Chapter 11

"Mom! Why are you doing this?! I'm fine. Don't you get that? I wouldn't be home from fucking rehab if I wasn't okay. Please mom!"

"Do not talk to your mother like that, Sharpay," Her father spoke sternly. "We agreed on this together."

"Bull. I can't believe this."

"Sharpay, you'll be able to see your friend Colette as soon as school gets out--"

"--'As long as I keep up my grades and prove that I'm not falling back into my eating disorder'," Sharpay mocked her mother perfectly. "I fucking get it. You don't trust me."

Ryan had been sitting silently in the kitchen as this fight had progressed in the living room.

"Sweetie, please calm down. We do trust you. This isn't about trust. This is about your health and safety." Mrs. Evans spoke gently.

"What does that even mean?! Colette is bad for my health and safety?" Sharpay's breathing was becoming shorter and angry, hot tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Honey, we just don't know much about this girl and how stable she is with her eating disorder. She's used harmful substances in the past and we just don't--"

"Don't what? Don't want me using drugs? Using alcohol? WHY WOULD I? And you know absolutely nothing about Colette. She sure as hell doesn't use, and she cares way more about me than you two seem to." The petite blond was shaking now, her breath becoming even shorter.

"We just want you to be safe and healthy. Please calm down. Please," Mr. Evans pleaded. "This is your life, Sharpay! We're talking about your life. You've already done enough damage to yourself, we don't need anymore."

Sharpay had hit her breaking point. "DO YOU THINK I'M GOING TO KILL MYSELF? I can't even," she sucked in her breath swiftly, "believe that you'd," another breath, "say that." Quickly, Ryan stood up from his chair and shuffled very cautiously to where his sister stood. Her body was breaking down slowly. "I'm healthy!" Breath. "I'm fine! I'm happy." Breath. "Or at least I was," breath," until you told me," breath, "I couldn't even," breath, "see my friend." In a huge rush, Sharpay cried out, "She gets it. She gets everything that I've been through and no one else does. Not even Adam knows as much as she does about what I've been through. Why would you take that away from me?"

Ryan placed his hands on Sharpay's shoulder, pulling her towards him. The quick, short breaths shook her body even more. Her eyes were blurred from how fast the tears were falling. "Come here, Shar," Ryan whispered smoothly, pulling her into a hug.

"Ryan, please tell them I'm okay. I'm good now. Please," She cried, tugging on his shirt.

He held onto her as they sat down gently on the floor, her breathing eventually becoming slower, the tears finally coming to a stop. After what seemed like hours, a light breathing could be heard from Sharpay, a sign that she was asleep.

With fire in his eyes, Ryan stared at his parents who stood above him. "Look what you've done. You really screwed up." The words hung heavily in the air as Ryan hoisted himself into a standing position, and then proceeded to carry his twin sister upstairs to her bed.

-

The room was cold as Sharpay woke up, trying to make sense of where she was. The last thing she could remember was fighting with her parents, and now she was in her room. She sat up in her bed and rubbed her forehead.

"You're awake," Ryan said brightly, setting down the book he was reading, and walking over to sit down next to his sister on her bed. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

The blond girl laid her head back down on her pillow, looking up at her twin brother. "How long was I asleep?"

"About three hours."

The room was silent for a moment as Ryan watched his sister carefully, and she mulled through her thoughts. "Do you think I overreacted?" Sharpay whispered, ashamed and embarrassed.

"Maybe. I think that situation could've been avoided completely, if we're being honest. You have every right to feel the way you do Sharpay. It'll take awhile to get used to being home again."

"I don't get why I can't just go. It's one week."

Ryan pursed his lips, thinking. "Mom and dad were really upset when they found about your eating disorder. They blamed themselves for not noticing something was wrong, just like I did for putting myself in denial." Sharpay grabbed Ryan's hand. "They're scared, Shar. They don't want to lose you."

"Ry, you know I'm better though. I'm doing so well. I'm not planning to jump off the deep end anytime soon. Putting you through that worry and pain hurt me more than you'll ever know," she spoke quietly.

With a broken smile, Ryan looked at his sister with watery eyes. "I know you're better. But, I'm still scared, too. If you won't wait to visit Colette for mom and dad's sake, please, please do it for mine."

"Fine," Sharpay sighed. "I'm just sick of everyone walking on eggshells around me. I've been home three days, and I'm already sick of it," She laughed.

"We'll work on it. Everyone is really happy you're back, sis. We all just care a lot," The blond boy reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. I know."

"So, talk to me. We haven't had much time to catch up since you got back," Ryan said, laying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Sharpay asked, moving her body so that she was laying on her side, propping her head up with her arm so she could look at her brother.

"How are you? How was rehab? What are you thinking about?" Ryan asked quickly.

"Well," Sharpay laughed, "One question at a time. How am I? I'm good, Ry. Really, I am," she said with sincerity gleaming in her eyes. "I just wish Mom and Dad trusted me. I wouldn't be home if I wasn't better. I don't want to be like that again. I never want to feel that bad again."

Ryan patted her hand and smiled brightly at his twin. "I'm glad to hear it. So, rehab. Adam. Colette. I wanna hear it."

"Rehab... What to say? Emotional. I'd rather not talk about that right now. Colette, though, she's great. Ry, I really think you'd like her. She has a little bit of a temper, but she's also one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. She understands what I've been through, and she's been battling her disorder for a lot longer than me. It was like having a sister."

"Sounds nice. And Adam?" Ryan questioned with curiosity.

A bright pink creeped it's way onto Sharpay's cheeks. "I really like him, Ry."

"How come?" He sat up pretzel-legged and rested his head on the heel of his palm. "Why is he so great?"

"Are you sure I can talk to you? I don't want to freak you out with the whole... disorder side to things."

Ryan's face fell slightly. "Sharpay, we're twins. We're best friends. We've always been able to talk about anything. Sure, there have been a few bumps in the road, but we've gotta trust each other and feel comfortable. So, yes. Talk to me."

"Well, Colette's disorder was almost strictly anorexia. Which, you know, I dealt with, too. But, Adam's was much more about bulimia. And most of the people at rehab were there for anorexia. I, as you know, was an anorexic with bulimic tendencies. So, having Adam there really helped. He knew what I was dealing with when I felt like I had to purge. It wasn't just about not wanting to eat. It was about... wanting to gorge on everything in sight and then force myself to throw it up. But that's just one part of it," Sharpay said slowly, seeing Ryan's blank face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, Shar. It's just hard to think that you went through that all. Just continue," He urged her.

"Well, he's cute. That's a given. He's also really protective. And caring. If I was having a bad day he would just hug me and tell me it'd be alright. He also told me that I was one of the biggest reasons he was getting better. Which really turned around my attitude toward treatment. He helped me realize that there is so much more to live for than whether or not I'm thin enough, or pretty enough, or the best. Because I can be any of those things. I am those things."

"He sounds great, sis. What about Zeke though?"

Sharpay huffed and turned so she was flat on her back, draping an arm over her eyes. Suddenly, she bolted upright. "Do you think I'm a bitch? Did I break Zeke's heart? Does he hate me? Gosh, he probably thinks I'm a giant tease. Ryan, I just I really like Adam and I like Zeke, but not in the--"

"Sharpay!"

The blond girl stopped her rant and looked at her brother.

"Just, calm down. You're getting too worked up," He said with a smile and small laugh.

"I need a guy's opinion on this. Come on, Ry!"

"Okay. Only if we can chat about it over ice cream."

"I thought you'd never ask." Sharpay smiled widely and linked arms with her brother as they exited her room.

A/N: Okay this is SO ridiculously short, but you guys.. I miss writing this so much. And I just really wanted to post something. I got a review yesterday from a girl named Aly and it totally just inspired me to start writing again. I've been dealing with so much this year, and I've also had no time and it's been really hard to even have a minute to just relax. But, just know I still love this story and I still want to finish it. So hang in there with me. Hopefully I can get another chapter sometime soon. I promise (hopefully! :/) that it won't take 9 months this time. Review, please. Tell me about your life and what you want to see in this story. I love you guys. I hope I still have some readers.. :( I will post review replies next time so leave me something good to respond to :)