Love is Patient

The Game (Part 1)

Hey guys

I hope you guys liked the last chapter.

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How will Troy react to seeing Gabriella after their last confrontation?

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The Wildcats walk out onto the court as and when their names are announced.

As captain, Troy traditionally enters last. He takes a deep breath before taking his first step onto the court.

Troy turns to look around the crowd as he always does during his games, but he didn't look for his mother like he usually did. He knew that if he saw his mother right now, his walls would break down.

Troy needed to keep his walls up to ensure that he gave his best performance. He refused to let his team down even if they had let him down.

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Troy was looking around the crowd when Gabriella noticed his eyes.

The lively light blue eyes she had come to love had been replaced by the emotionless dark blue.

Gabriella was shocked and she felt like she couldn't even recognise Troy. She turned to the other ladies and saw similar expressions of shock.

Lucille says, "Jack told me that Troy was hiding his feelings, but I had not expected this. I can't even recognise my own son right now."

Gabriella looks confused so Kelsi explains, "Troy has always been good at hiding his feeling but this is like on a whole new level."

Gabriella quietly asks, "You don't think this is because of me, do you?"

Lucille replies, "Not exactly Gabriella. Troy has been mad at the team as well since last week. He's tried to avoid them at all costs. Chad tried to talk to him one day, but it only resulted in an argument."

Gabriella asks, "So you don't think that I should forgive him and become friends again?"

Lucille replies, "I want you to think about everything yourself and then decide. Troy has given you space because he wants you to be sure. Think about everything without any outside influences and just be selfish. I know that my son doesn't know how to be selfish, which is why he let you go. Gabriella, I want you to think about what you really want and then make a decision for yourself."

Gabriella nods understanding exactly what Lucille was asking her to do.

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On the court, the referees start the game. Both the teams were doing their best to win the championships.

Troy was able to make almost every basket he attempted.

At the end of the first quarter, Troy gave Jack some suggestions for the player switches and told his teammates his game plan.

Jack was proud to see his son take charge like the wonderful captain that he was.

Troy had used the first quarter to study and understand the defence of their opponents and guide his teammates accordingly.

The captain told them that the Wildcats had a great momentum going so now they just had to build on that.

The Wildcats had taken an early lead so now their main task was to maintain that lead till the end of the game.

Things were looking great for the Wildcats and Jack almost couldn't even tell that there was some tension between the players.

His son had put aside all his negative feelings to help his team win.

Jack was proud as both a father and coach to see Troy act so maturely.

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The referee blew the whistle for halftime, so the Wildcats made their way to their locker room.

Troy looked at the crowd before leaving and his eyes met someone he had not expected to see at the game.

Troy felt his knees go weak, so he hurried to the locker room to try and compose himself before he broke down.

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Kelsi had seen Troy lock eyes with Gabriella and saw how he had hurried to the locker room.

Gabriella looked confused at Troy's reaction to seeing her and turned to Kelsi who suggested that they go somewhere private to talk.

Once the girls were away from the crowd, Gabriella asks, "Troy didn't know I was coming, did he?"

Kelsi replies, "I didn't tell him because I know that fool would have tried to talk me out of it. Gabriella, I know both you and that idiot cousin of mine very well. You both need to talk properly and also listen to each other."

Gabriella says, "I appreciate you trying to help Kelsi. I really do. I'm not ready to talk to him because I'm feeling conflicted right now. I want to forgive him and become friends again, but I can't forget what he said. Troy said all those hurtful things about me so easily that I'm scared to get close to him again. One part of me doesn't want anything to do with him."

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The girls were unaware of the presence of another pair of ears who had heard the conversation until this point.

The person left immediately after Gabriella finished speaking, not hearing something worse after that.

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Kelsi asks, "What about the other part of you Gabriella?"

Gabriella replies, "The other part of me is in love with him. I've been feeling something since he came to my balcony to apologise to me. It was only yesterday when he let me go that I realised that I love him."

Kelsi sighs and says, "I'm not sure if this will help your decision but Troy regretted everything, he said about you almost instantly. He had been ambushed and even though he said all that to his teammates, he didn't mean any of it. I know that Troy didn't give you the details, but Chad practically told Troy that his father was disappointed in him because he wanted to sing. That's what pushed him over the edge but even then, it hurt him to say all that about you."

She takes a deep breath and continues, "The main reason why Troy is mad at his team is not because they hurt him with the ambush. It's a contributing factor but Troy is mainly furious because they used him to hurt you. Troy fought with Chad the other day because he orchestrated the whole thing and it cost Troy his friendship with you. Chad tried to insult you after that, so Troy ended their friendship."

Gabriella looks shocked and asks, "He ended his friendship because of me?"

Kelsi replies, "You mean the world to him Gabriella. According to Troy, he didn't end their friendship because Chad had already thrown it away the day, he got the team to ambush him. You won't believe what happened that day Zeke and Jason told him about the whole ambush plan."

Gabriella asks, "What exactly happened?"

Kelsi replies, "Troy was so mad that he actually started shaking in rage. Zeke and Jason were terrified because they hadn't actually seen him mad before."

Gabriella asks, "Do you think he still trusts me?"

Kelsi replies, "The day of the ambush Troy was going to tell you about me and him being cousins. If you guys didn't have more important things to discuss the next time you talked, he probably would have told you then. Troy trusts you with his life."

Gabriella feels overwhelmed and says, "I can't believe he still loves and trusts me. I didn't even give him a chance to explain himself. I'll try to make things right with him as soon as I can. I'll talk to him properly because we both deserve that much."

Kelsi smiles in response and then the two girls make their way back to the stands.

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