Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or High School Musical 2.

A/N: Okay, I know I haven't updated since October, and I am truly sorry. I got bogged down with school work, club work, and work study. I also lost a piece of this chapter. If I had one piece, I couldn't find the second. I still can't find the first part, so I rewrote something else because I feel bad for not updating. Anyway, to the story!

Chapter 7: The Strategies

Ryan sat and thought hard about what his mother had told him. She said he needed to apologize to each of his friends. To him, that meant apologizing on a one-on-one basis rather than apologizing to the group. She also said that the apology might take time to be accepted. Ryan decided to listen to his mother, doing the final thing she requested of him. The question now was where to start?

He obviously couldn't start with Sharpay. She was always the most stubborn one of the group, and she was probably most affected by the whole situation. He decided to put Sharpay last on the list.

It seemed Zeke was still with Sharpay. At the very least, he still cared deeply for her, so he probably wouldn't be receptive of his apology until others accepted what he had to say. Then he could help with Sharpay.

He remembered Taylor was also a stubborn one, so she'd take a bit longer than the others to convince of his regret for his mistakes. Chad was with her, and probably still whipped by her, so Ryan knew Chad would be a long shot right now.

Of all his friends, he felt Gabriella would be the most forgiving, but given what he did to her and Troy, he figured that wouldn't be the case this time. Gabriella and Troy would probably be harder to convince than Taylor.

Kelsi was next on his list of most forgiving, and Jason was probably still as dense as ever and wouldn't know what Ryan was sorry for. To him, these two people seemed to be the ones to start with. Ryan decided he would apologize to the first one he saw.

Martha would be another one of his old friends who might forgive him easily, but he had no idea where to find her. He hadn't seen her at the funeral. His best bet for forgiveness was Kelsi and/or Jason. They would probably then help him get the others to hear him out.

It had been a week since the funeral. They hadn't spoken much since they had all moved back to Albuquerque. To fix this, Sharpay was holding a "High School Group Reunion" at the Evans Estate. The boys were typically playing a game of hoops, and the girls were lounging in the Evans' living room, bugging Sharpay.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sharpay?" asked Gabriella, concerned for her friend.

"Look, I have my good days, and my bad days. Today, at least at this moment, it's a good day because I'm hanging out with all of you. I don't want it to be turned into a bad day, so let's stop talking about it."

The other three girls exchanged looks before Taylor said, "Okay, we'll drop it if you promise to come to us during your bad days."

Sharpay thought for a moment. "Deal," she agreed.

"Alright, then, it's dropped," added Kelsi. "So Gabriella, what's new in your life?"

"Wait a second." Troy stopped the game to ask for clarification. "You're a teacher?"

"Yeah," replied Chad. "I know it's strange, but in college I discovered it just seemed to suit me. I can't really explain it."

Troy nodded his head toward Chad in understanding. Then, he turned to the other guys. "What do you do guys do?"

"Well," began Zeke, "I have a degree in business. My goal is to open a bakery, but for now, I'm still looking for the ideal business opportunity to come along. That's why I'm living with Chad and Taylor right now."

"I have a degree in business, too," stated Troy. "Only my degree is in advertising. So, when you find your business, you can let me do your advertising. I'm looking for work, too."

"Not alone there, buddy," said Jason. "I have a degree in film, but I haven't found the right movie to do."

Another voice interrupted the conversation. "Troy, we need to leave. We have to be at your parents' for dinner soon."

"Coming, Gabriella," Troy replied to his wife. He tossed the ball he was holding over to Chad, and ran towards the house. "See you later, guys," he called over his shoulder.

That evening, after returning home from dinner, Gabriella and Troy were getting ready for bed. Troy was relaying his earlier discussion to his wife. Gabriella was a little shocked at the Chad teaching revelation, but she could somehow picture it.

She sat thinking about it all. Then she chuckled, "Thanks kind of funny."

"What is?" asked Troy from the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Oh," she said turning from the vanity, still brushing her hair, "Just an interesting scenario that popped into my head."

He rinsed and spit. "Care to enlighten me?" He wiped off his mouth and headed towards the bed.

She set her brush down and joined him as she explained. "Well, Zeke owned a production company. His company was producing Jason's movie. You were doing all the advertising for the company, and the movie. Kelsi had written the screen play for Jason's movie. Finally, Sharpay was the star of the movie."

"Gabriella, you're brilliant!" exclaimed Troy. "That's a great idea!"

"Really?" she questioned.

"Well, I think so. I'll find out what the others think, though."

"Hmm," Gabriella said as she got up to brush her teeth. "Maybe our baby can even be in the movie."

"Yeah, maybe our baby can…" He had been so caught up in Gabriella's plan, that what she just said took a few seconds to register. "Our baby?"

"That's what I said…our baby."

"We're having a baby?" asked Troy in disbelief.

"Yep…I'm pregnant!" Troy jumped off the bed with a wide grin and spun his wife around, happily.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Again, I'm sorry for the months long delay. I really will try to update more regularly.