Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. This story is only two reviews from 100. All encouragement appreciated.
A/N: In this story, all universities mentioned are depicted in a fictitious way.
I decided to manipulate the age of consent laws for New Mexico for the sake of the narrative. For some reason age of consent laws vary by state. I have no idea what the exact laws are in New Mexico. They're probably completely different than any state I've lived in so far.
Warning: harsh language, mentions of child abuse, and mentions of sexual assault.
Chapter 30: Love and Basketball
January 10, 2009 9:33 AM
Amanda stood in the line of the pharmacy down the street from Kim's house wearing a borrowed outfit. Zeke was a little too enthusiastic last night and her outfit was completely unwearable. Fortunately, her and Kim are about the same size even though Amanda is significantly taller than her.
After yelling at her for 15 minutes, Kim quickly kicked Zeke out of the house before the emotionally distraught Penelope or the easily pissed off Sharpay saw him. The first question out of Kim's mouth was "What the hell were you thinking?" Neither her nor Zeke had an answer for Kim.
After Zeke ran out of the house undetected, Kim pushed her into the bathroom and told her to go change. Before she even realize what was happening she found herself in the backseat of the SUV of Kim's stepmom recounting the entire twisted story of what happened last night. Kim being the overprotective friend decided that they needed to make a stop at the pharmacy after they got the bagels and gourmet coffee.
"I don't know why you're making me do this. I'm pretty sure we used a condom last night." Amanda said with a little annoyance as Kim stood next to her in line.
"If you were drunk enough to sleep with him in the first place, you were too out of it to use protection. Again what the hell were you thinking?"
"I'm too hung over to answer that question right now. Besides I distinctly remember a condom wrapper on the floor." Amanda said in her defense.
"That may not be your wrapper. Do you have any idea how many people were doing dirty things in my house last night? I only kept Chad and Sharpay from doing anything inappropriate because I had decent blackmail material."
"That's just disturbing."
"You're the one who had stupid sex in my bedroom. I'm going to have to burn everything." Amanda could tell Kim was pissed.
"I would help but I have an away game tomorrow. Zeke can't try to see me if I'm in another state all day. Too bad we're not staying overnight. I would love an excuse to miss drama class Monday. This is such a mess." If 30% of the grade for that class wasn't based on in class work she wouldn't show up next Monday.
"It's not going to be that bad. First, last night did not happen. Monday you'll work with someone else in class and completely ignore the prick in question. Zeke and I are the only ones who know what happened and I will make sure he keeps his mouth shut." Kim said with a level of protectiveness that Amanda never saw before except when Alex was concerned. "Right now just worry about not getting pregnant. Thank God for Planned B."
"You're actually pretty good at this mothering thing." Amanda wasn't sure she meant that as a compliment or a insult but she said it anyway.
"Having a child at 19 will do that for you. I love Alex but being a parent at 19 is difficult. If you're going to keep doing stupid things like this I suggest you go on the pill and learn to take it better than I did. Did you know that birth control pills are not effective if you take them at different times every day?" Amanda already knew this. The story of Alex's conception was legendary among the group.
"Too bad you didn't figure that out before you ruined my son's life." Even though she only met the woman once before, Amanda would never forget the voice of Lucille Bolton. The voice was dripping with anger and bitterness. The expression matched perfectly.
"I should be happy that you're recognizing Alex as your grandson now. Our son did not ruin our life. Troy and I both love Alex very much. You on the other hand have done a lot of damage. You along with my mother conspired to keep me and Troy apart for two years while sending Gabriella straight to the mental hospital. Why did I even bother talking to you? You're not worth our time." Kim said hostilely before stepping up to the counter and ordering the medication that Amanda needs.
"Of course you would be here to pick up emergency contraceptive when my son is out of town. I see nothing's really changed for you. Who did you screw behind my son's back this week? " Kim just stood there without saying a word.
"I doubt you would even know if your son was here or not since Troy told me he stopped speaking to you in December. Actually, the pills are for me. Your daughter in law AKA the love of your son's life was just being a good friend. I'm the one that had really promiscuous sex with a guy I've known for about a week. Kim is the one he yelling at me and forcing me to take precautions. She is really good person." Amanda was starting to believe everything Chad and Kim told her about this woman.
"Don't bother Amanda. This woman hates me. I don't know why."
"Maybe because you raped my son." It seemed like the attention of everybody in the store was on Kim and Lucy now.
"Even I will admit having sex with a 15 year old was not my best ideal ever. Contrary to your delusional believe everything I did with Troy was consensual. Now that I'm no longer a scared child easily intimidated by you, I know that because Troy and I are less than three years apart. Nothing we did was illegal. Now that he's 18 you have no say whatsoever. What's done is done Lucy. We can't change the past. You're already looking at a lengthy prison sentence. Do you really want to lose your grandchildren?" She couldn't believe that Kim was actually offering an olive branch to this woman. But then again the only reason Lucy was out was because Kim paid her bail.
"Not if they come from a bitch like you. I kept you and my son apart before and I can do it again. Do you really think Troy going to Berkeley was completely his choice?" Lucy had a very self satisfied smirk on her face as she said that.
"Considering that it didn't work your point is useless. You can't fight true love." Amanda said before Kim could.
"Watch me." Lucy said as she walked away angrily.
"It was just too early to deal with that evil woman. If she was not Troy's mom I would have punched her out. It wouldn't surprise me if she actually did put things in motion to get Troy at Berkeley." Chad heard Kim said as she put the bagels and things on Jack's kitchen table. They were meeting over there because Kim's house was completely trashed. The cleaning crews were just now starting to put things back together again. Almost everyone was their except for Nikki and Marc. They left earlier to go back to the dorms. Penelope was also still with them but she stayed so quiet everyone forgot she was there.
"I do remember her refusing to sign the letter of intent for A of U. I really didn't think anything of it at the time because Caroline refuse to sign any letters of intent regarding Chad." Jack said as he approached the table and grabbed a something to eat before placing Alex in his high chair. Yes, Kim bought a highchair just for this house.
"That is because my mom refused for me to go to any school on a basketball scholarship. Which is probably the best decision she ever made." Chad said grabbing two bagels and some fruit as he took a seat at the table.
"Why didn't you sign the letter?" Kim asked her father in law quickly. Chad stopped using "almost" because at this point the only thing that was missing was the marriage license.
"Conflict of interest," both he and Jack said simultaneously.
"I could see your mom doing something like that. She is on the alumni board at Berkeley and she gets a sick pleasure from making you miserable." Sharpay said as she sat on his lap and place an arm around him. "I was not part of the group back then but I don't remember Troy mentioning any other school besides A of U. Troy was willing to sing with me at Lava Springs just so he would have an inside edge with the boosters. " Sharpay said this as she started eating Chad's breakfast.
"Troy wasn't looking at other schools until mommy dearest started whispering things in his ear. He was perfectly OK with leaving Gabriella behind before she started manipulating him. I didn't know it at the time, but she kept pointing out to him how bad it would be for him to lose Gabriella like he lost Kim. It was obvious she was manipulating him to stay with Gabriella. She was even the one who convinced him to drive up to Stanford to keep Gabriella from breaking up with him. He was ready to let go but she convince him otherwise." Chad said this as he grabbed his breakfast back from Sharpay. "Get your own food."
"Why should I." Sharpay said as she placed a very gentle kiss on his lips. "That alone proves Lucy is a very screwed up person. What kind of nut encourages their child to drive that death trap all the way to California and back?"
"I did not know about the Stanford stunt until I found the note from Troy that night. He was grounded from graduation until his 18th birthday. I had no ideal Lucy encouraged him to do it." Chad could tell that Jack was very angry.
"Other than her trying to play matchmaker we have no proof that my mother or Lucy did anything illegal to get Troy at Berkeley?" Kim asked as she cut the bagel into little pieces for Alex to eat.
"Did he have the grades to go to school there?" Amanda asked from the side joining the conversation late.
"Barely, and that is probably only because Gabriella helped him so much." Chad said to the rest of the group.
"That doesn't matter much. There were a couple players at West last year who barely passed that ended up at good schools." Penelope said finally making herself known to the group.
"Then why did Jason and up at junior college?" Sharpay asked in puzzlement as she took another piece of Chad's fruit. Chad gave up at this point. He knew this was going to happen that's why he got a double portion.
"Zeke said something about Jason's parents wanting him to concentrate on academics. Did it seem out of the ordinary for the recruiter from Berkeley to be there?" Amanda said grabbing a cup of coffee.
"When did you talk to Zeke?" Sharpay asked looking at her friend strangely. He noticed Amanda's eyes grew wide before she composed herself again.
"We had to talk about something between activities in class last week." Amanda answered quickly without looking at her. He had a feeling that there was more going on. It will give him something to talk with her about tomorrow on the way to the game. When did he get to a point in his life where he rather hang out with the cheerleaders than the rest of the team?
"We had a lot of new schools sending people to look of the team last year. We had four seniors on the team. I didn't think anything about the fact that most of these schools never sent recruiters to our school before. At one game alone we had four different scouts from the ivy league." Jack said.
"It makes sense because we had a lot of new schools showing up last year at West High games. I was approached by two schools in Texas myself for cheerleading scholarships. Why did you have so many ivy league schools showing up?" Penelope asked as she grabbed something to eat.
"That ivy league schools were there for super genius. Chad got over a 2100 on his SATs. He also had a 4.2 GPA in high school." Sharpay said grabbing a strawberry off of his plate and feeding it to him. He quickly took one of her fingers into his mouth and began to remove the juices with his tongue.
"Can you please not do that? I'm still queasy from a hangover. How could you hide being that smart? Your GPA was almost as high as mine was. Did you ever think about going to Yale with me?" Taylor said from her position next to Ryan.
"I wasn't exactly ready to embrace my inner genius at the time. Troy and I were planning to go to A of U together since kindergarten. I wasn't ready to give that up by applying to schools that I knew Troy couldn't go two. Thinking about it now maybe I should have applied to Stanford." He said as an afterthought.
"You ended up exactly where you were supposed to be. Although if I go to the University of Manhattan next year. You are so applying to Columbia." Sharpay said this as she leaned over and kissed him again.
"I agree that it's too early for you guys to be all over each other. Most of us have hangovers and may start throwing up easily. So what changed other than Lucy's meddling?" Amanda asked in confusion
"Juilliard," he and Sharpay answered in tandem.
"That was Miss Darbus attempt at playing matchmaker."
"What?" Kim and Jack both yelled at the same time. Although several others in the room looked completely shocked.
"She knew the entire time and didn't tell me." Jack said with an angry sigh.
"After my mother try to kill me I kept Alex's existence as quiet as possible. I was scared. I asked her not to say anything."
"You were in New York and you wouldn't let her tell Troy about Alex so the next best thing would be to get him to go to school in New York." Sharpay said automatically guessing what happened
"Knowing her, that's probably why. However, why not try to get him into the University of Manhattan. The acting program is better their and there would have been greater chance that I would have see him. In addition, the University of Manhattan has a basketball team. It would been the perfect solution." Kim said wistfully.
"She did." Chad said to the group. "She said that they turned him down."
"He was a semifinalist for a Juilliard scholarship. The University of Manhattan needs all the good basketball players they could get. How could he not qualify? That just doesn't make sense." Sharpay said in puzzlement.
"I think these are questions I should ask my private investigator. We already know that my mom was perfectly OK with screwing with the lives of others and attempted murder. Blackmailing some university into not accepting an individual wouldn't be beyond her capabilities." Kim said in a sad voice.
"And I thought my family was screwed up. Thank you for making me feel normal." Penelope said taking a drink of her coffee.
"Glad we can help." Kim said sarcastically. "There's nothing we can do now. I will have the private investigators look into it. I do not want Troy to know about what's going on until we have some evidence that Lucille or my mom did something to get Troy into Berkeley that may be illegal. This conversation doesn't leave this room."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
January 11, 2009 2:35 PM Pacific time
It took about six days and Kim buying an entire furniture store via the Internet but their house was starting to look like a home. There were still boxes everywhere and only half the furniture was up but that's OK. They decided back in November that it would be impractical for him to stay in the dorms if she was going to be visiting with Alex all the time. He was expecting to move into a nice apartment not a four bedroom townhouse with space for the dog formerly owned by Sharpay to run around in. He really hated that dog but Alex loved his "puppy".
In celebration of having the house half way together he decided to invite some friends over. Unlike his girlfriend, he had the common sense not to have any alcohol out. The fact that Madison and her boyfriend were bringing Gabriella only emphasize that this party needed to be alcohol free.
It's not that he doesn't want to see Gabriella, because he does. However it's in a "I don't want to see her have another nervous breakdown" way. The first words he said to Gabriella involved a check of her mental health. Gabriella's response was, "Yes dad I am taking my anti crazy pills." They have her on a better mix of medication this time. Sunny happy Gabriella from high school has been replaced with semi bitch Gabriella. He has been told this is a closer facsimile to who she was before she got sick.
"Why can I have a rich girlfriend?" One of his teammates asked once they settled in the family room with the 50 inch plasma television.
"He also got stuck with a two year old. The country club lifestyle is just not worth that." Said James, one of his teammates that he hated. Troy didn't want to invite James but had no choice because he invited everyone else on the team. Unlike Chad, he could tolerate most of the team for short periods of time without the urge to strangle anyone. James was the exception.
The guy was always making snide comments about Troy even before everyone was aware of Alex. Before he made comments such as, "I've seen the tapes; you were a much better player in high school. Too bad your boyfriend Chad decided to go to another school. I guess you can't play as well without the incentive of a postgame blow job."
It's not like the comment bothered him that much. It wasn't the first time people thought he and Chad were dating. Now James made nasty comments about Alex and Kim.
Originally he and Kim were going to keep the fact that he was a teenage father a secret for now. After the thanksgiving incident, the arrest of his mom on embezzlement charges, and Kim's mom being an international fugitive made keeping that secret impossible.
The people who knew him in high school were shocked. The nasty comments Kim received Friday were mild compared to the things he heard from people who were supposed to be his friends. Jason actually asked if he got a DNA test when Kim took Alex to the restroom at the brunch in December.
Those on the basketball team felt sorry for him. They said things like, "This is why you should always use a condom." Or "At least you got a rich girlfriend out of the deal."
His drama friends were the most supportive. It helped that some of them are nontraditional students and a few of them have children of their own. With those friends, he can talk about the misery of potty training and trying to balance being a parent with being a college student. With everybody else, he has to pretend to be that person that was never real to begin with. Instead of giving in to James's taunts Troy just thought it was time to talk about his son.
"I was not saddled with a child. I love my son and hate that he's not here." Troy was actually more enthusiastic about spending time with Alex then playing against Chad in the big game Thursday night. This led to him being asked to bring out baby pictures by Gabriella.
"He's so cute." Gabriella said before asking him to play the latest baby video that Kim sent. Of course his girlfriend mislabeled the clips and he accidentally played the clip of Chad singing love songs to Sharpay. Thankfully it wasn't one of the more NC 17 clips on the computer. Yes, unfortunately his girlfriend still sends him pornographic material. However, she was the star of most of it and he learned how to password protect that stuff.
"Look it is your boyfriend instead of your little bastard kid." Due to his acting skills Troy didn't even look mildly pissed. Actually it was Gabriella who said something. The new medication mix was making her more assertive, thank god.
"Technically Alex is a bastard because his parents were married when he was conceived, but then again so are you. How damage is your glass house after throwing all those stones?"
"Thank you Gabriella."
"Chad and Troy and never dated in high school because Troy was not Chad's type."
"Never mind," Troy said in slight irritation.
"He's really good. Why didn't Sharpay chase after him in high school?"
"Do you remember in high school when they used to fight with each other all the time? That was actually flirting. It wasn't until college that they were able to move past that."
"So this is the guy we are playing against Thursday?" Asked one of his less prick teammates.
"He will be on the court even if he doesn't want to be there. The only reason why he still on the team is Sharpay. Chad's more interested in designing the next basketball videogame than actually benign in the NBA." For some reason as soon as he said that James seemed really happy.
January 12, 2009 7:10 AM
Sharpay Evans was in a good mood when she walked in to the East High campus at a very early time. She wondered how she could ever get up this early for four years. She didn't want to leave the bed this morning. Although that may have something to do with the fact that Chad was with her. They stayed in the guest room at Kim's house again last night so they could have time together without the evil RA chasing Chad away. The next opportunity will not be until Saturday when they arrived in DC.
Sharpay was so happy that she felt nothing could ruin her mood. However, that was before Kerri walked into the classroom when she was talking to Jack about what students she needed to work with today. Before she even noticed someone else in the room Kerri already had the television on.
"What are you doing in class 15 minutes early and why did you turn the television on?" She asked quickly.
"Tiffany just called. Your mom is about to do an interview on channel 12 about university corruption and the real reason the new basketball start of A of U didn't end up at Stanford."
"Great more lies. Last week she was on channel 9 talking about how dad turned us against her so she wouldn't get her share in the divorce. Do you mind if we watched this? I need to know what she's telling everyone when I get accosted by reporters.
"Go head. It's actually comforting to know that someone's divorce is going worse than mine." Jack said in a way that made her not ask any more questions.
They turned to channel 12 just in time to hear Darby's latest lie. She accused Sharpay's dad of using her as a means to improve his and the university's image. She started with things that were relatively true. She mentioned how her father essentially bride Sharpay to live in the dorms and let him put pictures on the Internet. Of course, with Darby doesn't know the Sharpay didn't accept those rewards.
Then Darby started getting into the truly sordid stuff. She actually accused Sharpay's father of pimping her out to attract the best players to the school. She use the Troy fiasco as evidence to support her lies. Sharpay always knew that act of stupidity would come back to bite her on the ass.
Then Darby mentioned Chad. Her mom when on television and told everybody that Sharpay was only with her fiancé so he would play for A of U. Darby made her sound like a cheap prostitute. The icing on the cake was when the Bitch brought out the financial statements. She tried to frame her engagement ring fun as a bribe. At this point Sharpay had angry tears running down her face.
Darby could say whatever she wanted about Sharpay. She didn't care. Now that she brought Chad into this the gloves were off.
January 12, 2009 10:01 AM
Penelope wanted to be anywhere but here today. What exactly do you say to the guy you were in love with for three years after you beat the hell out of him? "Sorry I snapped. Thank you for not pressing charges." "I still love you. Let's be friends." "Never speak to me again you conceded dick."
She tried to ask Amanda about what she should do yesterday on the flight to the game, but it seemed like Amanda was avoiding her and Chad. It wasn't like her and Amanda were best friends. Up until last November they were nothing more than fellow cheerleaders to each other. Their friendship was tenuous at best. So Penelope really didn't think much of it until this moment when she overheard a conversation that she wished she didn't.
"Get the hell away from me." She heard Amanda scream from down the hall.
"Look I just want to talk." She heard Zeke say as he tried to touch Amanda's shoulder but she moved away quickly.
"That's what led to this whole thing in the first place" Amanda said walking away from him.
"No you bringing a bottle of Jack Daniels led to this whole thing."
"Please don't remind me. The whole night was a temporary lapse of good judgment. If you tell anybody what happened I swear to God I will cut off your Dick." As Penelope was listening to the conversation she became more confused by the minute
"Trust me I'm not saying a word. Contrary to popular belief I am not a complete ass. Also Troy's wife is too scary to mess with."
"Although my mine is still a little fuzzy because of the high amounts of alcohol that night I am pretty sure I told you that Kim is technically not Troy's wife. But in all honesty their only missing the marriage license at this point."
"She's closer to a wife then a girlfriend. Trust me I remember what you said before you kissed me and preceded to unzip my pants." Oh my god was all Penelope could think.
"Friday night didn't happen. You state on your side the classroom and I will stay on my side of the room."
"Fine have it your way."
"Also don't say anything about this to Penelope. She is my friend and you've already heard her enough." Amanda said as she walks into the classroom.
Penelope wanted to run to the bathroom first to compose herself but knew she didn't have time. Instead she fell back on her years of acting and placed a very fake smile upon her face. She tried to walk past him without making eye contact but she felt a hand grabbed her wrist.
"Can we talk for a minute?"
"Not without me punching you again."
"I'm sorry." He almost sounded sincere.
"Why?" She would say more but she was afraid she would ask the wrong thing. She really wanted to ask if he slept with Amanda Friday night.
"For a lot of things. I made you your favorite cookies."
"A cookie can't fix this. There are enough cookies in America to fix this." Even as she said this she grabbed the cookies from his hand and sat down at her desk. She was too busy enjoying the double chocolate chip cookies to wonder why Chad was not there.
January 12, 2009 11:52 AM
Amanda was thankful that there professor let them out early. That was the most uncomfortable class ever. Because Chad never showed up she ended up working with Penelope who for some reason could not look her in the eye. Amanda could not help but wonder if Penelope knew what happened. It felt like she had a giant scarlet letter on her chest.
Halfway through the class from hell she received a text message from Sharpay asking her to meet them at café Valley after class.
As she walked into the café she could tell that Chad and Sharpay were visibly upset.
"What's going on? You never miss class except when we have to leave early for a game." Amanda said as she purposely took a seat next to Sharpay.
"That is not going to be a problem since I've just been suspended from the team." Amanda was completely shocked by what he said. How could he do anything to get suspended from the basketball team? She doubted that it was academic considering he had a 3.9 GPA last semester.
"What happened? How could you be suspended from the team? This doesn't have anything to do with Richard's uncle does it?"
"I'm guessing you don't watch Good Morning Albuquerque." Sharpay said quietly.
"I was too busy doing my chemistry reading. Thank god I don't have any classes that require heavy writing this semester."
"The woman, I will from now on only refer to as an egg donor, went on local television and accuse my father of using me to get Chad to go to school here. At the same time, two separate individuals contacted the NCAA questioning Chad's eligibility to play."
"I'm on suspension until the investigation is concluded."
"How can anybody think that? You two are completely in love with each other." Amanda knows that they are so in love that she won't even try to make a move on Chad. It would just result in the end of their friendship.
"Anybody who knew us in high school thought that we hated each other. A lot of them are having a hard time believing that we really love each other." Chad said caressing Sharpay's hand.
"Zeke doesn't."
"That's probably because he's seen me jump her." Chad said with a wicked smirk. Even in a crisis he was still making jokes.
January 13, 2009 7:01 AM
Her investigators work fast. Although it probably helps that her mother's financial records have already been examines with a fine tooth comb by forensic accountants. They didn't think anything of several big donations to colleges. It didn't seem that unusual that she made a donation of $250,000 to the University of Manhattan, $250,000 to Juilliard, or $600,000 to the University of Berkeley. Not until she told the investigators about the conversation she had with Lucy Saturday.
It wasn't that unusual for a family in Kim's tax bracket to make large donations to various charities and funds. Last month Kim herself gave away four million dollars to various charities supporting teen mothers and runaways. In light of the new information the investigators were going over everything again. Now she had to tell Troy that it was possible that their mothers conspired to get him at Berkeley by very illegal means.
She decided to wait until morning to tell him. There are too many things going on the night before with the reporter stalking Chad and Sharpay. Chad and Troy needed friend time.
Just when she thinks Darby can't get any eviler she does something that surprises everyone. So at 7:00 AM her time she calls Troy after she drops Alex off at day care early.
"I shouldn't be that surprised. I did not even decide to go to Berkeley until May. James always made snide comments about how I took his friend's place on the team. I did not originally apply to Berkeley. I guess I didn't think that much of it because I did not applied to Juilliard either." She can hear the tension in Troy's voice.
"Juilliard was Miss Darbus trying to get you and me in the same city. She filled out an application on your behalf for the University of Manhattan but mommy dearest got to them first. I should be happy that she never bribed them to get my scholarship taken away." Kim said bitterly.
"God I can't believe my mom would do this. Oh, yes I can. "
"My mom was pulling strings. Although maybe we should be happy that my mom isn't big on public humiliation. Darby stunt yesterday is going to be legendary."
"If the story didn't make the national news I would already know about it anyway. At practice yesterday all of my teammates were celebrating the fact that one of the better players at A of U is suspended. How is he really taking it? If this happened last year he would be devastated. Something didn't sound right last night."
"Last year he still loved basketball. He's more pissed off about Darby dragging Sharpay's name through the mud. He could care less about playing and you know this. The reporters are already stalking them again. I said they could stay here for the next few days until things die down. After last month most reporters in this town known not to come anywhere near my property."
"There already stocking. He didn't mention that."
"This is already the biggest story in Albuquerque which is saying something considering what happened last month. I still think Richard or his uncle had something to do with this. I heard from an unknown source that the second tip was about how Chad was only on the team because of his girlfriend."
"What did the other person state specifically?"
"The only reason why Chad was still on the team was Sharpay."
"I knew James was being too smug about this. This is all my fault."
"You did not make the phone call. How can it be your fault?"
"I had some friends over to the house Sunday and I said something very close to that."
"What he said was the truth. Chad is only playing because a Sharpay support not because she spreads her legs for him. By the traditional definition of sex, that has not occurred yet. I did walking on something interesting this morning in the bathroom."
"You are going to have to work on knocking."
"That was not my fault. I forgot I had visitors."
January 13, 2009 9:23 PM
It's been a very rough day since Darby's little stunt. Darby's accusations have triggered the biggest scandal In Albuquerque in years. That's saying something after the thanksgiving incident. She and the rest of the cheerleaders had been followed by reporters since the story broke. Because she was Sharpay's former roommate and a friend of both Chad and Sharpay the reporters were stalking her the most. If one more person asked her about Sharpay's sexual activities she was going to throw her shoe at them.
Sharpay gave them all specific instructions not to engage the reporters or give Darby any more momentum. The only good thing going for her at the moment was Zeke was keeping his distance. Whatever Kim said must have worked or at least she thought it did until 30 seconds ago when the boy in question called her.
"How did you get this phone number?" Amanda asked Zeke as she talked on her dorm room telephone.
"Do you know that the University list the phone numbers of all students on the Internet?" Zeke said innocently in a way that annoyed her.
"Don't they realize how dangerous that could be? For example some girl could accidentally sleep with the wrong guy at a party and then he could start stocking her."
"You want me to stay away? Fine I am staying away. That's not why I'm calling."
"If this was a web chat you could see me rolling my eyes."
"I just want to know why I'm being followed around by reporters."
"You sure this is not an excuse to talk to me? I mean you are watching the news right? Sharpay's so call mother is dragging her through the mud and everyone else is trying to find extra mud puddles."
"Don't flatter yourself. Considering the type of questions that they're asking me I feel like I'm missing something. I haven't been here for the last six months and I need to know what's going on. You're the only person I know that knows what is going on and doesn't hate me."
"I don't think the reporters care that much about the present. The vultures are looking for dirt anyway they can find it. They are following you around because you went to high school with both of them and you hate Chad and Sharpay at the moment."
"I don't hate Sharpay and I don't hate Chad. It's the other way around."
"I wonder why. Let's see you dated her and Penelope at the same time."
"I agree that was a stupid decision and I will be making Penelope cookies for the rest of the semester as penance."
"Cookies don't mend a broken heart." Amanda said with a touch of bitterness.
"So I heard. So what other sins have I committed against your friends that makes you hate me without really knowing me."
"You broke up with Sharpay because she wouldn't have sex with you."
"No I broke up with her because she didn't trust me enough to have sex with me. There is a difference. She kept me at arm's length for the entire duration of our relationship."
"Of course she didn't trust you. You were sleeping with someone else. There was also the fact you abandon her after she had a panic attacked on prom night."
"What are you talking about?" Zeke asked in genuine surprise.
"She was having flashbacks to what happened with her ex boyfriend." Amanda said quietly.
"She never said anything. She was too busy chasing after Troy to let me in. Although thinking about it now she was also too busy arguing/flirting with Chad to let me in.
"You need to work through your Troy Bolton issues. Trust me this has nothing to do with Troy and everything to do with Richard. Do you really expect Sharpay to leave herself open to you after your predecessor raped her?" After she said the words, you could hear a pin drop on the other side of the line.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Zeke asked again in complete surprise. Considering they were positive he was conspiring with Richard's uncle this seemed unusual. Why would he be so shocked if he was working with them?
"Don't you dare act so innocent. You came back here when Penelope and Sharpay are preparing to testify against Richard. So how much did Mr. Windom offer you to come terrorize the two girls?"
"Do you really think that little of me?" She can actually hear genuine concern in his voice. She didn't know what to think of it.
"I really don't know what to think of you. I've heard stories about how you were such an evil bastard in high school and then I see what you did to two of my friends. I also heard about that phone call you had with Chad last September."
"Guys do that sort of thing. It doesn't mean anything."
"So you told all your friends about how you fucked me this weekend?"
"We had sex. We didn't fuck. There is a difference. No, I didn't tell anybody. I told you I wouldn't say anything."
"I should be happy that I received more courtesy then Penelope."
"I never told anybody about what I did with Penelope either."
"You were ashamed of her. Of course, you had no trouble bragging about it to Chad after high school was over."
"I thought we already went over that point. He already knew before I told him."
"Not to my satisfaction." She said angrily.
"Are you ever satisfied?" She can hear the annoyance in his voice as he said the words.
"Not really."
"Just tell me what's going on?"
"You really don't know about Richard?"
"You're talking about the stupid prick Sharpay dated sophomore year. He was sleeping with other girls. He was such an ass. I remember him bragging about "popping Sharpay's cherry" at the spring dance sophomore year." She doubted that Zeke knew the truth of that story.
"You cheated on Sharpay as well. Why do you find his behavior so reprehensible?"
"I slept with one other person." Zeke said in his defense.
"That's one too many."
"I stand by my argument that you can't be an an exclusive relationship with somebody who's already in love with someone else."
"So it was the other way around. You cheated on Penelope with Sharpay."
"Fine if it will make you hate me less, I cheated on Penelope with Sharpay. As stated earlier it was a mistake. Again I would like to argue it was only one person within the confines of a very complicated relationship on both sides. While dating Sharpay in a normal relationship, Richard slept with six cheerleaders, three members of the tennis team, two members of the academic decathlon team, and one other person from the drama club. Those are only the girls he slept with at East High. Who knows who else he was screwing."
"I wonder how many of those girls were actually willing to sleep with him." Amanda said softly into the phone.
"You are not telling me something."
"It's a complicated story."
"We have time. Besides I like it when you talk to me when you are not trying to kill me." She laughed for a moment before going into a story that was anything but happy.
"Remember when you said he was bragging about popping Sharpay's cherry. Ghb was involved."
"I am going to kill that fucking prick."
"Wait until you hear about what he did to your other ex girlfriend."
January 14, 2009 8:03 AM
Even though Mr. Windom didn't start the rumor, he was using it to his full advantage. In addition to Chad's indefinite suspension from the basketball team, he was pushing for her dad's resignation from the Board of Directors at the university. All of her dad so-called friends were supporting Mr. Windom. After the rumors are proven false just the impression of impropriety maybe too much.
Except to go to classes, she and Chad had been avoiding campus. This morning she was missing her time at East High so she could talk with one of the investigators. Between the private investigators hired by her father, the investigators hired by Kim and the investigators for the university she wasn't even sure who was asking her questions at the moment.
"Say your name for the record." The investigator Miss Gonzalez said as she turned on the recording device.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Yes it is."
"My name is Sharpay Evans. Contrary to what my mom believes I cannot wait until my last name is Evans-Danforth."
"So her allegations are false?"
"Yes. I love Chad and my mom can't deal with that. She will do anything to hurt me."
"Can you please elaborate?"
"My mom is the one who likes to use her children as props. My dad does it on occasion, but I'm always well compensated. However he would never use me to attract players to the team. Chad has been planning on going to this school since he was a little kid."
"Your boyfriend is smart enough to go to any school in the country. Why did he come here?"
"There were a lot of reasons why Chad didn't want to go to the Ivy League schools. He wasn't comfortable with his intelligence in high school. His mom made some bad choices because she was too young to start college at 14. Now that he's more comfortable with what truly is we're looking at different schools for next year." The investigator look surprise to hear that.
"He's not planning on staying here next year?"
"It's possible. I've changed majors and the school doesn't have the best writing program. Also some of his classes are boring Chad to tears. We both need more of a challenge."
"Your father is not talking you out of this?"
"He's the one who offered to pay for Chad to go to any school I go to if he's not able to get another scholarship. Like that is going to Happen, but it's a great gesture. My dad is trying to make up for some of the things my mom did. You've seen the allegations of child abuse and neglect. Now those are all true. Where were you when she was beating the hell out of me? Where were you when I was walking around with bruises that no one paid attention to?" Sharpay said in an angry voice.
Just as the investigator began to ask her more question she heard the phone ringing. She looked in her bag only to realize it was Kim's phone. Alex must have hid Kim's phone again in her bag. She looked down at the screen and saw that it was Troy calling. It must be important for him to call Kim in class.
"Why am I not surprise. I need to take this call."
"Go ahead." The investigator said with a nod.
"Hi Troy,"
"Why are you picking up my girlfriend cell phone? I thought we already broke you of that habit."
"You're adorable son decided to hide her phone in my purse. She probably doesn't even know that she doesn't have it."
"That explains why the private investigator called me at 6:00 AM." Troy said in irritation
"So did her mom really buy you a spot at Berkeley?" "Yes and it only cost her $1,000,000." Troy said sarcastically but she knew the dollar amount was right.
"She paid $1,000,000 to get you safely tucked away at another school away from Kim and Alex. God that woman is crazy and I thought Darby was nuts."
"This is such a mess. Can you have Kim call me as soon as possible?"
"You probably should just send Chad a text message. They're both in physics class right now. I'll talk to you later. " Sharpay said as she ended the call.
"Sorry that was my friend's boyfriend/husband/whatever. He wouldn't call this early if it was not an emergency."
"That's okay. I assume that that was Troy Bolton you were talking to."
"If he is one of the people you need to interrogate, you'll have to wait until tomorrow when he arrives for the Berkeley A of U game. That is if he's still on the team. He's almost positive one of his teammates sent in another tip just to keep Chad from playing tomorrow night."
"That's okay I think we're done for now. If I have any more questions I will let you know."
January 14, 2009 10:04 AM
Penelope was not in a good mood. It didn't help that reporters kept calling the dorm room so much that she had to unplug the phone in the room and take the batteries out of her cell phone. She was going to kill whoever gave her private phone number to the reporters. It was probably one of her so-called teammates that have been selling out Chad and Sharpay to the highest bidder. Even though Chad was starting to become a friend to her, Sharpay and she were two people who lived in the same room. She may have hated Sharpay once upon a time, but she wasn't going to drag her name through the mud.
She ran through the cluster of reporters trying to talk to her. She's pretty sure she flipped two of them off. She doesn't really care. It wasn't like she was going to run for public office someday. Amanda was right behind her telling some reporter to go to hell. She has decided not to question Amanda about what happened with her and Zeke at the party last Friday. There are just some things you don't want to know. Confirming that said friend got so drunk that she fuck your ex boyfriend is one of those things.
"They are worse than last time." Amanda said in irritation as soon as they were safely in the building.
"You went through this before?" Penelope asked in surprise.
"Unfortunately yes. Last month when Troy's mom was arrested for tax evasion and Kim's mom became a fugitive. Alex is the only two year old I know that can speak the phrase "no comment" perfectly." Amanda said as they walked into the classroom.
"She saw another bag of cookies on her desk. She knew they were from Zeke even without looking at the bag. Attached was a little note that said "I'm sorry".
Before she had time to really think about it she saw Chad come into the classroom. One actually followed him into the building. The professor was currently kicking the person out of the classroom.
January 15, 2009 7:47 AM Pacific time
Troy's seriously wondered why he even bother coming to class Today as he pulled into the commuter parking lot in the BMW that Kim bought him for Christmas. He would be leaving for Albuquerque in a couple of hours anyway. Most of the classes were reviewing previous material or allowing student time to buy their books. But because he wouldn't be returning to class until late Wednesday he felt he should at least find somebody to copy notes from next week."
He was happy at the moment because only a few of the student reporters for the school paper were following him around about the Chad/A of U scandal. Nobody knew yet that his son's grandmother bought his acceptance into the school because she hated them so much. Maybe it was because she did hate her daughter so much. Troy will never understand that evil woman who tried to kill his son.
He and Kim talked a lot about what was happening. He was hurt, angry, and felt like he did not even deserve to be here. Maybe James was right and he really did take some other students place. It was actually his hour-long conversation with Chad last night that broken out of that mindset. "Kim's mom had to pay just as much money to keep you out of Juilliard and the University of Manhattan. I'm sure Berkeley wanted you anyway. ."
Troy tried to keep Chad's words in his mind that morning as he walked to his English class which was ironically enough in the building by the coaches' offices. The first thing he sees is several campus police car surrounding the building with representatives from other law enforcement agencies. He asks one of the students talking on their cell phone what was going on. The girl just shrugs and continues to talk on her phone.
He should probably go into the building but he doesn't because he's a bit early and wants to know what's happening. His curiosity is satisfied when he sees his basketball coach being led out of the building in handcuffs. An hour later he gets a phone call from the office of student ethics. By the time he gets on a plane for Albuquerque he is suspended from the basketball team indefinitely and he doesn't care.
January 15, 2009 12:15 PM
Chad sat in the parking lot outside the sport complex for a moment trying to regain his breath. Chad just survived a very uncomfortable women's studies class. It was better than Tuesday's impromptu discussion of prostitution and the subjugation of women in modern society.
He expected to be bombarded by reporters as he walked to the coach's office. Thanks to his best friend he was already yesterday's news. They were already refer to as the story as the love and basketball scandal. He already saw the footage of the Berkeley coach being hauled off by police. There may not even be a Berkeley/A of U game tonight.
As he made his way through the hallway, he thought about the call he had with Troy last night. They spent a lot of time talking about the way things used to be before basketball was about championships in winning games. They talked about when it was just the two of them on a court having fun. Chad miss those days.
"Chad what are you doing here? You do realize what suspension means right? The investigation will be over soon enough. You will be back in a red hawk's jersey before you know it."
"It doesn't matter. I quit." There was complete silence at that moment.
"What about your scholarship? You are the best player on the team. You know that what she said was completely false."
"First of all I'm on an academic scholarship. That stuff about me being able to go to an Ivy League school if I wanted to is true. It is also true that I was only playing for Sharpay. If it wasn't for her support I would acquit the second week of the season. I just don't want to play anymore. Not after the last few days." With that Chad walked out of the office completely aware that his basketball days were behind him.
January 15, 2009 4:26 PM
"What are you doing here?" Sharpay asked as she saw Zeke standing outside of her building. She was only hear the pickup her thing for DC.
"I thought we could talk. After the week you had I figured you could use my signature dessert." she was mad at him but she missed his baked goods.
"Good apology present."
"I guess I should say I am sorry."
"Now if only I knew what you are apologizing for. I'm sure most of your guilt is related to use sleeping with Penelope for the entire duration of our relationship."
"I'm sorry about that but I think in most sorry about the fact that we were together for a year and ½ and the only thing I know about you is your favorite dessert. We never talked about your Troy crush. We never talked about why you tensed up if I even placed a hand anywhere near your breast. We never talked about why you started throwing up on the way to prom. I didn't know about Darby."
"Nobody knew about Darby but Kim." Sharpay said in a whisper.
"Chad knew."
"That's different."
"He knows because you love him. Because you trust him in a way you could never trust me."
"I had a reason not to trust you."
"I only stayed with Penelope because I could never get you to open up. You would not even admit that we were dating until the beginning of senior year. I always blamed it on Troy. Now I know better."
"There's a lot of things that we both did wrong. But it's too late to do anything."Sharpay said as she played with her engagement ring.
"Trust me I'm fully aware of that. I wish nothing but happiness and maybe the chance to design the wedding cake."
"I'll think about it." That was all she said as she walked into the building leaving Zeke behind.
January 14, 2009 4:55 PM.
When he was little, he had this fantasy of growing up to be a professional basketball player. He imagined walking through airports with reporters following his every move. As he walked through the Albuquerque Airport followed by reporters he realized how stupid that fantasy was.
He saw Sharpay and Chad's car in the parking lot with Chad and the driver's seat. He quickly jumped in the backseat with Alex.
"So how was your day? Chad asked as soon as Troy put on his seat belt.
"That is a loaded question."
"Are you disappointed that we're not going to play each other tonight?"
"Not really. I say we take Alex to pizza village and avoid ESPN at any cost."
"Works for me." Chad said as they pulled away from the Airport.
A/N: My niece actually does the thing with the cell phone that Alex did in this chapter.