Disclaimer: The movie High School Musical and all the characters that are in it are NOT mine and I do not claim to own them. Mickey Mouse owns them…sadly.But all characters that were not in the movie are my own creation.
A/N: This takes place six or seven years after the movie ended and takes place in New York City. I kind of took a Sex and the City spin on High School Musical. The pairing is going to be Sharpay and Troy. It's not that I don't like "Troyella", those were like my favorite parts in the movie. I just think Gabriella is a little whiney and Sharpay and Troy look better together (NO OFFENSE Troyella lovers…sorry).
Details: Years after graduation, Sharpay Evans moves to New York City. She changed professions and has quit what she knew best, theater. But will an unexpected encounter with a long lost friend make her life change back to the perfect one she once had? Or will he only bring more drama back into her life?
Chapter #001: Brighter
A taxi picking up a woman holding bags after an early morning shopping spree.
A dog walker being dragged by ten high-class show dogs.
The sidewalk vendor in front of my building serving a gentleman a hot dog.
Mustard.
Onions.
Relish.
Beams of sunlight shined through the large loft window, illuminating the spacious fifth floor loft. A slender figure sat at a small dining table, her blonde hair glowing with the suns rays. With a pen in hand, she began to write while taking quick glances out the window.
A man finds a quarter while walking across the street during morning rush hour.
A guy with brown hair wearing a track suit out on his morning jog.
Troy?
She stood up and got closer to the window, staring down at the young man running down the sidewalk. Running her hand through her hair, she slowly stepped back from the window.
"It can't be him," She thought to herself. She sat back down, looking at the notebook in front of her while placing the end of her pen on her bottom lip. Her mind went to another place, thinking back five years ago to high school. Her last musical, her last crush and the man she could never have all raced through her head.
Soon her thought process was interrupted by her phone ringing. She glanced over at her phone, the blinking lights catching her attention and then placed her head back down. She continued to just write in her notebook, allowing her answering machine to pick up the unwanted phone call.
"Hi, I'm not home right now but if you want to leave your name and number, I'll get back to you." A high-toned beep followed the cheerful voice recording. "Sharpay, this is Julie. There's been a little mix-up with your clients here at the boutique. I need you to get here as soon as possible please." And then a click ended the frantic message left by her personal assistant.
Sharpay sighed. She couldn't believe her morning off was being interrupted by an angry bride throwing a fit about when her fitting was supposed to be. All she wanted to do was sit by her window in her thirteenth floor loft, drink some coffee and smoke a cigarette. Her day was not beginning the way she planned.
An hour later, she finally found the energy to get up, take a shower and walk to her boutique. It was small, with mannequins and fabric near every wall. As she opened the door, a burst of loud female voices caught her attention. She walked to the back and saw a screaming bride, her screaming maid-of-honor and a screaming mother-in-law. They had somewhat cornered her tiny assistant, demanding to speak to the owner.
"Good morning ladies, is there a problem?" The fake smile Sharpay grew on her face made her stomach churn.
The group of furious woman turned to face Sharpay and immediately the brides face lit up with happiness. "Oh my god Sharpay, I'm so glad you're here." She charged towards the confused boutique owner and placed both hands firmly on her shoulders. "I need my dress as soon as possible."
"Like how soon?" A confused Sharpay walked over to her work bench, pulling away from the grip the crazed woman had on her.
"Today."
A small laugh escaped Sharpays mouth just hearing the young brides' response. "Well, we still have to trim the hem and finish all the sequins on the bust. I don't think I could get all that done by tonight."
Tears began running down the girls' face, her face turning beet red as she once again grabbed Sharpay. "Please Sharpay; you have to do this for me." She noticed the look of doubt on Sharpays face and immediately reached for her purse. "Look, I'll pay you double…triple of what it costs. Just please do this for me."
Sharpay didn't know what to do but after thinking about what she could do with the money she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head. "Okay, I'll have it ready for you tomorrow morning." Disbelief rushed over her, as the once pronounced 'Ice Queen' actually agreed to do something she really didn't want to do.
After moments of hugging, crying and check writing, Sharpay finally got to sit down and begin working on the wedding dress that wasn't supposed to be finished for another month.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Her assistant, Julie, said walking up to the fabric covered workbench.
Sharpay broke out laughing. "Yeah Jay, you can make this whole god damn dress for me." She then pulled her hair up into a ponytail and took a sip of her hot Caramel Macchiato. Her assistant knew that she was kidding; that's how Sharpay worked. "But you know what you could do for me? Call all my other appointments for today and reschedule every single one of them. Then go to the store, buy me a pack of cigarettes, a big diet coke and some lip gloss."
"Okay, but what about the plans you made with Ryan for tonight? You want me to call him?" She began writing on her clipboard, making sure to write down anything Sharpay says.
"No; I haven't seen my brother in almost a year. The least I can do is go out and see a musical with him."
"Right," Julie nodded her head as she made her way towards the boutique door. She then stopped and looked back at Sharpay. "Sharpay?"
"Yeah?" She said, looking up from her sewing machine.
"What's with the lip gloss?" A confused look formed on her face but she knew Sharpay was going to come up with some kind of witty remark.
"Just because I have to make some crazy bridezilla a dress in one day doesn't mean I can't look cute while doing it."
Eleven hours, seventeen cigarettes, ten California rolls and a liter of diet coke later, Sharpay was finally able to sigh with relief. She was done and she wanted to do nothing but sleep. As she began to lie back in her chair and close her eyes, she could hear a vibrating noise coming from her Louis Vuitton purse. It was her phone and the screen on the front read 'Ryan'.
"Hello?" Her less-than-enthusiastic voice came out of remembering that she had plans to go out with her brother.
"Sharpay? Where are you?" Ryan was upset with her and she knew it.
"Sorry, I had a lot of work to do at the boutique and I haven't had a chance to go get dressed or anything." She was happy she wasn't lying to him at least. Then the sigh over the phone gave Sharpay the signal that Ryan was disappointed. "But I will still be there. I have a dress here at the boutique so I can just meet you there."
"Are you sure? If you don't want to come you don't…"
Sharpay cut her brother off mid-sentence. "Ryan, spare me the guilt trip. I'll meet you out front in fifteen minutes."
"Thanks, I'll be waiting." And with that, she closed her flip phone and placed in back in to her Louis. It's not that she doesn't want to hang out with her brother but it seems like every time he visits her once a year, she is dragged to another off-Broadway musical. As if he was trying to show her what she could be doing if she stuck with singing and performing.
"Hey, want me to call you a cab? Traffic around this time sucks." Julie walked around the corner from the office, waving the cordless phone in the air.
"No, I'll just drive. But can you do me a favor? Go inside the closet and take out the sky blue baby doll dress for me, the one with the braided straps. I'm going to go into the bathroom and do my make-up and fix my horrible hair." Reaching for her bag, she looked over at Julie who had already made her way in to the closet.
An assistant, a successful independent business, a nice loft and car; her life was almost perfect. There were only two things missing that could complete the package; a loving boyfriend and happiness. Both are so hard to find, especially in such a large city like New York.
At a quarter till nine, a silver BMW pulled up to the front of the small auditorium. The door swung open, as two creamy white legs followed. Sharpay stepped out of her car, handing the valet her keys as she stepped onto the sidewalk where Ryan was standing.
"You look ravishing, as always." Ryan said, as he walked up to his sister, hugging her tightly.
"You too," She smiled, knowing that that's what he always says every time he sees her. "So what are we seeing tonight?"
"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. I know a couple of people in it and they suggested I should come see it." Ryan handed Sharpay her ticket as they walked into the fairly crowded auditorium.
The two hours she had sat there were not as bad as she thought it was going to be. She didn't bother flipping through the playbill; she wasn't that interested. But she still had that spot in her heart for music and performing. The one thing that caught her eye in the play though was not a scene or song but a performer. A lean, muscular actor that sang and danced across the stage had pretty much made Sharpay watch the whole entire thing. He reminded her of some one. Some one she had to force herself to forget. Some one she came to terms with the fact that she couldn't have.
As the auditorium cleared out, Ryan and Sharpay remained there, standing on the stage waiting for his friends to come out of the dressing room. Sharpay walked around, looking at the lights and the array of seating in front of her. She then immediately flashed back to her last year in high school; her last musical.
"Hey Shar, come over here." Sharpays train of thought was derailed by the voice of her brother call from the side of the stage.
She slowly walked over there, noticing that Ryan was standing with a few guys, most likely his friends who were in the play. Light brown hair caught her eye but she couldn't see the face; Ryan was standing in front of him. She walked a little quicker and soon came to a stop behind Ryan.
Ryan stepped aside and Sharpays heart nearly hit the ground. She lost her breathe as things went blurry for a second. Then things went back to reality as she finally realized who it was.
Troy.
Troy Bolton.
"Hey Sharpay, long time no see." Troy seemed happy to see her as he walked passed the other guys to give her a hug.
His smell.
His touch.
After the embrace, Sharpay still couldn't believe it was him. She still hadn't said a word; all she could do was stare in disbelief.
"Are you that surprised that I'm here that you can't speak?" Troy said, placing his hands on her shoulders.
Sharpay shook her head. "No, I just can't believe…what are you doing here?" It was hard for her to get anything out of her mouth.
Troy laughed, backing away from her and giving her a confused look. "I never thought I'd see the day that Sharpay Evans, the 'Ice Queen', would be at a loss for words." He looked up and down at her, noticing that she still couldn't believe that he was there. "So I guess we have some catching up to do?"
