A/N: Once again, I apologize for the long wait. I have the rest of the story outlined and only need to type it all up. There are only a few chapters left, so please stick with me. I hope you haven't lost interest in the story. I've included an outline of what had happened in the last chapter, just in case you forgot. Oh, yeah, I realized the last chapter's ending said End of Chapter 4 but I really meant End of Chapter 5. Sorry if that caused any confusion!

Disclaimer: Forgot last chapter, but I own nothing in this story besides the basic idea. None of the High School Musical characters are mine. Chicago is not mine. Neither is New York. Heck, the notebook I used to jot down my ideas isn't even mine.

Last time: Note: the bold/italic parts later on indicate the character's thoughts. Italics are actual text from the last chapter of the story. Troy calls the number Sharpay and given him and finds that it really was Gabriella. When he goes to visit her, he learns the truth about her and her disappearance. She attempts to rekindle their relationship, but Troy cannot decide between her and Sharpay. He walks out and tries to locate Sharpay. Before he can tell her how he feels, he has to leave for the Championship Game. Before leaving, he decides to leave his number on the off-chance Sharpay will try and forgive him.
I hope she calls it! Who am I kidding, Sharpay doesn't like me. I'm such an idiot! For a second, I thought that we would actually get together. I haven't stopped thinking about her since I got to New York. What am I going to do? I may never see her again. How will I tell her that I kissed Gabriella? Over the phone? That's so impersonal. Gabriella, she wouldn't mind if I got back with her on the phone...would she? When I kissed her, there was something there. It was different, though. She isn't the same anymore. Maybe I should give her a chance. But Sharpay...I thought she really liked me this time. I guess I was wrong.
Meanwhile, Sharpay hears voices outside her apartment and realizes that it's Troy. She overhears part of Troy's conversation with himself and gets the wrong idea.
Sharpay was walking back to the living room when she heard a soft voice. Is that Troy? She opened the door a tiny bit and saw someone sitting outside her apartment. Quickly, she closed the door. Oh, gosh, it is! What is he doing here? She could barely make out what he was saying. "Sharpay...tell you...stupid..." She gasped. How dare he call her stupid! She continued to listen to him speak. "Sharpay...something...idiot." What is his problem? Did he come all this way to insult me? Is he practicing what to say before he comes in here and yells at me? I can't take this. I'm going to go out there and give him a piece of my mind. Sharpay passed a mirror on her way out and decided to fix herself up first.
Five minutes later, Sharpay opened the door. Huh, the hallway is empty. What's this? A phone number...he's going to yell at me on the phone? Real classy, Bolton. Why would he think that? What have I ever done to...I thought he actually liked me. I guess I was wrong, again.

10:00AM—Sharpay and Ryan's apartment

The next morning, Sharpay got up silently and left the apartment building. Ryan was fast asleep on the couch with an empty soda bottle in his hand. She smiled and realized it must have been him who placed her on the bed. He was her brother, so she knew he couldn't stay mad at her for too long. After all, she was basically all he had and visa versa. It was only then that she realized what had happened the other night. Forgetting about Troy for the moment, she set off looking for answers the only place she knew would have them.

After getting ready for 2 hours, Sharpay was physically ready to go to Gabriella's house. Ryan was in his room watching Troy's basketball game on TV. He acknowledged the fact that Sharpay couldn't stand to look at him right now, so he left the big screen for his 20" LCD screen in his room. Thirty minutes of mental preparation left Sharpay feeling a little calmer. She knew that if she postponed going to Gabriella's anymore, she would be unnerved and she'd never find out everything she needed.

She leaned against Ryan's doorframe and softly announced that she was leaving. Ryan stood up and hugged her. He whispered in her ear that she didn't have to do this. She smiled at him and whispered in his ear, "Ryan, the one thing I need right now is closure...over both things. If I'm not back in five hours, something might be wrong. I don't know what she's like...personality wise."

Ryan pulled back and his eyes were wide. "What do you mean?"

Her smiled faltered and she thought for a moment. "I guess I just mean that I have to expect the worst, that way I can't get surprised. I don't know what she's like now. She's kept the murder a secret for so long that she's probably very different. I don't really know, actually. Just, promise me you'll wait five hours before coming after me."

Ryan hesitated, but finally agreed. After one final hug, Sharpay was off. It was about 1:30 when she stepped out of the apartment. A single tear fell down her cheek as she remembered seeing her mom for the very last time. Sharpay didn't know if she would keep her promise to her mother and avenge her death or if she would change her mind after seeing her former best friend.

2:35PM—Gabriella's house

Sharpay sighed and measured the gravity of the decision she was making. She had left her apartment battling with herself on whether or not what she was doing was right. Part of her argued that this was the only way to clear things up; that this was the only way to finally have closure. Another part of her insisted that she was putting herself in a dangerous position. She shook her head and tried to make the arguing voices stop. If I'm ever going to do this, I have to do this now. Feeling slightly nervous, she grabbed her cell and almost called Ryan but then thought better of it. After gazing at the phone for a moment, her manicured hands slipped the phone back into her purse and she knocked on the dark brown door.

Five knocks later, there was still no response. Slightly relieved by this turn of events, she made her way back to her car when a small voice whispered her name. She turned around and saw Gabriella standing in the doorway. There weren't many differences between the Gabriella she remembered from high school and the one standing before her now-the biggest difference was her eyes. Her dark eyes had once been hopeful, happy, and unusually bright. The woman Sharpay saw now had eyes that were dark and almost empty. Sharpay suppressed a shiver as the woman said her name with sudden ferocity. Gathering up the courage she had left, Sharpay pushed the woman aside and entered her home without saying a word. Gabriella merely smirked then shut the door behind them as she entered behind her.

Sharpay sat on the couch and looked around for Gabriella. Without realizing it, she began to drum her fingers on the arm of the couch. It seemed as if Gabriella had been expecting her. The house was unusually clean, even for her, and there were two glasses out on the coffee table. A dark figure suddenly walked in the living room. Gabriella attempted to smile at Sharpay but the smile did not reach her eyes. Sharpay countered with a cold glare. After pouring two glasses of wine, Gabriella sat on the couch opposite from her blonde houseguest.

Before Gabriella could speak, Sharpay's icy voice filled the quiet room. "A bit early for wine, isn't it?"

Gabriella shrugged and replied, "I think a toast is the perfect way to begin our little conversation." She picked up her glass and Sharpay mimicked the motion. "Here's to Troy."

The blonde felt like gagging, but instead smiled and repeated what Gabriella said. They each took a sip of the wine. Gabriella began to speak again.

"What do you think of my home, Miss Evans? I know it isn't as glamorous as your old mansion, but I feel it has a certain quality. It's lovely really. The outside of the house would lead you to believe the décor would be more Victorian, but I decided to go for a more modern feel. It adds to the surprise of the house. It looks like one thing but then you see the inside and it throws you."

Sharpay nodded in agreement. "Miss Montez," Sharpay mocked, "you did an excellent job with the house. It fits you extremely well. I don't think you realize how well." To an outsider, the conversation sounded civil. If you mix in the ice-cold glares coming from the two former friends, however, you begin to see the hidden meanings. "I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I believe we are both past the formalities by now. If we don't begin discussing more important matters I will leave and apologize for wasting your time."

Gabriella remained silent for a moment so Sharpay began to head towards the door. As Sharpay turned the knob to leave, Gabriella's soft voice reached her ears. "Troy told you what happened, but he never actually saw it happen. If you walk out, you'll never know what really occurred inside your house."

Intrigued, Sharpay decided to face Gabriella yet again. She refused Gabriella's offer to sit down and instead motioned for her to tell her story as fast as possible. She braced herself for the pain and heartache she was sure to feel while hearing the story.

12:27PM—Chicago, IL

There were two minutes left before halftime. Troy was dribbling the ball down the court, only to have it stolen by the other team. Chad glared at him as if to ask what was going on, but Troy merely shrugged back. His attention was then turned to the opposing team. Cheers from the crowd filled Troy's head and pushed out his thoughts of Gabriella and Sharpay, if only for a moment. With his head sufficiently back in the game, he managed to grab the rebound and made a breakaway down the court to the basket. A member of the other team managed to stop him from making the lay-up, so he passed the ball to Chad. With no one open, Chad returned the ball to Troy who had no other choice but to attempt a 3-point shot. The ball slowly arced and completely missed the basket as the buzzer sounded the end of the first half. The crowd made their disappointment known as the man who had broken almost every record missed a perfect shot.

Troy jogged over to the bench to grab some Gatorade when a hand grasped his shoulder firmly. "Chad, listen, I don't want to talk about it," Troy stated before turning to see who it was.

"Man, I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. You're going to talk about it because you are putting our entire team in danger of losing the championships. It isn't high school anymore-this is no rivalry game. If you mess this up, you can kiss any hopes of getting MVP goodbye. What happened to you?"

"Chad just shut up! Have you ever stopped to think that maybe there's something out there more important than this dumb little basketball game? My heart is on the line. Gabriella's back but she's so cold and distant now. Sharpay is the exact opposite, but she keeps pulling away whenever we get too close. Not that I blame her for that; I haven't exactly given her many opportunities to trust me. I need to get her to trust me though. I need to decide which one I'd rather be with right now. That's what matters to me right now. That's what's more important to me than this stupid game. So you and the rest of the team are going to have to win this game without me. I'm out of here Chad! I need to sort this out. I need to talk to Sharpay and tell her I love her."

"You love Sharpay? Dude, what are you still doing here? Hop on the next flight over to New York pronto!"

Troy hugged his best friend. "Wait, I love Sharpay? What? I can't do this. What do I do? What do I say?"

"I'm forgiving, but I don't think I'm the best person to ask. Now, go before I change my mind!"

After a quick thank you, Troy rushed out and left the entire stadium wondering what was wrong with him.

2:40PM—Gabriella's house

Gabriella took a deep breath before revealing to Sharpay what happened as she pulled the trigger on Mrs. Evans. Sharpay looked impatient, so she quickly began her story. "Well, I had just walked in on you and Troy in a compromising situation in a closet. It tore me apart because Troy had promised he'd wait for me. Troy had promised me that I was the only one for him and then I find him in a closet with my best friend. You can't even begin to imagine the pain I felt when I saw the one guy I loved more than anything making out with a girl like you."

Sharpay interjected. "Actually, I can imagine what that felt like. It felt like someone had ripped your heart out and stomped on it a million times. It felt like someone was twisting your stomach in knots. I felt it every single time I saw you with him and wished that it was me. You were never good enough." Sharpay spat out the final sentence with such venom that Gabriella took a step back.

Acting as if Sharpay had never said anything, Gabriella continued. "I had to get out of there. I was being suffocated by the pain that I was feeling. Troy had followed me out, but there was nothing he could say to me that would erase my emotions. As one foot stepped in front of the other, I realized how I could make you pay for what you had done." Gabriella's voice suddenly became high-pitched and a mad look found its way to her face. "Troy had caught up to me and began talking to me. I kissed him...I kissed him hard. He just pushed me away. It hurt even more than seeing you with him. He had stopped loving me and it was your fault! I ran over to your house. Troy tried to stop me from doing anything. I scared him...I scared myself, too. It's just that I couldn't stand him being happy with someone that wasn't me. I loved him! I still love him! You don't understand what love is. He always wanted you; I bet you didn't know that. What stopped him was his love for me. He lusted for you, but he will never love you Sharpay."

12:50—Chicago, IL

Troy drove quickly to the airport and ignored the honking of cars as he sped past. He couldn't help but feel lucky since no police cars chased after him while he drove from his hotel to O'Hare Airport. After running towards the ticket counter, he quickly asked for the next flight into New York. There was one seat left for a flight that would board in thirty minutes. Troy smiled at the attendant as she handed him a ticket and told him to hurry. He then rushed to the gate and sat down to catch his breath. At first he thought it was luck that was allowing him to reach Gabriella and Sharpay, but then realized that fate had planned this all along. A feeling of dread filled his stomach as he realized that he'd need to make his decision once he reached either Sharpay or Gabriella. He sighed as he wondered who he would choose...and who he would tell first.

1:45—Somewhere over the United States

Troy sat there, looking out of the airplane's window and thought about his new predicament. He couldn't remember the last time two girls had made him so confused. Rationalize, Bolton. Just rationalize. Okay, now start with Gabriella. Troy had to admit, what he had with Gabriella in the past was amazing. What had started out as puppy love had grown into something more over the summer. That summer...she was passionate and fiery; nothing at all like the girl he'd met at the ski lodge. Gabriella had frightened and excited him. Then, she had changed back into the other Gabriella...the one that was more worried about the next test than which outfit would appeal to him more. Her change hadn't upset him as much, however, as her sudden decision to break up with him. It tore him up inside for the longest time. For years, he thought he would never be over her.

Then, suddenly, he remembered, he was over her and completely in love with Sharpay Evans. During senior year, Sharpay was there for Troy during his breakup. She understood more than anyone else how Troy felt about Gabriella. He never questioned why she was helping him; the only thing that confused him was why she had stopped being his friend once he had sufficiently recovered from the breakup. The day he'd spent with Sharpay made his entire relationship with Gabriella seem miniscule. Troy thought he would regret falling for her, but the only thing he regretted was not having the time to remember enough of her. He didn't get to memorize every curve of her body, every expression she had. Even sitting on the plane he was having trouble recalling the sound of her voice when she was elated and the twinkle in her eye that told him she was all his.

Contemplating his relationships with both girls, however, made it even harder for him to choose. Gabriella reminded him of his entire family's relationships. Sensitive enough to the point where it was almost boring. His mother knew Jack Bolton so well it was as if they shared one mind. When Troy was younger, it was everything he had wanted. Troy wanted a girl who knew what dinner he wanted hours before he got home from work. A girl who knew exactly what it was that made him happy and went out of her way to do whatever it was. Someone that is dependable, kind, and honest. A girl who's completely on the safe side, Troy realized. Did he really mind someone safe? Gabriella wouldn't do anything to hurt me, would she? Sharpay on the other hand...Sharpay was the girl that his entire family had warned him about. The one that could hurt you a million times but you'd still run a million miles to find her because there was just something about her. She was exciting, dramatic, and unpredictable. Sharpay could hurt me in a million ways and not even mean to. Gabriella would always be standing right next to me. We never fought, except for during the breakup. Sharpay and I fought nearly a thousand times when we weren't even friends. Imagine being in a relationship where the wrong words at the wrong time could completely ruin everything...where saying the wrong thing could leave you with your heart shattered in pieces so small they could never be put back together. Troy's inner turmoil only got worse as he felt the plane began its descent into New York.

3:00PM—Gabriella's house

Sharpay tried to appear unaffected by what Gabriella had just said, but her shaky voice gave her away. "Gab...Gabriella. Just...just tell me what...when my mom...just tell me what you did to my mother! I don't really care about Troy's feelings for either of us right now. Tell me what the hell you did to my mother!"

Gabriella's light, almost sinister laugh filled the room as Sharpay inwardly winced. Then Gabriella's facial expression changed and it looked as if she was in pain because of what she was remembering. "You had...everything. You have no idea what it was like for me to be your best friend senior year. Sharpay, you got nicer...you were so much nicer to everyone. When that happened you became even more gorgeous than you already were. I could hear everyone talking about it. Your brother even joked that if you two weren't related, he'd fall in love with you in a heartbeat. I knew it was a joke, but so many people fell for you and just...you were so much nicer. You weren't perfect, but it was such a weird change that everyone noticed. I didn't really care, though, because I was happy that you finally showed the real you."

Gabriella paused and took this opportunity to look up at Sharpay. Instead of being greeted by a small smile as she had expected, Sharpay's face was blank and unfeeling. A little unnerved, Gabriella resumed telling the story. "That was really why I broke up with Troy two months after the start of senior year. I could see the way he looked at you. He looked at you just like every other guy did. Except, he was still with me! Troy wanted you, Sharpay, because you had changed. He finally thought he'd be able to date the Sharpay that he knew was hidden inside you. Every time I saw him staring at you, I wanted to strangle you. I thought that if I broke up with him and he went to you, I'd be able to hate him for it. But he didn't go to you. I couldn't hate him for loving you, even though everyone knew he did! That's why Taylor told him to go into the closet with you. That's why she waited for me to leave before she did that. She wanted to see if what I thought was true." By this time, Gabriella was on her feet screaming vehemently.

"I was right, Sharpay! He did go to you after all. He just needed the right moment...the right time. You know what felt worse? Knowing I still couldn't hate him. I loved and still love that man with all my heart! And I swear, seeing you with him...seeing you kissing him...it tore me apart! How could it be possible that you could have everything I'd wanted and even more? You, your brother, and Troy all got leads in the play while I was a simple supporting role! There were only three leads, and I accepted that it was a love triangle...but it just wasn't fair! You shouldn't have been cast! Ryan is your brother! I let that go, though, because I knew you wanted it more. Then my friends started to gravitate towards you and you had them, too! On top of all of that, you were pretty and smart and so talented. My God, Sharpay, don't you get it yet? That night that you got Troy Bolton, I thought there was nothing I could take away from you. Then I remembered the one thing you still had that I didn't...a mother. Mine had died months after the winter musical and my aunt moved here so I wouldn't have to leave. I couldn't breathe or think after hearing my mother died. Losing Troy and all my friends hurt just as much!

"I wanted you to feel that pain. I wanted you to see what it was like to have nothing anymore. So I decided to kill your mother. She had greeted me with a huge smile the moment I walked into your house. She gave me a hug and congratulated me for graduating. I wanted to be sick! The woman that had given birth to a whore like you was hugging me. I told her I wanted to go to the bathroom, and on the way there I passed your father's study. I went inside and found a gun cabinet. I skillfully picked the lock, a trick I had learned from you, actually, and grabbed one. It felt so good in my hands...I felt powerful. Your mother's face blanched when she saw the gun. She tried to talk me out of doing whatever it was I was doing. She actually tried to give me advice! I just laughed in her face and shot her. As she fell to the ground, adrenaline stopped pumping through my veins and instead my blood became as cold as ice. I was frightened at what I had just done that night. The funny thing is, however, I realize now I'd do it again in a heartbeat. You and Troy had a spat and he came running to me. I, however, had made my own little exit and was leaving in my car as I saw him crying on my doorstep. I had won, Sharpay! That was all I ever needed."

Sharpay looked at her and tilted her head, as if she was thinking. Her crystal blue eyes were full of fury and rage as she got up and slapped Gabriella in the face. "You are disgusting, did you know that? Every single word you just said has convinced me even more that you are just a sick, twisted girl that let heartbreak get the best of her. Did you even hear any of the things you just said to me? You wanted me to feel pain so you killed my mother. What insane logic is that?"

Gabriella's hand was gently rubbing the red spot on her cheek as she stared at Sharpay. She'd stopped listening to her little tirade the moment it began. Instead, she was thinking about how Troy would react if he ever found out about what would take place in mere moments.

END OF CHAPTER 6

A/N: Well, there's the long awaited chapter! I really hope you all still enjoy this story as much as I do while I write it. I know it's been so long, but I want to know that you all still read this before I write another chapter. Please, please, PLEASE review so that I know there's a point in me continuing. As you may be able to tell, the ending is near.