A/N: I originally wanted to publish this only after I finish "No Conditions" but since I couldn't update, I might as well give you a teaser since I've already written the prologue. It will give all of you something to read and ponder about before I get on the next chapter of "Conditions," even if it's just a short prologue.

Before anything else, I want to make it clear that this is NOT a romance story. It's a friendship fic that I conceived between two of the most unlikely characters in HSM. There will be hints of Troypay, but I want to keep it to a minimum. This story is also more dramatic than my previous one so don't expect it to be "ha ha" funny. If that hasn't discouraged you, please do read the story and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical or any of its characters but I like to give them lives better than the cardboard personalities Disney made them to be.

The Consequences of Breaking Free

Prologue

Coach Jack Bolton watched proudly as his son entered the halls of East High basking in the euphoria created by the throng of his teammates and fans.

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"WHAT TEAM?"

"WILDCATS!"

"GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!"

He never grew tired of hearing it, especially when it was his own son shouting it above the crowd. It was a wonderful reminder of his accomplishment. It was to his credit that Troy is so focused. He was just voted team captain—and only a sophomore at that. There was no doubt Troy was destined for something big and perhaps attain more than what he, Jack Bolton ever achieved. Provided Troy didn't get distracted.

Jack turned to his left and noticed a single figure by the bulletin boards carrying sign-up sheets for the next musicale auditions. She was dressed in bright blue and she alone stood apart from the sea of red and white students. That alone was enough to make her stand out among the crowd. Yet, Jack felt as if something more than her outfit made him single her out and follow her with his gaze.

There was something about Sharpay Evans that fascinated and frightened Jack since he first laid eyes on her when she was five years old. It was Troy's first day in kindergarten. His wife had earlier dropped him off and it was his turn to pick him up after school. Jack found his son playing in the see-saw with a little blonde girl in pigtails. When Troy saw him, he carefully moved to let the girl off the see-saw, took her hand and introduced her like a perfect gentleman to his father:

"This is Sharpay, Daddy," he said. "She's my best friend."

Sharpay made a perfect curtsey to him. A smile played on her adorable pink lips and two tiny dimples appeared at the corners of her apple cheeks.

He didn't know why but her appearance bothered him. It was like he was seeing someone else. It was like he was seeing "her" again.

All at once, years of anger and regret kept hidden away for so long suddenly burst within him. He couldn't stand to be next to the child one moment longer. He abruptly pulled Troy away from the little girl and half-dragged his toddler to the car. Troy tried to shout goodbye to his friend but Coach Bolton didn't stop, he drove off as fast as he could.

He was more than relieved to know that Troy's friendship with her didn't last. His son found other friends and Coach Bolton had forgotten she existed throughout Troy's time in elementary and middle school. That is, until last year when she walked into his freshman P.E. class.

She was dressed in the standard red and white baggy P.E. T-shirt and shorts but that failed to hide her completely filled-out fourteen year old body that complemented her perfect blonde hair. She moved with grace in gymnastics—like a dancer, he thought with sudden dread. Two weeks later his suspicions were confirmed when he saw her face on the poster in the school bulletin board as the lead in the musicale with her twin brother. She looked every inch like "her." The resemblance was so striking that he was almost sure of it. But he never looked up Sharpay's file, as much as he was tempted to. He was afraid to know.

But it was nothing compared to the fear he felt when he saw her talking to Troy that same afternoon. She was inviting him to watch her in the musicale. Coach Bolton could see that Sharpay, like most of the girls in school, liked his son. He knew immediately the danger Troy was in.

After that, Coach Bolton made sure basketball practice always fell in conflict with any musicale show time. He would never let Troy watch a play where Sharpay Evans was performing. He would never let him make the same mistake he did.

Now Coach Bolton was watching her again as she put up her sign-up sheets. When she finished, she haughtily passed through the crowd of students, while ignoring their snide remarks of "Ice Queen." She tossed a smile in Troy's direction but the new basketball captain appeared to be oblivious to this. Coach Bolton was pleased. His son was safe from her and he intended to keep it that way.