Hey, it's me again! I changed my penname, since um...I was bored.
The wind blew smoothly against his handsome face, soothing his tense features as he sits solemnly by the bank of the park's lake, gazing listlessly at the moon's reflection on the water.
The night was a quiet one, rather too quiet for his comfort, as he was used to the deafening, boisterous parties he and his sister used to hold in their ridiculously grand mansion. Nonetheless, it seemed to have a somehow tranquil effect on him, as if lulling him in a trance.
It was on silent nights like this he would hold his occasional ponderings. He would sit by the lake, watching stars while reflecting on his unconventional life.
It had always been like this for him, staying up 'til the darkness. It had become quite a habit to him; from the day he took a friend's advice to hang about there to clear his head. And God knows, it had done wonders for him.
It was a full moon that night, and it was quite a sight to catch to see it's reflection by the clear waters of the lake. It was almost a blatant reminder of him. Sharpay's reflection.
He scooted closer to the stream, running his fingers through the cold water, studying his twin from the opposite world. His blue eyes gleam broodingly as he gazes at him. When you look at Ryan Evans, what do you see? He wanted to ask him.
Nothing more than Sharpay's clone, her lapdog of a brother who'd believe every single word she'd say…
He sighed softly, shaking his head.
How could he have ever been so stupid? He had to believe every single excuse Sharpay had to come up with, it had always been in his nature to be so trusting. No wonder she was missing out on drama club, and on every single play rehearsal, she had been seeing him again.
Ryan's eyes narrowed at the thought. He had seen them with his own eyes: She and Troy kissing feverishly on Sharpay's bed. He shuddered at the sight; it was a good thing he was there to stop them before they did something worse…
He would be happy if he didn't know, if he never saw it happen. At least it wouldn't gnaw on his conscience as it did now.
'What now?' he wondered. Should he tell Gabriella that Troy was cheating on her? Tell her and risk being hated by the entire school for breaking up the A-couple? Or worse, risk being hated by Sharpay?
He groaned in frustration, running his hand through his blonde hair. He was always stuck in the middle of a predicament. God, sometimes he wanted to raise his fist up to the sky and shout, "Why me?!"
"Hey." small voice said behind him, turning his attention to a familiar brunette looking at him with mild surprise on her face.
Oh shit.
"Gabriella." He acknowledged her presence, not making eye contact with her so as to hide his apprehension. She noticed the sudden stiffness in his stature, but left it at that, not wanting to meddle with his business. Ryan was inwardly thanking her for not pointing it out.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, as Ryan tried to rack his brain to evade the question.
"I could ask you the same thing." He responded, trying not to sound edgy. Thank God for the years of acting lessons. Gabriella frowned, aware that he had avoided her question.
"It's pretty quiet here tonight, I needed to hear myself think." She said, "You?" Ryan knew that she had cornered him with the question and frowned slightly. Gabriella noticed this.
Maybe he's not as dumb as she thought he was.
"Same here." He said gruffly. What followed was complete silence between the two teens, both looking at each other before quickly averting their gazes before one would catch the other sneaking a sideway glance at them.
Ryan let out an audible cough to break the thick tension rapidly growing between them.
"So, you and Troy, huh?" He asked suddenly, before mentally smacking himself for mentioning him again. Gabriella didn't seem to notice, staring too at the waters in front of them, lost in her own train of thought.
"Hmm…" she managed to mumble out. Ryan stole a sideways glance at her, as if analyzing her. She seems happy, a small content smile on her face. He doesn't have the heart to be the one to tell her.
But he had to. She had to know.
Ryan took a deep breath and faced her.
"Gabriella…" he said softly, "There's something you should know." Gabriella looked at him curiously, her eyebrows knitted as she looked on.
"Back at my house, before I went here, I…" he hesitated for a moment, looking away, but it was too late to turn back. He had to continue.
"I saw Troy and Sharpay…they were…" He said, not wanting to look at the hurt evident on her face. Continuing his story, he stopped to see tears forming in the corners of her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, or offer her a friendly hug, but that would be going totally off character to his reclusive nature.
"I don't believe you." Gabriella said, choking back her tears. Ryan sighed softly.
"You have every reason not to." He answered neutrally. He knew she believed him, she had probably suspected him herself, but he knew more than to bring that up.
"He couldn't…I don't-" she muttered out incoherently, making Ryan regret even more on what he had done.
He just had to be the good guy.
"I can't believe how stupid I was." She said softly, shaking her head as she wiped with the sleeve of her jacket the tears threatening to fall.
"Hey, you and me both."
Another silence fell over them, before Ryan scooted closer and put an arm around her shoulders, sighing heavily.
"I'm sorry." He said softly, rubbing her back. Gabriella closed her eyes, finally breaking down in tears as she buried her head on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan, a little taken aback by the sudden movement, struggled to find words to say.
"Gabriella…" she looked at him, blinking back her tears, which made Ryan's heart wrench in misery.
"We don't need them. We have each other...right?" He said hesitantly, waiting for her response. She merely nodded, smiling sadly.
Nothing more was said as both teens sat, gazing at the view of the moonlight.
Yes, it's short, I know...I just need to post something. I haven't posted in...eh, quite a while.
R&R!!!