Chapter 9

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It had been about two weeks since the party. Gabriella had made no efforts to contact Troy. He would hear a few things hear and there from Chad, but other than that it was as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth. Troy wasn't himself anymore. He didn't want to play basketball, he never left the house. His friends would come visit but he would tell his dad to tell them he wasn't home. The only person he really talked to was Chad. And even then it was only to see what was going on with Gabriella. Sharpay had tried to call him a few times but there was no way he was going near that girl ever again.

He thought about changing his number but then he thought what if Gabriella called, she wouldn't be able to get a hold of him. His parents were so worried about him but there was nothing they could do. Troy was completely and utterly lost without her.

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Gabriella was sitting in her room waiting for Taylor to arrive. She had been over to Gabriella's house almost every day since the party, to support her. Gabriella just didn't feel like the same person anymore. She was so thankful that they were out of school for the summer because if they weren't she would have failed miserably, and she would have to face the two people who betrayed her.

It took every ounce of her being to not call or contact Troy. Every single day, that is all she wanted to do. Call him, have him come over. She just wanted to be held by him, to kiss him.

But then she would think about him and Sharpay all over each other. And it made her sick all over again. Just the thought of him even touching another girl made her want to vomit. She tried to shake the feeling.

She hadn't cried in awhile now, she was actually numb to the whole thing. She knew that probably wasn't the right way to deal with it but she had no choice. She couldn't loose control of her life over this. She heard a knock at her door and was surprised to see Kelsey and Jason.

"Um hey guys, this is unexpected." Gabriella said.

"We just wanted to come and see how you were." Said Kelsey.

"Yeah we wanted you to know that we are here for you." Said Jason right after. Gabriella smiled and motioned for them to come in.

"How have you guys been?" she said trying to make conversation.

"We have been good, just getting ready for the new school year and all. Are you trying out for the fall musical?" Asked Kelsey hopefully.

"I don't know Kels, after everything……"

"I understand if you don't, but I would hate to see Sharpay up on stage instead of you…" She started to say and then caught herself. Gabriella flinched at the name, but didn't seem to be too shaken by it.

"I'm so sorry-"

"Don't worry; I am going to have to hear that name sooner or later right?" Gabriella said forcing a smile. Kelsey and Jason nodded not really knowing what to say. But then Jason came out and said something that surprised even him.

"Troy is a wreck without you." Kelsey stared at him with wide eyes and Gabriella tried to find something to say.

"What?"

"He isn't the same guy anymore. He wont talk to anyone, he doesn't eat, sleep. His parents are really worried about him. We don't know what to do. And the only one who can fix that is you." They all sat in silence for a moment while Gabriella registered what Jason had just said.

"I can't change that Jason." She said quietly.

"Yes you can. Hear him out. Gabriella, I know he loves you, I am sure that if you just let him explain-"

"There is nothing to explain, what's done is done ok? Just drop it." She snapped. She felt bad and apologized soon after. They left her alone with her thoughts afterwards. As they were leaving Gabriella heard Kelsey slap his arm outside her door and started to lecture him. She couldn't help but smile. Kelsey was only trying to look out for her, just like Jason was doing for Troy.

She couldn't help but feel a little better to hear that Troy felt bad about things. A part of her thought that maybe Troy and Sharpay had had feelings for each other and that is why they didn't hold back at the party. She didn't know how she would've handled seeing them together at school.

She sighed and then thought about what Jason had said. Could Troy really be that bad? But what she said was true. She didn't think that she could ever be with him again, but maybe she could provide some closure, for the both of them.

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Ryan Evans was sitting in his room still boggled at what happened at the party. How could Sharpay be capable of something like that? He knew that she was devious and selfish, but he didn't think that she was capable of participating in the act of ruining someone.

But then again, he didn't know the whole story. Maybe it was more Troy than Sharpay. He thought about that for a second and knew at once that couldn't be it. Troy loved Gabriella with all his heart, but if that were true, why did he screw up? And not just a little screw up, this was major. He decided to try and talk to Sharpay. He walked over to her room and knocked on the door. He heard sniffling and the Sharpay said,

"I'm busy!"

"Sharpay, its Ryan, we need to talk." He heard her get up from her bed and open the door. He was surprised to see that she was a mess. He had never seen his sister cry, even less have one hair out of place.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come in." she said as she walked back to her bed. He sat down next to her and then she started sobbing.

"Sharpay, what's wrong? Oh my god you're not pregnant are you?"

"No I'm not pregnant, you have to have sex to get pregnant don't you?" he was really confused by this last statement. Wasn't that the reason that Troy and Gabriella broke up? Because him and Sharpay had sex?

"Listen sis, you better explain this to me real quickly."

"What's there to explain, everyone hates me because they think I slept with Troy."

"I don't mean to be a jerk, but you did…….didn't you?" she started crying even harder when he said that.

"Ryan, I'm not going to lie to you. That is what I had in mind, and I made it seem like we did. But I don't know what I was thinking, I miss Zeke so much, and I thought that I could get back at him by- by…." She stopped and broke down again.

"Sharpay, you need to pull yourself together. What you did was really low, even for you. Did you even think about anyone but yourself? What about Gabriella?"

"I know, I don't know what I was thinking. I mean we kissed and I was going to go through with it, and then Gabriella came in and saw us…."

"How does he not know this didn't happen?"

"He was so drunk. But I made him kiss me, I did everything, he really didn't want to……" she said and started crying again.

"This doesn't add up. Wouldn't he know you guys didn't have sex. I mean what gave him that idea?"

"I undressed him, and then I put an empty condom wrapper in the bathroom knowing he would see it in the morning. I don't know what's wrong with me Ryan." Ryan couldn't help but feel bad for his sister. Everyone thought that the break up with Zeke didn't effect her, but he knew the truth, she was very much in love with him. But what she did was unforgivable, she had messed with two completely innocent people.

"Sharpay, I think you know what you have to do."

"I don't think I can do it. They all hate me."

"Can you blame them? You messed with these people, dragged them into something that they had nothing to do with. You need to fix this now. Get dressed."

"Where are we going?" she asked while he grabbed her by the arm and grabbing some clothes off the floor.

"Troy's."

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Troy was sitting at his house trying to eat a sandwich his mom had made him. He just didn't have it in him to even take a bite. He pushed it aside and got up to go to his room when he heard his doorbell. Every time it rang, he hoped that deep down Gabriella would be on the other side, waiting for him. But every time he opened it, he was disappointed.

He walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. He could see two shadows. He unlocked the door and opened it to find Ryan and Sharpay Evans on his doorstep. He looked over at Ryan and then at Sharpay.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"We need to talk to you." Said Ryan stepping out in front of his sister.

"I have nothing to say to her. Except some very nice words that I don't think you would appreciate." Troy wasn't a violent guy. But right now he wanted nothing more then to punch the living daylights out of Sharpay.

"Troy I know you are mad, but I really think you should hear her out. I wouldn't have brought her here if I didn't have damn good reason and you know that. So, can we please come in?" Troy sat there for a moment not knowing what to say. He knew Ryan wasn't lying, but the last thing he wanted to do was be in the same room as Sharpay, not only because of sheer disgust, but because he was afraid of what he might do to her.

"You better make this quick." He said as he opened the door wider for them to come in. they followed him into the living room and they all sat down. Troy looked at Sharpay and couldn't help but notice how bad she looked. She looked like she hadn't showered in days. Her hair was pasted to her head, her clothes didn't match and were all wrinkled.

"Ok, go." Troy said.

"Troy, it's about the night at the party." Sharpay finally said shakily.

"What about it?" Troy replied grumpily.

"What happened between us, it didn't happen."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was all a lie. Nothing happened. I wanted to get back at Zeke, for dumping me. I wasn't thinking."

"But the condom wrapper and my-"

"I did that. All of it, I made it seem like something happened between us. Troy we kissed, but that was it I swear."

"Wait how do you know? You were drunk too."

"No I wasn't, I didn't even have a sip of alcohol. It was stupid of me to even think about. I am so sorry. I have never been so sorry about anything in my entire life." Troy sat back and let it all sink in. he didn't know whether to hug her or to throw something at her head.

"So, we didn't have sex?"

"We kissed, and I take full responsibility for that. You said no, I didn't care. I am so sorry."

"Sharpay, why didn't you say anything before?"

"I tried to call you. But I was scared. Ryan is the one who made me come here."

"Thank you for telling me the truth Sharpay." Troy said, he felt as if he was just handed the world again. All he wanted to do was go to Gabriella and tell her.

"I need to go. Thank you once again." He said as he got up. Then he turned around and gave Ryan a hug. He awkwardly shook Sharpay's hand and headed for the door once again but then turned around one last time.

"Sharpay, I may need you to talk to Gabriella. She is really hurt and I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't believe me." Sharpay nodded as tears ran down her face. Troy bolted out of his house and ran all the way to Gabby's.

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Taylor pulled into Gabriella's drive way and saw Kelsey and Jason driving down the street. It didn't surprise her; Kelsey had called Taylor earlier to see if it would be ok for her and Jason to visit Gabby that day. Taylor turned off her car and started to get out when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was someone in white sweats running towards her. She thought for a minute that it was Jason but she remembered he had just driven by. Then when they got closer she realized who it was.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she yelled across the lawn.

"I need to talk to Gabriella." Troy gasped, his lungs felt as if they were about to burst.

"I think you need a reality check. Your best option is to turn around and leave her alone."

"No, Tay she needs to hear me out. This was all a mistake-"

"Yes, it was a mistake. She never should have given you the time of day. She is too good for a piece of shit like you." Taylor responded before heading inside. It took a lot to get her mad, but when you mess with one of her friends, there was no stopping her.

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Gabriella heard yelling outside and ran to her front door to see what was going on. She had hoped it wasn't Jason and Kelsey fighting over what he had said, she was really ok. She went to the door and decided she could get a better view from the front window. When she pulled the curtain aside she saw Taylor's car but the person standing next to it wasn't Taylor.

She felt like she was going to throw up. It was Troy. He was in his basketball sweats. He looked winded, like he had run all the way over there, which was probably the case being that his car was no where in sight. She couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but she noticed Taylor said something; well more like screamed something and turned around to walk in. Troy didn't move. He stood there looking at the house. Gabriella knew he couldn't see her, but it felt like he was looking right at her.

"How long have you been there?" Taylor said as she walked in.

"Long enough, I heard yelling so I came down. What was that about?"

"He wanted to talk to you. I said no. Simple as that."

"Oh. Did he seem ok?"

"Yeah fine-wait, why do you care?"

"Jason just mentioned something, I was just wondering."

"Well stop wondering, he is a waste of time." Taylor said aggravated.

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