When you watch life go on outside your windows, you tend to pick up all these things about people. Living in the West Gate Apartments, you learn how people live and why they live here. Some people come in pregnant being kicked out from their lovely peaceful homes and being dumped into this run down home. Some people come here living their life in denial and look to the bottle as their comfort, the only thing that loves them. Other people come from abusive households, looking into drugs and other inhlants to smoke up their troubles and to lift them in the air while they stay down wanting to go up. You also get the type of people who had it all, being smart and popular but settling with the worst of worst because they think they are in love when reality says no. And then you get me, the type of people who were raised to do better, raised in a good neighboorhood and suddenly fall into the wrong crowd becoming destructive and loosing the loved ones along the way.

"Troy, I love you, but I can't do anything more to fix our relationship!" She said.

"Please, Please, Stephanie. I need you in my life." He said desperate

Confidently she speaks to him, "If you wanted me to be in your life, then you wouldn't have done the things you did." She gives him a long hug and a quick goodbye kiss running her hand through his light brown hair. She pulls away looking into his aqua blue eyes beginning to cry. "I'm sorry." She walks away.

She was my everything and my everything left a month ago. We met at a young age blossoming into something more around our years of coming out, being someone new. She picked me up when I was down and dusted me off when I was foggy and indifferent. She's carrying my baby that means the world to me and nothing more. She left me during her third month around the same time she told me she was expecting our little baby. Ever since, I've been trying to become a better person and to not be with my old friends who caused mayhem. They told me to get a better life and to hang with them, but when the 'better' life was beating up and robbing people, I couldn't escape due to all the money and issues that was gained.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP GABRIELLA!" I look up to the cieling and listen to yet another fight growing upstairs. This Gabriella chick was always getting yelled at by this man who sounded like he was in his late 20's. Every other night they would have these fights leading to doors slamming, bodies hitting the floor, or miscellaneous furniture on the floor broken like her spirit. I've never seen this Gabriella in the one year span that I've lived here. Just recently a pretty blonde girl moved in down the hall looking extremely young, fresh out of highschool, maybe still in. I wonder what she did to deserve this.

"Randy, please don't!" She screamed. Just then I heard a crash in which I thought came from upstairs, but it came from across the hall. I quickly opened up my door and checked on the hall noticing that the blonde was clutching her stomach leaning against the wall next to a broken vase and flowers. I ran over to her to see if she was okay and it hit me, I know this girl.

"Sharpay?" I asked. She looked at me with her dark brown eyes that were weary and sad. She still has that smile that I saw when we went to highschool together. She was a freshman when I was a sophmore.

"Troy Bolton? Who would ever see you again?" I smirk at my ex-bestfriend's comment.

"I suppose no one...Hey are you alright?" I asked kind of concerened at her considering that she was one of my closest friends.

She sighs deeply sitting against the wall. "Not really. I'm pregnant." This shocked me the most coming from her. Never expected to be the under achevier in her whole life and having everything set up planned well for her. She looks at me again before continuing. "My mom kicked me out of the house because she didn't want a miserable daughter and baby along. So I found this place that's temporary for the time being until Brett comes home from the war. He just left."

"Brett as in Brett Anderson?" She nods and runs a free hand through her hair. He was a great guy that we both went to school with. "You're still going out with him?" She nods again. That was probably the only relationship that actually worked in highschool. Usually, freshman and juniors were never supposed to go out but they made the difference. They were only two years apart in age but that didn't matter to them. "So your pregnant?"

"I know right? I'm just around four months. I never thought it would happen but it did. Funny thing is that I didn't do it on purpose. It was just spare the moment and my first time." She looks at me. I figure I should hug her now because I haven't in ages. She starts to cry and I hold her knowing she would need this. She pulls back and looks at me. "Senior year is over and I'm going to go to college being pregnant."

"You're not the only one being in college and pregnant." She looks at me and smiles.

"Stephanie's pregnant!" She squeals and I gulp down the lump in my throat.

"Yeah, and she left me." Her happiness dies down as I begin my story. "Remember why I dropped out in junior year? My old retarded friends right. So she found out I was still hanging with them about...a month ago." I sigh looking down into my hands when we see the always drunk african american walking out of his room with alot of beers in a recycling can. He nods at us and we nod back. I look back at her.

"I'm sorry. I know how much you love her." She gets up and shakes her head. "Well, I have to make dinner for two. See you around Troy." She grabs the flowers and begins to pick up the big bits of shattered glass but I stop her.

"I'll take care of it, just relax for me and the baby okay?" She smiles and opens her door and leaves me out in the hall all alone again. Finishing picking up the glass and pricking myself twice, I walk back to my room looking for a pack of cigarettes but I'm fresh out. My phone is blinking so I figure my mom called a few times. I throw out the glass and let the machine talk to me.

"Hey Troy, this is your mother. When do you want to visit us? I figure it has been a long time since we've last seen you. Bye. "

"We are looking for Alexander Mathis-" Delete.

I was going to reach for the delete button when Steph's voice popped up."Hey Troy...I wanted to call and give you an update on the baby. It's a boy and he's healthy and fine. I have a slight bump and doing fine here in michigan. I miss you and hope you're doing well. Bye." Steph really got to my heart. Hearing her voice made everything better and knowing that I have a boy, it makes my heart flutter again. The door slams upstairs and I figure that fight is over.

"WHAT DID I SAY TAYLOR!" And a new one begins. Doors slamming and people yelling, that's how life went here in the West Gate apartments. I walk onto the fire escape and look out at the busy life going on in Chicago. I look up at some of the stars that try to peek out, but all I see is a woman climbing down the fire escape stopping at me. She looks at me real quick as I observe her too. She has long brown curly hair, a small slender body, dressed casually in short shorts, and a floral top that flows gently.

"Can I help you?" I quickly say.

"Nah." She pulls out her cigarette and lights it.

"So you come down here to light your cigarette and smoke it infront of my face?" She giggles silently and puts her hand out.

"Gabriella Montez." I shake it, firm handshake.

"Troy Bolton."

"So why haven't I seen you here before?" She says casually offering me a smoke. I take it and light it.

"I have no idea, I've lived here for about a year now. You?"

"5 months." She pauses and looks at me. "I'm sorry if you had to hear that fight that was going on."

"No, it's alright. I've been listening to plenty of them lately." I sigh looking away so confused with life.

"Are you okay? I mean, you look like somethings on your mind?" I look at her.

"Nope. Not really. Well, if you considering fucking up your life nothing. Then yeah, that's pretty much whats up." I let out a ring of smoke angry at her, and myself. Why would Steph just up and leave on me like that even though I was saving money to support her and the baby.

"Don't tell me that you fucked up your life when you've never talked to me." She looks at my apartment while I look at her. Is it me or was that bruise on her face there before? I examine her closely noticing scratch marks and bruises on her neck. I doubt they would be hickeys because they are perfectly circular unlike a hickey thats irregular. Her arm has many of bruises on the upper halves on her arms and all I can think is: Damn. Was she playing hockey.

"What do you mean?" I finally say.

"Being raised in an abusive household, living on the streets for a long time, and looking forward to buying drugs isn't what I would picture as a perfect life. I even have an abusive guy upstairs who probably doesn't even know where I am right now." She tries to smile but she fails only developing a small smirk.

"GABRIELLA!" A guy yells from above.

"Well there's my que. See you later." She puts out her cigarette and climbs up to her apartment shutting her door. I go back to my room plopping on my bed having my eyes wander over to a picture of me and Steph. I pick it up and stare at it thinking about that day knowing exactly how it went. She was beautiful like usual with her long brown hair glistening with her green eyes popping. I grabbed her around the waist and had her in the air when Sharpay snapped that picture of us. Oh how I would kill for that day again.

AN: Yes, this series is short. These chapters will be short-medium because of the whole plot. I'm trying something new so please bare with me (:

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