I'll go back and correct any mistakes later.

Gabriella sat alone on her bed as she gazed down at the book in her hands through her elegant reading glasses, trying as hard as she could to ignore the irritatingly loud pitter-pattering of the spring shower outside and the booming of thunder and lightning. Ironically, she was wearing her sleeveless silk nightdress, the thin blanket pulled up simply over her lap as a cushioning for her book, by no means needed for warmth. The humid air trickled at her skin, small beads of sweat resisting from forming at her hairline. Gabriella huffed and glared at the open window beside the table lamp beside her, the rain pounding at the windowsill. With a violent swing of her hand, the window flew shut and the room silence. She accordingly went back to her book.

10pm, whereas usually Gabriella and Troy would have a glass of wine together outside in the beautiful Spring night, the date was cancelled due to the weary weather. Also, for that matter, now that they had a guest sleeping in the next room, the whole week had basically been about helping her settle in, as well as attempts at friendly conversations to reduce tension between the two women. From what Gabriella had to go through for that very first day, she was exhausted from making a good impression in order to win over Sharpay. She honestly didn't know if being this way was the very reason Sharpay continued to be annoyed at her, when she was so warm towards Troy, who in Gabriella's opinion didn't do anything at all.

Oh, well. Tomorrow would be another day to try.

A pillow suddenly came flying into Gabriella's face and knocked her glasses off, giving her a shock. She heard the sound of Troy's laugh and something heavy leaping onto the bed, causing everything to bounce around and shift out of place. Gabriella picked up her glasses and glared at Troy beside her.

"Don't jump on the bed, Troy," she said sternly, her dark brows pointing down as she took care to fold her glasses away. "I'm serious. I don't know if we can afford it if you break this one as well." Troy lowered his head apologetically as he shuffled against his pillow.

"I know, I know," he mumbled nonchalantly, pulling up the blanket over his chest as he laid back leisurely. He pulled a little at his blue pajamas. He sighed contently. "Ironic, isn't it? That we're still reasonably poor?" Gabriella scoffed and playfully hit him with her pillow.

Gabriella and Troy were both intelligent, well-privileged people who were both destined to be successful, yet after only 5 years out of high school, even with successful jobs, they were unexpectedly poorer than they had imagined. It seemed that for the sake of spending time together, they had sacrificed the path of workaholism for the prosphet of marriage and family later on. It was a long way to go, this path, and money and fortune had to take a few years to come to them.

This was in contrast to the Evans twins, who were raised by rich parents and had the opportunity to leave home to study with all the money to spare waiting for them when they came back along with the certainty of never really having to go to work ever. Sharpay, especially, since she was the daughter and promptly wouldn't need to worry about learning the business to take over. For Troy, Sharpay had always been his safety net after striking a friendship through going to the same college for a year together before she was shipped off to Paris. Whenever he was in a crisis, an almighty Evans only needed to make a phonecall for him to be off the hook. Troy was truly thankful for this and treasured her as his close friend, and therefore never took advantage of her resources, making him the one and only person Sharpay trusted.

Unfortunately, his partner was the last person Sharpay would ever warm up to. Gabriella had been her number one rival in high school with her angelic voice and a face to match, taking the limelight away from her numerous times, and numerous times causing intense humiliation, perhaps without even Gabriella herself realizing. But of course to Sharpay, that wasn't the point. The point was Gabriella existed, like an ulcer inside her mouth. Gabriella had become terrified of Sharpay, because whatever way you look at it, Sharpay hated her and she was making it clear. Whether or not she was just having fun at Gabriella's expense as revenge, neither Troy or Gabriella knew, and it was best to leave it at that.

"Did Sharpay go to bed already?" Gabriella asked, placing her book on the side table. Troy nodded, glancing sideways at her.

"She looked really tired today," he told her. Gabriella nodded grimly in agreement.

Strange enough that day, Sharpay had woken at the crack of dawn and disappeared from the house completely, only returning an hour earlier looking as if she had come back from war, having walked a hundred miles, her eyes half-opened, swollen from exhaustion and dragged down by her dark eyebags. She had said nothing as she came into the house as Gabriella and Troy were cleaning up from a late dinner, waiting for her. Sharpay instead collapsed on the sofa and sighed wearily over and over again until Troy suggested she go to bed. When he had innocently asked her where she had gone to, Sharpay replied with supressed frustration: "Just out." She would then go to her room and close the door, the whole process repeating itself every day.

Though respecting her privacy, too many peculiar things began to happen for Troy and Gabriella to forget their curiosity.

Gabriella sat back and crossed her arms, cocking an eyebrow as she stared at the bedsheets in front of her.

"It's weird, isn't it?" she said, glancing over at Troy. "She's been in Paris for more than 5 years, but she doesn't talk about it at all."

It was true. Even more, Troy was curious as to why not only would she not even unconsciously mention anything about her life in Paris, but she didn't have any photographs or even souveniors. In fact, she hadn't talked about anything at all about her life, not about her friends or even her family. The only thing they knew was from Sharpay's mouth, that her parents had relocated and that Ryan was staying in Paris.

But she had hesitated too much for her words to be completely believable. Troy touched his chin thoughtfully and frowned. Perhaps her sudden return to Alburquerque was due to some fallout with her family? Or was it something else?

Roaming through his thoughts, something at the back of his mind suddenly clicked. He sat up.

"You know how she's been going out somewhere, and not telling us where?"

Gabriella nodded.

"The other day when I was driving to work I saw her walking around Perkins Road."

"Perkins Road?" Gabriella repeated incredulously, sitting up as well with a look of astonishment. "Perkins Road in Green Valley? What was she doing there?"

Troy worked for a business company that was around an hour's drive away from home. Whenever he drove to work, he would always pass a small entrance in the Green Valley district to a village-structured roadside that was more like a tiny town that a road. During the usual 5 o'clock traffic jam, Troy would drift his gaze to catch a glimpse of what went on inside, usually an alternation for patience to shouting. That day, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he saw Sharpay, with her golden hair glistening in the sun, walking in and out of somewhere, visible for a mere second. Now that he thought about it, he could still distinguish the figure wearing the exact same blue t-shirt that Sharpay came back wearing. The next day, after Sharpay went out again, he again kept his eyes open and saw her again at the same spot.

It was too much of a coincidence.

However, what was most strange was that no live-in houses were built inside Perkins Road, so she couldn't have been visiting any of her friends. The only reason anyone walked around in Perkins Road was to buy things to supply their business, which could only be inside the road itself. Troy was pretty certain Sharpay wasn't one to have a business inside Perkins Road, going and returning from her outings barehanded, but at the same time, it was more rational that she was visiting someone.

"She had some flowers with her," he said, looking at Gabriella, her expression more puzzled than ever. "She must be visiting someone ever since she came back."

"But why would she be in Perkins Road?" Gabriella said, leaning back and thinking, preening her brown hair as her forehead screwed up into a frown. She shook her head. "It takes that long to go past it by car, and no bus stops or train stations are near that area." An image of Sharpay climbing steadily up a steep hill in her stilletos appeared in Gabriella's mind. Her eyes widened and she clapsed the blanket in her hands, turning to Troy, looking both excited and stunned at the same time. "Do you think she's been walking to Perkins Road every day to see someone?" Troy couldn't answer, lost in his own thoughts.

A lover, maybe? It seemed to make sense, how love could blind a person to do strange things, but Sharpay didn't really seem like the type to walk two hours to visit someone at their business, and doing it in secret as well. Troy couldn't seem to add it up, knowing if it was for romantic love, Sharpay wouldn't look so emotionally drained whenever she came home.

A crash of thunder and a flash of ligtning seared through the sky outside, downing on the rich, humid air surrounding the small town. Some windows open for air to come in, some windows closed to keep the rain out, it seemed the more it rained, the more silent the world became, pulling everyone into their own little universe, they're minds wondering away from the musty gloom. The more it rained, the more moist entered the room, and the more their brains worked to investigate a matter, the more they breathed in the heavy air.

The tedious atmosphere heaved down on the couple, and Gabriella automatically turned off her bedside lamp. Brushing her hair to one side and plaiting it briefly over one of her shoulders, Gabriella readied herself to go to sleep, even though her mind remained alert through the serious discussion. She laid down next to Troy, but the two of them continued to stare ominously at the white ceiling in the dark. Gabriella snuggled down on her spot, a few inches away from Troy, barriered by the aura of their thoughts. She furrowed her dark eyebrows and tapped Troy's shoulder, remembering something.

"The other day, I asked if she wanted to call Ryan and she told me no," Gabriella muttered under her breath. Her voice was low and cautious, as if through the darkness her words would flow into Sharpay's room if she was any louder. "I know one thing for sure, and that I haven't seen her use her phone since she came back." Gabriella turned her head past her shoulder towards Troy, looking concerned. "I don't think she's contacted Paris at all."

So did she have a fight with Ryan, and that was why she suddenly came back? But Troy already knew she was using the home phone to call someone, and to the extent of secretly taking it into the bathroom, there was definitely something Sharpay didn't want them to know. For the past week, she had made about three calls, twice where Troy had eavesdropped on her.

He didn't know why he did it, he wasn't a nosey person. But considering her actions, Troy felt in his duty that he needed to follow her in case it was something very serious and she would need his support. He had done it twice thinking the same thoughts, he didn't know why. It was as if something in his brain purposely made him naively curious.

On listening in on those barely audible, 2 minute long, one-sided conversations, the only thing he seemed to be able to interpret from the skeptic events was that she was probably visiting a woman, name and identity still unknown, and that Sharpay always called to ask when was a good time to visit her. One call was made just after she came to the house, and Troy already knew it was a heartbreaking matter, proof from her hidden tears that echoed softly off the bathroom walls.

There seemed to be far too many different situations, all of which Sharpay kept to herself.

Troy heard Gabriella sigh and toss to face the opposite wall on the bed, no doubt giving up from sleepiness. The perfume of her hair gushed through Troy's nostrils as she flicked her half-made plait onto the other side of her shoulder as she turned her head away from him, sleeping on her back with her hand resting on her silk dress.

After a moment or two, the rain grew heavier and thundered against the ground outside, bringing Troy's head out of the clouds. Blinking a few times at the abrupt moist on his skin, he realized he had been thinking so hard about Sharpay, that he had even forgotten it was raining. Gabriella started snoring softly, her blanket rising and falling with her chest, sleeping peacefully.

Troy sighed to himself; he was thinking too much about this. He slipped down deeper beneath the sheets and adjusted his pillow, closing his eyes and relaxing his entire body, ready to fall asleep.

But he didn't.

He wondered about many things he had kept from his girlfriend, things he had discovered about Sharpay. Maybe it was slightly unreasonable, but he didn't want to cause Gabriella worry until he was certain what it was. He thought about the phone calls in the bathroom. From experience, Troy had learnt that it was better to understand the entire truth rather than judging and summing up what he knew, which wasn't much. He knew if he told Gabriella too much, she would try to approach Sharpay about it, and consequently it would make her shut them out even more.

Troy thought about the pills he found in Sharpay's bag the other day, how they weren't labelled at all, not knowing if they were prescriptions from a doctor for something or if it was something dangerous. Troy didn't dare take anything, knowing Sharpay would know he was snooping around her things, and that would push him away. Troy rested his head on his arm as he gazed at the wall, wondering what Sharpay was thinking right at that moment.

So many questions that he knew wouldn't be answered through thoughts and assumptions.

Sharpay sat on her readymade bed, the sheets still completely intact from that morning, not a single wrinkle or fold or any evidence that she had moved from her spot. Her body was rigid, gleaming dully under the cheap yellow lamp beside her.

CRASH.

The sound of thunder boomed onto the closed window, so hard that it almost felt like within the few microseconds, droplets of rain pushed their way through into the room.

Sharpay had not changed out of her clothes or even had the chance to dry her hair from walking through the rain to get home that day. Usually she would make a big deal of the room, and would insist on changing her outfit to get rid of the "musty" smell the room rubbed off on her. But today after being confronted by Troy and forced to go to her room for some rest, Sharpay remained mournful in her lonely room, hugging her pillow tightly in one arm while the other rested on top of it, holding up her cell phone that she had so desperately avoided answering. Her brown eyes bored across the small screen as her thumb swiftly pressed a few times to reveal her missed calls and one voice message. Her thumb rested on top of 'Open' button, a feeling of sadness and guilt washing through her like the Spring shower as she read and reread the sender's name.

Ryan Evans.

With a shaking hand, she raised the phone to her ear and pressed down on the button.

At once, Ryan's bright, cheerful voice came through, unusually loud with lots of noise in the background with the screeching of seagulls, people talking nautical language, as well as the crashing of waves. Ryan let out a boyish laugh.

"Sharpay, pick up!!" he called out. Sharpay heard a girl's voice scold him in French. "Hey, Sharpay!!" Ryan laughed again. "Why aren't you picking up your phone when I'm actually calling you!! You're not still mad at me for not calling, are you? Well, you shouldn't be! I have alot to tell you. Michelle and I just bought a yacht, and we're thinking of taking it out tomorrow for a spin. Right now, we're in Madrid down by the harbor, and next week I'm taking Michelle to see Rome." The French girl sounded like she was stifling an excited laugh. "I know, Shar, you want to yell at me for throwing away money on a piece of wood, right? Well, we bought it as a celebration gift, actually." Sharpay could hear the happiness that Ryan was trying to control in his voice, making her smile. "Guess what, sis? We're getting married!! I just bought her a ring, and we want to have a Spring wedding back in Paris with you. I could tell you more, but it seems a waste that you'll hear it from a message. Anyway, I was thinking you could help us out a little with the wedding when we come back next month. Michelle says she wants to give you the title of maid of honor, but the truth is we're both clueless!! Call me back as soon as you get this and please tell me you'll help us, or else Michelle will kill me." Ryan chuckled heartily. Michelle muttered something to him, which he replied in French that Sharpay couldn't make out. She heard both of them laugh again. "Call me right away, Shar. Don't let me down!!"

The message ended and the dial tone slammed painfully against Sharpay's eardrums. She groaned and held the phone out in front of her instead after hanging up, rubbing her ear.

She stared again at the screen for a long moment, her finger tempted to press the button to reply to Ryan's call. She stared at it for a very long time.

She loved Ryan, and as any sibling would do, of course they would immediately reply back after being asked to help with their wedding. Sharpay should be feeling proud and happy for Ryan. He had met Michelle in Paris and the two had fallen in love, both sharing the same passion for the sea and travel. Sharpay should call back and give them her blessing and agree to helping to something that was her role to do. After watching her brother grow up with her, he could now enter into a new blissful life he deserved so much with a woman he was truly in love with. Sharpay should call back straight away and fulfill his wish and secure him a happy ending with a beaming smile on her face.

She closed the phone with a snap.

A heavy weight crashed down on top of Sharpay's shoulders, a grave expression on her face. She set the phone aside on the bed, staring guiltily at the ground in front of her feet.

But she wasn't going to answer his call. She was going to let him down.