Ryan looked from Sharpay to Lauren, eyes wide. Why did everyone have to be so nosy around here?

"Who is that downstairs?" Lauren asked.

"That's my girlfriend," Ryan started, but a sad look came over his face as he realized what just happened. "Well, ex-girlfriend, Gabriella Montez. I kinda just dumped her."

"Oh," Lauren said. "Kinda awkward."

"Yeah," Ryan said. "But nice to see you back, Lauren!" He got up to hug his cousin.

"It's nice to be back here finally!" Lauren laughed, smiling.

"OK, enough with the family reunion!!" Sharpay screamed. "Why did you dump Gabriella??"

"Shar, I really don't wanna talk about it!" Ryan said. And truthfully, he didn't. He regretted it enough. But, of course, that wasn't a good answer when around Sharpay.

"That's not a good answer!! There has to be a reason! Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Actually," Lauren chimed in, "I'm gonna have to side with Ryan on this one. I wouldn't want to talk about it either."

"Thanks, Lauren!" Ryan said. "Hey is there any chance you could live here instead of Sharpay?"

"Hey!!" Sharpay complained, but Lauren smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna go say hi to Mom and Dad," Ryan said, leaving the room and walking downstairs. Sharpay and Lauren laughed as they heard Mrs. Evans greeting her son. "Duckie! I've missed you soooo much!!" They heard Ryan groan at his mother's nickname for him. Sharpay and Lauren didn't want to miss out on all the fun, so they headed downstairs to see what was doing on.

"What was Gabriella doing here?" Mr. Evans asked.

"Well," Ryan started. "I was going out with her, but we kinda broke up a few minutes ago."

"Oh, Duckie, I'm so sorry!!" Mrs. Evans said, again pulling Ryan into a tight hug.

"Actually, I was going to go apologize right now. I overreacted and she got my bad side." Ryan said, escaping his mother, grabbing his jacket and hat, and walking out the door to his father's car. He still didn't have one of his own and he wouldn't dare use Sharpay's car.

"That was weird." Mrs. Evans observed. "But anyway, your father and I are going to unpack, I suggest you do the same soon. You two have fun!" She patted Lauren on the shoulder as she headed up the stairs after her husband.

"So…after all you've told me about your boyfriend, Troy Bolton, I can't wait to meet him!!"

"Well, actually, we're not really together anymore," Sharpay said sadly.

"What? What happened?" Lauren asked, actually sounding concerned.

"I honestly have no idea. Well, I guess Troy was all like 'you're too bossy and we need to take a break', but then he was all happy that Montez said that she liked him even though she doesn't and I guess now he likes her…" Suddenly, Sharpay's eyes got wide and she gasped. "And now he gonna try to make a move on her since she's not with Ryan anymore. We gotta go stop him!"

"But Ryan said he was going to apologize to her, so everything should be fine, right?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah, Montez is a very forgiving person, and she still loves Ryan and she wants to be with him more than anything, but she's also very unpredictable. She probably hates him now. But we gotta go fix things."

"Wait, wait, wait…what is this 'we'? I need to get unpacked and settled. I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, you'll get used to doing things at the spur of the moment when you're with me, so let's go!" Sharpay said, grabbing her hoodie off of the coat tree before grabbing Lauren's hand and pulling her out the door.

"Sharpay!" Lauren complained once they got in her car. "Why are we doing this? You haven't changed a bit, have you? Always meddling into something that's not yours to have to deal with. It is nice that you're doing something nice for Ryan for once." Sharpay gasped and glared at Lauren.

"Never say that! You of all people know that I never do anything for anyone unless there's something for me in it."

"Well, what's in this for you?"

"And I thought you were smart! Let me break this down slowly for you." Sharpay started as they headed down the road. "So Ryan and Gabriella broke up, right?"

"Yeah," Lauren said.

"And Troy likes Gabriella."

"OK."

"And he thinks she likes him too. So now that Gabriella isn't going out with anyone, Troy will try to make a move on her. And I like Troy still…so by getting Ryan and Gabriella back together…"

"He won't be able to get back with Gabriella and he'll come back to you!"

"Exactly," Sharpay said. "See, I knew you'd finally understand!"

"So what's our plan exactly?" Lauren asked.

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but I know it's gonna work. Of course, it's going to involve us trying to talk Gabriella into getting back with Ryan and forgiving him and him forgiving her…without us running into Ryan or Troy on the way."

"Wow, that sounds complicated," Lauren said. "Hey, speaking of Troy…is he hot?"

"Completely," Sharpay bragged. "But don't get any ideas. He's all mine."

"Well, you know, people say I look like you, and I'm nicer than you…what if he likes me more?" Lauren stated.

Sharpay laughed. "That's impossible. He's completely in love with me. There's no way he could like you! Try again."

"Just a thought," Lauren said, turning on the radio.

"Yeah, well some thoughts shouldn't be said out loud," Sharpay said angrily, promising herself that she wouldn't talk to Lauren for the rest of the trip. Lauren was getting ideas in her head that would never come true if she could help it. Troy belonged to Sharpay…she owned him.

Fifteen minutes later, they got to Gabriella's house, and Sharpay groaned when she saw her father's car in her driveway.

"Oh, my God…he's gonna ruin his chance!" Sharpay said, pulling into the driveway herself.

"No he's not," Lauren said as she got a closer look. "He hasn't gotten out of the car yet."

"Excellent!" Sharpay exclaimed, jumping out of the car leaving Lauren to turn it off.

Ryan was just about to get out of his car when Sharpay ran up and knocked on the window. "Ryan!" she screamed.

Ryan nearly jumped out of his skin. "Sharpay," he said, getting out of the car, "How did you get here so fast? And what are you doing here in the first place?"

"I came because you're making a huge mistake by coming over her to talk to Gabriella by yourself. You don't know what to say to her! I'll go talk to her for you," Sharpay said, starting to walk up to her door. Ryan opened the door and got out of his car.

"Sharpay, stop right there!" he exclaimed. But Sharpay didn't listen. She kept going up the door and she rang the doorbell. Gabriella answered.

"Hey, Sharpay. What's up?" she asked. From where he was standing, Ryan could tell that Gabriella had been crying. He looked over at Lauren, who was still sitting in Sharpay's car. Ryan began to walk up to Sharpay. He was not going to let Sharpay talk to Gabriella for him. This was between him and Gabriella, not Sharpay and Gabriella.

"Gabby," he pleaded, pushing Sharpay out of the way. "Please let me talk to you. I'm really sorry about earlier. I wasn't thinking, I swear." But Gabriella didn't buy it and slammed the door in his face, leaving Ryan standing at the door in shock.

"Ryan!" Sharpay screamed. "What did I tell you? I said you would ruin it and you did! And now, according to her reaction, you won't be getting her back anytime soon! Ryan, I know the way a girl thinks, and just in case you haven't noticed, I am a girl. That's why you should have let me talk to her."

"Sharpay," Ryan said. "this is between me and her, so stay out of it, okay? It's not your problem and it doesn't need fixing."

"Well, it's easier for her to talk to me about you than it is for her to talk to you about you!" Sharpay said. This was the first real fight they had had in years, and Ryan was starting to get worried.

"You know what, Shar? I don't need your help with my situations! It's my life and I can run it the way I want to, and I don't need you snooping around trying to get me out of situations…or into them for that matter. You've been controlling my life for the last 8 years, and I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you always trying to boss me around and trying to pressure me into doing what you think is right! So from now on, I'm not listening to you any more!" Ryan yelled, getting into his car and slamming the door, leaving Sharpay standing in Gabriella's driveway, about to cry. Lauren saw this and immediately got out of Sharpay's car once Ryan drove away. Lauren ran over to Sharpay and tried to hug her, but she shoved her away. Sharpay didn't like to be touched when she was angry, and she made that very clear. She instantly took out her phone, sat down on Gabriella's grass, and dialed Troy's number.

"Hey Troy, can I stay at your house tonight?" she asked sweetly, but seductively at the same time, making Lauren's eyes get wide. "I just had a fight with Ryan. Like a huge fight and I'm not sure I'll be able to face him tonight at home……..Well, can you ask your dad? ………I know, but I really can't stay at home………Gabriella's crying her eyes out. I'm not gonna stay at her house. She'll be crying all night………Please, Troy………Just tell your dad that nothing's gonna happen………Okay, thanks………………………Really? That's great!! Can you come pick me up? ………Because Lauren needs to get home and I can't take her………Because that means I'll have to face Ryan! ………Fine. See ya tonight. Wow, I never thought I'd be saying that," Sharpay said, giggling and hanging up.

"What'd he say?" Lauren asked.

"His dad said that I could stay over, but we have to sleep in separate rooms and he's gonna put some kind of thing between us to make sure no one starts crossing rooms. But I have to take you home and then I'll go over there, so…"

"Well, why don't you just take me with you and then I'll just go home myself," Lauren suggested. She really wanted to meet Troy. Sharpay made him sound so…hot. And when Sharpay says a guy is hot, he has to be really, really hot.

"That could work, I guess," Sharpay said. It was already almost 7. "If you take care of my car," Sharpay added, almost threateningly.

"Of course! I know how much you love your car…I would never do anything to it."

"Fine." Sharpay said. "Just let me call Daddy and tell him what's going on before you wreck my car." Sharpay called her house, hoping that Ryan wouldn't answer. To her luck, he didn't.

"Hello?" she heard her dad answer.

"Hi, Daddy," she said, putting on her cutest little girl voice. After all, she was a "daddy's girl" and an angel around her parents. They never knew what she was really up to. Being an actress came in handy. "Um, I have to go to Kelsi's tonight to rehearse a song, so I'm just gonna spend the night over there tonight." She turned around to see Lauren's mouth hanging wide open. "But Lauren's coming with me so she can take my car home." At least one part of her lies were always true.

"Shouldn't Ryan be with you?" her dad asked.

"Oh, no, no, no," Sharpay said…a little too quickly, but her dad didn't seem to notice. "Kelsi wrote it just for me. Ryan knows, so you don't have to tell him or anything."

"Oh, well that's alright, I guess. A little short notice, but that's fine. I'll tell you mother. See you in the morning. Love you, pumpkin."

"Love you too, Daddy," she replied as she hung up.

"Sharpay, I cannot believe you just lied to your own father!!" Lauren exclaimed as Sharpay turned around.

"Did you honestly think he was gonna let me spend the night at Troy's? Please! Neither of my parents would let me sleep over at a guys' house unless I'm married to them. And even then they'd probably be worried."

"But you can't go around lying to your parents all the time!"

"Who said I do it all the time?! And besides, I told them…some of the truth."

"Yeah, but…"

"Lauren, just shut up about it, OK?! As long as you don't tell Mother or Daddy, no one will get hurt, got it?"

Lauren nodded…with a bit of fear. She had to admit, she was a little intimidated by Sharpay, no matter if she was her own cousin or not.

"Now all we have to do is get to Troy's!!" Sharpay said with excitement that Lauren didn't really understand. This was some guy's house, not Disney World. "Get in!" she yelled. Lauren got in the passenger seat and they were off. Lauren still couldn't believe that Sharpay had lied to her parents. Ryan never lied. She herself never lied to her parents, but it didn't even seem like Sharpay was in the family. Lauren didn't say a word the whole ride, but that was mainly because Sharpay was talking the whole way there…about Troy. After what seemed like an hour to Lauren, they arrived at Troy's house, and Sharpay practically jumped out of her car. Apparently, Troy had been watching out the window, because when they pulled up, he opened the door…and Lauren felt like all her dreams had come true. Sharpay was right, he was totally hot. His shirt was off and on his lower half he was wearing jeans ripped in the knees. She watched with envy as Sharpay ran into his arms and gave him what was probably one of the biggest hugs she had ever given anyone, which he gladly returned. A kiss on the cheek from Troy sealed their greeting. Suddenly, Troy looked over to her and her heart melted.

"Hey, who's that?" Troy said with a smile.

"Oh, that's Lauren. She's my cousin. Don't mind her." Then she turned to Lauren. "Hey, Lauren, you don't have to sit there all day. You're allowed to move!" Lauren snapped back into reality and opened the car door. She couldn't feel her legs as she moved towards Sharpay and Troy. She couldn't describe what Troy was doing to her, and she was amazed by it. She had never known any guy to do this to her. Before she knew it, Sharpay had grabbed her shoulder and dragged her over to Troy.

"Hey, what's up?" Troy greeted Lauren, extending his hand to her. She took it as she became lost in his sparkling blue eyes. She became completely speechless in his presence. "Um…Lauren, are…are you okay?" He looked sideways to Sharpay for an answer, but she just shrugged her shoulders and Lauren nearly fainted. Sharpay finally grabbed Lauren's hand and took her back over to the car.

"Lauren!" Sharpay yelled. She waved her hand in front of Lauren's face. "Snap out of it!" She eventually had to go to a last resort and literally slap Lauren across the face. That brought her back quickly.

"Ow!" she yelled. "What was that for?"

"You fell under the Troy spell! And don't even think about doing it again, OK? Troy is mine, understand? And don't even think about telling my parents a word that I'm here! Got it?" Unfortunately, Troy heard that last part.

"Wait, wait, wait. You're parents don't know you're here?" he said as he approached the two girls.

"No! Are you kidding me? They would never let me spend the night over here!"

"So how'd they let you come over?" Troy asked, with strange curiosity.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, Lauren needs to get home. So I'll see you in the morning Lauren! Bye! Be careful with my car!!" Sharpay yelled as Lauren got into Sharpay's car and started towards Sharpay's house, all the while about what that little time with Troy had done to her brain. Sharpay was totally right about him.