Disclaimer: I do not own any part of High School Musical. I do not profit from this in any way (Except for, hopefully, deeply inner satisfaction, lol). I do, however, own any characters that I make up etc.

Chapter 1: Beauty and the…

East High was the same as always. The odd flourish of red and white spirit flashing through the halls, the odd but unmistakable scent of crème brulée wafting temptingly from the Home Economic Rooms, and the sound of freshly pumped basketballs hitting court floors could be heard with a resonance that made the hearts of full crowds sing.

Oh yes, it was all the same, thought Sharpay Evans. The only difference this time was a) She wasn't completely despised and feared by the other members of the student body and b) it was her senior year. For Sharpay, contemplating both of those points was near mind-numbing at that point. "God…" she murmured under her breath, as she strutted through the familiar halls. It seemed ridiculous. It seemed like only yesterday, she had returned from Lava Springs, from a summer of pure…well maybe not pure, perfection. Oh wait, she had only returned yesterday.

"Are you psyched or what?" Chad burst enthusiastically, his hair flopping gently, like the ears of a puppy. Gym was had been the perfect outlet for the overly excited teenage boys, after an entire day of stifling conversation in the classroom. By fifth period, it was no use trying, just as well they had Gym to let it all out. The teacher, noticing the overwhelming sense of anticipation amongst the boys, let them have free rein, to do anything so long as it was "beneficial to their health…and no that did not mean skip class".

Troy turned to his best friend since pre-school, tossing him a hard basketball "Of course I'm psyched…This season is going to be awesome! The team couldn't be stronger," he replied, a little hesitant to admit that it wasn't the team he was concerned about at that point. The summer they'd all experienced had been amazing, but with its highs and lows, something which Troy knew all about.

The bell rang, the sound of doom for Chad, as it meant that sixth period History, was next. "Yo, Troy, I gotta bounce. I've got Fawlkner for history, and I'll be history if I'm late!" Chad explained hastily, before rushing out the gym.

Troy chuckled, as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. He really was lucky, to have such good friends, he knew that much.

"Surprise!" giggled a female voice behind him. He turned around, only to see Gabriella's grinning face. Beating him to it, she jumped into his arms for a hug.

"Are you psyched or what?" she said, repeating some very familiar words.

Troy laughed, walking hand and hand with his girlfriend towards Math. It was becoming customary for that question to be asked, first his father, then Chad, and now Gabriella. Perhaps there was some sort of sign on Troy's forehead that read "Not Psyched: Please check with this student if he is, otherwise it may be a sign of illness", he mused. Nah, too much writing, wouldn't fit! He thought, laughing inwardly.

"Yes, Gabby, I'm psyched," he replied, hoping he'd edged it with as much enthusiasm as possible "The team is gonna do great this year!"

Gabriella smiled, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. "Uh huh, well…I don't doubt that…but I meant for Math class, we've got Mr. Robson…he's awesome, and I hear he gives, like, no homework,"

Troy paused. Only Gabriella would be psyched for Math, only her. He kissed her nose "You are too cute, you know that?" he said. "I might," she answered, with her signature giggle.

"Oh puh-lease kids, no PDA now, I have seen enough of that with my sister and her latest boyfriend, I do not want to see it at school," interrupted Taylor, as she began to walk alongside them. Troy and Gabby laughed, and then the trio entered a bout of small-talk.

It was weird. At least, Gabriella thought so. This was their senior, their final year. This was the last time they would have a first day at school. In fact, she felt near depressed with that thought. Of course, in light of it all, she found the small talk to be well, small. Still, it's not as though we're going to be serious, all the time? Right? She wondered. She found it all to be quite a paradox, and she'd felt enough of it from her mother.

Make sure you study hard this year, Gabby, but not too hard! Oh and Gabz, it's important for you to eat well…but don't go insane, like you can still eat chocolate, God, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't let you eat chocolate…Don't go out too much, honey, you need plenty of rest, this is a tough year, I don't wan t you burning yourself out, but don't STOP going out…that would render you near insanity…Oh and Gabby… Gabby…

"Gabby?"

The voice removed Gabriella from her thoughts and snapped her back to where she was, standing outside her Math classroom, with Troy and Taylor. The pair of them stared at her as though she'd managed to fit one whole doughnut in her mouth at the same time.

"Gabriella, are you there?" Taylor questioned "Because for a split second, I swear you were more spaced out than hippies at San Francisco flower festival,"

Gabby laughed, explaining to the pair her mother's regular rants of late, which really were tiresome. They listened with sympathy, actually, empathy. It might be a tough year ahead, but hey…They were all in it together, right?

"So why are we standing outside the class and not going in?" Gabriella asked, annoyed that her moment of sheer blankness had forced her to miss what was going on around her. She used to be so focused, but lately, everything was slightly dazed. Perhaps it was a good sign. In the days where she was too focused, she had next to no friends…driving most of them away with her lack of time for them.

"Mr. Robson had some kind of important cause to take care of, and no one else has the key, cause this is a newly added classroom…and they haven't duplicated the keys yet…so we have to wait for about ten minutes," explained Taylor.

Just then a familiar sound, the sound of insanely expensive kitten heels could be heard clicking their way in their direction. Gabriella noticed the shoes before the person, stunning that they were. They were kitten ballet heels, trimmed in turquoise suede and with an actual turquoise stone at the centre of each one. Gorgeous, mused Gabriella and totally inappropriate for school.

"Sup, Sharpay?" Troy asked amicably.

Although the summer had definitely changed the gang's interaction with Sharpay, in a school setting, it was still a little weird around her. Sharpay smiled broadly at Troy, her pearly teeth looking even better against her (faux) holiday tan and turquoise halter dress. I wonder how much time she spent putting this outfit together…probably more calculating than she ever does in Math…Taylor thought, immediately a little disappointed in herself to think that way, it wasn't her style to be a meanie, and Sharpay seemed to be a lot nicer at school.

Sharpay twirled a lock of gold hair around her manicured finger "So are you guys psyched or what?" she asked.

Troy groaned inwardly, but attempted to not let it show on his face. "Totally, this year is going to be awesome,"

He felt like that was becoming something of a robotic response.

They had been waiting outside sixth period Math for nearly thirty minutes. None of the students were complaining, if anything, they were thrilled to be missing out on any form of number (or letter, if the unit was Algebra) crunching. Sharpay happily included herself in this group. Math was not her strong point, and she had no qualms about admitting it, funnily enough.

Be that as it may, she was tired of standing outside the classroom. Waiting with Troy, Taylor and Gabriella was…interesting. Well, they were nice enough to her, and even nicer to Ryan. Now that they were back at school, everyone was going on about Ryan. Word in the halls was, Ryan was going to direct the school musical that year. Sighing, Sharpay finally conceded to herself, that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world…at least she'd be sure to get the lead!

Snippets of conversation drifted into her ears every now and then. Anecdotes about the summer, something about some TV show and basketball were the few topics she could make out in her intermittent attentiveness. Habitually, Sharpay began tapping her suede heels on the floor. She looked down at her shoes when she noticed she was doing it, admiring the turquoise Ferragamo leather. The shoes were a gift from Daddy, just…because.

"Is something wrong, Sharpay?" Gabriella asked, noticing Sharpay's heel tapping display.

Perhaps they mistook it for impatience? She thought. "Nothing," Sharpay answered, as sweetly as possible "I was just thinking about the musical this year. Are you guys going to try out?"

Troy, Gabriella and Taylor exchanged glances. "Well," said Troy, speaking for them all "We're not sure, we'll have to see how our workload is this year, but otherwise, yeah, count us in,"

"Great," chimed Sharpay, smiling genuinely.

She finally felt liberated from her need to get the lead, she'd decided (Possibly because she thought this year she had to get it),

"I hear this year, we're not going to write our own musical," Sharpay continued, surprised with herself, sharing insider gossip.

Gabriella near gasped "Really? I thought that was Ms. Darbus' pride and joy…"

Sharpay nodded, enjoying the attention immensely. Just as she was about to continue, heads turned from various directions, towards something Sharpay couldn't see, pretty soon, everyone in sixth period Math was staring down the hall, at something clearly interesting enough to hold their gaze. Slightly miffed, that whatever it was had to occur during her story, Sharpay found herself turning to spy whatever was causing such a gape.

Strutting, like the hall was her catwalk, was a pair of sun-kissed legs belonging to a glowing female. She wasn't exceptionally tall, but her lithe frame gave the impression of a glamazon. Flowing with her feline movement was a short smock-dress, printed with swirls of emerald, aqua and jade. As she glided towards her staring crowd, she gave everyone full view of her killer cheekbones and aquamarine eyes, while her hair was falling to her waist in various shades of honey.

Gabriella was sure she heard the entire male population of her Math class let out a sigh of awe and…something else. The girl continued strutting until she reached the students, who cleared a path for her like Moses parting the waters. Walking behind her, whom no one noticed earlier, was Mr. Robson. After a fleeting glance at him, all eyes were on her again.

Sharpay's eyes too, remained fixed on this girl. She felt a lump rise in her throat, and not a very pleasant one. The kind one felt when they were either nauseous or choking.

The girl stopped in front of Sharpay, whose back was against the wall. She smiled, tossing back her loose honey waves.

"Sharpay…" she said, her voice full of something, something both pleasant and unpleasant, something which made Sharpay's skin practically cringe.

"My, my, my, It's a small world after all...isn't it?"

All Sharpay wanted, was to throw up.

Well…do you like? It's my first venture into HSM, so please be kind! I have big plans for this story, so please review and let me know what you think!