Disclaimer: No, I don't own the High School Musical franchise, I don't even own Ashley's shoes, yet...but I did just get a new pair of shoes for myself today, so that'll have to tide me over...for now.
Chapter 9 –Week Two (Clumsy)
The following Monday, at around noon, Sharpay was sitting a table outside a small, downtown coffee shop, waiting for Gabriella and Taylor to arrive.
When Taylor finally pulled up to the curb, Gabriella immediately jumped out and rushed over to Sharpay.
"…Sorry we're late!" she apologized, when she reached Sharpay's table and sat down in the chair next to her.
Sharpay smiled, faintly.
"You're not," she said. "I just got here about fifteen minutes early because my mom dropped me off on her way to her book club meeting."
"Wait," said Taylor "…your mom drove you here?"
"Mm hmm," Sharpay replied, nodding.
Taylor rolled her eyes and looked over at Gabriella.
"…If it's not me driving you around, it's your mom…" she said, then glanced over at Sharpay "…and if it's not your mom driving you around, it's me or Troy! You two have got to start driving again!"
"I – don't have my own car yet," Gabriella replied, looking down at the table.
"Yeah, and I'm…saving money on gas," Sharpay pointed out, "and I'm saving the environment by car pooling!"
"Ba - loney," Taylor replied, glancing from one girl to the other. "You two are still both able to drive and yet neither of you have gotten behind the wheel in over two weeks!"
"Well, if you don't remember, Taylor, the last time I got behind the wheel – " Gabriella began, but then glanced at Sharpay and cut herself off.
" – That wasn't your fault!" both Sharpay and Taylor pointed out.
But Gabriella just looked down at the table, biting her lip.
"…I swerved to the left," she mumbled "…Ryan died because I swerved to the left – "
" – Ryan died because a cement truck ran a red light!" Sharpay interjected. "You saw the truck and you slammed on the brakes and swerved! Yes, you swerved to the left but lots of drivers have done that in that same situation, Gabbi!"
Gabriella lifted her gaze and stared at Sharpay, still not convinced.
Taylor stayed silent as she glanced between the two girls.
"It was Not.Your. Fault," Sharpay told Gabriella, in a hard, but reassuring tone. "Nobody is blaming you for what happened, Gabbi…nobody but you."
The three girls sat in silence for a few moments, then a waitress came over to their table.
"Would you ladies care for something to eat or drink?" she asked.
" – YES!" Taylor immediately replied, anxious to get rid of the tension. "Yes, I'll have a cappuccino, and a tuna - melt sandwich."
"Interesting combination, Taylor," Gabriella remarked, with the hint of a smile.
Taylor shrugged. "I guess I'm just a rebel," she said.
Sharpay smiled at the remark…and Taylor and Gabriella noticed.
"What…?" Taylor asked "…what's so funny?"
"Uh, nothing…I'll have a mineral water and a Caesar sal – " she began, then stopped, as her memory seemed to click on, and she remembered something Troy had said to her, the other day.
"…There's a spark of rebellion in you, Sharpay…"
Sharpay smiled.
Gabriella, Taylor, and the waitress all frowned.
" – Uh, I'm sorry, miss, what was that?" the waitress asked.
"You OK, Shar?" Gabriella asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sharpay replied, smiling, then looked back up at the waitress.
" – Actually, scratch that," she told her "…I'll have a cappuccino and BLT sandwich, please…oh, and can I get a chocolate chip cookie for dessert, too, please…?"
As the waitress wrote down her order, Taylor and Gabriella stared at Sharpay in shock.
" – Oh, y'know what…? Just make it two cookies," Sharpay told the waitress.
"Um…OK, and I'll have some sweet tea with a chicken sandwich," Gabriella told the waitress as she glanced over at Sharpay, puzzled.
Once the waiter was gone, Gabriella and Taylor both turned to Sharpay.
"A BLT…?" Gabriella asked, "Sharpay, you know that has bacon in it, right…? You don't eat bacon."
"…A cookie…a chocolate chip cookie!" Taylor exclaimed, in disbelief, then she glanced at Gabriella "…you heard her order the cookie, right…?...Two cookies, she ordered two cookies!"
"So I ordered two cookies and a sandwich that has bacon in it, what's the big deal…?" Sharpay asked.
Taylor and Gabriella glanced at each other, then leaned back in their chairs a little and squinted at Sharpay.
"…What?" Sharpay asked, seeming exasperated.
Taylor raised an eyebrow, while still squinting at Sharpay.
"...Two chocolate chip cookies…and bacon…" she muttered.
"…That stuff guarantees calories," Gabriella put in.
"…And Sharpay hates calories…" Taylor added "…doesn't she?"
"You guys, I'm right here," Sharpay reminded them.
"Are you…?" Taylor asked "…cuz this sure doesn't seem like the Sharpay we know."
Suddenly, her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers.
"…It was Bolton!" she exclaimed. "Troy Bolton did something to spark a little change in you, didn't he…?"
"What're you talking about?" Sharpay asked, "I just feel like treating myself to a cook -"
" – Sharpay, you spent all of last week with him, and you're telling us he has nothing to do with this…?" Gabriella asked.
"You never told us all the details of that week, by the way," Taylor reminded her.
Sharpay smirked as she thought about the events of the past week.
" – Ah ha! I knew it!" Taylor exclaimed, "I knew it!"
Sharpay rolled her eyes, though she still smiled.
"We went shopping together - "
"Seriously…?" Gabriella asked.
"Oh, that poor boy…" Taylor muttered.
" – Can I finish, please…?" Sharpay asked.
"You better…!" the two girls replied.
Sharpay smiled again.
" – We went shopping, we went to a late – night concert in the park, we went to two movies in one day – "
"Oooh…" Taylor and Gabriella swooned, impressed.
Sharpay nodded.
" –It was his idea. Oh, and he also got me to eat a slice of pepperoni pizza at the pizza place, next to the movie theatre…"
"Oooh…."
"…It's true," Sharpay told them. "Oh, and the movies we went to…? One was an action movie, the other…a chick flick."
"You dragged Troy Bolton to a chick flick…? Oh, I commend you, girl…!" Taylor told her, clapping.
"…I'm not done yet," Sharpay told her.
So Taylor and Gabriella leaned in, eager to hear more.
"… We also went for a walk through town…" she continued "…fed some pigeons with an old lady in the park, raided a drug store and bought some totally random stuff – "
" – Like what?" Taylor asked, then Gabriella smacked her on the arm.
" – She was just about to tell us, Taylor!" she told her.
"Right, sorry…"
Sharpay laughed.
"…Anyway," she continued, "we bought some non – permanent hair dye, y'know, the kind that washes out in like, a week…? I got hot pink and he got bright red…though we still have to do the actual dying of the hair, and I don't know who's more reluctant about it, me or Troy. And we also got some fake tattoos, we're gonna put those on after we dye our hair, so we get the whole rock star look down. And today, I'm meeting him at the park."
"But I thought you said that you guys already went to the park…?" Taylor pointed out.
"Troy said that we were gonna see it from a different perspective, or something," she told them.
Gabriella and Taylor both glanced at each other and frowned, puzzled.
Sharpay just shrugged.
A couple hours later, Troy pulled his truck up in the driveway, and Sharpay, who had been waiting outside for him, immediately rushed over, opened the passenger – side door, and practically jumped into the truck.
"Whoa…!" Troy exclaimed "…eager, much?"
"Just shut up and drive, Bolton!...And tell me what the hell we're doing today!" Sharpay demanded, as she put on her seatbelt and Troy backed out of the driveway.
"I told you…we're going to the park!" Troy replied, with a sly grin.
"Yes, but what are we doing at the park…?" Sharpay prodded.
"Things…that people do at the park," he told her.
"Are we feeding the pigeons again?"
"We're not feeding pigeons…"
"Are we throwing a Frisbee for somebody's dog?"
"We won't be throwing a Frisbee…"
"Are we busking…?"
"No busking…"
"Are we bird – watching?"
"We're not bird – watching…"
"Well, then what the hell are we doing?" Sharpay asked.
Troy just glanced over at her and kept grinning.
"…You'll see when we get there," he told her.
"…That's all I'm getting…?" Sharpay asked.
"That's all you're getting," Troy replied.
With a huff, Sharpay crossed her arms and pouted.
Troy reached over and turned on the radio, to try and at least lighten her mood a little.
'…You got me tripping, stumbling, flipping, fumbling
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love
You got me slipping, tumbling, sinking, fumbling
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love…'
Troy laughed out loud.
Sharpay glanced over at him, puzzled.
"What's so funny…?" she asked.
"Uh…uh, nothing," Troy stuttered, still grinning. "It's just, I really like this song, that's all."
Sharpay just rolled her eyes and turned her head to gaze out the window.
Troy glanced at her for a moment, then returned his gaze to the road…
…But his smile did not falter.
"...Troy, no!"
"C'mon, it won't be that bad…"
"Yes, it will Troy, I can't do it!"
"Oh, come on…" Troy persisted "…it's not like it's your first time!"
He then picked up the pair of pink rollerblades that were sitting at his feet.
"C'mon…do you think it as easy for a guy like me to buy pink rollerblades…?" he asked "…you owe me for this, you know you do."
"I never asked you to do this!" Sharpay pointed out "…and I never would have because I suck at rollerblading!"
"Ryan once told me that you haven't tried rollerblading since you were seven," Troy told her.
"Yeah!" she answered, "and I kept falling on my butt…! So, obviously, this is a waste of time…!"
"No, it's not, I promise!" he insisted. "Look, Sharpay, I know better than anyone that this summer is important to you…so why then would I get you to try something that was just a waste of time?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"C'mon…" Troy persisted, then pointed down to a black pair of rollerblades that were sitting on the ground next to the pink pair. "Look, I'm gonna be rollerblading with you, see…? I'll even hold your hand, so if you fall down, I will, too."
Sharpay still seemed uncertain.
Troy then picked up the pink rollerblades again, and gave Sharpay his best puppy – dog face.
"Please…?" he asked, timidly.
Sharpay groaned and took the rollerblades from him.
"Fine," she said, "but I'm not doing it because of your stupid puppy – dog face, I'm just doing it so you'll quit nagging me…your puppy – dog face is just plain awful."
"Yeah, this coming from the girl who mastered said facial expression by the age of what…three?" Troy asked.
"You're damn right I did," Sharpay replied, then she began to walk toward a park bench. "OK, now at least help me put these on…"
So Troy helped her put her rollerblades on, and after he had his on, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bench, and they began to roll down the path together.
Sharpay definitely hadn't been exaggerating, Troy quickly found out…she really wasn't that great at rollerblading. But, just like he promised, he held her hand, so that every time she would fall sideways onto the grass, he would go down with her.
After about half an hour, Sharpay was ready to stop.
"Troy…can we please rest now?" she whined.
Troy smirked and shook his head.
"Shar, we've only been at this for like half an hour!" he reminded her.
"Yes, but if you're forgetting, I haven't done this since I was little…!" Sharpay pointed out. "My feet aren't used this yet, can't we just stop for like, five minutes?"
Troy rolled his eyes.
"OK," he said, and pointed to a spot about ten feet away, "look, there's park bench right over there, we can sit down for a few minutes when we get there…it's only a few feet away."
Sharpay sighed and nodded.
"OK," she said, "well, let's go, then!"
So she pulled him along, eager to make it to the bench…
……But what she didn't seem to notice was the speed bump that was right in front of her, on the path.
When her rollerblades hit the bump, at the speed Sharpay was going she immediately started to fall sideways.
With a short squeal, she fell on to the grass…and Troy fell right on top of her.
"Whoa…!" Troy exclaimed, as his body slammed into hers.
She looked up at him, looking down at her, his bright blue eyes showing concern.
"…You OK?" he asked.
Sharpay couldn't help but smile as she looked into his blue eyes, and felt his warm breath on her face….
"Yeah, I'm fine…" she said, then, snapping out of her daze, she began to sit up.
"…I told you I sucked at this, Bolton," she said, as she planted her hands on the grass behind her, for support.
Troy, who was now kneeling in front of her, rather than lying on top of her, just smirked.
"Hey, I live for adventure…" he said, as he plopped down beside her, in the grass.
Sharpay smiled.
"Wow…" she said "…being a rebel rocks."
Troy grinned.
"Yeah, it really does," he said, then reached out and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Sharpay's ear "…especially when you've got somebody to be rebellious with you."
Sharpay bit her lip and tried extremely hard not to blush.
Troy smirked, and started to get up off the ground, offering his hand to her as he did so.
"C'mon," he said "…break time's over."
Sharpay smirked, took his hand and let him pull her up.
"OK…but y'know we're gonna have to leave soon, if you wanna make it back to your house for dinner," she told him.
Troy frowned, confused.
"My mom doesn't even set the table until six," he said, "we've got loads of time."
Sharpay's smirk turned into a full – fledged smile.
"True…" she agreed "…but I think you're forgetting about the other activity that we had planned for today."
Troy was still confused…until his memory seemed to kick in.
"Oh yeah…" he muttered. "Y'know, we don't actually have to do that – "
" – Yes we do," Sharpay told him, grinning "…we're rebels, aren't we?"
Troy rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Alright…" he muttered "…we'll do it."
Sharpay beamed at him.
Later that afternoon, the doorbell rang at the Danforth house.
So Chad went to answer the door, and when he opened it…he laughed out loud.
…Because his best friend was standing in front of him, and not only was his hair bright red (to the point of almost being pink), but his hair was also styled into a Mohawk.
"Oh…oh wow…!" Chad sputtered, trying to control his laughter.
Troy groaned.
"Will ya just let me in…?" he begged, checking over his shoulder to see if anyone had seen him.
"Well, I dunno…" Chad said, chuckling "…my mom doesn't really like me having punk rock band practices in the house…!"
"Shut up…!" Troy replied, as he pushed past Chad and walked into the house.
"…Or clowns!"
"Shut up again!"
Chad closed the door behind him, then turned around and gave Troy another once - over.
"So…" he said, his laughter finally subsiding "…where's the tattoo?"
Troy blinked.
"What…?" he asked.
Chad grinned.
"Taylor told me that you and Sharpay were getting dye – jobs and and tattoos today," he told him.
Troy groaned and walked into the living room.
"Sharpay told Taylor…?" he asked, as he flopped down on to the couch.
"Of course Sharpay told Taylor…!" Chad exclaimed, as he sat down in the recliner next to the couch, then cleared his throat "…and Gabriella."
Troy groaned.
"…They're girls, man, what did you expect?" Chad asked. "They're whole gender is one giant network, and since I'm dating a member of that gender…I get to be tapped into that network."
"Well, lucky you…" Troy grumbled.
"What's the matter, I thought you wanted to show Sharpay a rebellious, fun time…?" Chad reminded him, smirking.
"I did…I do, I just didn't think that it would have me looking like …this!" Troy explained, gesturing to his head.
"Did Sharpay dye your hair for you…?" Chad asked.
Troy shook his head.
"No…we each dyed our own hair," he replied.
"Well, then Sharpay probably looks – "
" – Oh no, Sharpay looks great…!" Troy told him. "She gets her hair highlighted every few months, she knows how it's done!...No, she's got some hot pink streaks in her hair, and she looks great...she came out lookin' very rock 'n roll, while I came out looking …"
"…Very..Gay Pride?" Chad finished, trying not to laugh again.
"Pretty much," Troy agreed. "The good news is that when I called Fulton and explained the situation, he let me have time off until next week…or until the dye washes out, whichever comes first."
"Well, that gives you a lot more free time to take…lots of showers," Chad told him, smirking.
Troy rolled his eyes.
"So, uh…did Sharpay take any pictures while this hair – dying process was going on…?" Chad asked.
Troy gave him a suspicious look.
"Yeah…" he told him "…why?"
Chad grinned.
"…Does that mean that I can, too?" he asked.
Troy's eyes widened.
"No!" he told him "…no way! Hell no, Chad…!"
But Chad had already taken out his cell phone and begun to snap pictures of his friend, and his brightly colored hair.
"…Sorry man, but I can't pass this up!" he told him, as he laughed and snapped picture after picture.
Troy lunged for him.
"…Gimme the phone, Chad!" he ordered, trying to take it away from him
"…No way, man!" Chad laughed, as the two of them dropped to the floor and started wrestling…Chad waving the phone around, out of Troy's reach.
Finally out of breath, Troy sat up, allowing Chad to do the same.
"Fine…" Troy said, panting "…but if you show those pictures to anyone, I will hunt you down…and put so much dye in that 'fro of yours, it'll look like a clown wig, you got it?"
"Understood, bro…this'll be for my own private collection," Chad told him.
Troy nodded.
"…Thank you," he said, his chest still heaving.
"Troy, why are you doing this for Sharpay, anyway?" Chad asked.
"Well, I didn't think it would turn out like – "
" – No, I'm not talking about the hair," Chad told him "..well, I guess I am a little, but what I really wanna know is…why are you trying so hard, just for Sharpay?"
"What do you mean…?" Troy asked.
"Troy, you're dying your hair with her, you're going to movies with her, you're teaching her how to rollerblade…you've been hanging out with her, practically every day for the past week!" Chadpointed out..
"Well, if you don't remember, she kinda had a crappy start to her summer…" Troy reminded him "…and now she's leaving again, in just a few weeks, and it's obvious that she's not happy about it, seeing as how she's only been back here for a few weeks - !"
" – I know, I know…!" Chad interrupted, putting up his hands in mock – surrender.
" – Then why'd you ask, Chad?" Troy asked.
Chad sighed.
"…It just seems that, ever since Ryan…well, what happened to Ryan…you've kinda seemed like you have to be Sharpay's hero, or something," Chad told him.
Troy groaned.
" – I'm not trying to be her damn hero…!" he argued "…I've just chosen to be her friend!"
"Her…friend?" Chad asked "…that's it?"
"That's it!" Troy replied.
"Really…?" Chad asked, scratching the back of his neck "…cuz I uh…saw you two in the park last week…"
Troy frowned in confusion.
"…What, feeding the pigeons…?" he asked.
"No…" Chad replied "…dancing."
Troy stayed silent.
"…And if you really are trying to be her friend, I'd tone it down a little, cuz to another innocent on – looker it may actually look like you were Sharpay's – "
Troy stood up.
"…I gotta get home for dinner," he said
"But Troy, your mom won't even start setting the table for another half an hour …" Chad reminded him.
"…Yeah, but if I walk through the door while she's setting the table, she'll probably end up dropping a few dishes on the floor, before she drops to the floor herself…" Troy told him, as he reached the front door and opened it "…see ya, man."
Chad reached the doorway just in time to see Troy heading down the driveway, toward his truck.
"Bolton, what is goin' on with you, now…?" he murmered, as he watched his best friend back his truck out of the driveway.
…Little did Chad know that in the trunk of that truck, there were now two blankets, instead of one…and one black pair of rollerblades…while an identical, pink pair were sitting in the corner of a large bedroom in the Evans home.
…Sitting directly underneath a picture of a boy with a bright red hair…that was taped to the side of Sharpay's bookcase.
And as an important note...that 'Gay Pride' comment was in no way an attempt to insult homosexuals...men or women.
And the song stanza used in this chapter (when Troy and Sharpay were in the car) was from the song "Clumsy" by Fergie.
Review, please!
- Ace's Buddy
