A handsome, blue-eyed teen walked the halls of East High during lunch period on a Tuesday afternoon. He had to get out of that cafeteria; there's only so many of Sharpay's hissyfits a person can take. And he had to listen to her incessant whining more than anyone at school. He lived with her, after all.
On one hand, he loved Sharpay. She was his sister, of course he loved her. Sometimes he felt like she was the only person who could even begin to understand what he was going through. After all, she was experiencing some of it, too. And with the turmoil surrounding his parents, having someone he could talk to was a blessing.
On the other hand, Sharpay could be aggressive, cold-hearted, and mean. She bossed him around, and even thought she could tell him who he was allowed to be friends with. She was cruel, manipulative, and…his sister, whom he loved. He had to stop thinking like this. Sharpay was not the enemy.
A group of girls walked by, looking and smiling at him. He flashed them his most charming smile. They giggled and ran off. When they look at Ryan Evans, they see exactly what everyone else does. A talented, good-looking, popular boy who any guy would want to be and any girl would want to be with. When Ryan Evans looks at Ryan Evans, he sees a boy who deserves all of the pain he's suffering. Those girls didn't know what went on in his home life. They had no idea of the thousands of worries and fears that streamed constantly through his young mind. They swooned over him, completely oblivious to the emotional damage that he hid so well.
But eventually, all pain, even if it's been bottled up inside for years, needs to come out. Today was one of the days it would. He found an empty classroom, closed the door, and fell to the ground, weeping.
It was too much; he had too much to deal with. The cruelty of his parents, his grandfather's ailment…and something was wrong with Sharpay, she'd been acting so strange lately. She insisted she was fine, but Ryan knew better.
Sometimes he felt useless, like a nuisance who offered nothing positive to the world. Like a mistake of God. He knew nearly everyone in his life would be better without him. He wished he could disappear, leaving everyone he loved happier and better off in his absence.
A bell rings, and Ryan is forced out of his melancholy. He gathered his items, wiped his face, and reentered his false reality. He was once again the Ryan that everyone at East High knew him as. He walked to class, flaunting his perfect smile and radiating false confidence.