Sorry this is up so late you guys! Its my mums birthday, so we went out for a meal so I think that that is a good enough excuse! But yeah, here you go, enjoy, and tell me what you think!
A week had gone by since Troy saw Sharpay crying outside the hospital, and in that week he hadn't stopped thinking about it. As his ankle was quite badly sprained, troy wasn't attending basketball practise, and was allowed a free period to do pretty much whatever he wanted, provided however, seeing as he was on crutches, it didn't involve moving too much. He'd discovered recently that the seats in the auditorium were pretty comfy, and quite nice to sit and do homework in. If homework could ever be nice that is. He still hadn't seen the increasingly more elusive Sharpay outside of homeroom and English class, and seeing as he had struggled enough looking for her when he was able bodied, he knew that he had no hope now. Phoning wasn't an option either; each time he did the phone went straight through to voicemail, meaning the phone was switched off. And even if it was switched on, everyone had noticed Sharpay's sudden attraction to her iPod, and there was no way that she'd hear her cell phone with the ear buds in. So Troy pretty much gave up. Sharpay obviously didn't want to be found. She obviously didn't want to talk to anyone, so Troy gave her the space that she obviously wanted.
Yet again, unbeknownst to Troy, Sharpay was only a short distance away, in her dressing room. She liked it in here; it was HER room, her own personal room. It wasn't completely pink and tacky, as was Sharpay's bedroom at home; it was quite cooling and peaceful. There was a tatty leather couch in the corner that she had salvaged from the teachers' lounge when it was being refurbished, a mirror with lights, and a light green mini fridge, previously stocked with fruit and fresh water, now restocked with cola, chocolate and, strangely enough, cheese. She couldn't stand the stuff when Ryan was here, but now she loved it. She wasn't quite able to get her head around it. Sharpay no longer cared about her looks, her bun becoming increasingly messy every day, the bags under her eyes growing the more she cried herself to sleep, and her once perfectly manicured talons reduced to a mess the more she chewed them. She was falling apart, mentally and physically. She couldn't control anything in her life anymore, so why bother trying? She was going to get old, alone and afraid without Ryan by her side, so who would care what she looked like? She curled up on the couch, with a snickers bar and her iPod, and she loved it. The feeling of cutting herself off from everything. Everyone.
At lunch the next day, everyone was planning Troy's upcoming birthday celebration. Of course the chief wildcat had to have a massive party, with sex and alcohol, the works. It was going to be at the weekend, at Troy's admittedly huge house. Zeke was of course in charge of food, and Chad (and Chad's older brother) was given the task of procuring the booze for the party. They left at the end of break, with Troy's only task being the guest list. Troy wasn't particularly into handing out invitations, so told everyone that he wanted to invite in person. At the end of the day, there was one person that Troy wanted to invite that he hadn't seen.
Yet again Sharpay Houdini had managed to escape every situation in which she would be potentially made to talk to someone, so Troy decided that it called for action. It was his birthday, and she was (sort of) his friend, and he would damn well invite her to his party. He pulled up at the Evans house half an hour after leaving school. It took a few attempts to find, as he hadn't been to Sharpay's since 10th grade, when she held the most fantastically decadent party. Well it was fantastically decadent until he and Chad had pushed her into her own swimming pool, sending her running into the house in tears. She didn't return to the party after that. The memory stirred Troy's stomach slightly, no wonder she kept running away from him!
As he climbed out of his car, and hobbled towards the door of the mansion. It looked a bit intimidating Troy thought, but then again so did Sharpay and he could usually handle her, so he bit his lip and rang the bell. Whilst he waited for someone to answer the door, he looked around at his surroundings. He could see into the large separate garage opposite, and was filled with a pang of longing for these beautiful cars. He was a bit shocked though to see Mrs Evan's Porsche Cayenne
smashed up in the corner. It would have taken some knock to do that to a car as well built as the Cayenne. He was interrupted mid thought by the door suddenly opening, revealing Sharpay's mother. He'd met her a few times over the summer when working at Lava Springs, and was shocked at how gaunt she looked. It wasn't just Sharpay that was suffering, or the Cayenne, that had been knocked, it was the whole family.
She smiled at Troy, a smile, Troy noticed, didn't quite reach her eyes. She wasn't smiling to humour him; it was just that she couldn't muster up enough happiness inside her to make a true smile. At least Sharpay doesn't pretend she'd happy, Troy thought. Then he realised he'd just been standing on her doorstep staring at the obviously grief-stricken woman's face.
"Troy, do you want something?" Her voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"Err, yeah sorry! Hi Mrs Evans, is Sharpay about anywhere? I was just going to see if she was ok, and to invite her to this party I was having, but I haven't been able to find her anywhere because of her iPod and the crutches and yeah." Troy realised he was babbling. And shaking whilst babbling. He had no idea why he was so nervous; it was just Sharpay for god's sake! He looked back at Mrs Evans, and thought he saw a brief glimmer of amusement in her high. A very brief glimmer.
"I'm sorry Troy she's not; she's visiting Ryan at the hospital, and then going to leave her father some flowers. I'll make sure to tell her about the party when she gets back, and I'll ask her to ring you, ok?" Ryan, hospital? Dad, Flowers? His brain was struggling to comprehend with this new onslaught of facts.
"Urm, thanks Mrs Bolton, I'll just be off now." He hobbled back to the car, brain working furiously. What the hell had happened to Ryan?
Can you drive with a sprained ankle? Just realised. For all intents and purposed, lets pretend you can. :)