I'm not really sure where the idea for this came from, actually. I just started typing at one point, and this slowly formed itself, although originally it was going to have a slightly different ending, Oh well. That's what happens when you finish writing at 4:45 in the morning after being up all night, I suppose.

Anyhow, I was well overdue to write about what I visualize the relationship between Ryan and Sharpay to be, so here you go, even though it only touches on that lightly. And I have three or four interpretations, too- this is just one of them. Yeah, go me.

There's a hint of some onesided Ryella and Troypay, if you kind of squint, I suppose.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, Ryan would have been the main character. So, therefore, I obviously don't own it. It's sad, I know.

• • •

Looking at Ryan and Sharpay Evans, there really aren't that many things they have in common. They are actually drastically different from each other, beyond the very obvious fact that they both act and sing.

Ryan has always been a shy, quiet boy, despite what he may seem like on stage. In opposition, Sharpay is loud and demands attention at every minute. Where Ryan is content to follow in someone else's shadow, she has to be the one casting the shadow, or else she very well might explode.

There are other differences too. Sharpay has never been very athletic. While she does the required 5 dance lessons a week, it is in order to become nothing less than perfect on stage. For Ryan, dance is a challenge that can never be mastered; it can only be improved as you grow and learn. It is the same reason he does baseball, something his twin could never understand. She can't see how he can enjoy running and getting dirty. He can't see why anyone couldn't understand.

Sharpay has always been very concerned with fashion. As a small child, before she could sit down and play Barbie dolls with her brother, she had to spend time making sure each outfit was absolutely perfect. As a result, Ryan learned that there was not even a point to following her into the doll room until she had asked him (or, rather, told him) to come three times. The first meant she had decided they were going to do so. The second told him she was going in to pick out clothing. The third and final time was when she was finally ready, and it was safe to join her. Now, in their last year of high school, she still spends at least an hour picking out the perfect hour for the next day, based off the weather predictions, the course curriculum for each class she would be attending, and her projected mood. She also takes the time to organize an outfit for her brother, complete with matching hat, because she knows that if she doesn't, he certainly won't. He's never taken that much interest in what he wears, beyond the basics of that the pattern and colors don't clash, and he can wear a hat with it. He once told her that he was perfectly happy to just wear a hat and a pair of jeans with a baggy t-shirt. She had proceeded to hit him with her hand jeweled pink rhinestone purse until he took it back.

Where Ryan always tried to see the best in people, it was just in Sharpay's nature to see the worst first, and only grow to find out all the good things about them. Even he wasn't quite sure why that was, just like she couldn't understand how he could be so open and trusting when he first met someone. It wasn't always a virtue, she had tried to warn them as they started middle school, to be so open. That was why, he understood, she had made herself so distant from everyone else. It gave her time to judge, time to scrutinize every little thing about them, before letting them in close to her. Ryan understood that it was meant to be like a privilege, even if no one else did.

Even their tastes in plays and stories differed greatly. Sharpay had always been a big fan of Shakespeare, falling instantly in love with Romeo and Juliet in particular. Ryan was much more partial to the West Side Story version if he had to endure it at all- Shakespeare wasn't really his cup of imported Chai tea (his morning drink of choice, as opposed to Sharpay's white chocolate frappe). The language, rather than seeming romantic to him, as it did to Sharpay, just confused him. Once he understood it, he had to admit it wasn't too bad- and he knew that it was a good way to placate his sister when she was thoroughly upset with him- but the effort involved in getting to that point was completely unreasonable for what he got out of it. The only Shakespearean play he really had enjoyed was A Midsummer Night's Dream, as a matter of fact. He was much more into fantasy, much to her irritation. She curled up with The Twelfth Night, while he grabbed Harry Potter. She couldn't understand it, same as he couldn't understand the old English. It was a lost cause on both ends.

Very rarely could you find a CD that pleased both Sharpay. She couldn't stand anything that wasn't upbeat and energetic. That, ironically enough, meant most love songs were out- unless, of course, they were from musicals. Secretly, she listened to the very sugary sweet pop melodies she often condemned in public, though she would never admit to it. Ryan, on the other hand, was very easygoing as far as that went. Half of the CDs Sharpay got for her birthday went straight to him, still in their plastic coverings. He accepted them silently, importing them into his computer without a single word to her. Then, no matter what, he would listen to the whole CD at least once, his eyes closed as he embraced the music. Country, classic rock, pop, classical- he embraced it all, his music library a smorgasbord of different artists, genres, eras, sometimes even languages. It drove Sharpay absolutely crazy how he had no one defined music taste; one day he might listen to The Fray obsessively, the next it could be anything from Bach to the Jonas Brothers to Relient K to KT Tunstall to the soundtrack for Hairspray. It largely depended on his mood for the day.

It was true, the Evans twins were very much nothing alike. Two separate identities, with almost nothing beyond a passion for theatre and family ties keeping them together.

But they have both felt their hearts break, and they have both given up their dreams to make someone else's take flight. It is this that convinces Sharpay that everything will be fine when Troy tells her that he will NOT be singing with her in the talent show, and it is this that helps Ryan to keep a smile on his face when Gabriella throws her arms around him and tell him that she and Troy are back together and they couldn't have done it without him.

Because the Evans twins have this in common, and it is this: they have each other. And they know that when the Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez's of the world are gone and the dust clears, that they will still be there for each other.

And that one similarity makes all the difference.

• • •

My favorite part of this has got to be the word smorgasbord. That word is brilliant. "A fair... is a ver-i-table smorsgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord... After the lights go down..." IF you can tell me what that's from, I will love you forever. That song was a staple of my childhood (which is kind of ironic, but the story behind that is long and only really interesting if you know me personally, so I'll skip it).

Anyhow, I apologize for any major messups here... I wrote some of it late at night, and I did try to edit a bit, but my brain is a bit fried so I can't promise that worked. I'd love to know what you thought, though!