Ashley woke up happy. She was finally dating Chad. Downstairs in the kitchen, she ran into Ryan. He was sitting at the table eating breakfast by himself.

"Morning," she said cheerily.

"You're in an awfully good mood this morning," he said.

"Yep." They both knew why she was so happy. She grabbed two apples out of the bowl on the table and headed back to her room.

Ashley took her time getting ready. She had a feeling Chad would drop by and she wanted to look nice for him. She put on a pair of jean capris, a white tank top underneath a black tank top, and a pair of black flats. During the morning she sat on the couch reading a book. When Ashley decided to eat lunch in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. Ryan beat her to the door.

"Hello Chad," she heard Ryan say.

"Hey Ryan, is Ashley here?"

"Yes, I'm here." Ashley stepped around Ryan to get to the doorway. "What brings you here today?" she asked him. Ryan left the two alone. He didn't mind Ashley dating Chad. Chad was a good guy, and even if he did treat Ashley badly, Ryan could get the whole basketball team to beat him up.

"I was just wondering if you had any plans for today?"

"As a matter of fact I do." Chad looked surprised. "I am going to hang out with you, unless you have any objections."

"Nope. Does Ryan mind?"

"No, he's fine. It's Sharpay you'll have to worry about, once she finds out. So do you have anything specific in mind for today?"

Chad nodded and she followed him out to his car. He drove her to his house, refusing to tell her what he had planned. Once they got inside his house, he led her to the backyard, where there was a miniature basketball court. He picked up the basketball sitting on the ground and spun it on his finger.

"Do you know how to play basketball?"

"No."

"Well today I'm going to teach you how. Actually, I was afraid you'd be wearing a skirt or something when I picked you up."

"And obviously I can't learn to play basketball in a skirt now can I? So, what's the first thing I need to know about playing basketball?"

"First you have to come onto the court." Ashley laughed and joined Chad on the court. "Next, you have to be holding the ball." He tossed her the ball and she caught it with both hands in front of her chest. "Good. I wasn't sure if you'd catch it." Ashley gave him a skeptical look.

Chad quit teasing her after that and got somewhat serious in teaching her. He tried to get her to learn the rules, but she only got confused so he stuck to the basics. After about an hour he taught her the proper way to shoot a basket. He stood behind her, placing her body in the right position, and guiding her arms through the movement of throwing the ball. While he was showing her this, Ashley was glad he was behind her so he couldn't see her blushing.

"Okay, now try it on your own." She tried to mimic the movements he'd shown her, and managed to get the ball into the hoop, but just barely. "Good, for your first try." Ashley tried again and made another basket, gaining more confidence. "I think it's time you learned more about dribbling and stealing."

Ashley followed his lead. She let him teach her what he knew and tried to remember it all. She did alright when he went easy on her during practice, so he told her it was time for a real one-on-one match between them.

Chad gave her the ball to start with and told her to try to get around him and make a basket. She dribbled the ball, keeping it below her waist to maintain control over it. She tried to go to his right, but he blocked her. She backed up a little and tried going around his left. He blocked her again. She remembered him saying you could try backing into you opponent to force them backwards, so she tried that. Unfortunately, Chad had been expecting that and used it to his advantage. He grabbed her around the waist, pulled her back against him, and lifted her into the air.

"No fair, you're cheating!" she yelled at him. She struggled to get out of his grip, the basketball game forgotten. He held onto her tightly, fighting to gain some kind of upper hand. After a few minutes, they both tumbled onto the grass, which covered the other part of the backyard. Chad rolled off of Ashley. They looked at each other and started laughing.

"Why on earth did you do that?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know, I just felt like it." After a few seconds, they started laughing again.

Chad rolled over to Ashley and sat up half way, so his torso was above her and one arm on each side. They had both stopped laughing, and Chad slowly closed the distance between them. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him the rest of the way down so they could kiss. The kiss didn't last long. When they pulled apart, Chad looked at her and kissed her again, this time making the kiss deeper. Suddenly Ashley pulled away from the kiss. She pushed Chad away to give herself room to sit up. She turned her face away from him.

"Ashley?" Chad looked at her, confused by her actions. One minute they were enjoying a kiss and the next she was pushing him away like they'd done something wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Chad tried to get her to look at him, but she only turned her head away.

"Ash, I know something's wrong, so just tell me what it is." After a few more minutes of coaxing, Ashley finally told him what was bothering her.

"It's just that, I started thinking about Dylan, because he's the only other boy I've kissed. And then I thought about when he raped me, and how I was pregnant but didn't know it so I killed the baby inside me. . ."

Ashley couldn't go on because she was crying too hard. Chad pulled her into his arms and held her. He had no idea what to say, so he remained silent and rubbed her back. Finally she stopped crying and looked up at Chad. He knew he needed to say something to her, to try and make her feel better.

"If you're not ready, then just tell me and I'll slow down. I don't want to force you into anything."

"No. I'm sorry for breaking down on you like that."

"You don't have to apologize. You've been through a lot this semester, so it's only natural for you to be emotional. Like I said before though, I'll back off if you want me to." Ashley shook her head.

"No. Dylan did put me through a lot, but I'm not going to let that spoil my chance to be with you."

They stayed like that, sitting in the grass, for another hour. They talked about different things, including their plans for the barbeque, and finally Chad drove Ashley home. She saw Sharpay first when she entered the house, so she quickly ran up to her room and shut the door. She knew her eyes were still red and puffy from crying and she didn't want Sharpay asking why. Thankfully Sharpay was too busy preparing for Sunday's barbeque to notice more than Ashley walking through the door. So Ashley snuck outside and spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool. That evening, with both parents out to dinner together, she ate dinner with Ryan and watched a musical before bed.

Sunday morning Ashley was woken up by Sharpay banging on her door.

"Wake up! I have to go shopping for a few things so I need you to supervise the preparations downstairs!"

"Get Ryan to do it," Ashley said from her bed.

"Ryan's coming with me to do the shopping. So get up already!"

Ashley groaned, but did as Sharpay said and got out of bed. She put on a pair of jeans and green, sleeveless top before going downstairs. Sharpay and Ryan drove off, Ryan looking about as awake as Ashley felt.

Ashley walked around the house, observing the workers cleaning the house and the chef cooking the food in the backyard. Everyone knew what their jobs were, so Ashley didn't have to tell anyone what to do. In the end she went back upstairs to get a power nap before anyone came over. Some time later, Sharpay was knocking on her door again.

"Get up!" she heard Sharpay yelling. "You have to get downstairs because everyone is going to start arriving soon."

Ashley looked at the clock and realized she'd been able to get another hour of sleep. She put her hair up in a ponytail and put on a little makeup. Then she joined her siblings downstairs and waited for the others to arrive.

Troy arrived first and explained that Gabriella would be a little late because of church. Kelsi came next, bringing Jason with her. Taylor showed up after them, with Zeke following right behind her. Chad arrived shortly after them. Ashley greeted him the same as the others, but left the doorway to walk with him onto the patio outside where everyone else had already taken seats around the food table. Ashley sat between Chad and Kelsi. One open seat was left next to Troy, and he was saving it for Gabriella.

Everyone enjoyed eating and talking to the people sitting around them. Ashley got into a conversation with Kelsi about her ideas for another school musical. About an hour later, the doorbell rang and Troy jumped up to get it, knowing it was Gabriella. He brought her back out and Chad teased him about being "whipped."

"Yeah, well at least I've got a girlfriend," Troy teased back. Chad, though, had been waiting for a moment like this.

"What makes you think I don't have a girlfriend?" Chad said, smiling. Troy looked confused. "As a matter of fact, I'm sitting next to her right now."

Troy looked to both sides of Chad. Sharpay sat on Chad's left and Ashley on his right. Troy wasn't the only one trying to figure it out. Everyone else heard what Chad said and wondered who he was dating, everyone except the three Evans'. Both Chad and Ashley had planned out how they would tell the others about their relationship, and they wanted to say it before Sharpay. Unfortunately, she beat them to it.

"Ashley!" Sharpay shouted. "You're dating Chad?!" Ashley nodded. To silence Sharpay from saying anything else, Chad put his arm around Ashley and kissed her in front of everyone. For a moment there was silence, and then everyone started talking at once.

Most were congratulating Chad and Ashley. Troy mentioned something like it being about time. Everyone got up out of their seats, the girls giving hugs to Ashley and congratulating her, the boys giving noogies to Chad and congratulating him. Sharpay was the only one saying nothing. She seemed shocked and unsure of how to react. Ryan pulled her to the side and whispered something to her. After he finished whispering she snapped back to reality and congratulated Chad and her sister. While Chad was swamped with people, Ashley slipped out of the crowd and pulled Ryan to the side.

"What did you say to Sharpay?" she asked him.

"I told her to be happy that her sister was happy." Ashley smiled, and Ryan gave her a hug. They rejoined the group before anyone noticed their separation.

For the rest of the day, they spent time swimming, eating dinner in the evening, and watching a movie before everyone had to leave. For the musical this time, they watched The Wizard of Oz. Chad managed to stay awake for the whole movie. When it ended, everyone had to leave. Chad was the last to leave. He and Ashley stood on the front porch after everyone else had gone. Ryan forced Sharpay into the kitchen to give the couple a little privacy. Ashley came in a few minutes later, smiling. Their parents arrived home about a half hour after Chad left and told their kids some big news.

"We've been meeting with some people recently and we've decided to have a wedding vow renewal ceremony," their father told them.

"Wedding vow renewal?" Ashley asked.

"Yes," her mother said. "We want to renew our wedding vows, and we're planning a big ceremony."

"And all of you are going to be part of it," their dad continued. "Sharpay and Ashley, you will be bridesmaids and Ryan you will be a groomsman. This ceremony will take place in seven weeks, and we expect your full cooperation."

Their parents went on to explain many of the details about the wedding and all the meetings, fittings, and planning that would occur over the following weeks. Ashley realized that her plans with Chad would suddenly come fewer and farther between. She decided to tell her parents about her and Chad so she might keep a few days to herself to spend with Chad.

"Oh honey," her mom said, "you'll have time to spend with your boyfriend. Just not as much as before. Tomorrow we have dress fittings in the afternoon and lunch with the wedding planner, since the ceremony will be similar to a wedding, oh and all of your friends are invited of course, so long as they dress appropriately."

Their mother continued talking about plans until their father told her to let them got to bed so they'd be ready for everything tomorrow. Ashley went to bed wondering how the rest of the summer would turn out.