Crunch crunch crunch, went the leaves under his feet. It had been an agonizing hour since he had stumbled upon Sharpay Evans. Crunch crunch. And an agonizing 45 minutes of silence. After making the mistake of picking her up, she had then insisted on blowing a good few pounds to his back, before he had relented and put her down. It had meant to be fun and yet the ice queen had shown no cracks of a smile.
He watched the fiercely determined girl in front of him limp, every now and then taking sharp in takes of breath. He watched her stumble from tree to tree and after another agonizing ten minutes he had had enough.
"Oh for piety's sake Evans"!
She let the backpack on her shoulder fall to the ground, and turned ever so slowly around, fixing him with a glare that could burn him and the entire bush land.
"What"?
"I can't stand to watch you walk anymore" he exclaimed, to which she raised a brow.
"Excuse me"?
He rolled his eyes.
"Don't you think it would be better if you just let me carry you"?
Sharpay being ever so stubborn raised her chin and huffed.
"I'm perfectly fine"
"Oh you've got to be kidding" he replied as he watched her turn around.
"It's even more swollen than before and walking on it is making it worse".
She paused in mid step and turned around.
"Why do you even care"? She erupted.
Chad starting to get angry himself, folded his arms.
"I don't, but at the pace we are going we're never going to find the others and we'll be stuck out here for the night".
Sharpay shuddered at the thought.
Her ankle was killing her; she looked at her watch. It was getting later.
She stared at the ground.
"Fine"
Chad walked past her "nope sorry too late"
"Why you.."
"See you later" he called out.
Sharpay picked up her bag and hobbled on, trying to keep up with him.
After 30 minutes of Chad struggleling with his conscious, he stopped. Sharpay was incorrigible, and he loathed her, but he had to help her.
He took in a deep breath and turned around.
"Evans"?
Not seeing the ferocious blonde in sight he started to retrace his steps.
" Evans"!
He heard a whimper and continued to walk, what came into his sight next made him burst into laughter.
There infront of him, lay one Sharpay Evans, face forward in a puddle of mud.
Incessantly wiping at her face, she slowly pulled herself up, only to fall back down, this time on her behind.
Chad, who had only just contained himself, bit his lip hard to keep from laughing again.
" Ice Princess to mud Princess"
For the first time since he had known her, she remained silent.
He kneeled in front of her, and it was then that he noticed her eyes, they were filling with tears.
Chad gulped.
"Ah" he held his hand out"Here"
She took his hand and shakily stood up, only to let out a cry.
"What what is it?" he asked starting to panic.
"My top, you idiot, look at it it's ruined"
Chad resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"My mother will be furious, and not to mention the shame her daughter's humiliation will bring on her"
She fixed him with what could only be described as a pleading look.
"Your not to mention this to anyone Danforth"
Chad scratched the back of his head in surprise "Ah ok"
She placed one of her hands on each of his shoulders to stay steady.
Never having been this close to Sharpay Evans before, Chad found himself looking her over, despite being stained by the mud, her hair being slightly tousled and sticking up in certain places, she looked good, and not so icy, yet dare he say it, soft.
He was brought back to reality as a halfhearted slap met his shoulder.
"Don't stare at me Danforth, this day has had enough humiliation in it thank you and I can only imagine how horrible I look, so if you don't mind can you please help me, so we can be on our way", she flicked her hair behind her and looked at him expectantly.
Only taking slight notice of her new use of manners he found himself spitting out "I think you're the only girl who could make wearing mud look good"
Not yet ceasing to surprise him, Sharpay gave a small smile, and as quickly as it appeared it was gone.
She clapped her hands as he lifted her up "Move it" she demanded, though this time Chad noted it was little less icy.
TBC