Zeke Baylor loved Sharpay Evans; it was a well-established fact. But it seemed to him – at least when he was in the mood to look at the situation honestly – that he wouldn't be her type. Sure, he was handsome enough, he supposed, and he was a basketball player. But he wasn't exactly Einstein, he was rich by no one's standards, and he was no Mr. Manners, either.
And yet they had been dating ever since their senior prom – over a year now.
And today Sharpay was coming back to Albuquerque after being in New York City and starring – with her dog, at least – in a Broadway show. Her dream come true and he couldn't have been happier for her.
She had told him last month that she was going to move to New York permanently, and, to that end, he had some news of his own to share with her.
He saw her before she saw him. She was making her way across the airport, arms loaded down with a ridiculous amount of ridiculously pink luggage.
"Sharpay!" he called out over the crowd, waving to get her attention. "Over here!"
They met each other halfway and he pulled her into a bear hug, lifting her off of the ground and causing her to drop her suitcases. Getting a good look at her eyes, he stopped, smile falling, and lowered her back to the ground. Something was off with his girl. She was grinning, but it wasn't the thousand-watt smile that he loved so much.
"Are you alright?" he asked, taking some of her suitcases on one hand and her hand in the other.
Sharpay nodded. "I'm fine."
Zeke raised his eyebrows. She was lying straight through her teeth and she had to know that he knew it. So she gave him another half-hearted smile and they didn't say another word until they were on their way to the road, driving in his beat-up rust-bucket of a Ford to the Evans' estate.
He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and watched his sullen girlfriend out of the corner or his eye. It was a little strange to see someone so bright and sparkly so obviously down. He decided to go ahead and tell her his news; maybe it would cheer her up.
"So, Sharpay, guess what?" he said cheerfully.
She looked at him, eyebrows raised in feigned interest, gaze still disconnected and distracted. "Hm?"
"I got a job offer!"
Over this she looked genuinely happy for him. "That's great, Zeke."
He waited for her to say something more, show some real interest, before he asked, "Don't you want to know where it's at?"
"Yes, of course. Where?"
"New York City! Isn't that great? We can really be together again now, no more living off of texts and Skype!"
Bewilderment was instantly added to his worry as horror and tears filled her luminous brown eyes. "Sharpay?" he asked softly, taking her hands across the console of the truck.
She flinched, and something told Zeke that he would never forget the way that she was looking at him right then.
"No!" she snapped sharply, jerking her hand out of his grasp. Her tears began to fall as she ordered, "Just… just stop – stop making this so hard!"
Zeke's eyebrows drew together over his confusion-filled eyes. "What?"
"You can't move with me to New York, Zeke! You just can't!"
"What? Why not?"
Sharpay sighed and wiped away her tears, forcing herself to calm down. Zeke was glad that she had stopped crying; it hurt him to see her so upset like this. She took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts for a second as Zeke mentally ran through a list of possible problems that could be causing her emotional state. But nothing that crossed his mind was even remotely close to what she actually said.
Head down, eyes averted, Sharpay whispered, "There's someone else."
What?" Zeke asked hoarsely, not comprehending what he was hearing at first.
"A guy. In New York City. Peyton. I didn't mean for it to happen, Zeke, honestly. He doesn't even know that you exist. At first he was just my guide-person-thing, and then my friend, and then he kissed me, and I kissed him, and then it got all complicated, and… and I love him, Zeke."
Zeke leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, vaguely realizing that somewhere during this conversation he had pulled over onto the side of the road.
"So what now?" he asked painfully. "You want to break up?"
"Yeah. I just need time to figure this thing out." She hesitated before asking, "Are you going to be okay?"
Zeke forced himself to open his eyes. Smile at the love of his life. Lie. "Yeah, sure."
And it was only then that she turned on that thousand-watt smile. And he knew that, no matter what, he would do whatever it took to see her smile like that.
Six months later
Zeke had heard from Chad that she was back in town, visiting again from New York City. Only, this time she was supposed to be toting a blonde New Yorker boyfriend. But Zeke hadn't seen any of this with his own eyes, of course. He hadn't even talked to Sharpay since their breakup. Because saying "hello" meant eventually saying "goodbye," and saying "goodbye" to Sharpay Evans in any context had always killed him.
So it was like a bullet to the chest when he ran across her and the Peyton person while jogging in the park. But, just like he had six months ago, he forced himself to smile when Sharpay led Peyton up to him.
"Peyton, this is Zeke, one of my classmates." Sharpay introduced them. "Zeke, Peyton."
Zeke flinched internally. Since when had he been demoted to just "one of my classmates?" What he did was widen his smile and shake Peyton's hand.
"Peyton and I are engaged! See?"
Zeke's heart shattered as Sharpay held up her ring-clad hand for his inspection.
He kept his smile firmly in place though. "Good for you, Sharpay. I'm happy for you."
He must have been convincing, because she flashed him that thousand-watt smile and gave him a small wave and a "tootles" before skipping off with Peyton into her happily ever after.
Watching her retreating back, Zeke sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets, all the while knowing that no matter how much he wanted her back, he would lie all over again if it meant seeing her smile.
My first venture into the HSM fandom, so sorry if anyone feels a little out of character. I hope that you enjoyed this one-shot! Please review! Thanks!:)