I Know What It's Like

According to an online dictionary the definition for hangover was, the disagreeable physical aftereffects of drunkenness, such as a headache or stomach disorder, usually felt several hours after cessation of drinking. If you were to inform Troy Bolton of this at the present moment, he would tell you that it was 100 percent correct. His head was pounding as he reached across his girlfriend and grabbed the ringing cell phone that was on the bedside table.

"What?"

"Well good morning to you too," Jessica shot back and he groaned.

"What could you possibly want right now Jess?"

"There's something you need to know."

"Can't it wait until I don't have a throbbing headache?"

"No. You need to know now." The sound of her serious tone awakened him and a confused look came across his face.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" She sighed and took a deep breath.

"Go on Facebook." A confused look came across Troy's face.

"Why?"

"Just do it." Troy sighed on defeat, before getting out of the bed, careful to not wake up Gabriella. He walked over to his desk and opened his laptop. "Go to your profile."

"Ok." He opened up Safari before going to Facebook. As soon as he was logged on, he went to his profile. As soon as it appeared on his screen, he froze. Right in front of him was a notification that he had been tagged in an album. Under it there were multiple pictures from the previous night's party. Pictures of him and Gabriella. Dancing, drinking, and making out. "Oh…my…god."

"I'm sorry Troy." He clicked on the album, considering it said he had been tagged in 11 photos, to see more pictures of the two getting hot and heavy. Anger rushed through Troy's veins and he clenched his fists.

"Who the fuck did this!" So worked up, he didn't hear Gabriella groan, after being woken up from his screaming.

"No one knows. The person changed her name to 'Anonymous'."

"God, how stupid could I…"

"Troy?" Troy whipped around to see a groggy Gabriella sitting up.

"Gabriella just woke up, I'll talk you later." He hung up the phone and got up to go to his bed.

"Who was that?"

"Jess."

"Is everything okay?" He sighed before sitting on the side of the bed, and placing a hand on her legs. He took a deep breath and looked at her as calm as possible.

"Someone took pictures of us last night. They're on Facebook." Gabriella froze and her olive skin went white.

"Of…of what?"

"Everything." At the sound of this, tears welled up in Gabriella's eyes, making Troy's heart sink. He immediately moved to the top of the bed and took Gabriella in his arms, and she began to sob into his chest. "Shh it will be okay baby."

"But what if it's not? They're gonna end up everywhere. My Dad is going to be so mad." Troy sighed, knowing his girlfriend was right. "What are we going to do?"

"I dunno, but I think the you need to talk to CJ." Gabriella just nodded into his chest.

--

Two hours later, Gabriella was walking nervously through The West Wing. About a half an hour after finding out about the pictures, Sharpay, who had stayed with the guy she was dancing with, took Gabriella home, for Michelle was under the impression that Gabriella had stayed at her house. Knowing that the Senior Staff pretty much always worked on Saturdays, after changing and showering, she immediately made her way to the Press Secretary's office, for she knew the sooner the better. As soon as she arrived, she knocked on the side of the door lightly, for it was open, and CJ looked up.

"Hey Gabs," she greeted.

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Umm…I need to tell you something…can I close the door?"

"Of course." Gabriella did so, before sitting on the couch nervously. Seeing her nervous expression, CJ got up from her desk and sat next to her. "What's going on sweetie?"

"Umm, me and Troy were at a party last night," she started nervously.

"Yeah…"

"And Troy got a call from a friend this morning. There…there are pictures of us online." CJ just nodded, calmly.

"Of what?" As soon as the question was asked, tears began to stream down her face. She choked out a sob and a sympathetic CJ pulled her into her arms.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I just need you to tell me what they're of." Gabriella nodded and sat up, wiping away her tears.

"The two of us dancing, making out, me dancing with Sharpay and another friend, Troy playing beer-pong." CJ froze, now knowing why her boss's daughter was so distraught. Seeing this, more tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry CJ, Troy thought he knew everyone at the party. We didn't think anyone there would do something like this."

"I know Gabs. Are there pictures of you drinking?" Gabriella nodded and CJ sighed.

"I wasn't drinking from a red plastic cup, but I'm holding a cup."

"Ok well, I'm glad you told me. This is what we're gonna do. You are gonna email me the pictures. You don't know who took them?" Gabriella shook her head. "Ok. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they don't get out, but there is a good chance they might."

"Are you gonna tell my Dad?"

"No, we'll only tell your Dad if the pictures come out. I do have to tell the senior staff though. Okay? And you obviously know that there could very well be a bad reaction to them. I want you to know that you are going to have to be prepared for a lot of scrutiny."

"I am," Gabriella mumbled.

"Good. Well why don't you go back to the residence and email me the pictures. As soon as something happens I will let you know." Gabriella nodded. They said their goodbyes, and after Gabriella thanked the Press Secretary, she left. As soon as the door closed, CJ groaned. She couldn't help but be thankful for all of those years of having to keep her composure in front of reporters who were practically attacking her, knowing that if she didn't have that kind of experience, she wouldn't have been able to act so calm in front of Gabriella. All of that experience also taught her that one of the hardest things to do was damage control. Some things could be fixed. Get a DUI. Go to AA. Fixed. Dress like a Nazi soldier. Go to a concentration camp. All better. However, proving that America's Sweetheart was innocent after pictures are released of her drinking and making out with her college boyfriend was nearly impossible.

CJ took a deep breath before getting up and walking out of her office, immediately informing her assistant that she needed to see the entire Senior Staff in the Chief of Staff's office. Five minutes later they were all there wondering what was going on.

"I just got a visit from Gabriella. There are pictures of her and Troy online."

"Doing what?" Toby asked.

"Making out, dancing, drinking," CJ replied calmly and everyone froze.

"Are you saying America's Sweetheart was just caught making out with her boyfriend, who happens to be the former First Son, at a college party where everyone, including her, was drinking?" Rick asked deadpan, too shocked to scream.

"Yes. Another student took them and posted them on Facebook."

"What were they thinking?" Josh, the Deputy Chief of Staff, asked, groaning annoyed.

"Troy apparently thought he knew everyone at the party. They were drunk and made some mistakes."

"No kidding," Rick grumbled.

"Anyway, how bad could it get?" Toby asked CJ.

"Catastrophic. This is America's Sweetheart we are talking about. She's 17 years old. Pictures of her drunk and making out with her older boyfriend is the equivalent to a celebrity sex tape, but instead of E! and Access Hollywood, she is gonna get not only every entertainment news show, but every 24-hour news network. Oh, and because of Troy there is a possibility of ESPN too." Everyone in the room sighed or groaned.

"Would it make a difference if we still take the picture of them holding hands?" Toby then asked.

"Even if it would, there's no time. If there were only hard copies it would be a different story. Then someone would be able to sell them to a magazine and they wouldn't come out until Tuesday, however they are online, and someone is going to put them on a celebrity blog by tonight. Which means by tomorrow every news network will have roundtable after roundtable discussing how the First Daughter lied to the country and how immoral their actions were. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt could adopt another child and Troy and Gabriella would still get the lead story and the magazine covers."

"Jesus Christ," Toby sighed. "So what do we do?"

"Written statement," Josh answered.

"No," CJ replied immediately.

"Why not? Simple, straight forward, no questions asked."

"Not enough. Gabriella is going to have to do an interview. Something in primetime, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric…"

"The First Lady is never gonna go for it," Toby replied, shaking his head.

"The First Lady is going to have to get over it. Unless she puts herself in the hot seat, no one is going to think she is taking it seriously."

"Ok."

"How is this going to effect The President," Josh then asked and CJ sighed.

"He's going to be accused of being a bad parent."

--

"Knock. Knock." Gabriella turned her head to see her boyfriend standing in the doorway. A small smile graced her face, the first one since she found out about the pictures.

"Hey."

"How are you feeling?" Gabriella shrugged as he walked over to her bed and climbed onto it, before taking her into his arms.

"Ok. You?"

"Same. How did it go with CJ?"

"She's worried, but she didn't get mad or anything." Just as Troy was about to reply the phone rang. Gabriella reached over Troy and picked it up. "Hello…oh umm hey CJ…Um…ok…Troy's here, should he come too? Okay….bye." Gabriella hung up the phone and Troy gave Gabriella a worried look.

"What happened?" Gabriella turned to her boyfriend with fear in her eyes.

"CJ wants to see us in Toby's office."

Please Review!!! I'm a little nervous about the scene with the staff, cause I know sometimes parts without the main characters don't go over too well. However, I felt it was essential to the story line. I wanted to use something that they do often in movies, where the audience knows more than the main characters. I felt it was a good place to leave it. Next will be all of the reactions.