to feel the trembles that his own body is having. She looks up and sees a single tear falling down Troy's face, which he quickly wipes away before it hits his mid-cheek.

"Why Troy?" she asks, unable to speak louder than a whisper.

Troy lets out a long breath and replies, "I owe it to you. I know, we just talked about how I trust you and how I can stand by your side through anything, as you do me, but I can't help but feel guilty that I'm stopping you from following your true heart's desires. You know that I am absolutely and crazily in love with you, but I can't be the reason you don't realize your fantasy. I release you from me to, I can't believe I'm saying this, go after your fantasy guy."

"But Troy," she starts, only to be interrupted.

"Gabriella, I can see he really likes you. Like you said this summer to me, you need to find out who you are and what you truly want. I'm not going to feel like I'm letting you do that unless I let you go and try," he says, letting out a dry laugh. "Who would have ever thought that after all that we've been through that I would be breaking up with you? I certainly never saw it coming."

"Then don't Troy," she begs, more tears slowly falling down her cheeks. "I don't need to be apart from you to feel complete or to find my dreams. We had that break this summer and I realized that there isn't anyone else for me but you. The true Troy Bolton."

Troy feels relief fill his body but shakes his head. "No, you need to go do this for yourself and, in a way, for us. I won't be able to sit here with you, being in this relationship, without knowing if your fantasy, your fan fiction romance, could be real, all knowing that I was the reason it isn't becoming reality. Besides, if not for Hunter, I'd still feel guilty over what has happened to you at the hands of Jasmine. See, there really are a lot of reasons as to why we need to break up."

Sadly, Gabriella realizes that there would be no changing his mind on this subject, that he got it in his head that this was the way it was to be but she still needed to say her piece. "Troy…" she starts, making sure he was looking at her and not at the grass. "What you are doing is admirable but crazy. I understand, at least I am trying to understand, your point of view on this. It makes some sense to me, wanting to make sure that our love is true, but I feel like it has gone through so many tests already that it doesn't need another try. However, I know you well enough to know that there is no changing your mind on this. I can't promise you that I'm going to go out there and do what your intentions are. Truthfully, I can't even fathom it because the only man in my heart and being is you Troy Bolton. You are the reason that I smile in the morning when I wake up and when I go to sleep at night. You are the cause for my passion of singing all those love songs I've been working on with Kelsi and what we have performed. You are the first true love I have ever experienced and you will always be in my heart."

Troy wraps Gabriella in a hug as both their bodies tremble from the tears and the sobs. After a few moments, he pulls himself away to wipe his face with his t-shirt sleeves and kisses her one last time. He can taste the salt from their mingled tears and feels his heart break even more as he pulls away and sees her lovingly, but sadly, looking back. "I love you Gabriella Montez.

" "Then don't do this," she responds, pleading with him with her eyes.

He shakes his head and gets up off the bench. "I have to. If not to let you live out the what if potential in your fantasy, then to let us both discover if what we have, our love, is meant to last and stand the test of time."

Before Gabriella could speak again, Troy turns and walks towards the gym, knowing he would be unable to stomach going through with the fall musicale with the way things were with Gabriella. He lets a few more tears fall as he hears Gabriella, now in the distance, quietly crying some more. "I'm sorry," he whispers as he pauses outside the gym but not daring to look back. "One day soon, I hope fate will bring us back together."

Concerned that Gabriella nor Troy were in the drama meeting, much to Darbus' annoyance, Ryan came out looking for them, spotting Troy just leaving Gabriella on a bench in the field, seeing Gabriella's body start shaking with what it looked like as sobs.

"Ryan, what is it?" Sharpay asks, seeing the concerned look on her brother's face.

"Nothing. I'll catch you later at home," he responds, walking in the direction of where Gabriella is still sitting.

Sharpay looks in the direction of where Ryan is walking and sees Gabriella in a distraught state. 'I better leave him to it,' she thinks, knowing that her presence may not be all that wanted since she and Gabriella had just recently started to become friends after all the summer turmoil. Sharpay spots Hunter who is looking around the halls, probably for the girl out on the field, and she decides to intercept him before he could see Gabriella. "Hunter," she calls out. "Why don't you walk me to my car?"

Surprised, Hunter agrees and walks with Sharpay, listening to her unending discussion of the fall musicale and what pink sparkly outfits she wanted to wear for her character. He sees a flash of light out of the corner of his eye and groans internally. 'Guess my cover is finally blown,' he thinks realizing that at least two paparazzi were in the student parking lot, currently taking pictures of him. 'Why can't they just let me live a normal teen life?'

Once Sharpay is in her car, Hunter journeys over to his motorcycle and jumps on, quickly leaving the paparazzi behind.

Back on the field, Gabriella startles as she feels a pair of arms wrap her in a hug. She slows down her crying, looking up at her comforter. "Ryan?" she gets out, trying to slow down her breathing.

"Hey Gabriella," he responds, handing her a tissue from his bag. "Here, I think you may want this."

She gratefully accepts and wipes her face and nose, realizing she must look like a total mess. "Thank you," she murmurs, now having to deal with hiccups.

"So what's wrong?" he asks, having a feeling it had to do with Troy.

Gabriella sadly shakes her head. "Troy, well, he broke up with me."

"WHAT?" Ryan exclaims, causing Gabriella to slightly jump. "Sorry, I just can't believe that. Why?"

"He felt it was what he had to do. I think it's a mix of things really," she responds. "From the recent activities of Jasmine, the summer drama with your sister, and now the appearance of Hunter Smith. Everything combined makes our relationship very dramatic in a way and he's releasing me of it."

"Is this what you wanted?"

"No! Not at all. I love Troy, with all my being, but he's stubborn! Once I saw that determination in his eyes, I knew it was over," she says, a trace of anger replacing the hurt in her voice earlier. "He just, I don't know, frustrates me because I want to be with him, I want to have a senior year at East High full of special memories with him, not of us being apart and heartbreak and tears!"

"Maybe then, and call me crazy, the best way to get him back is to go out there and do what he wants you to do."

Gabriella looks at Ryan, considering what he is saying. "You mean, to get Troy back, I have to date another guy, specifically Hunter Smith. Somehow, that doesn't make the most sense to me Ryan."

"Like I said, it's crazy, but it may be the only way. Think on this Gabriella. Troy told you he wanted to not be in your way so you had this chance to live out 'your fantasy' love match in so many words right? Do you think he would even allow himself to consider you getting back together if you didn't do this? In a way, he is also doing this for himself."

"What are you talking about?" a puzzled Gabriella asks.

"I am talking about the fact that unless you pursue a relationship beyond friends with Hunter and see it through, Troy, filled with his jealousy and self doubt, is going to always wonder if you truly love him or this star idol we have among our presence here at East High. I bet, in his mind, he probably even thinks that he is beating Hunter to the punch and instead of having Hunter steal you away, Troy is giving you to him."

"But I'm not a piece of something that he can give away!" she exclaims, looking at the gym where she can hear the guys practicing.

Ryan puts a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I know that. All I am trying to say is that you have to be willing to give this a solid shot, to try to work something out with Hunter, in order for you and Troy to have any hope again."

Gabriella shakes her head, still trying to wrap her mind around everything. "Crazy as it sounds, Ryan, I think you have a big, big point. I just don't know how I'm going to do it. I don't want to be going out with another guy, not even a date, but I guess I inadvertently owe it to Troy and me."

"It would appear so," Ryan responds, hoping what he said would truly steer Gabriella in the right direction. He is surprised as he feels Gabriella embrace him in a friendly hug and murmur her thanks. "Want a ride home?"

She nods her head and they head to the student parking lot and to Ryan's car. Once buckled in, Gabriella turns her gaze for one last glimpse of the gym where she knows Troy is practicing again and lets her thoughts wander as Ryan drives away, taking her home.

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