Flame of my Heart

by hotsodagirl

Summary: A mistake. A silent cry for help. Who knew a pot of noodles could cause so much trouble in a few weeks?

Genre: Romance/Drama

Rating: T, just to be safe

Sodagirl Says: I love you awesome reviewers!

XXTroypay-4EVAXX:P Yeah, there are reasons to be mad at both Sharpay and Ryan. And you may get even more mad at them throughout this three-part chapter, especially Ryan. But by the end of the third part, hopefully you won't be mad anymore. Go read after the reviews to see what I'm talking about with the different parts because I don't feel like typing it up again :P I'm glad you love it! And I'm sorry it took a while to update... again, there's an explanation below that I don't feel like typing up again. I'm sick :(

azndoll10: Actually, yes she is! Not in this part of the chapter, but probably in the next part.

xxAnnaxx: Oh yeah, frosh in honors are the awesome:P Seriously, we're just cool like that. I may actually be getting out of one of them because it's World Geography and the whole social studies thing just isn't for me. I think I might have already failed my first test. But I'm still in the others that I'm good at so that's cool :D

My BFF: Wow, lots of hugs and kisses:D YOONT YINT CORBIN:P Yes, you will most definitely enjoy this three-part chapter. I know you will. It has some pretty good Ryella and Troypay so you'll just love it. Plus there's drama, and who doesn't like that? claps Yay me! I'm so awesome! Thanks a BUNCH! You're so awesome, too! Ryan and Gabriella really do make the cutest couple. And now I just have to say one thing: Lucas in a bubble - DIN DIN:P Okay, did you really think I was going to put up a new chapter without saying that? Oh, and one other thing: I LOVE THE LUCAS HEAD! Don't we all?

kayk724: Really, you thought it was one of the best:D Awesome. I hope you continue to enjoy the entire story as well because it only gets better from here! Well, worse for the characters, but better for the story... oh you'll see as the story moves along!

Ashley's Fool: Oh, that's okay, I don't expect everyone to review on the first day now that people are going back to school and all. Thanks for still reviewing though!

gabrielle: I'm really sorry but I can't grant your request :( If I could then I might change it but if she doesn't find out then the story really doesn't move along and neither will the chapter. Sorry. I'm glad you love the Troypay though!

xleytonloverx: Yay:D I'm always happy to get a new reader :P I hope you continue to read it through the end!

Other Reviewers: #1 Sister Act Fan, Shoelace22, StoryBee, ELM-Tree10, mariana-hsm, xxCaNdY CoUnTeR GiRlxx, Chel08

Not reviewers: My sister! You owe me three reviews, nast:P Just kidding, I don't really care. It would be nice, but you're already awesome for buying me magazines and CDs and Pixy Stix(gotta love those!). Love ya!

Oh wow, it's been a long time since I updated! And if you don't read at least this paragraph and you just skip to the story, you'll probably be like, 'I waited two weeks for this!' Basically, this chapter isn't chock-full of drama like I said it would be, there is no violence, and there is just a hint of Troypay (sort of). So here's why it's not as awesome as I said it would be - this is only part of what the original chapter was supposed to be. See, I have more than just this typed up, but I didn't have the whole thing done. If I waited to update until the whole thing was done, you might have had to wait a couple more weeks. So this is part one of the chapter, then next time there will be part two and there might even be a part three just for this one chapter I had planned. Yeah, it's that long. But I really wanted to update so I cut it short and put the next part in a new document that I am still working on. Please forgive me for making you wait so long, but you know how it is, that beginning-of-school-madness. So many papers to sign, so much homework to do, and so forth. Just so you know, if you haven't figured it out yet, I will put updates on my profile if there is going to be an excessive delay in my updating, so always check there. If you have any questions you can always PM me as well :D

Anyways, like I said, this part isn't as exciting as I said it would be. I think the best part is going to be part two because it has a pretty good Troypay moment, it has more build-up of the drama, and it has more of Gabriella's... wait, you haven't even read this part yet! You'll find out about what Gabriella's doing and you may be able to guess in your head what's going to happen in the next part. So anyways, read and review and hopefully the next part will be up in less time than this one was!

Chapter Ten: The Party - Part One

Gabriella's Diary

Dear Diary,

I'm really worried about what's going on with Ryan and Sharpay. Sharpay left yesterday morning during homeroom and the next time I saw her she was all beat up. Ryan and I went to check on her after first period but she refused to talk about it until I left. There's some big secret between them, but they don't want anyone to know. Except Troy. For some reason he knows all about it. I guess it's just because they're all living together. I have no idea what's going on, though. Ryan seemed to want to tell me about it until Sharpay told him to "show me" what it was. After that he wouldn't talk about it anymore, not for the rest of the day. I'm sure he'll tell me about it some day. I am his girlfriend after all!

Speaking of which, I should probably stop writing. As you know, Taylor's birthday party is tonight and it's going to be huge! So I need to finish getting ready because my boyfriend will be here soon, along with Sharpay and Troy. Ryan said he's looking into getting a new car pretty soon so we don't all have to ride together all the time. He really needs to get it soon because I don't know how much longer I can put up with his sister.

xoxo,

Gabriella

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Ryan's POV

Ding-dong! The bell chimed from inside the house as I rang the doorbell. Within seconds the front door flew open and there stood Gabriella, looking as beautiful as ever. Her hair was in a cute, tousled up do and she was wearing a light lavender dress that fit her body perfectly. It fell down to her knees, showing off her legs and the wedges on her feet. I could only say one word.

"Wow."

She giggled and put her arms around my neck. "Hello to you, too."

"You look fabulous," I murmured in her ear, making her giggle again.

"Thank you," she whispered back, pressing her cheek to mine. I shifted so our foreheads were almost touching rather than our cheeks and looked down into the adorable pair of eyes that looked straight up into mine. Drawing my face closer to hers, I kissed her glossy lips tenderly, and she returned it with equal affection. She ran her fingers through my loose blonde hair while I let my hands travel down her body, over the soft silky material that clung to her skin. A soft moan escaped her throat just before we were forced to break apart by the sound of a loud, blaring car horn. Still holding her in my arms, I looked out the glass screen door to see my sister, who was in the passenger's seat, leaning over Troy, who was in the driver's seat, and giving us an aggravated look as she repeatedly hit the horn button. 'Hurry up!' she mouthed, pointing at an invisible watch on her wrist as if to say we were going to be late. It was all I could do to not roll my eyes while I turned back to my girlfriend, who I knew was just as exasperated as I was even though she was forcing a smile.

She tried to hide her negative emotions most of the time, but I could always tell when something was wrong. The thing I was never sure of was what she was upset about. Even though she always said she and Troy were just friends, I knew deep down on the inside there had to be a part of her that missed him. Why else would she seem so jealous every time he and Sharpay were together? Of course, maybe she just had a lasting grudge against her for kissing her boyfriend. Although I agree it was wrong of my sister to do that, I guess it was just her way of getting comfort from someone through our parents' divorce.

Sharpay had also told him about our secret that night, which could be another possible reason for Gabriella's annoyance. She knew the three of us knew something she didn't, and yet we wouldn't tell her. I wanted her to know, but at the same time I wanted to keep it from her. If she wanted to know all the things our father had done over the years, she would have to see my scars to believe it was true. No one besides myself and Sharpay had ever seen my scars, not even our mother except for the first time he had ever beaten us. It was just something we had always hidden from the world. I felt bad for hiding so much of my life from my girlfriend, but I couldn't bring myself to show her. Not yet.

"We should get going. You don't want to see Sharpay when she's mad," I said.

"You don't call what I see from her every day in school mad?"

"No, those are her good days," I joked. Gabriella laughed, albeit uneasily, as she looked out past my shoulder to her yard outside.

"What's the weather like out there? It is cold?" she asked. I noticed a strange glint in her eye, as if she was thinking about or remembering something.

"Uh... yeah, it's pretty windy. Crazy March weather. You should probably get a coat or something."

"Perfect..." she whispered, almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She suddenly looked a bit nervous, as if she was trying to hide something. "I'll go get my coat. You just... stay... here..." As she spoke she slowly backed away from me and, once she finished her sentence, made a mad dash up the stairs. She was quickly out of sight, but I could here her moving about and running around on the second level. After about a minute all was silent, and a few minutes later she was coming back down the stairs wearing a black leather jacket that fit a little loose and was almost as long as her dress was. She looked a little dazed, but besides that she seemed happy enough.

"Okay, let's go!" She attached herself to my arm and locked the door before I led her down the paved sidewalk. About halfway towards the car she stumbled and almost fell to the ground, only saving herself by clinging desperately to my arm.

"Whoops! Sorry!" she said, giggling and hastily picking herself back up before continuing on to the vehicle as if nothing had happened.

'That was weird. What's gotten into her?'

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Gabriella's POV

'I can't believe I'm actually doing this...'

I told Ryan I had come up here to get my coat, but that wasn't the entire truth. Yes, I had gotten a coat from my room, but now I was in the back of the closet in my mother's bathroom. For some reason, my parents had always stored anything they didn't want me to find in the back of their bathroom closet, that is, of course, when my father was alive and they were still together. When I was little, and we lived in a different house, I had wandered into their closet one day and found some... strange things that five-year-olds probably shouldn't see or even know about. But we don't need to go into that. The only thing that was back in this particular walk-in closet was my mother's collection of alcoholic drinks. I never remember her ever being wasted or anything, but I know she did have a couple of drinks on occasion. She had always been a very responsible adult and she knew her limits.

On the other hand, I was a teenager who never had even a taste of anything containing alcohol, and yet here I was. In a closet filled with everything from beer to vodka. Why my mother had all this when she drank almost none of it, I had no idea, but I did know that people always said it was a way to help you forget about your problems. I also heard about all the damage it could cause, but right now I needed a way to loosen up and fast. It was my best friend's birthday, after all, and I couldn't be all upset over my extreme jealousy problems. Since getting rid of my problems seemed to outweigh all the bad things that could happen, I acted impulsively and ended up making a huge mistake. I grabbed a bottle. I opened it. I took a huge drink from it. It tasted horrible, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be relaxed. After my first drink, I waited a few seconds and immediately felt myself ease up a little bit.

'So it does work.'

I took another drink, then another one after that, then more and more until I felt completely relaxed. I set the empty bottle back on the shelf and tried to stand. I felt a wave of dizziness, but it soon went away and I forgot about it. I started to make my way out to the bathroom, but another thought struck me.

'What if this stuff wears off and I start feeling bad again?'

I went back to the back of the closet and grabbed three more bottles. I quickly gulped down one of the bottles and hid the other two inside my leather jacket, which was long enough and loose enough to fit both on the inside pockets without looking bulky or suspicious. I hoped that would be enough. If it wasn't, I had been to Taylor's house plenty of times. I knew where her parents kept their drinks.

I stepped out into the bathroom and squinted. 'Have the lights always been this bright?' I shook my head. Of course they had; they must have only seemed brighter because I came from inside the dark closet. I nodded, satisfied with the answer I had given myself, and went back down to the entryway. I felt the dizziness a couple more times on the way to the car, but I ignored it every time. Somehow, I had convinced myself I was perfectly fine, and completely in control. Little did I know, this tiny mistake would not only affect the rest of the night, but also the next week of my life. My life... and everyone else's.

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Sharpay's POV

I sighed in annoyance once Ryan and Gabriella were buckled in safely in the back seat.

"It's about time! What took you two so long?" Ryan opened his mouth to answer and I cut him off. "Never mind, I don't care!" He closed his mouth and the rest of the ride to Taylor's house was silent. It was an awkward silence, with the usual jealous tension smothering all of us. I shifted slightly in my seat, wincing when one of my legs brushed against the bottom of the dashboard. I had healed relatively fast from the previous day's beating. I could usually walk on my own, although I did limp considerably. My legs still looked pretty bad, though, so I wore black tights with flats under my glittery white dress so no one could see the bandages I used to cover them. The bandages were also supposed to be white, but the blood had soaked through them more than once, and some stains never came out.

Before long we had arrived in front of Taylor's house, and even I was amazed at how big a party she had thrown. The street was packed with cars, and even from where we were I could see the inside of the house was packed even tighter with people. The music was so loud we could hear it over the car radio when we were still two blocks over, not to mention there were about a billion decorations.

"Wow, Taylor really went all out, huh?" I said as I tried to get out of the car without hurting myself. Troy quickly rushed around from the driver's side to the passenger's side and helped me safely to the sidewalk. I smiled gratefully for a millisecond before I remembered who he was and why I was mad at him. My smile immediately turned into a glare as I humphed and limped up to the door, the other three close behind me.

Taylor saw us the instant we stepped inside and came running over to us excitedly, dragging her boyfriend along behind her. "Hey everyone! I'm so glad you came!"

"We would never miss your sweet sixteen, Tay!" Gabriella exclaimed, giving her best friend a quick hug.

"Aw, thank you! Here, let me get your coats," she offered.

"No!" We all gave Gabriella strange looks at her sudden outburst, causing her face to turn pink. "I mean... um... You shouldn't miss a single second of your party! I'll take everyone's coats and put them away for you. Where are you putting them?"

"In my parents' room..." Taylor said, looking tremendously confused as Gabriella gathered all our jackets together and ran upstairs with them. I shook my head, not able to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Ryan, your girlfriend's being weird," I declared, as if it wasn't already obvious to us all. He didn't say anything, because he knew I was right. Something was definitely up with that girl, but I didn't plan on saying anything else. People were already mad enough; I didn't need to make things any worse than they already were. Smirking, I patted my brother on the back in an attempt to encourage him to figure out what was wrong with Gabriella, and then proceeded to limp into the crowded living room. I stopped abruptly the second I got inside and cringed. The music was blaring, people were dancing, and there was no way I would be able to take another step forward without getting hurt somehow. I huffed out of frustration.

'Stupid Dad... if only you didn't overreact about every little thing, maybe my life wouldn't be so miserable right now.' I wasn't just talking about our most recent encounter. Every time he got upset about any little thing, he thought he could solve it with a dozen or so drinks. Alcohol didn't solve anything. Maybe he got a temporary relief from whatever was bothering him, but it always came back and was worse each time. He had been drinking Sunday night, when the house burned down. He was always drinking, and he would always get into an argument with Mom. Then either Ryan or I would interfere and Ryan would always end up hurt...

Yet now our father was gone, moved out, off in his own apartment. I realized I may never see him again in my life. Perhaps that wasn't a bad thing at all, though. There was always the chance that he was gone for good now, and we would never have to see him again. I had to smile at this thought and I almost believed that his absence would solve all my problems.

"Sharpay," I heard a voice behind me, causing my smile to fall once again as I remembered my other problem; the one that didn't have anything to do with my father.

"What do you want, Troy?" I asked, still facing the crowd. I knew it was him, so why bother turning around to see him? If I looked at him, my heart would start pounding while he would look into my eyes so intently that it would almost seem possible that he might like me. But then I would have to remind myself that it was all a lie, and that he really hated me.

"Nothing, I'm just... bored."

"Well can you go be bored somewhere else? I really don't want to be around you right now," I said, even though it was only half true. I wanted him to be around me for all eternity, but not if he was just going to play with my feelings.

"Oh really? I hate to tell you this, but I'm the only company you're going to have for a while." He spoke confidently, as if I should be depending on him or something. "You know, Ryan has a girlfriend now. He's not going to have as much time for you as he used to."

"Will you shut up and go away!" I snapped. He laughed, which made me even more irritated. 'It's not that funny.'

"If I leave, who are you going to talk to? Everyone here is having fun, except you." As he talked, he walked closer to me until he was right next to me. I could just barely see him out of the corner of my eye, but I still refused to look at him. Though it wouldn't have mattered if I was looking at him or not, because he was staring out at the sea of people in front of us just like I was.

"What am I supposed to do? In case you haven't noticed, I have a lot of problems going on right now that I'd like to think about. Alone."

"Maybe I can help you figure them out."

"I highly doubt that."

"Why?"

"Because one of the problems is you!" I yelled, turning and looking at him for the first time as I threw my hands up in the air. "Isn't it obvious, Troy? I hate you! I don't want to be around you any more than you want to be around me. Yet you never leave me alone! Why won't you just leave me alone?"

I started moving into the crowd, thinking anything would be better than talking to Troy Bolton, but I froze on the spot when I heard him answer loud and clear.

"Because I love you!"

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Sodagirl Says: Once again, sorry for the delay and the slight cliff-hanger there! But the next chapter should be up within a week or two and it will continue directly from this chapter. There is one thing I need you to tell me in your review, however, and it is IMPORTANT! Okay, so here it is: For each chapter, would you rather have me do one long chapter or divide that chapter up into 2+ shorter chapters like I am doing for this particular chapter? With split-up chapters, I can probably update every week, possibly two weeks, but with a long chapter it'll probably take me like a month. So basically, are you okay with the short chapters or do you insist that they be long? Let me know in your review, okay:D