The Switching Chapter 1, a high school musical fanfic

Troy was pretending to be Ryan for a week as they were about to visit Miami, Florida. As well as Sharpay who have been asked by Gabriella to pretend to be her. Will they ever find out who's who?

"The Switching" – a fanfic by NorikoTheGhost

Troy x Sharpay and Ryan x Gabriella

Just a short fic that wouldn't go beyond ten chapters (I guess, still not sure 'bout that). Hope you enjoy this one… :)

Don't own High School Musical or any of its characters. Read and Review. :)

Day 01

Troy Bolton watched Ryan Evans, sleeping soundlessly beside him on the bus going to Miami, Florida for the summer. How he ended up pretending to be him is still a wonder to his mind. Even if they are best of friends since their freshman year at L.A. college, he knew that they don't have much in common. And they were just roommates which is why they ended up being the best of friends.

Ryan loves wearing hats, not to mention polo shirts and leathered shoes – like he was in a theater! On the other hand, he likes jeans, simple shirts, and rubber shoes. And there's more: Ryan loves Broadway music, while he loves listening to R Ryan listens to classical as well, while he prefers the sound of modern music. How they ended up switching personalities for a week felt weird and unbelievable.

Sharpay Evans was reluctantly pulling her own pink luggage as they arrived on Albuquerque Airport. She was hesitantly following the cheerful and excited Gabriella Montez. She was rolling her eyes and mentally kicking herself upon looking at their destination: Miami.

"Sharpay?" Gabriella called out in a sing-song manner. She shot her a look. "You can't attract cute boys with those glaring eyes of yours and curled up lips." She told her with the same manner she had called her name. "You look like you're going to kill somebody and boys don't like it."

The two of them becoming best of friends was all her aching tooth's fault! If she hadn't had a tooth ache one Sunday afternoon, she might have not met Gabriella – another patient of her dentist. Partly, she blames her love for sweets in that matter.

She smirked sarcastically at her new-found best friend. "Why don't we just go to New York and watch Broadway instead?" she suggested sarcastically. "Then I wouldn't have to be you!" she added, rolling her eyes in mid-air.

Gabriella pouted like a child while walking towards her. "But, Sharpay. I really want to meet this guy and meeting him through you, pretending to be me, would be the most… err, adventurous experience we'd be doing for a week."

"Whatever!" she replied. "Who is this guy anyway?"

Gabriella grinned. "You'll find out soon."

"Hey, Ryan!" Troy was shaking Ryan to wake him up. "We're here!" but the blonde boy seemed to be having a wonderful dream that he didn't want to wake up anytime sooner. Troy starts shaking him more. "RYAN!" he half-yelled.

And upon hearing his name being called in a half-yell manner brings back the memory of his twin sister. "WHOA! Coming, Shar!" he called out as he opened his eyes in shock. He turned to Troy who looked surprised by the way he had woken up. Then after a second, Troy burst out in laughter. "What the heck's funny, Troy?" he asked.

"Who the hell is 'Shar'?" he asked in between his moment of laughter. "Is she the one I'm supposed to meet? Man, that name sounds like 'queen'!" he added. "Shar, like 'Czar'! Get it?" He joked lamely. Again, he was bursting out in laughter.

Ryan, however, didn't find the humor of it. "Czar, Troy, is an Egyptian term for king." He corrected him, cutting off his best friend. "And Shar is someone you don't wanna meet!" he added. "Even though she's my sister." He finished, whispering more to himself.

Luckily, Troy seemed not to hear those last words from Ryan as he was still laughing. "Czar or Shar! Let's get going." He told him while standing up from his seat. "I'd love to meet every babe there is on this resort while I'm still me, and not you."

Sharpay was still glancing over at Gabriella's direction as she was displaying her sweetest of smile to the flight stewardess, giving them their own bottled water that Gabriella asked for the both of them.

How she would pretend to be Gabriella without her being sarcastic, cold, and blunt is something she finds hard to do. And even if she had told herself a million times that pretending to be Gabriella would be her first "workshop" in becoming Hollywood's next famous celebrity, she still thinks it wouldn't turn out good.

"Thank you." She heard Gabriella's sweet voice as the flight stewardess made a turn opposite their direction. "Here's your water, Sharpay." She told her while handing her the bottled water she ordered and started opening her own.

Sharpay grabbed it and turned to the window to see the white and fluffy-looking clouds. They're really going to Miami and there is absolutely no turning back now. How the heck am I supposed to pretend I'm her? She asked herself. We're so not alike!

Ryan was looking all over the place for Troy's whereabouts. And at last, he saw him near the bar area, his hands were all over the two girls in yellow and lavender bikinis. He started walking towards them. "Troy!" he called out.

Troy turned to him, together with the two girls. His eyes were dozing off. Ryan could only guess that he had too much alcohol intake, and his evidence was right on Troy's right hand – a glass of whisky. "Hey, Ryan. Wanna join us?" he asked smilingly.

Ryan sneered as the girl wearing the yellow bikini was showing a hint that she's interested to him. "No, thank you." He said. "We have to go; she'll be here in any moment!"

Troy threw him a confused look.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Let's just go!" he said, pulling Troy away from the girls who looked stunned.

Sharpay halted on going out of the airport upon arriving to Miami. She turned to Gabriella whose face turned pale and wasn't even displaying a single happiness on her face. She rolled her eyes yet again. "What the hell is wrong with you now, Gabriella?" she asked coldly.

Gabriella gulped while turning to Sharpay. She was even breathing fast. "We've arrived." She announced nervously.

Sharpay's jaw dropped and before it could be suspended in mid-air, she was impatiently striding towards her best friend. "Oh. My. Sparkling. God." she muttered. "Gabriella?" she called out impatiently with disbelieving look on her own face. "We've come all this way from Albuquerque! Don't tell me you're going to back down with your anxiety attack now?"

Gabriella gave out another pout. "I was just thinking…"

"Zip it!" Sharpay cut her off, her own hands motioning like she was zipping her own lips in silence before pointing a finger to Gabriella. "You and I are going to meet whoever your chat mate is and get this over with before I explode the entire Miami pretending to be you, got it?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Good." Sharpay calmed. "Now, let's get going."

"Tell me again why I should be wearing…" Troy looks down on his clothes. "…this!"

Ryan had brought those new clothes for Troy to wear upon meeting his own chat mate. He crossed his arm looking at his best friend's not-so-drunk figure. "Because I told her I'd be wearing that polo shirt." He answered flatly. "Can you just fix yourself before she thinks I'm a complete waste?" he exclaimed, looking disappointed at Troy. It has been almost an hour since he found Troy all drunk with the girls.

"But, I'm… fixed."

Ryan hit his forehead. "Clueless!" he whispered. "We're supposed to meet over the restaurant just across the streets in about fifteen minutes." He told him, changing the topic, while looking at his own wrist watch. "And remember, you should act like you're a gentleman. I don't want her to think I'm a pervert, Troy." He added.

Troy frowned. "But, I am…"

"Kissing every girl you meet under the influence of alcohol isn't considered under the status of being a gentleman." He cut him off again with his own lecturing about being a gentleman.

Troy massaged his own temple, as if he just had a bad case of head ache. "Why did I agree on pretending to be you again?"

"Because you're the one who has the guts and confidence when it comes to things like this!" Gabriella answered and zipping the zipper of the simple blue dress on Sharpay. "Honestly, do you think guys would go for a stuttering date like me?"

Sharpay stopped to think. "Okay, you made your point." She told her matter-of-factly as she faced the mirror and gave a complete shock on her face. "I look…" Gabriella waited for her to finish. "Can't I just wear my sparkling dress with a touch of pink in it?" she asked instead.

Gabriella crossed her arms. "Sharpay?"

"I was just suggesting, Gabriella!"

Gabriella took a deep breath. "Just remember." She started while she readied her fingers for counting, completely changing their topic. "Do not give him deadly glares. Do not roll eyes on him. Do not be cold while interacting with him. Do not…"

"I GET IT!" Sharpay snapped. "Jesus, Gabriella! Why don't you just summarize it with one simple sentence like 'do not try being yourself, Sharpay'!" she glared, imitating how Gabriella had emphasized every 'not' word on her pointers.

Troy sits patiently on the table Ryan had reserved for them and the girl named Gabriella. He was looking at his wrist watch from time to time. Just five more minutes. He thought. He was still under the influence of alcohol but he was still confident that whoever this Gabriella that the real Ryan wanted to meet will definitely enjoy his company.

He was wondering of how this girl would look like. But basing on Ryan's taste and on how he pictured her to him, he imagined her having a smiley, worry-free face, with sweet voice and a child-like manner of interaction. He wondered how her hair would be like – if it would be long, curly or straight, but he's definitely sure he'd be seeing a brunette because every blonde he had met were all perky or sometimes, acting like a Paris Hilton-wannabe.

He even wondered about how her lips would be like. And just upon imagining her lips makes his grin grew wider. A thought of feeling how her kiss would felt like gave him a reason to be a bit thankful upon agreeing why he had agreed to pretend he's Ryan.

Sharpay has just entered the restaurant, looking out for a guy wearing a blue polo with the same shade as her dress. Her lip, once again, curled up at the thought how lame could Gabriella and this 'Ryan' guy for wanting to meet, matching the color of their outfits.

And hearing the name Ryan, she was reminded of her hat-loving twin brother. Her eyes grew bigger. Damn it! She snapped her fingers and bit her lower lip. I'd better not be dating my twin brother or I swear I'm gonna hate my own self! That would be so disgusting much! She added while shaking her head.

"Are you alright, miss?" a servant asked when he saw the expression upon Sharpay's face.

She glared at the servant. "Yeah, I am! Now, shoo!" she demanded and with a scared look on the poor servant's face, he went off her way. "Actually, wait!" she called back and the servant went back to her, looking at his own feet. "Is there any Ryan who reserved a table for two?" she asked.

The servant looked at her. "Yes, miss." He answered. "In fact, he's waiting for you at the balcony area." He added as he was pointing a hand on the balcony. "This way, please."

Sharpay let him lead the way to her date, wishing hard that it shouldn't be his twin brother.

"There he is." He pointed out at the guy whose back is facing her way. His dirty blonde hair is nothing like the hair of her own twin. She held her left chest as she exhaled a victorious air.

"Thanks." She said shortly and made her way to her date. "Ryan?" she called.

Gabriella was marching over their hotel suite. She couldn't feel at ease knowing that she had sent the Ice Princess as a proxy to her own date. She held her head and fanned herself with her own hands, taking in every air she could breathe. "Relax, Gabriella. Relax." She was telling her own self to calm down.

But she couldn't relax – she was nowhere near the term 'relax'. She wanted to check if everything was turning out right. She wanted to see if Sharpay is not scaring Ryan. She wanted to know if Sharpay was being nice to the guy.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" she asked herself. Sharpay is never near being nice – she never was!

She pulled her coat and white hand bag. She has decided to check out on them. Even just a peak on how they are doing would be fine for her own peace of mind. She opened the door of their suite and headed out.

Ryan was on the elevator, waiting patiently for him to reach the ground floor. Just as the elevator bore the number eight, it flew open and a brunette haired girl was revealed. She looked worried, scrunching her nose and biting her lower lip and later, she was also biting her own finger.

Ryan laughed.

The girl shot a glare on him. "Excuse me?" she called out to him. "Are you laughing at me?"

Ryan's smile and laughter faded in an instant as he turned to the brunette girl. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Miss." He apologized instantly. "It's just that, you looked so cute when you were scrunching your nose." He explained. "I'm R—Troy!" he held out his hand. "Name's Troy."

The girl looked at his hands for a moment before she finally accepted his hand. "G—Sharpay!" she introduced herself by her best friend's name. "My name's Sharpay." She said again and smiled widely at him, her eyes even twinkling.

Ryan frowned a bit and forced a smile. He has only known one Sharpay in his entire life and that was his twin sister – blunt, cold, and always sarcastic. But this girl was totally the opposite of Sharpay and he finds it hard to imagine his twin to have a wide smile on her face (except of course if she's inflicting pain to another person) or the sparkle to be on her eyes and not on her dress.

"Nice… nice name." he finished off lamely.

Troy was looking at his date with frown. But of course, those frown were done in secret. He couldn't believe that his date displays a smile, which he thought she just forced them to appear on her lips, but has a cold-looking eyes looking at him for quite some time.

"So, uhm…" he started. "Gab-Gabriella."

Sharpay looked at him. They were actually done with dinner and they are now drinking their glass of red wine. She did not say anything; instead she just waited for him to finish his sentence. But when nothing came, that was when she had decided to speak for the first time. "What?" she asked impatiently.

Troy was slightly taken aback on how she had reacted. He felt like she was nothing like Ryan had described her to be. "Uhm… wanna go for a walk?"

Sharpay sighed and forced a smile – a sarcastic smile to be in fact. "Yeah. Let's do that."

"So, Sharpay." Ryan started calling out to her feeling a little awkward at the sound of the name coming out of his own lips.

Gabriella turned her head, she had mentally noted herself that whenever he would call her by her best friend's name, she'd respond. She smiled. "Yes, Troy?"

"Do you, by any chance, want to have a dinner… with me… there?" he asked, pointing at the restaurant just across their hotel suite soon after the elevator opened for them at the lobby area. Honestly, he just wants to use that as an excuse to check out on how Troy was doing. He glanced over to the brunette's direction. Make that as an excuse as well to know her better. He mentally added.

Gabriella smiled wider. She also needed to go there and going with this guy would be reasonable for her to go there. And if ever Sharpay would see her there, at least she'd be able to say that she's on a date – if ever she would believe that excuse of hers. "Sure." She answered her and her eyes were sparkling once more.

"Great." He responded. "Shall we?" he asked, moving his arm in a position where she could cling her hand on him.

Gabriella accepted his arm and she, did, put her arms on his as they made their way on the entrance of their hotel suite towards the restaurant across the street.

Sharpay and Troy were walking apart from each other. So apart that if they hadn't known better, one would think they don't know each other and they're not on a date. The hotel suite they were in is just near the beach of Miami, thus making the place with lots of tourists and nationals on it – some are walking with their own glam attire while others were on their swimwear.

Sharpay started to feel she doesn't belong. She was supposed to be one of the girls wearing glamorous attire, or much better – she'd be out with her own swimwear and hitting up with the cute boys she has spotted on the area.

Troy, on the other hand, wanted to get out of the clothes Ryan had put on him. The flops were alright but he still felt like gay for some reason. The polo shirt was the first thing he wanted to get out of.

And seeing his date was less hot-looking than those of the girls he's checking out walking along with them makes him wants to wrangle Ryan's neck for making him agree to pretend to be him. But he agreed anyway and he decided that for himself, so he partially blames himself for that.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he started grabbing Sharpay's hand, almost dragging her along with him. "Hey!" she called back to him while she wanted to break free from his grip. "Where are you taking me?"

Troy stopped to face her. "I wanna have fun." He told her. "With you." He added, looking at her directly in the eyes. "Don't you wanna have fun with me?" he asked, putting on his best puppy eyes.

"Are you kidding?" she asked gently instead. "I wanna have fun, too!"

"Then let's go!" Troy said excitedly as they both went on a bar near them.

Gabriella was looking where Sharpay and her date was supposed to be. They both asked for a table near the balcony area and they were lucky to have themselves arranged a table where they wanted to be seated.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, pulling her attention towards him.

"Uh-huh." She responded quickly as she took the menu from the waiter.

As soon as Ryan's date was busy looking over at the menu, he was the one who was looking over at the balcony area to where Troy should be. He was hoping that his best friend didn't kidnapped the date he was supposed to have and raped the poor girl because Troy was using his name. On the contrary, he would still be the one to be blamed because he's the one who asked Troy to pretend to be him.

"Troy…" Gabriella called out to him and he was the one who was pulled back to reality. "Your order?"

"Oh…"

Sharpay had drunk too much more than she used to take. She was still on the right mind though; she's just feeling a little dizzy. But who cares, anyway? At least right now she could have all the fun she wanted to have. And Ryan, her date, isn't so much of a bore.

She knew that he's the one who is drunk. He couldn't even refuse a glass of drink from every girl who went his way. She smirked at the sight of that. She just let him be, though. But when a guy was putting his arms around her waist and she started feeling uncomfortable, she pushed him away sending him one of her deadly glares. "PERVERT!" she yelled over the loud music and slapped the guy.

Troy saw it but he never went for her aid. Instead, he was one of the few witnesses who whistled and teased them. "THAT'S… my date." He said more to himself than to the crowed. And when he saw her leaving him, but the pervert guy was tailing her that was when he decided to go for her aid. He pulled her beside him and faced the pervert guy himself. "Hey, back off!" he warned the guy. "This is my girl!"

And without saying anything else, he pulled Sharpay out of the bar.

Both Gabriella and Ryan sighed. There were no sign of Sharpay or Troy in the restaurant. That was when they have decided to return to their respective suites and exchanged phone numbers as well. They were both hoping that none of their best friends had done anything stupid to make them feel shame about their selves.

Troy, once again, had pulled the blonde girl towards him as she was near her death line. She had slipped over the pavement while a car was fast approaching her direction. In the process, they both landed on the ground, Sharpay being on top of Troy.

He grinned naughtily. "Now this is one hot position."

Sharpay looked shocked.

"I've never let any girl be on top of me." He added naughtily. "But for you, I'd make an exception."

Suddenly, she felt her ears reddened. She stood up and Troy followed. "I'm going home." She told him without really intending to let him know. As soon as she started walking towards their suite, Troy managed to follow her still.

"Can I come?" he asked naughtily once more as the alcohol was absorbing him.

Sharpay didn't respond. She wanted her bed badly before the alcohol she had taken in could take over her mind and sleep with a man she barely knew. She doesn't want to give up her virginity with the likes of him.

--author's note--

As you can see, I've made Troy like that. He's just plain clueless at times (only when he's under the influence of alcohol, that is). And Ryan's… well, gentleman…

Ryan and Troy, as well as Sharpay and Gabriella, are the opposite of each other and I made that plot to see if they can pull off this whole "switching" idea. And as you can see, only Troy and Sharpay are actually "trying" to be Ryan and Gabriella (who are really the masterminds of the whole switching thing)…

Also, this is my way of apologizing to everyone who has been waiting for the update (or the last chapter) of my fic Stranded. I haven't started typing the last part yet – I'm really, really sorry. Hope this one will make it up to you guys… :)

--preview--

Troy (to Sharpay): "Know what? No one has ever turned me down and it won't be you who would break my record."

Sharpay (smirking to Troy): "Ha! Too late! I've already turned you down about a thousand times now."

Troy (smirking back at Sharpay): "But I haven't given up yet."

--so, uhm…review? :)--