Chapter 1
"Hey, Mom!" the handsome teen walked into the hospital and up to the nurse's station where he saw his mother sitting behind the desk. She was an ER nurse who worked late on Monday nights.
"Troy, what are you doing here?"
"Does your own son need a reason to visit you at work? Mom, I'm ashamed of you! Jk. I just thought I'd come and see you at work. So, how's your day gone?"
"It's been pretty slow today." Troy noticed his mom looked disappointed.
"But, isn't that kind of a good thing?"
"Yeah, I guess. So, how was your first day as a senior?"
"It was pretty good. Nothing special, though. But we did find out from Ms. Darbus that auditions for the autumn musicale are Friday."
"Are you going to try out again?"
"Gabriella's not, but I think I might. This year the auditions are solo auditions, instead of pairs, so I should have a pretty good shot at getting the lead. The only thing is that I'd probably get the lead with Sharpay, but she's not as bad since I had that talk with her. She softened up a little. I think she might even be turning back into the old Sharpay."
"Well, that's a relief. Why did you two stop hanging out anyways? You always looked so happy together."
"High school tore us apart and we went our separate ways. I wish we wouldn't have, though."
"I miss her hanging around. She always had such a bubbly personality."
"Yeah, and-" just then, they both turned around quickly to face the door. A team of about ten was walking in with a stretcher, while saying things that Troy couldn't understand. Troy looked at the stretcher and noticed a petite body laid out on the white mattress. He felt bad for whoever it was. Then, he moved his eyes up to the girl's face which was badly scraped, but awfully familiar. And then, when he looked up at her hair, he realized something.
"Holy shit!" he realized that he hadn't said that to himself and looked cautiously towards his mother.
"What's wrong, Troy?"
"Mom, that's Sharpay!"
"Are you sure? It looks nothing like her to me."
"Yes, I would know her anywhere. What happened to her?"
"I don't know, they'll come and tell me once she's back in a room. Why don't you go home and I'll call you when we find out something?"
"No, I want to stay." He saw the smile on his mom's face. "What?"
"I knew it." When Troy realized what his mother was implying, he retaliated.
"I don't like her! She's my friend. Sort of. And I need to be with her… for the sake of the musical."
"Whatever you say, Troy."
"I have a girlfriend!" he yelled after her as she rushed back to help. Troy sighed and sat down in one of the green, plastic chairs. As he opened his backpack, looking for his notebook, he spotted a hardcover book. It was last year's yearbook that they had gotten today. He flipped it open to the front page and smiled subconsciously. There she was, in all her glory. She was standing on the stage and posing dramatically, with her arms up in the air and her million-dollar-smile flashing the camera. Next to her picture was a picture of Troy, himself. It was just his basketball picture, nothing compared to Sharpay's. 'She's so beautiful and pretty and-'he stopped himself right in the middle of the sentence and slammed the book shut.
He shouldn't be thinking those things; he had a girlfriend...a sweet, loving girlfriend. 'But she's nothing compared to-' he stopped himself once more as thoughts of the blonde entered his brain. He quickly placed the book back in his backpack and pulled out a library book; trying to read the first few lines was difficult, as thoughts of the blonde entered his mind…
It was nearly an hour later before his mother reappeared into the lobby. She walked up to her son and beckoned for him to follow her back into the actual hospital. They stopped in front of a door and Lisa took a deep breath before opening the door, revealing a small, cramped room that wouldn't be fit for a queen, more or less Sharpay Evans. Troy couldn't help but stare at the almost lifeless body lying on the bed.
His mother noticed and began her explanation. "She was in a bad car accident; for what it says here, she's lucky to be alive. One of her tires caught on water on the highway and it flipped her car several times. She has some minor blows to the head and severe cuts and gashes everywhere. She's still unconscious right now but we think she's going to be alright…"
Troy didn't say anything. He just walked in through the door and stood close beside the bed. When he took her hand, it was freezing cold, so he reached behind him and grabbed the spare blanket, draping it around her carefully. Just about the time that Lisa was going to walk out of the door, Troy spoke.
"Mom. What about the scaring? I know Sharpay well enough to know that she would not want her face covered in scars." Lisa could tell that her son was upset, so she walked up behind him and hugged him.
"The doctor's will do all that they can do, Troy. She has some pretty bad cuts. Now, I have to go and call her family to come up here."
"They're not in town." He felt his mom watching him so he continued. "I heard her tell one of the teachers today that it would do no good to call because they're out of town."
"Oh, I see. Well, I have to go now. You can stay here if you would like." She left the room and shut the door behind her. Troy looked at Sharpay's pale body. It seemed as though she were already gone. She didn't move. It didn't even look like she was breathing. He laid his head down on the mattress and let a single tear slip from his eye. As he felt the tear roll down his cheek, he also felt something else.
Troy looked up to see the blonde's eyelids flutter open. She looked around until her eyes landed on Troy, who was still awkwardly holding her hand. "Troy? What happened?" She attempted to sit up, but she didn't have the strength, so Troy stood up and helped her.
"You were in a pretty bad car accident. My mom is your nurse, and I was up here when they brought you in from the ambulance." Sharpay looked at him and giggled a little.
"What's with the tear, Bolton?" She reached up and wiped away the tear off of his cheek. "Why were you crying?" she stroked his hair back and he felt something inside when she touched his bare skin.
"I thought you were gone, Shar. When they brought you in on that stretcher, I think my heart might have stopped. In one second, I saw our entire collection of old memories pass before my eyes." Sharpay scooted over in the bed and patted the spot next to her, so Troy sat down gently and she laid her head on his chest.
"You don't have to be worried about me Troy. I bet I could make it through anything." She laughed a little and he joined in.
"Why did we let society tear us apart, Shar? We were the best of friends and then we went to hating each other."
"I don't know Troy. It was the status quo. We were told to follow the status quo. But, enough of this topic and onto something better. What's the real reason you stayed here with me, Troy?" he just looked down at his hands.
"I don't know, Shar. I guess you just brought back all of those happy memories and I didn't want them to end. Or maybe there's another reason. Maybe it's because…" Troy trailed off and hoped she didn't ask what he was gong to say.
"What were you going to say, Troy?" Dammit!
"Umm, I was going to say that maybe it's because I'm starting to fall for you." He said the last part really quietly but Sharpay still heard. She placed her hand on his cheek and closed the space between their lips. They held it for a few moments and then pulled away. Troy was in awe.
"Does that answer any of your questions?" Instead of answering her question, Troy leaned toward her and caught her lips in a more passionate kiss than the last one, which lasted until they heard a knock on the door. They pulled apart just as the door flew open and Lisa Bolton walked through. She noticed that the two were awfully close together and they were both blushing.
"Hello. It's been such a long time since I've seen you, Sharpay! I wish it was under different circumstances."
"Yeah, me too. How are you Lisa?" Troy had gotten down off of the bed and Sharpay had scooted back to the middle.
"Oh, I'm fine. How are you feeling?" she got her clipboard out and started jotting down notes, but Troy felt that some of them might not have been work related.
"I have a headache, and some of the cuts hurt, but nothing major. I think I might live." Sharpay giggled and the other two joined in. "I'm just glad that no one else got hurt." She paused for a moment and then continued. "How long do you think it will be until I go back to school?"
"You would be able to go home tomorrow, but since your parents aren't in town, I don't-"Troy quite rudely interrupted.
"Mom, can I talk to you outside, please?" Lisa gave her son a puzzling look and then stepped outside with him.
"What is it, Troy?"
"Mom, can't Shar just come and stay with us? We can't just leave her up at the hospital; who knows when her family is going to be back in town."
"I wish it were that easy, Troy. Only a legal parent or guardian can take medical possession of a minor."
"But aren't you still a legal guardian from when we lived next door to hem a long time ago? She stayed with us then." Lisa got a curious look on her face and walked over to the computer. She typed something in and then her facial expression brightened.
"I am so proud to call you my son. Now, do you think she'll go for that?" Troy nodded and then Lisa continued "And your father and I will be watching you two. You won't be able to get away with making out with your injured girlfriend at our house." Lisa smiled at Troy, who was now bright red. "I'm not stupid, Troy. Now, go break the news to her."
Troy walked back into Sharpay's hospital room and smiled at her. "Hey. I have good news." Troy went back and laid down with her on the bed.
"What?"
"You can come home tomorrow… sort of. If you want, you can come stay with my family until yours gets back."
"That sounds great, Troy!" She kissed him on the cheek lightly and smiled up at him.
"It's getting late, so you should probably get some rest." Troy went to get up but Sharpay grabbed his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Troy… would it be too much to ask if…" Sharpay didn't know if she should say it or not but Troy read her mind.
"I'll stay. I just have to go tell my mom."
"And Troy?...What about Gabriella?" she watched him stand up off of the bed.
"Don't worry about it." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be right back"
He left the room and walked out into the hall to find his mother leaning on the nurse's station right across the hall. "Mom, it's a go."
"Great. I'll schedule release for in the morning. You can stay home from school tomorrow to help me get things ready."
"Oh, that reminds me. Shar was wondering if I could stay tonight. She doesn't like hospitals and she doesn't want to be alone." Lisa smiled at her son.
"That's fine, Troy. Just remember, make it last. Don't rush into it too fast." Troy nodded and walked back through the door.
"It's cool with my mom."
"Okay." Sharpay said with a yawn. She snuggled up to Troy when he laid down beside her. Goodnight, Troy."
"Goodnight, Shar." Troy paused for a minute but then continued. "I love you." Troy felt Sharpay smile against his chest, where her head was laying.
"I love you."