Chapter 7:

One week later

Sharpay literally locked herself in her room all week. Ryan, whose room was next to hers, would often hear her slamming things around, and sobbing in the middle of the night. Whenever someone asked her how she was doing, she would tell them that she was doing fine.

"We have to do something about her, this can't be healthy," Mrs. Evans said during dinner one day.

"Well, Zeke comes home tomorrow, so that might help a little," replied Mr. Evans.

"What is it with Zeke?" demanded Ryan. "We're Sharpay's family, so she's supposed to come to us for help, not him. She's changed, before all she cared about was acting, now all she cares about is Zeke." Ryan got up to get himself a drink out of the refrigerator. Suddenly, Sharpay came bursting into the kitchen. She had obviously been listening to the entire conversation, and was furious at her brother. Ryan blocked her path to the pantry, making her even madder.

"Get out of my way, Ryan," she said with an edge to her voice.

"Shar, I want you to listen to me," Ryan said calmly.

"I said get the hell out of my way!" Sharpay shoved Ryan out of her way, grabbed some food, and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the kitchen door as hard as she could.

"Ryan!" both Mr. and Mrs. Evans exclaimed at the same time. Ryan rolled his eyes.

"What?" he asked as he sat back down in his seat to finish eating.

Sharpay dumped her stash of food on her desk, and lay down on her bed. She didn't need help! She was perfectly fine! Zeke was coming home tomorrow, and there was going to be a get together with the gang at his house. Sharpay was thrilled that he was coming home, but that didn't mean that things were getting back to normal. She went into the bathroom, and found what she was looking for, her razor. She picked it up gingerly, and pulled back the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Biting her bottom lip, she made two clean slices. Sharpay watched as her blood beaded along the fresh cuts. This is how she dealt with her life now. She wanted to make sure that she could still feel pain after becoming so numb to it after the past week.

The next day, Sharpay got a call from Officer Duffy around noon. Apparently Troy had given him her number in case he needed to talk to her.

"Hello, Sharpay, this is Officer Duffy. How are you?" the Officer asked.

"Oh, hello. I'm okay." Sharpay began to rummage around her closet for an outfit to wear to Zeke's. A pile of shoeboxes fell over with a thud.

"Is this a bad time? I could call back later," Officer Duffy offered.

"No, no, some shoeboxes fell over in my closet. I'm looking for something to wear to my boyfriend's house."

"So he came home? That's good to hear? I wanted to tell you something about the shooter from the Memorial Service. While searching his house, we found a letter. It's short, only a few lines. I wanted you to hear it. It read, Dear Blonde Haired Girl, Before I go, I thought that it would only be fair that you know why I didn't kill you. I've seen you around school, and I've seen you deeply in love with your boyfriend (it's pretty obvious that you both love each other, and I wish that I had found someone half as good as you), and I've seen you on stage performing. That's why I didn't shoot you, you have so much talent." Sharpay slowly sank onto her bed. "Are you still there?" Officer Duffy asked.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. This is a lot for me at once."

"I understand, which is why I'm going to give you this; do you have a pen and paper handy?" Sharpay dug out a pen and a pad of paper out of her nightstand drawer.

"Yes, sir."

"I am going to give you my cell number, my home number, and my email. Feel free to call me about anything at all; don't hesitate to contact me." Sharpay wrote down what Officer Duffy told her, thanked him, and hung up. She was deeply touched by his kindness. She figured that he didn't have to run this by her parents because she was of legal age, and was moving out in a few months.

A few hours later, Sharpay pulled in front of Zeke's house. His parents had reluctantly left, giving the gang some time to hang out alone. Ryan was at home. He said that he wasn't feeling well, but Sharpay knew that he really didn't want to come. Sharpay heard laughter in the backyard, so she went around back. Everyone was sitting on the patio laughing and enjoying themselves.

"Hey Shar!" Kelsi called when she saw her. Sharpay went up to Zeke, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before sitting across form him. Zeke was in a wheelchair, but he could still walk and move around on his own most of the time.

"Where's Ryan?" asked Troy.

"He didn't feel well, so he decided to stay home. He's real sorry that he could come," Sharpay explained.

"It's okay," Zeke said. "We were waiting for you two to do a toast."

"A toast? A toast to what?"

"To surviving one hell of a school year," Troy said as he stood up, and raised his glass. Sharpay quickly poured herself a glass of soda, and everyone raised their glasses.

"Here, here!" they all said in unison. It was then that Zeke noticed the strange cuts on Sharpay's wrist under her denim blazer.

"Aww, shoot!" she exclaimed as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "My Mom wanted me to call her when I got here." She stood up, and went inside to call.

After a few minutes, Zeke backed away from the table, and followed Sharpay inside.

"Okay, Mom, I'll see you later. Love you too. Bye," Sharpay said to her Mom. She was standing in the living room, which was in the front of the house. Sharpay hung up her phone, and slid it into her pocket.

"Hey, Shar," Zeke said calmly. Sharpay jumped and spun around. She relaxed when she saw that it was Zeke. "Do you want to tell me something?" Sharpay stopped to think. She shook her head.

"Tell you something? About what?" she replied. Zeke wheeled closer to her.

"About those cuts on your wrist."

A/N: The next chapter MIGHT be the last, but I'm not sure. It probably will be, I just wanted to give you all a heads-up, and thank you all for your loyal reviews!

Tina101