Author's Note: This is the second to last chapter, so please review! And yes, I know, I'm a little evil. As I said before, I tend to throw something seemingly insignificant in to one chapter and then go back to it much later...hopefully the clue "chapter 4" will help.

Thanks to digigirl02, ScRuPuLoUs, krfan and rockyshadow for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Carmine's, or a limo, or any aspect of the High School Musical franchise.

Meanwhile, Joe was trying very hard to get to know his daughters. He had known since the plans were laid that they would be wary of him, but nothing could have compared to their reactions. It was a combination of hatred, hurt, and...Fear? For some reason he couldn't understand, Gabriella and Sophia seemed to be afraid of him.

Ms. Montez noticed this as well, and did her best to ease the tensions. She had a decent idea regarding the reason for her daughters' fears, though she had no way of voicing them. Overall, she had to give Gabriella and Sophia credit for having the courage it took to meet their father after 10 years when he wasn't in the picture.

"So, how's school going?" Joe asked the girls across from him. They glanced at each other and shrugged in a synchronized motion.

"I hear you starred in your school's musical production this year, Gabi. Tell me about it," Joe mentioned casually. Gabriella winced at the pet name; in her mind, he had no right to call her that after what he had done.

"It was fun," she responded, all emotion missing from her voice. Noticing she wasn't going to elaborate, Joe tried another approach.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're letting people hear you sing. When you were little, you wouldn't even let your mother and I listen in at your voice lessons," he joked, trying to keep up the conversation. Gabriella was shocked that he remembered such a tiny, seemingly insignificant detail.

"Well, we hadn't really meant to audition. We were just singing," she answered, trying to loosen up a bit. She smiled over Sophia and Elisabeth's heads at Kelsi, remembering their impromptu audition. Troy's arm was resting on the back of her chair.

Emma returned a few minutes later with their dinner order, placing the family-style platters in strategic spots around the table. Gabriella and Sophia had started to let their guards down a little, and were talking more openly to their father, though fear was still there.

The fear their parents had noticed came not only from their father's abandonment, but also from moving around so often. Yes, they were scared-they were scared that their father would disappoint them again, that they would disappoint him, and most of all, that he would disappear again. After 10 years of living with only their mom, with just her family to fall back on, Gabriella and Sophia were scared of the changes they knew would have to come with their father's reappearance.

"It's Troy, right?" Joe checked, turning his attention to the young man at Gabriella's side.

"Yes, sir," Troy confirmed curtly.

Here it comes, he thought. Meeting the girlfriend's father. I thought this is supposed to happen later in the relationship, isn't it?

As Troy held up a conversation with Gabriella's father, Kelsi stood up and walked the few seats to Gabriella, kneeling next to the birthday girl.

"How are you holding up?" she asked quietly. Gabriella glanced between her parents before turning back to Kelsi.

"I'm okay, it's just a little awkward," Gabriella admitted.

"Ryan says Troy should tell the chicken suit story," Kelsi relayed. Gabriella giggled at the thought and nodded. Kelsi stood and returned to her seat next to Ryan. Before she brought up the idea to Troy, Gabriella glanced over at her two single friends.

They were clearly in an intense conversation, and Kelsi seemed to be winning. They were both pretending the table was a piano, drumming their fingers on imaginary keys to emphasize the points they were making. Finally, Ryan seemed to give in, as often happened between them. Having worked with the pair before, Gabriella knew that the finished product would come out as a compromise of their ideas, pulling the best of both arguments.

"Ryan suggests telling the chicken suit story," Gabriella finally said, turning back to her boyfriend. He chuckled.

"Gabriella?" Troy said before turning back to the table. "You're beautiful," he reminded her and turned away. Without another word, he obliged the request, smoothly guiding the conversation in that direction. They had already briefly mentioned Troy's new relationship with Gabriella, but as of yet, they hadn't shared any embarrassing stories of their crush phases.

"One day, before homeroom, Chad came up to me and started bugging me about crushing on Gabriella. Of course, I denied it, saying that it was impossible. He said that if something else that's seemingly impossible happened that day, I had to come in the following day and proclaim that I was whipped. Not only that, but I had to proclaim it to the whole school. I agreed, and Zeke was nearby, so he helped us decide on the terms of the bet," Troy began.

"What exactly were those terms?" Joe asked, intrigued.

"That the impossibility had to include a student dressed in an animal suit, but it couldn't be the mascot," Zeke elaborated. Joe nodded and indicated that they should continue. The others started to chuckle, already knowing the outcome of the story. Kelsi nudged Ryan, whose face was already tomato red.

"I can't believe you actually told him to tell the story," he accused playfully.

"I didn't," Kelsi defended. "I told Gabriella, and she told him." They both tuned back in, waiting for their characters to enter the tale.

"So there I am later that day, standing against the lockers, when I see some kid in a chicken suit come running through the halls," by this point in the story, everyone at the table was laughing. "And he runs past, and hot on his heels, is Sharpay. Zeke reaches out and grabs her, while Chad and Jason make a barricade, keeping the unidentified chicken suit wearer from getting any further. Then Kelsi comes up, stares at the chicken for a minute, and shakes her head. She pulls the head off and there's Ryan. Moments later, Darbus comes out of her classroom and yells 'Evans get out of that, I just sent it out for dry cleaning' as if it's the most normal thing in the world for him to be running around in a chicken suit. And all Chad can think of is that I lost the bet."

"Well did you pay up?" Joe checked, grinning and laughing.

"You bet he did!" Chad butted in. "True to his word, Troy walked around school the next day with a t-shirt on, the word 'whipped' scrawled across the front."

"I was completely confused. For the entire day, Troy avoided me like the plague," Gabriella added.

"The rest of us knew what was going on, but Troy had made it very clear that whoever told Gabi was dead," Taylor continued.

"It wasn't until Ryan walked into rehearsal that day with the chicken suit on that she found out," Sharpay laughed.

"I would like to point out that Chad paid me to wear it both days," Ryan cut in, intent on sharing the blame. This information shocked everyone. Ryan had never revealed his true motive to wear the costume in the halls to anyone except Kelsi. The blood drained from Chad's face as Troy turned to glare at him. Before Troy could pounce, however, Taylor stepped in.

"I can't believe you would do that to your best friend!" she lectured. "How many times did I tell you not to interfere?"

"So you were allowed to tell Gabs to tell him, but I wasn't," he countered.

"You were allowed to encourage him to share his feelings but you weren't supposed to force him to!" she exclaimed, becoming increasingly riled up. As often happened with the pair, Chad pulled her in for a quick kiss, filled with as much passion as he could muster. When he pulled away, she continued to glare at him.

"Don't think you're getting away with it that easily, mister," she narrowed her eyes. Everyone laughed, and the conversation flowed into other stories.

When the group ordered their desserts, Emma stayed at the table a few minutes longer than was necessary. Before she left, she handed Zeke a piece of paper with her number, suggesting that he should call her to 'catch up sometime.' Zeke accepted it without a second thought-strike three. At a glance from Sharpay, the other three girls excused themselves and followed her to the tiny bathroom.

"I can't believe him," she spat. "She was flirting with him, and he did nothing to stop it. Am I not good enough for his old New York friends or something?"

"She wasn't really flirting," Taylor began. Sharpay glared daggers at her, ending that line of conversation.

"Shar, they haven't seen each other since they were little kids," Gabriella tried to reason. Sharpay scowled.

"That doesn't mean he can't introduce me as his girlfriend," she complained. Kelsi watched the other girls for a few minutes, as she often did. Something about the situation seemed all too familiar, though she couldn't place it.

"You do know you're acting like the girl in a cliché romantic comedy, right?" she checked when the thought finally occurred to her. Sharpay, Gabriella, and Taylor all stared at the composer in shock. Her tone was sterner than usual.

"In every romantic comedy, there's a period of ten to fifteen minutes when the main characters get mad at each other for some misunderstanding, and then they get back together in some cliché setting, and the credits roll, and everyone lives happily ever after," Kelsi explained. Gabriella and Taylor both nodded thoughtfully.

"So what am I supposed to do about this?" Sharpay asked.

"Try talking to him," Gabriella suggested quietly. Sharpay nodded, and Taylor led them back out to the table. The desserts had arrived, temporarily distracting everyone.

"What's the matter with Shar?" Ryan whispered.

"What do you mean?" Kelsi asked. She tried to ignore how close they were. Ryan had leaned over to ask her the question. His hand was on the small of her back to steady him, and his mouth was so close to her ear that she could feel his breath.

"She's my twin-I can tell when something's wrong," he pointed out.

"It's not really my place to say," Kelsi sighed. Ryan understood.

"Tell me later?" he requested, slyly launching the final phase of his plan. "When we get back to the hotel?" She nodded slightly, just enough for him to see. "Good. I'll meet you outside our rooms." His hand slid along her back as he pulled away, and he left it on her hip for a few minutes.

Kelsi continued to eat her dessert, constantly mindful of Ryan's fingertips brushing her hip softly. She bit her lip as his thumb massaged the edge of her stomach. Ryan smiled slightly to himself as he observed the effect he was having on her. These moments happened frequently for the pair-moments when they would act like a couple. Usually, they were reserved for private settings, but every so often, that wasn't the case. These moments had been occurring more frequently than before, making Kelsi question the state of their relationship.

Ryan wasn't the only one to notice Kelsi's reactions. Gabriella peered over at her friend as her parents argued over the check. She smiled as she let her gaze move around to the table, resting for a moment on Zeke and Sharpay. Sharpay was leaning into Zeke and he was whispering in her ear, obviously apologizing to her. Gabriella's gaze shifted to Taylor, who was laughing with Sarah, and then to Troy and Chad. They were holding an uncharacteristically hushed conversation, raising Gabriella's suspicion.

"What, exactly, are you two talking about?" she asked Troy. Both boys froze.

"Basketball," they both said quickly.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, unconvinced. She batted her eyelashes at Troy, who had turned around to face her. He started to cave.

"Hoops!" Chad exclaimed warningly, eyes wide. He had caused one slip already that day, and he knew that the blame would immediately go to him if there were another. Troy turned to his best friend, his eyes pleading. Chad shook his head, standing firm in his place. Gabriella giggled at the boys, exchanging a look with Taylor, who had just turned around. Though they had no idea what was so important, they knew the boys were hiding something.

In the meantime, Emma returned to collect the check. Before she could return to the kitchen, Zeke reached out and grabbed her elbow.

"Hey Emma," he started. She turned her attention to him, as did the other Albuquerque teenagers at the table. "I don't remember if I introduced you to my girlfriend. Emma this is Sharpay. Sharpay, Emma."

To everyone's surprise, Emma smiled at Sharpay.

"It's nice to meet you," she greeted genuinely. She held out her hand, and Sharpay shook it. In that moment, the two girls came to a silent understanding of each other, and of each other's feelings for Zeke. Yes, Zeke was special to Emma-but both girls accepted that while Emma was his past, Sharpay was his present and future. In their handshake was a silent promise, from Sharpay to Emma, to take care of Zeke forever. The noise in the restaurant drummed on, but for that moment, the silence between the two girls was profound.

Finally, the group grabbed their jackets and got ready to leave. Sophia grabbed her sister's hand and held her back as the others headed to the door.

"What about dad?" Sophia asked. Gabriella shrugged and pulled her sister back to the group. Their father was waiting for them.

"I hope you ladies will allow me to keep in touch," he requested. Both girls were shocked. "I can't change what I did, but I'd like to try to make up for all the time I lost with you girls." They hesitated.

"You don't need to give me your answer right now; I just want you to consider it. It was nice meeting you all," he said, addressing the whole group. With that, he left.

"Are you okay?" Troy asked Gabriella, though his question was directed slightly at Sophia as well. They both nodded, relieved.

"We made it," Gabriella sighed, hugging her sister. She followed her friends back to the limousine, her head resting contentedly on Troy's shoulder as their driver gave them a tour through the city.

Across the way, Kelsi was in an identical position. She was snuggled tightly between the window and Ryan, and she was perfectly content to remain there. Beside her, Ryan chatted with his sister and Zeke, though Zeke's reminiscences considerably mellowed the diva. He had grown up in the Big Apple, and as they passed through Central Park to its famous Tavern on the Green, he recounted stories of hide-and-seek and other childhood games. They all laughed along with him when he spoke of terrific friends and unforgettable memories.

Finally, they pulled up to the hotel. The boys held out their hands, assisting the girls as they piled out. Ms. Montez reminded them to set an early alarm as they wandered back to their rooms. Kelsi and Ryan hung back a few steps, unconsciously holding hands. As the others entered the hotel room to prepare for bed, Ryan pulled Kelsi aside. The other boys nodded at him, wishing him luck as he enacted the final phase of his plan.

When Ryan returned to the room, he said only five words between changing into his pajamas and collapsing on the bed.

"Operation: New York is complete."

Author's Note: as far as the chicken suit goes, I got the idea from our spirit week. A freshman I know walked into school on the first day of spirit week in a chicken suit. It was...interesting to say the least. I had to admit one thing: it takes a lot of guts to walk around the halls of a high school in a chicken suit. Guts, and nerve, and a tiny death wish. His older brother's friends, a bunch of juniors, chased him through the halls until he jumped into a garbage can. Student walking around in chicken suit=high school impossibility :)

Next Chapter: the gang leaves New York and learns what Ryan is talking about...and everyone concludes that Chad is an idiot