A/N: Hello wonderful people! I was hoping that I could get this chapter out yesterday but I ran out of time. My mom shouted at me to get off of the computer, saying that I've been on it for a long time. Anyway, thank you to my wonderful readers and reviewers. I love you all!

Vanessa Turner: Thanks! I know, I think this is the most dramatic story I've ever written.

lol925: Oh, Sharpay didn't tell Gabriella. She thought Gabriella would know because she cares about him a lot. And maybe it slipped her mind. And your other question will be answered shortly. Thanks!

megan: Thanks! And I'll try not to make Ryan break Gabriella's heart.

azndoll10: I know. As I told Vanessa Turner, I think this is the most dramatic story I've ever written. And the longest chapters.

PrettyGirl14: Thanks! I agree, those are priceless moments. Keep reading!

Well, those are all the people that reviewed! I hope more people come read my story and review it! And I hope you readers like this next installment!

This Is War

Chapter Eight: Mystery Solved

Gabriella sat in the little ice cream parlor just outside the theatre, chowing down on what looks to be two pounds of ice cream.

"How could he do this? He has a wife! And kids! And he's trying to get his flirt on with me? After about ten years? What was he thinking? What does he see in… Leslie? I mean, it's Leslie for crying out loud!" Gabriella talked to herself as she stuffed spoonfuls of ice cream in her mouth. Just then, an older woman was staring at her. Gabriella just smiled embarrassingly.

Gabriella scanned the whole ice cream parlor. It was just a small, homey, shop. Then she spotted Chad, Taylor, and Devon in one corner. She saw that Chad and Taylor were sharing a milkshake and little Devon was eating an ice cream cone. Gabriella chuckled a little. He's a messy eater. Gabriella thought when she saw all the ice cream around his little mouth and on his hands.

Meanwhile, back in the theatre, Ryan just finished packing up his things and he's now ready to go home. The girls are already outside. Leslie approaches Ryan.

"You know Gabriella Montez?" Leslie asked.

"Yeah, we knew each other back in high school. She was one of my closest friends." Ryan didn't dare say that she was his girlfriend. Who knows what Leslie might do to her? "But how do you know her?" Ryan asked.

"Oh. Well, when I left you guys, I saw that Gabriella was looking for a roommate. I applied and she accepted. I lived there for about half a year and then the fcking b+ch kicked me out. (A/N: Sorry, not a big fan of bad language)" Leslie said.

"Hey! Gabriella is not a b+ch! And don't you dare say that about her! Do you understand?" Ryan said. He approached Leslie, pointing a finger at her. Fighting the urge to not slap her then and there.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. A little overprotective aren't we? Why do you care anyway?" Leslie said.

Ryan noticed his pointing finger and lowered it. He shook his head. "Forget it. Why am I even talking to you? You're just a waste of breath." Ryan said as he walked out of the nearly empty theatre.

"Ready to go girls?" Ryan asked as he reached them.

"Can we go to the ice cream parlor first daddy?" Rachelle asked.

"Please?" Roxanne added, with her puppy dog eyes. Ryan sighed. "Fine. I guess you girls did a great job tonight and you girls deserve a treat. Come on." Ryan said as he held their hands and walked across the street.

Meanwhile, at the ice cream parlor, Gabriella is halfway done with her ice cream. She saw Taylor, Chad, and Devon pass her.

"Goodnight Gabs! See you Monday!" Taylor shouted before they reached the door.

"Goodnight!" Gabriella shouted back. Then she talked to herself again. "How could I be so stupid? I mean, the name 'Evans' should've triggered something in my brain. But don't the girls know that their dad is cheating on their mom? Well, it is Leslie. Everybody cheats on her, being the slut that she is. But nonetheless, Leslie is still a human being and nobody should cheat on anybody. I can't believe he did that! And I went out with him during high school! I should've known better." Gabriella trailed off.

Meanwhile, outside the parlor, Ryan saw Chad and Taylor going to their car with little Devon.

"Hey guys!" Ryan greeted.

"Hey Ry!" Taylor said as she hugged him.

"Hey man." Chad said as they did the manly, one-armed, handshake.

"Did you like the show little D?" Ryan asked Devon.

"Yes sir! I liked it! Mommy and daddy did the same thing you did with that girl." Little Devon said.

"What thing?" Ryan asked. Taylor covered Devon's mouth and Chad whispered to Ryan what he meant. Ryan smiled. "Oh."

"By the way, you girls did a great job." Taylor told the girls.

"Thank you!" The girls said.

"Well, we gotta go. It's way past little D's bedtime." Chad said.

"No it's not!" Devon said, just before he yawned.

"Oh, yes it is." Taylor said. "We'll see you soon Ry." She said before they headed off to their car. Ryan and the girls entered the ice cream parlor and got in line.

"All right, what do you want girls?" Ryan asked.

"Three scoops of banana split with extra caramel and chocolate syrup and a cherry on top." The girls replied at once.

"Wow, you girls sound like your aunt… when she's not on one of her diets." Ryan said.

Meanwhile, Gabriella once again scanned the room and saw that Ryan and the girls are in the store. She tried to gulp the rest of her ice cream down in one bite but she's unsuccessful. Please don't see me! Please don't see me! Gabriella thought as she hid her face from them.
Meanwhile, Roxanne and Rachelle are having a spinning competition. Whoever spins the longest without getting dizzy is the winner.

As Roxanne spun, she saw a certain someone with brownish-blackish hair. She stopped spinning and turned to her twin.

"Hey look! It's Ms. M!" Roxanne said. Rachelle stopped spinning and followed her twin to Gabriella's booth.

"Hey Ms. M!" Rachelle said as she and Roxanne sat on the other side of the girls.

"Oh, hey girls." Gabriella said, putting on a fake smile.

"So what are you doing here?" Roxanne asked.

"Oh, just treating myself to an ice cream." Gabriella said. More like drowning my sorrows with ice cream. Gabriella thought. "What are you girls doing here?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh, our dad is treating us to ice cream too!" Rachelle said.

Meanwhile, Ryan just finished ordering ice cream and is now looking for his girls. "Girls?" He said. "Girls?" He searched around the room and finally saw that the twins were sitting with a lady. He approached the table and put down the ice cream.

"I'm really sorry if my girls disturbed you at all miss." Ryan said. When Gabriella heard his voice, she turned around.

"Oh. Gabriella." Ryan said. Ryan turned to the girls. "Girls, why don't we go to another table, I think Ms. M wants to be alone."

"But we want to sit here!" Rachelle said. Ryan sighed. "I'm sure Ms. M won't mind." Roxanne said, turning to Gabriella.

Actually, I would. Gabriella thought. But she tried to be polite and do the right thing. "Of course I won't." Ryan sighed again and sat next to Gabriella in the booth. The girls didn't even bother to separate them. After what they saw in the theatre, there's no need to make them hate each other. They already do.

A few minutes passed and still nobody has said a word. Finally, the girls try to break the ice.

"It's so quiet." Rachelle said.

"Ms. M, did you know our dad before you met?" Roxanne asked.

"Yes, I did. He was one of my best friends in high school."

"Was?" Rachelle asked.

"Yeah." Gabriella said. Then she looked at Ryan. "Was." Ryan sighed. "What did I do?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't know. After ten years of not seeing each other, you have a wife, and kids, and you don't tell me? And then when we meet you try to cheat on your wife, with me?" Gabriella said. The girls were confused and so was Ryan.

"What?" Ryan asked. He was highly confused. He then turned to the girls. "Girls, can you do daddy a favor and give Ms. M and I some privacy please? We need to talk things out."

"Sure." Rachelle said as she got out of the booth, followed by Roxanne. They sat at another table, on the other side of the parlor.

"Okay, look, I don't know what you thought you saw, but it's not what you think."

"Can you move on the other side? You're kinda making me a little bit uncomfortable." Gabriella said.

"Oh, right, sorry." Ryan said. Then he moved on the other side of the booth. "What did you mean by, 'cheating'?"

"Isn't Leslie your wife? Since, you know, you're the twins' parents?"

"That just means we're their parents. It certainly does not mean that we're married."

"Oh. I'm sorry, it was the first thing that came to my mind."

"It's okay. And sorry I haven't talked to you in the past ten years. It's because I didn't know where you were."

"Oh, well that explains it." Gabriella said. "Let's catch up on each other's lives. What made you interested in Leslie? Is it her devastating good looks? Her talent? Charisma?" Gabriella asked as she took a bite from her ice cream.

"Honestly? Seven bottles of beer and being wasted." Ryan answered as he took a bite off of his own ice cream.

"Oh, I see. Nine months after that, the girls were born?" Gabriella asked.

"Exactly." Ryan said.

"So what happened after that?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"Well, Leslie and I got together after college to raise the girls. But that didn't last too long. After two years, she left and I never saw her since she became our playwright."

"Oh, that's why she was looking for an apartment to stay in. What made her leave?"

"I don't know. She just said that she couldn't take it anymore, that it was my responsibility, that it was my fault in the first place that I got her pregnant."

"Well, wasn't it?"

"No. I may be wasted but I still remember things. I remember that Zeke and Sharpay were dancing and I closed my eyes to rest on the couch then the next thing I knew was I was being seduced by Leslie. Then it happened."

"Oh, I see. Yeah, I never liked Leslie either."

"What did she do that made you kick her out?"

"Wait, how'd you know I kicked her out?"

"She told me."

"Oh. Well, she never picked up after herself. She would always start parties and trash the apartment that I paid for. So, naturally, I kicked her out."

"Hmm… serves her right. So, what have you been doing with your life?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Oh, you know. Being a teacher. And a part time scientist. A regular at the mall." Gabriella got a chuckle from Ryan. "Man, I've never heard you laugh in ten years. I missed it." Gabriella said.

"Speaking of which, since I've been seeing you for about a month now, you think maybe we should give it another shot? You know, like high school?"

Gabriella's smile quickly faded. "Um… I'm not really sure if we should do that just yet. I haven't dated anybody in ten years. And it's a little awkward for me, you know, because of the girls, and you being their father."

Ryan frowned. "Oh." It was all that came out of his mouth. "Um… okay. I understand and respect your choice. But I just hope you know that I'll be here for you. I got your back. I hope you remembered that. If you need me just give me a call." Ryan said as he wrote his home and cell phone numbers on a piece of napkin and handed it to Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled. "Charming. You haven't changed a bit." Ryan narrowed his eyes on Gabriella. "Is that a good thing?"

"Depends. Do you like being charming or not?" Gabriella asked.

"That depends too. Do you like charming guys?" Ryan asked flirtatiously while raising one of his eyebrows.

Meanwhile, Rachelle and Rhonda are in their seats, quietly eating their ice cream.

"What do you think dad and Ms. M are talking about?" Rachelle asked.

"I don't know. But they hate each other. So I wouldn't worry that much." Roxanne said.

"Yeah, but look. They look like they're really into their conversation." Rachelle said as she looked at her dad and her teacher.

"It's dad. He gets engaged in conversation easily." Roxanne said.

"How could you be so calm? We want dad to be with mom but that can't happen if Ms. M's distracting him! Look! They're smiling!" Rachelle said as she looked at the pair again. This time, Roxanne paid attention and dropped her spoon.

"We gotta do something about this." Roxanne said.

"That's what I was trying to say earlier!" Rachelle said. "Got any ideas?" She asked her twin.

"I'm fresh out." Roxanne said. The girls thought of ideas for a while. "I got it!" Both girls said.

"There's only one person we can turn to for the most diabolical plans." Rachelle said.

"Aunt Sharpay! Aunt Sharpay!" The girls shouted through their aunt's mansion the next day after school.

"Uh, uh, uh! What did I say?" Sharpay asked while coming down the stairs.

"Oops. We mean, Sharpay. Not Aunt Sharpay. Sharpay." Roxanne said.

"Yes, girls. What do you need?" Sharpay asked.

"We need to ask you for a plan." Rachelle said.

"What kinda plan?" Sharpay asked. The twins looked at each other.

"See, our friend Dianna, you know, the one who wears glasses and braces, her dad is really digging this new girl, and Dianna doesn't like it." Rachelle started.

"She doesn't like it because their mom is back and she's trying to get them back together. But the new girl keeps distracting her dad. And we promised her we'd help her with a plan. But we don't have one." Roxanne said.

"Oh. Well, if her dad really likes this new girl, then why is she stopping him? What if it really made him happy? And what if her mom doesn't want to get back together with her dad?" Sharpay asked.

The girls pondered in that thought for a while. "Hmmm… we've never thought of it that way." Rachelle said.

"Maybe he sacrificed his life for Dianna, then he deserves a little happiness. And if that new girl makes him happy, shouldn't Dianna be happy?"

"Yeah, she should." Roxanne said as she looked at her twin with guilt in her eyes.

"So what are you girls thinking of planning? I can help you." Sharpay said.

"No, it's okay. We just thought of something right now." Rachelle said.

"Oh, leaving me out on your twin telepathy, huh? Well, I'm telling your dad something right now by twin telepathy too. He's gonna be here in 5… 4… 3… 2…" Sharpay said. Then Ryan burst through the doors.

"Sharpay… did you need something? Because I feel like you're calling me… in my head." Ryan said. Sharpay looked at the girls and stuck out her tongue to them playfully.

"Oh, nothing. Your twin telepathy might be a little off." Sharpay said.

Meanwhile, Jason is playing basketball in a nearby outside court in Brooklyn with other teenage basketball players. He plays everyday before he gets on the train to get back to New Jersey. They were playing a really good game until a new guy came in the court.

"Um… can I join?" The new guy said. The other guys on the team just scoffed.

"Hey look fellas, we got a newbie. Can you play?" A guy in the court asked.

"I haven't played in a while but I'll give it a shot." The newcomer said.

"Dude, I know him." Jason whispered to his friend.

"You know him? Is he any good?" Jason's friend asked.

"Are you kidding me? He was the captain of my basketball team in high school." Jason said.

"All right, give it a shot." The guy said. Then Troy and the guy played one on one and Troy won. Five to zero. And he did in less than a minute.

"Wow man, you got some skillz!" The guy said.

"I told you." Jason whispered to his friend. Jason approached Troy.

"Hey Troy." Jason greeted.

"Oh hey Jays. I didn't know you went to these parts of New York."

"So what's up?" Jason asked.

"Nothing much. Just hanging around, working in the high school as a coach and gym teacher."

"Like father, like son."

"Yeah. So, do you know where Gabriella lives now? I know she's here in New York because I've been to my girlfriend's daughter's school before. That's where she teaches, but I have no idea where she leaves. Do you?"

"I think she lives in a house, somewhere in the suburbs in Long Island. I'm not sure; I'll ask Kelsi and get back to you. She's bound to know."

"Thanks man. I need all the info I can get."

DUN DUN DUN! Haha, just kidding. Or was I? Hmm... DUN DUN DUN! Sorry, I love doing that. So what did you guys think? Please let me know in your reviews!

PS: Thanks for reading my story! It now has more than 1000 hits!