The Take Over... (Shar, Ry, Em, & Marco)

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay turned to Emma again, ready to tell her the truth about what happened to Bebe when Marco cut in and told her the details himself. Her mouth dropped open as she listened to him bare the truth about his evil plans and what happened to Bebe, that wasn't what she expected to hear from him. There's probably more to his plan that she hasn't figured out yet, and right now she's afraid to find out. She just wanted to get this over with so she can be with Ryan again, safe and calm.

She knew she was going a good job so far at pretending to be cool, that she isn't worried one bit about whatever secret her psycho stalker was talking about, but her mask fell when he mentioned making out with her brother. She could feel all the color draining from her face, and her eyes widening in shock as she looked at Marco. "What-" she noticed the squeak in her voice, so she cleared her throat lightly before continuing, "what are you talking about?" She said, still trying to keep the brave front even though she knew that was already lost. But she's going to fight for this for as long as she can, for her and Ryan.

Stay calm, Sharpay, stay calm... she was telling herself over and over again, and it seemed to work as she could feel the blood rushing back to her face. She didn't expect it to be so short-lived though when Marco pulled out his phone from his pocket and had showed something to Emma. No...please no...don't let it be us...please...

When Marco shoved the phone on her face, it was like everything else stopped and had started to fade. She looked at the photo on the screen, and suddenly her legs felt so numb that she had to lean on the theater seat behind her. It was really her and Ryan on the first day of school, at the theater, too caught up in the passionate kiss they were sharing to notice right away that someone had caught them. It suddenly makes sense now. Their hunch was right. Someone had actually saw them, and not just anyone either, but it was the Marco Ventura who they're trying to avoid from the start.

She suddenly felt so queasy that she wanted to throw up right then and there and faint, she didn't even want to listen to Marco anymore but she couldn't ignore his next words. Just the four words that stabbed her right through the heart. Break up with Ryan. She tried to look at Marco with as much hatred as she can but she was too weak at the moment, and too shocked. She was starting to think this was just a really really bad nightmare and that she'd wake up any moment now, then Ryan would calm her down until she goes back to sleep again. "Marco, I can't do that," she said weakly, trying to fight back the tears that she could already feel forming on her eyes. "I can do anything...anything...just not that." She said almost desperately begging, the one thing she hated doing especially if it's to someone like Marco Ventura, but if this would save her and Ryan's relationship, then she would swallow her pride. "Please not that."

[Emma the Loyal Sharpette]

Emma cocked her head as Marco began to speak. She didn't understand why Marco was saying this about Bebe, until he revealed the sore truth of what he did. Bebe, Zeke and everyone else never had any plan going. It was just Marco. Emma could feel heat rising in her face. She had been moping around and broke up with Zeke because of this hot liar in front of her. Her life had been ripped to shreds by this guy. Emma wanted nothing more than to run out of this theater and find Zeke, and forget about everything. She wanted to fall back into his arms, and kiss him and have fun like they used to.

Emma felt her mind being pulled back as she suddenly focused on what Marco was now saying to Sharpay. Bebe? Attacked? By Marco? Emma now felt her fists curling into balls. Her anger was reaching the boiling point. She wanted to cry, and beat the living daylights out of Marco Ventura. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Emma cried out, lurching her petite body towards him, ready to pounce on him at any time. She could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes, as she thought of all the horrible things she thought about Bebe, when she was a true friend the whole now. Now Bebe had been stabbed, and Emma hadn't been there for her. She hated herself and her foolish thoughts. She hated that she let Marco get the best of her. But most of all, she just hated Marco now.

Emma's mood switched when Marco brought up the subject of Sharpay's secrets again. Emma was about to protest, standing up for Sharpay and her minimal secrets, when a photo was flashed in front of her. Everything in Emma's world stopped. She blinked. She blinked again. Was she really seeing what she thought she was? Emma saw the distinct figure, clothing and hair of her idol standing on the school stage, with her arms wrapped around.....

"Ryan..." Emma breathed. She turned her attention towards Sharpay. "Oh my God." Emma stopped. She felt like she couldn't breath. She could barely feel any oxygen going into her system. "Oh....my God." Emma looked at her dear friend, her idol, and couldn't believe Sharpay was in an incestrious relationship with her brother! "OH...MY...GOD! YOU AND RYAN!? Sharpay! What the hell is wrong with you? What are you thinking? This is seriously seriously messed up. I....I can't deal with this right now." Emma began to panic, she lost all sense of rhyme and reason. She paced quickly, hearing Marco and Sharpay carry on about the arrangements of blackmail and breaking up and such things. Emma didn't bother to listen. Sharpay and Ryan was too much for her to handle right now.

She turned as Marco addressed her about keeping quiet, or killing Bebe. Emma, as angry as she was with Marco, just nodded silently and looked at Sharpay. Emma didn't care Sharpay was crying. She didn't care that Marco was blackmailing her. It didn't matter to Emma. She was beyond caring about Sharpay at this point. Sharpay wasn't there for Emma when she broke up with Zeke. Sharpay wasn't there because she was with Ryan. Emma felt disgust run through her body. She couldn't believe she once called this disgusting girl her friend, and worse, her idol.

"Sharpay." Emma said. She paused, looking at the torn girl who's life was being ruined at this moment before Emma's eyes. "You are the most deceitful, selfish, and disgusting person I have ever met. I can't believe you and Ryan are doing those disgusting things. And what's worse, you chose him and that illegal relationship over me, when I needed you." Emma stopped. She looked up at Marco. "I won't breathe a word." She turned starting to make her way out of the theater. She didn't want to be in there with those two liars and evil people. She just wanted to find Zeke. She stopped abruptly, and turned to them.

"You two are perfect for each other."

[Marco Ventura]

((I'm really sorry about the late reply... see the Away Thread.))

Marco couldn't believe Emma's reaction. A little flicker of annoyance flashed across his face - he expected full-blown sisterhood prevailing, and all those chick-flick cliches he'd grown up with. Instead, he got Regina George, flicking her wrists and ridding herself of the trash. If anything, it was almost better... but at the same time, it wasn't what he imagined.

"I wish I could trust you on that, Emma," Marco admitted, "because we both know you're going straight to Zeke. And I have my ways of monitoring Zeke... and all the Wildcats. I'm not stupid, Emma, not like you."

He stood there, arms crossed. He knew Sharpay hadn't moved, because he could still hear her pitiful sobs. It was sickening, if anything... the girl was so defenseless.

"Well, Sharpay?" Marco turned to her. "Will you stand for that behavior? The bitch I knew would've tossed Emma into a wall for saying such things. But then again, you're screwing your brother and befriending Japanese gangsters. The whole school's gone to the f***ing dogs."

Marco put his phone gingerly into his pocket, grinning maniacally. "Maybe I should prevent you from seeing Zeke, Emma. That might bring things a little closer to home for you... shut off from your two best friends? That would kill you. And you're not of any use anyway. Not anymore."

Marco looked at Sharpay, rubbing some running mascara from her eyes. "Go out with me, Sharpay, or I blow the lid on everything you've worked so hard to conceal from the world."

[Sharpay Evans]

As she listened to Emma's words, Sharpay felt like she was being stabbed in the heart over and over again, it was making it hard for her to breathe. The one friend she thought would stay loyal to her through all these things, was actually the first one to gave up on her, to leave her like she's trash, all because she is in love with Ryan. She was left there, she couldn't think of what to say...she just looked down in her palms, refusing to look at Emma. She could feel the strong hatred coming off of her, and it was beyond painful. Her tears wouldn't stop flowing, even though it was the one thing that she wouldn't let anyone to see, she couldn't stop crying, knowing that if she held it all in, she might just die. At the moment though, she wouldn't mind if she just died right then and there, it would have been probably the best.

She watched as Emma left them, and as the heavy doors closed behind her with an echoing thud, she couldn't help but feel that it was as if she had left her life totally, like she was someone who should be forgotten. All the pain was causing her to feel hatred burning up inside of her as well...who does she think she is? She was just a Sharpette...

Sharpay's fist were already white from being clenched so tightly as she looked down at them. And as she looked at Marco once more, she couldn't feel them anymore. Her teeth clenched together as he neared her again, and as he wiped the tears from her face, she tried to push him away, and hit his chest over and over again but it never seemed enough. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone! You've ruined my life...and everything! Isn't that enough for you, huh?" She glared at him, sobbing harder, her knees getting weak again.

She tried to calm herself down, but the more she thought of leaving Ryan, the more she wanted to burst. But if she risked it, the secret that they had worked on so hard to keep would be out, and there's an even greater possibility of being separated from her love if that happens. There was never a choice. "Just...give me...tonight...to," she tried to get the words out, choking as she started to sob once again, "break it off..." she lost her voice on the last three words.

[Emma the Loyal Sharpette]

Emma stopped as Marco continued his threats, and surprisingly they were towards her! Emma couldn't understand why she was the one facing all the serious threats, when she knew Marco wanted Sharpay. Emma now was even more pissed. Here she was, just minding her own business, and her life gets screwed up, and now she's facing more serious punishment than the incestrious princess? Emma could almost feel her blood boiling now.

"Marco, I just want to see Zeke. I promise I won't do or say anything to him or anyone else. You can moniter me and him all you want. What can I say or do to prove to you that Zeke will never find out? I just want my life to go back to normal." Emma tried to speak as calmly as she could. She knew that pleading with Marco would hardly work, but what were her options as of now? She just had to do or say anything to make Marco let her leave. Now that Emma knew what Marco was capable of doing, she was seriously terrified for her life, and for Zeke's. She knew that nothing would make her breath a word.

Emma gasped slightly as Marco threatened her more with keeping her from Zeke. So no Zeke or Bebe? Emma knew he wasn't joking around either. She felt so many different emotions, it was hard to contain them inside herself. "Marco, I can be of any use to you that you need. I just want Zeke and Bebe. No one needs to know any of this. I'll do whatever I can help you with." Emma hoped that maybe she could offer some kind of services to Marco, in exchange for her safety along with Zeke's and whatever was left of Bebe's safety.

Emma never once looked at Sharpay.

[Marco Ventura]

Marco nodded, a grin erupting on his already twisted face, as Sharpay, emotionally battered and completely at his mercy, petered out that she would break it off with Ryan. Excellent. Just to send her a bit more out of her shell, touched her shoulder in mock reassurance. No point in saying it was an act - everyone knew. "Thank you, baby doll. I'm glad you've come to your senses."

But then there was Emma. Oh Emma. She was going to be fun to deal with. Marco, at first, had been more worried about Sharpay's reaction. But Sharpay turned out to be as predictable as a Lifetime movie, and Emma became the dominating antagonist with her 'you sleeper' attitude interchanging with her willingness to do anything.

"Haven't you been listening, Emma?" Marco inquired harshly. "I have no use for you anymore. I used you, and I'm done. That's it. Now you're under my thumb. There's nothing you can do. As soon as you tell a soul about what happened here, I'll kill Bebe and figure out something to do with Zeke. Something bad. But in the meantime, you can float around and pretend to be a good friend, while in reality you're nothing but a heartless pragmatist."

Marco turned away from her and flicked his hand. "Now go. You saw what I wanted you to see."

((Jesus I'm such a jerk...))

"I'll call you tonight to make sure you break up with him," Marco informed Sharpay. "I wouldn't want dear Ryan Evans to hear it through the grapevine. And who knows? Maybe he'll realize he's gay. God knows the world already thinks it."

Marco put his hands in his pockets, his grin something straight out of The Satanic Verses.

[Emma the Loyal Sharpette]

Emma narrowed her eyes as Marco belittled her. She felt dumb suddenly, but she didn't want to let Marco know he got to her. She wouldn't fall to the floor and start sobbing like some weak little girl. She was a strong young woman, and her Mama raised her right. Well, she'd crumble once she got back into Zeke's arms and cry to him. Emma knew she wouldn't be able to tell Zeke anything. She knew it would be so hard for them to rekindle what they had before, especially if she couldn't be completely honest with him. But she knew that nothing would ever make her tell, for fear of Bebe and Zeke.

"F*ck off, asshole. At least I don't have to blackmail people to get them to date me." Emma spat at him. She was hardly standing up for Sharpay, but she wanted to say something to Marco. Who knew this guy would turn out to be such a jerk?

Emma turned and quickly exited the theater. She was over it now. Now she just wanted to find Zeke and Bebe. She quickly took off sprinting down the hall, finally letting herself cry.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay pushed Marco's hand in utmost disgust when he placed his hand on her shoulder, it was as if she was being burned by his touch and in a very painful way. She never looked at Emma once again, in fear that she might just hurt her, but when she heard her stood up against Marco, she almost wanted to run up to her and hug her. In that moment, Emma was clearly the strong one, and she'd probably give anything to be like her in that moment, but at the thought of hurting Ryan...again...she might as well just die.

She glared at Marco long and hard, desperately wishing that looks can really kill right now. She wanted to hurt him more, she wanted to beat him up, but as much as she wanted to, she knew she was weak when Ryan is involved, especially if he was going to be hurt. He is her weakness, and now it worked against her. "I went out with Ryan on my own freewill, he did not need to blackmail anyone into dating him just to prove that he's not gay," she spat out, her voice and body still shaking from too much anger, it was as if she could count down until she explodes.

"Now leave me alone..." She pushed Marco off once more before storming towards the backstage again, hoping to find some kind of comfort in the small dressing room, where just a while ago, she and Ryan had been happy together. She felt her heart beating painfully now, as she neared their place, knowing that as soon as she was surrounded by the pink walls, she would hurt even more.

[Ryan Evans]

Ryan couldn't help but be consumed with a feeling of relief as he jogged back through the back hallways that lead to the stage, the familiar feeling of comfort and security would be a direct and wanted contrast after being subjected to the torture that was high school gym. As he skidded down the hall, stumbling slightly in his loosely laced athletic shoes, he couldn't help but feel the smile growing, all he had to worry about now was being alone after school with Sharpay, all that would matter if just being with her again, that would be enough to cancel out any of the weirdness of gym.

He ran his hand through his sweaty hair as he slowed his pace and let out slow drawn heaving breaths as he walked back to the area where the dressing rooms were, all the feelings of weirdness slowly draining knowing that soon he'd be back in his element once more, and gladly knowing it would not in anyway involve basketball, soccer, or a climbing rope. He looked up slowly at the soft sound of creaking on the wooden surfaces of the backstage, the scarcely lit area left very little obviousness, however the faint glimmer of pink told him that he was right where he wanted to be. Her stance seemed to be more slumped than usual, but there was no doubting who was walking mere feet ahead of him, after all it didn't seem like many other people could possibly wear that much pink that they glowed in the dark.

He walked slowly again, his beaming grin crossing his face, just glad to be anywhere near his girlfriend for the first time in what felt like forever. "Hey you." He called out happily as he neared her. He soon ran his hand through his hair again and looked down at his particularly sweaty gym clothes, now regretting his logic that if he opted out of a shower and changing he'd be able to be back with Sharpay faster. "Don't get to close." He warned with a soft chuckle and mock cautioning face. "I'm sweaty and probably smell bad," He admitted with a slight feigned tone of dejection. "After I've showered." He said with a nod as he placed his hands at his sides and sighed. "I missed you so much." He admitted softly knowing it was true, wondering if it would always be this hard to be away from her.

[Sharpay Evans]

Sharpay's heartbeat raced as soon as she heard Ryan's voice, but it did not feel the way it did before...like what she had expected, it all now felt different. The excitement that she used to feel whenever she and Ryan would be together again after being apart for a few minutes was now replaced with a strong feeling of guilt and slight fear. Only a few hours from now and everything would all change once again for the two of them, and this time it would not even be because of her. This was just something that she had to do, not what she wanted to. Ironically, she suddenly realized as she thought more of it, she would only have to break his heart so they could still be together.

She quickly wiped her eyes, as she thought of any excuses that she could use, and that could work for if he asks her what has happened. She couldn't tell him just yet, she wanted to spend at least a few more hours with him even though she knew as those hours pass by it would only hurt both him and herself more. She sighed heavily, and quickly got her pink hankie out of her pocket as she sniffed for the last time. "I missed you too, Ry," she said softly as she slowly turned to face him. Even hearing and saying those words to him now hurts her so badly, she had to fight the strong urge to break down in front of him. "I...wish you hadn't left me here." She said those painful words straight from her heart, forcing a grin on her face. Never had she found acting as hard as what she was trying to do right now.

Sharpay knew her brother was quick to notice everything in her, and so she knew it would be best if she answered him right away. She put a hand up as if to warn him from coming nearer, "Oh and before you ask, I went towards where the props are, and well you know, I got allergic to dust." She said quickly, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible as she sneezed into her hankie. "Someone should seriously clean the place up, or I'm reporting it to Darbus," she added, and to make her seem as normal as possible, she rolled her eyes. She slowly reached for his hand, and had now realized that some things would never really change as she felt the same familiar sparks she had felt ever since she was aware of being attracted to him. It just convinced her more about how much she really love him, and it was another deep stab to her heart at the moment. She looked up at him again, a small smile on her face, "So, are you ready to go home?" She asked, and at the moment, still hoping that this was just a very bad nightmare...that any moment now, she'd wake up still in his arms.

[Ryan Evans]

Once Ryan finally saw the look on Sharpay's face, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry, and while he couldn't be exactly certain, he was still sure it had looked like she had wiped tears away from her eyes. He gave her a slight soft smile, about to ask her what was wrong, trying to keep a base level of concern, however once she spoke to him again he felt that same feeling of being rendered speechless, the slow grin coming back onto his face as he smiled at her; no need to be concerned now, he was too busy focused on being with her again that that was the only sole matter to him.

"I wish I hadn't left either," He said with a soft chuckle, the grin on his face now up to his ears as he felt the same familiar, happy beating of his heart. "I don't know what I was thinking going to gym." He answered in his own brand of mock appall and shock that he, Ryan Evans, wouldn't have opted out to skip gym to spend time in the theatre, maybe this summer with Chad had impacted him more than he thought. "Next time, I won't go." He said with a laugh and a wink, knowing that the only part of him that was joking was the part that didn't want to run laps for Coach Bolton if he had to explain why he had missed class, let alone why he would skip it.

As all the slight humor of his own jokes slowly slipped away, he couldn't help but notice that while Sharpay was smiling, and seemed contented and happy, it still seemed to him that she might be putting on a front. Standing here with her in the small space between the dressing rooms and the back wall, he couldn't help but feel that something here was painfully offputting, he just didn't know just what then. With the slight feeling of concern building in his chest again he cleared his throat slowly, wanting to desperately to ask what was wrong. "Shar---" He started slowly, but as she raised her arms, he couldn't help but feel a slight feeling of relief wash over him. Dust, he could almost feel himself breath and inward sigh of relief, not wanting any outward response to trigger Sharpay thinking he was overanalying things. At the roll of her eyes, he let a booming laugh out, shaking his head slowly as he felt all the concern he had felt slip away. "Well, for your sake, we'll tell Darbus tomorrow." He said with a nod, chuckling again, wondering how many other people would approach Darbus with that type of dedication.

He slowly took his eyes off Sharpay for the moment, scanning as much of the theatre as he could see from his restricted vantage point, thoughts slowly mulling around in his head, still trying to keep from overanalyzing every slight posture and facial expression, if something was really wrong, Sharpay would have told him by now. "I'm more than ready to go home," He answered quickly, wanting nothing more than to get out of East High now, to get back to a daily routine he liked best. "Lead the way." He chuckled out as he took her extended hand in his, feeling the slight appearance of goose bumps raising on his neck, the goofy grin gracing his face knowing that soon he'd have nothing to worry about other than if they'd do their homework first, or maybe later.