I don't know how to say this but I think I'm in love with you ..

By. simpleee.meee

Disclaimer. AII don't own it . x)

Chapter 17: Plan- I love you:

Troy's PoV:

I was requested to be seen by Sharpay.

"Hey Troy. I have something to tell you .." Sharpay said, clearly unnerved by what she was about to do.

"I'm all ears. Shoot." I replied.

"I .. I-I-I .. I .." She faltered nervously.

"Are you ok, Sharpay? Because, you're stuttering like crazy." I said and shifted the stool that I was sitting on closer to her bed.

"Yeah, it's just that I, I-I-I .."

"You?" I raised my eyebrows and made a hand motion for her to go on.

"I .. nothing. Never mind, Troy." She sighed with a pained look in her eyes.

"You sure?" I asked, "Because, if there is something wrong, I'm always here for you."

"Yes .. I'm sure." She tried to reassure me, but failed to.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow at school, mmkay?" I asked.

"Mmkay." She replied.

I walked out of the hospital room. There was something wrong with her but she didn't tell me. It was either that she wasn't ready to tell me or it was a girl thing. A girl thing that she could tell girls, not boys. No matter how tight they were with her. I really hoped that, that wasn't the way she felt. I heaved a deep sigh. Nevaeh and Dante had stayed behind to wait for me. I smiled my gratitude at the two.

"Thanks." I said rather down.

"What's wrong?" Dante asked.

"I really thought that she liked me back. I really thought that she was going to tell me. I really thought that this was the right moment, but no. It wasn't." I sighed.

"What? You mean to tell me, that she didn't ..?" Nevaeh asked.

"No. She doesn't like me. Well at least not that way. She likes me as a best friend, but nothing more." I shook my head.

"But .." Nevaeh trailed off.

"Just drop it Nev." I said wearily.

"That's no way to talk to your cousin." Dante said.

"Wait, I gotta tell you guys, something super important. Not here, outside." Nevaeh pointed, to the group of other kids from New York: Performing Arts and Sports School.

"Can't it wait until later? I'm not really in the mood for talking." I sighed.

"Sheesh. Moody much, Bolton!" Nevaeh snapped.

"Huh?" Dante looked at Nevaeh.

"Not you. Troy Bolton." Nevaeh retorted.

"Oh, yeah man! Totally. Moody much?" Dante echoed.

"Ok, whatever." With that Dante and I followed Nevaeh out the hospital to the yard.

"You might want to sit down for this news." Nevaeh warned me and pushed me on the green bench.

"Well are you gonna tell or what?" Dante asked, excited.

"Oh yeah. Wait let me sit down as well." Nevaeh sat down next to me and Dante sat on the other side of me.

"Remember how Sharpay was all bummed out at Lunch? And then remember how she walked off after looking at our script? Well I walked after her to tease her a bit. But ended up being her counselor. She told me of how her workload was stressing her and how she .. couldn't help but think of you." Nevaeh said with a punch.

"What, what what, what! Hold up. Tell me the exact words she said." I said, excited yet nervous.

"Ok. She said, I'm gonna have to admit this, but I like him. I like him so very much, that I can't resist his smiles or the way he holds my hand .. and then her smile sort of faded and said, oh crap. Ignore that I said anything. But I swear, mate, she is in head-over-heels in love with you. But she doesn't want to admit it. So .. that's why .." Nevaeh trailed off and glanced at Dante.

"That's why we came up with a plan." Dante finished.

"What, you did? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" I asked.

"Well. maybe because you might not like it?" Nevaeh carefully raised the issue.

"And why won't I like it?"

"I didn't say you won't like it ... it's just ... maybe. You know?"

"Tell me the plan you guys came up with," I demanded.

"Well, we were thinking of, I don't know, maybe locking you up in a room with Sharpay for a day?" Dante raised his eyebrows as he spoke.

"What?" I asked out of shock.

"Well, maybe not that idea. But you know what little cuz; we'll be here for you if you have problems." Nevaeh babied me.

"You must really like this girl." Dante noted.

"I don't know. It's like, when she's in the same room as me, the whole room lights up. When I hold her hand, or wrap my arms around her, or hug her, I swear I can feel sparks. And her smile, her eyes ... I love her." I said dreamily.

"Now, that's deep!" Dante punched me on the arm.

"Well good luck. And just remember, we're here; if you need us." Nevaeh prodded.

"Thanks guys, you're the bestest cousins ever!" I said and gave them both a hug.

"Mr. Bolton, Miss. Bolton, Mr. Bolton- inside now please. We're going back to school." Principal Madison yelled at us and motioned for us to come in.

"Yes, ma'am." We all replied and walked inside.

I saw that lady doctor and the nurse walk in Sharpay's hospital room. After a while the nurse came back and fetched Principal Madison, who was busy trying to sort us in a line. Then after about 30 minutes, a teacher by the name of Mr. McClarie walked in and took control over us.

"Good news students. Sharpay will be coming back with us today!" Principal Madison announced happily and I saw Sharpay emerge from behind the hospital room door, in her normal clothes.

"Nev, Dante! Did you hear that? She's coming back today!" I yelled excitedly at my cousins.

"Yes, we heard. After all we're not deaf." Nevaeh complained.

"Back to the bus!" Principal Madison shouted and we were all trudging out.

Sharpay was firmly glued to the side of Principal Madison and a protective arm was drawn over her shoulders. And that was when the idea hit me. I would show Sharpay that I really loved her, by really trying hard. I smiled to myself and sat next to Dante on the way back to school.

"They're back!" Destiny shouted to the rest of the people that couldn't come to the hospital as the bus entered the school building.

"Yay!" Chorused everyone.

Sharpay was taken with Principal Madison and there was to be an assembly. I rushed to the hall with Nevaeh, Dante, Chad and Destiny. We took the first couple of seats and sat down waiting for the announcements to begin and when it did finally begin we were waiting for the update on Sharpay.

"Sharpay just came back from the hospital, and she's fine just a little drowsy. Please look out for her during the week, she is a very fragile girl."

After the assembly we were sent down to the cafeteria to have dinner together. Principal Madison called me and I reluctantly went. Was I in trouble and if so, what was my crime? I looked for Dante and Nevaeh. Nevaeh was in her seat and she winked at me as if she knew something that I didn't. Dante gave me a sly smile. I was so confused. There to my side was Kelsi. I tilted my head to the side, trying to figure out what was going on around here.

"Uhh Principal Madison, what's going on?" I asked, slightly raising my hand out of habit.

"Well, I need a girl friend and a boy friend of Sharpay's to look after her for the remainder of this week, week six (next week) and week seven. And I have chosen, you Mr. Bolton, you Miss Nielson and Miss Bolton. She has already been notified." Principal Madison explained.

"Oh, ok." I nodded.

"You may go back to your dinners."

Kelsi and I parted and went back to our dinner tables. I walked over to Dante's table and sat down next to him. I nudged him. He looked up and slapped me a hi-5.

"Hey, Dante, I have an idea."

"Which is?"

"And it goes well with this assigning Principal Madison just did."

"Well what is your idea?"

"I'm gonna try and win Sharpay's heart."

"But you can't just try and win someone's heart!" Dante exclaimed.

"Wow, thanks for your support!"

"No, everyone knows that Sharpay also has feeling for Troy." Nevaeh came over and also squeezed in, putting her arms around me, "So all you need to do is help her admit it."

"Hey that is a great idea! Nice one!" The three of us slapped a hi-5 and I was off back to my table.

I had less than three weeks to prepare. It was already Tuesday, meaning that I had two weeks and five days. I would need all the help I could get.

First Week

Saturday:

"Hey Sharpay!" I greeted her on the Saturday noon for our outing.

"Let's get going!" I said to her.

"Oh my gosh, this has to be the bestest part of the week! The exams are crazy! I had two just yesterday! Just six more to go."

"There's no exam for basketball but we want to win the Championship Trophy." I gloated.

"Lucky you!" She punched me in the arm.

"But we still have exams for other things you know!" I said in defense.

"Whatever! So where are we headed today?" She asked.

"You'll have to find out." I teased.

When we got to the back of the school, there was a tree house and we climbed the rope ladder. Once we got inside it was decorated cute-ishly. All thanks to Nevaeh. In the corner was a picnic basket.

"You pick. Indoors or outdoors?" I asked.

"Nice job, Bolton!" She complimented me on the decoration, "Outside!"

"OK." I picked up the basket, let her go down first and handed her the basket as I climbed down.

It was woody and foresty. It smelled fresh.

I set the rug down, and sat down. I patted the spot next to me and Sharpay sat next to me. I then took the picnic basket forward.

"May I do the honors of opening that picnic basket?" Sharpay asked.

"Yes, be my guest."

With that she wretched the lid of the basket open. There were confectionaries and fruits. Hershey's, Starbursts, pies, strawberries, grapes et cetera. That was only the other end. Nevaeh had warned me not to let Sharpay see the other side of the basket, for it was a surprise. I remembered the warning and put my hands on top of the other end of the picnic basket.

"Why not?" Sharpay whined.

"Surprise." I said and smiled at her.

"OK." She smiled back at me.

"Let's enjoy ourselves!"

We opened the packets of candies and chocolates. Not letting anything bother us. After we finished all of the confectionaries, I opened the other end and brought out the surprise. It was a cake with a girl sugary topping thing and a guy sugary topping thing. In the middle it said;

'Happy early one year best friend's anniversary, Sharpay!'

Now I knew that I had to thank Nevaeh.

"Oh my gosh! That's so sweet! And early too!" Sharpay reached over and gave me a hug.

As she retreated her hand dipped into the cake. She laughed at her cream covered fingers and smeared it on my cheeks.

"Hey!" I dipped my finger in the cake and smeared it on her cheeks.

We played with each other like that for a while and then the cake was gone. We laughed and fell back on the red rug. I yawned and closed my eyes. She yawned and closed her eyes. We both laid there and fell asleep ...

"Wake up Troy! Wake up!"

"Huh?" I woke up and sat up.

"It's raining! We gotta get back!" Sharpay started packing the picnic basket up.

"I'll carry that." I said and left it in the shade, next to the tree where the tree house was. I put the rug in the picnic basket as well.

"Let's go!" I said and we started sprinting towards the school gym, which was the closest thing to being indoors.

"Sorry that the rain had to ruin our 'date'." I said with sarcasm.

"Huh?" Sharpay asked perplexed.

"I'm just joking." I replied.

"Well I better get going now, have to study."

"You take it easy, ok?" I told her.

"Ok, bye Troy." She took one of the umbrellas from the gym and raced across to her dorm.

I sat there in the bleachers, dripping wet from the little rain intrusion we had. Dante walked in.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"Whoa! Where did you come from?" I asked.

"How did the first week date thingy go?" He repeated his question.

"It was ok, I guess." I replied.

"Only ok?"

"Yeah."

"Then next week, you have to do a better job! How about the beach?" Dante suggested.

"Niice!" I said and slapped him a hi-5, "I'm gonna go and study, ok?"

I excused myself from the gym and sprinted to the guy's dorm building.

Second Week

Saturday:

"Good after noon, Sharpay!" I greeted Sharpay, as we met in the Lounge Room.

"Hey Troy." She giggled.

"You're gonna love where we're gonna go today!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"Why? Where are we going today?" She asked, her eyes twinkling.

"Secret."

"Fine."

Nevaeh and Dante had gone ahead in the morning to the nearest beach, which was 2 hours away from the busy streets of New York. They were to settle down near the middle of the beach. Sharpay and I were to turn up a bit later at about 2 with Lunch and just talk and get to know each other better. And for me to be romantic, with the help of Dante and Nevaeh.

"Come on!" I dragged Sharpay along.

We took the Cab, which was supposed to drop us off at the beach. We talked, joked and ate the whole ride there. Finally when we got there it was nearly three o'clock. But still a lot of people were there. Sharpay was ecstatic with happiness and she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I was impressed but I wished that the kiss was on my lips. We went down the middle. I spotted Dante and Nevaeh, behind big chunky sunglasses and covered with a big straw hat. I smiled at them. They winked at me.

"Let's sit here!" Sharpay said and she chose out the bestest spot.

I personally made sure that Sharpay was wearing the right outfit for today. She was wearing short shorts with a baby tee shirt and she looked just right. I smiled at her. She noticed that I was staring at her and looked at me.

"What do I have something on my face?" She asked.

"No, no. Nothing on your face." I reassured her.

"Then why are you staring at my face?" She asked.

"Because you're gorgeous." I said as she blushed.

"Thanks maytee! You're gorgeous too!" She joked around with me.

"Oh, thank you!" I said in a high girly voice.

We were having the bestest of time, building sand castles, digging holes until our hands met and playfully splashing waters at each other. Every time we got wet, we would sit out and dry ourselves in the sun. As we neared four o'clock, we stopped going to the waters and Sharpay shivered every now and then.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"Yes. Just a little chilly. I should have brought my jacket or something."

I pulled her in a hug and wrapped a blanket around us. She blushed and tried to pull away, but the more she tried the more tighter my grip became. She gave up and hesitantly leaned her head against my chest, her arms wrapped around my stomach. We stayed like that for the rest of the day we were at the beach.

"You're such a beautiful person. I don't get why I didn't acknowledge you in the first place." I sighed.

"You're a beautiful person too, Troy." She remarked and squeezed me with her arms that were wrapped around my stomach.

"I love you, you know that right? And I'll wait for you as long as you want." I kissed Sharpay's head.

"We better get going." Sharpay suddenly said.

"Ok." I regretted what I said before that broke us out of that hug.

We got up, packed up and got ready to go. We walked past Dante and Nevaeh and they followed anonymously behind us. I got into a Cab in the Cab stand and we were on our way. In the rearview mirror, I could see Dante and Nevaeh following us.

"Thanks for the outing Troy. It was really fun." Sharpay said when we got to the school.

"It's ok. Good night Sharpay." I kissed her lightly on the cheek and went to the guys' dorm building.

"Good try man! But never fear! You still got next week!" Dante got out of the hiding place and reassure me.

"Yeah ... next week."

The third week and the third last week

Saturday:

"Sharpay! Wait up!"

Sharpay had been avoiding me the whole week. I wasn't going to get ignored today. I looked at the sky, there were twin rainbows in the sky and everything was shining after the brief rain. Sharpay stopped and slowly turned around.

"Hi Troy."

"Can we have a talk?" I asked her.

"I'm sorta busy now, how about later?" She offered.

"No." With that, I grabbed her hand gently and took her to that woody, foresty tree house place we went before.

"Troy, I don't want to talk to you now." Sharpay said angrily.

"Sharpay! Don't you get it? Don't you get how much I love you?" I asked.

"Troy-."

"No, Sharpay, answer my question."

She looked away from me.

"Sharpay." I said and gently turned her face towards me again.

"Why do you have to make it so hard? Don't YOU get it? Don't YOU understand how much I love you?" Sharpay asked angrily her face glowing, "Ever since, God knows when, I've had feelings for you. Feelings that were not natural for a best friend to have. I didn't want to tell you or admit it, because then it would ruin our friendship. Do you know how hard I worked to restrain myself from kissing you? Do you know how hard I worked to make myself not love you? But no it doesn't work. Do you know why? Because I love you." She trailed off to a whisper.

"I love you too! And it doesn't have to be that way! Don't you understand Sharpay, I'll never ever hurt you! I love you too much to!" I said emotions taking place.

Sharpay then threw her hand to my neck for a hug. I wrapped my arms around her petite waist and pulled her in closer.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too Troy. I admit it ... I'm in love with you." She whispered back, her eyes shifting from my eyes to my lips.

Then I pulled her into a kiss. It was a passionate, sweet, loving, heated one which went for ... who knows how long? It was the bestest moment of my life. We pulled apart, panting slightly and smiled at each other. Then we just stood there hugging each other.

"I don't have much to give you right now, but wear my ring for now." I slipped my ring off my finger and slipped it on to her thumb, since it was too big for the rest of her fingers.

"Your love is enough Troy."

With that our lips met one more time. We broke apart when we realized that people would be wondering where we went. And by people I meant Nevaeh and Dante.

"I love Sharpay Evans!" I yelled.

Sharpay giggled. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around my waist. We smiled and walked back to the Lounge Room. I knew that Nevaeh would be one person that would be pleased with this arrangement.

Author's Note: I really should go to bed now. Please R & R . eL.oh.vee.eee-ings you ALL ! x)