Here's another one for ya'll!

"Chad!"

Sharpay ran down the hall in her pink heels. Chad stood by his locker and groaned.

"What is it, Sharpay?"

Sharpay reached Chad and pulled on his arm, taking him away from his group of basketball friends.

"What are you doing?"

Sharpay ignored his question and launched into her story.

"Troy missed practice the other day right?"

Chad nodded with a look of confusion on his face.

"Yeah. So? He said he had something to do.

Sharpay snorted.

"Yeah, right. Did you know that his 'something to do' was to go visit that Gabriella girl?"

Chad's eyes widened.

"I knew it! And he said I didn't know what I was talking about."

Sharpay waited until Chad was done with his little outburst.

"Okay, Chad, focus. Troy is going to continue to skip practice and stop hanging out with his friends to be with Gabriella. Do you want that to happen? Especially with a big game coming up?"

Chad looked at the ground, realizing the blonde in front of him was correct.

"He has been spending less time with us and more with Gabriella. We have to do something."

Sharpay gave a satisfied nod.

"Good. Now that we're on the same page, here is what we'll do. But you need to get Taylor McKessie's help. She is Gabriella's best friend, after all. Convince her to help us."

♪

Chad walked to the science room to find Taylor. He found her reading a chemistry textbook.

"Taylor! I need to talk to you."

Taylor looked up from her book and saw Chad standing there.

"Go."

Chad took a deep breath and explained to Taylor what Sharpay had told him.

"... So you see, Gabriella's marks will drop because she spends all her time with Troy. She doesn't study anymore. I haven't seen her step into the library since she started hanging with Troy."

Taylor nodded, understanding the predicament her best friend was in.

"Okay. What do we have to do?"

Chad took the time to explain Sharpay's plan, purposely leaving out Sharpay's name. At the end of his explanation, he took a deep breath, waiting for Taylor's approval.

"Wow. You came up with all that yourself?"

Chad gave a reluctant nod and she didn't catch his hesitance. Taylor sighed.

"I don't know, Chad. It's a little mean. She's my best friend and I don't want her to get hurt."

Chad gave Taylor a reassuring look.

"She won't get hurt. But we have to do this. It's the only way to save Troy and Gabriella from each other."

Taylor sighed.

"Okay. Fine."

Chad gave her a small nod.

"So when do we start?"

Taylor laughed.

"I thought this was your plan! But... tomorrow. First thing."

Chad grinned.

"Nice. I gotta go, but I'll see you later, Tay."

"Bye, Chad."

♪

The next morning, Taylor and Chad met up in front of the school. She handed him a laptop with a webcam and wished him luck.

"Do you know how to use this?"

Chad snorted.

"It's a computer. I use one everyday. How hard can it be? I point the camera and press 'record'. Wait... Where's the record button?"

Taylor rolled her eyes as she pointed to the big red button.

"Just go set up, Chad."

Chad childishly stuck his tongue out.

"I'm going already!"

♪

Troy walked down the hall looking for Gabriella.

"Hey, Troy."

Troy turned to see Chad, Jason and Zeke walking towards him.

"Meeting in the locker room. Now."

Troy inwardly groaned.

"Coming."

The four friends walked to the gym and met the crowd of basketball players in the locker room. Troy looked around.

"Where's Coach?"

Chad gave him a sheepish smirk.

"Oh, this is a team meeting. Did I forget to mention that?"

Troy glared at his big haired buddy.

"You might've forgotten that little detail."

"Oops! Anyways, we need to talk."

Troy looked questioningly at the entire team.

"Go on..."

Chad cleared his throat.

"Troy, we think that you have not been as focused as you were before you became friends with Gabriella Montez."

Troy looked at his team with disbelief.

"So, what are you saying?"

Jason stepped up.

"We're saying, Troy, that this girl is taking up all of your time. You're missing practices to go hang out with her."

Zeke spoke up.

"We've got a big game coming up, Troy, and you need to get focused. Get'cha head in the game, man!"

Chad watched as his captain stared at the team, unsure of what to say next. He discreetly turned on the webcam and waited for Troy to speak.

"Troy, your mind is on some girl. We need you to be in the game. We'll never win this game if you're hanging out with some girl."

Troy looked over at Chad and grinned.

"So that's what this is all about, eh? Well, I'll tell you something, guys. I'll be a that game and I won't be with Gabriella. The game's more important to me than any girl. She's just someone I have to work with on a stupid music project. So what if I'm nice to her? Darbus would be all over me if I wasn't."

Chad inwardly smirked. He had gotten it all. He tried to get more.

"So you don't care about her?"

Troy snorted.

"No. After this project, I'll never talk to her again. I'll never have to hear her voice or listen to her stupid songs. We're done after this project. I'm only being nice to her to pass this assignment. That's all. So, don't worry, you guys. I got your backs for this game. No girl is going to get in the way of that."

Troy felt horrible inside. He knew what he was saying was a lie, but he had to get his team off his back.

"If Gabi heard me, she'd probably never talk to me again. I feel like such a jerk."

As Troy was thinking to himself, he didn't notice the smirks that were exchanged between his teammates.

♪

"Gabriella! Wait up!"

Gabriella turned around to face Taylor.

"Hey, Tay, how are you?"

Taylor smiled as she shifted her bag to the other shoulder.

"Not bad. Hey, listen, I have something I wasn't to talk to you about."

Gabriella was puzzled, but followed her friend to the science room.

"What's up, Taylor?"

Taylor sat down at one of the desks, with her laptop set up on top. She motioned for Gabriella to take a seat as well. Gabriella sat down in the desk in front of Taylor, turning her body around in the chair.

"Gabriella, I've noticed you've been hanging out with Troy Bolton."

Gabriella gave her brunette friend a confused look.

"Yeah?"

Taylor sighed.

"I think you should see this."

Taylor turned her laptop so the screen was facing Gabriella. She watched Gabriella's facial expression as the scene enfolded in front of her. Taylor's heart broke when she saw a couple tears roll down her best friend's cheek. Taylor had a sudden feeling of guilt in the pit of her stomach.

"Why did I listen to Chad? I knew Gabriella would get hurt."

Taylor instantly regretted being a part of this.

Gabriella watched, heartbroken, as Troy's face appeared on the screen. A couple tears leaked out and she didn't bother wiping them away.

"...I'll be at that game and I won't be with Gabriella. The game's more important to me than any girl."

Gabriella wanted to turn away, shut it all out, but her eyes remained fixed on Troy's face, listening to him.

"...After this project, I'll never talk to her again. I'll never have to hear her voice or listen to her stupid songs. We're done after this project. I'm only being nice to her to pass this assignment. That's all."

"He was only being nice to me to pass a stupid music project. That's all."

Gabriella stared at Troy's face on the screen.

"It was all a lie. Everything he said, everything he did. He lied to me. I can't believe I thought he had changed."

Taylor looked at Gabriella, waiting for her reaction. It never came.

"A few tears? That's it? I would be plain out bawling."

Taylor watched as Gabriella wiped away her tears, feeling heartbroken as she saw the dullness in the other brunette's eyes.

Maybe it affected her more than she's willing to show."

"Gabriella? Are you okay?"

Gabriella gave her a small, fake smile and a nod.

"She's not okay. She's dying inside. I have to talk to Chad."

♪

"You said she wouldn't get hurt! You should've seen her! She was absolutely heartbroken. I can't believe I listened to you! Ugh! What kind of plan was that? You practically ripped out her heart and stomped on it!"

Chad listened, feeling guiltier and guiltier as Taylor continued her rant.

"Who come up with an idiotic plan to tear two people apart that obviously like each..."

"Sharpay."

Taylor stopped, looking at Chad with confusion in her eyes.

"What?"

Chad sighed.

"It was Sharpay. She came up with the plan. Somehow, she made me think that Troy was spending too much time off the court."

Taylor's eyes widened with shock.

"You mean you made me hurt my best friend because Blondie convinced you that Troy hung out with Gabriella too much? What is wrong with you?"

Taylor smacked Chad's arm, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Taylor rolled her eyes.

"That was for being stupid. How could you let Sharpay Evans convince you that Troy needs to hurt Gabriella? Huh? My best friend is dying inside and I'm sure Troy isn't doing much better."

Chad nodded in agreement.

"You're right. Troy's been different since he met Gabriella. He's been playing better and a lot more... pleasant. We have to go talk to him."

♪

Troy sat by his locker, with his guitar in hand. He felt awful and wasn't able to play anything.

"I've been sitting here for ten minutes already and haven't even touched the strings once. Great! I feel like crap."

Troy was feeling guilty about his little speech in the locker room. None of it was true, but Chad was getting a little too pushy when it came to Gabriella.

"Why couldn't he just leave it alone? I've only missed a few practices, but I'm playing a whole lot better. Why did he have to drag Gabriella into this?"

Troy felt someone sit beside him and turned, hoping to find Gabriella. Instead, he had to hold back a groan when he saw Sharpay next to him.

"Hey, Troy!"

Troy inwardly rolled his eyes at her high, squeaky, fake voice.

"Hi."

He'd hope she'd take the hint that he didn't want to talk to her, but if she noticed it, she didn't back down.

"So I heard you were using Gabriella. Good one, Troy! It's good to have the old you back."

Troy gasped when Sharpay leaned over to him ad caught his lips in a rough, hard kiss.

♪

Gabriella watched in horror as Sharpay leaned over to kiss Troy. Troy didn't even push her off!

"I guess Troy didn't break up with her. It's just another one of his lies."

Gabriella burst into tears and ran from the scene as Chad and Taylor came in from the other way. Gabriella ran down the hall, not caring about the other students that gave her strange looks as she pushed her way through them, with her face covered by her hands. She found herself climbing a familiar staircase and collapsed on a bench, crying her heart out.

♪

Troy's eyes widened with shock and horror when he felt Sharpay's lips on his.

"Troy!"

It was Chad. Troy quickly pushed Sharpay away, wiping his mouth with his sleeved arm.

"What the hell was that?"

Sharpay looked at him and smirked, knowing that Gabriella had seen them and run off.

"I thought you wanted it, Troy. After all, you don't like that Montez girl."

Troy sat silently as Chad and Taylor shot Sharpay dirty looks. Taylor glared at the blonde in front of her.

"Leave, Sharpay. You're not wanted here."

Sharpay stood up and straightened out her skirt. She stuck her nose up and 'humphed', stomping away, heels clicking. Chad and Taylor rolled their eyes as they watched her strut down the hall. They turned back to Troy, taking in his depressed state.

"Troy? We need to talk to you."

When Troy didn't answer, Chad continued.

"Look, man, we did something pretty bad. We listened to Sharpay and tried to split you and Gabriella up."

Troy's head snapped up. He hadn't even seen Gabriella once that morning.

"What are you talking about?"

Taylor stepped in, seeing Chad's look of discomfort.

"Troy, what you said in the locker room..."

Troy looked up, startled.

"How do you know what I said in the locker room?"

Chad sighed.

"We set you up, man!"

Chad quickly shut up when he saw Taylor's glare.

"What he means to say, Troy, is that we planned for you to say that. We had you on webcam."

Troy had a look of confusion on his face.

"Why? Why was it on webcam? And why the hell did you plan something like that?"

Chad took a deep breath.

"Sharpay came up to me and made me realize that you've missed a few practices to be with Gabriella. She came up with the plan to split you two up."

"Wait. Gabriella? What does she... She heard it, didn't she?"

Taylor gave Troy a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, Troy. I should never have gotten involved in this. But Gabriella's my best friend and I felt like I was losing her to you. Yes, she did hear you. She was really upset and ran off crying. I've checked all the washrooms, but I can't find her."

Troy shot up, stuffing his guitar into its case. He ran down the hall, leaving a confused Chad and Taylor standing at his locker.

"Well, that was odd."

"Definitely. But, Tay, he took it a lot better than I expected."

"I know, Chad. I've never seen him like this, and I've gone to school with you guys since kindergarten."

Chad sighed and Taylor looked questioningly at him.

"Taylor, I think Troy is in love with Gabriella. I just don't know if he knows it yet."

♪

Oooooh! Love! I love love!

Jay