Chapter Nine

October 10 (CONTINUED)

"Aww crap," Zeke mumbled. His head was pounding, he felt nauseous, and he had a sharp pain in one of his feet. And probably worst of all for him, he had no idea where he was or how he got there. But he knew he was no longer in the empty classroom at East High.

Slowly he sat up, one hand clutching his aching head. Eyes dizzy, he blinked a few times to get a good view of his new surroundings. And what he saw was nothing short of…whoa.

Before him stood a tall waterfall, the clearest blue water gracefully falling down into the lake below. On either sides of the waterfall were all sorts of beautiful flowers, all full of diverse colors. The question was, where was he? He couldn't still be in Salem. He had lived there since he was three, and knew the city like the back of his hand. No, this was no where new home. Home couldn't possibly this…amazing.

Forgetting the pain in his foot, Zeke stood up and began to wander. He thought he had seen some animals at the edge of the lake, taking a drink. He also thought he saw a person, and he really wanted to get some information. As he walked closer, he saw that the person who was sitting on a large rock, sadly watching the animals drink, was Sharpay. He had completely forgotten about her.

"Sharpay?" Zeke asked, catching the blond girl by shock. She quickly turned to face him, and her cheeks immediately turned bright red. She took a big gulp and stood up, fully facing Zeke. This had to be sorted now, and Sharpay knew that.

"Yes, Zeke?"

"You have got a lot of explaining to do."

"Yeah, I know."

"…Where are we?" Zeke began. He had a lot to ask.

"It's this secret hideaway I found when I was a little girl. I come here when I just want to be alone or figure some things out." Sharpay explained.

"But, where exactly is this secret hideaway?"

Sharpay lowered her head, "Brazil."

"Brazil?! Pardon my French, Sharpay, but how the fuck did we just get to Brazil so fast? How did you get us here?! Is it those damn powers again?"

Sharpay didn't answer. She knew the answer; she had known her entire life. But it's not like anyone knew. How could she possibly say it now? She raised her head to look at Zeke face to face again. He saw tears welling up in her brown eyes, mixing with fear and terror.

Zeke's expression softened, feeling sorry for how scared Sharpay looked right then, "You really do have powers, don't you?"

Sharpay felt the hot tears slide down her already burning cheeks. She hated how much she cried lately. But…she just couldn't help it.

"I'm…I'm a witch, Zeke. I'm a witch."

--

"Where could she have run off too?" Troy wondered out loud. The pep rally was still going, but he was constantly looking at the gym doors, hoping that Sharpay would come back. But there was no such luck. He was sitting on the bench, while Bret Daniels was giving a speech. Gabriella was sitting by Troy's side, rolling her eyes whenever Troy mentioned his best friend.

"Troy, it's not good to keep doing this. You can see her after the pep rally." Gabriella commented.

"But who knows where she'll be by then! I should go now." Troy began to stand up, but couldn't when Gabriella grabbed his arm and harshly pulled him back down.

"Troy, I told you, Coach Simpson will kill you if you leave."

"No one will notice. I never get to play anyway." Troy said.

"But…your friends! They already left to go after her! I'm sure they're all sharing a caring, happy Sesame Street moment right now."

"But-"

"Troy, did you ever think that maybe Sharpay is always being moody and sad because of you?"

Troy's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Everyone can tell. Even I admit, Sharpay is always a really happy person. But lately, she's been different. She looks sad, she's always running away, and she's testy. And…she doesn't smile as much as she used too."

"So what are you trying to say, Gabriella?"

"I'm saying that…it could be because of you. You might have said something, or done something that really upset her, I have no idea. All I know is that she's not the same Sharpay she once was. Maybe…you should spend some time apart from her." Gabriella suggested.

"Apart? You mean, just ignore the girl who's been my best friends since pre-k?"

"No, just…spend more time with other people. It will either tell Sharpay that you weren't the problem, or…that you two both liked the time away from each other."

"Well, as much as you want me to ditch my best friend, it ain't gonna happen. Later, Montez." Troy said. He stood up and ran across the gym to the locker room door to chance.

"Troy! Get back here!" Gabriella called. But Troy just kept her back to her.

--

"Did you see which way she went?"

"Yeah, Jason. She told me where she was going to suddenly run off to in the middle of Troy's pep rally. I know as much as you do. Of course I don't know which way she went!"

"No need to snap, Kels."

"I'm sorry, I happen to be worried about one of my best friends!"

"Oh, and you're saying I'm not?"

"Will the two of you shut up?" Taylor said, silencing the two bickering friends. "We all don't know where Sharpay ran off to, and we all want to know. And we'll find out sooner if we just keep our cool. Now, I think we should split up."

"What is this, Scooby-Doo?" Ryan asked sarcastically.

"Ryan, zip it. Taylor's right. We should split up and look for Sharpay at places we know she could be at." Chad explained.

"Right. Now, Ryan and Kelsi, you guys go to Sharpay's house. Jason, you go to the mall. And Chad and I will go to the old playground."

"Naww, you should go with Jason, Tay. I'll stay here and look to see if she's still at school. Then me and Troy can look at the playground."

"Oh, okay," Taylor said, disappointment visible to the naked eye. "Yeah, that makes more sense."

"Okay, and if one of us finds her, we'll all meet up at my house." Jason said, his friends nodding in agreement. Kelsi and Ryan ran out of the front doors first, then Jason, and finally Taylor, who took one sad look at her crush. I knew he'd never want to be with me she thought before she too went on the hunt.

Chad waited until he knew his friends couldn't see him before he stormed off towards the locker rooms. He was on a hunt as well, but not for Sharpay. He was on a hunt for the person who was Sharpay's supposed best friends for life.

--

"And ever since then I've known I was a witch."

"Wow." Zeke breathed out. Sharpay had just given him the full, long explanation on her magical powers.

"I know it doesn't seem scientifically possible, but it is. This is all real and true. Do you believe me, Zeke?" Sharpay asked.

"Well, normally, I wouldn't. But, I did see you disappear right in front of me, and you just magically transported us here – which by the way was not a fun experience."

"Yeah, you get used to that after a while. By the twentieth try I finally learned to land on my feet." Sharpay commented.

"Yeah. So…I guess I have to believe you. I can't not believe you after all I've seen. But, can you answer me something?"

"Sure."

"How come I'm the first person to know?" Zeke asked.

"Well, because you saw me use my magic. And, you really can't tell Gabriella. It would ruin me. And if you saw, you deserve an explanation." Sharpay explained.

"Yeah, I see that. But…why don't your friends know? Why doesn't Troy know you're a witch?"

--

Troy closed his locker, having just changed out of his uniform. He was planning on going to try to find Sharpay and find out what was wrong with her. But he knew it wasn't him. Gabriella was not right. Troy was always the one person who could make Sharpay happy, and he knew that. With the relationship they had, one could never upset the other like this. It just wasn't possible.

He turned around, ready to leave when he saw Chad standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hey Chad." Out of the blue, Chad slammed Troy into the lockers.

"What the hell, man!" Troy yelled. Chad was never this aggressive, especially with him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Chad asked angrily.

"What?"

"Who do you think you are to do this?" Chad asked again.

"Do what, Chad? What the hell are you talking about?" Troy asked, completely lost.

"Sharpay's my friend, Troy, and I happen to care about her."

"Are you saying I don't?" Troy asked, trying to figure out what wall was going on.

"Well I'm sure not saying you do." Chad shot.

"Hey! Don't ever say I don't care about Sharpay. She means more to me than she ever will to you. And what makes you think you can say something like that?" Troy asked seriously.

"What makes you think that you can like the daughter of Satan!" Chad retorted.

"Chad, what are you freaking talking about?!" Troy asked

Chad didn't respond. He knew that yelling at Troy would never give him an answer. He'd have to be calm about it. As much as he didn't want to, he had to. "Why do you want to date Gabriella, Troy? Why do you like her?" he asked in a low, quiet voice.

Troy knitted his eyebrows together. "Where did you hear that?"

"Sharpay. I found her at the playground the other day, crying her eyes out because her best friend liked the one person she hated most."

Troy's expression softened. "Sharpay was crying?"

"Of course she was crying, you asshole! Why wouldn't she cry?" Chad spat.

"She said she was okay about it," Troy remembered aloud, not hearing what Chad was saying. "She said if it would make me happy, I could. She said she'd be fine."

"Troy, are you mentally retarded?" Chad asked honestly. "Of course she would say that! Of course she'd say she was fine and okay about it!"

"Why? We've always been honest with each other. We've never kept something from each other. Why?"

"Troy, Sharpay is your best friend. And you're her best friend. No, best friend doesn't even come close to describing you two. How about soul mates? That seems good. Anyway, Sharpay cares about you more than anyone else in the world. She lives to see you happy – it kills her to see you not. And if Gabriella, the one person in the entire world Sharpay loathes, would make you happy, do you really think she'd say no?"

Troy frowned. "You know, Chad, maybe next time before you go accusing people of the worst, you should hear what they have to say."

"Personally, I'd rather not hear all the bull you wanted to give-"

"Well too bad, because I'm gonna tell you anyway. I don't plan on asking out Gabriella until I fix things with Sharpay. Because even though that hair isn't letting oxygen to your brain, and you can't function like a normal person, Sharpay means the world to me. And you can never, ever, say she doesn't. "

And with that, Troy stormed out of the locker room, leaving a fuming Chad behind.

--

"Sharpay, you have to tell Troy."

"I can't, Zeke. Don't you understand? I just can't."

"Why not?" Zeke and Sharpay were still in their own little world sitting upon rocks the overlooked the calmness and serenity of the area they were in.

"I don't think he can handle it." Sharpay said, bringing her knees close to her chest.

"Can't handle it, how?" Zeke asked curiously.

"I don't think Troy could handle any of it. I mean, knowing that the girl he's been friends with since he was a little kid is a witch? Knowing that the girl who's like a sister to him has these strange magic powers? It would ruin our friendship. Troy would never be able to look at me without thinking that I'm some freaky mutant person. And then he'd defiantly pick Gabriella over me. Everyone would."

"What do you mean he'd pick Gabriella?" Zeke asked once hearing the mention on his former girlfriend.

"Zeke…I'm sorry, but…Gabriella likes Troy."

"Yeah…I know." Zeke sighed.

"And…Troy might like Gabriella back." Sharpay confessed. Zeke snapped to attention. He studied the blond girl, noticing how the mention of this topic changed her. It was like she was a lamp, and the light bulb burned out.

"Sharpay? Do you like Troy?" Zeke asked.

"No…" Sharpay said, shaking her head. "…I love Troy."

There you go, another chapter. And look how much quicker I updated! I'm sooo proud! Hope you liked the Zekepayness going on. There will be a lot more of that, but with surprises added in. And I've never done Zekepay, so take it easy on me.

No real author's notes to give…well, maybe one. It really has nothing to do with this though.

On February 24 I get my braces off! I've had them since April of 2006, and they're finally coming off! And that happens to be three days before the JONAS BROTHERS 3D CONCERT MOVIE!!! Serena, you and me will have a lot of screaming to do. Peace

xo Jenna