This chapter contains less humor (or no humor at all)… sorry… I have mispalced where I've put my draft on how this fic should turn out so I'm kind of re-planning the whole stuff... but I hope you'll like this still… :)
Anyways…please read and review…
Don't own High School Musical or any of its characters… :)
Ryan went into the hat section in the mall. He saw a new blood-red color hat paired with red polo shirt designed by D&G and he wanted to have it. Hat is something that you can never take out of his system, thus making it a part of his everyday life which makes him happy.
He was trying the blood-red hat on when his cell phone rang. He looked at the screen and Sharpay's name was blinking, together with her picture with pink sparkling headband alongside her puppy.
"Hey, Shar." He answered it.
"Ry, I need the keys to your car." She demanded over the other line. "I forgot to get my purse on your car and my golden life is there! I need my golden life, now!" she ordered. And by golden life, Sharpay means her golden credit card she left on Ryan's car when her car ran out of gas so he had to get her from the spa.
"I'm at the Hat section, Shar! Can you just drop by?"
"RY?!" she called back in disbelief. "Hat section is so five floors away from me. I'm at the sparkle station." She told him. And by sparkle station, she meant everywhere she could see pink and sequins – which Ryan isn't sure where on earth is that.
He sighed while rolling his eyes. "Do you want your golden life or not?"
There was a pause before Sharpay could eventually form a sentence or phrase. "Okay, fine! I'll be right there!" then she hung up. If Sharpay's location is totally unknown to Ryan, it's the opposite for Sharpay. She knows that Ryan only uses 'Hat section' when he's buying a D&G label.
He returned on seeing his reflection on the mirror just beside the Hat stand. He made a different sets of poses when his eye caught by the sudden appearance of a brunette-haired girl just outside the store. He spun around, and there he saw Gabriella Montez patiently leaning on the wall with a brown paper bag while looking at her wristwatch.
He instantly took the blood-red hat with him on the counter and ready to pay for it. And before he could actually hand out his credit card, a pair of white hat with silver sparkle designed to be in a checkered pattern interest him, and bought it as well.
As soon as he had paid for his bill, which amounted to almost a hundred thousand U.S. dollar, he approached Gabriella. "Hey, Montez!" he playfully called out to her and much to Gabriella's surprise a smile was painted on her lips at the sight of the blonde-haired boy who has a great love to hats. "Waiting for your date?" he asked as soon as he came face to face with her.
"No, not really." She answered. "I was supposed to meet with Taylor, but when I texted her she told me that she's still with Chad." She explained with a hint of upset on her tone. "I think that's just what it's like having a boyfriend, though." She finished it with a smile on her face and making her voice sound more cheery than before.
Ryan just smiled back.
"So, how about you?" she asked him then.
"Me? Oh, I'm just…" Ryan trailed off as Gabriella was eager to listen to him. He was feeling lost when he looks in her eyes so he looked away for a second. "I just went to buy a new pair of hats." He replied, pointing at the store where he bought his hats.
Gabriella gave a quick glance over at the store. "Ah. Dolce and Gabbana." She said. "I thought that store is only for glam girls like Sharpay?" she asked quizzically.
"Well, it's not." He answered confidently. "But anyway, how about we go have a cup of coffee while waiting for Taylor? I'm pretty sure she'll be minutes late if she's with her, you know – boyfriend." He suggested.
Again, Gabriella took a glance over her wristwatch before turning to Ryan. "Sure."
--
Sharpay was walking through the walkway just a floor below where Ryan was supposed to be buying his new pair of hat when she suddenly bumped into a guy. She dropped her white hand bag with a touch of pink sparkles patterned as stars.
"I'm so sorry, miss." The guy apologized while picking up her bag and giving it back to her.
As they both looked at each other, Sharpay couldn't believe whom she's facing with right now. "Troy." She managed to utter his name while looking at his electric blue eyes which is staring back at hers.
Troy looked the same as she was. "Hey, Shar." His voice sounded more gentle and was more of a whisper. He was about to say another word when someone had interrupted them.
"TROY!" a girl's voice came in.
"SHAR!" it was of a boy's.
They both looked to see who the owners of the familiar voices and they weren't really surprised when they saw Ryan and Gabriella heading towards their direction from the escalator. Troy and Sharpay suddenly broke apart from standing too close with each other.
And as Ryan and Gabriella was making their way towards them, Sharpay gained all her senses and gave Troy the vicious glares she has been giving them. She snatched her bag from him and almost yelled, "Look where you're going, Bolton!"
Troy looked taken aback at Sharpay's sudden change of mood. He looked confused but he's sure that he saw Sharpay winked at him, telling him to just play along with her. "Sorry, Evans." He told her when he finally understood what Sharpay wanted him to do. He was fully aware that Sharpay asked him to not say anything about them kissing and Troy gave his assurance to her.
Sharpay rolled her eyes and turned to Ryan, holding out her right hand to him. "Your car keys?"
Ryan almost forgot about Sharpay wanting his car keys because she left her purse and golden credit card in his car. "Oh, right." He said as he was pulling out his car keys through his pocket. "Here you go."
Sharpay snatched the keys from her twin brother.
Troy was mouthing 'what' into Gabriella's direction when he saw the grin upon his best friend's face. He knew that grin and he was sure she's teasing him about being with Sharpay. He even mouthed 'stop it' to her but Gabriella's grin grew wider by the minute Troy's cheeks flushed in red color.
Her grin only broke off when he heard Ryan's voice again.
"Gabriella and I are having coffee while she's waiting for Taylor." Ryan told to Troy and Sharpay in particular. "Do both of you wants to join us?" he asked them, looking from Troy to Sharpay then back to his twin sister again for an answer.
Both Troy and Sharpay exchanged glances. They both wanted to join but something's holding them back for some reason. "Like a double date? Hell, no way I'm going to be seen with…" she looked to Troy's direction and displayed a disgusted face. "…this basketball freak!"
Troy raised an eyebrow. "Like I want to be with you as well!" he defended.
"Oh, just shut up, Bolton!"
"Hey!"
"Okay!" Gabriella's voice cut them in as Ryan came in between them.
"Shar, we are not having a double date." Ryan explained, then he glanced to Gabriella's direction. "Just a friendly date… maybe." His last word was almost a whisper as he looked back to Sharpay's direction.
"Bolton and I are so not friends!" she snapped at her twin brother. "So, yeah! Go with Montez or Bolton for a friendly date for as hell freezes over. As for me, I'm going to get myself a new pair of Chanel boots!" she marched off and before she could completely disappear, she turned around and waved her fingers upon saying "toodles" to Ryan, Gabriella, and Troy.
"Sorry about my twin." Ryan apologized to Troy in behalf of his twin.
"No problem."
"Anyway, wanna join us?" Gabriella squeaked.
He was about to answer when his cell phone beeped for a new text message. He opened his inbox and saw Sharpay's name registered upon it. He quickly opened her message and he tried hard enough to conceal his excitement. The message says: you're such a natural. See you soon, Wildcat superstar. ;-)
He turned to Ryan and Gabriella who are both waiting for a response. "Sorry, I have, uh… I needed to go somewhere." He lied. "Maybe I could catch up with you later, if… if…" he was lost for words. "I'll just, err, try to catch up later, okay?"
Gabriella and Ryan just nodded. Both aren't really getting Troy but they just ignored his utters.
"Say, Gabie…" Ryan called out to Gabriella as they both are heading to the escalator. "Why don't we ask Chad and Taylor to join us for coffee instead? I think it's a better opportunity for me to meet new friends."
Gabriella smiled. "Okay."
--
Troy was leaning coolly over the walls near the parking area's entrance, waiting for Sharpay. When the blonde girl's figure came into his view, he walked towards her in a sneaky manner so he won't get detected. He was right behind Sharpay, waiting for an opportunity to surprise her. When there weren't many people around them, he poked his two fingers on Sharpay's waist.
To her surprise, she spun around and accidentally slapped Troy's face with the back of her hand. Troy held his cheek to where Sharpay had hit him, and Sharpay placed her hands on her mouth
with an apologetic expression on her face. "Oh, my sparkling God! I'm so sorry." She said apologetically while holding where she had slapped Troy.
He looked at her teasingly. "You hate surprises, don't you?"
She pouted and playfully hit Troy on his arm. "Why, you…"
"Just stating the obvious, Shar." He defended in between his giggles. "You always hit me – accidentally or willingly – whenever I surprise you." He added, explaining.
Sharpay crossed her arms as they started walking together. "Yeah. As a matter of fact, I do. I hate surprises. As you can see, I nearly killed you many times because of your surprises." She told him and they both laughed a bit about it.
"Say, why don't we go for coffee?"
Sharpay's eyes widened while facing Troy. "My brother and Montez are having coffee. Troy, we can't be seen together, right?" she reminded him. "We're supposed to be hating and cursing each other in public and right now, we're not near any of it."
Troy sighed. "But, Shar…"
"Troy, you gave me your word."
"I know, but…"
Troy was cut off by the sudden appearance of the African-American couple that goes by the names of Taylor McKessie and Chad Danforth. They are both looking amazed at the sight of them together. "Did we just saw you chatting together?" Taylor asked to no one in particular, looking confused at the sight of Troy and Sharpay.
Both Troy and Sharpay looked at each other for a while before they could get their acts together.
"Us? Talking?" Sharpay smirked and rolled eyes again. "Please! Like I would want to talk to your basketball freak friend here!" she added and turned to Troy, making her back face Taylor and Chad. She winked again before continuing. "So you better not get in my way ever again! Got that, Bolton?!"
Again, she marched off, this time with cell phone on her hand. Troy was following her with a look and he was pretty sure that Sharpay is typing a message for him. And true enough, his cell phone beeped again for a new message.
He opened his inbox and saw Sharpay's name again. This time, the message contains: Sorry. We really can't be seen together right now. Catch you next time. ;-)
He sighed after reading her message.
"Troy, are you alright?" Chad asked.
He nodded while turning to face his best friend. "I gotta catch up on something." He told them as he, too, began marching off heading to where Sharpay had disappeared not so long ago.
Taylor and Chad were left with confusion on their faces while watching him vanish just around the corner.
--
"Shar!" he uttered, loud enough for Sharpay to hear him.
She turned. "What?" she asked while she continued on walking.
"Let's go out some time."
"What?!" she stopped, facing Troy in shocked. "Are you crazy?"
"I guess."
"But…"
"Sharpay!" he cut her off. "I know I gave you my word, and I assure you that I will stick to my word." He told her and Sharpay stopped to listen. "But I never told you I would stop talking to you." He added.
--
Author's Note: The last part just came up to me and this is how it turned out. I was also listening to the song "Stick To The Status Quo" when I came up to this and I'm pretty sure you get the song's message, right? I mean, sticking to the stuff you know…
Uhm, review? :)