Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical or its characters.
Re-entries
"Absolutely not! I am not going to allow you to leave this house in that outfit," Ryan said sternly to an oddly dressed Sharpay. Well, to most standards she wasn't dressed oddly, but when faced with the 'Evans twins' status, her choice of stylish jeans and a form-fitting tee just didn't cut it.
Sharpay looked down at her choice of clothing and compared it with what Ryan was wearing. "Oh, so that's why these were in the veiled recesses of my closet. I just thought I was hiding them from you so you wouldn't steal them." She said as she retreated into her room for the third time that morning. "As if," he retorted to the now closed door.
Finally, on her third try, she came out in a hot-pink, sequined top and skin-tight leather pants that were tucked into her knee-high, pointy toed black boots. "Perfect," Ryan smiled. Sharpay stood there with a worried expression on her face as she fidgeted with the placement of the pants on her hips. "Am I supposed to squeak when I move in these?" She asked. Ryan gave a hearty laugh and grabbed her book-bag as well as his own. He took three steps before stopping and turning back to Sharpay with a curious expression. "I just have one question," he said to her. "How could you do your hair and make-up so perfectly, but have that much trouble with your clothing?"
"Easy," Sharpay shrugged. "I found my hair and make-up reference book. Complete with instructions, pictures and tips for how to do my hair and make-up for every occasion. Did you know, I have 23 different styles for school? It's true. And there are specific styles of make-up that can never be paired with certain hairstyles. Do you remember October 12th two years ago? I don't, but something big must've happened to never allow me to wear gold eye-shadow with a curly-down hairstyle."
"Glad I asked."
Sharpay didn't stop her tirade on hair and make-up rules until they were nearing the school ("And I can only wear an up-do once a week, because it implies a laziness despite the fact that it takes more work and is harder to do..."), at which point she trailed off and merely gazed out the window. Ryan noticed that she got oddly quiet rather quickly but decided to chalk it up to nerves. And as the silence was welcome, breaking it to ask for the cause was not high on his priorities list. Unfortunately, he also noticed that she seemed to be focusing intensely on her thoughts (schemes?), which usually lead to...
"Ryan STOP!" Sharpay burst, interrupting the silence so suddenly that Ryan jumped in his seat, which inadvertently caused him to stomp on the accelerator.
"What?" Ryan asked in a complete panic as he realized his mistake and slammed his foot, this time on the breaks, which caused the car behind him to swerve into the ditch while the driver simultaneously cursed rather loudly and shook a finger in Ryan's direction.
It took the twins a couple minutes to recuperate before either could continue the conversation. Sharpay was faster in her recovery. Holding her hand over her chest in an attempt to steady her increased heart-rate, she answered Ryan's question in a voice that did not indicate her experience in the past few moments, "Don't you think it would be nice to offer Troy a ride to school?"
"What?" Ryan asked again. His stature was a mirror image of Sharpay's, with his hand pressed against his chest, but his breathing was coming in short gasps and he was finding it difficult to focus on what his sister was trying to say. As the words sank in, he realized that they had skidded to halt, on a diagonal, in the middle of the street directly in front of the Bolton residence. As if on cue, Troy opened the front door and stepped out onto his porch, soon followed by his father.
"Oh look, he's right there," Sharpay exclaimed excitedly while rolling down her window. "Troy!" She called. Confused, Troy looked around to find the source of the voice. "Over here, TROY!" Sharpay yelled even louder. Finally connecting sound to image, Troy leaned over and muttered something to his dad before slowly making his way to the idled car.
"Um, Shar, his dad works at the school. I'm pretty sure he has a permanent ride." Ryan whispered to Sharpay as Troy drew near. Sharpay decided to ignore her brothers' statement.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.
"Get in, we're taking you to school!" She said as though this were their daily routine.
"Oh. Um, thanks and all, but my dad can take me," he responded awkwardly as he pointed towards his father, who was standing with his car door open, curiously watching their conversation.
"Nonsense, you're coming with us and I won't let you refuse," Sharpay persisted. Troy looked passed her to Ryan who just responded with an apologetic shrug. "Fine," Troy sighed. "Just let me tell my dad."
"Uh, sis? What the hell was that?" Ryan asked as he watched Troy's retreating form.
"Nothing," Sharpay responded innocently. Ryan turned an accusatory glare onto his sister, which didn't falter despite the charming smile and batting eyelashes that Sharpay sent back. He knew what she was doing and he did not like it. "I'm not doing anything!" She insisted. "I just thought it'd be nice of us to offer a ride."
"Thanks for the, uh, ride," Troy said as they pulled into the parking spot. "I'll catch you guys later?" He said as he hurried to join his group of friends who were congregating near the entrance of the school, not even waiting for a response.
"Yeah!" Sharpay called after him, "And how about after school, maybe, we could do something about that-"
"Give it up, Sharpay, he's gone."
Sharpay slammed her door shut and turned to Ryan with a pout on her face as she pulled her pants up higher on her hips. "What's my first class again?"
"Oh please, that's not for another seven minutes," Ryan responded, with a glance at his watch. "We'll worry about that when the time comes. First, we have to get you inside. Now, remember what I taught you? Throw your chin up, head straight to your locker and remember to make eye contact with nobody. Got it?"
"Sure." Sharpay wasn't paying attention. She was too distracted by the vast amount of people that seemed to be blocking her way to the entrance. 'There certainly are a lot of students at this school' she thought as she approached the front doors. 'Stop. Now, focus, Sharpay. Chin up, head towards my locker and remember to make eye contact. Wait, thats not right...'
Sharpay took one step into the crowded front hallway of East High School and the masses immediately parted. 'Aw, how sweet of them,' she thought as she threw a couple smiles around to her fellow classmates. "Shtp-it!" she heard Ryan try to hiss without moving his lips, but she was too busy enjoying all the love that was emanating in her direction – 'Is that girl booing me?'. The thought barely had time to complete its formation before the following sequence initiated:
On Sharpay's fourth step into the crowded front hallway of East High School she stepped on an old Twinkle Towne poster lying on the floor. As she tried to take another wobbly step, the heal of her boot slipped on the paper and she could feel herself start to go down. She tried to stop what was inevitably to come, but her actions only worked to perpetuate the motion. She flailed her arms, flapping them in circles in an attempt to shift the direction of momentum. Her foot flew up in front of her and she seemed to be suspended in air just long enough for her to grab onto Ryan's shoulder. With that contact, Ryan looked and saw Sharpay in mid-fall. He reached over and tried to disconnect her hand from his shoulder but she already had it in her unnaturally strong grip. They were both going down. Sharpay landed with a squeak, flat on her back, staring at the ceiling ('That yellow splotch does not look good') with a circle of snickering students in her periphery and was that a camera flash that just went off? A second later, Ryan landed on top of her, face down and humiliated.
Quickly, Ryan scrambled to his feet, forcibly ignoring the poorly suppressed laughter coming from the crowd, and was about to offer his hand to Sharpay but saw that he was too late. Zeke Baylor was already there, concern etched on his face and hand extended toward Sharpay. Ryan rolled his eyes, 'Will this guy never get the hint?'. But, instead of giving him the brush-off, like Ryan was expecting, Sharpay smiled up at him and accepted the outstretched hand.
Among the crowd of students who witnessed Sharpay's memorable re-entrance into school life were Gabriella and Troy. As much as Troy wanted his daily routine to return to its Sharpay-less norm, Gabriella seemed to have the opposite intention.
"Ugh, look at her. Just because she spent a short stint in the hospital, she thinks her celebrity status has been augmented."
"Um, I'm pretty sure that's not what she's thinking."
"Don't you dare come to her rescue, Troy. What is it about her that makes you feel responsible?" Gabriella asked turning a critical glare on Troy.
"Responsible?" He gulped. "You know...uh...She said you have pretty hair."
Gabriella gasped excitedly, "She did? Oh my goodness, when did she say this? And what style was my hair in when she made the comment? I'm going to wear my hair like that for the rest of the week. Hey Taylor! Wait up! You'll never guess what Sharpay said about my hair!"
Troy shook his head in incredulity as he headed in the opposite direction. What is it with girls and their hair?
The rest of the day went slowly for Troy. He was walking down the hallway, heading to class after lunch, too deep in thought to even notice Sharpay smile at him and wave as she passed ('What is that incessant squeaking?'). He simply couldn't get that morning out of his head. Sharpay fell, everybody laughed, and then Zeke helped her up. It wasn't so much the fact that Zeke helped her up which was bothering him. It was that smile she gave him. That special smile that means so much more than words can express. That smile that offers the rare glimpse into Sharpay's inner thoughts. But that smile was directed towards Zeke, when it belonged to Troy. 'Ok, fine, it never really belonged to me,' he reasoned He'd just gotten used to having possession of that smile, and he wasn't ready to give it up. He wasn't ready for her to take it away. He wasn't ready for her to give it away.
For Sharpay, the rest of the day was a blur of notes, adjusting her pants and trying to match people to their yearbook picture, which Ryan had Sharpay study for four hours the previous night. Finally, the end of day bell rang. Sharpay let out a huge sigh. One day down, it can only get better from here, right? She picked up her book bag and slowly made her way down the hall, toward her locker, for the last time today.
"Hey, Sharpay, you're coming to the Drama Club meeting, yes?" Asked a voice from somewhere to Sharpays right. Sharpay looked but couldn't figure out who was speaking. All the students seemed to be rushing by her so quickly and her thoughts were so overwhelmed with the need to be alone in order to get these pants off and to digest the day she'd just had, that she couldn't even accomplish the simple task of conversing with another person.
"Very funny, Sharpay, pretend you don't see me. I thought we'd run that joke to the ground, but I guess one more time wont hurt," came the voice again, obviously annoyed at Sharpays behavior. 'Ah ha!' She saw lips moving to the timing of the words she'd just heard. 'I've found my mysterious speaker. And his name is . . . Alex? No, Alice? No, that's a girls name. Although he does look a little girly. Focus, Sharpay, what is this boys' name? Oh! Oh! I remember! It's-'
"Alan! Sorry, I just couldn't resist doing it one more time," She said, trying to cover her blunder. It seemed to work because Alan forced a smile and nodded along to her statement.
"So, are you coming?" he repeated, trying to get this train wreck conversation back on track.
"Where?" she asked, looking around for clues as to what they were talking about.
"Drama club! We have a meeting? We're deciding the next play? Any of this ringing a bell?"
"Oh, right! Drama club. Meeting. The next play. Of course. I just have to stop by my locker first," She replied. "Oh, Alan? Can you just tell me what room we meet in?"
Alan laughed and walked away muttering something about Sharpay always being the 'jokester'.
Lucky for Sharpay, Ryan was waiting for her at her locker. As they headed to the drama club meeting, he reenacted the hair salon scene, hissing the back stories of all the drama club members into Sharpays ear and again suggesting that she imply laryngitis.
"Don't be silly, Ryan," She said right before they entered the classroom already stocked with the seven other drama club members. Sharpay began to take a seat in a desk when she heard Ryan clear his throat rather dramatically. Having heard this noise many times over the past couple of days, Sharpay knew it was an indication that she'd made a wrong move. Laughing, she stood up again and said as haughtily as she could muster "I just wanted to see the view from this lowly position. Because, of course, being co-presidents of the Drama club means that we don't sit in these disgusting, uncomfortable desks as equals with the rest of the group. We have high and mighty positions that are represented with our placement on this-" Ryan cleared his throat again. "-here." Sharpay quickly finished.
"Alright, young thespians. The objective of the present moments' assembly is to determine the production that we will be performing come the end of this term. At this point, I would like to open the floor to debate from the members." Ms. Darbus proclaimed.
"I'll start off," said Kelsi. "I think we should do a sequel to Twinkle Towne."
"You would think that, wouldn't you," Ryan muttered.
"How about Wicked?" Cyndra suggested.
"Oh please, that is way overdone these days." said a girl who was chomping away on some left-over microwave popcorn. What was that girls name again?
"What are you talking about, it's becoming a modern classic." Wait, and his name is-
"Hence the fact that it is over done and clichéd. We need to pick something original." Said . . . um . . . Oh, never mind.
"I've got a suggestion - "
"A sequel to Twinkle Towne would be original. A Kelsi Nielsen original."
"Will you shut it?"
"What about Grease?"
"Have you not been listening to this conversation?"
"Yeah, but Grease is better than a classic. It can never be over done!"
"Other than the fact that it was done both here and at West High, just last year?"
"Ok, well, other than that."
"I've got it, I've got it!"
"A sequel to Twinkle Towne wasn't done at West High last year."
Sharpay tried to follow the flow of the conversation, but with the duel task of interpreting what everybody was talking about and trying to remember their names, she was quickly left behind. Instead, she decided to look around the room. So, this is what a drama room looks like, huh? It was very cluttered, with a miniature stage and random props lying around. And every poster on the bulletin board had the same symbol on it. Two masks, one was frowning, the other smiling. Sharpay looked over at the closed door. She seemed to remember that same symbol being posted on the outside of that door. And in the auditorium! But what does it mean?
Forgetting that there was a heated discussion taking place, Sharpay adjusted her pants with one hand and raised her other hand. Slightly taken-aback, everybody stopped talking. Kelsi stopped jumping with her arms in the air and shouting "A SEQUEL TO TWINKLE TOWNE, A SEQUEL TO TWINKLE TOWNE!", Ryan unplugged his ears and shot her a worried expression as the girl with the popcorn paused her chomping. All their attention was fully focused on her. When she was sure it was alright to speak, Sharpay lowered her hand and cleared her throat. "Um, well, I just wanted to ask. What is that symbol that is posted everywhere? The one with the frowning faced mask, and the smiling faced mask?"
Ryan dropped his face onto his hands. After all he did to prepare her for today, couldn't she just keep her mouth shut?
A couple beats of stunned silence followed her question with every eye boring straight into her head. Ms. Darbus was the first to respond.
"Genius! Sharpay, you are absolute genius!" Ryan's head came flying back up to focus his attention on Ms. Darbus. "I'm sorry?" Sharpay asked, puzzled as to what part of her question was genius.
"Just like you said, what are those masks? We need to revisit the origins of performing theatre, the origins of the Comedy Tragedy masks! Before the invent of modern Broadway, back to the works that inspired Shakespeare, himself. We are going to perform the Greek Classic, Lysistrata." Ms. Darbus said turning to face Sharpay with dramatically open arms and a pleased smile on her face. Turning to the rest of the students, she finished her speech with, "I wish all of you would think more like Sharpay. She never seems to disappoint. Well, I believe that solves our quandary for the day. Our conference is now over."
The seven members plus Ryan all grabbed their book bags and slinked out of the classroom grumbling about that jab to their intelligence. Seemingly oblivious to this, Sharpay gave Ms. Darbus a huge smile and flounced out of the room after Ryan.
Ahhh, it feels good to have that done! This chapter was giving me a bit of lip, but I whipped it into shape! Hahah, anyway, it was a hard one to write. I don't know if that's just because it was finals week and I'm completely burned out from studying (keep your fingers crossed for A's!!) or because I got a letter in the mail from my parents this week. I haven't talked to them in over a year now, so the letter was a bit of a surprise. I actually haven't opened it yet; I figured they can't say anything bad about/to me if I don't read it, right? Ugh, I know, I know. Now that I've finished my exams and written this chapter I have nothing else to claim to be more important. I'll do it once I finish posting this chapter.
Review my story and wish me luck...
