A/N : Chapter 2! I am super excited. I don't know how fast I will update, because my life is full of…. Hanging out with friends… like today, I was there until 6:30. So yeah, I don't know if I will always be able to update on a regular basis, although I will definitely try. :D

AMBER

Half an hour later, Ryan awoke to the sound of the shower, and a bad vibe. He went to his bedroom window, and saw their car in the driveway. The car their father left them when he died. He went into the hallway, and saw the open bathroom door. He cautiously stepped into the room.

"Sis?" he asked. She didn't answer. He looked in the mirror, and saw her sitting in the shower cubicle, still clothed.

"Sharpay?" he went to her side quickly. He turned off the cold water, and kneeled down next to her. She was sobbing, and wouldn't answer any of Ryan's questions.

"What's wrong? What happened? Why were you in here?" after another few unanswered questions, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. Although his clothes got soaked, he didn't give a hoot. His sister was in distress. The dam broke and she started babbling. Although he couldn't understand anything she said; he hugged her tighter and kept telling her everything would be okay. Once she seemed to calm down, he took her back to her room, and put a robe around her. They sat on the bed, and he finally asked her, "What happened?" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"I… I, um… I had sex with Troy." She said, still sniffling. Ryan's head started to swim. All he could do was stare at his sister in awe. His sister, and Troy.

"But he's-"

"Dating Gabby. I know." She started to cry again. Ryan held her until she calmed down.

"Then why?" he asked.

"I don't know. He knew something was up, and so I told him about you, and I cried, and he kissed me, and then I pushed him away, he kissed me again, and it… kinda… happened." The moment she said 'told him about you' he suddenly remembered what the doctor had said. He replayed the doctor scene in his mind again and again. When he couldn't drag his mind off the subject, he kept thinking of death. His breathing got faster, his heart beat sped up twice the pace, and he got dizzy. He was going to leave his sister behind on this earth, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Ryan!" Sharpay shook him out of his trance.

"What? Huh?" he asked, looking at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded his head, but she knew better.

"You will be okay. The doctor said it might be Leukemia. He didn't say you did have it. There is still a chance." He nodded. The both of them grabbed a pillow, and laid on Sharpay's bed, discussing their life before their father found out he had Leukemia.

"Our tenth birthday." Ryan jogged his sister's memory.

"I couldn't eat any cake until fifteen minutes after you."

"Because you didn't turn ten until officially 4:35 p.m." They laughed, and soon fell asleep. The next morning was a Wednesday, and they had school of course. Sharpay woke up and saw the clock said 6:27. Three minutes until they needed to get up.

"Hey bro. Wake up." She shook him, and he slowly sat up. Sharpay grabbed clothes for after her shower. After which, she blow dried her hair, fixed it, and did her makeup, all in her room at her vanity. Her hair was curled, and she wore a lavender tank top, with a jean cropped jacket and a pair of jeans she hadn't worn since ninth grade. Ryan entered the room wearing a wife beater, with a Hawaiian shirt over it, accompanied with a pair of khaki cargo pants, and dress shoes.

"Ready?" he asked. They went downstairs, got in the car, and made their way to the nearest Starbucks. They walked into the small coffee shop, and ordered their drinks.

"Tall Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, and a tall Caramel Machiato." They paid, and were waiting for their drinks when a group of people came into the shop.

"Hey Sharpay! Wherever did you go last night?" Gabby asked from behind her. Sharpay's eyes got huge, and she turned to face Gabby.

"I called her and asked her to come home, because I needed her help with some stuff around the house." Ryan lied. Troy stood in the background, and avoided Sharpay's eye contact. The barista served Ryan and Sharpay, so they made a quick exit.

"Just seeing her makes me feel like a worthless pile of s-" Sharpay started.

"You are not." Ryan objected as he started the car.

"Yeah, right."

"Well, at least I don't think you are. My sister would never be a worthless pile of anything."

"I cannot even look at her Ryan! How could I possibly tell her what I did?" she asked him.

"Well, I think that if Bolton has got any sense in his head, he will tell his lovely lady what he did. And if not, I don't know what to tell you. You will be fine." This made sense enough to Sharpay.

"Yeah, we have other things to worry about right now. When is your next appointment?"

"In two weeks, February 1st. 4 P.M." Sharpay programmed it into her phone.

"You know that the news will be good, don't you?" she asked. He nodded his head. Secretly he was thinking 'I hope.' When they pulled into the school parking lot, some of their friends were already waiting by their spot.

"Hey you guys." Chad said. They both waved, but didn't say anything. Chad and Taylor looked at each other, trading confused glances.

"Shar, you are wearing jeans." Taylor pointed out. Sharpay nodded, and looked down.

"Why aren't you guys talking?" Chad interrogated.

"We had a hectic day yesterday." Ryan told him, sending a look that meant, 'Do not even attempt to ask why.'

"Cool." Chad said. When the bell rang, they each went to their lockers, and got ready for class.

At lunch, Ryan and Sharpay sat upstairs with the Drama Club, while Troy sat with his basketball friends, while Gabby sat with her Decathlon Team. Sharpay could tell that Kelsi sensed something wrong. But she didn't ask any questions.

"Are you guys staying after the Musical practice?" She asked.

"We might, but I am not sure. There are a lot of things that need to be done in the next couple weeks. We have bills, and housework, and shopping. If we are able to, then we can rehearse with you. If you are available, that is."

"I might not be available, because Troy and Gabby were thinking about rehearsing with me, but if you want to have a combined rehearsal with just the five of us, then we can." Kelsi offered.

"NO!" Sharpay said a little too quickly. Kelsi looked taken aback.

"What my sister means is that we don't want to ruin their rehearsal, they are the stars, so they need the extra concentration, so you go ahead with them, and we'll catch you some other time." Ryan said, covering her sister's reaction fairly well.

"Okay, then tomorrow, I will schedule you in, and I will tell Troy and Gabby." The twins agreed, and Kelsi made her way down the steps, and over to the Basketball table. Then onto the Brain table. Ryan saw Troy look up at Sharpay after Kelsi left the table. He felt as though he could pummel the basketball star, but decided that he might get kicked off the drama club for doing so. For the time being, he controlled his anger.

After school, Sharpay went to her locker to retrieve her homework, and proceeded to the theater. She turned her cell phone onto vibrate so that Mrs. Darbus didn't get angry if it went off.

The practice went fairly well, she only had a few lines with Troy, in which, she severely screwed up. Kelsi caught her eye, and mouthed, 'What's up?' she shook her head, and went back to rehearsal.

She got a few solo's in the 'Musicale' just because Mrs. Darbus liked Sharpay's voice. She obviously didn't have as big a part as Gabby, but it didn't bother her anymore. At first she had been angry that she didn't get the part, but then she realized that her dad had said to her, before he died, 'No matter if you get the part you want honey, you'll always be the star of the show to me and your brother.' This had touched Sharpay, and it was true. Even Ryan had said so. She thought about Ryan.

'Ryan. Oh, right. My brother. Leukemia.' She thought. It hurt her to think that before their 18th birthday, she could be living alone, with nobody to comfort her.

"MS. EVANS!" This shook Sharpay out of her thoughts, and back into rehearsal, which she had just missed her line. The rest of practice went as well as the first part of it, but it was mainly due to Sharpay's mental status at the present time. Ryan had also missed a few lines, but he stumbled over them quite well.

After rehearsal, and before Troy and Gabriella's private rehearsal, Kelsi pulled Sharpay off to the side, and looked at her strangely.

"What is up with you? Why are you acting so strangely?" Kelsi asked. Sharpay's eyes welled up with tears yet again.

A/N : As I was writing this chapter, I got two reviews…

CDSprouseGirl – Yeah, Ryan, he's my favorite too…

NotEnoughFuffy – Thanks, I will keep on… yes, angst is great, isn't it? lol