Brain Drain

Chapter Nine

Emergency, Dial 911!

A couple of days after in school, Gabriella almost thought that the old Sharpay was back; everything was like it used to be. It looked like she had spent hours on her hair, her clothes was all pink and sparkly (filled with rhinestones!), she wore bright, pink high heels and a Gucci purse was thrown over her shoulder. Her make-up was done perfectly, and Gabriella almost couldn't believe that this was the Sharpay who had been dragging a Barbie doll with her everywhere just recently. It was such a transformation. Maybe the fake things they told her had started working and soon she'd be all grown-up again, just like her usual self, except the Ice Princess façade?

Gabriella hoped that this plan would turn out perfectly. So far it had gone good. Ryan had almost killed them when he found out, but on the other hand, he had given them a chance, hadn't he? He wanted to see if they could do what they had planned. They were all so grateful to him for that so she was determined to make this alright for Sharpay.

But it really was weird that she, within such a short amount of days, had started to act so much older. First the Barbie was gone, but now there was like… no more babyness; there was no more of what they had experienced; no peeing during class, no crying when she didn't get what she wanted, no more not understanding the teachers. She was just like all of them. Of course they knew she was still not their age yet – she needed a few years, and while those few years meant a lot at some points, they meant nothing at this point. Beautifying yourself and having an image meant everything, especially at that age.

It was even Sharpay's suggestion to go to the mall after school. Taylor had been pleasantly surprised by this and immediately said yes for both herself, Gabriella and Kelsi. That was why they were strolling through the mall now. Gabriella only had one bag from this shop where there had been a top she just couldn't resist to buy, Kelsi and Taylor had nothing, but Sharpay… Sharpay was loaded with bags. Apparently she believed she needed a new wardrobe. The former Sharpay had been this way too, but maybe this was something that just came with the name. Sharpay equals Shop, or something?

"Wow, look at that dress!" Sharpay exclaimed and stopped in front of a window to one of the shops she used to shop in all the time, "Isn't it amazing, guys?" she asked them, and turned her head to both sides, to give them all a quick glance.

"Sure," Kelsi mumbled and stuffed her hands into her pockets; she really didn't care much about this, "looks great from where I am standing."

"Me too." Taylor just agreed; she wasn't one for dresses either.

Sharpay frowned. She could feel their un-enthusiasm, so she turned to Gabriella and shot her a questionable look, "Gabriella, what about from where you're standing?"

Gabriella offered Sharpay a huge grin and nudged her in the side, "It looks awesome, Shar." She said. And she really meant it too. It was absolutely gorgeous and so out of her budget. But that didn't mean Sharpay couldn't buy it. She had more money than Gabriella would ever see, even with her parents getting divorced and everything.

Sharpay turned around again. She had a satisfied look in her eyes; like she had been looking for a dress for ages and finally found one. But really, it wasn't like that; she just saw it and thought it was amazing, "Maybe I should go try it on…" she said, but she didn't wait for an answer. She started to walk towards the doorway, but Gabriella reached out and grabbed her arm;

"Why don't you wait until later?" she hurriedly asked her friend. Sharpay shot her a confused look and Gabriella elaborated further, "I think Tay is getting hungry!" Gabriella quickly said, just so Sharpay wouldn't get impatient. The blonde then looked at Taylor, who tried to look like this story wasn't unfamiliar to her, "So why don't we get something to eat?" Gabriella finished.

Sharpay shrugged, "Fine," she said and tugged her arm out of Gabriella's grasp, "I could eat a muffin or something. Why don't we go to a café?"

"Fine by me." Taylor said, because she wasn't hungry at all – it wasn't like she needed real food or anything.

The four girls then made their way towards one of the cafés in the mall; Sharpay led the way and the other girls just let her. She would know, after getting more grown-up, where to get good coffee. At least Gabriella hoped she did because there was nothing she hated more in the world that bad coffee. It did look like Sharpay knew where to go because she led them straight to a café where they found a table near the window.

She happily placed her bags all around herself when she had taken a seat, "I dunno why," she begun and looked around the little place, "but I feel like I've been here a lot of times before. I knew exactly where to go." she paused and smiled at her three friends, "Is this like… our favourite café or something?"

Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi shared a look, before the pianist offered Sharpay an insecure smile, "Sure…" she tried and the light was reflected in her glasses, "We're here all the time!"

Sharpay nodded happily and reached out for the menu, "I figured." She mumbled.

Taylor then leaned into Gabriella, "Does she go here a lot?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I honestly have no idea." She revealed and glanced at Sharpay. Maybe she did use to go here a lot with the Sharpettes or something. Gabriella then paused. It was weird, actually. They hadn't even heard much of the Sharpettes since all this happened. Gabriella suspected that Leah, Emma and Jackie were happy to get rid of their leader – maybe now they could do what they wanted to.

"You guys know what you want?" Sharpay questioned them, looking above the menu. She had thinking-lines across her forehead and seemed deeply into the different sorts of coffee, "I don't really want coffee…" she made a face, "I'm thinking that maybe I'm still a bit young for that. I'm gonna go with hot chocolate."

Kelsi moved slightly over so she could see the menu in Sharpay's hand too, "How much does it cost here?" she questioned, as she looked. If it was too much, of course she wouldn't be able to buy anything. Her family weren't exactly the richest people around.

Sharpay let the menu fall to the table and placed an arm around Kelsi, "No worries, Kels," she said with a giggle, "I'm just gonna pay; my treat." She pushed her chair back and stood up, grabbing her purse on the way, "Should I just get four hot chocolates?"

Taylor quickly nodded, not bothering to check with the others, "Sure, that's fine." She said.

Sharpay's face lit up even more, and Gabriella couldn't help but notice how happy she had been all day. It was so different from what they were used to from her. It was great to see her like this. It made Gabriella feel like they really did do the right thing by changing her past, "Great." The blonde said and turned around on her high heels.

When she was out of earshot Taylor sighed, "Wow…"

Gabriella nodded, "I know what you mean. This is sooo weird." She glanced to where the blonde was waiting in line, "She's like… a normal human being. Except nicer at times."

Kelsi bit her lip, her eyes studying the blonde too, "I don't know guys…" she mumbled and looked at her two friends, "I have such a bad feeling about this. I really feel like something is gonna go wrong…"

Taylor placed a hand on top of Kelsi's to give the smaller girl some reassurance, "Don't worry, Kels." She said, and turned her head to watch Sharpay, like the two other had done, "I think nothing can go wrong."

Kelsi nodded but she still didn't seem convinced, so Gabriella decided to change the subject. To do anything to make the other girl feel better. It was important that Kelsi (or anyone else for that matter) didn't get cold feet; it meant everything. If they had convinced Sharpay of this now, and then she suddenly found out what really happened, she'd get so confused and Gabriella was sure it wouldn't be pretty. They couldn't do that. It'd mess everything up even more than it was already, "Hey… So, did you see that necklace Troy gave Sharpay?"

"I know!" Taylor said and nodded her head wildly; she had been thinking a lot about that. Why on earth would Troy give Sharpay such an expensive present? Something that mostly boyfriends got for girlfriends and such?, "I couldn't believe he would give her something like that! Have you gotten a necklace from him?"

Gabriella shook her head; this she had thought a lot about too. She had thought that Troy would get her a necklace and not Sharpay. She couldn't by any means figure out why he got her one. To congratulate her? Doubtfully. To show that they were friends? Would be a bit too much for friendship. To be nice? That one would probably be it. Troy was a nice guy, but Gabriella just didn't understand why he wasn't 'nice' to her. She wanted a necklace from her boyfriend, but he decided that someone else should have it instead? That hurt, it really did.

Kelsi smiled sadly, "Well… maybe he was just being nice to her. Who knows, maybe he feels bad about lying to her or something."

Gabriella nodded slowly and let that suggestion sink in. That could be it, actually. Troy wasn't one for lying, Gabriella knew that; she didn't like it herself either, but for this she had made an exception. Maybe he felt really guilty and buying her a necklace had been the only way to make himself feel better. "You know…" Gabriella trailed off and smiled warmly at Kelsi, "I think you're right. He feels bad about lying to her."

"Who's lying to whom?" Sharpay questioned just as she placed a tray with four cups on it, on their table. She sat down on her chair too and caught her three friends in the middle of a conversation she definitely shouldn't have heard.

Taylor's mouth moved up and down and she looked like some kind of fish for a minute, before she got it together to say something, "Eh… Chad!" she quickly covered up and nodded her head along to her lie, "He uhm… he lied toooo…" she searched for the right person and looked briefly at Kelsi who pointed towards her, so Taylor just said, "Me! Chad lied to me."

Sharpay seemed deeply upset by that, "He did!?" she exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth agape, "About what?"

Gabriella chuckled inwardly; this was certainly different to see – Sharpay being concerned about someone other than herself. It felt good to know that they had a part in this. That it was their fault she was such a functional person, such a sweet human being.

Taylor seemed to be out of lies for now, so Kelsi took over from there, "They were fooling around in Taylor's bedroom." She quickly said and eyed Gabriella perplexedly. What the crap would she say now?, "And he like… wanted to go to second base."

"Oh my GOD!" Sharpay said and her hand flew to cover her mouth; this was a big deal for her. She wasn't quite in that state yet, and Gabriella found it very amusing; they should have said something else. Well, it was too late now.

Gabriella took over from there, "He said he wouldn't really do anything, but then he did." She quickly finished, which she knew was probably true. Knowing Chad, it was something he would do. Taylor seemed to blush a lot right this moment, but Gabriella decided to ignore that.

Sharpay made a face and screwed her eyes together for a short second, before she looked at Taylor again, "I'm so sorry, Tay!" she said and she had forgotten everything about her hot chocolate, as had the other three, "It wasn't too horrible, was it? What did he do!?"

Taylor got a sour look across her face and Gabriella bit back a chuckle. Of course Taylor had no idea what to say. Chad didn't really do anything she didn't want him to do. The whole situation was actually pretty funny. Sharpay's reactions to all the things were hilarious too. Taylor leaned in and whispered something in Kelsi's ear; Gabriella didn't know what it was, but she was pretty sure it was something that didn't have anything to do with Chad. The black beauty then pulled back and smiled at Sharpay, "I whispered it to Kels, 'cuz I don't wanna say it out loud – she'll whisper it to you."

Sharpay's brown eyes were round and curious as she moved closer to Kelsi, who looked completely taken aback by everything. Taylor had just thrown this onto her and now she had to figure something completely ridiculous, untrue and dirty out – Sharpay would have to be completely grossed out by it. So then Kelsi took in a deep breath and leaned closer to the blonde. Gabriella studied both their faces carefully. Kelsi looked bothered, but Sharpay's face seemed to grow more serious as she looked completely shocked. When Kelsi was done, Sharpay turned to Taylor;

"That is SO gross, Taylor!" she said, voice high, "I can't believe you're still dating that boy! Why don't you break up with him!? Or are you scared? Do you want me to do it for you!?" she shook her head, blonde locks flying everywhere, "He is so disgusting."

Taylor nodded in agreement, "I know," she said and looked pretty serious, "I know Sharpay, but I really wanna give him another chance."

Before anyone could say anything else, Gabriella had butted into the conversation. She had to do something to take the heat off of Taylor, "What about you, Pay? Anyone special in your life?"

Sharpay blushed a deep red and shook her head again, "No!" she said and kicked Gabriella beneath the table, "There's no one."

Kelsi looked around the place for someone interesting and nudged Sharpay in the side. A little away, by the ice cream shop, was a guy around their age, getting ice cream with a younger boy, who was probably his little brother. "Check that cute guy out, why don't you go talk to him?" she questioned and eyed the other girl.

Sharpay turned around on her chair and her eyes searched the place too, until she realized who Kelsi was talking about. She could feel herself smile, "He is cute!" she said, before she turned around to look at a friend, "Should I go talk to him?"

Gabriella nodded her head wildly. If Sharpay left for just a few minutes they could talk this through and laugh it off; she knew they all really needed that, "Sure! You're gorgeous, Pay. Go get yourself a date…" she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Sharpay took in a deep breath and pushed her chair back, "You're right." She said and stood up. She adjusted her skirt a second before she screwed on her perfect smile, "I'll be right back, gals." She told them, before she turned around and left them there, her high heels clicking away on the floor.

The minute she was out of earshot (yet again!), Gabriella turned to the two other girls, "What did you tell her!?" she desperately wanted to know. She really wondered what Kelsi had come up with.

Kelsi giggled lightly and shrugged her shoulders, "I just said Chad touched her boob." She simply replied before she reached for her cup of chocolate and took a long sip of it. They both looked at her like she was crazy, and she gave them a stare right back, "What!? I didn't have time to be creative." They still looked at her like she was crazy and she placed her cup on the table again, "Well, she seemed to think it was a big deal."

Taylor and Gabriella both laughed. That was just crazy. Of course that age difference between them did a lot in that area, but Sharpay had got to have been under-developed on that area when she was really that age, because none of them would have thought of it as such a huge thing when they were thirteen. But then again… how much boob had they had when they were still so young?

Taylor took a sip of her hot chocolate too and let her gaze wander to Sharpay again. Before she knew what had happened, her hot chocolate, which should have been in her mouth, was at the table, "Shit!" she exclaimed.

Gabriella and Kelsi both followed her look and Gabriella felt her eyes go wide by the scene she saw there; Sharpay was chatting happily away with the younger boy. That wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to talk to the big-brother. Gabriella bit her lip. But of course she would go after the other one. He looked about thirteen.

"What do we do?" Kelsi quickly wanted to know.

Gabriella pushed her chair back and grabbed Sharpay's bags, "There's one thing we can do," she told her friends, who were quickly getting their things together too, while Kelsi hurriedly tried to drink the last of her hot chocolate without burning her tongue, "we get the hell outta here!" Gabriella finished, and then the three were off to rescue Sharpay, who now looked to have trouble with the older brother, who, of course, didn't want such an old girl to make a pass on his brother.

Gabriella heard her phone beep as they rushed to get Sharpay. Taylor tugged the blonde away, while Kelsi apologized a gazillion times to the brother and the little boy, while Gabriella got her phone out of her pocket and found a message from Troy.

Can u step by? I need 2 talk 2 u about sumthin important. T.

--

Troy couldn't explain how it happened if someone asked him to. It just did. One minute he was happy and in love with Gabriella and the next he was falling for Sharpay all over again. He guessed he could sort of blame it on himself since he went along with this and helped to change her past; it was what made her so sweet. And she was still drop-dead gorgeous like she had always been. And then with the sweet personality too – she was so irresistible.

He had even bought a necklace for her. He saw how hurt Gabriella had looked, but he hadn't been able to help himself. He even got an inscription for her. He wanted her to know how he felt, but since he was so bad at such things, he had written something sweet on the back of it instead. He wanted to be with her, but she was still so confused about everything (even if she had been better this week: that made him very happy!), and he had Gabriella. Well… soon he wouldn't anymore.

The important thing he needed to talk to her about was a break-up. He couldn't lie to her anymore; he couldn't pretend, he wouldn't pretend. It wasn't fair to her when he liked Sharpay that much. He wasn't sure what he would do once he was single again, but he would have to think about it. But first there was Gabriella to deal with and she could be there any minute now. He just hoped she wouldn't be too crushed. He couldn't stand it if she hated him forever. He wanted to be friends, at least. For the sake of them and for the sake of their friends. She was still important to him, he just didn't feel romantic feelings for her anymore.

He looked up when he heard the doorbell go. It was her. He took in a deep breath; it was now. He had to go break up with her. It was the best, it really was. Troy jumped out of the couch and went into the hallway, he opened the door and found the cute Latina standing there with a smile on her face.

"Sorry I'm a bit late." She said and kissed his cheek as she entered the house, "There was a mayor Sharpay-emergency at the mall." He closed the door behind her and she went into the living room; he followed her, "It was kind of cute, you should have been there."

They took a seat on the couch and Troy nodded, "Sure, I'm sure it was great."

Gabriella sensed that he wasn't all the enthusiastic about this and placed her purse next to her with a concerned look, "Is there something wrong?" she wanted to know, "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Troy wasn't sure how he was supposed to do this since he had never broken up with anyone before, so he would just jump right into it with both feet, "Gabriella, I-" he begun, but her face cut him off.

"Oh no." she swallowed, and he figured she might have seen too many teenage movies to know what this meant; she looked like she did, "I know what this means, Troy." She gave him a sad look, her eyes were already huge and on the verge of tears, "Why are you breaking up with me?"

Troy sighed heavily and gave her a true 'I'm sorry'-look; he really was sorry, because he did care about her, "I care about you Gabriella, but I think I might…" he gave her an insecure look, "have feelings for someone else now."

She let the news sink in and nodded sadly. She sat in silence for some time, stared into her lap. Troy didn't know what to say. He didn't want to try to make her feel better since this was all his fault, and he knew that she probably really didn't want to listen to him right now. When she looked up again, she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I really want to be friends with you." Troy offered with a charming smile; he really hoped she would agree to this.

She gave him an angry look, clearly not satisfied with what he had to say, "How can you even think that I want to be friends with you?" she shrieked and stood up, grabbing her purse on the way, "You tell me you have feelings for someone else. How do you expect me to be okay with that!?" she shook her head at him, "Who is she anyway? Have you been with her? Have you cheated?"

"No!" Troy quickly said and this time he couldn't believe her; he would never cheat, not in a million years. That was why he broke up with her now anyway, since he was worried that it would happen sometime if he wasn't careful, "I would never do that to you, Gabriella. I respect you too much to do that."

"Hm, aha." She just said and held on tightly to her purse, "Well you know what Troy?" she questioned and he shrugged his shoulders; he had no idea what she wanted to say now. She really did confuse him a lot, "I don't wanna see you right now, so I'm just gonna go spend time with my girls. Maybe Sharpay can throw a sleepover or something. It's a boyfriend-emergency!"

And with that she stormed off. Troy was left, feeling extremely confused. What the hell just happened? He had thought that he would have to comfort her and reassure her that their friendship was important. He had been certain that he would get the last word in this conversation, but she just left him extremely baffled.

It was probably a good thing that he wasn't with her anymore.

--

"And-and then he just…" Gabriella sniffed and hugged a pillow close. Taylor put an arm around her while Kelsi and Sharpay just listened closely to what the Latina had to say, "He said he has feeling for someone else!" Gabriella finished off.

Kelsi got a concerned look across her face as she reached out to awkwardly pat Gabriella on the hand, "I'm really sorry, Gabby…" she whispered.

Sharpay couldn't believe this. Troy honestly seemed like a great guy. A guy who would definitely not do this sort of thing; a guy who treasured his girlfriend and would forever love her. Her memories of him were nothing but sweet. He had never hurt anyone as far as she remembered, "I can't believe him Gabriella." She said to her friend in a soft voice, "But maybe you should see the positive side of things. At least you're not with him anymore. If he falls for a lot of other girls then he's really not worth it, you know?"

Taylor agreed, "She's totally right, Gabriella." She said and hugged her friend close to her, "Let's forget all about stupid Troy Bolton tonight. Once you've downed the news, we can talk about it more." She looked at Sharpay and Kelsi briefly, before she went back to Gabriella, "But let's watch movies and eat ice cream for now."

Gabriella just sniffed in reply.

Sharpay then butted in, "I've got Ben and Jerry's!" she said; she knew they had a freezer full of it for some reason. She had discovered the other day. She didn't recall them eating a lot of that, but she knew that the Sharpay she couldn't remember had been going through some problems with her parents, so maybe she had often felt the need to eat ice cream for comfort with her girlfriends.

This seemed to really win Gabriella over, "I guess I could really eat some cookie dough…" she trialed off and wiped her eyes with the end of her sleeve.

"I know for a fact that we have cookie dough!" Sharpay said and jumped out of her seat on the couch, "Why don't Kels and I go loooooad our arms with ice cream and spoons and bowls and cookies while you and Tay go find the perfect movie to cheer you up?" she arched an eyebrow suggestively, "What do ya' say, Gab? We're here to cheer you up."

Gabriella couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "That sounds great Sharpay." She nodded her head warmly, "Thank you, you're such a great friend." She then added, with a jokingly nudge from Taylor, "So are you two also."

Kelsi laughed and stood up as well, "Don't worry about it." She said, before she grabbed Sharpay by the arm and pulled her out of the TV room and towards the kitchen, "I hope you do have ice cream." She mumbled, when they were out of there.

Sharpay wriggled her eyebrows, "I do so have ice cream!" she said, and the second they stepped into the kitchen she had opened the freezer and was pulling out can after can of Ben and Jerry's. She stopped and turned to look at a stunned Kelsi, "There's spoons in that drawer," she said, and pointed with her head towards one, "Aaaand… bowls in that cupboard!" she continued and reached a foot out to hit one of the cupboards by the floor.

"Do you have cookies too?" Kelsi asked her as she immediately went to find four spoons.

"We don't do no cookies." Sharpay said and smacked the freezer close when she had placed around fifteen cans on the table next to it, "Our chef made some yesterday, they're in this cupboard." She reached out and opened one of the higher cupboards, only to pull out a huge box of cookies. She then placed them next to the ice cream and looked confused for a second, "You think we've got enough here?"

Kelsi turned around and opened her eyes in surprise, "Whoa!" she said and then chuckled heartedly, "I think we've got more than enough, Shar." She finished and then found the bowls, as Sharpay started placing everything on two trays so they could carry it upstairs. She had to arrange some of the cans on top of each other on there, but she was sure she could carry it into the TV room.

Kelsi reached out for one of the trays and slowly lifted it, "Ready to go?" she asked Sharpay, who struggled to get one of the overfilled trays to be steady in her hands.

Sharpay nodded slowly and the two of them made their way carefully into the TV room. It went really slow since they didn't want to drop anything, but they eventually got in there. Gabriella and Taylor were seated on the loveseat together really close since Gabriella really needed comfort still and the start of what Sharpay believed was 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' rolled across the screen. She had seen it with Ryan recently. They had a whole load of DVDs on their shelf that she couldn't remember having watched and it was great to watch them like it was the first time.

"You seriously think we're gonna eat all that?" Taylor asked them with a serious glare. There was a lot of cans on those trays!

Sharpay placed her tray onto the table and stood up with a grin on her face, "We eat as much as we can," she replied as Kelsi placed her tray onto the table too, "we won't get fat, 'cuz we'll just jog together tomorrow. It's Sunday after all."

"I love it!" Gabriella said and immediately reached out for a bowl to get some cookie dough. This was exactly what she needed. Her friends, good movies and ice cream. Troy could just go fuck himself somewhere; her friends would never let her down, she knew that for sure. And she couldn't help but realize that Sharpay was actually the one to help her the most. This Sharpay was really someone she could get used to.

Kelsi threw herself onto the floor where a beanbag chair was seated and she reached out for a bowl as well, "I love it too!" she smirked and picked a can out to see if it was anything she liked.

"Well, you would, wouldn't you?" Taylor asked and picked out a cookie instead, "You never gain any weight."

Sharpay laughed happily and settled herself in the comfy chair, "Remember girls, we don't have to eat everything. I just gave us something to choose from." She told them and reached out for a bowl as well, just as the story really begun on the plasma TV screen, "I can't even eat a can alone!"

Gabriella giggled happily and stuck her tongue out at Sharpay, before she locked eyes with her and mouthed 'thank you'. Sharpay offered a smile in return before she settled back in her chair and turned her attention fully towards Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey and whatever would happen with them…

When that movie plus 'Mean Girls' (Sharpay had been very excited to see this for this first time!), were over, Sharpay really had to go to the bathroom. She always felt the need to pee when watching movies so she placed her bowl with melted ice cream on the floor and stood up, "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom real quick guys." She said, and motioned towards the door; she'd go all the way upstairs to use her own. She didn't know why, but she felt more comfortable in there, "You can pick out a movie while okay?"

Gabriella nodded happily while Kelsi gave her thumb-up and Taylor mumbled, "Sure, go on girl."

Sharpay left the room and turned left in the hallway to get to the staircase. She felt really happy when she spent time with those girls. She was glad to know she had such good friends; friends that would help her with everything even when she lost some of her memory. It just bothered her that she couldn't remember everything the four of them had done together. They must have all these wonderful memories of her and each other and she just didn't know any of it. It was really annoying to think about.

She went into her room and crossed it to get to the bathroom. She leaned herself against the sink for a few seconds and studied herself in the mirror. It was still so weird for her. Of course she had gotten used to it by now, but the last thing she remembered was being so little. She was just all grown-up now. When truth came to it… she really didn't remember anything; she just liked the others to think that she did. She acted older to pretend that she did. She found it so weird though. She was supposed to have made progress by now, but she had nothing to show of these past weeks. It was maddening to think about. What if she never remembered again? Would she miss those five years for the rest of her life then?

She put some water in her face, knowing it wouldn't mess up her waterproof mascara and then turned to the toilet to do her thing. She really had enjoyed this day so far. Of course there was the minor stupid detail about her hitting on a younger boy at the mall. She had honestly thought Kelsi had meant him, though! Seriously. But of course now, when she thought back, she could see it, and felt embarrassed for doing what she did. She should really take care about her actions more often. She wouldn't always have Gabriella, Kelsi and Taylor there to save her. Sometime she'd have to be on her own… but hopefully either her memory would have come back by then, or she would have experienced this age for so long that she didn't feel wrong about anything.

When she was done she washed her hands and carefully made her way down the stairs again. She didn't want to disturb them if they had already started the movie, so she took it slowly. It was also nice to be alone for just a second. She turned right in the hallway and made a dash for the door to the TV room, she paused though, when she heard her name being mentioned in there;

"…Sharpay was so mean before."

It was Kelsi. But mean? When had she ever been mean?

"I know what you mean." Taylor seemed to agree in a slow voice, "Look at all this she just did for Gab. The other Sharpay would never have done that. She would have driven straight to Troy's house to win him over two seconds after their break-up."

Sharpay felt her brows move down in confusion. What were they talking about? The 'other' Sharpay? Was there another Sharpay. The blonde could feel her insides freeze and Goosebumps raise on her skin. Something felt awfully wrong about this. First off, she didn't like to listen in on other people's conversations, and second off… there was something wrong with this situation and the conversation they were having.

Gabriella laughed behind the door, "I know!" she said, "But then it's good that we did this. I honestly feel bad about lying to her, but I think we really did her a favor…"

Sharpay softly stepped away from the door. Had they lied to her? When had they lied to her? Friends didn't lie to each other no matter what; they always told the truth. She always told them the truth. How could they lie to her? But what about? She swallowed loudly and took a few steps further back. It was probably nothing. Maybe she had misunderstood the situation completely. She didn't know what they were talking about before she came, so she could easily have misunderstood everything. She should just walk in and pretend she hadn't heard a thing.

She made a big deal of banging her feet into the floor as she went for the door again. She knew they would hear her coming so she opened the door like no big deal and threw herself into her chair, "Found a movie, guys?" she questioned them, even if there was a lump in her throat and she didn't feel too good about this.

Kelsi held up 'Freaky Friday', "I think you're gonna like this." She said, as the light from the TV screen reflected in her glasses.

Sharpay nodded, "I think I'm gonna like it too." She said, and looked deeply into the pianist's eyes. She looked so normal, Kelsi. She couldn't have lied to her, could she? She trusted the girl who often wore a hat, and she shouldn't doubt her. Everything was good, Sharpay decided.

"Hey," Taylor said and turned to her, just as she hit play on the remote, "what took you so long, girl?"

Sharpay offered her an insecure smile, "I had to go real bad." She just mumbled, before she turned back to the movie.

Hello everyone ;b do you even remember this story? I feel so completely bad about not updating this. I feel like an idiot towards you guys because you've always been so great reviewers. I know Bethany feels bad about this too, I'm certain. Honestly, we knew what would happen in this, but then one of us was supposed to start the chapter, and then stuff happened and no one did, and suddenly what we had planned on writing, was gone, and then I haven't spoken to Bethany in what feels like forever.

Actually, she hasn't even written on this chapter, it's just me, since I can't get a hold of her. I wrote her an email to tell her that I decided to write this for you guys, because I felt so bad, so I hope she won't kill me for doing this without her. If she wants something changed once she finds out and reads this chapter, we'll change it and repost it. I just hope this is good enough, and I hope she will help me write the finishing chapters for this.

And I hope this chapter was good enough for you all. We both thank you for the reviews (I know Bethany would thank you a gazillion times too ;p), and I'm gonna ask nicely from the both of us for you to review again.

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

- Stessa