Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. Thank you for indulging in my quarantine rewrite project. (I hope by the time I upload this chapter, it will be over, but I know it won't be.)
November 2020 update: I was right, but hey, there's vaccine prospects on the horizon. In the meantime, you can read this story while your social distancing a.k.a. only leaving the house for groceries and/or work.
Also, I just posted my 4 millionth word on this site. I want to thank everybody who's been with me on this rewriting journey over the last 11 ½ years.
Disclaimer: I (still) do not own High School Musical or any of the songs in this. But all the original characters are mine.
Chapter 19: Murphy's Law As it Applies to Midterms and relationships. Part one
October 19, 2008 8:45 PM
Traditionally, Kim found herself crashing during midterms, trying to figure out a way to balance work, studying, and her son. This year everything was under control. An hour ago, she emailed her education project to her instructor. She had all the reading and research for her women in postcolonial literature essay done. She even already had an outline. She should easily have it written by Friday morning. Her other two classes had easy exams complete with study sheets that Kim finished earlier today. (Bonus points for having Jack and Vanessa volunteering to take Alex evenings next week.)
Now she was sitting in Chad and Sharpay's room, putting the finishing touches on their short film. Alex was sitting on the floor playing with the plush basketball that Chad bought him. Apparently, her nanny had the boyfriend flu again. Vanessa was unavailable, and Lucy decided to actually come home for the first time in a week. Jack didn't seem that happy about that.
The film actually came out pretty good, with the additional interviews from Vanessa, the McKessies, and Jack. Kim still finds it bizarre that Vanessa was the girlfriend that caught Michael McKessie having sex with his former enemy, the future Mrs. McKessie, Alexa Brown. Maybe the six degrees of separation thing is real. Along with the fact that history often rhymes. Although probably the most remarkable thing was that Alexa and Vanessa were best friends now.
The only problem with the project was now the happy couple was bickering over what color the credit should be. The harder issues have been solved during the week. Such as on the advice of Vanessa and Carolyn, Richard's name was removed from the video. (Although Kim is sure the legal moms are planning something). It was decided that Jamie would be mentioned, but things would be kept gender-neutral. Although Kim was still going to pass their professor a note to help him read everything correctly. Considering their professor had a husband (New Mexico laws be damned), Kim is sure he would understand.
"I think I like the credits better in blue," Chad said to his girlfriend of nine days.
"Of course you think blue is better. It is your favorite color. I think the white is more visible." If things go as usual, in about 5 minutes, they will start making out. Followed by five more minutes of arguing to be concluded by Kim getting kicked out of the room so they could have some 'private time.'
"I hate to break up this regular scheduled argument/foreplay. However, I have a kid that probably needs to go to sleep. Just go with the blue credits. Save the film to the memory stick and burn a copy for Mr. A. Stark-Rogers." Where she will stick the note about Jamie being Chad's ex-boyfriend in the jewel case. "Then you two can go back to sticking your tongues down each other's throats. Some people don't enjoy watching other people make out when the last time they got any was six months before their kid was born." As if on cue, the last person she got any from decided to call.
"Look, I have to take this call. Just save the file." Kim said as she gave the memory stick to Chad and walked out into the hallway for some privacy.
"Hey, long time, no call." Since she told Troy about Alex, she tried to keep things as light as possible. They were still trying to navigate their relationship at the moment. They both mutually agreed to table that discussion until after midterms.
"It's only been two days. I called you after the DNA test. It is not my fault I am being stalked by my girlfriend. Two months of pure neglect, and now I practically have to push her out of my room." Kim wanted to suggest that he break up with the annoying one but stayed silent. Besides, Taylor told her that Troy was already halfway there. Which is good because Kim did not want that woman as her child's step-mom.
"Maybe she saw those text messages you sent to your baby's mama. You did send her some pretty dirty messages a couple of weeks ago. Mostly about what you like to do with your tongue. In hopes of embarrassing her into dealing with Taylor."
"You could have told me my dad was reading those messages. They're just some conversations one should never have with their father." She could hear Troy shuddering on the other side of the line.
"Just think in 14 years, you'll be having these conversations with Alex," Kim teased him.
"Oh god, no," Troy said with a mock shudder.
"He's exactly like you. Chad calls him Troy 2.0 when Sharpay is not around. He's going to do everything you did, from sleeping with a girl three years older than him on school property to running off on a 1000 mile road trip without telling anybody. His teenage years are just going to be horrible."
"I was not that bad." She was going to remind him about getting his girlfriend pregnant at 15 but decided against it. If their child were anything like them, they were screwed.
"Also, when is Sharpay not around Chad? Don't they usually have to be within 20 feet of each other; otherwise, the other breaks out in hives. Wait, she still doesn't know yet?"
"I'm not having that conversation with Sharpay without you. We are telling her together." It was going to be a disaster, regardless.
"Fair enough," Troy replied.
"Chadpay are probably making out in the other room when they're supposed to be saving our project and watching Alex," Kim said sarcastically.
"What is my son doing right now?" Kim is always happy when he referred to Alex as his.
"He's playing with his toy basketball in Chad's room while we're trying to finish up. Did you get the file I sent you with your father's interview about how your parents met?" She won't tell Troy it was heavily edited. Jack can tell his son that he moved into the guest room over a week ago, and Lucy still hasn't figured it out yet.
"I can't believe my dad actually did karaoke," Troy sounded shocked.
"They were high amounts of alcohol involved."
"No, it's just the same way I meant…
"My replacement," Kim supplied for him, bitterly.
"No one can replace you."
Before Kim could make a snide comment about him trying anyway, she heard a loud crash followed by Alex giggling and Chadpay screaming.
"I know your kid just broke something." Kim lamented.
"Why is he my kid when he does something bad?"
"I have to blame it on somebody," Kim said as she walked into the room. There she found a disheveled Sharpay and Chad looking very worried. They were staring at the broken glass and plastic that used to be her Mac.
"What the hell happened to my computer?" Kim screamed so loudly that Troy could hear her without speaker mode.
"This is so his fault," Sharpay pointed at Chad.
"How is this my fault? You are the one who kissed me first." Chad shot back at his girlfriend.
"You were the one who kissed back and did that thing with your tongue that makes me lose all coherent thought. Besides, I wasn't the one who lost their balance and knocked the computer off the extra high bed."
"I lost my balance because I got hit in the head with a certain toy basketball," Chad argued back.
"That you bought for him. Once again, this is your fault." Sharpay actually stuck out her tongue.
"Thankfully, for you, I have accident insurance. Please tell me you burn the CD and save the document on the memory stick before you stuck your hand down her pants." Kim asked the other two trying to stay calm.
"His hands have gone nowhere near my pants. He was…"
"Too much information, honey," Chad said before kissing her in an attempt to keep her from revealing any more intimate details. "Don't worry, it's on the memory stick," Chad said when they stopped kissing.
"Where is the memory stick?" Kim asked.
"I put it back on your keys and then put it back in your bag," Chad answered.
"Which is currently being ransacked by your child," Sharpay said, pointing to Alex pulling everything out of Kim's bag. Kim turned around to see her child run out the door that she accidentally forgot to shut. Unfortunately, the last person to use the ladies' room left the door propped open, allowing Alex to walk in without any trouble.
"Alexander Troy Kim, give mommy her keys right now." Instead, Alex decided to drop her keys in the toilet. Now under normal circumstances, she would have time to fish the keys out. Unfortunately, this summer, for some unknown reason, automatic high-pressure water-saving toilets were installed. As she walked into the stall, the sensors activate, causing her keys and memory stick to go down the toilet. Along with her hopes of having an easy midterm week.
Fuck!
XXXX
October 20, 2008, 11:30 AM
"I talked to the technician this morning. My computer is completely dead. She will not be able to extract the files until Wednesday at the earliest. I just like to thank you two for bringing absolute chaos to my midterm's week." Kim explained to the couple as she met up with them in the cafeteria. From Kim's tone, Sharpay knew buying Kim a new computer will not smooth this incident over.
"That is the day after the project is due. Can we ask for an extension?" Chad asked.
"This professor only gives extensions when he is legally obligated to," Sharpay said to the other two. "Kim's son flushing our report down the toilet probably doesn't count."
"Our only option is to redo the final version. I can get most of the raw material again. When Taylor was here, I transferred a bunch of the files to my old home computer for her to watch. I also emailed some of the later stuff to Taylor and Troy. I have already called Troy and Taylor to send the footage that they have. I deleted the original files for my emails two days ago, thinking I wouldn't need them." Sharpay was thankful for Kim's tendency to email stuff to other people.
"We might be able to put something together in the next 15 hours. Sharpay, bring your laptop to my house this afternoon. You have better editing software than the old PC. There's more space there, and I don't care if you two make out in the living room. Just remember my child is present. Although you two are putting this back together mostly by yourself. Because I wasn't the one who broke the computer or got so busy getting busy that they forgot to burn the CD."
"That seems fair," Sharpay agreed after seeing the furious look in Kim's eyes. There is not an expensive enough computer in the world to make up for this mess.
XXXX
October 21,2008 4:30 PM
Sharpay was utterly exhausted. She wanted to do nothing more than curl up with her favorite boyfriend shape pillow and sleep for the next 48 hours. With their English midterm tomorrow, she and Chad will more likely go over their notes together. The other Stark-Rogers just had to make them do an essay and have an exam.
In addition to midterm chaos, rehearsals for the EHS adaptation of Taming Of The Shrew were in full swing. It would probably come out more like a musical version of 10 Things I Hate About You. However, it still counted as a Shakespeare adaptation. She had to rewrite the script twice. Sharpay also survived her chemistry midterm with only minimal damage.
Most of her exhaustion was triggered by redoing her film project yesterday. She did not want to think about that disaster. Kim was probably plotting some horrible revenge for destroying her computer. (She can't blame her own child for flushing the memory stick down the toilet.)
Maybe if Sharpay was not so exhausted, she would have realized something was off earlier. Her mind was too cloudy with chemistry formulas to pick up on the dirty looks and snickers from her classmates. Maybe if she wasn't going over the answer to question 4 in her head, she would have picked up on the joke when Penelope started humming What's Your Fantasy in the elevator. Maybe if Sharpay wasn't thinking about quality boyfriend time, she would've questioned why her suitemate asked her if she finally unzipped Chad's pants. Sharpay just pushed the idiot into the door for being a dick.
Instead of going to Chad's room first, she stopped off in her own room to drop off her books. Ever since she and Chad started dating officially, her room essentially became a glorified closet. Not that she didn't still hang out with Amanda, it was just that she wanted to be with her boyfriend all the time. There was also the fact she couldn't sleep without him. Chad kept the nightmares away. She was so not looking for it to basketball season and out of town games.
When she walked into the room, Sharpay noticed Amanda and her two partners in crime staring at the computer in complete shock. As she got closer to the screen, she realized that they were watching a clip from the "not that virginal punch" incident that Sharpay didn't know existed until yesterday. While re-creating their midterm project for film class, Sharpay and Chad found out Kim accidentally taped Sharpay giving Chad a lap dance that night. A very topless lap dance to a Ludicrous song. Sharpay just wanted the clip to go away.
"Didn't we talk about not breaking into my computer after the Taylor incident?" Sharpay practically yelled at Amanda. If it wasn't for the fact that her pseudo nephew would become an orphan, Kim would be dead right now for filming that.
"Trust me, no more breaking into other people's computers even when they write their passwords on sticky notes. I learned my lesson." Amanda said in all seriousness.
"How can you have this without going into my computer. If Kim emailed this to you, I am going to spend the next few weeks torturing her. I don't care what I did to her computer." Sharpay threatened.
"I don't think you can be mad at her since it's on YouTube." Marc quipped from the back.
In the corner underneath the footage of a topless Sharpay grinding on Chad as he sat in a chair with the very dirty version of What's Your Fantasy playing in the background was the YouTube logo. As Sharpay's mind finally processed that the entire world would be seeing her trying to jump the guy that would become her boyfriend, her world suddenly went black.
XXXXxxxx
A few minutes later
Chad Danforth was not having a good week, and it was only Tuesday. He had the misfortune of having his calculus and chemistry midterms on the same day. Chad also had to listen to even nastier than usual jokes from his non-Zach teammates about his girlfriend. That made his mood even worse. (Although he did get sad eyes from Zack that he didn't quite understand.)
With less than 10 days until the season opener, practices were becoming longer. This meant Chad had to spend more time with the people he hated. In high school, he only had to put up with Rickey; now, he had three more guys just like him.
When he finally made it back to his room, he expected to find his girlfriend passed out on his bed. Unfortunately, he found her literally unconscious in her room. He quickly grabbed her favorite perfume to revive her.
"Thank god you're here," Sharpay said as she hugged him. "I had this horrible dream that the clip of me giving you a very drunken strip tease ended up on the Internet."
"Sharpay, that was not a dream," Amanda said sheepishly; she pointed to the video playing on her computer.
"Oh god," Sharpay said, burying herself under the covers. Chad wanted to join her.
"How bad is this?" Chad asked.
"The whole school is talking about your 'sex tape,'" Amanda said quietly to the pair. Suddenly a few of the jokes at practice made sense.
"How can we have a sex tape? We haven't even had sex yet." Chad said with a sigh. Mentally he was trying to figure out how to explain this to his mom. He knew he needed a lawyer right now. Shit!
"You have not had sex?" Nikki asked in shock. "You sleep with him every single night."
"The Keyword is sleep. Contrary to what was in that clip under normal circumstances, I'm not doing that." Sharpay said from underneath her pillow. If they were alone, he would bring up that full body massage she gave him after practice last Friday. Chad considered that to be the most sensuous experience of his life, even it really was just a massage. It definitely was better than rushed handjobs with Jamie.
"Somebody has constant blue balls." Marc snickered from the back. It was true, but he didn't need to talk about it.
"He still has a right hand," Nikki quipped.
"Or her right hand," Marc added.
"Do you have anything to talk about besides our sex life?" Chad said, annoyed. Usually, he was OK with these jokes, but not today.
"It's so entertaining, and now we have video," Nikki said to the others. "Was this the day that Sharpay walked out of your room in just a T-shirt? Or did this happen more recently?" That question earned a snack from Amanda.
"Do you have to be so rude to my other friends?"
"I don't know why you are complaining, Amanda. You won $300.00 in the pool about when Chad and Sharpay would finally start dating." Marc commented.
"I guess now we will have to start one for when they will actually sleep together," Nikki said from the side.
"I have 100 on spring break," Amanda said from behind.
"At least someone thinks I'm not easy," Sharpay said, hiding underneath the pillow.
"They'll never make it that long. I'll put 50 on Christmas." During these snide comments, Chad was sending off an emergency text message to Ryan telling him to not check YouTube. He was also sending another one to his mom to call him as soon as she was available. She was going to kill him.
"Please more like Halloween, and that's pushing it. They'll be lucky to make it to the end of the week. He's had a hard-on for… actually, he always has one when he's around her." Chad had the sudden urge to throw Marc out the window. Unfortunately, even Mr. Evans couldn't cover that one up. Thankfully, Amanda picked up the look of murder in his eyes and quickly ushered her friends out of the room before he or Sharpay could engage in homicide.
"This may be an excellent time to go to the cafeteria. As a cafeteria employee, I can tell you the food is more likely to be edible if you get there early. " Amanda said as she quickly pulled the two out of the room before Chad could seriously hurt them.
"Your friends are weird," Chad said, walking over to his girlfriend. She was currently trying to disappear under her comforter set.
"They're not my friends. They are my roommate's friends. I think she's starting to get a little tired of them." Sharpay said, peeking her head out of the comforter. He instantly noticed the tears running down her face.
"It's OK." He said, hugging her.
"No, it's not. The entire school and most of the world has footage of me trying to have sex with you to the song What's Your Fantasy. Seriously why do you have the song on your iPod? You were like nine when it came out."
"It's a good song," Chad said defensively.
"For a stripper!"
"Which is why you probably did what you did. I'm not going to get a repeat of that?" Chad asked, hopefully.
"Not any time soon, maybe sometime around spring break." She said, smiling, which was a good sign.
"Think of it this way, you're not famous until you have a sex tape. You're already ahead of the curve. When you become a famous actress, you can tell everybody that you already had your sex scandal." He said, kissing her on the forehead.
"Yes, but most of them are actually having sex on their sex tape. I'm going to kill Kim for doing this."
"Unfortunately, considering the way it's cut, it looks like we did. You know that Kim did not have anything to do with this. She is your best friend. She would never hurt you. Whoever did this was being malicious on purpose." And mentally, Chad already had three people in mind who would have motive and access to the video.
"When I find out who posted this, I'm going to kill them literally. I know people. I'm sure I could get away with it." Sharpay threatened.
"Making plans for homicide isn't going to do anybody any good. How about we just go back to our room, and I may be persuaded to return the favor for Friday." Unfortunately, that never happened because Mr. Evans chose that minute to call with his mother already on the line. Chad had the sudden urge to hide under the covers with Sharpay and not in a fun way.
XXXX
October 21, 2008, 5:35 PM
The good twin: Your warning came too late. I walked in on Kelsi and Natasha showing it to the whole floor. At least three boys on my floor would like my sister's phone number.
Chad: Shit!
The good twin: Also, I think I may have just broken up with my girlfriend. Even Natasha was more ashamed of what she did then Kelsi.
Chad: I am so sorry.
The good twin: It was going to happen eventually. I'm well aware it wasn't working. She was always with Natasha. Although, Kelsi laughing at my sister's sex tape with the entire floor was apparently the final straw.
Chad: Do you want Zack's phone number now? Also, I think I just realized why he was giving me sad looks at practice. I never informed him that we look way too much alike for me to date him without a DNA test.
The good twin: No, but if you want to arrange a coffee date when I come home for Christmas, I'm open to it. We can commiserate together about losing you to my sister.
Chad: I will see what I can do. Also, I am still sorry about that.
The good twin: I know you are, but you don't need to keep apologizing for that. I'm just grateful that my sister has broken her streak of shit boyfriends.
Chad: I'm trying to. Currently, my number one job as a good boyfriend is trying to figure out who posted that fucking video to the Internet after they edited the hell out of it.
The good twin: I wish you luck. I want to smack this person upside the head. They are right next to Malick on my hate list.
Chad: I know that Kim sent you a lot of videos of us together. Is it possible that Kelsi could have broken into your computer and uploaded that video to the Internet? Or even Natasha?
The good twin: Kim never sent me that clip. I actually specifically told her not to. No one wants to see their sort of ex-boyfriend getting a lap dance from their sister, especially if she's topless. I was just happy to know you have the willpower of a saint.
Chad: Point. Also, sorry about that.
The good twin: It's OK. What happens now? I assume my dad has already called you? I sent him a text, but apparently, your mom already told him about it.
Chad: Yes, and my mom was on that phone call. Your dad had to explain to her the unedited context behind the video.
The good twin: I assume that was very awkward?
Chad: Very little of the last couple of hours has not been awkward. The lawyers are trying to get it pulled down since I'm underage, and we didn't have permission to use the song. But the damage has been done.
The good twin: Good luck with that. I'm going to go through my closet and give Kelsi all her stuff back. Then I'm going to hide in my dorm room until this is all over with. Also, I might hit the emergency wine and chocolate stash. If worse comes to worst, I'll hang out at Maria's. There will be cookies there, at least.
Chad: I like your plan. But we're meeting Kim in an hour. I have to keep Sharpay from killing her.
Chad: Who is Maria?
The good twin: Good luck. Troy would never forgive you for making him a single parent.
XXXX
October 21, 2008 6:39 PM
"Did I mention how sorry I am for accidentally taping that?" Kim said to the group after dropping Alex off with Coach Grandpa. Lucy was thankfully on a business trip again. She still hasn't realized that Jack moved into Troy's old room. Kim wondered if it would be considered in bad taste to offer to pay for his divorce attorney.
"Only about 100 times," Sharpay said angrily.
"By the way, this makes us even for the computer incident."
"No, it doesn't. The entire world has seen me topless performing a striptease for a guy who wasn't my boyfriend at the time, who just happens to be underage. We won't be even for a very long time." They knew Sharpay was ready to pounce at any moment.
"So is this the time to tell you that Ryan just broke up with Kelsi because she showed the video to their entire floor," Chad told Sharpay, which made her smile. There was definitely no love lost between Kelsi and Sharpay.
"At least something good came from this." Sharpay smiled for half a second before frowning again. "You don't think Kelsi was the one who did it? I know she hates me."
"Ryan said he never received a copy, so even if Kelsi wanted to, she couldn't," Chad explained.
"I'm sure she wanted to. Thankfully she's gone from my life and Ryan's. I'll send him a breakup gift basket later."
"You can also take me off the list. I wasn't the one who posted that on the Internet. I don't even have a copy of the file right now. Because first of all, when you discovered I had that file on the old PC, you deleted it. Second, the laptop you destroyed is still in the shop for file salvage and transfer to the new computer. So I definitely did not have access." Kim shot back.
"Can we please stop arguing about this? Kim, we're sorry we broke your computer. Sharpay, Kim is sorry that she accidentally filmed that scene. However, you know that none of us are responsible for posting it. We need to figure out who had access to the file. Your dad and his lawyers are already getting the video pulled. Let's just stop yelling at each other and do something constructive like figure out who posted it."
"My dad found out about the post from your mom. Your mom found out about it from Jack, who found out about it from Jimmie. I'm definitely not done being mad about this."
"Your father kind of already knew about it," Kim said as she put up a pillow to defend herself as Sharpay threw a shoe at her.
"Penelope didn't leave your calculus class voluntarily; she was pulled. I gave all the files from that night to your father. It was the only way we could keep her away from you. I accidentally included all the files." Chad was seriously wondering why he was still alive. Instead of throwing another shoe, Sharpay was hiding under the covers again.
"If it makes you feel better, he doesn't blame either of you for what happened. Be glad he knows the full story before he saw the Internet clip; otherwise, you would both be dead right now." He knew she was right.
If anybody in Albuquerque had connections, it would be Vince Evans. The only thing the guy couldn't do was get Malick kicked out of school because his uncle was also on the board.
"Your father's computer is another possible place the file could've been accessed from. Other than Troy and Mr. Evans, did anybody else have this file?" Chad asked Kim.
"I don't think so. I don't exactly leave my computer lying around. Oh shit."
"What?" Chad asked.
"You remember the day you guys got together, and I had to babysit Taylor?"
"Yes," they both answered.
"After she calmed a little, I let her watch some of the interview footage that I transferred to my home PC. As you know, I was in a hurry and transferred everything to the other computer. I left her alone with that computer for hours."
"You think it could've been Taylor as revenge for stealing her boyfriend?" Sharpay asked.
"I've only gotten to know her in the last couple of weeks. I hope that she wouldn't, but I really don't know. She definitely has the motive."
"I'll call her." Chad volunteered, much to Kim's surprise.
"Really?" Kim asked sure that Chad would ask her to do it.
"I text messaged her pictures of Jason at tryouts Friday, and we talked a little bit. It went OK. Which is actually why I don't think it would be her. I think she's at peace about what happened. The therapy is definitely helping."
"Maybe your conversation went OK because she was planning to turn me into a porn star." Sharpay quipped.
"Well, I won't know until I call her."
To be continued...
In the original version, the end of Ryan and Kelsi's relationship happened very offscreen. Nobody knew about it until weeks after the fact. I wanted to change that this time around.
The pandemic has made me more aware of how we stay connected with those not near us physically. So I'm trying to keep everyone connected even though they are now in multiple states and three time zones. It's been fun. I did better with Troy than Ryan the first time around, so I'm trying to make up for that now. I'm also trying to give Ryan more friends. So who is Maria?