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Troy leaned back against the headboard of his twin extra-long bed in his new dorm room, which he shared with his teammate Miles, who came to Duke from Michigan. It was a month after their graduation and Troy already felt the pain of not having his family, friends, and especially Gabriella near. The coach of the Duke team had called Troy that next day while the gang had been celebrating no longer being high school students to tell him to make sure he was at Duke three weeks from that day as basketball camp started, no excuses. He still remembered that devastated look on Gabriella's face when he repeated what he was just told on the phone.
"That was Coach, well my new coach, and he said I have to report to Duke in three weeks, meaning I have to start that drive mostly across this country in about two weeks," said Troy, feeling both excitement as well as devastation at the same time.
He heard a soft sob and looked over to see Gabriella trying to hold in tears, Taylor's arm wrapping around her best friend's shoulders, trying to soothe her. "I thought we were going to have all summer, Troy," got out Gabriella, unable to keep in all her tears as one slipped down her cheek.
"I did too. Honestly, Gabriella, I didn't know that there was an early camp that lasted most of the summer, otherwise I would have told you by now."
"So when do you start this drive?"
"I have to talk to my dad, but it's a little less than 1,800 miles between there and here. We'll probably need at least half a week to a week to make the drive and then to get me settled in. I won't know until after I talk to my dad."
Chad spoke up this time. "Well I for one am sorry that you are the first one to leave us. Then again, that shouldn't surprise any of the guys as you always have to be first at everything."
The group laughed a little at this joke except for Gabriella, who was still focusing on the fact that Troy would be leaving her in the matter of weeks, not months.
"Come here," said Troy softly, opening his arms up to Gabriella, who swiftly walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. "It's okay, we'll get through this. Remember what we talked about. We can make this long distance work as long as we both want this to succeed."
"I know, but I didn't expect to lose you so soon. It's just the shock is all," replied Gabriella, who wiped the remaining tears away. "I'll be fine, and so will you, after some time of course, getting used to it all."
"I agree. Come on, let's just celebrate with our friends today and worry about this move a little later, all right? We'll go to my house and talk to my dad so you and I both know how much time we have left together here. Kind of sounds like we're talking the end of the world and not just moving to college actually."
"Haha," got out Gabriella, not very impressed with his attempt at a joke.
"Troy's right though, this isn't a funeral. It's a party to celebrate no longer having to sit through another detention with Ms. Darbus!" exclaimed Chad with a grin. "Come on, you all know that you've been there at one point or another and never having to face that situation again is an AMAZING feeling!"
"Hey, Chad has an actual point this time!" agreed Zeke. "Let's celebrate!"
The gang's spirits lifted after that reminder and everyone enjoyed themselves, some thinking sadly about the future that awaited them just around the corner but everyone trying to just enjoy the moment, as they vowed to do in their senior year, knowing it very well could be their last gathering full of fun and lightheartedness as a complete group of close friends.
Troy stared up at the white ceiling, feeling completely wiped out from early boot camp with the assistant coach and then regular practice with the head coach. It was a late lunch break, but Troy and the rest of the team were expected to be back at the gym in an hour and a half. He looked over at his dresser to grab the smoothie he made for his lunch and smiled as he saw one of the pictures of himself with Gabriella, the one from senior ball, sitting there. Troy sat up and took the frame in his left hand as he drank from the glass in his right. He felt his heart ache again as he thought of the very last time he saw Gabriella, a memory he would have to make last for a long time.
Everyone, from Charles to Chad were gathered at the Bolton house at 7:30 in the morning, a week before Troy was due to start basketball camp for Duke, standing out on the driveway to help and watch as Mr. Bolton and Troy finished packing up the truck and the trailer they hitched to the back. Troy tried ignoring the pain growing in his chest as he saw his good friends stand there or help them faithfully, very aware of Gabriella being held between Taylor and Kelsi while she silently cried.
When the last box was put in the trailer, Mr. Bolton closed the back door of the trailer and locked it with a padlock, then went over and locked the cover of the bed of the truck. He turned around and saw all of his son's friends and teammates there and knew they would need some time to say good-bye. He went over to his wife first and hugged her, kissing her one last time, before he went over to Gabriella, who looked like she needed all the strength she could get.
Surprising her, Jack pulled Gabriella into a hug while he said, "Don't worry, Gabriella. Everything is going to be just fine. You and Troy survived so much already in your short lives, I know you will be able to get through this. Don't be a stranger either before you leave, I know Troy's mom and I would both like to see you at least a few times before you yourself leave, okay?"
Gabriella nodded her head and gave him a watery smile. "Thank you, Mr. Bolton."
Jack nodded before he waved at everyone else and went to start the car, warming it up from the cold air.
Troy looked at everyone and was at a loss of where to start. Eventually though, he started with the opposite end of where Gabriella, Chad, and Ryan stood, saying good-bye first to Charles, then Martha, and then Kelsi, making Kelsi promise to send him tapes of her latest compositions as they happened. Then he did one final handshake the guys had made up with Jason and Zeke with promises of keeping in touch. He hugged Taylor good-bye as he promised her that he would do his best to keep Gabriella happy from afar while she did the same.
Chad tried to grin at him but failed. "Leave it to you, Bolton. The one moment I can't really smile, you would be the cause."
Troy smiled a little at this. "What can I say? It's hard to leave your best friend from pre-school. Always brothers though, no matter the distance, right?"
"You bet. Don't forget, I'll be seeing you at March Madness if nothing else," teased Chad.
"All right man, you are so on," replied Troy before the two shared a handshake and then a tight hug.
Gabriella was next but Troy opted to skip her, saving her for last. "Ryan, thanks for being the bigger man, all these times and being my conscious when I needed it the most. You really are a great guy and friend."
Ryan smiled at him. "Thanks. You aren't so bad yourself, Troy, well at least when you have your good moments, just kidding! I'm sure I'll see you around when you visit Gabriella if I'm ever down that way at the same time. Maybe we can all meet up in Boston at some point this fall."
"I'd like that. Oh, and I didn't get a chance before but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about you and Audrina man. You okay?"
"As okay as I will be. I'm more worried about her, to be honest. She hasn't wanted to talk to me or Gabriella since the breakup three days ago."
"It'll work itself out, Ryan. It always does, and you have shown that to me countless times."
Ryan just nodded in response, doing the special handshake with Troy one last time before Troy looked to his mother. "Mom," he got out before he was swept up into one big hug by her, feeling like his breath was being crushed out of his body but enjoying this one last embrace by the one woman who was constantly there for him in his lifetime. "I'm going to miss you."
"Not as much as I'm going to miss you, Troy. You take good care of yourself out there and make sure you and your dad are always awake and alert while driving. I know you allotted three days but still that is a long time to drive."
"I know, Mom, don't worry. We'll call every day, promise."
"Good. I love you, Troy," she murmured, kissing him one last time on the forehead.
"I love you too, Mom," returned Troy, gently pulling away and refocusing on Gabriella, who had tears falling down her face.
Troy took in a deep breath and cleared his throat of the tightening that was happening. He gently reached out for her hand and pulled her a little further down the driveway, behind the trailer so they could have some sense of privacy. Instantly, Gabriella was in his arms, sobs racking her body as she realized this was the last moment for a long time that she would be able to be held by Troy. He rocked her back and forth a little, running his hand comfortingly through her dark hair and kissing the top of her head a few times as his own tears finally escaped. Distantly, he heard his dad honk the horn of the truck and knew he had to let her go.
"Troy, I don't want you to go," whispered Gabriella in between breaths as she tried to gain some type of composure but failed.
"I know angel, but I have to go. If I didn't, I wouldn't be leaving you so early in the summer, I promise."
"I know but still, it hurts so much."
"It hurts me too, sweetheart. Listen, as soon as I know there is a break in the practices and how school runs, I'll make sure I make a trip up there to see you in Boston, all right? I promise."
Gabriella reluctantly nodded her head, knowing she couldn't ask for anything more than that. "And I will do the same to fly down there. I'm going to miss you so much, Troy. I feel like I'm losing half of me by watching you prepare to get in that truck."
Troy chuckled a little, startling Gabriella. "Just the same feeling I have about leaving you. Missing you terribly was never in question when I thought about this day of leaving you. I guess we really do complete each other."
She smiled a little before she started crying again. There was a second honk of the horn and Gabriella knew the time has come. "I guess I have…to let…you go," got out Gabriella, unable to control the sobs now.
Troy tightened his hold on her and held her for the final moments before he pulled away to kiss her, tasting the saltiness of their mingled tears. He ran a hand along the side of her face as she did the same, each memorizing the features of their loved one's face, burning it to memory. When Troy finally pulled away, he felt the final heart break he could stand while he saw the misery and pain in her eyes, knowing his held the same. With one last kiss, Troy reluctantly pulled away and opened the door of the truck and got in, giving Gabriella a look before he closed the door.
Jack looked over at his son, who was now trying to wipe the tears off of his face. "It'll be okay son, I promise you."
"You don't know that for sure Dad, but I hope you are right," returned Troy as he did his seatbelt.
His father gave him a grim smile and then put the truck into gear to drive out. Jack pulled out of the driveway slowly, allowing Troy to catch last glimpses of his loved ones and friends back on the driveway.
Troy stared at the side mirror, looking at all the faces of his friends he had grown up with or gotten to know so well over his high school years. His gaze paused on Gabriella as she stood where he left her, crying openly, fighting the urge to go back to her. Soon, he saw Ryan approach her and wrap his arms tightly around Gabriella as she cried into his shoulder while still watching the car. The last thing Troy was able to see was Ryan leaning down and kissing the top of Gabriella's head as his dad pulled onto the street and left his childhood home and neighborhood behind.
Before Troy could dwell on that last sight again, his roommate burst into the room with a loud bang as the door hit the wall. "Troy! Dude, you are so going to be late with me if you don't get your act together. We have ten minutes to get back to the gym, man!" exclaimed Miles as he pulled open one of his drawers to change his shorts and t-shirt.
Troy snapped out of his memories and put the glass with his smoothie back on his bedside table and threw on a new pair of shorts and a shirt himself before he grabbed his bag and headed over to the gym with Miles.
"Well, right on time, ladies," called out the coach. "You just saved yourself twenty extra sets of suicides. All right team, I know you had a grueling morning already but this afternoon is what matters. We want a strong team this year, one that will beat all the others this March and every game up to that time. All the coaching staff is here to support you, but we are also here to push you to do your best, to force you to keep looking forward and to expect nothing but the absolute top work from yourselves. Most of you are old timers, you know the drill, you know the mentality. For you new freshman, you were the top of your teams at your high schools but you aren't going to be top here unless you work hard. We expect big things from you all so, with that said, count off, one and two, and then divide up, twos being skin. I want to see a scrimmage and a tough matchup. Now go!"
Troy nodded his head along with the rest of the teams before they counted off, Troy ending up being a two. He took off his shirt and threw it next to his bag and joined his team, self-conscious of being probably being the least built of them all. 'And here I thought I worked out enough. I guess not,' he thought, intimidated by the muscles every other player on his team possessed.
They elected a captain who immediately sat out the youngest of the guys first. Troy watched most of the scrimmage on the sideline until the coach mandated that every player have some playtime on the court. When Troy finally got out, most of the guys were already warmed up and had been playing for a bit while Troy felt cold and not on top of his game. The first throw tossed at him, he missed, earning him some boos from his fellow teammates as the opposite team grabbed the missed ball and shot a perfect two pointer.
"BOLTON! If you are going to play with us, you better step it up," yelled a more senior player before he ran by Troy to do a layup.
Troy eventually found his groove and put his all into the scrimmage but knew in the back of his head that he was definitely the baby of this group, regardless of the successes he had as a Wildcat.
When the scrimmage was finally over, the team ran additional drills for an hour before the coach called it quitting time for the day. A number of the younger guys groaned as their bodies protested further movement while the senior guys chuckled at the memories of their first week of basketball camp when they started years ago.
Troy, still feeling inadequate, grabbed his bag and water bottle and headed over to the gym on campus to work out, knowing he needed to do some serious weight training to get himself onto the level he was expected to be. 'At least if my teammates' builds are any example of where I am to be at.'
While he was doing leg presses, he happened to glance over and see a brunette staring at him via the mirror. He turned his head to look at her directly and saw her blush. Troy completed the rep he was on and swung his legs around so he was sitting on the side of the bench, wiping his face with a towel, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious.
The brunette, feeling herself a little bold, went over to him and smiled. "Hi, I'm Cheryl," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.
Troy took it and smiled back at her. "Troy, good to meet you," he returned.
"So, are you taking summer courses?" asked Cheryl.
He shook his head. "No, I'm part of the basketball team."
"Oh, one of the famous basketball studs," commented Cheryl. "I heard basketball camp had started already. Looks like you are bound and determined to prove yourself, huh?"
Troy let out a chuckle. "Something like that. What about you? Summer courses?"
"Yeah, I wanted to get a little ahead of my sophomore year. Plus, I didn't really have anything to go back home to. All my friends from home stayed where they went to school and my high school sweetheart and I broke up middle of last year, couldn't cut the distance. Oh, I think I said too much there," said Cheryl.
"No, it's cool. It's nice to hear what my future may look like in a year," responded Troy, getting up from the bench, knowing he couldn't continue with this workout any further without hurting himself.
"So, if you are done, would you like to have dinner with me? It's pretty empty on campus right now and I'd appreciate the company."
Troy thought for a moment before he nodded his head. "Sure, I'd like that."
"Great," she replied. "I know a great Chinese restaurant a little ways off campus. Do you want to maybe meet up in about forty minutes? What's your number?"
Troy and Cheryl exchanged numbers before they went their separate ways, Troy noticing a beeping sound from his bag while he walked back to his dorm. He dug through the pockets and found his phone, smiling as he saw a text from Gabriella from earlier on in the day:
Hey wildcat, I hope you aren't getting your behind kicked too badly out there. Miss you lots. 143, G
He slipped the phone back into his bag just as he reached his dorm, climbing up the stairs two at a time before entering his room and seeing no signs of Miles. Troy dumped his bag onto the floor and stripped before jumping into the warm shower, letting the water soothe his aching muscles.
After he toweled off and changed into a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, he opened up a drawer to pull out a familiar baby-t, one that Gabriella had secretly slipped into one of his suitcases with a love note for him. He brought it up to his nose and smiled as he breathed in her familiar scent. 'God, how much I miss her,' he thought before his phone rang.
Troy looked at the phone and saw it was Cheryl. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hi Troy. Are you almost ready?"
"Sure am. Do you want me to drive?"
"I'll drive since I know where it is. Meet me in the Commons?"
"Sure," replied Troy before he hung up.
He tucked the baby-t back into his drawer, feeling a pang of what felt like guilt at going to this dinner with Cheryl as he closed the drawer. 'Naw, I have nothing to feel guilty about. Cheryl is just a friend, that's all,' he thought as he headed out the door and locked it behind him.
Three hours later, Troy reentered his room and somewhat wondered where Miles was, who was still absent from the room. Troy changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt before he laid back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The dinner went well with Cheryl. She turned out to be really friendly, but it was clear she was interested in being more than friends if he would allow it. Troy had been upfront and told her that he had a girlfriend back home, but it didn't stop the flirting on Cheryl's part. 'It's all right to have her as a friend, right? As long as I keep it just that way, just friends. Then again, that didn't quite work with Sharpay, but Cheryl isn't her. She's more mature and is in college. She wouldn't play those games, right?' wondered Troy.
Unable to think about it further, Troy picked up his phone and called the one girl he knew would make him feel better. After hearing a little of her favorite song at the moment, the phone picked up on the other side. "Hello?" greeted a male voice.
"Umm, hi. Is Gabriella there?" asked Troy.
"Sure, let me get her, she's in the pool. Gaby! I think it's Troy!" called out the male voice.
It took a few moments but Troy felt himself smile as he heard her familiar voice. "Troy?"
"Hi angel, how are you doing?"
"I'm good, how are you? You sound a bit down."
"Just tired is all. Basketball camp, Duke style, is way tougher than anything my dad ever dreamt up. I feel like the total underdog and the weakest of them all here," revealed Troy.
"I'm sure you aren't, you are just exaggerating. I could never see you being the worst player anywhere," replied Gabriella with a smile. "You are always going to be that Superstar to me anyway."
"Aww, you are so sweet. So where are you guys and who answered the phone? It didn't sound like Chad."
"Oh, a bunch of us are over at the Evans for a swim party of sorts. You would not believe what's happened. Kelsi and Jason actually broke up a few days ago but seem to be doing well as friends, neither I guess wanting to push through the distance thing like us. Sharpay and Zeke are actually getting flirty again too. God, it's incredible what's been going on, come to think of it."
Troy chuckled. "So Zeke is finally getting his girl, huh? Make sure you tell him to be careful from me. I'm sorry to hear about J and Kelsi though, J called me that night all heartbroken."
"I know, it's so sad but I think they may be better as friends, at least for right now."
Realizing Gabriella hadn't answered his second question. "So, who picked up the phone, Gabriella?"
"Oh, sorry, that was Rob. I was in the pool playing a game of water volleyball."
"Rob? Since when did he start hanging out with the gang?"
Gabriella could hear the jealousy and some pieces of anger in Troy's voice. "Troy, it's nothing like you think. Rob is here as my guest. Remember, he and I are going to MIT together and we are friends. I thought you said you were okay with that."
Troy let out a sigh. "Yeah, I am. I guess it's just an odd feeling knowing he sort of replaced me there, being there with you and our friends."
"Troy, you know no one will ever replace you. Rob is just here keeping me company if nothing else. I miss you."
"I miss you too, Gabriella. I love you lots more."
Gabriella smiled. "I love you too, Troy."
Before Troy could say anything further, he heard some voices very close to the phone.
"Come on, Gabriella, get off the phone. We need you to continue playing this volleyball game," said Ryan. "I am not about to let my twin win just because you are on the phone."
"But it's Troy," argued Gabriella.
"Rob will you play in her place?" asked Ryan.
"Nope, I suck at volleyball, land or water. I will help you get her back in though," returned Rob.
"No, Rob, come on, don't look at me that way," got out Gabriella.
Troy heard a scream and then a splash as he assumed Gabriella was thrown into the water while there was a clattering sound as the phone presumably dropped to a chair or something. The phone was roughly picked up and he heard Ryan's voice.
"Sorry, Troy. I couldn't stop Rob from throwing her into the water. I'll make sure she calls you back, okay?" said Ryan from the other side of the line.
"Umm, sure," responded Troy, feeling the jealous feeling coming back as he heard Gabriella laughing in the background before Ryan hung up.
'If this is what it's going to be like for the next few years, how are we going to make it through this still sane?' he wondered as he dropped his head back down onto his pillow and immediately fell asleep, despite the early hour. Unfortunately, after some dreamless hours, he began to be haunted by nightmarish images throughout his sleep of Gabriella, Rob, Ryan, and many other situations that would challenge his relationship with Gabriella, resulting in a not so restful sleep for a very worried and tired Troy.