Chapter 8 ~ Glowing with Emoticons

(No POV)

The kitchen of the Fitzpatrick house was silent as Eileen finished her story. Maddie and Emily, each sporting an indifferent look on their faces from all the information they were just told, were consumed with their own thoughts. Maddie was conflicted the most.

At around 4 years old, Maddie had gotten used to living in Boston with her new family, learning to live without her twin brother and sister, getting along swimmingly with Emily, and learning little by little how to tolerate being with Melissa. A few years later she had long forgotten about her previous life in Albuquerque, knowing only of living here in Boston. However, every so often she would feel the presence of something or someone connecting to her somehow, as if there was a way she could communicate with someone without anyone else knowing. It only occurred once in awhile, but each time she wondered what it could mean.

Maddie, remembering her teddy bear that was sitting on her chair in her room, got up from where she was currently sitting, "I'll be right back."

"Is there something wrong, sweetie?" Eileen asked worriedly, watching her "adopted" daughter rise.

"No, I'm fine," Maddie answered with a small smile, "I just need to get something, that's all." She made her way to her room, away from the kitchen.

"Mom?" Emily asked Eileen uncertainly, for she wasn't sure whether she should still call the woman she had called 'Mom' her whole life, 'Mom' still. Eileen looked at her appreciatively. "Will we ever get to see our real parents? Do they still want to see us?"

Eileen moved her chair closer to Emily and put her arm around her shoulders, "Of course they want to see you, sweetie. You don't know how distraught your mother was when she had to leave you two here. She has called me at least once every few months each year since she left just to bombard me with questions on how you both are doing. She, and your birth father, would be overjoyed to see you again."

Maddie walked back into the kitchen at that moment, seeing the scene before her. In her arms she was holding a light brown teddy bear with a faded pink ribbon tied around its neck.

"My bear. This was my sister's right?" Maddie asked holding up the bear for the two to see.

"It sure was. You two switched bears right before they left. You wouldn't put that down for a few days straight when you first came here," Eileen answered, "It worried me so much that you would not be able to adapt to living here without your sister and brother, but after you realized you would have to set a good example for Emily, you reluctantly put the bear down and the next day began interacting with the rest of us. Both you, Sharpay, and Ryan, were acting so grown up over the whole thing. I had never seen two year olds act so calm in such a terrible situation."

"This bear has been sitting in my room untouched for the longest time. I can't believe I forgot how important this was to me," Maddie said aloud, although it was more to herself than anyone else.

Maddie and Emily sat across from their adopted mother processing what they now knew of their past, silence encompassing the small kitchen for a few minutes until Maddie spoke up.

"You said that our real parents only intended to leave us her for a short time, until they moved on from the sleazy boss that was controlling their life. Has our real father created his own business yet? If so, why didn't they come back and get us?" Maddie asked curiously

Eileen sighed. She knew this question would come up once she told them the truth. "As a matter of fact, Louise and Vance Evans are doing extremely well nowadays. Vance owns his own corporation with branches all over the world as well as a country club, I believe it's called Lava Springs... I think that's correct. As much as your parents, especially your mother, wanted to bring you two back home, it was not that easy. You fit in so nicely with everyone here and we just didn't know how to tell you that you that you were not who you thought you were. So, your mother and I both agreed that we, well, I would tell you both when you were older and were able to make the decision to live where you wanted by yourself." Emily looked at Maddie, biting the corner of her lip, showing her that they should talk about what they were going to do back in the bedroom. Understanding, Maddie tilted her head up slightly as Eileen spoke.

"Well, it's just about 7:00," Eileen said looking at the clock on the microwave, "the casserole should be out of the oven in a half an hour. Why don't you two go wash up and I'll call you when dinner's ready." During the telling of her story, Eileen had put the casserole in the oven in preparation for dinner. Normally, she does not prepare a meal such as this one with their budget being what it is and the amount of ingredients and time required, but she decided to treat her family today since she received a late holiday bonus from her job that afternoon (as well as wanting to make sure that everyone was happy with the news she just sprung on them).

Maddie and Emily nodded and walked down the hall to their shared room. Many thoughts of when they would get to see their real family ran through their minds. When they entered the room, Maddie pulled her bed down from the wall, and then comfortably lay down on her stomach, but not before grabbing her new Macbook pro that London had purchased for her for the holidays a month ago, one of the few times that London will help others out in their time of need. After Emily had pulled down her own bed, she decided to forgo lying down on her own bed and sit with Maddie.

Signing into the instant messenger and loading the web browser, Maddie turned her head to Emily, "What did you say the name was of the school in New Mexico? I want to see what our siblings look like."

"I'm not sure," Emily answered with a shrug of her shoulders, "I don't remember. I bet we could find it though… I mean, I don't think New Mexico has that big of a population, at least compared to here, so we could do a Google search."

"Alright," Maddie said as she and Emily watched the Google homepage appear and typed Sharpay and Ryan Evans into the search bar with Albuquerque, NM. "Wow, that's a lot of results, probably irrelevant, let's see… the first link is for Evans' International Corporation website, do you think that's our real Dad's business?" Maddie continued scrolling down looking at the links.

Emily shrugged her shoulders again, contorting her face in thought, "Maybe… try clicking on that link right there!" Emily pointed to the middle of the screen, "It says '10th grade brother/sister duo shine in East High School's Froshomore Musical! Albuquerque, NM'"

"That seems logical," Maddie said clicking on the link, "It won't be a recent picture since it says 10th grade, but it's a start. After all, you did say we were identical, and I haven't changed that dramatically in two years."

Maddie clicked on the link and it brought them to a page of an online, town newspaper. Below the headline, the article was broken up by a large picture of two blonde students, one boy and one girl, in the middle of a dance on an auditorium stage. Emily pointed excitedly to the picture.

"That's them! That's the same Sharpay and Ryan I met at school," Emily exclaimed, "Isn't it scary how much you and Sharpay look alike? I mean, now that we know we're all related, I wonder if our real parents had trouble telling you apart before we started living here."

Maddie stared dumbfounded at the computer screen, jaw practically touching the bedspread. She had believed that there was someone who looked exactly like her from Emily and from her mom just a few moments ago, but actually seeing a picture… it was like looking in a mirror (besides the fact that the picture was not very big). "This is…incredible. I have a sister…an identical twin…a twin brother. How could I have forgotten that I was part of a triplet? Could this be the reason why every so often I feel the presence of someone else in my head? Triplet telepathy? I wonder if Sharpay and Ryan have that type of communication ability and that's why I have felt this way," Maddie thought.

"We should ask if we could visit our siblings or if they can come see us? I wonder if they know about us too?" Maddie said to Emily pushing the laptop aside.

"That would be so much fun!" Emily exclaimed excitedly, "Just imagine! If we find out their address from "mom" they will be totally surprised if we go visit!"

Maddie laughed along with her sister, "Yeah, right, but now let's focus on tomorrow. It's your first day at Cheever's, we have to get you ready to make a good first impression."

"oh, we have the rest of the night to do that," Emily responded with a wave of her hand, "I'll get out the piece of paper from from address book with the screennames I acquired when they came to my old school. I think it will be fun to talk to them online. Although it's been a year, I haven't really talked to them since the variety show." Emily hopped off of the bed and pulled a small spiral notebook from her pink bag and pulled out a piece of paper before jumping back onto the bed next to Maddie.

"Alright, do you want to log in with your screen name or should we just stay with mine?" Maddie asked looking at the small piece of paper that Emily had handed to her.

"Let's log in with mine since I've already met them and it would be less creepy that I have the screen name than if you do," Emily giggled as Maddie pushed her laptop over an inch so she could type her name into the sign-in box.

As soon as the buddy list loaded, Emily and Maddie glanced over at the online buddies. Fortunately, Sharpay's screen name was there, Sharctress (AN: Shar + actress), and Emily, Emstatic92 (Emily + ecstatic) (AN: #1), quickly double-clicked and typed in a greeting in the IM window.

Emstatic92: (7:10 pm) Hi Sharpay! How r u?
Sharctress: (7:11 pm) Hi... i'm good, u? Sry, but who is this?
Emstatic92: (7:11 pm) This is Emily. Fitzpatrick. Remember from when u came to my school in NYC for the variety show last year?
Sharctress: (7:11 pm) Oh u were the blond one who came over to us with your two friends? u showed me a picture of your sister on your phone. That still freaks me out btw. haha
Emstatic92: (7:12 pm) Yep! that's me! =D I'm actually sitting with my sister now.

"As well as talking to my other one too," Emily giggled out to Maddie after typing her response. Maddie let out a small giggle as well, but her eyes were drawn to the buddy icon next to Sharpay's name.

Sharctess: (7:12 pm) Really? Does she find this weird at all?
Emstatic92: (7:12 pm) She's actually just staring at the computer screen right now and has not blinked for a few seconds. =D h/o one sec
Sharctress: (7:12 pm) haha kk (:

Emily looked at her older sister, a worried expression etched on her face, "Maddie, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"

Maddie raised her index finger slowly at the screen and said calmly, "Look at her buddy icon? It's a picture of the same teddy bear that I have. Ask her about it, Em."

Emily nodded and turned back to the screen as she typed her next message.

Emstatic92: (7:14 pm) ok. I'm back. :) Is your buddy icon a picture of a teddy bear that you own? Maddie has one just like it except the ribbon around its neck is pink.
Sharctress: (7:14 pm) Yeah. I've had that bear since as long as I can remember. I used to carry it with me everywhere when I was little.
Emstatic91: (7:15 pm) That's funny b/c Maddie says she did the same thing. What a coincidence... or is it? haha

"Should we tell her that we're all related?" Emily asked Maddie, giggling slightly. It was weird talking to Sharpay now since they knew that they were related, but they were not sure how to reveal this fact, if at all.

"Let's tell her, but not too much. Just enough so that she asks our real mom questions and then they'll probably call us," Maddie suggested to Emily. Emily nodded with smile and went back to the IM.

Sharctress: (7:15 pm) What do mean by a coincidence? 0_o What's so funny about that?
Emstatic92: (7:16 pm) Well, Maddie and I just found out something about our family...
Sharctress: (7:16 pm) What kind of something? Why does it have to do with my, our, teddy bears?
Emstatic92: (7:16 pm) Me and Maddie found out that we were adopted. Maddie was 2 years old and I was 1.
Sharctress: (7:17 pm) I'm afraid of what you're going to say next...

"Well, we know that your triplet is just as smart as you, Maddie," Emily stated after both of them read Sharpay's comment. Maddie nodded, beaming on the inside that she was learning more about one of their siblings.

Emstatic92: (7:17 pm) You're probably afraid that I'm going to say you and your brother Ryan are a triplet with Maddie and we're all related, am I right?
Sharctress: (7:17 pm) Right. (In Albuquerque: Sharpay gulped, unsure of how she should take this news)
Emstatic92: (7:18 pm) Well, consider yourself scared.
Sharctress: (7:20 pm) Oh god. I'm going to go confront my... well I guess, our parents... ttyl
Emstatic92: (7:20 pm) kk. ttyl
Sharctress has logged off (7:20 pm) (In Albuquerque: 5:20 pm)

"Well," Maddie said after a minute had passed, "That went smoothly." Maddie pushed her laptop closed and placed it on the small chair located on the floor in front of her bed.

Soon enough, Eileen called Maddie and Emily to dinner and they ate hungrily since they had worked up quite an appetite at the park. No calls from their real parents that night, but Maddie told Eileen about the messages to Sharpay. Eileen agreed with what they had done as she was very proud of her "daughters" taking all of this in very maturely instead of retaliating angrily and retreating off to their room in a huff. After talking about the "adopting" process and the Evans family, Eileen told the girls that she would call Louise tomorrow and tell her that they knew who they actually are.

------

Cheever's High school was like any other public high school in Boston. One with chattering students in the halls catching up with their friends before class starts, students getting last minute studying in for their big exam in the next few class periods, and lockers being opened and slammed shut after books are taken out. What's different about Cheever's, you may ask? Well, for starters, the one and only London Tipton, daughter of Wilfred Tipton of Tipton hotels and industries, attends... at least, when she's in the mood. Also, a new student was joining the sophomore class at Cheever's high today, Emily Fitzpatrick. As she walked into the building, the students could not help but notice the resemblance to the older girl walking next to her, who was known as Madeline, or Maddie as she is more commonly called, Fitzpatrick.

"Who's that new girl with Maddie?" "They look like siblings." "Are they sisters?" were just some of the questions being asked among groups of friends as they saw the two Fitzpatricks walking down the hall. After receiving her locker assignment and schedule from the adminstration and Maddie jutting off in another direction, Emily found her locker and put her jacket inside before closing the locker door and facing Zack.

"woah!" Emily exlaimed, jumping back in shock, putting a hand over her heart, of Zack suddenly appearing, "you scared me."

"Sorry 'bout that, but you can't deny that it was funny, right?" Zack explained eliciting a smile from Emily, "So, how do you like Cheever's so far? This is the lovely hallway...where I spend most of time when I don't want to go to class... which is most of the time." Zack opened his arms wide and moved them around slowly before stage whispering closer to Emily's ear.

"I'm sure your teachers love that, right?" Emily laughed then asked, "Do you know where Maddie's locker is? She didn't tell me when I went to find mine... she said something about having to ask her teacher a question about the test she has first period, so now I don't have anyone to show me where my first class is." Emily bit her lip uncertainly, holding her assignment pad and schedule in her hand has she put her other arm through the strap of her backpack. She did not want to be the new girl who had to rely on everyone else to show her around. She would feel helpless, but since Maddie could not point out her first class, she did not think she had any other option. She knew Zack, but not too well since they just met and didn't want to ask too much of him.

"Oh, Maddie's locker is down the other hallway, near the theater," Zack said and reached for Emily's schedule, "Let me see your schedule. I can show you to your first class." Looking at the schedule, Zack dropped his mouth in astonishment, "You're taking honors math? But you just transferred here? Shouldn't you be in the regular math course?"

Feeling her face heating up, Emily responded, "Well, I took the advanced math classes at my old school and my transcript was transferred over to here, so.... yeah. At my old school, I would call Maddie up whenever I had trouble with my math homework so she helped me get to the advanced classes there and they corresponded to ones offered here."

"Okay... well, Cody had to turn in some extra credit homework, which he really doesn't need by the way, so you have me all to yourself to show you to your first class. I see that you have to go to math first... that's great, because the class is right down the hall from my history class. This way my lady," Zack explained in a mockingly-gentleman way as he put his arm out for Emily to take. Giggling at his silliness, Emily responded in the same fashion,

"of course, but where is your noble steed?" Zack and Emily laughed as they walked down the hall side by side as the bell rang.

----

"Emily, I have to go ask my teacher a question about my test next period. You think you could find your locker by yourself?" Maddie asked her sister with a kind smile. As much as Maddie wanted to help Emily get acquainted with the school her first day, she had to ask her Physics teacher about the test she was taking since she had Physics first thing in the morning. Even though she has excelled in all of her subjects, Maddie had to take a little more time for Physics to get the same grades that she was accustomed to receiving.

"That's fine, Maddie. I'm sure I can manage," Emily answered a little uncertainly as they went their separate ways, Emily heading toward her locker and Maddie to the science wing.

The physics classroom was in the same hallway as the other science classrooms in school, including chemistry and biology. Every morning the students at Cheever's high congregated in each of the hallways to chat with their friends about the weekend and their daily activities, as well as students who had a class in a particular hallway and did not want to be very far way when the bell rang for first period. This hallway was no exception. There were many groups of students on each wall chatting animatedly about anything at all, creating a small space for people to walk through to get from one end to the other. Today was especially crowded, for the freshmen honors biology students were crowding outside their classroom to hand in their extra credit assignments.

Maddie was trying, a bit unsuccessfully, to squeeze through the crowd of freshmen, half of whom had not had their growth spurt and she was taller than. By pushing them to side, she showed them her seniority of being in the 12th grade and nearly made it past the door to the biology room. She saw the physics room a few doors down and let out a breath of relief. "Phew. I made it out of that crowd. Man, it seems like the freshmen are just getting smaller and small-- " Maddie thought, but jumped when out of no where an overzealous freshman trying to turn in his work rammed right into her, knocking her down in the process.

----

"Alright, here is Ye Olde Math Classroom... I'm not kidding about the old part, I think this has been here for over forty years! Do you know who your teacher will be?" Zack introduced to Emily as they approached the door of the room. Emily took a peek inside the room where students were beginning to find their seats and glanced at the teacher behind the desk at the front of the room.

Emily smirked, "Hmm, the teacher looks pretty cool," Emily glanced at her schedule, "My schedule says his name is... Menzel, Adam. Do you know the teacher Mr. Menzel?"

"No... But don't go by me, I don't really know much about the honors teachers since I am not in any honors, smarty-pants classes." Zack answered shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh," Emily responded a little disconcertingly, but smiled in appreciation for Zack helping her out on her first day, "Well, I guess I better be going in then. Do you have lunch the same time as Maddie, because that's when I have lunch and I'm so happy because now I won't have to sit by myself or awkwardly search tables finding somewhere to sit. I'm not really good in those types of situations. At my old school I had two friends that I sat with every single day, but we were all new at the same time and---" Emily's rambing was cut short,

"Woah, easy there. Breathe. Okay good," Zack held his hands in front of Emily to calm her slight hyper-rambles, "And to answer your question, yes, I do have lunch at the same time as Maddie, as does Cody and our friend Max, she's really cool. Once you get to know her you'll be friends in no time." Zack smiled

"Alright," Emily let our a sigh of relief, the first day of this new high school isn't turning out to be so bad. "I'll see you later, Zack. Thanks for all your help." Emily waved as she entered the classroom.

----

"Oomph! Geez, watch it!" Maddie exclaimed, closing her eyes for minute, hand holding her head from when she bumped it on the floor when she was knocked down. It's a good thing her messenger bag with her books was zippered, but she can't say the same for the that of the guy who knocked her down. Although his backpack was securely zippered and placed on his back, he had been holding his extra credit assignment, a small stack of paper, in his hand. When he bumped into Maddie, they all scattered. Quietly cursing himself for not stapling his project together before coming to school, the boy started to gather his papers, trying to unsuccessfully put them back in the right order, a difficult task as he had not numbered each sheet.

Maddie opened her eyes and glanced up, recognizing the boy trying to gather his papers. "Cody?" Maddie said, noticing who knocked her down, while battling a feeling foreign to her as she was quite taken with the fact that he looked cute picking up all of his papers, taking such pride in his work, "Why are you, or for that matter, all of these freshmen, in such a hurry to get to your classroom this morning?" Maddie asked as she thought of possible reasons, "Is this another extra credit assignment? Cody, you're going to work yourself to death if you keep on stressing yourself out over every piece of work. I know that your grade is well above a 90 and you do not really need the extra work."

The other freshman in the hallway trying to get to the classroom had to swerve around the two people who fell on the floor. The other students who had to walk down the hallway to reach their first period class looked a little frustrated at having to move out of the way as well. To Cody and Maddie, it was as if they were the other people in the hallway, just focusing on their stuff and the other person that they knocked into.

Cody rubbed the back of his neck as he noticed that the person he had rammed into was in fact, Maddie. "Yeah... I just can't help but want my grades to be perfect." Cody shrugged his shoulders, giving up on trying to order his paper and just decided to push them all together in a messy pile. "Crap. Maybe I shouldn't even bother." Cody muttered as he haphazardly pushed his papers together, not caring if he crumpled any of them.

"I didn't say give up all together," Maddie said worriedly as she gently placed her hand on Cody's arm, shivering slightly. She smiled warmly at him, "I just want you to relax. You can't always have things perfect and just so. Take it from someone who has had to do several projects with London," Cody chuckled, "you have to learn to be a little more easy going with things that do not go your way, but you will still be able to achieve a good grade by finding another solution to your problem."

Sighing, Cody finally gathered all of this papers together and was trying to make them into a neater pile by knocking the edges on the hard floor. "I'll try, Maddie, but I don't know if I'll be able to do that. I've always obsessed over my work, or over little things that now that I think about it could be from always trying to make sure I didn't act like Zack." Cody shrugged again as Maddie let out a chuckle.

"Cody, you and Zack are completely different people. You both will like different things and will end up with different people in your lives eventually," Maddie told him as she continued to smile, "You have to just live your life with no regrets. You have to be spontaneous, like the way you were---" Maddie dropped her voice low remembering Cody's surprising act. "I guess forgetting it never happened didn't last too long, did it?" Maddie thought as she gulped some air, "Well, I have no choice but to bring up now, do I? Great." "--at the park." Maddie finished her sentence in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I guess I was pretty spontaneous...erm, at that moment, wasn't I?" Cody managed to get out to try and relieve some of the awkwardness that returned as he let out a nervous chuckle. He continued to look down, fiddling with his papers even though he had been pushed them into a neat pile just a few seconds ago.

"Well, I guess I better go," Maddie said standing up and straightening out her shirt over her light blue, skinny jeans as she tried to focus on something other than Cody, who was starting to get up as well. She took hold of the strap on her messenger bag and placed it on her shoulder, "I'll see you around, Cody," Maddie said looking into his eyes then moving her own eyes down to his nose and then to his lips, which she was reminded had only just touched hers not even a full day ago. "Oh god. What is happening to me? It's like I can't even look at Cody the same way anymore. I no longer see that little kid who jumped into my arms in suite 613, but a teenager in front of me. I've never noticed how his hair got a little bit darker giving it a natural slightly streaky look as it falls across his forehead just above his eyes. And the smoothness of cheeks that haven't yet grown facial hair as well as his... no! Stop it, Maddie! Argh! Why is this happening? He's three years younger than me! I have to get away before I do something rash. I shouldn't even have to think like this! No, no, no---"

"NO!" Maddie's practically shouted her last thought aloud, right as everyone else in the hallway stopped talking for a brief second. Maddie's cheeks were on fire as everyone turned to look at her. Looking at Cody's face, she saw him taken aback and confused, probably wondering what provoked her outburst. "If only he knew," Maddie thought, "I have to get out of here. Sorry, Cody."

"I gotta go..." Maddie said quickly, "Just take my advice, Cody," She added hastily as she maneuvered around Cody and the rest of the students in the hall, eyes looking to the ground to hide her embarrassment as she made her way to the end of the hall where her Physics classroom was located.

"Ok, that was weird," Cody thought to himself as Maddie left, wondering what he may have done to cause Maddie to act so strangly. Cody mentally smacked himself for being so naive. "Of course she would want to get away. I totally messed up our friendship with that damn kiss at the park and Maddie probably does not want to be seen some oddball freshman who will probably ruin her senior status since that oddball freshman kissed someone who was three years older than himself! I'm so stupid! Zack has probably been right, he is the cooler twin." At this last thought, Cody walked solemnly away from the classroom to head to his first period class, placing his extra credit assignment in the blue recycling bin next to the trash can as he turned the corner in the hallway. He didn't need the extra credit. His grade was already a 98. He needed to destress, the other kids in his class would benefit from the extra assignment much more than he would; Maddie taught him that.

----

"Alright, class settle down, please," Adam Menzel announced to his first period honors math class. Adam Menzel was a fairly new teacher, only arriving at Cheever's High last year. Although commonly mistaken, he is not related to Idina Menzel, the original star of Elphaba in Wicked the Musical, but he is also of Jewish decent and has relatives who delve into the theatrical arts themselves. During the 5th period lunch period, Mr. Menzel can be seen interacting with his students at corner table in the cafeteria so he can see everything that goes on in front of him. His students find him very approachable when coming to him for extra help as he always comes up with a suitable solution for any problems that they may have, some students have even come to him for help in their family lives as they felt that they could open up more easily to him than the stern, practically cold looking therapist counselors that the school hires. (AN: #2)

"We have a few new students with us today as they just transferred from a different math class, as well as a new student from a different school. So, please give them a warm welcome into our class," Mr. Menzel said as he picked up his attendence list, "I'm going to take attendence now, so when you hear your name, just say 'here' or some variation if so desire." Menzel chuckled slightly, as many students tend to announce their presence in more interesting ways than just the common, 'here.'

Emily found an empty seat near the back of the room. The desks were arranged in rows facing the front desk and white boad in the front of the room. Fortunately for Emily, the person sitting in front of her was fairly short so she had no trouble seeing over the top of the student's head. She listened intently for her name to be called, thinking to herself that she was probably going to like this class.

"Fitzpatrick, Emily?" Adam Menzel called out, looking at the name with keen interest.

"Here!" Emily said, raising her arm in the air.

Adam Menzel looked at the blond girl in the back of the room, not believing what he saw. Had it really been so long? He nodded in response to Emily's announcement and continued reading off names, knowing that he'd have an important phone call to make to his sister that night.

AN: After a long wait, I think this was a pretty good chapter, don't you think?

I actually cut this chapter short of what I was originally planning in order to update sooner. I was planning on having more interaction between Cody and Maddie when they got back to the hotel, but that can wait until the next chapter, so keep checking back. :)

To clear up a few things that were mentioned in some reviews: Maddie is a twin with Sharpay and Ryan, making them a triplet. Emily is younger than them by two years. And Zack and Cody are a year younger than Emily.

I think I'm going to change the heights of the characters as they were on the show. In this story, Maddie is 5'6" (Sharpay would be the same), Emily is 5'6 1/2", Cody is 5'6 1/2" and Zack is 5'5". and then it would make sense for Ryan to be 5'8 or 5'9".

1) Those screennames are clever, right? I just thought of them off the top of my head. I didn't want to go with the typical, dramaqueen screen name for Sharpay so I tried to think of something different. As for Emily, I made her character very hyper and enthousiastic so I thought combining her name with the word ecstatic would be a good screen name for her. Do you like the choices?

2) Please do not think that the character of Adam Menzel is a creeper. I know it may sound like it from the description, but he's not. His character is just as a really fun, cool teacher whom makes learning in his classroom more interesting.

Here are some questions that you can all think about for the next chapter: How/Where will Maddie and Emily meet up with Sharpay and Ryan? and What is the meaning behind not having the school of Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow present in the story? And what's up Cody and Maddie? ^_^
What's the deal with Emily's teacher, Adam? Why is he added to the plot so suddenly... and is it really sudden? muahahahaha... XD

I'm going to try and update more regularly, but I can't promise anything because I have trouble thinking of how to go about expressing the situations I have in mind for the plot. If anyone wants to help me in writing this story, that would be great. Just leave suggestions in your review and/or in a PM.
Please and Thank you!

~Smartypink291