From AK-tutti; See what happens with a little bit patience? Two whole months didn't pass by, before this chapter was posted. Now that's a good thing, isn't it? I think so too. Anyhow, after this chapter has been posted, we only have one chapter left, and then we're done with this, and I can focus my attention on finishing I'd Rather Be Special (which I have just posted chapter 10 of), and Stessa can focus on her many projects. I also have a Chadpay hanging in the air, and I don't know, when I'll be able to write it, it's not really on my priority list at the minute, so it might be awhile. This chapter, in my opinion, will be exciting, with a little bit of drama, and some good news, which really depends on how you look at it. Anyways, here we are :).
From Stessa; So yeeah. Here we are, my dearies. I hope you like this chapter, and everything that goes with it. I wanna thank you for the awesome reviews, and then I have some cookies to hand out? Remember the freakish stalker dude from the last chapter? I have a very huge, very good chocolate chip cookie for Illustrated Banana who knew exactly who David stalked (you do like chocolate chip cookies, right?). It was Jennifer Aniston, whom I've loved the work of for many years, I mean, c'mon, how can you not like 'The Good Girl'?, so I guess I do sort of owe a cookie to my dear co-writer too, since she made two guesses because she knows me so well, but really… Where was Drew Barrymore, Kate Hudson and Sonja Richter in your guesses? I didn't see their names and they're my absolute top three! ;b
Disclaimer; We don't own anything in this chapter. We don't own the movie High School Musical, any of them, we don't own the characters, except for Gabriella's amazing boyfriend, we don't own 'Friends' and lastly we don't own any of the songs. Although Nathalie would wish she owned the song 'Girl Overboard' by Girls Aloud sigh, wouldn't that be awesome?
Twist of Love
Chapter 18.
"You know me, babe, I love the good living
Give me something I can stick, stick in
You give the girl another hit honey
You keep me waiting and I'll keep running now"
Sharpay sang into the mic at the rehearsals that afternoon, they were going to perform their new single 'Girl Overboard' tomorrow night, at this new popular show she couldn't remember the name of. She had been so dizzy lately, and things she should remember and wanted to remember, they just slipped right out of her foggy mind. She didn't know what it was, but she thanked God she could remember the lyrics to The Sweethearts' new single, which by the way debuted at no. 1, not that she was bragging or anything.
No, she certainly wasn't bragging. She didn't even feel the need to mention that the critics had described it as 'the comeback of the century', take that Spice Girls. She hadn't even mentioned it on The Sweethearts' MySpace, which featured their new hit single and 30 seconds snippets of three other songs on their Back For Good album, which would be out the following day. She hadn't called Gabriella either to squeal the good news to her, even though she was sitting right next to her in the couch, the day the news of the charting position broke. Nope, she had done none of those things.
Now, if you really believed all that, you couldn't have been much of a The Sweethearts fan, because Sharpay had done all of those things. The day after the news about The Sweethearts were back to charting at no. 1 broke, her and Troy went on a double date with Cole and Gabriella, and Sharpay almost couldn't contain her happiness when she thought about those two and how they would soon be engaged. Remembering her promise, she did contain herself, but it was a struggle, and she'd had many near slip ups since then, though she had been successful at covering them up, and she had gotten better at keeping the secret.
This was one of The Sweethearts' best rehearsals in history, though Sharpay was feeling a little weird, still she couldn't help but smile at her best friend, when Gabriella carried on with her part after Sharpay's.
"Can't turn around just to run out
Is there any light on the way home
'Cos somewhere along I played it wrong
And fell into a world so far from home"
When they were done singing the song, they were going to rehearse the dance routine as well, because everything had to be perfect, there could be no messed up performances, that's why the life as a popstar could be seriously hard at times. Though, for now all they had to do was sing and sound great, and be proud of themselves for doing it like that. A lot of bands and singers would lip-synch at most shows, and the only thing that would be live would be their dancing, but a long time ago Sharpay and Gabriella banned lip-synching and vowed to each other, that they would always sing live no matter what, and they had done that ever since. They got praised by many in the media for that, and they also got torn down a lot, because when they sang live, people could actually state their opinion of, whether they thought The Sweethearts were tone-deaf or not.
Sharpay sent Troy a smile, and Gabriella did the same to Cole. They had their guys with them, and they were watching them rehearse, clapping like maniacs and acting like groupies, it was their odd way of being supportive, and the girls wouldn't have it any other way. Especially Gabriella, Sharpay looked at her everyday, and each day she had never seen her best friend more in love, and she liked that.
They were about to join in together on the chorus of the song, when a weird, dizzy feeling came washing over Sharpay. You know, the kind of feeling when you stand up too quickly, and you get a head rush, and the room starts spinning? It was that kind of dizzy Sharpay felt, and she didn't know where it came from, it was just lately... lately, she wasn't feeling right, and that was the only way she could put it for now.
"Girl overboard
I thought I had it but I stumbled..."
Gabriella began on singing the chorus alone at first, not sensing that her best friend wasn't well, until she did as it was sung in the song; she stumbled. She stumbled at an attempt to sit herself down on the stage, at an attempt to let herself have a little breather before she carried on singing. Gabriella saw the unfortunate event before anybody else did, and she immediately stopped singing. She laid her mic down on the stage floor, and then she ran to her best friend's aid. Sharpay never crumbled like that, so it had to be something serious.
Sharpay accepted the hand Gabriella was offering by grabbing a hold of it, and then she let the Latina drag her up on her feet again. That had been an unpleasant feeling, losing control over your own body like that, the dizziness just took control over her body, and she couldn't do anything. When she was back on her two feet, she flashed her best friend a smile to let her know how thankful she was of her help.
Gabriella eyed her best friend, giving her the elevator look. Sharpay didn't look alright, she didn't look like she could go back to rehearsing just yet. Her blonde friend looked icky and pale, the 'I've seen a ghost' kind of pale, and it really wasn't a good look on her. Something was definitely up with the girl before her, though Gabriella had no clue as to what it could be, and neither had Sharpay, and she was the one feeling off.
Something had to be done, and Gabriella had to do it without the guys noticing, as for now they probably just thought, that Sharpay had been clumsy again or something. The Latina did the only thing she could think of right there, she grabbed a hold of Sharpay's arms and pulled her into a hug, so they could have on of those 'whisper-hugging-conversations'.
"Are you alright?" Gabriella whispered in her best friend's ear, and she could feel Sharpay shake her head in a soft, slow movement, so nobody would notice. "Do you wanna go somewhere else, where we can talk, and you can sit down for a bit? We can go to bathroom, and you can put some water in your face, maybe you'll light up a bit after that? What do you say?"
Sharpay quickly agreed and was let go by Gabriella, and then the Latina and the blonde linked hands with each other, and Sharpay was led to the bathroom, while the boys watched them leave, worried looks on their faces. Sharpay had just fallen after all, and now they were leaving the room together. Was everything okay? They wouldn't know until the girls got back to them.
Cole and Troy sat on two chairs at the end of the room, they were as far from the stage as they could be, when they were in the same room as it, and they hadn't been able to see everything that had been going on up there. They had no idea what was the cause of Sharpay's fall, and at first they had thought it had been Sharpay being Sharpay, but then the girls left the room, and they could only worry.
Of course they could just be needing a break, couldn't they? If that was the case, something didn't add up! Those girls were extremely professional when they needed to be, so wouldn't they have let people know that they needed a little break? Perhaps Troy's dad or something, or one of the people behind the show? They hadn't done any one those things, so they were left with wonders as to why the girls left like that.
"Do you think they're alright?" Cole questioned, both looking and sounding concerned, mostly on Sharpay's behalf, because she had been the Sweetheart down. Though he couldn't help but wonder what if something was up with his Gabs as well? That wouldn't be good, especially since he planned to propose to Gabriella that exact night. He had to hope for the best.
"I don't know." Troy replied, honestly, and he was just as concerned as Cole was. Concern didn't help them much, though, and they would have to find some way to pass time, until the girls got back, and they could find out what was up. "But for now, let's think they're just going to freshen up, and we'll find something to talk about in the mean time, until they get back and continue their rehearsal."
What on earth would they talk about? What did they have in common, neither of them had any clue, because they had never really talked much. The only thing Troy could think of, that they had in common, was the fact that they had both been with Gabriella, but he probably shouldn't bring that up, unless he wished to upset Cole. He didn't want to do that, Cole was a nice guy, that much Troy had gotten from him, even though they hadn't talked for real before.
Cole couldn't think of anything either, that the two of them would have in common. There was the fact, that they were both in love with a Sweetheart, but it wasn't really a guy thing to talk about feelings like that, was it? Maybe he should tell Troy about his plans to propose to Gabriella, maybe that could start some sort of conversation? Troy would at least know then what Cole had needed his girlfriend for, and he would know what Sharpay was keeping from him, because she had promised not to tell a living soul. It was definitely an idea. Maybe he could get some ideas out of Troy as well, what way would be great to propose?
"I was wondering if you were gonna propose to Sharpay, how would you do it?" Cole asked, chickening out at the last minute. He was on his way to tell Troy about his plan to propose to Gabriella, but he couldn't get himself to do it, so he had asked about the other thing, and he hoped, while Troy explained it to him, he would get the courage to come out and say it. It wasn't that he was afraid of Troy knowing or anything, he was just afraid to share the information, in case Gabriella would say no.
"Oh, that's a question with many possible answers. I guess I would go for the cheesy guy scenario, and I'd hide it on a plate under a big pile of chocolate chip cookies, and when she'd find it, I'd tell her 'now that one is not for eating', and then I'd take it off the plate. I'd get down on one knee, and then I'd propose to her." Troy explained with a big smile on his face at the thought that he would someday propose to Sharpay like that. "In dreamland she always says yes, you know, and hopefully she will in real life too."
"Yeah, hopefully." Cole agreed, smiling as well. He didn't know why, it was just a smiling kind of situation, so that was what he did. It was nice to know how Troy was gonna do it in the future, but that added another question to Cole's mind, and he was nervous when he asked it. "Why do you wanna propose like that?"
"Because it's cheesy romance, and at the same time it's personal. Hiding the ring is a classic, cheesy proposal, but who has ever done it under a pile of cookies? That makes it personal, seeing as I know Sharpay loves cookies." Troy explained with a smile again, though by now he was beginning to find all those questions about proposals weird, and he didn't get why they were coming from Cole at that point? "Why do you ask?"
"No reason." Cole first led off by saying, but he quickly changed his mind and decided to come clean with Troy. He scooted a little closer to Troy and lowered his voice, so nobody would do the 'fly on the wall' thing. "Okay, there is a reason. Here it goes; I'm planning on proposing to Gabriella tonight! That's why I all of the sudden needed Sharpay's help back then, because I needed help finding a ring that was Gabriella, and I also needed her to distract so nobody would find out that a Coella engagement was in the works."
"Wow!" Was all Troy said at first, because he was taking the information in. At least now he knew what secret Sharpay was keeping, and why she seemed to get all giddy when she was near Gabriella, it all made sense. It was a little unbelievable how grown up they were all getting; Cole and Gabriella were soon getting engaged, and he and Sharpay had talked about kids already. "So how do you plan on doing it?"
"That's what I don't know!" Cole exclaimed, he was really lost when it came to how. He had everything else worked out, he just didn't know how, and he needed to find out soon, because this thing was going down tonight. He was hoping for some advice from someone, but that someone couldn't be from Sharpay, especially not today when they were rehearsing. "I have a few ideas, but I'm not too sure. What do you think?"
"I'm as clueless as you about this. I mean, you certainly can't do the cookie thing with Gabs." Troy said with a chuckle, which Cole soon joined in on. When the chuckle was over, Troy brought Cole's question to mind. If he was Cole, and he was proposing to Gabriella, how would he do it? He thought it over many time in his head, and each time he came up with nothing. This was all on Cole's shoulders, like it should be. "You have to figure this one out yourself. What's your leading idea? Use that."
Cole thought about Troy's advice, and decided that the guy was right. He was gonna go with his leading idea. He was gonna sit on the couch with Gabriella and relax after a long hard day, which they did almost every night, but then all of the sudden he was gonna go out into the kitchen to get something, or so Gabriella would think. What he was really gonna do was, that he was gonna leave the apartment, then he was gonna wait a little and then ring the doorbell. He knew Gabriella would ask him to go get the door then, and when he wouldn't reply, she would have to go get it herself, and when she'd open the door, it would reveal Cole on the other side, down on one knee with the ring in his hand, and then he would ask her to marry him.
"That's great advice, thanks Troy." Cole said, patting Troy appreciatively on the shoulder. He couldn't contain from smiling, when the thought of how real it all was now entered his mind. Gabriella Montez was gonna be Mrs. Gabriella Austin soon. He saw the curious look on Troy's face, and guessed the guy wanted to know what exactly his leading idea was, but to everybody else than him (and you readers), it was gonna be a surprise. "You'll find out about it tomorrow, I'm sure of it. Gabriella will tell the story over and over again to everybody who wants to hear it, and she won't leave out any detail. So patience, until Gabriella is Mrs. Austin to be."
--
The girls tumbled into the bathroom together, Gabriella almost carrying Sharpay under the arm, because the blonde girl got one of her head rushes, and she hadn't been able to tell up from down, so the Latina supported her all she could. Sharpay let go of her best friend's arm and rushed to the sink, where she splashed some water in her face, hoping it would freshen her up a bit, that it would make her feel better.
Sharpay splashed water in her face, not only once but six times, before she finally sat down on the toilet, feeling defeated and worse than before. She would be able to live with it if it went away once in a while, but it didn't! It was a constant feeling, and she felt nausea at the same time as the room was spinning around. She had no idea about what it could possibly be, though she doubted that she could be sick, because she had the best health out of the two Sweethearts, and Gabriella rarely ever got sick, so neither did she.
Gabriella watched her best friend sit there on the toilet seat, and the Latina could only hide her worry lines, because she was sporting a new haircut with bangs. It worried her that Sharpay would bend like that, because even though the blonde had always been crazy and all over the place, she had been strong too. Gabriella wanted to fix it, she wanted to make her friend feel better, and the only way she could think of was talking to her, maybe Sharpay could explain how she felt, and then Gabriella would be able to help her feel better.
Deep breaths. Sharpay sat with her head almost between her legs, heaving in one deep breath after the other, like it was difficult for her to breathe. Gabriella hoped it was only from the shock of feeling this way, and it wasn't, let's say, heart problems. One more breath, and it was more heaving than all the rest, since it had now been mixed with tears, and a concerned Gabriella knelt down before her best friend.
"Tell me what's wrong, Pay?" Gabriella questioned with pleading eyes, as she stroked Sharpay's cheek with the back on her hand to comfort her. Sharpay looked up from the floor and stared Gabriella right into the eyes, tears in her own, and the Latina had to contain the gasp urging on. "Look at you! You're all pale and icky all over your face, and now you're even in tears. Do you want us to cancel the show tomorrow?"
Sharpay shook her head, because then she would be letting their fans down, and she didn't want that. "No, I'll be fine. It's not a problem." Sharpay said wit such a weak voice, that Gabriella could barely hear it, and then she looked down between her legs again, because it required too much of her strength to hold her head up. "It'll be gone tomorrow, just you wait. And if not, I guess I'll take some aspirin then."
"Sharpay Denice Evans! This is your health we're taking about here." Gabriella exclaimed and jumped up from her kneeling position. She soon calmed down, though, when she realized, she wasn't in any position to lecture Sharpay, all she could really do was be there for her, and then she knelt back down. "Why don't you tell me how you really feel, and tell me how long it's been going on?"
"I don't wanna be a bother!" Sharpay said, her voice getting weaker and weaker, as she was getting more nauseas. She had to get rid of that annoying feeling soon or she'd go insane, and she had a feeling that it would be gone soon, because the nausea got closer and closer to her throat. She just hoped that Gabriella would move in time, otherwise she would be covered in God knows what.
"You could never be a bother, so don't be ridiculous." Gabriella said, offering Sharpay one of her famous, friendly smiles. Barely had those words left her mouth, though, before she was wearing Sharpay's puke on her shoes, but she didn't get mad like most people would, she shot Sharpay a sympathetic look. "I'm guessing nausea is among those things you're feeling, eh?"
"Nausea, dizziness, cold sweating... You name it, I'm feeling it!" Sharpay explained with same old, weak voice, she could still feel the puke in the mouth, so she struggled to get up from the toilet, and then she went over to the sink to wash the disgusting taste out of her mouth. When she realized she couldn't wash it out, she sank to the floor, shaking her head in defeat. It felt like nothing could make it go away. "To add to my misery, I'm soar all over, and I feel a little bloated. I... maybe it's the flu or something, but I hardly ever get sick?"
Gabriella moved to sit next to Sharpay on the floor, and then she put a comforting arm around her. She debated with herself, if she should tell Sharpay, what she thought was up? Her best friend's symptoms sounded an awful lot like she could be pregnant, but Gabriella felt bad about having to tell her that. Unfortunately she had to, so Sharpay could get to the bottom of all this, and she could take a test to find out for sure.
"Sharpay, you wanna know what I think?" Gabriella asked her friend, not knowing why she even bothered, because she was gonna tell her anyways, so she didn't wait for a reply and just went out and said what she thought was up with her best friend. "I think you might be pregnant."
Sharpay blinked.
"Uh… Shar?" Gabriella questioned and stared at her best friend. The blonde hadn't moved an inch since Gabriella's comment. She had only blinked right the moment the word 'pregnant' had left Gabriella's lips. She hadn't said anything against it, declined it or freaked out yet. She was acting rather un-Sharpay-like and now Gabriella really believed there was a reason to freak out, "Don't you have any comment to that?"
When Sharpay blinked again, Gabriella sighed in defeat.
What was she going to do with this girl? Any normal person, who unplanned thought they might be pregnant, would probably freak out, right? They would probably be in shock when they realized they were only still a teenager. But Sharpay. No, she just sat there totally stunned. Something must be really off in her head if she didn't react. She must feel really sick.
"Sharpay?" Gabriella questioned, this time her voice was a bit harder so Sharpay would know that she really wanted an answer.
"I'm not… I'm not pregnant." Sharpay said, and Gabriella didn't know if she should laugh or cry. Laugh that Sharpay had finally decided to use her mouth to what she got it for; speak, or cry because she was clearly in denial. If she wasn't pregnant, then what the crap was she? "I can't be pregnant." The blonde finished.
Gabriela arched an eyebrow in annoyance, "You're not a virgin are you?"
"No." Sharpay said, putting more pressure on 'no' that she probably should have.
Gabriella ignored it and continued on, "And you and Troy have had sex within the last… thirty days or so, am I correct?"
Sharpay gave her a 'duh'-look.
"So then I'm pretty sure that you could be pregnant, Sharpay." Gabriella finished. Not that she wished for her best friend to be in that position, it was just a very possible thing, and she wanted Sharpay to be a where of that so she could do what she had to do. She didn't want to get into the whole mess – she'd be there to support her friend, but she wanted Sharpay to make all the decisions, "I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just… I'm facing reality, here." Gabriella finished, and reached out for Sharpay's hand to squeeze it tight.
Sharpay pushed her hand away and got off of the floor quickly, ignoring yet another head rush. It wasn't a possibility for her to be pregnant. Her and Troy were too young to be parents. She knew that if you did something you would have to face the consequences but in her case there would be no consequences so she couldn't figure out why they were even discussing this. It was stupid and unnecessary. There wasn't a problem at all, and she wished Gabriella would just be quiet about it, "I'm not pregnant." She told Gabriella, as she grabbed the sink to have something to support herself by.
Gabriella shot her a sour look – she hated it when Sharpay was in denial about something, because that girl was so damn stubborn, "You might be, Sharpay." She insisted as she got off of the floor as well, dusting off her butt in the process, "I'm just saying that-"
"I'm not pregnant?" Sharpay continued, now a happy look on her face, "You're right! Glad we agree!"
"Sharpay, stop being stupid." Gabriella said, and Sharpay shot her a mean look. Gabriella didn't know which was worse… That Sharpay kept acting like a five-year-old while she was (without a doubt) pregnant or that she clearly was in denial while all the facts where there. It was a stupid situation and Gabriella wanted it to go away.
"I'm not being stupid, Gabby, I'm being realistic." Sharpay told her with a very calm voice, which surprised Gabriella; she must be sure she was right, "I'm not pregnant, okay? I'm too young to be pregnant. I'm only nineteen, so there."
Gabriella shook her head, crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently into the floor, "That's not a good enough reason for me, Sharpay."
"Well yeah…" Sharpay begun and pushed herself away from the sink again, completely ignoring how uncomfortable she felt, "That's the one you're gonna get!" she gave Gabriella a look before she turned on her heel and marched towards the door to get out of there. She didn't want to face the facts, and by being with Gabriella she would have to, so she just wanted to get out. She hoped Gabriella would just let it go and let her be, but of course the Latina wouldn't – she reached a hand out and grabbed Sharpay's wrist tightly, to keep the blonde inside the bathroom.
As Sharpay turned around to object, Gabriella spoke, "I want you to do one thing for me." she said, and her eyes went as deeply into Sharpay's brown ones as they could – and that was very far.
Sharpay sighed. If she did this then maybe Gabriella would leave her alone and realize that she was wrong. It was worth a try, "Sure." She said, and she could see Gabriella sigh in relief, "I'll do anything. I promise"
"Take a pregnancy test."
The words slipped out of Gabriella's mouth and Sharpay felt her mouth go dry. If she took a pregnancy test she would have to deal with whatever answer came up, and that was something she definitely didn't want to do. She could do anything, really, she could… except that.
"A promise is a promise, you know that." Gabriella informed her in such a sweet, innocent voice, which Sharpay knew, by the way, was totally not her real self and she only used it when she was either winning an argument, trying to talk people into doing something they didn't want, or sweet-talking to either babies or animals.
Sharpay sighed and stared at the floor in objection, but she knew she had lost this battle, "Fine." She mumbled, before she turned around on her heel again, and this time, Gabriella did let her go.
--
"How much time left?" Sharpay questioned.
"Thirty seconds." Gabriella replied as she checked her watch, even if she could have told the time left without checking since she had been counting down inside her head. She was sitting on the toilet seat, chills rushing all over her body. She felt rather nauseous because of her nerves and she was pretty sure that she was sweating like a pig and she shouldn't lift her arms. She had troubles finding her breath because she didn't want to know this answer.
And then she couldn't help but think… That if she felt this way, how wouldn't Sharpay be feeling right this second? The blonde Sweetheart leaned against the wall, arms crossed firmly across her chest. She looked more nervous than Gabriella had ever seen her, and she was probably anxious to see the result. She had objected even further when Taylor had showed up earlier with the pregnancy test (for many good reasons neither Sharpay herself nor Gabriella could buy one, since The Sweethearts buying a pregnancy test would cause the tabloids to go crazy), but the black beauty and the Latina had convinced her to take one like she had promised, and it turned out that the blonde was actually rather nervous about the results even if she was convinced she was too young to be a mother.
Speaking of Taylor; she was in the kitchen right now, heating up some water so they could get some tea once the whole test-taking was over, and she had made them promise that they wouldn't check the result before she was back in there.
"Gabriella?" Sharpay whimpered and raised her eyes to meet her friend's, "I don't feel too good…" she lowly said.
Gabriella could feel her eyes bulge out of her head and she quickly jumped off of the toilet and opened the lit, just as Sharpay bounced forward and knelt down in front of it and started to puke up the lunch they ate about two hours ago. Gabriella scrunched her face up in disgust and turned away from the sight; just the smell of vomit made her want to throw up too, it was rather unpleasant.
Taylor appeared in the doorway, and the other girl seemed much more confident in this area; she brushed Sharpay's hair back slightly, and while Gabriella would have wanted to be the one to do that, she had done so a lot lately for Sharpay and it was nice to get a break. She would do anything for Sharpay, though.
"Nerves?" Taylor questioned when Sharpay pulled back and leaned herself against the nearby cupboard, while she brushed off her mouth with the back of her hand, as Taylor reached for some paper towels, "You'll be alright, Sharpay." She continued and gave the blonde the paper, so she could get cleaner.
As Sharpay started to wipe off her mouth, Gabriella took a step closer to Taylor and reached up on her toes to speak to her, "It's not nerves, it's morning sickness in the afternoon."
"No, it's nerves." Sharpay mumbled as she threw the paper towels into the toilet and reached a hand out to flush it. She shot Gabriella a stare and pulled herself up from the floor. "It has got to be done now, right?" she whispered, and Gabriella had to admit, she looked rather uncomfortable. This was the matter of her whole future (maybe even her career?), so of course she would be scared. But Gabriella knew it would be okay. No matter what happened, they would always be there for her, and she knew Troy would too, because he was a good guy like that.
Gabriella felt herself nod as she checked her watch again, even if she knew by heart that more than a minute had passed since it was time, "You go ahead, Shar. Take a look." She said. Her heart started to beat like crazy and her eyes fell on Taylor, who looked rather nervous too. It was funny – Gabriella had always had a feeling, by meeting Taylor a few times, that she wasn't one to get nervous like that. But she guessed anyone would be.
Sharpay clenched her jaw and gave first Gabriella's hand a squeeze, then Taylor's, before she took a step towards the sink where the test rested, with the front down. She lifted it slowly up and studied it for a few seconds, before she looked up at Taylor, who had the box in her hands, after taking it. "What's it supposed to look like?" she whispered.
"That's depending on whether you want to be pregnant or not." Taylor replied and looked up at Sharpay quickly, before at the back of the box again.
Gabriella let out a deep breath, "What colour is it, Shar?" she asked. This was getting too much; she had to know whether or not she'd soon be an aunt.
Sharpay pretty much ignored her question and looked at Taylor again, "What if I'm pregnant?" she asked her, voice quivering more than Gabriella had ever heard it quiver before, "What colour is it supposed to be if I'm pregnant?"
"It's supposed to be blue." Taylor said, sounding rather bored. She looked up at Sharpay again and threw the box into the sink. She probably just wanted to know the result, much like Gabriella just did.
Sharpay looked at the test again and Gabriella watched as her face went from emotionless and to stiff. Ohh… That couldn't be good news, could it? Then the question was just, whether she was sad that she was pregnant, or sad that she wasn't pregnant, because she had figured out she might actually want this baby?
"It's blue."
Gabriella swore that her heart stopped for a second. Blue. Blue? BLUE!? It was friggen blue! "Didn't Taylor just…" she trailed off and her look went to Taylor, who now smiled like a complete idiot and nodded her head to match the smile, "You're… it's blue? You're pregnant?"
Sharpay turned the test around so they could both see the clear, blue line across it. It was blue. She was really pregnant. Gabriella didn't know what to feel. So far it had only been a possibility, but now it was actually true. They were having a baby. Troy and Sharpay would be parents, and Gabriella would have a little person to love so, so much. It was surreal. It was… weird. It was weird to think of.
"Wow!" Taylor said and smiled warmly at Sharpay, "You're pregnant, Sharpay! Congratulations!"
Sharpay's face scrunched up in confusion, before she shot Taylor a sour look, "What? No, Taylor! No 'congratulations'!" she threw the damn test in the sink alongside the box and closed her eyes tightly, before looking at them again, "This isn't good, you guys! It's bad! It's very, very bad! I told myself I wouldn't be pregnant! I'm only nineteen. For Christ's sake!"
Gabriella felt her throat tighten as she took a step forward and calmly placed a hand on Sharpay's shoulder, "I'm very sorry, Shar…" she whispered and looked the blonde deeply in the eyes, "But don't you think that this could be a good thing?"
Sharpay shook her head and swallowed loudly, "How Gabriella?" she asked, a sad look across her face, "How's this a good thing? I'm in the middle of my career! I don't have time for this right now."
Taylor butted in, this time much calmer, "You'll make time for this, Sharpay. It happened to one of my father's clients too, okay? Sometimes things come up, even for celebrities, and they need time." she glanced quickly at Gabriella, "And I'm sure Gabriella won't run off and find a new Sweetheart while you're gone. She'll wait for you, I know that."
"Of course, Sharpay!" Gabriella said, when she realized that that might be what bugged the blonde, "You're my best friend. You're one part of The Sweethearts. No one can replace you, and we'll make this work, okay?"
Sharpay seemed to warm up more and more as they spoke to her about this. She couldn't help but smile lightly when Gabriella placed a hand on her still flat stomach, "You really think that this might be a good thing?" she asked them both. Her brown eyes were filled with fear, but somewhere in those deep pools, Gabriella did see happiness.
"It's a wonderful thing!" Gabriella said and tried to sound as convincing as possible, because even if this was an amazing thing, there were still other things they needed to sort through and not all of them would be good in the same way.
"It's amazing." Taylor contributed with her point of view.
"And Troy will be so very happy." Gabriella softly finished, and this she meant. She knew Troy would dance around in joy for this. She knew him so well (after all, they did use to date, which she preferred not to think much about), and he wanted a family – especially with Sharpay because he loved her so much. They might be young, but he'd stand by her.
Sharpay scrunched her nose up, "Do you really think he will?" she questioned.
"Oh my God, are you kiddin' me!?" Taylor exclaimed, a chuckle streaming through her voice, "He'll be thrilled! He loves you, Sharpay, he does."
Gabriella nodded in agreement and moved her hand from Sharpay's stomach when Sharpay's own came down to rest there in search for her baby, "Yeah…" she whispered and smiled warmly at them both, "This'll be a good thing. And you know why?"
"Why?" Gabriella whispered, a happy smile coming to her lips too, and she saw that Taylor had one coming as well.
"Because I said so." Sharpay finished and glanced down at her stomach in wonderment.
Taylor placed an arm around Gabriella's shoulder just as the kettle went off in the kitchen.
--
Sharpay didn't exactly know how to act around Troy right now. She just walked next to him and hugged her secret. Of course it wasn't much of a secret since both Gabriella and Taylor knew about it, but Troy still didn't know and it kind of weirded her out. She wanted to tell him, she really did. It just wasn't as easy as that. How do you say such thing? How do you break the news to your boyfriend that you'll be young parents? She knew she had known him for a rather long time, but they had just gotten back together and she knew that he would have waited with children until they had gotten married, if he had been able to choose. She knew though, that they'd never get rid of the baby. That just wasn't an option, so they'd have to deal no matter what. It comforted her though, that she knew he'd be there – he'd never run off, that was for sure.
Troy couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but as they walked around the park together, hands intertwined, he felt that Sharpay was acting weird. Well… weirder than usual (if that was even possible). He would have found it kind of cute, hadn't she been sick earlier that day during rehearsals, but like this it was just plain scary. She was sort of off in her own world the entire time. She hadn't spoken much and normally she spoke all the time.
She had hung out with Taylor and Gabriella earlier, he knew that, but he found it off that something could have happened between them? What could it be? Those girls were so tight friends and they rarely argued. Of course it could have been something with one of the other girls that bothered her, something they had told her, or something that had happened to them, but he still found that rather unbelievable.
She would have told him, wouldn't she?
He had picked her up by her apartment right as Taylor and Gabriella were leaving. Chad was with him and he had picked Taylor up – they had to go to a dinner party at Mr. McKessie's so they had to leave pretty quickly. Troy had told Gabriella from Cole that he would be waiting in her apartment. She had looked at him rather questionably, but with a mischievous glint in her eye (which he really didn't get? Why was it mischievous? What did she know that he didn't? Hopefully not anything about the proposal; Sharpay couldn't have let it slip… or could she?). Eventually though she had hugged Sharpay goodbye and left on her bike, and Sharpay and him had continued down the street, aiming for the park.
And now they had been walking around for an hour or so, and Sharpay hadn't spoken once. He should probably say something, shouldn't he? If something bothered her, he really ought to help her sort it out. It would be the right thing to do, and he really wanted to be the best boyfriend possible.
"Hey… So how was everything with the girls?" he asked her, as they turned a corner and just avoided being hit in the head by a football. It was nice how Sharpay, by just being dressed in a sweatshirt with the hood up, wouldn't be recognized.
She turned to him, questions in her brown pools, "What?" she wanted to know, "Why are you interested in the girls?" Sharpay continued. She knew she was being sort of paranoid, but as their walk went on, she kept on believing that some scary man would jump out of the bushes and tell Troy that she was pregnant before she got the chance to do it herself. She was afraid that he might figure it out, even if that was by no means possible. Hello… How could it be!?
Troy shrugged lamely (he surely did feel lame), "For no reason…" he trailed off again, and they fell into another silence. He couldn't help but let his mind wander at times like these. It did happen sometimes (not a lot) that they were just quiet together, and he always thought of other stuff while. Like… what Chad was up to for the moment, what basketball game that was on TV, what dog he would like to have when he got older, and right now, well… He pretty much thought about Cole and how far he was with this proposal.
Cole had politely asked him earlier if he could keep Sharpay out of Gabriella's apartment for the evening. It was a rather good question, actually, since those girls hung around each other pretty much 24/7. That was also why he had decided they should go for a walk. At least if they were at the park, Sharpay wouldn't be at Gabriella's apartment. That was kind of clever of him, if he did say so himself.
"So what happened earlier today during rehearsals?" he asked her instead. He had to say something, right? The silence would kill them both eventually, and he definitely didn't want that. And it was a good question to ask, since she had acted strange back then too (notice the 'too'… she did act strange a lot).
She stopped for a second and gave him a funny look, "Happened?" she asked him, eyes huge and mouth twitched weirdly, "Did something happen during rehearsals? When was that? While I was in the bathroom with Gabby!?" she hit him lightly on the side of his arm, "That's no fair, Troy! Couldn't you have kept it to yourself that something happened there? You know how much I hate it when I feel left out. You're doing that just right now!"
He started at her oddly. He swore that somewhere along her childhood she must have hurt her brain. Whichever normal person would react the way she just reacted to a perfectly ordinary question? Why couldn't she just answer the question and then move on? She knew perfectly well what he referred to and that she was the thing that happened, and yet she had to go and act like this. It was completely ridiculous.
"Don't you realize how completely stupid you're sounding right now, babe?" Troy asked her, trying to be as patient as possible, using the gentlest voice he could muster. "You know I meant when you left the stage!"
"I had to pee, Troy." She said and shook her head at him, before she started to walk again, and he just followed her, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Please, tell me I'm allowed to pee, now." she continued to mumble.
He snorted, "You can pee all you want to, I don't care."
Sharpay bit her lip to keep herself from responding to that. She didn't want to say anything she might regret, because she didn't want to fight with him. She felt bad enough as it was and with extra stress it'd just get worse. She hated that he didn't know, because then he might be able to understand, but she just couldn't tell him right now… She had to figure out how exactly to break it to him, and she had to pick the perfect moment. It just wasn't easy, but she knew she had to.
She knew she was being ridiculous towards him right now, during this walk, but she didn't handle pressured situations very well. She wasn't good at keeping secrets, especially not from people she really cared about. She hated it, she really, truly did. She couldn't wait to get it off her chest, but for now she wanted Gabriella to get engaged first – she wanted the other Sweetheart to have her moment first.
"Hey…" Troy softly said, and slipped his hand into hers. She couldn't explain how much she appreciated that he just kept on trying, kept on being nice to her, even if she was being an idiot. She loved him so much for that, and he must love her because he put up with it. She told herself that she would respond nicely to him from now on, even if this was a shitty day, and she wanted to be in her bed.
"Hi." She mumbled and squeezed his hand tight.
"You're sad today." Troy said, and she loved him for stating the obvious right that moment. He just knew her so well, "Let's forget about rehearsals and everything else, and focus on you." He paused and they walked in silence for a few seconds, "You want me to cheer you up?"
She gave him a smile, "That's very cute, but I don't think you can."
"I'll buy you a giant chocolate chip cookie?" he suggested, and before she even knew what had happened to herself, she cracked a smile, and Troy couldn't' help but laugh.
--
Cole fidgeted in his seat again, and Gabriella gave him a funny look. She didn't know what could possibly be wrong with him, but he had acted rather strange the entire evening. His mouth had twitched funnily, his eyes kept moving around and he kept on patting his left jeans pocket, which did bulge out rather weirdly.
The first sign of weirdness she had noticed was when Troy told her that Cole waited in her apartment for her. Of course he did have a key, but he rarely used it. She had, of course, hurried home on her bike and found him there with dinner. Surprised and very happy, she had joined him for some regular spaghetti with meatballs. After dinner they had gone to the couch to relax together like the did practically every evening, but he had twitched and moved and looked uncomfortable, so eventually Gabriella had moved away from him since she wanted to lie comfortably.
She wanted to ask him what was up, but she also knew she shouldn't. He was a big guy, he'd tell her when he needed to. He had been strange a lot lately, though, and it worried her, but she wanted him to come to her. He probably wouldn't tell her anyway because he was a guy like that, and he sorted out his own problems.
Gabriella just focused on the TV again. Friends was on (when was that not on?), and it was the last episode of the sixth season, 'The One With the Proposal'. Gabriella had watched this enough times to know that when Chandler asked Monica to marry him, it was really beautiful – she cried the first time (and probably also the second and the third) she watched it, and it just never got old.
"Okay!"Chandler said, as he got down on one knee, just like Monica was, and Gabriella felt herself hold her breath – this was the moment!,"Okay! Okay! Oh God, I thought… Wait a minute, I-I can do this… I thought that it mattered what I said or where I said it. Then I realized the only thing that matters is that you, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be." He started to cry and Gabriella felt herself being pulled in even further, "And if you'll let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way. Monica, will you marry me?"
As Monica said yes, Gabriella turned to Cole, "Was that not the most perfect proposal?" she asked him, and he fidgeted in his seat again. She decided to ignore that and just awe over what she just saw. Monica and Chandler were perfect for each other in so many ways and it wasn't often that people found love like that. It was amazing, really. She wanted to be as happy as those two became after they got close to each other. "It was so beautiful…" she reached for the remote and turned off the TV, so she could carry on her conversation with Cole, who had yet to answer her properly, "I mean… Have you ever seen a more perfect proposal?"
"Excuse me." Cole quickly said, and stood up from the couch very suddenly. He looked all hot and bothered – he looked freaked out and nervous.
Gabriella felt her mouth go open, "Where are you going?" she asked him. She felt like she was being a bother to him this evening, it was really freaking her out.
"I'm just gonna…" he motioned for the kitchen and his hand went to his pocket again, before he finished with a hoarse voice, "Go get some water."
"Alright, could you bring me some juice?" Gabriella questioned before she turned back to the TV and turned it on again, after realizing that she wouldn't be having a normal conversation with him this evening. Normally she would get really annoyed when people treated her like this, but she just couldn't with Cole. There was something so adorable and childish about him this night; she couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but she loved every moment of it. She wished that she knew what it was that made him squirm though, but she figured she'd find out eventually.
There was commercials – Pepsi, Marc Ecco, some trailer for a new, lame movie, a Maxfactor Makeup one, and a cell phone commercial – and Gabriella listened carefully to what went on in the kitchen, when they were over. She couldn't hear Cole out there. What was he doing? It wouldn't take so dang long to get some juice and water. Most likely, and this was if people were really slow, three minutes, and since she knew commercials took at least five, she found this rather weird.
Suddenly the doorbell rang and she sighed in annoyance. Alright, so she was too comfortable to go get that. The next episode of Friends would start in a second and she wanted to catch the beginning of that. She turned the volume down and turned her head towards the entrance to the kitchen,
"Cole, could you get that, sweetie?" she hollered, and then listened very closely for an answer. When she didn't get one and there was another knock, she tried once more, "Could you get the door, honey!?" she said, trying to speak louder this time.
Yet again, she didn't hear from him so she turned the volume down and listened closely for any sign of movement from the kitchen, but she could hear nothing. There was yet another knock on the door, so she hit the mute button on the remote control, before she threw it in the couch and got off of it. She wondered what the fuck Cole was up to now since he wouldn't even get the door when he was up from the couch anyway. It bothered her because she had been so comfortable in there.
She went through the kitchen but couldn't see Cole. It was now getting very, very creepy, actually, but since someone kept banging on the door, she figured she'd have to send a search-party out for Cole after she had talked to whoever it was. He was a big boy anyway – he could handle himself, and he was probably just in the bathroom or something.
She went to the hallway and quickly checked her appearance in the mirror before she turned around and went to open the chain, but found it already undone. Hadn't she put that on when she came home? She was positive that she had. Maybe Cole had unlocked it again? She shook it off and reached out for the doorknob. As she turned the knob down and swung the door open, she came face to face with a very surprising sight;
Cole was down on one knee in the dirty hallway, but he had a beautiful ring in his hands.
She didn't have time to digest everything yet, to take it in and realize what it meant, before Cole spoke, "Gabriella?" he said, his voice filled with emotion, "Do you want to marry me?"
From Stessa; Hi all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We did our best, so yeah, we hope that's enough. I couldn't resist adding in the part in Friends where Chandler proposes to Monica, since it's just the cutest moment ever. And since I mentioned in my other A/N that I love Jennifer Aniston, you probably thought 'Aha, I bet she likes Friends', and you know what? I fucking love it. And I love you guys! I wanna thank you for the reviews once more, and ask you to review again. There's one chapter left, so this is almost your last chance to say something. So please, I'm asking you nicely ;b
From AK-tutti; Yay :)! Chapter 18 done, and much faster than last time, eh? So this is quite sentimental all of this, because now as we've posted this, we only have one chapter left to write, and then it'll be all over. Stessa and I feel very sad about that, but of course it couldn't go on forever. We just hope you've enjoyed all of this, and you'll enjoy the very last chapter, when it's posted, and for now you'll review this amazing chapter. Chapter 18 needs reviews, you guys ;b. And we made a cliffhanger especially for you, even if it might be obvious, what's gonna happen next, but still. Anyway, here we are, so please review :).
Stessa & AK-tutti were here :)