A reminder: HSM3 never happened in this… so here's a little backstory:

Troy and Gabriella- both going to college in California, still together, still the poster couple of teenage love.

Chad- going to U of A on a basketball scholarship, on-again, off-again with Taylor, still best friends with Troy.

Taylor- going to Harvard, still best friends with Gabriella.

Sharpay and Ryan- were planning to go to Juilliard, but moved to LA after graduation, Ryan pursued a film career and became famous and all that.

Kelsi- going to Juilliard on scholarship.

And BTW, Ryan and Kelsi both went to senior prom stag.

Once in a lifetime

Means there's no second chance

So I believe that you and m—

Kelsi grabbed her ringing cell phone, looked at the caller ID, and flipped it open. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, kiddo," Peter Nielsen said to his only daughter. "Just wanted to check in with you. How's school?"

"It's fine," Kelsi said. She decided to leave out the part about Lori taking credit for her composition. "I'm fine."

"That's good. So, any news?"

"Oh! Yeah, definitely," Kelsi exclaimed. "Remember Ryan Evans?"

"Was it that boy in drama club with you whose sister you were afraid of in seventh grade?" Peter asked. "I thought you were friends now. What about him?"

"Guess what?" Kelsi said, barely able to contain her good news. This was Ryan Evans. Just one song for him could do wonders for her future as a composer. But then, of course, she wasn't just in this for the fame. "He asked me to write a song for him!"

"Oh, okay, kiddo." Her father sounded a lot less excited than she had hoped. "But you've written lots of songs for him and his sister. What's so special about this one?"

Kelsi groaned. Did her father really not know? "You know that movie Finding Eternity?" she asked. "Or Lucky 21, or I.Q.?"

"Hmm. I think I remember something like that," Peter said thoughtfully. "Have we seen a movie called Finding Eternity?" he called to his wife.

"Oh, yes, was that the one about the girl with cancer? And she and her best friend went on the cross-country road trip?" Kelsi could vaguely hear her mother's voice in the background. "Is that Kels on the phone?"

"Yeah, but use the other phone in our bedroom, Diane," Peter said. Kelsi grinned unconsciously. She missed home.

"Kelsi, sweetie, are you there?" her mother asked. "I remember Finding Eternity. We saw it soon after you left for Juilliard a couple years ago. Scarlett Johansson was absolutely lovely in that one. I cried at the end when her character died."

"Right, right," Kelsi said. She should really be getting to the point. "Do you know who played her best friend Lucas?"

"I'm not sure," Diane said. "He looked very familiar, though."

"It was Ryan Evans," Kelsi finally told her parents. "Remember Ryan Evans? He's a pretty big deal now."

"Oh, he and his sister Sharpay were the co-presidents of the drama club," her mother said. "Weren't they supposed to have been going to Juilliard with you? That's what their parents said, wasn't it, Peter?" Kelsi's father must have nodded, because Diane continued. "Well, I always thought that it would be Sharpay who would end up the famous one—on Broadway, not Hollywood. Funny how things turn out, huh?"

"Uh-oh," Ryan said in the car, his eyes widening.

"Uh-oh, what?" Sharpay said, leaning back into the town car's leather seat.

"I forgot my hat at Starbucks," he explained. Sharpay's eyes traveled up his face and landed on his perfectly-gelled blond head of hair, which was hat-free. She grabbed her cup of coffee from the cupholder and groaned.

"Sorry," she said to their driver. "We'll get out here." She gave him a ten-dollar bill and they hurried outside, calling for him to keep the change. "Hurry, though."

They stepped back inside Starbucks, searching for the hat. "Found it!" Ryan called. "Hey, Shar, I'm going to use the men's room, okay?"

"Sure," she said. She noticed that that girl was still in their original booth. She headed over to give what's-her-name a talking-to. "Look, Lucy," Sharpay snapped.

"It's Lori," Lori corrected, raising her eyebrows.

"Whatever. Just stay away from my brother," Sharpay warned. "I don't care what your name is, but if you don't stop stalking him, you're dead. He doesn't like you. He. Doesn't. Like. You. Clear?"

"How do you—" Lori said.

"How do I know? You're asking me how I know? He's my brother. My freaking twin brother. I've known him his entire life. Do you think I won't be able to tell who he likes? He'll never like you, that's for sure, with that horribly underconditioned little carrot-top you call hair and your New Ywoka tawk." Sharpay said the last three words with an overly exaggerated city accent.

"Excuse me?" Lori asked.

"Oh, yeah," Sharpay said. "And you want to know what I think of you?" She took what was left of her low-fat, no-sugar strawberry Frappuccino and uncapped the lid. In one swift motion, Sharpay dumped the icy pink slush from its plastic cup and onto Lori's low-cut tank top. "That's what I think of you." She grinned, showing her professionally-whitened teeth. Ever since Gabriella Montez had accidentally—or so she had claimed, but Sharpay knew better—slipped and spilled her chili fries on Sharpay's brand new shirt that one day in junior year, she had an unappeasable desire to dump her food on someone to get a feel of what it was like on the other side. And Lori was the perfect way to help her brother and have a little fun of her own.

Lori just stood there with Frappuccino dripping off her chest, shocked and speechless.

"If that doesn't discourage you and you still want Ryan," Sharpay said, raising one perfectly waxed eyebrow dangerously, "and he's insane and actually wants you too, and you guys get married, then who do you think you'll have for a sister-in-law? Look," she said softly, but in a threatening tone. "You know I don't like you. So why don't you just get out of our lives. Ryan's not going to leave me or Kelsi for you. He and I do everything together—we're twins. And if I don't like you, he won't either. He won't be as… vocal as I am about it, but he won't like you all the same. I'm saying this for your own good: stop what you're doing and we'll all be happier."

"Why should I do what you say?" Lori said, her eyes narrowing as she unsuccessfully tried to scrub the drink from her shirt with a brown paper napkin.

"Believe me," Sharpay said. "You should." Pausing for a minute to examine her work, she tossed off coolly, "Oh, and to accompany those faux Chanel boots and your Frauda (AN: fraud Prada… get it?) bag, you can have this cup to cry your fake tears into." She shoved the clear plastic cup that once held her coffee into Lori's hands. "That's all."

At that moment, Ryan emerged from the bathroom with his hat now on his head. "What happened, Shar?" he asked concernedly, confused as to why Lori had a huge pink splotch on her shirt and his sister was standing with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Is everyone okay?"

"Oh, nothing," Sharpay said, slinging her purse over her shoulder and beckoning her brother to leave. "Everything is just perfect."

Ryan looked at Lori and shot her a sorry-for-whatever-Sharpay-did look while following his sister out of the café. "What did you do to her?" he asked, once they were out onto the streets. He slid his sunglasses back on in a futile attempt to disguise himself.

"You are the most oblivious person on Earth," Sharpay said, smiling slyly as she summoned a cab. "But don't worry. Lori got everything she deserved."

AN: Hope you liked it; Lori finally got told off by Sharpay! Too harsh? Too un-harsh? Let me know what you thought. It's Thanksgiving today... and I'm really thankful for all you guys's reviews (hint hint)!