Brain Drain

Chapter Four

Maturing With Complications

It was Friday afternoon; everyone was leaving school, getting ready for the weekend ahead of them. Sharpay was standing in the hallway, waiting for Ryan to come. She was fiddling with her clothes, they were itching her and she thought they looked weird. She didn't look like anyone else in school; no one was wearing sparkly sequins like her. Most of the girls were just wearing jeans, and a cute top, but Sharpay wasn't.

Gabriella was walking down the hall with Taylor, she spotted Sharpay fiddling with her clothes and walked over to her, asking her what was wrong.

"You okay?" Sharpay just awkwardly nodded. "What's wrong?"

"These… cloth-clothes! They're too it-itchy…" Gabriella nodded and watched her fuss around.

"Well, why don't Taylor and I take you shopping?" Sharpay looked up.

"Wow, really?"

"Sure," Gabriella nodded her head and looked to Taylor who had a smile on her face.

The two girls had become rather fond of the new Sharpay, they really liked her. It was like her whole slate had been cleaned… well, it had. But they weren't quite sure how Sharpay was this nice back then, and why she wasn't like this now. Maybe it was something that happened, something really bad.

"So, tomorrow, I'll call you?" Sharpay nodded, she was really happy now. She wasn't fussing around anymore; maybe Gabriella and Taylor actually liked her? She had her doubts, but she'd made friends in high school, she was really excited.

Once Ryan appeared at their meeting place, she made him drive as fast as he could so she could rush home and get ready for tomorrow, this included: going in the shower, getting her clothes ready and going to sleep.

Five hours later…

Sharpay was asleep, off into dreamland, enjoying her sleep, until her cell phone started ringing.

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S yeah, G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.
We flyin' first class, up in the sky.
Poppin' champagne, livin' my-…

Sharpay suddenly sat up, looking around.

"Huh?" She said, looking for the light. She switched her side-table lamp on and looked around for her cell. She picked it up off of the floor and looked at it…

"How am I supposed to know how to answer this thing?" She randomly pressed some buttons on the front of her sidekick, hoping that would work. Thankfully, it did.

"Hello, hello, Sharpay?" Gabriella's voice could be heard on the other end. Sharpay put the phone to her ear and listened to Gabriella's voice.

"I'm here Gabriella."

"Oh, hey." Gabriella laughed, "I thought you'd like, picked up by an accident." Sharpay laughed too. "So you're still up for tomorrow?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good, that's great. Okay, shall we come pick you up, I mean… you can't exactly drive."

"Yeah, yeah. That's awesome, thanks."

"Okay, see yah tomorrow, bye!"

"Bye!" Sharpay put the phone down and smiled, she really needed to get some sleep. She wanted to look perfect in the morning; she wanted to act like a normal eleven year old, not a five year old anymore. She was going to grow up.

--

Her alarm clock went off; she reached over and switched it off. Getting out of bed, and skipping to the bathroom. She used the toilet, brushed her teeth, washed her face and brushed her hair. After she'd done all that she needed to put her clothes on. She'd chosen her clothes last night; surprisingly they matched and looked alright. She added accessories, like her bag and a hair band, she was ready to go.

She looked in the mirror at herself; she'd done a pretty good job. She was wearing jeans, which she'd rummaged around and found in the back of her closet, and a really cute halter neck top. She slipped her feet into her ballerina shoes and off she went downstairs. She grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl, set it on the table and opened the fridge.

"Something to drink, something to-… ah hah." She took the milk out of the fridge and poured a small amount into a glass. She carefully took them both over to the dining table and enjoyed her breakfast.

Ryan came downstairs, he was in his boxers and nothing else. He looked over to Sharpay and his mouth dropped.

"How-How… How are you ready?" Sharpay turned to him and giggled.

"I'm eleven, I can dress myself." She looked down to his bottom half.

"Ew, Ryan's only wearing underwear." Ryan laughed and shook his head.

"What time is it?"

"Uh… eleven, Gaby and Tay should be here in a sec. I'm gonna go wait for them, see yah Ry." She kissed his cheek and skipped off. Ryan was in shock, she'd weirdly changed. Overnight.

Sharpay saw Gabriella and Taylor come to her front door, so before they could knock she quickly opened the door and stepped outside.

"Hey guys." They both smiled to her.

"Let's go shopping Girlies!" Gabriella said, and they ran off to the car.

An half an hour later, the girls were just arriving at the mall. Sharpay was really excited, she really wanted to go to the mall with friends, she thought it sounded cool. Yeah, she'd been with her friends before I mean she was eleven, but she hadn't been with Gabriella and Taylor. They were going to have so much fun!

"Where do you wanna go first?" Taylor asked Sharpay.

"Um," Sharpay stood thinking. "Uh…"

"…"

Sharpay didn't know where she wanted to go first, she wanted to ask them where they wanted to go to, but they asked her. Gabriella looked at her and exhaled, loudly.

"I don't know," Gabriella nodded and turned to Taylor.

"So?" Taylor pointed to a shoe shop, they both nodded but Sharpay just stood there. They turned around and looked at her, "You coming or not, Shar?"

"You're doing it all so wrong, you don't start with shoes, you start with the actual outfit, and then you buy the accessories." Gabriella and Taylor stood in awe, did she remember? "Uh, my Mom told me?" The girls nodded and walked back over to Sharpay, their new friend.

"So, where first then?"

"Here," Sharpay simply said, and led them into a clothes shop.

Sharpay giggled to herself and smiled at the girls, "I love it!"

Gabriella and Taylor had picked out a new outfit for Sharpay, which she loved. Sharpay took the clothes and ran to the dressing room, popping her head out of the door.

"Oh, just checking you both were there." She continued getting changed into her new founded clothes, and stepped out of the cubicle.

The two girls were in awe, she looked really beautiful, naturally beautiful. Sharpay was wearing a tight fitted, long, light red top, which showed her slender physique, topped with a silver belt which lay adequately around her waist and short denim shorts, which were turned up at the bottom, for a better style. Then, she slipped on her silver stilettos, stumbling a little but she managed. She looked very stylish, and she wasn't too over done, like the usual Sharpay was, all of the time. She looked really pretty, and natural.

Sharpay looked at them, tucking a piece of dangling hair behind her ear.

"Does it look okay?"

"Okay? No." Gabriella said as Sharpay's smile faded away.

"You look better than okay, girl." Taylor laughed and bumped Sharpay's hip, causing Sharpay to fall. It was a total 'You've Been Framed' moment. Her legs flew up into the air and her hair went flying all over the place, she was on the floor, in a total mess. The girls couldn't help but laugh, but Sharpay, being eleven years old, took it the wrong way and ran out of the dressing rooms.

The girls ran after her, they couldn't loose an eleven year old, which would be horrible. And also, Ryan would probably kill them, and they weren't up for 'Ryan's Rage' at this very moment.

…Ten minutes later, they had found her. She was sitting on a bench outside of an ice cream parlour, her head was buried into her hands and you could hear slight sniffling coming from the very upset girl.

They walked up to her, sitting next to her. Gabriella wrapped an arm around of her, pulling her closer. Sharpay lay onto Gabriella's shoulder, burying her face into Gabriella's sweater.

"We're sorry," Gabriella whispered to Sharpay. "It was just… a joke." Taylor nodded, and rubbed Sharpay's left arm, comfortingly. Sharpay nodded into Gabriella and lifted her head up.

"It's okay," she said, wiping her eyes. "It's fine."

"We'll never do it again," Taylor smiled. "Promise." Sharpay nodded again.

"I'm stupid."

"What? No!" Taylor argued.

"I am, I'm too sensitive. I hate myself." Gabriella shook her head.

"Nuh uh, you're amazing. Sharpay I've only known you for like, a week in your time. And I've got to know you so much better, I now know what you were like when you were younger…"

"…I thought you said I was the same then as I am now?"

"…yeah, I was just getting onto that part. I was about to say: you're the same, but I love that about you. You're so sweet and…"

"OKAY, you guys that is so cheesy." The girls all giggled, nodding to themselves.

"Yeah, we're not getting married Gaby…" Gabriella laughed.

"Oh but we are."

"Not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

This row went on for a while until Taylor got very bored, and went into the ice cream parlour and got them all ice cream milkshakes, the row stopped as they ate them, but continued when they'd finished them. But finally after about a half an hour later, they stopped completely. Sharpay had won, Gabriella couldn't be bothered anymore and they were really tired. Gabriella looked at Sharpay. She still had the clothes that they hadn't bought!

"OHMYGOD. YOU STILL HAVE THE STORES CLOTHES ON."

"Woops…"

They went back to the store; thankfully the shop assistants didn't take any criminal offence on them, because the alarms didn't go off and they actually went back and paid for them. The three girls were relieved at this news, but they were still really tired.

They came out of the shop.
"Wow, I'm tired." Taylor yawned, covering her mouth as she did so.

"Me too," Gabriella yawned too.

"Me three," Sharpay didn't yawn.

"Oh man, you didn't yawn." Sharpay laughed.

"Le duh, I didn't want to." Gabriella and Taylor laughed. "Can we go home?"

The two girls nodded, and they left the mall. They all linked in with each other, they were new best friends.

--

Sharpay was happily skipping around downstairs, waiting for her new best friends to arrive. It was only two hours since they'd dropped her off after the mall, but they were coming back for a real girl's night. She was so excited about that. She really didn't know what they did at girl's nights. Sure, she knew what she did, but there was a five year difference, so something had not to be the same. She couldn't wait to know about it all.

They probably talked a lot more about guys than she was used to. Sure, she and her friends talked about the sweet guys, and some of the cool celebrities, but none of them rarely had any experience themselves. So it was all about dreams, and hopes. She didn't know whether or not she had had any serious boyfriends, and she knew that both Gabriella and Taylor had a boyfriend. It was very weird for her to think of that. She didn't quite understand it.

When the doorbell rang, she hurried into the hallway, and opened it, coming face to face with Gabriella and Taylor. They were both loaded with stuff, so she quickly took as much of it, as she could, to ease them. She stumbled backwards, because of the sudden weight, and almost fell in a pair of shoes.

"Whoa, easy there, girl!" Taylor laughed, and grabbed a hold of her arm. Since Sharpay had taken all her bags, she only had her sports one, which contained all her clothes.

"Sorry…" Sharpay mumbled, and shot them a stiff smile, "Let's go upstairs, we're staying in my room."

"Your room!?" Gabriella exclaimed, as she followed Sharpay up the stairs, "Wow, you never let anyone but Ryan into your room."

Sharpay stopped in her tracks, and turned around on the huge stairwell, "I don't?" she questioned, "Why not?"

Taylor swallowed, and shared a look with Gabriella, "You're a very private person, Sharpay. But it's alright, we'll love to see your room!"

Sharpay still looked a bit insecure, but they urged her on, so they eventually got up to her room. They were both in awe for a few seconds. They'd never seen so much pink, at one place, on the same time, in their entire lives. Gabriella had to open and close her eyes a few times, before they were used to the very bright colour.

Sharpay placed all their stuff on the bed, and stood before them, blushing a bit, "I know it's not much…" she whispered, not wanting to look them in the eye. Her socks were becoming very interesting.

"Are you kidding me?!" Taylor exclaimed, "It's a lot! I think maybe my entire house could fit in here."

"It sure has a lot of pink…" Gabriella whispered, but smiled just the same.

Sharpay let out a sigh of relief, happy about their casual tones. She had been very nervous about this, but now she was more at ease. She sat down on the bed, and smiled at her guests. She opened her arms with a giggle, "Sit down, people!"

"Oh!" Taylor giggled as well, and she and Gabriella jumped onto the very soft bed, laying down, on each a side of Sharpay, who also lay down. They stared up at the ceiling of her bed, breathing softly.

"…I have a confession, girls." Sharpay whispered, staring first at Taylor, and then at Gabriella, before looking up again, "I don't know what you do at these kinda things. What do you do?"

"Well…" Gabriella trailed off, and grabbed Sharpay's hand, "We talk about our boyfriends, crushes. We do each others hair, paint our toenails. We watch sappy movies, and have pillow fights. We just goof off."

"Cool!" Sharpay smiled, very relieved, "That's pretty much what I'm used to. Except you guys are probably a bit more experienced with everything. Why don't we talk about guys?"

"Sure…" Taylor said, and turned onto her stomach, to lie better, "You'll never guess what Chad brought me the other day for our anniversary!"

Sharpay gasped, while Gabriella casually asked; "What? Tell us, Tay!"

"He gave me the most gorgeous necklace I have ever seen." Taylor replied, with a huge smile, "I'll wear it tomorrow at school. It's like, gold, and has a thin chain, and with a heart. It's even engraved too."

Sharpay's eyes were wide, and she held back her breath; "What does it say?" she whispered.

"It says, 'Taylor, I love you so much, Love Chad'."

"Awwww…" Gabriella and Sharpay chorused, as Taylor revealed the sweet gesture.

"I want a boyfriend too…" Sharpay mumbled, "He has to be just as sweet as Chad."

"Chad's not all good, y'know?" Taylor said, with wide eyes, "He can be a jerk sometimes, he treats me like I'm some woman he can do with what he wants. I doubt he even thought of the necklace himself. It was probably his mother; she loves me."

"But still!" Sharpay argued, with a dreamy look on her face, "It'd be so great to have a boyfriend. I've never had one before, you know. I've only kissed one boy…" she blushed, and hid her face in her hands.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile, "Troy, right?" she questioned, pushing Sharpay's hands away, so they could see her.

"Yeah…" she said, getting even redder in the face, "He kissed me once. Just at this Halloween… Well, it wasn't this Halloween, but the last thing I remember is that kiss. Of course he's dating you now, Gabriella, but it's very weird for me."

"You have a crush on him, right?" Gabriella whispered, softly stroking Sharpay on the arm, "It's alright if you do. I understand. Last thing you rememeber, you guys had something going on."

Sharpay turned her face to the side, and looked her in the eyes, "Thank you for understanding. You're a good friend. And it's not like I'd ever do something with him, I mean, duh; think about the age difference!"

Taylor and Gabriella chuckled.

"And he's not even the same Troy anymore…" Sharpay whispered. She turned onto her stomach, to get more comfortable, like Taylor had. She was feeling something weird in the pit of her stomach, and she didn't know what it was. It was a feeling she had never felt before.

"Are you okay?" Taylor asked, very concerned. She had noticed Sharpay shift uncomfortably a couple of times, but she wasn't quite sure what it meant, or if the blonde was just nervous.

"I have a weird feeling in my stomach…" Sharpay complained. At times like these, she felt so stupid. She was younger than them, so she should be allowed to ask about things that concerned her. But still; they were supposed to be the same age, so wouldn't they think she was stupid?

"Maybe you need the loo?" Gabriella bluntly suggested.

Sharpay giggled lightly, and sat up in bed, "Maybe…" she jumped off of it, and went for the bathroom door, "…you never know." she finished, before she closed the door behind her.

Gabriella and Taylor burst into laughter when she was out of sight.

"Oh my God, she's so cute!" Gabriella smiled, sitting up on the bed, "I mean… It's kinda spooky she acts like that, with her being sixteen, but she's very cute."

"I know," Taylor replied, "Like the little sister I never had. Except she looks hotter than me."

"Aw, Tay, you have a hot booty-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Gabriella an Taylor immediately jumped off the bed, and hurried towards the bathroom door. Sharpay's shriek had been horrifying, and their skin rose goosebumps. What had happened?

Taylor knocked on the door repeatedly, "Sharpay? Are you alright?"

"What happened?" Gabriella chipped in, swallowing a huge lump in her throat.

The door was unlocked, and Sharpay's head came through the small slit, "…I'm bleeding," she sniffed, tears rolling down her cheeks, "I'm bleeding. I dunno what's happening."

"Are you bleeding on your stomach?" Gabriella asked, for one time in her life, not getting her facts down right.

"From my…" Sharpay sniffed, and searched for the right words. Then she closed the door, and leaned against it. They could hear the thud from her back, hitting it.

"From where?" Gabriella asked, while Taylor seemed to put things together in her head…

"From my … personal area." Sharpay continued, and tears were now evident in her voice. They could hear her sniffs through the door.

Taylor nudged Gabriella in the side, "Her period." She explained, "She's probably never had it before. Of course she's freaked out. Maybe they haven't even had about it in school."

Gabriella's face fell, as realization dawned on her, "Oh…" she whispered, but then furrowed her brow, "What are we gonna do, Tay?"

Taylor nodded towards the door, where they could still hear Sharpay sob, "…I'm saying, we help her."

Gabriella swallowed hard, and held out her closed fist, "Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

Taylor nodded, and held out her hand as well, "On three…"

"One."

"Two…"

"Three…"

They looked down at their fists, and Gabriella immediately lost face. She had paper, but Taylor had scissors.

"Darn…" she said, and let out a sigh, "I'll be right back." Then she knocked on the door, and the sobs constrained, "Sharpay? Let me come in and help you?"

"Help me?" they heard her whimper.

"Yeah, open the door, sweetie." Gabriella replied, in her best mother-voice. She figured this was a little hard on Sharpay, and probably embarrassing, "I'm gonna help you, so you can take care of this yourself from now on."

"Okay…" she said, before the door was opened, to let Gabriella in, "I'm really sorry…"

"It's alright," Gabriella replied, completely ignoring the blood, and what else, "I'm here to help you, Sharpay…"

--

As Sharpay stopped by Gabriella's locker on Monday, it was only the two of them, and Taylor. Gabriella immediately wrapped her arms around her, and hugged her tight.

Taylor padded Sharpay's flat stomach, "Are you okay in there?"

"It's weird…" Sharpay mumbled, moving her hands to her stomach as well, "I feel different…"

"You're a woman now." Gabriella replied, but stopped to think, when she realized what she was saying, "Well, technically, you've already passed that state, but since you don't remember… You officially became a woman last Saturday."

Sharpay giggled, because she didn't know what else to do. She still wasn't really comfortable talking about this stuff. She overheard two girls from her class talking openly about sex just last Friday, and she'd never do that. She convinced herself though, that it had something to do with the age. Maybe she had been just like that when she was acting her age? Before the accident, before her life got ruined?

"Anyway," Taylor replied, and grabbed her books tighter, "Let's get to homeroom. We better not be late."

"I know, Mrs. Darbus can be so tough." Sharpay smiled, as they hurried along the hallway.

"Aw, listen to you!" Gabriella cheered, with a huge smile, "You're already catching up on things!"

Sharpay paused to think for a second, but a wide grin appeared on her face, when she realized it was true, "I am!" she said, "I really am! That's so great!"

"We're proud of you, sweetie." Taylor told her, as they went into the classroom.

"Hey girls!" Troy said, and waved them to his seat.

Sharpay dropped her books off at her seat, before going down there, "Hi Troy…" she smiled, and couldn't help but blush.

Gabriella and Taylor shared a look, and fought not to laugh.

"How are you holding up?" Chad asked her, and padded her on the back, as she jumped onto his desk.

"I'm alright, thank you." Sharpay smiled, and brushed a hand through his curly hair – she was still so fascinated with it.

Just then Mrs. Darbus entered the classroom, and the girls hurried to their seats. Chad turned to Troy, a huge smile of his face, "She's so sweet!" he whispered.

"I know…!" Troy replied, and eyed her for a few seconds, "She's sweet and hot… That's a Sharpay I can get onboard with."

"And she doesn't act like such a child anymore." Chad said, with a shrug, "Maybe she finally gave up on the victim-role."

"Yeah, she's so awesome now." Troy said, and watched as she swung her hair back over her shoulder, and leaned back in her chair, "She's like the Sharpay I remember. The Sharpay I had such a crush on."

"How come you never went out with her?" Chad wanted to know, since it was a subject he'd been wondering a lot about, since the truth about their kiss was revealed.

"She changed." Troy quickly replied, and finally tore his gaze away from her, when Mrs. Darbus wanted them to write something down.

He couldn't quite explain it, and he didn't know what was happening, but he felt different. He felt his eyes linger on Sharpay quite a lot this morning. The clothes she was wearing was awesome. She wasn't glittery and sparkly like they knew her, she was normal to look at… and normal suited her. She was wearing jeans and an ordinary tank top. And her hair was just down today. She hadn't straightened it as much as she normally did, and the curls looked great on her. She wasn't wearing any make-up – but it was okay. He was sure it'd come. She wasn't wearing high heels (she still didn't know how to walk in them, Gabriella had told him), but the ballerina shoes she had on, really suited her. It made her even smaller than she was.

He groaned to himself, when he realized what he was doing. He was studying her. He was getting lost in every curl of her hair… Wasn't that wrong? He had a girlfriend! And the girl was eleven for Christ's sake… but with the body of a 16-year-old! And she was getting closer and closer at acting that way again, she was… almost there.

And if she never really remembered what happened during summer and during the Winter Musical, she'd believe their story forever. She'd keep being nice forever. How great wouldn't that be…

It still doesn't give you reason to think of her like that, he told himself, as he vaguely followed Mrs. Darbus' orders, she's only eleven. She's just a kid… And you have Gabriella. You love Gabriella. Sharpay's nothing. She's only eleven. You're at completely different stages. Forget her, Troy!

He snapped out of his daydream when the bell rang. He quickly packed his stuff, and rushed out of the classroom. He really needed to think things over, but he didn't know what to decide… He'd been feeling weird already last week, but after seeing her today, it was driving him crazy…

What should he do?

He couldn't like an 11-year-old, could he? He wasn't supposed to. He shouldn't.

And yet, he told himself, with a huge sigh, as she plumped his things onto his desk in French class, …you do…

So yeah. Sorry for the loooong wait, once again. We hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sharpay is growing up a bit, and we hope you'll be able to follow her progress through it all. We hope to update a few times during Christmas – if we're quick, lolz.

Anyway, thanks for all the great reviews. You guys really rock. They make our day.

Disclaimer; We don't own High School Musical.

- Stessa and Bethany.