Chapter Three

Troy yawned for what must have been the 12th time that morning as he sat in his car, just a little ways down the street from the Evan's residence. The meeting for the EYP was supposed to start at 10, so Troy figured that Sharpay would have to be out of the house by 8 or 9 is she was going to be 'late'. He really wanted to know what she could be doing that was so important that it would make her late for play. It was nearly 8:30 now and Sharpay still had yet to leave her house. He was starting to think that maybe she wasn't going anywhere, but then he remembered it was Cassie's birthday today…who ever she was.

'Maybe Cassie is her dog or something?' Troy thought to himself. He was about to leave when he saw Sharpay walk out of her house. She had a duffle bag with her which she threw unceremoniously into the passenger's seat of her car before getting in. He started up his car and soon began his pursuit to discover the mystery of Sharpay…

…but he never expected her to go to the hospital.

He followed her through the parking garage, a few cars behind her, wondering what on earth she would have to do at a hospital. Was Cassie a relative? A doctor? A nurse? He would soon find out. He parked a few spaces away from Sharpay, noticing how they both didn't care where they parked. Whenever he went to the mall or something with Chad, Taylor, and Gabby they would always wait a ridiculously long time for someone to pull out of a spot. Whereas Troy would just drive up to the third, fourth, or even roof level if it meant more space to park.

He tried to follow her through the hospital, but didn't manage to do such a great job. He'd followed her to the end of one wing of the hospital…but then he lost her. He knew she was in that wing, since there wasn't any other one attached to it, but he didn't know where she was. She moved so fast, it was like she'd walked those halls everyday or something.

He was just about to give up after fifteen minutes with no sign of Sharpay, when a noise caught his attention. It sounded like cheering…little kids cheering. So he followed the noise till he found what was causing it. Sharpay stood in the middle of a crowd of children dressed in a simple blue princess gown. It was the perfect shade of blue; he could see her eyes even from his distance away. (A/N – I know Sharpay has brown eyes, but in my story she has blue (like Ryan))

He looked up just above Sharpay's head was a banner that read 'Happy Birthday Cassie'. So Cassie was one of the kids!

Troy watched as Sharpay picked up a small brown haired girl and spun her around, getting a laugh out of her. With out knowing it, he began to walk closer to the room where all this was going on. He would have probably ended up walking right in if it hadn't been for the nurse on duty.

"Sir?" she asked, "Do you need help with something?"

Troy snapped out of his trance and looked over at the nurse. She as a rather large woman, but not fat, with stunning dark skin and black hair pulled into a bun.

"Oh um…no," Troy stuttered, "I…I was just passing by and saw this…what is this?"

"Oh that?" she asked pointing to where Sharpay was now standing in front of a bunch of sitting children. "Sharpay Evans, she's a junior at East High, she comes here on Saturday's for an hour or two to read to the children." She laughed slightly, "She goes all out for them. She dresses up as a princess and calls it 'Princess Sharpay's Story Hour'."

"Really?" Troy asked, staring as Sharpay placed a small plastic tiara on the brown haired girls head.

"Yup," the nurse replied, "If there's a birthday, she crowns the child Lord or Lady for the day, gives 'em a tiara and crown and everything."

There was silence as they both listened to Sharpay talk to the girl, who Troy assumed to be Cassie. "Alright Cassie, today's your birthday and you know what that means right?"

"You're gonna read my favite story?!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.

"Yup," Sharpay said, laughing, "So what'll it be?"

Cassie thought for a moment before practically jumping up, "Harry Potter!"

Sharpay smiled, "That's a really long story," she pause as Cassie frowned, "So I'm going to read your most favorite part, alright?" Cassie nodded eagerly as Sharpay pulled out all six books from a messenger bag beside her. "So what's your most favorite part ever?"

"The dueling club!" she shouted, fidgeting in her seat from anticipation.

Sharpay cracked open the second book, "I'm going to do something special for you today Cassie," she said, "After all it's not everyday you turn five right?" Cassie nodded, "I'll read the chapter before and after as well."

"Yay!" Cassie shouted, this time jumping up to hug Sharpay.

Troy smiled as he watched her settle the child and began to read, laughing slightly as she made up different voices for the characters.

"She loves those children," the nurse muttered.

"Why are they here?" Troy asked.

"Honey," she started, "This is the children's wing, part of the Children's Hospital. Sick and injured children come here for treatments and things."

Troy's eyes widened as he looked to where Sharpay was. He looked at the children, noticing for the first time that some sported neon colored casts or painted crutches, one was in a wheel chair, three were bald, and one was wearing dark glasses. He looked over at Cassie, squinting; he was able to make out scars along her face…burns…

Troy stood there, listening with the nurse as Sharpay read the three chapters for the children. He realized then how different Sharpay really was, how much of herself she was hiding from everyone. She really was the best damn actress in the world. If he hadn't known that she had been crying yesterday, he wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong. She acted like such a bitch, like such an ice queen with a heart frozen solid…but that wasn't who she was at all! She was a sweet, kind, caring, compassionate person who just didn't want to get hurt. He couldn't believe that he never noticed that Sharpay had a soft side. In just the past day he'd learned more about her true self than ever. If everyone knew she was really like this, they'd have to love her as much as he did…

'Wait a minute,' he thought to himself, 'Love her as much as I do?' He looked at her, mimicking the characters, capturing the attention of the children so thoroughly that he doubted that their attention could be swayed even if Santa Claus appeared right then and there with gifts for all of them. He smiled, watching her, 'Yeah…I do…'

Just then, Sharpay snapped the book closed and stood up. The story time was over! Troy's eyes widened as he searched around for a place to hide before Sharpay saw him. He hid behind an empty nurse's station just as Sharpay headed out to say good bye to the nurse.

"Hey Penny," he heard her say, "I'm gonna head out now alright?"

"Sure," Penny said, "Thanks again for doing this Shar."

"It's nothing. I love kids." She said. He heard her start to leave but then stop. "Hey, Penny…I noticed Jason wasn't there…"

"Oh…" Penny said, Troy could tell something was wrong…and apparently, so could Sharpay.

"What happened?" she asked desperately.

Penny took a deep breath, "Jason…stopped responding to the Chemo."

Sharpay gasped, "What?"

Penny nodded, "They're going to transfer him next week to a different hospital, in New York. They said the New York treatment centers are making advancements for children who aren't responding to the treatments."

Sharpay was speechless, "Is…when…"

"He leaves next Saturday." Penny answered, knowing that Sharpay was taking it hard. She laughed a little, "He refused to leave till he heard one more story."

Sharpay smiled sadly, tears filling her eyes. The little boy, Jason, reminded her so much of Ryan, a blonde haired, blue eyed, little tyke. She nodded slowly, before starting to walk off.

"Oh Sharpay!" Penny called, Sharpay turned, "Pinocchio."

That was all Sharpay needed to hear before she continued on her trek, making a note to go get an extra copy of that book.

Troy sat there a moment longer taking in all that he'd heard. This boy, Jason, must have had Cancer…Troy shook his head, his grandmother had died from Cancer when he was in the third grade, he'd taken it hard. So hard, that his parents sent him off to Basketball camp that summer to help him take his mind off of it. 'Poor Sharpay,' he thought, getting up to head to the parking garage.

He arrived, noticing that the fourth level was nearly empty, providing him with very little cover to get to his car. Sharpay was already in her car and if he tried to run across the lot to his car, she'd be sure to notice him. He crept along the cars as close to his own as he could, but stopped short. Sharpay wouldn't notice him run out. She was sitting in her car, crying.

He ran to his car, ignoring the urge to comfort her. If she knew he'd followed her there, he'd be in for a very hard slap…and possibly a kick to a place he really didn't want to be kicked. A few minutes later, he spotted Sharpay starting to pull out, and went to follow her to the school for the EYP meeting.

Troy managed to take a short cut once they entered the town giving him enough time to make it to the auditorium before Sharpay even pulled into the parking lot.

"Hey!" Gabby shouted as she saw Troy heading down the main isle towards the stage. "Where have you been? The meeting started fifteen minutes ago!"

Troy glanced at the clock, 10:15, "Sorry," he muttered, "I overslept."

'It's not like I'd miss anything important anyway,' he thought to himself. The Saturday EYP meeting was always just a bunch of acting exercises to get the cast ready for the auditions. At least, that's what Ryan told them.

Ryan had said that every year the EYP was always the same thing with Darbus. She'd feel guilty about working the cast from the Musicale too hard and try to surprise them with a fun play. She'd get the set built and painted, leaving them all to guess. Then on Friday she'd have a meeting where she'd hint about the play, and on Saturday have a bunch of exercises and challenges to get everyone pumped. One more meeting would be that Monday where she'd collect the information, and then Auditions would be the rest of the week till she announced call backs on Friday for the next day.

They still didn't know exactly what the play would be, Ryan had a few guesses but none that he was willing to share.

"…do you Troy?" he heard Gabby ask.

"Huh? What?" he asked, snapping back to reality.

"Yo man, pay attention much?" Chad asked jokingly punching him on the arm. "And I thought this was your thing."

"Chad, stop being such an ignoramus," Taylor said smacking her boyfriend upside the head.

Troy glanced at them, after much convincing that the both had nothing better to do with the Scientific Decathlon being over and Basketball not starting up again till late in the summer, they'd been able to get Taylor and Chad to agree to try out for the production.

Gabby shook her head, "We were just wondering how Sharpay managed to be in 17 productions in only about three years."

"You know," Troy started, suddenly interested, "I have no idea."

"Why don't you just ask Ryan?" Kelsi suggested. She had only been apart of the school since she was a freshman so she didn't really know how many plays Sharpay had been in.

"Good idea small person," Chad said.

"Chad!" Taylor shouted, smacking him again, "Her name is Chelsea!"

"Kelsi," Kelsi quietly corrected.

"Kelsi!" Taylor amended.

In that time, while they were bickering, Gabriella had called Ryan over to them. "Hey Ryan!" she said.

"Hey guys," he waved, sitting down on the stage where they were chillin', "What's up?"

"We were just wondering how Sharpay managed to be in 17 productions in three years." Gabby repeated.

"Oh, well um…let's see…" he said, squinting his eyes like he was thinking. "Every year we have the Fall Play, the Spring Musical, and the End of the Year Production. Sharpay got the lead in 6th grade to 10th and the lead in the Fall Play this year…so that's about…"

"16 productions," Gabriella and Taylor said at the same time.

"Yeah, and…" he trailed when Gabby cut him off.

"But why are you counting 6th grade and middle school?"

"Well, the middle school here starts in the 6th grade, and it's connected to the high school, it's just in a separate wing so we don't really interact that much. 6th – 12th grade is considered in the same school."

"Oh…" she said in realization, "But where did the 17th one come from."

"Well in elementary school Sharpay got the lead in the third grade play…and fourth…and fifth…" he trailed zoning out a little, till Taylor snapped her fingers in front of his face, "And when she got the lead in the fifth, there was a…prize? I guess you could say. Whoever got the lead in the fifth grade got to get a lead for the sixth grade one. Apparently they didn't have any good actors that year and needed someone with talent…"

"So is it any surprise they chose me?" said an arrogant voice from behind them. They all turned to see Sharpay standing there, arms crossed, with a smirk on her face. "Talking about my triumphs are you? No surprise, I know I'm great." And with that she walked onto the stage and disappeared behind the curtains.

"God she is so annoying!" Taylor remarked, earning an agreement from almost everyone. Though, the one who didn't agree was a shock, for it wasn't Ryan as many would have suspected…it was…Troy…

No one really noticed, but he was off in his own little world as their hurtful words continued. He was staring at the spot where Sharpay had just disappeared through. Her eyes…there was something different about her eyes. Her face was happy, smirking even…but her eyes…they were sad. She was hurting and not letting anyone see it.

Troy was about to go on stage to look for her when Ms. Darbus appeared and clapped her hands signaling for them to all sit. It seemed as though she had hoped that Sharpay wouldn't be too late, and was waiting till her favorite student arrived to begin. Troy sat down at the end of their group, glancing casually over at Sharpay…sitting by herself. He frowned, her face was set in her Ice Queen mask and her arms were crossed over her chest. He squinted; he could tell she was breathing deep and fast, like she was trying to keep calm or something.

But he barely had time to think on it, Ms. Darbus started the meeting forcing them all to participate in her 'acting exercises' or as Ryan liked to call them her 'instruments of humiliation'. Troy watched as everyone went through their improvs and group exercises, but his gaze kept drifting over to Sharpay.

They had just finished their exercises of projection when Ms. Darbus told them to settle down. This time, Troy managed to subtly move the group closer to where Sharpay was sitting.

"Now my fine group of Thespians," she projected to the group, "I'm sure you are all wondering what fabulous production we will be putting on and I feel much obliged to tell you." She paused for dramatic effect, "The production this year, for the end of school, will be…"

She paused only briefly, but Troy swore he could hear Sharpay whisper to herself the word Midsummer.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream!" Ms. Darbus shouted as the group erupted into applause.

Troy glanced over at Sharpay, giving her a questioning glance. How did she know the play?

Sharpay glanced up, fixing a glare on him, "What are you staring at Bolton?!"

Troy shook his head, he had seen so much of nice Sharpay it was hard to remember that she was supposed to act mean at school. He turned back to hear his friends talking about what parts they wanted and what not.

Ms. Darbus continued to talk of what the play was about before finally giving them the let go around 12 when she realized they were all too caught up in their plans to audition. Sharpay grabbed her purse and hurried out of the Auditorium.

"Hey, guys I gotta go," he said, they all looked at him, "Dad wants to brush up on Basketball, make sure I'm not rust after one month and stuff."

"Okay!" Gabriella shouted, giving him a hug, "See you later!"

"Yeah…" he said, waving as he walked out.

He must have been a master at sneaking past Sharpay or she was just too preoccupied to notice him following her, but either way he managed to follow her to her next secret location. He had a feeling that what he saw yesterday was just the tip of the iceberg.

He was right. The next stop Sharpay made was to a small field down one of the residential streets. He recognized it from when he was younger, it was where the little league teams practiced during the seasons. But what would Sharpay be doing there?

His question was answered when he saw her pick up her duffle back and head to the small concrete hut where the rest rooms were. He hid behind the empty concession counter and waited for her to reappear. She came out a minute later wearing a simple old yellow t-shirt and a pair of green sweatpants. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a headband to keep her bangs from her eyes. Under her arm was a soccer ball.

Troy stared at her a moment, he had never seen Sharpay look so…grunge down…before. She was stunning in her simplicity. She had a small smile on her face, indicating to Troy that she was much more comfortable in those kinds of clothes.

He watched her jog out to the middle of the field where a man was walking towards her. She stopped short and they exchanged a few words that Troy couldn't hear. Once they finished, the man began to coach Sharpay into playing soccer. (A/N – If anyone has seen She's the Man, think like that whole Viola being coached by Duke scene)

The man had her run laps, do some push ups, some stretching. Then had her run with the ball, kick it at the goal while he blocked it, kicked it at her so she could stop it with her head and body, and had her play goalie. He practiced offensive and defensive playing, and demonstrated how to do some jumping kicks.

Sharpay was really good. But that left Troy to wonder why she didn't try out for any of the teams at school? The girl's soccer team could definitely use someone like Sharpay to play with them.

The coach and Sharpay started to cool down from their practice by playing hacky-sack with the soccer ball, keeping it off the ground with their body, legs, and head. The coach checked his watch, catching the ball as Sharpay softly head bunted it to him. They exchanged a few more words, Troy could see her smiling, she must have done well.

The man left as Sharpay jogged back to the restroom to get changed again. Her clothes were slightly muddy from the soccer ball and exercises. She emerged a few minutes later, face still a tab bit red, before heading back to her car with Troy following her all the while.

The next place they stopped was somewhere even more unexpected than the hospital…McDonald's. Troy watched as Sharpay pulled into a parking space and head into the building. Sharpay had always given off the aura of a body conscious girl, worried about her weight and figure…but there she was, about to eat in McDonald's of all places.

He glanced down at his clock, 1:47, nearly two hours after he usually ate lunch so he pulled around the drive through, getting himself a number two with a coke. He then parked near the side windows where he could eat in his car, while still able to see just what Sharpay would be eating. He was shocked to see her sit down with a Big Mac and fries. He really didn't know anything about her, except what she put off in school, he realized. The Ice Queen Sharpay would have never even touched a salad from this place.

Sharpay must have been starving; she ate the whole thing in like five minutes. But that was understandable to Troy, after an average basketball practice he'd end up eating two servings of his mom's cooking in five minutes as well. Sharpay got up a few minutes later and walked out the door heading to her next destination.

A rather creepy looking house loomed in the distance as Troy followed Sharpay to what he assumed to be her last destination. Unfortunately for him, Sharpay parked directly in front of the creepy house and headed up to the door. He slowed down to a crawl while he watched a large round woman with brown curly hair quickly usher her into the house. Troy quickly drove around the block, till he was behind the house and parked on the other side of the street. He ran up to the back of it, there weren't a lot of bushes to hide behind so he did the best he could.

He crept up to an open window and saw the round woman sitting at a piano with Sharpay standing at the end of it. The woman began to play a song Troy knew to be from Carmen, but didn't quite recall the name of. Sharpay stood there, perfectly poised, hitting all the right notes and crescendo-ing when the music did. But suddenly in the middle of it, her voice cracked slightly and the round woman stopped playing.

"Vat ees dees?" she said, a thick French accent lacing her words, "Vat vas dat?"

Sharpay rubbed her throat a little as she spoke, "Sorry Miss Dela…"

"Tut tut tut," the woman replied giving Sharpay a look.

Sharpay sighed, "Désolé Mademoiselle Delamater," she rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry Mademoiselle Delamater."

Madam nodded, "You 'ave been projecting, 'ave you not?"

"Oui Mademoiselle Delamater."

Madam sighed, "You know you are projecting wrong, do you not?" Sharpay nodded, "Eet vill strain your vocal cords."

"Il n'arrivera pas encore," Sharpay replied, "It will not happen again."

"Eet better not," the woman said simply, "Let us finish La Habañera."

Sharpay nodded, "Qui mon bel enseignant."

Madam smirked at that as she continued to play. She loved getting praised by her students. (Mon bel enseignant My beautiful teacher)

Soon enough they had finished La Habañera and had moved on a song from Mozart's The Magic Flute. (The one from Miss Congeniality…I think…)

Madam smashed the keys near the end of the piece, "No, no, no, you are doing eet all wrong."

Sharpay sighed, rubbing her forehead this time. Troy couldn't blame her, that woman was annoying. "J'essaie," she muttered, "I'm trying."

"Vell, trying ees not goot enough," the instructor said, "You canno' try you must du!"

Sharpay merely nodded and continued where Troy expected her to argue and get angry.

Once she finished that song, Madam had her sing two more operatic pieces before allowing her to choose a modern song to do. Like the day before Sharpay chose a song from Wicked, she sang the Wizard and I, completely acapella and sounded wonderful…even Madam couldn't critique her.

Sharpay bowed slightly as she finished singing and Madam led her to the door.

"Bon au revoir," Sharpay said as she headed down the steps.

"Vous voir la semaine prochaine," Madam replied shutting the door behind her.

Sharpay let out a low groan, "Vous voir la semaine prochaine," she mimicked, "See you next week."

It was four o' clock now, and even though Troy doubted that Sharpay had any more secret things to do today, he followed her back to her house anyway. He watched as she dragged her stuff out of her car and headed inside.

Troy sat in his car a moment longer thinking things over till he came to a conclusion. He wasn't going to follow Sharpay any longer…no…he was going to go with her…

A/N – So…that's the third chappy, next one will involve Sharpay finding out that Troy knows about her secret…how will she react? What will she do? What will happen tomorrow?

P.S. The French translations are from an online translator so it may not be very good.