It was a normal day at East High School and Troy Bolton, his girlfriend, Gabriella Montez and their friends, Chad and Taylor were taking advantage of the pleasant weather. They sprawled out on the grass, Gabriella twiddling with the 'T' pendant around her neck.
Everything was going fine until they heard something off in the distance.
"What was that?" Gabriella asked, jumping at the sound. Her friends shrugged.
"Probably nothing, just relax." Troy told her reassuringly, although he too was startled by the noise. The group laid back on the grass, enjoying a rare, cool breeze only to hear the same sound again.
"I really want to know what's going on." Chad said, shooting up from his grassy nest. "It's too early for fireworks."
"Yeah, and I don't recall seeing any construction going on around here." Taylor added.
"Why don't we go ask at the school? I'm sure someone will know what's happening." Troy suggested. They all nodded in agreement and made their way toward the school. Once inside, they were surprised to find the halls were abandoned. True class was still in session, why the bell signaling the end to their lunch period had not yet rung, but there was always at least one or two kids or hall monitors roaming the halls. But today, there were none, not even the sounds of teenagers learning.
"This is kinda creepy, maybe we should go." Gabriella said. No words could comfort her now.
"Gabriella's right, we should get out of here." Taylor said. The two boys in the group smirked at each other.
"There's probably an assembly or moment of silence. It's nothing to get all worked up about." Chad told the girls.
"Yeah," Troy agreed. "But if you two really want to leave, you can. Me and Chad'll check it out."
"Fine, we'll be out on the field. Give me a call when you find out, okay Troy?" Gabriella asked. Her boyfriend nodded in compliance and the pairs split up. As they were parting ways, Troy heard Taylor asking to stop by their lockers for Chap Stick. He thought nothing of it at the time.
Chad and Troy walked through the halls, still not finding a soul.
"This is really weird," Chad said. "Like a dream."
Before Troy could reply a boy he recognized as a freshman came stumbling hurriedly around the corner.
"Hey!" Troy called to him. A look of terror flooded the boy's face and he turned a heel and ran back the way he came, tripping slightly as he went. "What got into him?" Chad shrugged. Then, a noise the boys had only ever heard in movies rippled through the corridor. A gunshot. The sound of the boy from moments earlier grunting soon followed.
"We gotta get out of here!" Chad exclaimed, grabbing his friend's arm and running back the way they had come, only to hear the sound of footsteps following them. Troy turned his head to see Ryan Evans turning the corner where the gunshot rang out. In his hand was a pistol and over his shoulder was a thick strap attached to a shotgun.
"Hey guys," he called in an almost possessed voice. "Where are you going?"
"Come on, Troy!" Chad was pulling harder as they raced towards the end of the hall. From the other corridor came another familiar face, Ryan's sister, Sharpay.
"Sharpay!" Troy exclaimed. "You've come with us, you've got to get out of here, you've got-"
Another gunshot rang out, this time coming from Sharpay. The sound of a body crumpling behind them came after. Troy and Chad turned to see Ryan on the corridor floor in a pool of blood. The color drained from their faces.
"What the hell is going on?" Chad demanded. "Where is everybody? Why did he shoot that kid? Why-"
A second shot rang out and Chad joined Ryan on the ground. Troy stood there in horror. His best friend was dead, shot right in front of him, and he was pretty sure he was next.
"Why couldn't you love me, Troy?" Sharpay asked in an eerily peaceful tone. "Why couldn't anyone love me? I tried to make them, Troy, I tried so, so hard, but I couldn't. But that's okay now because they're gone. They're all gone."
"You killed them?" Troy shrieked. "You killed everybody in the school? What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you doing this?"
"I did this for us Troy, now we can be together, forever. Just you and me. No Ryan, no Chad, no Gabriella-"
"Gabriella? No. No you couldn't have, she left with Taylor. You just couldn't have." Troy was panicking now. "Gabriella! Gabriella!"
"Gabriella can't hear you Troy, even if she could, she'd wouldn't be able to understand you, she never could, not the way I do." Sharpay told him. "Aren't you happy? We can finally be together, everything is gonna be alright. We're in this together, remember?"
"No, you're crazy, what the hell did you do to my girlfriend? What the hell did you do to my life?" He screamed.
"Shh, Troy, there's no reason to yell, everything is okay. I told Gabriella I'd take good care of you. She never deserved you anyway. It's for the best." Sharpay told him with a serious look upon her face.
"For the best? For the best? You killed my girlfriend, all my friends, your own brother! How is this for the best?" Troy demanded. He could feel his stomach churning at the mere thought of the crumpled form beside him. A look of rage fell into Sharpay's eyes.
"You still don't love me. After all I did for you, you still don't love me. I throw everything away and this is what you do to repay me?" She snarled. She advanced towards him, her pistol drawn. Troy stumbled back, tripping over Chad's body. He crawled back and Sharpay continued her rant. "This is how you repay me? This is how you fucking repay me?!" She began firing out him, her rage impairing her sight.
Troy managed to get off the ground and raced towards the stairs, leaping over Ryan as he went. A bullet hit him in the side, but he continued on, not slowing down. He climbed the steps with Sharpay not far behind him. He stepped off at the second floor and took off running towards Gabriella and Taylor's lockers. As he approached the next turn, he saw a motionless hand coming from around the corner. It was Taylor. Troy ran towards the body and checked for a pulse in vain. Tears were now clouding his vision.
"Gabriella?" He sobbed, searching frantically for any sign of her. "Gabriella?"
He looked down and saw bloody footprints leading towards the girl's bathroom. 'She got away!' He thought, the idea of her survival lessening the pain. He followed the tracks into the bathroom, and upon quickly fell the ground, vomiting at the sight he befell. It was Gabriella, she hadn't made it out. He limp body was sprawled on the floor and written upon the wall, in what appeared to be her blood were the words: Now he will love me.
"Gabriella," he sobbed, dragging himself to her body. "Gabriella, I'm so sorry. You were right, I should have listened, we should have left when you wanted to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"Saying goodbye?" A cruel voice asked from the door. Troy rolled over to see Sharpay, armed with Ryan's shotgun. "I really didn't want it to turn out like this, Troy, I really didn't."
"Sharpay…" Troy squeaked out, he was growing weaker. "Please…"
"What? Now you're sorry? Oh don't be too sad about her Troy. I never wanted you to be sad, but what must be, must be, you'll be seeing her soon anyway. I love you, Troy Bolton." She fired a final bullet into the boy's head. "I love you."
Sharpay looked at the scene, at all she had caused and she dropped the shotgun. "I'll be with you soon, baby." With that, she pulled out a small Beretta and held it to her head. "I always loved you."
"It is a sad day for Albuquerque and for America as a whole. Today, two seniors from East High School, twins Ryan and Sharpay Evans brought in what officials are calling a 'mini arsenal' and turned the firearms on their peers and teachers," said Susan Martin, a reporter for Channel 8 News. "With the death toll at 62 and over 100 wounded, there is still no news on the reason behind such a terrifying act from such young people. A list of the dead has been passed out to worried parents and while some families are rejoicing at being reunited with their children, others are not as fortunate. We'll continue with more updates as this story unfolds. Until then, I'm Susan Martin with Channel 8 News."
LOL, they're dead!