For disclaimer on High School Musical, please refer to chapter one.


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Chapter One: Piano Confessions

Gabriella Montez walked through the school entrance, making her way down the hall with her books held close to her chest. She did this routinely every weekday morning, although something felt different that day. Possibly the cool hallway was just making her fell a little chilly more than usual. This was nothing unusual, so she continued to stroll down the hall.

What was unusual was seeing a sullen-looking Sharpay Evans walk out of the main office, following the principal, a police officer, and a few staff members, along with other citizens (unrecognizable to Gabriella) following the young blonde female.

The sight had caused Gabriella to stop and stare at the troop marching down the halls. She wanted to all out to Sharpay, but she held back. It probably would not be the best time to talk with her.

"ATTENTION. ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS. FIRST PERIOD WILL BEGIN NOW," Gabriella heard on the P.A. system and hurried off to U.S. History.

First period had only lasted twenty minutes long because school started half an hour late. During those twenty minutes of class, Gabriella overheard fragments of her classmates' conversations. She did not understand what was going on nor was she convinced what she was hearing was true. All she knew what that she needed to see if Sharpay needed- or even wanted- her help.

On her way to second period, Gabriella passed by the small music room, hearing a familiar tune being played on a piano. She opened up the door and poked her head into the room. She saw long blonde locks flowing down the girl's backside. Gabriella waked into the room quickly and quietly as she could, and sat down beside Sharpay on the piano bench. Sharpay did not even look up, trying to listen to her own thoughts.

"Hey," Gabriella said gently.

Sharpay did not answer right away, still concentrating on the piano. She waited a moment or two before asking very softly, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you were alright."

Sharpay played another measure and a half before she quickly stopped and turned slightly to face Gabriella. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she snapped. Then, with downcast eyes, she gently said, "I haven't been very civil to you in the past." Gabriella gave a soft genuine smile.

"You look like you could use a friend who is willing to listen to you right about now."

Sharpay stared at her for a second, then turned back to the piano and continued to play. After a few moments without speaking, Sharpay confessed, "My brother is in the hospital." She stopped talking to listen to the ballad she played. She could still see him fresh in her mind, singing and dancing beside her. His voice rung inside her head, clearing than his image.

I never had someone that knows me like you do…

She abruptly banged on the piano in frustration, trying so hard not to cry. She wanted to forget about last night's incident. Little by little, it tore her heart whenever she remembered the image of her bother shaking uncontrollably on his bedroom floor. "He overdosed on his medication." Gabriella breathed slowly.

"But… but why would Ryan do that?"

"I don't know! I came home late last night and I found him like that!" Sharpay half-shouted hysterically. She took a few breaths to calm herself down. "Ryan, he's… he's sick. I don't know what made him do it, but…I came into his room, and he was on the floor, and…"

She remembered rushing to his side, shocked and confused. "Ryan? Ryan, cut that out!" she yelled frantically at him.

"And that's when I saw it," she recalled. "I saw the empty bottle next to him. I called the ambulance; he was taken to the hospital… They had to pump his stomach." Gabriella felt tears in her eyes, but managed to hold it in.

"Your parents… where were they all this time?"

"They're both on business. Dad's working in the Silicon Valley. My mom was out of town for a meeting and came home early this morning." Gabriella thought about the crowd that followed Sharpay out of the main office earlier.

"Was your mom here at school today?" Sharpay nodded.

"She's unhappy about all of this, but there's nothing we can do until Ryan gets better. So she went back to work. She thought it would be best if we kept going as if nothing really happened."

The final warning bell rang, signaling the start of second period. "Oh, if you need to go, don't let me keep you." Gabriella nodded and got up from the bench.

"If you need anyone to talk to, you can always come to me." Sharpay smiled for the first time since yesterday.

"Thanks, Gabriella."


Author's Notes:

Who's that? Oh, it's Ryan.

"And you thought I was dead..." he says.

There are a couple of things I would like to share with you before the next chapter...

1. Since I've prepared several fanfics before opening an account, I planned on submitting one new story/chapter each day. No more, no less... until I run out of new material to post.

2. I also plan to keep the "author's notes" to a minimun, but since I did not post a new chapter yesterday, I think it's only fair that I give you an explaination.

There was construction on the electric lines in my neighborhood yesterday. The electricity at my house was scheduled to be shut off until three-thirty in the afternoon, but ended up being shut off until two-thirty the next morning. So, I apologize for not being able to post the next chapter of the story, as I wished. To make things up to you, I will post not only the next two chapters to make up for yesterday, but I will post the following chapter!

Also, I would like to know how you feel about the story's title. I personally do not feel 100 percent satisfied with the title. Let me know how you like it, or if I should change it to a title that would better fit the story.

Thank you for all of your reviews!


24 August 2007