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Chad, Zeke, Charles, and Jason were hanging out in front of Zeke's locker as they discussed what they could have done better at last night's game, what they could have done to have won by a point instead of lost by a point.
"It wasn't a speed thing, you guys were on top of your game," commented Chad, leaning his head against the white wall. "Were they just that much faster?"
"Could have been. We could have taken over my control though of the ball," replied Charles. "Having Troy on the court helped a lot too. Nothing against Ryan, but Troy is the stronger player."
"No doubt about that," answered Zeke. "Troy played his heart out for our team last night, something I have to respect him for since we haven't really played together since the summer. Practices are quite different than a real game and he gave it his all."
"I'm not surprised. Troy always brings his best game, no matter what he's doing," added Jason. "It's good to have him back. Kelsi has always been a secret supporter of the theory that Troy would fix things in the end once he realized what he did was wrong, but I didn't want to believe her, not after everything that happened, the ditching, the attitude change, everything. I now think that she was possibly right."
Zeke nodded his head in agreement. "I agree with you J, but I am reserving hope until I see it long term."
"Can't blame you there," said Chad. "I'm just curious what he's going to do about Gabriella."
"What do you mean?" asked Charles.
Chad took a deep breath and explained. "Troy still cares for her, he hasn't really ever stopped, I think. Seeing her happy with Ryan was tough for him, but he knew that he didn't have any claim on her, any right to step in and act on his feelings."
"So how would that change now?" questioned Jason.
Chad looked at the guys and realized they didn't know what happened last night. 'Hey, I wouldn't know except Taylor is my girlfriend and I overheard their conversation enough to understand,' he thought.
Zeke looked at Chad with a questioning look just as Troy appeared at his own locker and started to go through things. "Did something happen between Gabriella and Ryan last night after the game?" asked Zeke.
Knowing he couldn't lie to the guys, Chad nodded his head. "Gab and Ryan broke up last night. I overheard Taylor talking to her briefly at the park when both of them disappeared and never reappeared. I think we all thought that they just wanted to be off in their own world, but they were actually ending things last night," explained Chad.
Troy turned his head at this. "They're over? Like really over?" pushed Troy.
"Yes, really over," answered Chad. "What are you going to do with this news, Troy?"
"Nothing," he replied as he closed his locker and walked to join the guys. "Why would I?"
"Because this is the chance you have been waiting for even before you broke up with Ice Queen," suggested Jason.
"Look, I appreciate the suggestion here, but nothing is going to happen, not right now. Gabriella and I are trying to just be friends, whether she is with Ryan or not. I'm not going to jump on this and screw it all up in my haste," explained Troy. "She means too much to me."
Chad grinned at Troy. "Glad to see you have thought this out, Troy. One thing I have to say because she really is like my baby sister now is that if you ever break her heart again, you will have to answer to me. Remember, I told you that you have already used your get out of Jerk Kingdom card and you can't again for another ten years. I will have to come down on you."
Troy nodded his head and gave Chad a smile back. "Don't worry, when the time is right, I will make everything better between the two of us and you won't ever have to worry about TRYING to beat me up. You don't need to worry about breaking your hand or explaining the missing pieces of your do to Taylor."
The other three guys laughed at this exchange as Chad and Troy both shook their heads at each other. "You never change, man," stated Chad. "You always think you're better than me."
"No, I don't think I am better than you. I just don't think you could take me down as well as you think you can," defended Troy. "I have never ever thought you were below me, not once in my life, Chad, and I'm not going to start now."
Chad grinned back at his newfound best friend. "Better not," he said.
The five guys started to walk down the halls towards Taylor's and Kelsi's lockers when Troy decided to split off to seek out Gabriella. He made his way to her locker but felt confusion take over as he saw a red head reach into Gabriella's locker. 'What?' he thought to himself. Troy walked closer to make sure he was looking at the right locker and sure enough, it appeared not to be Gabriella's anymore.
The red-headed girl turned her attention from her locker to Troy as soon as she felt his presence. "Troy Bolton?" she asked. "Can I help you with something?"
"Umm, nothing. Wait, is this your locker now?" he questioned, confusion evident in his voice.
The girl nodded her head. "Has been all year."
"Ah, okay. Thanks," mumbled Troy as he started back down the halls and reached the guys who were now lounging around Taylor's locker.
"What's wrong, Troy? You look all sorts of confused," asked Taylor as she saw him approach the group.
"When did Gabriella change lockers?" questioned Troy.
Zeke cocked an eyebrow at this. "I thought you just said back there that you weren't going to go after her but you just stalked her to her locker?"
"Not the point, Zeke," answered Troy. "She changed lockers, didn't she?"
Chad looked at Taylor who looked back at him. Chad cleared his throat before he said, "Well, yes, she did."
Troy looked at the two, unsure of what they were saying. "Okay, when and why?"
This time Taylor spoke up. "Gabriella changed lockers before senior year started. She wanted to be closer to her classes."
Troy accepted this for a moment before he rejected it. "You mean she changed lockers before senior year to avoid me. It's all right, you can tell me. I won't crumble knowing she wanted that little to do with me."
"Well Troy, it's not like any of us were really talking to you at the time she did the locker change. In fact, you were unrecognizable to us, especially to Gab. She did it to protect herself and honestly, I can't blame her," explained Chad.
"Neither can I," replied Troy. He shook his head sadly. "God, I'm never going to fully understand what happened during and after this summer, am I?"
Kelsi gave him a small half smile as she put her hand on his left arm. "You are understanding what has happened, and you are trying to change things. It just takes time, just as you have already figured out with these guys here. Gabriella will come around when the time is right, but besides Chad, she was the one you hurt the most this summer."
"I know," whispered Troy as he nodded his head in agreement. "It just, it was a shocker to learn that Gabriella moved her locker just to avoid me as I suspected."
Gabriella approached the group with a small smile. "Morning everyone," she greeted. She dropped her smile as she felt the tension. "Okay, what's going on?"
Troy turned his gaze from Kelsi to Gabriella and she saw the pain there. Before she could ask what was wrong, he turned on his heel and left the group. Gabriella felt a hand rest on her shoulder and saw Chad standing next to her. "Don't worry, Gabriella, he just is a bit shocked right now. He discovered another part of the puzzle that was this summer, start of senior year."
"What do you mean?" she asked. "My breaking up with Ryan?"
"Well that too, but also that you changed lockers at the start of the year because of him. He took it rather hard," explained Chad.
Gabriella leaned into Chad's side as he wrapped his right arm around her waist and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes as she felt this news only add to the confusion already in her head. "Can I go home?" asked Gabriella in a small voice. "I don't ruin people's days that way."
"Don't be so dramatic, Gabriella," stated Taylor. "I swear if you turn into Sharpay on us, I will personally kick your behind. You haven't ruined anyone's day. Stuff just happens."
Gabriella opened her eyes and looked at her best friend. "Stuff just happens? Taylor, seriously?"
"Okay, that was a bad explanation, I admit it. But hey, got your mind off everything right?" suggested Taylor.
Gabriella rolled her eyes. "That was a total Chad comment actually," replied Gabriella.
"Hey!" exclaimed Chad, just as the bell rang. "Saved by the bell, Gab. Guys we better hit up homeroom."
The gang nodded in agreement and walked down the hall to the classroom, Chad keeping his arm wrapped comfortingly around a confused Gabriella and the other around his girlfriend. 'The two young women in my life who could get me to do anything,' he thought with a smile on his face as they reached the classroom. 'Then again, isn't that a bad thing?' Chad didn't have time to dwell on that thought any further though as Ms. Darbus started announcements when the final bell rang.
After he and Chad drilled the team hard at a team practice, Troy took a quick shower before he headed to the library for his routine tutoring session with Gabriella. Troy had spent most of his school day avoiding the girl he was going to see on purpose right now. 'God, how did I let myself hurt Gabriella so much that she felt she had to avoid me at school? Was the sight of me so painful for her?' he wondered, just as he had wondered all day, as he walked into the library.
He spotted her with another student, her sad smile displayed in encouragement probably for the girl she was helping. Troy watched from the side of the bookcase he was near as he didn't want to disturb the pair at the desk and observed Gabriella as she talked and moved. It shocked Troy that he could have done so much damage to this young woman in front of him and yet be lucky enough to have her even want to be his friend at this point. He had learned so much from Gabriella in the few months they were together and Troy found that he was still learning from her now, when they were barely even friends.
It was mid-semester exams week and everyone in the gang was stressed out, especially Gabriella. They had all congregated at the Bolton house to study as most of them shared at least one class with another. It had been so silent for the past hour that Troy felt he was going to go nuts from the intensity of the pressure.
"UGH!" he let out, frustrated with the situation.
Gabriella looked over at her boyfriend with worry in her eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"I just, I don't get Chemistry, I don't understand why we are all here stressing over stupid exams, and I just don't like this silence!" exclaimed Troy.
She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Come on, Troy. Let's go take a walk. Maybe everyone should break," she suggested as she got off the couch they were sitting on while she pulled Troy up with her. Gabriella led Troy out the front door and started to lead them down the street in a random direction. "Breathe in that fresh air, Troy. It'll help."
Troy filled his lungs with air and let it out. He repeated it again and smiled as he realized Gabriella was right yet again. "How do you know all these things?"
Gabriella returned his smile with her own. "Lots of studying and practice, dear boyfriend. I'm one of the biggest basket cases when it comes to tests and scholastic subjects, but after having to be rushed to a doctor due to a severe stomach problem as a direct result of me stressing out in my freshman year of high school, I have learned that as important scholastics are, they are not the end of the world," explained Gabriella. "At the same time though, I am on a quest to get the best grades possible but I'm not going to kill myself in an attempt to get there."
Troy chuckled at this. "Yet you push so hard already. So you really got sent to the doctor as a result from studying too hard, huh?"
"Yup," she answered. "My mom was none too thrilled to have been scared like that but hey, at least it was the studying that almost killed me and not drugs."
"That is a good thing," Troy agreed. "Besides, if you had died from studying in your freshman year, I wouldn't now have the pleasure of having you in my life. That would have been, what, four moves too soon?"
Gabriella laughed at this. "Something like that. Anyway, so now you know why I push so hard but not too hard."
Troy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Gabriella closer to him, feeling better just having her in his embrace. "I think you are my medicine, Gabriella," confessed Troy. "Can I just hold you every time I get stressed out?"
"Umm, I would agree with that, but then I'd have to explain to my teachers why I can't go to my classes and take my own exams. Then I would end up sitting near your desk in yours, explaining to your teachers that I am not helping you with the tests but am there as a sort of childhood favorite toy for comfort. Not all that believable, dear," explained Gabriella. "I care for you a lot, but not enough for us both to get into academic trouble under suspicion that I was there to help you cheat."
Troy stared down at her for a moment. "Honestly, that was way more complex than it needed to be," he said before he laughed. "Have I told you lately how adorable you are when you go all super smart on me?"
Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at this. "Super smart? I don't think that applies to me. After all, I started to date you right?" she teased.
"Gabriella Montez, you did not just say that!" he exclaimed, pulling back from their embrace just enough to see laughter sparkling in her brown eyes and a grin on her face. Troy pulled her back into his embrace, putting his head on top of hers as she snuggled her face into his neck. "You mean the world to me, Gabriella, you truly do."
Troy smiled at the memory as he felt his heart lift at just that one single thought in his head. He watched as the girl left Gabriella's table and smiled when he saw Gabriella had spotted him. Troy walked over to the usual table and met her there. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," she returned. "Troy…"
Troy put his hand up to stop her. "No, I need to say this. I'm sorry for being such a screw up, Gabriella. You have every right to hate me enough to not want to make it easy for me to find you, to have moved your locker without a word, to have moved on with your life. I didn't realize until today how very deep I must have hurt you this summer and the start of this school year. I understand now why you keep saying that I was a different Troy. It wasn't until today that I realized that I had changed so much that I didn't even see the truth of what was there, that I ruined something as wonderful as our relationship in the name of a guaranteed scholarship at U of A. That's not something I am proud to admit to you, here in the middle of the library, but I need you to know that I get it now, and that I am so very sorry."
Gabriella stared at Troy as he sat across the table from her, tears and pure regret in his eyes. She got up and sat down in the chair next to him as she placed her left hand on top of his right hand. Troy immediately intertwined their fingers and looked over at her and saw her own tears in her eyes. "Troy, do you have any idea how long I have waited for you to realize all this?" asked Gabriella. "And now that it's here, I don't even know what to say to you anymore but I don't want to see you hurting like this."
"But I deserve it, for putting you through everything that I have!" Troy got out with an anguished voice. "You didn't deserve to be tortured the way you must have been, and I am such a jerk for having made you!"
Gabriella reached over and placed her right hand on the left side of his face to make Troy look at her. "Listen to me, Troy. It took time and a lot of thinking to get us to where we are right now. It has taken dating other people and it has taken us completely severing all ties to each other. I agree, you were not my Troy Bolton this summer and you were not the best boyfriend or friend you could have been but, and I can't believe I am saying this, it is all in the past. Time keeps going on and so do we. I'm not going to tell you I'm over it because I'm not, but I don't want to see you in this self-tortured pain, Troy."
"Don't you think I deserve it though? After ignoring you and the rest of the gang, forgetting obligations, breaking promises, and effectively turning my back on who I was?" asked Troy. "I don't know where exactly I started slipping but I did, and I don't know if I can ever make it back to where I was before this summer. I just want to make everything better, Gabriella. I want everything to be back to the way it was."
"But it can't, Troy, there is no turning back time," returned Gabriella, pain in her voice. "No matter how hard we all try to get everything back together, it won't be the same as it was at the end of junior year, when we all didn't have a care in the world except to find a summer job. There's history that we can't ignore. What we can do though is move on. Fix the problems, work on things getting better, and go from there. It won't be the same but maybe it'll be better."
Troy let out a harsh laugh. "Always the optimist, Gabriella. I don't even see why you care enough to try to comfort me right now."
"Remember what I told you about our singing on New Years? That I felt like it was just like kindergarten, when no one judged you but just accepted you for who you are? I owe it to that Troy to be here for you now, to help you through this. Because I care enough about you, Troy Bolton, to be here for you, regardless of what has happened in the last five months or so," explained Gabriella. "You would do the same for me."
Troy nodded and let out a sigh. "I really do want to work things out between us, Gabriella. You mean everything to me."
"We'll see Troy, but I can't promise anything," replied Gabriella. "I want to but I don't want either of us getting hurt again, neither of us deserve it. Just take everything day by day, like I am. I personally have enough emotional turmoil to last our group alone without you adding to the mix."
He smiled at her joke and leaned into her hand that was still on his cheek before he turned his head and kissed her palm. "I accept your proposal of day by day and it sounds like another super smart idea of yours."
"Super smart? I don't think so. Maybe just logical," teased Gabriella. She looked at her watch and saw that quite a bit of time had passed. Taylor and another student were the only other ones in the library besides the librarian and they were busy working on some problem the student had. "Do you want to even attempt tutoring today? I don't know if either of us can really concentrate."
Troy shook his head. "No, I don't think I can. I'm going to go head home but do you maybe want a ride?"
Gabriella smiled at his offer. "It's okay, I go home with Taylor so I'll just wait for her. Don't forget to sign out, I'll let today's non-tutoring day count as a session in a gesture of good will, how about that?"
"Sounds perfect," answered Troy with a laugh. "Especially because my dad would kick my behind if I attended less than his specified amount of sessions. Thank you, by the way, for all your help. It really has brought my grades up since the first two weeks of school or so."
"You're welcome," she replied. "Now get going, you need to go and rest your mind after all that thinking, same here."
Troy gathered his things and got up from his chair. "Thanks again, Gabriella. See you around," he said before he leaned down and kissed her forehead before he could give it a second thought. He smiled at her before he left the library after signing out.
'In truth, that was probably the best tutoring session we have had this year but not for scholastic reasons,' thought Gabriella. 'Guys, what complications they bring into your life.'
She spent the remainder of the hour seated in the same seat she was in as she thought about the possibilities with Troy while also trying to heal the pain from the breakup with Ryan that was still fresh in her memory and had cluttered her thoughts all day. 'Oh, the cycles of life and the confusion…'