A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews I got for the last chapter. So here goes the next chapter and I hope that you enjoy this. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed the trailer for my new fic 'Got to Believe' (if you haven't read, please do). I'm going to start the first chapter after posting this one.
I do not own HSM
Chapter 13 – Unnecessary Attention
2 hours later, around 3am…
In a building across the street, a guy with a Canon EOS Rebel XS 18-55IS camera in hand was having one hell of good day and it was all thanks to the couple sleeping on the building rooftop. He snapped picture after picture, capturing every movement. After 10 minutes, he took out his phone and quickly dialed a number. It took 4 rings before the person on the other end of the line answered.
"Somebody better be dying for you to wake me up at this ungodly hour" the person cursed
"Wake up Joan. I just found a gold mine" the guy said, gaining the attention of the other person.
"Okay, you've got my attention Eric. Now who's screwing who?" Joan Fox, editor-in-chief of New York Nightlife, a tabloid magazine that follows the life of New York elites. Thus being the heir and heiress of the successful businessmen in the country, Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans are considered New York elites.
"Sharpay Evans, heiress to Evans' Incorporated, looking cozy and sleeping on Troy Bolton's lap, heir to Bolt Corporation on a rooftop garden of an apartment complex along 54th street" Eric reported.
"Troy Bolton? I thought he's with that social climber… uhm… what's her name…the bleached blond?"
"Gabriella Montez"
"Yeah, that's the one"
"Well, he either broke up with her or he's cheating on her"
"Maybe but right now I couldn't care less. This is front-page material. Call Jacob and publish this today" Joan instructed and the hung up.
"Sure thing boss" Eric said as he quickly snapped one more picture of the sleeping couple. "Thank you Troypay! Hmm… that sounded quite nice." he thought and hurriedly dialed another number.
*******************************************
Another 4 hours later, around 7am…
Sharpay stirred in her sleep as her back ached from the sleeping position that was imposed on her. She tried to get comfortable by stretching her muscles when she realized that there was a pair of strong hands restraining her and quickly remembers everything that happened the night before. She was happy with everything that has happened yesterday – well, almost everything – from meeting Edward at the gallery to the 'talk' she and Troy had.
She turned to look at Troy and smiled. She really did love him and was so glad that he still hasn't move on. She was admiring his features when Troy moved and slowly opened his eyes.
"Good Morning Princess" Troy greeted her, kissing her cheek. They were taking things slow and since they were not yet a couple, Troy decided to kiss her cheek instead of her lips – although, he was very tempted to.
"Good Morning Troy" Sharpay answered.
"How was your sleep?" Troy asked
"Better than I could ever imagine. How about you?" Sharpay asked back.
"A little sore but it was all good since I have you in my arms again" Troy said
Sharpay shook her head and muttered "That was so cheesy"
"What can I say?" Troy shrugged
"Well, I don't know about you but I'm starving here so the word 'breakfast' would be nice right now" Sharpay said as she stood up and dragged Troy up with her. He rolled his eyes but followed her inside the apartment complex; their hands entangled with each other's.
They reached Troy's apartment in less two minutes. They knew that the gang stayed over, wanting to know what happened between them the night before. Troy took the lead and slowly opened the door to his apartment. He peeked inside and saw that the gang was nowhere in sight. He turned back to Sharpay and whispered "The coast is clear"
Sharpay nodded as they quietly entered the apartment and made their way into the kitchen. "Okay, I'll make us food. You still eat peanut butter and jelly, right?" Sharpay asked as Troy nodded.
"Good. Cause that's the only thing I can make" Sharpay continued.
"I know" Troy admitted
She was about to prepare her food when she noticed that Troy wasn't letting go of her hand. "Uhmm, Troy?"
"Yeah?" Troy said innocently
"You can let go of my hand now" Sharpay said
Troy looked down at their intertwined hands and then back to Sharpay, letting go of her hands "Sorry"
"It's okay. Now go wake the gang up. For sure, they have a lot of questions for us and I want to do a little shopping before the day is done" Sharpay said, shoving Troy out of the kitchen and into the living room.
When he got to the living room, he saw them sprawled out all over the place. Kelsi, Martha and Taylor were slept on the couch while the boys (including Ryan, who by the way lives one floor down) slept on the floor. Troy tried his best not to make any noise so as not wake the gang up as he made towards the bathroom. Unfortunately, Ryan woke up and soon the rest of the gang started waking up one by one.
"Troy?" Kelsi said, stretching the sleepiness off her
"Hey guys" Troy said tentatively, nervous that the questions were about to pour in.
"What happened to both of you last night?" Ryan asked
Troy was about to answer when Sharpay entered with a big pile of peanut butter and jelly sandwich and announced "Breakfast"
Sharpay placed the tray down on the coffee table in the middle of the living room, grabbed two sandwiches and then went back to Troy. She handed him a sandwich, which he gladly took and watched as the gang devour the whole tray. Once the gang each got a sandwich, they stared at Troy and Sharpay and waited for them to start telling them what happened.
"So…" Taylor began but was immediately cut off by Chad.
"Please tell me that you're back together because I can't take another 'guy' night with Troy ranting how much he loves you" Chad blurted out
Out of shock and embarrassment, Troy's eyes doubled in size and hit Chad squarely in the face with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Chad groaned, stared at Troy, wiped his face and then stared at Troy again. Out of nowhere, Chad licked his fingers and said "Hmm… Crunchy"
The gang (including Troy and Sharpay) gave him an incredulous look and started laughing their heads off.
"You're so gross Chad" Taylor muttered
"I know but you still love me" Chad said confidently, leaning in to kiss Taylor
"Yup and I don't know why" Taylor answered as she wipes some peanut butter and jelly on his face and eats it.
After a couple more minutes of laughing, the gang got settled as Troy and Sharpay sat on an empty chair, looking really cozy together. Troy's right arm was wrapped around her waist as his hands were entwined with Sharpay's left hand.
"So you guys are back together?" Zeke asked
Troy and Sharpay looked at each other and then back to the gang. "Not yet." Troy said
"But why?" Martha asked sadly
"Well, we decided that we want to grow up first before jumping back into being boyfriend-girlfriend" Sharpay explained as the gang exchange confused looks
"So what are you then?" Ryan said as he points to their 'supposedly concealed' intertwined hands.
"We are 'best of friends'" Troy announced
The gang shot them confused looks. "Best friends?" Jason said
"Are you sure that's going to work?" Kelsi asked
"Yeah" Sharpay simply answered
"I mean we were best friends first before we became boyfriend and girlfriend, remember?" Troy added.
"Well I guess that makes sense" Taylor admitted
"Again, I'm perfectly okay with whatever you are just as long as Troy is not calling me at the middle of the night to tell me how much he misses you" Chad said, still wiping the peanut butter and jelly off his face.
Troy rolled his eyes and looked at Sharpay, who just smiled at him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
After an hour of talking about nothing and eating, Ryan's phone rang.
"Hello?" Ryan answered
"Ry? Is your sister with you?" Darby asked, her voice filled with concern.
"Yeah. What's up?" Ryan said, eyeing Sharpay
"Are you with your friends?"
"Yeah. Mom, what's wrong?" Ryan asked again. This time Sharpay heard this and looked directly at Ryan, her eyes filled with concern
"Turn on the TV" Darby instructed
"Okay. Just a moment" Ryan said. He pressed the phone on his shoulder and asked the gang "Where's the remote?"
"Here" Zeke said as he hands it to Ryan.
"What channel?" Ryan asked his mom again
"Channel 35" Darby said
Ryan followed and changed the channel to 35.
"New York elite Troy Bolton, son of Jack Bolton, president of Bolt Corporation is a two-timer? Sources have spotted Troy Bolton this morning sleeping on a rooftop garden with Sharpay Evans, daughter of Vance Evans, president and CEO of Evans Incorporated on his lap." The girl reporter said as a photo of Sharpay and Troy sleeping on the rooftop garden is shown on the screen.
"But wait doesn't Troy Bolton have a girlfriend? Another blonde? Bleached blonde? What's her name?" The male anchor said
"Don't know and don't care. What I am more interested is the hook up between these two New York elites. They look so perfect together but how long have they been going out and why keep on the low profile?"
"Well according to my research, these two have been going out since high school, back when they were still in Albuquerque but then Troy cheated on her and then the rest as they say is history"
"Tsk. Tsk. Looks like Troy Bolton is becoming New York's new playboy. What does Jack Bolton have to say about his son's image?"
"We'll find out more about that in our upcoming episodes. Up next, Khloe Kardashian incredible wait lost. How she lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks?"
"All that and more when Clevver News Returns"
Ryan turned the TV off as the gang looked at Sharpay and Troy, their eyes wide shock. Sharpay turned to Troy and said "Your Dad?"
As soon as Sharpay said this, Troy's phone rang. He got it out of his pocket and saw that it was his Dad. He looked at Sharpay and squeezed her hand lightly, reassuring her that everything will be okay.
"Dad?" Troy answered
"Have you seen the news?" Jack asked
"Yes and dad, I don't care what you say but I'm not going back to Gabriella. You can disown me if you want but there is no way in hell that I'll go back to her. This time I'm sticking with Sharpay" Troy declared.
"Good for you, son" Jack said
"What?" Troy asked, confused
"Good for you." Jack repeated
"But what about the press and the family name?" Troy said, looking at Sharpay
"Vance and I will deal with that but you have to deal with that Gabriella girl" Jack answered
"Yes Dad" Troy agreed
"Good. Now I have to go and do some damage control. Say hi to Princess for me" Jack said and then hung up.
"Sure thing Dad. Bye" Troy said, still confused with what happened and then flipped his phone close.
"What did he say?" Sharpay asked nervously
Troy stared at his phone for a couple of seconds, turned to Sharpay and said "He said hi and good for me"
"Okay, that was weird." Sharpay said
"You said it but I wouldn't have it any other way" Troy said, kissing her cheek. At this point, Troy and Sharpay were completely oblivious to the fact that gang was still watching their every move until Ryan cleared his throat.
The gang looked at each other for a couple of seconds before they erupted in laughter.
*******************************************
10 minutes earlier, a couple of blocks away…
Gabriella woke up to the sound of her mobile phone ringing. She groggily reached for it on her bedside table and answered "This better be good"
"Gabi, turn on your TV. Channel 35 You've got to see this" Lana, one of her wannabes, said.
"If this is another one of your Rob Pattinson news. I'm so going to kill you" Gabriella threatened as she grabs the remote and turned her TV on.
"New York elite Troy Bolton, son of Jack Bolton, president of Bolt Corporation is a two-timer? Sources have spotted Troy Bolton this morning sleeping on a rooftop garden with Sharpay Evans, daughter of Vance Evans, president and CEO of Evans Incorporated on his lap." The girl reporter said as a photo of Sharpay and Troy sleeping on the rooftop garden is shown on the screen.
"But wait doesn't Troy Bolton have a girlfriend? Another blonde? Bleached blonde? What's her name?" The male anchor said
"Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!" Gabriella screamed at the top of her lungs.
A/N: I added new characters in this chapter but they're not really pertinent to the story, so don't mind them. I know it's sad that Gabriella's back but I have to – I'll explain in future chapters. Also I'm not really sure how many chapters are still left but I'm thinking around 3-4 chapters after this.
Oh and Clevver News is an actual entertainment show but i don't know what channel. So i don't own it as well
So what do you think of this chapter? Please, please let me know and click the REVIEW button below.
Xoxo Anne
PS: I was so happy with the review turn-out for the previous chapter so I am hoping for the same in this chapter