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Like Catching Lightning
Chapter 1: Horrible, Fiery Deaths

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There were several things in life that made Troy Bolton want to grab someone and throw them off the top of the Empire State Building in New York City and praying that they died a horrible, fiery death when they reached the bottom. But at the very top of his list were two people:

Chad Danforth and Sharpay Evans-Danforth,

His so-called 'best friends'.

They seemed to only live to drive him insane and make him mad. Like the time when he proposed to Gabriella on her 23rd birthday a mere eight months ago.

Flashback

"So will you, Gabriella Montez, marry me, Troy Bolton, the freaky callback boy who loves you to bits?" Troy asked with a nervous look on his face.

Gabriella looked at him, a tear in her eye. She had dreamt of this moment since forever and now it was finally happening. She smiled a huge smile that practically lit up the entire room in his eyes and nodded her head. "Yes Troy, I will marry you,"

An enormous grin washed over Troy's adorable features. He went into the pocket of his black blazer and pulled out the small, black velvet box. He flipped it open, ready to pull out the beautiful ring and slip it on her finger. But when he looked in the box, there was nothing there.

"What the…" Troy dug back into his pocket hoping to find the ring and praying that it had fallen out by mistake.

But unfortunately, that was not the case. He searched his other pocket and then his pant pockets and no such luck.

"Troy?" Gabriella looked at him. "Where's the ring?"

Gabriella wasn't exactly mad. She was a little disillusioned. Who wouldn't? when someone proposes, you're expected to get a ring with it or at least a little speech saying why there isn't a ring in the box.

Troy took her hands and kissed them saying, "Baby, I'm so sorry! I swear I had the ring in the box in my jacket pocket! I swear it was there this afternoon! I even made sure it was there before we got to the hotel!"

"Troy…"

"No, Brie, I'm really sorry. This was supposed to be perfect. ARG!" Troy punched the air obviously pissed out of his skull.

Before either of them could say anything, there was a frantic knock followed by yelling.

"I HOPE HE HASN'T GIVEN IT TO HER!" said a voice from the other side.

"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! UGH! WHY DID I MARRY YOU?" said the other voice.

The expression on Troy's face went from upset to incredibly mad in a nanosecond. He walked over to the door, knowing exactly who the people were. He opened the door of the suite and pulled the two people in by the hand, wanting to inflict excruciating pain on each of them.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS MY RING?" Troy bellowed at the two who immediately knew they were in deep shit because of the fury in Troy's eyes.

"Troy, please don't be mad! We can explain!" said Sharpay.

"Yeah! See, I told Shar that you were going to propose to Gabriella today on her birthday and she really wanted to see the ring. So, I went in your pocket and we were looking at while she tried it on and then we got thirsty so we went to get water in the kitchen and it accidentally fell down the drain," Chad explained in a messy heap of words.

"WHAT THE HELL, CHAD! YOU KNEW I WAS PROPOSING TODAY! COULDN'T YOU JUST WAIT UNTIL AFTER WHEN IT WAS SAFELY ON GABRIELLA'S FINGER?" Troy shouted.

"We're really sorry!" Sharpay said. "Especially to you, Gabi," she said, looking at her best friend. Gabriella watched the scene, trying really hard to stifle a laugh.

"You guys are idiots!" Troy said rolling his eyes.

End of Flashback

Talk about ruining a proposal. Psh.

So, before Troy could kill them, it turned out that they had gone out to get the same exact ring before heading to the hotel and getting the ring to Troy. And although they had gotten him the ring, he still wanted to push them off the Empire State Building.

But he was too lazy to go all the way to New York City from LA to do so. Plus, Gabriella had calmed him down with more than just a kiss…

Today, Chad and Sharpay seemed to be enjoying torturing the hell out of Troy even more than usual. Today on the day when he prayed that they would just do their designated jobs as best man and maid of honor, they started to screw things up.

"Did you find her?" asked a panicky Troy into his phone. "I swear I will kill the two of you when you get back here. Neither of you will live to see another day!"

Her? They lost a person? Seriously?!?

Actually yes, they did. They lost none other than the bride herself, Miss Gabriella Montez soon-to-be Bolton.

But how the hell could you lose a person? That's the inexplicable part. Gabriella and Sharpay were sharing a room at Lava Springs, which is where they were staying and in the middle of the night, Sharpay had called Chad over to help make sure that Gabriella wouldn't leave the room in her nervousness. What help did that do? Nothing. Sharpay Evans-Danforth and Chad Danforth sleep like rocks when they're together and didn't notice the bride slip out of the room at the in the early hours of the morning.

And guess what?

It was noon and the wedding was set to start in two hours and there was no bride.

"No, Troy," answered Sharpay finally. "And we will find her. And no you're not going to kill us because you can't live without us."

"Of course I can live without you… arg! I can't even say it! I still can't believe that you lost my fiancée," Troy was beyond upset. "I swear to you that if you don't find her you will die a horrible, fiery death and I will definitely make the effort to get the two of you to the Empire State Building and push your asses off. You cause nothing but fucking turmoil in my life!"

"Stop whining! Zeke, Jason, and Ryan are there with you to keep you company. Let them distract you and we'll have the Gabster back before you know it!" said a relaxed Chad.

"Yes, Troy! Calm your fucking nerves before 'Bitch Sharpay' comes out and really makes your wedding day a living hell," threatened the blonde.

"As if she isn't out already," Troy rolled his eyes. "Listen, find my fiancée and bring her back in one piece. I'll kick your asses later," he hung up his phone and plopped down on the bed.

"No luck, I see," said Zeke plopping down next to him.

"I'm going to shoot them down! How the fuck can they not notice her leave the room? They are the worst best friends ever!"

"Chill Troy, I'm sure she's fine and maybe just needed a little time to think," Zeke reassured him. "She'll meet you at the altar, don't worry."

"I hope so, man."

"Where the hell could she be?" Chad whined. "We've looked everywhere!"

"I have no idea. BUT THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Sharpay said slapping his arm.

"How is it my fault?" Chad said with indignation.

"BECAUSE IF YOUR CHEST WEREN'T SO COMFY I WOULD'VE WOKEN UP!" She shouted at him.

Chad and Sharpay were they silliest couple ever. They argued about pointless things… like how comfy Chad's chest is, for example.

"Well…" Chad didn't even know what to answer to that so he changed the subject. "We have to find her, Shar. If she's not at that altar in two hours in some shape or form, Troy's going to shoot us six feet into our grave.

"Don't you think I know that?" She snapped. "And there is no way Troy is getting anywhere near me and ruining this dress!"

Sharpay's maid-of-honor dress was a strapless, knee-length, coral dress with gold peep-toe heels and gold accessories consisting of chandelier earrings and a simple gold necklace. Chad had a black tux with a white shirt underneath and a coral vest along with a gold tie.

As the two continued driving through the streets of Albuquerque, Sharpay's phone vibrated on her lap. She immediately picked up the blinged out Sidekick and saw that it was a text message from Gabriella.

"OH MY GOSH! It's her!" Sharpay quickly flipped the screen up to read the text message.

'Meet me at the church. I'll be dressed and everything. Tell Troy not to worry because I'm sure you've worked him up into a puddle of mush. You two are the worst best friends ever, but ily. xo Gab. P.S: Don't ask where I was because I won't tell you. Love you bestie ;D.'

"What does it say?" Chad asked.

"She said to just meet her at the church and tell Troy not to worry," Sharpay said flipping her phone closed.

"But did she say where she was?

"She wouldn't tell me."

"Babe, you are so useless," Chad said, now making a U-Turn to get back to the church.

Sharpay scoffed and slapped his arm, "Look who's talking, asshole."

"I love you," Chad said sneaking a kiss from her lips before she could complain.

"Love you, too, asshole."