Summary: Best friends Sharpay Evans and Gabriella Montez spend a summer traveling across Italy, one of the most beautiful countries in Italy. It's a summer of unexpected surprises, blooming relationships, crazy adventures, and with the help of fate - love.

Flight to Venice

Shakespeare often once stated that love was blind.

According to Sharpay Evans, Upper Eastside's well-known bombshell and prima donna, a person would have to be legally blind to love Milton Heindick. Just as his name would imply, Milton wasn't exactly the most fortunate fellow in New York City. While his parents were loaded with cash, he was cursed with a horrible name, a lanky figure, and an unattractive face. As if those weren't turn-offs already, he had a severe case of acne that even the most expensive concealers could not hide.

Sharpay Evans personally could not stand him, but seeing as Vance Evans (or as she referred to him, "daddykins") was a business partner of Heindick Sr., it was like an unwritten rule between the two wealthy families that their children must get along. It was simple, really. Whenever the Heindicks or the Evans were around, the two faked their friendship. Behind closed doors, however, the two couldn't stand each other and quarreled every single second.

It didn't help that Milton had the most ginormous crush on her best friend since the two began their freshman year of high school, and for lack of a better word, borderline stalked her.

Gabriella Montez was Sharpay's lifelong best friend, and the only one who could deal with Sharpay's temper tantrums, her manipulative ways, and her superiority complex. The friendship started nearly thirteen years ago when a jealous four-year old Sharpay had bitten off the heads of all of Gabriella's barbies, possessing an acquisitive quality that adults deemed to be rather disturbing in a four-year old. Gabriella had retaliated by knocking over Sharpay's blocks, leaving Sharpay with no other choice than to tattle on Gabriella. As a result, the two had to spend their play-time in a corner on time-out until they understood the wrongness of their actions. Sometime in between that time, the two bonded, despite the apparant differences in their personalities. Much to the surprise of adults and their peers alike, the two remained best friends all throughout elementary, middle, and thus far - high school.

Unfortunately for Sharpay, Milton Heindick was only three yards away from Sharpay at the moment, seeing as he decided to tag along with her and Gabriella for their departure from John F. Kennedy Airport to Aeroporto di Venezia.

He wasn't coming with them, literally; if that were the case, Sharpay would be seething with anger at the thought of having to see Milton anymore often than she had to.

Last month, Sharpay invited Gabriella to spend a month with her at her summer house in a town near Venice and the two had both booked flights for this afternoon. Milton insisted that he came along to bid Gabriella farewell, which Gabriella didn't feel was necessary whatsoever, but that was the thing with Milton - when he made up his mind, there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. Some might even argue that Milton posessed the same characteristics as Sharpay - he knew very well what he wanted, he knew how to get it, and no one could stop him.

On the other hand, Sharpay would most likely scoff if anyone would even try to compare her to Milton. In her opinion, she was much more fabulous, not as unattractive, and definitely not as desperate.

Sharpay struggled as she heaved her heavyweight carry-ons onto a metallic bench in the center of a terminal. Sharpay plopped down onto the seat soundly as she impatiently tapped her manicured index finger against the bench. She let out a hot breath of air as she relaxed into the surface of the bench, awaiting the time boarding passes for Flight 590 to Venice would begin to be accepted.

Gabriella effortlessly wheeled her suitcases to the bench, taking the seat next to her best friend and purposely placing her hobo bag on her other side to maximize the distance between herself and Milton, who took the liberty of sitting on Gabriella's other side. Gabriella resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Milton stared up at her in a daze.

"How am I gonna live without you..." Milton asked rhetorically in a shaky whisper, his hand reaching out to cup her cheek. Gabriella's fast reflexes allowed her to block his hand, pushing it back down to his lap where it came from.

"I'm sure you'll fair well without me, Milton," Gabriella stated dryly, avoiding his eyes as she pulled out her Blackberry to send a text message to her mother.

"I'll think of you every day!" Milton announced tearfully, pulling out his silky handkerchief and blowing profusely into it.

Rolling her eyes, Sharpay simply shook her head in disbelief, slapping her palm to her forehead. What a loser... She thought to herself as she chewed on her mint gum obnoxiously like a cow chewing on cud.

Milton placed the used hankey on Gabriella's lap, reaching out to pull another clean one to blow into. Gabriella felt the mixture of replulsion, guilt, and sorrow for the young, rich man who considered himself as her boyfriend. A self-proclaimed boyfriend, at that.

Needless to say, having Milton's mucusy tissue on her lap was disgusting beyond belief. Gabriella stood up, letting the tissue fall to the ground.

Gabriella tried her best to be nice to everyone and be as least judgmental as she could possibly be, but was nearly impossible with someone like Milton who never took no for an answer. Sure, she felt guilty when he expressed his emotions for her so freely, but then again, she never showed the slightest bit of interest in him nor did she reciprocate his feelings.

"You need to call me every single day Gabriella!" croaked Milton, his voice nasally and unnatural. "Send me lots and lots of postcards and letters! Buy me a souvenir while you're at it. Just... anything," He turned to Gabriella, squeezing her wrist so tightly that she could feel her blood coil. "I'll - I'll be counting down every single day that we're apart!"

"Milton," Gabriella began, finally gaining the courage to tell him off before he could continue any further. "When I told you we could be friends, I didn't mean that-"

Sniffling, he cut her off. "Maybe I should book myself a flight to Venice, too! Only because I know you can't stand to be away from me nearly as much as I can't stand not having you with me!"

The assurance in his voice when he stated that he would come out to Italy just to see her made Gabriella so uncomfortable that she shouted instantaneously. "No!"

Sharpay snickered, dwelling in amusement. Gabriella turned her head to glare at her best friend, silently informing her that the matter at hand was certainly not something to laugh about.

"You wouldn't mind if I just jump into your luggage and come along with you, would ya?" Milton asked, his hazel eyes staring up at Gabriella's brown eyes longingly. He meant it as a joke, but honestly, he was skinny, most likely weighed less than Sharpay, and only an inch taller than Gabriella. And considering that Gabriella was pretty short to begin with, he was the size of a dwarf compared to most guys his age.

Gabriella groaned inwardly, beginning to wonder why she ever agreed to letting him come along. But then she remembered that he begged to come...literally, and she said yes partly because she felt sorry for him, and partly (well... mostly) because she didn't feel like taking the train as a method of getting to JFK and had no other ride.

Sharpay sighed helplessly, resisting the urge to call Milton a shithead for the tenth time today. Yes, she did call him a shithead exactly nine times in the past two hours, but he learned to ignore it after the first five times.

Gabriella stood up, grabbing her carry-ons and luggage. From afar, she could see a line beginning to form for check-in, so she turned to Milton and shot him a weak not genuine smile.

"Thanks so much for driving us, but I think we have to go stand in line now," She told him, linking her arm with Sharpay, who was desperately trying to figure out how she was going to carry a Fendi handbag, a Coach clutch, a Prada tote, and two heavy neon pink suitcases. She claimed that the bright color would make it easier for her to notice her luggage when it came out on the conveyor belt, which was true, but the color hurt the eyes of everyone but Sharpay.

Gabriella waved to him briefly before wheeling her luggage to the start of the line. Luckily, the line seemed to be moving pretty fast so the two would be inside in very little time. Milton ran after Gabriella, his small pale hands flew in the air as he tried to pull the luggage away from her.

"Here, I'd be happy to help you carry all your stuff," Milton proclaimed proudly, delighted that he could at least be useful in one way. Sharpay, who overheard him, shot daggers at the back of his head.

"Um, excuse me! I could use a hand!" Sharpay snapped at him in irritation, but as expected, he simply ignored her. Unlike Gabriella, she actually needed a hand with her stuff.

But then again, Gabriella's bags were a lot lighter and Milton lacked the sufficient amount of muscles in him to be able to lift any of Sharpay's suitcases. Even so, if she wanted some help from him, maybe she should have toned down a little on the number of 'Shitheads' she spat at him.

"I'm fine," Gabriella insisted offhandedly, regaining a hold on her luggage as she paced faster than usual. "Really, I can handle it from here. Have a nice summer, Milton."

Milton came to a halt, looking forlorn and out of place as Sharpay haughtily strutted past him, the wheels of her suitcases running over Milton's toes.

Ouch. It must've been a bad day to wear flip-flops.

"OWW!" Milton cried out in pain as he hopped on one foot, rubbing the run-over foot to numb out the pain. Sharpay simply smirked in satisfaction and let her second suitcase run over his right foot.

"SHIT, MY OTHER FOOT!"

Gabriella's refrained from laughing as her eyes grew wide at the sight, noticing several people in the airport staring at them to see what all the commotion was about.

Sharpay just grinned in amusement and laughed sadistically before passing through into the line. "That's what you get for being a dick, Heindick!"

Gabriella sighed exhaustively as she dropped onto the first class seat in the Airbus. She had just been through hell and back. Not only did she waste an hour at baggage drop-off because both of Sharpay's suitcases were over the weight limit (and considering that arrangements were made prior to the day of the flight to change the weight limit of her suitcases from 40 lbs to 70 lbs, it was just frustrating to know that her bags had passed the exception they made for her and only certain celebrities), but Sharpay was also determined to buy as many duty-free items as she possibly could, not even bothering to check if some of those items could even FIT in her carry-on bags.

Sharpay placed her load of crap beneath both their seats.

That girl seriously has issues, Gabriella thought to herself. Sharpay wasted hundreds of dollars per day on stuff she didn't even need.

A lava lamp, a giant candy cane, a thermos with a picture of Chace Crawford on it, and various designer products were among the crap that she bought.

Gabriella could already tell that this would be a long flight.

Sharpay placed the Chanel shades that she purchased an hour ago atop her head and smiled as she noticed the built-in interactive TV screen in front of each seat. The remote was fastened at the arm-rest and from the looks of it, both girls could choose whatever they wanted to watch during the flight. Maybe that would make the flight a bit more bearable.

Gabriella knew that she wouldn't be getting much sleep during the flight. When she was younger, sleeping on planes wasn't a big deal. She was smaller, so she could rest her legs on one of her parent's laps and sleep with a pillow on her seat. Now that Gabriella was a full-grown teenager, she wasn't able to do that and no matter how hard she tried, she could not fall asleep in a sitting position. It was just uncomfortable and Gabriella would rather be tucked in a bed rather than sitting.

So, with that in mind, she braced herself for an eight and a half hour flight and took advantage of the entertainment that the TV could provide.

All was well until Gabriella was reminded of the burden that she would have to face once she arrived - jetlag.

God, Gabriella hated riding on planes.

"Ooh, my mom just texted me," Sharpay announced, scanning through her text messages on her iPhone before lift-off. "Apparantly, Ryan's flight arrived in Japan safely."

Ryan was Sharpay's twin brother. Sharpay often referred to him as her younger brother, but it was only because she was born ten minutes earlier. The ten minutes seemed to make a difference considering the two had different birth dates. While Sharpay was born at 11:52 P.M, Ryan was born at 12:02 A.M., and thus, the two were technically born on different days.

Sharpay loved it, though, because instead of having to share her birthday with her brother, she had an entire day dedicated to herself only.

"That's good," Gabriella replied. "That must've been a hell of a long flight."

Sharpay scoffed. "I'm sure it was, but hey, you know Ryan. He probably did something to keep himself entertained, like hitting on all the stewardesses."

Gabriella chuckled wryly. "Probably. At least he'll have fun in Japan."

"Lord knows what he does there every summer," Sharpay mumbled, pulling out the duty-free shopping catalogue in the pocket beneath the front seat.

While Sharpay spent the summer with her grandparents in Italy, Ryan was off at some obscure 'Hat Lovers' Camp in Japan. Neither Sharpay nor Gabriella knew much about Ryan's camp adventures because Ryan refused to talk about it, but the two decided that they would weasel answers out of him later this summer.

"Proving his love for hats with, um, several other anime lovers...?" Gabriella supplied, her comment seeming more like a question than an answer.

Sharpay chuckled lightly, rolling her eyes as she thought of her wacky brother and his whimsical motions and ideas.

"Now if that doesn't sound strange, then I don't what is."

Gabriella held back laughter, knowing what Sharpay was implying through her comment. They both weren't oblivious about the speculation that Sharpay's brother may be gay. Neither of them were sure nor would they care if he was, but it felt like the tension in the air would be released if he came out about it and told them straight out.

"Good Morning passengers, we welcome you aboard Delta Airlines. As soon as everyone takes his or her seat, we will begin our preparation for takeoff. Our flight attendants will come around to assist you momentarily."

Gabriella let out a sigh, knowing it was time to face the music.

Sharpay stared into her compact mirror, applying her Juicy Couture lip gloss to prevent her lips from becoming chapped mid-flight. "What's wrong?" She inquired curiously. "You seem down."

Gabriella tilted her head, trying to find a comfortable spot to rest her head at for the duration of the flight.

"I'm not down... I'm excited, I guess. I just really hate long flights," Gabriella explained herself. The last thing she wanted Sharpay to think was that she wasn't grateful to be getting away from New York during the most unbearable, humid, and rainy month.

"Well, then, cheer the hell up!" She suggested, but when Sharpay Evans advised someone, it always sounded more like an order than an actual suggestion.

Gabriella nodded obediently, pulling out her cell phone to see if her mother texted her back. She sent out texts to both her parents, who were currently in seperate states as a result of their recent divorce, informing them that her flight was about to take off and that she would call them when the plane landed.

"Miss, I'm afraid you have to turn off all electric devices at this moment," The overly-perky flight attendant stated as Gabriella rolled her eyes knowingly. Turning off her phone, she shoved her Blackberry into a pocket of her brown Urban Outfitters canvas bag.

"So," Gabriella dawdled, mentally scavenging for a conversation opener to keep herself distracted as the plane began to move. "We're staying with your grandparents from your mom's side in Italy?"

"Yes," Sharpay confirmed with a smile. "We'll be staying in a town called 'Lido di Jesolo'. It's a small town just a few miles away from Venice near the Adriatic Sea. It has a gorgeous beach and broadwalk. And it's almost always alive at night, so you can go shopping until like midnight," Sharpay smiled dreamily as she giggled, "And it's really romantic, trust me. My grandparents own a house there. They spend the winter in Milan, but come down to Jesolo for the summer. So, they will be the first who you'll end up meeting. Don't worry, my grandparents can speak English rather well so that won't be much of a problem."

Gabriella nodded her head, signaling her to continue.

"My mother is there already, as you know. That's what usually happens most summers. Daddy is off in the Hamptons running his country club while me and mother," The hostile sound in her tone indicated the contempt she felt for her mother. For matters unknown, Sharpay and her mother didn't get along too well, "visit my grandparents. Ryan used to come with us sometimes, but the summer before tenth grade he begged my parents to send him off the Hat Lovers Camp in Japan and he hasn't shown any interest in coming back to Italy ever since."

"Maybe the Japanese brainwashed him there?" Gabriella teased playfully.

Sharpay laughed wrly. "Who the hell knows? Anyway, my mom has a close friend - Lucille Bolton - whose family owns the summer house next door to us. You'll probably end up meeting them, too. They're almost always at our place or vice versa. OH, speaking of which... remember how I told you about the hottie I wanted to hook up with last summer?"

"Yes," Gabriella replied methodically, recalling her babbling on about his finely toned biceps and electric blue eyes earlier in the school year. Gabriella felt the plane move after she tightened her seat belt, staring longingly out of the window as the plane lined up for take-off.

"Well, yeah. I've known him since I could remember. He was cute and pudgy as a kid, but then like last summer he became, like, super hot. But the summer before he became hot, I pushed him off a wharf at night and he broke his left arm," Sharpay said hastily, her voice null of emotion or any sort of remorse."So... yeah. He's still not over it," Sharpay rolled her eyes, acting as if it was ridiculous for him to keep a grudge over the breaking-his-arm-by-pushing-him-off-a-wharf-in-the-middle-of-the-night scenario.

Gabriella grimaced. "You pushed him off a wharf?"

"Oh, please! Don't act like you've never done something extreme Miss Four-Point-Oh-Average."

Gabriella blinked, looking back at a time when she's done anything remotely similar to what Sharpay's done in the past.

Well, there was that one time during sophomore year when she went to a Cobra Starship concert instead of studying for her honors chemistry exam, which she still managed to ace the next day.

And then there was that one time when she paid her cousin to clean her room after her mother specifically asked Gabriella to clean up her mess of a room.

And then there was that time when she threw a headless Barbie at Sharpay's head in Pre-school. Yes, that was rather badass for her, even at the tender age of four.

"Gabriella, are you shitting me?" Sharpay deadpanned, shooting her an incredulous look. "You've never done something wild or outrageous or, well, spontaneous?"

Gabriella stiffened in her chair. She's my best friend for crying outloud, she should know better than anyone else that none of those adjectives described me. I'm probably the most predictable person on the face of this earth! Gabriella thought to herself bitterly, knowing each word to be true. She woke up and fall asleep at the same time as result of being an early-bird, ate the same thing for breakfast, bought the same grilled chicken salad for lunch, and her afternoon always went by a monotonous schedule! She could recall plenty of times when Sharpay's teased her about her tendency to make schedules, and numerous instances when Sharpay's became so annoyed with them that she deliberately ripped them up.

Seriously, what loser actually writes schedules? Oh, yeah. Me. Gabriella thought.

Gabriella's silence must have prompted Sharpay to speak because Sharpay continued on with her rant.

"Well, maybe one day you'll stop making those ridiculous schedules that plan out every single moment of the day! After all, you can't always expect what's coming at you! Maybe you'll be a little more like me. For example, some hot Italian guy wants to rub tanning oil on my thighs at the beach. What am I gonna do? Pull out my schedule and write down exactly word for word, 'Hot Italian Guy Rubs My Thighs' at 1 P.M?" Sharpay scoffed, waving the ridiculous idea aside. "Please. You haven't lived until something completely unexpected comes running full speed ahead of you. And by then, you won't have the time to include it in a schedule."

Gabriella rolled her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day, feeling herself growing annoyed at Sharpay's persistance.

"Okay, Shar, I get it. I will try to refrain from making schedules for myself while I'm in Jesolo, and I'll... try to do something spontaneous or unexpected. Happy now?"

Sharpay smiled in content, feeling accomplished as the plane began to ride full speed on the runway, "Very."

AN: Continue or not?