Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving, kids! Sorry for any confusion, but this is the final chapter before I begin the sequel. Thank you so much to my reviewers, the ones who comment like every chapter and tell me specific things that you like, you know who you are, and you're awesome. So, I give you the final chapter of "Found".

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Graduation day. Saying goodbyes. Troy had given an amazingly cheesy, typical Wildcat speech and everyone was finally letting it sink in. This was it. This was the end of their high school careers. Just a few years ago, they had all been strangers. They would all walk past each other in the halls without a second glance, and now they were best friends. Musical theater, which had always been a constant in the lives of people like the Evans twins and Kelsi, had brought together an unlikely group of friends, and now that group would be separated again.

It was a bittersweet feeling. Ryan and Kelsi were extremely excited to be leaving for Julliard, but they would be leaving the rest of the Wildcats, the ones who took them in when no one else would, who was nice to them when everyone else ignored them. Kelsi had been the quiet girl that no one acknowledged. Ryan had been his sister's shadow... So much had changed.

Troy and Gabriella were as happy as ever, but it was obviously difficult for them to be leaving Chad and Taylor. Taylor would be so far away—Chad wouldn't admit it, but he was really torn up about her leaving. He would smile and say it was all part of graduating. You don't take the girl with you after high school. Sadly, out of their close-knit group of friends, Chad and Taylor were the only ones who had no choice but to break up. Even Jason and Martha were staying together. Still, nobody seemed to notice the changed relationship between Ryan and Kelsi. The pair thought that they'd figure it out eventually and didn't bother spoiling the surprise for when they finally realized it.

Ryan's parents knew, however, thanks to Sharpay, and they were delighted. Derby had always been fond of Kelsi, and was excited that her son had found someone who made him so happy. She even offered to pay for Kelsi's ticket and luggage shipment to New York. Ryan couldn't believe that Kelsi would be living in a dorm, and his parents even tried to convince her to move in with Ryan in his new apartment, but they both knew that it was too soon, and that they shouldn't rush things if they wanted to have a healthy relationship. Ryan made it very clear to Kelsi that he was determined to make things work between them. The two were happier than they had ever been.

Even Sharpay seemed to have warmed up to Kelsi. Once she and Ryan had made it official, Sharpay started treating Kelsi like a sister. She realized that Ryan really loved Kelsi, and was glad that they would be together in New York. She felt a lot better about Ryan leaving knowing that he wouldn't be alone. Sharpay changed a lot after graduation. She didn't hold up her grudge towards Gabriella, although she still wasn't her biggest fan. She stopped fawning over Troy. She and Kelsi became good friends, and she finally agreed to officially start dating the ever-patient Zeke Baylor. She knew that his dedication was something she would never be able to find with anyone else. If she was really honest with herself, she had always liked Zeke deep down. She was just too prideful to admit it, even to herself.

Taylor was the first to leave. She would be living in a dorm with two other girls in Connecticut and was confident in what she would accomplish at Yale. No one doubted that she would accomplish everything she aimed to.

Gabriella and Troy were the next to leave. Troy would be sharing a dorm with some other guy who played basketball, and he was looking forward to the opportunity to make new friends. Since Gabriella's mom had moved to California, she would be living at home for a while, focusing more on her work at Stanford than worrying about meeting new people and what-not.

Jason would be going to Central New Mexico Community College and working on the side while Martha went to the College of Santa Fe, and would be majoring in musical theater. She figured, since everyone else was doing it, she would too. Jason was planning to transfer to Santa Fe after spending two years at community college to major in theater design and stage craft.
Zeke was going to U of A with Chad. The two would be playing basketball together, and, to Zeke's delight, he would be able to stay with Sharpay. Now that she was giving him a chance, she'd allowed herself to fall head-over-heels for him, and he couldn't be happier. All of his dedication and cookies had finally paid off.

Reflecting on all of this as she packed her bags, Kelsi couldn't help but smile to herself. When she moved to Albuquerque, she was a mess. She was a hurt little girl who was lost within the walls she had built around herself. She looked to the boy sitting on her bed who had changed all of that, and the familiar lyrics that he had inspired played through her head.

So good to be seen, so good to be heard.

Don't have to say a word.

For so long I was lost, so good to be found.

I'm loving having you around.

This feeling's like no other,

I want you to know

That I've never had someone who knows me like you do

The way you do

And I've never had someone as good for me as you

No one like you

So lonely before I finally found what I've been looking for.

End.