AN: After a very long wait…


On the same day they watched the video, everyone was finishing dinner. Mr. Evans and Sharpay were still not back from physiotherapy. Troy could only hope it was good but could not stop a sense of dread washing over him.

"Honey, I'm home!" they could hear Mr. Evans call distantly. He seemed to be in a good mood.

Gabriella quickly got up without excusing herself to go greet them. Everyone else followed suit.

And there was Sharpay.

At first, Troy couldn't figure out what was different. By now, he was used to her standing. Was there any progress made? That was when Troy saw it. Underneath Sharpay's jeans was a faint outline of knee braces to keep Sharpay's legs in check. And missing was the walking stick.

"Troy!" Sharpay greeted, giddy with excitement.

Troy ran forward and lifted Sharpay in the air.

Sharpay was on her way to a full recovery.


"Yeah, I know…" was all they could hear from Magenta's side of the conversation. Magenta was currently talking on the phone with her aunt about her cousin who would be arriving the next day.

"But does she really…" everyone heard Magenta trail off. Taking a deep breath, Magenta left the room still seemingly frustrated.

"Does anyone know who this Charlotte is?" Chad asked.

"I've never met her." Ryan immediately spoke up.

"Well, we're about to now." Gabriella spoke up as she walked into the living room where everyone was gathered. "If she's anything like Magenta, we'll all get along fine."

Those would become famous last words.


Charlotte was nothing like her cousin Magenta.

Charlotte's brown eyes were not as unique as Magenta's. But what colour Charlotte lacked in her eyes, she made up with her hair. Charlotte had flaming red hair that Chad could only ask if she had paint in her hair.

And true to the saying, Charlotte had the fiery temper of a red head.

She snapped at everyone for not doing things her way.

And not surprising Troy's friends, Charlotte had taken a liking to Troy.

"Call me Char." she had told him.

That was when Sharpay spoke up.

"Shar is my name. Maybe he could call you Lettie or something." she had said. Charlotte had then stomped off. Magenta, who was there to witness it, gave Sharpay an apologetic glance before chasing after her cousin.

"She is so frustrating, Troy!" Sharpay had nearly screamed afterwards.

It seemed that everyone shared the same opinion as Sharpay.

Charlotte considered herself a flawless dancer. She bragged constantly of her abilities in dance and the many competitions she's been to. And coincidently, her forte happened to be ballet.


"Of course, I was promoted to en pointe a year ahead of everyone else in my class." Charlotte was telling the adults at dinner one night.

"You must be practicing everyday then." Mrs. Bolton said.

"Of course, I'm making the best of what I can get. It would help to be in an actual studio though." Charlotte beamed.

"We have one that you can use. Of course, it hasn't been in use for a while." Mrs. Evans supplied.

That was when Sharpay left the table.

"Oh… Actually, I'm afraid you won't be able to use the studio anymore, Charlotte." Mrs. Evans said, understanding immediately.

Mrs. Evans than excused herself from the table to pursue her daughter.


"I'm sorry, honey." was the first thing Mrs. Evans said as she stepped into her daughter's room.

"I know, Mom. It just still hurts, you know?" Sharpay sniffled.

"I know, honey. If it makes you feel better, we won't let Charlotte into the studio. That's all your's."

"That's all I ask." Sharpay said.

Mrs. Evans held out a hand to her daughter. Sharpay took her mother's hand and followed her back to the dinner table.


AN: Things are closing in… Sorry for the short chapter, but at least it's an update. And tell me what you thought of our new dancer's debut.