PLEASE READ!!

Heyy everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this in like a bajillion years! Blame it all on the writers block!! Anyway, this is the last chapter! I'll be posting the epiloge as soon as I can. Thank you to EVERYONE who has reviewd and read the story!! I recomend listening to Miley Cyrus's new song "Goodbye" (which I'm totally in love with right now) while you read. And FYI - this part didn't really happen. This has been Takign a logn time, and I want to finish it so I can add more stuff. And i was planning on stopping at 10 chapters anyway. thanks again!! xoxo Jenna


Troy felt good. For the first time in weeks, ever since the whole affair started, he felt good. He didn't feel worried, or scared, or stressed, or anything. He didn't care about this girl anymore. Why should he? She'd probably end up being some outcast freshman girl, and why should Troy care about that?

He did feel a little something though: he felt a little jealous. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt jealous of Jason.

Jason was dating Sharpay. Sharpay! But what did Troy care about Sharpay?

That thought made Troy stop in his tracks. What did he care about Sharpay? What did he think about Sharpay? What was Sharpay to him? Trying to think of an answer, Troy, who had been reading magazines on his bed, took out his yearbook. It may have been from last year, but he suspected it might be similar.

He flipped to the page that her picture in it. She was smiling that special smile of hers, her lips lightly glossed. Her hair was wavy and just left down, her bangs swept to the side. She actually wasn't wearing any makeup; this actually made her eyes pop out more than the makeup ever did.

Troy found himself mesmerized by her picture. How sweet her smile was; how alluring her eyes were; how she just looked so different then how she used to come off to people. Troy looked closely at her picture. There was something about her eyes; there was something in them. But Troy just didn't know what. But they weren't shinning that much. Come to think of it, they hadn't been shinning their usual shine in a very long time.

Curious, Troy looked to see if Sharpay had signed her yearbook. Sure enough, she did, and it was an odd message.

Hi Troy

Look at pages 25, 18, & 44

Sharpay

Troy didn't understand, and hoped whatever was on these pages would explain. So he turned to page 25. All that was on it were candid photos. He searched for one he thought Sharpay might be referring to, and couldn't find anything until the next to last photo.

It was of Sharpay, just her alone, sitting on the floor in the hallway. She was hugging her knees close to her chest, and her head was drooped. Troy could just barely make out her facial expression, and it was not a happy one.

Page 18 hopefully would make sense to Troy, seeing as how the last one totally did not. Again, just a bunch of random candids. He searched for a photo, but never found it. He did though dwell on one photo that had him in it. He, Chad, and the rest of the team was all going wild in the halls, other students joining them. Troy smiled as he remembered, but the smile soon faded. He noticed a part of the picture he hadn't seen before. Jason wasn't joining in the merriment. He had a concerned look to someone who wasn't in the group; a girl who looked very depressed and scared who was leaning against the wall and away from everyone else. It was Sharpay.

Whoa. Had Jason noticed Sharpay before Troy just learned they were dating? Had they once had some sort of connection? A bond, or even a friendship? Wow. Scary thought.

Troy turned to the last page, number 44. It was a page with photos students brought in just for the theme of it: "Wildcats through the Ages." It was a bunch of pictures of the students when they were younger and growing up. Troy's mother made him bring in a picture of him and Chad when they were four years old and were playing basketball. He froze when he saw a photo he hadn't seen in eight years.

It was of him. He and the other person in the photo, both only nine years old, were in Troy's backyard one summer day. They were both laughing heartily, and Troy had the other person tightly in his embrace as he lifted them off of the ground. Growing up, that had been his best friend. The other person in the picture was Sharpay.

Troy put the book down and laid back. He was trying to pull a Blues Clues moment, putting all the three clues together.

"Let's see," he thought out loud. "First it was of Sharpay being sad, then it was Jason noticing she was sad, then an old picture of us when we were friends and happy." Once he said that last word, it all made since.

Sharpay has always been sad. She felt pain that some people wouldn't understand. And they didn't understand because they never noticed her, not even Troy. But Jason noticed her. And maybe that's why she's now with him. And the reason she was sad…was because…was because Troy had forgotten their friendship.

Without giving it a second thought, Troy ran out of his room, and then grabbed his coat before racing out of his house.


As Troy drove way past the speed limit late that night, his phone started to vibrate. He took it to see that some number that he didn't had sent him a text. So he pulled over to the side of the deserted road. Using the only thing he had to read, the light from the streetlamp, he was surprised at what he got.

Troy – Check out the Book of Hurt. I think you'll be surprised.

Curious, Troy closed the text and brought up the internet on his iPhone. He went to the bookmarked website and read the new poem.

Listen to the words

They speak to my heart

It's heartbreaking

Maybe that's why I enjoy it

I'm also heartbroken

Those words touch my soul

And so do you

He knows how I feel

And he's giving me a chance at true love

He's giving me a chance to be with you

I want that chance

But I know you don't

Listen to the words

They speak of my fears and dreams

I feel that hurt

Make it better

Remember

Listen to the Words

Hi. I recommend listening to Miley Cyrus's new song "Goodbye" after and while you read. I'm sorry to say this, but I think this is the last installment of "The Book of Hurt." And I don't really know how to explain anymore what's going on. So I'm just going to tell you all one last thing to remember me by.

I love you Troy.

Troy turned off his phone completely and revved up his car. He already knew. He drove and drove and drove, only wanting to get where he needed to be faster. This "Book of Hurt" drama was all too much for him. It had to end.


Sharpay sat in her room alone, confused.

She and Jason had just broken up. He had come over to take them to a dance club, and seeing her lying on her bed in sweats started up questioning. She had told him the truth; the whole honest truth. She was scared and worried about revealing it, but if Jason really did care about her, then he would try to see how badly she needed to get this off her chest.

And sure enough, Jason showed how much of a friend he was to her. He was going to let her do what needed to be done; even if that meant that they had to be just friends. But best friends, that's for sure. She gave him one last kiss goodbye, and let the tears fall once he closed her bedroom door.

She plopped onto her bed, cuddling with her old big teddy bear. It was actually Grumpy Bear from Care Bears; something an old friend of her gave as a present. She had "Goodbye" on repeat playing in her room, the sound as loud as it could go. She wished Ryan was here to comfort her. But he and his baseball team were all going out in celebration of their latest win. Ryan would be wondering why his sister wasn't there. She had said she'd be there, but she never left her room that night.

Right now, she'd rather sit through her brother's baseball game, or have Chad tell her off, or even drown then be feeling the pain she was feeling. But she had to be strong; she knew she had to deal with it. But Sharpay knew this wasn't everyday pain or hurt feelings. This was almost to the point of depression.

Her cell phone rang suddenly, making her jump. She didn't want to answer it, so she let it just ring and ring. A couple minutes later, she heard it chime to tell her she had a new text. Reluctantly, she picked up her phone and read it.

I know it's you.

Her door swinging open brought her out of her daze. She gasped quietly when she saw Troy standing there, his cell phone in his hands. Neither of them said, anything; she had slowly gotten off of her bed and advanced slightly towards Troy.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Troy asked, breaking the silence.

"Tell you what?" Sharpay sighed, scarred that her tears would start falling.

"That you wrote those poems; that they were about me;" he paused, knowing what he would say next would start a lot of drama, "that you felt all of this."

"Why would you even care, Troy?" Sharpay asked. He had been accepting her to say that, but he thought she'd be screaming and yelling. Instead, she said it barely above a whisper. "You never seemed like you would. Why did you forget, Troy? Why did you forget that we were best friends? All our lives we had been. And then high school started, and you became popular. I was heartbroken that you left me. And then last year, you started being nice to me again, and I-" her voice cracked, and she took this time to whip away her falling tears, "I actually thought we'd have a chance again."

"Sharpay-"

"What about Sharpie?" Sharpay cut him off. "Why is it Sharpay now? I used to be Sharpie. Why did it all change, Troy? Why?"

Troy knew he couldn't answer that. "So is it true?"

"What?"

"That you wrote those poems?"

"Yes."

"And that they're about me?" Troy asked, his hands beginning to sweat.

"Yes," Sharpay's lips trembled.

Troy felt his own eyes begin to water, just seeing the state she was in. Her blonde locks were just put in a messy ponytail and she had no makeup on. She was only wearing grey sweats and a navy blue wife beater. Her normally gorgeous brown eyes were cloudy from tears, which were also cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall. And seeing on her computer screen a different version of the website; one that could only belong to the person who wrote and created it, broke his heart.

"Troy?" Sharpay asked. "Why? Why did you leave me? Were you ashamed of me? What changed us?"

"Listen to me; you are nothing to be ashamed of. You are amazing, Sharpay. I, nor anybody else, could ever be ashamed of you. After all, people do say you're part of the best; you show the world how love never fades away."

"Y-you saw that too?" Sharpay hiccupped. Troy nodded his head.

"I'm sorry Sharpay. I am so, so sorry. When I first heard of all of this, I felt so sorry for whoever wrote The Book of Hurt. And I wanted to find out who it was so I could help them; be there for them. But when I thought it might be you, I didn't know what to do. So I always told myself that it wasn't you. Shar, I want us back. I want us to be best friends again."

"What about your other friends? What about Chad?"

"Screw them! Especially Chad! All I ever care about is you; you're the only thing that's on my mind all the time. Especially since I saw those yearbook pictures and-"

"You saw those?" Sharpay said, trying to whip the tears away that got easily replaced.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Sharpay! I would totally have been there before Jason ever was and I will once he's gone-"

"Troy, he is gone." Troy gave her a confused look. "Jason and I broke up. I told him everything, how I feel about you, and the book, everything. He understood, and we're still good friends, but I couldn't live with myself if I loved a guy who I wasn't with."

"Sharpay? Do you love me?"

Sharpay said nothing for a moment, which was the longest moment of Troy's life.

"Yes," At her answer, Troy opened his arms up. Sharpay gladly accepted them. She ran into his arms and began to cry like no one could. Troy's arms tightly hugged the small girl, and he would run his fingers down her hair and rub her back to help.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I would never want to hurt you, Sharpay. I'm so, so sorry." Troy said, crying himself.

"I missed you Troy! I hated that you left me. That was the worst feeling in the world. I felt like complete shit, Troy! I love you, Troy! I love you!" she said while she cried hysterically.

"I love you too, Sharpie." Troy said. Even though her head was buried into his chest and she was crying, Troy knew she was smiling.