Chapter 7: Perfect Situation

A/N: Here it is. The big reveal chapter. I'm really dissapointed at the number of reviews for last chapter. 2! I know it's partly because everyone is updating really fast and this story got pushed to the back but there were still about 60 hits on that chapter. Don't make me beg.

Troy stormed into his boss' office in an extremely foul mood that afternoon. Without so much as a knock, he pushed the door open making it slam against the wall. Al looked up from his computer to see that Troy was standing there. He was breathing heavily through his nostrils and had his hands on his hips. Shrugging him off, he turned back to his internet poker game and dismissed Troy with a wave of his hand.

"What the hell is this?" Troy asked angrily. He slammed a magazine down on the desk, shaking Al's collection of bobble-head dolls. Al sighed and turned the magazine to face him. It was a weekly gossip tabloid with Sharpay on the front page.

"It's a good picture; you should be getting your bonus in the mail pretty soon." Al again waved his hand to tell Troy to leave.

"No! Why does it say 'Crazy and drunk! Shari mugs a homeless man!'? She didn't mug him! She gave him money to say sorry!" Troy put his hand up in frustration.

"Look, kid. The original story was great. Actress helps homeless man, that's third page stuff. Now mugging a homeless man is front page news!" Al stood up and showed him the magazine again.

"You made the front cover! It's not People but soon enough my friend." He wagged a congratulatory finger at him.

"I don't want the cover if it's at the expense of the person's reputation." Troy explained to his boss. Al raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then you're in the wrong business. We're in it for the money. People pay big to see celebrities screw up. If you can't or won't deliver, we're gonna have to let you go." Al sat back down in his seat confident about his threat. Troy started pacing the room in frustration, nearly ripping the hair off of his head. He finally stopped and turned back to the desk.

"Is there any way you can get them to post a retraction and apology. Maybe even the real story too?" Troy bargained. Al smiled at him before breaking into a loud laugh. He continued to laugh, slapping his knees and wiping his eyes from the tears. Troy just stood there and clenched his fists, almost to the point of drawing blood. Al finally calmed down enough to notice that Troy wasn't laughing with him.

"Oh you're serious. There's no way I could do that. Why would I want to?"

"Maybe cause you're a nice guy. She's one of the good people. She's kind and caring; she's a great actress with an amazing voice. She's beautiful and funny, smart as a whip and she can't put a smile on anyone's face." Troy had gone off into his own world as he was describing Sharpay. Al stared at him through his glasses.

"Oh my God. You love her. The hunter got attached to his prey." Al smirked at him.

"You know what, maybe I do. I love her. She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment."

"She's an airhead princess that's overpaid for doing what little work she does. People resent her because she's famous. Don't tell me she doesn't deserve it." Al stood up, getting angry at his belligerent employee.

"She doesn't and you know what? I don't either. I quit." Troy picked up a bobble-head and threw it across the room. He turned on his heel and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

"Geez, what a bitch." Al said to himself when Troy left.

Meanwhile in Sharpay's condo

Sharpay decided to stay inside to avoid the cameras that were inevitably waiting for her downstairs. She sighed as she thought about the past few days she had spent with Troy. She could feel it deep in her soul; she had fallen in love with Troy and there was no turning back. When he touched her, she swore she could feel the sparks travel down her spine. When he kissed her, her toes curled from the exhilaration of it all. She never felt this way about another person before so she deduced that it could only be love.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by Ryan walking in through the door with a huff. He turned to Sharpay with magazine in hand. As soon as she saw it her face fell and she avoided eye contact.

"What did I do now? I've been inside for the past two days." She asked exasperatedly. Those pictures were starting to get a bit eerie. It scared her that technology had advanced so much that a person could take pictures from great distances and still come out clearly. It also scared her that someone would stalk her so much just to get pictures of a celebrity. Ryan put the magazine down on the table and pushed it to Sharpay who picked it up. Her jaw dropped after reading the headline and continued to stay down as it read the accompanying half page article.

"I didn't mug that man!" She cried indignantly.

"Maybe I was drunk, but I gave that man money to apologize for knocking all of his stuff over." She put her head in her hands and started to cry.

"Those assholes. All they have to do is put a different caption down and it changes the whole meaning of the picture." Ryan put the magazine in the rubbish can. Sharpay's phone started ringing then. She picked it up off the table and groaned when she read the number on the small screen. Quickly wiping her eyes and clearing her throat, she answered the phone.

"Hey Zack! What's up?" She asked cheerily. Ryan didn't hear the other end of the conversation but he could tell it was bad. Sharpay's face continued to fall and she was nearly in tears again.

"Uh huh. I understand. Thank you." She sniffled when she hung up.

"What was that about?" Ryan asked, putting an arm around his sister to comfort her.

"That was Zack. He just saw the article and he wasn't very happy. He said that he was giving me one last chance because he likes me and really wants me to be in this movie." She explained the other side of the conversation to Ryan.

"Come on, cheer up. You still have the part." He tried to cheer her up. She wiped her eyes and stopped crying but she still looked sad.

"Hey, isn't Troy going to take you to dinner tonight?" Ryan asked in a last ditch effort to get her to smile. It worked. The mention of Troy's name instantly brought a smile to her face and she hugged her brother.

"Thanks Ryan, what would I do without you?" She went to the freezer and pulled out a tub of ice cream.

"You want some?" She asked as she came back to sit down with him at the table.

"I'm gonna have to say no. I'm going out later and I don't want to ruin my appetite." He said, getting up from his seat.

"With who?" Sharpay asked before Ryan got out of earshot. He turned around and faced her before answering.

"Actually, I'm going to dinner with Gabriella tonight. Don't wait up." He told her as he walked to the bathroom. Sharpay smiled again and continued to eat out of the carton of ice cream.

Later that night

Gabriella didn't come home till about three that morning. She found Troy asleep on the couch, the newspaper on his chest. She took the paper off of him and replaced it with a blanket. Kissing his forehead, she shut off the light and went to the bedroom to change into her night clothes. Several hours later, Troy woke up with the sunlight streaming through the window. Noticing that he wasn't in his bedroom, he pulled the blanket off of himself and walked to the door. Knocking before entering, he slid into the bedroom. The noise that Troy made in the bathroom woke Gabriella up. She glanced over at the clock and noticed that it was 10:30. She had to be down at the café at 1:00 that afternoon so she wasn't particularly worried about waking up late. A few minutes later, Troy appeared from the bathroom after taking a shower. Noticing that Gabi was up, he motioned for her to follow him. They took a seat on their matching barstools and Troy stared at the floor.

"What is it?" Gabi asked after Troy stayed silent for a minute.

"How was your date last night?" Troy asked.

"It was great, Ryan is a great guy. What is on your mind? I know that's not what you want to talk about." Gabi stared at him with piercing eyes, trying to get him to tell her what was wrong.

"I quit my job yesterday. I don't know how we can pay the bills now." Troy looked at the ground and mumbled to himself.

"What? Why did you quit? You know we need the money Troy." She hit him on the arm lightly to get him to look at her.

"Did you see the tabloids yesterday? I can't do that to Sharpay anymore. She doesn't deserve it." His eyes were red from the strain of holding back his tears.

"You love her don't you." Gabi said it rather than ask a question. Troy just nodded his head sullenly.

"You have to tell her." She said after thinking for about two seconds.

"Tell her what?" Troy was slowly losing his mind over the whole ordeal.

"Tell her you love her you idiot. She needs to know. You also have to tell her that you were the one that was taking all of those pictures. You don't want her finding out from someone else." Gabi said as she got up to go take a shower. Suddenly realizing what he had to do, Troy shot up off of his seat and bolted for the door.

Meanwhile at Sharpay's condo

She woke up to the sound of her cell phone going off on her bedside table. Reaching over, she picked it up and answered it.

"Hello who is this?" She asked the other person. In her sleepiness she had forgotten to check the caller I.D.

"I'm just a friend. Look on page A 17 in the paper." The man on the other line hung up before she could say anything else. Sighing, she flipped over on her bed and rolled off. She opened her door a crack to pull the newspaper inside and opened it up to the page that the man had told her to. The article read:

Troy Bolton was a charismatic freelance photographer that loved his job. He recently quit his job with the Wildcat photography agency citing personal differences as his main reason for the split. He had been working in the field for nearly two years now and has had many of his photos featured in various magazines. His most recent batch of photos were centered around the Broadway actress, Shari Evans. He has declined for comment on his latest subject.

Sharpay stopped reading after that, shock written on her face. 'So Troy was the one all along. I thought we had something special, he could have been the one!' Sharpay thought to herself angrily. Just then there was a knock on the door. Checking the peephole, she saw Troy standing on the other side of the door. She opened the door swiftly and put the paper in his face.

"What the hell Troy! Did you come back to take more pictures and ruin my good name?" She threw the paper down on the ground and crossed her arms.

"I can explain. I did it." He was cut off by a slap to the face. Sharpay was fuming, her face was flushed with anger and she was on the verge of tears.

"I thought I could trust you Troy. I fell in love with you but you've been lying to me all this time." Troy did a double-take at what she had said.

"Yes, I fell in love with you. But I don't think I could ever forgive you for what you did." She had started crying by then and Troy just stood there, shell shocked.

"Get out." Sharpay said through clenched teeth. Troy didn't move. He stumbled to find the right words to say to her to explain himself. Losing her patience, she slapped him again and pointed out the door.

"Get out now! I don't want to see you ever again!" Troy sprang back at the sudden outburst and quickly left the room. Sharpay slammed the door behind him and broke into tears, falling against the door in sadness. Outside, Troy slammed his fist into the metal elevator doors, tears falling down his face.

"Perfect!" He yelled into the empty hallway.

A/N: I don't know why but the last 2 chapters were longer then what I usually do. There's still a lot of the story left so keep reading and reviewing. Peace out.