Disclaimer: I only own the plot and uh title.

Light's Off

Chapter Twenty: Bigger Fish to Fry

Previously:

She could feel her heart picking up even more speed as she nervously raised the phone to her ear, wondering what this could be about if the call really was intended, which she was strongly hoping for.

She didn't know why she was so nervous; then again she hadn't expected to be talking to him again this soon, so she drew in a shaky breath before speaking.

"Hi Troy…"

"Troy?"

The painful silence she was forced to be succumbed to had become too much. No reply had greeted her from the other end of the line after her answering the phone. No voice, no dial tone, not even static. Nothing.

"…Hello...?" she tried again uncertainly, almost all hope draining instantaneously from her chest. This had to be an accidental call; there was no other explanation, because if he meant to call her, surely he would've spoken by now. It really had to of been at least a minute of her waiting in silence.

But suddenly, just as she was about to hang up and try and forget this ever happened, that voice she'd been anticipating to hear directly towards her since last Thursday had seemingly decided to finally un-mute itself.

"..Hey Sharpay."

She wasn't sure what to make of his tone of voice. He obviously still didn't sound too happy with her; she'd known him long enough to be able to tell when he wasn't in the best of moods, simply by his tone of voice. So what could she get from the way he spoke? Sorrow? Nah, not really. Maybe there were some signs of nerves there but for the most part she couldn't help but notice he sounded even a little worried. So sort of nervous, but worry was there- definitely worry.

"Hi," the blonde girl replied, glancing over to her brother as she spoke, who was watching her curiously.

"How's Florida." His voice came out flat now; almost sarcastic, even. But, in spite of herself, she couldn't stop herself from enjoying the fact that someone else had obviously been speaking to him about her today, therefore leaving him unable to not think of her, which was secretly something she'd been hoping for over the weekend.

"You heard?" she pretended to sound surprised.

She went on when he didn't speak again.

"Well…" she paused, unsure of how to answer such a simple question which probably had only been meant to be spoken to prove that he knew where she'd been today instead of at school, the fact of how it "was" he could probably really care less about, but she was still going to answer his "question" anyway. The thing is, she had not been enjoying herself at all, with too many overwhelming nerve wracking thoughts on her mind, but there was no way she could tell him that now.

"It's pretty here," she answered finally. "Real pretty."

"That's nice."

Sharpay felt her jaw clench, a natural reaction for her out of frustration. Her irritability was definitely flying rapidly off the wall right now, wishing he would just stop with the lame attempts at small talk and get to the damn point since there obviously had to be some reason he was randomly calling her after dumping her in the middle of the hallway last week, and making no attempt to throw even one glance her way since.

She didn't say anything.

"Sharpay… what are you doing over there?" Troy spoke up after a while of silence- tense silence, which the two of them never had before.

"Ask my dad, I really don't know," she told him honestly. Was that all it? He just wanted to know why she was here? Alright, maybe that was a fine reason to call, but why should he care anyway? As far as she knew, he didn't want anything to do with her anymore, or for now, or whatever. So she didn't really owe him anything, no explanations, or whatever. He'd been the one to kick her out of his life for a while.

"So it was just one of his sporadic crazy ideas?"

She could very clearly hear the worry flee from his vocal cords, replacing itself with more ease.

"Um, yeah…" Sharpay answered, and again he said nothing, leaving her to also… say nothing. But after a while, she decided to speak again.

"Is that the only reason you called?"

"Well, I- yeah."

"Why?" she wanted to hear him admit it. Admit that maybe he actually did care, maybe that hope could help to reduce some of her anxiety for a while- fear that she'd never have him back.

"I don't know. Just wondering."

"Why." she repeated.

"I was just wondering, Sharpay."

"But why?" she practically demanded, her temper brewing a hot boiling mixture inside her brain. "We're not together anymore; I don't even have to tell you anything if I don't want to. But I told you why I'm here, so tell me why you even care enough to ask."

"Why does it matter?"

"Because it does. You left me when I needed you most, and then decided to act like I didn't even exist, and now you're calling me, and asking why I'm here, but trying to make it seem casual?"

"It is casual. That's it. We can hang up now if you want."

She couldn't believe he was really willing to let her go that easy; just like that!... Well, okay… maybe she could believe it, but that didn't make her hate it any less.

"When are you going to forgive me?"

"What?"

"When are you going to get over it Troy?"

"Sharpay- what you did; that's not something easily forgettable."

"Then don't forget it; but forgive me, at least! I know I fucked up.. what else do you want me to do? I can't take back what I almost did… but you can forgive me, you're just choosing not to!"

It seemed to take him a little while to form a response, and when he did, clearly he was struggling with his word choice.

"… Are you still… y'know-?"

Now it was her turn to silence herself due to word struggle, because no, she didn't know… and that had been her exact main point of anxiety all day, and no matter how much she wanted to tell him, and hear his advice and what he thought, she knew it would be stupid to tell him over the phone because she certainly didn't want even more hell breaking loose with him when she was halfway across the country. Something like that couldn't just be spoken over the phone. She had to wait, and tell him in person. And although she knew lying to him incidentally could make things even worse, she also knew she didn't have a choice.

"..Yes.. I-I am."

"Pregnant?"

"Yes Troy, what else?" Sharpay huffed impatiently.

Troy fell silent after that.

"Does that make you happy?"

"That you're still pregnant?"

On any other day Sharpay knew that she would normally throw back some smart, sarcastic remark at him like "No Troy, that my boobs are getting bigger! Yes that I'm still pregnant, you idiot!" But right now, she was fresh out of smart ass remarks. She was just tired, tired of everything- not just fighting with him (though that was a large portion of it) but of this situation in general. The last several weeks of her life had just turned into one huge nightmare she really wished she could just wake up from and move forward with her life like it was completely unreal… all of it!

So, she simply replied "yes," instead, to hopefully save herself from more drama.

"I… well, I guess I'm… surprised," Troy stuttered on the other end of the line. "Maybe a little relieved…"

"Why are you surprised?"

"Well, because… you know why, Sharpay."

Okay, maybe she had some fight left in her. Or if she didn't before, it had certainly resurfaced.

"What, you thought that, after you completely bailed on me, because you were mad I almost had an abortion, I would just go on right ahead and do it again- but for real this time? Why would I just go on and repeat the thing again that pushed you away from me in the first place?"

"Sharpay… you're the one who said your mind was completely made up. You're the one who said there was no going back."

"Because I want you to just accept it! But I'm not just going to do it while you're pissed off and not speaking to me… I can't do it alone! I need you to just… accept what I want, before it's too late! I'm not going to lie to you Troy… I don't want this baby! I don't, and you of all people, need to accept that before I can do anything!"

Again, he said nothing. And now, he was just pissing her off. Great! She had been actually starting to not have such a bad day after all, and here he was, calling her randomly, and ruining it. If he was hardly going to talk why bother calling her?

"Troy, what the hell have I been telling you this whole time?"

She took his lack of a response after that as a sign to continue.

"I need you. And… you left me. You, of all people, left me… when I needed you most. I never thought you, of all people, would do that."

"Sharpay, stop with the guilt trip. Really, you do that shit all the time, but maybe it's about time you start owning up to your own messed up actions, don'tcha think?"

"I already fucking apologized ten hundred times. Get. Over. It."

"Alright, maybe calling you was a mistake… maybe you should cool down."

"Yeah, maybe."

She was nearly in tears again by this point, and she hated herself for it. She was really both physically and mentally sick and tired of crying all the time lately.

"Then… later."

"That's it?" If there was one thing worse than talking to him right now, it would be not talking to him right now.

"Well I don't know what to say to you anymore! You're basically trying to make me change my thoughts on something that I can't do right now! And on the phone?" he scoffed. "How responsible of you… just take off to Florida when we've got bigger things to worry about."

"Okay don't even try to turn this all on me! One, this trip, I had nothing to do with! It was all my parents' idea, and I don't think I should even have to explain that to you anyway! And two, you're the one who dumped me; you're the one who's been ignoring me! So go look in the fucking mirror before you dare try calling me irresponsible!" Sharpay shrieked angrily, now wishing he was here with her just so she could slap him.

"God, I hate you," she told him then, almost in a whisper. A deathly cold, poisonous whisper.

"Oh, you hate me?" He hardly even sounded like he cared.

"No, but god damnit can you be an asshole!"

This was her last exclamation before slamming her thumb down hard on the "end call" button. She sat in silence after that for a while, fuming in the process, leaving Ryan to stare at her bewilderedly.

He cleared his throat.

"So how's Albuquerque?"

"Fuck him."

"You don't mean that Shar."

"Well!" She turned to him with watery eyes, and he wasted no time in engulfing her in a comforting hug.

"He just pisses me off so much," she told him with a sniffle, her voice muffled by his shirt. "Especially lately. He never did this much before. I don't know what's happened to us."

"I think just the stress and responsibility is obviously becoming too much for the both of you," Ryan said. "Couples fight, Shar. There's no way to avoid that. Even Kels and I have our problems sometimes, but it's just part of being together. Especially with what the two of you have to go through now."

"But we're not even together anymore. He dumped me, remember?" Sharpay yelled at him miserably. She hated having to remind him of that little fact because it meant that she also had to remind herself of it as well.

"He pisses me off Ryan! But I love him. And it really doesn't feel like I'll ever stop.."

"You don't have to.. Look I've never known Troy nearly as much as you ever have, and I haven't really even talked to him much since the two of you got together, but I know he loves you as much as you do him, otherwise he wouldn't be pissed off in the first place. He just wouldn't care. Trust me."

"He's still being stupid," Sharpay muttered weakly, her face still buried in her brother's shoulder.

"Well what did he say?"

"He just won't get over the damn clinic incident thing. And I've already told him sorry a million times… I don't know what else to do because like I told him, I really don't want to have a baby right now… I mean what girl my age does? Or guy for that matter? Aren't teenage fathers supposed to freak out when the girl drops the bomb on them and immediately jump to wanting to terminate the pregnancy anyway? I mean isn't that what a normal 17 year old guy would do? Why does he have to be so damn different!"

"I don't know Sharpay; you know him better than I do, why would he want you to go through with it?"

"I'm trying to figure it out Ryan."

She drew back from his embrace, lazily dropping her good hand to her lap with a sigh, and cradling the broken one against herself.

"It's like he's trying to guilt me into keeping the kid when he knows I'm not ready for it. It's like.. that's the only way he'll want to be with me. If I do it. But now we've got an even bigger problem to worry about; this whole possible miscarriage thing? How the hell am I going to explain that to him if it's true?... The only thing worse than me making myself lose this thing to a doctor it's losing it involuntarily to… Mother Nature!"

"Well like I said… you can always do that test thing to see if you still are before we get back home so you can see ahead of time..?" Ryan brought up his previous idea.

"That could be a good idea… but I mean are you sure it works like that?" Sharpay wondered. She hadn't been too enthusiastic about that idea when he'd brought it up the first time over an hour ago, as she was simply too afraid, but even more so now, remembering bits and pieces of something she'd learned freshman year, she was beginning to doubt that would even work.

"I think they told us once in Medical Science that the way pregnancy tests work is that they like look for some hormone in your pee that tells you whether you're pregnant. I don't think one day that hormone would just vanish immediately one day if someone's going through a miscarriage. It'd probably still be there. I doubt it's just like flicking a switch you know… one day you're pregnant with all these hormones and the next it's just gone..?"

Ryan shrugged. "Maybe you're right. I don't know, I'm no science dude. Just a suggestion."

Neither twin spoke for a little bit after that, each trying to gather their thoughts; one feeling completely caught in a crap hole, before the other finally spoke up.

"We should probably start heading back to the hotel again."

Sharpay nodded sadly and brought herself reluctantly to her feet. "So I don't know about anything anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do at all… All I know is… I'm fucked, Ryan."

The blonde boy glanced sorrowfully at his sister.

"You'll figure out something."

"And remember Wildcats there's only one day left until the big championship game against West High! So remember to bring all your friends and support the guys, and be sure to bring your Wildcat spirit! Remember that tomorrow Freshman and Sophomores should wear white, and red for Juniors and Seniors to conclude spirit week!

Troy sighed, nervously pushing up the sleeves of his light pink button down shirt before turning to Gabriella on his right.

"Hey why do you look so nervous?" she asked, peeking out at him from underneath the rim of her plain dark blue baseball cap that she'd found hidden in the far depths of her closet. It was amazing how much a lot of her stuff had already been misplaced at her new house when she'd only been living there for a few weeks now. It was Thursday, and this day's spirit day dress up was Reverse Battle of the Sexes meaning, guys wore pink and girls wore blue. Normally at all her other schools she'd never been one to really participate in spirit days but this week Troy had been managing to encourage her to change that. Monday had been Tie Dye Day, and she hadn't dressed up for it. After that Troy basically told her that she better dress up for Tuesday's Western Day, "or else". So, Monday night she'd managed to throw together a plaid shirt, a cowgirl hat her mom had for some reason had, and an old pair of western boots. She'd been self conscious about it all day but had received several compliments on how "cute" she apparently looked with her braids as well. Yesterday, Wednesday, had been Wacky Tacky Day, in other words, random variations of clothing that didn't match what-so-ever, so that one hadn't been hard- all she'd had to do was throw together a random outfit which she'd basically picked out in the dark. And now today, she was decked out as best she could in blue while at the same time hoping it seemed like she hadn't tried as hard as she really had to look alright. Her hair was in braids again under her baseball cap and she wore a blue v-neck tee, with a simple pair of dark denim jeans, and a pair of blue heels she hadn't worn in over a year but still fit, with a couple of simple blue rubber bracelets to finish it off.

And Troy… well, she wasn't going to lie; he definitely looked adorable in his pink button down long sleeved shirt. It was amazing- his outfit was so simple, just a regular shirt and regular jeans with regular black and white Nikes (although the black laces had been replaced with pink ones for the occasion.) And she found herself wallowing in jealousy of his girlfriend all over again like she did at least ten times a day even though the girl hadn't been around all week!

"Because I am nervous…" Troy responded to her earlier question. Right now they were in second period Spanish, the time of day announcements always came, and they were supposed to be practicing orals since the announcements were over but it seemed like whenever they were supposed to be doing that they never did anyway.

"I don't know if I'm all ready for the game. I mean it's tomorrow. It came sorta fast," he admitted to her, and then, thinking of something, quickly spoke up again before she could respond. "But don't tell any of the guys I said that, they'll freak out. I'll deny it if you do though," he teased lightly, knowing that if his teammates and his dad and the whole dang school for that matter knew the captain and star player was "trippin'" about the game all hell would ensue.

"Your secret's safe with me," Gabriella promised. "But I'm sure you'll do fine, Troy… I mean I haven't seen you play yet but from what I heard, you're great."

"Well I guess, but…" he trailed off, unable to help his always in place modesty. "I don't know. I mean it's just kinda weird. Sharpay's always been here when I've had a game… she'd been to pretty much all of them… and I guess it just doesn't seem right that she's probably going to miss the championship one against our biggest rival which is also the last game of the season. I doubt if she'll be back tomorrow."

He was too busy wrapped up in his thoughts to notice how Gabriella's face fall slightly at the mention of Sharpay, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help but think of the girl he'd always considered his good luck charm. It had been three days since he'd spoken to her Monday night on the phone and he found that he couldn't seem to get her off his mind. It was true, he missed her, he really did, but he still didn't think he was ready to face her or talk to her again just yet. Maybe he would in person, once she got back from her trip, a very fat maybe. Actually, he doubted he would right away. He refused to let her win in this situation, like she always did. He wanted her to realize first what she did was completely and utterly wrong- not just say it. Sure, she'd apologized a lot, like she'd so angrily pointed out to him herself. But he could tell she didn't really mean it- she was only saying it in hopes of getting him to forgive her immediately, but he could tell she didn't feel herself that what she did was wrong, and she needed to if she wanted him to forgive her. God, she really could be so difficult and irritating and she drove him so insane sometimes.

But none of that excused the fact that he missed her, and… he loved her. He'd had this other girl, Gabriella, right in front of him all week. So nice and fragile and caring… he really did like her. But as a friend, and nothing more. Honestly, she was no Sharpay. He hardly knew the girl all that much. Yeah, he'd been talking to her all week; getting to know her, but it wasn't enough, and even if it was enough he didn't think he'd ever see her as anything more than a friend, no matter how long he was off with Sharpay. Though he could just be thinking that now since his feelings for Sharpay were still very much true, but who knew, really?

The real matter of fact here was, Sharpay wasn't going to be at the game. How could she be? She was in Florida. Who would he be able to give his jacket to tomorrow? It had always been a tradition- the players gave their team jackets to a girl to wear on the day of the big game, but now he couldn't take part in that tradition. He wondered how it would be if she wasn't in Florida right now. Would she show up at the game anyway, even though they had broken up? It probably would've been wrong for him to expect her to be, and honestly the game had been the farthest thing from his mind that day exactly one week ago when he'd broken it off with her, but now the question haunted him.

Regardless, he'd always considered her his personal cheerleader and good luck charm. Ever since they'd been friends way back in their elementary years she'd always been so supportive and enthusiastic of him and everything he did. He couldn't help but smile a tiny bit to himself, remembering the first day he'd really talked to her… that cute little, yet strange five year old girl in kindergarten who had since matured into a breathtakingly beautiful teen, with plenty of years left to become even more beautiful…

-Flashback-

"Okay class, does anyone remember what today is?" The excited, bubbly voice of the teacher rang throughout the classroom full of kindergartners, all of which instantly started chattering animatedly at once, even though they'd just been quieted down seconds beforehand.

"Oh! Raise your hand. Does someone want to tell the class what today is?" Ms. Saidy tried again, placing her index finger over her lips in "shhhh" mode as twenty little hands shot up into the air.

"Sharpay?" she called on the small blonde seated next to the curly auburn haired girl Kelsi, who seemed more interested in the mini toy keyboard she was playing with and wasn't really listening to the teacher in the first place.

"We're going to the pumpkin patch today, Ms. Saidy. That's why there's a whole bunch of parent helpers out in the hallway waiting," Sharpay answered knowingly after lowering her formerly raised hand to her lap. Troy, who was seated behind the girl, stared mesmerized at her sparkly pink outfit, wondering how something could look so glittery without being messy. He didn't even think about it before casually reaching out to touch her shoulder and run his hand over the fabric, and then pulled his hand back. He began to closely inspect his hand in confusion when he noticed no sparkles had come attached to it.

The blonde whirled around quickly at the feeling of someone touching her, her yellow pigtails almost hitting him in the face. She looked at him curiously, but said nothing, and he just stared back at her wonderingly, unaware that he may have done something wrong by touching the stranger with complete innocent intentions.

However, this didn't stop him from being lightly scolded by Ms. Saidy.

"Troy, remember that we keep our hands to ourselves," the teacher told him after noticing the brief scene between the two children. He shrugged and placed his hands in his lap as the little girl in front of him turned back around and as Ms. Saidy then continued on with the original point.

"That's right Sharpay, we're going to the pumpkin patch. So, what I need everyone to do, is pick a buddy and line up at the door!"

At this, the twenty children immediately rose from their seated positions on the floor and began scattering around in each other, some shyly, others excitedly, to find a buddy.

Sharpay stood slowly, looking around uncertainly. Normally whenever she needed a partner she would pair up with her brother Ryan, but he was home sick today, leaving her all alone. A couple of minutes passed by as the options for a buddy became less and less, before she suddenly heard her name being called by Ms. Saidy.

"Sharpay."

Her brown eyes quickly shot over to her teacher, who stood by the class cubbies, holding the hand of one of her little classmates, Zeke.

"Come be Zeke's partner," Ms. Saidy told her, and Sharpay glanced briefly at the boy who smiled at her, before scrunching her nose up and turning quickly around in panic mode. Uh-Oh. That Zeke boy never left her alone. At recess, he followed her and her twin around, complimenting her things like her sandals and her dresses, which at her age; she thought was just plain weird for a boy to do.

The first thing her eyes caught when she turned around was the boy that had touched her shoulder, who had been sitting behind her at circle time. He was bent down over one of his sneakers, one shoelace in each hand, clearly trying to figure out how to tie them but obviously having no idea how. She smiled a little, that's why she never wore tennis shoes. Just cute sandals that her mommy bought for her. Besides- tennies were stinky. Ryan always wore them and she hated them.

She heard Ms. Saidy calling her name still, and she knew she had to pick another partner fast, or she'd make her be buddies with Zeke. She trotted over to the brown haired boy and tapped his head to get his attention.

His eyes snapped up to hers curiously.

"You're my buddy," she told him. His eyes widened.

"What?"

"You're my buddy," Sharpay repeated, kneeling down in front of him on the floor, snatching his loose laces from his hands and quickly tying them into a sloppy bow. Troy watched in amazement as she did so. How did she do that? He always had to have a grown-up do it for him!

Apparently noticing his shock, the stranger blonde girl spoke again. "My brother always makes me tie his when our mommy or daddy or big sissy isn't around. But I don't wear them," she informed him, stressing the fact that she clearly wouldn't be caught dead wearing sneakers. Troy nodded uncertainly.

"OK, I will be your buddy- Chad's not in my class," he told her, deciding he approved of this girl after taking notice to her amazing shoe tying abilities. She nodded in slight confusion, not knowing who "Chad" was but not really caring. She stood then, waving with her hand for him to do the same.

"I'm Sharpay," she introduced herself to him. "What's your name?"

"Troy." Troy told her his name. They'd been in the same class ever since school started almost two months ago, and he'd seen her in his class, but hadn't talked to her really before now.

"OK Troy," Sharpay said, surprising him then by grabbing his hand and marching with him up to Ms. Saidy who still stood by the cubbies with Zeke.

"Troy is my buddy," she told them at once. Ms. Saidy nodded. She had told them to pick their own partners after all. It was just that Zeke always came running to her whenever she told the class to get with a buddy and she always had to assign one for him, and he'd told her just now he wanted to be with Sharpay. She'd seen the blonde girl by herself and had figured it was fine but apparently now she had found herself a buddy.

"Alright, go stand in line then you two. Let's go find you another buddy Zeke," she told the little boy next to her. He sighed and followed after her.

"He's weird, huh Troy?" Sharpay told Troy when the two were gone, still holding his hand. He looked down at their clasped hands woozily, wondering if all those things his best friend Chad told him about girls having weird sicknesses that would kill him if he touched one skin-to-skin were true.

"What are you looking at Troy?" Sharpay looked down. "My hand?" she rolled her eyes, realizing what he must be thinking. "Cooties aren't real Troy."

He looked up at her finally. "Why are you doing that?" he asked her.

"Doing what Troy?"

"That."

"What Troy?"

"Why do you keep saying my name after every time you talk?" he asked her. She smiled.

"I don't know. It's a good name. Troy."

Troy shrugged, deciding the amazing-shoe-tying-Sharpay girl was pretty weird, but she still had his approval because of her great abilities. And he didn't even feel funny either. Chad told him that if you touch a girl your skin will turn green right when you touch one and he'd been holding her hand… or, she'd been holding his for a long time already. So, that must mean she was right and Chad was wrong- cooties were not real!

"OK."

She giggled. "Let's go stand in line Troy!" she said, pulling him over to the line of their classmates by the classroom door.

"Your clothes are really sparkly," he told her. "Why don't the sparkles fall off?"

"They're permanently attached Troy."

"What's permently?" The chestnut haired boy asked incredulously.

"It means they won't come off no matter how hard you try to make them."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he sounded genuinely intrigued by this, causing her to laugh.

"You're funny Troy. I like you."

"Uh…… thanks?" he said uncertainly, blue eyes doubling in size. He'd never held on a conversation this long with a girl before, other than his mom of course, and Ms. Saidy.

"But not in the icky mushy love kind of way that my big sissy Stephy talks about," Sharpay told him. "I mean I want you to be my friend."

Troy looked at her, deciding that maybe being friends with a girl might not be all that bad. Besides, she was his buddy for the day anyway, and buddy was another word for friend, he knew. So that had to mean they were already friends, weren't they?

He nodded in acceptance of her.

"Okay Sharpay."

-End-

Troy smiled at the memory. If there was one thing that hadn't changed about 5 year old Sharpay to 16 year old Sharpay, it was her fearlessness. She'd always been like that- so upfront and whatnot for as long as he could remember her.

"Troy?"

Gabriella's voice took him out of his thoughts. He finally looked over at her again.

"Hm?"

"I'm sure you'll do great tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" He'd pretty much completely forgotten what they'd been talking about before his mind took him away.

"The game…" Gabriella reminded him. "I'm sure you'll play fine."

"Oh. Right. The game," Troy remembered one of many sources of his stresses. He sighed, also remembering that his good luck charm would not be present.

"Thanks."

"That movie sucked."

"Really? I kinda liked it."

"What did you think Darbs?"

"It was alright."

Sharpay walked a little ways ahead of her family as the four of them made their way back to their rental car after having just exited the movie theater. She felt very cold for some reason and just wanted to get inside again. She was also kind of in a hurry to check her phone…

It was a cool night, and she could feel her arms prickling. Well, maybe that's what she got for wearing nothing but a simple tank and short shorts at night. Still, it was Florida, and therefore not freezing. But it was also midnight in Florida, as they'd gone to a late showing of some dumb movie she didn't really end up liking too much, and midnight was typically a cool hour, at least that's what she felt anyway.

Once they reached the car, she slid in the back instantly and reached for her phone which she'd left in the back pocket of the front passenger seat. She had a new text sent just over two hours ago from Kelsi, as she'd been in mid-conversation with her before the movie. Her dad of course had made her and Ryan leave their phones in the car, so as not to "distract" them from the "real world". She knew what he meant was distract them from not paying attention to the family, which to her didn't make any sense since why would he care if since they were watching a movie, she wouldn't be talking to him anyways?

She shook that thought off as she quickly read over the new message. The last text she'd sent to Kelsi before the movie was one asking how everything was over there… back home.

Specifically, it read "Well, what about everyone else? How are they?... The game is tomorrow, right?"

Honestly she would've actually forgotten about the game had it not been for Ryan reminding her earlier that day when he'd been using her laptop, and had probably read something about it on Facebook or something that reminded him about the game, because she really didn't think he'd remember on his own either. Ryan could care less about basketball. She could actually care less about it herself, if it wasn't for one simple detail… a detail that just happened to be a person, with brown hair and blue eyes, who just so happened to be captain of the high school team back home. And what she'd been secretly trying to do was ever so "casually" get the deets from Kelsi about how game prep was going over there since she knew that it was the final game of the season and therefore, no duh a huge deal. It actually really bothered her that she was missing everything… all the hype that was surely going around because of the game, going to miss the game itself, and missing how Troy was doing. Was he excited? Nervous? Had he even thought about her since Monday night when she'd last heard from him and hung up on him?

Anyway, the new text from that had apparently been sent at 9:53 PM read "Um yea everyone's fine. Today was Reverse Battle of the Sexes Day. The guys wore pink and the girls wore blue.. I didn't dress up much though lol. Just a simple blue tee."

And though Sharpay still wanted to come off as casual as possible, she could help but text back "Did… like, Gabriella or anyone dress up?"

She waited anxiously for Kelsi's reply, wondering if she even would reply since it was ten PM in Albuquerque, and the other girl might be asleep by now. She knew that if that stupid Gabriella was running around in her group now, surely someone would have made her dress up, which she wasn't going to lie; would really piss her off. Why should that dumb new girl get the privilege to participate in spirit week? Fuck if every student could and should participate! Ever since Ryan had reminded her of the game earlier, just more things to worry about had been piled on her plate. She definitely had not been able to distract herself from the possible thought of Troy giving that dumb bitch his jacket like that other dumb bitch Taylor had so "graciously" suggested that one day in the cafeteria when the whole damn school had seen Sharpay herself at her weakest point. Urgh. She hated thinking of that day, it truly had been one of the most humiliating moments of her life, but she hadn't been able to stop thinking about that dumb cafeteria incident that made her livelong despise the life out of Taylor Mckessie, and Gabriella… what the hell was her last name anyway?

Her eyes snapped down quickly to the phone she gripped tightly in her hand when she felt it buzz maybe five minutes later.Yea… she did. Nothing big though. And well, 'course all the guys on the team did too and Taylor and everyone.

Sharpay barely looked up from her phone as the car came to a stop in the hotel parking lot. She climbed lazily out of the vehicle, pressing the buttons on her mobile as she made her way up to the hotel main entrance with her family close behind.

Ugh I wanna goooooooooooo to the game ;/ dammit.

Kelsi's reply came shortly after.

Any ideas when you guys will b back?

Sharpay, Ryan, Vance, and Darby were in the elevator now. Darby was asking what they should all do tomorrow but no one, well not Sharpay at least, was listening.

I don't know hopefully Monday.. I hav a lot to tell u when we get back…

The elevator dinged as they finally reached their floor.

Everything okay?

"Sharpay what are you always doing on that phone?" Her father asked her. She shrugged.

"Texting."

"Who?"

"People."

I don't know I'll jus tell u when we're back. But how bout over there? Everything…okay too?

Vance just shook his head and said nothing else, leading the way to their room.

Yea… well what do you mean?

Sharpay didn't know what she could do anymore to urge Kelsi on while keeping up the casual act, so she knew she had no choice.

Okay Kelsi I'm just gonna come right out and ask it. I don't want to sound like stalkerish or anything it's just that the questions killing me but like… Troy… what's he been doin? Particularly how has he been acting the whole week like cuz of everything like the game and me being gone. Does he seem like he even cares or what?

Her next reply took a few minutes longer than usual to come. Sharpay was laying in the hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling when it did. She had already changed into her pajamas and had brushed her teeth and everything. Her parents and Ryan had lain down to sleep too.

O well at lunch on Monday your girls came up looking for you and idk everyone just seemed really surprised when I said you and ry were in Miami but yea troy didn't really say anything… but he seemed surprised too… but he hasn't really said anything about it since… not to me at least.

Monday. That was the night he'd called her- the only night she'd spoken to him all week and had left it on a not so friendly note.

Yeah he called me Monday night but it didn't end well. He was bein a dick. Kept saying crap about the pregnancy and even though I STILL kept sayin sorry about the whole clinic thing he's still not forgiving me. Idk I'm just so sick of his attitude.

It didn't take Kelsi very long to text back this time. It was a simple I'm sorry… he'll come around.

Pretty much just what Ryan had been saying this whole time.

I hope. Okay last question… him and Gag girl? Anything there? God I sound like such a jealous stalker ugh. Lol.

…

Uh Gabriella?

..

Mhm..

"Sharpay I can hear you pressing buttons like crazy over there. I don't know what on earth you're doing but go to bed."

Sharpay jumped a little in surprise as her dad's sudden voice rang out through the dark, previously silent room. She let out a huff.

"One minute."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm texting Kelsi god."

Vance didn't reply again, but Kelsi finally did what seemed like ten hundred years later.

…The truth?

Sharpay felt her heart thumping rapidly, dreading anything Kelsi might end up dealing her about Troy and Gabriella. If it was nothing, she would've said so already. "The truth?" Well no duh she wanted the truth! Even if it would end up hurting. So what the hell did that mean?

Well yeah…..?

She tried to type as silently as possible this time, so her dad wouldn't bother her again.

Well I mean honestly… idk they've kinda seemed to b hanging around a lot. Sitting really close to each other at lunch… giggling and whispering secretly about things no one else seems to know or understand… walking together in the halls… that sort of thing. :/

Sharpay closed her eyes, hopefully to keep tears from leaking out of the corners. She definitely couldn't cry now- not in a room where her parents lay ten feet away. Then they'd really hound her with questions; especially her father.

She read the text over again in agony, and again… and again… her hurt and anger level rising each time she re-read it. She wanted to scream. And yell. And cry. And throw something. And rip out someone's hair- preferably Gabriella's, and make it painful. Who the fuck did that girl think she was? She was going to do such awful things to her the second she returned home- so awful that even Hitler would find it cruel.

And Troy. Seriously? Did he even miss her at all? Even a little? The mothereffer!

She clenched her jaw to keep from crying out, exiting out of the text message, too pissed to even reply again. Her eyes found her phone wallpaper when she did so. It was the picture of Boi she'd snapped last Wednesday when she'd found him asleep on her bed. He was just another reason she just wanted to go home already, she missed him too one hell of a lot. She hated her father for not letting her at least bring him with her on the trip. He was small enough to not be a naissance. That was the advantage of having a tiny dog… unlike Dalton's mutt. What was his name? Otis? That guy was huge! Boi never would've knocked her over in the sand like that.

She sighed. Dalton… she'd practically forgotten about him. It had been five days since that beach incident, and up until now he'd been sort of pushed to the back of her mind. She hadn't even thought about him really with everything else that had been going on. She felt bad for just forgetting about him. Then again she really didn't owe him anything. But still, he had been so sweet. He'd seemed genuinely sorry and embarrassed about Otis running into her like he had. He was cute too; and a college guy. Amidst her mood, she couldn't help but suddenly smile a tiny bit to herself at the thought of a hot college guy interested in her when everything else was wrong in the world.

Why had she practically turned him down anyway?

Oh yeah… Troy. She knew it wouldn't have seemed right to go out with Dalton, even as "friends" as he'd so put it, behind Troy's back. It would've just felt wrong, like she was cheating or something even if it was totally innocent, and even if they were broken up.

But thinking about it now, why the hell would Troy care? He was being such a freaking asshole lately. Especially with what Kelsi just told her. Well fine, he wanted to be all cozy with Gabriella?

Good, fucking let him. She had bigger and better fish to fry.

She whipped open her phone again, scrolling through her contacts list until she reached the D's.

There it was, programmed into her phone so innocently as it had been all week, but she hadn't paid any mind to it until now. She let her eyes linger over his name for a moment before making up her mind. She sat up, slinging her legs over the side of the bed and crept over to the bathroom with her cell in hand, carefully so as not to wake her parents who finally seemed asleep by this point. But if they did so happen to wake up, she could just say she needed to use the restroom real quick.

When she reached the bathroom, she closed and locked the door behind her quickly, flipping on the light switch. The yellow light that filled the room shocked her dark-adjusted eyes. She blinked a few times to get used to it, and once she was situated, glanced back down at her phone again.

She looked at the time displayed over the home screen. 12:32. late, she knew, but she was afraid if she didn't do this now she might back out and not go through with it once she had time to clear her head. She knew it was now or never, since right now she was at her peak. Her blood was still boiling with hatred of that stupid Latina girl back home and anger at her stupid "ex" boyfriend. She was in the zone; she had to do this now, before she had time to calm down. And if he didn't answer, well she could just leave a message and he could just cal back tomorrow- that would make it so she couldn't back out since messages are forever until deleted.

Without giving it another thought, she pressed her thumb down on the call button. She was actually half expecting it to go to voicemail, but she was actually quite pleasantly surprised when on the fourth ring, she got an answer.

"Hello?" the voice didn't even sound tired.

She cleared her throat, making sure she didn't talk too loud so her parents didn't hear her on the other side of the door.

"Hi… is Dalton there?"

A pause. "Yeah this's Dalton."

Sharpay smirked to herself deviously, her eyes meeting those of her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

"Hi Dalton it's Sharpay… the girl from the beach the other day…"

A/N: HELLLLLOOO? (-voice echoes off silent room walls-) -ELLO! -ELLO! -tumbleweed whizzes on by- ANYONE LEFT OUT THERE? Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't.

Anyway I've come up with a new… whatever you wanna call it. Every night after I finish my homework, I write a little bit until about 11:30. So it's anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour of writing each night. Haha probably not good for my sleep level but anything to get it done ya heard? ;P

About them having announcements second period… I always thought it's normal to have announcements first thing in the morning right? Well my school has them second period so yeah I just went off that. I've always found it weird though.

Again I'm so sorry for my terrible updating skills. Clearly I have none but I'm trying. BUT NOW WERE FINALLY AT THE PART IVE BEEN WAITING FOR ASIOUFBHQUIBFAISDB…… Er I mean… yeah. Almost there anyway. Juustttttttt about… I've had the ending of this chapter in my mind forever. Time to git'er done. Oh and guys.... please don't blame Kelsi :( she was just delivering the facts...

Anyway, I'd like to know if I have any readers/reviewers left? You know I worship you when you review… :)

-xHeSaidSheSaidx