Disclaimer: No, I don't own the High School Musical franchise...I just think Ashlet Isdale and Zac Efron are both REALLY pretty ...!
Chapter 6: Sheltered
After a couple minutes, Troy loosened his grip on Sharpay and looked into her eyes.
"C'mon, Sharpay," he said, "let's get you home, OK?"
He then took her hand and tried to lead her off the golf course, but Sharpay stayed put.
Troy looked back at her, nearly exasperated.
"Sharpay, c'mon!" he shouted, as the rain came down in torrents.
"I'm not gonna go home, Troy!" Sharpay replied, "not tonight!"
Troy sighed. He knew that there was no way he could convince her to go home…but he still had to find somewhere to take her where they could both dry off and warm up, before either of them got sick.
Suddenly, Troy got an idea.
"Alright, c'mon…!" he said, leading her by the hand as they walked off the golf course.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"…Somewhere where we can warm up and dry off, now come on!" he demanded, and continued to pull her along.
When they got to the parking lot, Troy headed straight for his truck, and seeing where he was headed, Sharpay stopped.
"Sharpay…!"
"Troy, I already told you, I'm not going home, and you can't make me!" Sharpay shouted.
"I'm not taking you home Sharpay!" he insisted.
Sharpay gave him a curious look.
"Well then, where are we going?" she asked.
Troy smirked.
"Just trust me, OK?" he said.
Sharpay said nothing, she just let him continue to pull her along until they got to Troy's truck.
When they got to the truck, Troy unlocked the hatch on the trunk, opened it, and beckoned for Sharpay to get in.
Once again, Sharpay shot him a curious look.
"I don't get it…" she said.
Troy sighed.
"Will you just get in the damn, truck, please?" he demanded.
With a shrug, Sharpay did as she was told and stepped up onto the bumper, then crawled into the large trunk.
"Stubborn woman…!" Troy muttered, as he followed after her.
Once Troy had climbed in, he closed the hatch and crawled over to Sharpay., who was sitting over at the far end of the trunk.
"It's…cozy in here," Sharpay observed, looking around at the small space.
"Yeah, it's also warm, thanks to the blanket my dad persuaded me to keep back here…"said Troy, holding up a large blue blanket "…and it's dry, since the trunk has a roof," he finished, tapping on the roof that was about an inch above their heads.
"…Now here, put this on…" he told her, giving her the blanket and helping her cover herself up "…you'll get pneumonia, otherwise."
"But what about you?" Sharpay asked, "you're soaked, too."
"But I wasn't out there for as long as you were…" Troy pointed out "…which brings me to my next question…what the HELL were you doing, standing in the middle of a golf course in the pouring rain?"
Sharpay shrugged.
"I was testing out Ryan's theory," she replied, "I was trying to wash away all my problems."
"Sharpay, you know you can't wash your problems away with rain," Troy reminded her.
"You can if drought's involved!" Sharpay pointed out.
"But it isn't, Sharpay!" Troy replied.
Sharpay sighed.
"I just…I had to get out of there," she confessed. "being in that house with my parents, and without Ryan…it's been torture, it was making me claustrophobic…so, I decided to go somewhere where there was nothing but wide open space…and nobody but me."
Troy put his arms around her, causing the soft blanket to tighten around her, a bit.
"What're you doing?" she asked, glancing at him.
"Uh…this way, you'll warm up faster," he told her.
Sharpay nodded.
"Thanks," she said, with a weak smile "…for everything. I know you probably didn't wanna come here tonight – "
" – Well, then you obviously don't know me very well, because the truth is, I was half way to the garage by the time I got off the phone with Taylor," he told her.
Suddenly, Sharpay frowned.
"Troy, why are you trying to be my hero?" she asked.
Troy rolled his eyes.
"I'm not trying to be your 'hero', Sharpay," he told her, "I'm just trying to be your friend".
"…Better late than never, I guess…" Sharpay muttered.
Troy didn't say anything.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Troy decided to speak up again.
"…So, you're moving to Colorado, huh?" he asked.
Sharpay sighed.
"…I'm definitely not crazy about the idea, but it's probably gonna happen anyway," she said "…just like when we moved to Baltimore."
Troy nodded.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you about that," he said "…why did you guys leave Baltimore?"
Sharpay turned her gaze toward the window and watched the rain fall outside.
"…My dad's business wasn't going as well as he thought it would," she replied, "and Ryan and I weren't really fitting in at school."
"…Care to elaborate on that?" Troy asked.
"Do I have to?"
"Only if you really want to."
With a soft sigh, Sharpay continued.
"…We didn't make many friends," she said, then glanced back at Troy "…OK, so we didn't really make ANY friends. Everybody looked at us like we were aliens from Mars, or something…they thought I was an oddly dressed, snobby suck – up, and they thought Ryan was gay just because he had a couple pink shirts and liked to wear fedoras."
"…All that means is that you guys were too cool for Baltimore, that's all," Troy reassured her, smirking.
Sharpay smiled.
"Y'know, their basketball team sucked, too," she told him "…and their spring production of 'Annie' was horrible, Rooster's moustache kept falling off, and the dog they got to play Sandy kept turning his butt toward the audience instead of looking at Annie."
Troy laughed.
"That definitely doesn't sound boring…were you in it?" he asked.
"Yeah, I was Miss Hannigan," Sharpay replied.
"Then I'm SURE it wasn't all that bad," Troy told her.
Sharpay smiled at him, but then her smile faltered.
"It's just not fair…" she said "…First we move away to stupid Baltimore, then we come back home, but we lose Ryan, and now we're probably not even staying here the whole summer before we move again to Colorado!"
"…But did your parents really sound definite about moving again?" Troy asked.
"…They definitely didn't sound like they were joking," Sharpay replied.
"Well then…we'll just have to make the most out of the time you have left, here in New Mexico," Troy told her.
Sharpay shot him another one of her curious looks.
"…Meaning what?" she asked.
"Meaning, it'll be at least a few weeks before your dad makes all of his business arrangements and your house gets sold, right?" Troy asked.
Sharpay shrugged.
"…Yeah, I guess," she replied.
"Well, then, for the next few weeks I am going to make sure that you leave for Colorado with even better memories of Albuquerque than you had when you left for Baltimore," Troy promised her. "Sharpay Evans, I am going to show you the time of your life."
"That's quite the promise, Troy Bolton," Sharpay pointed out, with a smile.
"It is, but you know me…I always keep my promises," Troy reminded her.
"Uh huh…but need I remind you that this summer is already off to a crappy start…?" Sharpay reminded him.
"I'm aware of that," Troy replied, "but y'know what? I'm not gonna let you dwell on that, anymore. I mean, of course you'll miss Ryan, I can't stop that from happening…but I'm not gonna let you mourn anymore, Sharpay…I am gonna give you a great summer, and you can't stop me."
Sharpay smiled again. "OK," she said.
"OK," Troy repeated, "now get some rest for now, and I'll drive us over to my house once the rain stops."
"But that may be a while," Sharpay pointed out, "it's still coming down pretty hard out there."
"That's OK," said Troy, "we'll just wait it out, I'm in no rush to get anywhere."
"Won't you be in trouble with your parents, though?" Sharpay asked.
"Nah," Troy replied, "I kinda rushed to tell them where I was going as I was running out the door."
"What did you tell them?" Sharpay asked.
"…That a friend needed me," Troy told her.
Sharpay nodded.
"…Taylor," she muttered.
"No, not Taylor…" Troy replied.
Sharpay blushed and returned her gaze to the window, but after a couple minutes, she looked back at Troy.
"Listen, Troy, about what I said on the golf course…" she began, but Troy cut her off.
"Shh…just get some sleep, OK?" he said.
So Sharpay closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the window, as she drifted off to sleep.
Troy smirked, then he gently took hold of Sharpay's shoulders and shifted her so that her head rested against his shoulder, instead.
He continued to hold her in his arms as she slept, and rested his cheek on the top of her head, as he listened to the rain fall on to the roof of the truck.
The romance is blooming, the romance is blooming...!
Slowly but surely, people!
And I'm only planning on having a couple chapters after this, so the romance process will speed up a bit in the next chapter.
Just stay with me!
And thanks for all the love guys, I really appreciate it!
- Ace's Buddy