9Sharpay hadn't seen Troy at the youth activity a few days ago. It made her sad, but with the whole "Mr. Johns crying I'm sorry" mess, she was glad she only had to deal with that one thing that night.
Sharpay had had one thing on her mind for the past few weeks: What Troy said to Emma. She couldn't believe that Troy said that she, Sharpay Evans, was the closest he'd ever come to liking someone. Troy Bolton could have whoever he wanted, at the drop of a hat, and Sharpay was on a natural high knowing that she was the one who Troy was interested in.
She'd always been so focused on herself, so focused on hating everyone else. Sharpay, since she was a little girl, thought she knew her plan; leave Albequerque and finally meet some people…some guys that were worthwhile. But since she finished her junior year, she'd been changing. She was, after all, starting to get involved with Troy Bolton. For someone who had always sworn off boys from her life, that alone was a huge change. She hardly knew herself anymore; she was making spontaneous decisions about life, and it scared her a little.
Since she hadn't heard from Troy in a few days, she decided to text him. She was getting to the point where if they didn't talk, she would constantly check her phone, constantly bite her nails until text messages between the two were exchanged. She knew she was becoming addicted to his texts, but did not like thinking of herself as an addict.
Sharpay grabbed her white purse and searched through all the receipts, candy wrappers and pens to find her phone. "I should probably clean that out before school starts," she said to herself as she opened a new text message.
Sharpay: Hey Troy! Didn't see you the other night…where were you?
Troy: Hey :) I was at a club tennis meeting for school
Sharpay: Oh, I thought that school didn't start for another weekish :]
Troy: It doesn't, but there was a meeting so I went anyway
Sharpay: oh. Gotta love tennis ;]
Troy: Yeah it's pretty legit. Not as good as basketball though.
Sharpay could feel the conversation starting to end, so she thought of something else to talk about. She thought of a lot of subjects, but didn't feel like any were what she wanted to talk about. Then the thought crossed her mind to bring up Emma's email. "Sharpay, are you kidding me?" she thought. "No! It never ends well when someone straight up asks about things like that. Just let it happen on its own!"
But Sharpay's fingers had a mind of their own. As soon as she finished her thought of "no, don't!" she typed her message.
Sharpay: So Emma told me what you said to her at the conference.
She pressed send. As the message was being sent, she realized what she had actually just done. She became flustered, thinking of what Troy would say back. No matter what he said, she realized she'd just dug herself a hole and there was no way to get back on ground level.
Troy: And what would that be?
Sharpay thought of making up something, but she couldn't bring herself to lie about what Emma told her. So she sent her response.
Sharpay: Well, she just told me what you said about liking me.
Troy: what do you mean…
Sharpay: you like me? Like, as more than friends?
Troy took a long time to respond: No, I like you as a friend. She misinterpreted me haha
Sharpay felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Her heart stopped and she was overcome with the urge to heave her phone across the room.
She answered: What did you say to her exactly then?
Troy: Not that. I didn't say that.
Sharpay instantly became enraged. She should've listened to herself and not sent that text message. Now things were just getting heated and awkward.
Sharpay: Seriously? Then why did you ask me to dance in advance if you don't like me? And why did we dance through two songs? And why do we text ALL the time?
Sharpay could go on and on with the list, but stopped there. This wasn't doing any good, it was only making her angrier at Troy, Emma, everyone.
Troy: I like talking to you. It's awesome.
Sharpay didn't care to hear what Troy had to say. Thinking of how she'd fallen for Troy embarrassed her too much. Thinking of a way to end the conversation quickly, she responded simply.
Sharpay: Okay. Sorry then.
Troy: It's all good. I'm going to hit the sack. Ttyl
Sharpay: okay
Sharpay felt like an idiot. She was too forward. "This is what I get for waiting to enter the world of males until I was 17. Genius," Sharpay said aloud, searching the bookshelf for her journal. She found it and flipped it open to reveal a clean page.
August 26, 2010
Not a lot today: but I asked Troy Bolton if he liked me. He said no, and I am like heartbroken. And I feel so stupid, like I am loosing track of who I am, what my path is and what my plan is. I always had a plan but now with all of this mess my head is so fuzzy and I can't make rational decisions anymore. I don't know what is going on with me. Need some sleep.
Sharpay closed her journal and shut the light out. She pulled up the covers and stared at the white ceiling in her bedroom. "If Troy Bolton isn't going to fall for me, why did I have to fall for Troy Bolton?" She closed her eyes and fell into a deep abyss of sleep, putting off all her anguish and pain until she could deal with it the next day.