AN: Just to be clear, Brian is a year ahead of the others, so he already graduated.
Zeke walked towards the exit of the airport, while dragging a bag with him. He opened his cell phone and began dialing, "Hello? Where are you? I just arrived." He said, a bit irritated.
A young man began to approach Zeke from behind, "Seriously, I think you're going blind bro."
Zeke turned around to see his much matured looking younger brother, Tyler. "Shut up and give your big brother a proper welcome."
Tyler wore a disgusted look, "No way man, I might look..you know." He said backing off.
Zeke laughed, "Come on bro, let's go to your so called, apartment." He dragged his bag, and his brother off.
"Let me go Zeke!" Tyler said, trying to pry off Zeke's hold.
He just laughed more, "Good thing you have a car too. So how's college?"
"It sucks." Tyler said, getting in the car. Zeke put his bag in the trunk, and went inside, giving him a stern look. 'What?' He said noticing.
"What do you mean it sucks? You have to take college seriously Ty." Zeke said,
Tyler sighed, "It sucks, but I have good grades. I'm a straight B student." He said proudly,
Zeke looked relieved, "Whew! For a minute there I thought you were a straight F student, or worse. A straight A student!"
Tyler glared at him, "Whatever Zeke. Anyway, I have this girl I want you to meet."
Zeke smirked at him, "A girl? Are you sure she's not blind?" When Tyler gave him a confused look, he answered, "Just wondering why a girl would go after you..." He said trailing off.
"Shut up Zeke." His brother drove off, while Zeke continued laughing at him.
"Hey Brian, Shar." Gabriella said, walking in, dropping some shopping bags on the floor.
"Hi Gabriella." Brian replied, switching the channels while sitting on the couch.
Sharpay just nodded from the chair near the kitchen, "Brian! Stopping switching channels! I'm watching!" She snapped, as she ate a pie.
Brian looked back at her and glared a bit, "you're just watching a silly old chick flick, and plus, you've watched that for about million times already!" He replied,
She rolled her eyes, "So what? I want to watch it. I live here, I get the privilege." She snapped.
He was still glaring at her, "But I'm holding the remote, which means I have control." He waved the remote in triumph.
Sharpay's eyes slit, "Brian Kevin Wilson put my show back on, or get out." She snapped, glaring like she used to in High School.
Brian was just about to fire back when Gabriella cut him off, "You guys stop it." She then turned to Brian, "Bri, let her watch the flick, you know she loves it."
Brian grumbled in anger as he put the chick flick back on. "What was that Brian?" Sharpay smirked,
Brian turned towards her, and put on a smile. "Nothing dear,"
Sharpay smirked even more, "That's good" as she continued to eat.
Gabriella just looked at the two, looking confused. They were fighting more often. Then she just went to her room, carrying her shopping bags with her.
As soon as Gabriella closed the door, Brian spoke. "I have to go meet a client, I'll see you later." He stood up and kissed Sharpay on the cheek and left.
"Client?" She sat on the couch, humming a beat. "Whatever." She shrugged, as she happily watched her movie.
'DING'
"Finally, it took the elevator long enough" Brian muttered.
As the elevator opened, it showed Ryan and Troy. Brian frowned, "Hello." He said somewhat bitterly.
Ryan and Troy replied coldly as well, "Brian." Brian hastily went into the elevator and closed it.
Ryan narrowed his eyes, "I really hate that guy." Troy laughed, "me too." He said, as they neared Sharpay and Gabriella's condo.
Meanwhile,
Brian left the elevator and went to his car, talking to his cell phone. "Talk to me."
A man's voice was heard, "Where are we meeting?"
Brian started up his car, and looked above to the window of Sharpay's apartment, "Oh it's you. Meet me at the Starbucks near the Public Library today, 4:00pm." He said while driving,
"That'll be fine. See you there." The man said, and then the line went dead.
Brian closed his phone, "Cool. Hopefully, he'll rise to the top here." He muttered, turning the corner.
"Hey sis!' Ryan sat on the couch, 'Hey Shar." Troy muttered, immediately going to the fridge.
Gabriella walked out of her room and laughed, "Troy?" She said getting the attention of the young man, "What are you doing? Raiding our fridge?" She asked, giggling.
Troy took out his head from the fridge, he was holding a mountain of food on his hands, and drinks were about to fell as he balanced. He smiled at her innocently, and put the food down on the counter.
"I can explain?" He asked. Gabriella put her hands on her hip, and which strangely reminded Troy of his own mother. "Explain now." She said sternly, earning stifled laughs from the twins who were now watching.
Troy scratched his head as he laughed uncomfortably, "Err..you see Gabi..uhh..I love you?"
After Troy helplessly said the line, the twins mockingly laughed. "Troy! That has got to be the worst excuse I have ever heard!" Ryan finally said after breaths.
Troy blushed and looked at Gabriella, only to see her smirking at him. 'Hey baby, eat all you want, okay?' Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist and leaned on him. 'Mmm..kay.'
"Whatever guys." Sharpay said laughing, "Hey Ry! Wanna come with me? I have to pass some last requirements to Professor…forgot her name again.." She kept snapping her hands, trying hard to remember the name.
Ryan rolled his eyes, "Professor Delilah." He pointed out.
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting her name." She said, Ryan rolled his eyes again, "Maybe you keep forgetting cause she's the only teacher you don't have wrapped around your finger."
Gabriella and Troy laughed at the twins' ridiculous behavior. "Shut up Ryan." Sharpay threateningly said.
He turned to Gabriella, "So, you have anything planned tonight?"
Gabriella shook her head, "Nah, I guess I'll just stay here."
Troy panicked, and looked at Ryan. He just nodded his head at Troy, encouraging him.
"Uhh. You sure you don't want to go out with me tonight? You'd replace me with the TV?" He said joking around.
"Hmm. I don't know, the TV sounds good, but I like a real person for tonight." She kissed his cheek, "I'll see you tonight." She said.
"Okay, I've got to go anyway. See you later babe." Troy said, leaving. Gabriella then left the room, leaving the twins by themselves.
Sharpay sighed, "Ry?" She asked.
"Yeah?" Ryan answered back, "Ryan, sometimes..I miss Zeke." She admitted, blushing a bit.
Ryan to be told was shocked. He held his sister tight; he knew this was hard for her. "Shar, we all miss him you know. It's normal to miss someone big in your life."
Sharpay shook her head, "But I shouldn't miss him. I tried so many times to just erase him from my memory, but I can't. Every night, I dream about him Ry. I can't take the hurt."
She took a deep breath before going on, "I just, I keep replaying that day Ryan. And it hurts more than you ever know. Every night I dream about him, and at daylight it pains even more to see Brian. It feels like I'm cheating on him, even though technically I'm not. I don't want to hurt anymore Ry. I just can't take it anymore."
Sharpay's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she looked up to the face of her brother, "There's an ache in my heart where Zeke used to be. And even if I pretend, Brian's never filling that space."
Ryan held his sister tighter, and kept whispering words of comfort. "Shar, I..I'm here for you, forever. And I promise you, I'm never going to leave you."
They stayed like that until Sharpay cooled down, "I'll wash up, and then we'll go okay?" She said, standing up. Ryan nodded, and watched TV again.
"Ry?" Sharpay turned around,
Ryan turned his attention to his sister, "Yeah Shar?"
She smiled at him, "Thanks. You're the best." She said, and then headed to her room.
"Hey Tay, the gang going to Starbucks to celebrate, Troy and Gabi will join later. Wanna come?" Chad said wrapping his arms around Taylor.
She nodded, "Yea sure, just let me finish this essay."
Chad's brows furrowed, "What is that anyway?"
"Well, it's my Valedictorian Speech for Graduation on Saturday." Taylor said, as she tried to finish.
Chad nodded, "Oh, I forgot about that. My girl's the Valedictorian." He said proudly,
"Okay, I'm done. Are they there yet?" Taylor asked,
Chad took the keys of the car, and took out their coats. "Yeah, when Ryan called, he said that Kelsi and Jason were on their way. So I'm guessing the twins and Jelsi are there."
She took the coat from her boyfriend, "Thanks baby. And where in the world did you get Jelsi?" She said, locking their apartment.
He shrugged, "I just joined Kelsi and Jason's name. It's way easier."
Taylor finished locking the door and looked confusingly at Chad, "So if they're Jelsi, then we're Chaylor?"
Chad shrugged, "I guess so." They went in the elevator and left.
Taylor wrapped the coat tighter around her, and shook her head disbelievingly. "Jelsi, Chaylor, Troyella.." She muttered disbelievingly, her boyfriend thought of the most outrageous, but that's what she loves about him.
"Finally! There you two are! What took you so long?" Sharpay yelled at the quiet Starbucks.
The gang blushed at Sharpay's behavior. "Sharpay!" Ryan scolded.
Sharpay gave him a "Don't-mess-with-me" look. "What?!"
Ryan shook his head as he welcomed Taylor and Chad, "Nothing."
"Nice to see you too Sharpay." Chad sarcastically said, 'Hey guys.' He waved.
"Hey Chad, Tay." Jason greeted, meanwhile, Taylor and Kelsi immediately went into conversation quickly followed by Sharpay.
"So, is Troy really going to do it?" Chad said to the boys,
Ryan nodded, "Yeah, but there might be a slight chance he'll chicken out though."
"Nah, Troy's not chicken." Jason protested.
The girls noticed the guys' conversation and decided to join in, "Troy's a chicken." Kelsi said.
"Yeah, remember when he first asked Gabriella out? It took him months." Taylor rolled her eyes.
"So how long are we supposed to stay here?" Jason asked.
Ryan checked his watch, "Well if time's right and Troy hasn't chickened out yet, they should be on their way out right now."
Sharpay was looking out of the window, and noticed her boyfriend there. "Hey look, it's Brian."
The gang looks out and sees him, sitting with another guy. "Must be a client." Kelsi said.
"Yeah, must be. I'll go introduce myself." Sharpay stood up.
Taylor rolled her eyes, "Sharpay no! Brian's at work right now."
But Sharpay didn't listen, she went outside running. "Brian!" She yelled, the gang watching her from inside.
Brian was talking, when he heard Sharpay's high pitched voice. Oh god, why now? "Excuse me." He said to the client. He stood up, and looked at Sharpay pleadingly.
"Hey Brian." She said hugging him, "Introduce me to your…." She said trailing off.
The client stood up, with wide eyes. "Sharpay…"
Brian's eyes lit up, "So you two know each other?"
Sharpay stood there wide eyed, wishing she hadn't come out. "Ze-Zeke?"
AN: Hey, sorry for the late update. Promise to update soon, I already finished the next chapter so maybe a week before I post the next one. Don't forget to review! Even if you hate it or you love it, review and let me know:D