A/N: I'm having a bit of difficulty writing the last few chapters of "No Conditions" but don't worry, I'm working on it. Meanwhile, here's the next chapter of this story. It's about to turn serious again, but I'll try to drop a few amusing hints along the way if I can.

Thanks again for all those who read and reviewed (no, I don't mind when you write me novels for reviews, I appreciate them).

Chapter Nine

Birthday Blues

Sharpay sat down at the breakfast table on the morning of her birthday feeling low as she remembered the conversation she had with her mother yesterday afternoon:

"Sharpay, thank goodness! I called your phone a few minutes ago. Someone else answered it. It sounded like a man. What happened? I tried calling again but your phone's been turned off."

Sharpay put on her most innocent voice, though inwardly she was chuckling at the thought of what Coach Bolton did a while ago to save her neck. She was still holding on to the teddy bear he just gave her. "I don't know what that was about Mom. My phone's been turned off for the last two hours. I ran out of battery. You must have dialed the wrong number."

"But it's your number. I checked the call register."

"Must be a network problem Mom. You must have been connected to the wrong person. It happens sometimes."

"Well, I suppose so," her mother replied. "The man who answered didn't seem to hear me anyway. He wasn't making any sense. Anyway I called to tell you I'm staying in New York until next week. I know it's your birthday tomorrow sweetie but I need to be here. Do whatever you want with Ryan. You have my credit card."

She had been surprised at this turn of events. She had been so sure that her mother was calling to tell her and Ryan to pack their bags and get on a plane to New York and meet her there. When they got home, she and Ryan waited until midnight expecting a grand surprise—a call, a text, or a BMW at their doorstep. But nothing happened. They got up at dawn next morning still anticipating for anything. The hours rolled by, yet they hadn't heard a word from their mother except for a text message each telling them: "Happy Birthday!"

Sharpay checked her watch. It was past noon. Her practice at the Community Center starts at one. She might as well just take the bus and go there since it seems like whatever their mother was planning for their birthday, it wasn't likely to happen today. She showered, got dressed and went to find Ryan. She found him in the home office looking over the documents they filed last week.

"Sharpay, I don't get it," he said when he noticed her. He motioned for her to come forward.

"Get what, Ry?" she asked.

"These," Ryan said indicating some bank statements. "Have you seen these?"

Sharpay shook her head. She hadn't had a chance to go over all the bank statements last week. In their excitement, she and Ryan just filed away the rest of the documents without looking at them thoroughly. They were too busy last week cleaning out their room to make way for their expected new stuff. Sharpay took the statements from Ryan and immediately realized what he meant. There were large withdrawals on their family joint account in the last few months.

"What is she spending it on?" Ryan asked. "We don't see her with anything other than the usual stuff."

Sharpay shook her head. "I don't know," she said feebly. Though a warning bell seemed to be ringing in her head at how familiar this pattern of spending sounded.

"And look at this," Ryan said as he showed her the receipt they found from BMW Motors. "Check the date and the address."

Sharpay did as Ryan told her. The receipt indicated the date of purchase was late last year and the address of the buyer was an apartment unit in Park Ridge Towers, New York—exactly the same address the real estate agent mentioned last week.

"How come she waited so long to give that car? She's had it even before Christmas last year," Ryan asked. "She could have given us that instead of those overpriced designer watches."

Sharpay couldn't give an answer, but the more nagging question was the mysterious New York address. She stared at it for a moment before her eyes fell on the inbox tray. There was a new unopened envelop there that she hadn't seen before. It must have arrived sometime this week. When she checked it, it was addressed to their mother and she recognized the real estate agent's name on the return address. Sharpay ripped open the envelope.

"Shar, it's Mom's mail, you're not supposed to open it."

"It's the amortization bill for that condo she bought. I need to know." She unfolded the paper and read through the description. It was a fully-furnished two-bedroom unit of a sky-rise condominium. She was surprised at how expensive it was. The down payment alone was dizzyingly astronomical. The monthly payments were equally exorbitant even by Sharpay's standards.

Ryan stood over her shoulder to read the statement. "I guess we know where the money goes. But I hope we get to see it soon."

"Yeah, me too." The warning bells continued to ring in her head, but she hurriedly shut them out. This was their Mom. She wasn't like Dad. She was always for her and Ryan. This new condo was for them, a part of their birthday present. They just have to be patient, the surprise will eventually come.

She needed to be distracted. She didn't want to be thinking these thoughts. She had to go out and play basketball to clear it. "Listen, Ry, I'm going off to practice. If Mom doesn't come up with anything by this afternoon, let's go have dinner tonight at some fancy place."

"You really think she bailed out on us today?" he asked worriedly.

Sharpay gave him a forced smile. "I'm sure she's just making us think that so we'll get really surprised when she shocks us with something big," she assured him. Yet at the back of her mind, something was telling Sharpay that Ryan was right.

Sharpay stood on alert, her legs moving constantly while her eyes focused on the ball. Jane was nearing the penalty area, but her way was blocked by Thea. Sharpay met her gaze and Jane nodded in understanding. Jane faked a pass to Lilian. Thea was confused for a split-second. That was all Jane needed to toss the ball to Sharpay. She caught it and didn't hesitate. She threw it as far as she could. It went through the hoop and nothing but the net moved. Sharpay jumped in jubilation just as Coach Bolton's whistle blew.

"Sweet!" Coach Bolton's voice rang clear through the throng of girls. "Jane, Sharpay, Lilian excellent teamwork. That's what I'm talking about. Let's all work on that coordination next week. Hit the showers girls," he dismissed before he met Sharpay's gaze.

"I'm off to talk to the organizing committee for the basketball tournament, I'll be right back," he said. Sharpay just managed to nod in acknowledgement before he rushed off outside the gym.

Sharpay followed her teammates as they filed out towards the gym doors. "Are you sure you don't want to go out after this?" she asked them. "We can go for ice cream or pizza. My treat." Over the last few weeks, Sharpay had grown quite attached to most of the girls on the team. Even though she was aware none of the girls were the same middle-income social class that she belonged to, she found their open frankness and hard-as-nails attitude to her liking. They were so different from the condescending but delicate tendencies of the other girls in her own school so Sharpay felt for the first time that she was in a group where she fitted in. Almost everyone accepted her as part of the group and as a respected player. Only Thea continued to remain cold towards Sharpay. But Sharpay didn't mind her. She knew she was just jealous and wasn't worth worrying about.

"We'd love to," replied Jane as she toweled off. "But can't. We all got exams to study for."

"Maybe some other time, Sanders," said Dani who was the nearest to the exit doors. That was another thing Sharpay got used to. Everyone still continued to call her Sanders and Sharpay eventually stopped trying to correct them. She just took Jane's word that the name was a compliment of some sort.

"Have a happy birthday anyway with your—"Dani suddenly stopped in front of the exit doors causing a block that prevented the rest of the team to stop as well.

"Hey move it!" Thea cried impatiently.

But Dani didn't. She was staring at something behind them. Her face lit up in a grin and she whistled. "Hello handsome!"

Everyone else turned to see what she was looking at. Sharpay was surprised at what she saw and immediately ran to meet the lone figure that just entered the entrance doors wearing a dressy shirt, slacks, and another of his fashionable hats.

"Ry!" she cried as she threw her arms around him. Surely he came to tell her their Mom had finally come through after leaving them in suspense for the day.

Ryan let out an "ooppmmfff" as he almost fell backwards. He dropped the clothes jacket he was holding on the floor.

"Hey, easy birthday girl—" he began, but Sharpay cut her off.

"What did Mom say?" she said excitedly. "Is she here? What's this?" she picked up the clothes jacket. "What did she get me?" She knew she was acting like a five-year-old but she just couldn't wait anymore after she's been on the edge the whole day.

Ryan pushed her off. "Shar, that's just one of your old dresses. The black one you always love. I thought it would be nice to dress tonight—"

"Where are we going?" she asked, still jumping around. "I bet it's somewhere good in the BMW…"

She faltered as she realized Ryan was shaking his head sadly. "Mom didn't call. I waited by the phone all day." He paused and bit his lower lip uncomfortably. "Shar, I don't think she's going to."

Her heart sank, but she clung to some semblance of hope. "Well… maybe, she's going to surprise us tomorrow. Maybe she did get caught up with work…"

Ryan shook his head again. "I called her office. They said she's on leave… for a month."

Sharpay digested this slowly, as the warning bells in her head were slowly ringing louder than before.

"Shar… look, don't be upset. Let's not talk about it, not today. It's our birthday and—"

"Hey Sanders, aren't you going to introduce us to your boyfriend?"

Sharpay turned to the girls on her team. "He's not my boyfriend!" she protested. "Everyone, this is my brother Ryan."

The girls sauntered over to them with interested looks for Ryan. It rather surprised her. She knew her brother was attractive, but in East High where most girls prefer jocks, Ryan was rarely given this much attention. A sense of pride came over her at this sudden admiration for her twin and it warmed her that Ryan seemed to be enjoying it too.

She introduced the girls one by one. But when she got to Thea, Sharpay noticed her rival had hung back a little distance away. Yet, she too was staring at Ryan intently with great interest as if she was studying his features. Sharpay blocked the path of her gaze with a glare that clearly meant: "Hands off my brother!" She returned it then marched out of the gym. Sharpay was glad to see her go.

It took a while before Sharpay managed to pry the girls off Ryan and send them to the showers. (It didn't help that Ryan kept encouraging them). When Sharpay finally managed to get him alone, he told her he came to pick her up and take her out to dinner.

"I used Mom's car," he explained. "And I got one of your favorite dresses. Let's not think of it now, Shar. Let's just go someplace nice. You can invite anyone you want to come along," he added as he eyed the doors where Sharpay's teammates had just disappeared to.

Sharpay shook her head and pouted at him. She knew he was hoping to get some girl to flatter him for the rest of the evening. "Sorry, but they can't. They all got exams on Monday." She suddenly thought of Coach Bolton. She loved his company and it would be nice to have him along for dinner. At least he remembered her birthday and gave her something nice for it. And whenever she was with him, she always felt better. She needed cheering up just now. "Hey, we can invite Coach Bolton."

Ryan raised his eyebrow in the same way she did when she thought he was being silly. Sharpay swore that gesture is a classic 'Evan-ism.' "You want to invite our gym teacher to our birthday dinner?"

"He's not just our gym teacher. He's a friend. He's cool. Give him a chance."

Ryan shrugged. "Okay, fine," he replied though Sharpay knew he was still disappointed it wasn't one of her teammates joining them.

Coach Bolton suddenly appeared from the doors. "Hey Coach!" Sharpay greeted. "Remember my brother, Ryan?"

"Yes, of course," he smiled. "Happy birthday to you too." He offered a hand to her brother.

"Thank you sir," Ryan replied as he shook their teacher's hand.

"Coach, we're going out for dinner tonight. You want to come along?" Sharpay invited.

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Yes. It's our birthday dinner, Coach. Our treat. Just the three of us. We could use the company." She gave him another one of her irresistible grins. It was the one that always melted him. "If you're not doing anything of course," she added as an after-thought though she didn't reduce her ten-mega watt smile.

He returned her grin. "Well, my wife's doing overtime. She won't be home 'til really late in the evening and Troy's got intensive rehearsals for opening night tomorrow so I expect he won't be home in time for dinner either. I suppose it's better than getting a microwave dinner alone. Why not?" He eyed at Ryan's rather formal outfit before taking note of her dress in the clothes jacket. "Just let me take a quick shower and change into something less comfortable. Do you have a car?"

Ryan said that he did and they agreed to meet outside the gym in 20 minutes and convoy to the restaurant. They parted ways and Sharpay went off to shower. She had to commend Ryan again for his excellent taste in choosing her outfits. He got her the black silky cocktail that she absolutely adored and the heels she used for Carmen two years ago. When she stood in front of the mirror after putting the dress on, she couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for that particular play and a bit sad that she couldn't go on stage anymore. She gave a deep sigh. Everything's so different now, she thought. She put her hair up in the same manner as Carmen and put on make up to look the part. There, she told herself. I can still be the actress inside. And even for just one night, I'm going to have a good time with Ryan and Coach Bolton and not think of Mom or losing the theatre.

"A bit too dressy for just dinner, don't you think?"

Sharpay didn't bother to turn around and face Thea. She glared at the girl through the mirror.

"Well some of us have good taste and adorably handsome brothers who take us out." Sharpay turned to face her rival directly. "And just so you know, Ryan also has good taste where girls are concerned. He doesn't date trash, so save your breath…"

Thea gave a mirthless laugh. "Oh don't worry. I'm not interested in your brother. A guy that takes his sister out on his birthday—so pathetically childish," she mocked. "I prefer more mature men. But you know something about that too, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked.

Thea sneered at her. "Oh don't play innocent. You and Coach—it's so obvious. What does he give you anyway? Designer clothes? A phone? A ride in his car? Oh please. He is so cheap."

Sharpay was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm just giving you some free advice," Thea replied as if she didn't hear Sharpay. "If you have to sleep with some older guy, have the sense to pick one that can give you more. With a gym teacher's salary, you can't expect much."

Sharpay stared at her for a long moment in revulsion. Thea thought that she was some kind of shameless hussy who was giving Coach Bolton sexual favors?

"You got it all wrong!" she shouted when she recovered from the shock. "There's nothing between me and Coach Bolton! And for your information, I don't need to sleep with anyone to get what I have, not unlike you maybe!"

Thea just smirked then walked away. Sharpay was left with the stares of the rest of her teammates who appeared to check what the commotion was about when they heard her shout.

"You don't all think I have anything going on with Coach, do you?" she accused.

None of them could look at her directly and Sharpay realized with horror that they were all thinking the same thing.

"Look Sharpay," said Lilian gently. "We really didn't want to think that, but… things like that happen. Not with Coach Bolton, of course. But you know, some older men… It happens…" She looked away and stared at the floor. "To some of us, I mean… we completely understand."

Sharpay's indignation melted as she realized what Lilian just confessed to. She stared at her teammates and wondered how many of them had been forced to suffer the indignity of exchanging sexual favors to dirty old men for instant cash just to survive. She knew these girls were poor and most were orphaned or abandoned by their families. But it was only now that it dawned on her what that meant. Suddenly her troubles with her parents seemed so small compared to what these girls had gone through before.

"Lil, I'm sor—" she began.

"It's okay," said Lilian. "We thought Coach Bolton was different. You know, he's one of the few people who really cared about us without expecting anything in return. And then you came along and you were always with him. We just couldn't help but wonder…"

Sharpay shook her head earnestly. "There's nothing between me and Coach Bolton. He's just my friend. He's not like that. He would never do that to any girl."

"We believe you," said Jane. "And we're glad you cleared that up. We hate thinking badly about Coach because he's always been so nice. We're sorry too for thinking that."

The rest of the girls murmured their apologies.

"Please don't mention this to Coach," said Lilian.

Sharpay shook her head. "I won't. I wouldn't dream of making him upset with this. But someone has to do something about Thea."

"Oh don't worry," said Jane. "I'll pound that little bitch if she says one whoot about Coach and you again. She's the one that put the idea in our heads in the first place. We were idiots to have actually listened. We should have known you and Coach better." The other girls agreed with her. Sharpay thanked them and bid them goodbye.

She found her brother by the door of the Community Center. He had managed to find company with Dani who seemed to have taken a very fast shower and missed the drama in the changing rooms so she could have more time to flirt with Ryan. Sharpay stomped her feet impatiently to inform them of her presence, but neither of them seemed to get the hint. They were too busy talking with each other that Sharpay felt invisible.

"You look beautiful."

Sharpay smiled and turned around to find Coach Bolton standing behind her. He was giving her a warm loving gaze. It was a gaze her mother had for her when she and Ryan performed in their first school play and all other subsequent productions after that. Sharpay felt elated at his admiration. She turned around to show off her dress for him like when he did for her father when she was six.

"Do you like it?" She asked the same question to her Dad then but he didn't even take the time to look. He ignored her to make one of his "important" phone calls. He never noticed things like that about her and when she insisted, he told her to leave him alone. Finally, she stopped trying to get his attention.

But Coach Bolton did nothing of that sort. He continued to eye her with proud fascination. "Yes, you look enchanting. Very grown up."

She beamed at his answer. It was like what a typical father would say in those movies when the debutante daughter shows up for her first ball or her first date. She was glad she had managed to clear up the other girls' impression about him. She would hate for anyone thinking Coach Bolton had less than honorable intentions about her or any girl under his team.

"You don't look so bad yourself Coach," Sharpay praised. She noticed he changed into something more formal for the occasion. His tie was a bit crooked though so she straightened it for him. "That was an instant change."

"I always keep extra clothes in the car," he explained as he tilted his head a little to let her fingers work on his tie.

She leaned over near his ear. "Even underwear?" she whispered before she giggled.

He blushed bright red and Sharpay couldn't help but laugh even harder.

"I take that as a yes. Like father, like son."

He continued to look embarrassed. "I am so sorry about yesterday," he said to her for about the sixth time today. "I promise I'll try to get them back although I don't know where Troy put them. I don't want to risk asking him for it."

"Oh stop apologizing, Coach. Let's just forget it. And I won't have you getting caught retrieving them. He won't find out if no one asks for it. It will be our little secret." She finished fixing his tie then linked her arm with his. "Shall we go?"

He patted her hand with his and they walked together out of the doors.

"I never got to ask you what happened to you after I left with Troy."

"Well I managed well enough. I wore a jacket over my chest and I used the duct tape to keep his boxers in place."

Coach Bolton laughed and Sharpay knew he was probably imagining how that went. His laughter was infectious and she burst herself as she recalled what had transpired yesterday. They continued to talk and laugh about it. It seemed so funny now that Troy or anyone else in school was far away from finding out about them.

They reached the parking lot still absorbed in their laughing fit. It was only when Coach Bolton unlocked his car that they remembered they had left Ryan with Dani at the Community Center entrance.