Painfully Perfect

Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter guys! They mean a ton! I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Blahh, I guess. It's sort of filler sort of not. And if you read this chapter please review! You can even say "update soon!" Haha, but I'd prefer a little input. Please, if you read, then please review. And also no flames! Thanks.

For this Chapter

Italicized words are noises and thoughts. I think you'll be able to tell which are which.

Bold words are messages. (Text/Email)

Chapter 4

Thud! Sharpay woke with a start after falling over and hitting her head on the bathtub.

"Ow!" Sharpay whined. She had forgotten that she had fallen asleep in the bathroom. She quietly tip-toed to her bed, rubbing her head the whole time. Sharpay plopped down on her bed and saw that it was 2:13 a.m.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Sharpay was settled in bed when she heard her phone beeping. She looked around for it and saw it on her nightstand. Grabbing it, she flipped it open and saw that she had eleven missed calls, three voicemails and four new text messages. After checking, Sharpay realized she had two missed calls and a text message from Ryan, three missed calls, one voicemail and one text message from Troy. That left six missed calls, two voicemails and two text messages, all of them from Gabriella. Sharpay groaned and listened to her voicemails first.

"…Sharpay? It's Gabriella. I'm so sorry. I cannot believe I said those things and I'm supposed to be your best friend and you had no right to be insulted like that and I'm so ashamed of myself. Sharpay, you are none of those things that I said. I guess I was just mad that you were talking about me behind my back and for being mad at me for things that I can't control and so I let my anger get away from me and said things that I didn't mean. And I know that that is no excuse to say those horrible things. Sharpay, I hope you can forgive me and again I am so extremely sorry. I'll see you tomorrow if you'll even talk to me. Alright, well bye!" Sharpay hit save and went to the next message.

"…Hey Sharpay, it's Troy. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to Gabby and Ryan and I heard what happened and I'm so sorry. Gabs said she didn't mean anything and I'm positive she didn't mean those things she said. I'm extremely sorry that it happened though. You've got my number if you want to talk, otherwise I'll just see you tomorrow. Later Sharpay!" Again, Sharpay hit save and went to listen to her last message.

"…Hi Sharpay. It's me again, Gabriella. Again, I just wanted to apologize and tell you how sorry I am. I'm so ashamed of myself and I cannot believe I said those horrible things. You know that none of those things are true right? You are a fabulous singer and actress and plenty of guys would be lucky to have you and you are so not fat! I cannot believe I even said those things to you. I hope you will forgive me. Night Shar." For the last time, Sharpay hit save and sighed a long sigh.

It was now 2:22 a.m. and Sharpay realized that she should get back to sleep, but first she checked her text messages.

From: Gabriella
Received: 4:48 PM
Sharpay!!! I am so extremely sorry!! Please answer my calls!

From: Gabriella
Received: 4:57 PM
Again I'm sooooooo sorry. Sharpay please answer my calls. I feel terrible. :(

From: Troy
Received: 5:29 PM
hi Sharpay. i just called u. so call me back if u want! L8r!

From: Ryan
Received: 9:03 PM
Hey Shar! You aren't letting me in your room so I wanted to let you know that mom's bringing me into school early so I can finish my history test. Mom and Dad are working early so you're on your own for breakfast! Oh and Gabby called the house eight times so you should probably call her back. Love you!

After Sharpay finished reading the last message from Ryan she was extremely pleased that she was on her own for breakfast. This way she could just skip it and say she ate. Sharpay quickly fell back asleep.

--

Ding! Ding! Ding! Sharpay's alarm clock went off right away at 6:30 a.m. Sharpay dragged herself out of her bed and went to the bathroom. Yawning, Sharpay looked in the mirror and saw that she was a mess. She had mascara all around her eyes and cheeks and there were tear streaks all over her face. Her eyes were red and puffy also. So Sharpay splashed some cold water on her face and cleaned it and then hopped in the shower.

Sharpay stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in a big red towel and walked to her closet. Sharpay chose a pair of dark wash jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt.

Quickly, Sharpay dried herself off and pulled on her outfit for the day. She then walked back into the bathroom, hung up her towel and walk to the mirror.

Sharpay looked at herself with disappointment. "I'll probably forgive Gabriella. But she wouldn't say those things if she wasn't really thinking them. Even if she didn't mean them, she still thinks those things about me. Why else would she say them?"

Sharpay's eyes were starting to tear up so she quickly thought about something else. She decided to wear her hair in braids that day. She brushed her hair and then braided it into two braids and tied them with two black elastic bands. Grabbing her make-up bag Sharpay applied her eyeliner on her upper and bottom lids and applied two coats of mascara to each eye. She finished it off with a swipe of her clear gloss and zipped up her make-up bag.

Walking out of her bathroom, Sharpay saw that it was 7:10, meaning she had twenty minutes before the house would be empty and she was supposed to eat breakfast.

Sharpay sat at the end of her bed thinking about everything that had happened yesterday when she was interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Hey Shar. It's me Ryan. Can I please come in?" Ryan asked politely.

"Sure," Sharpay said quietly, not moving from her bed.

Opening the door Ryan walked over to Sharpay and said, "Morning Shar. How are you feeling?"

Sharpay, who had had her head down, looked up with a face glistening with tears.

"Oh Sharpay! Were you crying?" Ryan asked with concern.

Sharpay hadn't realized she was crying, so she quickly wiped her face of her tears and looked at her brother with a watery smile. "I'm fine Ryan. Really, I'll be fine."

"I'll go to school with you, so you don't have to alone. I can always stay after school to take my test."

"NO!" Sharpay said a little too quickly. "I mean, no. I don't want you to miss your test. You can just go on. I'll be fine, seriously. I'll talk to Gabriella when I get to school and everything will be fine. I promise."

"Ok. If you say so," Ryan said pulling Sharpay into a hug. "I'll see you in homeroom." Ryan shut the door and Sharpay walked into the bathroom again. Her makeup was a little runny so she touched it up a bit and then looked over at the bathroom scale. Sharpay cautiously made her way to the scale. She quickly slipped off her clothes and patiently waited. Moments later it read 119.5 pounds. Sharpay wasn't even happy about half a pound. Now that she knew what Gabriella thought about her, Sharpay thought that that's what other people thought about her too, so a half a pound was nothing to be excited about.

Sharpay quickly slipped her clothes back on, grabbed her plate of dinner from last night and headed downstairs. Opening the garbage can, Sharpay dumped her plate of food in the garbage and rinsed her plate.

It was only 7:32 and she didn't have to leave for at least fifteen more minutes. Sharpay's stomach started rumbling so she grabbed a tall glass from the kitchen cabinet and filled it with water. Sharpay did this two more times and then felt awkwardly full. She grabbed five sticks of celery and threw them in her bag and headed out the front door for school.

--

Sharpay entered the school and instantly felt self-conscious. She usually had Ryan with her so right away she headed straight to her locker. Sharpay put her books in her locker and shut it. Right when she shut it she turned around to see Gabriella standing right behind her.

Sharpay could instantly tell that Gabriella had been crying that morning. Her eyes were red and she had tear stains on her cheeks. "Sharpay, I am so sorry. I am so ashamed of myself. I...I don't know why I said those things. I didn't mean any of them!"

"Then why did you say them?" Sharpay asked icily.

"I was angry. That you were talking about me to Ryan behind my back. So I wanted you to know how it felt. And I am so extremely sorry. I feel horrible and I really hope you would forgive me even though I probably don't deserve it." Gabriella had started crying. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and Sharpay suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things it's just that it's always you who has the center of attention and everyone is always talking about how perfect you are," Sharpay said plainly.

"Perfect? You think I'm perfect? I don't know why everyone says that! I try hard and have to work to do what I do. I'm not perfect. Remember what happened yesterday? A perfect person wouldn't do that to their best friend," Gabriella said looking down.

"Gabby, I...I forgive you," Sharpay said. Gabriella looked up and her face brightened.

"You seriously do?"

"Yes Gabs. I do." Gabriella pulled Sharpay into a hug and moments later released her.

"Thank you so much Sharpay. And don't forget that I didn't mean a single thing I said yesterday. None of that is true. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know you don't mean that," Sharpay lied. She was convinced that Gabriella meant everything she said. Why else would she say it if she didn't mean it? Gabriella didn't mean any of the insults but Sharpay refused to believe that. "Come on. Let's go find everyone else." And the two friends descended down the hall looking for their friends.

--

"Hey guys!" Sharpay said happily as she walked up to Troy, Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Jason, Ryan and Zeke.

"Hey Sharpay. How did things go at the house this morning?" Ryan asked.

"Pretty good. It's not like I've never been alone before, Ryan. Everything was fine," Sharpay said with a small laugh.

"Come on guys. Let's get to homeroom," Troy said grabbing Gabriella's hand and leading the group to homeroom.

--

Sharpay's first two classes that morning went by quickly and all too soon, it was lunch time. Sharpay was dreading this because she didn't want to have to eat. And if she wasn't eating then everyone would ask her why and she didn't want to have to deal with that stress. So before lunch, Sharpay walked to her locker, put her books away and grabbed her celery sticks. They were in a brown paper bag so it looked like Sharpay had more food than just celery.

Sharpay started walkign down the hall and was soon joined by Gabriella. "Hi Gabs! What's up?"

"Not much. I'm so hungry though. I'm glad it's lunch," Gabriella said with a laugh. "So what do you have for lunch today?"

Just then Taylor walked up and joined them. "Hey guys!"

"Hi Taylor," Sharpay said, thankful for the distraction. Gabriella and Taylor started talking about the results of their science test, which both of them aced.

"What did you get Sharpay?" Taylor asked politely.

"A C-," Sharpay said looking forward like she didn't care, even though she really did.

"That's not...that bad. I'm sure you'll do better next time," Taylor replied. She was trying to make Sharpay feel better but Sharpay just felt more stress.

"Oh! I totally forgot. I, uh, have to finish my english essay and I was supposed to do it today during lunch," Sharpay said as they neared the lunchroom. All Sharpay wanted to do was get away so she could be alone. "I'll just see you guys later!" And Sharpay hopped off down the hall.

She started heading towards the theater. When she finally arrived, she pulled open the door and started strolling down one of the aisles. She sat in the front row and started opening up her lunch bag.

"Hey Sharpay," a voice said. Sharpay jumped and dropped her lunch on the floor.

"Troy Bolton! You jerk! You scared me! Why are you even in here?" Sharpay demanded.

"Jeez, Shar. Sorry. I came in to practice lines because I can't after school. I have basketball practice. Let me help you with your lunch," Troy started walking forward to help Sharpay pick up her fallen food, but Sharpay quickly gathered up her celery before Troy noticed that's all she had. "So why are you in here?"

"That's none of your business Troy," Sharpay said after a minute because she couldn't think of a good lie. "Anyways, I think I'll just leave you here to rehearse your lines." Sharpay started heading towards the theater exit when Troy started talking.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sharpay said, turning around and flashing one of her smiles. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, because of everything that happened with you and Gabby yesterday. You know she didn't mean anything she said. She doesn't think you can't sing or act or...or any of the other stuff. Nobody thinks that Sharpay," Troy said seriously.

Sharpay was thankful that the theater lights were dimmed really low right now, that way Troy couldn't see that her eyes were shining with tears. "Yeah I know that. But I don't think it's any of your business!" Sharpay snapped before running down the aisle.

"Sharpay wait! I'm sorry!" Troy yelled, but Sharpay was already gone.

Sharpay had forgotten all about how hungry she was and she threw her lunch into the trash can outside of the theater. She didn't want to go back to the lunch room, so she headed to the nearest bathroom and locked herself in a stall, trying to calm herself down. After ten minutes, Sharpay unlocked the stall, reapplied her make-up and then headed to her next class.

--

"Hey kids! How was school?" Mrs. Evans asked as her two children walked in the front door.

"Good Mom! How was work today? And your meeting this morning, how did that go?" Ryan asked as he walked into the kitchen where his mom was doing bills at the table. Sharpay walked in behind him and sat down at the table.

"It went really well. Your father is going to be home late tonight and I have to go to book club at six. So you two are on your own for dinner. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, mom's it's fine," Sharpay said, hiding her enthusiasm really well. "I'm just going to go to my room to do my homework. Have fun at book club!" Sharpay bounded up the stairs as quick as possible and started her homework.

After an hour and a half, Sharpay was finished with her homework. It was almost five, so she and Ryan didn't have to eat for an hour. Sharpay logged onto her computer and checked her email. She had three new messages. The first was from Gabriella, asking Sharpay if she wanted to sleepover on Saturday night. Sharpay quickly replied back with an ok and that they'd talk more about it at school tomorrow. The next was a reminder from Ms. Darbus that rehearsal was on Monday, after school until five. The final one was from Troy. Sharpay scoffed, opened the email and read it. Basically, it was just Troy apologizes for today and that he didn't mean to hurt Sharpay's feelings. Sharpay emailed him back saying that he didn't hurt her feelings and that's she forgives him even though he didn't really do much, even though Sharpay was upset that he reminded her about yesterday.

It was 5:17 and Sharpay had nothing to do. She decided to do some exercise, so she shoved her feet under her bed and started doing sit-ups.

--

"223...224...225," Sharpay counted. She had been doing sit-ups for the last forty-five minutes when she heard a knock on her door. She wiped the thin band sweat from her forehead and opened her door.

"Hey Shar. I was wondering what you wanted to do for dinner," Ryan said, walking into her room and sitting down in her computer chair.

Sharpay walked over and sat on her bed and said, "I don't really care Ryan. I'm not all that hungry anyways." Of course, Sharpay was lying again but Ryan didn't know that. "I had such a big lunch today. Since I was on my own this morning I got to make my own breakfast and it was really big. So I'm not all that hungry."

"Then why didn't I see you at lunch?" Ryan asked skeptically.

"Didn't Taylor and Gabriella tell everyone? I had to finish my english exam," Sharpay replied. "You just make whatever you want and if there are some leftovers and I get hungry, I'll eat it later, ok?"

"Alright then. Sounds good. I'll cook some noodles and pesto and leave some for you," Ryan said. "See you later Sharpay."

"Bye Ryan," Sharpay said shutting her door. She couldn't believe that she had lied again. She hated this guilty feeling she had, but if she was going to become skinny she was going to have to lie a little bit. Sharpay's stomach started rumbling so she walked into her bathroom and filled up a glass of water and downed it within seconds. She did this four more times, like she did at breakfast, and soon felt full. Like this morning, she had tricked her body into thinking it was full.

Since Sharpay was in the bathroom, she decided to weigh herself. She removed her shirt and jeans and stepped on the scale. 118.5 it read. Sharpay groaned. "I'm so hungry and I've only lost one pound! But if this is what it takes, I'll do it. I don't want Gabriella and Troy and my dad and everyone else thinking I'm huge. Soon enough I'll be skinny." Sharpay decided to change into her pajamas (blue and red flannel bottoms and a white t-shirt) and then went to brush her teeth. It had been fifteen minutes since Sharpay had weighed herself but she wanted to see if she had lost anymore weight. Within moments it read the same thing as before. Sharpay was so upset with herself. After realizing that she hadn't lost anymore weight, she decided to do 250 more sit-ups and 100 push-ups before allowing herself to go to bed.

Author's Note: REVIEW! Haha, so what did you think? Like the chapter? Was the ending to abrupt? Input please!! Review? Pretty please? If you read, please review!!

Oh and if anyone can figure out this riddle my sister told me, I'll dedicate my next chapter to you. Only one guess though. Here it is:

What makes you happy if you say it, but sad if somebody else says it?