I have written this months ago but I wasn't really confident with this chapter. And this is on hiatus right now. So sorry to everyone that has been waiting for the update…I'm just loosing the confidence in writing this one…Anyway, please read and review… :)

I do NOT own High School Musical.

Read and REVIEW (please)…

After a moment of sharing a slow, passionate kiss, Troy and Sharpay broke off from each other and gathered back the air that was lost from them. Their faces were still close at each other that they are both grasping for the same air.

Troy tried to lean closer and Sharpay was ready to lean closer as well when they have heard the voices of Kelsi, Gabriella, and Ryan getting closer and closer. And without another word, they drew themselves apart from each other and felt awkward with the sudden appearance of their three companions.

"So, let's get started?" Gabriella squeaked in excitement.

Troy and Sharpay nodded stiffly.

After their rehearsals, the twins escorted Troy, Kelsi, and Gabriella to the front door. Ryan offered them a lift. "Oh, I live that way." Gabriella pointed to their west.

"Same with me." Said Kelsi as Ryan turned to Troy.

"I live that way." He said shyly, pointing opposite to where Gabriella and Kelsi were pointing.

Ryan looked at Sharpay who looked back at him blankly. "What?" she asked.

Ryan sighed. "For a so-called Ice Princess, you're the most dignified one." He told her. "Troy lives that way." He told her and pointed to where Troy was pointing earlier. His tone was giving her the most obvious hint she could ever imagine.

"Oh." She shortly said. "Yeah, well..." she turned to Troy. "Come on, then." She demanded stiffly and awkwardly. Both the twins have their own cars parked next to each other. Ryan drove his car with Kelsi and Gabriella as her passengers. He was the one who left first.

"Listen, I can walk home. You d..–"

"Catch!" she said as she tossed her car keys to Troy and caught it with his right hand. He looked at her quizzically. "I'll let you drive the car since I don't know where your house is." She said and walked towards the passenger's seat. "Well?" she called out to him.

"Uhm, oh. Right." He motioned his hands and opened the car. As soon as he was in, he unlocked the door and let Sharpay in. He was driving the car as carefully as he could. They shared an awkward moment of silence once again, neither of them was looking at each other's way.

Troy stopped the car near a two-storey house painted in white and the ceiling was royal blue in color. The lights on his parents' room was off and the lights on their living room was on, meaning that Troy has just got home in time. "Well, that's our house." He told her and both of them stepped out of the car. "Do you want to come in and meet my parents?" he asked.

Sharpay looked at Troy's house for a moment then she turned to him. "Maybe next time." She replied nervously.

Troy nodded. "Okay." He shortly responded and he walked towards their house.

Sharpay began to walk towards her car as well. And upon reaching for her car door, she felt a pair of hands holding her waist and a head resting on her shoulders. She turned her head and saw Troy's face. Her heart was beating fast and she was sure that before she knew it was Troy, she felt his heart beating fast as well. When he let her go, he made her face him and instantly gave her a kiss that lasted for only seconds.

Troy looked at her and she was looking back. Both of them are mesmerized by and speechless until Sharpay smiled – a genuine smile that only he saw for the first time. He was relieved to see her smiling.

"You're really something else, Bolton." She hissed jokingly.

He nodded. "Yeah." He said and gave her a light kiss. "Well, good night."

"Good night."

--

Troy was happily walking at the hallways of East High and greeting "good morning" to everyone he sees. Out of nowhere, he started humming the song 'A whole new world'. He wanted to share to his friends what happened, he wanted them to know that finally, he's one step closer to becoming Sharpay's boyfriend – his dream girl. But his friends are not on their lockers, where he usually sees them. He decided to look for them.

He passed through their Homeroom class, but none of his friends are there. He continued walking and passed several empty classrooms. On the corner part of the hallway were two brown doors that he hadn't seen before. On one of the doors was a post – the same thing he saw in the bulletin board. It was an announcement for the auditions for Twinkle Towne.

He was intrigued on what lies beneath the doors. He checked the time on his wrist watch. "Ten minutes past seven." He read. He still have twenty fifteen minutes to spend before he could enter his Homeroom class. He reached for the door knob, but before he could even touch it, the door flew open and it revealed the figure of Sharpay Evans who looks surprised to see him.

She studied the whole place and when she was sure that no one was there except Troy and her, she pulled Troy and closed the door. Troy was awed by the chairs coated in velvet color and a stage in front it. No doubt, it was a theatre.

"What are you doing here?" Sharpay hissed, pulling Troy's attention to her.

"I was looking for my friends." He answered.

She nodded. "Well, at least you came up to me first." She said and he looked at her with uncertainty. "Listen, the thing about... us – kissing," she started and Troy was slightly taken aback. "I don't want anyone to know about it." She finished. "Can you promise me that?" she asked.

"But, why?"

Sharpay looked like she was having a hard time looking for words to explain it to him. "Because I don't want to!" she said shortly. "It's not that I'm ashamed of it. It's just that, I'm not comfortable 

with the public knowing about my personal life." She explained to him. "Look, I know you wouldn't understand, but –"

"I understand." He cut her off for the first time and Sharpay fell silent. "Don't worry, I won't tell a word." He said, half-heartedly. He was disappointed and felt crushed all the same, but hearing Sharpay saying that she wasn't comfortable with the public knowing about her personal life is something he could try to understand.

"Troy, I –"

"No, actually, I don't understand." He told her and Sharpay was looking confused. "But I'll try. So, don't worry. I won't say a word. I promise." He reassured her.

They spent the whole day looking awkwardly at each other – Troy was trying to act cool in front of everybody while Sharpay couldn't try yelling or barking or cursing at Troy unlike before. Troy couldn't figure out why Sharpay wouldn't want anyone know about them kissing. And as much as he would want to know, his promise to her that he'll try to understand her keeps him from doing so.

In most cases of the celebrities, they try being "showbiz" upon telling the public that they are just friends who are going out and watching movies or eating dinners at a fine restaurant together. But they are not celebrities of Hollywood – they are just the "popular ones" at East High.

'Maybe Sharpay thinks she needs to act as one of the celebrities in Hollywood as early as now.' He concluded class after class. He gave a quick glance at Sharpay who was two seats apart from him before turning back to their professor in History class. Thank God Sharpay wasn't looking at him or else she might have rolled her eyes on him when she caught him. 'Right. I'll just try to talk to her later during rehearsals.'

--

At the end of the day, Troy, together with Gabriella and Kelsi, were back on the Evans' mansion for rehearsals. He couldn't still find a time to talk to Sharpay for she was busy rehearsing with Kelsi about perfecting her pitch, Ryan was on the kitchen telling their servants on what to prepare for their snacks, dinner, and desert; and Troy was left to give a hand to his best friend, Gabriella, on making their props.

"I still can't figure out why we're doing singing and acting and dancing for homeroom." Troy heard Gabriella nag about their so-called project on Mrs. Darbus' class. "I mean, we should be doing some research about – err – home economics, or something, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella." Troy answered, not really paying attention to any of her protests as of the moment. His eyes were focused on Sharpay who was repeating her part on their duet.

"We should be learning about recipes of other countries' delicacies, right?" he heard her again.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella." He answered again.

"We're not even taking up 'Theatre 101' so why are we even doing a project which is something like that?" she complained once again.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella."

Gabriella stopped from complaining when he heard Troy's response. His 'Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella' wasn't really helping at her protests right now. She looked at him as gently as possible so she couldn't  detect her. No doubt, her instinct was right. Troy was secretly glancing at Sharpay and this made her smile – a kind of smile that Sharpay would wear if she's filled with all her evil-ness. She decided to play with him.

"Acting is not our thing, right Troy?" she asked, making her voice sound like her previous complaints.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella." Troy said again.

"But Ryan and Sharpay are good at it so it's no wonder why the twins love doing this project, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Gabriella."

Gabriella smiled again. "And even if you know you'll be singing with Sharpay in front of everyone at East High, you will still enjoy it because you will be singing with Sharpay and that's all that matters, right Troy?" Troy was starting to say his 'Uh, y-yeah. Sure Gabriella' once again when Gabriella continued on with her devious smile on her face. "That in not less than a week, you'll be signing up for the Twinkle Towne's auditions with Sharpay, right? And that even if your career with the rest of East High will be put to jeopardy, you'll still pick Twinkle Towne and be with Sharpay, right Troy?"

"Uh, y-ye... Huh?!" Troy looked suddenly lost upon absorbing everything Gabriella was telling him. He turned to her. "Gabie, you know how much I love being on the team. What made you think I'd put it into jeopardy? And you know that I'm only doing this because it's our homeroom project." He explained.

Gabriella was bursting into laughter, trying hard to control it though. "Uh, y-yeah. Sure, Troy!" she imitated him and continued laughing at her.

"Ha-ha! Funny, Gabriella!"

Gabriella doesn't care more about Troy's sarcasm at that moment. All she cares about was how entertaining Troy can be for her during that time. "You know, Troy. You really amaze me when it comes to your beloved Wildcat team and to your one great love, Sharpay." She told him.

"Was that suppose to be a joke? Or a sarcasm?" he asked in confusion. Gabriella merely shrugged her shoulders as she was coloring her art paper with red paint. "You know, Gabie, sometimes I don't get what you really want to tell me."

"Troy, I'm just but one equation in geometry!"

"Oh, I see." He answered. "Now I know why I really don't understand you sometimes." He told her and both of them just laughed at it.

"Troy!" Sharpay called from the piano stand, sitting right beside Kelsi, as Ryan entered the music room. Both Troy and Gabriella turned to her. "Let's practice the song." She told him in a not-really sweet tone – it was more of a command actually.

"Okay." He answered back. He turned to Gabriella. "Gotta go practice." He told her as he started making his way towards Sharpay.

Ryan sat next to Gabriella, where Troy was sitting earlier. "So, anything I missed?" Ryan asked her, whispering.

Gabriella quickly glanced at Troy and Sharpay who started singing their piece and turned back to Ryan. "Well, not really. I was just playing with Troy a while ago." She answered. "Looks like he will be torn 

between basketball and singing in the future." Her tone was softer that Ryan almost couldn't hear what she said.

"If that would be the case, I'm sure Sharpay will be facing that case too." Ryan said. "Let's just hope that everything would turn out to be good."

"And let's be there for them."

"Agree."

--

That night, Troy failed to ask Sharpay about the issue why they needed to keep quiet about them kissing. Sure, he knew that Sharpay wasn't yet ready to go out in public with Troy as her boyfriend, officially. But he still want to know the reason why.

Gabriella was also acting weird. She was telling him as if he needs to choose between Wildcats and Sharpay. Of course he wouldn't pick one and drop the other. Both the Wildcats and Sharpay was important to him; both were close to his heart that he wouldn't let go the other one and release the other.

I always dreamt of being in the court – I lived by the court! His mind was ranting when he was on his bed, already laying his back on the soft cushions. In between his hands is his beloved teddy bear. But I have started liking Sharpay even before I started living in the court! His mind opposed its own.

Right now, he's really torn between basketball and Sharpay – if he chooses to stay with the team, he will lose Sharpay. But if he chooses Sharpay, he will lose basketball.

"Can't I just have them both?" he asked himself.

Why are you even thinking about things like that, Troy! The problem is yet unknown and yet you're already creating something on your mind! Jesus, Troy! You're making your own ghost! Why don't you just enjoy what you have right now? Why think of things which would only create chaos and confusion in your mind? His mind was lecturing him – as if another 'him' has been created out of nowhere. A feeling like when you stand in front of the mirror and your reflection suddenly talks to you.

"Right! Why am I being so hard on myself anyway?" he chooses to agree with his own mind as he closes his eyes and just be in a deep sleep.

--

Author's Note: Yeah, actually I'm really disappointed at myself with this one. uhm... Review? :)