Standard Disclaimers Apply!
Pairs: TroyRyan, and that's all I can think of right now—I'll keep you posted on any future pairs!
Chapter One
(Troy)
"Troy!" a familiar male voice rang out through the halls of my school, causing me to jolt my head upwards as I stared into the nothingness of my locker. Ryan Evans approached me as I recovered from my slightly minor case of whiplash.
"Hey Ryan," I said, running my hand through my hair. "What's up?"
"Well, I have this open mic night at the café tonight, some benefit for some organization…" Ryan continued to droll on about his plans, while I continued to nod off. It wasn't that I was trying to be rude, but between basketball practice, school, and the drama productions, sleep had gotten a one-way ticket to the backburner. "Troy? Troy! TROY!" Ryan's voice caused me to come back to life, whiplash and all.
"Huh? Wha—What?" I asked, groggily.
"Oh, it's nothing." Ryan shrugged. "Sorry Troy, I forgot you have a full schedule now as it is…I understand…"
"Hang on Ryan," I said, putting my arm on his shoulder, feeling the softness of the clothes he was wearing. "I'm sorry man, it's just that, well between everything I've got going on this year, it's just so hard for me to keep up. Ya know?"
"Yea, totally, I agree." Ryan nodded. There was a few seconds of silence that seemed like an eternity, then the bell rang. Ryan nodded again, and began to walk to his class.
"Wait! Ryan!" I called after him. He turned around and looked at me. "About that open mic night thing…I'll be there." Ryan gave me a huge smile, he always had a cute smile…
…Heading towards my next class, I was lucky it was gym, since my dad was the gym coach as well as my basketball coach, he would forgive me for being two minutes late. As I approached the boys' locker room, I noticed a piece of paper hanging off it. My insides froze. A game that was originally scheduled for tomorrow was now rescheduled for tonight. I would surely be late to it if I went to Ryan's event, but at the same time, I told Ryan I would be there. Ryan will understand, I told myself. I mean, it's not like I could've seen this coming. And I'm sure he'll have plenty more open mic nights. Giving myself a most likely sense of false confidence, I went through my next couple classes, until lunch came around. Ryan sat at a table with Chad, Taylor, Sharpay, Kelsi, and me. I slowly sat down…
"Uh, Ryan?" I asked timidly. It was so weird, addressing Ryan as if I was scared of him, he wouldn't harm a fly, unless it had beaten him in the run for an Oscar award or something…
"Yea?" Ryan said through a mouthful of salad…Cute.
"I know I said I could come to your open mic night tonight, but I just found out that my game for tomorrow has been rescheduled for tonight. And I can't be late for my game, so…I'm really sorry, Ryan…" I didn't know what else to say.
"It's fine Troy," Ryan answered.
"Really?" I gave a faint smile.
"Totally," Ryan continued. "I know that basketball's important to you, and I'll have plenty more opportunities like tonight, you just have to promise me that you'll come to my next performance so we can hang out later." He gave another smile, which penetrated me, and left the table, Sharpay always keeping two steps in front of him.
"Dude, I think Ryan's crushing on you." Chad said, bluntly.
"What? No way man, he just wants to be friends is all." I said calmly.
"Dude, why would he invite you to a performance, and then ask you to hang out afterwards? It's like, a date or something…I'm telling you man, it's creepy." Chad's eyes got slightly larger. I shook my head, but before I could answer, Kelsi spoke up.
"You got a postcard from Gabriella." She said, handing it to me. Gabriella had gone on a vacation with her mom, some mother-daughter bonding experience or something. Over the years, she and I had been growing farther apart. She would always have the Scholastic Decathlon, and I would always have basketball stuff. The really weird thing was that people thought we were going out. Gabriella and I were never a couple, just really good friends. I was there for her, and she was there for me. And that was that.
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"Troy! Look like you're not half dead!" My dad yelled at me from the sidelines. But I couldn't help it, I felt so tired, and I was still feeling a little bit guilty about missing Ryan's performance. I wasn't sure why, though. I mean, Ryan and I had started to hang out more as the years were going by, and I thought he was a great guy, so why did I fell so badly?
I couldn't let it affect me, not here, not now. I decided to pick up my pace, and I eventually scored the winning basket. As I celebrated with my team in the locker room, I got dressed and went out, preparing to go out to my car, and maybe find something to do tonight.
"Troy!" came a voice. Turning around, my heart sunk. Ryan came running towards me. I had missed his show, and he had come to see my game, without me begging him to. "Great game! Congrats on the winning basket, it looked amazing!" The more he flattered me, the worse I felt that I couldn't say, "Great job at the performance tonight Ryan! You really knocked 'em dead!"
"It wasn't that great, Ryan, I mean, yea it was the winning basket, but---"
"Are you joking?" Ryan gave a slight laugh. "You made it look so easy! You totally had the flow of your motions, it was almost like watching the perfect ballet!" I smiled, and laughed quietly, Ryan knew exactly what to say. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that…" Ryan began to walk away, but I felt a burning desire to be with him tonight.
"Hey Ryan," I said. "What are you doing tonight? I mean, do you have any plans?"
"Well, I was gonna go with Sharpay to the movies so she could she some chick flick…No, I'm free." He said after a while. I dug my hands into my jeans pockets.
"Well, do you wanna go somewhere with me tonight? I mean, like a---you know…like a---˝
"Like a date?" Ryan asked, sounding much like Chad at the lunch table earlier that day. I was nervous in replying, and when I get nervous, I stutter.
"Well—I don't know if it would be a --- that is, if you wanna call it that, I guess it's sorta like a---well…"
"I'd love to." Ryan smiled. Damn, I loved to see him smile. He came over to the passenger side of my car, where I was standing. I smiled, and opened the door for him, he thanked me, melted me with another smile, and got in. I crossed over to the driver's side of my car. Before getting in, I took a deep breath.
Okay Troy, I breathed. It's just hanging out with a friend. If it's a date, then it's a date. Just a tiny date…you can do this…just relax…
I began to think to myself: if it was only "hanging out with a good friend", why the hell was I getting so nervous, did I feel like I needed to impress Ryan? Thoughts swirled in my head as I entered the car. Putting on my seatbelt and turning the car on, I briefly adjusted my mirrors before turning to face Ryan.
"So," I began. "Where do you wanna go?"
Ryan's baby blue eyes lit up.
"Let's go see that chic flick that Sharpay is seeing." He grinned. "Only, let's sit somewhere where she can't see us. We can enjoy the movie more if it's just the two of us. That way, Sharpay won't use me as the Kleenex holder, and she won't use you as the shoulder to cry on. We can just enjoy the movie four rows behind her."
I smiled. This was shaping up to be an okay day after all.
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So, what did y'all think? I enjoyed it, and I hope you did! Chapter 2 to come soon! Please REVIEW, and come back to Troy and Ryan in chapter 2! Also, more of the characters from the movie will be added into future chapters, I just wanted to focus on our two lovebirds for this chapter, kinda to set up the ambience, ya know?
See ya in Chapter 2!
ShadowAngel26