a/n: Mmkay, third chapter, Ryan, Kelsi, everyone else, big house, big party, ends in this chapter too, you know the drill. Thanks again for the awesome reviews. Here there's also a rather dramatic twist. Injuries. No, actually, no injuries. But almost. Yeah. Just read it.

"COULD YOU TURN DOWN THE MUSIC?"

"WHAT?"

"COULD YOU PLEASE TURN THE VOLUME DOWN?"

"THE WHAT?"

"TURN DOWN THE STEREO VOLUME!"

"I'M SORRY, MAN, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE - "

Instantly, the lights and music went out.

"Power interruption," someone mumbled pointlessly. It was around nine in the evening already, and, unfortunately, the street lamps had gone out, too. From the hallway, Troy, Gabi, Chad, Taylor, Zeke and Sharpay were whispering frantically.

"This complicates things a little." Sharpay's voice came from somewhere near the wall.

"No one even notified us or anything! Isn't the government supposed to send out the message in advance somehow?" Taylor asked.

Chad spoke from beside Taylor. "At least now you don't have to worry about anyone seeing your messed-up hair."

"CHAD!"

"Ryan? You there?" Kelsi's quiet voice blended with the other whispers and murmuring that filled the room. All six of them hushed up immediately.

"This is bad. This is really bad." The composer squinted into the darkness. "Ryan?" She called again. "Is that you?" For a moment, she fumbled with her cell phone. After she pressed a button, it emitted a dim light. Readjusting her glasses, she could just barely make out Ryan's face. Instinctively, she took hold of his wrist and stepped towards him, stuffing her phone back into the pocket of her coat.

"Ryan, are you alright?" She asked.

"I – I'm fine. Just fine," Ryan's voice shook as he spoke. "No I'm not. I'm going to die."

Kelsi, although she knew he couldn't see it, raised an eyebrow at Ryan. "Everyone is, eventually. Come on, let's go outside. I'm claustrophobic," she lied.

"Damn it!" A hushed voice came from behind them. Both of them turned around, scanning the room for any sign of who had spoken – or any light, for that matter.

Feeling slightly uneasy, Kelsi slowly led Ryan to the door. It creaked loudly when she opened it.

Moving carefully, they walked to the lawn and settled on the grass.

"Hey, Kelsi?" Ryan's voice, now slightly calmer, interrupted the dead silence of the night.

"Yeah?"

"If you're claustrophobic, how come you were able to stay in that house full of people for more than two hours?"

She laughed nervously. "It's complicated."

"GET OFF OF MY FOOT, WOMAN!" They looked back, startled. Someone had just yelled from inside the house, and, judging by the loudness of the yell, whoever it was wasn't far away. Both of them recognized the voice almost immediately. "Chad?"

"Oops."

"Move!"

"Hey, Troy, that was my arm!"

"Sorry!"

"Do you mind? These shoes are expensive!"

The lights came on again and Ryan and Kelsi caught one glimpse of Sharpay, Gabi and Chad before all three of them fell to the ground again, followed by Zeke, Taylor and Troy.

Zeke stood up, brushing dust off of his clothes. "What do you know – the front porch is really nice, too."

"Get down here, you," Sharpay laughed from the ground, tugging at his hand forcibly.

"Whoa!" Zeke fell over again, landing roughly next to her.

Meanwhile, Troy, Gabi, Chad and Taylor stood up, exchanging pointed glances.

"It's nine forty," Taylor announced, looking at her watch. "My mom wants me home by ten."

"I'll walk you," Chad volunteered. "Is it far?"

"More or less it's a fifteen minute drive."

"How about I walk you to a cab?"

Taylor laughed, nodding in agreement. "Bye guys," she said, waving at them. There was a hint of nervousness in her voice. Gabi smirked, crossing her arms as she watched the two depart. "Coincidentally, I have a ten pm curfew as well."

Troy looked at her in surprise. "Curfew? This is your house, isn't it?"

"Right, sorry, I meant bedtime." And, to the surprise of Zeke, Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi, she stood on tiptoe and kissed Troy's cheek. "'Night, everyone."

Gabi trotted back to her house, which was now almost empty. Unexpectedly, Sharpay burst out laughing. "Is the Wild Cats Superstar actually blushing?"

"What? No!" Troy ran a hand absently through his hair, flustered. "I – I have to go, too – See you guys on Monday – or something – bye!" He took off running in the opposite direction (although Kelsi was under the impression he wasn't sure where he was going), leaving the four of them behind.

"He's off to celebrate somewhere else," Sharpay laughed, shaking her head. "Let's cross the street, we're supposed to be going the other way. How are you getting home, Zeke?"

He gestured towards a street further down. "Walking. But I'm not going until I'm sure you're getting home safe."

She smiled gratefully, leading the way across the street with Zeke beside her. Out of nowhere, a bright light flashed in their direction and a car sped towards them. Within less than three seconds, it was mere feet from them, and it didn't look like the driver planned on slowing down. His heart beating fast, Ryan forgot about the rest of the world for a moment. He grabbed Kelsi instinctively and pulled her aside, landing both of them on the pavement, breathing hard.

Furious, Sharpay screamed after the car, saying things she knew she'd never want her mother to hear her say. She and Zeke had moved away just in time, distancing themselves from the car which left them unscathed. Still cursing at the top of her lungs, she stared after it, aggravated by the fact that there was nothing she could do to hurt – or possibly murder – the driver.

Zeke rushed over to Ryan and Kelsi, knowing better than to come near Sharpay when she was angry. He helped them up slowly, making sure they weren't injured in any way. Shaking hard, Kelsi collapsed into Ryan's arms, barely breathing. "Thank you," she whispered, trying hard to completely take in what had just happened.

"Hey, like I said earlier," Ryan replied quietly, gently stroking her hair. "No harm done."

a/n: Yeah. Hi. Kat here again. I'd just like to end this chapter here, since I like ending chapters with bits of dialogue. Hope this wasn't too confusing. But if you're that clueless, here's what happened next: Obviously, everyone went home, traumatized (or in Sharpay's case, fuming), but slightly more relaxed, no one died (duh.), phone calls went around, and, no, the "plan" didn't exactly go as they planned, what with the power outage and near-death incident. Someone else will step in and put the plan into proper action. I'd ask you to guess, but I'm the only one who knows her. Always! - - - Kat

PS: A new charrie will arrive in the next chapter. Excerpt below...

A few minutes later, someone emerged from the spinning doors gripping the handle of a black suitcase in one hand and a cell phone in the other with a designer purse slung over her shoulder. She took several long strides forward and they noticed that her hair, which blew in the breeze, was black streaked with aqua.