Brain Drain
Chapter Six
A Drive Through the Past
"…So-So they're getting a divorce." She sniffled, still holding onto Taylor. She could see Chad out of the corner of her eye, not paying any attention at all.
"Aw, honey," Taylor hugged her even tighter, "it'll be okay, everything will work out… I think." Taylor was really trying to help, she wanted to see it from an eleven year olds side, but she couldn't really vision that. It was too hard for her; she couldn't remember when she was eleven.
"Wh-What if it's not gonna be o-okay?"
"It will, it will. Don't worry, just cry." She whispered to her, trying to calm her down. She wasn't used to this side of Sharpay. Sure, she'd gotten used to her new personality, but no, not this. Sharpay Evans crying, in Taylor McKessies living room? Ha, was this a dream?
Taylor looked towards her boyfriend, noticing that he wasn't taking any attention in this matter at all, he was blowing their cover! She shot a hard stare at him, and kicked the table, making him look up to the fuming woman. She shook her head at him, and he shot a 'why are you mad at me?' look. Taylor just ignored this bone-head look and turned her attention back to Sharpay.
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…
Sharpay pulled her cell out of her pocket and looked at the caller I.D.
Ryan Cell.
Ryan Cell.
Ryan Cell.
Flashed up on the screen, she scoffed and ignored it, not in the mood to talk to him right now. Taylor noticed this immediate reaction and picked up Sharpay's cell off of the table, and answered the call.
"Hello?" Taylor said, waiting for Ryan to answer.
"…Taylor?" He said, surprised at the girl who answered.
"Yeah, it's me."
"Where's Shar?"
"Here."
"Why didn't she answer?"
"Uh, because she didn't want to?"
"Oh, okay. So where are you both?"
"What is this, twenty questions or something?!"
"Chill, chill, I'm just worried about my eleven year old sister, okay?"
"Yeah, I think she's mad at you for not telling her."
"About what?"
"Y'know, the thing between your parents?"
"Oh yeah, Mom said she was gonna force Dad to tell her. Whoops."
"Yeah, you really should be 'whoops-ing'."
"Why?"
"Because she's at my house freaking crying her eyes out. This has really got to her, Ryan."
"Right, right. Okay, give me five minutes. I'll come and talk to her, or whatever." Taylor sighed.
"Fine, but hurry. Kay?"
"Byee."
Taylor put her cell back on the table, where it was before and looked at Sharpay.
"Ryan's coming to see you, and to take you home."
"Why?"
"Because he cares about you."
"No he doesn't, he didn't tell me about Mommy and Daddy!"
"Okay." Taylor said, trying not to listen to her anymore, she felt a headache coming on.
The doorbell rang, and Taylor stood up very quickly to go get it. Sharpay snuggled up on the sofa, and closed her eyes. Taylor mentioned that it was going to be Ryan to the young girl, who was now sprawled across the light green sofa, her blonde locks covering her face. She just shrugged, she didn't really care. Ryan hadn't told her anything, so she wasn't going to help him in any way, she was just being stubborn.
"Hey Ry, Sharpay's in here, she's like, sprawled over the sofa." Ryan nodded and walked inside, closing the front door behind him. He took off his shoes, being the polite boy he was, and followed Taylor into their living room. Ryan immediately saw Chad staring at Sharpay, rather weirdly.
"Uh, I think she needs help, man." Chad said, not really thinking, as normal.
"She's fine, she's just upset Chad. Gosh, you're so un-thoughtful!" Taylor stated, but Ryan just gave a nod to Chad telling him that it was okay, and he could handle this.
Ryan walked over to Sharpay, sitting on the only space on the sofa. Sharpay immediately jumped up, and gave him a hard stare.
"What are you doing here? I don't like you anymore! You're-You're-You're mean!" Ryan let out a laugh and took her hand.
"Sharpay, I didn't tell you about Mom and Dad getting a divorce because they wanted to tell you themselves."
"Well, they shouldn't have told me! I don't want them to get a divorce! We're perfect, they can't, we're gonna be alone."
"No, we're still going to see them both Shar, but just not together. Okay?" Sharpay moved closer to Ryan and snuggled into him. Ryan wrapped his arms around of her, and kissed her softly on the forehead. "It's gonna be okay, everything is going to be okay…" He whispered into her ear, calmingly.
"I'm sorry Rysie," she quietly said, letting a few tears drop from her brown pools.
"It's okay Pay, it's fine…"
"I didn't mean to-.."
"I know, I know. It's fine, don't worry about it." Ryan hugged her tighter, wiping the tears away from her cheeks. He could tell that Sharpay was really hurt by this matter; he knew that Sharpay loved their parents dearly and depended on them for everything.
"Are we going home, Ry Ry?" Ryan nodded, and helped her sit up.
"Are you ready to go home?" Sharpay just smiled unsurely, Ryan took her hand into hers and stood up, Sharpay mirrored everything he did. "Thanks Taylor, you've been so much help. I'm glad it was you who she came to. See ya at school?"
"Yeah," she replied, walking them to the door and waving to them as they left her house. She turned around to Chad and threw an umbrella at him.
"OUCH!" He stood up quickly, and looked at her. "What was that for?!"
"For being such a freakin' jerk! Gosh, you nearly blew our cover!"
"No, I didn't. I was being Chad."
"Well Chad's an idiot."
--
Ryan opened the door to The Evans' household, letting Sharpay inside first and then coming inside himself. He locked the door behind him, just to be safe. Sharpay ran straight upstairs to her bedroom; Ryan squeezed his two eyebrows together, and stepped through to the corridor. His Mom was sitting at one end of the table, and his Father at the other. He just stared at them, watching them both on their stupid laptops. Not even talking, he couldn't believe they were working at a time like this! They were in the middle of a family crisis and they were working?! Ugh, stupid adults, they didn't know anything.
He quickly ran upstairs, chasing after Sharpay. He walked down the hallway and knocked on her bedroom door. No answer, he sighed and opened it, walking in.
"Shar, you in here?" He heard a sniffle, and looked to the bed that was placed in the middle of the gigantic room. He walked over to the bed and sat comfortably on the end of it, placing his hand on the bump, where her feet were. "Sharpay, it'll be fine, seriously, it'll be over before you know it."
"No, it won't." She said, muffled as she had her head under the cushion.
"Mom and Dad-"
"I'm not talking about Mom and Dad!" Ryan was confused, wasn't she crying about the divorce?
"Huh?" She sat up, throwing the cushion away from the bed, it landing on the floor somewhere.
"THIS IS MY ENTIRE FAULT! IF I HADN'T OF GOT INTO THAT STUPID ACCIDENT, MOM AND DAD WOULD STILL BE TOGETHER, AND EVERYTHING WOULD BE BETTER, I JUST KNOW IT. I HATE MYSELF, I'M SO STUPID!" She collapsed into floods of tears.
"Shar, it's not your fault. Why would it be your fault? If they're getting a divorce that means it's between them, and it's their fault. Not yours, it's totally not yours. You haven't done anything for it to be your fault, Shar. You know that, inside, you do. Right?" Sharpay just shrugged. "Come on, why would they be getting a divorce because of the accident? A divorce is built up Sharpay, it just means they're not getting along anymore, it doesn't mean they hate you. Or even me-..."
"But they hate each other!" She sniffled, putting her head in her hands.
"I don't know about that, only they do. You wanna have a family meeting?"
"No."
"Come on Shar, we have to find out why they're breaking up, and also who's going with who. And stuff."
"We're getting separated?" Ryan just shrugged and played with his hat.
"I don't know."
"But-But I-I…" Tears came flooding out of her eyes again, "Noooo! I don't want you to go, that's not fair!"
"I know it's not Shar, but I don't know what's happening. So shall I go ask them to have a meeting, or not?"
"I. Don't. Care!" She crossed her arms.
Ryan left the room, with Sharpay still sitting on her bed, crossing her arms. She was by herself in the room now, she looked around for something to do, she was bored, and she hated boredom.
"TROY BOLTON IS NOT IN MY SHOW!"
Sharpay frantically looked around the room; did she just hear a voice? She swore she did. She shrugged and picked up a book from the floor, it was the East High Yearbook. Sharpay smiled and opened it, seeing the pictures of all her classmates. She noticed all the gang, and a few other people that she had seen around school. Her eyes lingered over one in particular, she knew him, right?
It was Zeke Baylor who she was looking at, she remembered something to do with cookies or something sweet. She didn't know why, was she remembering something?
"Okay… So would you like to watch me play ball sometime?"
She closed her eyes and tried to remember, going over it in her mind.
"I'd rather stick PINS in my eyes."
"But, wouldn't that be awfully uncomfortable?"
"EVAPORATE TALL PERSON!" Sharpay stormed away.
"I bake! If that helps…"
The blonde haired girl opened her eyes, and furrowed her eyebrows. Why could she remember this one moment, it was weird. It was like her encounter of that silly song that didn't mean anything, yesterday. She really wanted to know why she was so mean there, it was weird. And she looked rather annoyed with the boy. What had he done to her? Nothing that she remembered.
She turned the pages in the Yearbook, and started noticing wherever she was it was scribbled over, with a pink pen. She couldn't make out the writing, but she figured that it was some sort of signature for herself. But why every picture? She didn't understand.
"Humuhumunukunukuapua'a…" She sang to herself, flipping the pages over. "Malihiki Malihini-who, with me!" It was like she knew all the words, they were just coming out. She thought it was pretty cool herself. "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a Ooh! Hawana Wak-…"
TROY BOLTON!
It was him, in the yearbook. She looked at him closely; he hadn't changed from last summer. She read his profile, everything seemed normal.
"Name – Troy Alexander Bolton, Age – 16, Favourite Sport – Basketball, Favourite Person – Gabriella Montez, Favourite Teacher – Jack-… Gabriella?" Sharpay touched the page. "I thought I was his favourite person? Things have changed Sharpay," she replied to herself.
"Shaaaaaaaaaaaaar?" She dropped the book onto the bed, and skipped downstairs, at the sound of Ryan's voice. She walked into the kitchen, where she heard talking and shuffling around.
"Sharpay, darling, how are you?" Sharpay totally ignored her Mother, and her Father too. She just turned to Ryan.
"What?" She asked him, wanting him to hurry up. She didn't want to be in the same house as her parents, never mind the same room.
"We're going to have a family meeting, but first the doctor wants to see you for your progression." Sharpay turned stiff. She didn't like the doctors, it smelt funny and the doctor she had seen before, when she was in hospital had a weird personality. She was kinda scared of him.
"I-I don't wanna go to the doctors."
"You have to, don't worry… I'll be there, okay?"
"Every step?"
"Every step of the way, Shar." The girl flung her arms around Ryan's neck and hugged him tightly. "I love you, Ry Ry."
"Love you too, Pay Pay." He said, in his child-like voice.
-
"That went well, don't you think?" Ryan questioned her, as they went of the hospital, and started walking towards their father's black BMW. He was feeling rather happy after the two hours long appointment they'd just had with Sharpay's doctor to go through countless of tests, and talk about what Ryan could do to help the process move along.
Sharpay had been doing all kind of things with a nurse, so Ryan had had some time alone with Doctor Scott to discuss what to do next. Ryan knew the guys had spoken a little to Sharpay about her past. He didn't know what they had told her exactly, but he knew Gabriella had mentioned a few things. Something about the Winter Musical. She told Ryan she thought it was smart to mention that, because it was a strong memory of Sharpay's.
But Doctor Scott said that they needed to do more to get her memory back. He had said that it would be a good idea to maybe recreate some of the important events that had happened in the last five years of her life. He had suggested they start with the car crash.
Ryan had been shocked to hear that, until Doctor Scott had explained it better. Ryan had stupidly thought he was going to have to crash his car with Sharpay in the passenger's seat, but then he was told, that he should let Sharpay drive down the road where everything happened, and pass the place where she drove into that other car. He was a bit afraid of how that might go, but since the doctor suggested it, he figured it would be better to do it.
The question was just: How to teach her to drive?
"Yeah, it was alright…" Sharpay mumbled, as she leaned herself against the car, watching Ryan as he locked the car open, "It was some weird tests I had to do. And I also had to ask so many weird questions. It was kinda hurting my head."
Ryan opened the car door, and decided to tell her about his plans, "Listen, Pay Pay," he said, hands on the open door, "Doctor Scott suggested we do something to trig your memory, and I'm thinking it might be a good idea. So what do you say we do that before we head home for the family meeting?"
Sharpay scrunched her nose at the mentioning of the family meeting, but shrugged her shoulders too, "Suuure…" she mumbled, because it would also give her more time before the dreaded meeting, "What did he suggest we do then? More talking?"
"No." Ryan said, as he grabbed her hand, and placed the car keys in her palm, "He suggested we drive."
Sharpay could feel her jaw hitting her chest, "Eh?" she managed to squeak out.
Ryan couldn't help but chuckle, "He said you should drive." He explained, "Actually. You should drive pass the place where you crashed your car. He says it's a good idea to sorta 'recreate' some important places. And this is really important. Right?"
Sharpay nodded, and hesitantly got into the car, eyes scanning the weird keyboard. She had seen her mother and father drive before, but this was really weird. She knew, that she in fact, had been behind a wheel before (duh, she'd crashed her own car!), but she didn't remember any of it. How was she gonna do this?
Ryan went around the car, and quickly got into the car as well. He offered her an optimistic smile, "Now, I know it's not your dear pink car, but it's all we have. And I bet it's gonna come back to you as soon as we hit the road. I'm right here though, to cut in if anything goes wrong."
"But I don't even know what these thingies mean!" Sharpay whined, and pointed at the different buttons in the car. She really had no idea. Was it not very dangerous to put her behind the wheel like that?
Ryan hid a smirk; he had a feeling it would come right to her, when she started the car, "Just try," he said, "just try, Paypay. I know it'll work."
Sharpay swallowed a big lump in her throat, and put the key in the ignition. She carefully turned it around, and was so startled when the car started, that she turned it back, and ripped the key out again. She glanced briefly at Ryan, before trying one more time. This time she managed to leave the key in, actually move the car a bit.
She was really shocked, when a familiar feeling shot through her body, and she actually knew which things to pull, and which buttons to push. She turned her head to the side, her jaw hanging open, and was met by a smiley Ryan.
She quickly drove out of the parking lot, happy with her success of starting the car. It was a bit unfamiliar, but she still felt like she had done this before. She felt as if she had done this a million times, and was good at it. The phrases you used when you drove, such as 'parallel parking' were gone, as well as was the words you call the instruments in the car. She knew a wheel was a wheel, but then that was also just about it. She didn't need to know all that, though, she realized. Because she was able to drive down the road (a bit slow, though), and through the city without many problems.
One time, the car almost stopped when she was waiting for the red light, but she managed to keep it going. She was kinda proud of herself, and continued to the other end of town.
"Hey, you're doing good!" Ryan exclaimed, and reached a hand over, to pad her thigh, "I'm proud of you, Paypay."
She didn't dare to turn her head and look at him, so she just nodded, "Thank you, Rysie." She smiled.
Ryan ceased his moment to ask her a bit of questions. He pointed at the 'brake' well knowing what it was called, and hoped Sharpay would remember too, "What's that called?" he asked.
Sharpay glanced down briefly, before looking at the road again, "Uhm…" she trialed off, and tried to think of the word, but she couldn't remember. And she hated herself for it. She just couldn't do anything about it, but try harder, "I – I can't remember…" she pouted.
Ryan felt his hope sink, and glanced softly at her. He could see she was sad as well. He didn't want to bring her down, after being able to drive the car, but he had to explore her memory a bit more; he just had to. Maybe it'd be better if he turned it around? He smiled to himself, and therefore said, "Give it a bit of brake, Sharpay!"
Her eyes went wide, and she gulped. He knew he hadn't trigged her memory or anything. Now she just looked even worse than before. She managed to squeak out, though; "What? BRAKE!?"
Ryan chuckled softly, even if he knew he wasn't supposed to. She was just so darn funny!, "It's the left one, Paypay, the left one!"
She groaned, but hit the brake softly nonetheless, "It's not funny, Rysie!" she told him, voice whiny, "I thought I was doing great, but then I remember nothing!"
"I'm sorry, Paypay." Ryan said, and calmed down a bit. He knew it wasn't funny, and it wasn't nice of him to laugh at her. He should be more supportive instead.
A silence came between them, while Sharpay concentrated on her driving. It wasn't too long before they were driving pass the place where she crashed her car, though. Sharpay was still watching the road, her eyes hurting, because she was also trying to remember. But she got nothing. Not even a tiny memory of what was brake and what was not.
The only thing she could see was a flash of white light, and nothing more. When she told Ryan this, he looked disappointed again, and she felt low.
"I'm sorry, Ry." She said, as she drove to the side of the road, and stopped the car, "I'm trying the best I can. I drove the car, though! Isn't that something?!"
Ryan nodded softly, "It's great, Paypay. It really is." He said, as he reached over, and placed an arm around her shoulders, "I'm so very proud of you for even doing this. But we gotta work more on everything. I want you to feel good again. I want you to be well. We have to work harder."
Sharpay nodded, touched by his sweet words. Ryan was the best brother anyone could ever want, and she was so lucky to have him. She remembered when they used to fight over silly things, when they were younger. But now they were more grown, and they acted more mature. It was wonderful like that. She smiled at him, and kissed his cheek, "Then Ryan…" she said, and took in a deep breath, "Shoot. Ask me. Anything."
Ryan leaned back in his seat, and thought things over for awhile. What could he ask her? He had to start with something easy. Not too easy, but definitely not hard either. He wanted to help her, not cause her pain. He knew she'd get so angry with herself if she couldn't remember, so he had to start out easy. "Oh yeah. On the night you crashed your car… Do you remember what happened before? What caused you to run away like that?"
Sharpay leaned back in the comfortable seat, and closed her eyes tightly; hoping it might help her to remember better. She bit her lower lip, and tried to go through her brain, memory for memory… She remembered the kiss with Troy on Halloween, and then… small flashes of things she knew had to be her life, but had no recall doing.
She was talking to Zeke by her locker again… And she was not being all nice. 'Evaporate tall person!' echoed through her mind, when the song took over, and the mental image of Troy watching her burned itself onto her corneas. The silly song kept shooting through her head, when suddenly a new picture flashed up, of Gabriella yelling at her, in front of a pool.
…why would Gabriella be yelling at her? Weren't they best friends?
She opened her eyes, and turned to look at Ryan, confusion shooting through her eyes. What was up with this? She cleared her throat, "Ry…" she trailed off, her eyes searching his, "Was… was Gabriella and I ever fighting?"
Ryan seemed to listen closer, "Yeah…?"
"Well…" she trailed off, searching for the right words. She had no idea how to say this, so she was just gonna try, "I sorta,… saw her yelling at me. But that's all. And of course, I mean… friends can fight, right?"
"Sure they can." Ryan said. He was wondering if he should mention the about thousandth times the two girls had been bickering, but decided not to do it. It would just confuse her even more and that wouldn't be good. It was better to start with the night she crashed her car. After all, that was what her doctor had suggested, "But what about the night? Do you remember?"
Sharpay took in a deep breath, and did her best to recall the night. She saw the white light again, and heard a loud crash for her ears. But other than that… nothing. She really didn't remember any of it. It was really creepy. She thought it might have something to do with a roof (perhaps the one on their house?), but she wasn't sure at all.
"I'm sorry, Ryan." She said, voice sad, "I really don't remember any of it."
Ryan gulped, and reached a hand out to calm her a bit. He was slightly taken aback though, when the waterworks started. Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and her brown eyes were huge with sadness, "Hey, hey!" he said, and finally did what he should have done a long time ago; he enveloped her in a hug… "Don't cry, Sharpay. Don't cry. It'll be okay."
"No, it won't!" Sharpay mumbled into his shirt, burying her head into the nape of his neck, happy to feel some comfort from the brother she loved so much, "It won't be okay at all, Ryan… What if I never remember, what if it's gonna be like this all my life? What am I gonna do… I'm so behind everything."
"Sccchy…" Ryan whispered, and hugged her tightly, "You will remember, Paypay. Just give it time…"
--
"…so," Auchanté finished, as she reached her hand across the table, and grabbed Sharpay's hand, "we really just need to figure out what to do with you guys. We've already decided that your father is gonna live here, and I'll be moving out. You're free to stay with whoever you want. But it'll be better to at least stay here until I've got a place to live."
Sharpay swallowed a lump in her throat, and ripped her hand out of her mother's. She then slid closer to her father, and leaned against him, "I wanna stay with Daddy…" she said, and snuggled closer to his body.
He kissed her on the head, "I'd love for you to stay here, Princess." Vance said, his voice sweet as honey. He loved his daughter so much, and he knew he had always spoiled her, but he just couldn't help it. Sharpay was his everything – he loved her with all his heart. Not that he didn't love Ryan, it was just different with his little princess.
"Thanks Daddy." She whispered, and kissed his cheek lovingly.
Ryan took in a deep breath, and turned to look at his mother, "I'm gonna stay here too, mother." He said, his voice a bit sad because he really was a mommy's boy, "At least until Sharpay feels better. Then I might come live with you."
Auchanté nodded softly, a sad smile on her face, "I understand, Ducky." She replied. She wanted Ryan to come with her, but she understood he had to take care of his twin for now. Everything would be better once Sharpay felt better too.
"I'm sorry, mother." He replied, with a slight nod.
Vance couldn't help but smile, "She's gonna be here a lot though, right Aud?" he said, looking at his soon to be ex-wife, "You're gonna have to get your things, and we're gonna split everything. You'll see her all the time."
"That's for sure." Auchanté promised her kids, with a huge smile too.
Sharpay pulled out of her father's embrace, and turned to her mother, "But Mommy," said she, eyes worried, "You don't have a job? How are you gonna pay for everything?"
"Your father and I are still friends, Sharpay." Auchanté told her daughter, and gave her husband a quick glance, "He'll pay alimony, I'll be able to live with the savings from my father. I don't have to take a job."
"And I'll always be there to help her." Vance said, as he was still stroking Sharpay's blonde hair, "I don't hate your mother. It's just better when we're not married, because then we can actually be in the same house once in awhile. No worries Sharpay, everything will work out."
Sharpay nodded, and smiled at her family, "Okay." She confirmed, and she really hoped it would. Everything seemed to go wrong though. She couldn't remember the last five years of her life, and her parents were getting divorced.
She had a tough time seeing the bright side.
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- Stessa and Bethany.