A/N: Sorry readers! I got caught up with my life again. It's kind of crazy out there. War, disease, wild fires…skanky girls exposing themselves coughVanessaHudgenscough. Kidding…well not really. I always knew that I liked Sharpay better…
Now, on to the story!
Chapter 10
The luminous sun awoke Troy from his sleep. Troy groggily blinked and wiped his face with his hand. He searched his surroundings and found that he was still in Sharpay's hospital room. He looked down at Sharpay, who was sleeping peacefully next to him on the hospital bed. Troy noticed that the shine in Sharpay's hair, which he had loved to watch sway as she confidently walked down the hallways at East High, was quite lackluster. He gently brushed a strand of her pale blonde hair away from her face, and placed a kiss on top of her forehead.
Sharpay flinched and quickly aroused from her sleep. "Troy?" She groggily asked as she smiled at him.
Troy grinned, "I'm glad you're finally up."
"Did I sleep late, or something? Have you been waiting a while?" Sharpay asked worriedly.
Troy chuckled, "No, no. I'm kidding. I just woke up a second ago."
Sharpay rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Ha ha. You're so funny, Troy."
"I thought I was," Troy smirked as he stood up and reached for his sweater that he had abandoned the night before.
Sharpay giggled as she coyly reached for the pillow behind her. She quickly scrambled to her knees to get a closer aim as she prepared to launch the pillow at Troy.
"Hey Troy—" Sharpay started.
Troy whipped around and caught Sharpay's hand with the pillow in it before she could throw it at him. He grinned as he yanked it out of her hand and threw it at the befuddled Sharpay.
"Oww!" Sharpay grimaced as she rubbed the spot on her head that Troy had thrown the pillow on. "How'd you do that?"
Troy chuckled. "You don't get to be captain of the basketball team when you have poor reflexes."
Sharpay scowled at Troy and rolled her eyes. "Why can't you let me have my fun?"
"Why should I?" Troy laughed. "You had enough fun with me last night, didn't you?"
Sharpay gasped. "Troy Bolton! You know nothing happened last night!"
Troy smiled. "I know, I know. Wishful thinking, I guess."
Sharpay flashed a smirk as she climbed out of her bed. She quickly dashed past Troy into the bathroom with her make-up bag in tow.
Troy smirked at the scene and slowly sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the hospital bed.
A few minutes passed as Sharpay quickly groomed herself and dashed on some mascara and lip-gloss. When she found her appearance to be suitable for Troy, she quickly rushed out the bathroom, running into something on her way.
The something turned out to be a someone—Ryan.
"Ryan?" Sharpay breathily asked.
Ryan nodded and looked at Sharpay puzzled. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I needed to use the bathroom, duh," Sharpay responded sarcastically.
"Oh," Ryan said quietly. He closed the door behind him and walked into the room. Sharpay sighed and shut the bathroom door and joined Ryan in the room.
"Hey Ryan," Troy said. "What's going on?"
Ryan shrugged as he looked around the hospital room. "Not too much."
Troy nodded in response. He watched as Ryan's eyes scanned the room. The room was rather messy with Sharpay's things scattered randomly around the room. Troy's shoes were lost in the mess and Ryan quickly spotted them.
"When'd you get here, Troy?" Ryan asked him suspiciously.
Troy paled and stammered, "Um, I—um…"
Sharpay broke in. "He stayed the night, for your information."
Ryan's eye twitched at that bit. "I really didn't need to know that."
"Well…you asked," Sharpay retorted.
"Ryan," Troy broke in. "Nothing happened. You don't have anything to worry about."
Ryan nodded as he sat down wearily on the bed. "Well, that's comforting…I guess."
Sharpay, taking notice of Ryan's tired motions, asked in concern, "Ryan? Are you okay? What's the matter?"
Ryan shook his head, "Nothing you need to worry about, Shar."
Sharpay looked at him in puzzlement. "Ryan, tell me. What is it?"
"It's nothing Sharpay! Just stop bugging me!" Ryan exclaimed shortly.
Sharpay, taken aback by Ryan's outburst, fell silent. The room sat in silence for minutes until a nurse stepped in to on check Sharpay.
The nurse then asked the two boys to leave the room so that she could weigh Sharpay and give her a shot. The boys agreed and left a shaken up Sharpay.
The two silently decided to walk to the cafeteria, where they went to on the first day of Sharpay's hospital stay.
As they neared the cafeteria, Ryan stopped Troy in a corner.
"Listen Troy, I need you to promise me that you won't say anything to Shar about what I'm going to tell you," Ryan told him with absolute seriousness.
Troy gave him a puzzled look. "I can't promise you anything, Ryan, before I hear what you are going to tell me."
"Troy, please. Just agree. This is very important. I can't let Sharpay know about this—at least not now," Ryan pleaded with him.
Troy paused and then slowly nodded in agreement. "Tell me what's going on. Does this have anything to do with what you didn't tell Sharpay in the room?"
Ryan nodded. "She can't know about this. I can't let her. She's too fragile right now."
"Tell me what's going on," Troy stated.
Ryan sighed as he led Troy into the cafeteria. They quickly ordered their coffees and sat down at a booth. Ryan paused for a while before starting.
"Troy, Sharpay's roommate at Julliard—Anna," Ryan started. He paused to search for his words. He then took a deep breath and said, "Troy, Anna's dead."