Full Summary: AU. After the death of her parents, Gabriella has to live with her god parents, who she hadn't seen since she was two, the Boltons. Their son, Troy isn't too thrilled about the idea, especially when, ever since the accident, she doesn't speak very much. Will he warm up to her, and maybe even get her to speak? Troyella with very minor Tropay in the beginning.
Disclaimer: High School Musical is not mine.
Gabriella Montez glanced out the window of the plane miserably, silently wishing she were anywhere but there. A young blonde flight attendant walked by and offered her something to eat or drink, but she shook her head without looking at her, ashamed to show her face to too many people, knowing that they would all think she was some sort of freak. Everyone who looked at her thought that ever since the fire, only some didn't have the guts to say it to her face, but deep down, Gabriella knew the truth.
The fire, Gabriella remembered, the day her entire life changed for the worst. It was the fire that not only claimed both of her parents' lives, but also had left her scared on the part of the right side of her face, part of her right arm and most her right leg down to her ankle. Her father had tried to get her out, but after he helped her escape the flames, part of ceiling caved in on him and her mother, thus killing them both right before her eyes.
Not only that, but the fire had also taken away her voice. She didn't understand how or why it happened, but she found it impossible to speak ever since. It was like the fire had burned her voice box, because she couldn't even explain to the police or firefighters what had happened, and being that she was right-handed, she couldn't even write it down from being in so much pain at the time. The doctors examined her and said that her voice box was just fine and that she should've been able to speak, but when she tried, no sound would come out.
It had now been nearly two weeks since the fire. Gabriella had been staying at her friend Julia's home until arrangements had been made for her to live with her godparents in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She only knew a few things about her godparents, Jack and Mary Bolton. Mary was her mother's best friend at the time of her birth, but two years later, they had moved away, and that was the last time she had seen them. She also knew that they had a son named Troy who was only a few months older than her and was her best friend when they were little. She didn't remember him though, only from what she had seen in baby pictures her mother had taken of the two together, but they burned up in the fire along with everything else.
The sun's warm rays coming through the window started to make Gabriella drowsy. Closing her eyes and relaxing, Gabriella eventually drifted off into a deep sleep.
"Troy, we're going to go pick Gabriella up at the airport. We'll be back shortly," Jack Bolton told his son as he and his wife started to leave the house.
"And make sure you stay here. We're going to need your help getting her settled in," Mary added.
Troy nodded, but once they were gone, he laid back on the couch and groaned. He hated this. He hated the fact that some girl was moving into his home. Troy barely even knew her. All he knew was what little bit his parents had told him about her, and all they really said was that she was a straight-A student, her house burned in a fire that killed her parents, and now, she couldn't speak. His parents told him that now he was responsible for keeping an eye on her while they were at school since she was in the same grade, but he knew that hanging out with her would ruin his reputation. Troy was a jock, the captain of the basketball team; girls wanted to be with him and guys wanted to be him. If they saw him hanging out with the geeky new girl, his popularity would decrease immensely.
Running his hand through his hair in frustration, Troy wondered how he was going to keep the secret from the school for long. He didn't even tell his friends, knowing that none of them would be able to keep a secret. His girlfriend, Sharpay Evans, didn't even know about it. He didn't tell her because he knew she wouldn't be much, if any, help.
The one good thing Troy found in any of this was that Gabriella couldn't speak, meaning that he could just avoid her and wouldn't have some mouthy girl to deal with at home; he had enough of them at school.
Troy grabbed the remote on the side table and turned on the television, hoping to get his mind off of his current situation. He flipped through the channels until he found a basketball game on to help pass the time.
Gabriella stepped out of the plane a few minutes after it had landed. She quickly walked over to the large pile of luggage and after she had found her small backpack, she was approached by a couple who looked to be in their early forties that looked vaguely familiar.
"Are you Gabriella Montez?" the woman asked and Gabriella nodded.
The woman smiled warmly. "Hi, Gabriella, I'm Mary Bolton and this is my husband, Jack."
Gabriella wanted to say hello, but when she opened her mouth, as always, nothing came out.
"Um, here, I'll take you're bag," Jack offered and she handed it to him, silently thanking him.
"Well, Gabriella, here we are," Jack told her once they had arrived at the Boltons. "This is our home. We'll have our son Troy show you around."
Gabriella nodded and stepped out of the car. She followed them inside their house and her eyes immediately landed on the television which was turned on to a basketball game. She also saw a boy who looked to be her age who she assumed was Troy stand up and walk towards Jack and Mary.
"Troy, this is Gabriella Montez. Gabriella, this is our son, Troy," Mary introduced them.
"Uh, hey," Troy greeted, unenthusiastically. He saw the burn marks on the side of her face and noticed her shift uncomfortably under his gaze.
Gabriella stared down at the floor nervously, silently wishing that he would stop staring at her.
"Troy, can you show Gabriella to her room?" Mary asked him quickly, noticing the awkwardness between the two.
"Whatever," Troy answered, quickly looking away. He started walking away, Gabriella following slowly behind him.
"This is the guest room, where you'll be staying," Troy told her once they had gone upstairs. "Next to it is the spare bathroom, then my parents' room is on the end, then my room is between the two, but never go in my room without my permission."
Gabriella nodded and walked inside the guest bedroom. The room was fairly large there was one, full-sized, neatly made bed, a closet in the corner, a nightstand with a small lamp on it along with an alarm clock, but other than that, it was empty. It was nothing fancy, but that's the way Gabriella liked it, plain and simple.
"So, is it true?" he asked her suddenly. She looked at him, confused as to what he meant. He noticed her confusion and rolled his eyes. "So you really can't speak."
Gabriella shook her head, biting her bottom lip nervously. She didn't know why, but she was a bit scared of Troy. He didn't appear to be the friendliest of people, and the aggravated look in his eyes told her he wasn't too fond of her being there.
"Good then, this'll work out better then," Troy said, a bit relived. "Here's the rules. In school, never approach me, my friends, or my girlfriend. No one knows you're staying here except the teachers thanks to my dad, but no one else will find out, got it?" Gabriella nodded and he continued. "Also, when any of my friends are over, you stay out of sight. Like I said, no one else is going to know you live here."
Gabriella nodded, knowing there was nothing else she could do. It was times like these she wished she could talk just so she could say 'no', but until that time, all she could do was agree to his terms.
After Troy had left, Gabriella pulled out a small diary that her friend had got for her to vent out her feelings since she couldn't speak. She turned to the next blank page and began writing:
Dear Diary,
Today I arrived at the Bolton's. The house is pretty much the same size as my old home. Jack and Mary seem pretty nice, but their son, Troy, doesn't seem too happy. Then again, if someone I didn't know suddenly moved into my house and my life, I'd probably be a bit resentful, too. However, I definitely wouldn't tell the person to pretty much stay away from me, especially not if they came from a situation like the one I just came from. Hopefully I can just avoid him for the most part because he doesn't seem like the nicest person to be around. Well, anyway, I start school tomorrow. I hope no one tries to talk to me, so they don't think I'm stuck up or something. Hopefully I won't be known as the school's 'Freaky Math Girl' again. If anything, I'll probably be known as just a freak when people see my face, let alone the rest of my body.
Well, that's pretty much all for now. I'm going to go check out the rest of the house, but I'm sure I'll write some more later.
Gabriella