Sharpay stood on the dark, empty stage amid set pieces and scattered props on opening night of the spring musical. The rest of the cast was back in the dressing rooms putting on makeup and costumes, enthralled by the wonder of theater—but for Sharpay, that wonder had been gone for this whole production, as soon as she found that Gabriella Montez would be playing the leading role of Minnie while Sharpay herself had been cast as Minnie's geeky sidekick Miriam.

She could hear voices, high and excited, drifting though the doors onto the stage, but no one came out, and for that, Sharpay was thankful. For a moment it was still her show, her stage, her night. With baited breath, she moved in slow steps across center, down until she was right in front of the audience: smiling benevolently at those who adored her, favoring some with eye contact as she performed for them. They cheered for her, positively roaring with delight at the famed Sharpay Evans' skill.

A door clicked open as she curtseyed deeply. Sharpay whirled around, angry and embarrassed, to see a fully costumed Gabriella walking on from the wings.

"What do you want?" she asked unkindly, face reddening despite herself.

Gabriella quailed before Sharpay, muttering softly, "Just to check my props."

"Why do you think we have stagehands?" Sharpay asked her, flipping her hair over her shoulders.

"I like to make sure." Gabriella fairly tiptoed across the stage, uncomfortable, awkward, and invisible. The girl had no stage presence, no sense of self, no trademark character. It was pathetic, really, Sharpay thought as she watched Gabrielle disappear into the wings.

Although she turned back to the house and tried to reimagine her adoring audience, they had vanished with Gabriella's appearance. And the girl clattering around in the wings reminded Sharpay exactly why she was here on an empty stage before what should have been her finest moment in theater yet.

"Lose something?" she finally snapped, stalking over to Gabriella.

"Um . . ." Gabriella frowned, biting her lip. She looked like she was about to faint from sheer nerves. "Just my hat, the one with the ostrich feathers on it." For a moment, the girl's eyes met, and then Gabriella added, slightly accusingly, "Do you know where it is?"

"Excuse me?" Sharpay drew herself up to full height. "Are you suggesting that I might have hidden your stupid fou fou hat?"

"No, but . . ."

"I would never," Sharpay hissed. "I am an actress, and although I know that I should be playing this part, I am not about to sabotage the whole show." She paused, remembering that the hat in question appeared onstage for all of two minutes. But Gabriella wouldn't appreciate that finesse anyway, so she left her words hanging where they were between them.

"Sorry," Gabriella whispered, shrinking back towards the prop table and aimlessly fumbling around with Sharpay's antique phone that she'd brought in, after much argument, to sit in Arthur's house.

"Don't touch that," she snapped now, relishing the surprise on the other girl's face. "You shouldn't mess with other people's props."

Gabriella opened her mouth angrily, but snapped it shut and jammed her hands into her pockets, beginning to chew on her lip.

"Well?" Sharpay asked after a few seconds. "Why are you still here?"

"I . . ." Gabriella looked around for a few seconds, then finally tripped away from the table and hurried across the stage, calling back to Sharpay, "I'll get it later."

Satisfied at last, Sharpay listened for the click of the auditorium door. Soon she would be able to return to her stage; reclaim her empire that Gabriella and Troy had divided so messily.

But as she minced out of the wings, a feather poking out from beneath one of the side curtains caught her eye. She bent down to pull out Gabriella's stupid hat that completely overwhelmed her face: sweet girls were not meant to wear ostrich hats.

Because the stage didn't feel the same with the fou fou hat in her hands, Sharpay sighed and followed Gabriella's path into the hall. She went towards the dressing room and poked her head in, calling to the girl, who had been standing along the mirrors, with an edge to her tone that said 'you had better come now.'

Gabriella jumped, spun around and saw Sharpay, and then walked out towards her cautiously. They met in the hall, Sharpay slamming the dressing room door closed behind Gabriella.

"I found this," she said. "Next time, look beneath the travelers. Chorus girls have a way of knocking props into the most peculiar places."

Gabriella took the hat with a funny look to Sharpay; the girl almost sounded nice in her biting way. "Thanks," she said quietly. "I'm glad you found it."

With a sickly sweet smile on her face, Sharpay replied, "You're welcome." Gabriella turned for the door, but one of Sharpay's hands shot out and covered the doorknob.

"Good luck tonight, Gabriella," Sharpay told her kindly. The other girl's face registered nothing but pleased surprise as she murmured,

"Thank you." Then Gabriella turned again to go. This time, Sharpay did nothing to stop her. The other girl disappeared into the dressing rooms while Sharpay stood in the hallway for a few seconds, a smirk on her face. Good luck was bad luck in the world of theater, and in wishing Gabriella that, she would have to crash and burn onstage that night. It was how theater superstition worked.

-

--

-

Despite everything, Gabriella shone that night. Sharpay stood to her left during the final curtain call, clenching her teeth as she came out and the audience roared. They clasped hands, Sharpay taking Gabriella's with a death grip, and down the line the whole cast bowed: together, unified, unstoppable.

This was how theater was supposed to feel, but in all the wrong ways. Because a cast was supposed to be together, unified, unstoppable—but Sharpay was always to be the glue in that. Now, it was Gabriella, and Sharpay was just her sidekick. It hurt.

Even though by all logical superstition Gabriella should have been a wreck, she was wonderful. She had the crowd and the cast and Ms. Darbus wrapped around her pretty little pinky, and Sharpay wondered if it was because she wanted Gabriella to crash and burn so badly that she didn't.

Having been in both Sharpay and Gabriella's place in shows, this was a lot of fun to write. I'd love to hear your thoughts: review? :)