Such Sweet S O R R O W [Xander]

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay had run all the way from the cafeteria to the theater, which wasn't easy or fun in her strappy silver heels. She hadn't even realized where she was going until she was there. The lights were off and, because it was lunch and Ryan was at home, no one was there. The Evans, and occasionally Kelsi, were the only ones to come here when it wasn't necassary.

It was her santuary. Coming here she felt her heart slow to a calm that she only got when surrounded by plush seats and hot stage lights. She would have turned them on but she was too exausted. Crying really took it out of her and she just wanted to collapse onstage.

Sharpay walked onstage and rubbed at the steady stream of tears that were flowing down her cheeks. That had been emberassing, hopefully everyone had just thought it was her being dramatic. Had it been? Sharpay pondered this as she sat herself center stage, finding it even in the dark. She wrapped her arms around her knees and took a deep and ragged breath, trying to shake her blues.

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

Xander saw Sharpay dash into the theater. He paused for a brief moment in the hallway before heading to the door. Did he really have any clue what he was doing? Well, he had comforted his mom before and as crazy as it was, he cared about Sharpay!

He opened the door and entered the dark theater, there was a small bit of light illuminating the room as it would be pitch black otherwise but, none of the stage lights were on. He paused and looked about at the vast sea of chairs. Then he saw her, there on the stage. He knew from the time he had spent in detention the way to get up on that stage.

Xander made his way around and onto the stage. He approached her and realized he was still holding the napkin that he was going to offer her earlier. He offered it now but, to wipe away the saltness of tears instead of dressing. "Hey." he said softly.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay looked up when the door to the theater opened and a stream of light broke the darkness. She began to get up, thinking it was Ms. Darbus or Kelsi, but was surprised to see the sarcastic skater boy. What was his name again? Her attempt to get up was squelched because she was too surprised to move, which was probably better since she was dog-tired. Had he followed her? After she had yelled at him and then gone crazy and ran out of the cafeteria crying...?

Sharpay watched him with narrowed and red (from crying) eyes. She remembered when he had been snappy about her decorations during his detention and her free time. He hadn't seemed so nice then. What was he doing here? With a napkin? She stared from the napkin to him with the same confused sort of disgusted look.

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

He smiled slightly, still looking concerned, "I thought you might need to wipe your eyes, they seem a bit watery." Xander continued his offer of poser tissue although if she didn't take it this wouldn't hurt him.

Xander felt strange with her on the ground and him still standing. He decided to get down on her level as she looked too exhausted to stand. This normally would be the perfect opportunity to tear Sharpay down but, Xander couldn't do that to her like this. It would hurt him as well as her. He sighed, "Sharpay, this is more then salad dressing, and I can't force you to talk to me but if you need someone to talk to," with this his sat down next to her, "I'm your guy."

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay's eyes turned into glaring slits when he remarked on her 'wet eyes'. Ryan would have lied and said she looked beautiful, that was the response she liked. But she knew she was crying and the napkin would actualy help with her appearance, so she took it. Or snatched it, really.

"What are you doing here?" She grumbled, wiping under her eyes for any stray makeup. Her crying had basically stopped but she was still all stuffy and congested. Sharpay blew her nose and then gave him back the tissue.

"Sharpay, this is more then salad dressing, and I can't force you to talk to me but if you need someone to talk to, I'm your guy." Her disbelief showed on her face when he sat down. Suddenly she felt bad for not remembering his name. Sharpay never felt bad about anything! She sort of disliked him for it and felt like holding out on him. Besides...he'd reminded her of her ruined shirt and it was none of his business why she was upset. What did he really want to help her for anyway? All the same she had all of these emotions pent up and he looked so genuine...

Sharpay sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Fine!" She shouted, reagusting her seat to face him better and be more comfortable. If he was so interested as to track her down she'd tell him. She had no one else to go to anyways. "But this doesn't make us friends or anything." Really, that would be the topping to this awful day.

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

He was glad she had agreed to talk, Xander really wasn't sure if she would or not. He shrugged and smiled slightly as she retorted about not being friends, "Fine by me!" he agreed. He couldn't be friends with her anyway as this would ruin the status quo that remained. His friends would not get it.

Xander in a way, hated the fact that he DID like her because he knew it would probably never work out. She was gorgeous and, misunderstood. In a way the Queen Bee was more of a social outcast than Xander.

No one really wanted to be her friend, they more wanted to hang with her because she was popular and had money. Most people feared her and pretty much everyone talked about her harshly behind her back. This is probably what partly made the ice princess the way she was today. There were of course issues at home that contributed but, it was really something that went half and half.

Xander wasn't actually thinking about all of these things though. He was more focused on what the diva was about to say.

[Sharpay Evans]

Xander couldn't have known, but his agreeing was the only reason she let herself spill her guts to him. If he had been any more persistent, said one more thing, or gave her a 'you never know' line, she would have left right then. So many possible responses but only one would let her continue, and luckily he had chosen it. Maybe he wasn't such a weirdo, the way things were going he seemed to be saying all the right things... Or maybe he was just a lucky Skater Boy. If you considered Sharpay going off on a sob story for you lucky.

"Okay..well.." She started, finding this surprisingly difficult. Sharpay usually liked the attention to be on her, but this was hard. Maybe she just wasn't used to opening up to people, except for Ryan. If it was Ryan she would have gone off on a page-long monologue and he would have "MM-HMM"ed and "Ohhh"ed at all the right places. But Ryan wasn't here... "It's all Troy's fault.." She muttered, finding that her words came easier as her rage came back.

"You know Troy Bolton, right? Head of the basketball team, I asked him to Sadie Hawkins and he accepted.." Shar said, still adamant on the point. "But then he's all, I'd never go to the dance with you! I love Freaky Math Girl, bleh! Whatever..So over him." She rolled her eyes, digressing from the main point. Suddenly she noticed that she had gone off on a Troy Tangent in front of him and became a little bit noticeably shaken. She continued, at first a bit stilted, since she was still new to letting people in (though she didn't know that's what she was doing.).

"Anyways, Troy and Chad were at some store and Ryan had just bought Taylor...y'know, Chad's girlfriend, or whatever, some tennis balls...they were hanging out lately.." Shar admitted, through gritted teeth. She didn't like that anymore then the boys, truthfully. Ryan was hers, not Taylor's, what was she supposed to do without him? Realizing that without him she was... well, let's just say it was like someone had taken the 'ulous' from her Fabulous. Sure, she was still Fab, but the whole thing felt off. She didn't like it. "So, Chad goes berserk and hits Ryan! Hits him! Over some stupid tennis balls! All the while Troy just stands by..." She visibly huffed, shaking her head and unable to continue because of her rage. She felt like a teakettle that was at its boiling point and dying to let some steam out.

"And then that stupid, idiotic, un-theatrical, un-Democratic, and totally uncaring principle, Principle Scoff, won't do anything about it! He didn't even listen!" Sharpay's voice had grown steadily louder and higher in pitch but now wobbled weakly. Her face, which had been contorted in rage, now softened into a frown, though it was obvious she was fighting it. She blinked rapidly, fighting back her tears. They were hot and stung the back of her eyes. She hated her weak side, but now that she had started she couldn't stop!

"And now he's at home and he tries not to let me see but I know it hurts, and I know it hurts even more that he can't be here practicing our routine, and doing drama, and eating with me at lunch, and helping me coordinate outfits...I have no one to coordinate outfits with..!" Sharpay's voice was cracking and growing less understandable as she went on, near sobs. She took a shaky breath and finished, "And I miss him and I just wanted to help him! And I can't! I can't do anything-! I...I..."

The Diva's tough exterior had cracked, just like many of her competition did during auditions. In the back of her mind she wished she could just handle this like a performance and call, "END SCENE!" Then things could be back to how they were supposed to be and she wouldn't be in the dark with some weird skater boy crying in front of him. She hated how weak she was, and how she couldn't even finish on a strong note, but had to fade out via full-out cry mode. Sharpay leaned over her knees, curling into herself from humiliation and hurt. It was her only way of 'protecting' herself from Xander exposing how pathetic she was to everyone. How could she have been so stupid as to talk to him?

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

Wow, Sharpay was really opening open to him. He listened and nodded his head where appropriate. The poor girl was not having a good week. Troy really had no clue how much he had hurt her.
She felt useless in helping her brother too which was hard.

"So that's what happened?" Xander replied. He had heard the rumors of what had happened to Ryan that were going around school and most of them were pretty whacked. Sharpay's had to be the most sane one he had heard, and hers was not a rumor.
He reached a hand over to her and rubbed her back in a comforting gesture, "Wow, I'm sorry."
Generally Xander might crack a joke to lighten the mood or something but, this wasn't funny and there was nothing to joke about. He had seen a few break downs before but, he had never seen Sharpay do so. He really wanted to help her but, he really didn't see how. It's not like him asking her to the dance would help, not that he would ever do so anyway.
No, he just sat next to her rubbing her back and letting her cry.

[Ryan Evans]

((Updated, lol Idk if I should add more Shar))

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay tried to stop crying but the more she tried the more shattered her breaths became and the more they racked her body. She tried to remember how to shut out emotion; she'd done it before, several times, actually. Sharpay wasn't totally immune to the wounds people gave her, no matter how she brushed them off. She remembered several of them. Ryan was her only true supporter...her only true friend. He was the only one who would never hurt her in any way and that made her cry even harder. How could she let her little brother get hurt? She was supposed to protect him! He'd protected her so many times before, he just didn't know it. He was the only reason a lot of people put up with her, like her mom...oh gosh, why was it that every time you break down everything that's haunting you bears down on you. Sharpay hated it, she hated it!

Suddenly a hand touched her back and she stiffened, lifting her head from her knees and realizing where she was and who she was with. Her cheeks flushed and she started sniffling uncontrollably, still unable to stop crying though her will crowed at her to not do so in front of Xander.

"Wow, I'm sorry."

Her sniffling stopped and she looked at him over her shoulder, not thinking of her appearance and how her mascara had run down her cheeks, her eyes were puffy or that her nose runny. She wasn't thinking of that, though. She wasn't thinking of anything.

Suddenly her gawking mouth closed to an uncontrollable frown and her sobs had stilled to a steady flow of tears and the occasional hiccup, which Xander must have felt, as Sharpay had shifted to set her head on his shoulder, her fingers digging into his shirt on his shoulders.

She wasn't thinking at all.

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

Xander was taken aback by her sudden clinging to him. He held her as she cried trying to think of a better way to consul her. Troy didn't seem like such a jerk to him, an idiot sure cause he could easily date Sharpay and chose not to but, after today Troy seemed kinda like a douche.

"Hey, this isn't you're fault." he tried looking at her under her mess of hair. Xander wasn't a psychiatrist but, his mom did watch Dr. Phil an awful lot (mainly to make fun of parts of it, a favorite pass time of his dad and mom). "And Ryan knows that. He worships the ground you walk on, he would never think you let him down." Xander had barely ever spoken to Sharpay before, and now he was comforting her, it was surreal.

"and Troy, he's an idiot for not seeing how awesome you really are." Xander hoped his words were helping, "You deserve better."

[Sharpay Evans]

It was a reaction, that's all it had been. Sharpay was a creature of impulse. However, these impulses were of a different sort. Usually Sharpay impulsively lashed out or performed. It wasn't uncommon for her to belt out a tune to express a moment. This was different. She wasn't naturally vulnerable at all. If she had been in her 'right' mind she would have ran or said something mean on impulse. Instead she acted without thinking by reaching for someone, and that person had been Xander of all people.

While the status quo was crumbling, Sharpay still clung to it with dogmatic passion. She figured that cliques were cliques for a reason. They were a necessary Highschool practice; they taught you a lifelesson that was much more important than chemistry. Because life has hiarchy. There would always be castes in life.So, the fact that she was there-her, the queen of the school, the top lioness- was there with the lowly meerkat...well, it was just wrong. It went against everything she believed in. She didn't know him nor like him. He irritated her, he bristled her fur and got under her skin. Something about him defied her power. Yet, here she was nuzzling into his neck.

She was crying too hard to come to her senses. It was as if he had openned the crack that had been building and splitting in her heart and now all bets were off. Terrible, gut wrenching sobs racked her frail body and she finally got to unleash everything that she had been holding in for so long. Her face was wet and salty. But she wasn't focused on that. She was clinging not only to him, but his words. As he reminded her of what was true she grasped those words as if they were a lifeboat-the only thing keeping her afloat.

He was right. She knew he was. Ryan would always look up to her, whether she deserved it or not. He wasn't dissapointed, even if she was. How was skater boy so perceptive? And she did deserve better than stupid basketball head Troy. But...why did skater boy think so...? Why would he say that? He didn't know her, she had thought he didn't like her. So what were they doing?

Suddenly she sort of realized what was happenening. Since the water works had drizzled out she could not only see the stitching in his shirt perfectly well but the reality of the moment. She stiffened in his arms and leaned back, looking at him with the eyes of someone who had just awoken from a shock. She looked and felt confused and bewildered. With herself for opening up. She didn't do this, not with skater boys. She was better than that. She owned a yacht! And what was more shocking was him...sitting there comforting her and saying all the right things. Acting as if he were prince charming...maybe there was a bit of drama geek in him after all.

"Um...I...I have to go.." She muttered, whiping under her eyes and hastily looking around, as if she was seeing things for what they were for the first time. It was terrifying. This was terrifying. She had given him so much power over her. Why? Why, why, why? "Omigosh..." The weight of the situation really begun to sink in and she stood, looking around as if she had entered a murder scene. "I really have to go..."

[Ryan Evans]

Little known to these two, Mrs Darbus had been watching from the sidelines. She had seen and heard the raw emotion coming from her favorite star, Sharpay. She didn't really know this Xander boy very well, he was in her homeroom class, a trouble maker...but maybe there was a reason why he acted out the way he did. His home-life perhaps, maybe things were rough for him, like they were for Sharpay. She smiled knowingly at the two, perhaps beauty had found her beast. Perhaps there was something there that wasn't there before.

Maybe this skater boy had a actor in him as well. Yes, the wheels in Mrs. Darbus' head had been turning...'Legally Blonde? Now there's a musical.' It was perfect, she decided. She continued to watch the drama unfold having no intention of revealing herself. There wasn't a reason too.
(Had to add a reason why 'Legally Blonde' has been picked hehe)

[Xander Donova (Scott)]

Xander felt his heart skip a beat, were they really having a moment? Then she looked up at him, she looked like a deer in headlights. What was going through her mind? She leaned away from him, the moment was gone. He watched her, searching her eyes as to why the sudden switch of emotion. Her status quo brain must have started working again, he was returned to a peasant and she was a princess, destined to rule Broadway. He felt like a totally moron for almost spilling and kinda already spilling how he felt. But it had helped her confidence, hadn't it? He couldn't know for sure, as she wouldn't admit if it had. He was happy to have helped her though,even if she wouldn't say that directly he did. For a small moment he thought he might have a chance with her...Sharpay Evans! Crazy, foolish, these definitely were words people used to describe him, but one thing he wouldn't stand to but called was a quitter, and he wouldn't give up on Sharpay. She stood up.

"Um, ok?" he stood up. "Thanks for the thoroughly soaked shirt." he looked down at it, "Wet t-shirt contest winner, right here...." he looked up at her and dropped the 'act', "But really Sharpay, if you need to talk again, I'm your guy..." He knew he was pushing it so he started to look around too, "What are we looking for? Is that Phantom dude in the rafters or something?"

[Sharpay Evans]

[OOC: LEGALLY BLONDE! We must watch again-yus?]

Sharpay was too distracted to have caught what he was saying about his wet shirt. The only thing she could focus on was her own stupidity. Why had this happened? Why did this have to have happen? It was just so out of character. Oh my gosh...was she ill? Was she going to die?? Just to be sure Sharpay put a hand to her forehead, when all was normal there she put one to her cheek and discovered...wet. She made a small disgusted face and began whiping furiously.

"But really Sharpay, if you need to talk again, I'm your guy..."
What did this all mean? Did she have to bribe him or threaten him not to talk? That had to be the only reason he had done this...he'd followed her in, after all. For what? To have Sharpay burst into tears and give a sob story? Oh yeah, any guys dream. He had to have another motive.

When Xander began to mimick her and look around she stood frozen and stared at him with small, suspicious eyes. "No...of course the Phantom of the Opera is not lurking at this dump." She growled, wondering where on earth he could have even heard of the Phantom. He wasn't cultured enough for that-oh...but then there was that movie that came out, opening the majesty of The Phantom to the Joe Blows of the world. Those who couldn't afford to see the show properly, how it was intended to be seen. Then they figured that they were the truest 'fans' out there because they'd seen the movie and had the soundtrack. It was frustrating and pathetic.

"We are completely alone..." Her voice came in a breath, as she sighed in relief. Tension seemed to be lifted from her shoulders as she had not spied anyone nearby. However, that didn't fix the problem that Xander had seen everything. He could destroy her. Her posture straightened and she gained resolve to fix this immedietly. "This never happened." Her tone was so acidic it was surprising that she didn't taste it.

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