The Playmaker's Naked Truth

Chapter I

The Invitation

My dearest friends,

It has been a long time since high school and I'd dying to see you all again – literally. It has been sad news to me to know that I was diagnosed with cancer and that I only have a few months left to live.

This has made me reflect back upon my highschool days where I've learned to spread my wings, thanks to you guys!

And now, before I breathe my last, I would wish to reminisce the old days with you. If you all don't mind, I would like you all to spend a weekend with me in my home. I have attached a card and a map with this invitation.

I hope you all could come!

Sincerely yours,

Kelsi Nielsen

~***~

Troy

NBA's star player unwillingly entered his fiancée's home and inwardly grimaced as she flung her body to him. Gabriella peppered Troy's face with kisses and he forced a smile all the while wishing it was Sharpay who was doing that. His little Broadway queen was doing a show in New York and he thought that if he drugged Gabriella tonight maybe he could catch in on a late flight. He smiled at the thought which made Gabriella smile even bigger and give him a long kiss on the lips. It took Troy all his strength not to gag and run away.

"So, what's up?" he casually asked her after she calmed down a bit and led him to her study.

"Kelsi wrote us a letter! And it was addressed 'Mr. and Mrs. Bolton!'" she squealed with delight.

"Oh, someone's excited for us…" he said, though inwardly he was cringing.

"Well, don't you want to know what it says?" Gabriella squealed again and Troy forced a smile.

"What?" he eagerly asked; he was curious to know.

"She invited us to stay with her for the weekend. Do you have a game?" she asked not looking at him and started arranging papers on her desk. Troy rolled his eyes, she should know, she practically makes my schedule… he thought.

"Well?" Gabriella snapped her eyes looking sharply at Troy who shook his head. Gabriella nodded and continued her work as Troy kissed her cheek and left her home.

Troy sighed and rode his car back to his own home. Suddenly his phone rang and he smiled when he read the name of the caller. It was Sharpay…

"Hello?" he said eagerly into the phone and narrowly avoided swerving.

"Troy, I'll just call you back." Sharpay said tartly.

"No! Please talk to me…" Troy pleaded and tried to make a puppy dog facing hoping the voice would match the expression.

"Honey, I'd rather talk to you alive than by your grave…" she cooed and Troy grinned.

"Yeah, alright, I'll just park by a curb…" he said but Sharpay chuckled.

"I call you at home ok?" she said and hung up. Troy frowned and drove faster.

As he got home, Sharpay called as promised and the two chatted for a long time. After they reluctantly put down the phone, Troy went to his room and sat at the edge of his bed. He really wanted to end it with Gabriella. They've been engaged for 2 years now and the fire just burned out of him. But she seems so clingy to the point of paranoia she even tried to commit suicide when he walked out on her after attempting to end their relationship.

He sighed and laid back. Troy Bolton didn't know what to do…

~***~

Gabriella

After Troy left, the lawyer sighed and went about her business. She had a lot of cases to handle and yet she found time to be at her friend's side in her time of need. She sighed and glanced at a picture of her and Troy together. It was the time where their love was strong enough to conquer the world. But now, it had become a façade for she was in love with another man. The feeling was mutual but the man was adamant on not leaving his wife. So she kept Troy, to taunt him, though she knew he could see right through it.

But it didn't matter, it hit a nerve and she was begging him to fight for their love. Why can't he just budge?! Everyone knew the marriage was over, his kids already accepted her – why is he trying to maintain an image that was shattered?

She sighed and shook her head as she felt the pang of guilt course through her body. It was more complicated than that. Gov. David Andre knew it too. Mrs. Andre was the only witness to the murder Gabriella and David committed; they killed the competition.

Gabriella contemplated on killing Priscilla, but that would look bad on the kids. She sighed once more and tried to focus on her job at hand. The phone rang and her hands shook as she answered it.

"Yes?" she said, willing her shaky voice to calm down.

"Hello Gabby…" the sickly sweet voice of Priscilla Andre came through the phone.

"Hey Priscilla, how are you?" she said in a false merry voice to match hers.

"I'm here honey, wondering why on earth my husband wants to divorce me." Priscilla spat. Gabriella was taken aback, so her lover finally found the guts to divorce her!

"Oh…really; now why would he?" Gabriella asked, feeling apprehensive.

"He said he found someone else." Priscilla continued in her utterly venomous sweet voice. Gabriella was flinching, that woman wanted something out of this.

"Would you be my divorce lawyer?" she asked and Gabriella nearly gagged. No!

"I…would…no. I'm sorry Priscilla, I have to go out of town." Gabriella said after suddenly remembering Kelsi's invitation; thank God for that! Priscilla huffed and slammed down the phone.

~***~

Sharpay

After talking to Troy, Sharpay danced around like life couldn't get any better and she sang at the top of her lungs. She loved talking to her lover and everyday prayed for something to happen to Gabriella that would end her relationship with Troy and leave him available for her.

She went down and did some shopping and when she came back, the man at the front desk of her building handed her a bunch of letters which she rifled through until she got to her floor. Mostly it was bills then she noticed and embossed one and opened it. Sharpay read through Kelsi's letter and her heart melted for the girl she used to scare the living day lights out of in high school.

Sharpay checked her schedule and noticed that she was free for the weekend. Calling up Troy, she learned that he too was invited. She decided to go and started picking out what outfits to wear. Good thing she went shopping a while ago, Sharpay felt ready to face the weekend.

She was also secretly hoping that Troy and her could get some alone time since Kelsi and Gabriella were very close and would most probably talk the night away. Lord know she missed his touch, his kisses – everything!

The distance from New York to New Mexico was starting to get intolerable as she started to wait impatiently for the weekend to come. Maybe Troy would also have a change of heart and leave that little bitch for her. Sharpay smiled wistfully at the thought.

She almost forgot to call her brother who was currently lounging off somewhere or busy with the family business. He said that he received a letter too and was looking forward to meeting her and going to Kelsi's. He sounded apprehensive to her and she didn't question him. Not yet…

~***~

Ryan

Finishing his yoga class, Ryan Evans went up to his office and looked through the business for the day. Suddenly, his VP burst into the office and told him that a riot had broken out in his new property. Ryan Evans was confused, how come?

It turned out that Wilfred Tipton didn't want to face the music. Through thorough research he learned that his Mr. Tipton bought a forest which he cleared of trees and caused flashfloods in the nearby town. Realizing that it was bad to put up business with a murderous town beside it, he sold it to Vance Evans. His father didn't realize what the property was since he thought it was a generous offer from an old friend.

Now Ryan was the one to take the heat and he didn't like it one bit. The riot was still controllable as it is but if it leaks to the press then the reputation of Lava Springs is going to go down and he'll have a hard time salvaging his father's legacy. It had to be kept on the down he sat in his plush leather chair, his secretary entered and handed him an embossed letter. It was from Kelsi, his old flame back in college. As he read the letter, he felt a pang of guilt. They lost touch after college; right after Vance gave him the company. Last he heard, Kelsi was a famous concert pianist and composer.

Sharpay called and asked him if he received a letter and he said yes. Then he told her that he'll meet her there and that he was looking forward to it. The siblings had a lot of catching up to do. He had to tell Sharpay what's been happening, or else she'll bite his head off. He knew he sounded apprehensive on the phone and that Sharpay would question him. He needed to get ready…

~***~

Chad

Reverend Danforth finished the mass and went outside to shake hands with his flock. People went up to their preacher with an afro and talked about things and such. Then he went home and sorted through the mail, bringing the bunch into his humble abode and sat on his recliner, his busted knee was giving him intense pain again.

He noticed an embossed letter and opened it. After reading the letter, he gave a short prayer for Kelsi. Then he opened his other letters which turned out to be bills and he stacked them on a corner table.

Going back to his recliner, he opened the TV only to find an ongoing basketball game. He scoffed and quickly switched channels, his busted knee paining him even more. Just like Troy, Chad was a star player on the NBA and his career was booming when he fell during an important game.

He could still see it in his mind's eye. He faked left, break right, all the while remembering Coach Bolton. He ran up to the net and jumped! It was going to be a slam dunk which would be the tie breaker, the crowd was going wild – they were all sure of the win! Then Chad felt a hand hit his foot and suddenly the world was meeting him faster than anything else. Then he felt blinding pain in his knee and he saw blood oozing out.

Everything was a blur but one thing was certain – he was not going to be able to play again. Thank God for Taylor, who stood by his side all through out and to Gerard, his son, who didn't care if his daddy couldn't play anymore.

When Chad was able to move on, he received a terrible letter. It was from the player who grazed his foot promising to kill him. It turned out that he had psychological problems and almost made good on his word. Now Chad was hiding as a reverend, he couldn't fathom why but the moment that man is gone, he and his family would resurface.

~***~

Taylor

She drove up to her home and deposited little Gerard to his room before sitting beside her husband who was making another sermon. After mixing chemicals all day and taking care of a hyper little 5 years old she was ready for some loving.

"Hey baby…" she cooed in Chad's ear. He smiled and turned his head to give her a kiss.

"Hey yourself…" he joked and she laughed as Chad wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm so tired baby." Taylor said as she snuggled on Chad's chest.

"Oh yeah? You must be – I heard there was an accident in the lab." Chad said in a worried tone.

"It was terrible." Taylor muttered as she tensed a bit. Her husband didn't know that she was responsible for the accident though no one knew.

Taylor was a chemist for a company that sold cleaning agents and the company was being sponsored by a well known senator, Paul Higgins. He said that in lieu of his environmental campaign, he is launching a campaign that promotes environmental friendly cleaning products. That day he was walking around the lab and Taylor forgot he was there and placed a flask of acid beside him. Unfortunately, Sen. Paul Higgins chose that moment to flourish his hand and accidentally knock the acid onto him burning his thighs.

He was rushed to the hospital and no one was the wiser. The company sent everyone home and Taylor picked up her son from the daycare center and went grocery.

"We got a letter from Kels…" Chad whispered into her ear and Taylor looked up.

"Really?! How did she find us?" Taylor was not really eager about the news. If anyone can find them, chances are, that psychotic dude could too.

"I have no idea. Chill Tay; let's just go to Kelsi's. It's been three years, what's the risk?" Chad pleaded and Taylor was also considering going. It meant that she could escape persecution.

"Who's going to take care of Gerard?" she asked and Chad told her he fixed it. He called their neighbor and they agreed to take care of his son for the weekend.

Taylor was a bit skeptical but she kept quiet. After all, it's been a long time since she saw Kelsi last. She missed those girl times she spent with her and Gabriella. Suddenly, she started looking forward to the weekend ahead…

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM. I do not own Cluedo.
I'm just a writer hit with inspiration.

Now I know I gave the characters some dark backgrounds, but that would be important in the story ahead. If you read the summary, I bet it'll shed some light on my little tale. And if you read Cluedo or Clue, I bet you'll understand.. :) Also if your wondering why it be Kelsi, I want to assure you that I have nothing against her. I was actually thinking of a character sinister enough for the job but since it couldn't be Sharpay, I thought that maybe Kelsi Nielsen could be it. She's the kind of girl you'd never really think would pull off some dark trick that would be revealed in the next chapters to come.. :)

This is a Troypay fanfic guys, though the tale wouldn't really revolve around them. They're a kind of sub-plot.. :)

I'll also need your reviews on this one, especially on the last chapter! :) You have to tell me who killed Kelsi, where she was killed and with what weapon. This is gonna be fun! :D Don't worry though, I'll give more instructions by the end of the fanfic, I just hope you'll stick with me all througout.

Well I'll stop ranting for now, next chapter's nearly done! I'll post it as soon as possible.. :)

*I've changed the heading from Prologue to Chapter I...