A/N: Okay, okay, okay, okay, OKAY. I'll update this. After long and involved process which involved writing three future chapters of TGB, I present whatever chapter number we're on of this story! Enjoy, and all thanks to xBroken-Glassx for letting me know I still had a fan. :P
Our trip to Gabriella and Ryan's had been somewhat less than successful, but I had learned some things. After taking Maddie and Jenny shopping for the perfect anniversary present for Sharpay, I dropped Jenny back at my parents, and took Maddie home. Maddie showed me where the stuff for wrapping presents and stuff was kept (for some reason, it was on the third floor, which was a place I'd hardly been, in memory) and I wrapped Sharpay's present(s), which I presented to her after dinner.
"Ohmigod! I love it!" Sharpay said. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic at all. "Here, open yours." She handed me a little box.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Open it!" Sharpay said. I did.
"What is it?" I asked, holding up…whatever it was.
"Okay, so remember how we couldn't get married before because I was, like, pregnant?" Sharpay asked.
"Um, sure," I said. "I mean, not really, but okay." Sharpay looked at me with a weird look on her face. "Just go on."
"Well, we're finally getting married!" Sharpay exclaimed. I had to retain a lot of self control to keep from screaming. "I've picked out the new date and everything! June 15, 2019! And everything's already all ready, so all I had to do was tell you!"
"So what's with…this thing?" I asked, holding up the present again.
"Duh, Troy, don't you remember our thing?" she asked.
"No," I said. "What's our thing?"
"It's a–" Sharpay began, but the house phone rang, interrupting her. When it stopped, it seemed that she had completely forgotten her train of thought. "So, anyway, are you excited?"
"Um, of course," I said. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I have no idea," Sharpay said. The butler walked into the room, carrying the phone.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I have a Mr. Danforth on the phone for Master Troy," the butler said.
"No, that's okay," I said. "I'll take it." He handed me the phone, and left the room. "Hello?"
"Hey, Troy, it's Chad. What's with the butler?" Chad asked.
"I have no idea," I said, stepping into the lounge to have a private conversation on the phone, and almost running into Maddie, who had been eavesdropping. "What's up, Chad?"
"Well, the guys and I–" Chad began.
"Meaning you, me, and Jason?" I asked.
"Um, technically, and Chuckie and Justin and Dylan," Chad continued.
"My brother, Dylan?" I asked.
"Yeah. Who else? We live in one of those perfect worlds where no two people have the same first name," Chad said.
"Okay, what about us?" I asked.
"We're going to Santa Fe this weekend to visit Zeke," Chad said. "And we were wondering if you wanted to come."
"Of course! Ooh, wait. I have kids and stuff," I said, remembering my adult obligations. "And a job, and a…Sharpay."
"Right," Chad said. "So? Never bothered you before."
"I said I'd – isn't that kind of – yeah, sure, I'll come," I said. Maddie cleared her throat. "Uh, if I can bring Maddie."
"Dude, it's kind of a guys excursion," Chad said.
"Do you want me to come to Santa Fe with you guys, or not?" I asked. There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and the muffled sounds of a mini-argument.
"Yes, we want you to come," Chad said. "And you can bring Maddie."
"Where are you right now? And who are you with?" I asked.
"I'm at Jason's," Chad said. "Where else would I be?"
"Oh, I don't know…your house?" I suggested.
"Dude, it's Monday night," Chad said. I looked at Maddie, and she looked back at me and shrugged.
"What happens on Monday nights?" I asked.
"Um, football, duh!" Chad said.
"When have I ever been a football watcher?" I asked.
"When have you not?" Chad countered.
"Whatever. Santa Fe. Zeke. Saturday. I'm there," I said.
"Word," Chad said. Then he hung up. I stared at the phone for a few seconds and successfully found the off button.
"Ha!" I yelled, making Maddie jump. "Oh, sorry. I found the off button by myself."
"Congratulations," Maddie said. "So, where are we going, when, why, and with whom?"
"Um, Santa Fe, this weekend, with the guys, to visit Zeke. And it's top secret, btw. So that means no telling mom," I said. "Or Sharpay, or whatever you want to call her. Capisce?"
"Capisce, Kapash, Kapoosh," Maddie said. I stared. "Yeah, got it. I miss hanging out with Chris anyway."
"Chris?" I asked.
"Zeke's son. You knew about him, right?" Maddie asked.
"Oh. Right, yeah. How old is he now?" I asked.
"I don't know. Like seven," Maddie said. "He's pretty cool."
"When was the last time you hung out with him?" I asked.
"Like, three years ago," Maddie said. "There was this big thing-to-do, and basketball, and something. Anyway, so you took me to it, and Zeke and Chris were there, and Chad and Nick, and Jason, and Chuckie and Justin, and Dylan, and all them."
"Dylan, my brother?" I asked. Maddie nodded. "Since when was he one of the guys?"
"Since he made starting varsity his sophomore year," Maddie said.
"Our dad was the coach," I said. "It's not that much of a surprise."
"Yeah, well, anyway, they inducted him into the group after that," Maddie said. I nodded and was silent for about ten seconds. Then…
"Whoa," I said. "Go back. What's a big thing-to-do?"
"Like a reunion or something. For your team thing. Or something," Maddie said. She was being very descriptive.
"You're being very descriptive," I said. "Who's Nick?"
"Chad's son," Maddie said. "You knew that, right?"
"No," I said. "I'm sure that would have come up. How old is he?"
"Like five, I think. Older than the twins," Maddie said. "Aren't I supposed to be in bed?"
"Probably," I said. "And I just left mom – Sharpay – home with the twins to go to this reunion?" Maddie shrugged.
"I don't remember," she said. "Maybe they weren't born yet. I really should go to bed."
"Yeah, hold on, one more question," I said. "Why don't the guys remember that I'm…you know…gay?" Maddie sighed.
"They do," she said. "They just don't want to. No one ever wanted to believe it."
"But it's true! I mean, why didn't–" I began.
"Because you and Ryan fell apart, the guys took this as a sign that you were…back, in a sense," Maddie said. "You know what I mean?"
"No," I said. "I'm confused."
"Well, you should be," she said. "You're missing a bunch of your life."
"So I am. That makes sense," I said. "And so I really just…gave up guys?" Maddie nodded. "Why would I do that? That's terrible. I don't like girls. Girls are so icky. And of all the girls in the universe, Sharpay? What possessed me to do that?"
"She reminded you of Ryan," Maddie said, softly, looking at the floor. "Or, that's what I think. Most people think it's because you 'fell in love in a time of hardship' or whatever, but you so didn't. I mean, you're not, right?"
"I'm not what?" I asked.
"In love with Sharpay," Maddie said.
"What? No! No, of course not," I said. "Why – how could I possibly – I love Ryan!"
"That's what I thought," Maddie said. "Is that what you and Jason were talking about this morning in your office?" I nodded, and there was a long silence.
"So, that's all?" I asked.
"Yep," she said. "I should really be going to bed."
"Go to bed, Maddie," I said, chuckling.
"Okay," she said.
"Okay," I said. "Now get to bed, or Sharpay'll have both our heads." Maddie skipped out the door leading to the hall, and I sighed. Life was getting more complicated by the minute. As if work wasn't enough, add children and wives and exes and their children and parents and siblings and friends and exes and friends' exes and exes' friends and so on and so forth, etc, etc, etc. I looked up when I heard the door from the dining room into the lounge open and close. "I said go to bed, Maddie."
"What do you mean, you don't love me?" Sharpay asked. Uh-ohz.
This was more than not good. This was terrible. Horrendous. As far from fabulous as you could possibly get.
"Um…" I began. There was no right answer to the question. Lie and be called a liar for before, or tell the truth and get bitch-slapped by Sharpay. "Well, see, what I meant was…"
"I know what you meant," Sharpay said, sighing and sitting down beside me on the couch.
"You…do?" I asked, tentatively. I wasn't even sure I knew what I meant.
"Yes," Sharpay said. "I've been giving it some thought since I heard you say that all of two minutes ago, but I mean, you don't love me. You never have, and you never will."
"I won't?" I asked.
"Of course not," Sharpay said. "You're still totally hung up on my brother." She said the last word like it was poison.
"I am?" I asked.
"You don't have to deny it. We've all been there. Especially me," she said. "I mean, it took me years to get over you, why shouldn't it take you years to get over Ryan? But, really, that was like nine years ago. So, can you please get over him?" I looked at Sharpay. It would be so much easier if I could just get over him, but I couldn't.
"I can't," I said. "I'm…well, I'm in love with Ryan."
"Still?" Sharpay asked. "Honey, he doesn't want to be with you anymore. He dumped you. Several times."
"There's still a chance," I said.
"A fool's chance, sweetheart," Sharpay said. "Whereas I am right here and ready made for some Troy love."
"Call me a fool," I said, "but Ryan's the only one for me. Ever. Even ask…well…ask Chuckie. He's probably so sick of the name, he's made it some kind of social taboo or something."
"Well, it's not quite that bad," Sharpay said, smiling. "But we had our good times."
"You mean the three kids, or the time we never spend together?" I asked. Sharpay scowled.
"Ryan called while you were out," Sharpay said. "Tried to convince me you're Troy from ten years ago. I told him to shut up. Then Gabriella said the same thing. I believe you, Troy. But it would still be nice if you saw a psychiatrist."
"I don't need to see a psychiatrist," I protested.
"Honey, I think you do. You can go see mine. He's really nice," she said.
"I'll think about it," I said. "How's that?"
"Fabulous," she said. "Okay, so what's this about you taking a secret trip to Santa Fe to see Zeke and Christopher this weekend?"
"Well, it was supposed to be a secret," I said, "but the guys wanted to know if I wanted to go visit him, and I thought it was a great idea."
"That's fine," Sharpay said. "I don't have any say over what you do in your own spare time. Say hi to Chris for me. I miss him a lot, but he means more to Zeke than–"
"I know," I interrupted.
"Okay, so that you know?" Sharpay asked. "I am so confused."
"I can still see the two of you holding hands so sweet, getting ready for homecoming, you were in love. If there's anything you ever wanted in the whole world it was him. I'm just sorry to see it didn't last. How you ever landed me again is beyond me," I said. Sharpay laughed.
"Quite a long story. I guess this means the wedding's off," Sharpay sighed. "We can't very well get married now you're gay again."
"Right," I said. "Um, can I get back to you on that?"
"Um, sure, why?" Sharpay asked, confused.
"Because it is way past my bedtime," I said. "And I'm exhausted."
"Well, you haven't been sleeping well lately," Sharpay said. "Since Saturday morning, I think. Maybe it's virtue of being older."
"Mm," I said. "You tell me in three months when it's your birthday."
"That's Ryan's birthday too," Sharpay reminded me. I nodded and stood up.
"Yeah, I know," I said. "Come on, I have to figure out how to get to work all by myself tomorrow, and I'll need a good night's sleep for that." Sharpay laughed nervously, not really knowing what to say to that. We walked up the stairs to our bedroom and got ready for bed (i.e. toothbrushes, toilets, and pajamas).
Within thirty minutes of turning the lights off, I was asleep. I had weird dreams though. Not necessarily bad dreams, just weird dreams. They were slightly reminiscent of the ones I used to have when I was younger, where there was some kind of struggle, and a very angry Sharpay. Then, I had to make a very big decision. In the past when I had had the dreams, I had always chosen door number two. I decided to do something different this time. I picked up my chair and threw it at Regis Philbin, who did not seem to appreciate it at all. I raced down onto the stage area to see what was behind the doors, but Regis had called security and there was an alarm going off…and I woke up.
I slapped the stupid alarm off and got out of bed. I was never going to see what was behind the doors. And if for some reason I did, and they all turned out to be brand new cars, some neurons in my head were going to get yelled at. After getting dressed and stuff for work, I went downstairs to breakfast, where Sharpay and Maddie were.
"Good morning," I yawned. Maddie waved and continued picking through her Toaster Strudel. "School today?" She nodded. "That sucks. Good morning, Sharpay."
"Mm," Sharpay said, taking a drink of her coffee and continuing to read the newspaper she was holding. I took the box of Toaster Strudel and began cooking some. Then, Sharpay made a very loud noise.
"What? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," Sharpay said. "Auditions for RENT are on Monday evening."
"Oh," I said. I still hadn't decided if I was going to audition or not.
"You should audition," Maddie said. I sighed, and took my Strudel out of the toaster. "Come on, you know you want to."
"I might as well," I said. "I don't have anything better to do with my life, besides watching football with the guys."
"Ick," Maddie and Sharpay commented at the same time, making me laugh.
"I know, right?" I said. "I have never gotten the appeal of football. It's like a whole bunch of guys running around a field trying to get a ball a certain amount of yards before the other team kills them, and they have four tries to do it. And they're not even that cute." Maddie giggled.
"Oh, is that what football is about?" Sharpay asked. "I never got it."
"Yeah, I think. I've only ever watched Homecoming games, because it's my job as Troy Bolton, but that's what I've gathered," I said. Maddie and Sharpay laughed. "I'm serious. Just because I'm Troy Bolton, I'm expected to do all these things, like marry the pretty blond girl and have seventeen kids, and be a professional basketball player– Hey, wait, why am I not a professional basketball player, like in the NBA or something?" Maddie and Sharpay exchanged glances.
"Why do I not have my own TV show?" Sharpay countered. "It's the same answer."
"Not good enough?" I asked. I had to duck very quickly to avoid Sharpay's swinging newspaper. "No, that's not it. Um, we have kids?"
"Ding, ding, ding, ding! Correct answer. Johnny, tell our contestant what he's won," Sharpay said.
"You've won…a brand new car!" came a voice from nowhere, and I looked around to see Jason.
"Props, dude, that was amazing timing," I said, pounding fists with him. "Why are you here?"
"It's Tuesday," Jason said in some kind of explanation.
"And…?" I prompted.
"Well, Chuckie's in Ireland, and usually he comes over on Tuesdays, but he's in Ireland, so I figured I'd come over," Jason said.
"It's gotta be, like, seven-thirty," I said. "Don't I not have to be at work until nine?"
"That made no sense whatsoever," Jason said, sitting down at the table and helping himself to some Toaster Strudel. "And it's, like, eight fifteen." I looked around for a clock, finally looking at my wrist, where, to my confusion, there was a watch, and the time was eight seventeen. Why I was still wearing the watch, I had no idea, because I didn't need a watch. I actually took it off at stowed it in a drawer under the dining room table.
"Why aren't you at school?" I asked Maddie.
"School doesn't start til quarter of nine now," Sharpay said. "They moved it up so kids could get more sleep. You know, like they always said they were going to, but never did."
"Oh, right," I said. Jason stared, but dropped it. "Anyway, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Well, if it's alright with you, we're going to scout b-ball players," Jason said. "You know, like they pay us to do."
"Sounds like a good idea. I like money," I said.
"I like money too!" Sharpay said. All three humans (and four of the blue aliens) ((Ryan go away!)) (But…) in the dining room stared at Sharpay. She didn't notice. "And I have a lot of it, too."
"We know," Jason said. "Anyhoo, so, as soon as you're done with breakfast, we'll head out."
"Do I really get a brand new car?" I asked.
"No," Jason said. "That is not on the agenda."
"Damn," I said. Maddie laughed, and left the dining room to gather her stuff for school. I heard her call good-bye and slam the front door. "She's taking the bus?"
"Yeah, why not?" Sharpay asked.
"I don't know," I said. "I just kind of figured with all the Evans clout around here there'd be something a little more classy. Like…a limo. Or at least a personal driver."
"We have one of those," Sharpay said. "But he's been on vacation for a while. He might have gotten lost in the Bahamas. Who knows." Only Evanses can care so little about things like that.
Scouting for basketball players took most of the morning. When we deemed ourselves finished, we went out to lunch at Applebee's. Because Applebee's rocks. Then, Jason dropped me off at the Evans' Mansion, otherwise known as my house. I walked up the steps as he drove off, Sharpay was pacing the entryway waiting for me, staring at the expensive carpeting.
"Um, Shar, are you okay?" I asked. She looked up at me, and I closed the front door. She took a deep breath.
"Don't freak out, and please don't be mad," Sharpay said. I stared at her, but she didn't go on.
"Okay, I promise," I said. We moved into the living room and sat down on one of the couches. "Go on."
"I think I might be pregnant," she said. Freeze take. Ultimate freeze take. More ultimate than David Schwimmer on Friends. "Troy, say something."
"Why do women always say that they think they might be pregnant?" I asked. "Is that like the one thing that women are told to say when they've taken a test and it's positive?"
"Uh…I guess so," Sharpay said. She took a test out of her pocket and handed it to me to examine it. "I have an appointment with the doctor's office tomorrow to make sure it's right." I nodded, and dropped the test onto the table, suddenly remembering what a pregnancy test was from health class.
"Is it…mine?" I asked. The dreaded question. The one every guy dreads asking.
"Yeah," said Sharpay. "Whose else could it be?" I shrugged. We sat silence for a while.
"I think I'm too young for this," I said. Sharpay scooted over next to me and felt my forehead.
"Are you okay? You don't feel too good," Sharpay said. "Troy? Troy? Troy?" Her voice was getting farther and farther away.
A movie started playing as I watched from a distance as it played in fast forward. This was the Evans' living room in party mode.
Ryan and I entered the front door, arms around each others' waists. We went to the bar, had a few drinks (okay a lot of drinks). Then we met up with Chad, Zeke, Jason, Chuckie, and Justin, and disappeared into the dining room. Taylor, Gabriella, Sharpay, and Kelsi followed us soon after, and then the eleven of us minus Chuckie and Gabriella emerged from the door to the hallway.
Ryan and I walked over to one of the couches. Stumbled was a more correct term. Ryan got pulled by Sharpay off to the dance floor to dance some stupid dance, and Gabriella took his vacated space. Before Ryan came back, she and I had left the living room into the hall. Time slowed down to normal speed as we entered the St. Patrick's Room.
"You remember what happened on your 17th birthday?" Gabriella asked.
"Well, I had my first shot of Vodka," I said.
"No, I meant the other thing," Gabriella said, getting rather seductively close to me. I laughed and pushed her away.
"I'm with Ryan now," I said. "You're not getting me to do that. Not that we ever did before."
"Oh, come on," Gabriella said. I laughed and tried to do…something…but I fell over during the attempt. Gabriella laughed and pulled me to my feet. I laughed some more. Evidently, it hadn't hurt at all. "You know you want to."
"No, I don't," I said. "It's a bad idea and I'm against it." My speech was kind of slurred from all the alcohol. Gabriella unearthed some kind of alcohol from…wherever she was keeping it.
"I am going to drink this," she said. I shrugged.
"Go ahead," I said. "But I am totally gay. And committed. I think. What's today?"
"The Saturday before your 18th birthday," Gabriella said, before taking a drink of whatever it was.
"So that means it must be near midnight," I surmised. "I should probably find Ry…Ryan." I hiccupped. Then I giggled. "Ha ha, I just hiccupped." Gabriella didn't find it as hilarious as my drunk self did. My sober self wondered if I always looked and sounded so dumb when I was drunk.
"It's not that funny," Gabriella said. "Let's go find your stupid boyfriend." She sighed, before pecking me on the cheek and providing a support for me as we went back down the hall and up the stairs to Ryan's bedroom. The bedroom was devoid of humans (but there were 3 or 4 greenish aliens) ((Ryan, I said go AWAY. I'm trying to write here)) (but I miss you) ((I'll be upstairs in a little bit)) (okay!), but it looked like I had been living there for several days at the very least. "So, you and Ryan, huh?" I nodded and hiccupped again. Then I giggled again.
"He's my only one," I said. "I love him. So…so so much."
"That's cute," Gabriella said. "What about me, though? I thought I was your only one" I shrugged. "Why'd you give me this?" She pulled a necklace that looked shockingly familiar out of her shirt. It was the T necklace I'd given her. She was still wearing it. I shrugged again. "That's not good enough, Troy." I shrugged a third time.
"I love you too," I said to her, holding out my arms to hug her, but falling back onto the bed. She drank the rest of her drink, and crawled up beside me and into my arms. "Mmm." She cuddled into me.
"Just like old times," she said. I giggled again.
"Ry…Ryan's gonna be mad if he finds us here," I said. "Should…find him."
"You can't even make coherent sentences," Gabriella said.
"Yes, I can't," I protested. "I mean…you know."
"You are so wasted," she said, sighing.
"I know," I giggled. "Tomorrow's gonna suck."
"So why not doing something to make it suck less?" Gabriella asked, playing with my hair.
"Ryan would know," I said. "He'd…get mad."
"It's not like you got mad when he slept with me," she said.
"That was…way different," I said.
"Not really," she said. "Come on." She threw one of her arms around my waist and rolled me over to look at her.
"No," I said, making an attempt to push her away that failed abysmally. "No! Gabriella, stop it!" She just continued to make up reasons for doing it until I gave in. "Okay, but just this once. And Ryan doesn't find out." Gabriella grinned and hopped out of bed, locking the door to the hall, and the one to the bathroom adjoining with Sharpay's room. Then she pulled the curtains. "We keep the condoms in that drawer," I said, pointing wildly around the room.
"I know," Gabriella said. Still, after opening three drawers, she couldn't find them. She hit jackpot on the fourth and threw one to me. I put it down on the bed and took my shirt off clumsily, getting it stuck on my head. Gabriella laughed and helped me off with it.
"Troy? Troy. Troy!" Sharpay wasn't the only one sitting with me in the living room. Gabriella was there too. I blinked and looked at them both.
"What happened?" I croaked. Gabriella handed me a glass of water, which I took graciously.
"You blacked out for a bit," Sharpay said. I thought about that.
"Okay," I said. "I was…um, can I talk to Gabriella alone?" Sharpay nodded, picked up her pregnancy test, and went upstairs to check on the twins.
"What happened to you?" Gabriella asked. "Why do you want to talk?"
"I had a flashback, I guess," I said. "To my 18th birthday party." Gabriella's face went from smile to frown very quickly.
"Oh," was all she could come up with to say.
"Fortunately, that's not what I want to talk about," I said. It seemed like Gabriella was happy I didn't want to talk about it.
"Then what do you want to–" Gabriella began. I looked both ways to make sure no one was around.
"You never had sex with Ryan!" I hissed. Gabriella looked shocked.
"What?" she said. I gave her a look, and she stopped pretending to be outraged, and looked more curious. "How'd you find out?"
"Not important," I said. "More important: Why did you let everyone else think you did? Especially Ryan?"
"I-I never told him we did. He just assumed," she said. "And so did you and the rest of the Wildcats. I really wasn't planning on doing anything. I only wanted to make you jealous."
"Well, you did a great job of it," I said. "But then, after every one assumed, and started saying mean things about you, why didn't you tell them?"
"It was too late then," she said. "The damage was done, even by the next morning. How'd you find out?"
"We were in Ryan's bedroom, getting ready to have sex, which, by the way, is totally twisted, and you couldn't find the condoms!" I said. "It's not something I would have noticed, given how drunk I was, but…"
"Yeah, I get what you mean," Gabriella said. "I mean, I know what I did was wrong, but in my defense, that means you were my first."
"How is that a defense?" I asked. She shrugged.
"I'm not a lawyer," she said. "Yet."
"Oh. I have a great joke. How do you get a psyche major off your porch?" I asked.
"I don't know," Gabriella replied.
"Pay him for the pizza!" I exclaimed. Gabriella stared. "Okay, that wasn't as funny as I remember it being. And completely off-topic. Still, though, what does it matter if I was your first?"
"Because you always remember your first," Gabriella said. I thought about that.
"If I'm not completely blanking on something, you were the first girl I had sex with," I said. "But according to some people, your first isn't nearly as important as your last."
"Well, let's see, that's Drew, for me," she said. "As of now."
"Sharpay," I said. "Evidently. Cuz, you know, she's pregnant and stuff."
"Yeah, that's what she said," Gabriella said. "That pretty much sucks. This is gonna be your fourth kid. Can you believe it?"
"Nope," I said. "I can't believe I even slept with her in the first place."
"I'm sure that's a compliment," Gabriella said, laughing. "She'd appreciate that a lot."
"Gabi, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Sure. Why not?" she replied.
"Is it still ethical to want to get back together with Ryan, even though Sharpay's pregnant?" I asked. Gabriella thought about it.
"Well, I mean, you're totally gay and in love with Ryan," Gabriella began, "so, ethical in that sense, I guess. But, she is pregnant with your kid."
"But it's not like I'd be abandoning her, or Maddie and Ashley and Zac," I said. "And that's even if he'd agree to take me back."
"Which is extremely doubtful," Gabriella finished. "I mean, I've been with him for these last nine or however long it's been years. He's done so well on his own."
"He wasn't totally on his own," I reminded her. "He had you with him."
"Yeah," she said. "I guess."
"Okay, so back to Sharpay," I said. "It's not like I'd be leaving her on her own either."
"How do you mean?" Gabriella asked.
"Well, I'd still be here. And Ryan if he'll stay, you know what I mean? They're my kids, so I have a responsibility to take care of them," I said. "And, um…yeah." There was another part to the plan, but it wasn't final yet, so I didn't want to say anything about it. She suspected there was something else going on, but didn't press it. There was a slight pause, while we both cast around for conversation topics. "So…why are you here?" I asked.
"Um, well…" Gabriella began. I raised an eyebrow. She cleared her throat and looked at the ground.
"He's here, isn't he?" I asked. Gabriella nodded. "Where?"
"Upstairs," she said. "With Ashley and Zac. And Sharpay. And–"
"Well, speak of the devil," I said. Sharpay and Ryan walked in from the door leading to the hall that led to the kids' bedrooms upstairs, and across the living room to the door leading to the hall that led to my and Sharpay's bedroom upstairs. The two portions of the upstairs don't connect from the upstairs thereby effectively separating Sharpay and Ryan's childhood rooms from that of their parents. "Not going to say hi?"
"Hi," Ryan mumbled.
"Well, it doesn't look great," I said, turning back to Gabriella. "But I've accomplished more difficult things before."
"Like…?" Gabriella prompted.
"I once took apart a toaster oven with a simple household screwdriver," I said.
"Bet your parents loved that," Gabriella said.
"Well, it wasn't their toaster oven," I said. "But Mrs. Brown sure wasn't happy."
"Oh," Gabriella said. "Oh, I think I've heard this story." I rolled my eyes.
"So what brings the resident adult twins through my living room, well, actually their living room, on such a wonderful Tuesday afternoon such as this?" I asked Ryan and Sharpay. "It is afternoon, isn't it?" I added to Gabriella, who nodded. I turned my attention back to the twins, who were obviously using their "twin thing" to decide on an answer.
"We're…rehearsing for auditions," Sharpay said.
"Well, last time I checked, Angel and Maureen didn't have a lot of scenes together," I said. Both of their jaws dropped, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. "What?"
"Two things," Ryan said. "No, actually, three. First off, how do you know that?" I shrugged. "Second, how did you know our dream roles?"
"I actually have an answer to that one," I interjected.
"And lastly, get out of my head! It wasn't funny in high school, and it still isn't funny now," Ryan said, before whipping around and pulling Sharpay through the door to the hall.
"See, my job's half done," I said. Gabriella laughed.
"It is not," she said.
"Oh, come on, he so wants me again," I said. "Step Two, get a part in RENT. You have to come with me."
"No. No, no, no. No. Sorry, not happening, I won't," Gabriella said. I pouted.
"Oh, come on, Gabi. As a favor. To me," I said. "You owe me."
"How do I owe you?" she asked.
"I sang with you in Twinkle Towne," I said. "And so now you have to sing with me in RENT."
"But what would I even audition for?" she asked. I thought.
"Mimi," I finally decided. She opened her mouth in outrage.
"Are you implying that I'm a whore?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, you're right. I totally deserve that."
"And as part of your penance, you have to tell Ryan that you didn't take advantage of him or 'steal' his virginity, okay?" I said.
"He knows," she said, quietly. "I told him about 2 weeks afterwards, what really went on that night. I wish I'd told him sooner, though. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble." I didn't know quite what to say to that. "I should have told you, too."
"Probably," I said. "But it ended up working in your favor, I suppose." There was another slight pause, and then it was like a light bulb had gone on in my head. "Oh my God, I have a brilliant beyond brilliant idea," I announced.
"Ooh, what?" Gabriella asked, intrigued.
"I can't tell you," I said. "It's a secret. Sorry. You'll know on Monday." She pouted, but I didn't tell.
"So, Sharpay's really pregnant, huh?" Gabriella asked, finally.
"So it would seem," I said. "She has an appointment tomorrow at the doctor's–"
"To make sure," Gabriella said. "So she said. She asked me to go with her."
"What, are you two like BFF now?" I asked.
"We have our days," she said, rolling her eyes. "I really, really hope she isn't."
"So do I," I said. "I'm not old enough for this."
"She probably is, though," Gabriella said. "You'll get through it."
"With Ryan at my side," I said, cracking a grin.
"What's your plan?" Gabriella whined.
"Nope," I said.
"Fine," she said. "Are you coming over on Saturday? Drewbear is going to be back, and you absolutely have to meet him."
"Ooh," I said, frowning. "I'm going to Santa Fe this weekend."
"What? Why?" Gabriella asked, suddenly angry that I wouldn't meet her boyfriend.
"With the guys and Maddie to see Zeke," I explained. "Oh. It is okay to take Maddie to see Zeke, right?"
"She's not…yeah, it's fine," Gabriella said.
"Hey, question. Well, actually, a whole bunch of them. If it's alright with you," I inquired.
"Sure," she asked. "Go on."
"Why didn't you want to keep Maddie?" I asked.
"Well, I did," Gabriella replied. "At first. But then I talked to my mom, and she told me this story about a single mom in high school that sounded awfully familiar…actually, I think it was a story about her…but anyway, she just wanted better for me that she had for herself. So, then I talked to your parents, which was probably bad, in retrospect, but they wanted me to keep it and get together with you, you know, permanently, which was absolutely out of the question, in my opinion, no offense. So then I pitched the idea of having it and giving it to you and Ryan, which I, personally, thought was genius, because that would make my mom happy, and it would make you and Ryan really happy, because you both always wanted to have kids, but couldn't because of a certain lack of ovaries on both your parts." I laughed. "And, most of all, it would make Ryan realize that the fact that me and you…well, you know…was a positive thing, because he was pretty pissed. But then the system kind of broke down after she was born."
"Because the state wouldn't let two men adopt a baby," I said.
"Exactly," Gabriella said. "Well, that and I pulled a Phoebe."
"A Phoebe?" I asked.
"You know, on Friends, Phoebe has the triplets for her brother, and then she wants to keep one," Gabriella explained. "But she doesn't get to…"
"I know," I said. "I wasn't aware that was an expression. So what happened after that?"
"Nothing," Gabriella said. "So, she's yours."
"So did you give up your parental rights?" I asked.
"I…don't think so, to tell the truth," she answered. "I tried to give them to Ryan, but they wouldn't let me. Actually, I didn't try very hard. I would have if they'd let me, but I didn't try that hard. I liked her and I so wanted to keep her. It might seem like Maddie means nothing to me, but, really, she was everything."
"Then why'd you leave her here and run off to New York with Ryan?" I asked.
"Well, there's the million dollar question," Gabriella said. "In my defense, it was not my idea. And it's not every day that someone comes up to you and says, 'Hey, I gotta get out of here. You wanna come with me to New York?'."
"Great reason," I said. "Do you even have a job?"
"Not really," Gabriella said.
"So, how do you make money?" I asked.
"Ryan and I have basically been living off the Evans wealth for the last eight years," she explained. "Do you know how much they're worth?"
"Yes, I do," I said. "But, unlike you, I don't care."
"Hey, that's not the only reason I left! You were pissing me right the fuck off, too!" she said, indignantly.
"Oh, yeah? Like how?" I asked. Gabriella stopped talking immediately, and looked around the room for inspiration. "The truth, Gabs."
"You were…" she began, but then stopped to make sure no one was around. The coast was clear. "I walked in one day on you…doing…stuff…with…"
"With who?" I asked, very interested. "It couldn't be worse than Sharpay, could it?" Gabriella nodded. "Well who?"
"Chuckie," Gabriella whispered so quietly it was basically inaudible.
"I WHAT?" I exploded.
"Shh!" Gabriella said.
"I what?" I whisper-yelled. Gabriella nodded. "While I was going out with Ryan and he was still dating Justin?" She nodded again. "I don't believe that."
"Believe it," she said. "It's true. Then, when I talked to you about it, you said something about familiarity or temptation or something like that. And you wouldn't even tell Ryan."
"Well," I said, thoroughly exasperated with myself.
"Exactly," Gabriella said. "That's what I said."
"But did you tell him?" I asked.
"I should have. But I didn't," she said. "But it was just that once. You stopped after we left. Or so I hear. But…"
"What?" I asked. "What did I do?"
"Oh, Troy!" Gabriella cried, collapsing onto my shoulder. "How do you think you could have been in a relationship with Sharpay?" She sobbed on my shoulder, and I tried my best to console her.
"I didn't exactly think about it, I guess," I said. "But this is news to me. Me and Chuckie? Fooling around? Now?"
"Yeah," Gabriella said. "I guess it would be. It's not your fault. Oh, look at me, I'm getting your shirt all wet with my tears."
"I'm used to it," I tried to joke. "The girls just falling off of me, crying on my shoulder…it pretty much comes with the territory."
"How can you be so strong?" Gabriella asked.
"Odd question, all of a sudden," I said.
"No, seriously. How have you possibly not cracked under all this drama yet?" Gabriella asked, sitting up and staring at me.
"It's hard," I said. "But I have my girls. And they'll get me through it." There was a pause where Gabriella collapsed on my shoulder again, this time not crying. "So tell me more about the scandal of the century."
"No," Gabriella said. "Come on, what if one of them hears us?"
"They don't know?" I asked. Gabriella shook her head. "So, who does know?"
"Me," Gabriella said. "And you, now. Chad, I think? And well…"
"Chuckie," I concluded. "I am very angry with him at the moment."
"You should be," Gabriella said. "He's been cheating on Justin this whole time, too."
"And I just feel worse about myself," I said.
"You should," Gabriella said. I frowned at her. "Well, it kind of is your fault. Even if it's not the real you. You know what I mean."
"Yeah," I said. The front door opened and Gabriella and I both turned around to see our daughter (our daughter. I like that) walk through the door, throw her coat at the wall, and slam her bag on the ground. "Bad day at school, Maddie?" I asked.
"The absolute worst. I hate the third grade!" Maddie exclaimed. Sharpay came rushing through the door from the hall, Ryan right behind her. "And you guys! Jeez." Maddie stormed through the opposite door to the stairs that led to her room. Sharpay and Ryan looked at me and Gabriella, and all four of us shrugged.
"She hates the third grade," I said. "That's all I got."
"It's those stupid bullies," Ryan said. "She's been complaining about them for weeks. Maybe someone should tell her to punch their lights out." Ryan turned back around to go back to the rehearsal room (presumably), but Sharpay stopped him.
"Ryan, quit the feuding already," Sharpay said. "I'm sick of it. It was your stupid choice in the first place."
"Okay, not to open old wounds, but no it wasn't," Ryan said. "It was his stupid decision! I had nothing to do with it. I just had the sense to leave his cheating ass before I got my heart broken properly."
"Oh, God, I'm so confused," I complained, putting my hands on my head and falling back into the couch. Gabriella took pity on me, and hugged my head. "Thanks, Gabi," I attempted to say, but it came out muffled and sounded like "Fangs Fomphi".
"You're welcome," Gabriella replied.
"Can't believe you understood that," Sharpay said.
"It's an art," Gabriella and Ryan said at the same time. Then, they turned to glare at each other. "Hey, he was mine, first!" they both said in unison. "No, he was mine!" they both exclaimed again.
"Enough!" I shouted, standing up and backing halfway across the room. "I have no idea what's going on, or why you're arguing about it. But, technically, I was Sharpay's before I was either of yours, but this isn't really the time to argue about that. Can someone please stop yelling, and explain this to me? Calmly?" Gabriella and Ryan both started talking at the same time.
"Well, it was her fault! She started it! Her and her stupid slutty bitchy ways! And then it was that stupid basketball stuff, and after that it was Chuckie! If it wasn't one thing, it was another!" Ryan yelled.
"It was his fault! I just wanted to settle what I had to do, and he just called me a stupid slut, and told me it was my own fault I was pregnant! Then he didn't even try to act grateful afterward, and really, none of that other stuff was my fault!" Gabriella yelled at the same time.
"That is NOT calmly!" I roared. "Calmly is defined as in an inside voice." Ryan glared at me, for no particular reason that I could find. "And one at a time, if you don't mind," I added.
"She just couldn't get over the fact that you wanted me and not her!" Ryan argued.
"Well, he just couldn't get over the fact that…" Gabriella began angrily. "…That you actually loved me too," she said softly. "And that you still might have, that night." Ryan looked like he might burst with anger, and looked to me to negate this.
"Ryan, I…" I began. He turned around.
"I have to go," he said, before storming out the door. "Don't wait up, I won't be back." He slammed the front door, and I could see him walk down the front steps.
"We're supposed to rehearse!" Sharpay called after him, but she didn't move from the place she was standing.
"He's going to take the car, isn't he?" Gabriella asked the room at large. "Dammit."
"We'll get you home," I reassured to her. "Or, you can just stay here. Whatever."
"The last time she stayed here–" Sharpay began.
"Honestly, Sharpay, I have bigger problems right now," I said. "I need to use a computer. Where's my computer?" Sharpay and Gabriella looked at each other, both wearing confused faces. "Hello? Girls? Where is my computer?"
"It's down the hall," Sharpay said, snapping out of her reverie and pointing down the hall that led to my and Sharpay's bedroom. "Um…all the way down the hall, turn right, second corridor on the left, and then it's the fourth door on the western side, 47 degrees east of south."
"Have you ever considered giving out tourist maps?" I asked, starting down the hall. Both girls, after sharing another look, started after me. "I don't need help, girls."
"We know," they both said. I followed the very confusing directions to the computer room, and wondered why they were so annoyingly complicated, and why this half of the house was way bigger than the other half. When I got there, I sat down in the computer chair and stared at the computer itself. I wiggled the mouse, and it woke up, which made me brighten up. I stared at the welcome screen. It wanted a password.
"Hmm, password," I said, thinking.
"Need help?" Sharpay asked.
"No, I got it," I said, typing in several letters. I'm not going to tell you what my password was, because I don't want you on my computer. It opened up. "Yay, me." I did an impression of Sharpay, applauding myself (which is also recognizable as London Tipton's trademark clapping from the Suite Life). "I really don't need you two in here." They sat down in two other chairs that happened to be sitting around the room and began conversing in low tones, probably about me, or Ryan, or Maddie, or something else I could really care less about at the time.
I opened my email account, which was the same one I'd had in high school, and I hadn't even changed my password or anything, which was probably dumb of me, but whatever. It made it easy for me to get in. I sorted my emails by author, date, and attachment, and scrolled all the way to the bottom, to see when the first one that Chuckie had sent me with a playlist on it was dated. It was from August 2009. It was a list of me and Ryan's songs. The next one was from October 2009; a list of pretty emo songs. The one after that was from September 2010; a list of really depressing breakup songs. There was a break in correspondence, and the next playlist was dated February 2013; a list of me and his songs. There were several after that, about twice a year, at his birthday, and at mine, always a list of songs that we used to listen to either when we were in high school or before. Some were from after, but none of the songs were written after Maddie had been born. I came to my birthday playlist this year and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Sharpay asked.
"Nothing, as usual," I said, rolling my eyes, and printing a list of the songs on each playlist. "It seems like I've got a project for this afternoon, though, if you wanna help." I grabbed the list of songs several pages long.
"What is that for?" Gabriella asked.
"It's a long story, and we've got a long way back to a room with which to do this in. C'mon," I said. I explained what the list was on our way to the little room near the dining room that had a bunch of couches and a keyboard. It was a favorite room of mine.
"Okay, so we've got to separate each of these songs to figure out why he'd send you them?" Sharpay clarified. "That seems pretty boring."
"Trust me, it's important," I said. Gabriella and Sharpay both rolled their eyes. "I didn't ask for your help."
"No, I want to help," Sharpay said. "But I need a drink. Coffee, anyone?"
"Can I get a Pepsi?" I asked. Sharpay nodded and left the room.
"And the actual purpose of this is?" Gabriella prompted.
"So that I don't have to kill him," I said. "Let's get doing this."
"Him being Chuckie?" Gabriella clarified.
"Duh," I said, laying out the several pieces of paper on the coffee table and sitting on the floor. I took a notebook from the drawer underneath the table, and blew on it. It was really dusty. "I can't believe this is still here."
"What is it?" Gabriella asked.
"Well, if I'm not completely stupid, it's the original notebook that we wrote TruthOut in," I said. I opened it cautiously and sure enough, there was a whole bunch of musical staff paper in the front, with the music for TruthOut. "Check it out." I turned the folder over, and flipped through the several pages of lyrics. "This is so cool. If we were famouser, we could sell this for big bucks. Not that we really need it."
"Not that we really need it," Gabriella repeated. "Now explain to me exactly what we're trying to accomplish."
"I already told you," I said. "Are you going to be helpful, or not?"
"Yes, whatever," Gabriella said. I turned to the second subject in the notebook, and flipped it over.
"Let's tackle this first list first," I said.
"What's it a list of?" Gabriella asked.
"Songs," I said. She gave me a "like duh" face. "I don't know exactly what the songs are. Some of them don't have descriptions. If we decode a few of them, we should be able to title the playlist."
"Sounds like a plan, Stan," Sharpay said, coming back into the room with a coffee, a Pepsi, and a lemonade.
"Are you sure you should be drinking coffee when you're pregnant?" Gabriella asked.
"It's decaf," Sharpay said, "Duh. Can you imagine me drinking caffeinated coffee?"
"Whatever," I said. "Problem at hand, please?"
"Which is?" Sharpay prompted.
"I already told you," I said. We spent the following hour and a half looking through all the songs, and on occasion Sharpay would start singing on, much to Gabriella's and my annoyance.
"Okay, last list," I said. "You're Still the One, All I Ask of You, From This Moment On, When Your Eyes Say It…no idea."
"Aw, that's so sweet," Sharpay said.
"What is?" Gabriella and I asked.
"He remembered," Sharpay said. Gabriella and I continued to look confused. "Our songs. For our wedding."
"Oh, yeah," I said, remembering. "Those are our songs. Oh, and look at the date. It was around the time we were supposed to get married the first time."
"Whatever," Gabriella said. "Well, there's two hours of my life I'll never get back. Can we do something else now?"
"Sure," I said. "Who votes we should go see what's gotten into the kids?"
"Good idea," Sharpay said. "Let's do that." We did. When we were done with that, we heard the front door slam, and a very loud voice yell "Troy!".
"That would be Ryan," I said to Maddie and Gabriella. "Gotta go."
"Can I come?" Maddie asked. Gabriella and I exchanged looks.
"No, not such a good idea," Gabriella said. "C'mon Troy, let's go." We evacuated Maddie's room, and ran down the stairs to the living room, almost running into Sharpay who was also running down.
"Yes?" I asked Ryan when we all arrived in his presence.
"I don't like you," Ryan said. "But your name is easier to yell than Gabriella's."
"I take it you've been at Kelsi's," Gabriella said.
"Yeah," Ryan said. "And then I was just driving around."
"And?" Sharpay asked.
"And nothing," Ryan said.
"So you didn't talk about anything while you were there," Gabriella clarified.
"Oh we did," Ryan said. "And she says I should forgive you for…leading me on or however the hell she put it. Of course, that's her solution to everything. Forgive Gabriella, forgive Gabriella, forgive Gabriella, forgive Troy, leave Troy's cheating ass, forgive Troy, forgive Sharpay, forgive Zeke, forgive Gabriella, forgive Gabriella, forgive Gabriella. Look how well it's done me in the past."
"Quite well," I said. "You look well." Ryan glared at me, and I shrugged innocently. "You'd be surprised how we've been spending the afternoon."
"How?" Ryan asked.
"Coming up with reasons not to kill Chuckie," Gabriella beat me to it.
"Why are we killing him? How?" Ryan asked. "And can I help?"
"Because he's a complete ass, with some kind of blunt instrument, and no, you can't help, because we're not killing him," I said.
"I thought he was your best friend," Ryan said.
"No, Chad is my best friend. Or maybe it's Jason. I don't know, okay? Maybe it's Gabriella," I said.
"I get to be your best friend?" Gabriella asked. "Fantastilistic!" (Lol.)
"Whatever," I said. "So are you forgiving Gabriella, or not?"
"Well, considering that's not what I even went over there to talk about, yes," Ryan said. "I am, in fact, although it's none of your business."
"What'd you go over to talk about?" Sharpay asked. Ryan looked at her. "Oh, right, that."
"Right," Ryan said. "And she apologized for that, and then Jason came in blabbering on about the price of a good turkeyburger these days, and I left. I take it you went to Applebee's for lunch?"
"Yeah," I said. "I didn't think the prices were unreasonable."
"You haven't lived the last ten years," Ryan said. "Anyway, then I was driving around, and I remembered I stranded you here. So, you want to come home, or not?" He looked at Gabriella for an answer.
"Uh, no thanks," Gabriella said. "I think I'll stay here. I have to go with Sharpay to the hospital tomorrow. Fun times."
"We've had so many fun times at that damn hospital," Sharpay said. "The least of which was the birth of our collective four children."
"Tell me about it," Gabriella said. "And that one time Taylor was in the hospital."
"Yeah, and then," Sharpay said. "And when Christopher had that…whatever it was that one time."
"Yeah, and of course, when Kelsi had that pregnancy scare," Gabriella said. I looked at Ryan, losing interest with the conversation. He gave me his trademark "make it stop" face, and I smirked. Things would be back to normal before he knew it.
"Things will not be back to 'normal' or even your twisted version of it before I know it," he whispered icily in my ear. "Because, believe it or not, I can live without you."
"I know that," I said. "And get out of my head. It wasn't funny before, it's not funny now," I mocked. He gave me a face, and folded his arms across his chest.
A/N: Weeeeeeell. I don't like this chapter. I didn't like it when I wrote it, and I still don't like it now, but there's no way around it. These things have to happen.
The middle doesn't flow as well as it used to, but that's because originally I had Ryan not knowing about his night with Gabriella, but I changed that. Four years of revisions and this is what we come to.
Don't own anything blah blah thanks for reading blah blah leave me a review (hearts)
Thanks.
Samantha.