A/N: You guys are the bestest. :) Poster, I've come to surmise, is a much more low key story than Wishful, Footprints, et cetera. Should I make it longer or shorter? At this rate, I could keep it at five more chapters after this one, or I could throw in some twists to make it the same length as probably Wishful. Thoughts? -love- Desireé

P.S. Cadence, I kind of sort of stole your story title for this chapter title. :P Apologies!

Chapter Eleven, Fall to Pieces

At twelve o'clock at night, in boxer shorts and a jersey, looking at your high-pitched, secret, scheming girlfriend while the girl you really love stands next to you in one of your old shirts, you just know things can't get any worse. Yet they do. Sharpay's heavily-outlined eyes widened as she began to do the math. The terrible, ugly math. One, Gabriella in Troy's dress shirt. Two, Troy looking half-amused, half-freaked. And three, the inevitably awful feeling that was bitching at the borderline between her throat and mouth, screaming to be released. "What… What is… What the hell?" the drama queen finally managed, her hands clenched.

"Shar—Sharp—Sharpay." Troy couldn't seem to say anymore, his mouth dry and his entire body beginning to shrink away, getting smaller and smaller. This was the part he had been dreading. Where everything came crashing down.

"Um," Gabriella began, beginning to rock back and forth on her bare feet, "Um, um, um."

The love triangle had suddenly come to life, and Sharpay was screaming, and Gabriella was crying and confused, and Troy was trying to calm the both of them. The blonde shook her head and shoved him. "Don't you dare tell me relax, Troy Bolton!" she shouted. "I don't fucking care if the neighbors hear! Let them hear!" She turned to the dark street behind her. "Do y'all hear that? Y'all hear this shit? Half my life I've dealt with these stupid audiences, what's one more?" She slammed her hand into the doorway and Gabriella crossed her arms, tears streaming down her face as she bit her fingernails. Sharpay scoffed. "Oh, I don't see why you're crying. You don't even know what's going on. But, why don't I enlighten you? After all, better to hear it from me then, say, I don't know, the whole school. Daisy's pretty in touch with the biggest gossip outlets."

His heart heavy, Troy quickly shook his head and stammered, "No, Sharpay, that's not necessary, please don't—"

"It was my idea," the drama queen interrupted, silencing Troy, "But he agreed quite happily. We were supposed to snap you in half, like a stupid little twig. He was supposed to break your heart, let you love him again and then watch you crumble when he dumped you. Well, here's the chance, but there's a bonus." She glared at the boy in front of her. "You get to watch me fall, too."

"Sharpay, please," Troy begged, wringing his hands as he watched his life shatter before his eyes. "I didn't mean to—I didn't—"

"Is that true, Troy?" Gabriella asked, sniffling as she turned to him. "Did you really… give your approval? You went along with this sick plan to hurt me?" She seemed too shaken to speak for a moment. "I can't believe that. And to think this whole time, in the short few days we've talked, I maybe thought we could get around to liking one another again, perhaps only friends. Too late for that, I guess," she muttered flippantly, staring down at the floor as the floodgates opened again.

There was a burst of piercing air as Sharpay let out a scream. She stomped her foot and glowered at Troy. "You ruined it!" she yelled. "I told you keep it platonic—just make sure she gets around to loving you again! That would have been possible, right? That would have been at least foreseeable, right? I didn't overestimate the highly esteemed Troy Bolton?"

He swallowed and shook his head weakly. "I don't know," he whispered, as fragile as the antiques in the window shop, "Maybe you did."

Suddenly, Gabriella couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel her legs, her head was spinning, her entire body was clenching up. She knelt down on the ground and held her head in her hands, letting her sobs out. She heard Sharpay scoff again and this was the last straw for the brainiac. Looking up, she growled, "What the hell is your problem? I suppose you didn't see this coming, I don't think any of us did, certainly not me, the original victim, but why are you groaning? Troy and I had sex? That's why you're complaining? Oh, boohoo. Sharpay, let me ask you something. What does love mean to you?"

The drama queen seemed stunned for a minute. "I, um, I don't—" She stopped midsentence and Gabriella continued.

"Is love just something you could go without, Sharpay? Something that, if it didn't exist, would make life a whole lot easier?" she asked, hugging her body. "Is it just some bonus, some extra luxury that you don't really need? There are so many people in the world, Sharpay, that want to be loved and want to love someone. But you know what? No one is there to love them or be loved by them. That's why I think it's so horrible how you could even suggest something as emotional sabotage, because it would be a simple waste of both our time and an insult to humanity. I'll show you a little orphan child on the other side of this earth and tell them to love you because if they do, you will love them back. They'll listen to me in a heartbeat because, maybe even if it won't happen, the prospect of love bewilders and amazes them at the same time." She whimpered slightly as she took a breath. "I think it's sad that you have no real experience with love, so you have to watch others suffer for it. I love Troy, that won't change, regardless of our relationship after tonight. What do you love, Sharpay? Or rather, who?"

She stormed past the blonde, their shoulders checking, Gabriella not even aware that she was about to take a walk at midnight in nothing but underwear and a shirt. Troy yelled for her to come back, desperately screaming into the darkness. "Brie! Don't leave, please, can't we fix this?" he clamored, trying to avoid the trembling Sharpay beside him.

"I'm s-so sorry," she said, her body quaking like a leaf. "I'm—I'm so sorry, Troy."

He looked down at her, and out into the blackness where, at some point, Gabriella was. Biting his lip ruefully, he said with an imprudence, "Yeah, whatever. Remember, we're all sorry."

A/N: I'm off to Disneyland shortly! Hope you guys enjoyed this. -love- Desireé