YOU ARE THE (TRUE) MUSIC IN ME

Kelsi was humming along as she played the piano during her lunch break. She really ought to study for her exams, being in her final year of high school and all. Taylor and Gabriella even had suggested she joined their study group but music had always been important to the girl, more important than school work anyway, and aiming for Julliard meant that she could not afford to cut out any of her practice time.

Any attempt to study would be fruitless anyway, she thought bitterly as All I want for Christmas is you slowly turned into the melody she had been working on for a few weeks. She did not fight it, she had done fighting her feelings – at least for the time being – and let her hands wander over the keys. She mouthed the lyrics as she played.

That melody would not leave her alone. It was constantly nagging at her, urging her to play and to write down every single variation on any piece of paper she could find as inspiration struck.

Inspiration would particularly strike while she was in class, and more precisely when she was sitting behind a gorgeous blonde who had a bit of a passion for drama.

During their summer at Lava Springs, Kelsi had thought that finally, finally, her crush was dead for good. She had been crushing on and off for the past three years and after all that time she found it simply exhausting. However she had had to resign herself when even Ryan had called her out on her crush on Sharpay.

Sharpay. Of all people. That summer was not something she liked to think about.

Kelsi could not explain that crush- Actually she could, she just decided on a regular basis not to. Sharpay was passionate, that was what Kelsi liked the most about the girl. Sometimes Kelsi wished Sharpay would be that passionate about her.

Sharpay loved what she did – singing, dancing – and she was amazing at it. She was well aware of that fact of course, and that could be a major flaw in her character at times. Sharpay loved to get all the attention and she was really good at getting it. She had been getting Kelsi's attention for a few years after all. Too bad that was not actually the kind of attention she was looking for. No, Sharpay was more interested in people like Troy.

Kelsi liked Troy, he had become one of her really good friends, along with Gabriella, Taylor and Chad. She loved writing songs for Troy and Gabriella, they had the kind a chemistry that was a true blessing for any musician, the type of chemistry composers would look for their entire lives. They loved each other, anyone could see it – and even hear it. Kelsi just wished Sharpay would see it too and drop it.

Of course Kelsi's judgment on the matter was a little biased. No, she was not bitter about it. Not at all.

Gabriella had been one of the first to notice Kelsi's crush and had been so nice about it all, trying to give her advice or simply listening to Kelsi talk about Sharpay on and on even though Gabriella was not particularly fond of the blonde.

Then there was Ryan. Kelsi and Ryan had always been friends, talking about music and singing together at times but they had bonded on a new level during their summer at Lava Springs. Ryan had been hesitant about confronting her about her feelings for his sister but he desperately needed to talk to someone about his own unrequited love. They had bonded over their situations and played sad songs on the piano all night long.

Kelsi wrote down the next part of what she had starting to call Sharpay's ballad. It had nothing to do with the kind of pop songs Sharpay was usually so fond of but it fitted the blonde on a much deeper level. It may be slow but the melody was rich and so passionate at times that it allowed the singer's voice to reach its full potential and convey every single emotion Kelsi was feeling at the moment: confusion, sadness, love. At least, Kelsi hoped that the song would be as good as she imaged it. She knew Sharpay's voice well enough by now, Kelsi knew exactly how to make it sound amazing.

Kelsi was smiling dumbly at her sheet music when Sharpay walked into the room like she owned it.

o

The rustle of paper caught Sharpay's attention just in time for her to see Kelsi trying to hide something behind the sheets that were resting on the music stand in front of her. Sharpay rolled her eyes; Kelsi probably did not want her to see the new song she had especially composed for Troy and Gabriella. Huh. Those two were sickening and Sharpay did not know what she found most irritating, the way they both acted or the way everyone around them seemed to marvel at how cute they were together.

Kelsi always wrote her best songs for Troy and Gabriella. It was not that Sharpay was jealous. Not at all. She just wished that sometimes Kelsi would write Sharpay's songs with the same level of commitment.

Sharpay casually sat down on the stool next to Kelsi. She immediately noticed that the girl perceptibly tensed and that alone was enough to pique Sharpay's curiosity. The blonde swiftly reached for the piece of paper and Kelsi immediately started to protest, trying to bat Sharpay's hand away but Sharpay was too quick. She grabbed the sheet and looked down. She did a double take, looked up to Kelsi and noticed that the girl had gone completely quiet and that her face was suddenly impossibly white. Sharpay looked down again.

It was not a duet as Sharpay had originally thought. No, the song had clearly been written for a single person, a woman, and – trying not to look too much into it – Sharpay could have sworn it was written in a tone that perfectly matched her own voice.

At first glance, Sharpay noticed that the song was clearly incomplete, probably just a first draft. Some parts had been crossed-out, some parts had been written over, whole sentences or just a few words had been hastily added all over the piece of paper. From what Sharpay could see, the song looked amazing. She would need to try it out of course but she was convinced it already had great potential.

She glanced at the top left corner of the sheet and found exactly what she needed. The last piece of the puzzle. Her own name had been written on the sheet of paper.

Sharpay's heart seemed ready to jump out of her chest. When she looked up, Kelsi had dropped her gaze to her lap.

"Could you-" Sharpay cleared her throat. "Could you play it?" she asked quietly. "Please," she added as an afterthought.

Kelsi looked up so quickly it even made Sharpay feel dizzy. The girl was genuinely surprised by Sharpay's request and the blonde vaguely wondered if Kelsi really thought her that much of a jerk.

Sharpay gave her a tiny nod of encouragement and Kelsi finally lifted her hands to the keyboard and started to play. Sharpay closed her eyes a second and let herself be transported by the melody. Kelsi had obviously been tensed at first but now Sharpay could feel all tension leave the girl as she played. After she started humming, Sharpay opened her eyes and began to sing along, keeping up the right pace for once. That seemed to surprise Kelsi more than anything else.

Sharpay had to admit that it was a really good song. She would even go as far as calling it beautiful. The blonde felt herself blush as she realized that it almost sounded like they were singing it to each other. It might as well be the case, after all Kelsi had clearly written the song for Sharpay.

Sharpay realized that she did not mind one bit. She actually was looking forward to hearing the song once it would be completed.