Sharpay looked up and wiped her mouth. She sobbed a bit, then looked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same, but she felt different. Lighter, perhaps.
She shook her head before she washed the tears off of her face and brushed her teeth. She wiped the water off of her face and walked to her closet.
She thought of what Ryan wore. He wore a white sweater and black sweatpants; so she decided to wear her white, long sleeved, evening dress that fell to her knees with a black ribbon on her hair that was used as a head band. She fixed her hair before putting on her slippers and walking downstairs.
She saw all her friends settling their baggage on the luggage cart that will bring their belongings to the guest house where they will stay for the night.
Troy decided to carry his bag instead of setting it down on the cart; it wasn't that he didn't trust the Evans. He just didn't want to. Why would he accept the help from a family, whose race tortured and tormented him?
Before they were able to leave the main housing, Vance, Derby and Alexandra had entered the room with different looks on their faces; Derby, happy and warm; Vance, proud and smug; and Alexandra, sour and impudent.
"Hey, you guys are just in time! We're gonna introduce to you our new friends" Ryan said.
"Oh! How splendid! Go ahead, dear" Derby said
"Well, this is Gabriella and Taylor. They're both members of the Scholastic Decathlon team." Ryan introduced.
"Wow, Decathlon team. Impressive" Vance started, then his gaze turned to Chad and Troy, "And who are these two young men here?" He asked,
"That's Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth. They're both in the Basketball Team. Troy is the captain, and Chad is the co-captain" Ryan introduced again.
"Also very impressive; I am truly glad you two had made friends in your first 3 days in town. I'm also very thankful, as well." Derby said
Gabriella smiled at Sharpay who shyly smiled back.
Alexandra chuckled- an abrupt chuckle from Alexandra always meant that she was about to start a scene.
Troy looked at Alexandra then at Sharpay, whose smile turned into a worried frown. He had seen Alexandra hiss at the twins before, and that spread the awful truth of their immoral bickering. Although he did not expect to ever witness their arguments, but his guts told him that he will.
"Decathlon team members… predictable" Alexandra mumbled
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sharpay asked Alexandra with a tough voice
"What do you think I mean, you empty bobble head" Alexandra teased
"I would try to guess but, maybe you don't even know what you mean so… I'll step back" Sharpay shot back
"I so know what I mean!" Alexandra almost yelled,
"Really? Then what?" Sharpay asked again
"That you are two little pests who came back from Italy to ruin everything for me! You think you can ruin my life for me by stealing the lime light which is always focused on me, but you're wrong! I own that light, and you don't, so you get stuck with the top two nerds of the school!" Alexandra yelled.
Gabriella and Taylor felt ashamed. For some reason, the words of Alexandra had opened a small door to the truth. Sharpay was rich, glamorous; she was a girl who deserved to be in the "in" crowd, and Taylor and Gabriella is not the crowd she deserves.
Sharpay scoffed, "When will you finally realize that we don't want anything to do with you in school?! Take the light if it means so much to you! It doesn't matter to me! And Gabriella and Taylor are so much better than the girls you call "friends". At least Gabriella and Taylor have brains and hearts unlike those girls" Sharpay said in a calm voice, but the anger in it was very evident.
Taylor and Gabriella smiled to themselves. Sharpay Evans, super rich and fabulous, chose them over the girls who "rule" the school, it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done to them before. Chad nodded and smiled.
Ryan was proud, of course; while Troy grinned and nodded to himself.
"Girls, enough, we have guests" Derby scolded her daughters.
Derby turned to the gang and said, "We're very sorry for that, kids. Especially Taylor and Gabriella; I'm sure Alexandra did not mean what she had said. Right, dear?" Derby turned to her daughter and gave her a look.
Alexandra scoffed, "Whatever", she said before walking towards their staircase. However, she turned around and looked at Troy and Chad; she waved and winked at them before walking up the stairs.
Chad made a sour face, while Troy grimaced. Memories that haunted him came flooding back into his mind. Chad saw him and patted his back for support.
Derby sighed, "We'll talk to her, now, go ahead to the guest house, everything is prepared. Just call us or the maids when you need something." She said with a smile, slightly pushing Ryan and Sharpay towards the door with their friends walking behind.
--
"Whoa! This place looks amazing!" Chad wooed.
Ryan shrugged, "Thanks", he replied.
Gabriella and Taylor nodded at each other and walked over to Sharpay who was standing in another corner, while looking at a painting.
"Sharpay?" Gabriella said as she touched her shoulder
Sharpay turned around and smiled at them, "Yeah?" she asked
"We wanted to thank you for what you did for us" Taylor said softly with a smile
"Yeah… that was the nicest thing anyone has ever done to us." Gabriella said
Sharpay smiled at them as she says, "It's no problem, guys. I was just telling the truth. And… I wanted to return the favor to you guys"
"What favor?" Taylor asked,
"You were so nice to me when I was just new around. If it weren't for you guys, I would have been a loner." Sharpay explained.
"Sharpay, we like you a lot, we didn't do you a favor." Taylor said,
"Yeah, and I really feel a special bond with you, Shar. I feel like I've known you in years rather than just 3 days" Gabriella added.
"Aww. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it a lot! And, I feel the same way about you guys… and I know you might think I'm just like Alexandra but…" Sharpay started babbling
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! We definitely don't think that!" Taylor said,
"OBVIOUSLY" Gabriella added.
They all laughed,
"Well, thanks, guys!" Sharpay said as she hugged the two girls.
They laughed.
As Troy sat in the couch, he saw, straight ahead, the three girls hugging and laughing.
He didn't really know how he felt; he was not as furious as before, for he had witnessed a different side to Sharpay, but he was also not sure if he was happy.
He covered his face with his hand as he decided to think for a while.
Obviously, Sharpay and Alexandra were different, and they hated each other. He preferred Sharpay than Alexandra. Sharpay was nicer than Alexandra, of course.
When the thought of Alexandra reigned over his mind, all he could think of was the last thing, she waved and winked… at him. The memories could never have been clearer.
He started to stare at thin air.
"Troy? Hello? You there?" Gabriella asked as she moved her hand up and down in front of his face,
Troy snapped out of it, "What?" He asked her
"You were staring at nothing a while ago, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing" He answered plainly.
"If you're sure" Gabriella said as she looked at him with worried eyes.
"Yes, I'm sure" He answered back.
--------
"Sharpay, can I talk to you?" Ryan asked,
"What for?" Sharpay asked,
Gabriella and Taylor looked at him with the same wondering face as Sharpay's.
"You know what." Ryan answered.
Sharpay sighed, "Oh… I see. Excuse us" Sharpay said as they walked to the guest house's garden.
--------
Troy was outside, behind a tree where he leaned his back on, by the pool; he was seated in a stealthy way. He wanted to be alone. He felt stupid. Just like the way he always does whenever his mind returns to that day. He was fiddling a loose hem on his jeans when he heard footsteps coming from behind him.
He took a peek from behind the tree to see Sharpay and Ryan. Sharpay was seated at a pool chair while Ryan was standing.
Sharpay looked nervous and Ryan looked exasperated.
Troy intended to listen.
-------
"Sharpay, I'm really proud of you for standing up for Gabriella and Taylor" Ryan started.
"Thanks" She replied, so softly, she looked so fragile, so… breakable.
"But, what I'm not proud of is your ongoing disobedience." Ryan said,
"What do you mean?" Sharpay asked, she looked up at him, her eyes beginning to water. She knew that he knew.
"What do I mean? Sharpay! I know you know what I mean!" Ryan softly yelled.
There was a long pause before Sharpay could answer, "Oh, that."
"Yes, that! Sharpay! You promised me that you would not do that again. You were getting better, you improving! You were so close to recovering! How could you let Alexandra ruin that?! Can't you just stop?" Ryan asked with begging eyes, but with a roaring voice.
"I'm Bulimic, Ryan! I can't just stop! I've tried so hard to stop sticking my finger down my throat but I just can't, okay? Alexandra just keeps on urging me to…" She swallowed hard, and closing her eyes shut before continuing,
"I've tried, Ryan… I really have" She finished as her tears rolled silently down her cheeks.
"I don't want to see you lying down on a hospital bed with tubes connected to your systems again, Shar. Once is enough. When I found out you stuck your finger down your throat just this afternoon, I saw you in the hospital in my head again. The doctor told me that your digestive system is weak and you need to stop doing this and eat, or else, you'll have to go back." Ryan said in panicked voice.
"I'm sorry, Ryan." Sharpay said softly,
"It's okay. Just… try not to do it again. Promise me. No, not only me, promise Mom and Dad, promise Gabriella and Taylor, and Chad, Troy, and Dorota, and strangely, promise Alexandra… we all care for you. Promise us that you'll try." Ryan said.
"…I promise" Sharpay replied.
"Thank you." Ryan said as he kissed her forehead and wiped away her tears.
"Let's go back inside." Ryan said.
"Okay." Sharpay said as she stood up and clung to Ryan's arm.
"It'll be okay." Ryan soothed as they walked inside.
-----
Troy stepped out of the tree with wide eyes. He couldn't believe in what he had just heard.
Sharpay was bulimic.
Author's Note: So Troy knows. Wow. That was pretty good. Considering I had a writer's block and I made this up as I went. Yeepee! Sorry this took so long. I've been pretty busy with school and such. I'm actually pretty lucky I got this one finished. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!
With hearts,
LA2021 :]