Chad's heart pounded so hard, he thought it would burst out of his chest, or at the very least, spasm and fail. He looked into those eyes; he'd previously vaguely noticed them as blue, except they seemed to be flashing a fierce green at this moment. They stared, they pierced, almost evilly; they smirked. He attempted a silent deep breath, as he was ordered to remove his shirt. He eagerly removed his baseball shirt, and, after a confirming nod, pulled his undershirt off, and threw both shirts onto the ground.
Oh man… now he felt self-conscious. He felt those green eyes burn every part of his bare chest. Slowly, a pale hand moved towards him; his breath caught in his throat, and he very nearly spluttered and choked. He managed to swallow the lump stuck in his throat, as his red baseball cap was pulled from his head. He felt another wave of self-consciousness, and brought his hand up to his head. He was relieved to be reminded of his bandana, preventing hat hair. Good choice!
He was handed a navy and white striped newsboy cap. He grinned, and pulled it onto his head.
"Suits you." Ryan grinned, speaking in a deeper tone than Chad had ever heard him before.
"Thanks." Chad whimpered.
Mentally, he scolded himself. He was Chad Danforth, the ever cool jock, and it took a lot to reduce him to a nervous, quivering wreck. And it was Ryan Evans who managed this feat. Chad was used to the post-game feeling; that electricity pumping through his veins, making him feel indestructible. But now those same feelings were working against him, making him feel shy, nervous, embarrassed.
Ryan crossed his arms over his torso, and grabbed his white shirt, pulling it over his head. As he stretched to get it up over his head, Chad's eyes involuntarily drew themselves to Ryan's ribs, sticking out momentarily. When he felt eyes looking at him, he swiftly looked up.
"Tell me again why we're switching shirts?" Chad tried to smile confidently, but rather thinking he probably looked a little creepy.
"It's tradition."
"In baseball? Since when?!" Chad laughed, pulling Ryan's shirt over his head.
"In soccer." Ryan shrugged, picking Chad's shirts from the floor, and pulling the undershirt over his head.
Chad couldn't comprehend the rush he felt, watching Ryan put his shirt on. He grinned, and Ryan looked up, grinning back. He fitted Chad's baseball cap onto his head, and nodded.
"And?" Chad laughed slightly. "Why are we indulging in soccer tradition?"
Ryan didn't answer. He just walked off, knowing fully well that Chad would follow like a puppy.
This whole process, to Chad, felt like a long, drawn out, maybe even seductive scene. But in reality, it had taken them less than a minute to switch shirts and hats. Chad followed Ryan to some benches, where both of their teams were sat. They grabbed a couple of hot dogs, and sat down on a spare bench.
"Alright - so you call that a little game?" Chad grinned at Ryan, shaking a bottle of ketchup, Ryan fiddling with the game ball in his right hand.
"Little… League… World series…" Ryan coughed, Chad looked up at him. "Newport, Rhode Island." Chad let out a little laugh, shaking his head and looking down at his hot dog, tipping up the ketchup bottle. "Champions." Ryan momentarily held up the game ball victoriously. Chad looked up, laughing once again. He used his free hand to playfully push on Ryan's head, snatching the game ball, as Taylor and Gabriella came bounding up from behind them.
"Good job!" Gabriella gushed to Ryan, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Nice hat." Taylor told Chad, pulling on the brim.
"You're so awesome!" Gabriella giggled.
"Hey, what can I say…" Chad grinned. "She's right. You got game, Evans."
Gabriella wrapped her arm around Ryan's neck. Chad raised his eyebrows, partly wondering how Troy would feel if he saw, partly feeling jealous for himself.
"Hey…" He hit Ryan on the chest with the back of his hand. "Is there anything you're not good at?"
Ryan turned his head slowly, to look at Chad. A grin broke across his face.
"No." He blinked, confidently. "I'm great at everything."
"Everything?" Chad grinned back. Ryan was staring at him, he glanced up at the girls, who had fallen into a conversation about something or another. "I doubt that."
"Chad." Taylor spoke, almost cutting him off. "Me and Gabriella need to see Fulton. Are you gonna be around for long?"
"I might go home in a few minutes."
"Okay." Taylor smiled, slightly disappointed. "Call me tonight?" She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, before linking her arm in Gabriella's, and skipping off.
"So maybe I'm not good at getting girls." Ryan raised his eyebrows at Chad, and nodded his head in the direction the girls had skipped off towards. "Not that I need to be."
"Why?"
Ryan looked at Chad, and burst into laughter. He gently slapped him on the arm.
"I'm not really interested in girls."
"Oh… uh…" Chad scratched his head. "Of course."
"Awkward." Ryan laughed in a high-pitched voice. "No, it's nice, actually. Most people don't think of me as a person who is gay, rather as a gay person. Do you know what I mean?"
"They see that you're gay before they see the person you are?"
"Exactly. It doesn't define me. There's much more to me."
-----------------
Chad thought about that day for a long time. He'd think of it almost every day. By the time senior year started, he'd pretty much accepted the feelings he had tried so long to fight; he was gay. He had broken up with Taylor just a few days before, and he was dreading school because he knew she would still be hurting, not to mention all the questions he was going to have to deal with.
"Hey." Chad jumped as a hand thumped onto his shoulder, he breathed a sigh of relief when he turned round and realised it was Ryan.
"Hey." He sighed in reply.
"Woah. What happened?" Ryan asked.
"I broke up with Tay." A mumble told Ryan. Chad stuck his head in his locker and shuffled some things around.
"Why?"
Chad removed his head from his locker, and looked left and right. There was students dotted all around, at lockers, coming to and from classes, chatting just like these two boys were.
"Ryan, we're friends right?"
"Yeah…" Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes and feeling quite confused.
"And I can tell you anything?" He sighed, and lowered his voice. "And you won't tell a single soul?"
"Of course." Ryan smiled, an attempt at reassurance.
Chad sighed. "Well… I'll tell you later. I gotta get to class."
And then, he was gone.
----------------
Just as Chad predicted, school had been… hell. Why did people assume his business was their business? By the end of the day, he was glad to be ushered into a classroom by an inquisitive Ryan.
"Good day?"
"Ha! My day has been a horrible rotation of 'why did you and Taylor break up?' and Taylor and her nerdy friends glaring at me."
"Ouch." Ryan laughed. "Uh… Well, I hate to irritate you further but… you DID say you would tell me. It seemed important to you…"
"Yeah, yeah." Chad nodded, avoiding Ryan's gaze, as he sat cross-legged on the top of a desk. "You're the one person I wanna tell. But.. It's kinda hard."
"You can tell me anything." Ryan shrugged.
"Ryan, I…" Chad stared at the floor, hands trembling as he played with his fingers. "I think I might be gay."
"Oh…" Ryan said thoughtfully. "Really?"
"I think so." Chad shrugged, and sighed. "I mean, yeah. I've thought about it so much - I'm sick to death of thinking about it."
"I can imagine. Same things, same questions, going around and around in your head. But if you ever want to talk about it instead, get it out, I'm here."
Ryan wrapped his arms around Chad's neck from where he was standing to his left. Chad sighed, and let his body collapse against Ryan's.
"It just wasn't fair to her." Chad mumbled into Ryan's shoulder. "I look at her… and feel nothing."
"It's hard at first." Ryan replied. "Believe it or not - you'll get used to it. But you have a rough ride ahead of you."
"Yeah. I haven't even begun to think about coming out. To my parents, to Troy, and the team? This sucks."
"Can I ask - what triggered it?" Ryan bit his lip. "Is there…someone?"
Chad let out a little laugh. He untangled himself from Ryan, climbed off of the desk and stood, with his back to him, looking out the window.
"Since I'm confessing -" He rolled his eyes and clenched them shut. "- I may have been suffering a small crush on you."
"Me?" Ryan's eyes widened and he let out a small involuntary laugh. "I was expecting you to say Troy."
"Troy?" Chad turned round, laughing. "Ew, please. He's like my brother. He's so… no." Chad shuddered.
"And me?" Ryan smiled.
"I don't know what to tell you - you're just too cute." Chad blushed and Ryan giggled.
"You're not so bad yourself." Ryan grinned.
Chad let out a nervous laugh, and turned himself away from Ryan.
"Well, I…" Chad searched his brain for something to reply with.
"Listen, I'm here for you anytime you need me." Ryan placed his hand in Chad's, entwining their fingers. "If… you need me…"
Chad looked at Ryan.
"I'm so lucky to have a friend like you to help me through this." Chad sighed. "What would I do without you?"
"Suffer in unbearable silence?" Ryan laughed, and paused. "Chad, do you remember that day, at Lava Springs…"
"The baseball game?" Chad asked, Ryan nodded. "Oh, yeah. Vividly."
Ryan grinned. "I noticed that day… that you were different from your friends."
"Different how?"
"They all see me as that gay guy who dances all the time. With the bitchy princess sister." Ryan forced out a small laugh. "But you… you never did. You treated me as your equal. You believed me when I said I had game." A genuine smile graced Ryan's lips. "You thought of me as separate from my sister."
"You said yourself - being gay doesn't define you. Just as dancing doesn't define you. Being Sharpay's brother doesn't define you."
Ryan smiled at Chad.
"Exactly." He smiled satisfactorily. "I like that you understand."
"I see you for who you are. A talented, deep, attractive person… dedicated to your art."
"And I see you. A happy, bouncy, sexy guy equally talented and dedicated to his art. A person who is discovering himself and can get on with living his life now that he knows who he truly is."
Chad smiled, shrugged, and nodded. Ryan squeezed Chad's hand and pulled him closer, wrapping his free arm around his waist. Without warning, Chad moved his face in close to Ryan's and pressed his lips against his. He closed his eyes for an unspecified amount of time - when he opened them, he pulled away from Ryan, who was beaming, a faint pink tinting his cheeks.
"I think we should go and get a burger." Ryan grinned. "What do you say?"
"As friends?" Chad laughed. "Or as a date?!"
"Whatever you want."