Chapter 5: The Call
As Troy and Sharpay neared the Bolton house after school, still talking about the audition, and singing along to the Grease CD, they heard the faint sound of "A Public Affair" in the background. "Oh my god." Sharpay gasped. She showed the caller ID of her Sidekick to Troy. It read: RYAN. She flipped it open and said, "Hey." Ryan smiled, "Thank God you answered, Shar, we're in L.A., in the middle of the city, we've rented out an apartment for right now and mom is doing fine, so don't worry." "Good, I'm staying with Troy, and…" she was cut off, "Troy, as in, Troy Bolton." Ryan said. "Yes, we auditioned for the musical today, we got Jason to tape it, so I'll get him to send it to Troy, and I'll email it to your phone." Sharpay said. "Oh, you did." Ryan said. "Ry, I didn't mean to hurt you, if it did, but Troy said…" "It's fine, have fun in the musical, I'm sure you got callback and you'll do great." A tear slid down Sharpay's cheek. "What's wrong?" Troy asked. She chocked back her tears as she listened to the rest of Ryan's lecture and hung up the phone. "What happened." Troy asked. "He got all pissed off because I auditioned for a musical in a rough time." Sharpay said. "He said that living my life from the outside looking in was all that mattered for me and family didn't matter at all." "Sorry." Was the only thing Troy could come up with. "It's fine, it's just the call I had been waiting for, for the last week, and now, Ryan ruined it." She said. "He'll call back, if he is concerned, he'll call back, that's just the way Ryan is." Troy said. Sharpay shook her head in agreement as they got out of the car and walked into the house to find the Bolton's sitting with a police officer. Sharpay gave Troy a worried look. Troy leaned down and whispered, "That Officer is Zeke's dad." "Why is Zeke's dad here?" Troy asked. "I need to talk to Miss Evans concerning her father." Officer Baylor replied. "Okay." Sharpay said, sitting her dress bag and bookbag down and going into Mrs. Bolton's study. "Miss Evans, your father, Matthew Evans has been reported to the Albuquerque Police by Mr. Jason Cross." He said. "Wait, Jason Cross, how did he know?" Sharpay said. "He said that when he was trying to find a sound file on your phone/mp3 player for your audition, he came across one in his searches, that was threatening, and left by your father, he then went to the office and asked for your dad's name, Principal Matsui gave it to him, and he reported it." The police officer said, "Can I see your phone?" Sharpay shook her head as she went into the hall and got her phone out of her bag. "Well…" Troy said. "Don't ask, at least, not yet." Sharpay said. She returned, and handed Mr. Baylor the phone and showed him how to work the sound section. "So these are all the sound files you have on here, mp3 songs, voice recordings, ringtones, and more importantly, messages." "Yes Sir." Sharpay replied. He finally found the one that Sharpay was sure Jason heard, since it was near "Dance With Me". Sharpay cringed on every word. Officer Baylor gave her phone back and said, "I'm so sorry, do you happen to know where he is?" "No," Sharpay said, "He's been going back and forth between my house and his brother's for almost a week, my mom and brother skipped town and went to L.A. to protect my mom." "Smart decision." Officer said, "That's all I'll need, well, except do you mind if we put him on the most wanted list." "Can you hold on, before I answer that." Sharpay said. She went into the hall and got Troy and brought him into the downstairs bathroom and locked the door. "What should I do?" she asked, "If I put him on the list, Troy, he'll possibly make my life a living Hades, and if I don't, my troubles will never end." "Sharpay, think about your mom, and your brother, he needs to be taken to jail. It's the only way to fix what's already happened." Troy replied. "I guess." Sharpay said as the exited the bathroom. She went back in the study. "Well?" Officer Baylor said. "Do it." Sharpay said, "It's for the best of the rest of my family." After officer Baylor left, Troy called Jason. "Jay, when did you report Sharpay's dad?" Troy asked as he put him on speaker phone. "This morning, just after auditions, even if she is the ice queen, she doesn't deserve that." Jason said. "Thanks Jason," Sharpay said into the phone, "I couldn't find it in myself to do it, but I'm glad you did." Jason bit his lip, "Your welcome." He said, taken aback by Sharpay's presence on the other end of the phone as he hung up with Troy. Just then, the phone rang again. Troy answered it on speaker. "Hello." Troy said. "Hey Troy, It's Gabriella, I just heard from Kelsi, who heard from Jason, about Sharpay, is she okay?" Troy paused and glanced at Sharpay, who looked partially annoyed and partially scared, that her story had leaked so soon. "Uh, she's fine, but it's best that you try not to spread it around, Zeke is going to know soon enough as it is, because his dad is taking care of the case." "Okay Troy, bye." Gabriella said. Troy hung up the phone and looked at Sharpay. "I will not answer that thing again unless my life depends on it." Sharpay smiled at Troy. "I'm glad you're okay." Troy said. "I'm not, It feels like the world is playing out in front of me, and I'm in the audience, stuck, watching." Sharpay said. "You'll be fine." Troy said. Later that night, Troy and Sharpay were sitting in his room watching a movie when they heard the sound of tires screeching against the pavement and a sound of metal crushing. "What was that?" Sharpay said. "I have no clue." Troy said, "I honestly think this is no false alarm, stay here." "No!" Sharpay said. "Do it." Troy said, "I'll be back." Sharpay clutched his pillow to her chest and shut her eyes. "This can't be happening." Sharpay thought. Meanwhile, Troy went to the top of the stairs and looked down. A red truck had crashed into the basketball goal, turning it over and crushing the headlights. A dirty blonde headed man stepped out, swaggering to the front porch.