Hey, hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Sharpay wasn't at school. Gabriella sent her a text when she arrived and realized her friend wasn't there, and then Ryan a text when he also wasn't there. He rushed into formclass five minutes late, his face a thundercloud. Ryan hated being late for anything, even formclass. His hair was done perfectly, but his hat was pushed backwards slightly, not put on straight, not tilted stylishly to a side, but pushed backwards, and his hair was also pulled backwards which emphasized his forehead, which was a feature that Ryan was rather insecure about. As soon as Gabriella saw him with his forehead well on display, she knew that something was wrong. He slumped down at the back of the class, another thing that never happened. Ryan always liked to be at the front of the class, his back straight, paying attention to everything that was happening. Gabriella managed to contain herself until the bell rang, and then she was after Ryan. Taylor stepped back when she saw the determined look on her friends face. Ryan stormed down the hallway, people spreading in directions to get out of the way.

"Ryan!" Gabriella called. "Oi, Ryan!" Gabriella finally caught up with him and grabbed his arm. He turned around, and his expression softened when he saw her. "Where's Sharpay? And why are you walking around as though the world's going to end?" Ryan sighed and leaned against a locker.

"Because it is, when mummy and daddy find out what happened with Sharpay," he muttered.

"What happened?" Gabriella asked, her voice filled with worried. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know!" Ryan hissed. "Last night, she had these three guys over, I didn't know any of them. I stayed with them in the lounge for a little bit, but then they started drinking, and you know I hate being around Sharpay when she drinks." Gabriella nodded. Sharpay's drinking got out of hand pretty quickly, and although Ryan always tried to look out for his sister, he hated seeing her throw herself at guys, hook up with them, her hands going astray, and given she was still in the house, he must have figured nothing too bad would happen. "And when I came down at about two this morning, I couldn't find her. Mum and dad are at this meeting out of town and they get back this afternoon. I have rung her phone so many times, driven around town, driven to all the clubs and bars, the liqour stores...I can't find her. And I don't know the guys she was with. Usually I know the guys that she's with, but I didn't know these ones." Gabriella was already pulling her phone out of her pocket and dialling Sharpay's number. "Mummy and daddy are going to freak out if she's not there when they get back-I'm freaking out! I have absolutely no clue where she is and I'm worried about! You know how she can be when she's drunk!" Gabriella nodded as Sharpay's phone clicked to answer phone.

"Shar? It's Gabriella. Where are you? Ryan's worried about you, I'm worried about you. Please answer?" She took her phone away from her ear and dropped it in her pocket. "We better get to class, okay? We'll try her again in between next period." Ryan nodded, his face pale with worry. Gabriella gave his arm a squeeze as they walked toward the labs.

Sharpay still couldn't be reached by lunchtime. Ryan was going out of his mind with worry, and even Chad, who was nowhere near Sharpay's biggest fan, admitted that something might be wrong.

"Look, tell me what they looked like," Gabriella asked. Ryan sighed, looking sick.

"The first guy had brown hair, and it was spiked up, with the blonde streaks," he looked miserable. "He looked like one of the guys that would be trouble. He was the one doing all the talking, and he had an earring and had these weird designs cut into his hair on one side." Gabriella straigtened up at that. "The second guy had brown hair and was wearing really baggy clothes. He looked as though he was wearing foundation, which was odd," he shook his head at that. "And the last guy I didn't really see, he was just sitting in the corner smoking. And he burnt one of mummy's cushions." Everyone sat and thought, Gabriella looking especially worried as she sat and fidgeted with her napkin.

"Screw it," Gabriella finally said, getting up. "Mum's not going to be home until at least the end of the week, so it's not the like the teachers are going to get anywhere if they try to ring the home."

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked.

"I'm going to try and find Sharpay," she said, picking up her bag and leaving the cafateria. As she walked toward the carpark, she heard footsteps running after her, and she turned to see Troy following.

"I'll come with you, might as well have a partner in crime," he told her with a half smile.

"Oh really?" She asked. "And what's my crime?"

"Ditching school," Troy answered. Gabriella nodded. They reached her car and she unlocked it, sliding gracefully into the drivers seat, her long hair breezing out behind her, exposing her delicate neck and the smooth skin that stretched from her ears until it reached the collar of her polo shirt. Troy couldn't help but let his mouth drop slightly. He so wanted to reach out and plant a kiss on that Latina skin. He felt a shiver run through him as he realized what he had been thinking. He had to stop these thoughts! He didn't know why they kept jumping into his head. He really shouldn't be thinking these things about his bestfriend. But then, he really shouldn't have hopped into bed with her last night. That was why all these thoughts were running through his head. Because he had been in bed with her, her body pressed against his.

He had to make sure he never done that again.

"Troy? Did you hear anything I just said?" Gabriella asked, as she turned on the car and put on her belt. Troy shook his head. "I said you need to hop in the car so that we can actually leave." Troy shook his head and opened the door.

"Sorry. My bad," he muttered, closing the door behind him and putting his belt on. "So, where do you think that Sharpay could be?" Gabriella sighed as she pulled out of the school carpark.

"There's this one guy, I know she's drunk with before," Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Well, I know lots of guys that's she drunk with before. But the first guy that Ryan described, I think I know who it was. Actually, I'm pretty sure I know who it was." Her face hardened as they sped along the road, out of the main town, and toward the streets where the houses were spread apart, not because they had big properties, but because there were lots of patches in between the houses where the grass was growing wild and straggling over falling fencelines.

"Gabriella," Troy began, as they past a rundown shack that Troy knew was a well-used tinney house. "How exactly do you know this guy?" Gabriella pulled up outside a house where the curtains were drawn, the lawn was surprisingly mown, and there was a shiney, boy-racer car parked outside in the driveway. Gabriella turned off the car and looked at the house, taking a deep breath. "Bella?" He pressed.

"Because I used to go out with him," Gabriella answered as the door opened, and a guy with spikey hair, a tattoo stretched from his arm across his bare chest, which was toned, tanned and muscular looking. She sighed and got out of the car, walking up the drive and meeting him halfway. He met her with open arms, smiling and hugging her, kissing her easily on the cheek. Troy's jaw tensed as she kissed him back.

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