disclaimer: I own High School Musical. Vanessa Anne Hudgens doesn't exist. Ashley Tisdale is my best friend and someday I'm going to marry Lucas Grabeel... Okay. Those were all lies. I don't own any of them, nor do I own Paris Hilton, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. But the new girl is mine, persona and all.

a/n: Hellooo! Just so everyone knows, none of them really brought the car incident up afterwards; everyone else heard, of course, but there's evidently not much you can do if you don't have the guy's license plate number. Poor Sharpay. Heh. Prepare for celebrity invasion when what's-her-name steps in for a few weeks. You'll find out who exactly this person is in a moment...

"How am I related to this girl again?" Kelsi asked her mom, staring dumbfounded at the photograph in her hand.

Mrs. Nielson sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Angelese is your second cousin."

In the picture her parents had sent, Angelese Roxanne Brierrose was waving happily at the camera. Her hair, both Kelsi and her mother were shocked to find, was black with streaks of intense aqua scattered on the left portion. She had soft brown eyes and a relaxed but confident smile. Her outfit suggested she was a model in training (as did her figure), but according to the short letter that came with the picture, she was into performing arts, and, just a year ago, became –

"A black belt?" Kelsi read off of the letter in surprise. Her mother nodded absently and walked out of the room with her ringing phone, leaving Kelsi there to take in everything that was going on. Angelese Roxanne Brierrose, she thought, studying the picture again and half expecting something about it to change. Everything stayed in place and the composer scolded herself mentally. So a tall, gorgeous, Broadway sweetheart black belt with aqua streaks and celebrity clothes is coming to live in my house for two weeks. Sounds like Sharpay. Except she's not blonde. And Sharpay's not a black belt.

"Hey, Kelsi!" The playmaker shuddered. I have to stop thinking about Sharpay. Her voice is invading my thoughts. "Kelsi! Hey, you there?"

She jumped out of her chair, breathing hard. So Sharpay's voice wasn't just in her head. Both Ryan and Sharpay stood at the doorway of the kitchen, throwing Kelsi confused looks.

"Uhm – sorry," she muttered, readjusting her glasses slightly. She gestured for them to sit down and cleared the counter. "I'm just recovering from initial shock."

Ryan raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. "Shock?"

"Yeah, here," Kelsi handed him the picture of Angelese.

"Whoa," Sharpay crossed her arms and took in a deep breath, looking over her brother's shoulder. "Who on earth is that?"

"Angelese Roxanne Brierrose. My second cousin. She'll be visiting for two weeks."

"She's so..." Sharpay began, searching for words to describe the girl in the photo. Unable to find any, she shrugged.

Mrs. Nielson rushed into the kitchen, her purse in hand. "Hi Ryan, Charlotte," she muttered, grabbing her keys.

"It's Sharpay, mom," Kelsi corrected her mother. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Emergency meeting," she replied. "I might be gone for a few hours. You can manage, right?"

"Angelese is arriving in less than two hours!"

"You won't mind picking her up at the airport, will you? Ryan and Sharon can go with you or something."

"Sharpay."

"Right, sorry, glad you're okay with it, I'll see you tonight, honey," she said in one breath, making her way to the door. "Tell your parents I said hi, Shannon!"

"It's –" the door clicked close. "Sharpay." Kelsi turned to the other two, shrugging apologetically. "She's not so good with names."

- - - - -

An hour and a half later, Ryan, Sharpay and Kelsi stood outside the airport, shivering in the cold of the night.

"She's supposed to be coming out of this gate," Kelsi said, looking at the piece of paper her mother had given her. She squinted down at the rushed, messy writing. "Either gate A or 3 9 4 E P."

"How are we going to recognize her?" Ryan asked.

Sharpay pulled her jacket closer around her body and rolled her eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, Ryan, there aren't a lot of people out her with her hair." He nodded mutely, too cold to argue.

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.

"There she is," Kelsi muttered. "Angelese!" She waved a hand in the air, stepping forward.

The girl turned her head in the composer's direction, her hair whipping her face. She walked over briskly, flashing the three of them a wide smile. "Kelsi?"

She nodded and Angelese grinned, hugging her second cousin quickly. She stepped back and took a good look at her new surroundings. "Boy, I ain't in Kansas anymore," she breathed, stretching her arms.

"Uhm, Angelese –" Kelsi began.

"Angie," she interrupted. "Let's cut it down to Angie for now."

"Okay," Kelsi shrugged. "This is Sharpay," – she gestured to her left – "and Ryan" – she motioned further down.

"Pleasure," she shook Ryan's and Sharpay's hands. "Love your shoes, by the way," Angie told Sharpay.

Sharpay turned to Kelsi excitedly. "I like her already."

- - - - -

Ryan flagged down a taxi when they reached the sidewalk. The driver, noticing Angie's luggage, leaned over to open the window of the passenger seat. "The trunk doesn't open," he grunted.

Angie let out a low whistle. "Ah, okay, we'll put my stuff in the back, to the left, Sharpay and I should probably sit there, too, and – Ryan, you alright with Kelsi sitting on your lap up front?" She spoke as though she did this sort of thing all the time.

"You sure there's enough space for all of us?" Sharpay said, peering into the taxi skeptically.

"Trust me, I've done this before," Angie assured her. "And that was with four pieces of luggage and five people."

Sure enough, when they arranged themselves inside the vehicle the way she had said they should, all of them were in comfortably.

"You're a genius," Sharpay remarked, stunned at how comfortable she was in the cramped taxi.

"So they say," Angie replied coolly, taking her cell phone out of her purse. She groaned in frustration, clicking rapidly through messages. "Ashton, Paris, Britney, when will you people learn to leave me alone?"

The other three stared at her in astonishment – even the driver looked mildly interested.

"You're in contact with Ashton Kutcher? A-And Paris Hilton?" Sharpay asked in shock.

Angie shrugged casually. "I used to doggy sit Tinkerbell, Ashton's a good friend of my dad's, as for Britney – well, she's just annoying."

"Angie, I didn't know you were so...well connected," Kelsi admitted, feeling unusually comfortable in Ryan's lap.

She shrugged again. Before she could reply, however, her phone rang. Grinning apologetically, she mouthed "excuse me" and pushed a button, then held it up to her ear. "Oh, hey, girl...yeah, I'm in New Mexico now, visiting my second cousin...really? Well, congratulations, Miss Aguilera, sounds like things are turning around – finally...okay. Catch you later. Tell him I said hi." She hung up to find Sharpay, Ryan and Kelsi staring at her again.

"What?"

- - - - -

The four of them arrived at Kelsi's house later that evening to find that Mrs. Nielson still wasn't home. Sharpay and Angie swapped cell phone numbers after the latter settled down, then all of them sat down in the heated living room.

"...but then Paris had to get all stupid about the useless Chihuahua, saying how the poor thing 'would die using any other brand', as if it mattered," Angie finished, rolling her eyes dismissively. Her stories about Paris Hilton had captured their attention instantly. Being the outgoing girl she was, she had also told them the sad tale of Tinkerbell's first attempt at running away from her freakishly large home.

Mrs. Nielson arrived, half awake, dumped her bag and jacket into an unoccupied chair, said hello to Angie, told Kelsi to be in bed in an hour, and bade goodnight to Ryan and Sharpay (Peyton).

"So, when are we hitting the mall?" Angie asked as she and Kelsi walked Ryan and Sharpay out.

"I say we all go this weekend and invite Gabriella, Troy, Chad, Taylor and Zeke," Sharpay suggested, readjusting her shoe slightly.

"Sounds good to me," Kelsi agreed, shrugging. Unexpectedly, Angie whistled loudly. Three taxis came to a halt in front of them.

"Guess we'll see you there, then," she grinned, opening the door for them.

"Keep your phone on," Sharpay warned her, smirking. "Bye, guys."

Ryan followed her in and closed the door. "Bye, Kelsi, Bye, Angie," he said through the open window.

"Bye." Kelsi waved absently, unaware of how closely Angie was watching her.

I know that smile, Angie thought, tugging at her hair and turning around to follow Kelsi back inside. I know that kind of smile all too well.

a/n: Right...in case anyone was wondering, the Paris Hilton stories, I made up. Got bored one night, and she was on TV, so you know... So anyway. Tell me how you like Angie, she actually plays a big role in this fic, you'll find out more later. Thanks again for the fantacious reviews! - - - Kat