A rare update. Sorry about the wait! Teachers hate me and refuse to let up on work. Humph.

Anyway, not many people submitted ideas. Oh well, I got enough to determine one for the girls. Thanks to loveyoumeanitbye for letting me use your suggestion for the first dare in this chapter!

The mall was just now getting busy. The usual Saturday crowd of teenagers and adults took the four girls that were pushing through the crowd for just four regular teenage girls that were very into their shopping experience for the day.

If only they knew what was written on the piece of notebook paper the slim brunette was holding.Well, it might be better if they did not have a clue what was written in the scratchy handwriting.

"What time is it?" Sharpay broke through the silence, her heels clicking in front of the three girls trailing behind her. It was only now that she had wished she had switched the heels for tennis shoes back at her house.

"It's nearly ten thirty," Kelsi said with a glance at her watch. "At this pace, we should be done in a few hours."

"We don't have a few hours," Taylor was calculating the average time per dare in her head, trying desperately to get an estimate. "We have until noon, if the boys are averaging ten minutes per task. We are averaging fifteen."

"Well, then lets get a move on, because the only thing we need to do for the next one is get two balloons and pick two of us to stuff them up our shirts. Then we just walk around in the maternity store," Gabriella shrugged, folding the paper and placing it back in her purse.

"Who's got some balloons and who's going to volunteer to do this one?" Kelsi asked. It wasn't that complicated to figure out what was meant to be done after the clues Gabriella had supplied.

"I've got the balloon. I volunteer myself, along with Gabriella. I'm sure the guys would be thrilled to see miss innocence do a dare like this." Before finishing her sentence, Sharpay was already digging around in her backpack.

"I guess I could…" Gabriella bit her lip. She kept herself from backing out because she really did want to gain some respect when it came to Sharpay calling her little miss innocent. "Why do you have balloons?" She finally asked, curious.

"A drama club girl like me is always prepared for something to go wrong. I keep balloons incase we need them for props and nobody has them." Sharpay giggled, leading the three other girls back to the bathroom.

Once in, it was very convenient for Gabriella and Sharpay that they were wearing loose-fitting shirts. The balloons fit snugly and actually put up a believable act. The balloons weren't blown up all the way; to get the illusion of them being more rounded. Both Gabriella and Sharpay, even if you looked closely, could pass as 'expecting'.

With one last look in the mirror, to make sure everything looked believable, the girls were off. Taylor kept to the side, trying to get a good camera angle to see her friends' balloon-enhanced abdomens.

"This must be why pregnant girls are so moody," Sharpay began with an irritable tone. "Everyone's staring at you constantly."

"I agree," Gabriella took a look over her shoulder as they went down the escalator. "It even feels like everyone's eyes are on you. This is so much worse than acting. I mean, these guys think this is really you, and that we aren't acting."

"Well, just look at it as a new challenge. This time you can dig deeper into the character." Kelsi encouraged, stepping off the escalator first. Taylor came next and Gabriella and Sharpay squeezed past next.

"You're not the one doing this, either," Sharpay mumbled in a barely audible voice. They approached the maternity store in silence, only entering after taking a deep breath.

The store was full of couples and women of various sizes. Some didn't look expecting, while other's looked much like Gabriella and Sharpay, with some scattered in between.

While Kelsi and Taylor browsed the selections at a distance, Sharpay and Gabriella made their way around, holding blouses and T-shirts up to themselves in a full-length mirror.

"If this would fit me, I would buy it. It's really cute," Sharpay whispered to her friend.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" A sales associate asked from behind the blonde. Luckily, she hadn't heard Sharpay's comment. She, like the rest of the store, assumed the girls were in the store to seriously clothes shop.

"No, thank you." Sharpay replied, folding her arms across her chest, a sign that should read 'leave me alone'. It was obvious the woman had dealt with this type of attitude often by the way she seemed relatively unaffected by it.

"May I ask how old you are?" The woman asked, straightening a few V-Neck tees on a shelf.

"Sixteen." Gabriella cut in. The sales woman didn't take the news by surprise. This was a large city, and plenty of teen girls probably came into the store.

"We have a teen group for teen mothers. They discuss regrets and just life in general. I could get you some info-"

"Ugh! Why can't people leave us alone about this? We made a mistake, but I want to get past it! I want to get away from it!" Sharpay let a fake tear slide down her cheek. Wordlessly, she grabbed her friend by the wrist and they exited the store, Taylor and Kelsi following inconspicuously at their heels.

"This thing has got to go. I don't care who is staring!" Sharpay pulled the balloon out of her shirt, catching the eyes of a group of confused shoppers. Gabriella followed with a blush. They tossed the obstructions into the nearest trashcan without a second thought.

"That backfired very badly, didn't it?" Taylor asked to the two, pointing the camera in their direction. Her amusement was not hidden in the smirk spread across her face.

"I didn't think she'd go away, if that's what you're asking. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible!" Gabriella answered. The group had earned a few final stares before setting off again.

"Anyone happen to know what's next on the list?" Kelsi asked the group.

"I'm not a particular fan of this one," Taylor sighed. "I happened to take a glance at this one. Number five, correct?"

"Correct," Gabriella nodded. "We have to eat at least 1000 calories each." All heads turned to Sharpay, who the color was rapidly draining out of her face. Sharpay was famous for strictly sticking to 1700 calories a day. No more, no less. After that fast food breakfast, this was probably going against everything Sharpay had planned.

"Do they want us to look like we actually have a balloon under our shirts? Do they want us to get fat?" Sharpay said with an agitated edge to her voice. The boys were going to be in for it when she talked to them next.

"Do we want to lose?" Kelsi challenged back. The comment normally would have made Sharpay fire back, but she did have to admit that Kelsi had a point. Sighing in defeat, the foursome rode the escalator back up to the food court. There was a calorie packed ice cream they knew of in which a cone of would most likely top their limit.

It was a local store with a friendly atmosphere. The shop was actually few stores down from the food court; the perfect spot to attract shoppers that had just finished their lunch.

The shop was not busy; the time only being ten forty-five in the morning. Lunch was over an hour away and breakfast crowds had already died down. There was no line, so the girls were able to order quickly.

"I'd like four double chocolate caramel brownie ice creams on sugar cones. Double scooped." Taylor ordered the ice cream for the group. The young clerk nodded, giving her the total. The girls piled their money together to reach the total before they were handed their ice cream cones.

"Enjoy." Gabriella mumbled, taking a first bite out of the ice cream. Despite their nagging feeling of guilt, the girls all dreamily smiled, loving the chocolate taste.

"Forget the amount of calories. This is a girl's heavenly comfort food, but calorie hell," Taylor gushed. Everyone else's mouths were too filled with the tasty treat to respond to the comment. At least this dare was relatively quick.

The cone was filled to the brim with a swirled chocolate-vanilla concoction. Poking out of the perfectly round scoop were bits of brownie and fudge. A stream of caramel weaved through the scoop, adding the final touches. Add that double scooped and onto a sugar cone, and it was one of the most delicious things they had ever tasted.

Four minutes and four ice cream cones later, the girls let out a satisfied sigh.

"I'm never going to eat again," Sharpay groaned. "But that was the best thing I've ever had in my lifetime."

"We'll burn it off with all these dares," Kelsi reassured with a satisfied rub of his stomach.

"Speaking of which, what's next?" Taylor pointed to Gabriella's purse. Gabriella quickly pulled out the list and read number six to herself with a giggle. Crowding around her with curiosity, the girls too were soon in a fit of giggles.The scratchy handwriting of Chad read:

6) Go up to a guy and compliment him by saying he looks like Ashton Kutcher. Chat, but never exchange phone numbers. We're letting you do this because it's the number one way to annoy a guy.

"Now THAT'S an awesome dare!" Sharpay said between excited laughs. "Let's go! I love doing this to guys!"

Kelsi and Gabriella exchanged glances. They wondered if she was still talking about her personality before Twinkle Towne. Although, not much had really changed. She'd become much more tolerant of many people, but many of her old qualities remained.

Taylor noted they were a small bit ahead of schedule, so they spent some time searching for boys to compliment on. Somehow, they managed to find their way to Dillard's. The store, unlike the rest, was very busy. Shoppers rushed to registers and made a beeline to the changing rooms.

"Look at that lip gloss! I love this color!" Gabriella grinned, seeing a color that she liked as they approached the lipstick counter. As a young man was just about to ask her about it, but he was interrupted before he could actually say anything.

"We don't have time for that!" Sharpay pulled her away. She had observed a group of boys about their age a few yards away. Shoulder-length beach hair, tall and slightly tan, the boys were attractive to say the least. Even Kelsi admitted to herself that they were good-looking.

None would say it to the camera, however. Each were feeling the sudden guilt about what they were going to do. Their boyfriends would be watching this after all, and they didn't want to add to the later guilt of doing this. The girls internally comforted themselves by saying in their mind that this was the dare the boys had given to them. It had been their boyfriends' idea in the first place.

Sharpay was the first to shake the apprehensive thoughts out of her head. She made her way to the group of four, letting the clicks of her heels signal her arrival. She was definitely better at this than any of the others.

"Has anyone ever commented to you guys that you look similar to Ashton Kutcher from behind?" Sharpay flipped her hair, letting her manicured nails glitter in the light.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have some cute friends?" The tallest one asked. These boys were definitely in the mood to flirt with some girls.

"Duh!" Sharpay giggled again, motioning for the other girls to get over to her. Taylor had the camera under her arm, as if it was turned off. Nobody looked closely enough to observe that it was in fact on. The boys were simply too intent on the four girls in front of them.

"I'm Taylor. This is Sharpay, Gabriella, and Kelsi," Taylor began.

"We're very pleased to meet you. I'm Jake, this is Luke, Aaron, and Thomas." Jake, the one that had been speaking to Sharpay, replied.

Gabriella received an elbowing from Kelsi for staring off behind her. She had seen Troy, and in all places! She, along with the four others, had the continuous feeling of guilt as they persued to flirt with the four boys.

"So, where do you three go to school?" Luke, the fair-haired one, asked.

"East High," The girls chorused.

"West High." The boys responded. This drew an awkward silence upon the group. Just having the realization that these could be their boyfriend's worst basketball enemies was digging at the girls' conscious.

"I guess we'll see you around, then." Gabriella said firmly, walking off. Sharpay was next, followed by Kelsi and Taylor. They saw their boyfriends at a distance, with Zeke, Chad, and Ryan hiding in the clothing racks. Maybe they did not pay much attention to the group... That moment would have come in handy for their short attention spans.

"That makes me feel a little better. They're only on number five." Sharpay bit her lip. The feeling of guilt was a new experience for her—she had never really felt a big emotional attachment to any other guy before Zeke.

"Yeah, at least we're ahead." Kelsi added. Gabriella pulled out the list, trying to get it off her mind. Why had they been so nit picky about the boyfriends having to go to Dillard's? Out of all the stores! They were ahead, though. The only really positive thought they could find.

If only they knew how quickly things could change.

I wanted to leave a slightly serious ending. Just because I wanted to explain a bit more about Sharpay and how she does feel guilty towards her flirtatious attitude. Well, that, and it fit with the story line.

I'm aware there are many readers out here reading this story that aren't big fans of Troy/Gabriella or even Sharpay/Zeke and I'm trying to keep the romance down to a minimum in respect to you guys, because I did promise very minor hints. Sometimes, though, I just type without really knowing what the heck I'm doing.

Back to reality. Okay, I really, really, really want to hit 100 reviews. 110 would be great, but that's still a bit of a fantasy –wink-