Well, I've been MIA and I apologize. A little bit of writers' block but hopefully I'm back for good now. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, which was a while ago. I hope I still have my readers on this story!

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Things haven't changed much since my incident with Troy. It's been a week and I've been trying my best to ignore him at all costs but it doesn't help when he keeps trying to talk to me every chance he can. Taylor and Kelsi have been great. They're always doing something to try and put a smile on my face. The entire female population of East High has been throwing themselves on Troy since hearing the news that him and Gabriella broke up. Speaking of Gabriella, she's turned into mega bitch. She keeps telling everyone that it was her who broke up with Troy but he says otherwise. Of course, the majority of the school believes what Troy says so that pisses her off even more.

I can tell that Gabriella is planning something. She'll glare at me every time we lock eyes before grinning mischievously and turning back to her friends. I think I'd be stupid to say I'm not scared. I'm already enough of a freak as it is so the only thing Gabriella can do is make it worse. I just have to keep telling myself that there's another year after this one at this school, then I'm done. That doesn't seem to do much. High school sucks.

"So, Shar, let's go to the mall or something after school." Kelsi suggested at lunch time, Taylor sitting next to her. I ripped open my lunch bag and dumped the food onto the table.

"I can't. I have to tutor him." Oh, did I forget to mention that I'm still tutoring Troy? Well, I am. Even though I'm extremely pissed at him, I'm not going to ruin his chances at basketball. It seems that that's the only thing that keeps him sane. I'm sure, next year during our senior year; he's going to get a scholarship for it. I can't risk that for him.

Taylor rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Shar, I'll never understand why you're still putting up with him. After the way he treated you."

"It's because she's a nice person Tay. I can kind of see where she's coming from." Kelsi defended as she took a bite of her salad.

"Sorry Tay, it's just that basketball means the world to him. If I let him fail, he'll be kicked off the team or at least suspended until his grades improve. I'm not going to be selfish and do that to him just to think about my own feelings." I explained and shrugged my shoulders. I glanced around the cafeteria sadly, pushing aside the hurt that I felt just thinking about Troy. "I know what he did to me was wrong and deceitful but I just can't do that." I looked back at Taylor who was smiling sadly. "My parents raised me better than that."

Kelsi and Taylor nodded their heads in understanding before changing the subject. "Speaking of your parents, how's your mom doing? Have you heard from her?" Kelsi asked.

I nodded my head, smiling slightly. "Actually, she called last night. She says she's doing fine. Her mom, or my grandmother, is there for her. She asked how school's going and if everything at home is ok. My dad, on the other hand, is trying to put on a strong mask for Ryan and me but we can see through it. We can tell he's hurting too." I pushed some food around my plate and smiled. "We're getting through it as a family though."

"That's good to hear Shar. That's great to hear." Taylor corrected herself before smiling. She placed a hand on my arm and gently patted it. "Kels and I will always be here for you if you need someone to talk to though." Kelsi nodded her head furiously as she finished chewing and swallowing her food.

"Thanks guys. It's nice to have some support from people other than Ryan." The bell rang and we quickly got up, throwing our trays out on the way. "I'll talk to you guys later." I hugged them quickly before slowly making my way to math class. As you can guess, it was pretty boring. I pretty much just sat there and zoned out as the teacher continued his speech on logarithms. I doodled on my notebook, drawing pictures of hearts and stars, stupid stuff. But hey, anything to pass the time.

I could see Gabriella out of the corner of my eye, glaring at me as if I would die under her gaze. She really needed to get a hold of herself. I'm not threatening to her at all, unless she includes me tutoring Troy as threatening. It's not like we're dating or anything. Just one acquaintance helping out another. Speaking of Troy, I looked to my other side and saw him leaning his head on his hand, his elbow propped up on the desk looking just as bored as me. His pencil was in front of his face and he was watching as he twirled it between his fingers. Tutoring wasn't going to be easy. I sighed. Maybe if he paid attention in this class, he wouldn't do so terrible. I shook my head before turning to face front.

After a few more classes, and me getting thrown into lockers a few times or getting called names under peoples' breath, school was over. I sighed with relief as I quickly left my science class, rushing to my locker to retrieve my math book. We had a huge test on Friday which meant a lot of studying with Troy. He's going to need all the help he can get. I grabbed my jacket before slamming the locker shut and making my way to the library. Troy was already there, math book opened and a pencil and paper ready. I made my way over and set my book on the table as I took the seat across from him. He looked up from his book and smiled softly. "Hey."

"Hi." I didn't even spare him a glance as I opened my math book to the correct page before opening my notebook up to a clean page. I heard him sigh and saw him twiddled his pencil between his thumbs.

"I started the review sheet for the test already. I have a few questions though." He whispered as if sad that I wasn't speaking with him. Why would he get mad over me when he has plenty of other friends, who are popular, to cheer him up?

I nodded my head and held my hand out, watching as he placed his work in it. I read through some of the problems, noticing that most of them were correct. "You're doing pretty well with them. Re-try problems three and eight before continuing. I handed him back the work before starting my own. I could feel his eyes piercing into my head, which was bowed as I looked intently on my paper, before he turned back to his work.

"You're not even going to look at me?" He asked, erasing something he had gotten wrong.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at him and he did the same. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I shook my head and looked down again. "I can't look at you. It hurts to. You told my business to people when they didn't need to know. I trusted you enough to tell you, but once again, I turned out hurt in the end, not you." I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat meaning tears were building up in my eyes.

"I'm sorry Sharpay. What I did was stupid. I felt like I had to do it." Once he said that, I looked up at him and scrunched my eyebrows together, confused. "Do you know what it's like to be popular? To have every single person in the school watch what you do and judge you for it?" I shook my head gently, too shocked to speak, and watched as his face contorted into frustration. "When I helped you out that morning Tom tripped you, the basketball team saw me and got on my ass about it. They told me I shouldn't help you because it would damage everything that I've worked for. How stupid does that sound?" He looked at me and I realized he wanted an answer this time.

"Very." I whispered.

"Exactly. And I was stupid enough to believe them. I was gullible enough to listen to them and hurt you in the process. I told Gabriella those things so she would get off my back about it. I told her because I gave in to peer pressure and I've been beating myself up over it since then. I am truly sorry Sharpay for hurting you the way I have." He finished by giving me a small smile. "I just hope you can forgive me for it."

I looked at him and realized that he was truly sorry. The sincerity shone through his eyes and penetrated into mine. The amount of sincerity scared me. A lot. He really wanted to make amends with me. And not to just reel more information out of me to tear me down, but to really get to know me as a friend. Not only was there sincerity in his eyes, but there was also some hope. You could see the two swirling around in his eyes, begging to forgive him. Begging to forget the past and start over. I looked away from his eyes and just stared at his face. The frustration that was once settling there was replaced by a soft smile, in hopes of me saying I forgive him.

I shook my head, pulling myself away from the story his eyes and face were telling me and frowned. "I don't think I can forgive you Troy. You really betrayed me. My mother leaving us really hurt me. I felt like a piece of me went with her and I told you that. I cried into your shoulder as you held me. You told me everything was going to be ok and rubbed my back. Next thing I know, I'm in the library listening to you tell Gabriella my whole life story. Every comforting word that you said before was mending my heart, but then you said that and broke it again, just like my mom had." Small tears were falling down my cheeks and I glanced up at him. "I just can't forgive you. Not now anyway." I put everything in my bag before putting it on my shoulder. "I have to go now. If you still need help by tomorrow, just catch me tomorrow and ask." I gave him one more look over before turning on my heel and leaving, wiping my cheeks as I did. I heard him calling my name behind me but kept walking. If I had turned around, I would have seen Gabriella watching from behind a book shelf, one eyebrow raised and smirking before leaving the room from another exit.

"Tay? What do I do?" I asked as I lay down on my bed, phone attached to my ear. "He seemed so sincere about it."

"Let me ask you a question Sharpay. Did you believe his apology?"

I thought about the question for a minute before nodding my head. "I did. His eyes told me just how sorry he was. It's like they were talking for him. And when he did apologize, his voice was so soft. I really believe him Taylor. And I'm scared about that."

"Why sweetie? Why are you scared to believe him?"

"I'm scared to open myself up to him again. I'm scared that he's going to just disrespect the trust that I'd give him again. I don't want him to break my heart even more than it already is."

"Shar, listen to me. If you honestly believe him, which you said you did before, then go with it. Listen to your heart sweetie. It knows best."

"Why are you supporting me on this? I thought that you hated him?" I asked, fiddling with the blanket underneath me.

"I hated what he did to you Shar, not him. But I trust you. If you feel that he is telling you the truth, then I believe that he is too. The way you're talking about him Shar seems to prove that he's a good guy on the inside, just confused about what to do. He's right; he has the whole school watching him and ready to judge him when he fails. I think he really likes you Sharpay. And I think you like him back."

I shot up in my bed, eyes wide. "What? Taylor, I don't like him like that if that's what you're getting at."

Taylor giggled. "But you do like him as a friend don't you?"

"Yes." I admitted quietly.

"Then tell him you forgive him. I think he's telling the truth when he says he wants to make things right. I just want you to be happy and I believe you will be when you tell him everything you told me."

"But what about my heart bre-"

"I bet your heart is telling you the same thing I am Sharpay. Just listen to it." And with that, she hung up the phone, leaving me to think about everything she said. I screamed quietly, flinging a pillow over my face. I thought about everything she said before sharply sitting up in bed, eyes wide again. "I forgive him." I whispered and placed a hand on my beating heart. "My heart wants me to forgive him."

Again, I'm sorry for not updating in over a year. I'm ashamed wih myself for not updating sooner. This chapter was really short but had significant value. I promise that the next chapter will be longer and possibly better! Lol. So, for those of you who are still reading this, please review!!