Tim McGraw
Fandom: High School Musical
Characters: Troy/Sharpay, Gabriella, implied Troy/Gabriella
Summary: She comes back to his street after 20 years of avoiding it. Tim McGraw comes on the radio and soon she realizes what little Taylor Swift was talking about
Originally Posted on: FF.net @ 08.26.09
She drove pass the houses where trees once grew. She smiled as she passed the old playground she used to play in. She had a hard time remembering how this place once looked. She got lost at almost every new street which wasn't there before. This place definitely took a change, she thought.
She passed an ancient diner which was there since she was in junior high. She smiled even though she felt something slash her heart. She shook the feeling away and then passed a very familiar park with a pond next to it.
-x-x-x-x-x-
They danced by the pond under a twilight sky. The radio which they brought was playing a very slow and soothing love song. They slow danced with his chin on her shoulder and her cheek against his chest. The crickets were chirping in beat with the music and the wind made the leaves in the trees whisper. They didn't need words to fill the silence between them.
Song after song after song they danced until a commercial break came on. Her hands were on his shoulder and his arms were around her waist. They stared at each for a good long minute just smiling.
He lingered on the details of her appearance. Her usually straightened hair was in thick curls. Her face was covered in the lightest application of make up though her lashes were thick and sexy. He couldn't help but marvel at how her brown eyes were shining under the small bit of moonlight. Her black dress accentuated every curve of her body and well… She was fabulous.
She couldn't believe her luck. This gorgeous blue eyed beauty is dancing with me?! Amazing. He was dressed in the most casual of faded jeans, a black leather jacket with a very see through white shirt. She loved the fact that the shirt was see through. Although she could stare at his body for hours, nothing compared to the bright blue eyes of his.
You said the way my blue eyes shined
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night
I said, that's a lie
"Your eyes are beautiful," they said in unison.
Then they laughed. Their laughs slightly echoed off the trees. Then they realized the time.
Just a boy in a Chevy truck,
That had a tendency of gettin' stuck
On backroads at night
"We should - " he started.
"… get back to the truck," she finished.
They smiled at how they knew each other too well.
-x-x-x-x-x-
An' I was right there beside him all summer long
An' then the time we woke up to find that summer'd gone
Her favourite song came up on the radio. She smiled and sang along. It was an old song for sure. A big hit back in the day. She shook her head. She didn't like to think herself as old but she was seeing how her 40th birthday passed the month before, the truth was very plain to see.
When that song finished she stopped at the stop sign. She squinted through the windows to see if there was anyone coming and knew it was safe.
She continued to drive.
-x-x-x-x-x-
They kept switching the stations in his truck before they left his driveway looking for a decent station.
Abruptly she stopped him from switching stations, "Oh wait! That's my favourite song!" She grinned.
He smiled back and answered, "Okay."
But when you think, Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake
When you think, happiness
I hope you think, that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
An' my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
Then they started their journey to the movie theatre. He sang along with her since he'd heard her sing the lyrics 100 too many times. Each lyric they sang came in perfect time with the radio.
They were too cute.
-x-x-x-x-x-
She passed an area that felt familiar but had the wrong look. She looked passed the passenger seat window and squinted again.
What was different?
Oh. It hit her. The plain, empty green field was replaced by a huge Wal-Mart. Though she thought she would have been happy to see the place that hurt her the most was replaced by a superstore, the change just cut her deeper.
It was then she realized that another memory was lost forever.
She sighed at the new wound and continued to drive.
-x-x-x-x-x-
It was just a few weeks before school started and she was completely content. She smiled throughout the entire drive to the mysterious area where he wanted to talk to her.
Although he could feel the comfort radiating through her he just couldn't feel the same. He wanted to so bad though. He was so pained but prepared for what he was gonna tell her. He wanted to change what was gonna happen but he couldn't. His parents' decision was final and he couldn't stop it.
They finally reached the plain field and he stopped the truck. He got out of the car without a word.
She followed him like a confused puppy following its pissed off owner.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
He watched the horizon for a moment then looked at her big brown eyes. He stared and tried to memorize them as much as he could. Then he sighed.
"Yeah."
Still confused she asked, "What's wrong? You know you can tell me."
He looked down and closed his eyes. "Babe," he started, "I'm moving."
Her right hand lifted his chin up with exaggerated slowness. "Where, when and why?"
"I'm moving out of Albuquerque… I'm moving to Seattle to be with my family," he confessed. He held back the tears in his eyes.
She could not keep hers in though. She whimpered for a second then continued, "When and why?"
"I'm moving tomorrow morning," he whispered, choking on his own words.
"Why?" she choked out.
He sighed a big sigh and answered, "My parents wanted to be closer to my family. They didn't tell me they were house hunting until a week ago."
He pushed away the hand that was still under his chin and apologized, "I'm sorry Babe…"
She sniffed then yelled, "A week ago?! You should have told me as soon as you knew! Why did you tell me this now, just before you move?"
He didn't expect this and did not answer.
She slapped his face and ran towards the nearest store with a bathroom.
He walked slowly back to his truck. He would have ran if his feet didn't feel like they had weights on them. Once he got in the seat he was supposed to drive quickly back to his house to get onto his bed. Instead he let the tears flow freely down his cheeks. He didn't drive until he could properly see.
With her, she ran and ran until she came to a grocery store she knew had a washroom. She cried herself until she was dry of tears on the floor. She stayed in the stall for another 30 minutes just to compose herself. She hated him for not telling. Hated him. She took the bus home and tried to convince herself she was just overreacting. By the time she got home she skipped dinner and cried herself to sleep.
-x-x-x-
The next morning she got up and dressed. She promised herself last night that she would not leave things they way they did the day before.
She walked up to his driveway and saw him there.
He gasped and sprinted toward her inviting her with a bear hug. She hugged is waist in return.
"So this is the end isn't it?" she stated.
-x-x-x-
September saw a month of tears
An' thankin' God that you weren't here
To see me like that
School started a few weeks after he moved and she'd heard the town saying that he and his family made it safe to Seattle. She was grateful but she knew the words still cut her like a knife to the heart.
In the month of September, her junior year started. She immersed herself into her schoolwork. Her grades shot through the roof. She stayed with her clique for the most part even though East High, her school, was most known for its lack of clique boundaries. She was cordial with the others though.
She looked content as she walked through her high school life. She was grieving when was she was at home though. She cried herself silently to sleep each night thinking of the wrongs he did to her and thinking of the good memories that were now haunted.
In the middle of the school year she decided to write a letter to him. She knew his best friend here knew where he lived in Seattle; said best friend kept boasting about it at lunch. (She remembered him not being able to shut up. What was his name? Chase? Chaz? No, it was Chad.) She wrote the letter mentioning their greatest moments together. Little did she write about the hurt she was experiencing. She kept it short and sweet. After she was content with the letter and sealed it in an envelope knowing she was carefully and quietly sealing away her heart.
But in a box beneath my bed
Is a letter that you never read
From three summers back
She never sent the letter.
-x-x-x-x-x-
She pushed back the tears and made a U-Turn for she went to the wrong street again.
It's hard not to find it all a little bitter sweet
An' lookin' back on all of that, it's nice to believe
The memories eased some but never went away. She always looked back to those years of being with him as the best years of her life. She tried to accept that he and she were just a fling but she knew deep down that it was more than that. She still smiled at the happy times.
She wondered if she ever crossed his mind after he left. Did he move on eventually like she did? Was it worse on his end for he was, technically, the one who ended it? Were there any reminders of the short but true love they shared? Was he ever hurt as her?
But when you think, Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake
When you think, happiness
I hope you think, that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
An' my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
She had the questions but no one answered.
The memories were messing with her sense of direction right now though.
-x-x-x-x-x-
"He's back in town," her mom said through the phone.
"Oh," was all she said. Although her mom did not say a name she knew whom her mother implied.
She was in a university in Virginia. She wanted to leave Albuquerque as soon as high school ended. Her mother didn't judge or argue her with her decision. She was grateful.
"He's living on his old street… He came by here and asked for you," her mother whispered.
She sighed and soon that conversation drifted into something she would rather talk about.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Finally she reached her destination.
And I'm back for the first time since then
I'm standin' on your street
After 20 years of avoiding this street, she finally came back. Though she closed her eyes for a good 5 seconds so the pain couldn't hurt her, it still hit her like running nose first into a wall. She let one tear drop. That's all that she would allow at the time. Then she opened her eyes and gasped.
The house was grander than it was before. You could definitely see the extra space which was added. The little white house from her memories wasn't so little anymore.
Another cut struck her heart. Another memory lost.
She parked at the other end of the street and got out of her mother's black BMW. She walked towards the door and stood at the doorstep and noticed that there was a car in the driveway. Was he at home? She debated whether or not to ring the doorbell and thought against it. She knew she couldn't bear to confront him.
She took a deep breath and left the envelope addressed towards Troy and from herself, Gabriella, on the bronze and rusting mailbox beside the door.
An' there's a letter left on your doorstep
An' the first thing that you'll read
She half ran back to the car and brought the car to life. She drove as fast as she could out the big white house's sight and shut the engine down.
She waited.
Soon the front door flew open and a beautiful brunette in a light pink robe (and a short skimpy wine coloured night dress) stood at the doorway. She could almost hear the woman's words.
"Funny. I thought there was someone here. Oh well."
She shrugged then looked at the mailbox. She took the letter and realized it was addressed to Troy.
Gabriella heard the brunette call out, "Troy! There's a letter here for you."
He came to her side and wrapped his arms around her waist. He was older now; definitely more mature. Comparing him and the beautiful brunette slashed Gabriella to the heart; the brunette was at least 8 years younger than both her and Troy. Gabriella held her breath then focused on breathing. Troy said something and Gabriella could again almost hear the conversation.
"What is it, Sharpay?" he asked.
Sharpay, the brunette, shrugged and answered, "I found a letter."
"Who's it for Shar?"
"You," she replied and handed the letter.
Troy stared at the front of the envelope. He knew it was his name written by her hand. Together, they remembered all the notes they passed to each other in their sophomore classes.
Gabriella fought the tears and started to drive towards her old home again.
Is when you think, Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
Someday you'll turn your radio on
I hope it takes you back to that place
When you think, happiness
I hope you think, that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
An' my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
On the radio Taylor Swift's Tim McGraw was playing.
Oh, think of me
Mmmm
Gabriella grinned a little. Though they never went to Georgia to see the stars at night; though her eyes weren't a pretty blue like his was; though her favourite song was not by Tim McGraw, the story was there. It was easy to relate to. And Gabriella knew what little Taylor was talking about.
You said the way my blue eyes shined
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night
I said, that's a lie