Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. That was definitely a hard chapter to write. However, I loved every second of it. Now it is time for the fallout.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for my crazy original characters. All films mentioned are used without permission.
Chapter 13: Something True
October 7, 2008 9:15 AM
"For the last seven weeks we have examined how film can show us the true nature of humankind and society in general. We have explored the various concepts of this class by watching excerpts from films, read essays and watching documentaries on the subject." Said professor A as he addressed Sharpay's film class.
"Nothing like being in a class where your homework consists of watching excerpts from Four Little Girls, Jackie Brown, and Letters from Iwo Jima. I wish I could have taken this class in high school." Chad commented quietly to Kim and Sharpay.
"Now it is your turn to be behind the camera. I want to see how you interpret the world through a lens. For your midterm project, you will create your own short film. I want everybody to break off into groups of three."
"It like it is just the three of us as usual," Sharpay said to the other two
"Like you would have it any other way," Chad said smirking at her as he secretly grabbed her hand under the table.
"Now I could let you choose your subject, but what's the fun than that." The professor said as he picked up a hat from his desk. In this hat is a vast variety of films, everything from Star Wars to Hotel Rwanda. Your project must somehow relate to whatever your representative picks out. Please send one person from your group to pick." The professor said to the class.
"I will go pick out our film. You two continue starring at the other in your 'I want to be with you but can't because of Taylor' way. I cannot wait to this week is over and you two can finally be together. " Kim said to the other two.
"We don't stare at each other." Sharpay said in her defense, even though she knew it was somewhat true.
"Said the woman clutching Chad's hand for dear life under the table. Now that we all know you two are in love, please stop the denial routine."
"I swear I'm going to smack you Kim." Sharpay said under her breath.
"I'm your only friend, you would never hurt me."
"I have Chad now. I don't need you anymore." Sharpay said with an evil smile.
"He's not your friend. He's the guy you make out with."
"No matter what I will always be your friend." Chad said in a whisper to Sharpay so Kim can't hear him. "Kim just go, before she gets more agitated. At the rate you're going, I'm not going to be able to calm her down."
"At least not without resorting to a quickie in the bathroom," Kim said leaving the two behind. Sharpay was so shocked by Kim's evil comment she forgot to pay attention to the rest of the instructions for the assignment. The only thing she remembered was it was due on the 21st and it could not be more than 15 minutes.
"Are all college midterms like this?" Sharpay asked Chad once cognitive function returned.
"No, these are the fun projects. Other than English class, this will be the only exam that will not involve a blue book this entire year. Last year all my exams were multiple choice."Chad answered Sharpay as Kim return to the table. Suddenly they both noticed the very wicked smile on Kim face.
"Why do I have a feeling that we just got a really bad midterm project?" Sharpay said to her almost boyfriend.
"I doubt that she would be that happy if we got something as serious as Hotel Rwanda."
"This is Kim were talking about. Her sense of humor is skewed."
"You know it's not nice to talk about me when I'm standing in front of you. I'm grinning because I already have the perfect idea for this project. It was made for you two. In addition, we have a lot of footage already on my laptop if you will let me use the footage from the party and my project for my education class." Kim said handing to slip of paper over to the other two.
"I can't even believe this is an option. This is a must be the most fluffy film in the hat." Sharpay said in annoyance.
"It can't be that hard. Besides you did recreate the scene in the deli in a dressing room a few weeks ago."
"You're so sleeping in your own room tonight." She knew it was an empty threat even as she said it to him. She already hated being without him.
October 10, 2008 4:53 PM
Jack Bolton has had a lot of different opinion about Kimberly Kim over the years. When she was, 14 he saw her as the inquisitive drama girl who asked too many questions in health class. (Although now he wished, she asked more questions during the human reproduction chapter.) When she was 15, he saw her as the girl in gym class that never wanted to lose or break a nail. When she was 17 he saw her as the solution to his son's bad grades in math and English. After Chad got so frustrated trying to tutor Troy that he threw a book at him, Kim became his only hope of keeping Troy eligible for basketball. When she was 18, he saw her as the woman that broke his son's heart when she left so suddenly. She only a left a note that he never could give to his son. At almost 21, she became the mother of his grandchild. At least now he understood why she left 2 ½ years ago. He also had a good feeling that the note left that night was at the very least a cover for a much more complicated situation.
He really did not understand how to deal with the woman in front of him. She seems so different from her high school self. When he asked her the initial question in the gym, she froze. He expected her to run from the room. Instead, she asked to go somewhere away from campus. Now he was sitting drinking coffee with his son's ex girlfriend and his grandchild. A grandchild he was not even aware of the possibility of his existence until a few weeks ago. Alex looks so much like Troy it was spooky. He was almost a mini Troy. He even had Troy's food allergies.
"So are you going to answer my question now?" Jack asked as he took another sip of his coffee.
"Not really, can we start with something simpler? Like why does prejudice exist?" He laughed at her joke. If she wasn't ready to answer the big question, he would give her more time.
"How about an easier question, why are you an education major right now? When you were in school you wanted to be an actress like your friend Sharpay."
"Because you can't be a dreamer when you have a kid. I did not have a toddler in high school. In addition, I spent two years without my trust fund. After being so broke qualify for food stamps, I learn the importance of having a career that comes with a steady paycheck. I like teaching. It feels good to help others learn. In the future it will be nice to have the same hours as Alex when he starts school." Kim said as she tried to get Alex to stop throwing his food at the other kids in the restaurant. Another thing that Troy always did when he was little.
"What do you mean you spent two years without your trust fund?" Jack said focusing on her earlier statement.
"My mom had full control over the money my grandfather left me. When she found out I was pregnant she wanted me to have an abortion. I said no. She threatened not to pay for my education, I still said no. It did not matter because I was on scholarship anyway. I was not going to give up my child because I didn't get pregnant by the right person." He noticed that she did not say 'right time'. "She gave up on forcing me to have an abortion and decided to get me to give Alex up for adoption by taking my trust fund hostage. I spent most of freshman and sophomore year of college being a fulltime working mom and college student. I am not sure how I managed to get by. Finally my father and stepmother manage to get my trust fund restored in June." It made him feel better to know how hard Kim fought to keep his grandson.
"Why did you not tell us this was going on? We would have helped you." No matter how he felt about Kim, he wouldn't let his grandchild suffer.
"Like I was going to tell you and your wife after what you two did to us?" he could hear the anger in her voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"Let's see how about your wife blackmailing me to leave your son?" her statement was completely new to him. He knew nothing about this.
"What?"
"Do not act like you didn't know. First of all, your wife threatened to send me to prison for statutory, if I didn't break up with Troy." He found that thread laughable.
"Kim the entire faculty at East High knew you and Troy were sleeping together by April when Ms. Darbus caught the two of you having sex in the garden on the roof. If we thought you were a threat, you've probably would've been in jail anyway. The principle definitely would not be letting you come back as a student teacher this year. " He noticed her face go remarkably pale as he told her this.
"You knew?"
"I knew you two were together. I was not completely happy, but I knew Troy was. I wasn't going to keep you apart."
"No, that was your wife. Her second threat was taking Troy out of East High for home schooling so he couldn't play basketball or be with his friends. That's the one that had me packing for New York the next day." He had a feeling she was keeping something else from him. However, he had no idea what.
"I wish you were told me. I would a divorced her and sued for full custody, before I would let her get away with something that stupid."
"I know that now. I just thought it would be better if I left. It was not until three weeks later that I found out I was pregnant when I collapsed in class." He wanted to ask her why she didn't call. However, he knew she was not ready for that question.
"Did you write him that nasty letters so he would forget about you?" he instantly noticed the puzzled look on her face.
"What letter?"
"The one where you tell Troy that you were just using him and didn't love him." He said passing her the crumbled piece of paper from his bag that he had saved for over two years.
Troy Bolton was seriously tired of Chad's girlfriends calling him with their relationship problems. Sharpay he could understand. Without knowing, he contributed to the problem. Thinking about it now maybe, he should have talk to her about why he did not want to date her instead of dating Gabriella.
However, he was not responsible for the current situation. Except, he was in a way. He agreed to help Kim get Chad and Sharpay to realize their feelings for each other. His punishment was to explain why Chad fell in love with Sharpay to a very angry Taylor. This would be difficult because Troy was not even 100% sure, why Chad fell in love with Sharpay. It just happened. He was not entirely sure Chad ever loved Taylor. Troy just knew that he didn't love her now. Neither fact was something he wanted to tell Taylor.
"You don't ask easy questions, do you Taylor. Isn't this a conversation you should be having with Gabriella. I know were friends, but this is more of a best friend conversation." He said in hopes of trying to get out of this horrible conversation.
"Unfortunately as you know my best friend is too busy probably getting drunk at a frat party to help me through this crisis.
"It's not even 6:00 PM yet. She's probably doing jello shots in a dorm room somewhere." Troy answered sarcastically. He was getting really tired of Gabriella blowing everything off for the college experience.
"She has been ignoring you as well. You give up your dream of going to A of U just to be near her and this is how she treats you. Maybe if you were here, this whole mess would not have happened. You could have kept Chad from falling in love with the ice queen." Troy wasn't about to tell Taylor that he actually encouraged Chad to be with Sharpay.
"First of all I would just like to say that I didn't give up my dream for Gabriella or anyone else. A of U was not my dream, it was my father's. I'm getting really tired of trying to be someone I'm not just to make everyone else happy. I've lost too much." He thought of Kim at that moment.
"As for the relationship between Chad and Sharpay that started before you and him were ever dating. Those two have had a strange connection since kindergarten when they got in a fight over chocolate milk. Maybe the connection that seemed like hate was really their passion for each other. Maybe what we thought was hate was really lust or even love. You remember the summer at Lava Springs no one could make those two madder than each other. Yet they kept making excuses to be around each other.
"I just don't understand how they can go from hating each other to what I saw this weekend. It was like they were together their entire life."
"They have been. Chad and Sharpay have had classes with each other since kindergarten except for the year Sharpay's family lived in Rhode Island." Troy remembered how miserable Chad was that year. It was as if part of him was missing because he didn't have Sharpay to argue with. "As for hating each other, I don't think they ever did. They just had too much fun fighting."
"Now they are having too much fun making out."
"You walked in on them?" He asked wondering how she found out about the relationship.
"I saw the video. I would like some context to go with what I saw today."
"You really want to know the entire story?
"I would like to know why I took a baseball bat to Sharpay's television an hour and ½ ago. As well as why Chad should've been on the academic decathlon team last year."
"You took a baseball bat to their television?" Now he really hoped she never found out about his involvement in this fiasco.
"I wasn't thinking clearly at the time." Apparently not, Troy thought to himself.
"I guess it all started with Ryan and a little white lie. There was also Penelope from West High who was apparently screwing Zeke for most of last year. She was trying to make Chad her latest conquest. Chad had this brilliant idea to keep Penelope away by having Sharpay pretend to be his girlfriend. Most importantly, there were two people who kept saying over and over again that they were just friends. When we all knew they were not." Troy began to tell her the twisted story of how Chad and Sharpay got together as he set a text message to the only person who could get him out of this uncomfortable conversation.
Sharpay sat in the driveway of the McKessie home for a few minutes after dropping Jason off in hopes of calm herself down. She was expecting her father to caller her at any moment to yell at her. By the time she got through her father assisted Daniel, informed her that her father was in a conference call with Lisa and Gordon from judiciaries. She was so screwed. This why you should not go to the university where your dad is a member of the Board of Directors.
As Sharpay a finely pulled herself together enough to get out of the driveway she heard a knock at the window. It was Mrs. McKessie. She was probably there to tell Sharpay to stay away from Jason because she had hurt Taylor so badly.
"Are you okay?" Mrs. McKessie asked her. She was not expecting that. The mother of the person she hurt so badly should not be expressing sympathy of any kind.
"Not really," Sharpay said with a sigh." I am guessing Jason told you what happened."
"That my daughter pretty much went ballistic when Chad broke up with her. Jason sent me a text message and footage of the incident. I do not care that she is 18, when she gets home she's going to wish I could still ground her.
"That's okay, it was all my fault. I did take her boyfriend."
"No it wasn't. I have known for a long time that Chad Danforth was never going to become my son in law. Maybe it had signed to do with the fact that I knew more about him than my daughter ever did. This breakup was going to come eventually. I'm just glad he found you. Sharpay you can't blame yourself for my daughter stupid actions. How about we take a ride and I tell you the story of how I really met my husband." Mrs. McKessie said as she sat in the front seat of Sharpay's Lexus.
"Jason said you two met in high school and instantly fell in love. You two were married during the beginning of sophomore year of college." Sharpay said as she pulled out of the driveway and onto the main road.
"That's the happy version that we tell the kids. The truth is we hated each other in high school. So much so, we couldn't stand to be in the same room together. In college, we became friends because we were away from everyone else we knew. Unfortunately we fell in love when he still had a girlfriend who was ironically enough a freshman at Yale University."
"Did she smash a baseball bat into your television when she found out that you two fell in love?
"Surprisingly no, considering she found out by walking in on the two of us having sex." Sharpay accidentally ran a stop sign when she heard Mrs. McKessie say this. Fortunately, there were no other cars around.
"I didn't send this. I was in love with him. I would not say that, even if it was just to make him forget about me. "Kim said in complete shock. Thank God Jack made sure he never saw this.
"I believe you." He said to her quietly.
"You asked me earlier why I didn't tell you or Troy about Alex. Part of it was, I was afraid that I would be rejected. Most of my family still sees me as the black sheep that dishonor the entire family. I couldn't deal with any more people despising me or Alex."
"That would not have happened."
"They say hindsight is 20/20. I have been preparing myself for the last couple of weeks to tell Troy during Thanksgiving break. Although it looks like the timetable to tell him has been moved up a little bit."
"I won't tell him. This is something you need to do. Just tell me this, was there any other reason why you kept this to yourself."
"He was 16 when Alex was born. I didn't want to take the last few years of his childhood away. I mean come on; if he knew about Alex, he wouldn't have played in the championship game junior year or found his inner thespian. He was not ready to be a dad yet."
"Are you sure that's not just your fear talking?" Jack asked her. Fortunately, before she could answer the boy in question sent her a text message
"I have to check this." She said as she grabbed her phone from her purse. "It's Troy. Apparently, Taylor decided to call him to find out why Chad dumped her for Sharpay. He wants me to pick up Taylor from a restaurant a few blocks away so he can stop explaining how Chad and Sharpay got together."
"You still talk to each other?"
"We started talking to each other again a couple months ago with the goal of getting Chad and Sharpay together. Apparently were being punished today." She did not tell him that they emailed each other almost three times a day and call the other almost as much.
"What are you telling him?"
"That there is no way I am letting our child anywhere that crazy woman." Kim said as she pressed the send button and then handed jack the phone with a picture of Taylor smashing a lamp with a baseball bat.
"I can see your point." He said passing the phone back to her as another message from Troy popped up begging her to get Taylor.
After five more minutes of text messages between the two, Jack apparently became tired of watching the two go back and forth. On the other hand, maybe it was the fact his son was now resorting to dirty text messages to get Kim to help. This led Jack to ask "I could watch Alex. It would give us some time for grandson and grandfather bonding." Kim agreed quickly deciding it was better than Jack finding out some of the things Troy use to do to her that made her scream. She was so telling Troy about this incident later.
"I'll go get his bag out of my car."
10 minutes later Kim found herself at the café to retrieve Taylor. If it wasn't for the fact Kim felt guilty for pushing Chad and Sharpay together, there was no way she would let Troy talk her into taking care of Taylor for the weekend. She may love the boy, but she was not crazy. When she overheard Taylor arguing with Troy on the phone, she has considered walking back to Jack to take her kid and leave. She definitely did not want to do this.
"You expect me to believe that they were making out with each other and were convinced that it was okay because they were just acting?" Kim could hear the sarcasm in Taylor's voice.
"We didn't say that we thought it was okay. We said they thought it was okay. It took them almost five weeks to come out of their relationship denial." Kim said as she approached the girl.
"Who are you?"
Kim could barely hear Troy tell Taylor to put the phone on speaker.
"I'm Kim, Sharpay's friend." Kim said extending her hand, but Taylor did not accept.
"I really never want to see a friend of Sharpay ever again."
"You can trust her Taylor, she's my ex girlfriend." Kim was surprised that Troy refer to her as his ex girlfriend to anyone.
"You dated someone seriously besides Gabriella in high school. How oblivious was I?" If Kim were a nicer person, she would tell Taylor that no one knew they were dating in high school. However, she just was not in the mood.
"Come on I'm here to take you to a safe place so you can screen at Chad and Sharpay in the privacy of my guest room. We can pick up ice cream on the way." Apparently, the promise of ice cream managed to get Taylor to leave with her. On the way to the car she sent text messages to the two guys she was the angriest at.
"This is way too nice for a college student. " Taylor said in a somewhat condescending way as they pulled up at Kim's house 30 minutes later.
"Having a multimillion dollar trust fund does have its perks. Since I have a kid free evening, I am going to go work on my education and film class projects. Make yourself at home. My roommate is out of town to meet with her boyfriend this weekend." Kim said leaving Taylor in the living room.
"That was your kid this morning? When exactly did you and Troy date?" Kim heard Taylor ask, as she was halfway down the hall.
"I think there's some potato chips in the cover help you. I'm just going to go work on that project now." Kim ran to her study before Taylor could ask any more questions.
After 30 minutes of being yelled at by Lisa, several other members of residence life, and campus police, Chad was finally able to get out of the building. He was just glad he did not have to be there for the conversation with Mr. Evans. He was definitely not looking forward to any conversation with his girlfriend's father. Especially one this complicated. How will he explain that he and Sharpay were not dating this summer even though he thought they were? However, they were dating now and he was completely in love with her. Unfortunately, his ex girlfriend decided to freak out and destroy half a floor in Evans hall.
His night of being yelled at was far from over when he receives several angry text messages from Troy and Kim. Apparently, the two were stuck watching Taylor. He felt better knowing that she was safe. Of course, his punishment was to take care of Alex for the night. He was completely shocked when Kim told him to pick up Alex from Grandpa Jack's house. He was definitely getting the story of how Coach Bolton found out about Alex later from Kim.
He pulled up to the house around 6:40 pm. He waited as late as he could to give the pair as much time as possible before he had to be at Sharpay's. He noticed Mr. Bolton playing with Alex in the back on the basketball court. Alex was currently running around clutching onto a basketball. Within seconds Coach knew he was standing there.
"Did Kim send you to get him?"
"She felt it would be better if he stayed with someone he was more used to. She may me promise to give you guys as much time as possible the hang out. She's not going to keep you away from him. You just need to call her the work out the arrangements. Besides this is my punishment for not breaking up with Taylor correctly. I get to spend the first night with my new girlfriend taking care of a toddler. Although, I'll take this instead of Kim screaming at me via text messages."
"You kind of deserve it. I can't believe someone who is as assertive as you on the basketball court was too afraid to tell Taylor that he met someone else."
"Sometimes I think the basketball court is the only place I can be assertive. At least your not yelling at me like everyone else is."
"I would, but I need to make a good impression with my grandchild. We cannot have him thinking I am some sort of ogre.
"No you should save that for when he makes the basketball team in 12 years." Chad said with a smile as he grabbed Alex's things and started taking them to the car."
After spending, an hour exploring Kim's film collection and pantry Taylor decided to get more answers to her questions from Kim. Instead, she found Kim watching a clip of her boyfriend answering those questions she needed the answer to.
"I did not love Taylor. I did not realize this until a few weeks ago. However, I think a new all along on some subconscious level. Up until recently, I don't think I knew what love was. I guess that is what happens when you have parents who got married because the condom broke. They didn't know each other, let alone love each other. It was just this random encounter after game that cost my mom her dream of being on the Supreme Court someday. She did not get to go back to law school until I started school."
"Yet despite that, you love Sharpay?" The Kim on the screen asked Chad.
"Of course I love her. I can share everything with her. She's the first person other than Troy's that actually sees me completely. I can tell her anything. I trust her more than anything else in my life. When I am a around her, I feel complete. Which is strange because we've only been together like this for less than two months. Being around her taught me that maybe love does exist. " She started to cry when she heard that. Kim must have heard her because the video clip stopped.
"What is this for? Taylor asked wiping her tears away.
"This particular clip is for our film class project where were we are recreating the interview scene from Harry met Sally to explore relationships in 2008. We drew the film randomly. Apparently it's our professors, Life Partner's favorite film. However I believe Chad and Sharpay's relationship is perfect for this assignment."
"Do you have any more footage like this?"
"I have hours worth of stuff. Do you want to see it?"
"Why are you bringing an almost unconscious toddler into my house?" Sharpay asked Chad as she helped him bring a sleepy Alex and the food into the house. She quickly took the food out of his hands and put it on the coffee table in one of the living rooms.
"I think this is Kim's idea of birth control. We get to keep him for the night because she is babysitting my psycho ex. Where can I put him?"
"You can put him on the couch for now. Besides, there is no way you are getting any after your girlfriend destroyed my room. I just spent a good portion of this afternoon of trying to explain to my dad why we shouldn't go to Judiciaries because we could not control our guest." Sharpay said sitting down on the other couch.
She didn't mention the surreal conversation with Mrs. McKessie earlier in the evening. Despite the gross out factor, she did feel better after talking to someone who went through her situation. She also didn't mention the 30 minute conversation between Mrs. McKessie and her father to decide Taylor's punishment. She would tell him later.
"We can go to judiciaries for that?" Chad asked sitting next to her.
"She was our guest and we left her unsupervised. Because we left her unsupervised she…"
"Taylor recreated the scene from waiting to exhale without burning anything." Sharpay did not find his joke funny.
"Good thing for us, you text message Amanda to come watch Taylor. We were able to prove that we did not leave Taylor unsupervised and she went psychotic anyway."
"At least I did something right today. This is all my fault. I really did like that television."
"This wasn't your fault, it was mine. I took you from her. I sort of deserve to have my entire spring collection ruined."
"No you don't. Didn't we have this conversation earlier today? You didn't take me from her. I was never hers. I think I've been yours ever since kindergarten when you took my chocolate milk." Chad said this as he put his arm around her.
"Then you started crying and I gave my cookies to Ryan to give to you. But I wouldn't let him tell you that they were from me. I never like seeing you sad. " Sharpay said as she leaned into him.
"Even in kindergarten you were obsessed with image." He said with a small laugh.
"So were you. Maybe if we broke free of everybody earlier maybe this would have happened sooner." She said as she kissed him gently on the lips.
"I think you're right. I never told anybody this, but the only reason why I started dating Taylor was because Troy was dating Gabriella."
"What Troy was dating a brain, so you had to date one too? You two have a very strange friendship."
"It was more like Troy and Gabriella were always together and they would bring their friends along. After months of being stuck together, we just kind of stayed that way. It was as if we were expected to date. There is also the fact she was a really good kisser." At that Sharpay threw a pillow at him." Baby you are 8000 times better than her."
"I better be." Sharpay said quickly kissing him again.
"The reason things are so much better with you is, it is not just physical. There is this deep emotional connection between us. Everything is so much more intense. I never love Taylor." Sharpay's mouth opened wide at his comment displaying her shock.
"I don't know why you are surprised. I told you earlier today, she was never in my heart."
"I just didn't put it together. You never loved her?" She saw him shake his head. "You two looked so good together in high school. I just assumed it was true love like Gabriella and Troy."
"I don't even think Gabriella and Troy are true love."
"Besides he's in love with someone else."
"He told you?" Chad asked in surprise.
"He didn't give a name, but I know he was in love with someone else. That is why he went for the easy relationship with Gabriella instead of a messy relationship with me. Troy was just another person who was afraid to let me in." She was starting to pull away from him afraid to let him see her so vulnerable. But Chad wouldn't let her. He quickly wiped her tears away with his hand.
"I'm not afraid to let you in." He said pulling her so close that she was practically sitting on his lap. "I love you completely. Even your diva attitude and ice queen tendencies. I want to be with you in every way. You are the only person I've ever wanted to give myself to completely. You're the only one who ever deserved it." He said as he gently kissed her from her forehead to her shoulders and neck.
"What you mean I'm the only person you ever wanted to give yourself to completely?" It was hard to ask him this question when he found that spot on her neck that made her stop breathing. He pulled back from her and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I never slept with Taylor." She definitely didn't see that coming.
"I just assume that you did. The way you two were together, it just screamed sexual relationship. Besides from my unfortunate experience sex apparently is the only thing guys want out of a relationship."
"Don't judge me by those assholes that broke your heart or violated you. I'm not Zeke and definitely not Richard." She knew that more than anything.
"I know you're different. I don't think I could be with you otherwise." She said as she began to kiss him slowly. "Now that I got that out of my system you can continue your story."
"At prom Taylor wanted to take our relationship to the next level and I couldn't do it. She wasn't exactly very happy."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with you spending 30 minutes in makeup for the spring musical?"
"You notice that?"
"I've never been so self absorb that I would not notice things like that." He laughed when she said that. He was probably thinking about last spring when she was messing with Troy's mind by pretending that she didn't know when the big game was.
"So why couldn't you sleep with her, when you want to sleep with me.
"Correction, I want to make love to you. With you, it is not sex, sleeping together, or getting laid. Whatever we do together is an expression of my love for you. That is why I couldn't sleep with her. You know about the circumstances of my conception. My parents never loved each other. It was a stupid drunken hook up. I was a stupid mistake that ruin my mom's life." She noticed he was starting to cry. She hated when he was sad.
"Chad nothing as good as you can be a mistake. Maybe you were unplanned. However you are not a mistake." She quickly wiped away his tears with her hand.
"Sometimes I envy Alex. Even though according to Kim he was a very unplanned pregnancy, she did love his father very much and he loved her. Contraceptive are never 100% effective. Living proof of that is sleeping on the couch right there. I told myself years ago, when I saw my parents fighting all the time before the divorce, that I would never sleep with someone I couldn't picture myself raising a child with. I'd didn't want any child of mine going through what I did. My child would know that his parents loved each other no matter what. On prom night last year, as hard as I've tried I couldn't picture myself raising a child with Taylor. Even though I still had not admitted to myself that I didn't love her, on some subconscious level I knew we didn't have a future together. That's why I couldn't sleep with her."
"What about us? Do you see us several years from now with 1.7 children and a dog living a white picket fence dream?"
"All the time. I mean you already put me on your car insurance. That's pretty domestic right there."
"Putting the car in your name was the only way I could have two cars on campus at the same time."
"Yet I'm on the insurance for both cars. I think it's cute." He said as he kissed her again.
"This afternoon when I saw you cutting up Alex's food at the restaurant, I could not help but imagine you are doing that for our own curly haired boy. You are going to make a great mother someday and I want it to be to my child. Someday in the very distant future."
"I can see it to. Hopefully not for like 10 years after I'm established in the acting or business community. However, if it happened earlier with you I wouldn't be terrified."
"You see us together in 10 years?"
"Sometimes . Even though I can't say those word yet, I care more about you than anyone else before. I am just to screwed up right now after everything that happened in the past. However, I can see us growing old together."
"Just because I say I love you doesn't mean I expect you to say it back. I know you have not exactly had healthy a relationships before. I don't expect anything from you that you are not willing to give."
"Even if I'm not ready for a sexual relationship with you. After what happened with Richard I'm not sure if I'm ready." She still had nightmares about Richard. She wasn't ready emotionally for a physically intimate relationship. She was still working on the emotional intimacy part. The fact that she pushed everybody away for two years told her that. Chad was the first person after Richard that she let know her. She never let Zeke in completely.
"I can wait. I not even 100% sure I'm ready yet for a sexual relationship. We're in this relationship together. We make all decisions together." She knew that wasn't just the line. She trusted him.
"Sometimes I wish you were my first." Sharpay said in a whisper as she curled herself in to his arms.
"I the only one that counts" He said kissing her on the forehead. "No more crying. We should probably eat before the food is frozen." Sharpay let go and grabbed one of the trays from the coffee table.
"Too late the food is cold. I think our heart to heart lasted too long. Go ahead and put Alex in Ryan's old room. There's a door between the rooms for easy access. Leave it open so we can hear. I'll bring everything upstairs in a few minutes. Just because I'm not ready for certain things doesn't mean I don't want to have some fun with my new boyfriend tonight." Sharpay said as she went in for the most intense kiss of the night. When they broke apart they were both panting for breath.
"Maybe we better save the rest of this for upstairs." As she went to microwave the food, she remembered the chocolate covered fruit and champagne in the refrigerator. Instantly she got a very wicked idea.
20 minutes later after finally getting Alex back to sleep he walked in Sharpay's room expecting to see dinner, bags of potato chips, movies, and Sharpay wearing her crazy pink bunny slippers that she keeps at the house so no one would make fun of her in the dorms. Instead, he found candles, champagne, chocolate covered fruit, and a Sharpay decked out in black lace. He had a feeling this was her new piece from Alexandria's custom lingerie. He was looking forward to seeing the entire collection, especially when they get to the point in their relationship where it would be on the floor most of the time.
"I thought you said you were not ready."
"I'm not. It's just after everything you said downstairs, I wanted to give you this completely romantic evening even if it didn't exactly ended up with us doing that." Sharpay said blushing at the last part. He never thought he would see Sharpay Evans be embarrassed of anything. He loved it.
"I think it's a great ideal. Besides how far are we going to get with an almost two year old sleeping next door? Kim probably programmed him to start screaming at moment I try to take off your panties." He said as he went in for another earth-shattering kiss. As they continued, he gently placed her on the bed. After breaking apart for air after a very intense few minutes of kissing he finally spoke again.
"I just thought of something."
"What's that?"
"You never asked me to be your boyfriend?"
"I thought it was supposed to be the other way around."
"Not with us." He said kissing her again.
"Find," she said when they broke apart. "Chad Danforth will you be my boyfriend?"
"I have to think about it," when he said that she threw one of the strawberries at him.
"You know the answer is yes." He said as he grabbed one of the chocolate pieces of fruit to feed to her. 0000
It shocked Taylor to realize that within an hour of watching the various video clips involving her now former boyfriend, she learns more about him than during their entire relationship. She never really had the opportunity to see him beyond his stereotypical stupid basketball player image. She didn't know what hurt more the fact that he fell in love with Sharpay so easily or he was so afraid to share his true self with her. He was right. She did not love him, because she didn't know him enough to love him. She was in love with the person she thought he was. That person wasn't real. Chad Danforth number two basketball moron was just a way for him to survive high school.
The truly bitter pill of the night was Sharpay's interview. It was so much easier to take everything if she could blame Sharpay. If Taylor could still picture her as the evil temptress and ice queen bitch she was in high school, then Taylor wouldn't have to take responsibility for her own actions. Except Sharpay wasn't the person Taylor thought she was either. Not then and not now. Finding out that Sharpay hated herself for taking Chad just as Penelope took Zeke from Sharpay, was difficult for her. Finding out Sharpay had any remorse whatsoever was a new concept for Taylor.
The hardest discovery of the night was finding out how inaccurate locker room rumors were. Taylor felt like an absolute bitch when she found out about Richard incident. All those rumors about Sharpay being the easiest girl in school were completely untrue. The fact that Taylor said all those nasty things to her this afternoon made her feel even worse. No wonder Sharpay slapped her.
She needed to apologize. She just wasn't ready to face the happy couple yet. She would think of something in the morning.
October 11, 2008 8:11 AM
After dropping, Taylor off at her parents' house this morning, Kim was ready to get her son back from uncle Chad and auntie Sharpay. At least Taylor was a lot calmer on the ride to her parents' house this morning.
After knocking on the door for a good 5 minutes without getting an answer, she used the key Sharpay gave her a few weeks ago to get into the house. She slowly made her way upstairs to Sharpay's room. She slowly opened the door and was thankful to see that the two were still wearing clothing. Well they were wearing clothing if you consider black lace lingerie and silk boxer shorts to be clothing. Kim noticed Chad start to wake up.
"Go back to sleep. I just came to pick up Alex."
"I've been up for the last hour. Let me help you get everything downstairs" Chad said untangling himself from Sharpay and grabbing his close from the closet. 10 minutes later Chad was helping Kim get Alex into his car seat.
"How is Taylor this morning?"
"Slightly less likely to kill you. I think it helped showed her the interviews for our film project. I think she understands more what happened now. I don't think she will be able to forgive you for a long time.
"I should have just listen to everybody when they told me to do this over the phone. The situation just got out of hand."
"No one knew she was going to blow up like that. However, I think you're right it's better to get things out now. That's why the Thanksgiving confession has been moved a little bit. Besides, in the last 24 hours two more people have figured out Alex's paternity.
"Who else other than Coach Grandpa?"
"On the way here Taylor asked me if Troy knew that he was Alex's father."
"If she tells Gabriella about her boyfriend having a kid was someone else…"
"It will make the blow up in your dorm room look like a tantrum over a candy bar. So far, she promised not to tell Gabriella but you never know. I need to tell him now."
"Do you want me to be there when you tell him?"
"This is something I have to do on my own. I've been putting this call off for more than two years. I think it's time I act like a grownup." Kim said as she got into the front seat of the car.
"Call me after you tell him."
"He'll probably call you first."
"Probably." It was the last thing Kim heard as she pulled out of the driveway.
After surviving the torture test known as shopping with Sharpay, they arrived back at the dorms with replacements for almost everything Taylor destroyed the day before. After watching Sharpay coming out of the dressing room in the skimpiest outfits imaginable, he realized she was playing with him. It was probably her revenge for losing most of her closet at school.
Not that shopping with Sharpay did not have some interesting fringe benefits. Like the fact, they redid the dressing room incident when they ran into Richard and his new girlfriend Penelope at Modern Style. He took great pleasure in the fact that all of Sharpay's moans were real this time, even though they were still just pretending they were having sex in the dressing room. It didn't bother him that they were now banned from the store for "inappropriate behavior". The look On Richard and Penelope face was priceless. He was so happy that Sharpay got a shot of it with her camera phone.
"So did you two have fun while the rest of us cleaned up this mess?" Amanda asked as they walked into the now clean room. "The cleanup crew did a real good job. There was no evidence of a psychotic girl having a nervous breakdown."
"Hey I did pay for the cleaning crew and managed to keep us all from going to judiciaries."
"Thank you for that. One infraction of this magnitude and I would have been off the cheerleading squad."
"I also brought you a gift. I got you a visa gift card to replace what Taylor destroyed. I know that Taylor destroyed some of your things and unlikely me you don't have easy access to daddy's credit card." Chad knew that Amanda couldn't afford to replace the stuff that Taylor destroyed. Amanda's family could barely afford to send Amanda to school even with all her scholarships.
"You don't have to. This was mostly my fault. I am the one who gave her access to Sharpay's computer and that's how she found out that you two were together. I warned you about that Thursday and I'm the idiot who lets her see the pictures."
"She probably would have figured it out anyway when Ginger started throwing my bra around. She wouldn't have found anything to be mad about if I didn't make out with her boyfriend while they were still technically together. So take the gift card."
"Do you promise to cut down on the expensive gifts?"
"You know she's not able to do that." Chad said as he sat down on Sharpay's naked bed. They would have to go out again later today to get replacement covers. He noticed a DVD sitting on the bed.
"Taylor dropped it off a couple of hours ago after she apologize for taking a baseball bat to the plasma. I really miss that television." Amanda said with a smile at the couple.
"The new one will arrive Tuesday along with the replacement TV for Chad's room." Sharpay said to Amanda.
"You may want the plasma in Chad's room since Blaze is gone."
"How did that happen?" Sharpay asked Amanda.
"I've been trying to get him out for weeks. " Chad said in a mix of happiness and shock.
"After you left Chad, Lisa and one of the campus security officers witnessed the two idiots engaging in a 'intimate moment' in the study room. After all the damage done to the floor, Lisa was out for blood. Adding this to the fact that Ginger and Blaze's fight trigger Taylor's rampage, Lisa used the incidents to get him kicked out of the building."
"At least something good came out this nightmare." Sharpay said quietly.
"Yes you two can have your sleepovers in his room. Because, I am so not looking forward to walking in the room to see his curly head, between your legs." Amanda said with a laugh as sharpay through one of the remaining pillows at her.
Troy spent most of Saturday afternoon in the library getting ready for midterms in few days. He thought about how years later he still used Kim's study techniques. If it was not for her he wouldn't even had a GPA high enough to qualify for Berkeley. The irony wasn't lost on him. He thinks about her a lot more now.
At 6:00 pm, he gave up on trying to study. He could not focus on his chemistry with thoughts of yesterday showdown and his possible fatherhood running through his head. He decided to check his e-mail. Maybe, someone sent him footage from yesterday's catastrophe. Even though he had new friends here, he missed his old ones, especially Kim and Chad. When he found a video file from Kim. He instantly opened it up and pressed play.
"I probably should have at the very least done this as a live web chat. But I've never been one for confrontation. It's just easier for me to do this in a video. I probably should have told you this two years ago. I was just too scared. It was just easier for me to keep everything to myself and let you keep your childhood. Maybe I made the wrong choice. I don't know. It's a little too late to do the right thing now. Just know that I love you. I always have and always will even if you hate me right now.
"I had a really long conversation with your dad yesterday about how my leaving affected you. I've really believe I did the right thing. Your mom made me so screwed Up I actually believed you really didn't love me. I know better now. That is why I left for New York and didn't tell you. I left a trail just in case you wanted to find me. But I guess my departure left you unwilling to look."
The truth of the matter was Troy did not even think to look. He wished he had now. However, as Kim said it was a little too late to do the right thing now. She was in New Mexico and he was with Gabriella. Instead, he continued to watch the video.
"A few weeks after I started classes at U of M I found out I was three months pregnant. I was absolutely terrified and completely alone. My mom hated me and was trying to get me to get rid of Alex. Only recently have I started to redevelop my relationship with my dad. I tried to contact you a thousand times to tell you. I just never finished dialing your number. I was so scared to tell you. I was afraid I would find out you never really loved me. That those cruel thing your mother said to me were true. I know better now."
"Kim never specifically said that Alex was his. She didn't have to. He knew three weeks ago when Sharpay e-mail to him a picture of Chad, Kim, and Alex at pizza village. Although in her text message yesterday, she did accidentally refer to Alex as their child. This was Just confirmation of his suspicions.
On the clip he noticed Kim grabbed a toddler and place him in her lap. "Anyway this is your son Alexander Kim. Ironically enough he was born on January 19th 2007, the day of the championship game junior year. Your kid has fabulous timing. After you recover from the initial shock, please call. I think we have a lot to talk about. Just so you know he's always known that you were his dad. I know you hate me for leaving and keeping this from you. Know that I love you and never stopped." That is when the screen went blank. His only thought was he could never hate her. How can you hate the love of your life and the mother of your Child?
After a second round of shopping this time with Amanda, which meant no more fun in dressing rooms, they finally arrives back at the dorms around 10. Taking Amanda's not very subtle hint, Sharpay decided to spend the night with her boyfriend in his room. Even though Taylor did not do near as bad of a job on Chad's basketball bed set, Sharpay took the opportunity to replace the horrible thing. There's no way she was sleeping on basketball sheets again. Instead she replaced it with a dark blue set that was silky to the touch. Now sitting with him on the bed, in one of his tee shirts, with his arms firmly around she felt completely contented. Unfortunately, she also had Taylor's DVD in her hand.
"You know we need to watch what she said." Chad said kissing her neck softly.
"I just don't want to hear her say I hate you or that I'm some horrible bitch again."
"You are not any of those things," he said putting another kiss on her shoulder.
She finally got the courage to put the desk in and press play.
"I guess I should start with this with I am still mad at you. However, not for the fact that you were cheating on me. Okay I am a little upset about the emotional cheating. The fact that you fell in love with someone else so easily is, painful. I understand why now. I just kind of wish you would told me, Instead me finding out the way I did. Chad you could have sent me one of those video files I watched that Kim's last night. That would have been better. Although after speaking to my parents and finding out the real way they got together, I should be happy I didn't catch you sleeping together. I should be thankful for small favors.
"I'm upset about the fact you were right. Both of you. Sharpay you were right when you said I didn't know Chad. I definitely did not know him the way you do. I know you care about him a lot. At least I lost him to someone who cares about him as much as I did. However, you care about the real person not the illusion as I did. I am also sorry I said all those nasty things about you. I should have known they weren't true, but I believe the gossip like everyone else. I'm sorry about the situation that trigger those rumors. No one deserves that."
"Chad I'm sorry I never got to know you. After watching your confessions on film, I think you you would be a cool person to know. Maybe in a few months we can try to be friends. Just give me time. You'll probably see me this summer working off my debt to Sharpay's father at Lava Springs. Sharpay, please thank you father for not reporting me to Yale's Judiciary Committee. Do you know that most universities have agreements, that if you do something really bad at one school you can be punished at your school? Anyway I am sorry for being a bit psychotic yesterday." After watching the video apology they just sat quiet for a moment.
"You convinced your father not to have this report to Yale."
"She most likely would have got expelled for what she did. She is still being punished. But now its community service and anger management counseling." before she could finish she felt his mouth on hers as her back slowly made contact the new silky blanket.
"This is why I love you. You are the most wonderful person in the world Sharpay Evans." Before she could take in his words she felt his mouth on hers once more. She really did not think about anything else that night.
A/N: Although Chad and Sharpay are now together this is not the end of this story. Remember the title is Scenes from Freshman Year. It's only October. There are lots of adventures to be had. Up next are midterms. I hope the next few chapters can go back to a normal size because most of the heady stuff is over for a while. I thought about breaking this one up, but there wasn't a good place to divide the material.