i said i'd get another chapter up this week and here it is! And i'm happy to say that i have up to chapter 50 written! That makes this officially the longest fanfic i've written! ^^ i'm definitely hoping to keep this story going and i still have a few ideas i wanna put in here. And if anyone has anything they wanna see happen, feel free to suggest. In the meantime, enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Taylor was not looking forward to this day. It had already been put off a week, but today was finally going to be her interview with Sharpay. She would have liked to do it last week and gotten it over with, but this was meant to be an in-person interview rather than an over-the-phone interview. It would have been a lot easier too; Taylor would have preferred to not see Sharpay. And now her first political column was going to be delayed a week, which really sucked because Taylor already finished it and said everything she wanted to. Every time she read it over there was nothing to fix. She knew she should look at the bright side; it was basically a week off from work. And she'd spent just about every day of it with Chad but this was the one day he wasn't allowed to stick around.

It didn't exactly help that Taylor never forgave Sharpay for what she did in high school. Sharpay had a crush on Troy since forever and ever since Troy and Gabriella got together in junior year, Sharpay did everything in her power to break them up. She attempted to sabotage their chances of getting into the winter musical. She got Troy a high position at Lava Springs and pretty much turned him against his friends and into a real jerk. She guilt-tripped him into letting Gabriella go to Stanford early so Sharpay could take over Gabriella's part in the spring musical. And those were just the major attempts. There had even been times when Sharpay attempted to break Chad and Taylor up so Troy and Gabriella would be distracted from each other and Sharpay could make her move on Troy. Taylor really hated that woman.

Taylor arrived at Lava Springs and made her way to the pool. It wasn't hard to spot Sharpay with the bright pink bikini lying on the pink towel-covered lawn chair under the pink umbrella next to a dog on a pink pillow. The only thing that remotely made her look not like Sharpay was that her hair was brunette instead of blond. Taylor took a deep breath and walked over. She might as well try to get this over with.

"Hi Sharpay," she greeted as politely as she could muster.

Sharpay lifted down her sunglasses and sat up. "You do realize you're at a pool and you're dressed like a lawyer, right?"

Some things never changed. Though it didn't seem like Sharpay said it in an insulting way, it still sounded like an insult in Taylor's mind.

"This is how I like to dress," she responded. "So are we going to have this interview or what?"

Sharpay scrunched her nose. "Well that's a little rude, don't you think?"

"How so?" Taylor inquired.

Sharpay lifted her sunglasses onto her head and ran her fingers through her hair a little. "Well it's just that, you are going to be talking about me all day. I just assumed you'd want to spend a few minutes talking about you. You know, catching up and everything."

"We don't need to catch up. We aren't friends," she shook her head.

"Maybe not, but that's still no reason to talk to me this way," Sharpay replied. "How do I even know you're going to make this impartial? For all I know, you could be using this as an attempt to sabotage my career."

"Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I'm going to intentionally kick you off of Broadway," Taylor answered. "So can we get started?"

"Of course," Sharpay nodded. She picked up her dog and signaled Taylor to follow her into the building. "I had Fulton set up a private room for us to talk. I don't want anyone having a sneak preview of this or bothering us. Now, is there anything you need?"

"I have everything. A notebook to take notes, a pen to write with and a tape recorder so I don't miss a thing," she answered professionally.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I meant like a drink." She walked into the small meeting room and smiled. "Oh perfect, Fulton already set out some water and mini cookies."

Taylor raised an eyebrow watching Sharpay happily strut into the room. "You enjoy cookies?"

"I'm on vacation. There's no reason I shouldn't indulge a bit," Sharpay answered sitting down. "They may not be as good as the cookies Zeke made in high school but they are still to die for. Try one?"

Taylor shrugged her shoulders and took the seat next to Sharpay. She set her notebook down and picked up a cookie. "Chocolate peanut butter?" she inquired.

"Dark chocolate," Sharpay corrected. "It's healthier. And there is a hint of white chocolate in there if you taste carefully."

"They're good," she nodded. "Are we ready?"

"Let's get started," Sharpay agreed. "Just remember, I will be keeping my eye on you today."

"Of course you will," Taylor mumbled to herself. She placed the recorder on the table and turned her notebook to an empty page. After she hit the record button, she turned to Sharpay. "So Sharpay, walk me through this. How did you get to Broadway?"

"Well I was working for my daddy here at Lava Springs. Every night he would let me and Boi put on a show for the members. And it just so happened that someone from New York City saw our show and liked it. He gave us an audition for a new Broadway show," she began.

"And Boi's your dog," Taylor clarified.

"And a brilliant one," Sharpay pointed out. "The audition was for him, actually."

"For the dog?" Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"For the part of Shelby in A Girl's Best Friend," Sharpay nodded. "Now, I thought the audition was for me. And Daddy gave me a month in New York to see if I could make it on Broadway. Don't get me wrong; Boi was doing well for himself. He even caught the eye of his rival for the part. But I had to start from the bottom and work my way up. And if it weren't for the audience at the final dress rehearsal seeing what a bitch Amber Lee Adams was, not to mention my wonderful boyfriend, I would have never had the chance to perform in front of millions like I've always dreamed of."

"So you have a boyfriend now?" Taylor inquired. "Tell me about him."

Sharpay smirked. "Jealous much?"

"I have a boyfriend. There's nothing to be jealous of," Taylor replied.

"Remind me to bring that back up when we're finished," Sharpay stated. "Anyway, his name is Peyton. He wants to work in movies. Everywhere he goes he has his camera with him. He recorded my rehearsing with Boi and showing me around the city…" Sharpay sighed contently thinking about him. "He's the real reason I got to where I am. Peyton's taught me what it's like to live on my own, no matter how small of an apartment or how far away I was from my family. Even when I did act like a bitch to him he forgave me and helped me through everything. I would not be the star or even the person that I am without Peyton. He means everything to me."

Taylor listened to Sharpay's words carefully. She didn't sound like the same person she was in high school. It didn't sound like she was trying to one-up anyone and prove she had a better boyfriend. Two minutes into the interview and Sharpay wasn't going on and on about herself. Not only did she bring up the people important to her, she acknowledged that they helped her and made her who she was. She was thanking them instead of 'the little people' or assuming it was all about her. Taylor could tell by Sharpay's tone of voice and what she was saying that this Peyton guy really meant a lot to her. She talked about him the same way that Taylor talked about Chad. Sharpay was head over heels for this guy.

"Sounds amazing," Taylor said after a moment.

"He is," Sharpay said.

"Not just Peyton," Taylor shook her head. "The way you talk about him and how you're telling the story. It's amazing that you were able to get where you are because of the people closest to you and how thankful you are to them. You're living out your dream because of them."

Sharpay turned off the tape recorder. "That's what I was trying to tell you before. I'm not the same Ice Princess you and your little friends kept calling me in high school. I'm a different person now. I'm better. And I'm actually happy."

"I'm sorry for judging you," Taylor apologized.

"How about we finish this interview and then we can talk a little?" Sharpay suggested.

Taylor nodded in agreement and turned the tape recorder on. They continued the interview for another forty-five minutes. Taylor learned that Sharpay dropped out of college after one semester so she could perform at Lava Springs for a year. She lived in a small apartment in New York City and got along well with her cast mates. She also dyed her hair brown for a new look and Taylor had to admit, it wasn't half bad. Sharpay was even looking into other Broadway shows to allow other actors to play her role in A Girl's Best Friend.

"So tell me how you're doing now," Sharpay said once they were finished.

"There's nothing really to tell," Taylor shook her head.

Sharpay scoffed. "You're working for a newspaper instead of becoming president. What happened to that?"

"This is where my life's taking me. So I'm going on the ride," Taylor said.

"So you're settling?" Sharpay replied.

"It won't be bad once I publish my first political column. It may not be what I had in mind and it may not be glamorous, but I still get to do what I love. And I'm sticking to it," she explained.

"And you're still with Danforth?" Sharpay inquired.

"Yes. And we're very happy," Taylor nodded.

"What's he doing now?" Sharpay wondered.

"Possibly going to grad school," Taylor answered. "He's been looking for a job since we graduated a few months ago and he's been nothing but supportive of me and what I'm doing."

"Sounds fabulous," Sharpay stated.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. She didn't expect to hear that from Sharpay. Not that she said it happily either, but it was a nicer comment than she was expecting. "Really?"

"Well it sounds like he makes you happy enough," Sharpay replied.

"He does more than that," Taylor responded. "Chad does everything he can to make me happy. If he has to choose between him and me, it's always me. He always knows what to do to make me laugh. There isn't a day that goes by where we don't think about each other. Without Chad, I wouldn't be the person I am. It's one thing to do what I dream about; it's another thing to be with the person I dream about. And my dreams wouldn't be complete without Chad." Now that she thought about it, Taylor hadn't seen or talked to Chad all day. And even after spending every day with him it still didn't feel right missing him like this. All she wanted to do now was get home and kiss him. "Actually I really want to get home to him. I'll have your interview in the paper for the weekend."

"Tell Danforth I say hi," Sharpay said. "And I'll see you two in January."

Taylor was about to head out when Sharpay said that. She turned around, curious. "What's in January?"

Sharpay shrugged her shoulders. "Troy and Gabriella's wedding. Gabriella invited me."

This was a long-awaited chapter because ever since i put Ryan in the story i've been thinking of a way to include Sharpay. And with the direction Taylor's job is going in, Mr. Evans being involved now, this seemed like the perfect excuse. The real challenge was actually writing Sharpay because she seems so different in SFA compared to the first HSM. i was trying to take that last movie into account when writing her, to make her seem more down to earth. And considering i'm trying to make ties to the movies and consider all of these events an option in the characters' futures i especially wanted to make Sharpay believable in the circumstances and do her justice. It's especially hard not writing her as an 'evil' character since she's such a dramatic character and it's so easy to imagine her taking things to a much higher level than they need to be. i probably could've made this chapter longer but i didn't wanna overdo it and cause a slip in Sharpay's character. It also don't help that Taylor and Sharpay like never interacted in the movies so that made it much harder to imagine them having an hour-long conversation. So i really hope you guys like what i did with her but if anything seemed too farfetched in the writing of Sharpay then let me know so the next time i include her in the story i can write her right. As for when the next chapter is going to be up i can't say for sure. I'm going to attempt to go to my part time job today, which'll mean standing on my ankle for four hours so we'll see how it goes. If it works out and i don't get in trouble for being there i assume that means i'll be back on a schedule for this coming week, which'll mean i can't write like three or four chapters in a week. But having written fairly far ahead i think i'll be able to post a couple more before needing to write another. As for 16 and Pregnant, knowing me, i probably started a chapter and then had to stop so that only means more writer's block. i think it doesn't help that even though i started that story first, i slowly became more invested in this one and, even though i have a few ideas for 16 and Pregnant, to an extent i have a better idea of where i want this story to go. So i can't say with any certainty when that story will be updated but sometime between now and August i will at least try to finish writing another chapter. We'll see what happens. i think that covers everything so, as usual, lemme know what you guys think. Have a great Saturday everyone! :)