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Requested by: lookatthestars @ ff.net
Couple: Zeke & Sharpay
Rating: M
Quote: "Ryan, this isn't funny. I think I love Zeke."
Setting/Event: graduation, senior year
Random Stuff:
- flashbacks of Zeke pursuing Sharpay
- cookies
- marriage

It was the end of her senior year at East High and instead of being panicked over her finals, the spring musical, prom, graduation and what she was going to do next year, Sharpay Evans was freaking out over a boy—Zeke Baylor.  He had been courting her for nearly a year, bringing her all sorts of tasty desserts, but last week he stopped and he hadn’t talked to her since then.

His sudden change hadn’t worried her at first, and then this morning she had woken up from a dream with the realization that she loved Zeke, or that she might love Zeke—she wasn’t sure.

Needing advice, she turned to her twin brother and after pouring her heart out to Ryan, he had just laughed.

“Ryan, this isn’t funny,” she stated.  “I think I love Zeke.”

“Are you sure it’s not a chocolate withdrawl?” Ryan asked her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sharpay snapped.

Ryan shook his head and said, “Sharpay, that boy has been following you around like a lost puppy for a year now.  Maybe he finally realized that there is no future between the two of you.”

“But I love him,” Sharpay stated.  “And he loves me.”

“Are you sure about that, Shar?”  Ryan asked her.  “He may love you, but a guy can only be in a one-sided relationship for so long before he decides it’s time to cut his losses and move on.”

“Yo- you think he’s already moved on?” Sharpay asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“It’s hard to say,” he shrugged.  “I think it all depends on how attached to you he was.”

“I can’t believe this,” she said, bringing her left hand to her mouth and absent-mindedly chewing on her manicured fingernail.

“Yeah, well, snooze you lose,” Ryan shrugged.  He left her room and closed the door, leaving Sharpay sitting on her bed staring at the pink walls.

How had this happened? She wondered.  What had given Zeke the idea that she wasn’t interested in him?  She thought for sure she had been giving him the opposite signals; ones that said she was clearly interested in him.

Leaning back against the mountain of pillows on her bed, Sharpay let her mind wander back to her favorite moments with Zeke.

The first that came to mind was from last summer when he had worked at Lava Springs.  He was always bringing all sorts of desserts out for her to try—delicious, fat free, low calorie desserts that were to die for.

Then there had been the time where he had invited her over to help him make cupcakes for his niece’s birthday.  She felt guilty for admitting to herself that the only reason she had accepted his invitation was to make Troy jealous, but she had had fun with Zeke that day; more fun then she’d ever had with Troy Bolton.  She and Zeke had gotten in a flour fight and she was sure they would have kissed had it not been for her mom calling to find out where she was.

And finally, there were the cookies that magically found themselves in her locker right before lunch.  In the week since he hadn’t been around, she’d really started to miss all those cookies.  He always teased her, saying was his guinea pig when he had a new cookie for her to try.  She couldn’t help the twang of jealous that hit her body as she wondered who his new guinea pig was—she honestly hoped he hadn’t found one.

Sharpay ran her hand through her hair and sighed.  She missed Zeke and wanted him back, but how was she supposed to do that?  She couldn’t write him a song—that was Kelsi’s specialty; she could sing him a song, but she didn’t want to—it wouldn’t be meaningful enough; if only she could bake him something.

That was it! She sat straight up as a grin spread across her face.   If she was going to impress Zeke and show him how much he meant to her, she was going to have to reach him the way he had reached her.

Jumping off her bed, Sharpay changed into an old t-shirt and a ratty pair of jeans before grabbing her purse.  She raced down the stairs and out the front door.  She went to the grocery store and found a cook book that had a recipe for every cookie imaginable.  She found one for sugar cookies then proceeded to get all the ingredients she needed.

Upon getting back to her house, she dumped her ingredients on the counter then grabbed the frilly, pink apron Zeke had given her for her birthday.

“I saw it and thought of you,” he said as she stared at it.  “I figured this was better than wearing one of my old shirts next time we baked something.”

“Right, thank you,” she said.

Sharpay sighed as she tied it around her waist.  Looking back, she wished she had been more thankful for his gift.  But at the time, she had been too caught up in herself to realize that he was suggesting that they could bake again and maybe actually kiss.

Clapping her hands, Sharpay turned to the recipe.

“I can do this,” she said, unable to stop herself from looking at the cordless phone that sat five feet away.  She wanted to call Zeke, but she had to do this for herself—for them.

Taking a deep breath, she started her first attempt at baking cookies all by herself.  The first few steps went smoothly, but when she dumped the flour into the mixer, it shot out like a plump of smoke, covering her and the counter in white powder.

“Whoa, what’s going on in here?”  Ryan asked from the doorway.

“Go away, I’m busy,” she retorted as she turned off the mixer and dumped the messed up batter into the trash can.

“Fine, just don’t break anything,” Ryan said as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge then disappeared.

After washing everything, Sharpay started her second attempt.  This time, she added the flour slowly, letting it mix in with the rest of the batter.  Once it was all mixed together, she rolled the dough onto the cutting board with a rolling pin then used the heart shaped cookie-cutter to make shapes.  She placed the shapes on a cookie sheet and put them into the oven.

While they were cooking, she busied herself trying to figure out how to open the cake decorating tubes she had purchased.

It wasn’t until she smelt something burning that she realized she hadn’t set the timer on the stove.  She grabbed the pot holders by the stove and threw open the door.  She pulled the cookie sheet from the oven and frowned as she set it on the stove—her heart shaped cookies were burnt to a crisp.

She held back her tears as she scrapped the burnt cookies into the garbage then rerolled her cookie dough to make a few more heart shapes.  She put them on the cool cookie sheet then slipped them into the oven, making sure to set the timer this time.

When the timer went off, she pulled the cookie sheet from the oven and placed it on the stove and smiled proudly at her perfect cookies.  She let them cool then covered them with white frosting and using the red tube of icing, she wrote Sharpay on one cookie, hearts on another and Zeke on the last one.

“Those look really good.”

Sharpay spun around at the sound of his voice.  “Zeke? What are you doing here?” She asked.

“Ryan called and said you were baking,” he replied.  “I had to come see for myself.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” she stated.

“It was,” Zeke assured her.  “I never thought I’d see the day that you would be standing in a kitchen, your hair pulled back wearing boring clothes with a bright pink apron, covered in flour and baking cookies for me.”  He cupped her chin.  “It’s better than I ever imagined it would be.”

“Zeke, I love you,” Sharpay cried.

“Shh, baby, I love you too,” he whispered before pressing his lips to hers.  He started to deepen the kiss when they heard somebody clear their throat.  Pulling away from her, Zeke turned around and found her dad standing in the doorway.  “Uh, hello sir?”

“what are you two up to?” Mr. Evans asked.

“We’re making cookies,” Sharpay replied.  “For mine and Ryan’s, um, graduation party.”

Mr. Evan’s nodded but narrowed his eyes, “I’ll be in the next room reading the paper.”

Zeke smiled at Sharpay after her dad left the room.  “That was scary,” he whispered.  “Guess we’d better get started on those cookies.”

------

Slipping into the house unnoticed, Zeke stood just outside the kitchen listening to his wife talking to their three-year-old daughter.

“We gotta hurry, Jacey, daddy will be home soon,” Sharpay said, smoothing her hand over her daughter’s dark curls.

“Surprise daddy,” Jacey said, clapping her hands.

“That’s right,” Sharpay smiled as she bravely handed the toddler a container of sprinkles.  “We’re going to surprise daddy with cookies for his birthday.”

“Be happy,” Jacey smiled.  She started to tip the container upside down, but Sharpay quickly grabbed her hand and helped shake sprinkles on the top of the cookies.

“Pretty,” Jacey said.

“You’re right, the cookies are very pretty,” Sharpay smiled.

Zeke smiled and decided to let his presence be known, he tip toed back to the front door and opened it then closed it.  “I’m home,” he called.

“DADDY!” Jacey screamed, happily.

Zeke made his way towards the kitchen and feigned surprise when he saw the cookies.  “What do we have here?” He asked.

“Cookies! Surprise!” Jacey clapped her hands.

“For me?”  Zeke asked her.

“No! Jacey.”  With that, she picked up a cookie and took a big bite, causing her parents to laugh.

“Alright little bug,” Sharpay smiled as Jacey polished off the cookie.  “No more cookies for tonight, it’s bath time.”

“One mo?” Jacey turned her brown eyes to her daddy and quivered her lower lip.

Zeke looked at his wife, who was shaking her head, and then at Jacey.  “No more tonight, Jacey, it’s bath time,” he told her.  “You wanna fly up stairs?”

“Like an harplane!?” Jacey exclaimed.

Sharpay shook her head as Zeke left the room with Jacey in his arms pretending to be an airplane.  She started cleaning the kitchen, but paused and put her hand on her stomach when she felt the baby kick.  She smiled and leaned back against the counter.

The last four years had gone by so quickly, it seemed like just yesterday she and Zeke had been graduating from high school with all their friends and now they were both a week away from graduating from college.

They had gotten married the December after graduating from high school and had been pregnant with Jacey by March.  It had taken a lot of hard work on their part to make sure they both graduated within four years, but they had done it.

“I thought by sure you’d have this place cleaned up before I got back,” Zeke said, pulling Sharpay out of her thoughts.  He smiled and came over to her.  “Jacey has been bathed, read to and is drifting off to lala land as we speak.”

“You can blame your son or daughter,” Sharpay said, taking his hand and placing it on her swollen abdomen.  “We definitely have a dancer.”

Zeke smiled and kissed her lips.  “Why don’t you go take a shower while I finish cleaning up in here?”

“Sounds great,” she replied.  She went upstairs, pausing in Jacey’s room to make sure the toddler really was asleep, before moving down to her and Zeke’s room.  She went into the bathroom and took a hot shower then pulled on a short night shirt before going into the bedroom.

She found Zeke sitting on the bed with a plate of cookies in his hands.

“How about a cookie before bed?” He asked as she brushed her hair.

“I’ve had too many cookies today,” she replied.

“These are special cookies.”

“What makes them special?”

“Come see for yourself.”

Curious, Sharpay moved over to the bed and smiled when she saw three cookies each with something written on them: the first said Zeke, the second said hearts and the third said Sharpay.

“Told you they were special.”

“You did, but I still don’t have room for another cookie.”  She took the plate from him and placed it on the bedside table.  “I do, however, have another idea.”

“Something tells me I’m going to like that idea.”

“I’m sure you will.”

He laid back on the bed and she climbed onto of him.  Their mouths met and their clothes came off until there was nothing between them.  They rolled onto their sides and he slid his manhood deep inside of her.  They moved together slowly until they’d both come.  Then he pulled the blankets over them and wrapped his arms around her.

A week later, Sharpay and Zeke sat next to each other as they listened to the School’s president give the commencement speech.  Somewhere in the audience, Jacey sat with their parents, most likely being kept quiet with a baggy of treats.

When it came time for them to receive their diplomas, they lined up with the other people from their row and waited for their names to be called.

“Sharpay Baylor, Bachelor of Arts – Theater,” the person reading the names said.

Sharpay climbed the steps carefully then smiled proudly as she walked across the stage and accepted her diploma.  She was on her way down the second set of steps when she heard Zeke’s name called, followed by his degree in culinary arts.

Once they were back in their seats, Zeke took her hand and pressed his lips against it, just like he had done four years earlier at their high school graduation.

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