"I still don't see how you can play 4 rounds of paint ball with me and NOT win one!" I said, as Troy walked me home.
"I think the guys at these places have something against me you know? They always give me the demented guns." He said.
"Don't blame the gun, you suck, and that's a fact." I said.
"You are the quietest person ever lately, and now you won't shut up about winning paintball?" Troy asked.
I looked down and crossed my arms. "I have my reasons." I said softly.
"Like what?" Troy asked.
I was about to answer when we got to my street and police cars and fire engines were surrounding my house. "What's going on?" I asked. Then I saw it. A cloud of smoke was gloating above the house. "Oh my god! Ryan!" I yelled and ran to the door, only to be stopped by a large officer, he pulled me away from the door by my waist and I tried to break loose, but it didn't quite work. "Let me in!" I screamed.
"I'm sorry miss, we can't allow you to enter, there has been a fire and we're still looking for any major damage." He said and let me go.
"My mom and brother are stuck in there!" I said.
"We've recovered a woman, early thirties, can you identify her?" He asked. This really wasn't helping my emotional state.
"That was my mom, Tina Evens, or Tina Sanders." I said, trying to stay calm.
"How can she have two last names?" He asked.
"Divorce and remarriage and divorce again." I said. "It gets mixed up in the records."
The man nodded. Just then men wearing gas masks pulled Ryan out of the house on a stretcher. "Is this Ryan Evans?" One of the men asked.
"Yes! Is he okay?" I asked quickly.
"He's fine… he inhaled too much smoke though, he'll need to stay over night at the hospital, and he burned his arm, so he won't be able to use it for a while." The man said.
"What about my mom? Is she okay?" I asked, tears flowing from my eyes.
"She was in the same room as the fire. It started because she was cooking something and neglected it for too long, it spread quickly. Both Ryan and Tina were passed out before the fire started." The man said. "Ryan Evans is not listed as a resident here though."
"He lives with my dad, he spent the night because we stayed out late." I explained. "Is my mom okay though?" I asked.
"Within reason, she is suffering severe smoke damage and will need a lot of medical attention, but she will be fine." The man said. "I have to go take them to the hospital, will you be going with us?" I asked.
I looked back, Troy was still standing at the sidewalk. "Can my friend Troy come? To wait with me?" I asked.
"Sure." The guy said, he carried Ryan to the ambulance and motioned to Troy that it was safe to come closer.
"Is everything okay?" He asked.
"There was a fire." I said. "My mom and brother will be fine." I said plainly. I knew this wasn't fine, this was anything but fine in fact.
Troy and I were stuck in the waiting room, I was pacing back and forth. "Are you okay Sharpay?" He asked.
"Yeah… just nervous." I said.
"Why? The doctor said it would be fine." He said.
"But…" I sat down next to him and lowered my voice to a whisper. "This isn't the first time I've been in this waiting room for my mom." I said.
"Is she okay?" He asked.
I shook my head. "No… she's not sick or anything she just, has a problem." I said.
Troy opened his mouth but then I heard someone else's voice. "Excuse me? Is there a miss Sharpie Evans here?" A man in a hospital uniform asked.
"It's Sharpay." I said standing up.
The man walked over to me. "We have taken a few tests and it appears that when the fire was taking place, your brother had alcohol in his system." Troy gave me a weird look. "So if you don't mind, can we pleas analyze your breath?" He asked.
"No, of course not." I said.
He pulled out a small machine and stuck a tube into my mouth, I breathed out and it beeped. "Hm… that's strange, you seem to be completely sober." He said.
"I am." I shrugged.
"But… your brother… and you… never mind." He said. "You can come and see them now." He said, turning to Troy. "You can go as far as the entrance."
I got up and followed him, he showed us the way to the room. Troy pulled me to a side. "He was drunk?" He asked.
"He was probably hung over from yesterday! Did you see how much the football team brought?." I said quietly.
"But it's the middle of the day!" He said. He took a deep breath and continued. "Look… if everything wasn't okay you'd tell me right?" I paused, usually I was so used to lying when it came to this stuff, but somehow I just couldn't… not today… not to him.
"Sharpay?" Ryan asked from inside the room. I pushed away from Troy and entered.
"Hey… are you okay?" I asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I'm busted, but I okay." He said. "What is Bolton doing here?" He asked.
I looked at the door way, where Troy stood uncomfortably. "We hung out while you were hung over." I said. "The doctor said that that you were drunk, that means that you somehow got your hands on more drinks. Where did you get them?" I asked crossing my arms.
"Mom doesn't lock the liquor cabinet, I knew she wouldn't notice." He said. I slapped him across the face before I could stop myself. "Sharpay! That hurt!" He said touching his face where I had slapped him.
"Well you got drunk and almost died because you were so out! How would that feel!?" I screamed.
"Sharpay! I don't drink when I'm dad's house! Which is most of the time! It's not like I have a problem!" He yelled, raising his arms, revealing a bunch of long IV tubes.
"You're in a hospital room, after a house fire that you were passed out through. What does that tell you?" I asked. Ryan was silent.
I walked towards the door angrily. How could he do this? And expect me to say 'Oh, well be more careful next time you decide to get drunk during a house fire!' I think not. "Shar…" Ryan said, barely above a whisper.
I turned. "And by the way… that whole 'I don't have a problem' thing? That's exactly what mom says." I said coldly. And left.
"What happened?" Troy asked.
"Nothing, let's just go." I said, still walking.
"But what about your mom?" Troy asked.
"She can take care of herself." I said.
Troy looked at me, like he was confused. "But-"
"Sharpay Evans?" Someone asked. Wow, people must really like interrupting Troy today.
"What now?" I asked.
A red head lady walked up to me. "I'm here about your brother's drinking issue." She said, I looked at her like she was crazy. "I'll need to ask you a few questions."
"For the last time! When I was five, no one hit me! I don't do drugs and I don't cut myself! I was never raped or robbed! I've never witnessed a murder unless you count CSI!" I said.
"I know… all we want to know is if there has been any trauma recently in your life!" The red head, Kate said… again. She wrote something into her book and looked up.
"No. So what? You've seen other drunk teenagers before right? My brother is just one of them. And besides, what does this have to do with me anyways?" I asked.
"Well… you didn't know?" She gave me a strange look.
"I didn't know what?" I asked.
"This is the thirteenth time your brother has been here for alcohol abuse." She said, at first I didn't believe her, but then it just became easier to believe, our family was normal… just like I had always thought it was. But it was horrible. "But it is the first time he has come in with the name Ryan Evans, and with family." I suddenly understood, he had like, fifty fake IDs, all of which looked exactly like him. They must have figured it out and decided to investigate now.
"Listen, Ryan… he's a good person. I swear I didn't know." I said, not knowing what else to say.
"Okay." Kate said and nodded understandingly. "I'll let you go now." She said.
"Thanks." I said, thank you for what? Telling me that my brother is an alcoholic? Messing up my life even more? Take your pick.
I was just leaving the police station when I noticed someone waiting for me outside. I'll give you three guesses who. "How did it go?" Troy asked.
"What are you doing here?" I raised my eyebrows.
Troy shrugged. "I guess I just can't go, I'm involved." He said.
"Thank you Jack, but the Titanic already sunk." I said.
"Look, just because I've watched that stupid boat sink ten times in high definition with Gabriella doesn't make the statement any less true." Troy said.
"I know… but it does make it a cute cliché, you've known me long enough to get that I hate those ... just like you did." I said. Troy looked down, he knew that the whole 'tragic romance' thing just wasn't for either of us. "And by the way, the 'involved' one dies, along with like, half of the other people." I pointed out.
"He… he's addicted isn't he?" Troy asked.
"Huh?" I asked, I knew perfectly well what he was saying, I just couldn't believe he was saying it.
"Ryan, he… he's an alcoholic isn't he?" Troy asked uncomfortably.
"What!? How could you say that?" I asked.
"Well first of all he's been hospitalized for drinking, then there is the fact that he acts like it's a normal thing." He said. "Are you okay?"
How do I answer that question? 'Yeah! I'm okay, let's go play more paintball?' NO! I couldn't describe it, it was like I really saw it coming all along, it just didn't register in my mind as a legitimate accusation until like… five minutes ago. It sucked, it really, really sucked. I shook my head. "No." I answered plainly.
"Listen, I'm sorry how things ended with Ryan." Troy said, starting to walk with me. "It's not your fault."
"Really? Because that's what everyone always says. They come up and hug me and say 'oh poor thing, you must be so devastated that something like this could happen to little old you'" I said, putting my hands in my pockets. I picked a bad day to wear a cropped top and shorts- or more likely mom picked a bad day to set the house on fire. "But really devastated isn't the word. It's more of a disappointed type thing, you know whose fault it is, you know they disserve everything you want to say to them, but part of you just can't blame them." I said.
"Wow. I probably have no clue what it feels like right now for you… but that actually makes sense." Troy said.
"Thanks." I said. "That's all I could think of to say to you."
"Don't worry, I get the point." Troy said quietly, and then for some reason, he stopped walking.
He leaned in and was about to kiss me. And the weirdest part? I didn't want to stop him. It's hard to explain… the kiss I mean. It was like my world just stopped revolving around other people's mistakes, but only for like, five seconds, I bet you we would have made it to ten if Troy's phone didn't start ringing.
He looked down at it. "It's Gabriella." He said, clearing his throat. "I'd better go."
I nodded. "Yeah, she probably just got the Titanic special edition DVD." I said, It was harder to be sarcastic today, But honestly what was I supposed to say? I didn't want to pull a Gabriella.
He seemed surprised, like I just bounced back or something, he probably didn't notice me mentally begging him not to go, I was too good of a liar… or an actress or what ever. He simply nodded and left. And I was alone again.
So if you want me to run into your arms, you know that I will
Your kiss is toxic, just enough to kill
It's just the awkward happiness you bring
If I had a choice I wouldn't change a thing
A/N Okay… that chapter three. The song at the end is another part of 'Sharpay's song' AKA an original so don't look for it at best buy anytime soon (just kidding, I know it's not that good) she still get her own writing or why she's writing it so yeah… Okay, I'm updating pretty quickly for myself… so tell me if I'm rushing the plot, kay?