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"I so cannot believe you did that Gaby! Talk about a huge leap of faith!" exclaimed Tessa, in awe as she watched the sky diving video that was currently playing in the movie room. "How the hell did you let Troy get you into that plane? You're scared of heights!"
Gabriella shook her head. "Don't ask me, ask him!"
Troy chuckled a little as he brought her hand closer to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles. "Just some sweet persuasion is all Tessa. It was an activity that both of us could do, away from this mansion, that would also give us privacy. There really aren't any paparazzi on the plane and we had the tinted SUVs take us there and back before anyone was really the wiser as to what we were doing."
"I can understand that part but how did you get her to jump?" asked Taylor, also knowing full well that Gabriella was not a huge fan of high things, let alone jumping from a plane to free fall down to Earth.
Troy smiled at Gabriella before he said, "With the promise that I would be there with her in facing this fear of hers, holding hands as you can see from the video for most of the way after our separate jumps with our instructors until we had to break away for the landing."
"And slick Troy even got in a kiss midair," commented Zeke, shaking his head. "Only you dude, only you."
"Aww, there it is, the kiss!" shouted Martha as the videographer captured the tender moment in the middle of the air.
"I'm sure that's one of the most memorable moments either of you have shared," commented Ryan. "That's good for both of you, for overcoming your fear but also doing something so amazing as one of the last things you do together for a while."
Sharpay smacked Ryan's arm hard as he brought up the unmentioned topic of the day. "Ryan!" scolded Sharpay, making Ryan blush as he realized what he just said.
Gabriella sadly gazed back at Troy and shook her head. "It's okay. I know all of you made some sort of pact to ignore the fact that I'm leaving tomorrow but it's reality, a sad reality and it's happening. Troy and I have come to terms with it and still managed to have a good time yesterday. I suspect we can do the same without tiptoeing around the topic around me, honestly. I don't want our last memory all together to be of me causing unsaid tension because of my departure."
"Aren't you sad?" asked Jason, getting a glare from Martha and Kelsi both.
"I am," admitted Gabriella, wiping away a tear quickly but blinking the rest back. "But, as Emma would say, it's not worth it to cry about the inevitable. We all knew it would happen someday. It just turned out someday was sooner than we thought."
"Well I for one am not allowing you to forget all of us commoners," said Tessa, grinning at her best friend. "Just because you'll be an official princess of a foreign country soon does not mean you get to forget about us!"
"Hey, who are you calling commoners!" protested Sharpay before Ryan slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Excuse my sister, she's still a bit, well, high strung," apologized Ryan, glaring back at his twin who was giving him her famous death look.
Gabriella was the first to giggle at this, instantly relaxing the mood again. "See, this is exactly why I will never forget any of you. Besides, we can still visit each other, especially after you all go to colleges on your own separate ways. I won't feel like such an oddball during visits as everyone will be catching up then too."
"She does have a point," agreed Kelsi. "We aren't always going to be together like this. The rest of us may just have some more time together but we all will go our separate ways when the times comes like Gabriella. I mean, Tessa isn't always with us either because of her high school being different."
"Enough of all the sad talk! I think Gabriella needs to have one last afternoon of spending silly time with us, not these hard good-byes," stated Chad, getting a supportive smile from his girlfriend. "Gab, what do you want to do?"
Gabriella thought for a few moments, thinking of the options. "Well, most of everything is already packed away or will be moved out by the end of today. We could stay in this room and watch some DVDs Taylor and Tessa brought over while we just talk. I'd be good with that for a last memory to hold me over for a while."
"Then that's what we'll do," decided Chad for the group. "Although, with Taylor and Tessa's taste, I think us guys may want to channel ESPN or something into a side TV here."
"Hey!" protested Taylor. "They aren't that bad!"
"Oh really?" asked Zeke, peeking into the bag next to him that Tessa brought with her. He put a hand in and grabbed a handful of DVDs. "The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dirty Dancing, and Becoming Jane? How are these not chick flicks?"
Tessa grabbed them back and stuffed them back in her bag. "Hey, you guys could have brought your own!"
"It's not like any of us had any warning about this," complained Jason.
"No, it's more like you didn't think," countered Sharpay, getting a high five from Tessa, who was sitting in front of the blonde.
Troy just shook his head as he whispered something into Gabriella's ear that made her blush a little before he got up and retrieved Gabriella's copy of the skydiving experience from the day before. He handed it to her and kissed her quickly on the lips as he sat back down. "I'm so glad that your parents agreed to let you do that with me yesterday."
"I'm glad your parents understood enough to let you skip school all day to be with me yesterday," returned Gabriella. "That means a lot."
"Well, they know how much you have come to mean to me. As we agreed back in Hawaii, we both have some pretty cool parents," stated Troy.
"That we do," agreed Gabriella, leaning her head onto his left shoulder while the rest of their friends bickered about which movie to watch.
Eventually, the room's lights were dimmed a little as the victorious movie was popped into the DVD player, Gabriella finding herself giggling at the groans from Zeke, Chad, and Jason as the credits for Becoming Jane came on the screen.
"Quiet!" scolded Taylor, causing the girls to laugh as it was followed shortly by the sound of Chad getting smacked most likely on the back of his head.
Zeke and Tessa came back into the room with a few bags of microwave popcorn she had brought along with a bag full of canned soda that got passed around. Once everyone settled down, everyone's attention went to the movie as even Zeke, Jason, and Chad got into it, following the storyline as it unfolded. As soon as the credits were over though, the three boys were up and begging for release from the torture.
"Evans! You live nearby. Can we please get something other than these chick flicks?" begged Chad, ignoring the nasty look Taylor was giving him.
Ryan immediately agreed. "Come on, I have Sharpay's keys so we'll just take her car and pop back within twenty minutes."
"That's my man! The dude of the hour!" called out Jason as he followed Zeke, Chad, and Ryan out of the room.
"Aren't you going to go with them?" asked Gabriella, looking at Troy.
"Nope," replied Troy, giving her a little nudge. "I could care less what we watch, as long as I'm with you."
They leaned into each other and shared yet another sweet kiss that left the girls in the room awing. "What are we going to do when we don't have our sweetest romantic couple around anymore to aww at?" teased Sharpay, winking at Gabriella.
"Look to yourselves?" suggested Gabriella with a little laugh. "Hey Tessa, do you have the jewelry I let you borrow for your date with Zeke last week?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's in my bag," said Tessa from where she was sitting, conversing with Taylor and Kelsi about something quietly.
Gabriella nodded and took the liberty to grab Tessa's bag and drag it over, finding the jewelry and handing it to Troy to add to the pile of other things she would have to pack later, like the skydiving DVD. She was about to move the bag back over when she saw a magazine that was folded over to expose a page with her name on it. With a shaky hand, Gabriella reached back in and drew the magazine out, unfolding it to see a spread in the magazine about her and her relationship with Troy. Troy noticed the tenseness in Gabriella's body and looked over, a bit taken aback by how detailed the article got.
Sharpay glanced over at the couple, expecting to see the two to be kissing since they were so quiet but saw that they were instead reading something. She peeked over the seats more and realized that it was the latest tabloid magazine that had a written detailed section on Gabriella and Troy's relationship. Sharpay reached over the seat and tried to grab it, but Gabriella held firm, shaking her head. "No, I need to read this."
Tessa looked over at the commotion and felt her eyes grow wide as she realized that Gabriella and Troy both were looking at the magazine she forgot she had in her bag. "Umm, Gabriella, you really don't need to read that, honest," claimed Tessa, immediately getting up and going over to where the couple was sitting, where Sharpay was helplessly watching their reactions. Taylor, Martha, and Kelsi also came over, carefully watching the expressions on their faces as they turned the page and were greeted with a set of recent pictures of them, one that was very granular indicating it was taken from far away and then blown up.
"Must have been from last Saturday," commented Troy, shaking his head in disbelief as he stared at one of them kissing through a set of French doors.
When Gabriella was done reading, she handed it over to Tessa, who immediately closed the magazine and slipped it back into her bag. "Don't believe a word it said Gaby, it's just written to sell magazines. I didn't even buy this one, my mom embarrassingly enough subscribes."
"I just have to wonder who their sources are," said Gabriella, seeing that some of the most intimate details of the two were unnamed, close to the subject, sources. "Who would sell our relationship like that?"
The girls exchanged looks and all volunteered the fact that none of them did. "I don't think either of us implied that any of you or the guys would have," commented Troy, seeing relieved looks on each of their faces as he said this. "It could be someone though that has watched us closer than we thought at East or West. We won't ever know Brie."
Gabriella sadly nodded her head. "I guess this is another reason why my grandparents want me home. I must be so scandalous for them, first with the rape and then the run in with Alicia that is sure to come out. I must be a PR nightmare for them."
"Hey, don't say that Brie, you'd never be anyone's nightmare," soothed Troy, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the top of her head as she leaned into his hold.
"Besides, it's not like you're going out to bars and dancing on the tables while stripping," added Taylor.
"Or out getting high with your lowlife friends," teased Tessa.
"Or going on shopping sprees, blowing thousands of dollars at a time. I should know, I've tried to get you to do that and you still way under shop me," said Sharpay.
Martha laughed. "I think I'd die the day that any of us out shop you!"
"Agreed!" exclaimed Kelsi, causing all the girls to laugh as Troy rolled his eyes. "Although Gabriella, your wardrobe is quite impressive for what you spend, even when you have a huge budget to work with."
Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "You don't need to spend a lot of money if you know what to buy and when."
"Ah, I knew I chose you out of all the other high maintenance girls for a reason," said Troy, winking at her and making Gabriella blush.
"You know Gabriella, half of that article, well three-quarters of that article isn't even true. I wouldn't worry about it," commented Tessa. "Everyone who loves you knows the real Gabriella and Troy story, not this bunch of garbage. Although, I think I will start calling you Troyella from now on, just as the media has started calling you."
Gabriella scrunched up her little nose at this. "No way!"
"But it's so adorable! I bet it'll grow on you one day," predicted Taylor just before the four boys returned.
"We have returned and with good movies!" announced Ryan, plopping back down but making sure he was out of reach of his twin, who threw another dirty look his way.
"They better be good!" retorted Martha.
"Ouch, you think we'd pick bad ones?" asked Zeke, faking heartache.
"Don't make us answer," replied Tessa, laughing as Zeke overdramatized his hurt even more. "Come on, let's take a look."
The gang went through another three movies before the afternoon was out, not really paying attention to what was on the screen anyways as they all continued to talk, especially during the guys' pick, Zoolander.
Before any of them realized, the end of their day together came, having to end before dinner because Gabriella had to attend some gala with her parents that night before getting up early to fly to Copanvy. Troy was invited to go as Gabriella's date so they had a several hours left to spend together but for the other nine teenagers, this was the moment they had all been dreading. Everyone quietly gathered their stuff, Troy grabbing Gabriella's belongings from the seat next to where they had cuddled for several hours, and made their way to the main entry hall where everyone silently slipped on their jackets.
Jason was the first brave one to start the good-byes, approaching Gabriella quickly and giving her a hug. "I'll miss your tolerance of all my slowness."
Gabriella smiled back at him as she pulled away. "I'll miss your tolerance of my drama. Take good care of Kelsi, okay?"
Jason nodded and moved over so Kelsi could embrace Gabriella tightly. "You take good care of yourself Gabriella," said Kelsi. "Keep in touch."
"I will. And when you hear back from that stellar music college you are going to, you better email me. I don't want to hear the great news from our resident gossips," replied Gabriella.
Martha was next to hug Gabriella. "Keep up dancing and your love for music."
"Keep on dreaming and perfecting those moves Martha," returned Gabriella. "I'll be looking to see you on You Tube on one of those reality shows, dancing your butt off."
"I'll try," agreed Martha, wiping away a tear.
"Tsk, tsk, making all of us tear up," kidded Ryan as he gave Gabriella a good hug. "Here I was hoping we'd get you into one of our musicales. I guess another time, another place?"
"Sure Ryan," replied Gabriella. "I know Sharpay is a bit dramatic but will you continue to tolerate it and just put a smile on your face when you really want to strangle her for me?"
"Like I have any other choice," returned Ryan, giving Gabriella a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"I heard that!" protested Sharpay as she engulfed Gabriella in a big hug. "Mommy and Daddy said we're going to Europe this summer for a graduation party so I will definitely come and visit you. Can we stay at the palace do you think?"
Without hesitation, Gabriella said, "I think that can be arranged. We'll work out the details for sure! I'll miss you and your craziness."
"And I'll miss your down-to-earth ways, which are completely unnecessary yet pulled off so well by you," teased Sharpay, wiping away some of her tears but trying to laugh through them. "Don't go breaking my shopping record, you hear me?"
Gabriella laughed a little back, wiping her own tears away. "I won't."
Zeke handed Gabriella a paper bag before he embraced her, whispering to her that they were her special cookies, the ones she and he had invented one day while they were hanging out at Tessa's while Tessa was off napping.
"I can't believe you remember them!" exclaimed Gabriella, excitement in her teary brown eyes. "Thanks Zeke!"
"Anything for you. And before you ask, I plan on keeping Tessa happy, promise," replied Zeke, getting a kiss on the cheek from Gabriella for that.
"Well I don't really know what is in that bag he gave you but I think you know what's in this one," said Chad as he handed her a plastic bag that was tied in knots at the handles. "All I can say is that you are damn lucky I like you so much Montez."
Gabriella smiled back at him before hugging him tight. "Thank you Chad, that means a lot to me that you did it and that you are going to deliver what you are to his house tonight," whispered Gabriella into his ear before stepping back. "You'll take good care of Troy and Taylor both for me, right?"
"Of course. Troy may be a bit questionable but I'll keep an eye on him. Taylor is a given," stated Chad, kissing Gabriella's cheek before stepping aside to give Taylor and Tessa their own moment with their best friend.
The three girls exchanged looks and instantly started crying harder, knowing this was it. "Do you remember when we all hung out for the first time? At the homeless shelter?" asked Taylor.
Gabriella nodded. "I'm glad we were able to do that together up until all my craziness happened. You two have been the best friends I could have ever asked for," got out Gabriella. "Thank you so much for being there for me, for your endless support and love. Out of all the places I've had to move from, Albuquerque is the hardest and it is because of my bond with you two."
"And one hunky brown haired boy standing to your right," added Tessa, unable to tease Gabriella in person one last time. "We're going to miss you Gaby."
"Me too," replied Gabriella, just before all three shared in a long hug, leaning their heads together as they allowed their tears to mingle. "Both of you especially are expected to visit, you hear me?"
"Wouldn't dream of defying a princess," teased Tessa, sniffling as she broke the hug first.
"We'll exchange emails and phone calls. We also all invested in web cameras so we can still see each other every once in a while. Just don't forget to install it, all right," said Taylor, hugging Gabriella one last time.
"I won't," promised Gabriella, returning one last hug from Tessa. "Thank you so much Tessa for befriending me on that fateful first day at West High. I don't think I could have lasted this long without you."
Tessa let out a snort before she let a few more tears slide down her face. "Are you kidding me? You're Gabriella Montez, you'd survive so much more on your own. Thank you for being my best friend ever Gaby."
The two held onto each other for a few moments longer until Zeke and Troy both reached out to comfort each of the girls. Troy and Gabriella walked to the doorway and waved to the departing friends who were all getting into their separate cars, each throwing one last wave their way before driving away. Troy tightened his hold on Gabriella as he felt her sobs become greater, feeling his own throat tighten at the thought that their own good-bye was coming that much sooner now that it was only the two of them. 'Best make the best of it Troy,' thought Troy as he leaned his head down and just breathed in Gabriella's scent as he let her cry a little more before coaxing her back inside to get ready for the gala, neither of them wanting to let go of the other as they separated to get changed.
The limo had just stopped back at the top of the Montez estate's driveway when Troy reluctantly nudged Gabriella back awake. It was now 2 AM and Gabriella had fallen asleep ten minutes ago during the drive, being physically and emotionally exhausted. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that her mother and father had already gotten out of the limo. "Guess it's time huh?" asked Gabriella as she straightened and let Troy get out first before her.
Troy sadly nodded his head, hardly able to hold back the tears now. "I have to go, my parents wanted me to come home tonight, no doubt to make sure I don't try anything stupid out of depression or something."
Gabriella's head shot up to look at him. "You wouldn't would you?"
Troy shook his head. "No, of course not, but they know how hard this is to say good-bye to you for me. I guess they saw it in my eyes when they said their farewells to you yesterday for that moment we stopped by my house yesterday."
Both teenagers looked up as they heard a soft clearing of the throat. "We want to leave you two alone to do this but Troy, I wanted to say thank you, for being there for our daughter when we couldn't be and for being so mature and understanding about everything, for wanting what is best for her as we do. If we could do anything different to keep you two together, we would in a heartbeat, I want you to know that son. Gabriella is a lucky girl to have found you," said Stephen, offering Troy his right hand.
Troy took it and firmly shook it, looking sadly back into Stephen's eyes. "No sir, it is me who was lucky to have found your daughter. You and Mrs. Montez have raised a beautiful daughter, both inside and out. Thank you for giving me the time you have with her, it has changed my life forever."
Stephen grinned back at Troy and stepped back just in time to watch Annette hug Troy tightly, Gabriella having taken a step back a moment before.
"Thank you Troy, for being so wonderful. I couldn't imagine a better young man for my daughter. I know this is tough on you both now but I think your decision is the best one either of you can make right now and trust me, as I have told Gabriella, if it is meant to be, it will be. Your love has endured so much already, it's just a matter of time," soothed Annette, pulling away and wiping away a few tears before she kissed Troy's cheek.
Annette stepped away and immediately slipped her hand into Stephen's offered arm, both waving one last good-bye to Troy before stepping into the mansion. Paul took this as his opportunity to talk to Troy. He offered Troy his right hand as Stephen had done but pulled Troy close to him and hugged him, in that guy sort of way, pulling back and giving him a sad smile. "I know this is tough Troy but you'll see each other again. Remember, you'll always have each other in your hearts. I wouldn't have helped you out as much with all your romantic surprises if I didn't believe in you two and your love. You've taught this cynic a thing or two about what's possible. Take care of yourself, all right? No more fights with West? I can't be there to back you up in the future."
Troy managed to chuckle at this as he nodded his head. "I hear you man. Take care of Brie for me will you please? She means the world to me."
Paul smiled and nodded his head, giving Gabriella one last supportive look before he entered the mansion, the security team having decided earlier on in the night that there was to be no one visible to the young couple during this moment, all the necessary monitoring was to be done from afar or via camera.
Troy licked his now dry lips, turning his attention back on Gabriella, who was still dressed in the red spaghetti strapped cocktail dress, her hair slowly falling out of the updo it had been in. "You look so beautiful Brie, just how I always want to remember you," whispered Troy, letting the first of many tears fall again down his cheek. He leaned his head into Gabriella's soft palm as she reached up and wiped the tear away, along with the next. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"
Gabriella nodded her head. "We are Troy," replied Gabriella softly. "We talked it out last night remember, we even made one of my crazed lists of pros and cons and this is for the best, to let each other go for now. There's just too much distance and uncertainties between us starting tomorrow. You have your dreams Troy and I don't want to see you lose them on account of me."
"But I am, I'm losing you," returned Troy, leaning down so their foreheads touched as he wiped away some of her tears that clung to her cheeks. "Don't you know that by now? You are one of my dreams, always will be."
"Then we'll just have to wait and fight to make sure that dream comes true down the road, if that still is your dream by then," said Gabriella, sniffling a little. "You have the second half of senior year coming up soon, basketball season where I suspect you'll be champions yet again, much to West's dislike, and you have your entire college career ahead of you, not to mention the NBA. I can't in my right mind ask you to give all that up. I would never do that to you Troy and I know that you've offered to live in Copanvy after graduation from high school but I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror knowing I cut your other dreams short of coming true Troy."
Troy dragged in air through his mouth and slowly let it out, trying to control the heartache he was currently feeling. "So I guess then I have to say good-bye now huh?"
Gabriella nodded, shivering a little as the cold air brushed over her bare shoulders. Troy noticed immediately and almost smacked himself on his forehead at almost forgetting. He jogged over to his truck and opened the door, pulling out something before closing the door again, dropping the retrieved item around Gabriella's shoulders, pulling her body close to his again as he just held her, never wanting to let her go but knowing he had to in a few minutes.
She fingered the familiar fabric of the East High letterman jacket that Troy had lovingly worn for some time before she looked up at him again. "Are you sure?"
Troy nodded. "I want you to keep it, to keep you warm, to embrace you when I can't be there, even if we aren't together anymore. It'll be my special token to you. Take good care of it for me and send it back if you ever think of tossing it, all right?"
Gabriella shook her head. "Never, I'd never toss this Troy, not in a million years with a million holes in it. It means too much to me, you mean too much to me. God Troy, I love you so very much."
"I love you too Brie," murmured Troy just as their lips touch each other's again, both tasting the salt from their tears again. "Take good care of yourself and don't ever forget me."
"I'd never be able to forget you. Even if I had amnesia, I'd still know who you were by the beating of my heart," replied Gabriella. "I'll call you as soon as I'm settled in Copanvy, all right?"
"You better. It's going to be hard enough not to have the young woman of my heart and dreams here without being able to hear your voice every once in a while," returned Troy, taking in one last breath of air filled with her scent.
"Same goes for you. I'll miss these moments, being able to look into your blue expression filled eyes, and being in these arms that just seem to get stronger each day," said Gabriella, smiling a little as he chuckled. "You better go."
Troy loosened his hold just enough to step back and kiss Gabriella in the most amazing kiss either had ever shared as this kiss not only etched itself in their mind's memory but also into their very being and soul. "Good-bye Brie, I love you."
"I love you too Troy, I'll miss you," returned Gabriella, no longer bothering to hold back the tears as Troy slowly slipped his arms from around her upper body, where all the hugs had been recently to avoid her still healing injury.
"Me too," murmured Troy, forcing himself to step back. "Go on inside, I want to see you safely in."
Gabriella reluctantly nodded, backing up and turning around to head towards the front doors. "Bye Troy!" called out Gabriella, breathing in deeply as the tears became too much to control. "I love you!"
Troy smiled back. "I love you too! Bye Brie!" returned Troy, smiling more despite his tears as she blew him one last kiss before she closed the huge front doors, disappearing from his view but never his heart.