Disclaimer: I think you're getting the gist of this now. By now, I'm sure you can tell me what I do and do not own, right? I hope so. There's only 1 more chappie left, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Chapter 39: Fun With Basketball
The next day, Sharpay was the first one up. The school basketball was in the afternoon so she had time to pick out an outfit. After a lot of thought, she finally settled on the East High colors: white and red. She laid out her white tank top, silver and white capris, and silver belt on her bed before heading back to her closet to fin her silver shoes. "So, find anything good?" Cloe asked, making Sharpay jump and turn around to see the smiling brunette sitting on the bed. "Cloe. You should warn me the next time you decide to come into my room." Sharpay told her, "And yes, I found the perfect outfit."
She walked over to the bed and placed the flats at the end of it before grabbing a few silver bangles and sitting down next to Cloe. "I'll make sure I knock the next time I decide to transport myself in here." Cloe told the blond before looking over the outfit she'd laid out, "So, who are you trying to catch wearing this? It complements you very well." "You already know who I'm trying to get to notice me." Sharpay blushed only slightly at the thought of Cloe already knowing her intentions. "I know; I just thought it would be more polite to ask." Cloe smiled back at her, "So, are you going to tell me or am I going to have to make my educated 'guess'?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes and sighed. Sometimes it was pretty annoying to have a psychic as a friend…and other times it paid off. "Okay, it's Troy." Sharpay admitted, "I mean, I know he doesn't really like me, but I really like him. I just don't know how to get him to notice me instead of Gabriella." "I can see you have a problem here." Cloe stated thoughtfully, "From what I can tell you, right now, it's probably too late to win Troy over. Gabriella caught his eye since they met and he's planning to ask her out after the game. Sorry."
Sharpay just sat there looking down at the bed. "I knew I wasn't pretty enough for him." She muttered, "I'm just too ugly." "No, you're not." Cloe told her seriously, "Never say that again, okay? You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met. And I know there are others who think the exact same thing." "Then, why does nobody ever notice me?" Sharpay retorted as she looked up at Cloe expectantly. "Trust me…they do." Cloe responded and sighed, "I can hear their thoughts and I've had to try really hard to shut it out. But there's one guy in particular who idols you."
"Who?" Sharpay asked curiously. Maybe there was still hope for her. "He's made himself known to you." Cloe answered with a small smile, "You've just been so caught up in catching Troy, you never seemed to care, but he won't give up yet."
With that, she transported out of the room, leaving Sharpay to stare. Cloe reappeared in her room where she found Ryan waiting for her. She smiled at him as he sat on her bed. "What's going on now?" she asked him, though she guessed it had something to do with the car. "Did your genie fix my car, yet?" Ryan asked as Cloe sat next to him, "Because I don't want to get a call from the police asking for my alibi."
"Don't worry about it. I had Daniel fix the car and make the police and witnesses forget it ever happened." Cloe reassured as Ryan heaved a sigh of relief, "I told you I'd have the problem fixed." "Do you think Daniel would make everyone forget about that incident where I ate cement when I was little?" Ryan asked hopefully realizing he hadn't had much luck with ingesting foreign objects. "I doubt he would." Cloe told Ryan, who frowned, "He likes to watch you suffer."
"By the way, when did you learn to transport yourself?" Ryan asked her curiously. "I don't know. I guess it must be the amulet." Cloe suggested, reaching towards her neck to touch it, but realized it wasn't there; she looked at Ryan worried and confused, "Where did it go?" Ryan shrugged. "I guess it got destroyed when you broke the curse yesterday." He explained as he watched Cloe's face scrunch up in thought. "It can't be destroyed." Cloe stated, trying to come up with an alternate excuse for it, "Maybe it was just lost or misplaced. If I can still transport, it can't be gone."
Ryan shook his head as he sighed and lay back on the bed. Cloe smiled and looked at him curiously. "What are you doing?" she questioned with a giggle as she watched him. "I give up." Ryan responded as he smiled at her, "I don't want to be my own man, if it means I have to be the only one dealing with all these complications. I'm all yours now. Do whatever you want with me." Cloe laughed as she lay back next to him on the bed. "You know…you won't go through it on your own." She explained and propped herself up on her elbows, rolling onto her side to face him, "You'll have me."
"How do I know you won't leave me to go save the world or something?" Ryan teased her with a small pout. Cloe laughed quietly. "Don't be silly." She told him, "I'd drag you with me." "Really?" Ryan questioned as he raised an eyebrow at her. "I promise." Cloe assured him with a nod. "You? Promise?" Ryan stated playfully as he gave her a knowing look. Cloe just shook her head slowly. "Of course." She said softly, "I'll prove it to you." She leaned over him and kissed him on the lips. Ryan just laid there and let Cloe do whatever she wanted. She deserved it after all that had happened.
Sensing she had the upper hand this time, Cloe separated from Ryan and sat up, repositioning herself so she was straddling his chest. Cupping his face in her hands, she kissed him gently on the lips again as if caressing them. Just then, Mrs. Evans burst into the room and stopped in the doorway in shock. The two separated in slight surprise and embarrassment at being caught as Cloe got off Ryan, who sat up. The three in the room just stared at each other in silence. Cloe's mom walked up behind Mrs. Evans and sighed.
"This is why I give the children privacy." She stated, attracting everyone's attention. "Myrna, I had no idea your daughter was so straight forward and controlling." Mrs. Evans said in a flat tone, turning to face Cloe's mom. "And I had no idea you could be so oblivious." She responded in frustration, "I think we need to talk. Ryan and Cloe, you two can go downstairs and get something to eat." Cloe grabbed Ryan by the hand, pulled him out of the room with her, and they headed downstairs. Myrna closed the door and faced Mrs. Evans.
"Corinne, sometimes you can be so insensitive." She began, "This is your son's first real crush. You shouldn't interfere with what he decides to do." "Surely, you know what was happening, so don't tell me that I shouldn't interfere." Mrs. Evans argued back, "You should be just as concerned as I am about all this. Don't you think we're too young to be grandmothers?" "Who's to say we will be?" Myrna questioned before sighing, "I know you're just worried about losing your son, but you have to listen to me when I say that Cloe and Ryan are a package deal whether or not you want them to be."
"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Evans asked in confusion. "Sit down so we're away from the door." Myrna explained as she escorted her over to the bed and they sat down. "Are they out there?" Mrs. Evans asked suspiciously. "No, they're downstairs waiting for us." Myrna responded, "But, you must remember, we're not the only ones in the house." "Back to the point." Mrs. Evans stated, "What do you mean by 'a package deal'?" "Can you sense that our children love each other?" Myrna asked softly before shaking her head, "Of course, you don't. You've never really seen them together with everyone around. They're so comfortable with each other when they're together that they only see each other in a room full of people. They protect and care about each other, but you wouldn't be able to see that on your own."
"How could you say that?" Mrs. Evans asked, offended by Myrna's accusations, "I care about how my son feels and I am fully aware of how he feels about your daughter." "But are you ever around to tell him that?" Myrna retorted before softening her expression, 'You and your husband care about your children, I know, but you two are always on some kind of business trip doing who knows what." "And where have you been that you've let your daughter get out of hand and get involved with a guy behind your back?" Mrs. Evans asked curiously, feeling kind of guilty for not spending time with her children. Myrna sighed as she let the memories come back to her.
"When I was younger, I tried to stop the crimes going on in your kingdom, Corinne." She began slowly, "I was developing my own ways of getting in an alliance with Theresa…before she turned on your family. We had planned to become more powerful by stopping the war going on within the magical world and gaining your family's respect by calling all the shots. When your father accepted me as his official advisor, Theresa became corrupted with finding more power. She had planned to use me behind my back so I decided to stop her on my own instead of telling the king. For that, I'm still ashamed for not warning him sooner. I thought that, if I found out exactly what Theresa was trying to do, I would be able to prevent it from happening and we'd all be safe. I had underestimated her and…she got to the king before I could and then…"
She cut off there as Corinne took in a breath, waiting for Myrna to continue. "I didn't expect she'd actually destroy him for the powers he possessed. Believe me when I say I tried to stop her, but when I got there…it was too late. I was angry with Theresa for betraying my trust, so I hunted her down, found her, and ended up putting her where she belonged. Locking her up was the only way to go. She had always been jealous that her family's magic was weak compared to most others'. But I hadn't expected…" Myrna took a breath before continuing, "I can't help, but think that, if I'd shown up sooner, I could have–"
"Stop." Mrs. Evans stated softly, "Don't blame yourself. You did everything you could." "No, I didn't." Myrna responded even more upset, "I'm psychic! I could have said something sooner and avoided this whole mess." "There's nothing you could have done to change Theresa in any way." Mrs. Evans reassured, "She would have done the same thing eventually. It's not your fault." "I've made many mistakes which I'm not proud of." Myrna began to get to her point, "That one is the biggest. After that, I put away my magic and came here so I could blend in and have a normal life. When I had Cloe, I decided I wouldn't tell her about magic because I didn't want her to know what I'd done."
"So, you did what my sister and I did, hoping the children wouldn't find out about Magicath." Mrs. Evans said, finally understanding what Myrna was saying, "Then stopping all contact with everyone magical to ensure their safety." "Exactly. I even gave her space so she wouldn't pick up on my psychic abilities until she was older." Myrna agreed with a nod, "But now that she knows, I still don't want her to think that I'm crowding her or choosing what she should do for her. So, I give her space and I only step in when she needs me to." "I know what you're getting at." Mrs. Evans sighed, "I have to be there for Ryan and Sharpay without crowding them." "I know I was only your advisor when we were younger, but please listen to me. Your children need to know you're there for them." Myrna told her, "Tell them that." "I know." Mrs. Evans said with a small smile, "Thank you."
Meanwhile…
"Mom, do you ever get the feeling you're missing something big?" Rachael asked her mom as they walked into the kitchen. "I'm the mother of a teenage daughter." Mrs. Thomas replied with a slight laugh, "I get that feeling all the time." They sat down at the table next to Cloe and Ryan, who were quietly eating cereal. "So, what's up with you two?" Rachael asked curiously, "I head someone walked in on you." Mrs. Thomas shot her daughter a glare as Cloe and Ryan looked up at them. "What she means to say is that she wanted to know if you were okay." Mrs. Thomas stated with a concerned smile. "We're fine." Cloe explained before finishing off the last of her cereal. "She's just…grumpy." Ryan said. "Am not." Cloe argued as she got up to wash out her bowl in the sink.
"Not the point." Ryan grumbled before asking Rachael, "So what about you? Who dragged you out of bed this early?" "Actually, Zac fell off my shelf and landed on my head this morning." Rachael explained with a shrug. "So you found Zac and he helped you get your powers back?" Mrs. Thomas asked knowingly. "Yeah." Rachael answered before pausing, "And he's sort of my…boyfriend." There was a strange silence that spread throughout the kitchen. "I knew that boy was trouble." Mrs. Thomas broke the silence, "I'll be back after I have a talk with him." With that, she got up and left the room to have The Talk with Zac, no doubt.
As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Evans walked into the room with Cloe's mom following closely. "Okay…Rachael, you need to leave the room while the rest of us talk for a bit." Mrs. Evans stated with a sigh. "Fine." Rachael stated as she got up to leave, "I better make sure my mom doesn't scare Zac out of his lamp." She ran upstairs as quickly as she could, leaving the four alone. Cloe returned to the table, reclaiming her seat next to Ryan. "We've been talking about you two." Mrs. Evans started to explain as the two adults sat down at the table. Cloe held Ryan's hand in anticipation under the table for support. "And we've decided that, if you two are dating, we need you to understand something." Myrna began before glancing over at Mrs. Evans, who sighed.
"We just want you to know that we're here if you need to talk to us." She said to Ryan and Cloe, "We promise not to intrude. Is that all right with you?" "Thanks, mom." Ryan said to her and squeezed Cloe's hand reassuringly, "We promise not to give you any trouble." "Yeah." Cloe sighed in relief. "Well, you kids better get ready for the day." Myrna reminded them with a smile, "You have a big game to go to today." The two got up and left the room, leaving the adults to eat breakfast.
Later on that afternoon, Ryan had changed into his red dress shirt and black pants. He placed his hat on his head and finished tying his shoes before heading out of his room to wait outside Sharpay's door like he always did. When he got to her room, he knocked on her door. "Shar, you done in there yet?" he asked hopefully. "Almost." Sharpay called back from in her room, "Give me a few minutes to do my hair properly." "Hurry up, then." Ryan told her as he leaned against the wall to wait.
Just then, Cloe walked up to him wearing a white tank top, red short shorts, red and white high heeled sandals, and a red rimmed hat almost like Ryan's. "Hey, gorgeous. Nice outfit." Ryan greeted her, "Who are you planning on picking up with that?" Cloe smiled at him playfully. "Oh, just a little someone I hold very close to me." She answered as she walked closer to him, "I'm sure you've met him." "Hmm, maybe I should have a talk with him first." Ryan teased as he put his arms around Cloe's waist, pulling her closer to him so they touched. "What would you do, if I was to go somewhere without you?" Cloe asked curiously. "I'd be jealous of the next guy you looked at." Ryan answered thoughtfully.
"What if I was to do this to the next guy I look at?" Cloe questioned as she threw her arms around him neck and kissed him on the lips. "Mmm." Ryan hummed as they separated, "I'm jealous already." "Good." Cloe stated with a confident nod, "That means you want me for yourself and you care about me." "Just call me selfish." Ryan teased before giving her a quick kiss. "Yep…selfish and greedy." Cloe smiled at him, "So, remind me why you suggested that we look for Sharpay's dream boy." "Because we all agreed she needs a boyfriend." Ryan whispered so his sister wouldn't hear. "That's the other thing I like about you." Cloe told him with an affectionate smile, "You're sensitive."
With that, she let go of him and removed herself from his grip. Then, she walked into Rachael's room, leaving Ryan to watch her as she left. Rachael was standing in front of a mirror fiddling with her hair. She was wearing a red tank top, white capris, red high heels, and a white rimmed hat. "Hey." Cloe greeted her. "Oh…hi." Rachael sighed in frustration, "Do you think I should put my hair up or keep it down?" "I say…put it in a low ponytail." Cloe suggested. "Okay." Rachael stated and followed her friend's advice, "Thanks." "No problem." Cloe responded and then asked knowingly, "Are you going to bring Zac?"
"Why?" Rachael questioned curiously. "I just thought you'd like to show Chad that you weren't lying when you said you were dating him." Cloe stated as a matter-of-factly. "You read my mind." Rachael accused her. "I know you too well." Cloe told her, "And I'm thinking he should wear a red t-shirt and blue jeans." Rachael smiled back at her as she retrieved Zac's lamp so she could wake him up and tell him the plan.
Later on, Sharpay and Ryan were still waiting for the others downstairs in the family room. "Where are they?" Sharpay kept asking, "How long does it take for a genie to get dressed? It should take less than a second!" "They're just going over a few things." Ryan reassured his twin sister, who was fidgeting and tapping her foot impatiently. The others finally entered the room with Zac in tow. "Finally!" Sharpay stated before noticing what Zac was wearing, "Nice sneakers, Zac. Let's go."
With that, she headed out the door to Ryan's car, which was now fixed. Rachael followed her out the door. "Wait." Ryan stated, looking at Zac's white sneakers, "Are those mine?" "We needed something last minute." Cloe told him as she led the two guys out to the car, "Please, don't fight." The two boys sighed as they all got in the car and Ryan drove in the direction of East High for the basketball game against the West High Knights. "Zac, I'm really glad you agreed to take our relationship public." Rachael told the genie who was sitting in the back between her and Cloe. "So am I?" Zac responded with a grin, "So, um…what guy are you trying to get to stay away from you?"
Cloe laughed to herself, "You're right, Shar. He is good." "Didn't I tell you?" Sharpay stated from the passenger seat, "You're the psychic one, Angel. You should have known that." "I just think it's easier not to look into things that don't concern me." Cloe said with a shrug, "I kind of want to be surprised once in a while like everyone else." "That's nice and all, but someone owes me an explanation." Zac interrupted before turning to smile at Rachael, "Who's the guy and what has he been doing to get on your nerves?" Rachael sighed as she hooked her arms with his. "Well, his name is Chad Danforth." She began slowly, "And yesterday, he asked Cloe if she was single, then he asked me to go out with him right after that."
Zac laughed to himself at that, "That's a problem. So, what did Ryan do about it?" "I was held back so I couldn't beat him up." Ryan answered as they pulled into the parking lot of East High, "We're here so you guys can do whatever it is you've planned to do before the game." Ryan parked the car and they got out, heading into the school. When they got inside, they stopped outside the gym. "Okay, I'm going in to save us or seats." Ryan informed everyone, "The game starts in a half an hour, so you should have plenty of time to do whatever you want." "I'm going to check the cast list to see if we got the parts." Sharpay stated before walking off in the direction of the cast listings.
"Yeah, Zac and I have a certain jock to deal with, so we'll meet you back here in a bit." Rachael explained as she hooked her arm with Sac's and led him away in the direction of the locker rooms. "Later." Zac called back to them as he was pulled away by Rachael. "Well, I guess that leaves you and me." Cloe smiled as she turned to face Ryan and held up his hand. "Thank goodness." Ryan responded and walked into the gym with Cloe close to him.
Meanwhile…
Sharpay walked down the hallway and stopped a few feet in front of the cast list as she sighed. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the list and almost fainted when she saw the results. Outside the locker room, Zac and Rachael waited for Chad to come out. "You sure it's worth it?" Zac asked Rachael, who nodded eagerly. "He said he wanted to know who I was dating." Rachael explained simply, 'And he didn't believe me, so I'll show him I don't lie about who I date." Just then, the basketball team started to walk out of the locker room and head in the direction of the gym. "Hey, Chad." Rachael called to the jock, who'd just walked out with Troy, "I have someone here who would like to meet you."
The jock paused as he recognized the voice. "Um…Troy, go on ahead, I'll be right there in a minute." Chad stated before turning to face Rachael as Troy hurried towards the gym, "What's up?" Rachael smiled at him as she gestured toward Zac, who waved back. Chad stared at the two as it slowly started to process in his head. His mouth opened and closed a few times trying to form the words he couldn't say. "You…weren't…lying?" Chad finally managed to say, "That's impossible! This can't actually be your boyfriend because…that doesn't happen at all in this…" He stopped there speechless. "Let me clear a few things up for you, okay?" Zac stated slowly, afraid the jock would pass out at any second, "I am Zac Efron, Rachael is my girlfriend, and you should learn to expect the impossible more often."
"Good luck with your game." Rachael told Chad, who stood there in shock as the couple headed towards the gym. "You know…" Rachael said to Zac as they stopped outside the gym doors, "When you go in there, you're going to need a body guard." Zac turned to her and grinned. "They attract too much attention." He smiled at her in a way that made her grin, "Today, I'm here to blend in." He summoned a baseball cap and pulled it on so it just hid the top half of his face. "Let's go meet up with the others." Rachael suggested and took his hand as they walked into the gym, heading for their seats, "I found them." She pointed them out, sitting in seats near to the court so they walked over to Ryan and Cloe. "Hey, guys." Zac greeted them as they sat down, "Nice seats." "So, did you take care of what you needed to get done?" Cloe asked suspiciously. "Yeah." Rachael responded before realizing, "Where's Sharpay?"
"I don't know." Ryan stated slowly, "She said she'd be back after she checked the cast list. Should I be worried?" The four looked at each other before Cloe turned around and noticed Sharpay being led toward them by Zeke Baylor, one of the jocks. "There she is guys." Cloe pointed it out to them, "Zeke's bringing her over here. It looks like she's about to pass out though." Ryan stood up as Zeke approached them. "Hey, Ryan…um…I found your sister staring at the cast list looking like she was about to faint." Zeke explained, helping Sharpay to sit down, "I thought I should bring her back here in case you got worried." "Thanks, Zeke." Ryan smiled warmly at the jock, "Good luck with the game." "Oh, thanks." Zeke responded before rushing off to meet with the rest of the jocks. Ryan sat back down again and turned to his sister, "What happened?"
Sharpay looked up at him sadly, "We lost." "That's it?" Ryan groaned, "We lost to the two worst actors in the school. It's over." "Our reputations are forever ruined all because of those two oblivious, love-sick, lunatics." Sharpay ranted, 'It's not fair. They don't really care about the musical, so they only did it to beat us out. How could they win if they suck?" "I don't know." Ryan muttered, "I just don't know." "Shh…the game's starting." Zac whispered and watched as the East High Wildcats got the ball first.
After the game, the four were still distracted by how two horrible, non-dedicated newbies could beat out the two most serious and dedicated actors. Zac, on the other hand, was practically jumping out of his seat because East High won against West High. "Can we go to the after party?" Zac asked eagerly, "Please, please, please, can we go?" Rachael turned to look at him. "Fine, I'll take you." She promised before turning to everyone else, "Is that okay with you guys?" "Sure." Ryan agreed, "Cloe, you go with them and I'll catch up with you in a bit." "Okay." Cloe said, got up, gave him a quick kiss goodbye, and headed out of the gym with Zac and Rachael tagging along behind her.
"Come one, sis." Ryan said to Sharpay as they stood up, "They're holding the after party in the cafeteria, so we should probably get going." "All right, but I need to talk to someone before we go." Sharpay responded and started walking towards Gabriella. Ryan sighed and followed hoping his sister wouldn't start trouble. Sharpay walked up to Gabriella who turned to face her as she approached. "Well, congratulations." Sharpay stated with a sigh, "I guess I'm going to be the understudy in case you can't make one of the shows so…break a leg." Gabriella's eyes widened as she took in what the bland had said. Did she really want her to break her leg? Sharpay laughed, realizing the brunette had misinterpreted he statement. Amateurs. "In theatre, that means good luck." Sharpay explained with a laugh and walked away. That just proved Gabriella didn't care about acting. Maybe she would break a leg after all.
Suddenly, Zeke stopped both of them in their tracks. "Hey, Sharpay." He said as Sharpay and Ryan just stared at him, "I'm sorry that you didn't get the lead, but I think that you're really good. I admire you so much." "And why wouldn't you?" Sharpay asked him, not wanting to talk, "Now buh-bye." She tried to walk past him and get to the cafeteria, but Zeke stopped her again. "Uh, wait. I baked you some cookies." Zeke pulled out a bag of his homemade cookies and held them out to her. "Ew!" Sharpay stated scrunching up her face as she remembered her diet, and walked away. "Nice game." Ryan told the jock politely taking the cookies. "Thanks." Zeke responded and rushed off. Ryan sighed and followed his sister. They needed to talk about this.
(A/N) Are my chappies long enough for you? Uh…that was pretty weird how Mrs. Evans and Myrna walked in on Cloe and Ryan. But hey…I needed the parents to have something to worry about, though it all depends on the way you look at it if they should worry or not. Should they have reason to? If so, what's the reason? Okay, so there's one more chappie left. Can anyone guess who Sharpay will end up with…if anyone? Can anyone guess the ending? What should happen? Toss me any ideas and I promise they'll get used eventually, but I can't tell you where they'll be used cuz that would give away the surprise. If you all review, you'll uncover the surprise located in the next chappie. (Hint: it's in the author's note.)
Did you know that on the face of a clock the dots are placed at 6 degree intervals all the way around? If you use a protractor to measure the angle from one dot to the center of the clock (where the hands of the clock are connected) to the next dot, you'll see that it creates a 6 degree angle. And the numbers are placed at 30 degree intervals all the way around the clock face (if measured properly). Sry that was random, but I was staring at my clock and doing math at the same time. Ick…math is now becoming part of my life. Sighs.
Back on track now, I need about 6 reviews for every chappie posted so far to get at least my limit of 200. I won't post this last chappie until I get at least 200. So, it ends here until I get 200. K? So, you won't hear anymore from me for this fic until then. That means no surprise until I get those little reviews/bribes. Teehee.
Thx char for always reviewing for every single chappie! Luv ya! It means so much to me! Hugs. And thx to anyone else who reviewed this far too. Luvers ya too! So press that big review button and leave me a pretty message. vvvvvvvvvvvvarrows are funvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv