--
2
--
Before either Sharpay or Troy realized it, three days had passed. The Drama tryouts were upon both of them, and the four other students that tried out – Gabriella, Zeke, Taylor, and Chad. The sign-up sheets had stated that there was one girl lead and one boy lead who were both each others' love interests, though it didn't state the play that was being performed.
Gabriella was thoroughly determined to make the girls' lead, and be cast alongside Troy, like old times. "It's not that I want to be Troy's girlfriend," She had explained to Taylor a day ago. "It's just that I want to show that Sharpay girl who she can and cannot date. And I'm not letting some new girl date my ex."
Taylor had nodded and said "I know what you mean" half-heartedly. She truly didn't believe that Gabi was only trying out to show Sharpay who's boss: Gabriella had probably just realized how hot Troy really is, and that she missed him sorely. She'd never admit that, of course, until they were dating again.
Of course they would date again, Taylor had thought; it was inevitable. Gabriella was much more desirable than that Sharpay. Sharpay was an outcast, and Gabriella was popular and wanted by any guy in the school. The right pick was pretty obvious.
Troy was trying out because he wanted to be Sharpay's love interest, even if it was only in a play. He hadn't been able to keep his eyes off Sharpay the past three days, although neither of them had said a word to each other after their fateful meeting at the sign-up sheets three short, short days ago.
And Sharpay? Sharpay just wanted to be someone besides "Ryan's sister"; who she was already turning into, and she'd only been at the school for three days. Ryan had dazzled many of Sharpay's peers already... one of Gabriella's closest friends, Kelsi, had already asked him out, and Sharpay feared it wouldn't be long before they were dating steadily. As he had at all their previous schools, Ryan would climb up from third-most-popular to most-popular within a month or two.
And Sharpay really, really didn't want to be left in the dust.
--
"Sharpay Evans?" the shrill voice of the Drama teacher, Ms. Darbus, shrieked, and Sharpay felt herself jolt forward.
"What will you be singing for us?" Ms. Darbus asks saccharinely, and a chill went down Shar's spine.
"W-we were supposed to have a song prepared?" Sharpay stutters, and Ms. Darbus nods condescendingly.
"Don't you children read?" She inquires scornfully. "Well, you can improve and embarrass yourself, if you want. I can watch you in amusement."
"I can improvise, thanks much," Sharpay snaps confidently, and she strode over to the conveniently placed piano by the side of the stage.
She froze in front of the keys. The only thing she'd learned as a child on the piano was that song about the shepherdess and the lamb. Like that would be of any help.
"Just sing," Ms. Darbus commands, and Sharpay feels her fingers hit the keys in a rush. She didn't know what she was going to sing about, but it was going to have something to do with her constant emotional onslaughts...
--City – Sara Bareilles: Disclaimer: Not mine!!--
There's a harvest each saturday night
At the bars filled with perfume and hitching a ride
A place you can stand for one night and get gone
It's clear this conversation ain't doing a thing
Cause these boys only listen to me when i sing
And i don't feel like singing tonight
All the same songs
The other students who were trying out looked at Sharpay, sympathy glances plastered on their faces. Maybe Sharpay's improvisation wouldn't be half bad... her voice was pretty, at least.
Here in these deep city lights
Girl could get lost tonight
I'm finding every reason to be gone
Nothing here to hold on to
Could I hold you?
The situation's always the same
You got your wolves in their clothes whispering Hollywood's name
Stealing gold from the silver they see
But it's not me
Here in these deep city lights
Girl could get lost tonight
I'm finding every reason to be gone
Nothing here to hold on to
Could I hold you?
Calling out somebody save me I feel like I'm fading away
Am I gone?
Calling out somebody save me I feel like I'm fading
(No, no, no, no...)
Deep city lights
Girl could get lost tonight
I'm finding every reason to be gone
There's nothing here to hold on to
Could I hold on to you?
She hit the last few keys and felt a weight lift off her shoulders. It was over. It was all over.
And then she heard a rollicking laugh from the audience. "Stupid emo girl," Sharpay saw Gabriella say. Stay composed, Shar...
"I liked it," Ms. Darbus says appreciatively, flashing a coffee-stained set of teeth at Sharpay.
The rest of the auditions passed in a blur, including Gabriella's, which featured a semi-decent rendition of the National Anthem. But Sharpay could swear that Troy's eyes were boring into her back the whole time... she could only hope that Troy wasn't creeped out by her song. Sharpay wasn't really sure what the whole "Could I hold onto you" thing was about. It just... came out of her mouth, and it was catchy enough.
Sharpay hated when she had feelings that she just couldn't place.
--
"Can you believe Sharpay?" Gabriella screeched when she stepped out of the auditorium with Taylor. The guys were still talking to Ms. Darbus, and Sharpay was nowhere to be found, as was Troy.
"What's not to believe?" Taylor asked nonchalantly, and she felt the anger radiate off of Gabriella.
"I don't know. It's just infuriating. That whole song was just... ugh. She obviously has a crush on Troy," Gabriella spat, the anger rising in intensity every second. "Before we know it, she's going to write some stupid love song for Troy, and they'll be so fairytale that the whole school will collectively vomit."
Taylor shot Gabriella a worried glance. "Don't you think you're overthinking this? She was probably just a loner at all her other schools."
And at that exact moment, Sharpay strode out of the auditorium. "Excuse me?" She glared at both of them. "Just so you know, I'm not some shy little nothing that will bend to your wishes. If you're planning on taking me down, Gabriella," Sharpay snapped, "be warned that I fight fire with fire – no, actually, I fight with more of an inferno blaze." Making sure she'd have the last word, she quickly walked to East High's front doors, and marched out, her Juicy Couture party dress almost getting snagged on the door.
Gabriella felt herself sink into the floor, like the old her would have. This wouldn't be as easy as she thought.
--
Gabi woke up on what would normally be a typical Monday morning – except butterflies were flitting about in her stomach, arising a queasy feeling. She wanted to stay home sorely, but then she wouldn't find out who was cast as the lead girl role in the musical. She had been unhappily guessing that Sharpay had snagged the lead, and she hated it.
"My intuition sucks," She mumbled to herself as she forced herself out of her bed. Slapping on jeans, a T-shirt, and the first pair of shoes she could find, she walked down to breakfast with her bedhead alive and well.
--
Sharpay felt the cool, crisp morning air settle on her face as she stepped out of her family's sleek mansion. She was up early this morning, determined to find out who grabbed the lead in the musical. Her Sevens clung to her shapely legs flawlessly; her lips looked luscious; and her pumps made THE perfect "tock-tock" sound on the pavement. She flashed a thousand-watt smile to herself in satisfaction.
She knew she was victorious.
The shy Sharpay that had existed in her previous towns was finally beginning to depart, and a new, confident Sharpay was taking her place.
"I'm finally growing up," She whispered gleefully to herself, "I'm finally beginning to change."
And it felt great.
--
Lead Role: Gabriella Montez
Sharpay couldn't breathe. She had to be reading this wrong. There was no way this could be happening! "City" was amazing, her voice had hit all the right notes...
"Oh, sorry, Sharpay," Ms. Darbus says behind her suddenly. "I put the cast list from the last musical up by mistake. Don't worry."
Sharpay looked wide-eyed at Ms. Darbus. I bet she did that on purpose, Sharpay thought to herself quietly; after seeing "Lead Female Role: Sharpay Evans" on the "new" cast list, Sharpay breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as she had suspected, she was victorious. She was the lead female role, cast alongside...
Lead Male Role: Troy Bolton
Well, how predictable.
--
Gabi stomped into her first-period class, fury evident from her narrowed, catlike eyes and the scowl piercing her face. She had suspected Sharpay would snag the lead, but suspicion wasn't always reality; she had had a glimmer of hope that morning, that just MAYBE she would have gotten the lead.
But no. Stupid underdogs have to win. It wouldn't last for long at all, though, that much Gabi was sure of.
Sharpay Evans would pay for this. And if she tried to fight back, as she had promised Gabi after the auditions? Well, it will suck for her.
Gabriella Montez never loses.
--
"Hi, Shar," Gabi said, her over-sugared voice transparent from across the room. Sharpay followed suit with a similarly too-sweet grin.
"Gabi," Sharpay said simply. "Sorry to hear about your role in the musical." I sound honest, right?
The two girls headed into the caf wordlessly, their politeness wearing thin quickly. "Um, it's... okay," Gabi murmured, her words sounding fake in her own ears.
"Look, we both know all this kindness isn't honest," Gabriella snapped abruptly, turning to face Sharpay. "So let's get all our rudeness out, shall we?" As soon as the words left her mouth, Gabriella's pseudo-angelic face morphed into that of a demon; Sharpay appeared to remain mostly calm.
"You think I'm okay with some random new girl coming in and trying to sweep my ex off his feet? And then having said new girl steal my role in the musical?" Gabriella's voice rose in volume as the anger enveloped her completely, and Sharpay's face still remained calm and serene.
"Like I said, I'm sorry to hear," Sharpay said, looking at her freshly-manicured nails as if she had a million better things to do than stand in front of Gabriella.
It took Gabi all the willpower she had to step away from Sharpay without pulling out some of those blonde tresses. So the "verbal shouting match" wasn't going to work; she'd just have to think of another game plan.
--
From across the cafeteria, Troy's face lit up with excitement. Sharpay and Gabriella seemed to have just fought over him. It was almost like a dream come true. Maybe he'd get to have his old friends back and Sharpay.
Or maybe Gabriella was just pissed that Sharpay had snagged the lead in the as-yet-unnamed musical.
Probably.
Troy's excitement withered away at this exceptionally depressing thought, and he felt himself sink back into his old 'half-existing' mode. Without friends or a girlfriend, life was pretty lonely, and it didn't seem that, despite Sharpay, he was going to get any less unhappy.
--
Gabriella and Taylor sat in front of Taylor's living-room TV, both of them mindlessly shoving chocolate ice cream into their mouths. The road of Taylor and Chad's relationship had hit an unexpected pothole, and Gabi was still feeling the embarrassment and anger she had felt earlier – with all the same intensity.
"What are we going to do?" Gabriella asked pointedly, glancing as Taylor shoved a particularly mountainous spoonful into her mouth.
"I don't know," Taylor says, and her cluelessness launches Gabi into the same fit of rage as earlier.
The tub of ice cream that had been resting in Gabi's lap was set aside as Gabi found herself not screaming or tearing poor Taylor's hair out; but rather, Gabi cried, the angry tears practically scalding her face as they cascaded down her cheeks.
She hadn't expected a breakdown, especially at the hands of some new girl she'd barely said a paragraph to. She was finding herself turning into the old, timid, oh-so-emotional Gabriella of months ago, and she hated it. She was popular Gabi now.
Nothing that bad had even happened to her. But Gabi figured it wouldn't have taken much to get her down... she had been fragile since the breakup with Troy, which, she realized at this moment, she'd never gotten over.
Damn those epiphanies; and furthermore, damn that Troy, because she'll have to do something conniving and vicious to get him back.
What's worse, Gabi thought to herself, is the total lack of remorse I feel. I don't even care that Sharpay Evans is getting her heart broken, courtesy of me.
She convinced herself that it was all justified, because she & Troy were just meant to be.
Right?
--
A/N: Ooo, who senses a catfight :P Well, anyway, I'm posting this Authors' Note because I keep referring to the upcoming Musical as simply the Musical! I don't know what it's going to be, and I'm not really well-versed in Broadway plays or anything of the sort. So if someone has a suggestion for the musical Sharpay and Troy will be starring in, let me know.
I was thinking about doing some kind of mockery of HSM for the musical, but that's kinda cliche, so yeah.
I'm sorry to say that there won't be any substantial Troypay for another couple chapters... I'm thinking that I'll write in another meeting between them next chapter after Gabi makes a scene. But it's coming soon, I promise :) Don't give up on me yet!
Now review!