Troy was at a loss. He didn't know whether to go back to the park and get advice from the mystery girl again or just go back to his house and pretend everything was okay. He sighed once more and checked his watch. It was one in the morning, the same time he talked to her last night.

He pushed open the gate of the playground and looked around. He had to squint to see the swings but he could see the slightly familiar frame sitting on the same swing as last night. He smiled softly to himself and walked up as quietly as he could.

"So. You're back?" she asked him.

"How'd you do that?" he asked, surprised by her sudden question.

She chuckled softly. "I have sensitive hearing and the gate squeaked," she told him, leaning her head against the chain of the swing.

"Oh," he spoke quietly, looking at her profile. In the pale moonlight, he couldn't make out much of her face. He knew she had blonde hair; it was lightly illuminated in the moonlight. She also had a pale face; or what he could make of it.

"Figure out your problem?" she asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"I guess," he told her, not quite sure.

"What's still wrong?" She asked knowingly.

"Nothing, it's just...well, Gabriella's still acting wierd," he told her, dropping the hypothetical situation.

"So, you talked to her about it?"

"Yeah..." he replied sadly. "And she totally blew me off."

"You know, maybe something important is coming up and she wants to surprise you. Is it your birthday soon?" the girl asked.

"No, it's in a couple months," he said.

"Hmm..." the girl pondered this. "Has she been spending time with someone else? Like, a lot more time than deemed normal?"

"Well...actually, yes. She's been hanging out a lot with Chad," Troy told her. "But I doubt they'd do anything like that behind my back...or period," he added quickly.

"Is your anniversary coming up soon?"

"Well...actually, our six month anniversary is in a week...maybe that's it!" he exclaimed.

"Problem solved," she spoke quietly, looking down.

"So, I never got your name," he said.

"You don't need to," she told him, looking the other way.

"Well, I can't thank you properly," he replied.

"Don't worry about it."

"But, I-" he began.

"Don't worry. You already know me. Just...not really," she said, before standing up. "Glad your problem was solved," she waved, walking off without a second glance backwards.


Troy glanced at the clock once more, silently willing the clock to move faster with his mind. As much as he enjoyed being in the musical, Ms. Darbus was still as odd as before and made drama class his least favorite of the day.

"...lovely representation of the theatre. I can only hope that this year's musicale is only half as successful as last year's performance. Our composer, Kelsi Nielson, has teamed up with one of our most prestigious students, Miss Sharpay Evans, to create a fresh, new piece for this year. The sign-up sheet will be placed on the callboard in the hallway and I hope to see you all there. You may converse quietly amongst yourselves for the last three minutes of class while I speak to Miss Nielson and Miss Evans privately," Ms. Darbus rambled dramatically.

"The Ice Queen composing? What is going to be about? How many shoes she owns?" Chad whispered from behind Troy.

"Be prepared to eat your words, Danforth. Sharpay's an amazing songwriter and maybe one day you'll be able to realize that she's not who you make her out to be," Ryan Evans told him fiercely. Troy saw Chad roll his eyes and scoff at Ryan before turning around to the front. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sharpay Evans, most confident girl he knew, blushing slightly and whispering a "Thanks" to her twin before turning back around to face Ms. Darbus and resume their conversation.


"Are you auditioning for the musical this week?" Troy asked Gabriella as they walked to lunch, hand-in-hand.

"I'm thinking about it. I heard that Kelsi and Sharpay wrote it together," Gabriella smiled.

"I know. I'm kind of interested to see how it sounds," Troy shrugged. He looked curiously at Gabriella laughing.

"I'm sorry but seriously? Sharpay doesn't seem like the type of person who likes anything that's not flashy or overly sparkled. It'll probably be about shoes or something," Gabriella laughed.

"Well, you don't seem like the type of person to be able to sing and do chemistry at the same time," Troy shrugged. "And yet, your amazing at them both. Maybe we should give her a shot."

"I don't know. I'll do it for Kelsi but...I don't know," she told him, shrugging. They resumed a lighter conversation, not seeing Sharpay hiding behind a wall near them, biting her lip and smiling shyly, thanking Troy for standing up for her.


Roar. This chapter isn't my best. But it's late and I've been bombarded with homework so...yeah. Review and tell me what you think!