The entire gang had not been together in the same room since the day they graduated high school. Most had lost touch with one another, and the ones that were still in contact rarely spoke. There had been no quarrels or words said between each other, but generally that is what happens as time goes on and people become busy with their own lives. Almost six years had gone by since they graduated and Chad and Taylor were happily married with a three year old daughter and one on the way. They had married right of high school and moved out to Wyoming for school. They decided that they would settle down there after Taylor had landed a job through her internship and they figured it would not be that difficult for Chad to obtain a teaching position at one of the local schools.
Troy attended the University of New Mexico and Gabriella ended up going to Texas A&M. They stayed together throughout college, despite the distance, and decided to wed shortly after. They held their wedding at Lava Springs, courtesy of Sharpay and Ryan's family. Most of the Wildcats had been in attendance; however, some regretfully, could not come. Distance, for many of them, had become the reason for their lack of communication. Although, they had sent their regards. After the wedding, they had moved to Florida where Gabriella had been working part time with National Aeronautics and Space Administration while doing some of her own research on the side; Troy took a job coaching a local high school basketball team and working at a local children's recreational center. They were happy and had discussed starting a family of their own sometime in the future, but it just never seemed like an appropriate time.
Sharpay took a more unorthodox approach to her future. Unorthodox, but suitable. She had moved out to Los Angeles the first chance she got. After about five years struggling as an unknown actress she decided to cut her losses and move back home. She was a great actress and a phenomenal singer, but she was a bad case of the 'big-fish-little-pond' syndrome. She had won a few smaller roles and even made it onto a couple of episodes of Days of Our Lives but that was the extent of her claim to fame. She moved back to Albuquerque just before Troy and Gabriella tied the knot. It was good to see the gang together again, or at least most of them. That's where she reconnected with Zeke. One look at him and feelings immediately rushed back to her. Senior year, Zeke and Sharpay had been quite the item, but before she left they had broken up, both deciding that the distance would not have been fair to either of them. Zeke attended a local culinary school with an emphasis in the pastry arts, never having the intention of leaving his hometown. After the wedding, they started talking again and it was like they were never away from each other. Zeke was trying to get his own bakery opened up, and by all means he was good enough to do so, but he didn't have much knowledge of running his own business. Sharpay had more than her fair share of experience in that area what with her family's country club and all. She helped him, and before long 'Zeke's Bakes and Cakes' was up and running. They were once again "quite the item".
Jason attended Duke University. Kelsi and Martha had roomed together in college. both attending the University of North Carolina. They figured that would be a good idea considering they were going to be on complete opposite sides of the country, and neither of them knew much of anyone out there. Unfortunately, this decision didn't really work out in the end. Jason had cheated on Kelsi with Martha, resulting in a feud between the three of them. Jason and Martha claimed to be in love with one another, leaving Kelsi both heart broken and betrayed by one of her best friends. Luckily for Martha, Kelsi had decided to drop out after her third semester. She thought that she would have better luck striking out on her own, rather than sitting in a classroom and wasting her time and money. She was right, during her time at college she had spent more time writing plays and composing music than actually learning anything that remotely interested her. She had enough material to create an entire portfolio. She moved out to Los Angeles after she dropped out. She met up with Sharpay and actually lived with her for the remainder of the time Sharpay lived in L.A. She had helped hook Kelsi up with some big names out there and even let her sublet her apartment after she moved back home. The last anyone had heard, Martha and Jason were still somewhere in North Carolina. They were still together, but pretty much kept to themselves.
One wildcat that they had not heard from was Ryan Evans. The only one that talked to him at all was Sharpay and that was generally only at family functions and when she could tell he was in serious trouble --the twin thing. Ryan had moved out to New York City after failing to get into any of the colleges he had applied to senior year. Ryan was spectacular in the arts department but when it came to books, it really wasn't his thing. He didn't make the grades so he decided to strike out on his own too. Sharpay went west and in an attempt of doing something different from his sister for a change, he went east. He got a small apartment by himself on the Upper East side. He tried some off-Broadway productions and got involved in some independent works, but none of it really amounted to much. As the years went by, he distanced himself further and further from his friends and, surprisingly, his family as well.
Ryan was always easily influenced and he kind of got mixed in with the wrong crowd. He met some people in his improv work sessions and he knew they were different, but at the time he didn't think much of it because, let's face it, a lot of actors are more than eccentric. He had been in NY for almost three years and he had made some 'friends' through his work groups and some parts that he had landed, but no real substantial relationships were formed. Ryan took what he could get though, it could become really lonely in New York all by yourself.
One day he found himself running from place to place and he was left utterly exhausted by the end of the day. This had been going on for weeks now, and it had gotten to the point where he didn't think he could manage the same hours and continue his daily routine. He had arrived at his improv session and his buddy Chaz came up to him with a cup of coffee in hand, "You look like shit, man, here."
"Thanks," he said he a slight grin. "I know, I haven't had a lot of time to sleep lately. I've been so busy, but I really feel like my break is right around the corner so there's no way i can slow down now," he wearily explained.
"Yeah, I hear ya on that one and let me be the first to tell you that it doesn't get any easier," he said while walking away. Ryan watched him and thought to himself, 'Yeah I didn't think so...'
Annie, another one of Ryan's friends came running into the room. She was an attractive girl with a petite figure. She was a dancer and she was thinner than she rightfully should have been, but then again, in that business, who wasn't. She was always rushing around and a little too high strung for Ryan's taste but nonetheless they were good friends. Or at least as good as it gets in a cut-throat city like New York. "Hey Ry! You look tired!" she exclaimed. She looked equally as tired as him, but was still all over the place. "Ill be right back," she told him, and she was out of the room as quickly as had she come in.
Ryan looked after her dumbfounded,'Did that just happen?' Sure enough, she reemerged adorned in street clothes, rather than her ballet outfit she had previously been wearing. Annie was in a modernized version of The Swan Princess and had just come from rehearsal. She was born and raised in New Jersey, just across the river so she was pretty used to the bustle of the city. She was a few years older than Ryan, and she knew he was just as naive as he looked, so she kind of looked out for him. Annie reminded Ryan somewhat of Sharpay; they didn't really look much alike but their personalities were almost a spot on match. She was the closest thing he had to a best friend. He had just finished the last bit of coffee Chaz had handed to him when she came running up to him again, "Come on, Ryan! We're gonna be late," she belted out. She had a voice like no other. She was loud, and always made sure she was noticed.
With a heavy sigh he got up and reluctantly followed, "Coming." How she had the energy, he would never know. He heard the director, "Annette, Charles, Ryan, Charlotte report to the stage. We'll be running scene 2 for right now. Go on my cue, and action!" Even though it was an improv group they still worked with certain scenes and minimal scripts they had to go off of. Three grueling hours later, Ryan heard the director say that they were done for the night. He was so relieved to hear those words, he had noticed that during one of the scenes they were doing Annie kept dozing off slightly. It was a comfort to know that he wasn't the only one struggling; it was just after midnight and he was beat. The only thing he could think about was his bed that he was only minutes away from. Some people were standing in a small group talking after the session had ended and Ryan was gathering some of things together when he heard Chaz say, "Hey Ry, some of us are hitting up this party in a few if you want to join."
He thought about it for about a second; he really wanted to start hanging out with people and making actual friends, but it was just so hard with the schedule he'd been keeping. "I have to be at the set at five tomorrow, otherwise I would. Next time though, I promise." He really didn't think that he was awake enough to actually have a good time and be social so it kind of worked out that he had to get up early. Sincerely he said, "Thanks anyway, like i said, next time."
"Alright, man, but I'm holding you to that," Chaz said with a disappointed tone. Annie walked out of the restroom and asked Chaz if he was ready to go. Ryan had figured she was going to go to the party, but he was still surprised having seen how worn out she was earlier. She seemed to have perked up quite a bit from when he had last seen her, but didn't really question it. They said their goodbyes and Ryan headed home to his empty apartment. 'Maybe I should just get a dog,' he thought.
