Brain Drain
Chapter Three
There's Something About Barbie
Sharpay was still asleep; she didn't want to get up. She had to go back to school, where everyone knew about her, except herself. She couldn't believe she was in High School, in her mind, she'd skipped five years. She didn't know anything, none of her studies, how was she going to catch up? Maybe Ryan could help her?
Sharpay opened her eyes a little, to the light shining in through the windows. She rubbed them and turned on her side, cuddling her teddy bear which she called "Teddy". She had gotten it when she was born, Ryan had got one too, but he didn't want it anymore. He still had it though, it was somewhere amongst all his clothes and hats. He didn't really care, but Sharpay did. It looked older, but she didn't really notice that much. She was really tired when she had come back from the hospital.
She opened her eyes fully, not realising where she was. She jerked upright, she looked around, this wasn't her room? She started to panic, throwing the quilt off of her and standing upright on the floor, she looked down at her feet. They weren't her feet, they were bigger and her toenails were painted pink. She stumbled a little, but managed to walk to the door and pop her head out of it.
"Mommy?" She looked up and down the corridor; she recognised it a little bit. Yeah, she did. It was her house; it was the house she loved. She stepped out into the perfectly heated corridor, looking down at her parent's door. She tip-toed down to it and knocked on the door. She waited, and waited, and waited… no answer. Maybe they were sleeping? Sharpay quietly opened the door; no one was in the bed. It was perfectly made; it looked like no one had slept in it for years.
She looked down the staircase, the TV wasn't on, and she couldn't hear anyone moving or talking. Maybe they were out, but why would they be out at this time in the morning? She looked around, and then her eye caught Ryan's door. She walked along the corridor, gently not trying to make any noise in case there was someone else in the house, trying to sleep. She knocked on the door, and she heard a grunting noise. She opened the door carefully.
"RyRy?" She peeped her head into the door and saw him sleeping soundly. "Ryyyyyyyan?" She sang in a sing-song tone. She came fully into the room and walked over to him, shaking him a little, trying to awake him. "Ryan?" She raised her voice a little. She sat on the bed and crouched down to his ear, "RYAN."
"Huh, what?" He jerked up, causing Sharpay to fall off of the bed. She clung to Teddy and squinted her eyes together, trying not to cry.
"Aw, come on Shar. That couldn't have hurt!" She whimpered, moving away from him slightly.
"Did too," she said in her child-like tone. Then Ryan clicked on, he forgot about her car crash, he had forgotten that she'd lost five years of her life.
"Oh god, Sharpay I'm sorry." He clambered off of the bed and sat next to her, pulling her into a hug. "Sh, don't cry sis. It's alright." She shook her head. "What's wrong?"
"Don't wanna go to school."
"But you have to; everyone wants to see how you're doing."
"Everyone?" Her eyes lit up.
"Yeah! Everyone," he stopped for a moment and clenched his teeth. "They all miss you!" Telling her for the second time.
"Who does?"
"The gang, I told you all this yesterday!"
"Oh yeah, will Troyie-Boyie be there?" Her cheeks turned a slight red color; she looked down, smiling into her knees. Ryan nodded, and simply replied with a "yeah".
He wasn't at all psyched about this thing with her and Troy. He was worried about Sharpay; Troy didn't really like her at all now. He knew that because of last summer, with the country club and everything.
"Okay, well let's get you ready for school, 'Kay?" Sharpay nodded, and jumped up, pulling Ryan up with her. She took his hand and pulled him to her room.
Ryan remembered when Sharpay was eleven, she was nice and kind and everything but she still got everything she wanted. She was stubborn back then, nothing had changed there. She was stubborn now!
Their Mom used to help Sharpay into her clothes every morning, sorting them out for her, making sure they matched and whatever. But one thing was, Sharpay knew how to put her clothes on, she just refused to do it. She didn't have much sense of style back then; she didn't know what went with what or what shoes to wear. She wasn't that kind of girl.
Sharpay practically pulled Ryan's arm out of the socket, pulling him along to her room. She stepped inside, let go of his hand and immediately ran over and jumped onto her bed. Ryan jadedly dragged his feet along the floor, walking over to her closet. He opened it and looked through.
"What do you want to wear?" She shrugged, and he turned around. "Huh?" She shrugged again. "Aw, come on Sharpay. You always choose your clothes."
"Nuh-uh, Mom chooses them!" Ryan sighed.
"Oh yeah, right…" He turned back to the closet and shouted out some random colors: "…pink, blue, green, black, orange, yellow…?" He continued shouting them out, but Sharpay was just stubbornly shrugging her shoulders.
"Come on Sharpay, at this rate we're not even going to make it to school." Her face brightened up. "Don't even think about it!"
Finally, after fifteen minutes of choosing her clothes to wear, it came to the point Ryan was dreading:
He had to dress her.
He didn't want to see his sister's body, did he? No way, ho-say! He'd rather eat a live cockroach. He'd seen that on television, it was utterly disgusting.
"Right, come on…" She hopped up from the bed, skipping over to him and lifting her hands up for him to remove her night-dress. He closed his eyes and lifted her night-dress over her head, not looking at her body that was angelically standing in front of her.
"Turn around," he asked her, as she turned around. He unhooked her bra, and removed her underwear, carefully placing new, clean ones onto her body.
"There," he had dressed her.
"Thank-a-yoooouu."
"You owe me, BIG TIME!" Sharpay nodded and looked at herself in the mirror.
Sharpay was wearing a mini skirt, with a white halter neck top on. She had a heart-shaped necklace that hung perfectly around her neck, and diamond ear-rings. She placed her real Ugg boots on, and smiled at herself in the mirror. All she needed now was make-up and her hair done.
"Okay, just brush through your hair and that'll be done. And you need make-up on." Sharpay looked at him.
"I don't wanna wear make-up," Ryan looked at her.
"Oh right, yeah… okay." He looked at Sharpay, she didn't look completely different but she looked different when she had no make-up on. Her face looked a lot more natural, and she actually looked prettier. She didn't wear a lot of make-up usually, but she used some just for a natural glow.
"I look different," she said, as Ryan nodded.
"Yeah, you've grown since you were eleven." He looked at her, "A LOT." She giggled and nodded, grabbing her bag and Barbie doll from the bed.
--
They got to the school, but Sharpay stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head, walking away from the gigantic High School that was standing in front of her. Ryan turned around, gently taking her hand, making sure she stayed with him the whole time. He let her know that he was there for her, and that she could talk to him anytime.
Normally, their twin bonding wasn't like this. Ryan kind of enjoyed this type of relationship with Sharpay, it was a lot calmer and they didn't fight or shout. Ryan loved this Sharpay, she wasn't as mean or nasty and she accepted everyone for who they were, she didn't judge them by their looks or hobbies, she judged them by their personalities and that's what he loved about this Sharpay.
He looked to her, nodding and they entered the corridor, where all the students were rushing around, trying to get to their homeroom's in time. Sharpay had no idea where anything was, this was all new to her. The school looked huge, she felt like a freshman. She got dragged along by Ryan, while she got funny looks, and people were glaring at her. She just smiled at them.
She clenched her Barbie doll in her left hand, as Ryan pulled her right. People were looking at the Barbie and laughing, maybe they all hated her, already? Ryan looked around, glaring at all of them, he had told them yesterday to lay off. Once they seen Ryan's glare, they stopped laughing and continued doing what they were doing.
As they entered homeroom, the whole class turned and looked at the twins. Sharpay let go of Ryan's hand and waved.
"Hi, I'm-I'm Sharpay." She scanned the crowd of students for anyone she could recognise, nope, no one whatsoever. They all looked so old, and scary.
A teacher walked over to her, and looked her straight into the eye.
"Sharpay, my darling! How are you?" Sharpay's eyes widened.
"Uh… I-I… uh…" Sharpay stuttered.
"Well, so she has changed!" Jason said as a chorus of "shushes" arrived in his direction. Sharpay looked around again, looking for someone she knew. She looked to Ryan.
"RyRy?" Some of the jocks sniggered, except for Troy and Zeke. Ryan blushed a little but looked at his sister, "who are all these people?"
Ryan introduced Sharpay to everyone around the class and then lastly to the gang, who were going to "fix" her life, which of course, Ryan knew nothing about.
"Okay so this is Gabriella, who I told you about. She moved here after winter break?" Sharpay nodded and smiled at Gabriella, keeping her eyes fixed onto her, scanning her.
"You're pretty." She told Gabriella, who smiled and gave a simple "thanks".
"This is Taylor and Chad, you must remember them." Sharpay gasped, everyone looked towards her.
"Chad, your hair is amazing!" She giggled as he touched it, modestly.
"Why thank you." He smiled at her, playing along with her new 'niceness', if you could call it that.
"And Taylor? Wow…" Taylor looked up, "You look really… old-er." Taylor laughed, "not to be rude, or anything. It was a compliment!"
The whole gang realised her new personality and looks, they couldn't get over how nice she used to be. What happened to her? Why did she become so, well, icy? She complimented everyone when she met them again, but when Ryan came to introduce Troy, Sharpay didn't recognise him, at all.
"Hi, what's your name?" She turned to Ryan, "Is he new too?" She giggled, "That rhymed!" Ryan looked at her.
"You don't recognise him?" Sharpay shook her head.
"Should I?" Ryan nodded as Sharpay took a closer look at him.
She scanned his face, his mouth, ears, and nose. She looked at his hair and what he was wearing; nothing tricked a switch in her brain. She really thought Troy had come with Gabriella or something, she didn't know who it was, at all.
Sharpay looked at his face again, looking into his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat, it was Troy.
"…" She couldn't say anything, she didn't know whether she still liked him or not now, of course the eleven year old Sharpay did. But was the older Sharpay anything like the younger Sharpay anymore? She had to act more mature, or was the older Sharpay more mature? All this thinking of the older and younger, and older and younger Sharpay was really confusing her.
"T-Troy?" Troy smiled at her and nodded.
"Hey."
Sharpay just stared at him, getting lost into his deep blue pools. She remembered them eyes, them eyes from the night of the party she oh-so enjoyed. She remembered the kiss, the feel of his lips on hers. The feeling that everything in the whole world was going right, and that everyone was happy. But the thing was, Sharpay couldn't remember what happened after that special moment. Was he meant to kiss her?
She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Troy stood up and smiled at her.
"This is your seat; it's in front of Ryan's." Sharpay nodded and sat down, looking around the class. They were all looking at her, and whispering. Gabriella stood up and walked over to her.
"Hey!"
"…Hi." She whispered, looking up to Gabriella.
"I'm here for you, okay? I heard what happened and stuff, it's weird for me too. We were… are best friends. If there is anything, and I mean anything you need to talk about, my door is always open." Gabriella smiled, pulling Sharpay into a hug.
"Thank you," Sharpay flung her hands around of Gabriella, hugging her back. As she flung her hands round, the Barbie doll flew out of her left hand and onto the floor. She pushed Gabriella away, softly and kneeled down to the floor, picking it up.
"Why do you have a Barbie doll?" Taylor asked, looking weirdly at her.
She stared up at Taylor with wide, brown eyes, and hugged her Barbie closer, "…she's my Barbie." She whispered, and stood up, as she played with the blonde hair on the Barbie, "I know most girls at my age, don't play with Barbies, 'cuz they think it's lame, and too childish, but Mommy said it's okay to be different. I don't have to grow up so fast. Even if I am eleven."
Taylor offered her a weak smile, and reached out for the Barbie, knowing it was all about getting Sharpay's trust back. The girl who usually was so strong, seemed so weak – it was so frightening to see her like that, "Can I see her?" she asked.
"Sure!" Sharpay exclaimed, and her face lit up like a huge Christmas tree, "She's so cool! She's the one who looks like Cinderella when you buy her. Daddy just bought me some other clothes for her when we went to the mall last weekend. They bought RyRy some clothes for his dolly too." She leaned in, and whispered in Taylor's ear, "…he doesn't want anyone to know that he likes playing with dollies."
"I can understand that," Taylor said, and handed the Barbie back to Sharpay, as her eyes moved to Ryan. Why could she just picture an 11-year-old Ryan sitting in the grass, with his dollies?
"What now?" Sharpay asked, and jumped onto the table, looking around the classroom. She was getting more comfortable with Taylor. She actually reminded her a lot of the Taylor she remembered, though she looked different.
"School's starting." Gabriella replied, in a soft voice, "We're having Mrs. Darbus for homeroom."
"Who's Mrs. Darbus?" Sharpay asked.
"She's your favourite teacher, Shar." Ryan butted in, "Mine too, of course. She's the Drama teacher. You simply love her. You still enjoy theatre."
"Really, am I good at it?" Sharpay asked, moving onto her chair, hanging over the back of it, to stare at Ryan, "Did you and I get to be the stars of every school production, like we dreamed of?"
Ryan was about to answer, and Gabriella wished he wouldn't, since it would ruin their plan to 'fix' her life. Luckily, she didn't have to worry that much about it, because Mrs. Darbus had entered the classroom, shutting all conversation off.
Sharpay hummed silently to herself, and Ryan watched her back. He knew she was acting childish, but she'd always been like that. Most 11-year-olds were civilized people, but Sharpay had never been ordinary. She acted more like a child than she was, because it got her what she wanted from their parents, and also; she just wasn't that developed. She was one of the last girls to act like a teenager. Sure, she'd kissed Troy, but it hadn't really been like that… It had probably been one of those crushes most children get.
He noticed everyone around the room was staring at her, and he wished he could tell them to stop. Luckily, Sharpay didn't realize it, because she was absorbed in her own world, Barbie in front of her, and Spice Girls song, coming from her lips.
Ryan couldn't help but chuckle, when he remembered her Spice Girls obsession.
--
"Your next class is with me," Gabriella told her, taking a good hold of Sharpay's hand, because Sharpay seemed like she was comforted by close contact, "It's French. You're probably gonna have huge trouble following, but I'll sit right beside you, okay?"
Sharpay stared up at her, love covering her features. She knew she'd told Gabriella earlier, just how pretty she thought she was, but it still blew her away. She was so natural to look at, and she didn't wear that much make-up, as some of the older girls did!, "Right beside me?" she asked.
"I'm here for you," Gabriella replied, as they sat down by their tables, "Don't worry."
Sharpay smiled, and reached out to touch her cheeks, "You're very, very pretty. I wish I looked like you… Your make-up is really pretty too. Some of the girls already started using make-up, but I think we're too young. Kelsi and I don't. We're gonna wait 'till we're at least thirty!"
"Oh really?" Gabriella couldn't help but sarcastically reply.
Sharpay looked a bit taken aback, "Why do you say it like that?" she asked her, her eyes tearing up, "Do I use make-up normally? It's so wrong…" she pushed her chair back, and moved away from Gabriella, "It's not fun…" she sniffed, "I don't wanna go on like this… It's bad to not remember!" and then she jumped out of her seat, grabbed her Barbie tighter, and rushed out of the classroom.
Gabriella turned around, and gaped at some of her classmates, who all shrugged. Then she figured, she couldn't let Sharpay run around in an unfamiliar place like this, when she was so scared, so she screwed class, and ran after her. Of course the other girl was already long gone, and the halls were emptying, when the ball rang. Gabriella hurried down the hallway, and slowed down, trying to listen. She thought she could hear faint sounds coming from one of the bathrooms, so she made her way in there, and was now sure, she could hear someone sobbing.
She approached the only locked bathroom stall, and gently tapped it, "Sharpay?" she questioned, voice soft, "I'm sorry I upset you. If you come out we can skip class, and I'll tell you all about your life? I can tell you about the time we met!"
The sobbing stopped, and she could hear Sharpay sniff, and blow her nose, "…really?" the blonde girl questioned, "Are you gonna tell me all about our friendship?"
"Everything you wanna know…" Gabriella assured her, ignoring the guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. For some reason she didn't want to lie to Sharpay, they were best friends for Christ's sake! but if she did, Sharpay would be a lot nicer to be around. And the others would kill her if she backed out, "…so you wanna open the door and talk to me?"
She could hear the lock open, and sighed in relief. Sharpay's head peeked out of the stall, and Gabriella offered her a weak smile, and a hand, "Come here…" she said, and pulled her up, "I have just the place for us to sit…"
Sharpay nodded, and let Gabriella drag her out of the room, Barbie in hand. She couldn't help it. When she thought more about it, a Barbie wasn't that cool, when you were in high school, but she wasn't! …she wasn't the same as them. She was different. She shouldn't be in high school… she was allowed to play.
Gabriella dragged her all the way to the roof top, where she knew no one would be. First off; everyone was in classes, and second off; it was Troy's place. Rarely anyone used it. She pushed Sharpay onto the small bench, and sat down herself, taking Sharpay's hands in hers, to reassure her that everything would be alright.
"So?" Gabriella stated, a smile playing on her lips, "What do you want to know? Ask me anything, I'll answer, I promise."
"Tell me about the first time we met." Sharpay said. She just really wanted to know about their friendship, since Gabriella hadn't been there when she was eleven. It was sorta new to her, but she was happy about how quick she grew comfortable with the girl. It wasn't awkward at all, now.
"Well…" Gabriella trailed off, and thought back… she had to change it, so she decided to start with her and Troy, "I ran into Troy at this ski lodge, and we sang together at New Years…"
Sharpay cut her off; "Troy!? Singing!"
And then she started laughing.
Gabriella giggled along, "Yeah, you guys were really surprised, but anyway… We met there, and I didn't think I'd ever see him again. But then I started at this school, and was happy to realize he went here. I sorta liked him, y'know?"
Sharpay blushed a bit, and thought about her own kiss with him. She didn't want to tell Gabriella about it, when there was a possibility, she could be Troy's girlfriend, "Yeah?"
"Yeah, and then he didn't want me to tell his buddies about the singing-stuff," she continued, "But it had gotten him curious, so even though he knew it'd hurt you and Ryan he went to audition for the musical with me."
"Why'd it hurt me and Ryan?"
Gabriella bit her lip, "You guys had been in a lot of musicals, and everyone loved you. You were good friends with Troy, and he didn't want to take your show away," she lied, as her throat tightened up. No matter how guilty it made her feel, she couldn't help but realize how easy it was to lie. It was sorta scary.
"But he's my friend." Sharpay replied, as she played with her Barbie, made it walk across Gabriella's legs, "I would want good things for him. If he wanna sing, he can sing!"
Gabriella laughed, and couldn't help but find it weird how different Sharpay was. The 16-year-old Sharpay Evans would have never let Troy Bolton sing in her musical. Sure, they were friends now, and she shared the lime light with them, but they all knew who was the star, and curse those who dared to think differently.
"Yeah, he realized that…" Gabriella chipped, with another smile, "So we auditioned against each other in the call-backs. Troy and I won, because the school wanted different stars for once."
"You did!?" Sharpay happily exclaimed, and enveloped her in a tight hug, "Congratulations, Gabriella!" she said, and clapped her hands when she pulled back, "That's so awesome, I bet the show was great!"
"It really was… You and Ryan were there to support us all the way…" Gabriella said, "And really, after that we became great friends."
"Wow…" Sharpay said, a dreamy look in her eyes, "What a story."
"Yeah," Gabriella whispered, closing her eyes to relax for a second, "…what a story."
--
"…and this is the gym, where we have P.E., and the team practises basketball." Chad finished, holding the door open for Sharpay, who slowly entered, staring around the big gym in awe. Her Barbie was tucked in her hand, like it had been all day, and she sat down on one of the benches, looking at the two guys.
"So you're on a basketball team?" she asked them.
"Yeah, I'm the playmaker." Troy replied, and sat down next to her, "It's very good. We won the championship game."
"Aaaw, I wish I could remember." Sharpay said, and offered them a smile.
They looked at each other for awhile, but then Chad's cell started going off, and he quickly scanned the display. Seeing Taylor's name flash across it, he decided he better answer her.
"I'm just gonna take this…" he said, and hurried away, to have his conversation in private.
"So…" Troy said, and smiled at Sharpay, who was now playing with her Barbie again, "Do you like it here? Are people nice to you?"
"It's okay," Sharpay replied, not looking up from her 'game'.
Troy swallowed, and reached out to brush a piece of her hair out of her eyes, "You're really pretty without that make-up on, Sharpay… You look natural."
She looked up at him, but didn't say anything.
"Not that you're not pretty normally, but…" he stopped, and blinked, "It suits you. This look. I wish you'd been looking like that forever, and not that differently. Your clothes are different too."
Sharpay nodded, but didn't know how to respond to that. In her mind, a five year older guy just complimented her, and it made her feel all awkward. She couldn't ignore the tingle, though. The tingle she got when he touched her. She wasn't too sure what to put into that.
"Gabriella told me all about our friendship," she said, instead, to change the subject, "How you guys won the call-backs, and RyRy and I were there to support you all through the musical. I wish I could remember it! It sounded so great."
"Yeah…" Troy quickly nodded, "Yeah, you guys were great."
"Can you tell me more about my life?" Sharpay wanted to know, "Like, another main thing in my life? In our friendship?"
"Well…" Troy trailed off, with a smile on his lips, "Do you recall the Lava Springs Country Club?"
"Sure!" her face lit up, and she let Barbie be Barbie, to clap her hands, "Mommy and Daddy bought it when I was five! It's the coolest place. We spend every summer there!"
Troy laughed, "Yeah, and you did too this summer. You were sweet enough to get me and the guys jobs there, so we could save money for college. Chad was saving up for a car too, of course. And it was very great… In the breaks we all hung out and goofed off with each other."
Sharpay smiled; that sure did sound wonderful, "Wow… Seems like we had a great summer. What about the Talent Show? RyRy and I did it together, like always, right? I bet you and Gabriella did something too!"
"We did…" Troy nodded, and swallowed a little, as he had to get into the whole lie he and Chad had cooked up, "It was great, but… there was some mean girl, who tried to sabotage everything."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she didn't want the staff to be a part of the show, she wanted you and Ryan to win. I think she was some crazy fan of yours, and…" he paused, "She got her way. But luckily enough, you saved everything, and we were able to be a part of it. You even withdrew from the contest, so Gabriella and I could take your place and sing."
"Cool…" she whispered, her eyes wide, "What happened then?"
"We won the contest." Troy replied, with a shrug, "The bad girl learned a lesson, and then we had this huge pool party, and everyone was together!"
"All for one." Sharpay smiled, and turned to grab her Barbie as well.
Troy studied her for a second, struck by the comment. Did she remember anything, or was that subconsciously? It was very weird, and it scared him a bit. He decided not to say anything though, because it could ruin their plan, and that couldn't happen. The new Sharpay was already starting to grow on him. All she needed now was to let go of the childish behaviour, and they had a cool friend!
"Anyway," she said, and stood up, "I'm gonna go outside, and call Ryan to pick me up. See you tomorrow, Troysie."
"See you…" he waved, as she hurried out of the gym, the doors smacking close behind her. Just then Chad came back, and took a seat next to Troy, with a yawn.
"Taylor can surely babble." He said, and leaned back.
"Yeah…" Troy replied, not really paying attention. He was sorta stuck in Sharpay-world. He couldn't help but think about 'her before' contra 'her now'. It was weird how a few years, and a few actions, could do the difference.
"What happened?" Chad questioned.
"Told her about Lava Springs…" Troy said, and finally turned back to him, "She seems very happy."
"It's nice to have a sweet Sharpay for a change." Chad agreed, "And just think about it; she's still as hot, man. And then sweet! She's like the perfect girlfriend… When she grows up a bit, of course."
"Yeah…" Troy said, ignoring the feeling he got in the pit of his stomach, "Yeah, of course, dude!" he shot out of his seat, and grabbed his orange basketball, "Let's shoot some hoops!"
There you have it guys. We're sorry for the long wait, but eh… We did warn you. We're so slow. We hope it was enjoyable to read though, and please leave a review, it means a lot to us.
Thanks for all the other great reviews, and we got some questions about Sharpay's personality. We do realize we write her a bit childish for an eleven year old. We had an explanation in this chapter, plus… We sorta do it a little over the top, to get a point across. We hope it's still believable. Alright?
Did anyone notice our great title? …remind you of anything? Cookies for anyone who can figure it out.
Disclaimer; We don't own High School Musical; we just like playing with it, like Sharpay plays with her Barbie.
- Stessa and Bethany.