Sharpay had been on dates before, but Ryan had never worried about it, probably because the only person she had ever really dated before was Zeke, and Zeke was nothing to be concerned about.

But Richard…..totally creeped Ryan out. Ryan didn't want Richard anywhere near his sister, let alone on a date with her. Alone. But there was nothing he could do about it now. They were long gone, too long gone to follow, and besides, he had no way of getting into the theatre. Instead, he put in a movie and settled in to wait for his sister to return.

Three movies later and she was still gone. It was almost one in the morning and Ryan was beginning to worry. He pulled out his phone and was about to text her when he realized that she might still be in the theatre. He texted her instead. Where r u? im getting worried bout u!! call me if u can or txt me if u cant. luv ya!!

At the exact same time he hit the send button, Sharpay burst through the door. Without even acknowledging Ryan's presence, she rushed up the stairs. A few seconds later, Ryan heard her bedroom door slam shut.

He hurried up the stairs after her, the always concerned brother. He listened at the door for a moment before he knocked. He heard Sharpay crying softly.

"Shar?" he asked, knocking on the door. He tried the knob. It was locked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the reply, muffled by the door. It was a tribute to her acting skills that her own brother couldn't even tell she was crying when she spoke. In fact, if he hadn't been able to hear her sobs through the door, he wouldn't think she was even crying.

"How was your date?" he asked. He was hoping she would let him in so he could comfort her. He hated knowing she was sad and not being able to do anything about it. He wanted to hold her nin his arms until she was happy again.

"I was fun. I'm just really tired. Can we talk about it in the morning, please?"

Ryan sighed. He didn't want to talk about it in the morning. He wanted to talk about it now. Nevertheless, he gave in. "Sure. But you have to tell me everything. Okay?"

"Okay. Night, Ry."



"Goodnight, Sharpay. I love you." He left her alone after that. The next morning, they would talk. Ryan had a feeling that there would be some West High ass kicking going on soon.

Sharpay's phone buzzed. She checked it. One new text. Where r u? im getting worried bout u!! call me if u can or txt me if u cant. luv ya!!

Sharpay sighed. Richard's words kept playing over and over in her head. "Remember, this is our little secret. You can't tell anyone, especially Ryan." She would have to come up with a convincing lie to tell Ryan. Because she knew what he would do if she told him the truth. He would throw a huge fit and then she wouldn't be allowed to see Ryan anymore. And she really loved seeing him.

But she still felt guilty deceiving Ryan. He was her brother, her twin, her best friends since she was born. He was her rock. She had never kept anything from him before. Besides, who was more important, her twin brother or a guy she went on a date with once? The answer was obvious.

She would tell Ryan tomorrow. Tonight, she wanted to sleep.

Sharpay woke up at noon. The light on her cell phone was softly pulsing. She opened it. Six missed calls, four voicemails, and twenty-two texts. She sorted through the texts. One was from Ryan, telling her that he was going to Troy's to study and that he would be home around five, and then they would talk. Two were from Gabriella, asking if she wanted to hang out later. The other nineteen were from Richard, each one getting progressively more annoyed that she hadn't texted him back. The last one just read: im sittin in ur driveway come out as soon as u get this I need to see u

Sharpay peered out the window. Sure enough, Richard's car was sitting in the driveway next to her mini cooper. He was sitting on the hood of the car. When he saw her, he smiled and waves. She opened the window.

"Come down!" he called.

"I just woke up! Can I at least get dressed first?"



Richard sighed. "Fine. But hurry up, babe. I don't have all day."

Sharpay slammed the window shut. Asshole.

After a fast shower, Sharpay got dressed in a rather modest outfit. She didn't want to encourage Richard too much. She pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail and then rushed out the door.

"Hey, babe!" Richard said when she emerged. He slid off the hood of his car and held his arms open for her. Reluctantly, she entered his embrace and allowed him to kiss her. He held the passenger door open for her and then climbed in the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?" Sharpay asked without much enthusiasm.

"My house. I thought we'd keep it low key."

Sharpay pulled out her phone and started to text Ryan.

"What are you doing?" Richard nearly yelled at her. He reached over and tried to grab the phone away from her, but she pulled it out of his reach.

"I'm texting Ryan to let him know where I'm gonna be so he doesn't get home and freak out and call the police because he's way overprotective and liable to do that! And it's none of your business who I text anyway!"

He slapped her. Hard. Her head banged against the window and tears welled up in her eyes. She could feel he cheek starting to bruise.

"Don't ever speak to me that way again," he said. His tone was level, but he seemed to be on the edge of losing control. "Everything in your life is my business now." In that moment, Sharpay realized quite a few things about her situation.

1) Richard was dangerous.

2) She was in some serious shit.

3) Richard scared the crap out of her.

4) Getting out of this relationship was going to be next to impossible.

5) She had to tell Ryan as soon as she got a chance.

6) Ryan was going to have a cow when he found out what was happening.

When they pulled up to Richard's house, Sharpay memorized the street address. At the first available opportunity, she escaped to the bathroom and texted it to Ryan, with a plea that he come and get her ASAP. While in the bathroom, she noticed that she had a huge lump where her head had banged into the window, and her face was already beginning to turn purple where Richard had slapped her. She could feel some of the bruises from last night on other parts of her body. Sharpay tried to cover up the bruise with makeup, and it worked fairly well, but the lump was impossible to disguise. Richard noticed it too, and he got her some ice for it. He spent the next few minutes holding her and kissing her and apologizing for what he had done. But she didn't feel safe with him. And deep down inside, she knew that things were going to get worse before they got better.