Chapter Nineteen

Sharpay stood outside the main doors of the school the next day, nervous as ever. A hand slipped into hers as she looked up to see Troy standing beside her. He had picked her up for school and given her a ride so she wouldn't have to do this alone. She took a deep breath, and, like the day before, looked down at her attire. Today she was clad in a pair of old, worn, once white, tennis shoes, a pair of thin red Wild Cats sweatpants, and a white t-shirt with a red soccer logo that still fit her from when she played on the recreational team in the 4th grade. Her hair was naturally wavy, but pulled into a high ponytail.

"You look beautiful," he whispered in her ear before opening the door and holding it open as she walked in.

Everyone stared at her as she passed...shocked stares followed her…disbelieving stares even…but that…that Sharpay could handle. No one was saying anything…they were just…staring…

It wasn't until she reached her locker that the whispering started…but at least this time it was whispering so she couldn't really hear what they were saying.

She let out a breath as Troy leaned on the locker next to hers, talking with her in hushed tones, helping to keep the whispers from her ears. She grabbed her books, stuffing them quickly into her bag, just because she couldn't hear the whispers didn't mean that she wanted to stay where people were talking about her.

She quickly shut her locker, turning to head down the hall when she crashed into someone…the person's books and notebooks fell to the ground along with a few papers.

"I'm sorry," Sharpay said, kneeling down with the person to pick up the papers and some notebooks. She handed them out, looking up to see Gabriella kneeling before her holding the rest of her books and papers.

Gabriella shut her mouth, which had been hanging open, "Thanks," she squeaked as she took her papers and note books from Sharpay.

Sharpay smiled softly, before standing. Everything was silence…no one moved an inch…for a few moments, Sharpay wasn't sure if anyone was breathing. She glanced around to see everyone staring at her with their jaws dropped much like Gabriella's had. She took a breath, before turning and walking down the hall with Troy…

The whispers came back as Sharpay left her Ms. Darbus' room during free period. She had told Troy in English that Darbus had wanted to speak with her so he said he'd be waiting in the theatre to have lunch with her. Their hide out had been invaded by a few people hoping to catch them going there.

Sharpay kept looking at her watch as Ms. Darbus praised her for her and Troy's performance until she finally let her go a few minutes before the bell rang. Sharpay nearly bolted out of the room, but she managed to calmly walk out and head to her locker…but the whispers were there…

"…think she is?" Sharpay heard as she turned the corner.

"Did you see her this morning?"

"What was she wearing?"

"What did she do? Roll out of bed…"

"...must have been torture to…"

"…and she gave her the books…"

"…said I'm sorry?!"

"…so stupid…"

"…thinks she can fool everyone…"

"…such a bitch…"

"…acting all sweet and innocent…"

"…fucked up in the head…"

"…it's all an act!"

Sharpay didn't bother to get her lunch, she just ran down the hall trying to get to the auditorium before the whispers could follow.

"…boo hoo hoo…"

"…look there she goes…"

"…such a loser…"

"…crying? Puh-lease…"

"…dish it…"

"…can't take it…"

She threw open the doors to the back stage of the auditorium, running right on stage and into Troy who had gone to see who had come in. She sank to her knees as Troy wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Everyone…think it's an act…just like I said…" was all Troy was able to understand through her sobs.

His heart broke to see her so pained, "It's okay, it's okay…"

She shook her head, not able to speak. She had been through so much in the last month; Troy found out her secret, Ryan called her a bitch, she wasn't speaking to him, Ryan hated her, the school thought Troy went to NY with a hooker, they thought she'd forced Troy to break up with Gabriella, they'd made fun of her, they'd ridiculed her…she was just sick of it. She tried being nice but it just blew up in her face.

"Shhh…shhhh," Troy whispered rocking her back and forth.

He was the only good thing that came out of the whole mess…

"I tried…" she whispered after a few minutes, once her tears started to subside, "I really tried to show them…I did…"

"I know," Troy whispered, "I'm so sorry…if I hadn't suggested…"

Sharpay shook her head, "Then they wouldn't have even seen me…" she breathed deep, "I just wish…that they'd stop…"

"They will," Troy said, "Just think, there's only one day left of school. And next year, you can be yourself…"

Sharpay took a shuddered breath just thinking about next year, she'd be a senior without any friends, without any family, without any…

"And I'll be there with you," Troy said, sensing where her thoughts were heading. "I'll be at your lessons, at your practices, at your volunteering…at you games…" he trailed, bringing up the subject of her and sports.

She laughed, given enough time his mind would always go back to sports, "And I'll be at yours," she added, wiping her eyes.

"Promise?" he asked jokingly.

"Promise," she said. She was about to say something else when her stomach grumbled.

"Hungry?" Troy asked, laughing as he helped her stand up.

"Starved," she replied, "I skipped breakfast."

He smiled gently, "Well then," he said picking up his lunch and offering her his hand, "Shall we?"

She accepted, "We shall."

He started to walk off, "I think they should be out of our hide out by now…"

His next words were lost as the doors shut behind him.

There was a rustling by the curtains, a hand appeared, pushing it aside as six teen stepped onto the space of the stage. Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan all wandered on. They had been chilling in the chorus room when they heard the stage door swing open and someone crying…they had been shocked to discover it was Sharpay.

"How fake was that!" Taylor said, starting to pace the stage, "The Ice Queen crying? I can't believe Troy even fell for that." She paced more, continuing to utter harsh words against Sharpay as the gang's thoughts drifted.

Kelsi smiled sadly when she'd seen Sharpay cry that badly. She had never really thought that Sharpay was as mean as she pretended to be. She remembered a time when she had been working on a piece of music for the spring musical last year. She had been sitting behind the piano and ducked down when Ms. Darbus made her was quickly across the room, followed by Sharpay who had been arguing something with her. Kelsi had listened in and was completely floored to hear Sharpay arguing for the music that she had composed. Sharpay was telling Ms. Darbus that the music was great, one of the best pieces she thought Kelsi had ever written. But Ms. Darbus would have none of it.

Ryan frowned, he really felt bad about what he had said to Sharpay in anger nearly a month ago. He knew he'd really hurt her, he shouldn't have even let himself get so angry at her…it was just play…and he hadn't been that great of a brother to her, always ditching her to hang with the guys. He'd been just as shocked as everyone to learn that Sharpay had gone to New York during the three day break…he hadn't even known she was gone…which made him feel like crap. What kind of a brother doesn't even notice when his sister's missing?! She hadn't spoken to him in a while and it was really starting to get to him. They had never gone this long without speaking…not even when she'd accidentally ripped his blankie in two…not even then was he that mad that they hadn't talked for a month. The longest they had ever gone was two weeks. It sucked.

"God she is such a bitch!" Taylor exclaimed cutting through their thoughts.

"Yeah man," Chad replied, "She's a great actress. I can't even cry like that…and I was the champ of the crocodile tears exercise."

"I don't think she was acting guys," Gabriella cut in. She was staring out at the empty seats rather than the group behind her.

Taylor scoffed, "Gabriella, she's an actress…that's what they do…act. She's arrogant and manipulative and…"

"And really affected by what people are saying about her." Gabriella finished for her. "Did you not here what Troy said? She's doing something after school that he'd be there for…something about volunteering…"

"Right…" Chad started, sarcasm layering his words, "Like the Ice Queen would ever volunteer for anything is just cra…"

"Actually she does," Ryan said, cutting him off. "She volunteers a lot."

The group looked at him shock evident in their eyes.

"Since when?" Jason asked.

"A few years ago she started volunteering at a few places…for a few months now she pretty much volunteers everyday…"

There was silence for a moment when Taylor spoke, "Right, like I'll believe that load of bul…"

"I can prove it," Ryan said quickly, eyes lighting up at a way to help out his sister. "I'm pretty sure I remember where she volunteers today…I went with her a few times…"

And that was it…that was how you'd find seven people crammed into Ryan's 4 person black Saturn Ion after school that day. Ms. Darbus had called a meeting for Play members to watch a recording of Sunday's performance. They all ran to Ryan's car after that and watched from there as Troy and a sullen Sharpay made their way across the parking lot and into Troy's car. Ryan waited till they left the parking lot before following a good distance behind them. It wasn't that he wanted to follow them; it was just that he wasn't entirely sure that he remembered what Sharpay did on Tuesdays.

They managed to pull into the Food Pantry's parking lot just as Troy and Sharpay entered the building, which meant that they hadn't noticed the very noticeable, nice car pull in. Everyone rushed to get out of the car, not because they wanted to see what was going on…but because Zeke had tried his new bean burrito recipe for lunch…the results were…not flattering…

They crept up to the window, and, had anyone been looking, they would have seen seven heads pop up one right after the other. But no one was looking, so they were safe. They were also shocked to see Sharpay smiling as she and Troy started to package the food, moving around to the different shelves as if they had been there many times already and knew which shelves held what…which they had…

They kept watching, completely engrossed in what was going on that they barely noticed Troy and Sharpay heading towards them. They ducked down just as the two passed the window. They stayed there when they heard the door next to them open and the couple walk towards the parking lot. Ryan motioned for them to stay where they were even as Troy's car pulled out, heading down the street.

"Ryan!" Taylor shouted as they walked back to his car and piled in, "We lost them!"

"No, we didn't," Ryan remarked, starting the car and pulling out, "She's going to soccer."

"Soccer?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "I remembered she had soccer today when I saw her shirt."

They drove a few minutes in silence when Gabriella spoke up, "Where…where else does she volunteer?"

"Um…" he started, trying to remember it all as correctly as he could, "I know during the week, she goes to the nursing home, the daycare center, an orphaninch, the animal shelter, and, you know, the food pantry." His brows furrowed in thought, "I'm pretty sure that she volunteers at the soup kitchen and the children's hospital on the weekends."

"The children's hospital?" Taylor asked, for once not sounding sarcastic, but almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, she reads stories to the kids. Our mom, a nurse, used to do that sometimes when she was on duty…before she died…" Ryan looked out the window reading the street signs, "Here we go," he said finding the right one and turning down it. Everyone looked out to see the street they were on as if it were important…not noticing Taylor's mouth drop open in shock…

Ryan pulled across the street from the little league field that Sharpay and Troy were currently walking across. There was a man there, with a duffle bag waiting for them. They all pressed against the side of the car, knowing that they wouldn't be able to leave and watch what happened.

But they were a good distance where they could still watch the practice while not getting noticed by Sharpay and Troy. Sharpay was good…really good…probably even better than Jason, who was on the boys JV soccer team.

"Sports?" Chad asked Ryan as they watched Sharpay and her coach cool down.

"Um…Tennis, soccer, basketball…" The guys looked at him in awe; Sharpay could play b-ball? "And she helps teach a Karate class once a week," he finished, proud of himself that he remembered all that.

"Now what?" Jason asked as they watched Troy and Sharpay drive off.

"I'm not sure…" Ryan trailed as he followed them, "It's either tap or ballet."

It turned out that his second choice was the right choice. They pulled up across the street to see Troy standing outside of a dance studio watching as the ballet students began to stretch.

"So…she takes dance lessons?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Ryan said, "Ballet, Tap, and…"

"Jazz?" Taylor asked, speaking for the first time in nearly an hour.

"No, she said it was boring," Ryan said laughing to himself, "She takes a hip hop class…and also takes singing, acting, and piano lessons…and gymnastics too."

The group shook their heads as they turned back to watch Sharpay and her classmates practice. They couldn't really see anything from across the street, but whenever someone glided by the window they could see them.

It was really late at night when they finally pulled up near the Evan's house. Ryan shut off the lights as he parked so that Troy, who was opening the door for Sharpay and taking her bag, wouldn't notice them.

"Wow…" Kelsi said softly, "She does a lot…"

Ryan nodded as they watched Troy walk Sharpay up to the front door, "She does all that and play. I overheard her on the phone once too; she wants to join some teams next year."

"Really?" Chad asked, Ryan nodded, "That's awesome."

"Yeah," Ryan agreed, "I still can't believe she does all this while balancing her school work." They stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "AP Chemistry, AP US History I, AP Pre. Calculus (A/N – a different class time than Taylor), AP English 11, and AP Latin III." He ticked off all the classes on his finger, earlier in the year it had been their tradition to memorize each other's classes so they could get to one another if they needed to.

Taylor and Gabriella's eyes widened in shock, they had never even known that Sharpay was taking more AP classes than just Chemistry, let alone all AP classes. 'Day-um!' They thought at the same time. And there they were, not willing to do a tenth of the things Sharpay was doing for the community because they thought that they had too much work?

They waited until Troy got back to his car and drove off before they got out. They all lived relatively close by, so it wasn't bad for them to walk. They said their good byes, each leaving with a feeling that they had to do something tomorrow…something to make things right…

A/N – What are they going to do? What will Sharpay think when she finds out they followed her? More importantly…what's Taylor's secret? Hmmm…find out next chapter...the final one…goodieness!