This is a pretty short chapter, but I think its an important one. It sets up the closing action for the rest of the story and gives a good idea about Sharpay's thoughts at the moment. Also, a note about these diary chapters. They aren't meant to be what is actually happening in the story, but how Sharpay perceives those things. That's true for all of the diary sections, but I think its especially important to keep that in mind for this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Dear Diary,

I didn't do much after the little conversation with Chad. It gave me enough to think about for the rest of the day. I've had questions running through my mind ever since we stopped talking, and I spent most of the day sitting in my car, or lying in my bed, thinking about whether or not what I've been doing was right. Everything that I thought would be so simple suddenly seems to be so much more complicated. I mean, I thought that Chad would be hiding something that was embarrassing, but not life-changing or even that important. But then I find out that he's in love with my brother. And I hoped that as I got closer to Gabriella, I would find more and more reasons why she doesn't deserve Troy. But I've realized from my conversation with Chad that if it wasn't so obvious that Troy and I were destined to be together, I would be genuinely happy for both of them.

But I have to keep myself from reading too far into that. It doesn't mean that I'm having second thoughts about what I'm doing. After all, me and Troy ARE meant to be together. I just know it. But for the first time, I've started to think about what will happen after my plan works. We'll be happy, of course, but what about Gabriella? You don't know how much I hate to admit it, but I don't want to see her get hurt, and I don't want to lose her friendship. I just wish I could make her see that its supposed to be ME with Troy. But that won't happen, so I'm going to have to prove it in another way, and I've realized that it probably won't be a way that will end well for her.

But I will show her. Who knows, it might even do her some good in the end. I mean, Troy and Gabriella's relationship is weak. Anyone who's been paying attention can tell that much (unfortunately I think I'm the only one who IS paying attention). The mistrust and resentment is there, now I just need to make sure that Gabriella's suspicions are vindicated. The only way that this can be done, to make sure that Troy and Gabriella are broken up with no hope of reconciliation, will end up in a lot more people getting hurt.

I won't skirt the issue anymore. I need Gabriella to catch him with another girl, or at least make her think that he's with another girl. Obviously this will hurt Gabriella. No one wants to see their boyfriend with someone else. But strangely enough, it might hurt me more than anyone else. For some time, I had thought that I could be that girl, but that is impractical. It would raise too much suspicion, and I can't have their breakup traced to me, or Troy will never date (or even speak to) me and everything I've done will end up being a complete waste. So that leaves me with a few possibilities. Sure I could just tell some random cheerleader that Troy wants them. After all, it worked pretty well last time. But that's not enough. I need the emotional damage to be bigger and more devastating than a slutty cheerleader can cause. It needs to be someone that both Troy and Gabriella are close to, someone they think that they can trust, and someone who appears innocent enough that the only possible explanation that Gabriella will come to is that Troy made advances on her. I realized who it needs to be earlier today. Trust me, I don't like the conclusion I came to. But I know that there's only one girl for the job: Kelsi. There are also a few other positive aspects about choosing Kelsi for this role. I know from experience that she can't exactly hold her liquor, so under the right circumstances she should be easy enough to manipulate. Of course, this won't exactly help her relationship with Ryan. Honestly, I just don't want to think about what this will do to them. Hopefully Ryan doesn't find out about it, and if he does, then well…they have a good relationship. Perhaps it can survive this. Maybe I seem heartless and cruel right now, but if you ask me, this is just a sign of how strong my love is for Troy. I know what Chad said about love being 'what you're willing to give up for someone else.' I thought about that a lot, and I decided that he's wrong. Its not about what you can give up for someone else. Chad thinks that love is about what you can give up, but its so much more than that. Love is how far youre willing to go for the one you love, and if I'm willing to do so much just to be with Troy, then doesn't that say a lot about what I'll be willing to do for him when we're actually together?

The action will definitely heat up in the next few chapters. Let me know what you thought.

Thanks for reading.