Chapter three- Pay

Disclaimer- If I owned HSM, then Sharpay would rule the world with Troy as her lap doggy. Hehe, just kidding...sorta.

A/N- The part about Chad was compltely out of the blue, lol. I didn't plan on making him a foster kid too, but I thought it'd work. And also, more pet names, haha.

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Troy silently finished unpacking his things in his room after dinner that night. He liked being here and he liked being around Sharpay and Ryan, but there was a part of him that missed the way things used to be. He missed his house and his bed. He even kind of missed his dad. But only a little.

He then came across an old picture of his mother who had died three years ago in a terrible car accident, which sent Troy's father into his drinking phase. Troy at first thought that his father blamed himself for the accident because he'd been the one behind the wheel during the accident. Then after a while, he realized his father just felt sorry for himself and that's when he started to act out. Like, talking back and giving attitude. He missed his mom just as much as he father did, but he never did half the things his father did.

"Troy..." Sharpay called quitely from his door. He turned and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, sitting down on his bed, the picture still beside him.

"Nothing. I was just bored and Ryan's with Gabriella." She explained, she stood by the bed and looked down at the picture, picking it up carefully and smiled softly. "Who's this?"

"My mom."

Sharpay nodded, almost suprised. "Where is she?"

"She died a few years ago." He stated wirely, taking the picture from her hands and putting it on the other side. As horrible as it sounded, he hated remebreing his mom. He loved her more than anything and she was great, but remebering her just made his remember how things used to be before she died, and that was just too painful.

"Oh." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago."

"How long?" She asked, sitting next to him.

He looked down, avoiding her gaze. "Three years."

She nodded, scooting closer and putting a hand on his arm, almost as if linking their arms. "You know, since you got here we havn't had an actually talk."

"What are you talking about? We talk all the time."

"I'm not talking about just random conversations. I'm talking about an actual talk. A serious talk."

He looked at her, curious. "Why do we need to have a serious conversation?"

"Because my little Troy buddy boy." He groaned, she smirked and continued. "Talking helps. So talk."

"What if I have nothing to say? And little Troy buddy boy? Seriously?"

"It's cute." She said simply. "And why don't you tell me about your mom."

Though he didn't really want to, he moved away from her. "Listen, I know that you're just trying to help but I'm really not comfortable talking about it."

She nodded, standing up and keeping her gaze to the floor. "I get it. It's fine, but if you ever do want to talk you can come to me at anytime."

He smiled, standing up and giving her a hug. "Thanks Pay. It means a lot."

"No problem." She smiled, making her way to the door, but stopped and turned back to see Troy standing there smirking. "Pay?"

His grin grew. "You're not the only one with pet names."

She laughed slightly, shaking her head and making her way out of the room.

--

"Hey buddy." Chad called out as he approached Troy in the hall the next day. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much. Just wondering how the hell I'm suppose to pass the boilogy test I have next period."

"That's easy." Chad said with confidence. "Just tell the teacher how you're a foster kid and you're going through a lot right now and allt eh extra homework is driving you to an early grave."

Troy glanced in his direction and gave him a curious look. "You're not serious are you?"

He chuckled. "Worked for me."

Troy stopped, seeming caught off guard. "Wait, did oyu pretend to be a foster kid or were you..."

Chad laughed at the clueless look on his face. "Sharpay didn't tell you? I'm a foster kid. I even lived with Sharpay and Ryan for a couple months until I found another family to live with."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was pretty great. I became best friends with Ryan and Sharpay, met Taylor,and now I live with a great family that I love."

"Wow." Troy muttered. "That's pretty cool." He smiled. He knew it was hard being a foster kid, but it was nice to know that he had someone there who knew just what he was going through. It was a big comfort.

"Yeah. Well I have to get to class. You want to hang out after school? We can shoot some hoops."

"But like I said, I'm not great at basketball." Troy said causiously.

"It's no problem. I'll teach you some skills." He grinned, walking away to his next class.

"Liar." Came a voice behind Troy, he turned around to see a smirking Ryan behind him.

"What are talking about?"

"You're records came yesterday." Ryan smirked, walking along side with him. "I know that you were captain of your basketball team and a great player."

Toy grimiced. "Has Sharpay seen them?"

"Nah, she never looks at them. She says that she would rather get to know a person than read about them on paper." He said in a mocking girl tone. "So why don't you want to join the basketball team?"

"Because at my old school my dad was the coach and...you know how my relationship with my dad is."

"Right. Well I still think you should try out at least." He pursued.

"I'll think about it. And hey," He paused, stopping himself and Ryan. "Why didn't you tell me that Chad was a foster kid and even lived with you guys?"

He shrugged. "It didn't seem important."

Troy sighed and rolled his eyes, walking away from the blonde haired boy.

--

"Sharpay!" Lizzie squealed as Sharpay walked through the door later that day after getting home from school.

"Hey Liz." Sharpay giggled, hugging her. "How was your day?"

"So good. I met this cute boy names Jimmy. He even said hi to me."

"Wow, that's great Liz. I can't wait to hear all about it." She smiled, poking the small girl playfully.

"Sharpay, there you two are." Said Vance as he entered the room and smiled brightly at the girl.

"Hey daddy." Sharpay welcomed, giving him a hug. "How was your day?"

"Good, good. Liz, did you finish all your homework?"

"Not yet." Answered Lizzie.

"Why don't you take care of that?"

"Okay, daddy." Lizzie agreed, skipping out of the room.

"So where's Troy?" Sharpay asked curious. Usually she gave him a ride home, but today he had left a note in her locker saying that he didn't need a ride.

"He's in the backyard with Ryan and Chad. I think it's good him and Chad hit it off, don't you?"

"Absolutely. I'm just going ot go check on them-"

"Sharpay." He called, stopping her before she left the room.

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you about something." He said in a serious matter, sitting down on the couch with a serious look.

"What?" She asked, sitting across from him.

"This isn't easy but...I just got a call from Mr. Sandorn and he said that Kyle...honey, he died."

Sharpay sat there moentionless. She didn't even blink. Her breathe was caught in her throat and she knew she was going to cry, but no tears came. She had known Kyle snce she was a little girl. He was a foster kid also and was living with them for the longest time. Then his birth parents looked him up and decided they wanted him. It was three years ago that he left and apparently he'd been getting in trouble with drinking and drugs, but she never imagined this could happen.

Feeling like she'd just been punched in the gut she did the only thing she could think of. She got up and ran to her room, filing past Troy, Ryan, and Chad who had all came back inside. They all looked after her curiously as Vance called after her.

"Dad? What happened?" Ryan questioned.

Vance sighed sadly and shook his head. "She found out about Kyle's death."

"Oh, God." He muttered before taking off after her.

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Curious? Confused? You should be. That's what you get from my stories, lol. Anyways, please review!

I would say more, but I'm kind of rushed here. As usual.

Anyways, please review and sorry for any spelling errors!

-Lovearies