All I can really say is: two 9-hour flights is a lot of time to plan and write my stories.

Disclaimer: Same as always. I don't own High School Musical or its characters. I don't own 24 or its characters. I do own the terrorists though...


The Confession

"Jack, you should probably take a look at this," a stout, bald man said. His attention was fully absorbed by the website that was being displayed on the computer screen in front of him, which happened to be the only source of light in the small room.

Jack groaned from where he was lying on the couch to this man's side. "I swear to you Morris, if it is another picture of your baby picking his nose, I will hit you. And I mean it this time," He grumbled, his words slightly muffled by his hand, which was vigorously rubbing his face in an attempt to wake his mind to a more attentive state than it was currently in considering his sleep deprivation.

"Oh, it is definitely not the baby," Morris replied ominously. Upon hearing his partners' tone of voice, Jack sat up on the couch, suddenly more alert.

"Well? What is it?" he asked after a moments' silence. The anticipation was too much for his weary mind to take and he was already getting annoyed with Morris's obstinate behavior.

Finally cooperating, Morris turned to Jack with a maniacal grin on his face as he calmly replied, "I've found the terrorist's webpage."

Jack stared at Morris in uncertainty until the information he'd just received at last processed through his slow moving brain. "You what?" Jack gasped in surprise, immediately jumping from his seated position and darting to Morris's side to take a look at the screen. Face illuminated in an eerie yellow, Jacks eyes hungrily scanned the page that was being displayed on the screen. He quietly read the URL address aloud before he took a seat next to Morris and began studying the website.


"I don't think Coach Bolton likes me very much." Sharpay announced to Ryan as they both stepped out of his car in front of East High. They were about to embark on yet another day of school but Sharpay's thoughts were instead teeming with insecurities over the possibility that somebody didn't like her. She had, of course, conveniently forgotten that her old self was a cruel, egotistical control freak who had spent more energy on thinking up insults than on making friends.

"Why do you say that?" Ryan asked as they mounted the steps outside the front of the large school.

Looking off into the distance, Sharpay thought back to a moment that took place a week ago...

---

Pulling up in front of Troy's house, Sharpay vigorously jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut. Eager to tell Troy about the latest memory she'd just recalled, she broke into a run in order to reach his door step faster. Fumbling through her purse she pulled out a key and quickly shoved it into the key hole. This was no time for pleasantries; she'd just have to apologize for not knocking after she relayed the memory.

Bursting through the front door, Sharpay stumbled over a pair of shoes and inadvertently landed in the adjacent entertainment room after a comedic display of stumbling and grabbing at large pieces of furniture in order to catch herself. Grasping onto the back of the couch, Sharpay turned to Coach Bolton who was lounging on that very same couch, to apologize for intruding. Unfortunately, the picture on the television set caught her eye before any words had made it from her head to her mouth.

On the screen was a group of teenage actors, all smiling and dancing as they sang a happy song about how wonderful life always turns out to be. Sharpay grimaced and returned her attention to the Coach. Only then did she notice the tears he was trying to hide from her.

Sharpay struggled to hold back a snort of laughter as she thought in surprise, 'Who would have guessed? Coach secretly watches poorly performed Disney Channel Musicals.'

Sharpay tried to pretend she hadn't just discovered the big dark secret of East High's ruggedly masculine basketball coach and instead attempted to express another apology. Unfortunately, she only got one "Um" out before she burst into laughter and ran from the room to find Troy, all thoughts about her newly recovered memory washed cleanly away.

---

Being called back to the present by Ryan's repetition of his question, Sharpay replied, "Oh, no reason. I just haven't seen him around school for a while is all. I feel like he's hiding from me."

Ryan laughed. "Don't be ridiculous! Coach Bolton has no reason to hide from you!"

"If only," Sharpay mumbled to herself, averting her gaze to the ground.

The twins continued on into the school, participating in lighthearted conversation and discussion of their plans for the day. Neither was aware of the two pairs of eyes that were following their every move.


After stopping by their lockers, Ryan and Sharpay casually meandered into homeroom just as the bell rang. Those same two pairs of eyes watched them as they took their seats, quietly discussing musical theatre. In actuality, Ryan was quizzing Sharpay on her newly reacquired musical theatre knowledge, but to the ignorant observant they looked as though they were simply partaking in a light discussion on that topic.

Sitting in their usual seats, Ryan and Sharpay remained blissfully unaware of the subtle changes that immediately took place around them. It wasn't until Zeke loudly addressed Sharpay, effectively interrupting Ryan's critique of her description of the beauty shop scene in Legally Blonde the Broadway Musical, that either twin realized they were not surrounded by the normal set of students.

"Sharpay!" Zeke exclaimed excitedly, leaning across Ryan's desk to gain a better view of her.

Setting her face in her practiced imitation of old Sharpay's icy glare, she slowly shifted her eyes past Ryan to meet Zeke's. "Can't you see I'm talking to my brother here?" she demanded in an intimidating tone.

Zeke was somewhat thrown by Sharpay's abrupt return to callousness when addressing him but he didn't let it deter his intent. Had he not spent an afternoon with her watching a movie not two weeks ago?

Seeing her opportunity through Sharpay's distraction with Zeke, Gabriella leaned forward in imitation of Zeke's posture. She succeeded in clumsily obtaining Ryan's attention with a hand wave and a "Hey Ryan!" followed by a giggle which was her way of apologizing for her unnaturally harsh tone.

Ryan easily hid his annoyance behind a pleasant smile and turned to Gabriella in response to her beckoning.

The subsequent combination of conversations happened so rapidly and sounded so sporadic that any person who wasn't specifically participating in the conversations would have heard it like this:

Zeke: Sharpay! Do you want a cookie?

Gabriella: Hey Ryan! Were you and Sharpay just talking about Legally Blonde the Broadway Musical?

Ryan: Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?

Sharpay: Ew! I don't eat cookies, remember?

Gabriella: I absolutely love that musical! I saw it with my mom when we were in New York. You know, my cousin is an extra in it. Actually, you remind me a lot of my cousin, now that I think about it. He loved to sing and dance, too.

Zeke: Right. I forgot about the no cookie thing. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize, again, for Saturday.

Ryan: An extra, you say? Gee Gabby, that is truly fascinating stuff.

Sharpay: What about Saturday?!

Zeke: I'm sorry for having to work. Why? What did you think I was talking about?

Gabriella: I know. But I'm not allowed to talk to him anymore.

Sharpay: Huh? I, uh, nothing! I knew exactly what you were referring to.

Ryan: You're not allowed to talk to him? Why's that?

Gabriella: Because he's gay. Those are some nice shoes you've got on, by the way.

Zeke: So, did you hear about that bombing in the city over the weekend?

Sharpay: Yeah...What about it?

Ryan: Thanks! They're Italian.

Zeke: Oh! Uh, nothing. It's just scary, is all. So, what did you end up doing Saturday, anyway?

Sharpay: Hm? Why do you care so much?!

Gabriella: My cousin always wore Italian shoes!

Ryan: Uh...

As Ms. Darbus stood up, about to call the class to attention for the morning announcements, these two conversations quickly died away leaving five people with distinctly different reactions.

Following her conversation with Ryan, Gabriella felt she'd gathered all the proof she needed to confirm her greatest fear. She immediately knew that it was now her sole responsibility to save Ryan from the same fate of her Cousin. The one issue that occupied her brain was coming up with a plan to "scare Ryan straight", as it were. By the end of homeroom, she was pretty sure she'd come up with a strategy that would work. The only problem was she'd have to break up with Troy...

Ryan replayed his conversation with Gabriella over in his mind. Was she really trying to imply that he was gay? He knew he'd kept that distinction deliberately vague to his peers, as he enjoyed the sense of mystery that surrounded him because of it. Plus, peoples reaction to this uncertainty tended to plainly reveal their prejudices related to sexual orientation and, as a self-professed liberal, he liked knowing what type of a person he was dealing with. But he had thought that all the speculation had disappeared after getting caught with Kelsi in a Lava Springs custodial closet...

Sharpay sat back in her seat with an uneasy feeling. She realized that Zeke had been asking perfectly innocent questions but any reminder of the bombing Saturday night seemed to always make her anxious. After all, if everything had gone according to plan that day, she'd be dead right now. But Zeke didn't know that. And it's not like he'd been purposefully trying to disturb her with those questions. Sharpay sat there, silently chastising herself for being so paranoid. That was Ryan's job...

Zeke turned in his chair to face the front of the room. He prided himself on never even registering on Ms. Darbus's radar and he wasn't about to change that fact. He was, admittedly, irritated that Sharpay so obviously avoided every question he'd posed to her but he shoved those emotions aside. He didn't believe in emotions changing his behavior and thought patterns. He considered that to be a weakness and Zeke Baylor was in no way weak. It was with this ability to compartmentalize his emotions that allowed him to remain so unsuccessfully persistent in gaining Sharpay's attention. After a year, he'd finally made some progress with her and he wasn't going to let any display of annoyance detract from that development...

Sitting two rows behind those four, Troy had been silently listening in on both conversations. Smiling to himself, he stifled his laughter at what had been, in his opinion, the two most amusing displays of discomfort that he had ever witnessed.


Sharpay walked into the auditorium at the end of the day holding her breath. Her conversation with Zeke that morning was still bothering her and she desperately wanted to talk it out with somebody. Problem being, she only had two choices to fill that role of 'somebody' and neither options were desirable. She, of course, had Ryan but she already knew what he'd tell her. She was overreacting to something that hadn't actually happened and she should just forget about it. 'If I could forget about it, I wouldn't have approached you in the first place, Ryan!' she thought.

Her other option was Troy. And, even though she knew he'd listen, she wasn't ready to talk to him just yet. She had developed such strong feelings for him; she wasn't willing to run the risk of getting hurt. It would just devastate her if she did get hurt by him. So her solution, at least temporarily, was to avoid the entire situation by not talking to him. And she was not going to compromise her resolve for a single bad feeling resulting from a meaningless conversation. Just because she'd had this same bad feeling after the convention center blew up certainly didn't mean that the two events were related.

Stepping onto the stage, the burning in her lungs reminded her that she had yet to release her lungful of air. Gasping, she paused to control her breathing pattern before she pulled out her Lysistrata script to quietly read over her lines. Settling herself on the edge of the stage, Sharpay allowed her legs to swing over the side as she opened her script to page one.

She was studying her lines so intently she didn't even hear the footsteps approaching her from behind, nor did she notice the figure as he joined her on the edge of the stage, watching her read.

"Sharpay?" Troy softly asked.

Sharpay started out of her reading at the sound of another person's voice but, upon her realization that it was Troy, she kept her eyes focused on the script.

Troy waited for a response but, with a twinge of sadness, he realized she wasn't going to acknowledge him. Briefly considering leaving her in peace, his desire to tell her everything he was feeling convinced him to the contrary. And, despite the fact that she wasn't looking at him, he could tell by her lack of eye movement that she wasn't reading anymore.

He gave her a couple more seconds to change her mind and say something, anything, before he sighed and began with what he was sure would be the most difficult speech he'd ever had to give. And that's including the three page monologue he had to recite before ending the first act of Twinkle Towne.

"Sharpay? Look, I know you aren't talking to me right now and I don't blame you. I've been hot and cold on you more than . . . um . . . well, more than anything that switches from hot to cold a lot. Wait, I'm not explaining myself very well. Let me start over," Troy took a deep breath and recomposed himself before trying again.

"Sharpay. I like you. A lot. Actually, no. That's a lie." He sighed, nerves overtaking his being. With new resolve, he cleared his mind and finally said the words he had been so afraid of. "I feel more than just like for you. I love you. And I'm worried about you. And I admire you. And I want to protect you from whatever it is that is making us both so nervous and don't you even try to say you don't feel like something's wrong because I heard your conversation with Zeke, this morning. I just need to tell you how sorry I am for every time I mistreated you.

"You see, before now I was fighting everything that you had brought into my life and I was trying to ignore everything you made me feel. Before now I had my future all set. I was going to go to U of A with Gabriella. She was going to study and major in some science related field, I was going to pass just enough of my classes to be allowed to play basketball. When we graduated, I was going to propose, she was going to accept and we were going to finish our lives blissfully in each others company.

"But then the new you came along. The new you who was actually the real person behind the old you; a person I briefly met at Lava Springs last summer, which I know you don't remember. But, after our accident, the real you became the dominant personality in the new you and I finally got the chance to hang with the real you whenever I wanted - well, whenever you were talking to me. And that completely trashed my predetermined future.

"Before you, I was content with that future. But after you, I've realized that it's not good enough for either of us. Sure, Gabby and I would have made a comfortable life together, but it would have been God awful boring. Did you know, our only fight was over you? Other than that? Nothing. There's no passion between Gabby and I like there is between you and I. Gabby and I are just comfortable. And I don't want my life to forever be comfortable, you know?

"I want a future with you. I want to enjoy life with you. I want to share your successes and be the one you go to when you fail. I want to spend quiet evenings in front of the television with you and I want to endlessly bicker over which movieto rent with you. But most of all, I want to kiss you." Troy paused, shocked by how much he had just said. He had definitely not been planning on that but, once he'd started, he just couldn't stop. It was cathartic.

He watched Sharpay's reaction to all that he had just professed but she was carefully holding her face in a very stoic expression. Troy was disappointed by this but he wasn't surprised. Taking one more deep breath, he prepared himself to finish with the apparent expelling of his every thought.

"Well, all that being said," he continued confidently, "I am still with Gabriella right now and I don't want you to feel pressured or coerced by me. So, I refuse to hear any response to this from you. I just had to tell you all of this for my own sake. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go break up with my girlfriend. And when that's done, I fully intend to spend my every waking moment working on winning you back." Without waiting for the response that he knew she wouldn't give, Troy stood and ambled out of the auditorium with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His heart was beating abnormally fast and his palms were excessively sweaty. It was the best he'd felt in weeks.

Back in the auditorium, Sharpay was frozen, still staring at the same page of her script. But all thought of memorizing lines was long gone. She sat there with wide eyes, in complete shock. Slowly, a delirious smile crept its way onto her face, complementing the unusually warm feeling that had spread from the pit of her stomach throughout her entire body.


At that very moment, not far away in a previously abandoned log cabin that was sitting in the middle of the Country Clubs five acre park, a gangly man with too much hair on his arms answered his cell phone.

"Well? What did you find out?" he barked into the receiver. He paused as he listened to the response on the other end of the line.

Suddenly, his expression grew dangerously dark. "What do you mean you didn't find anything out? I thought you were supposed to be one of the best agents available! How is it that the best agent available has failed us on multiple occasions?" Reluctantly, he quieted for a second time to listen to this agents' explanation of his behavior.

With an angry growl, he whispered threateningly, "Well, it's not your ass on the line, is it? If we fuck this up one more time, it's me who The Boss will come after. Now, get it right!" And with that, the man slammed his phone shut and hurled it with all his might across the small room where it hit the map of the world that was pinned to the wall and fell to the floor, smashing into tiny pieces

He was hired by The Boss to kill Ashley Tisdale and he wasn't going to let some idiot agent who he hadn't even chosen to work with ruin everything. Sitting down at the three legged table, the fourth leg having been kicked off in a previous fit of anger, this dark man started writing out his own plan to accomplish the mission he was tasked with over a year ago. A plan that did not include this stupid agent of his.

---

Uh oh, the terrorists are starting to fight. That never turns out well.

So, I'm a major loser and that website that Morris and Jack were looking at is an actual website that I randomly spent WAY too much time on. Now that the government is watching my every move, you should probably check it out to justify my efforts. I have a link for it in my profile.

terroristinc (dot) org (at) gmail (dot) com is also, now, an actual e-mail. Its the "terrorists" e-mail. but feel free to use it if you want to contact me or whatever. I know we have PM's but I had to create an e-mail to create the webpage anyway, so I figured that would be a good use for it.

If the two conversation part confuses you, you can just go through and read the exchanges as Ryan/Gabriella (ignoring any Zeke/Sharpay lines) and vise versa.

Well, as always, I've worked very hard on this and would appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks!