Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical or any of the characters, no matter how much I wish I did.

Summary: After graduating from East High, no one's life was the same. Their biggest worries were no longer the Twinkle Town Musical or the Basketball Championships. Sharpay became a huge Broadway star, along with her brother. Troy made it big in the NBA. When an unexpected meeting brings the two together, dark memories are revealed and a new future begins. Troypay, I promise!

Always going to be the same, just in case you were wondering

During the story, italics mean thinking...either Troy or Sharpay. Whoever was just talking. You'll see! It makes more sense in the story.

Last time:

At that moment, Taylor came over. "Ryan, your cell phone."

Ryan answered, "Yeah? Seriously? Um...yeah, we'll be right over. Thank you. No, we can handle it." His eyes were wide open and began to moisten. "Shar, we have to get home right now. Mom's dead and they think dad killed her."

-------------

"Are you kidding? Oh my gosh who called you?" Sharpay stuttered.

"It...it was Troy Bolton. He said caught up to Gabriella and then they heard a gunshot. He turned around and she was gone. When he went inside he saw our mother on the floor. Apparently he didn't get a good look at the shooter. Troy says he saw a note from our father nearby," Ryan said, barely believing what he had heard. "Anyway, we have to go see what happened. 'Bye guys. Um...congratulations to you all! We finally made it out of East High!" After a couple nervous laughs, Ryan and Sharpay were on their way home.

-------------

The rest was history. Ryan and Sharpay got home in time to kick Troy out and hear their mother say one last thing: "It wasn't your father. I love you both. Never give up; you'll be big stars one day." Then she smiled one last time before fading away into the darkness. The next few days, Sharpay walked around town feeling completely numb. Nothing mattered to her, not Troy or Gabriella, not singing...the only thing that was real was that her brother was by her side the whole time. Knowing that made it a little better, but still she couldn't feel anything else. One day, she bumped into the last person she wanted to talk to but the only person who could've possibly known what happened.

"Sharpay, are you...okay?" Troy nearly whispered with a true look of concern in his face.

"Of course I'm okay Bolton. What do you care anyway?" Sharpay retorted. Maybe if I act like I don't care...like it doesn't bother me...he'll go away. He never actually cared...he never actually loved me. That kiss was all a joke. And now mom's gone...he was the only one who could've seen the killer. But why would he ever tell me? He doesn't care. He's probably enjoying this. Stupid lunk-head basketball man.

"I just thought. I mean...Sharpay are you crying?" At that moment, she fell in his arms sobbing. "It's okay, you'll get through this. I'll be here for you always." Sharpay pushed him away. A look of pure hatred was on her face.

"No. No you won't! You were never there for me. Not when my father started beating Ryan and me. Not when you went to find Gabriella instead of staying with me after that kiss. THAT STUPID KISS YOU NEVER EVEN MEANT! Don't even bother apologizing. Don't say you understand what's going on. You'll never understand! I've been through things you could never even dream about! I've seen things that would make your most devastating moments seem like bitter comedies. I've felt pain you could never even begin to imagine. So whatever fake crap you want to try to say to make me feel better and say it to someone who cares because I don't want to hear it. I HATE YOU TROY BOLTON! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR STUPID BASKETBALL-PLAYING, TOUCHDOWN-SCORING, OFF-KEY SINGING, DISGUSTING FACE AGAIN!" Sharpay screamed while her mascara ran down her face.

Shocked, Troy watched her walk away for a few seconds. After regaining his composure, he ran up and grabbed her arm. "I'm not letting you have the final say. Not this time. You think that just because you're the co-head of the drama club you're so wonderful and can get away with anything. WRONG! Just because you and your brother have been through so much crap whatever you say is just excused, no matter how much it hurts other people. WRONG AGAIN! Reality check, Sharpay—no one likes you! No one ever has...no one ever will. Whatever feelings I had for you in that closet are completely gone. Yes, I loved you. Yes, I thought you were amazing. But now I finally see what everyone else has been talking about. You're a heartless, insane, sorry excuse for an actress. Now you can walk away because I'm done with you. HAVE A MISERABLE LIFE!" Troy yelled back. He could feel his face heating up and his eyes welling with tears. I loved you. I thought you'd finally become the girl I knew existed deep in your heart. But I was wrong. You'll never be the girl I want...the girl I always dreamed of. So here it is. This is my final goodbye.

Sharpay took off her heels and ran away. She felt like she had just been slapped in the face. The things Troy said played over and over in her mind until she felt she couldn't take it anymore. Mom, I need you now more than ever. Why did you have to go? I swear, whoever did this to you is going to pay. I'll become the star you wanted me to be. I'll make you proud. And when the time is right, I'll kill whoever it is that took you away from me. Then Sharpay collapsed.

-------------

Now, back to the present. Sharpay and Troy were staring at each other as the distant memories of their final goodbye played through their heads. As the blonde's eyes filled, yet again, with tears, Troy took her in his arms and whispered the words she had been dying to hear. "Sharpay, I'm sorry. I...I never stopped loving you. Please, let me make it up to you."

At first she had every intention of kissing him and assuring him it was alright. But then she remembered what he had made her go through. She remembered all the times she cried and he was never there. All the times he had made her cry and never did anything about it. "No, Troy. You gave up that chance the moment you walked away from me. Chad, Ryan, thank you for trying. It was sweet and I'm sure under other circumstances it would've worked out. Chad, I wish you good luck in the NBA. I hope your business takes off. If you'll excuse us, Ryan and I are going back to our apartment. See you at the reunion," Sharpay coldly replied. Each word froze her heart over yet again. It seemed every time she was finally getting better, something happened that worsened her condition.

-------------

Back at the apartment, Ryan broke the silence and asked Sharpay what had happened. She told him what happened the day she had run into Troy. It felt weird because that was one of the few things she had kept from her brother. Otherwise, they knew each other's deepest, darkest, secrets. It didn't take their twin connection for Ryan to realize Sharpay still had feelings for Troy. And if he wasn't mistaken, Troy seemed to have feelings for Sharpay, too. After all, the way they looked at each other for that very first moment...Ryan couldn't get it out of his head. Sharpay's face had brightened for a moment and she seemed genuinely happy. Then she replaced that smile with a smirk and returned to her Ice Queen characteristics. Troy, on the other hand, looked completely miserable on TV. The smile he had on when Sharpay stepped back into his life was completely priceless. Then he realized it was up to him to fix Sharpay and Troy's broken relationship. Just as he picked up his phone to call Chad, it started ringing.

"Chad? You read my mind. I was just about to call you."

"Yeah, I talked to Troy. He's still crazy about Sharpay. You should've heard the way he was screaming about her. It was the same thing over and over again. He couldn't think of anything bad to say about her. Now, I could..."

"Chad...she's my sister! Anyway, we need to do something. Their careers...I can tell they're going to take a hit. Think about it, if they're both absolutely miserable, Sharpay's not going to act her best and Troy's not going to play his best."

"Yeah, that makes sense. The championship game is in a week though...the only reason they let me and Troy off for this business thing was because our next game doesn't really matter. We're only going to be in town for about three days. Then we'll be traveling to the other schools where the program's begun. We have no time! Maybe we should give up."

"Listen; if there's one thing I've learned from being friends with both Troy and Sharpay, it's how to make a plan work. So here's what's going to happen. We'll let fate run its course. It's flawless."

"I almost called you a genius. Then I realized how stupid that sounds!"

"No, listen, Sharpay and Troy are going to run into each other, even if they don't mean to. It's FATE! I took a psychology course in college. If they think about each other enough, which they will, they'll run into each other. It just happens. I left the class before the end of the semester, so I'm not sure if that's 100 guaranteed. But even if it isn't, we can always have them run into each other another way. Ugh, Sharpay wants to run lines! I've gotta go. I'll call you again in a few days.

"Alright man, but this better work! The championship! THE CHAMPIONSHIP!"

-------------

The next morning, Sharpay was still thinking about that meeting. Maybe I shouldn't have said those things. I mean, it was completely Ice Queen-ish of me to do. Oh well, too late now. If Troy knew what I had done, he'd never forgive me. It felt so right at the time though. I hate my conscience. Whatever, I'll never see him again. He did look good though. He hasn't changed a bit. Still the gorgeous lunkhead basketball man I adored and despised. The phone rang and interrupted Sharpay's train of thought. After hanging up the phone, Sharpay ran to tell Ryan the good news.

"I GOT THE PART! I GOT THE PART!" she squealed.

"Good morning to you too, Shar," Ryan grunted. "Do you know what time it is? I'm still asleep. Now shut up."

"Aw, you're being a little party pooper. Now get up! We have rehearsals!"

"We? What are you talking about?"

"You're in too! HAHAHAHA I'm so happy!"

"Sharpay, what did I tell you about drinking in the morning. I thought you'd be completely miserable after, well, last night."

"He's an idiot. I don't care. Besides, I GOT THE PART! This is like my dream play. Now get changed." Just the very mention of Troy was enough to bring Sharpay's Ice Queen-like demeanor back. Ryan decided the safest thing to do would be to do as she said.

-------------

Meanwhile, Troy and Chad were discussing ways to further their business. Troy seemed extremely distracted, but Chad tried his hardest not to mention it.

"We could try getting some TV-time. Maybe like tell news stations or something," Troy suggested. He sighed. Sharpay looked so different. The last time I saw her was when she was crying. Her makeup was so thick that I could see it running down her face. Last night she looked so much more natural. Maybe I should've talked to her instead of yelling...but she looked so angry to see me. It would never have helped. I've never seen her so angry, not even when Gabriella and I 'stole' her and her brother's lead parts in the winter musical back in East High. Gabriella. Would she approve of me thinking of Sharpay so much? When I saw her my heart skipped a beat. Sharpay was gorgeous...I mean, Gabriella was pretty, but Sharpay was always WOW. I feel terrible not telling her the truth about—

"Troy! Troy! Hello? Earth to Troy!" Chad screamed. "Dude, you are so out of it. I know...I KNOW you like Sharpay. Just go find her! Talk to her. At least tell her what's on your mind. Even if she rejects you, which is completely possible, you need to let her know the truth. Maybe it'll help you, you know, get over Gabriella. It's not like you're cheating on Gabi, she's been gone for years. I'm your best friend and I'm telling you that you have to move on."

"She'd never forgive me," Troy mumbled. "I know something, something crazy that would change her life entirely. I don't want to do that to her. I just can't," he said, barely whispering. "You're right, though. I'll go look for her. You can handle the meeting, right?"

"Go! Go before I change my mind!" Chad joked.

Walking around New York trying to find one special person would be like looking for a certain snowflake during a blizzard. That didn't stop Troy, though; he knew he had to try. Sharpay was the only girl that ever gave him butterflies. She was his first crush, the first girl he ever wanted to kiss, and the one he just could never seem to have. Every time he began to think of Sharpay, the image of Gabriella crying and running out was fresh on his mind. For some reason, this didn't matter to him anymore. Gabriella was just puppy love. It was never anything real; that was the reason we broke up. Gosh, I hope I can find Sharpay. I'll tell her. I swear that after I find her, I'll tell her everything. I can't stand to lose Sharpay too, but it's the only way...the only way.

"Watch out!" someone squealed. "Next time, try not to run into people!" She flipped her blond hair back, revealing who she was. It was Sharpay Evans. "Troy Bolton. Well, well, well. I didn't think you'd show your face in this city ever again. Not after what happened yesterday." Her eyes were narrowed and she was smirking at him.

Troy just smiled. He grabbed her around the waist, despite her protests and kissed her. After breaking apart, he whispered in her ear, "I need to talk to you."

Sharpay just stood there in complete disbelief. "I...uh...um...okay."

END OF CHAPTER 2