AN: Hey everybody. LOVE YOUR REVIEWS, seriously. Also, there is going to be a lack of Troyella for the next few chapters. Sorry. But there will seriously be, like, 120938820 SECRETZ revealed. So... plenty of drama that doesn't pertain to TG. I think you guys will be happy with it. And besides, this is a story about eight friends, not one couple, and I've focussed a little too much, I think, on TG the last, oh, I don't know, ten chapters. Sorry if you don't like it, but focus has been shifted. However, I know you all will be happy with the end result.

I'm ALMOST done with chapter 40. I just can't figure out how to end it... blah.

The chapter title comes from the musical Passion.

Title: Forget Yesterday
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: The kids at East High are all seniors now, and looking forward to spending every day as if it were their last together.
Genre: Humor/Drama
Chapter: I Wish I Could Forget You

"Gabriella, sit here." Gabriella's arm was grabbed and yanked down, pulling her into the desk next to Sharpay. It was the following day, during Homeroom.

"Um, what --"

"I need help in math."

"Okay..." said Gabriella unsurely. Troy, in front of her, looked at her questioningly, and she shrugged. Sharpay always sat behind Gabriella, with Chad next to her.

"So Chad, what'd you do last night after we left?" Troy asked his friend, who was next to him.

Sharpay started coughing violently.

"Um, are you okay?" asked Gabriella, concerned, as she patted the other girl softly on the back. Sharpay nodded, staring at her math homework.

"Yes. Help me. Now."

"Okay, Jesus."

Gabriella leaned over to assist her while Troy pressed, "So? What'd you do?"

"Oh. I, uh..." he stammered. "I played some pool and dented the table."

There was a pause. "You what!? My dad's gonna kill me!"

"Sorry, man. I wasn't thinking."

"Well, whatever. My dad hates coming into the den anyway, so he probably won't notice."

"How was the movie you guys saw?"

"Horrible."

"Sounds fun."

"What did you do last night, Sharpay?" Gabriella asked. "I didn't see you at all after the game."

Sharpay coughed again. "I, uh... well, I went shopping. And then I, um... tried to do my homework."

"Oh. You should've come to the movies with us."

"Well, sorry, Gabriella, but not everyone does their homework after school on Friday or is as smart as you," snapped Sharpay suddenly.

Gabriella blinked. "I – I didn't mean it like that."

Sharpay ignored her and started working out a math problem. Troy raised an eyebrow at Gabriella again.

"So..." Gabriella tried again to rid the room of all the tension. "Are you going to go out with Adam?"

Chad broke his pencil, and Sharpay looked at him for the first time that entire morning. She stared at the back of his head for a few seconds, before standing up and stomping out of the room. "Bathroom," she grunted to Mrs. Buchanan and stormed out without waiting for a response.

"What's her problem?" asked Jason loudly.

Gabriella didn't say anything but stood up too. She told Mrs. Buchanan that she was going to use the bathroom as well, and walked through the empty hallways to the nearest girls' room. Predictably, she found Sharpay inside it.

"Hi."

Sharpay glanced up at her. "Hey." She was standing at a sink, hunched forward with her hands gripping the sides. Gabriella advanced toward Sharpay and leaned back on the sink next to her, her arms folded.

"So."

Sharpay's head snapped up. "So what?"

"Something's up your ass, and I wanna know what."

"Oh yeah?" Sharpay challenged.

"Yeah. You're being a bitch again, first of all. And you and Chad are avoiding each other so much it's painful."

Sharpay paled at the sound of said boy's name, and Gabriella's expression softened.

"So, what happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"You are such a liar!" said Gabriella malcontentedly. "Look, I know what's been going on between you and Chad. I know that you have a thing for him, and I know that he has a thing for you."

"You're crazy."

Gabriella stood up straight. "Am I? A couple weeks ago, you said Chad's name in your sleep, multiple times. And I've known that Chad likes you, since... God, I don't even know when. I think while you and Zeke were dating."

Sharpay shook her head. "No. You don't get it. And I mean you really don't get," said Sharpay, and her voice cracked.

"I know something happened last night," said Gabriella softly. "You and Chad are too damn obvious. You pissed off Chad yesterday when you flirted with Adam, and I know you went to Troy's house yesterday. You really think I'd believe that you did homework?"

Laughing lightly, Sharpay admitted, "I guess I should've tried to think of a better excuse."

"Yeah, probably," joked Gabriella, and then she turned serious again. "So tell me."

Sharpay swallowed, her lower lip quivering. She leaned against the sink she was standing in front of, and began, somewhat uneasily. "I did it with Chad last night."

Whatever Gabriella had been expecting to hear, it wasn't that. She gasped loudly and shrieked, "YOU WHAT!?"

"Shhh!" hissed Sharpay. "You can't tell anyone!"

"OH, MY GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SCREWED CHAD!" Gabriella ranted, and she started to pace. "SHARPAY, HOW --"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Gabriella stopped talking in shock and turned back to Sharpay, who was breathing heavily.

"Just... stop it. Let me explain."

The dark-haired girl grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I got carried away. But... you guys had sex!?"

Sharpay nodded miserably. "God, yes."

"Well... how was it?" inquired Gabriella curiously.

Sharpay blinked. "I never thought I would live to hear you asking me that question, and even more so that I would be the one to say – is this really the time?"

Gabriella shook her head quickly. "Sorry. You're right. This isn't the time. Go on."

Sighing, Sharpay continued, "Okay. Well, I went to Troy's house yesterday. I was excited because I got a new purse and I really wanted to tell someone about it. I swear, I totally forgot about what happened at the game, but even if I hadn't, I didn't think Chad would be so pissed. I was just messing around. But anyway, we got into a huge fight."

Gabriella frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah. It was... pretty bad. He said some awful things." She took a shaking breath. "But I didn't believe him. At least, I wouldn't let him think I did. I kept challenging him and contradicting what he was saying... and the next thing I knew we were making out on the couch. It all just kinda went off from there."

"You guys did it on his couch?" said Gabriella, slightly disgusted.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll clean it later. But please, focus."

"Yeah, sorry." Gabriella thought for a moment. "What was he saying to you?"

"That I was a bitch. And, well, I didn't really care so much about that. But then he said that he only took me to Homecoming because I was worthless --"

"He said that!?"

"Well, he actually said pathetic. But it's the same thing. And then he said that he pitied me and that was the only reason he talked to me."

"Oh, Sharpay --" began Gabriella, but Sharpay talked over her.

"But I didn't believe him at all. After that Christmas present he gave me, no way did he pity me. So I told him that. And then he kissed me."

Gabriella still had no idea what this mysterious Christmas present was, but she had already asked enough insensitive questions for one day. She rubbed Sharpay's arm comfortingly, and said cautiously, "Um... is there more to this story? Because, to be honest, I don't see why you guys are avoiding each other. Was it bad like my first time with Troy was?"

"No. It was... it was amazing, actually." Sharpay sighed. She gulped.

"Then... what's wrong?"

Sharpay didn't say anything for a long time. She was staring at the wall, but Gabriella could still see the tears filling up in her eyes like they were coming from a faucet. She patiently waited.

At long last, Sharpay said, "The first thing he said to me when it was over was... 'this didn't mean anything, right?'"

Gabriella breathed in sharply. "No."

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, no, Sharpay. But I know he likes you back!"

"I don't like him."

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Give it up, Sharpay! Why are you still denying it?" she cried frustratingly. "You're sitting in here, practically crying about Chad not liking you and him saying that your sex didn't mean anything. And yesterday, when Chad said he didn't want to have a relationship, you blatantly flirted with Adam just to make him jealous. Do you really expect me to believe that you don't like him?"

"Look, it's just meaningless sex," said Sharpay desperately. "Really."

"Meaningless, huh?"

"Yeah, meaningless," Sharpay sneered bitchily. "Just because you've never had it doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"You've never had it either."

"Did you not listen to my story?"

"Your story is what proves it was anything but meaningless." Gabriella gripped Sharpay's shoulders tightly. "It's okay to like a guy, Sharpay. Chad isn't going to hurt you."

Sharpay glared at her. "He already did, Gabriella."


"I totally did it with Kristy last night," cried Zeke gleefully during lunch. Troy, Jason, Chad, and Ryan all rolled their eyes in unison.

"You're a whore. You know that, right?" Chad said conversationally as he took a bite from his slice of pizza.

"Hey, don't be hatin' 'cause I'm getting some – well, a lot, actually – and you're not," smirked Zeke.

Chad looked up and glared so viciously at Zeke that the latter's smile slowly slid off his face and he started to squirm.

"Dude," said Jason, but Chad continued to glower at Zeke.

"What's your problem?" Troy asked.

At Troy's words, Chad finally ceased his glaring and looked around apologetically. "Sorry. I have a stomachache." He tossed his pizza back onto his tray and stared at a burn on the middle of the table, not seeing the perplexed glances shared between the four other boys; nor did he notice Gabriella bustle over to their table and shoot him a glare.

"Troy, I have to talk to you now," she said urgently. Before Troy could respond, Gabriella had grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the lunchroom.

"Wow, Gabriella, I didn't know you were into doing it at school," mused Troy as his ex led him through the hallways of East High. "But I'd be glad --"

"Shut up," exhaled Gabriella. She pushed him up against the lockers, double-checked that no one was within earshot of them, and said, "I just have to tell someone this or else I'm going to BLOW UP."

"Oh, so I'm just your gossip confidante?" he asked dryly.

She nodded. "Exactly." She looked around again nervously. "You have to swear you're not going to tell anyone this."

Troy raised his eyes to the ceiling. "I promise I won't spread your bathroom-wall gossip."

Gabriella lowered her voice dramatically. "Last night... Chad and Sharpay slept together."

Pause. "CHAD AND SHARPAY --" yelled Troy so loudly that his words echoed off the walls of the school.

"SHHH!" Gabriella whispered furiously, clapping a hand over his mouth and glancing around again. "Remember, don't say anything, okay?"

He nodded in conformation.


"Hey, guess what?" Troy asked in a low voice to Jason during fourth period Algebra.

"What?" murmured Jason out of the corner of his mouth.

"Chad and Sharpay fucked last night."

"THEY WHAT?!" Jason shouted and started so violently that he and his desk tipped over and crashed to the ground.

"Don't tell anyone," added Troy quickly before their teacher started screaming at them.


"Hey, guess what?" said Jason as he and Zeke pushed their way through the crowded school on the way to sixth period. "Chad and Sharpay screwed last night. But you can't tell anyone."


"Ryan!" called Zeke in the parking lot after school. He jogged over to his blonde friend. "Guess who your sister did last night?"

"Oh, God, Zeke," Ryan groaned. "You know, I really try to stay out of Sharpay's sex life."

"Chad," supplied Zeke, ignoring Ryan.

The latter's mouth dropped open.

"Oh, but don't tell anyone."


"Have you heard, Taylor?" asked Ryan melodramatically as the two of them walked through Troy's side yard to the back of his house.

"Heard what?"

"Come on, don't girls tell each other every piece of gossip?"

Taylor stared at him. "Do you have something to tell me or what?"

"Sharpay and Chad had sex last night."

"WHAT!?" Taylor screamed in shock.

Ryan said hastily, "Don't tell anyone."

Taylor let out a bark of laughter. "Yeah, okay," she said sarcastically.

She burst open the door of Troy's den, with Ryan at her heels, and spied Sharpay, Troy, Zeke, and Jason watching Family Guy.

"You did it with Chad!?" she accused.

Sharpay jumped up in horror. "Gabriella told you!?"

Taylor blinked. "No. Ryan told me."

Sharpay rounded on him. "So Gabriella told you?"

"Zeke told me."

By this point, Sharpay was confused and flushed. "Who told you?"

"Jason."

"And you?"

"Troy."

"Gabriella," offered Troy, before Sharpay even asked.

Sharpay yelled in frustration, stomping her feet. "This wasn't supposed to happen. That bitch wasn't supposed to tell anyone!" She looked around wildly. "Where is that whore? I'm gonna fuck her up."

"She went on a walk with Chad."

Sharpay froze, the color draining from her face rapidly. "Sh-she what?"

"Yeah." Troy nodded. "She got here a couple minutes after us and asked to talk to Chad. Then you got here."

"What's wrong with Gabriella talking to Chad?" asked Taylor suspiciously.

Sharpay blanched. "Nothing." She sat down and pretended to be interested in the cartoon they were watching, but none of them were fooled.

"You like Cha-ad," sang Zeke.

"I do not," snapped Sharpay.

"Oooh, defensive," Troy teased.

Sharpay gave him the evil eye. "I am not defensive, jackass."

"Very testy though," said Zeke knowledgeably.

"Sharpay, do you like Chad?" Taylor asked gently.

Everyone stopped talking to look at Sharpay, who tried to ignore them. However, even she couldn't pretend that the tears in her eyes were fake, so she wiped them away angrily and looked away from the other occupants in the room. "This wasn't supposed to happen, you know," she said again.

Taylor sat down on the arm of Sharpay's chair and put her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" exclaimed Sharpay suddenly, jumping up again. "None of this is okay, because it means something to me, and not Chad."

"Are you actually admitting it?" asked Troy excitedly. "Gabriella will be so happy to know this." Taylor and Sharpay glared venomously at him, and he withered. "Sorry."

"Sharpay, you don't --" Taylor began, but she was interrupted.

"Don't tell me what I know and don't know!" she cried hysterically. "The first thing he said to me after we did it – the very first thing – was 'this didn't mean anything.'" She choked back a sob, cursing herself for being so weak and weepy about a boy. Everyone in the room remained silent, for once feeling absolutely and completely sympathetic with Sharpay.

Taylor pulled Sharpay into a hug and let the blonde cry quietly into her shoulder while the boys looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Well, if it doesn't work out with Chad, you can always talk to Lila," Jason told her.


Chad was bored. "Gabriella, where are we going? To Santa Fe on foot?" he asked as he followed the speed-walking girl in front him. He hands were deep in his jeans pockets. "I thought you wanted to talk."

"I do," Gabriella assured him. "I just want to be far away from Troy's."

He smirked. "You're gonna ask me out, aren't you?"

Gabriella spun around. "No, but you're within the radar."

"Oh, so you just wanna do it."

She rolled her eyes. "Do you really think you should be making jokes about that?"

He blinked. "What?"

"You and Sharpay." Gabriella crossed her arms over her chest and proceeded to tap her foot on the asphalt. "Talk."

Chad swallowed, but said, in a very rehearsed tone, "Talk? What do you mean?"

"I know you guys did it," she informed him.

"She told you!?" he exclaimed.

"You do realize that Sharpay is the Queen of Gossip?" she reminded him. "Did you really expect her to keep secrets to herself?"

"I didn't expect her to go out and tell everyone about it the next day," Chad grumbled.

Gabriella sighed. "She didn't. She didn't even want to tell me. I beat it out of her."

"...huh?"

"Look, Chad." She reached over and clamped her hands tightly over his shoulders. "Did last night really mean nothing to you?"

"Why? Did Sharpay say something?" he asked sharply, and a smile slowly crept its way up Gabriella's features. "What?"

"It did mean something!"

"Wha – I didn't say --"

Gabriella was beaming. "You didn't have to,"

"What makes you think --" he tried again, but Gabriella wouldn't hear of it.

"So then why did you tell her that it meant nothing?"

"I'm not talking about this," said Chad irritably and he tried to turn away.

"I swear to God, Chad, you are the biggest asshole in the world," said Gabriella angrily.

All of the anger and frustration that had been boiling inside Chad for the past couple of days suddenly erupted at Gabriella's words, and he whipped back around, pointing a finger threateningly at her. "I'm an asshole?" he reiterated. "Yeah, I'm such an asshole because I slept with Sharpay and told her it didn't mean anything so she wouldn't have to deal with my stupid feelings. Okay, so I'm a fucking douchebag."

Gabriella watched him calmly. "Stupid feelings?"

"Yes, stupid feelings," he growled. "The stupid feelings that I've been having since, like, last summer and have tried to fucking hard to get rid of."

"You like her," she stated simply.

"I don't like her," he snapped instinctively, and then sighed.

"Do you loooove her, then?" she taunted him.

He glared daggers at her. "Shut up."

"Well, I gotta say, you messed up big time."

"Oh yeah?"

Gabriella stared at for a few seconds. "Have you really not figured it out yet?"

"... figured what out?"

She shook him by the shoulders. "SHARPAY. LIKES. YOU."

Chad shook his head. "No, she doesn't. She agreed with me when I said last night didn't mean anything." He breathed deeply. "If if meant something to her, she would've said something."

"Oh, yeah," said Gabriella sarcastically. "Because if it had been the other way around, and she had said it first, you would've totally told her how you felt, wouldn't you?"

Instead of responding right away, Chad stared, deep in thought, at a tree on the other side of the street. Just as Gabriella was starting to loser her patience, he asked softly, "Are you sure?"


When Gabriella and Chad arrived back at Troy's house some ten minutes later, Taylor was still comforting Sharpay. She had since stopped crying but was staring dejectedly at the TV screen, which had switched to South Park.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the arrivals, and they looked back and forth nervously between Chad and Sharpay.

"Hi," said Chad quietly, staring at the blonde.

She looked anywhere but at him. "Hello," she said cordially.

"What's that? Coming, Mrs. Bolton!" yelled Gabriella, causing everyone to start. "Troy, your mom is calling us. All of us. Except Chad and Sharpay."

"Yeah, I hear her too," said Taylor quickly, grabbing Zeke and Ryan while Gabriella pulled Troy and Jason out of the den, slamming the door behind them.

The two were left alone, for the first time since the night before, and the thought was fresh in both their minds. Chad was still looking at Sharpay, but she was preoccupied with Troy's Fall Out Boy poster, in a further attempt to avoid eye contact.

"So, um, Gabriella and I talked about some things," Chad said finally.

Sharpay's eyes snapped back to his. She breathed in through her nose and strode over to Chad, her many years of acting practice put into effect. She smiled at him. "It's okay, Chad. I know what she probably told you but you don't have to worry. I only said all that because I wasn't feeling well and had taken too much medicine in the morning. I was kind of delirious." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't even worry about it." Brushing past him, she purposefully walked toward the door, her hips swaying side to side in her usual manner.

"Come on, Shar, wait," pleaded Chad.

Sharpay whipped around so fast that her blonde hair slapped her in the face. She glared at him and said, in a low voice, "Don't call me that."

He swallowed. "Can't I just say one thing?"

"I think you've said enough." She gave him a big, fake smile and tried to leave again.

"I didn't mean what I said last night," he called from behind her.

Contrary to the previous incident, Sharpay turned around slowly that time. She narrowed her eyes. "Which part? The 'that was amazing' part, or..."

He chuckled. "No, I meant that part." He paused. "The other thing, though, I didn't."

Her guard down and her eyes watering, she watched him for a while and then started shaking her head. "No, no, no."

"What?" Chad asked nervously.

"No, you can't just walk in here and tell me 'oh, last night, I was just kidding! Ha-ha!' It doesn't work like that, Chad, don't you get it?" she asked, frustrated. "This morning, I was so miserable. So miserable. Every guy I've dated has hurt me and then you did too, and we weren't even dating!" She started pacing angrily. "How do I know that you're not just going to use me to fuck? How do I know that you didn't just decide while you were out with Gabriella that I was really good and you could probably make good use of me for a couple months before we go away to college and never see each other again? How do I know that you didn't just make up some bullshit story about your sad, unrequited love, and --"

Chad silenced her with his lips on her own, wrapping his arms around her waist, just like the night before, but she pushed him off. "Stop it!" she shrieked. "This isn't a movie, Chad! You can't just make out with me and expect me to forgive you and we'll all live happily ever after."

"How could you think that I would use you?" he asked, so sincerely that she froze.

"I – Chad, it's just --" she stammered. "We hate each other!" she exclaimed. "You hate me, I hate you. It's always been like that. You said it yourself, last night was just --"

"But I didn't mean it," he exploded again, swelling with rage like he had during his talk with Gabriella. "Did I not already say that? Jesus fucking Christ, Sharpay, what do I have to do to get you to realize that I DIDN'T MEAN IT!?" Sharpay stared at him, her mouth slightly open. "God, I only said it because I thought you didn't like me. But guess what? I like you a lot, Sharpay. For a long time. And I don't care if you're gonna pretend like you don't feel the same way, because Gabriella told me everything." He glared at her. "But I guess you expect me to spell it out for you in a pink airplane with your initials on it, right? Well, sorry, but if that's what you need to actually believe what I'm saying, then I guess we don't have anything."

There was a long silence as Chad's words sunk in with Sharpay, and he breathed in deeply, regaining control of his anger. After a few moments of them both shuffling their feet and staring at the floor awkwardly, she walked over to him and slipped her hand in his. She pouted, and said, "You wouldn't write words in a plane for me?"

He smirked. "That depends. Would you get me tickets to the NBA Finals?"

She eyed him irritably, but sighed in defeat. "Sure."

"Then I'll do anything." He grinned and winked.

"IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME!" came a yell from the hallway, followed by a series of hissed whispers. Chad, still holding Sharpay's hand, walked over to the door of the den and opened it, revealing Taylor, Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Gabriella, all crouched down, listening. They glanced up guiltily.

"What the --" started Chad, but was interrupted by Lila coming around the corner with a bowl of popcorn.

"Did I miss it?" she asked wildly.


AN: I hope I did Sharpay and Chad justice. THOUGHTS?

UP NEXT:

Some of Sharpay's insecurities return to haunt her.