Hello! Just wanted to say hi, and just thanks for reading! This is my first story ever, so just… I'm sorry if it's horrible! I own none of the characters or settings for this, they are all Disney's High School Musicals, and I take no credit for them other than what they do in this story. Also, I will try to update fairly frequently… however I'm at college right now, and working, and trying to have somewhat of a life off the internet…. So just hang in there if I seem to be taking a bit! I promise I will not abandon this story!
Chapter 1: Lockers
Questions were being murmured in the hallways that day, whispering theories filled the air of the cafeteria, and stares were directed at the newly single individuals. Troy Bolton had went and sat with his basketball team, getting confused look and questions from Chad, but laughing them off and saying he was fine. Gabriella had joined her friends from the science club, and was calmly talking, clearly trying to avoid the gazes of everyone in the room. Though no one knew why they broke up, one thing had become apparent, and that was that Gabriella had been the one to end it.
Ryan Evans watched the scene from an upper location in the lunch room, ignoring his sister's incessant chatter and contemplated what was happening. Troy and Gabriella thought they were the only ones that knew the reason for the breakup, but in reality, Ryan had been around the corner and overheard the whole event.
The breakup had happened after school the day before. Ryan had been at his locker, getting some last minute items before he left. Sharpay was busy socializing and was the one with the car keys, so he was taking his time. He had just finished packing up his bag when he heard voices arguing from around the corner, right away he recognized them as Troy and Gabriella, and in an attempt not to interrupt stayed put at his locker.
"Why are you doing this Gabriella? I didn't do anything wrong!" "You know exactly why I'm doing this Troy!" "Is it because of last night… I told you, that didn't mean anything! I don't even know why I said that!" "It wasn't just last night Troy! You've done it before and I always hoped that I heard you wrong… but I can't do this anymore! I can't ignore it!" "Gabriella!" "No Troy. Don't. You know what you said. And I think you need to figure this out. I can't be with you Troy, it isn't fair to me!" "But I don't know why I said that name! It just slipped out and I don't know why! It's probably just stress and because we've talked more recently… just they were on my mind and that was all!" "We were having sex and you said someone else's name Troy! How can you not understand why I'm doing this! Whether you meant to or not… you've said it before… and I will never be okay with that." "Gabriella… please…" "I can't Troy. We need to break up, you need to figure this out. Maybe we can stay friends, but we can't be together… I can't do this anymore." "I'm sorry Gabriella…" "Yeah. Me too."
The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall as Gabriella stormed away. However Troy's pleading voice quietly called after her.
"Could you not tell people… why… or what I said… please… just give me that. You can tell them you dumped me, you can say whatever you want to say, but just don't tell them what I said." "Fine Troy. But you need to figure this out…"
Ryan stood in shock at his locker. Troy had said someone else's name while having sex with his girlfriend. Who was it? And what was this about not telling people? I guess this could be embarrassing to anyone in this situation, but what exactly did Troy need to figure out? Who he wanted to be with? Who was the other girl?
Puzzling over what he just heard, Ryan picked up his bag and headed around the corner, expecting it to be empty. However, sitting against the lockers, head in his hands, fingers running through his messy brown hair impatiently, was none other than Troy. Ryan froze. Would Troy know he had heard the whole conversation? Should he lie if he asked how long he had been there? Should he just tell the truth?
Troy looked up from his spot on the floor, his eyes meeting Ryan's with a look that couldn't be explained, and then quickly staring back down at the floor again. Ryan's face flushed pink, and stayed frozen in his spot, not knowing whether to keep walking or speak to Troy. Part of him wanted to sit down beside him and make sure he was alright, and find out what he had just overheard. The other part of him just wanted to run quickly out of the building, away from this boy and that look on his face.
"He deserves it", thought Ryan. "He said another girl's name. He deserves what he gets." Ryan started to move, planning to walk past Troy and pretend that they hadn't seen each other. "He deserves it, he deserves it, he deserves it," repeated Ryan to himself in his head. "You can't feel bad for him. He was basically mentally cheating. He deserves to be sad." However another voice in Ryan's head was arguing back saying, "But he said it was an accident and he didn't know why it happened. What does he need to figure out? What if he needs a friend Ryan? How many times have you just needed a friend?"
"You okay?" Ryan asked as he started to walk by; finally deciding that it couldn't be all that bad to ask. He wasn't even supposed to know what was going on, so it couldn't hurt. Maybe he did need a friend, or someone to listen to. Cheater or not, something was wrong with Troy, and it wasn't simply guilt. There was another emotion plastered on Troy's face, and Ryan wanted to know what it was.
Looking back up, Troy quietly replied saying,"uh, yeah. I'm fine. Just… it's been a long week." This time he didn't look back at the ground but kept his gaze fixed on Ryan intensely, blue eyes on his, expression still unreadable. "Oh… sure… well then I'll see you later." "See you Ryan."
As Ryan walked away he looked back behind him, Troy was still watching him with that intense look, and Ryan quickly turned around, still confused about that unreadable expression.