It's Always the Quiet Ones
A/N: I'm extremely sorry about the long wait. I had this past week off because of my school's winter break, but I also had to clean my room (before, I had to walk through my room like walking through a pit of snakes) and laundry (seven large loads of laundry).
However, I have reasons for the huge lack of an update:
Reason 1: My senior year sucks right now. Whoever said that senior year is the best year is a liar. I have school, dance, homework, 4 choir groups, church, chores, college applications, preparations for my big 18th birthday party, and work all to juggle.
Reason 2: I'm just plain lazy and I procrastinate. Okay, that's so not a reason, but look at Reason 1.
Reason 3: This was just a really awkward chapter for me to write… maybe I find it hard to write angst and depression and stuff. So I just couldn't find the words that I needed. That's also a reason that this chapter seems rushed and incomplete.
So please, please don't hate me. I give cookies!?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a cell phone, an iPod, and a toothbrush. Stuff you recognize isn't mine.
Chapter 7: Melt
It had only been seven minutes since he stepped into Heartbeat, the most local club, and Troy Bolton was already halfway through his second beer. He wanted to get hammered, so he would not be able to remember the disappointed look that Gabby had given him last night. Maybe he would forget about her entirely, if only for a few hours. Gabby Montez had been running through his mind all day (and night), but not in the usual good way.
"Gabby, I'm so sor—"
"Troy, am I just that embarrassing to be around? Do you have to push me down when your friends are here?" she stood up and gathered her things. "I began to show you who I really am. You were going to be the first person that I really opened up to. But you showed me a side of yourself that I didn't like. Just remember one thing, Troy Bolton: It's always the quiet ones." Gabby turned around and left Troy staring forlornly after her.
He had stayed sitting there staring into the direction she had left until the manager of the restaurant had to kick him out because they were closing. He drove all the way home in a daze, the same question running through his head, How did the perfect night turn out for the worse?
He had walked into his dorm and ignored Chad's excited chatter. He went straight toward his bedroom and fell face first into his pillow, muffling a groan. Troy had tossed and turned all night, still in the same clothes he wore on the date, and had not gotten a wink of sleep.
When Troy finally pulled himself out of bed at two in the afternoon, Chad had automatically shoved a basketball into his hands and pushed him out the door toward the practice court.
To say Troy did not play well would have been an understatement. He had missed every single shot he attempted, got hit once or twice in the face while trying to catch a pass (fortunately, he didn't bruise easily), and tripped multiple times trying to simply dribble down the court. All he could think about was Gabby, Gabby, Gabby.
The coach had noticed his lack of concentration in his star player (who hadn't?) and had pulled him from the scrimmage and allowed him to leave early. Troy had immediately checked his watch and sped towards the library. Gabby usually spent her Friday afternoons studying in the library and Troy hoped he could catch her to talk.
He sped towards her usual spot and groaned. She wasn't there. Discouraged and upset he sat down in her seat and splayed his hands on the table, hoping to touch, feel, sense anything of Gabby's. He hung his head and sighed in disappointment.
Troy had stayed in that spot for another hour and a half, waiting, hoping for Gabby to come. When his watch beeped, signaling that it was five o'clock, he gave up and went straight to his dormitory.
Once he had walked through the doorway, Chad immediately confronted him.
"Yo, dude! What was with you in practice today? You sucked so bad that my two year old niece could beat you and she's still being potty trained!"
Troy hesitated before he answered, "Uh… yea…I had a lot on my mind."
"Well, you know what will clear your mind? A good time at Heartbeat. It's definitely been a while since you got drunk... Man, when was the last time you got laid?" He continued when Troy didn't answer. "Just be ready by 7:30. We're going to dinner before we hit the club."
Troy actually felt that Chad had a point. Maybe he did need to just get so drunk that he would not be able to remember anything, especially Gabby. First things first, he needed a shower.
So here he was, sitting at the bar, now nursing his third beer. Troy handled his liquor well, so he was just starting to feel the effects. He was now watching the other people mingling and dancing around the club. He had ignored the numerous women attempting to come on to him, instead choosing to watch the other people mingling and dancing around the club. He thought he had seen dark curly hair reminding him of Gabby, but shook off he notion. Maybe the alcohol was making him see things. He needed something stronger to drink. He needed to stop reminiscing about her.
He had downed his second shot of whiskey and had asked the bartender for another, when the chatter of the crowd within the club lessened and only the music could be heard. He thought nothing of it until Chad had stumbled up to him, excited and a little intoxicated.
"Troy boy, I think Tattoo Girl is here! Go find her and go get laid!"
At the mention of Tattoo Girl, Ella, Troy's head swung around towards the dance floor, searching. All thoughts of Gabby's disappointed face disappearing from his mind. He needed to find Ella.
And there she was. It seemed that fate was on his side for the first time that day, for a path had cleared from his spot at the bar towards the middle of the dance floor where she was dancing, her back towards him.
She was wearing a tight, turquoise midriff bearing top that showed off her dragon tattoo. She also wore black skinny jeans with a pair of turquoise stilettos. Her long, curly hair was wild and let down, swaying as she moved her body to the bass of the music.
He knew it was his Ella. Besides the obvious sleeping dragon tattoo on her lower back, he felt the familiar pull he felt towards her like the day he first saw her. Ella was here and she was going to be his once again.
Here she was at Heartbeat, dancing her troubles away. Gabriella tried to release her thoughts of Troy Bolton, 'the freaking idiot,' but he was the only thing on her mind and she couldn't get him out. She had been dancing twenty minutes since she stepped into the club, and three people had already tried to dance with her. But she was completely unaware of her surroundings: the lusty stares of the men, the jealous glares of the women, the silence of the people. The only thing she was conscious of was the beat of the music. Until she felt it: a familiar gaze from a blue eyed boy that she was coincidentally trying to forget.
She felt his warmth behind her as Troy grabbed her hips and pulled her towards himself. Gabriella heard him whisper, "Ella… I missed you…" in desire and couldn't help but close her eyes in yearning; he still didn't connect that Gabby was Ella and Ella was Gabby. Here was the man who unknowingly broke her heart, but was now dancing so tantalizingly close to her that there was no space between them. She kept her face angled downward, Troy's view of her face obstructed by her hair. Gabriella didn't want him to figure out who she really was just yet. She just wanted to dance.
They had been dancing together for four songs. Troy's hands had begun roaming her body, and at the moment, one hand was splayed on her toned stomach, pulling her closer towards his chest, her hand on top of his. His other hand lay on her upper thigh, his thumb rubbing the junction between her thigh and pelvis. Gabriella's other hand was reaching behind her for Troy's head, running it through his hair.
Their position was intimate. They were dancing with no space between them, her hips grinding into his, making him groan. Troy gave in to her pull of seduction and lowered his head, her hand still running through his hair, and began to kiss her neck. Gabriella gasped at the contact; his hands pulled her tighter into his body, her hand in his hair pulled his head closer to her neck, desperate for more.
"Troy…" Immediately after she had accidentally, moaned his name aloud, Troy froze. He remembered every moment he had spent with Ella and was certain he had never told her his name.
He quickly turned her body around to see her face to face and his breath caught.
"Gabby?!?"
A/N: I hope the last section of this chapter made up for the wait. But please don't hate me for the really long update. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up within the month, but I honestly won't have a long break from everything until April. So don't hate me…
Please REVIEW this chapter! I need to know if this chapter was worth the wait… Also, please spend some time reading my one-shot "Winning, Losing, Confusing." REVIEWing that story would be nice too!! If you've stuck to this story and didn't give up on me, I love you!
REVIEW!