This piece was written for a comp, so C.C. is appreciated.
A note: I know this kind of goes off the point but I've hade three auditions and two shows this week and this just came to me and I couldn't shake it. So, I know that this kind of leaves the original prompt (Prompt 1) so I you want to put me through, I'd love it, but I'd also completely understand if you don't. I really did not have time to write anything else.
The curtains drew back slowly. Her hands twitching slightly, Sharpay clapped them slowly together. She brought them only once or twice to each other before letting them curl up into fists by her side. She, Sharpay Michelle Ashley Evans, was sat on an itchy auditorium seat staring as the rippling red silk curtains pulled back to reveal them. The two people who had single handedly ruined her life. Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. Her eyebrows furrowed and her heart thumped painfully in her throat. Her face creasing, she held back tears. Gabriella just strides into her school, taking over each and every social group, one by one. Was it not enough that she was the smartest girl in school? And him. Was it not enough that he had girl kissing the hallways he walked down? Was it not enough that besides being loved by teachers and pupils alike, they had each other to love?
Then there was her. She wasn't anything special anymore. Her hair was lank and greasy, her make up barely there. Her clothes were comfortable and plain now. No sparkles, no glitter, no bright colours. She couldn't see a point anymore. No one looked her anymore. No one wanted her. Nobody cared. Her sparkling blue eyes darted around in her sockets as these thought flew through her mind. Her eyes welled up fast and her mouth twitched at either edge. A single, salty tear trickled down the contours of her face. Now not only was she upset, but she was beginning to burn inside with rage.
It was actually a great turn-out. The soccer players, the math freaks, the skater dudes, the basketball team, they were all here. Mrs Darbus was even putting on an extra performance. Sharpay would have loved it. Apart from the fact that SHE WASN'T IN IT. She was sat with everybody else, blending in, whilst Troy and Gabriella took her and Ryan's parts. Oh, and Ryan! He didn't even care. He now hung round with the skaters and punks, dressing now, not in what Sharpay told him too, but baggy jeans and black band t-shirts. Now she walked the crowded corridors of East High alone.
As the first half drew to a close and the curtains concealed the new all-star duo, Sharpay got up from her seat as everyone else did the same, the ping off chairs flipping back up and dragging of sneakers feet could be heard. She followed the throng off people to where snacks and such were being served. Chad, Taylor, Ryan and Jason were all stood in a single corner, talking discursively. Making her way over, head hung low over her chest and dragging her feet along the carpeted ground; she grabbed a pretzel and stood on the outer rim off the group. She listened to them discuss everything from Jock straps to the new rims on Chad's car, but didn't say anything other that short grunts off agreement. The conversation now turned to the play.
"They've been brilliant, haven't they?" Taylor said, sipping her cola.
"True that!" Chad agreed his arm firmly around his girlfriend's shoulders. Sharpay handed tightened around her pretzel, sending small flecks onto the floor.
"And you've been really cool about it all, you two," Taylor said. Sharpay felt a surge of blood rush to her face, flushing her cheeks a bright peach colour. The next thing out of Chad's mouth sent her over the edge. He put a hard reassuringly on her shoulder.
"After, if somebody's better than you, somebody's better than you, right?" He said, kindly. Sharpay hand balled into a fist, sending the shattered pretzel all over her shirt, shoes and the carpeted ground.
The angry gremlin that had been brewing inside of her suddenly burst.
"Shut up Chad! They are not better than me! I am the best performer in this school and you all damn well know it! That disgusting geek and her egotistical boyfriend are only on that stage because Mrs Darbus knew that if she chose us over them, the whole school body would hate her! I am better. I am, I am! And I don't care what you, or her, or any-one other than me thinks!" She was panting like she had run a marathon. Seeing everybody's glittering eyes staring at her, filled with disgust and almost hatred, she whimpered, turned on her heel and ran.
Tears falling to the ground, leaving a small wet path behind her, she ran to the nearest girl's room. Collapsing on the white, cold, tiled floor, she let her soul free and sobbed until her eyes felt as dry as the Sahara. She knew in her heart she was the best, she just knew it. The nerd and the man-slut had the support of the whole school. She'd had all of what, ten people, including Mrs Darbus. It was so unfair. She wasn't really smart like Taylor, she wasn't brilliant at sport like Chad, and she couldn't play anything like Kelsi. She couldn't bake, or skate, or write poetry or stories. The only thing she excelled in was performing. And they snatched that away from her. She turned around and caught sight off her face in the mirror. Her mascara smudged, her originally fairly neat ponytail hung misplaced and patchy and her eye colour smudged into her un-plucked eyebrows. She placed her hand softly on her reflection. And it was at this moment that she realised: she wasn't even pretty. Now, she really had nothing. This thought ringing in her ears, she lay on her side on the cool tiled floor, her body shaking as her sobs echoed through the empty halls.
Her heels now in her hand, pacing slowly down the hall, she poked her head around the back door of the auditorium. They were back on stage, singing and dancing to 'Bop to the Top'. A sting ran through Sharpay. She supposed she should just accept it. She knew this was her life now. She knew that from now on, she was nothing.