Chapter One: When It All Began

Even though it'd just turned autumn with the wind barely blowing, Zeke Baylor felt cold as ice. Anyone not in his position might have looked up at the full moon brilliantly shining in the sky and admired its beauty. But tonight, Zeke stood alone under the stars, wishing he was somewhere pitch black where he might pretend he wasn't seeing the scene set before him. A state of shock had frozen his emotions, until slowly he gripped the pink coat in his hand tighter and tighter.

For a moment, he thought about taking a few fatal steps forward, as if to face the music. He would stand up and be a man about it. However, he was sensible enough to know with anger still rising in his throat that things would not go well. Zeke Baylor walked away from a difficult situation that evening but he was not the only one who would face the like. Within a few hours, four other people including the ones Zeke had just left behind, would face the most unbearable and important decisions of their lives.

Instead of falling in step behind Zeke, Gabriella Montez decided to stay put. Something about the impossibility of it all froze the young girl in her spot. She wanted to laugh and cry in the same moment; and then, scream in Troy Bolton's face. As the pair on-stage continued their whispered conversation, Gabriella heard only bits and pieces. Suddenly, the urge to cry overpowered a million other emotions surging through her veins. She let out a whimper, which might have gone unnoticed if it weren't paired with the sound of crunching leaves as she lost her balance momentarily.

Troy Bolton slowly turned around, just in time to see his girlfriend running toward the parking lot. As he peered out even further into the darkness, he spotted another familiar face ahead of Gabriella. It was apparent she had come with Zeke and they were both making their way to the same vehicle.

Behind Troy, Sharpay Evans began to sniffle. He whipped around to face her. She shifted her eyes toward him in a half-glare, half-gaze. Troy merely whispered Gabriella's name. Sharpay took a step forward and punched him in the shoulder with all her might. But in the next second, she was crying on his shoulder.


A few hours later, Troy had dropped Sharpay off at her place and arrived at his own. He knew he loved Gabriella; he knew he should call her and at least try to explain. But he didn't because he might love Sharpay. And it was that uncertain feeling that kept Troy on the edge.

If he jumped, he would free fall into a deep relationship with Sharpay, his best friend who might not be ready to make that leap of faith. He'd send Gabriella all kinds of wrong messages and he'd never be able to reach her again. On the other hand, Troy could just stay at the top of the peak where he was—with Gabriella, his girlfriend and the so called "love of his life." But he would have to let Sharpay go when she might fall to the bottom of a dark place—somewhere no helping hands could reach her. Then again, Troy may not have to make any of these choices because Gabriella might leave him first.

They'd broken up thrice before but this time he had really broken her heart and Troy wasn't sure if she had any forgiveness left in her. As Troy contemplated their past difficulties and how it would feel to lose Gabriella one final time, he realized he wasn't ready to let her go. But it was no longer in his hands. The world as Troy knew it had just come to an end. And there was no telling what beginning tomorrow would bring.


After a short tearful conversation over the phone, Taylor stood at her best friend's front door. Gabriella's tears were still flowing freely as she opened it and ran into Taylor's arms. Still hugging, they walked in and sat on the edge of Gabriella's bed. She explained the cause of her distress as Taylor held her tight and listened in silence.

She'd been like a deer in the headlights. She was still in shock, still blinded by the horribly bright truth. The scene continued to replay in Gabriella's mind—all of it in slow motion. Bumping into Zeke as he stopped abruptly, turning to see Troy and Sharpay, her vision blurring, tripping as she turned to run, the silent ride home in Zeke's car, the hateful frown and the pained look in his eyes as he apologized for something he didn't do and the smell of burning rubber as he sped off.

Upon finishing her dark tale, Taylor slowly let Gabriella out of her tight embrace. Gabriella sat back on her bed, brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop them. Taylor looked her in the eyes, as her own watered and shook her head sadly.

"I wish there was something I could say to make it stop hurting," she said, pausing to stroke Gabriella's hair. "But all I know is it's gonna get worse before it gets better." Gabriella only nodded in acceptance of the truthful statement. Taylor smiled weakly and continued, "If it's any consolation, Sharpay's probably more to blame than Troy."

Gabriella looked away when she said his name. She tried to blink back her tears but they fell anyway. She quickly wiped her eyes. Taylor kissed her best friend's cheek, said goodbye and left Gabriella to cry alone.


After a betrayal Zeke Baylor had felt keenly, the only way to spend the rest of his evening was in the kitchen. But instead of making Sharpay's favorite cookies, he made his own. He could only hope Gabriella liked chocolate chip too because he planned on giving her at least half of the six batches he'd stayed up all night baking. When Zeke woke up the next morning, his first thought was, "I'm gonna be late." He'd already hit snooze three times and with no time to waste, he ran into the bathroom to wash the flour off his face.

The words "tired" and "impatient" could describe how Zeke was feeling as he hurriedly walked down the corridors of East High. He was on his way to Gabriella's locker and he prayed he made it there first. Fortunately he did. He scribbled Gabriella's name on an index card, stuck it between the cookies and placed the basket on the floor in front of her locker. Zeke walked away wondering why, even in his time of need, he went out of his way to make others feel better. This was supposed to be the time when he called on his old friends not the time to make new ones. Then again, he and Gabriella were tied together in this misery whether they liked it or not. Zeke thought he might as well embrace it.

As he continued walking, he noticed loud talking coming from inside the men's room. He stopped and faced the entrance and for the second time in 24 hours, he was hit with the full force of it all, except this time it was literal.

Troy Bolton had been laughing and talking with his best buddy, Chad Danforth as they washed their hands and finished up in the restroom. He was trying to act normal, trying to pretend everything was the same—like nothing had changed last night. Troy started teasing Chad about something, only to make him annoyed. Chad tried to hit him with the paper towel he'd been drying his hands on. In an attempt to escape further retribution, Troy tried to run out of the bathroom but Chad was right on his heels and neither of them was paying attention to their surroundings. Troy run right into Zeke and Chad followed after him. They all wobbled back from the shock; Zeke barely kept his balance but he stayed upright. Chad shook off a little dizziness and looked up to see their blank stares. He started to laugh until he realized neither Troy nor Zeke thought it was funny.

Then without warning Zeke had Troy by the collar and was pushing him back into the men's room and up against the stall door.

"Who do you think you are?!" Zeke shouted menacingly. "You really think you can go around ruining people's lives and get away with it?!" He pushed a little harder on Troy's neck where he held his collar, until Chad managed to shove himself between them. Zeke let go with the thrust of his hand. "What the heck were you doing with my girlfriend last night?" Zeke threatened, lowering his voice.

"What's the matter with you two?" Chad asked, still keeping one hand on each friend—separating the two enemies. Troy looked away silently and Zeke just glared at the back of his head. "Troy?" Chad asked, furrowing his brows and pushing him. After what seemed like whatever, the silence was broken with the flush of a toilet. Jason's tentative voice spoke up from inside the stall.

"Uh guys…can you let me out?"


OK, I'm pretty sure this is my best story yet. What do you think? I know, I know. It's obvious what happened between Troy and Sharpay. Then again, maybe things aren't what they seem. Maybe the author wants you assume one thing so she can turn around and hit you with another... ;) I will be updating this story regularly (I'm already working on Chapter 2) Check out my profile for update information on all my stories!

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