Y'know what I realized? I need to get more involved with the characters. Reveal more of their thoughts, go into more detail, etc. So this chapter, that's exactly what I tried to do. Hopefully it works out.

Thanks for all the reviews! If it weren't for you guys, I probably wouldn't be able to find the inspiration to keep writing, which is what happened to me when I used to write anime fanfics...

Chapter 4: Wacky Wednesday

"Mrs. Montez..." The doctor didn't look at all like he had good news. Was Gabriella in a coma? Was she dead? Troy couldn't deal with the suspense any longer."Gabriella only suffered from minor head injuries, causing her to pass out. No major damage has been done, and from what we can tell, she hasn't lost any memories."

The whole group, which consisted of Chad, Ryan, Coach Bolton, Mrs. Montez, and Troy, gave a sigh of relief.

"When can she be checked out of the hospital?" asked Mrs. Montez.

The doctor checked his clipboard. "She'll have to stay overnight, but I believe she can be checked out by tomorrow morning." Before Mrs. Montez could ask him another question, he said, "And yes, she is now allowed to have visitors."

Troy jumped out of his chair and ran to her room, followed by everyone else. "Gabriella!" He rushed to her bedside and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I was so worried."

She frowned. "Who are you?" she asked, pushing him away. "And where am I?"

"Gabi, don't you remember?" Troy asked earnestly. The doctor said she hadn't suffered any memory loss, and yet she didn't remember her own boyfriend?

"Who's Gabi?" The words stung Troy. There was no way that she'd forgotten about him, let alone her own name. He couldn't believe it. He refused to--

"Troy, are you okay?" Gabriella asked, tilting her head in concern.

He could've kissed her right then and there. "What are you doing back at school?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her and accidetnyl hitting her.

"Ouch, watch the head," she groaned, rubbing her forehead. Despite her headache, she smiled. "I wanted to come back early. My mom wanted me to miss the day, but I don't think I could've been away from you that long."

"Well, I guess that means I have to escort you to class." Troy held out his arm, which she linked hers with, and they walked to homeroom together.

As they entered the room, Ms. Darbus gave them a look of disappointment. "So, I see you two didn't dress up for Wacky Wednesday, as did most of the classroom."

The couple looked around the room, and everyone was sporting funky outfits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and... Even the 90's? Gabriella stifled a giggle as the two took their regular seats.

"Now that everyone is here," said Ms. Darbus, handing out papers to the students, "I'd like to tell you more about the Homecoming Dance." Pausing, she seemed like she was waiting for the class to cheer in anticipation. When no reaction followed, she frowned and continued. "It will be held at the Evans Hotel and Spa, and will take place Saturday from 7 until midnight." A wide grin took the place of her usual slight frown. "I've picked out the theme, and it shall be..." For pure dramatic effect, she paused once more. After thirty seconds of silence, she clapped her hands together joyfully. "Cinderella! It's absolutely darling, don't you think?"

Ryan and Sharpay were the first (and only) to clap. "What a splendid idea, Ms. Darbus!" exclaimed Ryan. "I'm sure the rest of the student body agrees!"

The rest of the classroom gave out unenthusiastic "woo-hoos" and "yays", but Ms. Darbus didn't look the least bit miffed by their behavior.

"Well, I shall leave you to your business." And with that, she left the room.

That's when class really started. Enormous racket erupted the minute she left the room, and the usual "chaos" ensued.

"Hey Chad!" Troy gave his best friend, whom he had not seen that morning, a high five and a chest bump. After chatting a few minutes about the upcoming NBA basketball season, he whispered, "So, where's Taylor?"

After all, Gabriella was unwilling to have major punishment dealt out to Taylor, even with a cafeteria full of witnesses. The group chose to tell the principal that Gabriella's fall was pure accident, and he simply believed them. It did make life easier. On all of them.

Chad rolled his eyes. "To hell if I know." The class went silent and everyone was now staring at him in disbelief. "What? She had no excuse to be a total bitch." Several of the girls gasped, and Chad had a "WTF?" look on his face. "Yeah, I said it! Gotta problem with that?"

"Calm down," Gabriella harshly whispered, elbowing the boy on the side of his stomach. He jumped about five feet in the air, and she smirked. The look of shock on his face was purely enjoyable, but that's what he deserved, especially for calling her best friend a bitch. "She thought you cheated on her."

"She pushed you and Troy down a flight of stairs, Ms. Einsteinette." He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, though he secretly enjoyed what was going on. She's hot when she's angry. "Why are you being so forgiving anyway? I seriously don't believe you'd do the same."

"You're right," she shot back, her rarely-seen temper rising. She stood up, only to be sat back down by Troy. "I wouldn't do that to my best friend, but you know how convincing Sharpay can be."

Sharpay pretended to be insulted and slapped a hand across her chest. "Why, innocent little me?" The familiar devious smirk found its way onto her face. "Why would I, out of all people, tell Taylor such a lie?" She shimmied her head, flipping her hair and showing off her pearly whites. "And, why would I be against you?"

Because you're evil, Troy thought, remembering the other day. "You're a cold-hearted bitch, that's why." All eyes on him now, his jaw dropped. "Did I just say that out loud?" Gabriella shook her head in disappointment while Chad snickered, glad to have the attention off of him.

"Well, Troy Bolton," spat Sharpay, as if his name itself was venom. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, cocking her hip to the side. "We'll just see how cold-hearted I can be after I win Homecoming Queen and Ryan wins King."

Chad burst out laughing. "You? And Fruit Boy? Like that'd ever happen!"

"Heeeeey, I take personal offense to that!" cried Ryan, taking the same stance as Sharpay. "And I'm not a piece of fruit!"

"Let's go Ryan!" Sharpay tossed her handbag behind her back and headed for the door.

Gabriella shook her head once more. "You're not allowed to leave til the bell rings."

"You're sure doing a lot of head-shaking for 'minor injuries'!" Sharpay pouted and sat down at a desk next to the door. Just another forty minutes, then she'd be free to go.

.:Free Period:.

The boys of the basketball team, of course, were having their mandatory free-period workout, while Kelsi and Gabriella sat in the sidelines. Gabriella was working on her physics homework while Kelsi was writing a new composition. Or, rather, the lyrics.

"Can you sing this real quick?" Kelsi asked Gabriella, pushing up her glasses and finishing scribbling a few words on her notepad. "Unless you need me to hum the tune or maybe we could do it after school or--"

Gabriella smiled and took the notepad from the girl's trembling hands. "I think I can do it here." She felt sorry for Kelsi, always being hard at work. She remembered that even during summer vacation, Kelsi was busy writing songs for musicals, missing out on opportunities to hang out with the rest of the group. Studying the lyrics, she looked at the paper, then back at Kelsi. How can she come up with this stuff? Clearing her throat, she began to sing:

It's almost like this has happened before
Sometime, someplace, long ago
And dancing with you
Has brought it all back

The basketball team stopped practicing at the sound of Gabriella's voice. Troy stood still, transfixed by the beauty of the song. Gabriella didn't notice any of the action going on around her, and continued singing.

Is our love like a never ending fairytale?
Everyday's the same
Yet it always turns out to be different
And whenever I'm with you
I know in my heart
This is what love should be

Finally realizing that everyone was silent, she blushed a deep pinkish color. "I'm sorry." She gathered up her stuff and handed the journal back to Kelsi. The last thing the basketball team needed was to be yelled at by Coach Bolton. "I'll be in Mrs. Sampson's room," she whispered as she walked by Troy, who nodded his head.

Chad stared as Gabriella walked out of the gym, despite himself. Stop staring stop staring stop-- A basketball hit his head, interrupting his thoughts.

"Dude, why were you staring at Gabriella?" asked Jason, who had apparently thrown the basketball.

He could've killed him right then and there. All it would take is knocking him to the ground while wrapping his hands around his neck and...

Troy playfully punched Chad. "I hope you weren't enjoying the view," he joked. The boy didn't know how close to the truth he actually was.

"Hahaha, like I'd be staring at your girlfriend," Chad said, trying to keep his thoughts under wraps. "I have Taylor."

"Didn't you, like, not care about her in homeroom?" Jason so obviously did not know when to be quiet.

"Shut up."

.:Mrs. Sampson's Room:.

"Thanks for letting me stay in here, Mrs. Sampson." Taylor trudged to the far back corner of the science lab. Plopping down in her desk, she sighed. "I am so not ready to face the rest of the school."

"And why is that, Ms. McKessie?" Mrs. Sampson usually never got involved with a student's personal life, but then again, Taylor McKessie was an exception. It wasn't everyday one of her prized students showed up late to school, looking depressed.

For some weird reason, Taylor trusted Mrs. Sampson as her confidante, and told her everything that had happened so far that week. "And I think Sharpay's up to something, but I can't figure out what."

Mrs. Sampson remained silent, pondering over several scenarios. "Well, have you considered the idea that maybe Sharpay wants to win Homecoming Queen and is trying to destroy her candidate's reputations so that she has a better shot?"

Taylor gaped, shocked that she hadn't thought of it first. "That conniving little--"

Gabriella walked into the room, carrying a load of textbooks. "Mrs. Sampson, can I stay in here?"

The teacher smiled. "Sure, Ms. Montez. Why don't you join Ms. McKessie and I back here?" She was hoping that the two could resolve things, and do something about that nasty Sharpay. The girl never liked science anyway.

"Umm, I just remembered, there's this thing I have to do..." Taylor tried to leave the room, but that was a failed attempt right from the beginning. Gabriella stood right in the doorway, making sure the girl wouldn't be able to get out.

"Look, I'm not mad or anything," Gabriella said, still blocking the exit. She hoped that Taylor still wasn't mad about the lie Sharpay had told. They were best friends, and even though Taylor should have given her the benefit of the doubt, she had already forgiven her friend. "But why did you believe Sharpay?"

Tears came pouring out. "I don't know Gabriella. With all that's been going on so far this week, I thought... I thought that Chad would do something like that, just to get back at Troy. And then I thought you went along with it just for the heck of it and..."

Dropping her textbooks, Gabriella gave her friend a big hug. "It's okay. We'll get back at Sharpay, somehow."

Her tears dried up. With an evil glint in her eye, she laughed. "And I think I know how to."

.:After School, Gabriella's House:.

Taylor had set up a chalkboard in Gabriella's living room, full of scribbles and doodles of different places in the school. "Okay, so here's the plan--"

"Why are we here again?" Chad asked impatiently, sitting on a recliner. He had been dragged to the house by Troy, who insisted that they'd watch a basketball game. Now, come to found out, that wasn't the case. Which was extremely uncomfortable for Chad, being at Gabriella's house with the way he had been feeling about her lately.

Troy sat happily on a couch with Gabriella, their arms wrapped around each other. "Chad, just listen to her." The two (Chad and Taylor) hadn't officially broken up as a couple, but it was right around the corner. Troy could sense this, and wanted to do everything possible to keep the two together. He was not about to spend the rest of senior year trying to find Chad another girlfriend.

It was the same for Gabriella. She couldn't help but be worried about the now-imminent breakup. As tough as Taylor tried to act, Gabriella could see right through it, and knew her friend would feel like nothing without Chad.

"Anyway ," Taylor continued, annoyed at the interruption. She pointed to a badly drawn school courtyard and led the group through the various steps of their revenge.

Plan Melt the Ice was now in effect.

Blee! So there it is. It's just pretty much a filler chappie (don't Wednesdays feel like that anyway?), but the next chapter, Sharpay better watch out. Please review! I know you're reading, so it isn't that much trouble to say "OMG I luv ur story!" at least!

And a note about the song Gabriella sings: That will be important later on in the story, and the song is my own. You can take if you want; I don't mind, considering I just put it together for the sole purpose of this story, which is why it's so crappy. I just put a bunch of lines together, so it wasn't well thought out at all.