Chapter 5: Antidisestablishmentarianism

True to her word, Sharpay pops out again when the hallways are once again emptied at the end of the school day.

"Gabriella!" she chimes brightly.

"How do you do that?" I ask, suddenly curious. "Disappear or reappear at the snap of a finger?"

She shrugs. "I just think of wherever I want to be. My thoughts drifted a lot before, so that's how I came upon this ability."

"Can you transport yourself anywhere you want to be in the world?" You'd think she'd be in Paris or Milan or something, not with little old me.

She looks down, and if she could, I bet she'd be blushing. "Only the places I remember, the places I visited when I was alive. The stronger memories are easier to get to. Except for you, of course. I found myself with you a lot today even though I felt like I just met you this morning."

"Oh, that's interesting. Wait--you were with me when I was in class?"

She nods and smiles. "Yes, I wanted to know more about you. You don't seem to talk to people much … mostly teachers."

Great. Now even the ghost knows I have no friends. But she must have seen me talking to Taylor McKessie (I had to ask her about the homework) and the important thing here, is that Taylor McKessie actually replied. I'm not that pathetic.

"Are you sure we weren't best friends or anything?" Sharpay breathes hastily, like she's been holding it in for quite some time and just decided to let it out.

"No, we barely knew each other," I mumble. This is only a partial lie. I didn't know who the new Sharpay was at all.

"Oh." She sounds disappointed. I can imagine her frustration at her lack of answers.

"So we've got to figure this out." Uncertainly, I gesture to all of her. "This ghost thing."

"Right," she agrees. "I don't know why I'm still here … "

Impulsively, I say, "Maybe it's your family, since they're one of the few things you do recall. I don't know … is it a twin connection thing? Maybe you can't leave Ryan yet. Maybe he's the reason you're being held back?"

"Maybe. But he should be able to see me, too. But he can't."

"Should he know about this?"

She furrows her brow. "I don't know how he would react. Maybe not. It's not the right time, anyway. It's too soon."

I try to lighten the mood. "I don't think he'd believe me either. I'd probably sound delusional."

"Wait," she says suddenly, looking over my shoulder. "There's someone behind the corner."

I spin around and fast as I can. Shit, I should have taken her to my house so we could talk privately. My heart races as both Sharpay and I round the corner.

I almost kick myself in the head. It's Troy. I don't know if it's just me or if he's really trembling.

Is this boy stalking me or something?

Why does he keep appearing at the worst of times!

"Troy?" I start. "How long have you been here?"

He scratches the back of his neck. "For a while," he admits.

"How much did you hear?" I dread his answer. Sharpay's silent beside me and he doesn't acknowledge her, so I assume she is invisible to him, too.

"Quite a bit. I … " He swallows, and then whips out a black Sharpie from his pocket. " … found this, and since you were looking for one, I was wondering if it was yours. So I went to go find you, but I heard you talking to someone. I thought you were on the phone at first, so I waited. But I caught a glimpse of you, and you weren't. What you were saying, it … "

"Sounded odd?" I finish, already trying to come up with an excuse. I shoot a nervous glance at Sharpay, hoping she'll help me out, but she's giving me the same look. "Look, Troy, I can explain."

"I heard you saying 'ghost'. And talking about Ryan's twin? Sharpay? Gabriella … do you think you can talk to the dead?"

I falter, "I--well--it's complicated."

"This isn't yours, is it?" He waves the pen in the air a little. "You never lost one."

"What's with the Sharpie?" whispers Sharpay, even though he can't hear her. "Who is he?"

"You can have it, if you want." He holds it out so I can grab it. He still is the sweetest. Any other guy might have offered to write 'INSANE' on my forehead for me.

I'm unsure of what to do next, so I take it.

Troy turns to leave, and my heart starts pounding again. Screw my reputation. He knows too much already. Plus, he's the best thing that's happened to me in forever, and I can't let him go without a fight. "Wait! Troy, I don't think I can talk to the dead, I actually can. Sharpay's ghost is right here!"

Immediately after I let the words go, regret makes my insides clench.

Honesty, kids, is a staple friend-icide.

"Gabriella!" Sharpay exclaims, horrified at my outburst. "Why did you tell him?"

While he's staring at me, I try to explain it to her. "Because I don't think I can do this alone. Maybe he can help us."

"What?" Troy frowns. He says something about guidance counsellors, but the blood is rushing too fast in my ears for me to hear everything.

"It's true, Troy!" I rush over to him to grab his (very well defined) arm, and before he can tug it out of my grasp, I swipe it through Sharpay.

They both gasp, Sharpay in indignation and Troy in surprise.

I release his arm. "Did you feel that? The coldness? It was her!"

I don't think he knows what to make of it. "That was weird" he stutters. "How'd you do that?"

"It wasn't me. It was Sharpay, or, rather, her ghost. I'm the only one who can see or hear her, though."

"Gabriella," Sharpay huffs, daintily brushing herself off, "perhaps he can help us, but I don't see why he would or why you had to do that."

"I can prove it further!" I tell him, and hand him back the Sharpie. I dig in my bag for a piece of paper and give that to him as well. "Write something. I won't look, but Sharpay will and she'll tell me what it is."

Troy shrugs, does a 180 and I see him scribbling something. Sharpay stands in front of him, watching intently. "Antidisestablishmentarianism," she says.

"Antidisestablishmentarianism," I repeat.

He swivels around, eyebrows raised. "Lucky guess. Let me try another."

"Go ahead. You can even draw a picture, or we could play a game of hangman."

We do this a few times until Sharpay starts getting annoyed and I ask him if he's satisfied with our 'proof.' I tell him everything I've learned about her so far, and he seems to be accepting this pretty well.

Hopefully he isn't just playing along and is secretly planning to drag me to get a lobotomy.

"Wow," he says finally. He surveys the hall. "Sharpay?"

"Sharpay, this is Troy Bolton," I introduce her to him.

She studies him for a moment. "Hello, Troy," she says coolly.

"She says 'hello'," I tell him. I also ask him to clear his mind and squint really, really carefully in case he's overlooking Sharpay, but that results in nothing.

I wish I wasn't the only one in this and resist the urge to conk him on the head to see what happens.

Sharpay, on a whim, grips the bottom of her shirt. "What if he's lying? I'll flash him. No boy can hold back a reaction to that." She grins.

"Sharpay, no!" I exclaim.

"What? What is it?" Troy asks nervously.

"Nothing." I flush.

Sharpay shrugs her shoulders, and we move on from that. After Troy and Sharpay exchange a few words through me, Troy says he has to go home and I invite Sharpay over to my house. Perhaps this will spark some recognition?