I feel so bad. All this time I've been bashing author ximcarebear for 'stealing my story' when she DIDN'T. I'm such a bitch. Ugh. Please forget all harsh words that I've said about her. My apologies all the way.

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The Life You Left Behind

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Chapter 1

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Sharpay walked out of the airport and was immediately hit by the treacherous Albuquerque heat. She shrugged off her jean jacket and blankly looked down at its blue material, puzzled as to why exactly she'd put it on in 104 degree weather. She settled for the reasoning that she'd been on such a tight schedule. All of the recent chaos had just ended, though, when she'd dropped off her niece Alanna at the airport.

Alanna was six years old and Sharpay probably would have assumed she was a bipole if she hadn't known better. Ryan and his wife Nan had been on vacation in Norway for the past week, kind of as a second honeymoon-thing. Troy had been the one to suggest that Alanna stay with them in the first place. Sharpay would've never agreed to it otherwise. While she hoped to have children of her own in the future (actually, it was an iffy subject), Sharpay had never been good with other people's kids. Most of them hated her, and when she stumbled on the occasional wanna-be-Chanel-wearing princessy seven-year-old that actually looked up to her, she had to roll her eyes.

Troy, on the other hand loved kids. His main child-related argument with Sharpay was whether or not they should adopt. Sharpay's vote had always been nay, due to the phobia of other people's offspring. Troy disagreed. He himself had been adopted, and wanted to pass on his parents' "nobility" - as he called it - to the next generation. While Sharpay admired his "nobility", she just couldn't swallow the idea of adoption. She wasn't even 100 percent positively sure she wanted to be a mother at all.

Babysitting a kid like Alanna hadn't changed Sharpay's mind one bit. Sharpay stepped off the curb and began to make her way to area B12 of the airport. She found her black Lexus right where she'd parked it, and began to rummage through her handbag for her keys. She then pressed the 'unlock' button, and opened the driver's seat door. She sat in her seat for a moment, absorbing the car's conditioned air. Finally she sighed and put the Lexus into reverse.

Sharpay considered pulling into Mad Greens, her favorite salad bar, for some lunch. No, she decided. This newfound peace called for a calorie splurge. She turned her turn signal on at the closest Starbucks. When she entered the little coffee shop, the man at the counter laughed.

"Sharpay Evans?" he jeered. "Eating at a coffeeshop?" Sharpay narrowed her eyes at the bushy haired guy, recognizing him instantly as her arch-antagonist from her glory days at East High.

"Chad Danforth?" she responded. "Working at a coffeeshop?"

Burn.

"Alright, you got me. But seriously, what are you doing here. Last time I checked you were at the top of the list of Stuck Up Anorexics That Will Starve to Death Before the Age of Thirty. Did you forget that this place sells fat by the caffeinated pound?"

"No. I'm celebrating," Sharpay replied, jutting her chin out in the snooty air she was famous for.

"Celebrating? Celebrating what?"

"Ryan's kid stayed with us this week, and I finally got to ship her back to Miami. When did you get a job here?"

"Last Sunday my parents kicked me out. My mom was like, 'You're a grown man now - twenty-five years old. Get off your duff, get a job, and stay off this couch.' Apparently there's a problem with watching ESPN all day or something," Chad told Sharpay. Sharpay rolled her eyes in reply and ordered a chocolate chocolate chip muffin and hot cocoa.

"Sheesh. When you eat, you really eat, don't you?" Chad commented on the extreme load of calories. Sharpay sighed before giving him a very mature 'talk to the hand' gesture. She sat down at one of the tables and looked up at the cheesy soap opera that was on the mounted television. Some lady was yelling at some guy named Fabio or something about how he had cheated on her with yada yada yada. Sharpay wrinkled her nose.

"Yo, Danforth!" she called. Chad sauntered back up to the counter to see what Sharpay wanted.

"What now?"

"Can you change the channel, please?" she asked, replacing the impish look on her face with an innocent one. He groaned and pulled a chair up to the television so he could reach the controls. As he began to flip through the various channels, Sharpay watched carefully to see what was on each station.

'...ABCs and 123s and how to be a friend. Barn...'

'...for three payments of 19.95!..'

'...Big money! Big money!..'

Sharpay shook her head at each one. Then, she froze, her mouth hanging open.

'... was raped and shot by two teenage boys. She is believed to be Gabriella Montez of Boston, Massachusetts. Miss Montez was reported missing last night at 9 o'clock. Sources have been contacted to verify the victim's body...'

Chad fell off the chair in shock.

"Oh... my... goodness," Sharpay said, barely being able to form the words. Chad just lay on the floor, eyes wide open as he hyperventilated.

"Sharpay?" he quietly whispered. "Is this really happening?" Sharpay slowly brought her fingertips to her forearm to pinch herself. The smooth skin grew red as she tried to rub the stinging away.

"Yeah. Chad... Gabi's dead." Sharpay let her head fall to the table with a bang, only narrowly missing her untouched muffin. She let out a whimper, which soon transformed into a quiet sob. Chad carefully sat up and rubbed his throbbing head. He stood up and walked over to where the blonde, whom he had made fun of since he was a kid, was now pouring out tears.

"Sharpay?" he asked. Do you want me to call Troy to pick you up?" Chad could hardly believe the situation himself. He couldn't imagine how Troy, his best friend since fifth grade and Gabriella's ex-boyfriend, was going to take this news. He looked down at Sharpay to see her slightly shaking her head. She looked up at him, her mascara - which was supposed to be waterproof - streaming down her face, her eyes turning redder by the second.

"No Chad. I can't disturb him when he's working," she hoarsely answered.

"Sharpay Evans!" he exclaimed.

"Bolton," she dolefully reminded him.

"Sharpay Bolton, then. Your friend... JUST DIED! Troy is not going to care if you call him about this!" he told her.

Sharpay shook her head again.

"I'm not ready to tell him. How heartbroken do you think he's going to be, anyways?! This will destroy him if I don't think of the right way to tell him."

"And... what is the right way to tell him?"

Sharpay quickly stood, pushing her muffin and cocoa towards Chad.

"You can eat it," she quickly told him. He gave her a confused look as she stormed out of the coffeeshop. After thinking for a moment, he followed her. Before she could get into her car, he called after her.

"Where are you going?!" he yelled across the parking lot. Sharpay got into her Lexus, slamming the door behind her as Chad waited for an explanation. She started the car and backed it up, out of it's parking space. She slowed down at the Starbucks entrance where Chad still stood.

"I'm going to go tell him," she said as another tear dripped down her cheek. She pulled down the mirror and fixed her makeup before once again, taking off.

Chad fell against the brick wall of the coffeeshop, trying not to cry himself. 'This isn't happening,' he repeated over and over in his head. He slowly stripped his forest green apron off and headed to his car. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed a number he hadn't called in what seemed like a decade.

"Heyo, you've reached Gabriella and Colby Montez. We're probably off messing around or something, so leave your name and number after the beep," said Gabriella's answering machine. "We'll get back to you ASAP!" another voice said, this one sounding way younger and girlier than Gabriella's. Then came the beep. Chad was even more confused than he had been initially. He had no idea who this Colby Montez was. Was it the other voice on the phone? He had no idea.

"Oh, Gabi," he finally groaned, his voice breaking into a sobbing mess. "Please call back." He pressed 'end'. and closed his phone. As he started his car, he knew what he had to do. He whipped out his phone again and pressed zero.

"Operator," said a woman's voice.

"I need a listing for a Taylor McKessie... in ummm... Boston?" Chad whispered. Before he knew it, he could hear his ex-girlfriend's phone ringing.

"Hello," said a voice even hoarser than Sharpay's had been.

"Who's Colby?" Chad immediately asked.

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Duuuuude. That was seriously WAY better than the first time around! I'll update as soon as I think of some more ideas, 'tay?

-Sami