Chapter 2: Californication

A/N: Reviews are great! Keep them coming. Ok, down to business. My OC, Doug, makes an appearance in this chapter. He will continue to be in the story mostly for comic relief. I need suggestions for names and a plot for the movie Sharpay is in. Updates will be sporadic but more reviews may change that.

Troy sped down the freeway in an effort to get to the airport. He was running late after being held up down at the office. His boss had called him in early that morning with an official scoop that supposedly no one else knew about. Apparently, Lindsay Lohan was going to be seen on Rodeo Drive that morning. She was going to be shopping most of the day along with some of her other friends. Exclusive photos were a must and Troy was being sent in along with a couple of other photographers that worked for the firm. One of them was his good friend Doug who he had met in film and photography school. They both attended UC Berkley and were roommates for a few semesters until Troy bought a place with Gabriella. They both got the call at 7:00 in the morning and met up at a Wendy's to go over there battle plan.

"So you stay with the car and follow behind if she starts to make a run for it. I'm going to follow her on foot, try to get a reaction out of her." Troy explained to his fellow paparazzo. Doug nodded as he slurped on his frosty, trying to get his head in the game. They were both going to drive down to Rodeo Drive in separate cars and try to get some good photos of the elusive actress. Doug had suggested he stay waiting in a nearby car if she took off suddenly so that they could follow her to wherever she was going. Agreeing on the plan of action, they left separately and drove to the famous shopping district. Doug parked his MR2 in a street side parking stall, putting a few coins into the meter. Troy parked in a nearby parking lot for one of the stores. He got out and walked casually to a coffee shop where he ordered a coffee and took a seat outside. From his vantage point he could see many of the big name stores that she would possibly shop at as well as Doug, who waved at him from his car.

He didn't have to wait long as a group of women led around by a group of large men made their way into the store right across the street. Troy pulled his camera out of his shoulder bag and began to take pictures of the celebrity through the windows. Shots of her trying on clothes and laughing with her friends were standard fare and he burned through nearly 40 shots just in that first store. He noticed that Doug was also taking pictures from his car, allowing a different angle into the store as well as a closer proximity. Troy decided that he needed to get Lindsay to do something so that he could get a better shot. He left the coffee shop, throwing away his half finished cup of coffee as he walked briskly across the street. His target was just leaving the store, her bodyguards carrying numerous bags as he took his camera out and started to take pictures up close.

A small crowd started to gather as Troy was joined by other rival photographers. Lindsay's bodyguards rushed her into another store as the paparazzi were not allowed to follow. This went on for a few more shops until Lindsay was fed up and threw a bag of clothing at Troy. A blouse ended up on his camera lens as her bodyguards ushered her into a waiting car. Seeing what was happening, Doug started his car and pulled out to pick Troy up. He jumped into the convertible as it drove past, Lindsay's Mercedes pulling away quickly.

"I got a shot of her throwing that bag at you man, that was awesome." Doug congratulated his friend's acting. The silver car that they were in pursuit of pulled a quick right turn onto a crowded street. Doug pulled up alongside it while Troy took pictures. When the light turned green, the driver of the sports car nailed the gas to the floor and took off into the distance.

"Don't just stare at them, catch up!" Troy yelled to his companion.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on." Doug shifted into gear and went into pursuit. Following the car all day was not in the plan but that's what happened. They were lead on a wild goose chase around town until they pulled into a gated community. Unable to follow, the pair reluctantly gave up the pursuit. Glancing at the in-dash clock, Troy noticed that it was already 4:15 and the airport was clear across the city. Groaning, they rushed back to Rodeo Drive where Troy's car was parked. Saying goodbye to his friend, he sped off to the airport, dialing his informant's cell phone number.

"Hello, hello!" The voice on the other line said.

"Hey, Jimmy. It's Troy what's the update on my next assignment?" Troy cut straight to the chase.

"Shari Evans right? Well she flies in this afternoon on United Airlines. 5:00 is the projected landing time. Did you know that that isn't her real name? Turns out her real name is Sharpay. Talk about weird name." Troy nearly dropped his phone at the mention of Sharpay's name.

"Wait a minute. Did you say Sharpay?" Troy collected his thoughts as he pulled his car straight; her name had also caused him to swerve into another lane.

"Yeah, Sharpay Evans. Blonde hair, brown eyes, great a--."

"Jimmy quit playing around." Troy interrupted before he could finish the sentence.

"What, you know her?" Jimmy was mildly amused by Troy's mumbling.

"Yeah from high school. Look Jimmy, thanks man. I'll talk to you later." Troy hung up his phone as he pulled into the airport parking lot. He parked his car and started sprinting to the baggage claim. A quick glance to his watch told him it was already 5:15.

"Damn it all." He cursed as he ran. Not watching where he was going, he ran into a woman. Her bag had fallen and he began apologizing. He looked up at her and saw…

Earlier at 30,000 feet

A light tapping on her shoulder soon turned into a full shake as Ryan roused his sister from her nap. Sharpay's eyes slowly opened and tried to adjust to the dim lighting, a dull roar could be heard in the background. Ryan's face was smiling back at her when she turned around, a yawn escaping her before she could say anything.

"Hey sleepyhead, we're almost there." Sharpay realized then that she was on an airplane on her way to Los Angeles. The flight attendant walked by just then and offered a moist towel for her to wipe her face. She gladly accepted and wiped the sleep out of her eyes, letting the heat from the towel seep into her face and wake her completely.

"Did you want some coffee maam?" The flight attendant had returned with a coffee pot and several Styrofoam cups.

"Thanks, yes I would like a cup." Sharpay was glad that they had splurged and upgraded to first class. There was no way she was ever flying coach again, ever. To her side Ryan was busy flipping through some papers, an itinerary of sorts.

"So what are we doing when we get there?" Sharpay asked when she was ready for a conversation.

"Well we land at 5:00 and we have like a thirty minute drive to our condo. We don't have anything planned for tonight but I guess you might want to catch up on your sleep." Sharpay opened the window shade a crack and looked out to the land below. The sudden light that came streaming in caught her off guard and she blinked several times before looking out again still squinting. A few of the other passengers in first class started to glare at her so she quickly shut the window; there wasn't anything outside anyway.

"I guess a good night's sleep wouldn't hurt. Anything else?"

"Nope. Oh, we're going to meet the director and some of the cast and Friday for lunch." As Sharpay's manager, Ryan had to stay on top of all of her appointments and other obligations.

"I'm sure that'll be a blast." She muttered, rolling her eyes at the thought of having to deal with 'Hollywood' people. On her, the attitude worked. On other people, it annoyed her to no end. A crackling was heard throughout the cabin as the speakers came to life.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We are about to begin our final descent into Los Angeles airport so I would like to ask that all seat backs and tray-tables be put in their full upright and locked positions. I'd also like to ask that all electronic devices be turned off at this time. Thank you for flying with us today and have a pleasant stay." The speakers cut off with a click and numerous passengers went about to comply with the request.

The rest of the flight was uneventful as the plane landed safely and ten minutes earlier than expected; there was a tail wind. Ryan and Sharpay walked off of the plane behind the other passengers, following them down to the baggage carousels to pick up their luggage. Sharpay called a cab while she left Ryan to pick up all of their bags. Sharpay picked up her purse and walked outside to wait for the cab, leaving Ryan to bring all of the bags outside to the curb. While Ryan was busy searching for all of their bags, Sharpay was standing on the side of the curb. Just then a man running by bumped into her and knocked her bag off of her shoulder. He quickly bent down to retrieve the bag, apologizing profusely.

"I am so sorry about that. I didn't see you there. Are you ok?" The man blabbed on at a million miles a minute as Sharpay took her bag back from the man.

"It's ok, I'm not hurt. Just what are you…" She broke off the sentence as she realized who she was talking to.

"…doing here Troy Bolton!" She broke into a grin and gave her old high school friend a hug. Taken by surprise, Troy didn't return the hug for a few seconds. She pulled away from him to look at his face again.

"Wow! Imagine running into you here after all these years!" Sharpay had gone from angry at some complete stranger to absolutely giddy in no time flat.

"Umm, I was just here to pick someone up, what about you?" Troy had hesitated slightly, trying to find a reason why he was there. He was still sort of telling the truth.

"I just flew in from New York. I'm moving into a condo downtown. What about you? Do you live here?"

"Yeah…just an apartment on the other side of town." Ryan took this moment to walk up and found her sister talking to Troy.

"Hey Troy, it's been a long time." Ryan greeted Troy with a firm handshake. Internally, Troy was kicking himself in the head because he had left his camera in Doug's car and his photo ops were ruined. Suddenly an idea popped into his head.

"Hey listen guys, I'm running a little late and I gotta run. Why don't I take you out to dinner tonight? We can catch up and everything." Troy finished his act with a smile.

"Sure, that sounds nice. We didn't really have anything planned for tonight so why not?" Sharpay answered with a smile as well.

"Great! I'll uh…call you later?" Troy stumbled for a way to seal the deal. Ryan noticed and took out a piece of paper and pen. Quickly scribbling down some information, he handed the slip to Troy without a second thought.

"Great, I'll see you later." Troy said as he jogged away. When he was sure they couldn't see him, he pulled out the paper and looked at it again.

"Score!"

A/N: That was probably the longest chapter I've ever written. Not much happened but things are heating up. Anyway please review if you want this story out faster. Oh one more thing. Not that I'm a perv or a pedophile but I've been wondering how old the fans of HSM are. I'm a 19 yr old male so I'm sure I'm a minority. Peace out brah.