Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. Even if it was the classic version. I realize that it was a difficult chapter. Maybe even more so now than when I originally wrote it.

Warning: A little sexual dialogue.

Chapter 7: Lies My BFF Told Me

Afternoon August 27, 2008

Sharpay was so happy that the longest weekend in her entire life was over, and she could start making her way through the second week of college. After surviving what Kim was referring to as the 'not so virginal punch incident,' most things were going back to normal. After seeing the footage of Penelope pouring three shots of vodka into her punch, Sharpay walked out of her dorm room to hurt Penelope. Unfortunately, the witch in question was not there. Fortunately, she did forget to lock her room. Sharpay satisfied her bloodlust by ripping the head off of Penelope's favorite teddy bear and left the decapitated bears head on the evil princess's pillow.

Kim and Chad arrived just in time to keep her from going for another stuffed animal. The two were afraid that she would go after Penelope again. They wouldn't leave her alone all weekend. After picking up Alex from her parent's house, Kim brought him over to hang out and study. Before the weekend, Sharpay only saw a few pitchers of the beautiful little boy with piercing blue eyes. The eyes were even more haunting in person. Sharpay was sure that she saw these eyes before, but she couldn't remember where.

Kim was very protective of Alex, which explains why Kim yelled at her for 20 minutes this morning for telling Chad the truth. Kim never told Sharpay who Alex's father was. Kim did not even tell Sharpay she was pregnant until she called a week after the Twinkle Towne auditions. During this phone call, Sharpay found out that Kim gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on the day East High won the state championship.

Chad and Sharpay spent half of Saturday night looking through old yearbooks trying to guess Alex is paternity. So far, the only person they were absolutely sure was not the father was Chad. They could also reasonably eliminate every other single African-American classmate. They were 100% confident in Chad's case because he hasn't had sex or anything similar with anyone with a vagina.

She may have forced Chad to tell her about basketball camp 2006 after that. They both agreed that most men are assholes. (Sharpay doesn't analyze why Chad hasn't had sex with Taylor yet.)

If she thought Kim was overprotective, Chad was 10 times worse. She should've known he would be that way after his reaction at Lava Springs when she tried to take Troy away. Chad spent the entire weekend with her either working on the group project together or studying his own classes from the other side of the room.

He even slept in the spare bed in her room Saturday and Sunday night to keep an eye on her at all times. On Monday, he walked her to her pre-calculus class to avoid another clash between her and Penelope. Thankfully, for all parties involved, Penelope decided to take a different class. Ryan thought it was cute when she emailed him about it.

Sharpay could not decide if she loved or hated his overprotectiveness. She loved that she finally had another friend that cared about her so much, even after just a few weeks. Other than Kim, Chad was quickly becoming the only person she could be herself around that wasn't Ryan. She never felt more comfortable around a person in her entire life, even after Friday night's awkwardness. Other than the occasional dirty joke, they really didn't talk about what happened. (Besides basketball camp 2006 was too juicy not to talk about.)

The problem was Sharpay was still trying to figure out how she felt about him. She knew she didn't hate him anymore. Sharpay was not even sure if she ever hated him. The issue was she was not sure if she just liked him as a friend or wanted something more. Though she was under the influence of high amounts of alcohol, Sharpay remembered how she felt every time she kissed him. It was the most exhilarating experience of her entire life. She loved kissing him, especially those last kisses that occurred when they were completely alone in his room with no audience.

She didn't want a repeat of the entire Troy fiasco. She didn't want to fall in love with someone who was in love with someone else again. Especially someone who already had a girlfriend he was probably in love with. After the Richard incident and Zeke's infidelity, maybe it would be better if she just kept Chad in the friend category. How can your heart get broken if you don't even try?

In the interest of keeping things in the friend's category with Chad, she decided to show up to his room with his replacement cell phone and take away from his favorite restaurant Wednesday. The fact that she changed into a completely different outfit and spent 5 minutes touching up her makeup was irrelevant. She told herself the reason why she wanted to change was that someone grabbed her ass during her volunteer session at East High. She needed to get the scent of geek off her. It was the first day of classes, and she already had to deal with this shit. It was going to be a long year.

She didn't even bother knocking on Chad's door; instead, she just walked in. Currently, Chad was sitting on his bed listening to his iPod as he did his English homework. They had to write up a three-page analysis of Truth: Red, White, and Black by next Wednesday. They only had that long because the next class landed on Labor Day, and most of the students couldn't even get their hands on the trade paperback until Monday. Sharpay wasn't even done reading yet; she had one more issue to go. Chad did not even notice her until she sat on his bed.

"You know most normal people knock Sharpay. I could've been changing." Chad said as he removed his headphones.

"Most normal people lock their doors. Considering you spent the entire weekend in my room against my wishes, I have the right to walk into your room anytime I want and see you topless. Besides, I know you were the one that put me in that T-shirt Friday night. It's only fair you returned the favor." As soon as she mentioned the T-Shirt incident, he started to squirm. She'd loved messing with his mind.

"You were trying to kill Penelope this weekend!" Chad practically screamed in his defense.

"I was not trying to kill her. I was just going to put the fear of Sharpay into her." Sharpay said as she sat next to him on the bed.

"Mission accomplished. You left an animal head on her bed." Chad shot back.

"It wasn't a real head." She yelled at him in her defense.

"Whatever Sharpay. Why are you here?"

"Probably boredom and lack of new friends, but I bought goodies from Dominique's and your new cell phone. I stopped by after volunteering today." Sharpay said, handing the package to Chad.

"Despite the water damage, your SIM card was still good. Unfortunately, anything saved onto the phone itself is gone."

"The phone you damaged was a normal telephone. This is an iPhone. There's no way my insurance covered this."

"Consider it a bribe to keep quiet about what you saw this weekend." She would have given Chad his new phone Monday, but it took her a little while to convince daddy to pay for an upgrade.

"Like the fact you spend more money on your underwear than most people spend on their entire wardrobe."

"Custom underwear is expensive. Not all of us look good after pulling a T-shirt out of the dirty close hamper." Sharpay remarked darkly.

"You think I look good?" There was that smirk again.

"God, you are so cocky," Sharpay rolled her eyes at him.

"You love it anyway. Thanks for the gift, but I don't think I can afford the wireless plan for this." This surprise Sharpay. Most people don't turn down gifts from her. Most were only around her for what they can get from her. Then again, Chad has been friends with Ryan for the last year and never asked for things. Of course, they did make out once.

"You don't have to. Daddy is paying for it. It's a gift. Please take it." Sharpay said, handing it back to him.

"Your dad is paying for my cell phone? My dad won't even pay for my cell phone."

"Kim told daddy what happened this weekend. Consider this your thank you gift."

"Apparently, she omitted certain things. Otherwise, I would be dead right now."

"Daddy likes you. You're the only boyfriend I've ever had that he's liked, and you're not even my actual boyfriend." Sharpay said with a pout.

"Ryan told me. I think that's mostly because they were all shit. Your father still believes we are dating?" Chad asked.

"Chad, the only people on this campus who believe we're not dating are the two of us. Even Ryan now has his doubts, and he was the one who caused this rumor to start in the first place. He wants me to tell you you need to break up with Taylor now. I told him to mind his own business. As well as remind him that he shouldn't be with Kelsi just to make Darby happy. He hung up after that."

"Thank you."

"By the way, you have 27 missed text messages, 19 of which are from Troy. Is there something about your relationship that I don't know?" Sharpay said with a grin.

"I mean, there had to be someone else other than the basketball camp asshole and my brother."

"There's been a few celebrity crushes. I mostly watch Heroes for Zachary Quinto now. Wait, you read my text messages?"

"Of course not. Okay, maybe I read the one from Taylor. I mean, you didn't call her for five days, and she only sent one text message. You have more from Ryan, and he knew that I wrecked your phone. What type of girlfriend does that? I call you every day now, and I live down the hall." Inside her mind, Sharpay knew she would make a much better girlfriend then Taylor. She really shouldn't be having those thoughts right now—Damn Ryan for putting these thoughts in her head. "At least it won't have to be the dorm room landline anymore."

"The extremely busy type. Gabriella never calls Troy at all during the school week."

"That's because you're always on the phone with him," Sharpay smirked at him. "Although now that I know you're about as straight as your hair, I'm starting to reconsider those rumors about you and him in high school."

"How can I be on the phone with Troy all the time when I spend most of my free time with you?"

"Like that's a lot of time. This is college. How much free time do we have? After I finish up here, I have to finish Truth: Red, White, and Black and start writing my paper. I think there's at least one companion essay we need to read as well about Tuskegee. Also, I do not understand anything from chemistry class."

"How bad is chemistry for you?" Chad asked.

"Like the opening night of a musical where I'm expected to perform, but I never received the script. Be glad you had high school chemistry before Mrs. Wilson retired two years ago. The woman that replaced her was clueless. Gabriella used to correct her equations all the time. The person who replaced her during her maternity leave was even worse. I am going to flunk college chemistry because my teachers were incompetent." Sharpay was visibly panicking.

"I can help you with your chemistry homework," Chad said, grabbing his food from the bag.

"Don't you have your own work?" Sharpay asked.

"There wasn't any practice today, so I actually had time to finish it. I'm actually reading Civil War now to compare Steve Rogers and Isaiah Bradley for when I do my paper for this week's reading. I hope he grades this one," Chad lamented. "I cannot believe he didn't even look at our project Monday."

"It's so unfair that you're able to read ahead. Mr. Stark-Rogers is just saving our project for when our other classmates will be doing it. It's supposed to be part of the Civil War section. When there are working on that project, we will not have to. Can we eat first before we start on homework? Dominique's taste horrible after it has been microwaved." Sharpay suggested.

"We could have eaten dinner in the cafeteria. You don't have to keep buying me stuff."

"I know you don't expect me to get you stuff. That's why I want to. In high school, other than Kim and maybe Anita, most people were only my friend to get things from me. Even my boyfriends were with me just to get something. The entire time you were friends with my brother, you never ask him to get you something. You liked him for him. So, therefore, you like me for me."

"Yes, I like you for you. If you want to get things for me, that's fine. But if you start giving out Italian shoes again, I will run the other way screaming."

At that moment, they heard Chad's cell phone play D12's How Come.

"Speaking of Mr. Italian shoes," Sharpay muttered under her breath.

"You program ring tones into the phone? Do I want to even know why you chose that song?"Chad asked.

"I was bored. There was nothing for me to do today except hand out papers to the freshmen."

"You programmed ring tones into a cell phone in Ms. Darbus's class. Are you suicidal?" Chad asked incredulously.

"It's not like she can give me detention anymore," Sharpay shrugged as she grabbed Chad's phone to answer it. "Hello, Chad's dorm room."

"Sharpay, where is Chad?"

"Currently, he is staring at my chest again. He has this fixation with my breasts. Let me put you on speakerphone." Sharpay said, doing just that.

"I am not looking at your chest," Chad answered indignantly.

"Children behave. You are in college now." Troy snarked.

"He started it," Sharpay said as she stuck out her tongue at Chad.

"Chad, where have you been since Friday? You didn't respond to my text messages. I almost considered calling your mom. I even tried to call Sharpay, and I didn't get an answer." To Sharpay, Troy almost sounded like one of those TV moms scolding their child with love. Not that Sharpay's mom would even care to do such a thing. Lots of scolding but very little love.

"I would have called, but my cell phone had an unfortunate accident Friday night. I just got the replacement." Chad explained.

"Sharpay, did your cell phone suffer the same accident?" Troy asked in disbelief at the excuse.

"No, I lost mind before Chad fell into the fountain. It was an awful five days being totally depended on a landline." At that statement, they could both hear Troy laughing uncontrollably.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Troy finally asked when he stopped laughing.

"Not really, it involves Sharpay, a water fountain, and high amounts of alcohol," Chad tells his friend.

"That was not my fault. I didn't know I was drunk at the time. Me ruining your cell phone was no excuse. You could have sent an email or use the landline like I did." Sharpay said as she started to eat her own food.

"Do you realize how much you sound like my mom right now? I was distracted by trying to keep you from smothering Penelope with a pillow."

"Do I want to know why you're trying to kill Penelope?" Troy asked as he sighed.

"Not really. It involves Zeke, Penelope's favorite pastime of trying to screw my boyfriend, high amounts of alcohol, and one of Chad's silly plans," Sharpay explained.

"Kim did get most of the incident on film Friday. You remember your tutor from your sophomore year? She felt the evidence needed to be preserved, and Ryan wanted pictures." Chad told Troy.

"I don't think I'll ever forget Kim, even if I tried," Troy remarked.

"You're not sharing that video with anybody," Sharpay said as she smacked Chad on the shoulder.

"How was Zeke involved? I thought he was in Chicago?" Troy sounded very confused at this point.

"He is. During the after-party for the big game last year, Zeke and Penelope 'celebrated' in the back of his car."

"Shit," Troy exclaimed.

"Actually, it turns out he was sleeping with Penelope behind my back for most of our senior year. I found out about it Friday night from Penelope, and Zeke confirmed it Saturday." She tried her hardest not to show any emotions as she recounted the incident to Troy.

"Chad already got a confession Thursday, but I needed to hear it from him."

"During said confession, he suggested that I sleep with Penelope while still with Taylor. He told me just not to get caught doing it. Obviously, we're not friends anymore." Chad added. It made her smile to know that Chad chose her over Zeke.

"I'm sorry, Sharpay. I'm surprised I haven't heard of a double homicide." She could tell by his tone that he was actually sincere.

"I've been spending the last five days keeping the girls separated. Although, I think Sharpay did get her revenge Friday night." Chad explained to his friend.

"Chad, would this have anything to do with the video I received of you at a campus party where you were dancing inappropriately? As well as making out with a very hot brunette who was not your girlfriend. Exactly how much alcohol did you consume Friday night? High amounts of alcohol could only explain why you cheated on your girlfriend. Especially considering what you said earlier."

Sharpay could hear Chad's breathing becoming more erratic at Troy's accusations. Sharpay was not afraid of Troy's reaction to the whole thing but rather Chad's. Chad still believed it was all an act. She decided to use a diversion tactic to get their attention away from the real issue.

"Did you just say I was hot? Your girlfriend would be so jealous." Sharpay remarked.

"You dyed your hair?" Troy said as if he just realized that the girl in question was Sharpay.

"Yes, and I looked so much better as a brunette."

"Yes, but my girlfriend is not here right now to be jealous. I go to school 40 miles away from her, and I've seen her once in three weeks. Of course, that one time was when I was helping her move into her dorm room." Troy was definitely telling Sharpay there was trouble in paradise. Last year she would have loved nothing more than for the two lovebirds to break up. Although Sharpay still believed that Troy was way too good for Gabriella, she just wanted him to be happy even if it was not with her. Now, if it was Taylor and Chad who were taking the slow train to breakups-ville, she would be jumping for joy right now.

"Ryan and Kelsi live in the same building, and he saw her twice. This is normal for the first few weeks." Chad mentioned.

"I've heard from Ryan more than my own girlfriend. Please explain to me how I have a video in my inbox of the two of you practically having sex on the dance floor Friday night? By the way, Sharpay, if you danced like that, I may have survived the musical rehearsals intact last spring." Troy said the last part in a joking tone.

"If I dance like that last spring, Ms. Darbus would have had a heart attack. She is a cancer survivor. Her health is fragile." Sharpay remarked. Although considering what she is going to make me do next Friday night, I think that would have been okay. That reminds me, Chad, I am taking you shopping Saturday. Ms. Darbus has drafted me to chaperone the welcome back dance next week. You are going to come with me."

"Why do I have to go?" Chad said in a whiny voice.

"You know I hate school dances. You are going with me to keep Jimmie from hitting on me again. It's weird. His mom used to be my nanny." Both boys started laughing uncontrollably. "It's not funny."

"What happened?" Chad asked.

"When I was volunteering at East High this afternoon, he gave me flowers. I didn't even recognize him at first because he's like a foot taller and looks like a different person. Like on a TV show when they switch actors to age up a character or to replace somebody problematic." Sharpay explained.

"This is all your fault, Troy. You're the one that told Jimmie I had a crush on him." Sharpay yelled into the phone at Troy.

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand? How did I receive a sex tape featuring the two of you? " Troy asked, trying to redirect Sharpay's anger.

"You did not receive a sex tape. Chad and I would have had to have sex for there to be a sex tape." Turning around to Chad, Sharpay asked, "We didn't have sex, right?"

"No, we did not have sex. I think you would have remembered that by now if we had. How did you get a copy of what happened Friday?" Chad asked quietly.

"KIM," Sharpay and Chad screamed simultaneously as they've realized she was the only possible person would do such a thing.

"Yes. Ryan gave her my new contact information."

"I'm going to kill her," Sharpay screamed. Before she finished getting off the bed, Chad's arms were around her to calm her down. It amazed her that his touch had such an effect on her.

"Sharpay, calm down. You don't want Alex to be an orphan." As soon as the words were said, Sharpay smacked Chad upside the head.

"You idiot, Kim said not to tell anybody else that went to high school with us," Sharpay said to him just low enough for the microphone not to pick up. On the drive to East High this afternoon, Kim begged Sharpay not to tell anybody else the truth, especially Troy. If it had been any other guy, Sharpay would have assumed he was Alex's father. However, there was no way super innocent Boy Scout Troy would have slept with Kim without her or Chad knowing about it.

"Kim has a kid?" Sharpay could hear the panic and pain in Troy's voice even over the telephone.

"What Chad meant to say was Kim has custody of her little brother. You remember how flaky her biological mom Zhēn was. That is why she moved back to New Mexico. Can we please talk about me making out with Chad at the party?" Sharpay really wanted to get off the subject fast.

"You rather talk about that than Kim raising a child?" Kim had way too much blackmail material for Sharpay to do anything to upset her.

"Have you dealt with an angry Kim before?" Sharpay responded poignantly.

"It wasn't what it looks like. I told you it was revenge on Penelope." Chad answered his friend. A small part of Sharpay was disappointed by that answer.

"Yes, what he said," Sharpay said in affirmation.

"How do you get revenge on Penelope for sleeping with Zeke by making out with Chad AKA Taylor's boyfriend?"

Fortunately, for all involved, Sharpay's phone rang at that moment.

"I have to talk to daddy. Chad, can you please tell Troy what happened? If you touch my Turkey burger, I will hurt you. "

XXXX

After 15 minutes of listening to Chad's crazy story about the weekend and how almost the entire campus believed Chad and Sharpay were dating, he laughed hysterically. It was the funniest story he ever heard. Kim's videos definitely did not do it justice. He could not believe that Ryan had set Chad up like that. It was the greatest practical joke ever. He was probably getting back at Chad for accidentally starting that incest rumor sophomore year. (Or maybe for choosing Taylor over him after the ill-advised baseball seduction incident.)

Of course, Ryan probably wasn't expecting it to backfire this badly. Now he wanted Troy to help mitigate the damage. Yes, Troy knew it was Sharpay in the video all along. He was just playing dumb to get the truth out of the two idiots.

Why did they think pretending to be together was a good idea? Not that it looked like there was any actual pretending going on. After seeing the video from this weekend and speaking to the two, he knew there was something between them. He didn't believe that the two were just friends. There was also the fact that Chad used the phrase were just friends 20 times during this little explanation. No one says they're just friends that many times unless they're really not just friends.

"Do you believe me?" Chad asked once he was done with his story.

"No," Troy said, honestly.

"I didn't cheat on Taylor. You know me, I would never do that to her. It was all just for Penelope."

"I believe that you believe that nothing happened."

"What does that mean?"

"It just means as far as you're concerned, it was all pretend. However, I do not think you are just friends. Sometimes your true self comes out during a performance," Troy told him.

"Sharpay is just a friend," Chad repeated again. Maybe if he says it enough times Chad will actually believe himself, because Troy did not.

"Because you have a girlfriend, Sharpay is just a friend. If you were no longer with Taylor, would you be with Sharpay? Are you interested in her romantically?"

After a few moments of silence, Chad finally spoke. "So how's everything at Berkeley? Have you made any new friends? How is Gabriella doing?" Kim and Ryan were right; they are hopeless. Troy does not have time for this bull shit. Especially not with his ex-girlfriend coming back into his life after disappearing for two years without a word.

"And the winner for the most blatant change of subject ever is Chad Danforth. Now please answer the question if Taylor wasn't around, would Sharpay still be just a friend?"

"I don't know," Chad practically whispered this into the phone.

"That is the only completely honest thing I've heard you say in the last 20 minutes." Troy sighed.

"It doesn't matter, Troy. I'm not going to break up with Taylor via email or a phone call. Things are the way they are, and playing the 'what if' game does not help anyone. Will you tell Taylor about this weekend?" Chad asked.

"Not as long as you're in denial."

"I'm not in denial." No one did denial like Chad Danforth. Especially when it came to his love life. Chad didn't figure out he was not heterosexual until the basketball camp roommate gave him a handjob. Troy just hoped Chad would figure things out a little quicker this time. Hopefully, without any actual sex acts involved.

"Of course not, and I only join the school play last spring for Gabriella," Troy said sarcastically. "You were in less denial when Jamie put his hand on your dick the first time."

"How is Gabriella?"

"I'm not sure, considering I've spent more time talking to you and your not-a-girlfriend Sharpay than my actual girlfriend. Actually, I've talked to Gabby's mom more than her." Troy was honestly frustrated about it. Even more so now that he knew Kim was back in New Mexico.

"When did you talk to Sharpay besides today?" Chad asked.

"Once the weekend before, when you were trying not to kill your evil roommate, I called your cell phone, and Sharpay answered. Is there some reason why Sharpay feels comfortable picking up your cell phone?" Troy asked.

"It Sharpay, one does not question why she does anything." That's true.

"She spent 15 minutes blaming your then-roommate situation on my decision to go to Berkeley. On Wednesday, we talked about how jealous she was that I actually was taking an acting class during my first semester. Friday night, after I received your picture of her beating up a teddy bear on stage. She sent me some weird voice mail. She kept talking about how I was too good for Gabriella, and I should go find the love of my life. She also said something about you being a much better kisser then Zeke."

"She said I was a better kisser than Zeke?"

"Sharpay also told me that you told her that she's a better kisser than Ryan."

"Oh God, I can't believe she told you that." Chad sounded mortified.

"That is another reason why I believe something happened last Friday, even if the two of you are in denial."

"We're not in denial," Troy sighed at Chad's statement. It was going to be a very long semester. This is going to be worse than the sexual orientation freak out of 06. At least he wasn't dealing with a Kimberly Kim induce broken heart this time.

"I think this phone call has outlived its usefulness. I'm going to read my history assignment." Troy said, hanging up the phone.

XXXX

Kim sat down at her kitchen table next to her son. She was currently trying to get Alex to eat his carrots and was failing miserably. As Alex through another piece of carrot at her head, her phone played Incomplete by the Backstreet Boys. She knew instantly who was calling.

"How did your conversation with Chad go? Do you believe Ryan and me now?" She didn't even bother with hello. She just wanted to get through this conversation with him as quickly as possible, with her heart still intact. That's probably not going to happen. Kim should have never let Ryan give her Troy's number.

"I believe you, mostly because I spoke to both of them at the same time. You and Ryan are right. Chad and Sharpay are definitely more than friends. What I don't understand is how it happened so fast. When I left three weeks ago, they were still enemies. What happened?"

"Whatever is going on between those two didn't start with the beginning of the school year. This has been going on since a curly-haired boy and a little blonde headed girl got in a fight over chocolate milk on the first day of kindergarten. Come on, there was a betting pool in high school about when they would get caught in the janitor's closet. It was just a matter of time before that much passion makes itself known."

"There was also a betting pool about when Chad would make out with Ryan." Kim laughed at that.

"Who won that one by the way? You didn't see it on the video, but Sharpay kept talking about how Chad said she was a better kisser than Ryan. Chad confirmed it later and said that you knew."

"I did, but Chad's not ready for people to find out. So I never collected. Chad has a problem with trying to live up to everybody's expectations. I don't even think Taylor knows that he is not straight." That is not a good sign. Chad told her before Taylor.

"Sharpay does, though. That shows that there's a connection there. They were just fighting it before for the sake of the status quo. Now those people who told him that Sharpay wasn't an option are gone and therefore…"

"They are going to finally be together," Troy said, finishing her sentence like he used to.

"Exactly, the question as are you going to help us get them together? They are so stubborn they're going to fight this tooth and nail unless we help them." Kim wants to strangle both of them so much.

"My girlfriend will hate me for helping to break up her best friend and her boyfriend." But they both knew it needed to happen. Chad did not love Taylor. It wasn't fair for the two to keep going through the motions when there was no future there.

"So she will cut you off for a couple of weeks. She will eventually get over it. This needs to happen." Kim insisted.

"We're not sleeping together." Kim was not expecting him to say that.

"That's good. I mean… you and Gabriella have been together for 19 months. You and I began sleeping together after just a few weeks. Oh my god, your mom was right; I was pressuring you. I'm so sorry."

"Kim, you're babbling. You didn't pressure me because I wanted to be with you. It's just different with Gabby. I did not even kiss her for the first six months of our relationship. Chad and Taylor haven't had sex either."

"In their case, it's probably a sign it's not working. I don't think I should speculate about you and Gabriella." Kim said cautiously.

"Considering some things I know but can't tell you about, you're probably right. Thank you for not speculating about what's going on between Gabriella and me. I'm not talking about this with you. I think there's some rule about not talking about problems with your current girlfriend with your ex-girlfriend. That rule applies double if the ex-girlfriend left you without even calling." Obviously, Troy was still bitter about that.

"Don't bring that up again, Troy. I didn't have a choice. Your mom was going to send me to jail for statutory rape and make sure you never play another game of basketball ever again. I had to protect you. I loved you too much to let that happen. Now you're at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship. If I stayed, that would not have happened." Kim sounded as if she was on the verge of tears.

"You just disappeared. You never called. How can you say you love me if you didn't even try to contact me? "

"I couldn't. If I tried to contact you, your mom would have sent me to jail. I didn't disappear. I told Sharpay exactly where I was, Ryan too. He was the one who gave me your new contact information. You could have asked either twin about me at any time. You didn't. You moved on to freaky math girl." Kim used Sharpay's nickname for Gabriella with more animosity than Sharpay ever did. "If it wasn't for Ryan, I still wouldn't be able to contact you. Remember your mom changed all the numbers the summer I left." Kim heard Troy curse in the background.

"I didn't forget about you." The tone of his voice almost broke her heart.

"I will never forget about you either. We lost our chance to be with one another. Here is our opportunity to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else. Are you going to help me? " Kim said this as she picked up Alex from his booster seat.

"I will help. My best friend deserves the happily ever after that we never got."

"Thank you for helping. One question before you go?"

"Okay,"

"Do you love her?" Kim knew she was a masochist for asking the question. However, she needed to know the answer.

"Sometimes," Troy whispered.

"Did you love me?"

"That's two questions."

"Answer the question, Bolton," Kim demanded.

"Always," his answer made her heart do that thing it always did when he was around.

"That's good to know. Can I call you in a couple of days?" Kim asked, hopeful.

"I would like that. I will talk to you later." Troy said as he ended the call.

"That was your daddy baby," Kim said to Alex as she pointed to the pitcher of Troy on her cell phone.

XXXX

Original A/N summer 2009: Yes, super innocent Troy Alexander Bolton got a girl, two years his senior, pregnant at 15 and has no idea. Best of all, neither do Chad and Sharpay.

Updated A/N summer 2020: Although Ryan may have his own suspicions at this point in this new version. I hope I left a better breadcrumb trail this time around.

Also, remember, I have mentally re-casted Jimmie. I may have leaned on the fourth wall a little bit in this chapter.

If I can get chapter 8 done tonight, I might post another chapter tomorrow. The new material takes place on Labor Day, and I would love to actually release it on Labor Day.