AN: This is some random humor I thought up in psychology after some guy in my class randomly blurted that he lost the game in the middle of class. For those of you who don't know The Game that has taken over my school, it's really dorky. The only rule is that you can't think about the game or else you lose. For more information, you can do a wikipedia search on 'The Game'. Anyway, thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine, nor is the nickname "nerd herd" which I stole from the House of Night series.


Tapping my bright pink gel pen against my desk, I pursed my lips out of boredom as I waited for homeroom to start. Could it go by any slower? I swear to God the clock just froze for a second. Ugh, I hated my life.

Normally, I would talk to Ryan to pass the time, but he was in the middle of conversing with Kelsi Nielson, a "nerd herd" member no less.

Could these two minutes go by any slower? I swear God is out to get me. Not even that fine piece of meat (known to everyone else as Troy Bolton) was here for me to stare at. His girlfriend wasn't even here for me to fantasize about the many ways to kill and/or torture her.

One minute down. Ugh, I was so bored!

Fifteen more seconds down. Forty-five seconds to go; I could make it.

Ten more seconds down. Oh my God! He's here! Finally! Before the fantasies could start, however, I noticed he was turned around, talking to Gabriella, his "Queen Nerd" girlfriend. Ugh, I seriously hated her. I watched in complete jealousy as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek before the two departed to their respective seats. I stuck my foot out just in time for her to walk past. Sure enough, she tripped and fell flat on her face. I did my best to hide my laughter.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Tck, I so was not sorry, but I was a great actress. That was priceless. It's times like these I wish I had a camera on hand. Oh right, that would make me one of them.

"It's okay, Sharpay. I know you didn't mean to trip me." Was that a hint of sarcasm I sensed? I snickered as she walked away. Sharpay Evans, you've done well.

As soon as she sat down, the bell rang. Finally! "All right, class, settle down." Everyone not already seated took their seats. I saw out of the corner of my eye Troy, Chad, Jason and Zeke, the basketball Neanderthals, exchanging hi-5s before she started. I rolled my eyes. They (minus Troy, of course) were such dorks. "Okay, good morning, class." We grumbled a 'good morning' in response, nothing out of the ordinary. "Now, as I'm sure you're all aware of, the annual Valentine's Day Sweetheart dance is this Saturday..." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Troy sneak a wink at Gabriella. If it wasn't so unattractive and dirty, I'm sure I would've puked. Their "sugary-sweet" relationship made me sick. "Also, this Saturday morning, the marching band will--"

"Aw, man! I just lost the game!" Chad interrupted in a very whiny tone. The Neanderthals (and Troy) snickered. What the heck was he talking about? Has he finally lost it? Oh right, there was never anything there to lose, except his precious "Game", whatever it was.

"Mr. Danforth, you better have a good reason for interrupting me," Ms. Darbus warned, her eyes narrowed.

"It is a good reason! I never lost The Game before! Hell must have frozen over!" Chad cried, looking to be on the verge of tears. God, he was so immature.

"No more outbursts from you," Ms. Darbus warned, ignoring his last statement. "Now, as I was saying--"

"Dang it, Chad! Thanks a lot! Now I lost!" This time it was Troy who interrupted. What the Hell had possessed them? Chad I can understand, but Troy?

"So did I!" Jason complained.

"Me, too!" Zeke added, all three of them looking exasperatedly at Chad.

"That's it! Detention! All four of you!" Ms. Darbus handed all four of them detention slips. I heard her mumble under her breath, "Last year it was cell phones, now this?" The guys grumbled to themselves as she handed them each a slip of paper. "Now, anymore interruptions?" I gagged when Queen Nerd raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Montez?"

"I just wanted to announce that I, too, have lost the game." My mouth dropped. Was she high? She was supposed to be Miss Perfect who never "intentionally" got in trouble! Was she stupid? This had to be planned. There's no other logical explanation.

"I'll be seeing you in detention as well." Ms. Darbus admonished yet another detention slip, this time, to Gabriella. The class roared with laughter, all except for me. What was I missing? What was The Game? I've never heard of anything so absurd. Of course, I don't keep up with such dorky trends. I don't have time to be bothered, but Ryan does. I thought for sure that, if he knew, he would've talked to me about it at some point. He usually did, unless he, too, didn't know. I took comfort in that thought.

"Now, does anyone else wish to tell the class that they, too, lost this 'game'?" Ms. Darbus asked us, a daring tone to her voice.

"Ms. D, it's not 'this game', it's 'The Game', you gotta say it right," Troy corrected her. I wanted to bang my head against the desk, but I was afraid of messing up my make-up, not to mention it could've left me with a headache, not that one wasn't already starting.

"Seems like someone wants a double detention," Ms. Darbus presumed, handing him yet another slip. My prediction was that, by the end of the class, she would need more detention slips.

"Ms. Darbus?" Kelsi started timidly. Here we go again. "I have a confession to make."

Ms Darbus sighed as I watched her start filling out another one. "Go on."

"I...I..." Kelsi burst into sobs. "I lost The Game!"

"There, there," Gabriella murmured, patting her on the back. Was I the only sane person in this room?

"It's a serious matter, Ms. D," Chad started, looking sympathetically at Kelsi. "Anyone who is anyone is playing The Game."

Argh! I'm the biggest "anyone" in this school! I'm not playing the game! What is it?

"Who started this game?" Ms. Darbus asked everyone. When no one answered, she added, "whoever tells me first gets one detention taken away."

"Sharpay," Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, Gabriella and Kelsi spoke in unison. What?! I didn't even know what it was!

"Sharpay?" Ms. Darbus raised her eyebrows at me.

"I-I don't know what it is!" I defended. "How could I have started something I don't know about?"

"You're just a master at playing," Gabriella interjected. Can I kill her now? Or, should I wait and extract my torture methods first?

"Yeah," Chad agreed with her. "She's still not thinking about The Game, which is how you lose."

"In that case, I lost a long time ago," I absentmindedly responded. The next thing I knew, there was a piece of paper on top of my shiny pink folder. I was mortified. Detention?! What did I do?

The basketball jocks and the nerds all busted into laughter. I was grateful to see that my brother was not. "Anyone else want to confess? The theater could use some work for our spring musical." The room fell silent. I just scowled. They would pay for this. Soon.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan slowly raise his hand. Ms. Darbus sighed in relief, for she knew Ryan would have a different question. Ryan was usually above their foolishness. "Yes, Ryan?"

"Ms. Darbus, I cannot tell a lie. I just lost The Game."