A/N: Thanks to the two reviewers. ; I hope this chapter exceeds your expectations. I'm not proud of it, but I'm NEVER proud of my writing! :P Enjoy.

1

Sharpay Evans set her head down on the dining room table. She was tired of this. She was tired of moving into a new mansion, getting used to it, and then being uprooted 6 months later. She was tired of having her brother, the social butterfly, disappear constantly and give poor Sharpay the name "Ryan's sister"; she wanted things to change, and fast.

It wasn't that she wasn't pretty, or anything. Sharpay was drop-dead gorgeous by any & all means. Her blonde curls could dazzle any guy in a second. Her clothes were all top-notch designer, and her outfits were impeccably matched. Her only downfall is that she was so shy.

After you got to talk to her for awhile, Sharpay would quickly climb her way up to the most headstrong person you knew. But no one even made an effort. She was always the out-cast pariah, although from one look at her you'd think her to be the popular cheerleader captain.

Not so.

Troy Bolton looked at the first day of the new semester as a fresh new start. Grades were cleared... he couldn't wait to start all his classes with a fresh, new 100 A+. And maybe, just maybe, fate would decide to be nice to him for once and reunite him with his old friends.

He missed the old days, where he was practically the king of the school. Where girls would catch his eye and faint on sight. Where Chad would text him a thousand times a day until Troy spilled what girls he made out with that day. Well, the last bit had ended when Troy started dating Gabi... and that's another thing he missed. Gabi. Maybe not her personality, but the adoration and respect his relationship with her granted him.

And now he was a nobody. Just the typical quiet guy who sits in the back of the class and murmurs the answer when the teacher calls on him. His social life was nonexistant. His once-rambunctious dad had quit the job of Coach at East High after Troy quit the team. Now his whole family was a shell of its former being. Each family member had nothing to live for, and it was only routine that kept them going.

The first-period bell sounded like a firecracker to Sharpay. She would have to stand in front of the class now and murmur "My name is Sharpay, I moved here from Seattle, Washington" and listen unhappily as boys catcalled and girls made fun of her for being named after some stupid dog. She'd pout back to her seat and one of the "jocks" would whisper some ill-fated pass at her. She'd glare at them in response and sit down in her seat, and listen to the stupid teacher drone on and on and on ...

When Sharpay saw the Drama sign-ups during lunch, her heart skipped a beat. Wow. Drama. I guess I should sign up. Maybe some good will come out of it. Maybe people won't consider me a shy little girl.

Troy was walking down the hall casually, although he was carrying his binder like a life boat. He spotted the Drama signups and some hot tan blonde standing in front of them.

He checked her out inconspicuously, in the way that old "player" Troy used to. It's like her legs go on for miles, Troy found himself thinking, and then he realized he hadn't found any girl attractive since Gabi. His stomach deteriorated to butterflies. Maybe that's a bad sign . . .

He walked over to the Drama sign-ups and whispered "Hey" to the blonde. The blonde cast him a sassy glance, but quickly sized him up. That was totally subconscious, the blonde thought in awe. Drama Club will be good for me.

"I'm Sharpay," she introduced herself loudly, and held out a hand for the boy to shake.

"I'm Troy," He reached for her hand, and when they shook hands, it felt almost electric. "Can I borrow your pen? I wanted to sign up." He said, after regaining thinking abilities.

Sharpay gave Troy a pouty look – Troy felt himself melt a little – but handed Troy her pink, sparkly pen. Troy wrote "TROY BOLTON" in neat print under Sharpay's messy signature.

They both turned to each other and smiled at the same time.

And like before with Gabi, Troy felt his stomach surge, but this time he thought that maybe, just maybe, things would change for the better. Maybe fate had a different, but improved, plan in mind than the one Troy envisioned not 5 minutes ago ...

"Hey, Gabriella," Taylor waved to her best friend, Gabriella, from down the hall. "Did you see that? I think the whole school was practically staring."

Obviously, Tay doesn't see that I'm busy here, Gabriella thought angrily, and if she could roll her eyes mentally, she would. But for the sake of her best friend, she pushed away Zeke lightly, after licking his lip to symbolize that they were done with their hallway makeout session. Zeke got the hint and walked away when he saw Taylor out of the corner of his eye, offering Gabriella a little wave in goodbye.

"Tay," Gabi began to coo, "I just had the hottest makeout—"

"You didn't see, then?" Taylor asked, her eyebrows creeping up her forehead. "Troy was totally flirting with that new girl."

Gabi's dazed, dreamy expression transformed to an alert one at the blink of an eye. "Huh? I thought Troy would totally be done with girls after he gave up me and became some kinda loser."

"The whole school did, Gabs," Taylor continued, her eyes bugging out slightly. "Maybe the new girl just figured Troy was popular or something."

"Troy? Popular? Now?" Gabi let out a scoff and a subsequent giggle. Taylor giggled too, and Gabi let her initial shock melt away into mild amusement.

So Troy's moving on. Why should she care? She's got the school at her fingertips, waiting for her command.

Elegant, popular, perfect Gabi really shouldn't give a shit about stupid Troy.

I mean, she's totally OVER him! Right?

Maybe not.