Chapter 1

The doors to East High slammed as three people walked into the school. If you would have just seen them walking down the street, you would have thought that they were just a typical American family. But, for the students of East High, they were the American family. Jack, Lisa, and Troy Bolton were currently walking down the halls of East High towards the backstage doors of the auditorium. As they neared, Troy could barely hear singing coming from the large room, but could not identify the singer, herself. All of a sudden, it stopped, and you could hear nothing, but the faint sounds of sobs. Troy was, at first, taken aback by the crying, but then he got curious.

He bravely opened the backstage door to reveal a petite blonde sitting on the front of the stage with her back turned his way. 'No way' he thought as he realized who it was crying into her knees. He stepped back and looked at his confused parents. "Go around to the main doors and come in, in like ten minutes." Troy was trying to think up a plan to talk to Sharpay without having her blow up at him, like she normally would, but he couldn't think of anything. He walked all the way through the door and shut it behind him.

"Sharpay?"

The blonde turned around and looked at Troy and lay down on her back. She looked up at the ceiling and cried out in a sarcastic tone: "Thanks GOD! This is really what I needed right now: Bolton in the same room with me!" She quickly got up, dusted herself off, and turned to Troy. "What are you doing here, Bolton? You're an hour early."

"So are you."

"What's your point? I can be in here whenever, there's a reason I'm president of the drama club, Troy!"

"Oh my god! Did you just call me TROY??"

"That is your name isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But nothing, Troy, I just really need to be alone right now."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what you're crying over, Sharpay." He said as if it was the simplest thing in the world."

"Well, then I guess you're not leaving." She started to walk off when Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, with them ending up awkwardly close to each other.

"Sharpay, please, just tell me what's wrong." Sharpay looked up into his light blue, ocean-like eyes. BIG MISTAKE!!

"If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone without my permission. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Okay, but you have to let me go first." She said when she realized that they were still inches apart.

"Oh, right…" he let go of her and blushed a soft pink. "Sorry."

"It's okay, now I'm going over there," she pointed to stage right where there was a vanity set up, "to do my hair and makeup for tonight. You may stay here and look like an idiot, or you may join me."

"Sharpay, why are you doing your hair and makeup? You're not in the show."

She was about to answer his question when they heard the main doors to the auditorium shut behind them. They turned around to see two figures walking towards them at a steady pace. Sharpay thought nothing about it, and sat down to do her hair. The two figures walked onto the stage, when she realized who it was. She thought about getting up and introducing herself, but she realized how incredibly awkward that would be, seeing as how they were probably watching their son and this strange girl the whole time. But she could hear them in the background.

"Hey, Troy. Is Mrs. Darbus around?" she heard his mother saying to him.

"No, why?"

"We just wanted to speak with the director of our son's first musical." Sharpay turned around just to see the annoyed look on Troy's face, but then realized what she had said. Director? Oh, peachy! She stood up, put on a smile, and walked up to the family.

"Hi, I'm Sharpay Evans. Unfortunately, Mrs. Darbus had to be put in the hospital, so as President of the Drama Club, I'm directing the show tonight."

Troy looked at her in disbelief. "You're directing the show?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you even know how to direct a musical?"

"Of course I do, Troy! Remember: the 'Ice Queen'," she used finger quotes when she said that, "is perfect at everything. You said so yourself." She turned to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton who were confused right now. "Excuse me."

Sharpay turned back around and walked back to her vanity just to sit back down on her pink fuzzy chair.

Troy looked at his parents with an annoyed look on his face, and turned to walk towards Sharpay. "Shar that was a long time ago!"

"1. Don't call me Shar and 2. It was two months ago Troy, that's not a long time!"

He sat down on a stool next to Sharpay and put his arm around her. "Sharpay, look at me. Things have changed between us. That was before I knew you for you." Sharpay stood up, while falling out of Troy's grasp.

"Troy, you still don't know me! Do you really know anything about me?!"

"I know that one of your favorite movies is Donnie Darko, which you also starred in as 'Kim: the dorky girl'. I know that your two favorite candies are Swedish Fish and chocolate flavored Gummy Bears. I know that your favorite ice cream is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. And I also know that you have a maltipoo named Blondie."

"You could have read any of that on my blog! If you think you know me so well, than what's my worst fear?!" Sharpay was practically yelling at Troy now, which kind of intimidated Jack and Lisa.

"Thunderstorms." Sharpay stopped dead in her tracks.

"How did you know that? I've only ever told Ryan that." She still wasn't facing Troy.

"See, unlike other guys, Sharpay, I pay attention to you, not just your amazing body." Just as Sharpay turned around, about to tease Troy about how he thought she had an amazing body, she felt a pair of lips hit hers and she felt her body tingle. She responded, of course, but was disappointed when he broke the kiss shortly after. Sharpay just stood there in total shock, with her eyes and mouth wide open. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton were in shock too. Just then a rustling sound behind her made her whip around. She saw a grinning Ryan come through the back door. He walked up to the two of them, put his hands on their shoulders and simply said: "Finally!"

Sharpay was confused. She brushed past Troy and walked up to Ryan. "Finally, what?" She said with an aggravated tone is her voice.

"Sharpay cut the Drama Queen act! And you know exactly what I mean! You two have been practically in love with each other since kindergarten. Sharpay blushed. "Wait! Shar? Did you just blush over Troy Bolton?!"

"NO!"

"I think you did!" he said sending Troy a wink over her shoulder. He went to walk away when he felt 108 lbs. collapse on his back. "Shar! Get off of me! I'm going to tell Mom that you were harassing me again!"

Sharpay suddenly slid off of her brother's back and walked back to her vanity, to hopefully hide her tears from her brother, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton(who were still standing there awkwardly), and most of all, Troy. Ryan walked over to her and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, Shar. I wasn't thinking."

"I'll be fine, Ryan." She said wiping away the tears from running down her cheeks. "I'm not going to let anything bring me down tonight, especially my stupid mother." She said as she slammed her mascara onto her vanity and getting up frustrated. "Oh my god! She's coming tonight isn't she! Great, now I'll have to face her afterwards saying 'oh look, Sharpay, I was right! You are a horrible actress and singer! You didn't get the lead after all! Yay me!' Could this day get any worse?!" she yelled as she lied down on the stage.

Troy looked up at Ryan and nodded to him. He lied down beside Sharpay on the stage with his hands behind his head. "Guess what Pay?" he looked over at her and was happy that she was smiling obviously liking her new nickname.

"What?" she said, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

"I talked to Gabriella today and she said she was sick."

"Good for her!!"

"No, Pay. She has strep throat."

"So?"

"Five, four, three, two,-"Ryan was counting down on his watch.

"Oh my god!" Sharpay looked at Troy and jumped up, as did he. "No way! You have to be kidding me!"

"I wouldn't kid about that, Pay! Especially with you!" he pulled her into a hug and then she ran over to Ryan and jumped into his arms, nearly knocking him over. She apologized went to the middle of the stage, looked out into the open seats, and almost screamed: "18!"

Just then, the older Boltons started to get really confused. Jack tilted his head to the side a bit and asked: "What just happened here?"

"When?" Sharpay asked confused at what he meant.

"Since we walked in the door."

"Okay…when you walked in the door, I was about to tell Troy the reason I was crying, and then you asked to see the director-"

"Pay!" Troy interrupted. "I think they just meant in general." He laughed at her obvious embarrassment. He went on: "Well, we got into a 'fight' and then I completely shocked Pay with my amazing kissing abilities!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Troy! Anyway, Ryan came in and spoiled the whole moment and-"

Mrs. Bolton stopped Sharpay from going on: "Who is Ryan, again?"

"I'm her older brother." He knew that would annoy her.

"Ryan, you're older than me by two minutes! Give it a break, already!"

"Hey, I've got to look out for my little sis!" he said trying to aggravate Sharpay, which worked.

"Anyway, as I was saying! And then the subject of my mom came up, which is kind of a long story. After that Troy told me that I get to be the lead, again!" She said as she jumped into Troy's arms. Lisa liked this girl all ready!

Jack looked at Sharpay, still confused. She noticed this and said: "What's up?"

"What was the whole "18!" thing for?

Troy was quick to answer since he knew exactly what it was. "Pay has been in seventeen school productions and this one will make eighteen."

Lisa was appalled! "Wow! Seventeen school productions in eleven years! Wow! How do you find time to do anything else?"

"I don't know, but I do!" she looked at her watch. "Oh, crap! Troy we need to go get our costumes on." She quickly grabbed his hand as he froze up. "Troy Bolton! Troy! Troy!" He was in total shock.

"Oh my god, Sharpay, we haven't practiced our lines, done hair, makeup or-" hoping to shut him up, Sharpay lightly kissed him on the lips. "What was that for?"

"It was to shut you up, but if your saying you didn't like it, then I guess I won't do it anymore." she started to walk off, when he pulled on her hand and brought her back for another. But, instead of letting his lips crash into hers, she held up her hand and he ended up kissing it instead of her lips.

"Hey!"

"We need to get ready mister!" She pulled him along with her to the costume rack.

As Sharpay took out all of her costumes, Troy examined them. They were all some shade of pink, and covered with sequins and rhinestones. "Pay, those aren't the same outfits that Gabriella tried on."

"I know these are mine. I always make my own costumes, even if I am a runner-up. I like to stand out in a way no one else does."

Troy admired her passion for acting and for musical theatre. He loved the way that she almost zoned out every time she talked about it. He was soon zoomed back into the real-world when someone announced that it was five minutes to opening scene, which were Arnold and Minnie (Troy and Sharpay). "Do you want to go over your lines one more time Troy? You look a little nervous."

"I am a little but I'll be fine. I just hope I don't get stage fright right in the middle of a scene."

"If you do, I know all your lines and I am a really good improv! But, just think of it like this: It's just you and me up there, no one else exists. When you're singing, sing to me. When you're speaking, speak to me. No one else exists." She looked deep into Troy's blue eyes, shut her own, and leaned in and gave him the kiss of a lifetime. They only broke when they barely heard their names being called by Ryan, who was now directing the play.

"Troy, Sharpay! It's your opening scene!" They rushed out onto the stage. The whole play went perfectly, and then it came to their last scene.

Troy (Arnold) Sharpay (Minnie) Normal

But Minnie, I'm the one who loves you for who you truly are. The others are just entranced by your looks! They don't care whether you're sweet on the inside, they just care that you're sweet on the outside.

How should I know that you're telling the full truth?

Suddenly, Troy (as Arnold) got down on one knee.

Minnie, will you accept my hand in marriage as a symbol of my true love for you?

Sharpay (as Minnie) suddenly walked onto the other side of Troy (as Arnold), and paced for a moment. Troy's (Arnold's) head fell slightly as he got up and began to walk off stage. All of a sudden, Sharpay (as Minnie) cries out:

YES!

She ran to him and jumped into his arms, and suddenly Troy (as Troy) kissed Sharpay (as Sharpay) just as passionately as he would in private. Sharpay pulled back, shocked, and forgetting about her microphone attached to her dress, she said to Troy:

"That wasn't scripted." She suddenly blushed when she heard her comment echo through the hallowed hall. They heard gasps from every direction.

"I love you, Sharpay Evans."

"I love you too, Troy Bolton." And with that their lips re-attached. The curtain man was in too much of a shock to realize that he should probably close the curtain, so Ryan quickly ran across stage, getting laughs from everyone in the audience, and closed the curtain as fast as he could. The couple finally broke apart and got ready for the curtain call. Everyone had gone, except for Troy and Sharpay. They had been trying to think of a cute way to end the curtain call, so when their time came, Sharpay and Troy had changed into outfits much like Ryan and Sharpay used for 'Bop to the Top'. They appeared, looked at each other, and tangoed out to the front of the stage. While everyone was still clapping and the curtain was about to go down Sharpay suddenly yelled:

"Wait!" She still had her microphone on, so everyone heard her over the loud clapping and cheering. Everyone stopped and looked at Sharpay. "We are missing two very important people up on this stage tonight." First she turned to stage left and held out her hand as Ryan walked out onto the stage. "Secondly, the only reason I am up here on this stage tonight is because one of my peers got strep and couldn't perform. So give Gabriella a cheer, everybody." She held her arm out to Gabriella in the front row for her to join them on stage but she didn't move.

Sharpay looked back into the audience. "Come on, Gabi; get your butt up here!" Gabriella still didn't move. The next thing everyone knew, Sharpay was slipping off of her heels, jumping off of the stage, and walking up to Gabriella. "Come on!" Sharpay grabbed her hand and dragged her up onto the stage.

Gabriella, without thinking, said: "Hey everybody!" just loud enough so it picked up on Sharpay's microphone. Sharpay turned and looked at her.

"You don't have strep!"

"No, I was never sick, Sharpay." Sharpay was really confused.

"Than why did you give up your spot in the musical?" Gabriella turned and looked at Sharpay:

"I knew that there was someone else who wanted this, or even needed this, more than I did. Who am I kidding? Sharpay, you're the star here and you deserve to be on this stage tonight singing and dancing your heart out, just like you love doing. I know that someday you will go on to be some famous actress or Broadway star, and I know that, on your resume, every credit counts. And this one belongs to you." Sharpay was allowing tears of joy to fall down her cheeks. None of her friends had ever spoken to her like that. None of them had ever cared this much. "Sharpay, just promise me this: do everything it takes to be the best you can be and I want to see you get into Juilliard after senior year!"

"No problem!" Sharpay leaned in and hugged Gabriella until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Troy smiling at her. He leaned down so that his mouth was right next to her ear, so no one else would hear.

"My parents want to know if you want to spend the night tonight so we can talk and get to know each other a bit better."

"Oh, sure that sounds great! I've just got to go home and shower and then I'll be over." Right as she said that, she heard a crash of thunder outside the doors. Troy realized what was up and smiled at her.

"Why don't I come with you?" he said while hugging her.

"Thank you, Troy…" she leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips and hugged him tighter as she laid her head on his chest. She felt so good when she was with him. She felt so protected…