Author's Note: After seeing HSM3, I noticed there were a few RyanxKelsi moments in the flim, so I decided to do this one-shot. This story is also dedicated to Jessica, who likes RyanxHaylie and RyanxKelsi. Enjoy, and happy reading!
Chapter One: The Outside
Your best friend's boyfriend was always off-limits, is what everyone said.
You can't like your best friend's boyfriend because it'd destroy your friendship.
Kelsi Nielsen felt like telling Haylie Anderson that she liked her boyfriend, Ryan Evans, for years.
But, she couldn't because she was with Jason Cross, a Wildcat basketball player who shared the spotlight with Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth, and if she did, she'd probably ruin her friendship with Haylie.
And she didn't want that.
Haylie would assume that tons of girls liked Ryan the way that Gabriella Montez assumed that every girl was after her own boyfriend, Troy, and that included Kelsi.
It wasn't like Kelsi didn't like Jason anymore:
He was funny, sweet, and nice, but there was something about Ryan that made her wish that it was her that was in Haylie's position.
Was it the way that he did every little thing for Haylie, such as carpool her to school every morning, and then back to her house every afternoon?
Was it the way that every chance he got, he'd sneak a small kiss on her cheek, and didn't care who saw?
I guess you could say that Kelsi was sort of jealous of Haylie for having the perfect boyfriend.
Ever since nursery school, Kelsi always had a crush on Ryan:
And that was just because Jason never really saw her in a new light until junior year, which was a little late, if you asked her.
And Kelsi silently wished that Ryan would look at her more than a friend, and drop Haylie like Sharpay would drop last week's fashion.
But, she'd never admit that because that'd make her an awful best friend, and an even more awful girlfriend for liking another guy when clearly Jason really did like her the way that Ryan really seemed to like Haylie.
It was a Friday afternoon after school, and while Haylie would be gone at this time, the curly-haired blonde was sitting next to Kelsi at the piano, while Ryan was retaking a history test, and Jason happened to be at basketball practice.
Kelsi couldn't remember a time when she and Haylie would hang out:
Mostly, they'd hang out in a group with Taylor McKessie, Gabriella, and Sharpay Evans.
"You look sad, Kelsi. Is something wrong?"
Kelsi blinked, and looked at Haylie, who was famous for being concerned right away about her friends's well-being.
"Of course not. I'm just thinking." Kelsi replied, but she felt gulity about lying to the small blonde.
Haylie frowned, and looked at her again.
"Something's bugging you. I can tell." Haylie stated, and Kelsi sighed.
Haylie must have been spending too much time with Ryan because that's the way he'd show that he was willing to listen.
"Right. Like you'd want to hear about my problems." Kelsi explained, and Haylie's brown eyes widen.
"Kelsi! Of course I want to listen!" she commented, and the gulit just dug deeper inside of Kelsi.
Would Haylie be able to handle the fact that one of her best friends had a crush on her boyfriend?
"IhaveacrushonRyan." Kelsi said in a rush, and Haylie looked confused.
"What?" she asked, and Kelsi sighed.
It was now or never, she gussed...
"I said: I have a crush on Ryan."
Silence filled the auditorium as Kelsi watched Haylie's facial expression turned from confusion, to unreadable.
Did that mean that Kelsi was done for?
"It's okay that you have a crush on Ryan, Kelsi."
Kelsi blinked twice.
What?
"Huh?" she asked, probably sounding like an idiot, and Haylie nodded.
"I know tons of girls who have crushes on Ryan, so you are not the only one."
Kelsi just looked stupidly at the blonde-haired girl, not registering what she said.
Didn't she want to yell at Kelsi, and tell her to stay away from the unbelievably hot drama geek, Ryan Evans?
No, this was Haylie:
To yell at anyone wasn't her style.
"Aren't you going to yell at me?" Kelsi questioned, and Haylie looked at her.
"What are you talking about? Of course not!" Haylie explained, and Kelsi shook her head.
"I thought you'd be mad!" Kelsi responded, and Haylie frowned.
"I told you alot of girls have crushes on Ryan, Kelsi. Not just you." Haylie replied, and Kelsi looked at her friend, amazed.
Most girls would get all in her face if she told them she liked their boyfriends.
They wouldn't okay with the fact that alot of girls had crushes on their boyfriends.
Kelsi shook her head again.
"What if I said that I had a crush on him for a long time?" she asked, and Haylie nodded.
"And I'm fine with that. Really." she promised.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Haylie exclaimed.
"Why are you being so calm about it? Most likely, girls would flip." Kelsi commented, and Haylie smiled at her.
"Like I said before, I know alot of girls like Ryan. Secondly, I'm not the type of girl who flips out about something like this. I'm not like Sharpay, Kelsi." Haylie reminded her, and Kelsi nodded.
"Of course." Kelsi said, agreeing.
Instead of looking at Kelsi, Haylie glanced down at the sheet music Kelsi had brought to practice on the piano.
"How long have you liked Ryan?" Haylie asked.
"Since nursery school, I guess. Mostly because Jason never really liked me until junior year." Kelsi explained.
Haylie nodded as she glanced up at her.
"That's a long time." Haylie commented, and Kelsi nodded.
"Well, not really." Kelsi confessed, and Haylie sighed.
"So, I guess you are mad that I took Ryan away from you, right?" she asked, and Kelsi looked startled.
"No! I'm not mad...Ryan really seems to like you, Haylie. Don't feel bad. Besides, I already have a boyfriend."
Who wasn't Ryan, apparently.
"It seemed that way before I came here. At Xavier, every girl seemed to think I would steal their boyfriends. It was natural. I just thought it'd be the same here." Haylie explained, and Kelsi frowned.
"You'd never do that, would you?"
"I wouldn't! It'd be like that time when Sharpay made up that rumor that me and Troy liked each other...which was false, no less."
Kelsi gave Haylie a smile.
"Well, that's good to know."
Suddenly, they heard the auditorium doors open and slam, and Haylie and Kelsi jumped, but realizing it was only Ryan, who was apparently done with his history test, and was ready to take Haylie home.
"Hey." he said, giving Haylie a kiss on the cheek, and a smile in Kelsi's direction.
"Hey." Kelsi replied back, and Ryan looked at Haylie.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked her, and Haylie nodded as she stood up, and grabbed her backpack from the floor.
She then looked back at Kelsi.
"Do you need a ride at all? Because Ryan can give you one." Haylie commented, and Kelsi considered her offer, but shook her head.
She didn't want to become a third wheel, even if it was a ride home.
"No, but thanks for the offer." Kelsi declined, and Haylie frowned.
"Are you sure? Because Ryan can give you a ride." Haylie pressed again, and Ryan nodded as he gave her another smile, and Kelsi's heart almost stopped pounding for a minute.
It probably wouldn't hurt, but then again, she shook her head.
"No, that's okay. I can manage." she stated, dismissing Haylie's offer again.
"Okay. Well, I'll see you later, then. Maybe we can hang out sometime." Haylie replied, and Kelsi smiled.
"Yeah. That'd be nice." she said quietly as Haylie and Ryan made their exit, and Kelsi was left alone in the auditorium.
If she was ever alone with Ryan, chances were she'd probably blab that she liked him, and it'd be worse if he used the line, "I'd like it if we just remained friends" because he'd never want to hurt her feelings:
He'd didn't seem like the type of guy who would, anyways, and that's why she'd figure alot of girls liked him because he was nice to just about everyone.
Sighing, she got up from the piano, and packed up her stuff, heading out of the auditorium as well.
Making her way towards the student parking lot, she walked by the gym, where the basketball team was practicing, and she peeked inside.
Troy Bolton, Chad Danforth, Zeke Baylor, and Jason were playing a mini game of keep away with the basketball, and she smiled as Jason looked up from the game, and gave her a smile as he called time-out, and walked over to her.
"Hey, Kelsi." he greeted her, and Kelsi smiled.
"I see you are playing a game instead of practicing. Isn't Coach Bolton going to find out?" she asked, and Jason blushed.
"It was my idea, but only Troy, Chad, and Zeke seem to favor it. None of the other guys wanted to partake in it." Jason explained, and Kelsi nodded.
"I see." she responded, and Jason looked at her.
"So, are you heading out?" he asked, and Kelsi nodded.
"Yeah. I have some stuff to do at home, not to mention I have homework as well."
"If you need any help with the homework, just let me know." Jason commented, and Kelsi grinned.
Jason was worse than Chad:
Atleast Chad paid attention while Jason didn't.
"Okay. I'll do that."
Jason smiled as he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek before going back to the game, and Kelsi made her way out to the student parking lot.
As she got into her car, Kelsi thought about Ryan some more.
If they were truly ment to be together (like she always hoped), then Haylie wouldn't be attending East High.
And Ryan wouldn't like her as a friend, but something more, and she wouldn't be with Jasin then.
Kelsi shook her head as she steered out of the parking lot, thinking about her lost Prince Charming.