A/N: Hello everyone. For everyone who is interested, I have changed my penname to Ashley's Fool. Also, in this chapter Sharpay and Gabriella will become friends. So enjoy. Here is Chapter 8

Disclaimer- I do not own High School Musical

Warning- Nothing to worry about in this chapter.

Ice Queen

Chapter 8: She's Not So Bad

It was the end of school, and Sharpay was walking to her locker. As she was grabbing the books she needed, she noticed Jenna walking toward her. "Jenna!" Sharpay shouted. Jenna looked up, but ignored her. Sharpay closed her locker and approached Jenna.

"Jenna! Wait!"

"What is now? Are you here to accuse of more things that I did?" Jenna said coldly.

"No. I just wanted to say… listen. I'm not good with apologies, so…"

"You want to apologize?" Jenna asked.

"Yeah. That's it. I want to say… I'm sorry." Sharpay stated. There was a long pause. "So, do you forgive me?" Sharpay asked.

"Of course I do!" Jenna exclaimed as she hugged Sharpay.

"Good. Well I was hoping after I'm done with rehearsals, do you want to go to Mocha Chic. They make the best coffee drinks and pastries." Sharpay suggested.

"Okay. I'll meet you over there." Jenna said.

"Cool. I should be done by six." Sharpay told her.

"Kay. I'll meet you over there." Jenna gave her one last wave and left the school. Sharpay let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that Jenna forgave her. But no matter what, Sharpay had a feeling that Jenna was hiding something from her. "I got to stop thinking that. If Jenna has a problem, then she would tell me… right?" Sharpay thought.

"Hey." a voice said, shaking all from her thoughts. Sharpay saw who called her. It was none other than Troy Bolton.

"Sharpay? Are you okay?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine Bolton." Sharpay responded.

"You know, if we're going to be friends, you should call me by my first name." Troy explained. "It sounds nicer."

"Sorry. It's a force of habit." Sharpay mumbled.

"It's okay. Well I think we should get going to rehearsals." Troy stated. "You know how Ms. Darbus gets."

"Yeah. Let's go." The two of them headed toward the auditorium.

"Now this is the scene where Roman and Julia first meet." Ms. Darbus explained. "Places people." Sharpay, Troy, a black-haired boy named John, a brunette-haired girl named Melinda, and a blonde-haired boy named Baron walked up the stage. They stood in their places.

"Ready! Action!" Ms. Darbus shouted.

"So, Roman. Have you seen Rose anywhere." John, who was playing Ben, asked Troy.

"No. Not yet. Are you sure she is coming to this party, Ben?" Troy asked, pretending to look around.

"Yeah." Ben told him. "Ask Mercury." Ben said, pointing to Baron.

"Yeah. I heard it from Rose's best friend that she would be coming here." Baron replied.

"I just hope she comes." Troy muttered.

Meanwhile, Sharpay and Melinda were on the other side of the stage, talking. "Julia, are you alright? You don't seem to be having fun?" Melinda asked.

"What? Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I don't know anyone here, besides you." Sharpay explained.

"Oh, well I am going to go to the ladies' room." Melinda responded.

"But Anna…" but Sharpay didn't finish her sentence. Melinda exited the stage. Sharpay just stood by herself.

Meanwhile Troy, John, and Baron were on the other side, pretending to look for Rose. As Troy is looking around, he noticed the blonde beauty. "Who is she?" Troy asked, pointing to Sharpay.

"I don't know. I think her name is Julia." John replied.

"She's… beautiful." Troy said.

"I thought you were looking for Rose?" Baron asked.

"I… am. I just wanted to… know… who she was?" Troy managed to say. Troy walked up to the center of the stage, ready to do his aside. "Who is this beautiful maiden. Her long golden hair, framing her gorgeous face. I must meet her?" Troy walked toward Sharpay.

Sharpay was pretending to look bored. She noticed a boy walking toward her. She began to blush a light shade of pink. Troy introduced himself. "Hello. My name is Roman."

"It's a pleasure meeting you. My name is Julia." Sharpay said as she stretched out a hand. Roy gently shook it.

"That's a beautiful name." Troy commented.

"Thank you." Sharpay told him.

"Cut!" Ms. Darbus yelled. She walked up the stage. "Okay, Miss Evans. Good work. But I want you to show more emotion. When you do this scene, I want you to look into his eyes, and get lost in them. Do you understand me?"

"Loud and clear." Sharpay said as she forced a smile.

"Okay, places people!" Ms. Darbus exclaimed. Troy and Sharpay walked back to their places.

"And action!" Ms. Darbus shouted.

"Hello. My name is Roman."

"It's a pleasure meeting you. My name is Julia." Sharpay said as she stretched out a hand. Troy gently shook it.

"That's a beautiful name." Troy commented. Sharpay looked into his eyes, his crystal blue eyes. She was amazed at how beautiful they were. She almost forgot her lines. Luckily, she remembered.

"Tha…nk you." Sharpay managed to say,

"And cut!" Ms. Darbus exclaimed. "Sharpay, that was brilliant! Now that's the way I want that!"

"Thank you Ms. Darbus." Sharpay said. She then turned to Troy, and smiled. He was taken back by it, but smiled back.

"Okay, people. Let's take it to the top." Ms. Darbus stated. And for the next two hours, they practiced, until Ms. Darbus was satisfied.

"Now people. This was a very productive day. Hopefully everyday will be like this. Remember, you must memorize your lines. We have a month before the opening, and I want everything perfect." Ms. Darbus explained. "Do I make myself clear?" Everyone in the auditorium nodded. "Good. You may all leave."

The auditorium was filled with noise as people were fixing the stage, or heading home. Sharpay grabbed her belongings, and made her way out of the auditorium. Just as she was walking toward the school doors, a voice called out her name.

"Sharpay!" The voice shouted. Sharpay turned around. She saw Troy running toward her.

"Hey Troy. What do you want? Sharpay asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just going to say that this was a good practice." Troy replied.

"Yeah, it was." Sharpay agreed. "Well I should get…."

"I wanted to ask you something" Troy blurted out, interrupting Sharpay.

"Okay, what is it?" Sharpay asked.

"I was wondering…. If you wanted to go to my house… and practice our lines." Troy managed to say, blushing a light red. Sharpay wanted to say yes, but she couldn't.

"Can't." Sharpay simply said.

"Oh, okay. I understand if you don't want to hang out with me." Troy told her, sounding disappointed.

"No, Troy. It's not like that. I was going to go to Mocha Chic and meet up with a friend." Sharpay explained.

"Oh, okay." Troy said, sounding better. "I understand."

"Maybe… tomorrow?" Sharpay suggested.

"Tomorrow's good." Troy said as he gave Sharpay one of his smiles.

"See ya Troy." Sharpay said as she walked away.

"Bye Sharpay!" Troy shouted. Sharpay turned around, and smiled. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses from purse, and put them on. She exited through the doors and headed to her car.

Sharpay went through the doors of Mocha Chic, scanning the room for Jenna. "She's not here." Sharpay said to herself. "Might as well get my drink." Sharpay chose a seat by the window. She saw a barrista walking toward her.

"What would you like?" the barrista asked.

"I would like a tall mocha frappucino a plate of chocolate espresso cookies." Sharpay replied.

"Okay." The barrista walked back to the counter. Sharpay looked out the window, waiting for Jenna.

Meanwhile, Gabriella was seated at a leather chair reading the book "1984," as she sipped her coffee drink. She found this place relaxing. The perfect place to read. She put down the book long enough to see harpy sitting down on the other side of the café. Gabriella let out a deep sigh. She felt bad for snapping off to Sharpay. She didn't deserve that, even if she was the 'Ice Queen.' Gabriella felt that it the best thing to do is to go over there and apologize to her. "How hard could it be." Gabriella said to herself. She took a deep breath, placed her book on a table, grabbed her coffee drink, and walked toward Sharpay.

"Sharpay?" Gabriella said. Sharpay turned around.

"I am so glad that you here Jen… oh, it's you." Sharpay responded coolly. "What do you want now, Montez? Ready to yell at me for something that I didn't do."

"I probably deserve that." Gabriella mumbled.

"You did." Sharpay replied.

"I just came here… to say… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did. Troy explained everything." Gabriella said. Sharpay just sat there, giving Gabriella a look. Gabriella was ready for Sharpay to bite her head off.

Instead, Sharpay simply muttered, "You're forgiven." Gabriella was shocked.

"What did you say?" Gabriella asked in disbelief.

"I said that I forgive you. Can you hear?" Sharpay retorted.

"I can, it's just that, I never expected…"

"The 'Ice Queen' to show compassion." Sharpay said, finishing Gabriella's sentence. Gabriella simply nodded, afraid of what Sharpay might do next.

"It's okay. Most people think that way." Sharpay stated. Gabriella was surprised. Sharpay seemed so… normal. It was like she was a different person outside of school.

"Montez, are you okay?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah." Gabriella said, embarrassed that she spaced out like that. "It's just that… you seem different."

"I don't know what you are talking about?" Sharpay told her.

"You just seem different. That's all." Gabriella replied. There was a long awkward silence. Gabriella noticed that she and Sharpay had the same coffee drink.

"Hey, we have more in common that we think." Gabriella said.

"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked.

"Look." Gabriella pointed to the coffee drinks.

"What do you know, we do." Sharpay stated. "So, what are you doing here?" Sharpay asked.

"Oh, I am here just to chill." Gabriella said. "This is a great place to relax. You?"

"I'm here waiting for a friend." Sharpay answered.

"That's cool. So, how's Ryan doing?" Gabriella asked.

"He's doing good. He should be coming to school tomorrow." Sharpay explained.

"That's great. He was gone for a pretty long time." Gabriella commented.

"Well, you know how Ryan is." The two girls laughed. "It's weird. Once you get to know Sharpay, she's not so bad." Gabriella thought. "Maybe Troy was right."

The two girls spent an hour talking, sharing stories. "I'm really having fun." Gabriella said.

"Me too." Sharpay agreed. Just then, Jenna came through the doors, and waved at Sharpay.

"She's here." Sharpay mumbled.

"Who?" Gabriella asked.

"The person that I was waiting for." Sharpay replied.

"Oh." Gabriella checked her watch. "I should get going. I have to help with dinner." Gabriella got up from her seat.

"Are you sure?" Sharpay asked. "If you want, you can join us."

"It's okay. I really should get going." Gabriella told her.

"Okay. I'll see you… later." Sharpay said.

"We could do this again sometime?" Gabriella suggested.

"Okay." Sharpay replied. Gabriella waved good-bye, grabbed her book from the table, and left. Jenna sat down next to Sharpay, drinking a tall vanilla latté.

"Hey Sharpay, sorry I'm late. My mom wanted me to take care of my sister while she went to the groceries." Jenna explained.

"It's okay." Sharpay told her.

"So… what was that about?" Jenna asked. "I thought you did not like her."

"I know. It's just that… she's not so bad." Sharpay replied.

"Whatever you say." The two girls chatted away, unaware that someone was watching them from the convenience of a car.

"Soon, we will meet again."

TBC

A/N: Well that's the end of Chapter 8. Who is the person watching them? Can't tell you… yet. Also, Sharpay and troy will get closer in the next chapter. So until then, you know the drill. And please review. They make my day! R&R.