Chapter 4
After paying for the suit and the dress with her Mom's credit card, Sharpay decided that she needed some new jewels to go with it.
"What do you think about these Troy?" she held up yet another pair of square diamond earrings.
"Pay, they all look the same to me." He wasn't trying to be impatient, but he just didn't understand the difference.
"Troy, these are the biggest ones they have. They're a full carat… each." She smirked at him and then he understood she was just messing with him.
"These are beautiful, Pay, but I think you look beautiful no matter what you're wearing." He stood behind her with his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek.
Sharpay smiled. "I'll take these, Brian… And the ring I picked out earlier…Thank you… Are you ready to go, Troy?"
"You don't even know! Let's get out of here." They left the mall and went to get in the car when Sharpay's phone rang.
"Hello?… Oh, hi Mom… Yes, I'll be there… And I'm bringing a guest… Yes, it's a boy Mom. His name is Troy Bol-…Click Goodbye to you too!" Sharpay hung up and threw her phone in her purse. "I swear she has some nerve."
"It'll be okay. Do you wanna go back to my house and get ready? You left all of your stuff there." He reached over and grabbed her hand, when he felt her relax automatically.
"That'd be great, Troy. You don't think your parents would mind?"
"Pay, haven't we already gone over this? They like you. Trust me. And besides, I want them to see how hot my girl looks tonight.' He smiled and Sharpay slapped him playfully on the arm. "What's this party for anyway?"
"My future." When Troy looked confused, she continued. "The only reason my Mom is going is because her new boyfriend is going. But what matters to me is that this party is going to be crawling with casting directors from all the major agencies. Some really magical things could happen tonight."
"Wow, Pay. That's really cool. Well, I'll be there with you the whole time in case you get nervous. Who am I kidding? You'll do great, Pay!" He leaned over and kissed her at a red light and then kept on. "I know you really don't want to talk about this right now, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what happened between you and your mother?"
"As you probably know, or you might not, my Dad died the summer before freshman year. It was storming really badly and he and I were in the car together. All of a sudden, the tires hit a really slick part on the highway and the car rolled. We were both sent to the hospital, but I was the only one that lived. I was old enough to know that it wasn't my fault, and Ryan knew it too. But, right after Dad died, Mom started to drink a lot and it kept getting worse and worse. She blamed me for his death. My Mom and I never had a close relationship, but I couldn't take it anymore. I started coming home really late at night while she was hopefully at the bar. It just never got better."
"Wait. The summer before freshman year was when we stopped being friends. That's when you became the…the…" Troy didn't know if he should say it or not.
"The "Ice Bitch"? Yeah, it is. And the reason I stopped being friends with you was that you reminded me too much of my father. Every time I was around you, I missed him more than any other times. The pain just wouldn't go away." Troy looked over and saw that Sharpay was crying a little. He reached over and took her hand in his. "I am so sorry for all the things I said, or did, to hurt you over the past three years."
"It's okay, Pay. When you told me you didn't want to be friends anymore, I should've fought back harder, instead of just walking away." As he pulled up in front of his house, he leaned over and kissed her. When they pulled apart, Sharpay looked in the mirror.
"Troy, I can't let your parents see me like this. I'm all red and puffy." She casually laughed at herself.
"Would you like a bag to put over you head?" He raised his eyebrows at her and walked around to her side of the car to open her door for her. "You look fine." He took her hand and helped her out and grabbed the bags. Once they were inside, Sharpay made a dart for the stairs to Troy's room, but not before Lisa and Jack could see that she had been crying. They both gave him questioning looks but he returned them by mouthing 'later', and ran up the stairs. When he got there, Sharpay was standing at the window looking out on the world. Troy walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Troy, how can something so beautiful, be so cruel?" she said with complete seriousness.
"I don't know. But, I know that there is one beautiful thing that is definitely not cruel."
"And what would that be?" she asked turning around to face him. She laid her head down on his chest.
"You." Troy felt Sharpay smile against his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Pay, we need to get ready. I'll go down to the other bathroom and take a shower so you can have the bigger bathroom." He started to walk out the door, when she caught him and brought him close to her.
"Have I ever told you that you are the best guy in the world?" she leaned up and kissed him and he walked off to take a shower. Sharpay stood there a minute, and then also went to take a shower. When she got out, she noticed that Troy was in the bedroom changing into his suit. "Hey sexy." Troy turned around and smiled at Sharpay who was leaning against the bathroom doorframe with a towel wrapped around her.
"Hey yourself." He walked over, kissed her quickly on the cheek and then walked into the bathroom to fix his hair really fast. Sharpay followed suit and stood next to him, putting product into her own hair. But, unlike every other day, it wasn't straightening gel, it was just regular old Frizz-Ease. "So, you're going to go all-natural tonight?"
"Yep. I'm going to let it air-dry like I used to."
"I haven't seen that hairdo since… since forever ago. I like it curly." He smiled at her softly.
"Good, because I don't have time to straighten it." All of a sudden they heard a knock at the door.
"Are you two decent?" It was Lisa. Sharpay was standing there in a towel so she motioned for Troy to give her his t-shirt that he was wearing. He took it off and she quickly put it on.
"Come in." Lisa walked in and saw that all was in order. Troy was spiking up his hair and Sharpay was sitting on the bed doing her makeup.
"Jack and I are going to run up to the store. Do ya'll want anything while we're there?"
"I think we're okay, Mom. Pay, do you nee anything?"
"Nope. I'm good!"
"Alright. We'll be back before you leave!" with that, she closed the door behind her. When Troy was done with his hair and getting ready, he walked into the bedroom and saw that Sharpay was still sitting there. He sat down next to her and she laid her head down on his shoulder.
"Troy, I don't know if this is such a smart thing to do, going to the party, I mean. Maybe this just isn't the right time in my life to be making this decision."
"Sharpay, you're just nervous. Trust me, you'll do great. Now, if we're going to make it on time, you better get dressed." He picked her dress up out of the box and unzipped it for her. Shocking Troy, Sharpay stood up, turned her back on him, and then lifted the t-shirt over her head. Troy's eyebrows rose when he realized that she was completely naked and he swallowed deeply. Sharpay obviously heard it because she giggled. She slipped the dress on and then let Troy zip up the back.
When Sharpay turned around, Troy gasped. One last touch, he reached around her and pulled the clip out of her hair, allowing it to fall freely. "Wow. You look amazing."
"Thank you." Sharpay placed a hand on his cheek and sweetly placed a kiss on his lips.
"I'm going to go downstairs and get something to drink. Just come down whenever you're ready to go." He walked out of the room and down stairs. Sharpay looked at herself in the mirror. She really did look pretty. After a last touch to her hair, she walked down the stairs; not expecting all three Bolton's to be standing at the bottom. When she got to the bottom, Troy took her hand. "I told ya'll she looked amazing." He stressed the word amazing and made her blush.
"You don't look too bad yourself, Mr. Bolton." She smiled at him and placed her empty hand on his bicep. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I am. Bye Mom, bye Dad. I'll call when we're on the way back in."
"Okay, honey. Drive safe!" Lisa called after them as they stepped into the Jeep.
Troy looked over at Sharpay who was looking down at her hands in her lap. "Do we need to pick up Ryan on the way there?"
"No, he's going to drive himself… I was thinking. Do just wanna stay at my house tonight? My mom most likely won't be home and Ryan's staying over at his friend's house. I mean, if it's too much, then you don't have to, but I thought it might be nice to have a night all to ourselves." She looked up at him and smiled, simply because he was.
"I'll text my parents later to tell them that I'll be home in the morning. A night to us sounds great, Pay. Why wouldn't I want to spend a night alone with you? Oh, we're here." Troy got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. He opened Sharpay's door and took her hand. Once they started walking, Troy saw how many people were here. "You were right when you said that this was a big event." When they were almost to the red carpet leading to the door, Troy saw a flash from ahead. Paparazzi. He looked at Sharpay with a 'what the hell' look on his face.
"Just smile and wave. Only speak if they ask you a question. I'll explain everything later." She said through a smile. They walked down the carpet a bit and then got stopped by a blonde girl with a camera crew.
"Sharpay Evans! Over here! Melanie Rivers with . Who is this dashing young man?" Ms. Rivers said while holding the microphone up to Sharpay.
"This is my boyfriend, Troy Bolton. We go to school together." Sharpay pulled Troy closer to her.
"Ms. Evans, we haven't seen you in the spotlight lately. Have you already retired at the young age of seventeen?"
"Oh, of course not! I've just been taking a break and focusing on school." All of a sudden, they heard someone behind them yell 'KISS HER'. They looked around and now everybody was yelling along. Sharpay looked at Troy who was a little confused. Sharpay looked at him with a questioning look in her eyes. Suddenly, Troy leaned down and caught her lips in a kiss. Starting to get carried away, they both remembered where they were. When they parted, everyone cheered. Sharpay looked up at the cameras and said, "Hey! This is Sharpay Evans and you're on !"
Troy and Sharpay walked down the red carpet, with only a few interruptions. Once they were inside, an usher showed them the table they were at, and luckily, it wasn't near her mother's. They sat down and ordered drinks, and then they started talking.
"What was that back there? I felt like I was famous!" Troy was still amazed and adrenaline was still pumping through his body.
"You kind of are now. Look, I did a few years on Broadway when I was younger and then when I hit a certain age, I decided to keep it a secret from my friends. During middle school, I was on Broadway every summer. Didn't you ever wonder what I was doing in New York the whole time?"
"I guess I really never thought about it that much. But I know of some really famous Broadway stars that don't get treated like that. Why are you so different?"
"I kind of won a Tony." Sharpay said reluctantly.
"A TONY!! WHAT?!" Troy said a bit too loudly, causing many people to look over at their table.
"Shhh… Calm down. Yes, I won a Tony. It was when I was nine. I had just spent a year as the lead role in 'Les Miserables'. I became 'Broadway's Sweetheart', when everyone discovered that I was the youngest person to ever receive a Tony."
"Oh my god… my girlfriend is famous! That would've been nice to know." Troy held his head in his hands.
"Hey, can we talk about this later and just enjoy our evening? Oh, look! Here comes Ryan!" Sharpay stood up to hug her brother. Ryan looked at Troy and realized he was in shock.
"He found out didn't he?" Ryan said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, when he saw the red carpet and the cameras I think he kind of guessed something was up. I still haven't told him what this party is exactly."
"You mean that this is the 'Broadway Appreciation Awards'. And I bet you also didn't tell him that his girlfriend is getting an award."
"Not exactly." She looked down at Troy and noticed he was still nervous so she sat down in his lap. "Honey, look at me. It'll all be okay. I promise." Troy looked at her and nodded, so Sharpay sat back down in her own seat and Ryan sat across from her.
"Sis, have you seen mom tonight?" Ryan scanned the room quickly.
"No, I wasn't really planning on it."
"Well, I met Jake…. Shar, he's young enough to be our brother! It's disgusting." He made a gagging face and then looked around again, still nowhere to be found.
"They just keep getting younger and younger. I'm going to go to the bar. Do ya'll want anything?"
"I don't, but I would get Troy a beer, or something. He looks like he needs to loosen up a bit."
"Okay, I'll be right back." Sharpay walked to the bar and, while waiting on their drinks, felt someone put a hand on her back. She turned around expecting it to be Troy, but instead it was some dark-headed scruffy guy. "Umm… Can I help you?"
"Yeah, my name's Jake and I was just wondering what you were doing later this evening." He smirked at her and pinned her wrist to the bar. When Sharpay tried to pull away, his grip got tighter. She looked over at Troy and Ryan but they were intently talking and not paying attention. All of a sudden, Sharpay felt a hand slide up her inner thigh and she automatically called out Troy's name.
"Troy!" he turned around and saw her struggling against this guy and ran over, grabbing the guy by his jacket and pulling him off of her.
"Get your filthy hands off of her! You perv!" he walked over to where Sharpay was and took her in his arms. "It's okay, Pay." She just held on to him. Then, when Ryan came to his senses, he ran over and started a fight with the guy. Not realizing who it was at first.
"You jerk! Keep your hands off of my sister!" Ryan had pinned him to the floor and a look of astonishment come to his face. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged up by his shirt collar. He looked around to see his mother standing there.
"Ryan! What in the hell are you doing." She helped Jake up and brushed him off.
"Mom! He was all over Sharpay!" Evangeline Evans looked from her son, to her boyfriend, to her weeping daughter.
"Is this true Jake?" for a moment, it felt as though she had some warmth in her heart, but it all quickly faded when she heard what her boyfriend had to say.
"Eve, baby, I swear, she was all over me. I was just trying to get our drinks." The look of fury came back into her eyes and she walked over to Sharpay, who was still in Troy's arms.
"You little tramp! You aren't happy with your own man so you have to steal your mother's? How pathetic." She looked at her daughter one more time and then turned around to leave. Sharpay looked up at Troy:
"Let's get out of here, okay? And maybe we should just stay at your house tonight."
"Okay. Let's go." They walked out, avoiding all paparazzi, got the car, and drove home silently.