Chapter Twenty-Two

Gabriella stood on her tippy toes as she tried to get the book down from the top shelf. She groaned to herself, mentally berating herself for not getting a stool or something. She groaned, giving the book one final yank before it toppled off the shelf, nearly smacking her as she fell with it. She let out a small squeak as she hit the carpeted floor.

She sat up, looking at the bigger pile of books she had been standing on when she heard the door to the periodicals open. She glanced up to see one of the people she least expected…Ryan Evans…standing in the doorway. "Ryan?" she asked, knowing she probably sounded stupid.

"Gabriella?" He copied. "Are you ok?" he stepped into the room, holding out a hand to pull Gabriella up to her feet. "I heard a shout."

"Oh…yeah…" she looked away embarrassedly, "I was trying to get the book off the shelf…I fell."

Ryan nodded his head, an 'o' appearing on his face before it was replaced by a smile. Gabriella looked away blushing…unable to deny how cute he had looked just then.

"So…" she started, "What are you doing here? You and your sister don't really strike me as book people."

Ryan laughed at that before holding up a library copy of King Leer. "I was just returning this…It was the last book I had to read to complete my goal of reading the complete works of Shakespeare."

Gabriella's eyes widened, "You've read all of Shakespeare's works?" Ryan nodded and she smiled, "You aren't going to start spouting sonnets are you?"

Ryan smiled slyly, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimmed; and every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st; nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou grow'st, so long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee." He finished with a dramatic gesture, lifting Gabriella's hand to his lips and planting a small, soft kiss on it. He smirked at Gabriella's slack jaw, laughing slightly before reaching out and shutting her mouth for her.

She blushed and looked down. "So what periodical were you looking for?" he asked, trying to get her mind off her obvious embarrassment.

"Oh, that…I was looking for an article about a chemist from New York." He gave her a curious expression so she continued, "My Chemistry teacher assigned each of us a decade and we have to do a report about a famous chemist from that decade."

"Which decade do you have?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"I had the 1950s." She smiled. She was about to say something more when the librarian walked by the door…but back tracked when she caught a glimpse of the mess Gabriella had made.

"What is the meaning of this?!" She shouted in a whisper.

"Sorry…" Gabriella whispered, moving to pick up the books and place them back on the shelf. Thankfully Ryan was there to help her, he was quite a bit taller than her and was able to reach the shelf. She smiled gratefully at him as the librarian left.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Ryan watched as she headed over to the book she needed, speaking up before she reached it, "Hey…" he started, she turned around, "Do you…need a ride to the park?"

Gabriella smiled sadly and nodded, looking away for a moment. She was dreading the meeting Taylor and Chad were calling at the park. She still couldn't believe what Taylor had done! She came back to school on Thursday, her mind made up. She had thought a lot about her and Troy on Wednesday. She realized…they really weren't right for each other…and if he was happy with Sharpay, then she was happy for him. It wasn't the end of the world…and the fact that she had managed to come to that conclusion made her realize that they weren't as serious as she thought they were.

Imagine her surprise when she got to school on Thursday to find that Sharpay was in the hospital and Troy wasn't speaking to anyone! She had wanted to give them her blessing and support…but she couldn't. Then she found out that Taylor had been responsible for Sharpay's accident…and she didn't even find out from Taylor…or Chad…or even Kelsi! She had gone to Troy to ask him what was wrong, knocking off Sharpay's absence as sickness. He had snapped at her, telling her about what Taylor had done. Gabriella had confronted Taylor and it was confirmed that what Troy said was the truth. She had flipped!

She felt bad about snapping at Taylor…but still, even if she had just been trying to scare Sharpay…she had no right to yell at her! The only person who had that right was Gabriella herself.

Now she was supposed to head over to the park to face Taylor and the rest of the gang. She shook her head out of most of her thoughts before walking over to pick up the periodical book that had fallen open.

She picked it up, shutting it and turning to Ryan…not having noticed the large letters on the front page of where the book had fallen open,

'POLITICIAN TOM BRANDO ANNOUNCES
ENGAGEMENT TO TEACHER SUSAN ELLIOT'

nor the picture that accompanied it, the fading black and white figures looking remarkably like two people they knew…

Despite having the knowledge that Troy and her were together…Sharpay still felt butterflies in her stomach as she walked to the park. She had turned down a ride from Ryan, saying that she needed to get some fresh air. For the last few days she had been confined to house arrest and the walk would do her good…besides, Ryan had mentioned something about stopping at the library and she didn't feel like being stuck in a car.

She stepped past the large arched entrance and continued down the path, walking slowly, dreading arriving at her destination. Chad had said that they would all meet by the field near the baseball field in the middle of the park. She bit her lip as she got closer, she could see Chad and Taylor already there, talking with Kelsi, Jason, and Zeke. Troy wasn't there, neither was Ryan or Gabriella.

She walked closer to the group, trying to be unnoticeable…unfortunately luck wasn't on her side today. At that exact moment, Kelsi looked up and caught Sharpay's eye. She must have said something to Taylor and Chad because Taylor looked up and looked away quickly, a guilty look on her face while Chad nodded awkwardly to her. Sharpay nodded back and walked slowly towards a large oak tree nearby.

She sighed as she leaned back against the tree. She closed her eyes just letting the serenity of nature relax her. She was close enough to the group to hear what was being said. She took a deep breath when she heard two new voices join the mix, Ryan and Gabriella had arrived.

She really didn't want to go out there and face everyone…so she shut her eyes once more, trying to get a few more moments alone…but as before…luck was not on her side…but neither was bad luck.

She softly when she felt someone step closer to her and wrap their arms around her. 'Troy…' she thought to herself. She leaned in closer, wrapping her arms around him as well.

Troy couldn't shake the sense of familiarity that he got when Sharpay wrapped her arms around him. It was like they had done this before, he knew they had…

Sarah slowly paced the spot beneath the large weeping willow tree in the garden. Would he come? She didn't know…she could only hope that he would. She wrung her hands together in nervousness. She let out a breath, that would do her no good. Pacing wouldn't make him come faster.

She leaned against the tree, resting her eyes as she listened to the crickets playing their tune that night. She hoped that Theodore would come…but she wasn't sure if he could. He was to leave in the morning to return to the crusades…he had told her that afternoon that he was to return.

A tear slowly fell from her eye as she recalled that days events. Theodore had taken her on a picnic in her favorite wildflower field. They had picked some flowers for her to remember the day with. They were heading back…the sun setting; he kissed her gently, and told her.

She opened her eyes when she felt a thumb brush her tear from her cheek. She smiled softly when she saw that it was Theodore. She took a shaky breath, placing a silver cross she had had made into his palm. She closed his fingers over the cool metal and looked up into his eyes with her own tear-filled ones. She threw her arms around him and held him close, staining his tunic with her tears…but still she was so happy…he came…

He shook his head slightly, he'd become accustomed to his odd daydreams…but that didn't keep a smile from appearing on his face.

He looked down at Sharpay who shifted slightly to look up at him. She smiled softly as well, her nerves showing through her eyes. He reached out, stroking her cheek gently in a calming motion. She leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering closed.

Troy leaned forward, lifting her face to his before placing a soft, sugary sweet kiss on her lips. He pulled away, both of them grinning when a cough was heard. They both looked over to see Chad watching them.

He looked down embarrassedly while the two blushed at being caught. He had met up with Taylor yesterday, Saturday, to talk about everything that had happened. "We're uh…we'd like to talk to you guys…" he muttered, rubbing the back of his head before walking off.

Troy looked back at Sharpay who bit her bottom lip slightly. He let his hand trail down her arm to lock with her own.

She let out a sigh before walking off with Troy towards where Chad and Taylor stood amidst their friends. As they got closer, Sharpay couldn't help but think that everything that happened had been Chad and Taylor's fault. She had thought about it last night, after Chad had called. Every life…every thing that happened to their past selves…had been the result of other who had a problem with them. Rademens hated that Tehuti had gotten Subira, the patricians had hated that one of their own was to be with a slave, Theodore had been killed by his enemies in the crusades, Genevieve had poisoned Soleil as a result of the affair, and the campaign team had sent a sniper after them because of their scandalous relationship.

It had never been her fault or Troy's…it had been everyone else's. People weren't accepting of two people who were obviously in love. She looked closer at Chad and Taylor…they looked honestly guilty…they regretted everything they had done. She really couldn't be mad at them…she was just thankful that this time… 'the people' were able to be forgiven. She was just happy that nothing serious…nothing fatal…had happened to either of them. They still had a chance to be together and be accepted as well.

Troy's grip on her hand tightened slightly as they stopped before the two meddlers. Chad looked at Taylor who looked back at him, tears clearly visible in her eyes. He nodded to her, taking her hand as they stepped up to Troy and Sharpay as well, the need for forgiveness shining through their eyes.

"Guys…" they started, "We're so sorry…"

A/N – I thought that was a good place to leave off. I think from Sharpay's thoughts, it's almost clear that Chad and Taylor will be forgiven. I'm planning only about four or five more chapters and then the story will be over…I wish it could go on forever, but all good things must come to an end. -sigh-