Post by serena on Jun 30, 2008 15:41:34 GMT -5
Full Summary: After all that teasing and fuss towards his best friend Troy about taking an interest in theater, Chad Danforth takes a sudden interest as well...shocking everybody. Is he really interested in 'theater' itself? Or more so in seeing the blonde bombshell obsessed with theater that can't stand him? Chadpay.
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"Ughh! Danforth! You suck! Why are you even here?! You're taking up rehearsal time of everyone else who is actually taking this seriously!" Sharpay Evans snapped at Chad Danforth who was up on stage and instead of rehearsing his song, he was doing an oddly funny- or maybe odd, yet funny immitation of Ms. Darbus- the drama club teacher and musical organizer, if you will.
"Chillax, Sharpay! I'm almost done." Chad laughed grinning at the blonde who rolled her eyes and slouched in her seat- bored and angry. Chad cleared his throat and started again in an immitation of Darbus's thick british accent.
"Now class, don't forget to audition for the spring musicale, which will be twice the achievement of Twinkle Towne! Now, par'don moi, while I go and off to Principal Matsui about that codfish Jack Bolton, who wastes the lives of those poor young men who he puts to flinging their balls for touchdowns!"
At that, everyone in the auditorium, with the exception of Sharpay of course, burst out laughing. Sharpay, on the other hand, felt the need to defend the woman who obviously favored her as apposed to all the other trash bags of East High- in her opinion anyway.
"Darbus does not say things like " off" or "that codfish!" and if she comes back at catches you making-"
"She said she would be gone for twenty minutes. It's only been ten. She and Coach Bolton are having another 'little meeting' with Principal Matsui." Gabriella Montez spoke up putting finger quotes around 'little meeting' from her seat three away from Sharpay.
"Ooooh, you mean arguement and/or the possible, occasional cat fight!" Ryan Evans grinned. But the fuming blonde ignored both her brother and her enemy, and glared up at the curly-haired dorky goofball who when Ms. Darbus had left, told him to run through his solo song for the upcoming spring musicale and everyone else was supposed to, to. But Chad had decided to mess around and try to be a wise-crack, funny genious again.
"Why are you even here Danforth?! I never thought you'd be a theater boy! Shouldn't you be at basketball rehearsal, or pigging out on pizza, or off somewhere having phone sex with Mckessie or something?!" Sharpay barked.
"Darbus told us to go through our songs! So hurry it up! Ryan and I are in the zone." she added
"Um...A. It's practice. Basketball practice. Two, pizza? I'm more in the mood for a burger! And C, I dumped Taylor two weeks ago!" Chad quickly defended himself.
"Well ex-kee-use me for not keeping up with...let alone giving a rat's ass about your love life!"
"Gosh Sharpay, you don't have to be such an Ice Queen." Troy Bolton said, but then he turned his attention back up the stage to his friend- frowning in thought and confusion.
"But eh...no offense man, and not that your impression of Ms. Darbus isn't hilarious, but seriously- what are you doing here? I think Sharpay has a point there. Wouldn't you rather be in the gym right now? My dad's probably mad that you're not."
"Yeah!? Well same to you, Troy!" Chad shot back- suddenly angry. He hated it when people had recently, always been questioning why he had decided to join the drama club spur of the moment. He actually rather would be in the gym, happily bouncing a big orange basketball and shooting three pointers- joking around with his friends on the team, and he kept telling himself he was going to dump theater and return to the love of his sport (much to the basketball team's joy because it was bad enough they lost their captain to the drama club, but couldn't lose their co-captain to.) but everytime Chad swore he was about to quit...he got one glimpse of her and his whole opinion and choice got turned around.
Sure, she was a .
Of course she was a snob.
No doubt she was greedy and rude to everyone.
She was known around the school as 'The Ice Queen.'
And she didn't care who she hurt.
But, ever since that one faithful day two weeks ago when he was passing by the music room at East High, and heard her angelic voice singing, and he peered in through the window on the door as he watched her delicate fingers play a beatutiful, soulful meoldy on the big grande piano, he had fallen for the blonde goddess.
Hard.
And that's when he broke it off with Taylor. Sure, Taylor was a great girl- smart, cute, funny, and sweet. But she just...she wasn't her. She was a goddess. She was drop dead gorgeous...her hazelnut eyes were always burning with such...fury and anger a lot of the time, but when she sang on stage, her eyes could light up the whole room- splashing happiness and passion off of every corner of the auditorium. The few times she did smile, was on stage, when she was singing- having the time of her life. Her flawless face and dazzling smile could melt any guy's heart. She could cast a love spell on any guy in the school...
And that spell had been cast on Chad Danforth.
That's why he joined the theater. He was left breathless everytime he got to watch her rehearse her song so far for the past couple of weeks. Of course, Ryan being right there next to her made it kind of annoying- but he was a ble to block the dancer oy out and just focus on her.
Because whenever she was around, Chad was able to get rid of the rest of the world, and she was the only one who had ever existed in his eyes.
But she didn't know how much of an effect she had on him.
She didn't know how ever since that day he caught her in the music room, all he had been thinking about was her sweet voice.
She didn't know how hard he had fallen for her in just two weeks. Nobody knew. Not Troy, not Jason, not Zeke...not anyone.
Chad was shocked and he hated himself for never realising it before- just how...amazing she was. He'd known her since kindergarten and they had never really gotten along much. He'd heard her sing a million times before the time that made him practically fall in love with her, but that was when she had been performing. But that day...she was just...she was doing it for the sheer pleasure. As a way to spend her free period. Not that he didn't love watching her on stage ever since that day- because he did, but she was just ten times even more amazing when she thought no one was watching.
On stage she was like a foxy, sexy diva who loved being in front of people and really knew how to flaunt it and strut her stuf- that was a big turn on. But when she was alone, she was more of a delicate, fragile, sweet angel.
On stage she was a funky-fresh gorgeous pop-princess with a hint of sexiness in her voice.
Alone she was a slow-rythm amazing beauty with the voice of an angel from heaven above.
And even though he thought she loathed him, even though she was an ice - he couldn't deny his feelings for her- no matter how cheesy that sounded. He joined drama club to be around her. To spend more time with, and try to get to know her better. Of course, no one knew that that was the reason. No one knew he had a reason at all. No one knew how much heels over head he was for Sharpay Evans.
And right now, he was only being a clown to try and catch her attention- to impress her.
But she didn't seem impressed.
"Sorry Chad, I was just wondering." Troy said- holding up his hands as if in surrender. Just at that moment, Ms. Darbus came flaunting back into the auditorium. She shot Chad a glare once she saw the line hadn't moved, and it had been twenty minutes as promised.
"Chad Danforth! Why are you still up there? Surely it shouldn't take you twenty minutes to run through a song!" Darbus barked.
"Um...well, you see, your heiness, we ran through everyone already in that twenty minute time period, and now were starting back over from the beginning." Chad quickly said.
"I must say Danforth, you're good at making things up on the spot. That makes you quite the talented liar." Ms. Darbus snapped. She didn't believe Chad the slightest bit. He wasn't exactly a trustworthy student. She'd never been very fond of him.
"But..." she said placing her hands on her waist and narrowing her eyes at Chad before he said anything- giving him a slight suspicious glare through her red wire-rimmed old-fashioned looking glasses. "I do know of one student in particular who would never lie to me. Sharpay Evans...was that really what happened?" the teacher asked- looking pointedly at the blonde girl who instantly stiffened in her seat and blinked as her hazel eyes turned wide with uncomfort. People around her snickered at Darbus's comment of "I know one student that would never lie to me." because there had been a number of times where Sharpay had lied to the older woman, she was just to busy favoriting her to notice, consider, or believe it.
It took Sharpay a moment to reply. She bit her lip- thinking. She knew everyone would get all pissed at her if she told the truth, and it wasn't like she cared about any of those low-class pieces of trash opinions or anything anyway, but there was one thing none of them had any proof to say that, Sharpay Evans was a tattle-tale. And she was not about to let them call her that now. Of course, Sharpay found a difference between slightly bending the truth- for instance, that one time around the time of the Twinkle Town musical where she'd told Darbus in front of the entire cafeteria that Gabriella had dumped her lunch on her on purpose, and tattling. Sharpay Evans was no tattler. Just a drama queen, and well...a liar.
"Yup, that's exactly what was going on, Ms. Darbus." she answered finally. Chad's eyebrows raised slightly for her not ratting him out. He had really expected her (along with everyone else for that matter) to flat out tell Darbus that he'd clearly been mimicking the woman that entire time. So now, he just fell for her even more. Everyone else glanced curiously and amazed at Sharpay and then murmered little comments amongst themselves. Ms. Darbus pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and cleared her throat.
"Well, then." she began. "You are all dismissed." As the students (about twenty of them) in the auditorium stood up from their seats and slung their schoolbags and backpacks over their shoulders to get ready to leave, Darbus quickly added: "Be here tomorrow. After school again for more rehearsal. Good day." and with that, she rushed out of the auditorium herself- in spite of beating the students out with a slight fear of getting trampled because she knew how teenagers could be.
"Want to go asked Kelsi if we can head over to her place to rehearse our duet piece since we didn't get time to rehearse today?" Ryan asked Sharpay referring to Kelsi Neilson- the pianist.
"Yeah, thanks to Danforth." Sharpay answered bitterly rolling her eyes. Ryan swore her saw her normally shiny borwn eyes flash red with sudden anger at the mention of Chad Danforth. "But no thanks. Last time I was at Kelsi's house I made her cry and her parents pretty much made it clear that I was never welcome again."
Ryan gave her a confused look. "No, they didn't. I was there to remember? They coward in the corner as you screamed at Kelsi to re-write the song she'd been writing for us for the ninth time. You scared the outta them!"
"Exactly. Which is why I take it as not being welcome ever again. Also, I believe I made her mother cry too."
"No, that was her father. And why should that stop you anyway? Like you care what they- or anyone else thinks."
"Whatever Ryan. Just count me out. I have better things to do then hang around some shy-girl's house who I do not get along with.
"You don't get along with anyone." Ryan mumbled slyly wich granted him a nice whack in the side of the head from his sister. "Ow!"
"Shut up Ryan. You go on ahead. Just sing your parts and skip over mine."
"Fine. But don't wait up for me then."
Sharpay rolled her eyes again. "Why would I?" Ryan didn't reply, it was obviously stated as a rhetorical question.
As the twins parted ways in the parking lot, Sharpay began humming to herself as she made her way to her own car- her pink Louboutin heels clicking against the rough cracked pavement. She fumbled around in her pink bag for her car keys, and the moment she stuck them in the ignition,she gasped as a strong hand grabbed her shoulder firmly from behind. She whirled around- preparing for a fight (typically, a nice knee kick in the place where no male wants to be hit) against the bastard who was obviously trying to kidnap her or something. She raised both professionaly-plucked eyebrows and widened her eyes in an angry manner once she caught sight of who it was.
"Danforth? What the hell do you want?! Are you deliberatley trying scare me to death!?" she demanded clenching her jaw and glaring at him as her right hand went over her heart as she found her breath. A surprise look instantly crossed his face.
"What!? No no no! I'm sorry if I scared you. I wasn't trying to, promise!" he quickly said holding his right hand in the air as if saluting.
"Cross my heart and hope to die." he added cornily. "I'll hold you to that." Sharpay muttered as she turned back around to get into her car, but he quickly grabbed her arm before she could book it. She gasped- taken off guard again and violently tore out of his grasp.
"What do you want?!" she snapped angrily.
"I just wanted to thank you for not ratting me out to Darbus." Chad said with a shy smile. Sharpay sighed. "Well, could you do it without grabbing me everytime I turn around?!" she asked- narrowing her eyes.
Chad chuckled. "Sure." he said. They stood their a few minutes in an awkward and pointless silence. "Well, what are you waiting for? If you want an autograph or something, you could just ask." Sharpay cracked crossing her arms over her chest.
"No, I don't want an autograph."
"Well then, if that's all you need, then scram and let ME leave."
"Well, I was actually wondering if you wanted to get together sometime and do something?" he asked nervously rubbing the back of his neck and glancing breifly at his feet. When she didn't reply, he dared himself to look back up at her. She seemed to be studying him- watching him intently, with an eyebrow raised.
She looks so cute when she's concentrating like that. Chad thought.
As if she can't make up her mind.
"...Well?" he asked reluctantly after a few long seconds. She sighed dramatically and began digging around in her purse.
"W-what are you doing?" Chad asked curiously.
"Look, Danforth, whatever your basketball buddies are paying you to ask me out, I'll pay you double- no, triple if you leave me alone." she told him as she pulled out her checkbook and a pen. Chad's eyes widened in shock. He didn't know what to say. She looked at him impatiently.
"Well? What's the amount? Come on, lay it on me." she said dryly as she wrote his name down on a check.
"What? No! They're not paying me anything."
"Danforth, I don't have time for your games. Now, if you'll excuse me-" she didn't finish her sentence, instead she dropped the checkbook and pen back into her bag andclean turned around and tried a third attempt to make a clean escape to the inside of her car, but he grabbed her arm...again.
"Quit touching me!" Sharpay exclaimed ripping her arm away from him- shooting him the coldest, most evil glare she could manuever. Chad grimaced at the look she sent his way and shivered inwardly.
Where's my beautiful angel? he asked himself.
"Sharpay-"
"Leave me alone!" she shouted in his face. He flinched at her outburst.
"Come on, I-"
"Go away, Danforth." she hissed bitterly through gritted teeth- each word coated with poison. Chad blinked.
"I'm being serious here!" he told her. "This has nothing to do with the guys! They don't even know..." he trailed off.
"Know. What.?" she snapped.
"That I'm practically in love with you!" he blurted out, and then covered his mouth with both hands- not believing he'd actually said that. Her eyes bulged in shock and her face turned red. She quickly turned away before he could notice.
"Now you've really done it." she muttered.
"Done...done what?" he asked nervously- shifting his weight to his right foot as he kicked at a small rock near him. The rock traveled several yards down the student parking lot. Chad's eyes lingered on it for a moment.
"This must be some hell of a bet you made with your friends." she whispered bitterly clenching her fists at her sides.
Chad threw his hands madly in the air.
What will it take?!
"Oh for the love of!-" without further comments or warning, he spun her around as his arms slid around her waist. He closed his eyes and heard her gasp right before he brought his mouth down over hers.
Sharpay's chocolate eyes went wide as he kissed her. She tried to viciously yank away and out of his grasp, but he had to strong of a hold on her. After a few more attempts, all failed, she brought up her right hand and smacked him hard in the face.
Chad cried out and immediatley released her from his arms- surprise mixed with pain as his hand immediatley found his stinging right cheek.
"What was that for?!" he wanted to know.
"Leave me alone!" and then she climbed into her car and sped away- tires squealing as if she'd just made a hit and run and wanted to get away ASAP!
Well, I did, and I do. she laughed dryly.
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Chad stormed into his house both in anger and depression. Why hadn't Sharpay believed him? Did she really think he'd stoop so low as to flirt with her and lie just to get money from his friends? It hurt him that she saw him like that. He would never do that to any girl...especially not to her. He may be a dork and a goof, but he was not a jerk like that.
"What's wrong with your face?!" Chad's eight year old sister Tanya asked him in a less then polite manner as he slouched into the kitchen. Food always made him feel better. Tanya was spreading peanut butter over a piece of toast at the counter using a footstool.
"Nice to see you to, Tan." Chad muttered. "Hey aren't you a little to young to be using a knife?" he asked her as he reached into the pantry.
"And aren't you a little to young to get drunk at your friend Jason's party and bring back a huge bottle of whiskey?" she shot back almost instantly.
The box of crackers Chad had been holding fell from his hand to the ground when she said that and he shot his sister a surprised, pleading look- both questioning how on earth she knew about how he had gotten carried away at one of Jason's parties the month before, and silently begging her to not rat him out to his parents. Tanya smirked as if reading his thoughts.
"I know things big brother, oh boy do I." the youngster snarled almost evilly before jumping off her stool with her newly made peanut butter sandwich. "Besides, it was only a butter knife." she shrugged nonchalantly and skipped out of the kitchen humming.
"Bi-polar, much!?" Chad shouted after her, and then a thought struck him.
How does she even know what 'drunk' means?!
Whatever. Chad had bigger problems going on in his life then his little sister's knowledge of whiskey and being 'drunk.'
Like Sharpay Evans.
Chad sighed. Maybe he had come on a little strong...what was he thinking?! She was obviously freaked out and probably hated him even more now.
Well, she's going to be mine on way or another. All I need is a plan...
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"Dude what's wrong with you man?" Troy asked Chad the next day at lunch. Chad didn't reply- he either hadn't heard his friend, or was just pretending he didn't. He was to busy concentrating and focusing his full attention on the beautiful bombshell almost halfway across the cafeteria. (who, might I add, had been avoiding him all day.) He had been watching her every move carefully all day. He wasn't trying to be stalker-ish or anything, but he couldn't help himself. He was just drawn to her, as if there was a magnetic force field between his eyes and her...everything.
"Chad? Hu-lo?" Troy said snapping his fingers in front of Chad's face this time snapping him back into reality.
"Sorry." he murmered staring down at his untouched plate of macaroni.
"What's wrong with you?" Troy repeated. Chad blinked at his friend in confusion.
"Huh?"
"You haven't made one wise-crack all day, and normally you'da already inhaled all your food by now." Troy said.
"Yeah, even I'm already finished eating!" Jason said- he was the slowest eater of the group, and Chad hadn't eaten a single bite.
"Sorry. Just thinking." Chad answered lamely as his eyes once again found the back of Sharpay. Jason, Troy, and Zeke all exchanged glances before erupting into laughter.
"You? Thinking?! HA!" Zeke said. Chad didn't reply. He wasn't even paying attention. He watched as Lea; one of the Sharpettes, leaned over and said something to Sharpay, who laughed and repeated it to Jackie and Emma, and all four girls laughed again. Ryan sat there in confusion. Kelsi raised her eyebrows obviously weirded out at whatever the other four girls found so funny.
Chad smiled to himself- admiring Sharpay once again and the way she laughed. She tossed her head back slightly when she did so, causing her blonde tresses to bounce gently.
He watched her for a while longer, and she must have felt herself being watched because she slowly turned around and scanned the cafeteria cautiously until her brown eyes fell up Chad's darker brown ones. Chad wasted no time in giving her the most charming smile he could muster- trying hard to keep eye contact. She looked at him for a few more seconds- mouth slightly agape, before turning back around and continuing her conversation with Lea as if nothing had happened.
. He thought glumly.
"Now what were you smiling about?!" Zeke asked.
"Nothing. Shut up." Chad answered smugly.
"Guys, maybe our buddy Chad here has just got a lot on his mind?" Jason cracked, then he Troy and Zeke burst out laughing again. Chad didn't laugh or do anything.
"Man we're just joking..." Troy said, thinking he was deliberatley ignoring them now.
"Huh? About what?" Chad asked confused. Troy rolled his eyes. "Nothing." he muttered- giving up.
"Hey Troy..." Chad began hesitantly as he finally took his eyes off of Sharpay- for a minute, anyways. "Yeah?" Troy asked- raising one eyebrow at his friend. Chad took a few moments to continue as he gathered up what he had to say, and tried to figure out how to put it into good word usage.
"So uh, when you started dating Gabby...how did you start dating her?" He finished- in hopes of getting something more then just 'I told her how I felt about her' because that's what he had used on Taylor a long time ago, and all his other girlfriends in the past, and it had usually worked, but with Sharpay, it hadn't worked- and he felt stronger for her then he had for any other woman in his entire life, so he would have to try harder. Maybe Troy tried somthing different on Gabriella.
"Gayest question ever, much?" Zeke butted in. Jason chuckled, but Troy and Chad ignored them both. Troy shrugged.
"Uh...I don't know. We were just on a date and then I guess we were together officially after that. But you know man, it's kinda weird for us guys to talk about our relationships..."
"I know, but when you asked her on a date in the first place, she just said yes?" Chad asked- ignoring Troy's last comments, because he really needed to know.
"...Yeah, I guess."
Now why can't we all have it that easy!?
"Yeah? Well if you and Gabby are such a 'perfect couple' why hasn't she sat with us in two weeks?!" Jason butted in.
"Becaues she's been sitting with Taylor and the rest of the Chem Club!" Troy insisted. "Why did you dump Taylor anyway?" he asked turning his attention back to Chad, who shrugged.
"I dunno." he said.
"Oh I get it. You're asking me all this so you can find a way to get Taylor back!" Troy said with a sheepish grin. "Well dude, just go over there and tell her to give you another chance! I'm sure she'd understand!"
"Hell no I don't want Taylor back! Besides, according to you, she likes Zeke now anyways. Not that I care!"
"Hey, Gabby told me that. It's not according to me! It's according to her!"
"Oh, you don't care that Tay supposedly likes me?" Zeke asked- raising an eyebrow at Chad, who sooner then soon immediatley shook his head- his dark curls bouncing. Zeke grinned.
"Good! Cos I was thinking of asking her out. Ya know...if that was okay with you, I mean."
Chad shrugged. "Yeah, go for it Zeke."
"Wait a minute- I thought you had a thing for Sharpay?" Jason asked Zeke in confusion. Chad stiffened up- waiting patiently for Zeke's answer. Luckily, no one noticed.
"Naw! I got over that after the twenty third time she rejected me." Zeke answered with an uncaring shrug to signal that he really was over Sharpay. Chad flinched.
Twenty Third? She rejected him twenty three times?! Is she always gonna reject ME?!
Although, at the same time Chad was relieved that Zeke had no feelings left for Sharpay, since now...he did, and Zeke was one of his best friends.
"Wait...so, if you weren't asking me that cos of Taylor, why were you?" Troy asked- getting back to the main subject of focus.
"No reason." Chad said- his eyes trailing back to Sharpay. He really couldn't go more then three to five minutes without staring at her. Troy shot him a questionable look and answered "Sure..."
Then, Zeke, Jason, and Troy all got into another random topic, but Chad didn't know what about since he had now returned to Sharpay-land.
Sharpay land. Home of the most beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, and yet also bitchy drama queen in the school.
WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET HER?!
Well...maybe somehow, if everyone knew how he felt about her...if he made another complete fool out of himself in front of everyone, maybe she'd believe him...maybe she would stop thinking he was just messing with her because of 'some stupid bet.'
So that's what Chad decided to do. Advertise his love for her, right here, right now. In front of everyone.
Without any word, Chad jumped onto the cafeteria table- earning a few gasps from anyone who noticed.
"What are you doing!?" Troy asked him. But he ignored him. He ignored everyone.
"What the hell?!" Jason and Zeke said in a bewildered unison. They had to jerk back from the table so Chad wouldn't step on their arms.
Sharpay hadn't noticed yet that Chad was standing on his lunch table, gazing directly at her. It was as if she was deliberatley trying to block him out.
Yeah? Well, I'll make her notice!
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs;
"SHARPAY EVANS! I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU!!"
Gasps of shock and bewilderement echoed throught the entire fairly large lunch room. Everyone's widened-eyes shot immediatley at Chad, and then, as fast as the gasps had come, the cafeteria suddenly grew silent. Somewhere dropped a water bottle wich crinkled to the floor and everyone could hear it- that's how dead silent it now was.
But Chad's attention was focused fully on Sharpay. She turned around slowly- eyes locking on his as they practically bulged out of their sockets. The diet-coke bottle she'd been holding fell from her hand. Her mouth fell wide open. Her face turned beat red from embarrassment and shock.
Next to her, Lea, as well as pretty much everyone else in the cafeteria darted their eyes back from Chad to Sharpay. From Sharpay to Chad. A long, empty silence fell upon every student.
"That's right!!" Chad shouted again. Someone sneezed. Another person coughed. But it remained dead silent.
"Have I proven it now?! Proved to you that it's not 'some bet?' Do you understand yet? Well, if you don't, I'll say it one more time!"
And then he shouted louder then before;
"I, CHAD DONALD DANFORTH AM IN LOVE WITH SHARPAY EVANS!!"
"Her middle name's Angelina, if you wanted to know!" Ryan suddenly spoke up. Everyone then laughed at Ryan's cockiness and Sharpay screamed in a horrified voice "Ryan!" angry at her twin for announcing her middle name to the entire lunch room filled with at least twenty students at almost every table.
Then, it fell silent...again.
"Say something, princess!!" Someone else shouted at Sharpay after several seconds of nothing. People began murmering quick, quiet things amongst themselves about Chad's shocking announcement.
When Sharpay didn't reply, Chad felt the need to continue.
"SHARPAY ANEGLINA EVANS HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, ANGELIC VOICE AND IS THE BEST SINGER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! SHE IS GORGEOUSLY AMAZING! I. LOVE. YOU. SHARPAY!"
A couple people now whistled. Chad dared himself to glance breifly down at Troy, Zeke, and Jason. Their faces had gone pale and they were staring up at him horrified, shocked, and blank.
He didn't care. He just kept going.
"I only joined theater to spend time around you Sharpay!" he shouted. Most people either gasped or laughed at the newly discovered news of Chad Danforth being in theater.
"Yeah, that's right! I'm in the drama club! And you know what?! I SUCK!" Chad announced to everyone. Everyone laughed harder.
"But I don't care! As long as I get to see Sharpay and listen to her BEAUTIFUL voice everyday after school, WHAT DOES IT MATTER!?"
People began clapping and whistling. Sharpay couldn't take much more of this embarrassment. She angrily shot up from her seat and stomped across the cafeteria to Chad's table. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and yanked him down from on top of the table- causing more gasps, laughter, claps, and loud whistles to erupt throughout the lunch room. He almost slipped, but luckily caught his balance. She dragged him out of the cafeteria- escaping from everyone. She was going to go somewhere and give this Chad Danforth a piece of her mind.
Who the hell does he think he is?!
Students began chanting and shouting random things as the pair exited the room.
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"What the Danforth?!" Sharpay hissed angrily as she shoved him forecfully into the luckily sound proof auditorium- where no one could hear his screams of pain and agony if she murdered him!
"What were you trying to do in there?! Were you purposely TRYING to make me DIE of embarrassment?!" she demanded.
"No! I was just trying to prove it to you! That I really meant what I said yesterday when I told you I loved you!"
"Stop saying that!!" she shouted.
"Why Sharpay?! Do you REALLY hate compliments?! Do you HATE to be adored?! What is it?" he really needed to know what her deal was. There he'd been- pouring his heart and soul out to her in front of over one third of the school (there are three lunch periods), and here she was- shrieking at him about it! Now, it was actually sort of angering him. She was never going to see it, was she?
"When you shout like a maniac across the entire god damned caefertia, yes, I DO, you idiot!!" SHarpay screamed.
"It was the only way I could get you to understand!" Chad defended.
"Understand WHAT?! Understand how STUPID you are?!"
"No, understand that I LOVE YOU!"
"NO!" she shouted in frustration, and before Chad could say anything else, she suddenly burst into loud sobs- taking him completely off guard. She buried her face in her hands and cried into them- her sobs muffled slightly by them, but not really. Strands of her hair fell over her hands so he couldn't see them or her face. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried.
Chad's eyes widened in shock. Had he really been wrong just by telling her he loved her? Why was she sobbing like this? He'd never seen someone cry so hard in his entire life- maybe Tanya when she was a baby, but seeing Sharpay so...vulnerable and upset was just...heartbreaking.
Without giving it a second thought, Chad wrapped his arms tightly and securely around her. He felt pretty helpless himself- how was he ever going to calm her down, especially when he didn't really know what he had done.
But even though he didn't know exactly what he had done that was so awful, he did know at least that he was the cause of her tears, and he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces as he realised this.
"Hey, hey...shhh. Calm down. It's okay...shh..." he said soothingly as she sobbed into his shirt.
"I'm sorry Sharpay. But what do you want me to do? I can;t stay away from you...you're like my..my drug." he chuckled- trying to lighten her up at least a little bit, but this only caused her to cry harder. He grimaced and began rocking her back and forth- gently rubbing circles on the small of her back.
"I need you to calm down, okay? So much crying is not good for you. I'm so sorry for making you cry like this...but...but could you at least let me know why? I can't tell you I don't love you, because then I'd be lying, but-"
"No, you don't understand." she suddenly interrupted- her voice now muffled by his shirt as she forced herself to try to calm down a least a little bit.
"You don't love me. You can't love me. No one has ever loved me. Everyone just loves the stuff I have. No one loves me, and no one ever will."
Chad tried to blink back a few tears of his own. How could she say something to horrible and untrue? How could she? Did she truly believe that?
"No, don't say that. It's not true. I do love you."
She sniffled. "Why? Why Chad? I'm a . I know I am. How do you figure that all I have is Lea, Emma, Jackie, and Ryan? Lea, Emma, and Jackie actually only hang out with me because I'm rich. See what I mean? I'm unlovable! I've never had a boyfriend- I've always just been a one night stand. And that's all I probably am to you to!"
"Don't ever say that! You're gorgeous, you're an amazing singer, and you're not always a ... Please stop thinking of yourself that way. None of it's true, Sharpay. You're no one night stand. Trust me, I've spent many of nights thinking about your beautiful voice and your amazing smile and just..." he trailed off.
She didn't reply. Chad heard her hiccup a few times, but she kept her face buried against his chest.
"Look, I've known you forever. And, I've never actually dis-liked you, but I've actually fallen for you. I need you to believe me. You have to believe that you are lovable, that you're not a horrible person. You need to believe that you're the most amazing person in the entire world, and that I love everything about you. I knew you were rich, but that's not why I love you."
"Then why? What else could there be?!" she asked desperatley.
"Everything else besides that." he told her as he stroked her long soft hair and inhaled her strawberry sweet scent. He knew that that sounded corny, but it was true. Everything she did amazed him. By the simple fact that she walked and breathed was amazing to him.
"And you know what? As much as it might pain me, you don't have to love me back. I mean, I just want you to know how I feel about you. And I want you to believe it. Can you do that for me Shar?"
She didn't reply.
"Please?"
"...Fine. If it'll shut you up." she giggled softly. He smiled.
"Good. I just wanted you to know that. You can go on and forget about me completely, but you can never forget this talk we had, okay? Everything I've said is true, I didn't cross my fingers for once!" he joked towards the end.
"You know what Danforth?" she asked softly- finally looking up at him. He gazed into her now soft eyes. He had never seen them without ice and hatred when she had looked at him in the past, but now...what was that he saw there? Kindness? Appreciation? Love?
He didn't know, but it was something. Something good. He could tell.
"What?" he asked- wiping away a few tears from her soft cheeks. She smiled up at him.
"After that long, convincing speech of yours just now...I think it'd be hard for me not to feel the same way. Because now I've realised, just how sincere and sweet you really are."
"What do you mean?"
"I used to think it was impossible for anyone to love the real me. And I was afraid of getting my heart broken. I was afraid to be in love."
"Sharpay-"
"Thank you Chad. Because of you, I'm not afraid to be in love any longer."
With that sentence left, she brought her arms up tightly around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and immediatley kissed her back.
"...And I'm sorry." she added in a whisper when the kiss was over. He rested his forhead on hers.
"Huh? For what?"
"For shouting at you like that."
"Really? Wow, I must really have changed you. I never thought you'd apologise for anything." he joked pulling her closer to him. She chuckled.
"Oh, shut up."
They kissed again.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Ughh! Danforth! You suck! Why are you even here?! You're taking up rehearsal time of everyone else who is actually taking this seriously!" Sharpay Evans snapped at Chad Danforth who was up on stage and instead of rehearsing his song, he was doing an oddly funny- or maybe odd, yet funny immitation of Ms. Darbus- the drama club teacher and musical organizer, if you will.
"Chillax, Sharpay! I'm almost done." Chad laughed grinning at the blonde who rolled her eyes and slouched in her seat- bored and angry. Chad cleared his throat and started again in an immitation of Darbus's thick british accent.
"Now class, don't forget to audition for the spring musicale, which will be twice the achievement of Twinkle Towne! Now, par'don moi, while I go and off to Principal Matsui about that codfish Jack Bolton, who wastes the lives of those poor young men who he puts to flinging their balls for touchdowns!"
At that, everyone in the auditorium, with the exception of Sharpay of course, burst out laughing. Sharpay, on the other hand, felt the need to defend the woman who obviously favored her as apposed to all the other trash bags of East High- in her opinion anyway.
"Darbus does not say things like " off" or "that codfish!" and if she comes back at catches you making-"
"She said she would be gone for twenty minutes. It's only been ten. She and Coach Bolton are having another 'little meeting' with Principal Matsui." Gabriella Montez spoke up putting finger quotes around 'little meeting' from her seat three away from Sharpay.
"Ooooh, you mean arguement and/or the possible, occasional cat fight!" Ryan Evans grinned. But the fuming blonde ignored both her brother and her enemy, and glared up at the curly-haired dorky goofball who when Ms. Darbus had left, told him to run through his solo song for the upcoming spring musicale and everyone else was supposed to, to. But Chad had decided to mess around and try to be a wise-crack, funny genious again.
"Why are you even here Danforth?! I never thought you'd be a theater boy! Shouldn't you be at basketball rehearsal, or pigging out on pizza, or off somewhere having phone sex with Mckessie or something?!" Sharpay barked.
"Darbus told us to go through our songs! So hurry it up! Ryan and I are in the zone." she added
"Um...A. It's practice. Basketball practice. Two, pizza? I'm more in the mood for a burger! And C, I dumped Taylor two weeks ago!" Chad quickly defended himself.
"Well ex-kee-use me for not keeping up with...let alone giving a rat's ass about your love life!"
"Gosh Sharpay, you don't have to be such an Ice Queen." Troy Bolton said, but then he turned his attention back up the stage to his friend- frowning in thought and confusion.
"But eh...no offense man, and not that your impression of Ms. Darbus isn't hilarious, but seriously- what are you doing here? I think Sharpay has a point there. Wouldn't you rather be in the gym right now? My dad's probably mad that you're not."
"Yeah!? Well same to you, Troy!" Chad shot back- suddenly angry. He hated it when people had recently, always been questioning why he had decided to join the drama club spur of the moment. He actually rather would be in the gym, happily bouncing a big orange basketball and shooting three pointers- joking around with his friends on the team, and he kept telling himself he was going to dump theater and return to the love of his sport (much to the basketball team's joy because it was bad enough they lost their captain to the drama club, but couldn't lose their co-captain to.) but everytime Chad swore he was about to quit...he got one glimpse of her and his whole opinion and choice got turned around.
Sure, she was a .
Of course she was a snob.
No doubt she was greedy and rude to everyone.
She was known around the school as 'The Ice Queen.'
And she didn't care who she hurt.
But, ever since that one faithful day two weeks ago when he was passing by the music room at East High, and heard her angelic voice singing, and he peered in through the window on the door as he watched her delicate fingers play a beatutiful, soulful meoldy on the big grande piano, he had fallen for the blonde goddess.
Hard.
And that's when he broke it off with Taylor. Sure, Taylor was a great girl- smart, cute, funny, and sweet. But she just...she wasn't her. She was a goddess. She was drop dead gorgeous...her hazelnut eyes were always burning with such...fury and anger a lot of the time, but when she sang on stage, her eyes could light up the whole room- splashing happiness and passion off of every corner of the auditorium. The few times she did smile, was on stage, when she was singing- having the time of her life. Her flawless face and dazzling smile could melt any guy's heart. She could cast a love spell on any guy in the school...
And that spell had been cast on Chad Danforth.
That's why he joined the theater. He was left breathless everytime he got to watch her rehearse her song so far for the past couple of weeks. Of course, Ryan being right there next to her made it kind of annoying- but he was a ble to block the dancer oy out and just focus on her.
Because whenever she was around, Chad was able to get rid of the rest of the world, and she was the only one who had ever existed in his eyes.
But she didn't know how much of an effect she had on him.
She didn't know how ever since that day he caught her in the music room, all he had been thinking about was her sweet voice.
She didn't know how hard he had fallen for her in just two weeks. Nobody knew. Not Troy, not Jason, not Zeke...not anyone.
Chad was shocked and he hated himself for never realising it before- just how...amazing she was. He'd known her since kindergarten and they had never really gotten along much. He'd heard her sing a million times before the time that made him practically fall in love with her, but that was when she had been performing. But that day...she was just...she was doing it for the sheer pleasure. As a way to spend her free period. Not that he didn't love watching her on stage ever since that day- because he did, but she was just ten times even more amazing when she thought no one was watching.
On stage she was like a foxy, sexy diva who loved being in front of people and really knew how to flaunt it and strut her stuf- that was a big turn on. But when she was alone, she was more of a delicate, fragile, sweet angel.
On stage she was a funky-fresh gorgeous pop-princess with a hint of sexiness in her voice.
Alone she was a slow-rythm amazing beauty with the voice of an angel from heaven above.
And even though he thought she loathed him, even though she was an ice - he couldn't deny his feelings for her- no matter how cheesy that sounded. He joined drama club to be around her. To spend more time with, and try to get to know her better. Of course, no one knew that that was the reason. No one knew he had a reason at all. No one knew how much heels over head he was for Sharpay Evans.
And right now, he was only being a clown to try and catch her attention- to impress her.
But she didn't seem impressed.
"Sorry Chad, I was just wondering." Troy said- holding up his hands as if in surrender. Just at that moment, Ms. Darbus came flaunting back into the auditorium. She shot Chad a glare once she saw the line hadn't moved, and it had been twenty minutes as promised.
"Chad Danforth! Why are you still up there? Surely it shouldn't take you twenty minutes to run through a song!" Darbus barked.
"Um...well, you see, your heiness, we ran through everyone already in that twenty minute time period, and now were starting back over from the beginning." Chad quickly said.
"I must say Danforth, you're good at making things up on the spot. That makes you quite the talented liar." Ms. Darbus snapped. She didn't believe Chad the slightest bit. He wasn't exactly a trustworthy student. She'd never been very fond of him.
"But..." she said placing her hands on her waist and narrowing her eyes at Chad before he said anything- giving him a slight suspicious glare through her red wire-rimmed old-fashioned looking glasses. "I do know of one student in particular who would never lie to me. Sharpay Evans...was that really what happened?" the teacher asked- looking pointedly at the blonde girl who instantly stiffened in her seat and blinked as her hazel eyes turned wide with uncomfort. People around her snickered at Darbus's comment of "I know one student that would never lie to me." because there had been a number of times where Sharpay had lied to the older woman, she was just to busy favoriting her to notice, consider, or believe it.
It took Sharpay a moment to reply. She bit her lip- thinking. She knew everyone would get all pissed at her if she told the truth, and it wasn't like she cared about any of those low-class pieces of trash opinions or anything anyway, but there was one thing none of them had any proof to say that, Sharpay Evans was a tattle-tale. And she was not about to let them call her that now. Of course, Sharpay found a difference between slightly bending the truth- for instance, that one time around the time of the Twinkle Town musical where she'd told Darbus in front of the entire cafeteria that Gabriella had dumped her lunch on her on purpose, and tattling. Sharpay Evans was no tattler. Just a drama queen, and well...a liar.
"Yup, that's exactly what was going on, Ms. Darbus." she answered finally. Chad's eyebrows raised slightly for her not ratting him out. He had really expected her (along with everyone else for that matter) to flat out tell Darbus that he'd clearly been mimicking the woman that entire time. So now, he just fell for her even more. Everyone else glanced curiously and amazed at Sharpay and then murmered little comments amongst themselves. Ms. Darbus pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and cleared her throat.
"Well, then." she began. "You are all dismissed." As the students (about twenty of them) in the auditorium stood up from their seats and slung their schoolbags and backpacks over their shoulders to get ready to leave, Darbus quickly added: "Be here tomorrow. After school again for more rehearsal. Good day." and with that, she rushed out of the auditorium herself- in spite of beating the students out with a slight fear of getting trampled because she knew how teenagers could be.
"Want to go asked Kelsi if we can head over to her place to rehearse our duet piece since we didn't get time to rehearse today?" Ryan asked Sharpay referring to Kelsi Neilson- the pianist.
"Yeah, thanks to Danforth." Sharpay answered bitterly rolling her eyes. Ryan swore her saw her normally shiny borwn eyes flash red with sudden anger at the mention of Chad Danforth. "But no thanks. Last time I was at Kelsi's house I made her cry and her parents pretty much made it clear that I was never welcome again."
Ryan gave her a confused look. "No, they didn't. I was there to remember? They coward in the corner as you screamed at Kelsi to re-write the song she'd been writing for us for the ninth time. You scared the outta them!"
"Exactly. Which is why I take it as not being welcome ever again. Also, I believe I made her mother cry too."
"No, that was her father. And why should that stop you anyway? Like you care what they- or anyone else thinks."
"Whatever Ryan. Just count me out. I have better things to do then hang around some shy-girl's house who I do not get along with.
"You don't get along with anyone." Ryan mumbled slyly wich granted him a nice whack in the side of the head from his sister. "Ow!"
"Shut up Ryan. You go on ahead. Just sing your parts and skip over mine."
"Fine. But don't wait up for me then."
Sharpay rolled her eyes again. "Why would I?" Ryan didn't reply, it was obviously stated as a rhetorical question.
As the twins parted ways in the parking lot, Sharpay began humming to herself as she made her way to her own car- her pink Louboutin heels clicking against the rough cracked pavement. She fumbled around in her pink bag for her car keys, and the moment she stuck them in the ignition,she gasped as a strong hand grabbed her shoulder firmly from behind. She whirled around- preparing for a fight (typically, a nice knee kick in the place where no male wants to be hit) against the bastard who was obviously trying to kidnap her or something. She raised both professionaly-plucked eyebrows and widened her eyes in an angry manner once she caught sight of who it was.
"Danforth? What the hell do you want?! Are you deliberatley trying scare me to death!?" she demanded clenching her jaw and glaring at him as her right hand went over her heart as she found her breath. A surprise look instantly crossed his face.
"What!? No no no! I'm sorry if I scared you. I wasn't trying to, promise!" he quickly said holding his right hand in the air as if saluting.
"Cross my heart and hope to die." he added cornily. "I'll hold you to that." Sharpay muttered as she turned back around to get into her car, but he quickly grabbed her arm before she could book it. She gasped- taken off guard again and violently tore out of his grasp.
"What do you want?!" she snapped angrily.
"I just wanted to thank you for not ratting me out to Darbus." Chad said with a shy smile. Sharpay sighed. "Well, could you do it without grabbing me everytime I turn around?!" she asked- narrowing her eyes.
Chad chuckled. "Sure." he said. They stood their a few minutes in an awkward and pointless silence. "Well, what are you waiting for? If you want an autograph or something, you could just ask." Sharpay cracked crossing her arms over her chest.
"No, I don't want an autograph."
"Well then, if that's all you need, then scram and let ME leave."
"Well, I was actually wondering if you wanted to get together sometime and do something?" he asked nervously rubbing the back of his neck and glancing breifly at his feet. When she didn't reply, he dared himself to look back up at her. She seemed to be studying him- watching him intently, with an eyebrow raised.
She looks so cute when she's concentrating like that. Chad thought.
As if she can't make up her mind.
"...Well?" he asked reluctantly after a few long seconds. She sighed dramatically and began digging around in her purse.
"W-what are you doing?" Chad asked curiously.
"Look, Danforth, whatever your basketball buddies are paying you to ask me out, I'll pay you double- no, triple if you leave me alone." she told him as she pulled out her checkbook and a pen. Chad's eyes widened in shock. He didn't know what to say. She looked at him impatiently.
"Well? What's the amount? Come on, lay it on me." she said dryly as she wrote his name down on a check.
"What? No! They're not paying me anything."
"Danforth, I don't have time for your games. Now, if you'll excuse me-" she didn't finish her sentence, instead she dropped the checkbook and pen back into her bag andclean turned around and tried a third attempt to make a clean escape to the inside of her car, but he grabbed her arm...again.
"Quit touching me!" Sharpay exclaimed ripping her arm away from him- shooting him the coldest, most evil glare she could manuever. Chad grimaced at the look she sent his way and shivered inwardly.
Where's my beautiful angel? he asked himself.
"Sharpay-"
"Leave me alone!" she shouted in his face. He flinched at her outburst.
"Come on, I-"
"Go away, Danforth." she hissed bitterly through gritted teeth- each word coated with poison. Chad blinked.
"I'm being serious here!" he told her. "This has nothing to do with the guys! They don't even know..." he trailed off.
"Know. What.?" she snapped.
"That I'm practically in love with you!" he blurted out, and then covered his mouth with both hands- not believing he'd actually said that. Her eyes bulged in shock and her face turned red. She quickly turned away before he could notice.
"Now you've really done it." she muttered.
"Done...done what?" he asked nervously- shifting his weight to his right foot as he kicked at a small rock near him. The rock traveled several yards down the student parking lot. Chad's eyes lingered on it for a moment.
"This must be some hell of a bet you made with your friends." she whispered bitterly clenching her fists at her sides.
Chad threw his hands madly in the air.
What will it take?!
"Oh for the love of!-" without further comments or warning, he spun her around as his arms slid around her waist. He closed his eyes and heard her gasp right before he brought his mouth down over hers.
Sharpay's chocolate eyes went wide as he kissed her. She tried to viciously yank away and out of his grasp, but he had to strong of a hold on her. After a few more attempts, all failed, she brought up her right hand and smacked him hard in the face.
Chad cried out and immediatley released her from his arms- surprise mixed with pain as his hand immediatley found his stinging right cheek.
"What was that for?!" he wanted to know.
"Leave me alone!" and then she climbed into her car and sped away- tires squealing as if she'd just made a hit and run and wanted to get away ASAP!
Well, I did, and I do. she laughed dryly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chad stormed into his house both in anger and depression. Why hadn't Sharpay believed him? Did she really think he'd stoop so low as to flirt with her and lie just to get money from his friends? It hurt him that she saw him like that. He would never do that to any girl...especially not to her. He may be a dork and a goof, but he was not a jerk like that.
"What's wrong with your face?!" Chad's eight year old sister Tanya asked him in a less then polite manner as he slouched into the kitchen. Food always made him feel better. Tanya was spreading peanut butter over a piece of toast at the counter using a footstool.
"Nice to see you to, Tan." Chad muttered. "Hey aren't you a little to young to be using a knife?" he asked her as he reached into the pantry.
"And aren't you a little to young to get drunk at your friend Jason's party and bring back a huge bottle of whiskey?" she shot back almost instantly.
The box of crackers Chad had been holding fell from his hand to the ground when she said that and he shot his sister a surprised, pleading look- both questioning how on earth she knew about how he had gotten carried away at one of Jason's parties the month before, and silently begging her to not rat him out to his parents. Tanya smirked as if reading his thoughts.
"I know things big brother, oh boy do I." the youngster snarled almost evilly before jumping off her stool with her newly made peanut butter sandwich. "Besides, it was only a butter knife." she shrugged nonchalantly and skipped out of the kitchen humming.
"Bi-polar, much!?" Chad shouted after her, and then a thought struck him.
How does she even know what 'drunk' means?!
Whatever. Chad had bigger problems going on in his life then his little sister's knowledge of whiskey and being 'drunk.'
Like Sharpay Evans.
Chad sighed. Maybe he had come on a little strong...what was he thinking?! She was obviously freaked out and probably hated him even more now.
Well, she's going to be mine on way or another. All I need is a plan...
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"Dude what's wrong with you man?" Troy asked Chad the next day at lunch. Chad didn't reply- he either hadn't heard his friend, or was just pretending he didn't. He was to busy concentrating and focusing his full attention on the beautiful bombshell almost halfway across the cafeteria. (who, might I add, had been avoiding him all day.) He had been watching her every move carefully all day. He wasn't trying to be stalker-ish or anything, but he couldn't help himself. He was just drawn to her, as if there was a magnetic force field between his eyes and her...everything.
"Chad? Hu-lo?" Troy said snapping his fingers in front of Chad's face this time snapping him back into reality.
"Sorry." he murmered staring down at his untouched plate of macaroni.
"What's wrong with you?" Troy repeated. Chad blinked at his friend in confusion.
"Huh?"
"You haven't made one wise-crack all day, and normally you'da already inhaled all your food by now." Troy said.
"Yeah, even I'm already finished eating!" Jason said- he was the slowest eater of the group, and Chad hadn't eaten a single bite.
"Sorry. Just thinking." Chad answered lamely as his eyes once again found the back of Sharpay. Jason, Troy, and Zeke all exchanged glances before erupting into laughter.
"You? Thinking?! HA!" Zeke said. Chad didn't reply. He wasn't even paying attention. He watched as Lea; one of the Sharpettes, leaned over and said something to Sharpay, who laughed and repeated it to Jackie and Emma, and all four girls laughed again. Ryan sat there in confusion. Kelsi raised her eyebrows obviously weirded out at whatever the other four girls found so funny.
Chad smiled to himself- admiring Sharpay once again and the way she laughed. She tossed her head back slightly when she did so, causing her blonde tresses to bounce gently.
He watched her for a while longer, and she must have felt herself being watched because she slowly turned around and scanned the cafeteria cautiously until her brown eyes fell up Chad's darker brown ones. Chad wasted no time in giving her the most charming smile he could muster- trying hard to keep eye contact. She looked at him for a few more seconds- mouth slightly agape, before turning back around and continuing her conversation with Lea as if nothing had happened.
. He thought glumly.
"Now what were you smiling about?!" Zeke asked.
"Nothing. Shut up." Chad answered smugly.
"Guys, maybe our buddy Chad here has just got a lot on his mind?" Jason cracked, then he Troy and Zeke burst out laughing again. Chad didn't laugh or do anything.
"Man we're just joking..." Troy said, thinking he was deliberatley ignoring them now.
"Huh? About what?" Chad asked confused. Troy rolled his eyes. "Nothing." he muttered- giving up.
"Hey Troy..." Chad began hesitantly as he finally took his eyes off of Sharpay- for a minute, anyways. "Yeah?" Troy asked- raising one eyebrow at his friend. Chad took a few moments to continue as he gathered up what he had to say, and tried to figure out how to put it into good word usage.
"So uh, when you started dating Gabby...how did you start dating her?" He finished- in hopes of getting something more then just 'I told her how I felt about her' because that's what he had used on Taylor a long time ago, and all his other girlfriends in the past, and it had usually worked, but with Sharpay, it hadn't worked- and he felt stronger for her then he had for any other woman in his entire life, so he would have to try harder. Maybe Troy tried somthing different on Gabriella.
"Gayest question ever, much?" Zeke butted in. Jason chuckled, but Troy and Chad ignored them both. Troy shrugged.
"Uh...I don't know. We were just on a date and then I guess we were together officially after that. But you know man, it's kinda weird for us guys to talk about our relationships..."
"I know, but when you asked her on a date in the first place, she just said yes?" Chad asked- ignoring Troy's last comments, because he really needed to know.
"...Yeah, I guess."
Now why can't we all have it that easy!?
"Yeah? Well if you and Gabby are such a 'perfect couple' why hasn't she sat with us in two weeks?!" Jason butted in.
"Becaues she's been sitting with Taylor and the rest of the Chem Club!" Troy insisted. "Why did you dump Taylor anyway?" he asked turning his attention back to Chad, who shrugged.
"I dunno." he said.
"Oh I get it. You're asking me all this so you can find a way to get Taylor back!" Troy said with a sheepish grin. "Well dude, just go over there and tell her to give you another chance! I'm sure she'd understand!"
"Hell no I don't want Taylor back! Besides, according to you, she likes Zeke now anyways. Not that I care!"
"Hey, Gabby told me that. It's not according to me! It's according to her!"
"Oh, you don't care that Tay supposedly likes me?" Zeke asked- raising an eyebrow at Chad, who sooner then soon immediatley shook his head- his dark curls bouncing. Zeke grinned.
"Good! Cos I was thinking of asking her out. Ya know...if that was okay with you, I mean."
Chad shrugged. "Yeah, go for it Zeke."
"Wait a minute- I thought you had a thing for Sharpay?" Jason asked Zeke in confusion. Chad stiffened up- waiting patiently for Zeke's answer. Luckily, no one noticed.
"Naw! I got over that after the twenty third time she rejected me." Zeke answered with an uncaring shrug to signal that he really was over Sharpay. Chad flinched.
Twenty Third? She rejected him twenty three times?! Is she always gonna reject ME?!
Although, at the same time Chad was relieved that Zeke had no feelings left for Sharpay, since now...he did, and Zeke was one of his best friends.
"Wait...so, if you weren't asking me that cos of Taylor, why were you?" Troy asked- getting back to the main subject of focus.
"No reason." Chad said- his eyes trailing back to Sharpay. He really couldn't go more then three to five minutes without staring at her. Troy shot him a questionable look and answered "Sure..."
Then, Zeke, Jason, and Troy all got into another random topic, but Chad didn't know what about since he had now returned to Sharpay-land.
Sharpay land. Home of the most beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, and yet also bitchy drama queen in the school.
WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET HER?!
Well...maybe somehow, if everyone knew how he felt about her...if he made another complete fool out of himself in front of everyone, maybe she'd believe him...maybe she would stop thinking he was just messing with her because of 'some stupid bet.'
So that's what Chad decided to do. Advertise his love for her, right here, right now. In front of everyone.
Without any word, Chad jumped onto the cafeteria table- earning a few gasps from anyone who noticed.
"What are you doing!?" Troy asked him. But he ignored him. He ignored everyone.
"What the hell?!" Jason and Zeke said in a bewildered unison. They had to jerk back from the table so Chad wouldn't step on their arms.
Sharpay hadn't noticed yet that Chad was standing on his lunch table, gazing directly at her. It was as if she was deliberatley trying to block him out.
Yeah? Well, I'll make her notice!
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at the top of his lungs;
"SHARPAY EVANS! I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU!!"
Gasps of shock and bewilderement echoed throught the entire fairly large lunch room. Everyone's widened-eyes shot immediatley at Chad, and then, as fast as the gasps had come, the cafeteria suddenly grew silent. Somewhere dropped a water bottle wich crinkled to the floor and everyone could hear it- that's how dead silent it now was.
But Chad's attention was focused fully on Sharpay. She turned around slowly- eyes locking on his as they practically bulged out of their sockets. The diet-coke bottle she'd been holding fell from her hand. Her mouth fell wide open. Her face turned beat red from embarrassment and shock.
Next to her, Lea, as well as pretty much everyone else in the cafeteria darted their eyes back from Chad to Sharpay. From Sharpay to Chad. A long, empty silence fell upon every student.
"That's right!!" Chad shouted again. Someone sneezed. Another person coughed. But it remained dead silent.
"Have I proven it now?! Proved to you that it's not 'some bet?' Do you understand yet? Well, if you don't, I'll say it one more time!"
And then he shouted louder then before;
"I, CHAD DONALD DANFORTH AM IN LOVE WITH SHARPAY EVANS!!"
"Her middle name's Angelina, if you wanted to know!" Ryan suddenly spoke up. Everyone then laughed at Ryan's cockiness and Sharpay screamed in a horrified voice "Ryan!" angry at her twin for announcing her middle name to the entire lunch room filled with at least twenty students at almost every table.
Then, it fell silent...again.
"Say something, princess!!" Someone else shouted at Sharpay after several seconds of nothing. People began murmering quick, quiet things amongst themselves about Chad's shocking announcement.
When Sharpay didn't reply, Chad felt the need to continue.
"SHARPAY ANEGLINA EVANS HAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, ANGELIC VOICE AND IS THE BEST SINGER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! SHE IS GORGEOUSLY AMAZING! I. LOVE. YOU. SHARPAY!"
A couple people now whistled. Chad dared himself to glance breifly down at Troy, Zeke, and Jason. Their faces had gone pale and they were staring up at him horrified, shocked, and blank.
He didn't care. He just kept going.
"I only joined theater to spend time around you Sharpay!" he shouted. Most people either gasped or laughed at the newly discovered news of Chad Danforth being in theater.
"Yeah, that's right! I'm in the drama club! And you know what?! I SUCK!" Chad announced to everyone. Everyone laughed harder.
"But I don't care! As long as I get to see Sharpay and listen to her BEAUTIFUL voice everyday after school, WHAT DOES IT MATTER!?"
People began clapping and whistling. Sharpay couldn't take much more of this embarrassment. She angrily shot up from her seat and stomped across the cafeteria to Chad's table. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and yanked him down from on top of the table- causing more gasps, laughter, claps, and loud whistles to erupt throughout the lunch room. He almost slipped, but luckily caught his balance. She dragged him out of the cafeteria- escaping from everyone. She was going to go somewhere and give this Chad Danforth a piece of her mind.
Who the hell does he think he is?!
Students began chanting and shouting random things as the pair exited the room.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What the Danforth?!" Sharpay hissed angrily as she shoved him forecfully into the luckily sound proof auditorium- where no one could hear his screams of pain and agony if she murdered him!
"What were you trying to do in there?! Were you purposely TRYING to make me DIE of embarrassment?!" she demanded.
"No! I was just trying to prove it to you! That I really meant what I said yesterday when I told you I loved you!"
"Stop saying that!!" she shouted.
"Why Sharpay?! Do you REALLY hate compliments?! Do you HATE to be adored?! What is it?" he really needed to know what her deal was. There he'd been- pouring his heart and soul out to her in front of over one third of the school (there are three lunch periods), and here she was- shrieking at him about it! Now, it was actually sort of angering him. She was never going to see it, was she?
"When you shout like a maniac across the entire god damned caefertia, yes, I DO, you idiot!!" SHarpay screamed.
"It was the only way I could get you to understand!" Chad defended.
"Understand WHAT?! Understand how STUPID you are?!"
"No, understand that I LOVE YOU!"
"NO!" she shouted in frustration, and before Chad could say anything else, she suddenly burst into loud sobs- taking him completely off guard. She buried her face in her hands and cried into them- her sobs muffled slightly by them, but not really. Strands of her hair fell over her hands so he couldn't see them or her face. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried.
Chad's eyes widened in shock. Had he really been wrong just by telling her he loved her? Why was she sobbing like this? He'd never seen someone cry so hard in his entire life- maybe Tanya when she was a baby, but seeing Sharpay so...vulnerable and upset was just...heartbreaking.
Without giving it a second thought, Chad wrapped his arms tightly and securely around her. He felt pretty helpless himself- how was he ever going to calm her down, especially when he didn't really know what he had done.
But even though he didn't know exactly what he had done that was so awful, he did know at least that he was the cause of her tears, and he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces as he realised this.
"Hey, hey...shhh. Calm down. It's okay...shh..." he said soothingly as she sobbed into his shirt.
"I'm sorry Sharpay. But what do you want me to do? I can;t stay away from you...you're like my..my drug." he chuckled- trying to lighten her up at least a little bit, but this only caused her to cry harder. He grimaced and began rocking her back and forth- gently rubbing circles on the small of her back.
"I need you to calm down, okay? So much crying is not good for you. I'm so sorry for making you cry like this...but...but could you at least let me know why? I can't tell you I don't love you, because then I'd be lying, but-"
"No, you don't understand." she suddenly interrupted- her voice now muffled by his shirt as she forced herself to try to calm down a least a little bit.
"You don't love me. You can't love me. No one has ever loved me. Everyone just loves the stuff I have. No one loves me, and no one ever will."
Chad tried to blink back a few tears of his own. How could she say something to horrible and untrue? How could she? Did she truly believe that?
"No, don't say that. It's not true. I do love you."
She sniffled. "Why? Why Chad? I'm a . I know I am. How do you figure that all I have is Lea, Emma, Jackie, and Ryan? Lea, Emma, and Jackie actually only hang out with me because I'm rich. See what I mean? I'm unlovable! I've never had a boyfriend- I've always just been a one night stand. And that's all I probably am to you to!"
"Don't ever say that! You're gorgeous, you're an amazing singer, and you're not always a ... Please stop thinking of yourself that way. None of it's true, Sharpay. You're no one night stand. Trust me, I've spent many of nights thinking about your beautiful voice and your amazing smile and just..." he trailed off.
She didn't reply. Chad heard her hiccup a few times, but she kept her face buried against his chest.
"Look, I've known you forever. And, I've never actually dis-liked you, but I've actually fallen for you. I need you to believe me. You have to believe that you are lovable, that you're not a horrible person. You need to believe that you're the most amazing person in the entire world, and that I love everything about you. I knew you were rich, but that's not why I love you."
"Then why? What else could there be?!" she asked desperatley.
"Everything else besides that." he told her as he stroked her long soft hair and inhaled her strawberry sweet scent. He knew that that sounded corny, but it was true. Everything she did amazed him. By the simple fact that she walked and breathed was amazing to him.
"And you know what? As much as it might pain me, you don't have to love me back. I mean, I just want you to know how I feel about you. And I want you to believe it. Can you do that for me Shar?"
She didn't reply.
"Please?"
"...Fine. If it'll shut you up." she giggled softly. He smiled.
"Good. I just wanted you to know that. You can go on and forget about me completely, but you can never forget this talk we had, okay? Everything I've said is true, I didn't cross my fingers for once!" he joked towards the end.
"You know what Danforth?" she asked softly- finally looking up at him. He gazed into her now soft eyes. He had never seen them without ice and hatred when she had looked at him in the past, but now...what was that he saw there? Kindness? Appreciation? Love?
He didn't know, but it was something. Something good. He could tell.
"What?" he asked- wiping away a few tears from her soft cheeks. She smiled up at him.
"After that long, convincing speech of yours just now...I think it'd be hard for me not to feel the same way. Because now I've realised, just how sincere and sweet you really are."
"What do you mean?"
"I used to think it was impossible for anyone to love the real me. And I was afraid of getting my heart broken. I was afraid to be in love."
"Sharpay-"
"Thank you Chad. Because of you, I'm not afraid to be in love any longer."
With that sentence left, she brought her arms up tightly around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and immediatley kissed her back.
"...And I'm sorry." she added in a whisper when the kiss was over. He rested his forhead on hers.
"Huh? For what?"
"For shouting at you like that."
"Really? Wow, I must really have changed you. I never thought you'd apologise for anything." he joked pulling her closer to him. She chuckled.
"Oh, shut up."
They kissed again.
It was very entertaining!
HEYYY