Chapter 17: Lessons on Letting Go

Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter.

After much consideration, I have decided that I need to raise the rating up to M. I probably should have raised the rating in chapter nine, but didn't. This story so far has covered serious subject matter like sexual assault and contained dirty jokes about pretending to have sex in dressing rooms among other things. Also as Chad and Sharpay's relationship progress, the story will have more sexual content. (We also have Kim and Troy, who apparently can't be in the same state without jumping each other.)

Disclaimer: I don't own HSM. If I did, it probably wouldn't be appropriate for the Disney channel.

Warning: child abuse, strong language, mentions of sexual assault, and some serious sexual content.

July 13, 1995

Five-year-old Sharpay sat in the rehearsal room trying not to cry. Her mommy just finished screaming at her again because she wasn't perfect yet, despite all the money on choreographers and voice coaches. The annual talent show was in two days and Sharpay screwed up again. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get the choreography right. When Darby came to watch the rehearsals earlier this afternoon, Ryan was perfect and Sharpay missed two steps during the second verse and forgot a word. Ryan got to go to played and Sharpay suffer the wrath of Darby

Even at five Sharpay Evans already knew that her mother cared more about looking good than her own child. Darby was sickeningly sweet to Sharpay in public. Dressing her in the finest clothing and giving her the best things. Darby would never yell at her in public. She only hit in places where the bruises wouldn't show. This time it was her stomach, the very first time a few weeks ago was her legs.

Sharpay knew not to cry. It would be worse if she cried. It didn't matter, the rehearsal room was soundproof. Sharpay already knew not to tell daddy. Darby told her that her daddy would never believe a whiny little girl over his wife. If she did say anything to anyone else, Ryan would become her mother's latest victim. Sharpay knew she had to protect Ryan.

When she heard the door cracked open she swore it was Darby coming back to hurt her again. Instead, it was Kimberly Kim. She was another country club child like Sharpay who was dressed in the latest styles. Her eyes seemed sad just like Sharpay's.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked pointing to Sharpay's top. Apparently, Darby broke skin this time and blood was seeping through Sharpay's white top.

"I am okay, " Sharpay stammered out to the girl that Sharpay barely knew. Sharpay's painful moan told the truth.

"No you're not. Your Mrs. Evans daughter Sharpay, right? I will go and tell her that you are hurt." before the girl could leave the room Sharpay grabbed her.

"Please don't tell her." Sharpay said pleading with the slightly older girl

"It's okay, most moms make things better or so I've heard."

"Not if she's the one that caused it." Sharpay said softly

"Your mom hits you?"

"Please don't tell anybody?" Sharpay said as she started to sob.

"I won't," the girl sighed as she grabbed Sharpay his hand.

The present November 8, 2008 7:38 AM

"So exactly how long have you known that my so-called best friend is fucking Troy Bolton and had his kid?" That was the one question Chad did not want to hear from his girlfriend. The fact that Sharpay actually use the F word pretty much proved mad she was.

"How much of that conversation did you hear?" He asked her carefully.

"Enough to know that my best friend of 13 ½ years doesn't trust me enough to tell me about her relationship with Troy. She knows things that you don't know and yet she couldn't tell me about Alex's real father. Apparently, she had no problem telling you. You're her BFF now." Sharpay said screaming with tears running down her face. Screaming and crying were always good signs with Sharpay. If she was mad then she was processing emotions.

"Sharpay it wasn't like that." Chad said as he tried to grab her hand.

"She told you about Alex." Sharpay said in a half sob half scream as she pushed him away.

"Kim didn't tell me anything," Chad said keeping his voice as calm as possible.

"No, let me guess Troy told you about everything. Troy actually is your BFF. You probably knew from the beginning." Sharpay yelled at him as she threw a pillow.

"Sharpay you need to calm down."

"I will not calm down. You're supposed to love me." The way she said that made him want to cry. "You lied to me. My best friend lied to me about her son. You kept the whole thing a secret from me for who knows how many years. Then my mom is lying to my father by screwing someone else. She cannot let anybody see the true monster she really is. My life is nothing but an allusion builded on lies." she collapsed to the floor as she said that last phrase. Her tears were falling quickly.

She finally let him hold her. Her body felt like ice and she was shaking all over. This wasn't a normal crying session. This was the emotional equivalent of the dam breaking. This had to be more than Kim not telling her about Alex. This was 19 years of pain and frustration breaking through. Everything she kept hidden for so long is finally coming out.

"Baby it's okay just let go." He whispered to her as he rocked her body back and forth.

"Nothing's okay. Everything is a lie."

"Some things are always true." He said kissing her forehead.

"Name something." Sharpay said in a whisper as she continued to cry in his arms.

"I will always love you." Chad said as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Then why did you keep this from me?"

"I didn't know either until a few weeks ago. I had no idea that they were together for most of Troy's sophomore year. Considering how much time I spent with him, that was an amazing feat."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, it's supposed to make you hate me less. Is it working?"

"Maybe," she said with a half smile.

"I guessed Alex's paternity after Kim told me he was allergic to tomatoes. Troy has the same allergy. Troy didn't even know of the possibility of Alex until a few weeks ago and not from Kim.

"How did he find out then?"

"Actually it was you."

"I like to know how I did that, considering I just found out." Sharpay said in shock.

"You told him that Alex was Kim's son. He put the rest together himself. He didn't know officially until the day after we started dating."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Troy asked me not to tell you. It wasn't my secret to tell Sharpay. Just like I don't tell other people about Richard. It's too personal and private to share. They were going to tell you eventually, they just needed time to figure things out. If it makes you feel better, Troy did an even tell Gabriella about Alex."

"Not really. Unlike those two, I want a relationship where we tell each other everything." Sharpay said in a whisper as she tried to get up without losing her towel.

"You just said earlier that there's things about you that I don't Know yet. Is that because you are deliberately keeping stuff from me or because you're just not ready to tell me yet?" When she didn't answer he continued on. "You did not tell me about your suspicions involving Darby until last night."

"That's different."

"Or maybe you were not ready to tell me. That does not mean you love me any less."

"I need to get ready. I'm sure the car will be here Soon. There's no way I'm writing you l leave the house wearing that." Sharpay said pointing to his Tshirt he was currently sporting. The walls were back up again. He would let her get away with, but tonight they would deal with this once and for all.

"Your father said the brunch was casual."

"Casual with my family means no tie," Sharpay said as she walked into her closet and pulled out several suit jackets and dress pants, as well as, a golf outfit.

"I don't remember trying any of this stuff on," Chad said as she handed him the clothing.

"You didn't. Last time we were at the store, I had your measurements entered into the system. Now that you are dating a member of the country club set, you have to dress the part." Last month he gave up on trying to keep her from buying expensive gifts for him. In the Evans family they say I love you with visa.

"We are still dating even though you're mad at me?"

"I'm not Gabriella. I don't run away at the first sign of trouble. I am in this for the duration. I'm still mad at you though. This is why you're wearing the suit and tie that I'd pick out."

"Yes dear," Chad said sardonically.

"Do you want to sleep by yourself again tonight?" Sharpay said as she put his outfit in his hands and pushed him into Ryan's room.

The moment Sharpay push Chad through the door to Ryan's room her towel fell down to the ground along with the last bit of her composure. She almost took out her anger on Chad. She almost acted like Darby. The thought petrified her. She never wanted to be Darby. She quickly turned on her stereo so Chad couldn't hear her crying. If he heard her crying, he would be over there in an instant.

She was angry and hurt, but not at Chad. She knew the only reason why Chad didn't tell her was because Troy specifically asked him not to. What hurt the most was Kim. Kim knew everything about Sharpay from Darby to Richard. Kim even figured out that Sharpay was in love with Chad years before she realized it. Yet Kim never trusted Sharpay in the same way. Sharpay was already upset about Kim keeping her out of the Alex situation even before she knew of Troy's involvement. Theoretically Sharpay understood why, Kim needed to protect Alex. Considering Troy could have been no older than 15 at the time of conception she was probably protecting him as well. She just couldn't understand why Kim didn't feel that she could trust Sharpay to keep the two of them safe as well.

The proverbial cherry on top, was Kim knew all about Sharpay's crush on Troy and yet she never mentioned that her and Troy were lovers. Kim knew about heard dozens of schemes to get with Troy and Kim never said anything. Sharpay felt like a fool. If she had known about Kim and Troy, she would have stopped chasing Troy years ago.

Ironically enough, Troy was the one who told her about his mysterious love. They talked about girl x a lot recently. He never mentioned her name, only her qualities. Even Chad didn't know that Troy only started dating Gabriella to get over girl x. Troy even followed Gabriella because he didn't want to lose her like he lost girl x, even though he didn't love Gabriella. As it turn out Troy's girl x was Kim.

Sharpay pushed her thoughts of betrayal and sadness behind the wall. Knowing Darby, the car would be waiting before 9:00. She grabbed her outfit that match Chad's perfectly. She went with different shades of blue. She was distancing herself from the pink that Darby forced her to wear.

10 minutes later, she stood staring at her reflection only wearing her underwear and top. She was desperately trying to get her hair together, but nothing was really working. She would just where it up. As she began to placer hair in a ponytail, her shirt went up just enough for her to see the scar on her stomach. Sharpay gently traced the scar with one finger.

She remembered the day. Kim found her in the rehearsal room trying not to cry after Darby attacked her for getting the choreography wrong. That was when they became friends. Kim was the only one who knew that Darby used to hit her. From age five until age 11 when they move to Rhode Island for a one year, Darby hit Sharpay. After that, Darby stuck to psychological abuse only.

"Sharpay do you know what tie I should wear with this jacket?" She turned around at the sound of his voice. However, she didn't say a word, instead her hand just stayed on that one scar. The tear tracks were still visible on her face. He didn't say a word. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her.

In the 13 years that he has known her, he has never seen Sharpay like this. She was completely undone. She was so messed up that he had to help her get dressed. Her hands were shaking too much to continue. Her reaction couldn't be just about Kim. She was too undone for it to be just about Kim. He felt betrayed by Troy secret, but he never had the reaction Sharpay was having. Maybe it was Darby. He wasn't sure if the woman's adultery was the only factor.

The only person who would know for sure would be Kim. When he was outside the mansion alone waiting for the car to pick them up, he decided to call Kim. When she didn't pick up, he assumed she was still with Troy which caused him to leave a not so nice message. "Kim when you get done blowing my best friend could you please call me back. Your best friend is having a slight nervous breakdown or major nervous breakdown. I'm not sure which."

"Nice message," Sharpay said from behind him. She instantly grabbed his hand. Even though she seemed to be normal, he could still feel her body shaking. "You're not going to tell them that I know?" Sharpay asked him as they stepped inside the town car.

"No, because then I would have to tell them that I told you. I assume you want them to suffer until Thanksgiving when they were planning to tell you anyway. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. You keep things in for so long, I don't know if you're reacting to the present or the past. Maybe we should just go home. I'll call your dad's assistant and tell him we're not feeling well."

"We're going. If we back out, I will never hear the end of it from Darby. I will tell you everything tonight. Just give me time okay?" Sharpay said as she went in for a soft kiss.

"Tonight you will tell me everything?"

"I promise." Sharpay said as she leaned into him.

He was currently watching Kim run around trying to get Alex and herself ready before they had to meet her dad at 10. Alex was still running around in his pajamas and Kim was still sporting post sex hair. He knew they should not have tried to fit in round five this morning. They never did grasp the concept of a quickie, even when they were sneaking around in high school.

"Can I help you?"

"Hold him down as I change him." 5 minutes later, the two of them manage to get Alex in a pair of dress pants.

"Just so you know I'm scheduling potty training for when you're living with us this summer. There's no way I'm handling that alone." Despite the fact that they did spend a good portion of their time working through two years of sexual tension, they did manage to work through a lot of their other issues. Apparently talking things out between sexual encounters seemed to work well for them.

"Is he always like this?" Troy asked her as he heard a knock on the front door.

"Yes, why do you think I got a nanny as soon as I could afford it?" Kim said as she walked over to answer the door. It was his father with coffee in his hands. "I thought we were not meeting until 10." Kim said quickly in panic.

"I figured you could use your daily coffee and I could talk to my son for a few minutes before we see your dad."

"I definitely can use the caffeine. I think I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night."

"I heard. You know for a four star hotel these walls are pretty thin." Troy instantly saw Kim blush. He wondered how long it would take her to realize his father was bluffing. There was no way he could hear them because he was on a different floor.

"I think I am going take a shower now while you two talk." A blushing Kim said running into the bathroom.

"Do you really have to mess with her like that? She is already edgy because of her father and losing her cell phone."

"Yes."

"So did you come here the yell at me because of the scene at the Airport or the fact I probably got less than 3 hours asleep on game day." Troy knew he was getting lecture eared way.

"Considering their both the same reason I could probably yell at you for both. As for not sleeping on game day, I'm not your coach anymore. As your father, we have more important things to talk about, like what's going on with you and Kim. Did you two work out everything last night or did you spend the majority of the night not sleeping?" He Knew exactly what his dad meant by not sleeping.

"More like talking in between not sleeping. You know what we did last night, so I'm not going to elaborate. Despite that, we did actually decide on a lot of things. Besides my relationship with Kim was one of the things on the list."

"Are you transferring to A of U next year?"

"We decided that at least for the next year we're going to be doing the long distance joint custody thing. At least every two weeks one of us is going to fly to visit the other. During the summer, I will live in New Mexico and Kim is going to take summer session so she can graduate in December of 2009. Kim is going to look into graduate programs in the San Francisco region. Transferring is not a viable option because we would both get behind too much academically. Berkeley has a better drama department, contrary to what everybody thinks, that was the real reason why I'm going to school there. Plus there is my eligibility to play basketball if I transfer schools," he brought up the last point even though it wasn't in fact a factor, in hopes of appeasing his father.

"I hope that basketball was not a major factor in your decision-making?" Okay he Wasn't expecting that response. This was coming from a man who lived and breathed basketball.

"That's a major change from last year." Troy said to his father in shock.

"Last year you did not have a two year old son. That we were aware of. Things are different when you have a kid."

"I realize I don't have the same choices any more. Basketball was only considered in the capacity of a basketball scholarship. If I had to choose Alex or basketball, I choose Alex."

"If money is the only reason…"

"Dad money is not even a factor. Kim's trust fund matures in less than three weeks. When she turns 21 she will have full power over a trust fund estimated at $21.2 million. Kim will be paying me "child support. Although, I think it's just her way of making sure I'm not living on a diet of Raman noodle. "

"She chose Alex over $21.2 million?" his father said in complete shock.

"Actually at that time it was worth $28.9 million, but the market has taken a dive recently."

"I definitely glad she was the girlfriend that you accidentally got pregnant."

30 minutes into brunch with Darby Sharpay wish she listened to Chad in the car. Her dad had a last minute Saturday morning meeting with the board and would not be joining the group until later today.

So far this morning Darby criticized her appearance "I really wish you would go back to being a blonde you were so much prettier back then." "Blue just isn't your color darling. You looks so much better in pink." and her personal favorite, "You do know that the freshman 15 is just a myth. You don't have to put on any weight in college"

Darby also criticized her directorial debut. "Why did you decide to reverse the genders of the characters? Lucy's character was too aggressive. She shouldn't be the one chasing after William." "I thought I kept you from making a fool of yourself when I made the principle kill the production two years ago."

She criticized Sharpay's choice of major "I don't know why you are majoring in business. You never had a head for numbers." Apparently, her mother forgot about her straight A's in all her math and statistic classes in high school. If it didn't involve performing, Darby didn't care. Sharpay had to keep Chad from throwing a fork at her when she said this.

There was also a good 5 minute rant about the almost sex tape which included choice lines such as "If you're going to sleep around, make sure there are no cameras involved." and "Why did you have such horrible music playing in the background?"

Darby was at her worse when she started on Chad personally. Darby criticizes everything from his hair to his clothing. Darby even managed to get a couple racial insults in there that made Sharpay want to crawl under the table. Even though she now hated the guy for cheating on her with Penelope, she was glad they were never serious enough with Zeke for him to get to the meet the parents stage of the relationship. If they were in the public dining area, Darby would just make polite conversation. Unfortunately, they were sitting in a private dining area, which allowed Darby to let loose.

"You're not actually going to eat bread are you? You know it goes straight to your hips. How are you going to attract a suitable husband if you are fatter than you already are? You must be what a size six now." Darby said to her with her normal condescending tone.

"I'm not looking mother. I already have a boyfriend." She would mention she was already planning to be Mrs. Sharpay Danforth, but she didn't want Chad to go into a choking fit in front of her mother. Fortunately, Chad answered for her.

"Since I'm the one who will most likely be her future husband, I really don't care if she's a size six or a size 26."

"Like she is going to marry someone like you. You're fine for a college fling. You are not husband material. My daughter must marry someone of a certain class. That is just not you. Excuse me I need to go freshen up."

If Darby didn't leave right then Sharpay was going to stab her were her heart was supposed to be. Sometimes she wondered if a wooden stake would be more appropriate. Maybe wooden stakes worked on emotional vampires as well.

"Your mother is an absolute bitch. First, she cheats on your father and now she treats you like trash. I don't care what she says about me, but I won't let her talk to you like that."

"That's a horrible thing to say about your future mother in law, even if it's true." Sharpay said with a smile as she kissed him." This is tame for her. She loves torturing me. She gets off on the pain. That is how everyone but you and Troy had jobs here that one summer. She knew it would drive me crazy to have all those people from high school that made fun of me here all the time."

"I thought I was part of that group?" he asked in confusion.

"Remember, you applied separately. When I went to talk to Fulton about hiring Troy, I notice your application in the stack of possible summer hires. I persuaded him to hire you. I hoped that if you were already here Troy would be more willing to work here. If you remember from my paper, the whole scheme was to get Troy away from Gabriella. If I knew he was hopelessly in love with Kim and was using Gabriella as a substitute, I would have bought him a first class ticket to New York instead."

"What did you want more Troy or to get Troy away from Gabriella?" Chad asked his girlfriend in all seriousness.

"For him to be happy and away from Gabriella. If he's happy with Kim, then that's great because she is not evil."

"Then why are you so upset?"

"This is nothing to do with Troy. I've been over him for a long time. This is just a reaction to a million different things. Only half of them involve being betrayed by my best friend. Can we talk about how evil my mother is again? I can't believe she said you were not husband material. Like I would ever marry some country club snob. At least she has toned down in recent years.

"This is your mother tone down. What did she do before, actually hurt you physically instead of just psychologically?" Her eyes told him too much.

"She did," Chad said in shock realization. All Sharpay could do was nod her confirmation. He continued on remembering something from their childhood. "In fifth grade during recess you were playing on the monkey bars and your shirt slipped a little. I remember seeing all these bruises on your back. You told me you got it at rehearsal for your dance recital. That was a lie?"

"Not completely, Darby hit me because I was bad at rehearsal. That was the last time. Child welfare services came to check on what was going on. They believed me when I told them the same lie I told you. After that close call, she never hit me again. We moved to Rhode Island after that for a little while until the rumors died down. To this day, I still don't know how anybody found out."

"When I went home that day I told my mom what I saw and what you told me. I guess she saw through it more easily than I did. She worked child abuse cases at that time. We should have got you out of there."

"It's fine. Even if I didn't get away from her. You got to her stop. If I didn't already love you that fact alone would make me. Even Ryan didn't notice the bruises. You're the only one who was paying attention."

"Didn't Kim notice what was going on?"

"Who do you think ran interference for six years? Kim even gave up parts for me in grade school just to keep Darby from hurting me." Sharpay said quickly before Darby walked back into the room with Sharpay's father on her arm. They were kissing and touching. The vision of a perfect family made Sharpay lose all appetite for the little food that Darby was allowing her to eat.

The family buffet brunch was going worse than dinner the night before. If she thought they could get away with it; her, Troy, and Alex would sit at a completely different table. As her father went into another one of his rants about her being a disgrace to the entire Kim family, she thought about her conversation with Troy between rounds two and three early this morning. It was amazing the amount of clarity you can have after a good double orgasm.

"I think what irritates me the most about my dad's attacks on us is he uses the same line about me being a disgrace to the family name." Kim said as she curled into Troy's naked body and kissed him on the lips once more.

"You know if you're such a disgrace to the family name why don't you get a new last name. I personally prefer Kimberly Bolton." Troy said as he began to stroke her inner thigh. Part of her wanted his hand to go higher, but she knew if he did this conversation would probably never get finished.

"I'm not going to marry you just to spite my father even if we are in Vegas. We've only been back together for about 7 hours. We still have a million things to work through."

"Kim we've been back together since the moment you called me back in August. It just took me a little time to figure it out. People who are just friends don't call each other twice a day to share their deepest secrets or tell each other "I love you" all the time. " Troy said all this as he peppered her collarbone with kisses. "I love you," he said this as he moved down to her bear breast kissing each one." I love our son," he said as he kissed the scar from her emergency caesarean. "I know you love me," he was in between her thighs at this point. "I think we should get married."

"21, I'll marry you then." Kin said with a screen as he began to touch that very sensitive place.

"You turned 21 in three weeks." Troy said as he continued teasing her with his fingers.


"When you turn 21, I'll marry you if we are still together." she said breathlessly as he intensified his ministrations.

"You could still take my last name now. We're already going to change Alex's name. It wouldn't be that strange if you both have the same last name and I want you to have it now." Troy said this as he kissed her stomach once more as he continued torturing her with his expert hands.

"If I say yes we you please stop torturing me?"

"I'm having so much fun," he said as he finally replaced his hands with what she really wanted.

Her dad's continuous shouting pulled her out of her very pleasant memories just before it got to the orgasmic part. He just used that same tired line for the 90th time this weekend. They were going to wait until the lawyers had the paperwork ready. However, her father just gave her the perfect opportunity.

"I'm sorry you see me as such a thing of dishonor. I could never do anything right. Don't worry after my birthday, I won't be bringing any more reproach to the family name. Because by than I won't have It." Both her father and Jack looked at her in complete shock.

"You're not marrying that boy," Mr. Kim screamed at her.

"If we did decide to get married, that's our business. We're both over 18. If we wanted to, we could be married by the time we have to meet Troy's coach at two. Don't worry, the wedding is not happening until 2011. You have plenty of time to get over it. I guess it goes without saying that we are dating again. Yes dad we did have sex last night. It was really good multiple orgasm, wake them neighbors, try out things from the Kama Sutra sex. I guess that's what happens when you are kept away from someone you really love for two years, five months, and eight days." she actually kept track of how long they were apart. Just to twist the knife in a little bit more she gave Troy a kissed that was anything but chase. This was an 'I want round six and seven as soon as where alone' kiss.

"If you're not getting married right away. How will you get your new last name on your 21st birthday?" Jack asked her as he recovered from the initial shock of the engagement announcement.

"If it's okay with you, I intend to take the Bolton last name now."

"I think it's a great ideal."

"Dad, I've been trying to make you a happy for the last 21 years. I've never succeeded. I am going to stop trying to change the things that I know I can never change. . I was always a failure in your eyes. In a few weeks, I will be free completely of you and mom, money and all."

"So you only see me as a pocketbook?"

"That's what you made yourself. I personally don't care about the money anymore. I live without it for two years. It's not that of big a thing."

"When your trust fund was restored, Vanessa made sure it your mother couldn't use it against you again."

"That is good to know. As far as I am concerned until you can accept me for who I really am, I don't want to see you. Vanessa is still welcome in my house, but until you grow up your not. Troy and I have a few more things to talk about, Jack can you take Alex for a little while."

"Sure."

"Thank you," Kim said leaving the hotel restaurant with Troy beside her. The moment she walk in to their suite she collapse on the floor in tears. Troy's arms were around her within 10 seconds. "Let it go Kim." he whispered as he held onto her as if she would fall away.

Shopping with Darby has always been a painful experience. Sharpay was never the right size or weight for Darby, anything bigger than a zero was unacceptable. The fact that Chad was forcing her to eat as a normal person meant that Sharpay had managed to put on 10 pounds since the school year began. Chad was happy because most went to her chest area.

"I'm sorry that I am actually with someone who won't let me starve myself in the name of fashion." Sharpay said shouting at her mother when they made it back to the car. Darby had no reply to that instead went into a 20 minute screen fest of why she didn't like Chad filled with nasty racial slurs and other expletives that Sharpay will never repeat.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Sharpay finally asked her mother when they were almost at lava springs.

"He's just not one of us."

"You have no idea how thankful I that he's not. Chad loves me for me. Not for my money or what he can get from me. For the first time in my entire life, I can be myself around somebody. He accepts me as I am. You never did."

"You never tried hard enough. You were never good enough. I tried so hard to make you into the perfect performer. Unfortunately, nothing ever seemed to work."

"None of that was about me. I will never be good enough for you, but I'm good enough for him. I don't care anymore. I lost all respect for you a long time ago. I don't need you anymore. By the way Chad saw you with Jose last night."

"You're going to believe his word over your own mothers."

"I am not the five year old who you used to beat the hell out of. I hit back, Darby." She cannot even refer to this monster as her mother anymore. Even if he didn't have video evidence and a second witness I would believe him ever time. Unlike you, he never hurt me the way you did. Even when we thought we hated each other, he never hit me. We are not going to stay silent this time. By the way, he's showing those pictures to dad now.

There's no point. Your father already knows. Jose is not even the first one. You know how important images to your father. A broken family is bad for business."

"This family is already broken even if nobody sees it." Sharpay said as she quickly ran out of the car as soon as they were back at lava springs. She wouldn't give Darby the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

The last thing Chad wanted to do was play golf with Mr. Evans. He wanted to be with Sharpay. Instead she was force to shop with that monster who passed herself off as a mother. 24 hours ago he was absolutely terrified to spend time with Mr. Evans. He wasn't afraid of him anymore. He did not even respect him anymore. How could he let Darby hurt Sharpay like that? How could he not know what was happening in his own house? He doubted that he would get an answer this afternoon when the conversation focused on basketball and who Obama might pick for his cabinet. On the 16th hole he decided to tell Mr. Evans exactly where he stood with his daughter.

"Despite what you and Darby might think, I love your daughter very much. I'm not the boyfriend of the week. I'm your future son in law." Chad said with pure cockiness.

"Unlike my wife, I know you're not a fling. I Care about my daughter very much and I know you make her happy."

"Sometimes I doubt that. You are the one who forced your daughter to go to a school that didn't have a good drama program for the sake of image. I am not the one who uses her to support their own public persona. No wonder she is seeing a therapist three times a week. When was the last time you actually did something for her that didn't involve buying a car or booking a hotel reservation. You missed most of breakfast and last night show."

"I've done lots of things for my daughter, including fixing the mess with the video."

"Was that really for Sharpay and me? What you did had nothing to do with us. It was about you and protecting your image. In addition, it may have something to do with keeping me on the basketball team to get money from the boosters. The only important thing in the Evans family is image.

Is that why you stay with Darby despite everything she has done to you and your children? Is that why you let Darby forced Ryan and Sharpay to rehearse 6 hours a day, every day. Is that why you let Darby force Sharpay into so many activities, that she had no time for anything else? Did you know about the bruises? Do you know that Darby used to beat the hell out of your daughter? Even child protective services were called."

"That was a misunderstanding. Sharpay used to fall a lot during rehearsals back then." Chad didn't know if the man was clueless or just in denial. Neither option was appealing.

"Oh Sharpay fell a lot in rehearsals, into Darby's fist. I was 10 at the time and I still found the bruises suspicious. I was going to do this as nicely as possible ,but I just can't now." Chad said as he pulled his Iphone from his pocket and handed it to Mr. Evans "you can have the phone back, I really don't want it any more. Just so you know you're perfect loving wife who tortured your daughter is probably cheating on you with some guy half your age." Chad promptly left the golf course and Mr. Evans behind.

Chad kept walking. No wonder Sharpay kept the ice princess persona for so long if things were really this bad. Now everything was starting to come out in one big explosion. This happening when he found her in the rehearsal room 20 minutes later. The furniture was tossed throughout the room. He caught her just before she smashed the giant mirror in from of the room. Tears were running down her face and her body was shaking. Quickly he placed her on the one couch remaining in an upright position and went to lock the door. This conversation needed complete privacy. He placed his arms around her as he sat down next to her on the backless couch.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Chad gently asked her as he placed a single kiss on her forehead. When she nodded her head yes he continued. "Let's start with the easy question, why did you destroy this room?"

The meeting with troy's coach went well on Saturday. Although it was probably, best that Troy only played for a few minutes during the game. Their activities from earlier today probably drained a great deal of energy. On Sunday after a tear filled goodbye and a short flight, Kim was back in New Mexico. She wondered if she could actually make it these 2 ½ weeks without him. How did she managed 2 1/2 years she would never know. Thanksgiving and her 21st birthday, felt as if they would never come.

"Are you okay," Jack asked as they walked to her car that was stationed in visitor parking. They did not talk on playing because she was trying to do in English homework and he was grading exams for his health class. She learned a long time ago never to talk to Jack Bolton at a basketball game.

"Why does everyone keep asking that question?"

"Because you look like you can fall apart at any moment."

"It's just been a long weekend with everything with my dad and Troy."

"I'm sure it's been a long weekend considering you're now engaged or was that just another way to psychologically torture your father?"

"We're actually engaged, well sort of. I basically said I would marry Troy if we were still together when he turn 21. There's no way I'm ever telling anybody the real story of our engagement. Troy is going to have to propose again, so we have a story that we can tell our children. The possible psychological torture of my father is just a bonus." Kim said as they finally reached the car.

"After you left you know he was really upset."

"Yet he got on a plane without even trying to talk to me. I'm standing by what I said."

"I don't doubt that." Jack said as Kim finally found her missing cell phone inside Alex's car seat as she buckled her son in.

"Let's see how many messages I have. 23 Text Messages and four voice mails." She quickly listened to the three voice mails from Vanessa that begged her to talk to her father. The final one was from Chad." Unfortunately, she played Chad's message loud enough for Jack to hear.

"Apparently I wasn't the only one who knew you two would it make it through the weekend."

She didn't say anything to that. instead She quickly looked through her text messages. The majority were from Sharpay, the rest were from Troy. She wouldn't risk opening any of Troy's messages with his father around. Even before they were back together and he was still with Gabriella there was a 50/50 chance that Troy's messages X rated. They were so delusional to think that they could be anything but lovers.

After reading Sharpay as messages Kim realize something really bad happen this weekend. She wondered why Chad didn't try calling her on Troy's phone. She called Sharpay,but she didn't pick up. Chad phone also went to voicemail. She quickly sent a text message to both of them before she pulled out of parking lot.

Vince Evans sat in his office as he normally did on Sundays. Today, he wondered what his workaholic tendencies really cost him. He eventually follow his daughter's boyfriend off the golf course after spending a good 45 minutes contemplating Chad's words on the green. Part of him couldn't believe Darby could do something like that, the other part had always been suspicious. Unfortunately, he was more suspicious of Sharpay's various teachers, then his wife. That is why he place cameras in the rehearsal room after their year in Rhode Island. Regardless of the abuse allegations, he had in his hand evidence that his wife of over 21 years was most likely fucking another man.

When he finally got the courage to confront his daughter, he arrived just in time to see the two leading in the town car. He didn't try to call his daughter and it wouldn't do any good to call Chad since the only number he had for him was currently sitting on top of his desk.

He quickly heard a knock at his door. His assisted Daniel stood in front of him holding a DVD. "This was dropped off a little while ago. It's from Fulton at Lava Springs. He says its footage involving Sharpay at the club. He said not to worry, the original files were destroyed and this is the only copy."

He only watched the first few minutes of the footage, because that's all he could take. In the part that he was willing to watch, he learned his wife was a heartless bitch who tortured their daughter for years and his daughter needed to learn not to do 'things' with her boyfriend when cameras were around. He just hoped this one didn't end up on the Internet.

November 8, 2008 2:45 PM

"Are you ready to talk now? Chad gently asked her as he placed a single kiss on her forehead. When she nodded her head yes he continued. "Let's start with the easy question, why did you destroy this room?"

"Because this is the scene of the crime." She said in a whisper, "I was never as good as Ryan. Ryan inherited all of mom's natural talent. She was a classically trained ballerina before she married my dad. Ryan could get things instantly that took me forever with the choreographer's to pick up. After rehearsals Ryan would get to go play with his friends and I would be stuck going over the numbers again until Darby would get so frustrated that she would …" she were shaking too much to continue.

"She would hit you." He finished for her. "When did it start?"

"When I was five. We were rehearsing for the annual talent show. On the first day of rehearsal with the choreographer, I did really badly and Darby took it out on me. I had bruises on my legs for weeks." Subconsciously he ran a hand over the place that Darby most likely hit. He couldn't decide what he found more shocking that Darby hit Sharpay for not remembering choreography at five or for hiring a choreographer for a five year old in the first place.

"A few weeks later two days before the show she hit me so hard she left permanent scars." Sharpay gently took his hand and moved it underneath her blouse to the physical reminder of that incident. "Kim found me on the floor trying not to cry. She never told anybody about what was happening"

"Let me see." He needed to see the evidence. She quickly unbuttoned her blouse revealing the scar and the soft blue lace bra she was wearing. Being a guy, he did have to admire the way her breasts looked in the blue fabric before moving on to the scar. He quickly placed a very hot kiss on the mark, as if he was trying to cleanse it of its painful past. "You are so beautiful," he muttered as he kissed her body once more. "There's so many great things about you." He said as he kissed each one of her breast individually through the fabric. "You may not be the perfect Dancer or singer. However, you are a brilliant writer and a fabulous director. I loved every minute of the show last night."

"I'm a broken mess." He pulled up to meet her at eye level.

"You're not beautiful despite your imperfections." He said taking her face in his hands. "You're beautiful because of them. Why do I want perfection? You're like a diamond. You're worth more because of the cracks."

"That was cheesy even for you." She said with a smile.

"Don't care," he said kissing once more. "I want you to show me every scar and tell me every secret. I want to help you let go of this pain. Will you do that for me?"

She proceeded to tell him every story. It seemed like every part of her body had its own vicious tale of pain and sorrow. Every scar was a reminder of the many sins committed against her. He kissed or touched every single mark in an effort to take away her pain. As he continued to listen he realized many marks were caused by Darby forcing Sharpay to be number one by any means necessary.

"Do you remember in eighth grade when I was on crutches for the first few weeks of school? When I was 13, I sprained my ankle right before the big talent show. Unfortunately, Darby would not let me sit out. The performance did so much damage I had to have surgery." Sharpay said this as she gently moved his hands down to the surgical scars. He gently move down and kissed her scars."

From there he moved up to her inner thigh noticing the strange marks and sighed. They removed her skirt at some point earlier in the afternoon. He took a finger and traced each mark noticing it spelled the name he despise the most. "Another permanent reminder from Richard," she said in a Whisper.

"Can I?" He asked permission this time before he continued.

"Yes," at her word his mouth touched her sensitive skin just inches from her hot center causing her breath to hitch in her throat. He heard a moan escape her throat as he accidentally brushed against her most sacred area.

"Sharpay how far do you want this to go?" He asked looking at her once more.

"Not all the way. Eventually, just not today." Sharpay said she kissed him once more. "I just want you to feel everything." At first, he didn't get what she meant. Then she gently moved his hands to the blue lace covering the one part of her anatomy he didn't see that weekend. Before he realized it, the now torn fabric was on the floor allowing him to see her completely. He couldn't breathe. She took his hand again, this time guiding him to her wet center, as sensually giving him permission to enter her. She arched back as one finger, than two entered inside of her. She moaned his named at initial contact.

He watched her body for any signs of fear as he continued to pleasure her. Sharpay was great at keeping up facades. Her eyes always the told the truth. As he gazed at her, the only thing he could see was her love for him and a lot of lust.

Although this is the first time with Sharpay, this was not the first time that he did this. Even though he never actually slept with Taylor, they actually did do this a few times. It always felt awkward and uncomfortable. Something always felt missing. Everything was different with Sharpay. Lust mixed with love was so much better than just lust. From their very first kiss to now, he always felt like they were made for each other. When they were together, it just felt like it was supposed to be.

Physically this also felt different. Then he remembered Taylor was technically a virgin and Sharpay unfortunately due to no fault of her own was not. This was the last physical reminder of all the sins committed against Sharpay by people who supposedly loved her.

He needed to make this is good as possible for her. He wanted to take away all her memories of the horrible night with Richard. He wanted to help her let go of that pain. He wanted to help her through all the things she kept bottled up inside for so long. He kept whispering 'I love you' over and over again trying to make sure she knew this was a completely different experience. He wanted to make sure that by every touch and kiss that she knew that he loved her completely. This entire experience was about her not him, which is why he pushed her hands away when she tried to unfasten his pants.

Her physical climax was almost as profound as her emotional one. As she screamed out his name in ecstasy, he realize that she finally let him in completely. Not just physically but emotionally as well. The walls that Sharpay had spent a lifetime building with finely gone for him. He never felt more connected to anyone before.

She never felt like this before, completely loved and cherished by another person. Every touch and kiss sent her closer to the edge. She tried to unbutton his pants at some point he pushed her away with his free hand and told her that this would be just about her. His words were what brought her to an earth shattering release.

They laid on the couch for a moment as she caught her breath. She wanted to stay like this forever with him. Then she remembered a certain busybody manager would probably be checking on the space any moment. She quickly moved to get dressed but was stopped by Chad.

"Don't leave,"

"Fulton is going to be here any minute to check on the room, because we've been in here too long without a scheduled rehearsal time. Too bad the man didn't work here when Darby was at her most evil." Sharpay said as she grabbed her now torn underwear from the floor. "Did you really have to rip off my panties? I really like that pair."

"What is it with you and your underwear fixation. I personally prefer you Sans Underwear." Chad said pulling her back with him on the couch. She could definitely feel the effect she was having on him off. "You do not have to worry about Fulton, I locked the door."

"Two words, master key"

"So where exactly did I throw your skirt?" Chad said getting off the couch to help find her clothing.

A/N: I've never been more terrified to post a chapter before.