Brain Drain

Chapter Two

A Kiss of Halloween

"I don't know how to tell you this, but…" the woman on the other end of the phone took a breath and softly said: "your sister was in a car crash."

Ryan was in shock, he seriously could not breathe. Wasn't Sharpay in her room, trying to push all of the arguing out of her system and get some sleep? He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He looked around, thinking of something to say. But he just couldn't. He was too scared, scared for his sister. What was wrong with her? Was she okay? He needed to say something to the woman; he wasn't just going to stand there, was he?

"Sharpay?" was all he could say.

"Yes, Sharpay." He looked around the room, looking for Sharpay, but she wasn't going to be in his room. He needed to check her own room.

He managed to tell the woman, "be right back" and he left his cell on his bed, walking along the corridor to Sharpay's room. The walk to her room seemed to take forever, it was dragging and dragging and although their house was big, the corridor wasn't that long.

He opened her door, the smell of her perfumed scent rushing out the door and into his nostrils. He took a deep breath in and knocked softly on the open door, looking inside. There was no answer, no answer at all. Not even a shuffle about.

"Shar?" He said, stepping further into the room, and looking at the messed up quilt covers on her bed. He looked around the room, checking everywhere in her room. Then he realised he had missed her walk in closet, he walked up to it and opened it.

"Sharpay, are you in here?" Once again, no answer. He closed the door to the closet and sat on her bed. He didn't dare go downstairs, and he didn't think Sharpay would either. He wanted check everywhere upstairs, but he was afraid, what happened if the floorboards creaked, and his Mom and Dad heard? He would be dead; he was supposed to be asleep.

Once more, he turned his head, looking around the room, noticing nothing new. He felt a shiver on the back of his neck, he turned to see the window was a little open and the curtains were flowing. He went up to the window and opened it, looking out at all the other houses outside. No sign of her.

"Shit," he exclaimed and walked back into his own room.

He picked up his cell phone and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello." The woman said, returning to her 'normal' happy tone of voice.

"Sharpay's in-in… hospital?" he stuttered, hoping she wasn't and this was just an un-called for prank.

"Yes, that's correct."

"What-What happened?"

"It was just a little car crash,"

"Little, HOW LITTLE?!" he raised his voice, getting more worried by the minute.

"It was just a… collision with another car."

"…what?"

"She's okay, I mean she's just… unconscious."

"Just?! Ugh, you hospital people annoy me to hell!" He sat down on his bed, slamming his hand down on it angrily. "What injuries does she have?"

"She has a small injury to the head. The doctor says she'll be fine and dandy in the morning. You can come see her then."

"Oh, okay… Are you sure she's okay?"

"Yes, absolutely." He hung up his phone, without saying goodbye. That woman was just too happy to be real; it was like she was a robot. Getting programmed to say all this crap.

Ryan set down his cell back where it was and flung himself onto his bed. He was really worried; he wanted her to be fine. He wanted her to be able to go to school tomorrow, go to drama, have classes and more. He just wanted her to be okay, that was normal for a brother, right?

He lay on his back, closing his eyes but all he could see was his parent's fighting and Sharpay in a hospital bed. He opened his eyes again and shook his head. He really didn't want to think of them things, he wanted to think of happy good things, or he wouldn't be able to get some sleep.

He had just realised that the fighting had died down, he sat up, trying to listen closely for any other signs the 'war' was still on. As soon as he sat up, the shouting started again. He sighed and pulled the covers over himself and the pillow over his head, trying to block it out. Tomorrow wasn't going to be a good day.

--

His alarm clock rang, blasting through the whole room. He groaned and sat up, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth and turned his alarm off. He instantly thought of Sharpay and seeing her. He done the normal things that every teenage boy did on a morning. He took a five minute shower, combed his hair, shoved on some clothes and grabbed his cell.

He trudged down the stairs, half asleep. Thankfully the 'rents weren't awake yet, and he was so glad about that. He didn't want to explain the whole Sharpay situation to them. They would freak. He grabbed a banana and a bottle of water out of the fridge, then going to grab Sharpay's keys he realised they weren't there. She'd crashed it. How was he going to get to school?

"Damn, um…" He looked at his Dad's keys and quickly grabbed them and ran out before anyone noticed.

He drove to the hospital, very carefully in his Dad's car. He stepped out of it and shut the door, locking them and entering the hospital. He walked up to the woman at the counter.

"Sharpay Evans," he said, very distractedly.

"Oh, you're Mr. Evans?" He nodded, not looking at the woman or paying any attention to her at all. "I spoke to you on the phone… last night?" He nodded again.

"Can you just tell me where she is, please?" The woman nodded and gave directions to Sharpay's private room.

He made his way to the room, as fast as he could. He saw the room number and knocked quite loud so if she was asleep she would wake up.

"Come in!" She said, in her sing-song voice. Ryan stepped in the room and shut the door behind him. As soon as he looked at Sharpay he heard her screech.

"RYAAAANNN, HIHIHIHI! I MISSED YOU." She said, with a child-like voice.

"Yeah, missed you too."

The two twins happily chatted along with each other and Ryan started to notice her child-like movements and voice. He looked at her to see if there was anything different. Nothing. Well, she had a couple of cuts on her head and hands, of which Ryan could see.

"Ryan?" Ryan looked up and into her eyes, "why am I here?"

"Why are you where?"

"Here. In the hospital." Ryan looked at her confused, she didn't remember?

"The accident?" He said, trying to make it easier for her.

"What accident? Did Mommy have an accident? Did Daddy?!" The fear of her parent's harm swept into her eyes like a broom sweeping up some forgotten dust.

"No, no… you."

"Me?" She giggled, "I didn't have an accident, silly."

"What?"

Sharpay looked at Ryan; there was something different about him. He was a lot taller, his hair was darker and his face looked so much older than before. He looked like he'd lost a little weight, and his muscles were bigger. He was wearing clothes that he wouldn't have worn before, and he didn't have a hat on. He talked differently; his voice was deeper in pitch.

Ryan had changed, and so had Sharpay.

"Sharpay, what's the last thing you remember?" Ryan asked, curiously.

"Hmm…" she got a 'thinking' look on her face. "The Halloween party,"

"What Halloween party?"

"Troy's."

"…" Ryan didn't say anything. He remembered that night, five years ago…

Sharpay took a sip of her blackcurrant juice and set it down on the buffet table which had a Halloween covering on it. She was at Troy's house, he was having a Halloween party, and of course she was invited. She looked around the room; there were people dancing and people sitting down. There was music in the background and at this very moment 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson was on. She looked at all the people dancing to the music and laughed. They just couldn't dance, at all.

She ushered everyone off of the dance floor, and told them that there was a special performance by the Evans twins.

"Ryan, can we do thriller?" She asked and Ryan nodded, and then smiled.

Ryan nodded and as Sharpay said "A-five six seven eight!" Sharpay and Ryan began to dance. They'd performed this dance at a show at school. Sharpay and Ryan danced and danced till the song was over, and at the end, Ryan lifted Sharpay up in the air as an ending position.

Everyone clapped, smiling at the twins. Sharpay curtsied and Ryan bowed. Troy stood at the sidelines smiling at Sharpay, he liked her.

Troy walked up to Sharpay, just smiling at her, not being able to find the words to say even a simple "hi". Sharpay turned to him and smiled too.

"Hey Troy," he smiled and took her hand, pulling her outside to a white wooden bench.

"Sit down?" She nodded and they both sat down on the bench.

"You want anything in particular?"

"Yes." She smiled and looked into his deep blue pools. "I wanted to give you this:"

He moved closer to her and put his lips onto hers, she flinched at first, she wasn't expecting this. She was expecting for him to invite her somewhere else or something. She closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side, as he did the opposite.

He broke the kiss and smiled at her.

"Wow." They said in unison, and then laughed.

"That was nice," she took his hand.

"Yeah, happy Halloween,"

"And to you too, Troy."

They sat there for fifteen minutes, just enjoying the presence of each other. They didn't know what to say to each other, it was a weird sensation.

When Sharpay was eleven, everyone actually liked her. She was nice, not mean at all. She used to help people with homework, she used to be smart. But somehow she never was anymore.

"Sharpay, that was five years ago." Sharpay looked at him and laughed, shaking her head.

"You're wrong, that was yesterday." She nodded to herself, and Ryan shook his head.

"You were in an accident, a car accident. The crash must have made you loose five years of your life…"

"Five years? So that's why you look taller and your voice is lower?" He nodded and she let out an "Oh."

"That's just great…"

"Wait, I'm…" She counted in her head. "Sixteen?!"

All of a sudden the door of her private room burst open, and in the doctor came.

"Ah, Mr. Evans, hello." He put his hand in front of Ryan.

"Hi." He said, not bothering to shake his hand. "And call me Ryan."

"Okay, Ryan… you're sister. She's been in a crash."

"Yeah, I got told that like, YESTERDAY."

"Oh right, yeah… you did. Okay, well…"

The doctor told Ryan what was wrong with her. Sharpay had lost five years of her life; she couldn't remember any of it. The last thing she remembered was the party, and everything before that. Nothing after it. The doctor mentioned to Ryan, as he tried to stay calm, that him and her original friends needed to try and jog her memory. He'd need the help of all their friends from school. He couldn't let her life like this, he was gonna get her, her life back.

--

Ryan slowly pulled his dad's car into the parking lot at school. It had been one heck of a morning. He had never, once in his life thought, he'd experience something like that. He had noticed immediately that she was acting different. That her voice was more child-like, but he hadn't thought more about it. Not until she mentioned the Halloween party as 'yesterday'.

He had been totally shocked to learn the truth. How could it be possible, not to remember what had happened in your life for five years? So much had happened, it was crazy. Five years ago she had been a child, now, she was a woman.

She had been totally shocked herself, when Ryan had held up a mirror for her to see herself. She had screamed bloody murder, but who could blame her? She was a grown-up now. She had changed so much. She was fascinated with her long, golden locks. And just the curve of her own body, had gotten her struck. And Ryan knew he would have acted the same way too. If he only remembered the Sharpay from five years ago, and then saw her now, he wouldn't believe it was the same person.

He slowly made his way out of the car, and locked it safely behind him. He was gonna miss Sharpay's pink car, in some weird way. Though he felt embarrassed being seen in it, it was still a part of him, and he had always believed she'd drive him to school in her pink car, through the rest of their schooling at East High.

He took a good hold of his school bag, and crossed the lot, to the school. The double doors were open, because everyone was standing there, so he made his way right through, looking for his friends. He had no idea how to tell them. It was gonna be so hard. Sharpay had really become friends with them after Lava Springs, just as he had become. They all accepted her, though she was slightly different and obsessive. They liked her, and she accepted them, and she also finally gave up on Troy. She knew he liked Gabriella, so she gave up, and moved on. He was so proud of her.

He found them by Troy's locker.

"Hi Ryan!" Gabriella smiled, hugging him tight, "Where's Shar?"

"She's sick," Ryan said, ignoring the stinging he got in his chest, just thinking about it. He also didn't want to get into the whole thing right now. It could wait until later. He was gonna have to warn everyone, not to reveal too much of her life to begin with. They would have to take it slow, and it had to be the people she cared about the most that told her. If some random guy, she didn't know before, started talking to her, she might get really scared.

"Oh, really?" Taylor asked, as she hugged him too, "Nothing serious, I hope."

Ryan just shook his head, and swallowed hard.

"Do we go to homeroom?" Chad suggested, motioning for the classroom, just down the hall.

They all nodded, while Troy responded with a, "Yeah, let's go."

--

During lunch, they were all sitting by the Drama table. Sharpay's absence was noticed, because she wasn't one to get sick. Actually, Ryan could never remember Sharpay skipping school. She always went, even if she had fever. She was like that. She was very determined, but that was what they all loved about her. It was one of her good qualities, only of course, if she didn't use it to get her way, to get them along on one of her crazy ideas.

"…wrote down our homework, do you think you can bring it back home with you Ryan?" Gabriella finished, snapping him out of his trance, "It's just for Sharpay, because who knows how long she'll be sick, and she can't get behind in school That'll do her no good."

Ryan shook his head, and placed his fork on the table, "No, no, I don't think she'll be needing that. Thank you though, Gabriella. She has a lot of other things on her mind right now, I know it."

Kelsi looked confused, "What do you mean, Ryan?"

Ryan awkwardly stood up, and went to the balcony, looking out at all his schoolmates. He knew he could holler enough for them to hear, so that was what he did. They all turned to look at him, confused. Ryan wasn't the loud twin, he was the quiet, shy one, so they knew it had to be something important, if he actually yelled.

"Everybody!" Ryan said, as a shiver went down his spine. It was the first time he did something like this, without Sharpay by his side, "I have an… an announcement to make." He swallowed loudly, "You might have noticed that Sharpay isn't here today."

Taylor was immediately alarmed. She shot out of her seat, and stood next to him, a comforting hand on his shaking arm.

He shot her an appreciate smile, "Thanks Tay…" he whispered, before speaking up again, "Sharpay was in a car crash, yesterday."

Immediately, murmurs and whispers started floating through the clouded cafeteria, but Ryan cleared his throat, and continued;

"She's fine. The only problem is that… She doesn't remember the last five years of her life. They're gone. She believes she's 11. And you can imagine what shock it was to her, to learn she's actually 16. What I need you all to do now, is that you won't mention too much about her past. Don't look weirdly at her, if she acts younger. The only people aloud to help her remember, are the people close to her. That's me and the gang. I hope you'll all respect that."

He didn't wait for them to answer, he turned around, and heavily sat down at his chair again. The others just looked at him. Kelsi's mouth was hanging wide open. Gabriella's salad was hanging weirdly from her fork. Chad had questions in his brown pools, and Troy swallowed loudly. The rest of them did nothing, until Taylor spoke;

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Ryan shrugged, "It was yesterday evening. She went out, and crashed. I went to see her this morning, and guys… She was so weird. She really acted like an 11-year-old. At first, I couldn't really tell, but then later, I was just…"

"Oh my God…" Gabriella whimpered, as she let the tears spill, "I can't believe it! It's so sad."

Zeke padded her on the arm, "Just be glad she didn't get hurt any worse!" he reminded her.

"I'm thankful for that." Ryan assured them all, before Gabriella managed to open her mouth, "But I almost couldn't comprehend it. You should have seen her, when she looked herself in the mirror. Troy…" he turned to the blue-eyed boy, "You must remember what she looked like at age 11?"

"Sure," Troy nodded, fiddling with his sandwich, "I had a huge crush on her back then…"

Ryan actually chuckled, "Yeah… Boy, did she like you too! …anyway, the last thing she remembered was your Halloween party. The doctor said something really special must have happened that night, for it to be exactly there her memory stopped. Something really wonderful for her must have trigged it, must have left her wanting to stay there, and remember that night. To stay there forever."

Troy blushed a deep red colour, and stared at the table. His action didn't go unnoticed by the guys, and Jason nudged Chad in the side, which seemed to trig his memory.

"Oh God!" he laughed, "Don't tell me it was that night you guys-"

"Schuss!" Troy cut him off, sending a worried glance in Gabriella's direction.

"You guys what?" Kelsi wanted to know, "What happened with you and Sharpay?"

Troy quickly looked at Gabriella, before turning to Ryan, "Ah… Sharpay and I sorta… kissed that night. It was my first kiss, anyway."

"For real?!" Taylor couldn't help but laugh, "Oh my God Troy, that's so kinky!"

"Oh please!" Troy snapped, and teasingly hit her across the arm, "We were 11, alright? We were just kids…"

"Kids big enough to kiss…" Gabriella dared to tease.

Troy rolled his eyes, and bent his neck.

"Anyway," Ryan cut in, but couldn't help but smile because of their silliness, "I just wanted you guys to help me. We need to help her get her memory back, but little by little. We can't reveal too much at once. And we shouldn't start with all the big things, but with the small."

"Move along slowly." Chad said, nodding his head, which made his 'fro bounce up and down.

"Yeah," Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders, "You guys are the people who knows her the best. So it's up to you. And me. You will help me, right?"

"Of course Ryan," Gabriella said, as she leaned forward to hug him, "Sharpay's our friend. We can't have her acting like a little child."

"It'll take a lot of work." Ryan reminded them, as he pulled back.

"But we're in." Kelsi promised, with a huge smile.

--

Ryan knocked on Sharpay's room door, and waited for her reply. When she answered, he peeked his head inside, and saw her sitting there, watching 'Totally Spies'. She looked away from the TV screen when she realized it was him, and turned it off, with a flick of her finger.

"Rysie!" she cheered, opening her arms out.

He immediately hugged her tight, "Shar, I've missed you." he mumbled, and pulled back, to get more comfortable by the side of her bed.

"How was… school?" she asked, her brown eyes digging into his blue ones.

"It was okay. Everybody missed you." Ryan offered her a sad smile, and held her hand.

"Who's everyone?" Sharpay asked, as she swallowed hard, "I mean… Do I have friends now? Do I have a… boyfriend?"

Ryan shook his head, "You don't have a boyfriend, but you have a lot of friends, who all cares about you." he held his hand up, and started counting on it, "You have me, Troy.."

Sharpay giggled, and hid her face in her hands, "…he kissed me yesterday." She said, as her cheeks turned red.

Ryan just nodded, "Yeah, that's great."

She lowered her hands again, and smiled a huge smile, "Who else is my friend?"

"You remember Chad Danforth and Taylor McKessie, right?" Ryan asked, and by her nod, he continued, "They're two of your very good friends, as well. Plus, Kelsi of course. But she was your friend five years ago, too."

Sharpay nodded.

"…and then there's one more," Ryan said, "But you don't remember her, 'cuz she moved here last winter. She's probably your closest friend. Her name is Gabriella."

"Gabriella?" Sharpay looked puzzled.

"Yeah, she's a great friend, you'll meet her tomorrow." Ryan promised her, as he locked her hand in his big one, again. He was still getting used to talking to her like this. He couldn't help but use his baby-voice, though he knew he shouldn't. She wasn't a baby, she was 11 years old. She had kissed a boy, even in her 'own world'. He hadn't kissed a girl at age 11!

"T-tomorrow?" Sharpay asked, her eyes getting wide, as questions floated through them.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, you're going to school tomorrow. I talked to mom and dad. They know everything. And since you can't skip school, you're going with me."

Immediately, small tears found their way into the corners of her eyes, "But I don't want to!" she exclaimed, as she pulled her legs up beneath herself, hugging them tightly to her chest, "I don't wanna go, Rysie… I'm scared. They'll all hate me."

"No, they won't." he promised her, as he wrapped his arms around her shaking form, "They'll all love you."

"But they won't…" she hiccupped, "They'll think I'm weird. I'm really scared Ryan, I don't want to."

"Don't worry," he promised her, as he kissed the top of her head, "I'll be there with you. I won't let them hurt you."

She sniffed, "Thank you, Rysie."

--

After school, Troy, Gabriella, Kelsi, Taylor and Chad were hanging around in Troy's backyard. Chad and Troy were throwing a basketball between them, while the girls were doing homework. Kelsi had a problem with her math assignment, and who better ask than the smartest girls in the school?

"Wow…" Kelsi muttered, as she watched Taylor do a problem for her, "That's so tough! You wouldn't think I was 16, would you? How can I be so stupid?"

"You shouldn't complain." Gabriella muttered. She had been kinda still since they got there. She hadn't even wanted to help with the math assignment, which was very weird for her, she just wanted to sit there, and stare into space.

Kelsi looked up, confused, "What do you mean?" she asked, the sun reflecting in her round glasses.

Gabriella sat up with a heavy sigh, "I'm thinking about Sharpay…" she told them, which caused the guys to stop playing basketball, and actually listen instead, "I mean, this math…" she pointed at Kelsi's work, "…this math will be stuff she's never even seen before. She's still only getting to learn how to multiply! She's gonna get so behind in school, I'm gonna have to help her…"

Troy sat down next to her, and put a comforting arm around her, "Yeah, I've thought about it, Gab," he said, "But we can't do more than help her, alright? We can help her with her homework, along with working on her memory. We're her friends, we should."

"Yeah, and we will…" Taylor promised, a smile on her face. She was really moved about how Gabriella thought so much of Sharpay and helping her. Sharpay hadn't been nice to her before, she had been very mean. But they were friends now, and Gabriella was very forgiving. Taylor herself, along with Chad, was not near as forgiving as her…

"I'm just really upset, that's all…" Gabriella said, as tears started to spill down her cheeks, and Troy pulled her closer, "I didn't want to cry in front of Ryan, 'cuz he's her brother… But… I'm really upset. I was really upset, and I couldn't help it."

"We all are." Chad said, nodding his head, "But remember Gabriella. She isn't all that nice to us. Especially not you. You shouldn't worry that much. Remember all that stuff she did to you this summer? And during the call-backs…"

"Most importantly this summer…" Taylor chipped in.

Gabriella sniffed, "Yeah, I remember…" she said, wiping her face quickly, "But just think about it… Sharpay doesn't. She doesn't remember anything…"

That moment something struck Chad and Taylor. It could probably be one of the reasons they made such a perfect couple; they had a lot of the same ideas. They had evil minds when they wanted to, and right now… Oh, something evil was being thought.

"She doesn't…" they exclaimed, their voices as one.

Kelsi looked scared, "Oh wow.. What are you two cooking up now?" she asked, throwing her pencil in the grass. She wouldn't get more math done anyway, not with Chad and Taylor thinking alike. That proved something was up.

Chad stood up, getting ready to speak his case, "Sharpay doesn't remember what she's done in the last five years," he begun, looking at them all, "She has no clue what went on with Twinkle Town, she has no idea she tried to sabotage the call-backs. She doesn't know she tried to 'steal' Troy away this summer. She has no clue."

Taylor stood up as well, crossing her arms firmly, "And if I remember correctly; 11-year-old Sharpay wasn't mean. She was very nice. Nice enough for us to actually like her…"

"Before we disliked her and then liked her again!" Kelsi chipped in, from the grass.

"She was nice." Taylor finished, with a smile.

Gabriella shrugged, "I highly doubt that, Tay. And really, where are you guys going with this? It has no meaning whatsoever. Even if she was nice back then, and is mean now, she still deserves our help."

"Yeah…" Chad said, an evil smile plastered on his face, "But who says we can't …" he searched for the right words, and when he finally found them, he used air quotes, "…'fix' her life? Make her all the more sweet?"

The suggestion hung in the air, as Troy's mom called them all in for fresh baked cookies.

Ta-dah! Sorry for the wait, but that was chapter two! We really hope you liked it. It'll probably be awhile before we update again, 'cuz we're both a bit slow. Sorry about it, we hope it's okay!

And it's Catie's birthday today, so we hurried to get this chapter done! This story is all for her, so we needed to update today, lolz! We love you, honey. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Disclaimer; We don't own High School Musical.

- Stessa and Bethany.