Disclaimer: High School Musical is a property of Disney. I do not own any of these characters, I just like playing with them. :-)

Awkward Triangle

Troy picked his fingernails in boredom just now realizing how much dirt had accumulated there. He was sitting on a bench in front of the local mall trying to remember exactly why he had been waiting so long.

It's for Gabriella. Just remember you're doing this for her, Troy thought to himself. He glanced at his watch, growing impatient with every second. He had been there for almost thirty minutes. You love Gabriella. She's your best friend. You love her. He kept telling himself this even though he was two seconds away from leaving. Troy was about to get up when he saw a blonde girl walking towards him. He grunted in disgust as Sharpay Evans stopped in front of him. An annoyed look etched on her face.

Okay I love Gabriella, but I hate her girlfriend. "You're late," Troy stated, giving her an identical expression. He couldn't see through her dark sunglasses but he knew she rolled her eyes at him.

"I had to stop at Starbucks." She showed him a very tall cup filled with some blended coffee Troy couldn't remember the name of. "If I'm going to spend the entire day with you, I need some form of caffeine in my system."

Troy stood up and walked to the entrance of the mall. "You know how bad that crap is for you?" he asked opening the glass door. She crossed him so she could get in first.

"Whatever, I don't need health advice from you. You're not my trainer." She flipped her hair with her hand, hitting Troy in the process.

Troy gritted his teeth, trying hard not to do something violent to the girl in front of him. Never hit a girl. Even though Sharpay wasn't really a girl to him. She was more of a succubus. She'd seduce you and before you knew it, you'd be dead.

The mall wasn't as busy as it normally was. Troy had chosen to go on a weekday rather than the weekend when he knew all the tweenies would be shopping. He watched in amusement as Sharpay walked through the mall acting more high and mighty than usual. He knew it was probably like her second home.

"So I was thinking," he started. "We could have Gabriella's birthday dinner at Maggiano's. She loves Italian food." Troy had difficulty keeping up with Sharpay's pace. Apparently she didn't care who she bumped into. She split through the crowd like Moses did with the Red Sea.

Sharpay scoffed. "We are not having the dinner at that piece of crap establishment."

Troy eyes widened. Only Sharpay would think that Maggiano's was a "piece of crap establishment." It was one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. "Are you serious? Their veal parmigiana is like thirty-five dollars!"

Sharpay turned into a store so fast that Troy almost didn't see her. His nose immediately crinkled when he followed her inside. The entire store smelled like flowers and fruit. He had difficulty breathing as he came up behind Sharpay who was spraying a bottle of perfume on her wrist.

She smelled it, made a disgusted look, and put it back on the shelf. "I was thinking of having it at Pierre's."

Troy looked at her absolutely irked. "Are you forgetting that this dinner is going to consist of all our friends, Gabriella's parents, my parents, and your parents?" Sharpay gave him a blank look like she didn't understand what he was trying to say. "Isn't that going to be a little out of our budget?" She continued to stare at him. "Nevermind." He rolled his eyes and picked up a loofa. He looked at it curiously. "What the hell is this?"

Sharpay picked up a bottle of lotion and read the label. "It's a loofa, you dumbass." She opened the bottle and poured some of it onto her hands.

He ignored the comment because he was too busy with the object in his hand. "Why is it so…fluffy?" He squeezed it, getting slightly amused at how it felt.

Peeved, Sharpay put the lotion back and turned to Troy. "Oh, my God." She took the loofa from him and returned it to the bin where he got it. "Will you stop messing around and start looking for gifts for Gabriella? Isn't that why we're here anyways?"

Troy looked around the store but nothing struck his fancy. "What could I possibly get her here?"

Sharpay handed him a bunch of bottles of lotions, soaps, and shampoo. "Girls like to smell good if you haven't noticed. So smell these and pick which ones you'd think Gabriella will like."

He began opening the bottles, smelling each of them individually. "So you girls don't naturally smell like this?"

Sharpay turned around and gave him the most annoyed look. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. "Nevermind." Shaking her head, Sharpay walked to the other side of the store leaving Troy.

This was possibly the most awkward day for both of them. Sharpay was surprised when Troy had called her yesterday asking her to meet him at the mall. He wanted to plan Gabriella's birthday and he had asked her for assistance. They both wanted to do something special and thought who better to plan it than Gabriella's girlfriend and best friend. Even though Troy and Sharpay couldn't stand each other. Ever since Gabriella and Sharpay started going out, things between Troy and Sharpay were always uncomfortable and strange.

It was quite understandable. After all, Gabriella and Troy did go out for some time. They had an amicable break up and remained friends. Best friends actually, but it took Troy by surprise when Gabriella told him that she started to have feelings for someone else. Another girl. The fact that Gabriella started to like her same sex didn't bother him. She had told him that she didn't think she was gay. He knew that Gabriella was one of those people who fell for the person and not their gender. The fact that did bother him was the other girl happened to be Sharpay Evans. He couldn't stand her, but she made Gabriella happy. Even though Troy couldn't understand how Sharpay could cause happiness of any kind. But when Gabriella was happy, he was happy.

Troy felt like his nose was going to bleed after smelling the fifth bottle of vanilla-moonlight lotion or whatever. He dumped all the bottles back in a random bin and went to find Sharpay.

"Any luck?" He rubbed his nose trying to fend off a sneeze. I think I'm allergic to the entire store. Or maybe I'm allergic to Sharpay.

Sharpay sighed in frustration and put back another bottle on a shelf. "No. Everything in here smells like crap."

"Tell me about it. I mean, how the hell does the moonlight smell like vanilla anyway?" He followed Sharpay out of the store.

"Let's go here." Sharpay turned into another shop and Troy hesitated. Sharpay looked at him, surprised at his sudden halt and raised her eyebrow. "What?"

Troy looked at the store and bit his lip. "Yeah, I think I'm just going to wait out here." He started to walk towards a bench.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Guys go in here all the time. In fact, they enjoy it." Troy looked at her in disbelief. "Don't be such a baby." She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside.

He felt like his arm was being ripped off as Sharpay dragged him. "Oh my God, Gabriella was right. You are freakishly strong!" The minute they were in the store, Troy blushed as he looked around and a store clerk approached them.

"Welcome to Victoria's Secret, is there anything I can help you with?" She was pretty and Troy smiled dumbly.

"No, we're just looking around." Sharpay smiled at her before dragging Troy to the other side of the store. He tucked in his elbows trying not to touch anything. Everything in there was so lacy. "You okay there, Bolton?" She picked up a pair of pink boy shorts and examined them.

Troy looked at the underwear she was holding and blushed even more. "I don't think Gabriella wears pink."

Sharpay grinned and gave him a look that made Troy feel very uncomfortable. "I know, I was looking at this for myself." She twirled it on her finger. "Why? Do you like it?"

Troy immediately averted his eyes to somewhere else. "Come on, I thought you were looking for something for Gabriella, not yourself."

She tossed the underwear back. "You're right." She picked up a bra and pair of matching underwear and showed them to Troy. "So what do you think?"

Troy scratched the back of his head. He started to get sweaty, something he did when he got nervous. "I don't know."

"Well, let me try them on so I can show you." Sharpay grabbed a few more and started to walk over to the fitting rooms.

"What?!" His voice cracked as he followed her. "Why do you have to try them on and show me?"

Sharpay was close to laughing but suppressed it. "Because," she waited for the store clerk to open the door for her. "Gabriella and I are the practically the same size so if it fits me, it will fit her. You can't return underwear, it's gross." The store clerk unlocked the door and Sharpay stepped inside. "I'll be right back," she told Troy in a low seductive voice.

Troy wanted to take a cold shower right then and there. He stood by a display of more underwear that was right across the fitting rooms and waited nervously. This was not how he planned the day to turn out.

"That's nice of you." The store clerk had reappeared and struck up conversation with him. He didn't mind because she was easy on the eyes. "Not many boyfriends shop with their girlfriends at Victoria's Secret."

"Oh she's not my girlfriend," he said quickly, shaking his head.

"He's not my boyfriend." Sharpay yelled at the same time from the fitting room.

She smiled at Troy and he gulped. "We're just shopping for a friend."

"Well that's sweet of you. If you need any help, I'll just be right over there. My name is Cameron." She pointed to her nametag but Troy's eyes fell on her very low cut shirt. "But you can call me, Cami." She gave him a very suggestive look before walking back to the counter. Troy's gaze followed her.

The fitting room door opened. "So, how does this look?" Troy turned back around and nearly fell over. Sharpay was wearing a dark green matching set complete with a lacy see-through bra, panties, and stockings with garter belts. Troy couldn't help but stare hungrily at Sharpay's half naked body. Though he would never admit it out loud, he did find her quite attractive, even more so now she was standing in front of him wearing practically nothing.

"What?" she said feigning an innocent voice, taking in Troy's reaction. With that look on his face, Sharpay couldn't help but toy with him. "Too much?" She turned around to show him her backside and then she heard a little crash. Troy had knocked over a mannequin.

He desperately tried to put it back up, turning beet red. Everyone in the store was looking at him. He ran his hand through his hair trying so hard not to look, but it was like staring into the sun. "Yeah, that's um, good." Troy hated the fact he voice was cracking. Even worse than when he was going through puberty.

Sharpay licked her lips and looked down at her body. She ran her hand across her stomach and stopped at her hip. "So you don't think it's too much?"

Too much? It's too little. God, you look hot. I just wanna come over there and… Troy shook the thoughts out of his head as quickly as he could. That's your ex-girlfriend's girlfriend. Not to mention one of your best friend's sister! He couldn't even imagine the damage Ryan would do to him if he knew what Troy was thinking.

Sharpay giggled and walked out of the dressing causing Troy to step back. "So can you picture Gabriella wearing this?" She was clearly enjoying watching him sweat.

Troy bit the inside of his cheek at the sudden thought of Gabriella. Oh God. Gabriella. Sharpay. Together. Wearing this. Quick, think of something not sexy. Fungus. Sweat. Body odor. Naked Gabriella and Sharpay. Oh, God stop me. He balled up his fists so tightly that he felt his fingernails dig into the palms of his hands.

"Why Mr. Bolton, you're quite excited." Sharpay's gaze went south.

Troy eyes widened with horror as he looked down. Embarrassed as all hell, he quickly turned his back to Sharpay trying to cover himself. He wished he had a jacket or anything right now.

"Oh, that's better," she stated sarcastically. "I have no idea what's going on now." Sharpay went back inside and closed the door. He cursed himself and her and tried to calm down. God, he hated her.

After a few minutes, Troy finally calmed down and the door opened again. He expected Sharpay to come out fully dressed but she just peeked out her head.

"Troy?" She looked at him innocently.

"What?" He snapped at her.

Sharpay grinned. "Can you come here and help me with something?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Troy said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Just for a second?" He didn't budge. "The sooner you help me, the sooner we can leave."

Troy reluctantly walked towards the fitting room and stopped right in front of the door. He didn't get a chance to say anything before he felt Sharpay grab his shirt and pull him inside. He looked around the room trying to digest what just happened. Sharpay still hadn't change and she was now right in front of him. Troy was pinned against the door with nowhere to go.

"What the hell are you doing?" He pushed himself further back trying to get as much distance he could. He started to sweat again. Sharpay was way too close.

"You know, I was thinking, if we couldn't buy a present for Gabriella, we could give her something else." Sharpay got even closer but not quite touching him yet.

Troy was too distracted staring at Sharpay's chest that he didn't even hear what she said. "Wh-what?"

She giggled at his reaction. "Gabriella and I talk about you… a lot." A satisfied look came across her face when she saw Troy's curious eyes.

"You what?"

"Yeah, we talk about you and her and what you guys did. She talks very highly of you and your," Sharpay's eyes went south again. "assets."

Troy's entire body flushed. He probably looked like a ripe tomato. Gabriella talked about our sex life with her? Well, that's just wrong. And so…hot. Stop it Troy, Sharpay is way too close and way too half naked for you to get excited again.

He tried to look away but it was hard when the only direction he could look was down since Sharpay was a lot shorter than him. Not to mention she was right up against him.

"What does this have to do with her birthday?" Troy tried to steer the conversation anywhere but the direction Sharpay was heading. Even though he had no idea where she was going with this.

Sharpay just gave him a mischievous look. "Well, maybe you, Gabriella, and I can spend a night together. You know, just the three of us? Gabriella and I have talked about it for some time now." She reached over and ran her finger down Troy's neck. He then felt her leg shift between his.

His eyes widened with surprise at Sharpay's suggestion. She was leaning closer to him and her face was mere centimeters away from his. All he had to do was bend his head and they'd be kissing.

"That's a great idea." The words just slipped out of his mouth. He wasn't thinking anymore. His brain had short-circuited and he was now thinking with his other head. He forgot that the person standing in front of him was Gabriella's girlfriend and Ryan's sister.

"Yeah?" she whispered against his lips.

"Yeah." Troy leaned in but was suddenly thrown backwards. Sharpay had opened the door and he fell out of the dressing room landing hard on his butt. His reflexes as a basketball player allowed him to semi-break his fall as he put his hands out behind him preventing him from completely falling on his back. Troy blinked a few times trying to figure out what the hell just happened and stared up at Sharpay. The same mischievous look still there.

"Maybe for her next birthday." She winked at him and shut the door. He could hear her roar with laughter.

Troy desperately tried to think of a retort but when he opened his mouth, no words came out. He felt like a sputtering idiot. "You're a bitch!" He finally yelled and stood up. Sharpay's laughter just got louder. "You're nothing but a frigid, hot bitch!"

The laughter died down and Sharpay peeked her head out again. She raised her eyebrows at him, a cocky smirk planted on her lips. "Did you just call me hot?"

Troy looked at her in disbelief and thought about what he just said. Damn Freudian slip! "No!" he denied vehemently and then turned around and stomped out of the store. Sharpay smiled at his retreating form and finally got dressed.

--&--&--&--

After seven stores, a pretzel, and a hot dog later, Troy and Sharpay sat down at a bench defeated. They had found absolutely nothing for Gabriella.

"This shouldn't be this hard," Sharpay said putting a Victoria's Secret shopping bag down on the bench. She had purchased what she had tried on for herself, promising Troy she'd send pictures via email when she got the chance. He didn't think it was funny.

"I mean, Gabriella isn't really that hard to please." She blew out a puff trying to get her bangs out of her eyes. "In or out of bed."

"Yeah I know what you mean." Troy answered right away, unaware that what Sharpay had said was completely inappropriate. She looked at him and raised her eyebrows again. He cleared his throat. Great, more talk about our sex life. "I just mean, Gabriella's very, um," he paused, trying to think of the right word. "Sensitive? Emotionally and physically."

Sharpay laughed knowing exactly what he was talking about. "I know. I mean all I have to do is blow on her neck a little and she's putty in my hands."

Troy snorted and turned his body so he was facing Sharpay. Was he actually talking to Sharpay about this? "Does she still freak out when you rub the inside her wrists?"

She sat up straighter, also turning to face him. "Oh, my God, yeah! She likes to play that game where she closes her eyes and you walk your fingers up her arm and she has to guess when you reach the inside of her elbow. She goes absolutely crazy." They both started laughing. "She's so ticklish, too."

Troy nodded his head in agreement. "I know! She has the cutest laugh."

"It's cute until she gets violent. She actually kicked me in the gut one time because I was tickling her too much."

Troy laughed at the image of Gabriella kicking Sharpay. "Well, I always just usually pin her down so she can't move."

"That's not nice," she said playfully shoving him. "Although, I should do that next time."

They stopped talking and looked at each other, sighing at the same time. The atmosphere suddenly got awkward again. Sharpay looked down and started to play with her bracelets.

"You're good for her, Sharpay," Troy said after a few moments of silence. She looked up at him. "Every time I see her with you, I've never seen Gabriella so happy. That makes me happy." He smiled.

Sharpay smiled back. "Thanks, Troy." Although she never said it to anyone, having Troy's approval meant a lot to her. She knew how important he was to Gabriella and she wanted nothing more than to make her happy. "But we still have no idea what to get her." She sat back against the bench, grunting in frustration.

Troy looked around the mall trying to figure out what other places they could go to. "Are you sure we've looked in every possible store?"

"Yeah, unless you want to buy her sports equipment because those are the only shops we didn't hit."

He scratched his head, still looking around. His eyes fell on a small shop in the corner of the mall. "Oh, I think I just got an idea." He stood up and grabbed Sharpay's arm and pulled her to the store.

--&--&--&--

After more arguing and disagreements, Troy and Sharpay finally decided to have the dinner party at Evans' house. It was big enough and it didn't cost anything. Except for the caterers that Sharpay's parents had no problem paying for.

Gabriella got really confused when Sharpay lead her to the dining room. She had thought Sharpay wanted to have some alone time for her birthday but started to get suspicious when Sharpay began to act strange.

"Sharpay? Where are we going?" Sharpay didn't answer but opened the gigantic door that led to her dining room.

"Surprise!" a chorus of people shouted.

"Oh, my God, you guys!" Gabriella beamed when she saw everyone she loved in one room. She hugged everyone in sight: Sharpay, Troy, Ryan, Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, Martha, Jason, Zeke, her parents, Troy's parents, and Sharpay's parents. Feeling overwhelmed, she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and started to fan herself in attempt to stop the rest from falling down.

"It was all these two," Ryan said pointing to Troy and Sharpay. Troy put up his hands modestly.

"It was mostly me!" Sharpay said and everyone laughed. Gabriella smiled as she gave Troy a huge hug and Sharpay a kiss.

"You two actually worked together and planned all of this?" she asked in disbelief.

Troy and Sharpay looked at each as if they were speaking a language only they understood.

"Yeah," they said at the same time.

They all ate dinner, laughing and giving random toasts to Gabriella every chance they got. Gabriella sat in the middle between Troy and Sharpay. She never been so happy. After dessert was served, Sharpay stood up and announced it was time to open presents, and told everyone to go in the living room. Gabriella sat down on a couch while Sharpay fastened a tiara on her head.

"Because you're the princess for tonight," she smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm pretty sure that's one of Sharpay's eight hundred tiaras, so I'd be careful," Troy said to her and getting a smack from Sharpay.

Gabriella opened all her presents and loved them all. She received clothes, books, cd's, and various electronics. Troy and Sharpay waited patiently, watching Gabriella go through all the gifts. "Thank you guys so much," Gabriella said opening the last box that was in front of her.

"Okay, okay, now she's opened all the crappy presents," Troy joked but everyone booed and hissed at him. "We saved the best for last." He looked at Sharpay cueing her to get their gift. She took out a small elongated present wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper. It had a white ribbon on it. "This is from Sharpay and me. It's a joint gift, hope you don't mind." He smiled at her as he and Sharpay both sat down by her side.

"Of course I don't mind." She took the present from Sharpay with eager hands. Gabriella untied the ribbon and ripped the paper. Her smile grew wider realizing the gift had to be jewelry as she opened the top of the box and gasped. Inside was a silver bracelet with three different colored stones in the middle. Everyone in the room got up trying to get a better look.

"The middle one is your birthstone," Sharpay said pointing to it. "And the one on the left is mine."

"And the one on the right is mine," Troy finished, pointing at his stone.

Gabriella just stared at the bracelet, a million emotions going through her. "This is…amazing." She looked up at Troy and Sharpay and gave them a teary smile. "Thank you." She hugged them both and gave them each a kiss on the cheek.

"Here, let's put it on." Sharpay reached to get the bracelet and proceeded to put it on Gabriella's wrist when she stopped. She looked at Troy and smiled. Understanding what she meant, Troy took the other end of the bracelet and together; they both clasped it on Gabriella's wrist. The three of them looked at it. "Looks good. I have to say that I have amazing taste in jewelry." Troy cleared his throat. "What? I do." Troy shook his head and Gabriella laughed.

The rest of the night was filled with fun festivities. The parents retired to another room having their own little party, while the teenagers hung out in the pool house. Sharpay, Troy, and Ryan spent the entire day converting it into an arcade. They had games everywhere. They even hooked up their plasma TV with Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero.

Troy and Sharpay were in the middle of a very intense showdown of DDR when Gabriella came up to them.

"Troy, Sharpay? Can I talk to guys for a second?"

"One second, baby," Sharpay said, completely focused on the game. "I have to kick this pretty boy's ass first."

"Shut the hell up, princess, I got this one." Troy stepped on the pad aggressively but lost his footing. The game ended and Troy lost, but only by a few points. "Noooo!" He dramatically got down on his knees and pounded the floor with his fist.

"Yes! I won! In your face, Bolton!" she taunted. Sharpay danced around celebrating her victory, forgetting that Gabriella was still waiting.

"Come on guys, let the other kids play," Ryan said pushing his sister off the dance mat. Chad did the same to the defeated Troy. "And, hello, your girlfriend's been standing there for five minutes trying to get your attention."

Both Troy and Sharpay turned to see Gabriella standing behind them with an amused expression.

"Oops, sorry." Sharpay gave her a sheepish look and pointed to Troy who was still on the floor. "It's all Troy's fault."

"It's always Troy's fault," Troy said, mimicking her and got off the floor.

"Come on, I want to talk to you guys for a second." Gabriella turned and started to walk outside towards the pool. Troy and Sharpay followed her, both wondering what she had to say. The moonlight reflection bounced off the water creating a nice evening glow. Gabriella looked at the two people she loved most in the world and smiled again. She wondered if her face would be sore from all the smiling she'd been doing the entire night.

"I just want to thank you guys for this wonderful night and for this." She held up her wrist with the bracelet on it. Troy and Sharpay just smiled. "But as much as I love all this, I think the best present was having the two of you get along. I know it must have been really hard for you guys to work together. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Troy and Sharpay looked at each other, raising their eyebrows. "Nah, it wasn't that bad," Sharpay said.

"Speak for yourself." Troy rolled his eyes and was playfully smacked by Sharpay.

"Way to ruin the moment, Troy."

Gabriella shook her head at their playful banter. "Thank you for making this the best birthday." She held her arms open. "Group hug?" she asked, hoping it didn't sound too corny to them. Troy and Sharpay looked at each other warily before hugging Gabriella only flinching slightly when they touched each other.

--&--&--&--

"I still can't believe you went shopping with Troy for an entire day," Gabriella said, snuggling in Sharpay's bed later that night.

Sharpay brushed her hair and put it in a low ponytail. She climbed into the bed and settled down beside her. "Yeah, I know. It was…interesting. Especially when we went to Victoria's Secret." She grinned to herself thinking of when she could show Gabriella what she had purchased from the store.

Gabriella stared at her in disbelief, jaw dropped. "Are you serious? You actually got Troy to go into Victoria's Secret?"

Sharpay smiled, nodding her head. "Yup, and I'm pretty sure he got that slutty store clerk's number. She was hitting on him like crazy." She decided not to tell her about the fitting room excursion. She thought it was best to keep that between her and Troy. Well, she'd tell her when the time was right.

Gabriella laughed and pulled Sharpay into a kiss. She shivered when she felt Sharpay's hand slip under her shirt. "Well, thank you again for the lovely gift and amazing night." She scooted closer to Sharpay and wrapped her arm around her waist.

Sharpay kissed her again. "Well," she said, pulling away and tracing the permanent smile on Gabriella's face with her index finger. "Troy and I already thought of what to do for your next birthday and he thinks it's a great idea."

Gabriella looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, and what's that?"

Sharpay grinned. "A threesome."

--End--