Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or it's characters. But goodness how the plot would differ if I did!

This is gonna be a fluffy one. :)

Lights Off

Chapter One: Don't Need Candles and Cake...

An eerie silence.

Broken only by the sounds of her cracking her knuckles and another popping her gum, as they all patiently awaited my answer.

I stare at Emma- clad in her designer jeans and sparkling pink top, and blink as if in response. This is the hardest question I've ever had to answer.

"You do."

She smiles, her Burts Bees coated lips pulling upward to reveal a blinding white set of teeth, as if my blink was the key answer to all.

"Of course I do," I finally agree with her, nodding for her benefit. She smirks at me then, and then at Lea and Jackie. They raise their eyebrows back in response and all three of them giggle like they're speaking to each other in some hidden, wordless language that only the three of them understand. My fellow blonde friend turns her attention fully back on me again after that, and crosses her arms satisfactory like she knew all along.

"I've known him my whole life." I continue, knowing I'm about to crush their hopes of what they thought I meant before I spoke again, but not really caring in the least.

"He's my best friend." I think about what I've said for a moment before slowly adding "...Or, was.."

She narrows her eyes into slits after that, comprehending all little that I've said. It takes her a moment to respond.

"That's not what I meant, Shar."

I know that. I know what she really meant and I know what she wants me to say. But what I don't know is my own honest answer. Because it'd be so easy to just say "yes, I'm completely in love with him" but then what? Then what happens? He still goes on avoiding me anyway. That's what. It wouldn't change how he's been acting for the last week. And I can't have that. I just can't. And I don't even know how I feel towards him anyway. I know my friends want me to go on and tell them of this monster crush I've had on him forever and add all the sappy and romantic details. But I can't. Because there is no long history of fluffy tales behind it. And this isn't one of those stories where I've been hiding these huge feelings for the guy that's been my best friend for years now and am finally coming out with it. So if you're looking for something like that, this isn't the story for you. I'm here to tell you point blank that it is so not like that at all.

But if you're looking to read a story about a girl who let a very stupid thing happen and is now so confused about her feelings and life that therapy would do her good, than lucky you- you've come to the right place.

Do you love him?

Four short syllable words that easily require a "yes" or "no" answer. Yes, I love him to death. Of course, he means the world to me. He is my world. So yeah, I could easily answer that question. But had Emma phrased it differently, I wouldn't have an answer at all.

Are you IN love with him? That's what she meant. I know that's what she meant. And that's the question I just can't answer. Not because I don't want to exactly, but because I don't know. It hasn't even been that long anyway since all this chaos started. It was freaking last Friday for sobbing out loud. But still...had she asked me this then I probably would've laughed and said "no way, he's like my brother!" and meant it. But it's amazing how life altering a week can be, because now I'm not so sure.

So I just stare at her, and then at Jackie, and then at Lea, unwilling to answer. As if I'd gone completely mute. And when I don't answer, she sighs- making her disappointment in my lack of response clear, and gently closes my locker door for me.

"Think about it, Sharpay."

And then she's gone- striding down the long hallway with Lea and Jackie following closely behind, and I'm left thinking what the hell? When did they become the "Emmpettes?"

I bite my lip and try to shake the episode off as I trail away from the row of lockers and off to my next class. Usually my friends never leave me like that. Usually, they're the ones following me around.

Let me take you back about a week ago...

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"Troy!"

The shaggy haired brunette stopped in his tracks and turned back to find her running down the corridor as fast as her Christian Louboutins would allow. He smiled at the sight of her.

"Slow down before you trip and fall on your face, Cam" he chuckled, swinging an arm around her shoulders as she stumbled on over to him. Cam was the name of the clumsy female lead on Good Luck Chuck.

"Shut up, I'm still breaking them in," she replied in reference to her new shoes that her father gave her last week as a reward for finally passing her almost-a-year-overdue driving test. Troy Bolton just laughed again and shook his head.

"Aren't they uncomfortable?" he questioned.

"Beauty is pain, Bolton." His blonde companion replied with a shrug beneath his arm as he walked with her to their first period class. He sighed in disbelief.

"Women," he mumbled as they entered Darbus's literature class together. She shook off his arm from her shoulders as they approached their seats.

"Are what you live for," she finished his remark with a smirk, planting herself atop his desk and crossing her legs in the process as more students came filing into the room. Luckily Darbus wasn't anywhere in sight yet, so Sharpay could still claim her territory on top of her best friend's desk for a little while longer before the older woman came in and yelled at her like she usually did for "taking advantage of school property."

"With all due respect, Ms. Darbus, it's just a desk." She'd argued plenty of times. "And believe me, Troy doesn't mind."

"I mind." Darbus had replied in her thick accent from wherever she descended from, glaring at the teenager over the top of her wire rimmed glasses. "So if you would, please take a seat, Ms. Evans- your OWN."

Some people just didn't know how to cooperate.

"So," Sharpay said, looking down at Troy as he slid into the chair part of the desk like a normal person. "What should we do today?"

"As long as you don't try and whisk me off to some surprise party," the now 17 year old replied, "I'm open to anything."

"Oh comeon!" Sharpay exclaimed. He'd told her thousands of times to not plan some kind of weird surprise party or even just a normal party for him, up until this point. Today was his seventeenth birthday and instead of wanting to "live it up" like a lot of other teenagers, his idea of fun was sitting around at home bored with nothing to do.

"Why don't you ever want to have any fun?" his best friend questioned in disapproval of his lame choices. He'd been like this for as long as she could remember. Counting back every year up until now, they'd spent his last several birthdays at one of their houses watching horror films. It was this weird tradition that Sharpay had secretly hated ever since his fifteenth- the year they entered high school, and the year she started to take an interest in partying. Whenever it was hers and her twin brother Ryan's birthday, their parents would always throw this huge extravagant bash for them at their house...or more like mansion.

But oh no, not Troy, who always hadthat option because Sharpay was always more than ready and willing to jump right into planning for a huge party for him and inviting everyone they knew, but he always declined the offer. Last year, when she'd gone on with the surprise party without mentioning to him, he'd walked in, saw everyone yell "surprise!" and it took all he had to not turn around and walk right out. He told Sharpay later that although he appreciated all the effort, that she'd better never ever do it again and he had held her down in a tickle fit until she swore and promised that she wouldn't.

The weirdest thing about all of this though was not that he didn't enjoy partying, it was that his birthday was just about the only day of the year that he didn't enjoy partying, and no one could really understand why. Not even Sharpay- the person who thought she knew just about every last thing about him.

For instance, at last year's end of the year bash thrown at none other than The Evans Twins family owned country club, Troy had drank himself so sick he could barely sit up without feeling the need to puke the next morning. That had been the first time he'd had more than a sip of alcohol, and it was pretty safe to say he'd been taking it easy ever since. Especially since his parents had found out from Sharpay's parents, who had found out when they found their daughter dragging him across the front lawn at Lava Springs, and he'd been grounded for months. Sharpay had been grounded for a while too since she'd refused to tell her parents where the alcohol came from in the first place.

Anyway, now that it was that time of year again for Troy, the last thing Sharpay wanted to do was sit in either hers or his bedroom and watch Quarantine, some gory bloody film he'd informed her of renting yesterday. In fact, she'd almost went back on her promise to him last week and actually thought about throwing him a last minute surprise party, but just as she'd shoved a phone in Ryan's face and told him to call everyone they knew and invite them to the party while she figured out what kind of cake to order and how big it should be, she had an instant flashback of last year when he'd forced her to promise she wouldn't ever surprise him with something like that ever again, and shuddered. Troy was seriously the only person who knew of all her ticklish spots, and when he used his knowledge to his advantage, it was serious and flat out torture for her.

"Sharpay, don't you want me to be happy on my birthday?" Troy's voice cut into her thoughts. She rolled her eyes at him and sighed, hating it whenever he started acting like a little boy because she knew that he knew that whenever he did that it would make her give in to doing whatever he wanted. With anyone else at his age or older it would've been creepy, but with him it was actually kind of cute.

And one hell of a lot annoying.

"Yes, Troy." The blonde huffed. He smirked in satisfaction.

"Then if the thing that would make me happy is me coming over so we can watch a couple movies together, so be it."

Sharpay slapped a hand over her forehead and ran it down her face before crossing her arms.

"Fine, whatever you say."

The bell rang then, signalling the start of first period and Ms. Darbus trolloped in on cue.

"Sharpay, how many times must I tell you to stop sitting on the tables?!" the elder woman snapped, glaring at the small teen, who then instantly hopped off the desk in no mood to argue with her about it today.

"Well, good morning to you too, Ms. Darbus." She muttered sarcastically, sliding into her own usual seat in front of Troy.

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"So have you and Troy figured out what you're gonna do tonight for his birthday?" Ryan asked, trailing alongside his sister as they strolled into the cafeteria- Sharpay with this wide catwalk type strut, acting as if she owned the place as she attracted the attention of many of the male specimens she walked by. Pretending she didn't notice the young men drooling all over her, or the glaring/eye-rolling girlfriends of half the guys, she snorted in response to her brother.

"The usual," she answered as the Sharpettes came running up to greet their master.

"The lunch special today is Meatball Marinara on whole wheat." Jackie informed her, as this was their daily routine. The glamorous 16 year old scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Ew. What is this, Subway?" she shook her head. "Just get me a salad, please."

Jackie nodded and scurried off with Emma and Lea to go fetch their "leader" her lunch. Ryan waited until they were gone to continue his and his twins' past conversation.

"The usual, as in...?"

Sharpay shrugged. "His house. Movies. Boring. Yawn."

"I really think you should be more supportive of what he wants, Shar." Ryan said as they walked over to the lunch line together. Usually Sharpay would just go off and find Troy at their usual table, but since she was in mid conversation with Ryan, she followed him over to the lunch line even though her posse was already getting her lunch for her.

"Maybe there's a reason he doesn't like having huge parties for himself."

"Which would be what?" the younger twin asked as Ryan pitched up a plastic red tray for himself. He shrugged.

"Maybe he wants to spend time with just you." He suggested. Sharpay tsk-ed.

"I spend time with him all the time. Just the two of us," she pointed out. "What should make today any different?"

"Gee I don't know, it's not like it's his birthdayor anything!" Ryan said sarcastically, the glare Sharpay shot at him then going unnoticed by him. But he shook his head as he began helping himself to the food variations in front of him.

"Look, maybe quality time or whatever crap he likes doing with you means more to him on his birthday than on regular days. I don't know. But whatever it is, you should just go with it and save the partying for some other occasion," he said. "Like our birthday."

"Well, that's what I am doing, Ryan." Sharpay snapped with an eye roll in his general direction as he handed the lunch lady money for his order.

"Yeah, but you're all pissed about it." The blue eyed boy pointed out after thanking the lunch lady and exiting the line fully.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am- urgh! You know what Ryan?" Sharpay sighed, eyeing Troy from across the cafeteria where he was sitting with Chad, Jason, Martha, Kelsi, and Taylor like always. "Bye."

"Where are you going?" Ryan called after her as she started off towards them.

"To my table?" she answered with a hint of "duh" in her voice as she turned back around to face him. Ryan blinked at her.

"It's my table too?" he answered back in confusion as he also usually sat with them, in addition to the Sharpettes.

"Well come on then?"

"Why'd you say bye?"

"'Cause I felt like it?"

Ryan rolled his eyes and followed after her.

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"Hey guys," Sharpay greeted the group of six as Chad scooted over so there would be room between himself and Troy for her. Ryan went to go sit next to Kelsi, greeting his girlfriend since last year with a kiss.

Everyone nodded and muttered back distracted "hey's" as they were all preoccupied with their food. Well, that was the reason for most of them anyways. Taylor flat out hated Sharpay and didn't bother to acknowledge her appearance what so ever. Sharpay had never really done anything personal to her, but just how conceited she was bothered her. Basically, to Taylor, Sharpay Evans was just a cocky bimbo that took advantage of a lot of people. For example, those girls Lea, Jackie, and Emma. And Taylor didn't like that one bit. And Sharpay knew exactly what the other girl thought of her, but she really didn't care. She had friends and happy life. She didn't need Taylor McKessie's approval- even if she was just about the most important person on campus academically. (Student Body President, Chem Club President, head of the yearbook committee, blah blah blah.) Big freaking woop.

But, since the two of them had basically the same friends, they tolerated each other anyways.

"Here's your salad, Sharpay." Lea said, appearing from behind Sharpay and handing her salad to her. Taylor resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Seriously, Lea along with those other two needed to have some more dignity and quit sucking up to this girl. Other than the fact that her family was loaded, lived in a 9000 acre square foot mansion, and she admittedly was gorgeous, what was so special about her anyways? Ryan had all of that too but he was nothing like her.

"Thanks."

Well, at least she sometimes had manners.

"So whose all going to the bonfire tonight?" Martha asked the group as the Sharpettes slid in at the end of the table. Their main purpose of this group was to serve Sharpay, but they all got along with everyone else as well.

"Me." Chad and Jason responded in unison. There was going to be a bonfire tonight at this lake and a lot of people were going. Kelsi nodded.

"Ry and I are going, too."

"Ditto!" Taylor announced.

Sharpay's posse all looked over at Sharpay as if asking for permission to go. Her face brightened up at the mention of the bonfire, as she'd seemed to have forgotten about it, and she turned to Troy.

"Hey that'd be the perfect way to celebrate your big day!" she told him enthusiastically. "We should go."

Troy shrugged. "I don't know. Nah. You guys go on without me," he directed the last part of his response at everyone but Sharpay.

"You sure? I think it'll be fun." Jason said, eyeing his friend. Something was seriously up with him today. He didn't seem to want to do anything but sit around at home.

"I'm good. I think I'm just gonna stay home tonight." Troy responded, one hundred percent sure that was what he wanted to do. He looked carefully at Sharpay as he said this, noticing how the hopeful grin fell from her face the moment he said it, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty.

But it still wasn't enough to make him go.

"Come on Troy, what better way than to spend your birthday on a lake with a pit of burning fire in the sand with all your friends?" Kelsi persuaded with a tiny smile.

Alone with my best friend, Troy thought, but not wanting to make everyone else feel bad, he just shrugged instead.

"Why don't you wanna go? Are you like, sick?" Martha asked him. He shook his head no but didn't say anything else. Everyone was silent for a moment before Martha broke it again.

"What about you? Are you guys going?" She asked, looking down the table at Lea, Emma, and Jackie who all shrugged.

"Maybe. Probably." Emma supplied. Martha nodded.

"Cool. Sharpay, are you?"

All eyes were focused on Sharpay then, including Taylor's even. It took her a moment to respond. She glanced first at Troy, and then at Ryan, wondering why she even had to consider this option but not being able to help it. The look in Ryan's eyes said remember what we just talked about. And the look in Troy's was unexplainable. She knew what they two wanted her to say though.

She smiled after a while, finally coming to a decision. Sure, the bonfire would be fun since it would be with all her friends. All but one- the most important one of all. And although she was kind of sad Troy was refusing to go, she knew that she wouldn't have fun without him anyways, so what would be the point?

"Eh. I think I'm just hang out with the birthday boy here instead," she told Martha, who nodded.

"Oh."

Troy smiled at her, and so did Ryan, and she half smiled back at Troy, wondering if Ryan was right about him just wanting to spend time with her tonight and if so, well, that was just the sweetest thing ever, and how in the world would she have chosen a silly little bonfire over him anyways?

Everyone else secretly had to of thought that was the reason Troy wanted to stay home tonight too, since they didn't offer to stay and hang out with him/them. Either that or they just really wanted to go to the bonfire, even though it wasTroy's birthday. But nah, they wouldn't be that selfish.

They knew how close Troy and Sharpay were, and who would they be to interfere with that? Even Taylor knew it and wasn't about to stand in the way of it. But mostly because she cared about Troy's happiness and since being best friends with Sharpay made him so happy, then...whatever, right?

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"Can I ask you a question and you'll give the most honest answer you've ever given anyone?" Sharpay asked Troy later that night. They were laying in his room, on his bed, as he'd wished and were just getting ready to start Quarantine. They had the DVD set up already and everything.

"What?" Troy asked with a smile, absent mindfully twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

"How come, not only did you not want a party that I would've been more than happy to throw for you, but you also didn't wanna go to the bonfire?"

Troy shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I just wanted to be at home tonight."

"Well, I know that." Sharpay said, sitting up. He sat up also.

"But just out of curiosity, why?"

"I wanted to spend my birthday with you. Just you. Didn't you already know that?" he asked her carefully. She smiled.

So, Ryan was right. She thought, wanting to laugh because that didn't happen very often.

"Well, not exactly. But had you said that before I would've found you more than adorable and agreed immediately instead of hassling you about it so much." Sharpay told him, punching him lightly in the arm. Troy laughed.

"Sorry, I thought you knew."

"Whatever," Sharpay said. "But just so were clear, was that the only reason or do you also just not like having a whole bunch of attention on you on your birthday?"

"What makes you say that?" Troy wondered with a frown.

"Obviously the fact that you only wanna be with me and none of your other friends and for some reason you hate having parties, Bolton," his friend stated matter-of-factly.

"Not all of us can just randomly decide to throw gigantic parties like you all the time, Shar." He told her.

"Why not?" she wanted to know.

"Well, if you wanna rank us on the rich scale from one to ten. I'm about a four and you're about twenty million."

"I would've helped you throw your party and no, I'm more like an 8." Sharpay said. She knew her family had a lot of money- everyone knew, and she generally didn't care when other people started talking about it, but whenever Troy did, it made her uncomfortable.

"Yeah, whatever Shar." Troy said with a light scoff, leaning back against the headboard of the bed. They sat in silence for a few moments, each deep in thought of what they'd just talked about.

"But really Troy," Sharpay said after a little while. "I would've been more than happy to help if you'd wanted one."

"Well, I didn't Sharpay. I just didn't want one, why is that so hard to believe?" Troy snapped. "And by 'help' I know you mean pay for everything, which I would never let you do anyway."

"It wouldn't have been a problem-"

"Stop. Just drop it." Troy cut her off, grabbing the remote on his bedside table. Keeping his eyes glued on the TV screen on the other side of the room, he pushed the 'play' button, knowing Sharpay was looking at him but refusing to meet her gaze.

It didn't take that long into the movie, maybe about thirty seconds- give or take ten, before Sharpay reached over and grabbed the remote from his hand, pausing the movie. He gave a short sigh but still didn't look at her.

"What, are you mad at me now?" she asked him. He didn't reply- just stayed frozen in still, gazing at the equally frozen picture on the screen.

"Troy?" Sharpay asked slowly. Everything about him remained unmoving. She bit her lip, knowing she wouldn't be able to handle it if he continued giving her the silent treatment.

"Please talk to me."

And finally, he turned to her, desperation written all over his face.

"My mom lost her job, okay?! So now it's just my dad working on a stupid teacher's salary, and I'm starting a part time job tomorrow."

Sharpay felt her jaw drop open, and her eyes bulge in a mixture of shock and disbelief. But this certainly explained why he was being so bitter while on the topic of money just a short little while ago. It took her a minute to find her words.

"Why did she lose it?" she asked slowly in a barely audible whisper. Troy ran a hand through his already disheveled hair- something he always did when he was either tired, stressed, gathering his thoughts, or all three, Sharpay knew.

"Look around you, Sharpay." He snapped at her angrily, "while you're living it up with all the money in the world, the rest of us are suffering an economic crisis."

For some reason, his words stung. Hard. And suddenly, she too, was angry.

"Living it up? What are you saying- that I take all I have for granted or something?"

"Basically." Troy grumbled, and she glared at him, clearly offended. He shook his head. "Don't look at me like that. You know you're spoiled."

"It's not up to me how much my parents make, Troy! I can't help it, alright? Good God! I'm sorry they're successful, but none of it's because of me!"

"Well I just think it's kind of ridiculous how easily you're willing to just throw some of it away on stupid things like parties."

"Stupid?! I just was willing to do something nice for you! Why? Maybe because I care about you, did you ever think of that?" Sharpay exclaimed. "Why are you being like this?"

Without bothering to reply to her question..er..demand, Troy instead just reached for the remote again and pushed 'play'.

Furiously, Sharpay leapt off the bed with a disgusted scoff and started for the door since obviously he wasn't in the talking mood. Troy looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Clearly, you need to cool yourself off a bit. So I'm gonna go." She said snappily, grabbing the closed bedroom door handle.

"Call me when you're ready to talk." She finished, swinging the door open and letting herself out, slamming the door shut behind her. Troy looked back and forth from the now closed door to the TV screen, wondering what he should do. It only took about five seconds- maybe ten, for him to realize that he was making a huge mistake.

He quickly swung his legs over the side of the bed and dashed for the door, expecting Sharpay to already be downstairs by now. But a surprise came to him when he pulled the door open, fully ready to sprint down the hallway and go chasing after her, when he saw her standing right outside his bedroom with her arms casually crossed over her chest. He stared at her for a moment, taken aback, and watched as a smirk appeared on her glossy pink lips.

"Took you long enough," she spoke through her smirk. He gave her a small smile, his hand still resting on the doorknob.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I acted like a total jerk."

"I'd say so," she agreed with him for the first time in several minutes. They both said nothing for a moment. "But I'm sorry that you think I'm just a spoiled brat."

"I didn't say brat," Troy said. "Just kinda spoiled."

"Whatever." Sharpay shrugged, and again, they just stared at each other in silence after that for a little while.

"So..are we good now?" Troy asked her then. She smiled.

"Well even though your apology was pretty half-ass, I guess we're okay. But I'm only letting you off easy today 'cause it's your birthday." She said, and then held her arms open. "Now get over here before I change my mind."

With a sigh of relief, he let his hand drop from the doorknob and he obediently walked a little bit forward so he was close enough to her and circled his arms around her in a tight embrace. Her arms instantly went around his neck and she returned the hug.

"I love you, T. Even if me getting up from a very warm and comfortable position and making you think I'm leaving is what it'll take for you to not be mad anymore," she told him. He chuckled lightly.

"Love you too, best."

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"I know we decided to drop the subject and move on, but I have one more question." Sharpay said a little while later after they re-claimed their positions on his comfy bed and had started the movie up again.

"Oh, here we go." Troy laughed, pausing the movie he had been trying so very hard to watch this whole time. He knew for a fact Sharpay hadn't been paying attention to the movie at all for the last few minutes- she'd just been distractedly playing with his fingers as his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. And now here she was, interrupting Quarantine yet again. He didn't really mind though. Not that much, anyways. Maybe he'd just watch it tomorrow after work if all she wanted to do tonight was talk.

"You said you got a part time job, right?" she asked him. He nodded, and she didn't want to seem nosy or whatever, because she was just genuinley curious..after all, they really never hid things from each other, and she also couldn't help but wonder how long it had taken for him to tell her that Lucy lost her job and that he had to get one. But she could also understand why he put off telling her...it was kind of a touchy subject, but still. They were best friends. There were no secrets between them. Right?

"Where at?"

"Where every other working teenager goes. McDonalds." Troy laughed. "It kinda sucks, but whatever."

"No it's okay, it's normal." Sharpay said. "A lot of people our age work. Probably most of them."

She didn't have a job or need to have one right now really, since like previously stated, her family already had a lot of money, but still. If she had one that would also be a good thing since it taught good worth ethic for the future, but she'd just never really thought much about it even though it would probably do her good.

"Yeah," Troy said quietly. "But maybe I don't wanna be normal. I don't really know if I can even handle a job right now. With basketball, homework, and my..social life, how am I supposed to juggle all of that and a job?"

"Well, as much as it sucks and I can't believe I'm actually saying this," Sharpay began. "School first, then a job, and if you're looking to go to college in the future on a basketball scholarship- friends have to come last."

"Maybe, but you know I'm always gonna make time for you." He smiled at her kindly. She pat him gently on the cheek.

"How sweet."

"Yeah, especially like on days like these where I blow off everyone else for you."

"More like, I blew off everyone else for you." Sharpay corrected him with a playful scoff.

"Well, I kind of did too." Troy said.

"Yeah, okay. Well, I know you'd do the same if I decided to keep my birthday low-key, right?"

"Right. But you and I both know that's never gonna happen."

"Probably not." Sharpay giggled. "But hey, speaking of your birthday again, I still have to give you your present."

"You got me somethin?" Troy asked, as he'd almost completely forgotten about the whole gift giving portion of a birthday. Earlier in the day at school his other friends had given him little things in the morning before homeroom, and his parents had before he left for school. With their low-ish budget of the moment his dad had given him a couple basketball jerseys of his favorite teams throughout the country and his mom had given him a nice new wallet. It was just now that he realized that Sharpay, his own best friend in the whole world, hadn't given him anything earlier today.

"Yeah," she nodded excitedly. "Hold on, it's in my car, I'll go get it." She said, getting up from the bed.

"Shar- you didn't have to," Troy said, and she glared icily at him.

"Okay, I know we already discussed you not letting me throw you a party. But a birthday present, Troy?" Sharpay nodded. "Yes, I did have to, it's like, mandatory to give your best friend a gift on their birthday. Not only that- I wanted to. So, I'm gonna go get it and when I come back, you're gonna open it with no complains, okay?"

Troy chuckled. "Fine."

She grinned and left the room.

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Sharpay returned a few minutes later with a simple red gift bag with white tissue paper poking out of the top. With an innocent smile, she handed the bag over to Troy and plopped down again next to him. Troy took it expecting it to be kind of light, or at least not hella heavy, but damn was it heavy!

"Jeez what do you have in here, Shar?" he asked, setting it down on the bed between him and Sharpay. She shrugged.

"A lot. Just open it."

"Okay, but before I do, I just wanna say thanks in advance." Troy smiled at her. She nodded.

"Okay, welcome. Just open it!" She urged on impatiently. He laughed and began pulling out the tissue paper.

"Alright, alright." He said, pulling out the first wrapped item. He started to tear off the paper from around it but then just as he was about to pull it off, Sharpay stopped him. "Wait not that one, that one comes last!" she said, snatching the rectangular object away from him and setting it carefully down in her lap. Troy sighed and chuckled at her strange behavior.

"What, no card?" he asked jokingly as he went for a different item. A square box of some sort. She smiled sweetly.

"I don't need a card to express how much I love you and how happy I want your birthday to be," she told him. But in truth, she'd completely forgotten about getting/making a card as she'd been too focused on the rest of the stuff. But she supposed it was a good excuse or reason to make up on the spot.

"Haha, okay then Shar. Can I open this one?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

Going with her blessing, he quickly ripped off the wrapping paper before she could change her mind again and have him open something else first. When he had it fully unwrapped, he discovered that it was a cologne gift set of a brand called Sexual Pour Homme. There were several little bottles he could see through the clear plastic front part of the box. He flipped it over to read the contents of the package on the back.

Sexual pour Homme Gift Set includes: 2.5 oz Eau de Toilette Spray, 3.4 oz After Shave Balm, 3.4 oz Shower Gel, 5.0 ml Travel Mini the back read. Troy looked at Sharpay.

"Sexual, eh?" he smirked. "You tryin'a seduce me, Evans?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, you know me," she replied sarcastically and then shook her head. "I just read that it smelled really good. Go on, try it." she smiled.

"Okay." Troy nodded and did as she told, pulling out the travel mini and spraying himself with it.

"How does it smell?" he asked Sharpay with a smile. She nodded and smiled again as well. "I think it smells great. Do you like it?" she asked hopefully. Troy nodded.

"Love it, actually. Thanks, Sharpie." he answered honestly. It really did smell great. But still, he wondered...

"...Don't get mad, but, how much did you pay for this?"

The grin stayed present on her face. But she was silent a moment before answering "That not important. I'm just glad you like it."

"But Shar-"

"Open your next present, Troy." She said in a stern voice indicating that she meant business.

He looked at her for a moment before giving in with a nod. "Okay."

Minutes later, laid out in front of Troy were the following:

The cologne set, a $50 gift certificate to his favorite sports store in the mall- Just Sports, a $25 gift card to iTunes, a DVD copy of his favorite movie- Stepbrothers, that he'd never before gotten around to buying, just rented a couple of times, his favorite candy- a Snickers bar, and a triple pack of Doublemint gum- his favorite kind of gum. Sharpay hated Doublemint and couldn't understand why he liked it so much but he did so that's the kind she got him.

Troy guessed that she spent around $200 altogether on all of this so far. The two gift cards together were $75 and the cologne set didn't look very cheap. And she still had the very last item- that mysterious rectangular flat object, secure in her lap.

"Ready for the last one?" she asked him, picking up the item. He nodded, and she smiled and handed it over to him.

It didn't take long for Troy to shed the gift of it's wrapping paper, and when he did, he uncovered it to reveal a black book that was about one and a half feet long vertically.

"What's this?" he asked curiously, turning open the front cover.

"It's a scrapbook. With a lot of our inside jokes and other stuff." Sharpay explained proudly as he slowly flipped through each carefully placed, well in order and neat page, smiling at each memory. One page was full of movie theater ticket stubs that they'd seen together. He recognized stubs from movies like Jumper, 10,000 BC, Iron Man, Indiana Jones, The Happening, Get Smart, The Love Guru, Hancock, The Dark Night, Eagle Eye, Twilight (she'd dragged him to that one)- and tons of other movies going back as far as 2007. All films they'd seen together.

"How did you manage to save all these ticket stubs?" he wondered in surprise. She shrugged.

"I like to save things like that as a memory." She told him, "is that weird?"

"No, I think it's cool." Troy laughed, flipping through page after page of this special scrapbook that must have taken hours and hours for her to create. He knew how much she'd always been into art- all kinds of art. Not just arts and crafts, but also things like dance and theater. She was great at it all, too. It was basically her natural born talent. Anything or most things that had to do with art- she was good at it.

After gazing at the scrapbook for a little while longer, he closed it with a smile, knowing he would keep it forever.

"So what do you think?" Sharpay asked him hopefully. He turned to her with a wide grin plastered across his face.

"What do I think?" he repeated, "I think you are just about the sweetest girl on this earth, and that this entire gift is completely amazing."

Sharpay's whole face brightened even more, if that was even possible.

"I'm really glad you like it,"she said, beaming at him.

"I love all of it." Troy replied, gently gathering everything up and placing the items on his bedside table before leaning over to her and gently pressing his lips to her temple.

"I'm pretty sure this has been my best birthday yet."

"You say that every year." Sharpay responded with an eye roll and a laugh, snuggling against his side.

"Well they just keep getting better." Troy told her, gently poking her in the ribs which caused her to jerk sideways.

"Don't," she said, "you know I'm ticklish there."

"I know, that's why I do it," he chuckled, poking her again, this time making her squeal.

"Stooop," she whined playfully. This only encouraged him further and before Sharpay could even process what was happening, he was on top of her like white on rice torturing her ribs to no end.

"Troy- no! Get off me!" Sharpay managed to scream out in between laughs, but he ignored her and kept on going, grabbing her in all places he knew drove her insane. She tried her best to crawl out from under him, but none of it worked. He was too strong and she was too tiny- she was no match for him at all. He laughed at all her struggling- teasing her, killing her. She had to be one of the most ticklish people on the planet. Everywhere you laid a hand on made her squirm and squeal, and he clearly enjoyed it and clearly enjoyed the power he had over her.

"Please no more!" The small blonde sputtered. "No...more!"

Still ignoring her as if completely blocking out her sounds, Troy kept right on until suddenly, something fell out of his shirt pocket- hitting her in the face.

"Hey- what the hell?" she laughed, grabbing the thing off her face as Troy paused his actions.

"What's this?" she asked while trying to catch her breath, as she hadn't really had a good look at the object yet since Troy was still on top of her nearly crushing her.

"Oh sorry, that's the wallet my mom gave me earlier today," Troy explained, climbing off of her and landing next to her on the bed. She sat up and scooted back against the headboard.

"Really? Well you know- normal guys tend to keep their wallets in the pockets of their jeans, Troy." Sharpay told him teasingly. He shrugged.

"Eh. I didn't feel like putting it there today. I don't know why." The blue eyed boy responded with an uncaring shrug.

"Well I guess I should be happy for your strange actions. Cuz if it wasn't for this thing falling on my face, you still would've had me in Hell."

"Which reminds me..." Troy said, going for her ribs again, but she squirmed away and tumbled off the bed- falling with a soft thud on the floor as she did before he could do anything. He cracked up laughing as she clambered clumsily to her feet.

"Damn you really are a klutz." He said as she finally regained her balance and glared at him.

"Shut up," she said, the wallet still clutched tightly in her hand as she walked away from the bed and went over to sit at his computer chair.

"What are you doing way over there?" Troy wondered from his position on the bed.

"Sitting here so you won't try and tickle me again," she answered, still glaring at him.

"Aww, don't be like that Shar. Come back."

"No." Sharpay answered stubbornly, absent mindfully opening his wallet just for the heck of it, and when she did, something small wrapped in plastic fell out and onto the carpeted floor of Troy's bedroom.

"What's that?" she asked out loud, more to herself than to Troy.

"What?" he responded anyway, as he'd been glancing at the clock just to know what time it was (almost 8:45) and didn't see when the thing fell out. Setting the wallet down on Troy's desk, Sharpay curiously leaned down to pick up what had fallen out, and when she did, her eyebrows immediatley shot up in shock upon realizing what it was.

"What is it, Shar?" Troy asked, and then when he finally saw the small packaged item in her hand, he muttered "fuck," quietly to himself.

"Who are you having sex with?!" Sharpay exclaimed, holding up the clear with a yellow edge condom.

"No one." Troy promised, his voice eerily low as she gazed back and forth from him and the condom several times. She didn't really know why she was so surprised to find this sexual, personal item in his wallet- most guys had them once they hit like age 14, even if they weren't using them. But she'd known Troy for so long and had never really stopped to consider that hey- he's a teenage guy too, sex is probably now always on his mind like every other teenage guy on the planet. As far as she knew, Troy had never done anything with anyone. But she'd always assumed that he would tell her the day he ever did. She told him the first time she... "did it". It was over the summer, with her then-boyfriend Zeke Baylor, and it hadn't been very good. In fact, he'd dumped her a short week after. She remembered how bad it hurt back then (no pun intended. LMFAO), but she was waaay over that asshole now and it didn't matter to her anymore. It was in the past and she had gotten over it kind of quickly, actually.

But now, sitting in Troy's room with him, finding this...sexual aid in his wallet, for some reason, just came as a total surprise for her even though she knew and realized now that it shouldn't of been such a surprise. He was seventeen after all. And what seventeen year old straight male didn't own condoms? And why had she not for some reason thought of that before?

"It's not a big deal, Shar. Everyone has them." Troy said, his face turning beat red which was weird- he never blushed. Especially not around Sharpay. They didn't get embarrassed around each other. But maybe had she laughed and not thought much of it, he would've too, but her shocked reaction made him uncomfortable.

"Well are you like, planning on doing it with something?" Sharpay asked him, clutching the condom tightly in her hand. "Who is it? Is it Lea? Oh it's Lea. I knew it. She's always had this weird crush on you-"

"What? No, slow down Shar, I'm not planning on doing anything with anyone." Troy said.

"But do you want to?" Sharpay wanted to know now. Troy swallowed and was silent for a while as they just stared at each other. It was an awkward silence too, which was also weird, because any silences between them had always before been very comfortable ones.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only seconds, he answered in a shaky voice "Well, I mean...sure. You know. What guy doesn't want to?"

Sharpay didn't say anything for a little while as she tried to gather her thoughts. Minutes ago Troy was her best friend who she shared common interests with even though he was a guy and their friendship was just....pretty innocent. Now, Troy was suddenly this guy who she could totally see getting laid in the near future and.................................be good at it.

"Then why haven't you?" she asked. "Face it Troy," she said, "you're hot. You could probably easily get someone to sleep with you."

"Shar, can we please just not discuss this?" Troy asked, his face burning flames of red. Not because Sharpay called him hot- they always complimented each other like that without much meaning, but because now if there was one thing and one thing only he didn't feel comfortable discussing with even Sharpay- it was his sex life, or lack thereof.

"Why not?" Sharpay asked, getting up from the chair and walking over to him. She took a seat on the edge of his bed, facing him as he stayed seated back by the headboard. He noticed that she was still holding the condom. "Haven't you always wondered what it's like?"

"Of course." Troy responded. "It's just...I just..." he swallowed again, his throat suddenly feeling very dry. "I just don't feel very comfortable discussing this with you, Shar."

Sharpay scrunched her nose up in confusion. "Why?" she asked, as if that was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard of. "You know I'm always here for you, T. You know you can tell me anything, what's the problem?"

"it's just..." Troy shifted positions awkwardly on his bed. He never would've before thought that Sharpay of all people would ever be able to make him squirm.

"You've always been like my sister, Shar. And I bet you don't discuss things like this with Ryan, do you?"

Sharpay thought for a moment. "Well no, but let me just say that with Ryan, we don't go around calling each other hot all the time like me and you do. So it's not really like that with us, Troy."

"Look, I just...I-I don't know. I guess I just...feel kinda weird about it b-because I mean..." he sighed, not really knowing how to phrase this. Why on earth was Sharpay making him stutter? "Look, you've done things and I haven't. So I can't really relate to any of it. So it's just kinda weird, because I'm still a fucking virgin."

"Well is there someone in particular you want to do it with?"

"No." Troy admitted with a sigh, because he knew she'd keep on pushing the question otherwise. "But I guess just....someone I care about. Y'know? And it's um...always good to, you know- be prepared with a um...condom, anyway..."

Sharpay smiled. Awwww. Most guys just wanted random fucks and then for it do be done with. (AKA Zeke) She'd always known there was something special about Troy though. He really was a big, sweet softy. Good for him.

Another eerie silence fell over the two of them after that, but this one lasted much longer. What Sharpay was picking up here was that Troy really did seem to want to have sex, but since he didn't have a girlfriend or anyone he was really in love with, he didn't know who with. So maybe he just wanted to fall in love as soon as possible, and then do it with that person. Though, he did just say he wanted it to be with someone he cared about...and...he cared about her, right? She knew he did. And she suddenly had a crazy, out of this world, completely insane but still somehow very normal, idea.

She really couldn't believe she was about to do/say this, or really what it was that was making her, but all that mattered was that she was doing it.

She shrugged, suddenly very shy as well even though it was just Troy, and quietly said. "..Do it with... me then."

She held her breath and patiently, but eagerly, awaited his answer. She saw him stiffen, and his eyebrows raise in surprise.

Troy stared at her, long and hard. Were his ears just playing tricks on him or had he really just heard Sharpay Evans- his best friend since forever, the person he'd never seen before in any romantic kind of light, suggest that they sleep together? Him and her? Troy Bolton and Sharpay Evans? "T" and "Sharpie"? Troy and Sharpay? Them? Really?

And suddenly, he was thinking things. Different things. A variety of weird, rather dirty things involving himself and Sharpay in a way he never before would've imagined her, and he couldn't believe it, but these thoughts- these...fantasies, actually intrigued them. He found himself wondering what Zeke's reaction had been last summer when he'd seen her lying naked before him. That asshole. But was she..good at it? At sex? Sharpay had told him that her first time with Zeke had been horrible and she'd just wished it never would've happened. But had Zeke thought otherwise? Was it good for him, and just bad for her? Had he broken up with her a week later because it was bad or because it was good or just because he'd taken her virginity?

Troy gulped rather loudly in a desperate need for water. Why he was so thirsty now he didn't know. But it was probably just all the nerves. He couldn't believe this was really happening and should he take Sharpay up on her offer? His own mom had always told him that even though he was a boy he didn't have to be like all the other boys and do things with random girls he didn't care about. Ever since he was like 13 he was always told that whenever he "did it" it should be with someone he cared about, and he did love Sharpay more than anything, he just wasnt in love with her.

But that didn't matter...it was just important that she was important to him at all. The only thing that would change in the end of all this would be that Troy would end up finally not being a virgin anymore. So nothing but good would come out of this...hopefully.

"W-what? Are you serious? Are you...sure?" He asked her carefully, searching her face for any indication that she was joking.

There wasn't anything.

She nodded uncertainly- alertly, as if ready to back out of this at any moment. "..I mean it makes sense, doesn't it? You want to know what it's like, and I only know the worst of it. I...I just want to do it with someone who I know won't leave me afterwards."

It was that moment that she suddenly seemed so vulnerable. Troy quickly scooted over to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her. She leaned against him.

"It's okay, you will have that someday. But you don't need to do it right now. You don't need to rush or anything."

"But I want to know now. People talk about how great it is but I've only experienced it...badly." She pulled away and looked him dead in the eye. "If you don't want to, it's fine. But if the only reason you might not want to is because you think I'm not ready, well it's okay because I want to, and I am ready. Or if you don't want to just because it's me, then let's just forget I ever suggested it."

Holding her gaze, he gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I want to," he whispered. "Only if you're sure."

Sharpay nodded slowly and gave him a small smile, still grasping the condom in her palm. "I'm sure."

"Okay," said Troy. "But you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"If we go on with this, you have to promise me it won't change anything between us. You're going to stay my best friend and I'm going to stay yours."

"I promise." Sharpay agreed, she could never imagine losing him. No, this was going to be good- for both of them. It wasn't going to wreck or change anything between them.

"Alright..good." Troy smiled at her, and she felt her stomach do a one eighty from all the nerves and anticipation. In a good way. She was...excited to actually be doing this with Troy.

She looked at him. He looked at her. They both stayed perfectly still. Neither one made a move.

"So.." he said.

"So.." she repeated.

"I guess I should uh...kiss you now...right?"

"Um, yeah." Sharpay swallowed quickly. "That is usually the way these things start out."

"Right," he chuckled lightly and inched closer to her, and she copied his movements. It wasn't like he'd never made out before. He'd made out several times in his 17 years so far with some of his past girlfriends. He'd had a few, but hadn't really had one in a while for whatever reason. Before- with those other girls his make out sessions didn't used to start out so awkwardly and strange. But this was Sharpay, so it was different. It was a whole new light. A whole new experience. He had kissed her before though- sometimes. But then it was always friendly little pecks that he used to basically think of as the same as...kissing his mom or something. But never like they were about to now.

After a little while of carefully trying to find each others lips, Troy was the one to finally close the gap between them, closing his eyes in the process. This kiss started out at first just like they both thought it would; weird. Sharpay still even had her eyes open for the first few seconds like she was just testing it to see what it was like at first. But after a short amount of time, her eyes were falling closed as well as his and she was applying more pressure to the kiss as she reminded herself to not screw this up because she wanted her second time to be a million times better than her terrible first (and last longer, dang! Zeke couldn't ride the horse for very long before losing control and falling off, if ya catch my drift.)

Sharpay wasn't sure what to expect really when Troy kissed her, but she certainly hadn't expected his lips to be as soft as they turned out to be, which was a great thing. After dropping the condom uncaringly to the floor, she placed her hands casually on his broad shoulders and his went around her waist as they continued tasting each others mouths. It didn't take long for the innocent kiss to turn into a deeper kiss and then transform into a full on tongue fest. And honestly, Troy, Sharpay discovered, was actually one of the best kissers she'd ever came in contact with, and she wanted to remember later on the way his warm tongue felt as it gently caressed hers in addition to all the inside walls and corners of her mouth. Doublemint had never tasted so good.

Still keeping her mouth perfectly in tact with his, she pushed him down gently on the bed and crawled on top of him- her legs on either side of his waist in a straddle position as she pinned his arms down and dropped several short, quick kisses on his smooth lips. She tried to remember the feel of that part of his face pressed against hers, along with the soft smacking noise they made against each other- and the feel and sound of their combining breath. She wanted to remember it all- every little last detail of her little experiment with Troy Bolton.

He opened his eyes when she pulled reluctantly away from him a while later. She really just wanted to keep on kissing him, but she also wanted to slowly move along further in the process. So, still straddling him, she reached down and took the ends of her light pink with lace tank top, pulling it up and over her head so she was left in her colorful striped cotton bra and white shorts. Troy couldn't take his eyes off her as she did so. She really was beautiful- and an amazing kisser on top of that. She leaned down and kissed him again, and he flipped them over so he was the one on top now. He wasn't sure at what point all his excitement became proven in his lower region, but he didn't even notice it was like that until Sharpay must've felt it against her or something because she giggled and shifted slightly under him.

"I think someone wishes things would move along faster," she giggled again against his lips. He just chuckled and kissed her again to shut her up, knowing that whether they took this fast or slow or whatever pace in between, it was sure to be amazing even if they were just doing this for experimental purposes.

Oh well, Troy thought. It's one of the many advantages of having a best friend of the opposite gender. And we promised it wouldn't change anything.

Only, it wasn't until later that he realized telling her to make that promise was just about the biggest mistake of his life.

A/N: We grindinnn' with passion 'cause it's your birthday! Been at if for hours I know you thirsty! You kiss me so sweetly taste just like Hersheys! Haha. Sorry couldn't help it. I love that song and if you haven't heard it yet, y0utube it! Birthday Sex- Jerimih. :)

So I've had this story idea in my head for months now (yeah- actually wasn't inspired by that song but it certainly helped ;P) but didn't want to write it because of my other stories but now...I just can't resist writing it any longer, so most of my other stories besides "Her" are going to be on hiatus for a little while. I know, I'm really sorry but I really just want to focus on these two for a bit. I've got plenty of ideas for this one. woo. ;)

Please review? I had so much fun writing just this first chapter! aha. It wasn't too bad though, right- like with all the sex talk? Still fine for a T rating right? I can't write sex scenes dude. xD

-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx