Chapter 28

Jack winced when he saw Troy walk into the kitchen, slamming the door. Maria was right...Troy was very moody.

Lucille closed her eyes when she saw Troy glare her his father. Lucille could feel the tension heating up.

Suddenly, Troy muttered, "I'm not hungry." He walked upstairs and slammed his bedroom door, causing Lucille to jump.

She looked at her husband with a look that clearly asked, "I hope you're happy."

Jack frowned. He had always wanted Troy to be happy. He had always pictured Troy living happily with the girl of his dreams.

And Jack had to take that away from his son.

What kind of father am I? Jack asked himself. Not even listening to my son when he said how much he loved Gabriella. Sending Sharpay to Hawaii to break up Troy and Gabriella. And now Gabriella's child won't even know who its father is...all thanks to me.

But he couldn't help it.

He STILL wanted Sharpay to be his daughter-in-law.

Why?

Because Gabriella was Spanish.

Maria walked into her house and slammed the front door. She walked into the living room and was shocked to see Gabriella already sitting on the leather couch, crying.

"Oh, Gabi," Maria said, hugging her daughter. "You'll get through this. You grew up without a father. I'm sure your child will be able to grow up with the same conditions."

Gabi nodded, but still continued crying.

Maria went over to the kitchen and took out the Rocky Road ice cream out of the freezer. She walked back into the living room and handed the ice cream with a spoon to her Gabi.

"Here," Maria said. Gabi pushed it away.

"Gabi, it's perfectly healthy for the baby. Don't worry," she said.

Gabriella shook her head. "Not even Rocky Road will make me feel better."

That meant she was way beyond depressed. As far as Maria could remember, Rocky Road ice cream had always made her daughter feel better. Now, it was hopeless.

Suddenly Chad barged in with Ryan. They both started talking at once.

"Gabi, Taylor told me you came back!"

"We kinda figured it out actually, when your mom said you were."

"Your mom was awesome! How come you never told us you were Spanish?"

"I think Jack's really sorry now. Especially after what you're mom said."

Then they both noticed Gabriella's mom sitting next to her, holding a pint of Rocky Road.

"Oh, hi, Ms. Montez," Chad said. Ms. Montez smiled and said, "Hello, boys. Try to see what you can do, okay?"

They both nodded and Maria walked into the kitchen to put the ice cream back.

Chad and Ryan both sat next to Gabi.

"Look, Troy's a jerk," Ryan said. "There are plenty of other boys out there who'd love to marry you."

"Yeah," Chad agreed. "Like Ryan."

Ryan glared at Chad. "I'm already engaged to Gloria, Chad!"

"Oh, really?" Gabi said, looking at Ryan. "When's the wedding?"

"Winter Break," he replied. "But that's not the point. The point is, my sister made a huge mistake. And I'm really sorry for what she did."

Chad looked at Ryan. "Dude, you gotta stop apologizing for your sister!"

Ryan shrugged. "It's become ahabit. I've been doing it since middle school. Sharpay used to be really nice in grade school."

"WHAT?" Chad asked. "The Ice Queen--nice? Are you sure she was your sister?"

Ryan nodded. "It's the same Sharpay, only after what happened in sixth grade, she changed."

He remembered perfectly how it happened...

"Hey, Sharpay," a redhead called out, walking up to her.

Sharpay smiled, pausing her game of jump rope with her friends and Ryan. The redhead was Andrew, her boyfriend.

"Hi, Andy," she said with a smile.

Everyone thought Andrew and Sharpay were a perfect couple, since they were so different. Andrew was a tough guy and no one messed with him. Sharpay was a sweet girl who loved to sing.

Ryan scowled at him. He knew Andrew was hiding something. Ryan could see it in the boy's eyes.

Suddenly a girl with tall skinny girl with glossy chestnut hair came running up to Andy.

"Hey, Andy-bear," she said. Sharpay frowned. What?

Andy's face turned red as he looked at Sharpay.

"Um, hey, Lizzie," he said. Sharpay looked at Andy.

Lizzie looked at Sharpay. "Oh, is this your friend you've been telling me about?"

Sharpay narrowed her eyes. Since when was she Andy's friend?

"No," she said. "I'm his girlfriend."

Lizzie gasped. She turend to Andy. "Are you a two-timer, Andrew?"

Andy shook his head. "No, Sharpay and I broke up a few minutes ago."

Sharpay said, "We never..."

"Yes, we did," Andy said firmly. "That's why I came here. I wanted to break up with you."

"Why?" Sharpay said.

Andy sighed. "You're no fun. You still wear little kids clothes and you're too nice."

"Then why'd you go out with me?" Sharpay asked, near tears.

Andy muttered, "You were rich."

Sharpay bawled, but Lizzie just smirked. "Too bad, Sharpie." Lizzie and Andy laughed and walked away.

Ever since then Sharpay had changed. She threw away her old clothes and demanded mini-skirts and fitted T-shirts. She learned how to dance in high heels and she improved her singing and dancing. Soon she was the meanest and the most popular girl in school. At first, kids called her the Ice Princess. But then she was promoted to Ice Queen.

During eighth grade, Andy had moved away and Lizzie had dropped out of school, but Sharpay enjoyed being mean so much that she couldn't stop. She loved the power.

And Ryan was there to see it all...

"When Andy moved away and Lizzie dropped out, I hoped Sharpay would become normal again," Ryan said. "But no luck."

"Well, what happened when you guys started high school?" Chad asked.

Ryan replied, "She met Troy."

Chad stared at Ryan. "So you mean, Sharpay's mean partly because of Troy?"

Ryan shook his head. "Sharpay was already mean. She just saw Troy and became worse, because she liked him so much, but he..."

Chad told him to go on.

"He had a girlfriend he met at summer camp," Ryan said.

"Who?" Gabriella and Chad asked in unison.

Only two word out of Ryan's mouth caused Gabriella to get dizzy.

"Hannah Montana."

Ha ha! I know it's kind of creepy, but hey, it's all for the story.