A/N: It's been ages since I've been on here but I just found this next chapter on my laptop and thought I'd upload it. It is pretty short, but I will see if I have time to write some more, if people are still interested.

Ryan sat on the edge of the stage thinking. Last summer everything had ended with things looking up. Sharpay thought about what she did and realised it was not fair. She changed, they all were as one. Ryan remembered the romance that had started from that summer. Him and Martha Cox had become really close during their rehearsals for the talent show, and on the last day at Lava Springs he had finally gotten the courage to ask her out. They had dated for nearly two months, making it Ryan's longest relationship. They only ended it because they had to. Martha's family were having to move to New York to take care of their granddad and the young couple knew they wouldn't be able to sustain a long distance relationship. It had been a painful goodbye. They had kept in touch slightly, talking through their instant messenger, but more recently they had both been too busy. Ryan missed Martha, she was so nice to him and he could tell her anything. He had felt more lost without her than ever due to all the happenings of the past few months. He needed her to talk to, have her tell him everything and everyone would be alright at the end of this, but he had a strong feeling that was not true. He sighed as he heard the bell go, signalling the end of lunch. He walked down the steps of the stage, his bag slung over his shoulder. He couldn't believe this was the last term of the year, the gangs last term in school, supposedly the best time of their lives. Yet it was turning out the worst. Everything was falling apart and no one was ding anything to solve it. He pushed the auditorium door open, but allowed it to fall closed again as he heard his phone go off, signalling that he had received a new text. He flipped the phone open and carefully read the text. He smiled. Martha always knew how to do that.

Gabriella and Christian stood at the top of the stairs, sharing a hug which told both of them that they would be there for each other, no matter what happened. When they released each other and walked down the stairs Gabi gave a small smile. She had spent the last few months in fear. She could tell that today was the start of a change. Christian walked with her to her homeroom, promising to meet her at the end of the day. He kissed her softly on the cheek before turning and walking away. Gabi smiled, blush creeping across her face. She walked into the homeroom and took her seat. She looked at Ryan and saw him giving her an encouraging smile. Ryan was the only person Gabi had spoken to of all her old friends. They had drama lessons together and would often talk. Ryan had once asked her what was wrong, but she couldn't tell him, and after that he never asked again, they just kept it casual, never talking about Troy or any of the others. During one of these lessons Ryan had given Gabi a piece of paper and told her that Troy had left it with him on his last day at East High. Gabi had taken it, but never read it. There had been times when she just held the folded paper in her hands and stared at it, but she could never persuade herself to open it and read what Troy had to stay.

Two weeks past and Gabriella spent most of her time with Christian. They spoke about many things but Gabi never got the courage to ask him why he had turned to self harm himself. She had told him all about that night, and he had listened and been sympathetic. He had never been judgemental, just understanding.

The gang sat in the auditorium, discussing the talent show. They had worked for the last fortnight as much as they could. They had decided which of them would perform it. Kelsi had played them the song and they had all been stunned by how Troy's lyrics with Kelsi's music showed all of their feelings about everything that had happened. Now they just hoped that Gabi would come to the show. Jason said he had a plan, and for once they had trusted him. He had spoken to Christian, who he had come to know through his design technology lessons and who he knew had become very close to Gabriella, and had asked him to make sure she came. Christian said he would de everything he could.