Troy was surrounded by people but he felt more alone than anything else. Chad and all the old basketball guys were out side showing off their new moves, Taylor and Kelsi were gossiping with some of their old classmates, and Sharpay was nowhere to be seen. Troy had lost her not long after his house started filling with bodies. He wasn't going to look for her, but still. It was strange that she had backed off so quickly. Troy knew that she had crushed on him for years but he had never taken the bait. She was a bit too full on for his comfort, but still she never showed signs of moving on.
"Hey wildcat." Troy looked up to the owner of that voice, it was Martha, an old classmate and one of Gabriella's closest friends. "Hey, how's it going?" He smiled politely.
"It's not really my scene." She shrugged, sitting down beside him. They were now both sitting at the bar stools along the bolton's kitchen counter.
"Mine either, ironically." Troy chuckled, reaching for his cup. Martha took a handful of crackers and nibbled at the first one.
"It's been so long since I've seen most of the people here. It's weird, we've probably all changed a lot."
"Some more than others." Troy said sadly, looking behind him over to the crowd of young adults.
"Oh, except her." She nodded over towards Sharpay who was awkwardly stepping over everything as if she were trying to cross a lava filled stepping bridge.
"That's one thing you can count on her for." He joked, waving back at one of the jocks from back in high school.
"I thought she would surprise us all and become almost human."
"She's always been human, she just hides it. Well."
"What do they all see in her?" Martha questioned, watching all the boys drool over the immaculate blonde.
"They see what they want to see, we all do. I wanted to see my girlfriend as the person I would always have to count on, but that wasn't true."
"Troy." Martha pouted, wrapping her arm around him. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. I was the stupid one." He laughed bitterly, standing to his feet and waving goodbye to Martha.
"Want to go outside with me?" He asked Sharpay over the music, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Her hair bounced as she nodded, grabbing hold of his elbow as he steered her out of the crowd.
"Where have you been all night? You disappeared." He questioned as they walked out into the cold evening air.
"There were a few people I didn't want to be seen by."
"Really?" He asked, shocked. He always pegged Sharpay as one who always loved people watching her.
"Yeah, believe it or not. I'm not exactly everyone's favourite person Troy." She laughed.
"True, but then again neither am I."
"But you're Troy Bolton"
"So?" He shrugged.
She smiled with the realisation, things weren't always what they seemed. "Where are we going anyway?" She asked, changing the subject. Troy hadn't let on anything that answered the question of why he had wanted to go outside with her, it was out of character.
"Just needed some air, thought you did too."
She nodded, looking down the lamp lit street. It was nice, the two of them standing there together. She hadn't had much alone time with Troy before but this was definitely something she could get used to.
Troy caught her eye and smiled at her sweetly, he wrapped his arms around himself, closing himself off.
She looked down at her jimmy choo's and stopped herself from sighing. He didn't want to be in her company, he just didn't want to be alone.
"Do you remember two summers ago?" Troy broke the silence, Sharpay looked back towards him. Nodding her head at the memory a smile started to form.
"Which part?" She snorted, shaking her head at the memories that instantly flashed back.
"When we sang together, amongst other things."
"I guess until then you probably didn't realise how intense I could be." She laughed.
"Well I mean, I knew..I just hadn't had much first hand experience." He teased, nudging her shoulder with his arm.
"Singing, performing. It was the only thing I seemed to be good at. It sort of got to my head a little."
"You were driven, I get that. In a way you were lucky. I was always so confused, basketball was something I didn't have to work hard at to be good, but to be better? I had to go the extra mile, and in the end I wasn't even sure if it was my dream anymore." Sharpay looked at him sadly, she had never seen it from his point of view before. In a way she had always seen him as the boy who could do anything, not as the boy who couldn't decide what he wanted. He was trying to shrug it off, but she knew that he was still thinking about it.
"Maybe you should get back to the party?" Sharpay suggested, reaching into her purse for her phone.
"You aren't staying?" Troy asked, noticing her phone.
"Ryan's plane is landing soon. I thought it would be nice to go and greet him home. Before college, we hadn't been apart. Unless you count the two minutes when he left the womb first." She laughed.
"Say hi from me alright?"
She nodded. "Of course."
