Unlove You
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 13: Someone Who Loves Me Too
"Hey Sharpay, you'd better get moving since the bus will be here soon", Ryan smirks as he walks into the kitchen. He is still wearing his pajamas and he lazily scratches his stomach as he opens the refrigerator to get out the orange juice. The bus arrives thirty minutes earlier than when they have to leave to drive themselves. It was just another dimension to Judith's punishment.
Sharpay has just finished her light breakfast and is about to leave the kitchen. "I'll be ready, Ryan. You should worry about yourself. Have you checked the gas in the Beemer? It might be a little low", she returns his smirk as she skips out of the room. We'll see who's late.
Ryan just looks up at her with a confused look on his face, clearly not understanding her implications.
An hour later, Sharpay is sitting in homeroom powdering her nose with her makeup compact. Actually, she's using the mirror to look at Troy who is sitting three seats behind her. He's pretending to read a book, but he's actually watching her, watching him. She sees him crack a smile. Next, the final bell rings just as Mrs. Darbus walks through the door.
"Oh!", she exclaims when someone rudely bumps her from behind. She slowly turns around to see Ryan Evans standing sheepishly looking down at his shoes.
"Sorry, Mrs. Darbus", he mumbles and then tries to scoot past her.
"Stop right there, Mr. Evans. Where's your tardy slip?", growls Mrs. Darbus.
"I...um...I thought I didn't need one ma'am", he stutters, "I thought I'd make it in time."
"Well, you were wrong, young man. Go back to the office and pick up your slip. And, of course, I'll be seeing you in detention after school. Is that clear, Ryan?"
"Crystal, ma'am."
"No smart mouth, Mr. Evans."
Ryan skulks out of the room and the class starts murmuring amongst themselves.
"Will Mr. Evans have company today in detention?", Mrs. Darbus asks the class.
The entire class quietens immediately.
"Good. Now, I have a few announcements. First and most importantly, auditions for the Spring musicale, Bye, Bye Birdie will be held today during free period in the auditorium. The rest of these announcements, well, they're not really worth mentioning. I'll post them outside the class if you want to know."
Ryan finally makes it back into class five seconds before the bell rings for first period. As Troy is trying to catch up with Sharpay, Gabriella is trying to catch up with Troy. She is back to her natural brunette hair color now and looks much better then when Troy saw her last.
"Troy, can I walk with you to class? I wanted to talk", she says shyly.
Troy looks to Sharpay nervously, but she just discreetly nods to Troy, signaling that it's fine with her.
"Sure, I'm going to math now."
"Oh good, my first period is chemistry so we're headed in the same direction."
"What's up?", he asks as they walk along.
"Could we meet after school today? We need to talk."
"Um, sure,...I suppose."
"Would you mind giving me a ride home and we could talk, then?"
"Okay, I'll give you a ride."
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Free period comes quickly and Mrs. Darbus once again has to listen to her share of 'blights to the name of the theater' as many, many wannabes audition for various spots in the cast. Finally, everyone has sang except Troy, Sharpay, Gabriella and Ryan. Unlike at the audition for Twinkle Towne, Ryan and Sharpay are not sitting together. Sharpay is sitting next to Kelsi who is the stage manager for this play. Troy is sitting on Kelsi's other side. Ryan is sitting on the front row, surprisingly next to Gabriella. Another change is that the students are allowed to pick their own songs for the audition.
Gabriella goes first and sings a passable version of 'How Lovely To Be A Woman' for the role of Kim McAfee, but she was extremely nervous and it shows during her song because of her shaking voice. Ryan is actually quite good with his rendition of Conrad Birdie's 'Last Kiss'.
Sharpay sings Kim McAfee's, 'One Boy' which she unabashedly sings directly to Troy.
One boy, one special boy,
One boy to be with forever and ever.
Troy has to put his hand in front of his face to hide his smile.
Troy sings 'You'll Always Be the One for Me' for his role of Hugo Peabody, Kim McAfee's boyfriend. Sharpay was blushing slightly by the end of the song. Neither of them notices that Gabriella is mentally connecting the line of sight that Troy is directing to Sharpay. Her eyes narrow in suspicious.
At the end of Troy's song, Mrs. Darbus rises to her feet and announces, "Thank you all for participating. The results of the audition will be posted in the lobby tomorrow."
"Wow Ryan, you were really good. I just know you'll get the Conrad role", Gabriella tells Ryan honestly.
"Well thanks, Gabriella and I'm sure you'll get the Kim part too."
"Oh, I don't know. Sharpay was really good."
"I don't think so. I thought she was little stiff."
They continue talking together as they leave.
"You were terrific, Troy", Kelsi gushes as she, Troy and Sharpay walk out of the auditorium together.
"Oh yes, you were terrific, Troy", Sharpay echoes in a sarcastically sweet voice. Then she resumes in her normal voice, "Seriously, you were very good. You're a shoe-in for the boyfriend role."
"Well, I think you're going to be a great Kim McAfee", Troy says, while inwardly his heart is pounding being this close without being able to touch her.
"Hey, I just realized something. If you both get those roles, you'll have to kiss each other", Kelsi states in distaste.
"What's the big deal?", asks Troy.
"Well, you hate each other, don't you?", Kelsi asks.
"No", says Troy. While at the same time, Sharpay says,
"Yes", as she gives him a meaningful look.
"Well, maybe a little", concedes Troy.
"That's what I thought. I've got to go", Kelsi leaves.
"What was that all about?", Troy asks Sharpay when they are alone.
"Well, if we hate each other, then no one will suspect anything."
"I suppose, but pretending to hate you is very different than just not telling anyone we're dating."
"I know", she says smugly, "I'm brilliant."
She walks off and leaves Troy standing there confused.
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Gabriella joins Troy in his car after school.
"Hey, you did really good at the audition, Gabriella", Troy says as he pulls out onto the road.
"Thanks, you were good too. I know you'll get the part."
"Well, maybe you will too", inwardly he didn't want her to get the part, of course, but he couldn't help but be polite.
"I don't think so, Sharpay was much better than me, maybe I'll get one of the smaller roles."
"Whatever role you get you'll do fine, I'm sure", he says politely, "So what did you want to talk about, anyway. What's up?"
"That's what I want to know, Troy."
"Huh?"
"I don't understand where I stand with you. Sometimes I think you like me, then sometimes you don't. You ask me to the prom, but you didn't really seem like you even wanted to do that. I was sick all night Saturday, but you didn't even bother to call to find out if I was alright. I called your house yesterday and your dad told me he thought you were with me. So I really need to know, where exactly do I stand with you; I think I deserve an honest answer."
"You're right, you do. You're a nice girl and I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to have a relationship right now.
There is silence for a few seconds as Gabriella waits for him to continue, then she realizes he isn't going to say anything else.
"What about Sharpay?", Gabriella plunges ahead.
"Sharpay? What about her?", Troy's voice squeaks.
"I saw how you were singing that song, directly to her. I'm not an idiot, Troy. Ryan wants me to help keep the two of you apart, so what's to keep apart?", Gabriella questions.
"I can't really talk about it, Gabriella. You just have to trust me."
"Well, I'll wait for awhile, but eventually, I want an explanation."
The rest of the ride is eerily quiet. Troy lets Gabriella off at her house and drives on home. He wishes he could call Sharpay and let her know about this latest development, but he knows he can't, so he just goes in the house for his standard snack time. What happens when he gets inside makes him wish he had after school detention.
"Jack, stop that. It's very distracting. I'm trying to pay the bills."
Troy walks quietly into the kitchen to see his mom sitting at the kitchen table with the checkbook out and several stacks of envelopes on the table. But Troy doesn't notice any of this. Instead, his eyes are glued to what his dad is doing.
"Oh, you mean I'm distracting you by doing this", Dad says as he kisses the side of his mom's neck, but what really shocks Troy is what his dad's hand is doing. His left hand is under her shirt caressing her breast and his other hand ... his other hand is lower and, luckily for Troy, blocked by the table. But if he can judge by his mom's moans, he knows exactly what his dad is doing to her.
"Ewww", thinks Troy.
His mom's reaction speed is worthy of an NBA All-Star. She quickly pushes his dad back away from her and jumps to her feet only to be mortified and quickly turn around when she realizes her pants are unzipped.
"Did I say that out loud?", Troy mumbles.
"Oh Troy, son, didn't hear you come in. I thought you had those...um...auditions today", Jack Bolton says as he nervously runs his hand through his hair.
Lisa, by this time, has corrected her 'costume malfunction' and turns back around to greet Troy with a forced smile and a beet-red face.
"Those were during free period, Dad."
Lisa shoots Jack an evil look.
"Well, I'm just going to go to my room now, where I'll be doing my homework and listening to my music...really loud...with the door closed", Troy continues and quickly exits the room. He didn't even stop for that snack since his appetite was suddenly gone.
Troy has been 'studying' for about an hour when his cell phone rings. It's Chad.
"Chad dude, what's up?"
"What's up? What's up is you got me messed up with Taylor, that's what's up", Chad says in a raised voice.
"What are you talking about?", Troy asks, confused.
"I just got off the phone with Taylor and she spent the last half hour chewing me out over what you did. That's what I'm talking about."
"Uh?"
"My best friend dumped my girlfriend's best friend so that somehow makes me culpable, at least I think that's the word she used. What did you do, man?", Chad demands.
"Well, she's the one who started it", and then realizing how lame that sounds, continues, "Look, Sharpay and I ... talked. We got everything settled ... between us, that is. But we can't tell anyone. She's got this uber wacked-out mom who won't let her date", Troy starts to explain.
"Ahem", Chad guffaws, "Dude, you too have done a lot more than 'date'."
"Don't start with that, Chad. You, of all people, shouldn't be talking about that."
"Yeah, you're right; but hey, if it's what brought you two together, then you should really be thanking me", Chad finishes, smugly.
"Chad...", Troy says in a warning tone. "Anyway, Gabriella did bring it up first and I told her that I wasn't ready for a relationship. Then, she asked me about Sharpay --- nearly scared the shit out of me. She noticed something between us at the auditions, but she promised not to say anything."
"Alright man, then I'll do the same thing. I promised I'd support you when this whole thing started. I just hope you know what you're doing."
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It's the next day at school and Troy and Sharpay are walking down the hall seemingly ignoring each other as they both end up in front of the drama club bulletin board.
Sharpay quickly scans the list looking for her and Troy's name.
"Yea!", she exclaims as she turns around and starts jumping up and down excitedly while holding onto Troy's shoulders. "We got it; we got the leads", then without thinking, she pulls him down for a kiss.
Troy quickly takes charge of the kiss and pulls her closer to him. Luckily, the hallway is empty, but then around the corner comes Chad followed closely by three more basketball teammates. Chad clearly sees Troy and Sharpay in a lip lock, but his quick thinking saves the day.
"Hey dude, I forgot my math book in my locker.", Chad says loudly as he turns quickly and runs into the first guy behind him, knocking him to the floor. "Oh, Sven , sorry man. Let me help you up."
When Troy and Sharpay hear all the noise that Chad makes, they jump apart as if struck by lightening.
Coming to her senses first, Sharpay says loudly with an air of superiority, "Congratulations Bolton, I know working with me with be your greatest thrill ever."
In a much lower voice that no one else can hear, Troy whispers, "You are always my greatest thrill."
Her eyes widen in surprise at his brashness and she temporarily loses her ice princess attitude. "Well, I'm ... ah ... just going to class now." She turns in the opposite direction from Chad and the gang and walks away.
Troy walks over to his friends. Chad is still, supposedly, helping Sven by vigorously wiping invisible dirt off his shirt and actually causing him to fall again before it's all over.
"Um, hi guys, how's it going? You okay, Sven?", Troy asks with feigned concern, trying not to grin.
"I would be, if Chad would stop trying to help me", Sven laments as he is finally allowed to get up on his own.
"So...you were looking at the drama club board. What's up?", Chad asks as he and Troy walk away from the group towards the board.
"We got the leads", Troy states simply. "Um, I mean I got the lead and I ... um ... I think Sharpay did too."
"Cut it out, man. I'm your best friend, remember? I just got multi-bruises on my person by slamming into Sven 'too-tall' Olsen there. He must weigh, like, 230 pounds. And I did that for you."
"Yeah, I noticed. Thanks man. I owe you. We ... um ... got a little carried away, I guess."
"Uh, humm, well, you two better be a lot more careful or the whole school is going to find out."
"We'll try. It's just hard, you know?"
"I know that; but just understand, I don't intend on slamming into anymore Swedish giants for you anytime soon."
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It turns out that Ryan has won the role of Conrad Birdie and Gabriella is Rose Alvarez, Conrad's manager's girlfriend. Rehearsals are set to start on Friday after school.
Mrs. Darbus hands out the sheet music and everyone runs through their songs a couple of times. It's a casual atmosphere and everyone is very relaxed. At the end, Troy and Sharpay are sitting on the edge of the stage, talking through some of their lines.
Lowering her voice, Sharpay says to Troy, "Want to come up to Sante Fe with me tomorrow?"
"Absolutely."
"Great. I could pick you up at your hose, if you want?"
"That's be fine. I'd...um...like for you to meet my mom."
"Your mom? Is that a good idea?"
"Yeah, she's cool. She already knows a little something about you. She, sort of , saw the tattoo."
"Oh!", Sharpay exclaims loudly and then immediately lowers her voice. "You didn't get in trouble?", she asks with worry in her voice.
"Naw, she's tight. Now, my dad...that would be another story, but he'll be playing golf in the morning."
"Okay, then I can spare a few minutes before we have to hit the road."
Suddenly, Mrs. Darbus claps her hands to get everyone attention. "Alright people! That will be all for today. We're off to a good start, congratulate yourselves. I'll see you back here Monday after school."
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"So, I'm finally going to meet Sharpay?", Lisa comments to Troy as they are sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday morning.
"Yeah Mom, but you have to promise me that you won't try to psycho-analyze her."
"Don't worry, I'll be on my best behavior."
"Good, because she's really special to me."
Just then, the bell rings on the front door and Troy jumps up with a smile on his face.
"That must be her. I'll get it", Troy says as he runs off to answer the door.
Troy opens the front door to find Sharpay standing there wearing a cute pink mini-skirt, but not too short, and a white cotton blouse. The short skirt accentuates her long legs and she is wearing low sling white sandals. She is wearing light make-up and some pink lip gloss. Sharpay is obviously dressed to impress Troy's mom, but she still looks stunning. Troy is just standing there awkwardly staring at her.
"You must be Sharpay; I'm Troy's mom. Please come in", Lisa says as she pulls Sharpay into the house and past Troy.
"Hi, Mrs. Bolton."
"Oh please call me Lisa. I've looked forward to meeting you for a long time now", Lisa notices the trepidation in Sharpay's face and reassures her, "Oh honey, I've seen Troy come alive this past week, so there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about. You know before you two made up, he was barely sleeping enough to keep going."
"I know just how he feels. I wasn't sleeping well either and now I can't seem to get enough sleep."
"Troy", Lisa calls to her son, "don't stand there like a lump, come join us."
"Oh, sure Mom. Sorry about that", Troy says as he joins them on the sofa in the living room with Sharpay sitting between the two Boltons. Troy reaches over to clasp Sharpay's hand and she takes it thankfully.
"Well,...Sharpay. Tell me a little about yourself", Lisa asks innocently.
"Mom!?!", Troy shouts, "no inquisitions, you promised."
"I promised 'no psycho-analyzing'. I never said I wasn't allowed to get to know her. It's just that until a little over a month ago, I'd never heard of you", she says to Sharpay, "until I read you name on ..."
"Mom!", Troy shouts again, "maybe, we should just be going now, Sharpay."
"Alright, alright. I'll be good."
"It's okay, Mrs...Lisa. Well...", answering Lisa's question, she says, "I'm really into the drama club. I try to do all the school plays and I have", and she glances over at Troy as she says, "until the last one."
Troy just gives her a sheepish look.
"Yes, we don't get a chance to see many of the plays the school does, we're too wrapped up in sports; but we saw Twinkle Towne. It was very good, but poor Gabriella looked like she was going to pass out every time she came on stage. I thought Troy was excellent, but I'm just prejudiced, I guess", Lisa says with pride.
"Oh, no. You're right, Troy was fantastic. He really carried that show; I've told him so", Sharpay beams at Troy.
"And we'll be in the next play together, right Shar?", Troy asks.
"Yep, it's going to be great."
"So a Drama Queen and a Jock...things certainly have changed since I was in school", Lisa starts. "We were all so caught up in our cliques that you two would have never even talked to each other."
"We almost didn't.", Troy says as he squeezes Sharpay's hand.
"Yeah", Sharpay sighs, "if it hadn't been if that party and ..." Sharpay's eyes widen as she realizes she had better stop talking before she says too much.
"And the tattoos?", finishes Lisa (although, that's not what Sharpay was going to say).
"Uhm...yeah. 'Bout that...", Sharpay flounders.
"No need to say more. I caught a glimpse of Troy's and it's in good taste, so I assume yours is also. Maybe one of these days you'll let me see it, since I have the feeling you're going to be around for quite awhile", as Lisa finishes, she pulls Sharpay in for a gentle hug.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Well, we'd better get going. We don't want Sharpay to be late for her class."
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As they get settled in the car, Sharpay comments sincerely, "Wow Troy, your mom is so nice."
"Yeah, she's pretty cool. We have a pretty good relationship."
As Sharpay pulls the car out onto the road, they continue their conversation.
"I wish I had that kind of relationship with my mom", laments Sharpay.
"Yeah, well, your mom is, ah, different", Troy says flatly.
"You said it."
"So why do you do it all? I mean...you do everything she wants you to do. Why?"
"Well, she's my mom; that's what I'm supposed to do, isn't it?", before waiting for him to respond, she continues, "And besides, I do really like drama and performing. I mean there's nothing like the feeling I get when I'm in front of an audience and they're there to see me. I feel more love and support from those strangers than from my own family."
"I'm sorry, babe", Troy says as he reaches over to hold her right hand. "Well, I'm going to make up for all that now, okay?", he says as his thumb rubs gentle, soothing circles around on her hand. "I love you, you know?"
"Yeah, and I...", Sharpay starts.
"Hey, watch the road!", Troy shouts as he grabs the wheel to pull the car back into their lane. The wail of the car horns from the opposite direction shakes them both.
"Wow, that was scary", Sharpay says as she takes a deep breath.
"Yeah", Troy agrees as he exhales the breath he's been holding.
Sharpay starts quietly giggling.
"What's so funny?", Troy asks warily.
"I just had a thought of how pissed my mother would be if I got into an accident", she explains breathlessly, through her laughter. "I mean it would totally screw up her plan." As Sharpay says 'plan', she draws quotation marks in the air, then quickly grabs back onto the wheel.
"What plan?", Troy copies her air quotes gesture.
"Oh! That's my whole reason for being. And Ryan too, but to a lesser extent.", she adds, as an afterthought. "We take all these classes, learn all these instruments, star in all these school productions, go to all these drama camps, so that finally after eighteen years of training, we'll be accepted into The Julliard School." When Sharpay says 'The Julliard School' her voice becomes very nasal and haughty.
Troy lets out a long, slow whistle, "Wow, Julliard. Even I've heard of that school."
"My caveman", she says patronizingly as the pats him on the head.
"Ug", he replies, mock-broodingly.
"Anyway, the next big step is the drama camp this summer in New York City. It's a six week long resident camp --- six weeks with no Mother. We've already been accepted; there's just some minor paperwork left --- like my physical. That's next week."
"Physical?", Troy asks with actual fear in his voice.
"What's the matter, Bolton? You afraid of a little old doctor?", she says in a fake, childlike voice.
"I hate doctors", moans Troy, "I was sick a lot when I was a kid, so I really hate doctors." Then changing the subject, he says, excitedly, "New York City, huh? My aunt lives there. Maybe I could visit her while you're there and we could hook up."
"That'd be fantastic. My summer just took a turn for the better."
By now, they were on the interstate headed North. Troy reaches in his backpack and pulls out a CD.
"What's that?", Sharpay asks suspiciously.
"Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits", Troy replies.
Sharpay elegantly raises an eyebrow and says to him, "And what do you think you're going to do with that in my car?"
"Well, we listened to your tunes last week, so I thought we'd listen to mine this week."
"Don't think so, Bolton. My car...my music", she says flatly.
"But that's not fa..."
Sharpay interrupts him with a grin as she yells, "PSYCH!". Then she starts giggling uncontrollably and almost loses control of the car, again.
"Oh, I can't believe you did that. That's so middle school. I also can't believe I fell for that."
They share a laugh as Troy puts in the CD.
"But it's my turn on the way back", Sharpay informs him seriously.
"Okay."
TBC
A/N 1: I'm sorry this one took so long, but I was really sick last weekend (stomach flu) and I'm just now starting to feel better. That's also why I haven't responded to any of the reviews from the last chapter. Sorry. And thank you very much and please keep R&Ring. Now I've got lots of RL to catch up on, but I hope it won't take so long for the next one.
A/N 2: Boy, I really goofed up. According to my research, the character Peabody, Kim's boyfriend, never sings anything in the whole play, so I just made up something. Just pretend.
A/N 3: She almost said it, didn't she? The 'L' word. Oh, well...maybe one of these days.