This Isn't My Life

Troy Bolton sat at a bar in Albuquerque drinking a beer. So much for coming home for Christmas. He should be at his parents house having fun with his old friends, but he doubted that they would want to spend Christmas with the jerk who had ruined everything that summer before senior year.

After Gabriella had left him, he had felt sad, but it only lasted for a moment. The next day, the Red Hawks offered him a full scholarship to U of A.

Even after Troy had gotten the scholarship, his life was still in the fast lane. He started to go to the U of A practices and play golf with important members in the club. Sharpay kept him on his toes for the rest of the summer with their golf lessons.

Because Troy was still acting the way he was, he never made up with the Wildcats, and the Wildcats never made up with him. He would see Chad, Jason, and Zeke around the club, but they always gave him the cold shoulder. But whenever he saw them, they were with Ryan.

After Troy had left the group, Ryan had come along and taken his place. After seeing the way he played baseball, Chad had wanted to see how he could play basketball. It turns out that he was really good. He was just as good as Troy, in fact.

A few weeks after the Midsummer's Night Talent Show, Troy started to see Gabriella at the country club. At first he thought that it was because Fulton had given her job back, but he found out that this wasn't the case.

Not only had Ryan taken his place with the guys, but he had also taken his place as the guy in Gabriella's life. He found this out when he went to ask her why she was at the country club. He went to the pool to see if she was once more the lifeguard, but what he saw was Ryan and Gabriella playing tonsil hockey in the swimming pool.

Senior year wasn't what Troy had planned it to be either. He had expected to enjoy it all with his friends, but what he went through that year was comparable to death.

He was starting to cause trouble in classes, and his grades were disgraceful. He got mixed in with some bad crowd. Do to this, he didn't play basketball senior year. The Wildcats were still able to pull off a back-to-back championship, but with Ryan as their team captain. This wasn't the life that he had planned.

After senior year, Troy got lucky and U of A still accepted him. He played all four of his college years. Chad had decided that he was going to play for New York University, so he wasn't alongside Troy.

Troy graduated and got drafted into the NBA. He plays for the LA Lakers to this day. He now has everything that he could ever want. He had money, fame, and the girls. But were they him? The answer is no. Despite everything he had, was he happy? No. Would he have given anything to have changed his life so that it would have turned out better? Yes.

Troy finally got his butt off of the stool and went to his Audi. The party should've been done by now. They should be gone by now. Gabriella should be gone by now.

He wasn't too psyched when his father announced that the Wildcats were going to be coming over for Christmas. Seeing Chad, Taylor, and the rest of the gang wouldn't have been so bad. But as soon as his mother told him and Gabriella was coming, he had grabbed his jacket and headed for the nearest bar.

He must've been drunk enough to not notice that there were still cars surrounding the house. He opened the door and walked through the living room to go to his old room when he saw Gabriella sitting on the couch.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. He hadn't seen her since graduation senior year. She still had her tan and her curls. They were short once more. She looked the same, but she had shed her teenage look. She looked to him more beautiful than what he remembered her to look like.

If you would've asked him if he was still in love with her, he would've said yes in a heartbeat.

"This is the thousandth time you've stared at me without saying anything, Wildcat." She said.

He smiled. With just one word, her nickname for him, she made him feel accepted and it was as if nothing had happened between them. They were still teenagers in love.

He snapped out of his trance. "Well, what can I say, not much has changed about you."

She stood up. "So are you just going to stand there, or are you going to give me a hug?"

Troy hesitantly started walking slowly to her. He wasn't sure if he should touch her.

"Troy, come on. Just hug me. I promise that I don't have cooties." She teased.

Troy eventually reached her and hugged her as though she were a porcelain doll that would break at the slightest touch.

"Sit down. Everyone else is in the back." She urged him. "How have you been?"

Troy smiled. It was ironic that she was in his house telling him to sit down. It was obvious that she didn't hold a grudge against him. Same old Gabriella.

"Um…I've been good. You?" He gestured to her.

"Well, I've been good. I teach second graders now."

Troy smiled. Ever since he knew her, he knew that she would make an amazing teacher. She just had the ability. And with her personality, she would make the perfect elementary school teacher.

"I always knew that you would be a teacher. You always did help me with my homework. I don't think I could've gotten through junior year without you…so any special friends lately?" He had no idea what had prompted him to ask it. What right did he have? He hadn't been a part of her life for the past seven years. But he still felt like asking.

Gabriella frowned. "Troy, didn't anyone tell you that Ryan and I—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. The Wildcats came in laughing and yelling. Chad, Jason, Zeke, Kelsi, Taylor, and Ryan came into the living room. But the laughing stopped when everyone saw Troy.

The room filled with awkward silence as the gang stared at the one guy who had ruined everything that they had once been: a family.

Ryan was the first one to speak up. "Troy, good to see ya." He held out his hand and Troy shook it.

Chad turned to Ryan. "Hey, Hoops, you sure you gotta go?"

"Yeah. Ella and I should get going. We promised my mom that we'd be back before midnight. We'd better go. See you later everyone."

Ryan went over to Gabriella and took her hand into his. Everyone wished them good night and that they'd see them tomorrow.

Troy went into his room. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He knew what Gabriella had just been about to say. She didn't have any special friends. She had Ryan. They were married.

Troy put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. After seeing Gabriella that night, after five years, he knew at that moment that this wasn't how his life should have turned out. He was supposed to be the one Chad and the others got along with. He was supposed to have the perfect life. He should have been the guy married to Gabriella.

He heard the door open. "Dad, I'm not hungry."

But the voice he heard wasn't his father's. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. You kind of disappeared after Hoops and Gabs, I mean, Ryan and Gabriella left."

"What do you want Chad?" Troy asked harshly without looking at him.

"I told you. I wanted to make sure you were okay." He insisted.

"Leave me alone." Troy told him.

"All right. All right. Just wanted to make sure." Troy heard him starting to walk towards the door.

Troy sighed. "What happened?" Troy asked sitting up.

Chad turned around. "What?"

"What happened that summer?" Troy asked.

Chad didn't have to ask which summer. He knew. "Are you sure you want to know? It's a long story."

"I got time." Troy assured him.

Chad sighed and looked him straight in the eye as he started to explain. "After what went down between us, nothing was the same. Everyone in the gang was still shocked over Gabs leaving, and we were still pretty angry with you.

"After the talent show, after Sharpay and you won, everything was going downhill for the gang. It was like there was this hole that only you could fill. Then Hoops, I mean, Ryan started hanging out with us, and we found out that he was a pretty cool guy. He could shoot a hoop, hit or pitch a baseball. He filled in that hole.

"We started hanging out with him and everything. Everything was starting to go uphill for all of us. Everyone pretty much forgot about you. Everyone except…" Chad trailed off.

"Gabriella." Troy finished for him.

Chad nodded his head. "Yeah. Gabs was in a really bad shape when you left the gang. She'd stay in her house all day and wouldn't talk to Taylor or Kels or anyone. By some miracle, we got her to hang out with us at the movies. Ryan came along and well, things happened and Gabs wasn't so sad anymore.

"She started to hang out with us again. And since Ryan's parent's owned the club, he was able to get her in so that she'd be able to hang with us. Then one movie night one thing led to another and Ry and Gabs were dating.

"At first it was weird. Every time we saw them kissing or holding hands or hugging, it was always you. It was like it wasn't real. But after a few weeks of it, we got used to it. That was pretty much the rest of our summer." Chad shrugged.

"So how did Ryan and Gabriella…"

"Get married?"

Troy nodded.

"Well, Gabs went to NYU with me and Ryan went to Julliard so they were able to keep their relationship going all through college. They got married as soon as they graduated."

Troy sat there and thought for a few moments. So that was what he had missed. He had missed everything. He had gained his future and thrown away his life.

"Thanks, Chad." Troy said.

"It's no problem. I'll see you later. Tay and I have to get home."

"All right. See ya later."

Troy didn't sleep very well that night. He kept on having nightmares of the night Gabriella had broken up with him. He kept on reaching out for her, but she would always slip through his fingers and she'd be in Ryan's arms. That was when he woke up in a cold sweat.

That was the last straw. He had to make things right. He didn't think he could live this way any longer. As soon as it was eight he would head over to Ryan's house and try and beg for Gabriella's forgiveness and that she would take him back. He didn't care if she was married. He was going to try.

Sure enough, at eight, Troy got into his car and sped over to Ryan's house. He had been over there plenty of times since the Red Hawks would always go over there to have some dinner.

He got out of the car and rang the doorbell. To his surprise, it was Gabriella who answered the door.

"Troy? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Um…I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize? Apologize for what?" She asked.

"For what I put you through. For what I put everyone through that summer. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when I should have been, and I'm sorry that I haven't been in your life for the past seven years. I was a selfish jerk and I'm sorry."

Gabriella smiled at him. Though she knew he was apologizing just because he wanted her back, she thought it was sweet of him to apologize after all these years. Don't ask her how she knew he was still in love with her. She just knew. However she wasn't able to say anything back to him at the current moment.

A little girl about two or three ran up to Gabriella. The little girl was the flaw in Troy's plan. As soon as he saw her, he knew that he would never convince Gabriella to leave Ryan. He wouldn't break apart this family even if he was still in love with her.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um…that's all I wanted to tell you. Um…I'll see you at the party later."

He turned around and walked back to his car. "Troy!" Gabriella called out.

He turned around.

"I accept your apology." She gave him a sympathetic smile.

Troy nodded and went back to his car. He started the engine and practically sped out of there. He didn't know where he was going, but he needed to get away. There was no way Gabriella would go back to him. It was far too late.

All Troy kept thinking was, "This isn't my life. This isn't my life." He chanted in his head.

"Troy." A voice called out to him.

He shook his head and kept driving.

"Troy." The voice repeated.

Troy shook his head once more and chanted.

"Troy!"

Troy sat up quickly in his bed. He looked to his side and saw Gabriella in their bed.

"Troy, are you all right? You sounded like you were having a bad dream." She soothed him with her voice.

Troy said nothing. The only thing he could do was kiss and hold her. What a nightmare!

Gabriella rubbed his back so that he would calm down. "Troy?" She said. "Are you all right?"

Troy finally pulled back. "Yeah. It was just a nightmare, but it's okay."

"Troy, you were practically yelling. You were thrashing on the bed. That wasn't just a nightmare."

Troy chuckled. "How do you know my so well?" He asked.

"I love you. You're my husband. I've known you for eight years. I know you."

Troy stayed silent for a moment.

"Well?" Gabriella asked impatient.

"I dreamt…I dreamt that I was alone. In my dream, we never made up that summer; Chad and I weren't best friends anymore; Ryan had taken my place in the gang and for your husband; and Hallie Bolton was Hallie Evans. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had."

Gabriella rubbed his forearm to comfort him. "First of all, I would never marry Ryan. That's just gross, besides I don't think his wife would like that very much. Second of all, Troy, it was just a dream. I'm here. Hallie's here. Don't worry."

Troy took a deep breath. "Yeah. You're right. Everything's fine. We're all here."

They heard the door open. They turned around and faced the little girl in front of them.

"Mommy, I had a bad dream." Hallie said rubbing her eyes.

"Aw. Hale's come here." Troy motioned for her to come to their bed. "You had a bad dream?" He asked when she reached the bed.

She nodded. He pulled her onto the bed and set her between Gabriella and him.

"Yeah. A monster was chasing me." She told them.

"Aw. Hale's don't cry. It was just a bad dream." Gabriella comforted her. "Everyone has bad dreams. It's all right. Even Daddy had a bad dream."

"Really?" Hallie asked looking at her dad.

Troy looked hesitantly to Gabriella. She gave him a nod.

"Yeah, Hale's. Even I had a bad dream."

"What about?" She asked him curiously.

"A monster was chasing me too." He lied. "But guess what I did to change it?"

"What?"

"Instead of the monster chasing me, I sent big old uncle Chad to chase the monster away." He laughed and tickled her.

"Daddy, you're silly." She told him after her laughter died away.

"Oh, I know it." He told her affectionately. "But I love you and Mommy anyways."

"I love you too, Daddy." Hallie said hugging him.

Gabriella gave Troy a proud look. She always loved it when he would do that with their daughter. He was an amazing dad, and they were a happy family. Nothing in the world past, present, or future would ever change that.

A/N: All right. I made this up on the spot on Wednesday. I didn't really think it all out. I just wanted to get it onto fanfiction. I'm sorry if it's not really the best thing I've ever written. Read and please review. Thanks! :)