Chapter 10

On the Road Again

Troy nervously paced around his room. He felt like he was breaking the law by letting Sharpay come with him. Sure she was 18 and could do what she wanted, but Nowhere seemed to have its own ideas about that stuff.

He looked through the bathroom, under his bed, and in the dresser again to make sure he had everything. He had hardly brought anything, so there wasn't much to pack, but Troy felt like he had to keep himself busy just to keep his nerves under control.

Troy's duffle bag was sitting on his neatly made bed.

He wrote a note and put it on the pillow, explaining that his grandfather was sick and he couldn't wait another second to go see him. He also thanked the Evans for their exceptional hospitality and for putting up with him.

Although, if the Evans knew what exactly they were putting up with, he figured that he would probably be hanging from the nearest tree. Thank goodness there weren't any trees in the desert!

Troy raked his hand through his hair and sat down next to his duffel bag. He began tapping his foot. Then, he stood back up and began pacing the room again, running his hand through his hair.

Maybe taking Sharpay with him was a bad idea. Actually, he knew that taking Sharpay with him was a bad idea, but part of him was so excited to take her with him. Nobody had shown quite so much interest in him before.

Troy had been almost annoyed at her constant questions and frequent visits throughout the week, but after she didn't kiss him on that hill, he realized how nice it was to be liked. Troy also wasn't sure if Sharpay had really like him after all. Maybe she was just really interested in the fact that he was different from the guys in Nowhere.

Troy's thoughts about Sharpay weren't helping his nerves at all.

Troy sat down on his bed with force. "What am I doing to myself?" he asked out loud.

That was it. He couldn't be by himself for another second, so he got up and crept over to Sharpay's room. It was 11, and everybody else was asleep, except for Sharpay, of course.

He lightly tapped on the door, and Sharpay opened it in a tizzy. She looked twice as stressed as Troy felt.

Before Troy could stop her, she grabbed him and pulled him into her room, closing the door behind him.

Troy looked around her room. It was a wreck. There were clothes in every conceivable place, makeup all over her dresser, and spilling onto the floor. A broken mirror was on the floor, shattered, right next to the dresser.

"What happened in here?" Troy asked, trying to take it all in.

"Nothing," Sharpay snapped. "I'm packing."

Troy took a breath. How was he going to say this without making her crack? "Um…Sharpay?" he began carefully, "I have a jeep, not a moving truck. I really wish you could take this all with you." He motioned to her messy room. "But it's not going to fit in my car. You can take two suitcases worth."

Sharpay's eyes squinted in anger. "I don't care if you have to hire movers to take my stuff. I'm taking it all. It's not like I'm ever just going to come back and pick it up whenever I want to." After Sharpay said it, her eyes widened in realization. "I'm not coming back," she whispered, terrified. Tears started running down her cheeks.

Troy walked over to Sharpay and hugged her. "Sharpay, look at me," he said.

She looked up, her brown eyes filled with terror.

"What you are doing is incredibly spontaneous, and maybe totally stupid. I want you to be sure that this is what you want, but I can't give you the privilege of more time."

Sharpay stepped back and stood up straight. "I wouldn't have begged to go unless I thought there was something better out there. Now, you're going to just have to find a way to fit at least four suitcases. This is my life I'm packing up."

Troy sighed. The girl sure had a mind of her own. "Three and a backpack."

"Fine," Sharpay said. "And a purse."

"Deal," Troy said, shaking Sharpay's hand.

"Alright," Sharpay said, pulling three hot pink suitcases out of her walk-in closet. "Hand me every pink shirt on my bed."

"Yes ma'am," Troy said, picking out the pink shirts, which made up about half of the clothes on her bed.

An hour and a half later, Troy was helping Sharpay force her third suitcase closed. After a good deal of struggling, Troy managed to force the zipper closed.

The two looked around Sharpay's room. It didn't look much different. It was clean now that everything was packed away, but her furniture was still in place and her posters were still on her walls. Anybody who just peeked into Sharpay's room would have no idea that she had run away.

Troy looked at his watch. It was 12:30. They still had half an hour to kill.

"Well…" Troy said.

"I think I should write a note to my family," Sharpay said.

Troy nodded. "I'll come get you when it's time."

He crept back to his room, wondering how he was going to keep his nerves down for another 30 minutes.

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Sharpay gulped as she sat down at her desk, a fuzzy pink pen in her hand, poised over a piece of pastel pink of paper.

Short and sweet was probably going to be the best she could do.

Dear Mom, Dad, and Ryan, she started.

First of all, I want you to know that I love you. Mom and dad, a few days ago, I heard you talking about finding me a job in town. Let's face it. I have no perspective husbands, and that's my only other option. Well, I thought it was my only other option, at least. Then I realized that there is a whole world out there, and nothing except for a stupid tradition is keeping me in Nowhere. I hope that someday I can come back and tell you about how wonderful and successful my life has been. I am perfectly aware that leaving here may be the stupidest thing I ever do, but I think it may be the smartest, too. I already miss you more than words can explain.

Please don't hate me for leaving you. I really do love you.

Love,

Sharpay

Sharpay took in a shaky breath. She could feel more tears coming, and there was no stopping them. She lay down on her stomach on her bed and wept quietly into her pillow. She had never been so sad, but so excited before.

Sharpay knew two things for sure. One was that leaving her family was the stupidest thing a teenager could do. The other was that staying in Nowhere was the stupidest thing she could do if she wanted to do anything with her life.

As Sharpay dried her tears, she heard a soft knock on the door. Her heart beat out of her chest. It was time. This was her last chance to turn back.

She got up from her bed, doing her best to fix her eye makeup as she crossed the room to her door. Sharpay grabbed the door handle, and slowly turned the knob.

On the other side, Troy was standing there expectantly.

"You ready?" he asked.

Sharpay nodded, unable to find any words.

Troy followed her into her room. She put her backpack on and grabbed her purse. Then she took the handle of one of her suitcases.

Troy, who had his duffle bag slung across his shoulder, grabbed the other two.

They silently shuffled across the loft to the stairs and quietly made their descent to the foyer on the first floor. Sharpay unlocked and opened the front door with her free hand, and they stole out into the night.

After some difficulty fitting all of Sharpay's luggage into the back of Troy's jeep, Troy got into the driver's side of the car, and Sharpay took the passenger's side.

Both of them took care to close their doors as quietly as possible.

Troy looked at Sharpay. "Do you have any idea how to reach the highway from here?"

"I can hardly direct you to the town limits of Nowhere."

"Well, I thought I would at least ask. I guess we'll just start driving until we reach the highway or a gas station that can direct us to the highway. Um…so here we go."

Troy put his car into neutral, and it started backing down the driveway. The only noise it made was the wheels rolling on the ground. Sharpay could feel her heart rate increasing with the speed of the car.

The car picked up speed until Troy turned it into the road, the front of the car facing downhill.

It began to pick up speed again until it was going 25 miles per hour, still in neutral.

As the jeep hit the bump in the road where it turned from asphalt into gravel, Troy looked at Sharpay and said, "You ready?"

Sharpay took a breath. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

Troy smiled at her and turned the key in the ignition, bringing the car to life. He put it into gear and began accelerating.

Suddenly, all of Sharpay's fears and concerns were replaced with an overwhelming sense of giddiness. She was free! Sharpay could do whatever she wanted!

Then she began to giggle.

Troy looked over and smiled at her. His right hand was rested on the bottom of the steering wheel, his left forearm resting on the window. "I'm glad you came," he said.

Sharpay melted. Troy really seemed to be a good guy who just had some character flaws. Who didn't? "Me too," she said, still smiling.

A/N: Okay, I love you guys for your reviews! Seriously, I was having some writer's block, trying to come up with the final part of this story, but your feedback gave me a genious idea! So, thanks!!!! You guys are the best!
And don't stop...I need you!