Back to the Dream Page
On Friday night, the whole gang decided to hang out together so Chad drives Taylor, Troy, Gabriella, and himself over to the ice rink to meet with the others. When they get out of the car and make it into the rink, they smile as they see the rest of the gang waiting on them.
"Come on slow pokes!" calls over Martha. "It's time to get our boogie on out there on the ice!"
Ryan laughs at her but agrees. "Seriously, why is it that whenever we get together as a huge group, you four are always late?"
"We're not always late. Just when it involves the girls who have to find the right outfit, have the right hair, etc!" Chad defends.
"Is not! Chad Danforth you better take that back!" Taylor exclaims, smacking him on her favorite spot, his right arm.
Chad rubs his arm on the spot and pouts, not earning any sympathy from Taylor.
Gabriella laughs at the two but grabs Troy's hand to go get their ice skates. Ever since that discussion in the park on Monday, Gabriella and Troy had been inseparable with the exception of their class schedules. After basketball practice each day, Troy had made it a routine to go to the Montez household where he and Gabriella would do homework side by side and he usually stayed through dinner and a little after before going home. Jasmine of course had tried her best to get Troy's attention again but never quite succeeded as he made sure to stay just friendly to her.
Once the four had their skates on, the group heads out to the ice and start laughing at each other as they begin to wobble and slip all over the place.
"All right, who's idea was this to go ice skating?" Jason asks, gripping the side of the rink for dear life. "I nominate we torture whoever did!"
Kelsi laughs and skates over to him. "It was my idea. Come on and hold my hand. I promise I won't let you fall, at least on purpose."
The rest of the group laughs and watch as Jason takes Kelsi's hand and almost pulls her down onto the ice on a few close calls. "Is it me or is this shy little friend of ours actually more bold?" asks Martha of Taylor. "She actually made the first move!"
Taylor nods her head. "It's great, don't you think?"
"See, love always succeeds in getting its way, it just takes time," Gabriella throws in as she passes the two. "Anything can happen when love is involved!"
"Hopeless romantic!" Taylor yells out to Gabriella who is now skating backwards. "Showoff too!"
"Why, because I can skate backwards? I'm the one that lived in extreme cold before remember? Frozen lakes, snow? I picked it up out of boredom…"
The three laugh as Gabriella turns back around and watches Kelsi still try to skate with Jason in tow. Behind the three are Troy, Chad, and Ryan who are keeping their eyes not only on the girls ahead but also Sharpay and Zeke who are skating together ahead of Kelsi and Jason.
"Seriously man, who would have thought your sister would ever realize the charms of Zeke after all that chasing he did all of junior year," Chad says to Ryan. "It honestly got to a point where I didn't know if he would run out of things to bake for her before she realized how mad he was about her."
Ryan shrugs his shoulders. "You know Sharpay. Once she sets her mind on something, it's hard to distract her. I am glad too that they found each other and are now dating. You have no idea how much easier it is to live with her now!"
Troy laughs at this and says, "Ryan, who are you kidding? We all know how much easier it is to deal with her now, at least most of the time. To be honest, I am just glad her scheming to interfere with my relationship with Gabriella is over and that she seems to have actually begun to support it instead."
"I think she has come to terms with the fact that you are off limits. Now, if we could do the same thing with Jasmine we would all be in good shape."
"That my friend, is a whole different story!" Chad says, spotting the cheerleading team just getting onto the ice. "All right, who leaked to the cheerleaders that we were going to be here?"
Troy looks over and lets out a groan. "I guess it's too late to hide. This is what we get for going to a popular hangout for East High students. Anyone for speed skating?"
Chad and Ryan look at each other then give a reluctant nod. "We can try but there are no promises that we won't land on our faces!" Ryan replies.
The three boys take off, picking up their pace a little more. As they pass Gabriella, Taylor, and Martha, they motion for them to keep pace, Troy grabbing Gabriella's hand in the process to ensure she was with him. Taylor throws a questioning look to Chad who motions with his head to look behind them where she sees the cheerleaders getting closer. Before they could think of another escape tactic, the DJ breaks the music string and announces that it is couple only skating time. After a collective groan from the single teens who had to get off the ice, only the couples were left skating to a much slower, romantic tune.
Ryan, Martha, Kelsi, and Jason all took seats next to the rink as they watched the three couples of their group skate together. Kelsi looks across the way and sees the looks the cheerleaders, especially Jasmine, are giving Gabriella and Troy. "Hey Martha, what do you think Jasmine is planning in that little brunette head of hers?" she asks, directing all their attention across the way.
"Whatever it is, it does not look like a good thing by that evil look on her face," Martha replies. "Can't they just get a new idol, maybe the football captain instead of the basketball captain?"
Jason laughs. "You would think that would be the easier plan than trying to mess with our already committed basketball captain. But, then again, that would be the smart thing to do."
Ryan chuckles and high fives Jason. "Good one Jason!"
Out on the ice, Gabriella and Troy are skating together, hand in hand, noticing nothing but each other. "Mmm, this feels so good Troy. Being here with you, with our friends, and enjoying life as we should be enjoying it as teenagers," she murmurs, looking up at her boyfriend.
"I couldn't agree more. Friday night with the love of my life on my arm, surrounded by our constant friends, and yet exercising to keep my legs and heart in shape. Definitely have the best of both worlds here!" Troy returns.
"Of course you had to throw in the exercise part. You spoiled the romance right out of the moment Bolton!"
Troy chuckles and says, "You know I still have basketballs season on the brain, even if it is the weekend. It was one of those quirks I know you so fell in love with!"
"Right, sure. I think I more fell in love with the guy who convinced me it was okay to sing in front of people and who overcame all the adversity at high school to take a chance with the new girl. That's what and who I fell in love with," she says, noticing Troy and slowed down their pace.
When they were at the side of the rink where there was a wall and no seats, Troy stops them completely and swings around to face Gabriella. He puts his hands on her face, making brown eyes connect with blue eyes, and says, "And I fell in love with the girl who taught me it was okay to be different and be who I really am, friends behind me or not. I love the woman who has seen past the Wildcat basketball captain and sees the man I am, not what stereotype is put on me with the title."
The two lean in and kiss, not realizing that the two other couples on the ice who were their friends had also stopped and watched the two with goofy grins on their faces. After a little while of watching the two exchange sweet kisses, Chad had enough of Sharpay and Taylor oohing and yells, "Get a room!"
Gabriella and Troy break apart and smile guiltily but happily at their friends. "Please, you and Taylor do much worse when you're in the mood," Troy calls back, laughing as Chad and Taylor both blush. "See, you know what I'm talking about!"
The DJ announces it is now girls' time on the ice, forcing the Troy, Chad, and Zeke to skate off and take seats next to Ryan and Jason. Kelsi and Martha quickly get back on the ice and join the other three for a few rounds, each of them holding the hand of the girl next to them. As they were skating they were telling jokes to each other and laughing so much that they guys couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. "Whatever it is, they are having a fantastic time without us," Zeke notes, never breaking his gaze from Sharpay's blonde head.
Out of nowhere, Troy spots Jasmine and her crew advancing quickly on the girls. "Oh no, what is she up to now?" he wonders out loud, causing the other guys to look in the same direction.
"It looks like they are up to trouble," Chad replies, watching as the cheerleaders started picking up speed. "TAYLOR! GABRIELLA! LOOK BEHIND YOU!"
Of course from that distance, neither girl heard him and were therefore surprised when their hands were broken away from each other and Gabriella felt a hard push, forcing her to fall onto the ice. The cheerleaders slow down after doing their damage and turn around to face Sharpay, Taylor, Martha, and Kelsi who are trying to help Gabriella up.
"Watch where you're going will you?" Jasmine snarls. "You could have hurt us and then where would our basketball stars be without their biggest fans? You certainly aren't them."
Martha glares back at her and is about to say something when Gabriella lets out a moan and a sob. She looks down at her friend and notices that Gabriella is clutching her left hand, which is now covered in red. 'Oh my goddess, she must have cut her hand on her skates or something!'
Troy rushes onto the ice and drops down to the ice where Gabriella is still clutching her hand. He props her back up against him and gently tries to pull her right hand away so he could look at it. Troy inwardly curses as he sees there is more blood coming out of the gash. Not having anything else, Troy pulls off his Wildcats sweatshirt and wraps her left hand in it, not caring that he would never be able to wear the sweatshirt again. All he was worried about was Gabriella. He can hear her crying from the pain, silently but still crying the same, and kisses her temple. "Shh, Gabriella it is going to be okay. I promise I won't let anything more happen to you," he reassures her in the softest voice he could. She snuggles deeper into his embrace while holding the sweatshirt wrapped around her hand, hoping that would stop the bleeding.
Soon, the paramedics come onto the ice and examine her hand as the rest of the group of friends watch from a few feet away as to not crowd Gabriella. They got a moment of satisfaction though as they watched Jasmine and the rest of the cheerleaders get tossed out of the ice skating rink for good for what they had done. "A small price to pay for what they did but at least they are gone," Taylor murmurs, Chad nodding his head. "I hope Gabriella is going to be okay."
Chad wraps his arms around Taylor more to reassure her. "I'm sure she will, it's only a cut to the hand it looks like, she'll be fine."
The paramedics replace Troy's sweatshirt with gauze and a bandage but tell Gabriella they need to take her to the hospital for stitches and a Tetanus shot, which she agrees to as she sees a dark red spot growing on the bandages already. Troy takes off their skates and grabs their shoes before joining Gabriella in the awaiting ambulance. The entire journey, Troy doesn't take his eyes off his girlfriend, who at this point is quiet but still sniffling. He holds her right hand, squeezing it every so often to let her know that he is still there for her.
Once outside of ER, the paramedics wheel Gabriella in, leaving Troy sitting in the waiting room. 'I better call Mrs. Montez,' he thinks, going outside real quick and pulling out his cell phone. She answered on the first ring and tells Troy she will be down right away. Having done this task, he goes back in and sits down, not noticing when Taylor and Chad sit beside him.
"How's she doing?" Taylor asks, startling Troy. He looks up and gives her a grim smile.
"Well, to my knowledge, she isn't dying but it's still a serious cut. I can't believe Jasmine and her crew did that!" he exclaims, finally letting the anger come out. "How irresponsible and immature was that?"
Chad puts his arm around his friend and says, "I know, they were pretty stupid about it. I think you should have your dad talk to their coach. That's not Wildcat spirit they just displayed and they endangered another student's well being."
Troy nods his head in agreement. "Once I get home tonight after making sure Gabriella is okay, that's the first thing I am doing. After that, I never want to see Jasmine again or I may doing something I'm going to regret."
"Gabriella Montez?" asks a doctor in green scrubs.
"I'm her boyfriend," Troy replies, getting up and approaching him. "How's she doing?"
"Well, she has lost a good amount of blood from her wound but we were able to stop it and stitch it up. What was she doing when she was injured?"
Troy angrily explains that they were all ice-skating and then she got pushed by a group of girls. The doctor nods his head and mentions that she probably did cut her hand on the ice skates during the fall somehow. "It could be that when she fell, she tried to stop herself but her feet slipped from under her and nailed her hand instead. That is possible since the cut was long and clean, indicating it was something sharp. Is her mother here?"
"I'm here," Mrs. Montez responds, running into the waiting room. "How's my baby?"
"As I was saying to her boyfriend her, she is going to be fine but she did lose a good amount of blood so she will be tired the next few days. She has five stitches in her palm and the side of her left hand that she will have to have removed in two weeks. I will send her home with a prescription for pain medicine and an ointment I want applied to help fend off any infections. She has already received her Tetanus shot but I want to make sure we stop anything before it starts," he explains, handing over the two prescriptions. "If you can go to the nurses' station Mrs. Montez, you can sign her out there and also settle the insurance."
Mrs. Montez nods her head in understanding and murmurs her thanks to the doctor before heading to the nurses' station. She comes back to the three teenagers and sits down next to them, waiting for Gabriella to be wheeled out. "So you say a group of cheerleaders did this to my baby?" she asks, looking at her daughter's friends and boyfriend. "Why?"
Taylor lets out a little sigh and explains as much as she can about Gabriella getting some crap from them for dating Troy out of jealousy at school but how they never expected that it would result in a form of violence. When Mrs. Montez turns her gaze to Troy, he couldn't help but feel guilty.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Montez, I know it's my stupid fault. I should have protected her and put those girls in their place a long time ago," Troy says, knowing he would never forget the turmoil of emotions in Gabriella's mother's eyes.
Mrs. Montez shakes her head sadly. "Troy, you have no reason to feel guilty. As long as you didn't tell those cheerleaders to harm my baby or give them any reason to hope they could win you over by destroying my baby, there is nothing you did to cause this. I know Gabriella cares for you a lot." She wraps her arms around Troy and gives him a hug, which he hadn't realized until then that he needed.
"Mom?" Gabriella calls out as she is wheeled out to the waiting room by an intern.
Mrs. Montez jumps out of her seat and runs to her daughter. "Thank God you are all right baby. Don't scare me like that ever again!" she exclaims, hugging Gabriella tightly.
"I won't as long as I can stay away from Jasmine," Gabriella responds, awkwardly returning the hug. Her mom helps her out of the wheelchair and tsks as she looks at Gabriella's hand that is stitched up with some bandages around it to protect the new stitches.
"Her guys," she weakly greets, looking at the three who are behind her mom.
Troy rushes up and gives her a great big hug and a kiss on the lips, not caring they were in front of her mom. "I am so sorry I couldn't protect you from her," he murmurs into her hair. "I never would have thought she was capable of that type of behavior."
Gabriella lets out a dry laugh and replies, "It's a girl thing. Ever seen the movie Mean Girls? That's not just a fictional world, it's the high school girl world. Will you come over and spend some time with me tonight?"
He nods his head in reply and wraps his arm around Gabriella's waist as they walk out. Chad and Taylor, who after giving Gabriella their own hugs and good wishes, decide to leave Gabriella in the care of her mother and Troy, not wanting to suffocate their dear friend. Gabriella promises to call Taylor tomorrow as soon as she gets up though before saying good-bye to her best friend and Chad.
Troy calls his parents to let them know something had happened to Gabriella and that he would be out a little later than curfew, which his mother approved of under the circumstances. He didn't go into deep detail, just enough to let them know what was going on. 'There's enough time for that later,' he thinks, putting his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and bringing her head to rest between his left shoulder and his chin, her favorite cuddling spot. They wait in the backseat as Mrs. Montez stops off at the pharmacy to get the prescriptions, Troy content knowing that Gabriella had drifted off into peaceful sleep as they were sitting there. Troy's mind on the other hand was full of ranging emotions including anger, frustration, guilt, and love. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Jasmine and her crew would be so mean to this angel who was sleeping in his arms.
Mrs. Montez arrives back at the car and smiles seeing that her daughter had fallen into a peaceful sleep in Troy's arms while she was gone. She winks at Troy who smiles back before starting the car and driving home. Once there, seeing Gabriella hadn't stirred, Troy gently untangles himself from her and carries her into the house, up to her room in his arms, smiling as he sees how peaceful she still looks as he lays her on her double bed. He leaves momentarily so that Mrs. Montez can get her into more comfortable pajamas and enters again when she comes out to let him know Gabriella had woken up slightly.
"Hey," he greets, popping back into Gabriella's bedroom. "How are you feeling?"
"Can I say that drugs are wonderful?" she says, a smile playing on her lips. "I don't feel the pain from before at all. I guess that's what I slept so well."
"Probably. I'm just glad you are fine and are smiling back at me again instead of those tears. You know how upset I get when I see you cry Gabriella."
Her smile gets bigger as she sees the love and concern that is radiating at her from his blue eyes. "I know. Tell me that Jasmine got at least scolded by the ice rink security for what she did."
"Just scolded? Gabriella, she was lucky that she and her crew got banned from the ice-skating rink tonight and going forward. She would have had an all out fight on her hands because Taylor, Sharpay, Martha, and Kelsi looked like they were going to murder her, and that isn't counting how us guys felt. That was such a nasty thing they did, I still have trouble believing her capable of doing that."
"Because she's so sweet?" Gabriella asks sarcastically.
"No, because I just like to see the good in people I guess, a trait I learned from you Montez. I guess my eyes are wide open now," he responds. "Enough about her, she's not worth this time. Are you going to be all right?"
Gabriella nods her head. "I should be. I just need to rest this weekend, thank goodness it is the weekend, take care of the stitches and stay on those drugs and I should be good on Monday to go to school."
"You know, I don't think the school would fault you for not going in for a few days with your injury."
"Troy, it's senior year, I can't miss school. Besides, it's not like a lost my hand. It's still here, see?" she asks, wiggling the fingers on her left hand, causing her to wince in pain. "Mental note, don't wiggle fingers."
Troy chuckles and kisses her on her temple. "You are so cute sometimes Gabriella."
"Only sometimes?" she questions, looking him in the eyes.
"Well all the time but cutter at some moments than others. How about that?" he asks with a smile.
She nods and starts slowly allowing sleep to capture her conscious state. "Mind if I go to sleep?"
"Not at all," Troy responds, helping get her body under the sheet and duvet of her bed and tucking her in. "Get your rest Gabriella. I'll come by sometime tomorrow to check on you, okay?"
Gabriella sleepily nods her head and whispers something before completely leaving him for Dreamland. Troy smiles brightly to himself as he leans down and kisses her on her lips before heading out the door and turning off the lights. "I love you too," he says before closing the door and taking one last look at his sleeping girlfriend.