Fourth and final installment of Endless Love: Summer!

This is probably going to be my favourite story of the series, because I intentionally made it to be alot happier than the others. Being summery and all.

Anyway, this story has quite a few OCs, and I've grown quite fond of them while in development. I'm going to write this story and see if you like the new characters. If you do, then I'll write a couple of spin-off stories about them after the EL series is done.

Okay, so this story is of course set in the Summertime, and its plot is alot lighter than the other ones, because I want it to be. :) Full summaries of the EL are in my profile.

Kindergarten…

5-year-old Troy Bolton was sitting alone in a sandbox, happily playing with a bucket and spade. Suddenly, a ball hurled itself from out of nowhere and smashed into the sandcastle Troy had spent all of recess building. He screamed and looked up to see a small blonde girl coming over to him. He grabbed the ball and stood up, scowling.

"Is this your ball?" he said, holding it out. The girl nodded. She was about to reach out and take it when Troy jerked it back. "Finders keepers!" The girl let out a gasp. Troy thought she was going to cry, but then she screwed up her forehead in a frown.

"That's not fair!" she shrieked, trying to take it back. "It's mine!" Troy wouldn't let go of the ball.

"Your ball crunched my castle, Sharpay!" he shouted, now resorting to pulling at her pigtails. "So, that means I can have your ball!"

"No! It's mine! I'm telling!" Sharpay launched herself on him, knocking him down as she punched him. Troy continued to pull her hair, dropping the ball. It rolled a few feet away and laid abandoned as the two children fought. A teacher and a few other children ran over.

"Stop it!" the teacher screeched, pulling them apart. "I think it's time for you two to have another time-out!"

School…

"Troy, if you're not going to do what I say, then you shouldn't be in my group at all!"

"You think I like being in your group?! You think I like taking orders from you?!"

"The teacher made me Group Leader! So if you're not going to listen to me, then you can do the friggin' project yourself!"

Troy and Sharpay were arguing again, and poor Chad was sitting right in the middle of it. He nervously took a sip of water as he watched his two friends glare daggers at one another. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Uh…" he said. "I think we should finish this tomorrow." Neither Troy nor Sharpay seemed to have heard him. Troy shot up from his seat.

"You know what?!" he shouted. "I think I'd rather do the project by myself than have to spend one more second in this room with you!" Sharpay got to her feet as well, slamming the papers down in front of her.

"Good!" she exclaimed. "Because you're completely USELESS anyway!" She pointed her long white finger at him, her face contrasted in rage. "YOU'RE FIRED!!" Troy slammed down his papers onto the desk too, making Chad jump.

"You can't fire me," Troy said. "BECAUSE I QUIT!" He stormed out of the room.

Graduation…

The students were lining up to collect their school certificates. Everyone was wearing their academic dresses and mortarboards, and were all very eager and excited. Troy stood in front proudly, only interrupted by a shrill mocking voice behind him.

"Nice dress, Troy," Sharpay said, her voice heavy with irony. Troy clenched his jaw as he turned around to see her smirk, knowing it was no use to use the same insult back at her. He gave her a non-smile.

"At least I look good in it," he said carelessly. Sharpay smile vanished.

"I'm sure you would, and I'm sure you've got a whole wardrobe full of those dresses, haven't you?" Troy's jaw twitched and he forced himself to turn around. He could still hear her talking. "Oh, so it's true after all…" He tightened his fist and turned back at her. Chad and Ryan nervously stepped in between them, but were ignored.

"Why the hell are you here, anyway?" Troy spat. Chad and Ryan watched apprehensively. Ryan cleared his throat.

"Well… uh…" he squeaked. "… Evans comes right after Bolton… so…" They were again ignored. Sharpay smiled unpleasantly.

"I'm graduating," she replied. "Why are you here?" Troy let out a sound that sounded alot like a snarl.

"I MEANT WHY ARE YOU STANDING SO CLOSE TO ME?!" Chad quickly pushed himself and Ryan out of the way as Sharpay stepped forward, her eyes flashing.

"I CAN STAND ANYWHERE I WANT!" she bellowed. The entire room turned to look at them. "IT'S A FREE COUNTRY!!"

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FREE COUNTRY OR NOT! STAND SOMEWHERE ELSE!"

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY AND MAKE ME, BOLTON!"

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ACT LIKE SUCH AN IDIOT?!"

"ME?! YOU'RE THE IDIOT! YOU'VE BEEN THE IDIOT EVER SINCE KINDERGARTEN!"

"That's enough!" a voice finally called out. The principal came rushing down from the platform and pushed Troy and Sharpay away from each other as their frightened classmates watched. The principal shook his head.

"I want to see you both in detention after school today," he said in a low voice. Both Troy and Sharpay looked at him in outrage.

"After school?!" Troy repeated. "But we've graduated!"

"This is so unfair!" Sharpay cried. "This all his fault! He should be the one to stay back!" Troy glared at her. The principal shook his head again.

"No," he said firmly. "You're both staying back after school and that's that!"

Present day, 7 years later…

Sharpay Evans let out a puff and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. She let out a frustrated sigh and set the box of fabrics down on the table. She took a moment to breathe, and then went back outside the boutique. Glancing up and down at the windows for any imperfections, she took a cloth and rubbed a smug on the window along the words S.E.A.L. Once satisfied, Sharpay went back inside and flipped the door sign to 'OPEN'. She flicked her short blonde hair out of her face and sat down at the counter, fanning herself with a magazine.

It was a hot day, only 9 o'clock in the morning, but already Sharpay had been awake since 4. She hated Monday mornings, she hated being the first to come into work and since it was only three weeks before the summer season officially started and it already so hot, it didn't make things any better. No one came in the morning anyway, so Sharpay found it annoying that she had to follow the store's written policy. Sometimes one customer would come in the morning, to find a suit for a wedding or to have a patch up. There was no telling if an incident of that kind would happen nowadays, so Sharpay sat tight. Even if everyday was the same until long after everyone was coming home from work, Sharpay was happy.

What started as an idea three years ago became reality when Sharpay decided to open her own clothing boutique with her own fashion range in Fairvale, just outside her hometown Albuquerque. It was famous for being a humble store, dependent and not too fancy. Sharpay's parents had advised that the boutique wasn't a good idea, but Sharpay continued the business anyway. She had invested quite alot of money into it, and little by little S.E.A.L became more and more successful.

The bell rang as the front door was pushed open. Sharpay looked round, hoping it to be a customer, but reverted back to her bored self when she saw who it was.

"Oh," she said, leaning onto the counter and yawning. "It's just you, Grace Kelly." The woman who came in let out a scoff and placed her bag on the table. She walked around the counter.

"Well, it's nice to see you too," she said ironically. Sharpay laughed.

Lila West was Sharpay's best friend from college, and she was part of the team that helped Sharpay create and run the boutique. She was the same age as Sharpay, a sophisticated blonde with a deep seductive voice and shimmering blue eyes that made any guy crazy. Sharpay nicknamed her Grace Kelly from the very first moment they met, and she took it as a compliment. Unlike Sharpay, however, Lila was a someone who was willing to work late hours, even though she herself refused to be the one to wake up early.

"Have the new stocks come in yet?" Lila asked. Sharpay nodded, pointing at the box beside the table. Lila immediately got up and looked through the new clothes excitedly. She slowly sat back down and began sorting out the clothes into different piles. Lila had always been good at sorting and matching up perfect fabrics and designs. Sharpay figured she might as well get back to work and started taking out some of the new clothing ranges and hanging them up.

"Did Emily call?" she asked, bringing a mannequin from storage. "She said she wasn't coming in with you." Emily was Lila's sister, the baby of the group and one year their junior.

"She stayed at Tony's place last night," she said without looking over from her work. "And yes, she called. She said she's driving up to Santa Fe to get the stuff, and she'll be back around lunch." Sharpay acknowledged the information and smiled.

The boutique was great, but that didn't stop any of the owners from trying to extend their boundaries. Years of hard work seemed to have paid off when a major retail company back in Albuquerque had offered them their own place in the big city. Lila and Sharpay had already estimated the money they could earn, and it was probably going to be three times their current pay. Her colleagues had kept their fingers crossed for almost a year, and this time Sharpay was certain the waiting would end. Emily was the first to volunteer, so she was chosen to drive all the way up to headquarters in Santa Fe and bring back the documents for their new lives.

Sharpay glanced at her watch. It was an hour from Rush Hour.

The doorbell rang again and the two blonde women looked up, again expecting a customer, again disappointed at who it was. A young man entered.

"Morning, Sharpay," he said happily. "Morning, Lila."

"Morning, Tony," the girls chanted. He smiled at them and headed to the store room.

Anthony Holmes was also a classmate of Sharpay's from college and, like Lila, helped Sharpay run the boutique. He was closest to Lila, having gone to high school with her. Tony was a tall handsome young man of Irish Catholic descent, and from his appearance you could tell for most of his life he had been a very thin boy (Lila commented he was underfed). However, as he entered his twenties, his arms and shoulders began to build up some muscle, and his cropped blond hair slowly turned light brown, and this brought out the deep shades of hazel in his eyes even more. Tony had always had a boyish, affable air to him, with a million dollar smile that made anyone, especially girls, who met him take a liking almost immediately. When Sharpay first met him, she was amused with his character, finding him a mixture of the good qualities she had seen in so many guys she dated. He was often shy, timid and very gallant, stumbling on his words and stuttering terribly every time he lied or was nervous. Tony was also very charming in a modest kind of way, usually attracting a lot of girls without even knowing it. Nonetheless, Tony was and had always been a reliable friend and both Sharpay and Lila could count on him to be on time.

The doorbell rang yet again, and this time it really was a customer. Lila jumped off her seat and greeted them with enthusiasm, like she always did. Sharpay sighed to herself and smirked, getting back to work. A few more customers came in, and it only took an hour before even Tony had to come out and help, running in and out of the office.

It was great; they were located right in the central of tourist attraction. Everyday, even at the worst times of the year, there would always be at least three dozen people to drop by and perhaps purchase a tie or an evening gown. The business was tiring, and because none of the friends wanted to employ more workers to help out (even though they didn't really need to), S.E.A.L stayed as a humble business, neither earning too little and coming near to being shut down, or becoming a major success. Sharpay and her friends loved the boutique, but they waited for the chance to be so much more.

Sharpay, Lila and Tony busily ran the boutique alone until lunch when Rush Hour finished. Sharpay put up the 'OUT FOR LUNCH' sign and collapsed onto one of the chairs by the counter. Tony sat down next to Sharpay, both equally exhausted, as Lila brought out the sandwiches for lunch. Tony took a magazine laying on the table and fanned himself, wiping his sweaty brow with his hand.

"I hate this weather," he grumbled. Lila chuckled and poured him some orange juice.

"Just drink your juice," she said, sitting down. "It's not too bad. It'll cool down again in about… three months." Lila's face fell slightly at her own words, and she downed her juice. Sharpay bit into a turkey and ham sandwich.

"They said the heat this years going to be even worse," she mumbled, clamping the sandwich in her mouth as she tied up her hair . "Ish shuppo sa bee a purfit dae if fe diden haf ta bee coopd oop im dis heet shak." She took an enormous bite, choking a little on it before downing her juice. Tony sipped his drink as well, staring sadly at the opposite wall.

"We've been waiting for that vacancy in Albuquerque for months now." he said in a quiet voice. He twirled the sandwich bag mindlessly between his fingers, heaving a sigh. He looked over questionably at Sharpay. "I know you've told us we have a good chance at getting this, but do you really think this could really be our big break?" Sharpay sat up and stared sympathetically at her friend.

She knew Tony was optimistic, but he also was the one to think rationally too. It had been their eighth try to score a spot in Sharpay's hometown, and for the last eight times they had been hopeful, only to have it all come crashing down onto them. Tony didn't like the false sense of security, and every time they were let down, a part of him seemed to be scarred. Sharpay placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Look, sweetie," she said endearingly. "I know you've been disappointed this year." She shot a glance at Lila. "We'veall been disappointed this year, and I for one know it's not too healthy to get hopes up." Tony leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms, looking away. Sharpay smiled at him. "Hey, will you work with me here?" Tony shrugged, still not looking at her.

"I dunno," he muttered. "I really want us to make enough money, especially for the wedding and all." He scratched his head and sat back up straight, half-heartedly biting into another sandwich. Sharpay watched him for a moment, then smiled.

"If we don't get the job, we'll just pick ourselves up again and move on," she said confidently. "And we'll work harder than ever so we'll do better next time." She wrapped an arm around Tony's neck and pulled him towards her. "That's our motto, remember? Be happy and don't worry." Lila nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," she said, pouring more juice. "Don't worry, it's not like we're going to let you get married in a dumpster or anything." Tony smiled wryly. He leaned back on his chair, relaxing a little more.

Okay," he said. He smiled at the girls, the optimism returning to his brown eyes. "I'll try and stop worrying. I mean, it's no big deal, right?" Sharpay smirked and returned to her sandwich.

"Just keep saying that to yourself, and you'll be fine," she said, giving him a wink.

They ate lunch for about ten more minutes, the door sign flipped to 'CLOSED' for the time being so no one would come in. However, someone did come in. Unknowingly to the trio as they went back to their quiet lunch, the door opened very quietly, not even setting off the bell, and sneaked up silently over to them.

A soft pair of hands suddenly came up from behind Tony and covered his eyes. Tony, blindfolded, dropped his lunch in surprise, but then smiled and placed his hands over them.

"Let me guess…" he said slowly, pretending to think. "Hmmm… soft hands… " He touched the fingers carefully. "Manicured… feels like some expensive work… they smell like… hmmm… carnations and honey… let's see… oh, what do we have here… the left hand seems to have some sort of ring on it… a small rock too…" A girlish giggle came from behind him. Tony smiled to himself and pulled the hands down. "Is it… my fiancée?" He tilted his head back, and another giggle erupted, a ripple of rich brown hair sweeping onto his shoulders as Emily West leaned down and kissed him.

She was the baby of the group, as said before, but it didn't mean that she was at all naive or childish. A stunning young woman with brown hair and honey highlights in contrast to her blonde older sister, she shared Lila's sophistication and grace, with a petite figure, elegant and slender. Her matching blue eyes only brought out her sweet smile, a sense of serenity from her poised, delicate features.

Emily was an independent soul, working hard and aiming for the moon each time. She first met Tony when she was 13, when Lila first brought him home for a school project, not that anything happened then. They finally started becoming a couple after Tony asked her out after her 17th birthday, and they had been together ever since. In fact, the sole reason Emily was so excited in getting the new job was so she and Tony could make enough money for their upcoming wedding in the mid-summer. Emily threw her mane of hair over her shoulder and sat down next to Tony, taking the other half of his sandwich.

"I'm exhausted," she exclaimed, laying back onto her chair. Tony placed his arm around her. Emily took a bite of her sandwich. "You know how awful it is to be stuck in this weather in Rush Hour." Lila just smiled and poured her little sister a glass of juice. She and Sharpay carefully watched her as she drank it, knowing it was best to let Emily breathe before she revealed the news.

She downed the drink and let out a sigh, leaning back on her seat and snatching the magazine from Tony and fanning herself with it.

"I went to meet the retail guy in Santa Fe," she said finally. Sharpay, Lila and Tony leaned forward excitedly.

"And?" Lila said, the eagerness almost killing her. Emily exhaled deeply, her gaze dropping sadly to the front table. Lila's smile faded, and she frowned. "Well? Speak up. Did we get the job?" Emily didn't answer. The smiles on Tony and Sharpay's face began to fade too, and Emily waited until the very last moment when she knew they were all thinking everything was over. Her pink lips curled up into the brightest smile.

"We're in!" she shouted. "We're in! Come on, I was just playing with you! We're really in!" Sharpay's jaw dropped, Tony choked on his drink, Lila just sat there, stunned. Emily laughed at their dubious expressions, but after a few seconds the words sank in. Lila jumped up and punched the air, her golden hair bouncing around her joyous face. Emily pulled Tony up and wrapped herself around him and he lifted her off her feet, both of them shouting in celebration. Sharpay just couldn't contain herself, jumping up onto the counter.

All their hard work, all their years of sweat and blood into their beloved business had finally paid off. They were moving into new territory now, better lives with better and bright futures. Now, with this promising new proposition in hand, the team was ready to take on anything.

"Albuquerque!" Emily said, breathless. "Wow, I've never been there before. Oh, Sharpay… you grew up in Albuquerque. Is it wonderful there?" Sharpay leapt down from the counter, landing gracefully in front of her friends. She smirked.

"You'll love it there," she said reassuringly. She looked over at Lila and Tony. "You'll all love it, and it'll be a piece of cake fitting in."

"But where are we going to stay?" Lila asked, finally calming down and straightening her dress. "Are we getting apartments, or are we staying at hotels for a little while?" Sharpay smiled and shook her head.

"My folks left me the Evans Manor before they moved to Toronto," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "It has 6 master bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a kitchen the size of this entire boutique, and a pool." Tony's face lit up at the word pool.

"We're allowed to live with you?" he asked. He then frowned as an afterthought hit him. "Are you sure that's okay?" He glanced down at Emily, then back. "I-I mean, we don't want to cause too much trouble. It'd sure be unfair to take advantage of-of your house like that." Oh, Tony, always thinking of others. Emily smiled and wrapped herself around Tony's arm. Sharpay just shook her head again.

"Oh, it's no problem," she said warmly. "I'd be glad to have some company in that big house. Well… I guess my twin brother Ryan might still be staying there. You'll finally be able to meet him again."

Only Lila and Tony had ever met Ryan, but because he lived in Albuquerque and they lived in Fairvale, it was hard for them to all meet up. Upon their first encounter, both Sharpay's friends seemed to like Ryan, so she was pretty sure Emily would get along well with him too. Sharpay jumped up and down on the spot, barely able to contain her excitement at going back home. She picked up her glass of juice and held it up in the air.

"To S.E.A.L," she said. The rest followed her lead.

"To S.E.A.L," they all repeated. The glasses chimed against each other, and everyone drank to the boutique's health. Sharpay could clearly see that everyone was still smiling as they finished the apple juice.

"To S.E.A.L," she said again. "And to Albuquerque." Another toast. Sharpay grinned.

"We're coming home."

Troy's not in this chapter. Couldn't fit it all in. You'll learn more about what he's become in the next chapter. ;) You'll meet him, and you'll find out how his life turned out.