Hi, thank you so much for the reviews. I know I always say this, but they mean so much to me.

Disclaimer; I don't own Troy, Sharpay or any of the other characters from High School Musical. They belong to Disney.

Her Heartbeat

Chapter 8.

--

Laugh when nothing's funny, Dance when there's no music,
Sing like you've never sung before, Love till it hurts,
Cry when you're sad, Smile when you're happy,
And always live each day like its your LAST

--

The next day was plain boring for Sharpay. She stayed in bed until 2:30, and then she figured, she might as well take a bath and get ready for Troy to come. It would be nice to just look a little dressed up for him. Just because she was tied to a bed all morning, didn't mean she had to look like a mess.

She took a nice bubble bath, and picked out a cute skirt with a white top. She brushed her hair and did her make-up. Not too much, just a little. She went into her room, and started cleaning up a bit.

Finally, when the clock showed 4:18, she heard Ryan's car pull into the driveway. She hurried downstairs, and opened the door before they were even on the front porch.

Troy hurried out of the car, and enveloped her in a big hug. He swung her around, while she giggled. "Hi Pay!" he said.

"Hey!" she laughed, "Hi Ry, hi Gabriella."

"Hi," Gabriella shyly said, awkwardly waving.

"Come on in." Sharpay said, "We don't want to be standing out here the whole afternoon, now do we?"

The foursome went inside, and took a seat in the kitchen, where Sharpay placed 4 cups, and some lemonade on the table.

"Becca has gone shopping for dinner, and is picking Brooke and Ben up on her way home." Sharpay told Ryan, sitting down beside Troy on one side of the table, while Gabriella and Ryan were sitting on the other side.

Ryan nodded, "What did you do today? Got bored?"

"Oh, just a smidge!" Sharpay replied, pushing her hair behind her shoulder. She rolled her eyes, "I woke up around 9. Then I could just lie there and stare into space. Around 10, Becca finally noticed I was awake and brought me something to eat. She turned on the TV, how nice of her!"

Troy laughed, and placed his arm around Sharpay's shoulders, "Don't worry, Pay, you'll be able to do much more in a week or two."

"Oh, Gee!" Sharpay said, "I can't wait to get back to school now! Everybody knows I'm sick, that is just my dream come true."

"I'm sorry, Sharpay." Gabriella said, finally opening her mouth, "We couldn't really stop words from spreading. People knew just like that." she snapped her fingers.

"It's not like it's your fault." Sharpay said, "I'm just really happy you're here. I mean, this is good for me, now you can support me too. Well," she rolled her eyes, "Because I'm gonna need it, starting school."

"I'll support you all the way." Gabriella smiled.

"Good," Sharpay stood up, and went for the door, "C'mon Gabby, I have something to show you."

Gabriella looked confused, but she stood up and followed Sharpay. They wordlessly walked upstairs, and into Sharpay's bedroom.

Sharpay sat down on the bed, and pulled Gabriella with her. Gabriella looked around for some time, taking in Sharpay's room. It was nothing like she'd thought it would be, but then again… Sharpay was not mean either. She was not icy.

Sharpay roamed through her desk drawer, and found something. She pulled out Gabriella's hand, and placed it in there, keeping her hand on top of hers, "It's for you." she said, "I got it from my mom. Well… Becca got it from my mom before she died. But when I got sick, Becca thought I should have it."

"What is it?" Gabriella asked. She wasn't able to open her hand, because Sharpay's hand was still firmly clasped over hers.

"It is a necklace. The pendant is split in two." Sharpay told her, "My mom told Becca to give it to someone special, you know, the other part. But Becca didn't want to wear it. It was my mom's old one, and she knew her too well, so after she died, Becca wouldn't touch this. She gave it to me when I turned 6 or something. She told me to give it to someone special, just like mom had told her. I wanted to give her the other part, but she still wouldn't touch this. Then I thought about Brooke, but…" Sharpay shrugged, "I want you to have it. It is something special. Just as I think our friendship can be."

Gabriella had tears in her eyes, she was an emotional girl after all. "Thank you."

Sharpay finally moved her hand, and Gabriella opened her fist to look at the pendant. It was already in a chain, ready to put on. It was the half of a heart, just like most of those jewellery were. But this was somehow different. It wasn't ripped down the middle like always, instead there were two small holes shaped as hearts too, in the pendant. Gabriella assumed that Sharpay's pendant would fit underneath hers.

Sharpay pulled out hers, and took it on, while Gabriella did the same.

"Look at us now!" Gabriella smiled "We're pendant friends!"

Sharpay giggled, and pulled Gabriella into a hug. It would be the start of a special friendship.

--

The two weeks Sharpay had to spend in her room, went by slowly.

The mornings until noon were spend in bed, either reading or watching TV, while all afternoons and evenings were spend in the kitchen or in the garden with Ryan, Gabriella and Troy.

Sharpay and Gabriella soon learned that they had many things in common. They both loved to act, sing and dance. They both had the Harry Potter series as their favourite books, and they enjoyed watching musicals like ´Grease´ and all.

Gabriella and Ryan started dating. They had been out on a few dates now, and they really liked spending time together. Troy and Sharpay had had some alone time too, and Sharpay was happy to say, that the new drug actually did work. Her heart didn't start beating like crazy whenever she was near Troy now, which was good, because then she would have been in bed all day.

It was Monday morning now, and Sharpay was going to school.

(Why did I skip the weeks in bed? Simply because there's nothing to write. She's not aloud to do ANYTHING. I would only have been able to write their afternoons, but I thought that would be a little boring, so we're gonna skip to the fun part)

She knew it was gonna be tough. People would without a doubt, want to know what was wrong. She knew Mrs. Darbus would most likely ask her to explain it to the class, and Sharpay dreaded that. It was one of the many reasons she had decided to keep her sickness a secret. It would cause way too much time waste and tears to explain to everybody what was going on.

She decided to dress up casual. She figured, that now when everyone knew about her, she wouldn't have to dress up any longer and act icy to keep them away. Maybe if she fell on her knees, begging, they would do it out of pity.

She could only hope.

She dressed in a pair of grey very loose sweatpants. A light pink tee and a pair of vans. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail, put on a little make-up, and decided to leave it with that. She got her books and headed downstairs to get Matt to sign a note to pass gym, and maybe drink a little soymilk.

"Are you okay, Paypay?" Brooke asked, worriedly padding Sharpay's cheek. That little girl was so sweet sometimes. Sharpay's heart melted by the little gestures her niece did for her. It was what made her days when she was really down.

"Yeah I am, Brookey," Sharpay smiled, squeezing her hand, "I'm just not feeling too well today, but it will get better, don't worry too much."

Brooke blinked, "250, remember?" she said, "You promised to turn 250 for me?"

"Don't worry." Sharpay repeated, "I'd never lie to you. Of course I'm gonna turn 250."

Becca interrupted them, "Girls, as lovely as your little chat is, you both doesn't have time for this. Brooke, get dressed, and Pay, your driver is honking his horn outside, go get your brother."

Sharpay smiled and rushed into the living room to find Ryan. He was catching the early news. She dragged him with her outside, to find Troy and Gabriella in Troy's car, waiting for them, so they could go to school together.

Troy and Gabriella had worked everything out, and was now able to speak to each other, and apparently they'd both survived their drive together, so that was a good thing.

Sharpay took shotgun, which Gabriella had left open for her. Ryan took a seat in the back, next to Gabriella.

"Morning!" Troy smiled, kissing her lightly on the lips, "Are you nervous?"

"Oh, just a little." Sharpay smiled, "But I guess I'm gonna be okay with you guys around."

"Of course you will!" Gabriella butted in, putting her head between their seats, "Special friends, remember?"

Sharpay shot her a smile, "Always."

"Did you take your pills?" Troy asked her.

"Do I look like an idiot?" Sharpay asked, "Do I look like someone who wouldn't take her pills? Of course I took my pills, silly, but thanks for caring."

The car burst into laughter as Troy started the car again, to head off to school.

--

Sharpay took a deep breath, standing beside Troy's car. She closed her eyes, and calmed herself. She was so nervous, she wanted to cry. She had never felt this way before. Just imagining the looks people were gonna give her, was making her burst into tears. It was horrible.

She felt someone take her hand, and squeeze it tight. She looked up and into Troy's warm blue eyes. He somehow managed to calm her. She knew it was gonna be okay, she just didn't know how.

"Ready, Shar?" Gabriella asked, giving her a reassuring smile.

Sharpay nodded, and Ryan and Gabriella took the lead. They were entering the school with joined hands, announcing their relationship. It was all planned, because they thought it might take some of the heat off of Sharpay. But she too was announcing her relationship with the basketball star.

When the doors smacked closed behind them, it made an unbelievable high sound. Everyone turned around and looked at them. At first they noticed Ryan and Gabriella, but they soon saw past them, and noticed Sharpay.

The halls started bussing with whispers, and odd looks, as the foursome made their way between the crowd, towards their lockers, which luckily enough were close to each others.

But of course, some of the students, couldn't control their questions, and had to approach them:

"Sharpay? Yo, Ice Queen!" one of the skater girls said, "I heard you died, I guess that's not true? What is wrong with you? Did you get too cold?"

Sharpay ignored her and simply scooted closer to Troy, him being her support.

"Are you two dating?!" Chad asked, pointing between Sharpay and Troy … and Ryan and Gabriella.

"Oh my God!" Taylor, who was right behind him, exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me, Gabby? I'm your best friend!?"

"I didn't really have time…" Gabriella trailed off, looking at Sharpay with a glimpse in her eye, "I was at Ryan's house all week, spending time with the guys."

"Oh my God, yes!" Taylor said, realizing that Sharpay was there, "I didn't even recognize you, Sharpay. Are you okay? I've been worried about you, you just fainted!"

Sharpay shot her an insecure smile, "I'm okay, Taylor, but thanks for caring."

"You're welcome!" Taylor said, and then she turned to Gabriella again, "See? I told you something wasn't right with her? But did you listen? Nooo! Nooo! You didn't listen. And who was right, and who was right? Me! Oh yeah!"

The gang burst into laughter as Taylor stopped rambling, and she found it so amusing that she joined them herself.

"Homeroom?" Ryan suggested.

"You bet." Chad answered, knowing that now, they weren't a group of four or three - They were a group of six.

They continued down the hall, and went into homeroom, where they found their usual seats. People were giving them stares (especially Sharpay) but they didn't care much for it.

They had something.

As the bell rang, Mrs. Darbus entered the room, and got a huge smile on her face as she saw her favourite student; "Sharpay! My dear, how are you feeling? You gave us quite a shock!"

"I'm okay, Mrs. Darbus." Sharpay smiled, nodding too.

"Would you care to share what happened? I know people have been wondering much about this."

"Sure." Sharpay replied, stiffening though.

"Come up front." Mrs. Darbus said.

Sharpay stood up and looked at the class, nervous. "Uhm… Yeah well, I'm not gonna wrap anything up or something… I uh, I have a heart condition. I'm avsd-commune positive. Which means I have a hole in my heart. It's nothing rare, actually around 0,7 percent of all newborns have it, but most of them is able to live with it. Someone doesn't even discover they have it before they turn 50. Anyhow, my problem is, I also only have 1/3 part of my heart septum, plus only one big heart valve." She took a breather and locked eyes with Ryan, and then she continued, "Which means that I'm not aloud to run, swim, do gym class, or… for that matter, dance."

"But…" Mrs. Darbus butted in, "You've danced a lot?"

Sharpay looked at her and shot her a smile, "It's really about which kind of dance it is. My sickness was the reason for Ryan trying to let us do something else than hip-hop at the auditions." She told her, "It didn't matter anyway, I fainted just from singing!" she giggled, but stopped when she saw the class frown, "What?" she asked.

Zeke looked at her, crooked eyebrows, "How can you be so calm about this?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes, "I am because I don't want to spend my already shortened life by worrying, okay?"

"Shortened life?" Taylor asked, "You're not dieing, are you?"

"My doctor expects me to turn 30." Sharpay smiled.

"Only 30?" Chad asked, "Wow, that's not a lot."

"So, you see," Sharpay continued, "Half my life is already over, and yeah… I don't really have much else to say then just… Please don't treat me different, because I can turn icy again!"

Troy laughed, "I highly doubt that, Paypay."

"You'll see." Sharpay smirked, sitting down at her seat again.

Mrs. Darbus smiled, "Well, thank you for sharing, ms. Evans, nice to know you're up and about again for now. And as you probably know, Gabriella has taken your part in the musical."

"I know." Sharpay nodded, "It's not like I would be aloud to do it anyway." She turned around and shot Gabriella a smile, "And Gabby and I are friends now. I only want good things for her."

Gabriella laughed, and Sharpay joined her.

Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all. So, the school knew? Big deal. It wasn't that hard telling the class, and as long as she had Ryan, Troy and Gabby, she knew she could get through it.

And I hope this chapter was worth the wait. I figured, I might as well make Sharpay kind and sweet to everyone, because they all knew about her anyway. And the explanation thingy; needed too. So, I feel like I'm losing my touch on this story, or is it just me? Please leave me a review though.

And this quote is for Nathalie, my dear msn-buddy;

Joey: Hey Ross. If homo sapiens were in fact "homo sapiens", could that be why they're extinct?

Ross: Joey, homo sapiens are people.

Joey: Hey! I'm not judging here.

Uh, so remember to leave that review, right? Tootles, Stessa,