Kelsie opened the closet door and surveyed the contents. It was mostly filled with stuff they'd acquired over the years, kept because they had always planned to use them and to this day, still hadn't taken them out of their boxes. There were several wedding gifts that she'd forgotten they'd received as well.

But she wasn't in the mood for spring cleaning. Not with all that was looming on her mind right now.

Then the box came into her line of vision. Kelsie didn't really know what she was doing. After they'd received the invitation two days earlier all she could think of what high school. And at the moment, she was focusing on the reunion.

Granted, Kelsie didn't really have any bad memories from her time at East High. She had made many friends and had loved her time in high school. But she had worked hard to make herself into something and going back to East High would make her become Kelsie Neilson, resident wall-flower again. And that was the last thing that she wanted.

But she'd promised Ryan and—though God only knows why—Sharpay. And Kelsie Neilson Evans didn't go back on her promises.

So here she was, about to waltz back down memory lane. Sighing, she reached above over her head and pulled down the box marked East High Musicales. As she pulled it down and carried it into the living room, her world tilted for a brief second and she was thrown into memories of the past.

Flashback…

Kelsie sat in the musical room at East High. Her fingers danced over the piano keys as she rehearsed her newest composition. This was Troy and Gabriella's song. It was written for them. And no one, not even Sharpay Evans, was going to spoil it.

As she sang the chorus, she couldn't help but smile in happiness for everything that was going right. She wasn't just a wallflower anymore. She had friends and people that cared about her. Those same people liked her songs and made her look good.

We're breaking free

We're soaring

We're flying

There's not a star in heaven

That we can't reach

Kelsie was lost in the melody for a brief second before the sound of clapping broke her run. She stopped playing and turned around suddenly. Then she saw him.

He was a dream, someone who understood her, who appreciated the need for music in the theatre. He was also, Kelsie reminded herself, Sharpay Evan's twin brother. And that made him so off limits. But nonetheless, she smiled.

"Hi!"

He walked further into the room and sat down next to her on the piano seat. "Is that the song for Gabriella and Troy?"

She looked down for a moment, worried of making a fool out of herself. "Yes," she mumbled.

Ryan put his hand on her chin and drew her face up, her gaze meeting his. "Hey. Don't act like your music is worthless. You are a great musician and your music is what makes this musicale. Don't ever be ashamed of what you create."

She smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek before scampering up and grabbing her papers. She gave a small wave before quickly exiting the room. It was a start of something new.

End Flashback…

Kelsie was jolted forward twelve years in a quick second when her high school sweetheart came striding into the living room. She looked up in surprise. "Hey."

Ryan came to her, knelt beside her and dropped a kiss on her lips. "Hi, what are you doing?"

She sighed and turned the box so that he could read the writing on the side. He smiled knowingly. "So you decided that going back through our old musicals will give you some inspiration?"

"Well, I have to start somewhere. And Sharpay expects a full score in a matter of weeks so I have to do something very soon." She dipped in the box and pulled out a CD with the music from Twinkle Towne. She stood up and placed the CD in the player. Pressing play, she moved to the couch to listen to the mingling of the voices of East High.

Ryan moved to sit next to her. "Have you any ideas regarding the reunion musical?"

She shrugged. "Some, but it would be nice to maybe know where everyone ended up? I mean, did Troy and Chad make it big with the NBA? Is Gabriella a high-powered lawyer? Are she and Troy married? I have so many questions, but no answers."

"Well, maybe the musical should be about coming back together, not where we all ended up. I mean, our last musicale was about us in high school. Maybe this one should be about us back in high school. Maybe you take some of the old songs and combine them as a memory of high school. But there should be a song about how we ended up being different than what we all planned."

She broke a smile as Sharpay sang about sticking to the status quo. "That's it! Oh thank you! I have the perfect idea!" Kelsie jumped up and ran down the hall to the spare bedroom they'd turned into their music room.

Ryan watched her disappear behind the closed door and smiled to himself. Maybe this musical wasn't going to be as bad as Kelsie had believed it to be. At least Kelsie believed in her abilities to create the best musical East High had known in a long time. And that was half the battle.

HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM

Sharpay walked in the staff lounge and took a seat against the opposite wall. A few other staff members lingered around the table, waiting for the meeting to begin. Unfortunately, no staff meeting ever began on time; which meant that she would be spending more time that evening grading the essays she'd assigned her two English classes.

After Ms. Darbus has retired, Sharpay had snapped up the position. Unfortunately there wasn't enough interest in drama to make her a full-time drama teacher, so she had agreed to teach two sections of English.

Finally a long line of people filed into the room, ending with Principal Harrison. The principal waited briefly so that all the rustling had settled down. Then, they were ready to start!

Staff meetings, Sharpay thought as she doodled little stars on her paper, were quite possibly the most monotonous part of being a teacher. She could handle reading sixty identical essays on Shakespeare's influence in modern English language. But listening to Paul Harrison drone on about the state of their school made her nearly cry out in boredom.

But she handled it, as she did with everything else in line, with grace and confidence.

"Ms. Evans! Are we boring you?" Harrison's voice exploded through her thoughts. Sharpay looked quickly, remorse sliding over her face in a quick second. A few staff members snickered behind cupped hands or stacked papers. Sharpay glared before turning her attention back to her boss.

"No, no, I'm listening,"

"Well then you heard me say that I'd like more involvement in the theatre at East High. And as that is, I'm sure, your expertise?" Harrison questioned curtly.

Sharpay nodded. "Yes, my sentiments exactly. What do you suggest I do?" she straightened and moved her hand over her paper to hide her doodles.

"I'm sure that you'll think of something. We need the students to be excited about acting…as much as they are of basketball. East High is known for its basketball team. But I think that it can also be known for its drama department," Harrison replied. He looked pointedly at Sharpay who was nodding.

"Yes, of course, I wholly agree. I will come up with some ideas by tomorrow."

The principal nodded. "Good, now onto the math department…"

Sharpay was now allowed to resume her doodling and musing…at least until he came to the English department.

******

Hours later, Sharpay sat in her classroom grading the essays. She was finished with one whole class and halfway through the second. And just as she had assumed earlier, eighty percent of the essays were almost identical.

That's was you got for guiding the students through the process step-by-step, she thought as she marked yet another grammatical error. You'd think that by the time they were in high school, they'd at least know which 'to' to use.

Beside her on the desk, her cell phone began singing. She smiled and set down the pen to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Shar, how's school work?"

"Zeke, how'd you know I'd be looking for a distraction right about now?" she asked coyly. She glanced up at the clock and sighed. So much for a life after school. It was almost seven o'clock in the evening.

"It must have been fate," Zeke teased her quietly. "Listen, if you're not busy, why don't you come down to Chez Rouge and I'll make you dinner?"

"Wow, what an offer. That would be really great except I have so much work to do," Sharpay answered forlornly. She glanced up at the clock again and decided that she could spend tomorrow night working if it meant that she'd get a date with her man.

"You know what? I will take you up on your offer. I'll be there in half an hour. Have a martini ready for me and I'll be your slave."

He laughed a deep sound that vibrated through the phone. "I think that I like that offer. See you in thirty."

"Toodles!" she shut her phone and grabbed her purse and coat. She could work another time. Some offers were too good to pass up.

HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM

Gabriella stared at the little white paper that had accompanied the reunion invitation. Her eyes moved to the pencil at the edge of the table and back to the paper. She couldn't bring herself to pick up the pencil.

Because picking up the pencil would mean filling out the form. And filling out the form would mean mailing it. And mailing it would mean that she was required to attend the reunion.

She was supposed to fill out the form with information about her life as it currently was. She was supposed to write down her job and family, etc and send it back to East High. All the information would be complied and used to create the musicale.

But it was the last thing that she wanted to do. Gabriella really didn't want to go to the reunion in the first place. Going back would mean that she had to face her past, her loves.

Gabriella had once loved Troy. In high school, she had believed that they would be together forever. But college changed everything. In the beginning, they had tried to do the long-distance thing. Then, life had gotten in their way and they had grown apart. Eventually they had simply just stopped talking to each other.

She sighed and thought of how life had turned out. Her life was good. She was doing a job that she loved and she was on her own. She had Chad when she needed him. But they weren't required to be anything for than friends. That was probably the best part of her life now. She had once loved Chad as more than friends. But perhaps both had felt a sense of duty to Troy and settled on a friendship.

Biting her lip, she picked up the pencil and filled in her name on the paper. Gabriella Montez. Next, education after high school. Stanford University. Major/minor. criminal justice/pre-law. Third, current occupation. Detective, LAPD.

Then, she stopped. Setting the pencil down, she pushed her chair back and stood up. Raking a hand through her hair, she paced the length of her kitchen. She couldn't do this, not now…at least, not this moment. She wasn't ready to take that trip back down memory lane.

There was just too much at stake. Her perfectly crafted life could potentially crumble if she were to go home and see her high school friends. she hadn't done exactly what she had planned in high school and didn't want to go home and see people who expected her to be some high power lawyer when she was really just a cop.

Gabriella shook her head and grabbed her purse. She needed to get some air. Maybe then she'd be able to answer the reunion question.

HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM*HSM

Taylor was practically asleep. Well, she might as well been for all the stimulating activity before her.

She frowned, picking up her champagne flute and taking a sip. Tonight's gala was yet another political affair. If there was anything she hated most about being in politics, it was the obligatory dinners that were layered with the corruption and grandeur of government.

But, alas, she had chosen a life within the political arena so she was forced to make appearances.

She set her glass on the table and glanced up at the wall. The clock only read eight o'clock. She had to suffer through, at the very least, two more hours. These little affairs never ended before ten at night.

And to add to the already dreadful evening, her date was a politician who spent more time sleeping his way through Georgetown than he did working at the legislative session.

As she took another sip of her drink, she felt a hand creep dangerously close to the hem of her dress. Taylor pursed her lip in disgust as her hand closed over her salad fork. She leaned close to his ear. He smiled surely.

"Kent, if you don't remove your hand from my body within, say, the next three seconds, I will jam this fork into a particularly important part of your anatomy," she whispered for his ears only. She smirked slightly. "Let's just say that the prostitutes of DC won't be so accommodating anymore."

"Aww Taylor, don't be so prudish. I know that you want me, it's so obvious," he moaned slightly.

She raised an eyebrow and simply moved the fork closer. His breath hitched as he quickly moved his hand to cover that certain part of his body.

"I thought so," she said, and replaced the fork on the table. Taking the napkin, she dabbed at the corners of her mouth. "You know what Kent? I'm suddenly very tired. I think that I will call it a night. Anyway, I have to be in New York City early tomorrow and I still need to pack." She calmly rose and pushed her chair back toward the table, retrieving her clutch from the floor near her feet. Next, she moved quickly, but gracefully toward the exit, knowing that Kent was following closely at her heels.

He caught her arm before she could push open the door. She turned around and mentally threw daggers at him. "What!"

He shook his head, sadly as if he were disappointed. "People warned me about you. They all said that you were a bitch. But I wanted to see it for myself. And now that I have, I know that you are nothing but a cold-hearted bitch!" He dropped her arm and stepped back.

She arched a carefully shaped eyebrow. "I'm a bitch? Well, that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Kent the cad!" She was practically vibrating with rage now.

"Resorting to name calling, are we?"

She shook her head. "You know, I don't you why I ever agreed to date you. You are nothing but a slime ball who uses his family's blueblood money to pave his way to Washington DC." Pivoting, she took her coat from the attendant and hurried out into the cool night air, leaving Kent Walker simmering in her wake.

Once outside, Taylor handed the valet her keys, grateful that she had met Kent at the gala, rather than him picking her up. Minutes later, she was driving away from the hotel toward her apartment in the heart of Georgetown.

The truth was, she really did need to pack for her trip. It was one of business, but Taylor had managed to wheedle a few extra days for a little pleasure. She was planning on seeing a few shows on Broadway; maybe do some shopping on 5th avenue.

Anything to get away from work for a little while.

As she walked in her building, she waving hello to the doorman and stepped into the elevator. She made her way to her door and unlocked it, eyeing the empty hallway. When she walked into the kitchen, she spied that little white information sheet that had come with her invitation.

She hadn't really thought about the reunion since the day she'd received the invite last week. At the time, she'd been adamant about not going. If she didn't go, her perfectly crafted life would stay the same. But if she went back, she might reconnect with old friends…and loves.

And now, after the scene at the gala, she was beginning to think that maybe she needed something different…a new scene. Maybe going home to Albuquerque would do her some good. She could see her parents, do the reunion thing, donate to the scholarship fund, and maybe even sing in the reunion musicale.

She smiled as she eyed the clock. It was only half past eight. She could pack quickly later. Picking up a pen, she sat down to fill out the paper. Maybe a small dose of East High was what she really needed.

Okay, please, please review! I like to hear what my readers have to say. Anything, both good and bad comments would suffice. Other than that, I hope that you enjoyed this update. Keep a look out for future updates!