Taylor dumps him. In the "I love you, I know you love me, but let's just call it quits because you love someone else even more." way of dumping someone.
Which isn't cool. Not at all.
Chad can't even think of at least one guy that has been dumped in that way, and for that reason.
Which is kind of worse, he can't even THINK of someone he loves even more than Taylor.
Hell, he loves the girl with all his heart. It just seems wrong to think about someone else in that cheesy stupid way he thinks about her.
Too bad Taylor doesn't agree with him.
Because she keeps giving him the "Mumma knows better" look, and keeps patting him on the shoulder, saying things like "You'll figure it out."
There's just NOTHING to figure out!
Chad needs time to think, that's a given, so he kindly rejects Taylor's offer on taking him home after school, and walks.
When he gets home, his mother gives him the most worried look he's ever seen in her face since his father left them; how she knows, it's a mystery to him, but she does.
After hugging him and giving him her trademark phrase:"Baby, you can't hurry love.", she goes to tend to some unfinished business of hers, and Chad is left alone in his house.
In a fit of rage, in between undignified fits of tears, he breaks one vase, two plates and his favourite glass, all the while yelling and cursing, and so.
After that, he's left with no energy, but he's still feeling the sorrow oozing from him.
He needs to talk to someone. Troy's absolutely out of choice, because his optimistic enthusiasm, which he'd find endearing any other day, will just provoke him; and he obviously CAN'T talk to Taylor, because that would be just ironic and plain stupid. And Chad's none of that.
So he calls the next person that comes to his mind.
"Ryan?"
"Chad?"
Chad smiles, as a slightly out of breath Ryan answers his phone.
"Yeah, man. D'you have a second? I kinda need to talk."
He hears Sharpay screeching something about "untasteful jocks not having respect for rehearsals" on the other line, and then hears Ryan calming her down.
Then he hears nothing at all. And finally, he hears Ryan's answer.
"Sorry, my sister was being a brat. Yeah, I have some time. What's up?"
Chad tells him what's up. Taylor dumped him, and he's supposedly in love. With whom? Who knows.
Ryan just listens to his gigantic rant about how the world's just not spinning in the right direction, without really making any kind of remark or comment, whatsoever.
When he finishes spilling his guts to the blond, nearly 30 minutes later (He always finds talking to Ryan so easy) , he sighes.
He hears the blond sighing, too, and can't help but to smile, picturing him while doing so.
"I'm not sure what to say, Chad. 'I'm sorry' just doesn't seem all that suitable, and I'm sure you do not wanna hear 'Everything's gonna be all right'." He sighes again, and Chad almost hears his pout.
And something magical happens, because he notices that that simple response from the Evans boy makes him feel loads better. He's still hurt over Taylor suddenly dumping him, but Ryan makes him feel so, so, so much better.
Chad smiles.
"Thank you, man."
"What for?" Ryan sounds rather taken aback.
When Chad doesn't really find the right answer to that question, he blurts out the first find that comes to his mind:
"For being you."
As Ryan has a giggling fit, he realizes that what he said sounded quite gay.
And, while hearing Ryan's muffled giggles on the other line, he decides that he doesn't really care.