Chapter 3
After Troy and Sharpay arrived back at the Bolton home, the four left for the bowling alley.
"Your outfit looks stunning, Sharpay," said Lisa as she examined Sharpay's bowling attire. The main fabric was a hot-pink silk that was encrusted with tiny rhinestones. She had two light-pink stripes, running over her shoulders and down the front of the shirt that had a natural sparkle to them. And, of course, there was a light-pink SE on the back of her shirt. She simply had on a pair of black jeans that partially covered her white bowling shoes.
"Thank you," she turned to Troy, "I try to look good as much as possible." She just winked at him and walked up to the alley for her first turn. She wanted to mess with Troy, so instead of bowling normally she guttered the ball on purpose. She bowled again and did the same. She walked back to where Troy was sitting and he said:
"So, I was right, wasn't I?" Sharpay just smirked at him and turned around to watch Jack bowl. He literally bowled like a girl. Jack, with a disappointed look on his face, walked back to them and, seeing the laughter in their eyes, said:
"You know, basketball is more my thing. I don't want to waste my time on something like this."
"Whatever you say, Dad." Troy looked at Sharpay as she got up and picked up her ball. She stood there, looked at the pins, cocked her head to the side, and looked back at Troy. He stood up and walked towards her. "Would you like some help with that, Pay?"
"My hero." she said in a dreamy voice.
"Anytime. Now you just have to hold it like this and pull your arm back. When your arm gets to about here release the ball. But don't fling it, because then you could hurt somebody."
"Very funny," she said as she turned to face Troy.
"Yeah. I know."
"Oh, stop flattering yourself."
"I will once you bowl like a normal person."
"I still don't understand," she said.
"Okay," he said putting his left arm on her waist and his right hand around her own. She felt a small tingle run through her body. Troy must have felt her quiver because he chuckled. Sharpay started to blush when her arm flung back and straight forward.
"STRIKE," yelled Troy as he picked her up and spun her around.
She finally came back down to earth. She hugged him and said, "You're such a good teacher, Bolton."
"Hey! I thought you were done calling me Bolton."
"I think it's cute. Although, it does remind me of basketball a little too much."
"Really?" he said as he put his arm around her waist and led her back to her seat. They looked around and realized that they were alone.
"Where did your mom and dad go?" she asked.
"I think they went to go get food."
After Troy bowled a spare his parents returned with drinks and some snacks. "We're back!"
"Hey, mom! It's your turn."
"Okay." Lisa and Jack bowled and then it was Sharpay's turn again. Troy turned to her: "Pay, do you want me to help you again?"
"No, it's okay." She walked up to the ball return, grabbed the only pink one, and turned towards the alley. Suddenly, the next thing Troy saw was a set of pins shattering at the end of the lane. Troy's mouth was hanging wide open, so when Sharpay walked back to him, she closed his mouth and gave him a peck on the lips.
She walked behind him and sat in her chair. Troy slid back his seat so he was right next to her.
"How did you do that?" he asked
"Magic," she said, "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Okay," the Boltons said in unison.
Sharpay got up and walked to the ladies' room. Troy watched her the whole time she was walking away with a smile on his face. He turned back towards the alley and saw a familiar face in front of him.
"Amber?" he said.
"Oh good, you remember my name. And even better that you remember me," she said.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" he said.
"I don't know. I figured since you broke up with me, that you would want to forget me forever. "She said with a fake pouty face.
"Amber, I broke up with you for a reason."
"And what was that?"
"Amber, you were cheating on me with Brock! Why would I have held on to a relationship that was never going to work? Besides I've moved on to better things." All of a sudden he felt her lips crash into his. He tried to escape, but she was unnaturally strong. When he finally did, he looked up to see a petite blonde staring back at him with tears in her eyes. She just shook her head and ran towards the door. He looked at his parents and they nodded for him to go after her. Once he was outside, he spotted the girl slumped against the red brick wall. "Pay-"
"Troy, just leave me alone! I knew this was going to happen! I knew that you never really loved me."
"Sharpay, how could you even say that?! Let alone believe it!" Troy was nearly yelling now and a group of not-so-innocent bystanders were a bit frightened. "I have loved you since the moment that I laid eyes on you! I have never loved another person! You don't even know how incredibly happy I was when you were talking to me last night on the stage! I felt like I finally knew that you liked me back and that gave me the best feeling inside!" Troy was now actually letting tears fall from his ocean-blue eyes.
"If your so deeply in love with me, than who the hell was that?!"
"That was my ex-girlfriend, Amber."
"Who?"
"You know, she's going out with Brock now. Or I guess she is, because she cheated on me with him."
"She did?" Sharpay brightened up, "How could she cheat on someone like you?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't go ask her if I were you." He sat down beside her and she just blushed enough to where the onlookers could see it. They all said 'Aww' at the same time.
Sharpay and Troy both looked at the onlookers and then at each other.
"I should go redo my make-up before anyone I know sees me like this." She attempted to wipe away the black streaks running down her face.
"I think you look beautiful without it, Pay." Troy said getting up from the ground and offering her his hand.
"You're such a suck –up, Troy."
"Well you know you love it."
"Yes, I do."
Sharpay went inside and left Troy outside alone with the creepy people. He glanced at the on-lookers. One of them said to Troy:
"Dude, she is going to be very high maintenance."
"I know, but I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't." he said. He walked inside and went straight to his parents.
"How is she?" his mother looked genuinely concerned.
"She'll be fine. She's just a really emotional girl. You would be too if you went through half of what she has."
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'd like to meet her mother sometime, though."
"Why?"
"I want to see how bad she really is."
"Well you have fun with that!"
"Thanks, I will." His mother smirked at him. Sharpay walked back to the alley and sat in her seat without a word or a wink. Troy walked over to her and squatted enough so that he was shorter than her.
In a high- pitched, squeaky voice he said, "Follow the yellow brick road." Sharpay laughed at his bad impersonation of a munchkin. "You know when you went inside, one of those people said to me that you were high- maintenance. And I realized that that's one thing I love about you."
Sharpay smiled and kissed Troy on the cheek. Just then they both heard a tapping noise. They looked up and saw Amber tapping her foot on the wooden flooring. Troy got up and motioned for his parents to leave. They both nodded and went to the snack bar close by, so that they could still hear what was going on. Troy quickly went back to the two girls who were just standing there staring at each other. Troy protectively stood in front of Sharpay and turned to Amber.
"Amber, why can't you just leave us alone? I dumped you a long time ago and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Troy, you know you'll always have a special place in your heart for me." She placed her hand on his chest and, before Troy could do anything, Sharpay was in front of him pushing Amber away.
"Don't touch him!" Sharpay looked at Amber dead in the eye. Amber felt a little intimidated but then turned back to Troy.
"You know, I still can't believe you went from dating the head cheerleader, to dating the school's Ice Bitch!" She turned to Sharpay who was appalled. No one had ever called her a bitch to her face. Sure, they said it behind her back but never straight to her face.
Troy looked at his parents across the room for help, but he realized that they had heard what Amber said and were now in shock. Sharpay: The Ice Bitch? They couldn't believe it. Sharpay seamed so nice and sweet to them. Troy looked back at Sharpay and realized that she was about to say something that she might regret later so he cut her off.
"WELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO-"
"Sharpay, she's not worth it." He turned her around so that she was facing him and he realized that she had tears running down her face. "Pay, she's not worth it. She just says those things because she jealous of you and me." Amber overheard.
"Jealous?! Why should I be jealous of her?!" She pointed to Sharpay and Sharpay had had enough.
"Amber, just leave us the hell alone!" she was yelling practically at the top of her lungs so people were staring at them. "What are you doing here anyway? You have a boyfriend!"
"Brock and I split."
"You mean Brock broke up with you, right?" Sharpay smirked and stepped closer to Amber, who backed up.
"It was mutual!" Amber said, obviously lying.
"Riiiiiiight! Mutual…I should have known! Now if you would be so kind!!" Sharpay pointed towards the door and glared at Amber. Amber huffed and then started walking towards the door. It wasn't until the girl was all the way outside that Sharpay moved. She wiped her tears away, which was pointless since they just kept on falling, and walked towards the bathroom.
Troy was about to chase after her when he realized that she went into the ladies' room. He looked at his mom, who nodded and started to walk towards the bathroom. Once inside she saw Sharpay looking at herself in the mirror. "You're pathetic! She calls you an "Ice Bitch" and you burst into tears!" Sharpay said to herself.
"Sharpay, you're not pathetic." Sharpay turned and realized that Lisa was standing there.
"Look, I'm really sorry for all of this, Lisa. It just got out of control." Sharpay tried to explain.
"I understand, Sharpay."
"Thank you." Lisa walked over towards Sharpay and hugged her, kind-of shocking Sharpay, who hugged back. They pulled apart and Sharpay looked at her. "Lisa, I have to go to this party thing with my mother and brother tonight, and would it be okay if Troy came with me?"
"Of course, it's fine."
"Thank you…for everything. I know this morning was a little awkward, but Troy was just trying to be nice, because he knows how much I hate storms."
"I know, Sharpay. It's fine. I have to tell you that you are my favorite out of all the girls that Troy has dated."
"You don't know how much that means to me." Sharpay smiled one of her genuine smiles.
"Now, shall we go back out there?"
"Yeah, I think so." They walked back out of the bathroom, but stopped when they realized that everyone was staring at them. Sharpay just lowered her head and walked towards Troy.
"Are you going to be okay, Pay?"
"Yeah, I think so." Troy, realizing that she needed a hug, walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her. He looked over her shoulder at his mom and mouthed "thank you" to her. She just smiled.
Sharpay pulled back from the hug and looked up at Troy. "I think I should tell your parents about the whole "Ice Bitch" thing, as Amber so politely puts it."
"Pay, you don't have to explain anything to them."
"I know. It would just make me feel better if they knew."
"Okay."
"Oh, and by the way, your Mom said that you could come with me to that party tonight, so we need to hit the mall and get you a new suit, mister!"
"Sharpay, why do I need a new suit?"
"Because my mom is paying for it and we'll find one that looks great on you."
"Reason enough for me! Do you want to head over there now?"
"Sure, let me just get my stuff together."
"Alright…" Sharpay switched shoes, got her ball, and walked back to Troy. "Are you ready to go, Pay?"
"Yeah…" They walked out the doors and got into the backseat of the Bolton's car. Once they reached the house, the two teens climbed into Troy's car and took off for the mall. Troy and Sharpay arrived and she insisted that they look in Neiman Marcus before anywhere else. Sharpay led him over to the Armani section of the store and automatically found a suit that she liked for Troy. "Oh my god, Troy! Look at this suit!" It was black with a light pink pinstripe in it. "You could wear it with a white shirt and a light pink tie!"
"I like it Pay, but you don't have to buy it for me. I have a perfectly good black suit at home."
"Troy, I'm not paying for anything. And I still have to get my dress for tonight while we're here, anyway."
"Well, thank you. I guess I'll go and try it on."
"I want to see it on you!" Sharpay called after him as he walked into the dressing room with the suit, the shirt, and the tie. He came out a couple of minutes later and Sharpay melted when she saw him. It fit him perfectly and looked amazing with his skin tone. "I love it! Now we need to find a sales clerk."
"Why?"
"So they can find me the perfect dress to go with your suit." She looked around and saw a familiar face. "Brian!" the man turned around. He appeared to work there and was obviously not-straight.
"Sharpay, how are you?"
"Great! Could you help me with something?"
"Of course!" Sharpay took the suit from Troy, who had just changed in the dressing room, and showed it to Brian.
"I need a dress to match this color, for tonight." She explained. Usually she would just have the dress dyed, but now there was no time. When Brian saw the color, his eyes got really big.
"Shar, we just got in the most fabulous dress this morning and it's a one-of-a-kind deal, and I think it would be perfect, but it's a little pricey."
"Mother's paying for it! Let's see the dress, shall we?" Brian led her back into the back of the store where he took the lid off of a pink metallic box. Sharpay gasped when she saw the dress. It was a halter dress that cut kind of low and scooped in the back. At the top, there were Swarovski crystals that were close together, but, as the dress lengthened, they grew further apart. And, it was the perfect pink to match Troy's suit. "Brian, you're a genius! It's perfect! Can I try it on?"
"Yes, you may…and I know I'm a genius!" Sharpay just smiled at him.
"Will you go and get Troy so he can see me in it?"
"Sure, we'll be waiting outside the dressing rooms."
"Thank you." Sharpay picked up the box and took it into the large room with her. As she slipped on the dress, she heard a knock on the door.
"Sharpay, I picked out a pair of heels that I think would go fabulous with that dress."
"Okay, just slip them under the door." She bent down, picked up the shoe box, and opened it. The shoes were beautiful! They were black with white stitching down the sides and over the toes. When she had slipped them on and pulled her hair into a high, messy bun, she walked out of the room and cleared her throat to get Troy's attention because he had his back turned her way. When he turned around and saw Sharpay, his jaw dropped. She looked stunning. She looked at him: "Do you like it?" Did he like it? He loved it, but he couldn't find the right words to compliment how beautiful she looked. "You don't like it? Well, I guess I could find something else." She went to turn around when Troy caught her hand.
"Pay, I love the dress. You look absolutely stunning in it."
She turned around to look at herself in the mirror and Troy stood behind her. She knew that they were the perfect couple; she didn't need anyone to tell her.