A/N: First of all i'd like to once again apologize for the delay, and i'd also like to thank everyone who's been reviewing-it really makes my day! Thank you to all!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 15: The Perfect Storm part 1

Friday, January 11th 2008

6:50 AM

Ryan's room

"Please get up Ry, you haven't gone to school this whole week. You can't keep-"

"I'm not going Sharpay."

Sharpay reached for his hand, but he pulled it away. She suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"Ryan, why are you doing this? Why are you pushing me away too? I'm your twin sister, I know you better than anyone. Your pain is my pain Ryan. I feel it too…everything you're going through…it's hurting me too. Sometimes I think you forget our bond…" Sharpay said sadly.

"You have no idea of what I'm feeling Sharpay." His statement hurt her more than he could possibly imagine. What's happened to you brother? She fought back her tears, she needed to be strong for him, and for their poor mother. God knows what she must be feeling right now, I don't need to add to her pain.

"Please Ry, at least come say goodbye to mom. I know it'd mean the world to her." With that Sharpay rose from his bed, and left his room, leaving the door open behind her.

Ryan sat up from bed and held his head between his hands. He sighed and walked towards the door. As he made his way down the hall, he could hear the faint voices of his mother and Sharpay.

"He isn't going to come down is he?" Derby said with a sad voice.

"I don't know mom."

"Okay…well, please tell him that I love him, with all my heart. I love both of you Sharpay. I'm so sorry I have to leave right now; I'd give anything to see him smile again, but I have to go end this whole thing. I have to make sure that we're going to be okay. And we will be okay, I promise. I'm going to take care of you guys no matter what."

Sharpay was truly worried about her mother. She had never seen her so sad before. First my dad, and now Ryan-when are we going to be happy again?

"I know you will mom, you're the strongest person I know."

Sharpay wrapped her arms around her mother, and the two women held each other for a long time. Derby stroked Sharpay's hair affectionately as she pulled away. "Take care or Ryan, okay? I'll be back before you know it."

Derby grabbed her suitcase and made her way through the living room, Sharpay close behind. They were halfway out the door, when Ryan rushed down the stairs.

"Mom, wait!"

The two women stopped in their tracks, hope shining in their eyes. Ryan ran to his mother and into her arms, and Sharpay watched as they shared a tearful embrace.

"I couldn't let you go without saying goodbye."

"Oh Ryan, you have no idea how much it means to me that you're here! Now I can leave happy." Derby smiled, truly happy for the first time in four months.

Now I can leave happy. There was something about her mother's choice of words that made Sharpay feel uneasy.

"Come here Sharpay, I want to hold both of my children."

Sharpay pushed back her uneasiness to the back of her mind and joined her family.

"I love you both so much." Derby continued to hold her children until the sound of a car horn forced her to let go. "Take care of each other while I'm gone, okay?" She smiled at them and quickly picked up her suitcase and an umbrella before walking out the door and into the rain. Ryan and Sharpay watched silently through the doorway as their mother entered the taxi. Derby took one last look at her children, and waved them goodbye. They waved back to her and followed the taxi with their eyes until it was out of sight. Once it completely disappeared Sharpay shut the door and turned to her brother.

"Thanks Ry." He simply nodded before making his way towards the stairs. Sharpay sighed as she watched her brother go up the stairs. I guess he's not coming to school-again…

Then he suddenly turned to face her. "Before you say anything Shar, I'm just going to be a little late today."

After that he walked up to his room and Sharpay sighed in relief. Once she saw his door close, she quickly grabbed her books from the kitchen and headed towards the door. Sharpay stepped into the rain and locked the door behind her. She was about to head toward her car, when the light from Troy's headlights flashed in her eyes.

"Can I give you a ride, Shar?"

Sharpay seriously considered rejecting his offer, but quickly thought better of it. You don't want to hurt him; he's only trying to be sweet, you know. And besides, aren't you two like a couple now? You did have sex after all. "Shut up," she muttered to herself. Troy gave her a quizzical look.

"Sharpay…?"

"Yeah, I'd love a ride."

"Great!" Troy quickly hopped out the driver's seat, and helped Sharpay into the truck,

"Thanks Troy."

"No problem." Troy smiled happily at her and kissed her lips. Sharpay was startled at first, but quickly responded to his kiss. Troy finally pulled away, smiling even brighter than before.

"We should probably get going. There'll be more time for that later," he grinned mischievously and threw her a wink. Sharpay swallowed hard, the memories from last night still fresh in her mind.

The drive to school was silent. Sharpay gazed thoughtfully at the rain through the window, while Troy focused on the road ahead. He quickly stole a glance at her, and noticed the sad look on her beautiful face.

"Are you alright Shar?" Troy's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she quickly looked his way.

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about Ryan." Troy didn't know what to say, but instead took her hand into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Once they reached their destination, Troy helped Sharpay out of the truck and they headed towards the main entrance hand-in-hand. And upon their arrival, the once bustling hallways of East High became silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the couple. Then the silence was broken.

"Is that the ice princess with Troy Bolten?! No way! You have to be fucking kidding me!"

"What the hell is wrong with him?? She's such a whore!"

"Yeah she is. Why else would he be with her?"

"I can't believe he's actually with her! She's been after him for years, why does he suddenly want her now?"

"You can't blame the guy, Montez is hot, but she really should just join a convent."

"It was bound to happen. How long can you say no to a girl as fine as that?"

"Yeah that girl is sucha fox!"

"What a bitch! She totally stole Troy from Gabriella."

"She probably drugged him."

"Nah, she probably just lets him put it anywhere."

"Eww, he's probably gonna get an STD from her."

Sharpay held back tears of hurt and frustration at her peers' harsh comments. Sure, she had been putting up a façade until recently, but surely they noticed she had changed? I might have been a bitch, but I was never a whore!

Troy curled his free hand into a fist, desperately trying to keep his cool.

"We should ask Bolton if her pussy's as cold as she is!"

Then he lost it.

Troy dropped Sharpay's hand and charged into the guy who made the comment, knocking him to the ground. He pinned the guy underneath him and punched him in the face. Sharpay stared wide-eyed in horror, while the rest of the school cheered on the fight.

"Say that again and break your face!"

The idiot tried in vain to shield his face from Troy's attacks, while dozens of students pulled out their phones.

"Sick! Troy's beating the shit out of Gabe!"

"Dude this is so going on YouTube!"

"Troy stop it! Get off of him!" Sharpay pleaded to no avail. She was about to intervene, when Chad appeared and took hold of her arm.

"Don't Shar, Troy wouldn't want you to get hurt," he said and then proceeded to intervene himself, when someone beat him to the punch.

"Bolton, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Sharpay's ears perked up at the sound of his voice. Hayden!

Troy let down his guard for a second to look at the intruder, when Gabe took the opportunity to kick Troy in between the legs. He crumpled to the ground, and Gabe was about to attack him again, when Hayden lunged at him. And seeing as Hayden was considerably bigger than Troy Bolton, Sam and Michael, two of Gabe's friends decided to help him out. They were about to make a grab for Hayden when Troy leapt to his feet and hurled his fist into Sam. He was knocked to the ground from the blow, and Michael came at at Troy. Then seeing his best friend in trouble once more, Chad finally made an entrance. Now it was on. It was Hayden vs. Gabe, Troy vs. Sam and Chad vs. Michael. And they were really going at it. Kicks and punches were flying everywhere, and no one could do anything but watch.

"Come on, what's the big deal? Everyone knows Evan's is a slut!"

Gabe had made the mistake of opening his mouth a second time. Hayden saw red, and slammed Gabe against the lockers and broke his nose. He was about to punch him, when he was torn away from Gabriel.

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

Principle Matsui's voice rang through the hallway, and broke up the fight in a second.

"BOLTON! ROSNER! DANFORTH! JOHNSON! GARETT! RICHARDS! I WANT YOU ALL IN MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY! EVERYONE ELSE, GET TO CLASS!"

No one had ever seen their principal so angry. So too afraid to get their heads bitten off, the students ran to their classrooms. Even Sharpay was left with no choice. The halls were quiet once more, and the convicted made their way to the principal's office, their heads hung low in shame.

Once they reached the office, they were forced to sit together while Principle Matsui talked to the secretary. They all wanted nothing more than to beat each other's brains out, but they were too afraid at the moment.

"Karen could you please pull the permanent records of Troy Bolton, Hayden Rosner, Chad Danforth, Gabriel Johnson, Samuel Garett, and Michael Richards? I'll need them on my desk as soon as possible."

When he entered his office, no one said a word.

"What on earth were you boys thinking today? Starting a fight at school; are you aware that I have enough grounds to have you all expelled from school?!"

Ouch. They weren't expecting that.

"However-luckily for you, you all seem to share promising futures in sports, and although you most certainly deserve it, I won't expel you from school."

They all sighed in relief. Who knew that their athletic abilities would be their salvation? Troy and Chad had basketball while Gabe, Sam, and Michael had football. Hayden had both.

"But, don't think that you guys are off the hook. All of you will serve detention for the next two months, serving under Ms. Darbus of course."

They all groaned.

Principal Matsui opened his mouth to continue, when he was interrupted by the phone.

"Yes Karen, what is it? Oh," his expression suddenly turned grave. "Could you please call them out of class? Yes, just send them here. Alright, thank you." He looked troubled, but quickly regained his composure. "Alright boys, that'll do for now. Just head back to your classrooms."

They all shot him quizzical looks, but quickly shuffled out the door. They split up into their respective groups, when they saw Ryan and Sharpay get pulled into the office.

Friday, January 11th 2008

8:45 AM

Principle Matsui's office

"What's wrong Mr. Matsui? Why did we get pulled out of class?" Sharpay asked him curiously.

"Well I think you should both sit down," he replied grimly.

The twins exchanged fearful looks, but quickly obeyed.

"I just received a call from the Albuquerque General Hospital," he began, and Sharpay instinctually took hold of Ryan's hand. "And it seems a through your mother was involved in a car accident."

Sharpay gasped in horror, and brought her hands up to her face.

"W-what?" stammered Ryan.

"Please son, let me finish. An ambulance arrived eight minutes later, but she died before they could reach the hospital. I'm so sorry."

"No! NO!" cried Sharpay.

Ryan was in shock. He couldn't think or breathe.

"MOM! I HAVE TO SEE MOM!" Sharpay stood from her seat to run out the door, but suddenly she clutched her temple and crumpled to the ground.

To be continued…

A/N: This part of the story is so long, that I had to write it in two parts! But don't worry, there's more drama to come soon enough! And as always, reviews would be lovely :D. After all, how am I supposed to know if you like it or not??

XOXO~Summer