A/N: This is the final set of words. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! -Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own HSM.

She Has Won

Critics

The critics are tough on her in their reviews of her performance. They don't go so far as to say she is horrible or that she lacks talent. No, they note that she is still green and needs more professional experience to find her footing. She has to stop reading the reviews. It starts to eat at her, until her friends start to see the show and tell her how great she was. Her friends are some of the most talented people she knows and it is their reviews that she trusts above all.

Ingenious

Things eventually start to look up. One of the papers describes her portrayal as ingenious. Another says she breathes new life into a beloved character. Yet another hails her as the 'Next Big Thing.' She is riding a wave of success. It energizes her performance and she keeps getting better and better each time the curtain goes up. The sound of applause fills her ears every time the curtain drops.

Life

Life is good. Life is everything she could have wanted. She's not sure how she has been able to juggle her career and a long distance relationship without neglecting either. Somehow she's been able to do it and she is all the better for it. She is more fulfilled than she ever expected she would be. She can see herself enjoying life like this for years to come.

Crisis

She is good in a crisis. She's a problem solver. This time, though, the crisis is a little too close to home. And given the occasion, even the smallest crisis feels like the end of the world. This is her wedding, for goodness sakes. Everything is supposed to be perfect, but the smallest details keep falling out of place—the food is running late, the colors of the ribbons on the centerpieces are a shade too pink, the band has misplaced its guitars. It doesn't help that the whole thing is going to be publicized. It takes her entire wedding party to talk her down. Even then, she is shaking as she walks down the aisle.

Prizes

She has Tonys and Grammys and a Golden Globe on her mantle—as well as various other awards and trophies. She's won nearly everything she's been nominated for, but she knows her real prizes are her husband, her kids, her wonderful brother and all the friends she's kept all these years. She is Sharpay Evans. She is a star, a celebrity, a household name, but she is also a wife, a mother and a friend. She is more than she ever thought she would be. It doesn't matter how one looks at it—she has won.