Previously on 'Me and My Best Friend's Boyfriend';
Sharpay wiped away her tears and shot him another hard glare- Troy couldn't even look at her in the eyes.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to stick your tongue down my throat!" with that, she turned and ran from the rooftop garden. Troy stared after her completely dumbfounded- great, not only had he lost Sharpay- both as a friend and the girl he had feelings for, but now- if her words about Ryan were correct, he was going to loose Gabriella to... and 'apparently' if Sharpay's words were correct once again, Gabriella was going to hate her. And all those years of their friendship would be completely ruined...
And it would be all Troy's fault.
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Chapter Seven - I Spilled My Own Secret.
Sharpay avoided Gabriella and of course Troy for the rest of the day- and Ryan avoided her. But she needed to talk to Ryan. He couldn't spill what he had witnessed. He just couldn't. It's not like she would be completely pissed at him if he did tell anyone- she'd be a little mad at him, but no, it was Troy whom she'd never want to see or speak to ever again- not like she didn't want to right at this very moment anyway, but still. She knew her best friend to well, even though Gabriella Montez was a quiet, calm, understanding person- well, if she ever found out that Troy had kissed Sharpay...she'd either just hate Sharpay, or both of them. She loved Troy to much to get mad at just him; even though it was clearly his fault. But of course Gabriella wouldn't understand that.
Sharpay took a deep breath and headed over to her locker- it was the end of the day; the end of a long, awkward day that is. She was just dialing in her combination when-
"Hey Shar!!"
Sharpay jumped; startled, and dropped her notebook.
"Oh- hey Gabby." she said nervously as she leaned down to pick up her notebook.
"What's with you? You've been acting all jumpy ever since the end of free period..." Gabriella said- curiously arching a finely plucked eyebrow.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all!" Sharpay answered nervously- scratching her head and then attempting to open up her pink locker again.
"Oh-kay...um...anyways, have you seen Ryan around?"
Sharpay jumped again and whirled back around to face her friend with a horrified expression.
"What? No- why would you want to talk to Ryan? It's not like he's...not like he's hiding something or something! What gives you that idea?" Now normally, Sharpay Evans was naturally a very good liar who never got nervous or said the wrong thing, but at this moment in time; she was the complete opposite of herself for some reason that she couldn't comprehend. Maybe she just cared to much. Gabriella gave her a weird look.
"Er...I just wanted to talk to him about our project- are you sure you're O.K?"
Sharpay sighed a sigh of relief and took a mental note to remember the three C's that she lived by; Cool, Calm, and Collected. Well, there was also complex but that didn't really fit this situation. Gabriella was the one who needed to be more complex if she wanted to figure out what Sharpay was hiding...thankfully she wasn't really.
"Oh yeah Gabby, don't worry I'm fine! Just perfect- couldn't be better!" she turned back to her locker and made a third and hopefully final attempt to get the damned thing open.
"Okay...well, if you see Ryan tell him to call me or something, he said he had a few ideas but he hasn't told me yet. So- what are you and Troy doing for your project? Isn't your country...England right?"
"Yeah, England. and no, we haven't thought of anything yet- at least I haven't. Hey do you think Mr. Connors will let people switch partners?" Uh-oh. Gabriella's not really the best person to ask, Sharpay. Gabriella looked at her as if she was some inhuman creature that decided to come down from mars and pay Earth a visit.
"Why? Are you having problems with Troy or something?..."
"Uh...no. I was just wondering you know- like if you wanted to work with Troy and I could work with Ryan- you know, since it'd be easier for me and Ryan since we're siblings and we live together y'know- so we could get it done faster and you and Troy could work together...y'know?" Sharpay said obvlivious to the fact that she used 'y'know' four times in that one long sentence.
Gabriella's confused look eased somewhat.
"Oh...I guess that makes sense. But you know how Mr. Connors is- he wouldn't let us, he's the one that paired everyone up in the first place."
"Yeah, I wonder why he thought Troy and I would do so great together." Sharpay muttered softly enough so Gabriella couldn't hear. Right at that moment, Troy came up to them.
"Hello ladies..." he greeted them- eyeing Sharpay who was thinking that he must be crazy if he thought she was going to make eye contact with him- no matter how gorgeous his baby blue pools were.
"Hi Troy!" Gabriella said- kissing him on the cheek lightly before looking at her watch.
"Oh! I've gotta run- I'm late!"
"For what?" Troy and Sharpay asked in unison. They glanced at each other but Sharpay quickly looked away.
"I have a job interview in half an hour- get this; intern for an attorney!"
"Huh?" Troy asked dumbly.
"A lawyer, Troy." Sharpay told him- still not looking at him however.
"Gabby- why didn't you tell me?" she asked her best friend. Gabriella shrugged.
"It never came up- but I'll catch you guys later- bye!" she waved goodbye to her two favorite people that she didn't know were complete backstabbers and quickly shuffled away- leaving the guilty backstabbers behind and alone. Sharpay looked at Troy and shook her head before turning back to her locker.
"Sharpay-" Troy began.
"Don't talk to me Troy." Sharpay whispered- keeping her head in her locker. She didn't even want to look at him- she'd just break down in tears from guilt- even though it wasn't her fault.
"But-"
"Please, just go away."
"But- the project-"
"Isn't due for several more weeks. We don't need to worry about it now." with that she lightly closed her locker door and walked away.
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"So, how was your day?" Darren asked Sharpay- they were at Starbucks together- Sharpay with a Vanilla frappuccino and Darren with a normal coffee. It was about five o'clock- and the first time they'd seen each other since Friday. Sharpay shrugged before taking a small sip of her drink.
"Fine I guess...pretty eh...normal and basic." she lied. "And yours?"
"Yeah, me to. Nothing exciting." he lied. He was sitting here on a mini-date with Sharpay Evans, but his mind kept on drifting back to Shay... he felt pretty guilty for two reasons. One reason was because Shay was with Brad, and the second reason was because...shouldn't he like Sharpay? Focusing his attention on her? ...No. He shouldn't feel guilty at all- because nothing had happened with him and Shay, and plus- he wasn't even dating Sharpay.
Sharpay was pretty wrapped up in her own thoughts to- even though Darren was sitting across from her, she kept on thinking about her problems with Troy, and pretty soon with Gabriella and Ryan. Ryan was bound to tell Gabriella- and it made it all the worse since they were partners. Maybe, just maybe if Sharpay made sure that Gabriella came over to their house to work on the project at all times, she could keep a close watchful eye on them. Either that or she would demand to go over to Gabriella's house if they went there to work on the project. She wasn't sure. But she was sure of one thing at least: She was Sharpay Evans, she could do anything, and she could keep her cool, and it was damned right that she was going to stalk those two even if it meant eavesdropping on their phone calls when they were discussing the project. She was just about past desperate and she was not going to let Gabriella find out about her little 'kiss' with Troy Bolton. Never.
After school, Sharpay had gone home like most days and had sat around for about an hour waiting for Ryan to arrive home- he usually was actually already home by the time she got home, but he wasn't today. Finally she had decided to call him, and he said that he was staying after school and wouldn't be home until five because he was in some student volunteer program and that he would get extra credit to clean all of the boy's bathrooms. Bull shit. That was Sharpay's exact response. She also told him to please not tell anyone anything about what had happened on the Rooftop Garden, but all he did was question her about it. That's when she said that it was all Troy's fault and he didn't know what he was doing because he had snuck in a bottle of beer to school and was drunk. She was not about to tell him that Troy suddenly had the hots for her- because that would just be one more thing that she would have to make Ryan swear not to spill. Luckily, gullible ol' Ryan bought her excuse, but even so- he still saw Troy kiss Sharpay, and he still couldn't tell anyone, even though he probably would. She then asked her brother why he had been on the rooftop garden anyway, and he said the school secretary had sent him up there to get a plant for her desk. Once again, Sharpay said 'Bull Shit.' and then he had hung up on her.
It was after that little phone call that she had called Darren and he came and picked her up and now here they were- an hour later, sitting in Starbucks, barely even saying a word to each other- but each to wrapped up in their own thoughts to notice.
"Hey Darren?" She asked him after several more silent long minutes.
"Mhm?"
"Uh...are you ready to go?"
"What? Oh yeah- come one." he stood up and took her hand and they walked out of Starbucks. They drove to Sharpay's house in silence- this is when Sharpay noticed that something was going on with him.
"Are you okay?" she asked him when they were parked in front of her house.
"Fine. Why do you ask?"
"...No reason." she shrugged.
"Oh...well sorry if I was pretty quiet- I'm just...thinking." he answered truthfully- as if reading her thoughts.
"Oh really? About what?"
This time, it was his turn to shrug.
"Just...football, and my dad and stuff." he lied. "But what about you? Are you okay? I mean- you've been pretty quiet to."
"Oh...well, me? It's nothing- I'm just...worried about my brother I guess." well, it was half the truth.
"Oh...ok...well I guess I'll see you later." he leaned over and gave her a light kiss. She smiled at him and got out of the car.
When she was walking to her room, she could have sworn she heard voices coming from Ryan's room- which was right across the hall from hers. His door was closed. That's weird- he almost never had people over. Maybe it was just Gabriella- after all, they were partners. But hey wait- that was still a pretty bad thing!
Without thinking, Sharpay turned the knob and barged into her brother's room- wanting to get the hell in there faster then a heart beat- she just hoped she wasn't to late. Sure enough, Ryan and Gabriella were sitting at Ryan's desk; hunched over, and were both writing furiously on pieces of notebook paper. Ryan's laptop was perched on the desk in front of them as well. They jumped when Sharpay crashed through the door.
"Whoa- oh hey Shar! You scared us!" Gabriella said with a quick smile. Okay, she seemed pretty normal- Ryan hadn't said anything...yet. How long had they been in here anyway?
"Hey guys...sorry. Didn't mean to scare you..." Sharpay said- walking over to them. She looked at the laptop over their shoulders. The internet was open on a picture of a physical featured map of Mexico.
"Whatcha guys doing?" She asked them.
"Just taking notes for our project..."Ryan muttered- glancing back at his twin with a suspicious look. She gave him a pleading look- almost like a warning glance.
"Yeah- where have you been? Ryan said he hasn't seen you since free period today." Gabriella said- looking up at her friend.
"Oh- I was out with Darren."
"Where did you guys go?"
"Uh...Starbucks, why?"
"Oh just wondering." Gabriella said- her eyes were fixed on Sharpay's face, and she was smiling pretty huge. Sharpay stared back at her for a while before looking back at Ryan- who was staring blankly at the computer screen.
"So uh...so how'd your job interview go Gabby?" Sharpay asked Gabriella- still looking at Ryan however. She could still see Gabriella grinning and staring at her from the corner of her eye. What was up with that?
"Oh it went pretty well. I think i got the job- the interview didn't last long really. It's only five forty right now anyway. Mrs. Magdeline is supposed to call me back tomorrow to let me know." something about her voice was weird. She spoke slowly and a little to clearly.
"That's great to hear...so, how long have you been over for?" Sharpay asked hesitantly- looking at her once again. Gabriella was still smiling.
"Not long, just about oh I don't know...twenty minutes? But we've already taken a lot of notes on Mexico. So anyway, tell me Shar- how did you spend free period today? I didn't seem to catch you."
Sharpay rocked nervously back and forth on her feet- okay something was definitley going on with Gabriella. And she kept on challenging Sharpay with her eyes...and something about her big toothy grin was fake...Sharpay just knew it...
"Uh...oh you know just hung out with Kelsi in the auditorium..."
"Oh really? That's odd, because right after lunch Kelsi told me she had to take a make up math quiz during free period?..." there was a note of suspicion in her voice now but she still spoke slowly and her grin remained- not getting the slightest big smaller- in fact, it seemed to expand slightly.
Sharpay hesitated and continued to rock back in forth. She held her hands behind her back guilty and stared at the floor. Why was Gabriella bringing up free period- why was she putting her on the spot? What was she trying to do? Make Sharpay squirm?- because it was sure as heck working! But why would she have a reason to do that anyway? Did Ryan actually tell her? If so, this wasn't the reaction Sharpay was expecting. She glanced at Ryan who was still staring at the computer screen- keeping oddly quiet.
"Oh...did I say Kelsi? I meant Kelly...you know...Kelly Gillen? Well, she's a terrible singer and she asked me to help her get better. So I gave her a few vocal lessons."
"Oh, I understand. Kelsi...Kelly...I understand how you could mix those names up. They sound alike. Now tell me, did you happen to see Troy at all? I didn't catch him either." she blinked once and the grin remained plastered on her face.
"Nooo...I figured he be with you...I didn't see him at all."
"Oh, okay. And after school- after I left to go to my job interview, did you speak with him at all then?"
"No not really...we just parted ways around thiry seconds after you left...uh...Gabbs? Is there a...reason you're asking me these questions?..."
Gabriella's grin quickly faded when she asked her that questions- but it was only gone for a split second before returning to her face. She stared at her friend a long while before answering
"No reason at all." with that, she turned away from her, picked up her pencil and continued to write about Mexico. Sharpay wanted to talk to Ryan in the hallway right at the very moment,but she didn't want Gabriella to get any suspicious then she already seemed to be.
"I uh...I'll see you guys later." she pivoted on her heel and quickly left the room- but left the door wide open so she could hear them talking. Surprisingly, they didn't get up to come and close the door. They allowed her to leave it open, and for the next half an hour Sharpay was bored out of her mind- sitting in the middle of the hallway eavesdropping- not hearing them talk about anything except the land area, climate, and population of Mexico. She could be in her room listening to music right about now or chatting away with one of her other friends or Darren on the phone, watching television, doing her homework- pretty much anything right about now. But she couldn't. She had to spy on her brother and best friend instead.
"Thanks a lot Troy." she muttered.
Just when she was just about sure she was going to die of boredom, Gabriella came walking into the hallway with her backpack.
"Uh...what are you doing laying down, half asleep in the middle of the hallway?" she asked Sharpay with a laugh. Sharpay sprang up.
"Oh nothing- this is just where I meditate...nothing like the good ol' comfy floor hehe..."she said with a nervous giggle. Gabriella stared blankly at her.
"Ok...well, see you at school." she said blankly. Actually, everything about her was blank right about now.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay and hang out for a while?"
Gabriella shook her head.
"No thanks. I'll see you at school- I told my mom to pick me up at seven anyway, she should be here soon. Later." she said- walking past her 'best friend' and down the stairs. Sharpay remained in her position on the floor until she heard the front door slam shut. She immediatley sprang to her feet and stomped into Ryan's room. He was laying flat on his back on the bed.
"Did you tell her?!?!" Sharpay shreiked. He just looked at her as if he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Ryan Evans if you don't speak right now I swear to god-"
"Sharpay-"
"Don't you 'Sharpay' me! I want the truth right now. Just tell me a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Did you or did you not tell Gabriella that Troy kissed me today?!" Ryan still didn't answer- he was staring wide eyed past his sister- behind her...and someone standing in the doorway. Sharpay whirled around when she caught sight of his face and her own jaw dropped when she saw the girl shaking her head sadly at Sharpay- with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"Gabby...I-I...I thought you left?!"
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Author's Note: Well...there's not much to say except...OH SHIT! lol...so left you with a cliffy. lol. And so sorry about the ultimate lack of Troypay in this chapter, but PLEAASEEE don't start loosing interest in this story, I promise that things will begin to clear up...soon. So, please review!
-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx
