Busy Being Fabulous
By LoveAndSerenity

Hi! Thank you for giving my story a chance. This is my first ever HSM fanfic! And my first fanfic on this site! And my first ever songfic, too!

Since I'm so new at this, I wasn't really sure if there was a certain way to write songfics, so I kinda did my own thing. I know a lot of people typically just center the lyrics and put them in different parts of the fic. But I wanted to try something new. I wrote the lyrics into the story. You'll see, and you'll be able to tell easily what parts are the lyrics to the song.

I originally intended for this to be a oneshot, but since it ended up with 7,000 words, I think it's best to break it up into chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Busy Being Fabulous" by the Eagles. I don't own HSM, either, which makes me sad, but I am going to marry Zac Efron someday, so it's all good. I own everything else besides that stuff, though. The plot, the writing, etc.; you know how these work.

This is Part One: The Break-Up.

Troy Bolton threw the last of all his stuff together in his gym bag. He'd just finished another tiring basketball practice. On a Friday, no less. He sighed, thinking how boring this weekend was going to be. Then he remembered. His girlfriend, Sharpay Evans, was coming over that night, and she'd said she'd be waiting for him when he got home. She had a spare key. Troy had given it to her so she could come and see him even when his parents were gone.

He smiled at the thought of her. Troy got really happy. He and Sharpay hadn't really hung out for a while, and he missed spending time with her. Sure, she was snobby sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) but there was something about her that Troy liked. She was different around him.... She showed emotion. Most people wouldn't know that Sharpay Evans had feelings. But she let her guard down with him, and he liked that. And plus, she was hot. (Hey, can you blame him? He was a teenage boy, after all.)

Troy sighed happily and started to walk home. His dad, the coach, had told Troy that he would be busy tonight, working late or something, and his mom was on a business trip. He and Sharpay would get some time alone.

He was just about to leave the school gym when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man." Troy turned around to see his best friend Chad Danforth looking at him. "You wanna hang out at my place tonight?"

"I can't," Troy smiled. "I'm hanging out with Sharpay tonight."

Chad frowned. "Why do even like her, man? She's such a--" Chad started, but Troy cleared his throat loudly.

"She's my girlfriend," he said.

Chad rolled his eyes. "She's also the Ice Princess. How can you stand being with her? She's so into herself. She doesn't care about other people."

Troy glared. "She cares about me," he said defensively.

Chad patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I just hope you're right, man," he said. "I don't wanna see you get hurt because of the Ice Princess."

Troy shrugged Chad's hand off his shoulder. "Whatever," he said, and left.

Chad sighed. He knew Sharpay. "This isn't good," he said aloud to no one in particular.

--o-.-xXx-.-o--

Troy was just approaching his house. He smiled a little and unlocked the door, then walked inside. He set his bag on the floor.

"Sharpay?" he called. "I'm home!"

That locked door should have been his first clue.

At first he didn't hear anyone, but he knew Sharpay was probably playing around. She liked to jump out behind him and scare him, especially at school, where she knew his friends would laugh at him when they saw him jump. They liked to tease each other. Troy smiled to himself and jumped into the kitchen, sure that he'd be the one to get her this time.

He'd forgotten that Sharpay always left the door unlocked for him when she was there.

But then he saw the note, and it started to make sense.

It was just a simple little piece of paper, but he knew instantly what it meant. Just seeing it there, pinned up on his fridge by the stupid little basketball magnet, told him what it meant. He walked over the fridge and took the note down. It was on a pink paper, and had girly handwriting on it. It was definitely from Sharpay.

He read the note, then reread it, then sighed. He sat down at the kitchen table and tried to calm himself.

"It's fine, she just, obviously, has better things to do than hang out with me tonight..." he thought. Then he slammed his fist on the table and swore.

"Yeah, sure, she has better stuff to do than hanging out with me. Cause it's not like I'm her BOYFRIEND or anything!" he yelled, standing up. "It's not like she TOLD ME she'd be here or anything! It's not like she was SUPPOSED TO BE HERE or something!"

Troy swore under his breath once more and went up to his room. He picked up his basketball pillow and hurled it at the wall.

"Ugh!" he shouted, and fell back on his bed. He reached for the phone.

--o-.-xXx-.-o--

Chad heard the phone ring and looked at the caller I.D., seeing Troy's name. Chad sighed. He knew this was going to happen.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Man, I hate it when you're right," he heard Troy's voice say through the phone.

--o-.-xXx-.-o--

It was Monday, the last day before Winter Break, but Troy wasn't happy. Sharpay had blown him off. Again. He was tired of this. He marched right into school and up to Sharpay, who was hanging around her pink locker, checking her makeup. Ryan stood right beside her.

"Oh, hi, Troy--" Sharpay started, but he cut her off.

"We need to talk."

"Um, okay...." Sharpay said, sounding a little confused.

"Alone," Troy added, giving Ryan a look.

Ryan looked at Troy with an annoyed expression and folded his arms across his chest. He was not going to move just because Troy Bolton told him to.

"Fine," snarled Troy, and he dragged Sharpay down the hall and into an empty classroom.

"Troy, is this about Friday, because--" Sharpay started.

"Of course it's about Friday!" Troy practically spat. "It's about this!"

He pulled the folded up pink note from his pocket and held it out. It was worn, showing that it'd been read over a few times.

"Oh," said Sharpay, a bored look on her face. "So?"

"SO?" Troy said. "SO?! I thought we were supposed to hang out Friday!"

"Well," Sharpay started, but Troy interrupted.

"I came home to an empty house and I found your little note," he said, scowling.

Troy opened the note and waved it in her face. It didn't have much on it. It wasn't very long.

"Don't wait up for me tonight." And that was all she wrote.

Troy continued. "Do you think I don't know that you're out on the town, with all of your high-rollin' friends?" he asked her. "What do you do when you're done?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. "What do you do when you come up empty? Where do you go when the party ends?"

Sharpay stared at Troy. His eyes were wild, and his chest was rising and falling heavily, from his shouting.

"Troy, I was just--" she began.

"And you were just too busy being fabulous!" he yelled. "Too busy to think about us!"

"Troy, I know we--" Sharpay tried, but Troy cut her off again.

"I don't know what you were dreaming of," he said to her, "But..." He looked at her and she saw the hurt in his eyes. "Somehow, you forgot about love."

"Troy, I was just having a good time with my friends and--" Sharpay tried to say more, but yet again, Troy stopped her.

"And you were just too busy being fabulous, uh-huh!" he finished for her.

Sharpay just looked at him. He knew she was mad, but he was so angry that it didn't matter to him what Sharpay thought.

"You know what you need, Sharpay?" Troy asked her. "A little time in the country; a day or two to slow down."

"But, Troy," Sharpay said softly. She felt a little pang in her heart. He hadn't used one of his cute little pet names for her. He had called her by her real, whole name.

Troy looked her right in the eyes.

"Sharpay, I had all sorts of stuff in mind for us," he said. "A picnic under the stars--"

Sharpay's anger had disappeared. Now she was full of regret.

Troy continued. "A bottle of wine and a walk in the moonlight, maybe some foolin' around--" but he stopped himself, seeing Sharpay's eyes getting wide with curiosity. He mentally slapped himself.

"Did I just say that out loud?" he thought. He had just gotten so caught up in the moment that he let it slip out. "A bottle of wine? Foolin' around?!" he thought. "Wow, I did just say that... out loud... to Sharpay... Ugh!" Troy's face got red, but luckily for him, Sharpay thought it was because of his anger.

Troy looked at her, his breathing still slightly irregular, waiting for her to say something. Sharpay just stood there, while her brown eyes showed her worry and sadness.

Troy waited, but Sharpay didn't say a word. Finally, he snapped. "But of course that's not a possibility anymore. It was, once," he said, "but you think time is just a magazine, and money's just a thrill! I've waited so long for you to change your way of livin'. Now I realize that you never will."

That was too much for Sharpay. Tiny tears formed in her eyes. Troy forced himself not to look at them, because they'd only make him weak. Seeing her cry would make him stop and give up the whole thing. He couldn't afford that. Not here. Not now. He couldn't back down now. He forced himself to go on.

"And you know why, Sharpay?" Troy asked her. "'Cause you were just too busy being fabulous. Too busy to think about us. Lookin' for something you'll never find."

Troy couldn't help himself. He looked up into Sharpay's eyes, seeing the hurt and tears, and said, softly, "You'll never know what you left behind, 'cause you were just too busy being fabulous, uh-huh."

Sharpay let a tiny sniffle out. She couldn't help it. "Troy..." she whispered. "What are you saying?"

Troy took a deep breath and looked down at his feet. Finally, he said, quietly, "I'm saying I can't do this anymore, Sharpay. I'm saying... I'm done with this. With..." he hesitated. "With us," he whispered.

Sharpay let out a sob. She tried so hard to stop her tears from flowing, but she couldn't help it. "Fine, Troy, if that's what you really want... then I guess we're done!"

And with that, she shoved past him and ran out of the room as fast as she could, sobbing, to the girls' bathroom.

Up Next

Part Two: Conversations and Confrontations.