Brain Drain

Chapter Seven

A Drink Too Far

It was a cold and breezy day, yet the sun was shining happily through the small amount of clouds dotted around in the blue sky. The two boys running around in the back yard of Troy Bolton's house didn't feel the cold, or the breeze for that matter. They were running around, throwing a basketball back and forth between them, occasionally making shots for the basket and usually getting them in.

"Hey Troy?" Chad asked, as he threw the orange ball at the basket. Troy watched the ball as it landed perfectly in the basket.

"Yeah?" He said, distractedly. He ran over and received the ball from where it bounced out of the basket. He bounced it back over to the court and threw it at Chad.

"I saw you checking Sharpay out, man." Troy immediately looked up, stopping in his footsteps and instantly defended himself.

"I wasn't." Chad raised his eyebrow, a smile on his face. He threw the ball back to Troy.

"You like the new Sharpay, don't cha?" Troy shook his head, catching the ball and throwing it back with more force.

"I don't like her, she's hot but you don't pet a mountain lion, right?" Chad bounced the ball, shrugging.

"I guess you don't like her then, I was just wondering whether you did. Best friends need to know this about each other, okay?" Troy nodded and ran, bouncing the ball out of Chad's hands and into his, making a shot for the basket.

"Score!" He shouted out, high five-ing Chad. "That was a mean shot; we should use that in the game." Chad nodded, not really taking notice of him. He was thinking about Troy and Sharpay, he did like her, he knew it.

"Are you sure you don't-…"

"Okay man, she's okay. Okay?!" He snapped, letting the ball bounce out of the court.

"Chillax dude. I just think that it's sick, it's like going out with an eleven year old."

"Well that eleven year old and I have memories, we have memories that I'm not going to forget and that she hasn't either. Her brain stopped at the exact point in our lives where we both had our first kiss, and that's a big moment in a girl's, and a guy's life, you know?" He said, breathing heavily as he had been running. "I can't forget that."

"So you do like her?" Chad chipped in.

"Yeah, well. I kinda do, it's weird. I mean, it's like, she changed overnight. She's a whole new Sharpay, but she's growing up in the way that she was supposed to as well. I just really can't figure out why she was so mean to everyone. It really bugs me." Chad looked at him.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know what?" Troy said, intrigued by the situation. Chad walked over to Troy and put a hand on his shoulder, sympathetically.

"It was you, man." Troy was confused, it was him what? "It was you that made her that way, you broke her heart."

"What?" He managed to let out; it was him that made Sharpay like she was today? How did Chad know all of this? Man, was he confused. "What happened?"

"Well… it was a few days after the kiss…"

Sharpay skipped into school, holding her Barbie doll in one hand, frequently muttering a few words to it. She sang to herself, looking around for her new boyfriend Troy. She looked around, and around and all over. She couldn't find him anywhere in the school yard. She had to notify the teacher!

"Miss Brooklyn?" She tugged on the teacher's skirt. "Miss Brooklyn?!" The teacher wasn't listening to her, she was talking to some supply teacher who definitely wasn't more important that Sharpay. "MISS BROOKLYN?!" She shouted, finally getting the attention of the young teacher.

"What can I do for you, Sharpay?" She kneeled down to Sharpay's height, for Sharpay's age, she was a little smaller than the rest of the grade, and the grade below that.

"Troy's missing; we have to get a search party! Call the police, it's an emergency!" Sharpay said, being overly dramatic. Miss Brooklyn laughed, her mid-length hair swishing past her face. Sharpay liked this teacher, she was nice to Sharpay and understood her, unlike some of the other teachers who just told her off for no reason.

"Sharpay honey, why don't you go look for Troy properly before we get the police out, okay?" Sharpay smiled and nodded, turning to leave, but then she realized something.

"I've already looked proper-properly for him!" She said, trying desperately to pronounce her words properly.

"You can't have looked everywhere!" She chuckled, "why don't you go look outside and I'll be out in five minutes, I'm just going to finish my conversation with the new supply." Sharpay scowled at the woman, standing next to her and walked away.

"Troooo-oooy?" She sang in her child-like tone. No one answered. "TROOOOOYYY?!" She shouted again, no answer. She sighed and sat on the wall, "I'm annoyed Barbie, really, really annoyed! I can't seem to find Troyie!"

Sharpay sat there for fifteen minutes, waiting for Miss Brooklyn, but finally she gave up waiting and looked around, trying to find him. It was now playtime and everyone was outside, running around, playing tag and hide and go seek. Sharpay was angry with everyone, they should be looking for Troy, not playing silly games!

"EXCUSE ME BUT WE HAVE A CRISISISIS! TROY IS MISSING!" She shouted. No one took any notice of her; she went back to her wall and folded her arms. "I hate people."

Sharpay heard Troy's voice from the hallway, she stood up from the wall and walked inside. She looked around and shouted his name a couple of times, no answer. She heard a shuffle from inside one of the classrooms; she walked in and saw Troy holding hands with Cassandra Green.

"What are you doing?" She asked a little hurt. Cassandra stepped up, smirking.


"I'm stealing your boyfriend!" She said, in a louder voice than Sharpay, trying to over power her.


"Wh-why?" She took a step backwards, her eyes tearing up. Troy was her first boyfriend and he'd cheated on her.

"Because I don't like you." Cassandra took a step forward, Sharpay felt a little insecure and took another one backwards. She wasn't used to people speaking to her like this, she was used to people who were nice to her. They were her friends.

"I thought we were friends, Cassie."

"Not anymore!" She snapped. Troy just stood there, looking innocent.

"Troy, why did you go with her? I've been looking for you all day!" Troy shrugged it off. "Tell me, aren't I good enough for you?"

"Sharpay, I love Cassie, she's my girlfriend." Sharpay looked surprised.

"I thought I was your girlfriend?" She wondered whether she liked Troy anymore, he was a turning into Cassandra.

"No, I changed."

"You can't have a girlfriend, and then gain another one, but not tell your first girlfriend!" Sharpay stepped up, she wasn't going to be beaten down like this. She had to toughen up and tell them what was right.

"I'm sorry-…"

"You're sorry?" She laughed, "Sorry can't fix everything, Troy."

"I-" Troy tried to explain, but Cassandra butted in.

"Sharpay, Sharpay, Sharpay. Poor little Sharpay. You think you're so good with your fancy clothes and fancy house. Well not really, because everybody hates you!" That echoed in Sharpay's mind

"Everybody hates you, everybody hates you, everybody hates you!" It played in her mind like a broken record, over and over again.

"Everyone hates me?"

"Yeah, because you're a dog," She stated.

"I'm not a dog; I'm human like you and everyone else."

"Then why's your name Sharpay? That's a dog's name!"

"So?"

"You're named after a dog, so therefore you are a dog."

"You're the dog Cassandra; you're the-the female dog!"

"What?" Cassandra asked, confusedly.

"You're-You're," Sharpay's Mother told her not to say this word, ever. She was told that it was a bad word and not to use it, but Sharpay had to. She just had to call Cassandra it. "A BITCH!" Cassandra gasped, Troy looked at her. Tears started to stream down Sharpay's face, she ran out of the classroom and into the girl's toilets, where she sat with her head in her hands, weeping.

"Oh shit man, it was me!" Troy sighed, and looked at Chad, knowingly. "I broke her heart." Troy thought for a moment, he didn't mean to hurt Sharpay, it was Cassandra's fault anyways, not his. Cassandra told him to say those things, he was vulnerable and of course, Cassandra offered cookies, and Troy was a sucker for cookies.

"Wait, wait, wait." Troy said, thinking about something. "Hey man, you know in the summer, when we went to Lava Springs?"

"Yeah?" Chad asked, unsure of where he was going with this.

"Didn't Sharpay have a huge crush on me? I mean she tried it on with me, she tried to sabotage mine and Gabriella's relationship." Chad nodded.

"Yeah, what's that got to do with it?" He asked, still unsure.

"Well that means that she doesn't hate me," Troy scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe she turned that way because of… because of Cassandra! That's it! It's not my fault. It was Cassandra's!"

"That's awesome, dude. Let's play some ball."

--

It was rather weird, the park was deserted, and no one was there except two girls, sitting on the swings. The blonde looked a little new to sitting on the swing, without anyone holding her but the brunette looked able and a lot more confident in the situation. The blonde was looking at the grass, playing with the autumn leaves that lay on the ground with her feet.

"It's weird you know." She said, as if they'd just had a long conversation about how weird this thing was. Gabriella looked up at her, with a confused look planted on her face.

"What's weird?" Sharpay looked up.

"Being sixteen," Gabriella let out an 'oh' and let Sharpay go on. "It's scary not knowing what has went on in five years of my life. I mean, I'm glad I have you guys to help me remember, or well… tell me," she let out a small laugh. "You know, I feel like I've known you for ages. Like I've known you for years, well really I've only known you, in my mind, for a short period of time." Gabriella smiled softly, but she instantly felt guilty.

"Hopefully you'll get your memory back soon." Gabriella said, quietly, starting to swing back and forth.

"Yeah," Sharpay let out a sigh. "I feel out of it, though."

"Oh no, you shouldn't."

"I do though, and I also feel sorry for you." She took a breath, "I mean, you've had to put up with me. You've had to explain everything all over again to me, I'm glad you've been here for me Gabriella." Gabriella let out a warm smile, reassuring the blonde that everything was okay.

"Don't feel sorry for me, this is voluntary. I am your best friend! It's what best friends do, right?" Sharpay nodded.

"You know, you and the gang could have been really mean, and told me like loads of the wrong stuff, changing my personality, but I know now that you guys are the best friends I could ever have!" Gabriella gulped.

"Um, Sharpay I need to tell you something…" Sharpay nodded and looked oblivious to what she was going to say. "We, I and the gang, of course… we-"

Gabriella's cell phone started to ring, she thought for a moment, was that the sign that she shouldn't tell Sharpay? Maybe… but anyways, she answered the call. It was her Mom calling her to come and eat dinner. The girls said their goodbyes and Sharpay sat alone on the swing.

She looked around at the trees and the flowers around her, she got so memorized by the pretty flowers that she lost track of the time. It was now getting darker by the minute and colder too. The temperature had dropped rapidly, and Sharpay started to notice it had been around two hours since Gabriella had left in a rush to eat.

She didn't have a cell phone, or a watch or anything to get her in contact with someone who knew the park well enough to help her get out of it, and back home. She watched a bird fly into a tree to find her youngsters; she smiled slightly but then remembered the situation she was in.

"Hello?" She stood up, looking around. "Is anyone there, please can you help me?" She shouted out but there came no answer. She took a step forward to roam around, but she didn't want to get lost, she thought it would be better off to stay in the same place, and then maybe Gabriella could tell Ryan about her. She lay down on the wooden bench, curling up to keep herself warm and closed her eyes.

She suddenly sat upright feeling someone's warm breath linger over her freezing cold body. She was terrified; a black figure was standing right in front of her.

"Please don't hurt me!" She cried out. The figure laughed.

"Shar, it's me!" Sharpay instantly recognized the voice, it was Troy. Sharpay felt her cheeks turn beetroot; he could have told her that it was only him. That would have been easier.

"What-What are you doing here?" She shivered, stuttering on her words. He took his jacket off and wrapped it around her shaking arms.

"Evening jog," he chuckled. "Dad makes me do it." Sharpay let out an 'oh' and nodded, slowly.

"You scared me." She said, pulling the jack around to keep her warmer.

"I'm sorry." He helped her up off of the bench, "here I'll take you home."

--

It was the weekend and they were all hanging out in the Evans' backyard. Sharpay and Ryan's parents weren't there. Their mother was at the hotel she currently lived in, and their father was out doing some business. They had the whole house for themselves except for the maids and the cooks. But they were nice to have. How would they get dinner without a cook?

Gabriella kneeled down in front of the pool, and brushed her fingers gently through the water, "Awh, it's too cold to go in." she whispered, as she wiped her fingers off in her jeans.

"I know," Taylor mumbled. She was sitting next to Gabriella, her feet in the water, just to get a bit of a cool down, "Summer ended too early this year. I dunno what happened."

"I think we were just caught up in everything." Ryan mumbled. He was happily kicked back in a pool chair, Kelsi right next to him, in a chair too, "With Sharpay, and everything." He added, with a lick of his lips.

"You're probably right." Taylor smiled.

Gabriella swallowed hard, remembering the conversation she had had with Sharpay the other day in the park. It had really hurt her when Sharpay had showed her how much confidence she had in them. She had felt so guilty about everything they were doing. She knew they shouldn't have done it, and now she just wanted to change it to the way things were. They should have told her the truth. But now it was too late – if they told her she would get so hurt. She would probably never talk to them again.

A loud shriek was heard from the other end of the yard and the four of them turned their heads to the side, and found Chad and Troy chasing Sharpay around the yard. Chad had just caught her and was holding on to her while Troy was tickling her. You could still tell she wasn't sixteen in her mind yet, but it was also getting better. They could feel it.

"Aw, look at her…" Taylor mumbled, a happy smile on her face.

"She looks so happy now." Kelsi added, with a sigh. "It seems like things are getting better for her. Maybe, in not so long, she will remember everything and we can all just hang out like we used to? I mean, not that there's anything wrong with her now, it's just… weird."

"I know what you mean." Ryan replied, and nodded his head in agreement, "It's weird having a twin sister who's only eleven, I swear; she's doing some weird things."

Gabriella nodded too, "Of course she is." She said, and turned her head to them, "She's allowed to do weird things. We won't understand it."

"PUT ME DOWN!" Sharpay exclaimed, and wriggled herself out of Chad's grasp, "You're gonna get back for that one, Chad!"

"Oh really?" Chad asked her, with a slight smile. He could see why Troy would like her (even if it was disgusting). She was hot. She had the curves of a very well shaped 16-year-old, but had the mind of an 11-year-old. It didn't make any sense. But truth was – even if Troy did like her, he couldn't date her. And if he did date her, it wouldn't be easy because those five years she had missed, did a lot in her life. It was puberty. It was where you became confident with your looks, learned about your sexuality and experienced all the first-times.

Chad wasn't even sure if Sharpay was still a virgin. He actually had no idea.

"Yes." Sharpay nodded, before she skipped past him and jumped onto a swing. "Can you push me, Chad? Pwetty pwease?"

Chad couldn't help but laugh when Troy sat down next to her too, and gave him a pouty look as well, "Pwetty pwease, Chad?" he mumbled, his blue eyes big.

Chad laughed even harder and turned around to hail Taylor, "Tay babe? Come over and help me with these babies, please?"

Taylor laughed and quickly got her feet out of the pool. She rushed across the lawn and stopped behind Troy, "You're taking the blonde princess and I'll do the basketball king."

"You've got yourself a deal, woman." Chad laughed, before he gently started pushing Sharpay's swing, knowing he shouldn't do it too hard at first or he would startle her. Sure, she was eleven, but she had always acted a lot younger than she really was, so who knew what she would do if he surprised her? Even as a 16-year-old at Lava Springs during summer, she would pout and give her father the puppy-dog-look if things didn't go her way. No one dared to mess with her because they knew she would get her way.

"Yay!" she squealed, as the wind blew in her hair and a laugh escaped her mouth. She turned her head to the side and laughed at Troy, who couldn't help but laugh just because she was.

There was just something about her, he decided, something great. Something that made him all bubbly on the inside. She always made him happy, and just watching her would make his day. Her previous personality had overshadowed how pretty and amazing she really was. He didn't know why, but she had been putting up this wall since everything with him and Cassie. But now it wouldn't come back – that wall – because he wouldn't go with Cassie again. Even if he was with Gabriella, she understood that, since so many years had passed.

He really believed they were doing her a favour with this 'change' of her life. He hoped he could get another chance with her sometime, but as for right now, it was probably too stupid. Considering he had Gabriella, and she was still 'eleven'. But he wasn't sure if he could control himself around her so much longer.

There was just something about Sharpay Evans. Eleven or not.

--

"So, what do you guys wanna watch?" Kelsi asked, as they were all gathered in the TV room, in their night clothes, ready to have a great movie night. It would be so much fun – they had never really done that before.

"Just something funny." Taylor quickly said, "It's something everyone likes. Don't you have a lot of comedies, Ry?"

"Sure." Ryan nodded, and pointed his thumb towards a shelf behind him, "That shelf is all comedies."

"Just no Jim Carrey movies." Gabriella quickly butted in, "I can't stand that guy."

"Why don't we just watch something scary instead?" Chad dumbly suggested, as his eyes went to the shelf filled with scary movies. They always used to watch those when it was just the guys hanging out with Ryan. He liked the idea of them all together, but they had refused in the past, because they didn't want Sharpay there.

"No!" Sharpay quickly said, and shook her head wildly, her two braids hitting Kelsi across the face, "I don't like horror films. I'll be scared." She gave them a pouty-look and no one had the heart to complain.

"Why don't we just watch 'Legally Blonde'?" Gabriella questioned, "I know it's sort of a chick flick, but you guys will probably like it."

"No!" Kelsi said, as she found one of her favourite movies, and picked it out, "Let's watch 'Euro Trip'! It's so hilarious."

Taylor nodded and bounced her head, "Don't tell Scotty, Scotty doesn't know, Scotty doesn't know…"

"Yeah, don't tell Scotty," Gabriella added with a smile, "'Cuz Scotty doesn't kno-ow…"

Soon everyone was singing 'Scotty Doesn't Know' except Sharpay, who was watching them all, a bit sad. She had no idea what they were singing. She didn't even know this song. And it seemed like everyone else did. She hated not being a part of something… What was she going to do about this, now?

"Guys…" she whispered, but no one heard her, "Guys?" she tried again, but decided to do something drastic, "GUYS!?"

They all stopped singing, and turned to look at her, a bit surprised.

"What's wrong, Pay?" Ryan questioned.

"Can't we just watch the movie?" she pouted. And if they did, she would know the song too, and could be a part of this sing-along-thingy.

"Of course we can, Sharpay." Troy said, and padded her leg lightly. Then he leaned forward and placed the DVD in the DVD player, before pressing play. Ryan readjusted the lights, the screen and the sound so everything would be perfect.

"Did we have anything to drink?" Taylor then asked him, while Kelsi dug into her bag to find some sweets. She had brought some because they had a lot of leftovers from a huge birthday during summer. Ryan and Sharpay could have brought everything, but it was alright. She wanted to give something too, since she never really had.

She threw three bags of chips on the floor, knowing it wouldn't last too long with Chad and Troy in the house, and also a few other things. She hoped it was okay, and the others would think so too.

"Wow, Kels!" Chad exclaimed, as he immediately opened up a bag of chips, "These are like, my favourites!"

She smiled beneath the hat she was still wearing even with her PJs, and turned around to the TV.

"I have them right here." Ryan answered Taylor, after finally getting the movie started. He stood up from his seat and went across the room, where he had placed a whole lot of different drinks. "I have some uh… Smirnoff?" he held out a few, and Gabriella nodded, "Cuba Caramel, cocoa to add in, Straw'n'berry, some sodas, vodka… Uh, basically a lot of things!"

"Bring 'em over, dude!" Troy said, and stood up to help his friend carry them across the room. They walked back and forward a few times before everything was set on the floor, and the movie was well started.

Taylor, who was like, the best mixer, quickly started making everyone her best drink. It was the cocoa/Cuba Caramel thing Ryan had talked about before, and they all loved it. She lined seven glasses up on the table next to her, and did her thing. When it was done she gave one to each, and Sharpay took hers, eyeing it very carefully.

"Uhm…" she looked around at the others who were already sipping theirs. In fact, Chad had just downed his, "Guys?" she questioned, and nudged Troy in the side, "Is this… alcohol?"

"Yeah?" He said, confused as to why she would ask that, "Of course. It's Cuba Caramel. Ryan says it's your favourite."

"Sure, but…" she swallowed hard, and placed her cup on the floor, "I've never drunk this before. Can I – can I just have some cocoa?"

Troy realized his mistake, and reached for a clean glass, quickly filling cocoa into it. He pushed the other glass across the table for Chad to take, and watched Sharpay's smile as she got what she wanted. Of course she wouldn't have tasted this before. How many 11-year-olds were used to drinking this sort of thing? He hadn't tried this before he was fifteen or something! Sure, he had tasted it before, but they hadn't gotten together just to drink and have fun like today, before sometime last year…

--

When the movie was done they were all a bit tipsy. It wasn't much, not like they couldn't walk or anything, just a bit. Gabriella could still walk straight and she was the one who was easiest affected by alcohol.

"Oh, let's play Truth or Dare!" Kelsi suggested, as she finished off a Smirnoff Berry with a smile on her face, "We can ask each other silly questions and do funny dares!"

"Yeah!" Gabriella agreed and quickly grabbed one of the empty bottles, placing it on the floor between herself and Kelsi. The rest of the guys quickly joined them down there, to take part in the fun.

"This, I've done before!" Sharpay said and happily clapped her hands. This was something she knew – not like that horrible movie and those nasty drinks. She had dared to take a sip of Troy's mix and had spitted it all out before it even touched her tongue.

And that movie! Gosh, how could they even watch something like that? The only thing those characters talked about was sex and how they did it in Europe. Crazy, European sex or something. She had no idea what they all found so funny about that, but Chad had been laughing like crazy, and even if Gabriella had tried to hide it, Sharpay knew she had enjoyed it too.

She suspected it had something to do with the age difference, but it was still a lot. She couldn't imagine she would have ever watched something like that even in that age. There was just no way! She would still be watching Carebears and The Power Puff Girls or something. Alright, so maybe that was to push it. But she wouldn't be watching anything with violence, sex, drinking or drugs in. She knew that.

"Great!" Taylor smirked, and placed a hand on the bottle. She took a deep breath and looked around at them all, "Let's do the promise, shall we?"

They all nodded, so she continued.

"Everything said and done in this room stays between the seven of us." She told them, very seriously. Her voice was a bit affected by the alcohol, but it wasn't bad, "And that means no exceptions." Her head snapped to Sharpay's side, and she gave her a look, "Do you understand that, princess? You don't tell on us, deal?"

Sharpay was a bit startled by the sudden change of voice.

"Taylor!" Ryan slurred, and wrapped his arm around Sharpay's shoulder, "Don't talk to her like that. She's just eleven. She won't kiss and tell."

"No!" Sharpay quickly said, disgusted by the thought, "I won't kiss anybody. And if I do, I definitely won't tell."

Chad couldn't help but laugh, "Shar – Sharpay… that's not what it means…"

But before he managed to explain to her what it really meant, Troy had shut him up, and was motioning for Taylor to start the game, "Go on. Come now, Tay. We don't have all night." He paused and swallowed, "Well, we kinda do, but that's not the point… Let the game begin!"

"LET THE GAME BEGIN!"

Taylor drew in a deep breath and the bottle landed on Ryan. She immediately broke into a fit of giggles, but got her act together, "Ryan…" she said, now very serious, "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth… of course."

"Are you really – are you really gay?" she wanted to know.

Sharpay's first thought was: Eeeeew! Gay?! My twin brother is not gay. How can she even ask that? Puh-lease, he would never even look at another guy. When he finally decides to date it will be all well-behaved girls.

But then Ryan nodded, "Sure." He said, "I've had a boyfriend before. But I've also had a girlfriend."

"So you think you're a little bit of both?" Kelsi chipped in, as she grabbed a glass from the table, and drank whatever was in it.

"Sure!" Ryan just said, before he reached down and spun the bottle. It landed on Chad.

"Chad, my man!" Ryan said, and reached out to give him a high-five. However, his aim wasn't very good, so he hit him on the forehead, "…whoops." He just said, before adding, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Chad said, and licked his lips. And then he just had to add; "I'm not a fag. I can take dares."

Ryan didn't comment further on that. In fact, Sharpay wasn't even sure if it had gotten through to him. She was taken aback by all of this. Really. She had never thought her friends would be this way. She had never believed they could act like this. Drink, and-and… have boyfriends and girlfriends. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be a part of this evening anymore.

She was about to open her mouth and announce she was going to bed, when Ryan came up with a dare.

"I dare you to- to make out with Taylor for a half hour, and if a bed is needed, you have permission to take my room." He quickly rambled off.

Sharpay's eyes went wide, and she was really about to object that this was enough, when Taylor shrugged and pulled Chad with her, onto the couch, where they locked lips faster than Sharpay had ever seen anyone do. And it wasn't just a peck either. It was a kiss like Sharpay had never seen it before. She had never tried that; never thought her friends could do that.

It was scary…

She closed her eyes, and turned her head away from them, while the others seemed very fascinated by their friends making out. Sharpay couldn't take it anymore. She stood up so suddenly, that Kelsi jumped out of her skin, and knocked two glasses over.

"Stop it!" she shrieked, so loudly that Chad and Taylor broke apart, "What do you think you're doing? It's gross – you- you have your tongue down her throat, Chad! Stop it right now! Not on my couch! And you're…" she swallowed and looked around the room, where glasses and empty bottles were lying around, "…you're drinking. It's gross. Stop it right now. What do you think you're doing?" she repeated.

"But Sharpay…" Troy said, and stood up, to be on eye level with her, "We're just… we're doing what we normally do. We're being teenagers."

Sharpay had tears in her eyes, and was trying to hold them from falling, "If this… if this is what it's like being a teenager, then I'm glad I went back to being eleven. I don't ever wanna experience this!"

And then she turned around in her fluffy, Snoopy slippers and rushed out of the room, braids flying after her. She didn't even look back, she just hurried up the stairs, leaving six confused friends behind.

"What just happened?" Gabriella slurred, as she picked up a half empty Smirnoff and took a sip.

"I think we just…" Troy didn't really know how to explain it. He knew they had taken it too far. They shouldn't have been drinking; they shouldn't have done all these things. She was only eleven! She didn't understand it, and they had to understand that. Why couldn't they? "…I think we just took it too far." He told them, before he rushed after her, to go make it up to her.

"Well-well," Ryan said, and shot Chad and Taylor, who was still lying there, just looking at the drama unfold, a look, "you've not done a half hour yet. Get started."

"Yeah," Kelsi agreed, with a slight smile, "and oh – happy humping."

--

Troy could hear crying through the closed door, and he believed he had hit rock bottom. He couldn't understand himself and the others. They knew how much trouble she had with everything going on, so why did they have to place this bomb on her?

He hated himself for it. He hated himself for hurting her. He cared about her so much, how could he even do it? He… he almost loved her. He wasn't quite sure if he did yet, but he could feel that he was getting there. It didn't matter that he already had Gabriella and that Sharpay was going through a tough time in her life – not being able to remember five years was tough – because he was falling for her. And he was falling hard.

He just had no idea what to do about it? He couldn't just… he couldn't just tell her. He had to take it slow. Not do it wrong. It was important. Sharpay was important.

He knocked on her door, and placed an ear against the wood, "Sharpay? Please let me in… I'm worried about you."

"Go away." Was her muffled response, "I don't want to talk to you… I just – I wanna be alone."

"Can't I come in, please?" Troy asked her, "I want to make sure you're alright. Please, let me in… I want to talk."

There was a long silence between them, and the only thing he could hear were her sniffles. They were loud and clear through the door, and he was really worried she wasn't going to let him inside. But then she spoke up, and his heart fluttered.

"Come in then." She told him.

He smiled happily and opened the door slowly, stepping into the room. She was sitting on her bed, tears rolling down her pale cheeks. Her eyes were red from crying and she looked up at him with those big brown eyes he adored so much.

"Hey there." He said, and sat down next to her. He gently wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into his touch, burying her face in the crook of his neck, "Shh, calm down Sharpay. It's alright, I'm here."

"I'm sorry…" she cried, and he could feel that the tears were starting to fall again, "I know I'm ruining everything. I'm sorry, Troy. I want… I want to be better, I don't want to ruin everything. But I just … I just want to be okay."

"It's gonna be okay." he promised her, and hugged her even tighter, "I will be there Sharpay. You're gonna remember again. I will help you, Sharpay. I'm here for you. Remember that."

She looked up at him and gave him a heart-warming smile, "Thanks Troy." She told him, "Thank you so much. You're the best."

And then she moved into his body again to feel the support he was giving. And he was just there for her. He had no idea if he would be able to keep his promises. But he was going to try. He wouldn't want to let her down again.

We're so sorry about the delay, guys. Really, we couldn't be more sorry. We're going to try harder the next time; that's a promise.

I (Stessa) hope I didn't offend anyone with the drinking part. I wrote that part. It was a part of the story from the very beginning, and I had no idea how to really freak her out, so I figured that would be a good and realistic way to do it. I mean, most teenagers drink once in awhile, so I hope you're okay with it.

And I (Bethany) should be sorry, it was my fault again about the updating, I didn't start it when Stessa was in London, because I forgot about it and I've been really busy, so yeah. [: So I hope you guys accept my apology. Oh and I have a new story out called 'Fabulous', so would you guys be kind enough to check it out and review? I'll continue with it once I get a few more reviews. Thanks!

Disclaimer; We don't own HSM or any of the mentioned movies.

- Stessa and Bethany.