I am so sorry for the wait! My computer crashed and I lost everything, so I had to rewrite this chapter.

Thanks to sohotdagirl, xxAnnaxx, C Campss 104, xofalling2deep, MeganAlyce15, NyKiKsBuTtTt888999, and Anti Cel for their reviews. I love reviews. They make me happy for the rest of the day. If you are a nice person and want to bring some joy into my boring little life give me a review. Seriously, it only takes like 5 seconds if you can type real fast. Let me know what you think and if I need to work on anything. Heck, let me know if you hate my story; go ahead, I don't mind. You can also tell me if you hate my rambling on and on about reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, but all of you already know that. So why am I wasting time writing this obvious statement?

Chapter Eight

"Bolton," Sharpay stated dryly when she realized who had the leading role.

"Don't sound so happy to see me," Troy mumbled.

"We need to talk."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Troy asked sarcastically.

"Oh, you're funny," Sharpay snapped.

"This is going to be interesting," Katrina said eagerly. Troy and Sharpay glared at her. "Okay, okay, I'll leave. Come on Ryan, let's leave this couple alone." Sharpay could here the two of them laughing as they walked down the hallway together.

"Are those two dating?" Troy asked, as he watched Ryan and Katrina turn a corner and disappear.

"I really have no clue anymore," Sharpay said, "But enough with changing the subject."

"I wasn't changing the subject," Troy said, pretending to be offended.

"Look, I know that you would rather be paired up with Gabriella, and that's fine with me. But we need to practice together for the sake of the musical." Sharpay paused, waiting to see if Troy had anything smart to say. When he didn't say anything, she continued. "We should at least make some sort of arrangements for practicing, or whatever."

"Okay, so what do you want to do?" Troy asked, being serious at last.

"Just come after school today. You know where I live, right?" Troy nodded. "Well, okay, I'll see you then."

Just as Sharpay was about to leave, Troy shouted her name. She spun around to see him walking up to her.

"Sit by me and Gabi at lunch."

"Is that an order or is it an option?" she asked, confused at what Troy wanted.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. I just thought you'd like to sit with us because, you know, we're friends," Troy said, saying the 'we're friends' part more as a question. Sharpay just stared at him blankly. "Plus," Troy continued, "It would be better for the musical if we became better friends. After all, people want to see chemistry with the main characters if they're supposedly so in love."

Sharpay pondered the thought for awhile, and she finally responded with, "Okay, Bolton, if you're that desperate." Before Troy could argue with what she had said, she had disappeared down the hallway.

"We're sitting with Troy and Gabi and their other little friends today," Sharpay informed Katrina and Ryan when she saw them before lunch.

"What? Why?" Katrina asked as she slammed her locker shut. "I thought you said you hated them."

"Yeah," Ryan said, joining in on the conversation. "I thought you said you hated them."

"Stop repeating me!" Katrina yelled and smacked Ryan playfully on top of the head.

"Oh! The pain! The agony!" Ryan said dramatically. The two of them laughed, but Sharpay stood there, not amused.

Katrina stopped her laughed and looked directly at Sharpay. "No, but seriously, you're actually going to listen to Troy and sit at another table?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes,"

"But what about our friends sitting at the drama club's table. They'll be so lost without us!" Ryan said.

"Chill out Ryan; they'll be fine without us." Sharpay said.

"I don't know, Sharpay. It's not that I do like Tory, Gabi, and the rest of their friends, because I do. It just doesn't seem right. I'd rather sit at our table then theirs. Why not just tell Troy to sit at ours."

"He'll miss Gabi too much," said Sharpay said, almost disappointedly.

"I don't care. If he wants to sit by us, he's going to sit at our table, damn it!" Katrina said.

"Why not compromise?" asked Ryan, afraid of what the two girl's responses would be.

"That's actually a pretty good idea, the best one you've had in a while, in fact." Katrina replied, smiling at Ryan. Ryan smirked with satisfaction. "But don't go getting a big head over it. You still suck at giving us good ideas." Ryan frowned with frustration.

"I do not…" he said sadly. Katrina walked up to Ryan laughing and put her arm around his shoulder.

"Aw, Ryan, I was just kidding. You do have a lot of good ideas." Ryan smiled again looking at Katrina.

"You're just saying that."

"Yep, pretty much," Katrina said. Ryan's smile vanished again and Katrina began to giggle again.

"Okay, guys," Sharpay said, pushing though them, "Stop your flirting and let's go to lunch."

"We're not flirting!" Ryan and Katrina said in unison, as they followed Sharpay down the hallway to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile……

"Why does Sharpay have to sit with us?" Taylor asked Troy at there table. She and Chad had been pouting ever since Troy and Gabriella had told to two of them Sharpay was sitting with them and maybe Ryan and Katrina would too.

"I thought I already explained this to you. Sharpay is sitting with us so we can discuss our roles in the musical," Troy said, irritably.

"You know, Troy," Gabriella said sweetly, "you don't need an excuse to sit by Sharpay. If you want to be friends with her, that's fine."

"I thought you would be mad that Sharpay got the part," Troy said, confused at to what Gabriella was feeling.

"I'm not mad at Sharpay," said Gabi, "I'm mad that I didn't get the part with you, but I'm definitely not mad at Shar. And you're avoiding the question."

"Guys, I swear the only reason she is sitting by us at lunch is because we need to work something out." Chad and Taylor gave Troy a confused look. "For practicing, you guys know what I'm talking about."

"Sure, Troy," Chad said. "Just make sure you don't get too close to the Ice Queen, she might just bite you."

"Chad, Sharpay has changed, so there's no need to be so mean to her," Gabriella said sternly.

"I personally don't buy all of this 'Sharpay has changed' crap. I still think she is the mean, back-stabbing, drama queen that she's been since the fifth grade." Taylor said. "What ever happened to the old Sharpay?" she said sighing.

"I know, we all used to be good friends," Chad said remembering back to the years before fifth grade.

"I remember our boy Troy having a little, shall we say, crush on Sharpay," Zeke said, smiling at Troy.

"I did not."

"Oh, please." Jason said. "You were mad about the girl, even if it was only fourth grade."

"Aw, Troy, that's so cute." Gabriella said flirtatiously.

"I did not like her," Troy said, his face turning a bright shade of red. I shouldn't be lying to them. After all they all know that I used to be crazy about her, Troy thought. What ever did happen to the old Sharpay?

"Run home Troy!" his team shouted to him. The just about all of the fourth grade boys were outside playing kickball, as they usually did during recess. He slid into home, winning yet another game for his team.

"Nice, Troy," Chad said to him grinning. "With you on our team, the others don't stand a chance. Hey are you even listening to me?" Chad tapped him on the shoulder.

"What, oh sorry. I'm sort of out of it today." Troy said looking towards the big Elm tree that was in the far corner of their playground. Sitting under it was a small, blonde girl staring off into space. Troy smiled as he watched her.

"Sharpay," Chad said seeing what Troy was looking at. He chuckled. "Troy, you are obsessed. You should just ask her to be your girlfriend. She's really not that bad; actually, she's pretty nice."

"I don't like her like that!" Troy said, upset that he so obviously liked her. "I just think she's… pretty."

Chad laughed. "Whatever dude. Just go up to her and talk with her or something," he said, pushing Troy towards the direction of the tree, and then he walked away. Troy sighed, finally getting enough courage to talk to her.

When Troy went up to Sharpay, she was too busy humming a song to notice that he was standing right next to her.

"Hey, Shar."

Sharpay jumped when she heard his voice. She turned around and looked at him. At a loss for words she said the only thing she could think of, "Geez, Bolton, you scared the crap out of me."

"Oh, sorry…" Troy began.

"Don't be sorry. Next time, just make sure you don't scare me when I'm off in my own little world," she said with a genuine smile on her face.

She looks so nice when she smiles…Troy thought, smiling at her.

"So," Sharpay said when there was an awkward silence, "what did you come over by me for?"

"Oh, I just was bored and figured I'd come over and… and talk maybe?" Troy said, saying the last part of his statement as more of a question.

"Cool," was the only think Sharpay could say. After all, Troy Bolton ditched his other friends to talk to her. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked, trying to break another awkward silence.

"I don't know," he said shyly. He smiled, seeing that she was blushing even though he had barely said two words to her.

"Where's Ryan?" Troy said, noticing that Sharpay's brother, who was always tagging along behind his sister, was nowhere to be found.

"He's sick today," Sharpay said. "We think he got the flu. I don't want to get it, so I've been staying away from him. He's been sick for the past week you know."

"Yeah, I noticed," Troy said, making Sharpay smile again. "I really like you," he said randomly. Sharpay looked him directly in the eyes, and gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen her give to anyone before.

"I like you too, Troy." With those words, Troy Bolton was the happiest he had been in a long time.

"I was… um…" Troy stuttered.

"Yes, Troy," Sharpay said, still smiling at him.

"Well, I was wondering… if you would…"

"Hey, Troy, breaks over. Come down to the field and help us win!" Jason shouted to him from the nearby field.

Troy sighed, "I'd better go." Sharpay nodded in approval.

"Wait!" she suddenly shouted before he walked away. He turned around, waiting for the rest of what she was going to say.

"What were you going to ask me?" she asked, hesitantly. She wasn't sure if he was planning on asking her what she was hoping for or not.

Troy sighed. He wasn't too sure what to say now. "I was planning on asking you… I wanted to know if you would play on our team sometime for kickball," he said chickening out of asking the question that he knew now that she wanted to hear.

"Oh," was Sharpay's only response. "I don't really play sports much, so I don't think I'll play," she said quietly.

"Oh, well if you change your mind, come and find me," Troy said.

"Okay I will," she said, staring at the ground. "Bye, Troy," she said as he began to head off towards the kickball field.

He turned around and smiled at her, "See you around, Shar."

When she was sure no one could see her, Sharpay let a tear run down her cheek. When she realized she was crying, she quickly wiped away the tear.

"Suck it up, Sharpay, suck it up!" she whispered to herself. "You don't need him. He's just a stupid boy. He was just playing games with your mind for a minute. He was never going to ask you to be his girlfriend. He doesn't like you, so SUCK IT UP!" she said, now letting tears fall freely. "Well, Sharpay," she said when she was done crying, "what have we learned from this experience? I'll tell you what we've learned. Don't let Troy Bolton get to close. If he does, he might just hurt you again."

Troy sat there recalling those days back in elementary school. What would have happened if he had asked her out? Maybe they would've hated each others guts out. But just maybe they would've been one of those couples who never really brake up for good, and if they do brake up, it's just for a little while because being apart just doesn't work for them.

"Okay," Troy said, "maybe I did have a small crush on Sharpay way back then."

A/N: I know this took too long to give to you guys, but I am really sorry about the wait. Thanks for reading and let me know how you liked my little interpretation of them way back then!