Sharpay was home for the holidays and coincidentally so was the boy of her dreams, her performing dreams that was. She had always known there was something special about the loveable basketball goof, she just hadn't figured it out until her junior year of high school.
Then it hit her, he was her leading man. She knew that she wasn't always going to sing with her brother, not only was it a conflict of interest, it was actually kind of extremely weird to most people, and most people were who she planned to impress.
Now Troy had only just arrived home to an empty house, his parents had gone away for the summer, leaving the college freshman alone in the family home. And everyone knows what that meant, party!
Sharpay knew as soon as Troy had texted her, that this was her chance. Gabriella was no longer a local, which meant she could no longer interfere like she always seemed to do. It was /now or never./ Troy was surprised to hear the doorbell chiming so early, the party wasn't going to start for another two hours, and even then.
Nobody wanted to be the first to arrive, nobody except for sharpay who seemingly always had to be the centre of attention including now it appeared.
"Sharpay...hi" he greeted her awkwardly, obviously not expecting her.
"Troy!" She squealed, enveloping him into a crushing cuddle.
"You're early" he noted, turning away from her to hide his haunted face.
"You can never be too early" she pointed her finger in front of his face. "Never" she repeated, before skipping over to the nearest sofa.
"Did you want something to drink? I mean I'm still getting ready here so I don't know what else I can offer you.."
"Just a water is fine, crushed ice." She demanded in her personalised form of charming.
"Coming right up" he murmured, not being able to leave the room fast enough in his mind. Sharpay was great, in small doses. Preferably with a supervising adult present at all times. He didn't know why, but she always seemed to have a thing for him which was fine, every guy wants a pretty blonde having the boys for them, but he wasn't interested in her, or any other blonde. His heart was already taken and Sharpay was well aware of that.
Between fiddling with the ice machine and finding a glass that looked remotely clean, Troy was banking on an absence of at least seven minutes, It was a wonder his guest wasn't pushing her way into the kitchen to see how he was doing.
Not that he minded the time to think of his plan of action, that was perfectly fine by him. He just hoped he wouldn't get into trouble. The truth was he was scared of Sharpay. He had known her for most of his life, yet she had always intimidated him with her mood swings and demanding personality, and without Ryan by her side she was a ticking bomb, he knew it wouldn't be long before she was roping him into some show or another.
"Here you are." He smiled sweetly as he placed her ice cold beverage on one of his mother's home made coasters, there were so many memories in that house.
"Perfect" she grinned, opening her purse and producing her very own straw. It was pink of course, if it had been any other colour Troy would have been surprised.
"It's just water..." He responded awkwardly. She had this way of overrating every action he made turning it into some kind of amazing action.
"I know" she giggled, sipping at her straw and looking over at him. "Sit" she instructed, patting the spot beside her enthusiastically.
Troy did as he was told without asking questions, he lifted his foot to rest against the leg of the coffee table. "So, how've you been?" He asked nervously, bracing himself in case she screamed excitedly again.
"Well you know what Troy, I could have been better" she said sadly. Sharpay was one of those people who were so good at performing that it was hard to tell when they were acting, or when they were being genuine. He didn't know if this was just an act, or if she really was upset.
"Why, what's wrong? You can talk to me." He offered sincerely.
"I've always been destined for stardom, ever since I was in diapers. It's just, not everyone can see how talented I am." She sighed, nibbling on the end of her straw softly. Her eyes had melted into the likeness of milk and honey. He couldn't help but feel bad for her.
"You'll find people who see your talents." He promised, giving her a supportive smile. "There is one thing I do know about you Sharpay, it's that you are a hell of a performer."
"You mean that?" She asked smiling from ear to ear, and for a moment it felt like they were actually normal, like he could have a real two way conversation with her. Troy had never felt like that around her, it was nice.
He nodded his head sincerely, smiling straight at her. He did mean it, she was a overbearing crazy person a lot of the time but she did deliver an entertaining performance every once in a while.
"Thank you Troy" she grinned, crossing one leg over the other. "You really are the sweetest guy I know. Gabriella is lucky to have someone like you."
Troy stiffened, he wasn't expecting Sharpay of all people to be mentioning his high school girlfriend, especially not in such a non condescending manner. He hadn't told anyone the truth yet, and for some reason or another he really didn't think Sharpay was the person to open up to on the matter. "Oh, um yeah. I'm lucky too." He smiled awkwardly wishing the ground would swallow him whole. If this was actually happening - which he still wasn't entirely convinced that was the case. If this was real, it meant that those who actually liked Gabriella were bound to be asking about her absence, and he just didn't know if he was quite ready to tell anyone the truth. Even if it had been months. At least if nobody knew about it, he could pretend it was all just a bad dream.
"So, what do we need to do before everyone gets here?" She asked him, standing to her sparkly feet. "I know I'm not the hostess, but I am a woman. I know a thing or two about decorating." She smiled before tapping her nose knowingly. "Now just tell me what I need to do."
