Troy and Gabriella. East High's "it" couple. Survived high school and college. Still together. Still going strong. Will their five year reunion change all that?
These were the thoughts running though Ryan's head as he got ready for said reunion. He still had several leftover feelings for Gabriella, and he still hated Troy Bolton for meeting her first, being an ass, and then getting her back. All the two had to do was sing together and it would clear up any bad feelings lingering around. Ryan wished he had that kind of power. Why shouldn't he? He was a much better singer than Troy, and he loved Gabriella at least as much as (if not more than) Troy did.
Ryan put on one of the hats he had been trademarked for in high school, although he had long since stopped wearing them, and left the room in the house that he had once called his own. He met Sharpay in the living room. She looked the same as always, beautiful in pink. The doorbell rang, and the butler opened it. Zeke stood there. Sharpay ran into his waiting arms and he spun her around. Ryan frowned, because he wished he had someone to do that to. Zeke and Sharpay had lasted since high school as well; they were even engaged. Ryan had met a few girls in college and on tour, but none of them had even come close to comparing with Gabriella in his opinion.
Sharpay and Ryan's parents joined them in the living room to take a billion pictures of the three of them. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, having approximately two brains between the two of them, give or take, had never quite been able to figure out why (or how) Ryan had never found himself a girlfriend. They didn't mention it much, but they had made it quite clear that they were fine with it. It was Ryan's life, and not theirs.
Ryan, Sharpay, and Zeke arrived at the reunion just after it started. There weren't many people there yet. The people who were there were the ones they had known the best. Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez for starters. At least Ryan hoped she was still Gabriella Montez. Gabriella Bolton was just unthinkable.
"Ohmigod, you guys!" Gabriella squealed, hurrying over to Ryan, Sharpay, and Zeke. "I haven't seen you guys in so long!" She hugged Sharpay, then Ryan, and then Zeke.
"Yeah, not since Chad and Taylor's wedding," Sharpay said. "It's been forever!"
"I know, right? Come on over to the table," Gabriella said, walking the other three over to the table where Troy was talking to Chad. The last major event in the seven ex-Wildcats' lives had been Chad and Taylor's wedding, back in the sophomore year of college. All the ex-Wildcats had been invited, and it had been the last time they had properly all seen each other. Troy stood up to say hello to his friends, with a chest bump for Zeke, a hand shake for Ryan, and a hug for Sharpay. They sat down at the table and began conversing.
"So, married yet?" Troy asked Sharpay. Sharpay shook her head, grinned, and flashed him her engagement ring. "Wow, nice rock."
"I know," Sharpay said. "It was my grandmother's. But, trust me, you'd know if we got married. I wouldn't let you miss it for the world."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world anyway," Troy said. "I'm in it, right?" Zeke laughed.
"Oh, please, you know I've had that stuff picked out since high school," Sharpay said.
"And what about you guys?" Zeke asked Troy and Gabriella. Gabriella rolled her eyes.
"Not yet," Gabriella said. "It'll be the biggest news on the planet when it does come, so keep an ear open."
"I plan to," Sharpay said. "But seriously, you guys have been together for, like, six years." Jason and Kelsi arrived at that moment, saving Troy and Gabriella from explaining why they weren't engaged. They were also accompanied by Martha, who was with escort.
"Jason!" Troy exclaimed, standing to give him a chest bump. "And who's the guy, Martha?"
"This is Daniel," Martha said. "We met in college."
"Fantastic," Troy said, shaking hands with Daniel.
"Well, Martha, you look fabulous," Sharpay said. "Like…Marissa Jaret Winokur."
"Thanks," Martha said. The eleven some sat making small talk, and eventually Troy pulled Gabriella out onto the dance floor for a slow song. Martha and Daniel followed.
"You know," Taylor said, "rumor has it that Troy's popping the question tonight."
"Rumor?" asked Sharpay, skeptically.
"Like, as in, I overheard him asking Chad for tips the other day," Taylor said.
"You know that was, like, supposed to be a secret?" Chad said. Taylor shrugged. Ryan did not like the sound of this news. He had always thought that, somewhere along the way, Gabriella would realize the jerk Troy really was, and come running to him. But he also knew (however much he hated to admit it) that Troy was a genuinely nice guy, basketball and Lava Springs incidents aside. He deserved to be happy. But why did Troy have to be happy with Gabriella?? Ryan didn't know.
"Hello? Earth to Ryan!" Sharpay said.
"Huh?" Ryan responded. He had been off in his own little world.
"I asked if you had anyone special," Kelsi said.
"Oh, yeah, I mean, no. Not right now," Ryan replied. His gaze over towards Troy and Gabriella gave him away, however.
"Still?" Kelsi implored.
"Always," Ryan replied. Sharpay rolled her eyes.
"I told you to get over her," Sharpay said.
"I can't," Ryan said. Sharpay rolled her eyes again and scoffed.
"I think it's cute," Kelsi said.
"I think it's sad," Jason interjected.
"I think it's…a little typical," Zeke said. "That's the way the story always goes, isn't it? Guy and Girl meet, fall in love, and Guy gets hit on by Another Girl, whose Brother loves Girl, but she gives up, and gets together with Another Guy, and everyone lives happily ever after except for Brother, who is bitter and miserable his entire life."
"Thanks, Zeke," Ryan said. "Your kind words of wisdom have warmed my heart."
"Really?"
"No."
"I think they're like Lily and Snape," Chad offered. "And Troy can be James."
"And that makes you Sirius," Ryan said. "Killed anyone lately?" Chad ignored this question.
"Plus it makes Zeke Lupin and Jason Pettigrew," Chad said.
"Why do I have to be the bad guy?" Jason asked. Chad shrugged.
"Don't you think you're a little old to be comparing your lives to Harry Potter?" Taylor asked.
"But, Tay," Chad said, "he's hopelessly, desperately, out of his mind in love, and he's going to grow old bitter and miserable and resenting Troy and any children that Troy and Gabriella may pop out, and there are no more Harry Potter books, and it's all very mixed up and confused." Ryan nodded.
"That about sums it up," Ryan said. "And not to mention that, in our analogy, every single one of us ends up dead at the hands of either ourselves, another one of us, or a Death Eater. Or a giant snake, in my case."
"Well, that's extremely positive," Sharpay said, sarcastically.
"What's positive?" Gabriella asked, slipping back into her seat.
"A sodium ion," Taylor said. Gabriella gave her a funny look.
"We were comparing our lives to Harry Potter," Chad said. Gabriella nodded her understanding, and Troy sat down beside her. "You guys are like James and Lily."
"We never hated each other," Troy said. Gabriella made a weird face as if to say "speak for yourself", that no one except Kelsi and Ryan caught.
"Well, yeah, but that makes us Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew," Chad said, indicating himself, Zeke, and Jason.
"That makes me Tonks, right?" Sharpay asked.
"Whatever," Chad said.
"That's nice, you guys," Troy said. He didn't really care that much, and it showed. Most of the guests had arrived by this point and they kept mobbing Troy. Everyone loved Troy. Some of his ex-teammates dragged him, Chad, Jason, and Zeke away for team bonding time, leaving Ryan and the girls at the table. Kelsi was the first one to speak.
"Gabriella, why are you so sad?" she asked.
"I'm not," Gabriella protested.
"You are, though," Kelsi said. "Why'd you give Troy that face?" Gabriella didn't say anything. "Do you not like Troy anymore?"
"No, I love Troy," Gabriella said.
"You've got a weird way of showing it," Sharpay said. Gabriella sighed.
"Troy is great," she said. "Troy's the man. Troy Bolton, Troy Bolton, Troy Bolton." She was very unenthusiastic.
"You don't like Troy anymore?" Taylor asked again, trying to decipher Gabriella's code speak.
"Is he hurting you?" Ryan asked. "Because if he is, I'll mess him up for you." Gabriella shook her head and smiled.
"No, it's nothing like that," she said. "But that's anyway. I don't know." She wasn't upset.
"So do you wanna marry him?" Taylor asked.
"I don't know," Gabriella replied. "Sometimes he's the guy I met at the ski lodge in Colorado and sang with in Twinkle Towne." She paused and smiled. "And sometimes he's the guy who plays basketball 24/7 and ditches his friends at a country club."
"Come on," Ryan said. "You know Troy's a nice guy. He doesn't do it on purpose."
"Where is he right now?" Gabriella asked, rhetorically.
"He hasn't seen his team in years," Taylor said. "You wouldn't believe how depressed Chad gets sometimes when there's no one around to play ball with."
"What's the real reason behind all this?" Sharpay asked. Gabriella shrugged.
"Don't lie to us," Kelsi said. "There's something more going on."
"Are you pregnant?" Sharpay asked. Gabriella laughed. She actually laughed.
"I wish," Gabriella said. "Maybe he'd pay more attention to me."
"You don't mean that," Kelsi said.
"Yeah, I do," Gabriella said. "I don't really–" She stopped talking and gasped.
"What?" Taylor asked.
"He's going to do it tonight, isn't he?" Gabriella asked. "He's going to propose tonight." Taylor nodded. "Why?!"
"I don't know. Maybe he loves you," Taylor said, sarcastically.
"But I don't love him," Gabriella said. She gasped again and clapped a hand over her mouth.
""You've never said that out loud before, have you?" Ryan asked. Gabriella shook her head. "You've never even thought it."
"I've thought it," Gabriella said. "Just once." Ryan reached over and pulled her into a hug while Sharpay frowned. Ryan shrugged at his sister and kept comforting Gabriella. "Oh, Ryan, you're such a nice guy."
"If you say so," Ryan replied.
"You want us to run interference between you and Troy?" Taylor asked. Gabriella shook her head.
"Just once," she repeated. She lifted her head from Ryan's shoulder. "You know when that was?" Ryan thought he did know, but didn't want to say anything.
"Yeah, I know," Ryan said. "But you got through that."
"Only because you were there," Gabriella said. "You're such a nice guy."
"But Troy's a nice guy, too," Ryan protested.
"You can't make me love him," Gabriella said.
"I can't make you do anything," Ryan said. The two were now oblivious to the other three girls sitting with them.
"You could if you really wanted," Gabriella said.
"But I wouldn't," Ryan said.
"Case in point; you're a nice guy," Gabriella said. Sharpay suddenly cleared her throat and Gabriella jumped.
"Are you hitting on my brother?" Sharpay asked. Both Gabriella and Ryan blushed bright red.
"Uh, no," Gabriella lied. "I was just going to say he was like the brother I never had."
"That's sweet," Kelsi said. "But lying."
"You are so hitting on Ryan," Sharpay exclaimed.
"Shh!" Gabriella said. "He can hear you! And no, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!" Sharpay argued. They bickered back and forth for a while, until Ryan had had it.
"Enough!" Ryan said loudly. "Stop bickering over this." He paused for a moment to think. "Or just admit it already."
"Fine, I'm hitting on Ryan," Gabriella mumbled, staring at the floor.
"Ha!" Sharpay exclaimed. "I was right!" Gabriella and Ryan shot her identical glares, and she sat back down.
"You shouldn't be hitting on me," Ryan said. "You're with Troy, remember?"
"I remember," Gabriella said. "I just need…something new…and different."
"So get a new car," Sharpay suggested. "Don't cheat on your boyfriend." Approximately six ex-members of the Drama Club appeared at that moment and demanded to talk to Ryan, Sharpay, and Kelsi at that moment. The three of them walked away with the Drama Club ex-members to speak to them, only to be accosted by Troy, on his way back to the table.
"Hey, guys, remember me? Troy Bolton? Captain of the basketball team? Star of Twinkle Towne?" Troy asked. The ex-Drama club members shrugged. "Sure. Okay, can I borrow your man Ryan here for a bit? Thank you!" He pulled Ryan away, without waiting for an answer, to a corner of the large banquet room that was relatively deserted.
"What is this about, Troy?" Ryan asked, tentatively. He and Troy had never exactly been on the greatest of speaking terms, and Ryan was a little afraid Troy had seen what had gone down at the table and was now going to bash his face in.
"Nothing bad," Troy said, laughing at the look on Ryan's face. "I just wanted to…um, tell you something."
"I'm sketched," Ryan said. "And listening. Go on."
"Well," Troy began, unearthing a small black box from his jacket.
"You know, I'm flattered, but I never really had an interest in guys," Ryan said. Troy frowned at him.
"No, this is the engagement ring I was going to give Gabriella tonight," Troy said.
"Was?" Ryan asked, for clarification's sake.
"Was," Troy confirmed. "Seeing you again, tonight, reminded me how much you really want this more than I do."
"Want…what?" Ryan asked, confused.
"Gabriella," Troy said. "And God knows, you deserve her."
"Yeah, but, I mean, she's your girlfriend," Ryan said. "You can't just…give her away to whoever you feel."
"Trust me, if I'm not sorely mistaken, she wants to be with you as much as you want to be with her," Troy said. "Surely she said something."
"Not really," Ryan lied. "I mean, maybe she said something about me being a nice guy, and then she kind of admitted to hitting on me, and then she kind of said she didn't really want to marry you…" Ryan looked up at the expression on Troy's face, which was priceless. "That's probably too much information, isn't it?"
"A little," Troy said.
"But, what about you? You've been with her for six years," Ryan said.
"Will you just stop worrying and take the freaking ring already before I change my mind?" Troy asked. Ryan looked from the ring box in Troy's hand, to the table where Gabriella was sitting with Taylor and the guys, to Troy himself, who was grinning his most Troy Bolton-ish smile.
"Sure," Ryan said. "Are you sure, though?"
"As sure as I've been about anything in my whole life," Troy said. Ryan took the box from Troy and slipped it into his own jacket pocket. "Shall we?" They walked back to the table together, ignoring the strange looks they were getting. Ryan and Troy slipped into their seats on either side of Gabriella, still grinning like idiots.
"What?" Jason asked. Against all odds Jason was the first to notice that something was up.
"Nothing," Troy and Ryan said at the same time.
"I mean, what could possibly be amiss on a night like tonight?" Ryan said. "The moon is bright, the stars are shining, there are little furry animals in the woods, or at least, so I'm told." This statement gandered a laugh from some of the people at the table, and Sharpay, who was returning to the table with Kelsi.
"Funny, little brother," Sharpay said.
"Oh, puh-lease," Ryan said. "We both know that's not true."
"This is not the time to discuss that," Sharpay said. "And we both know it is true."
"Whatever!" Taylor said. "You've been having this argument since preschool. Let it go." Sharpay and Ryan both stared at Taylor like she was insane, but dropped the argument. The argument of who is the older twin is an age-old tradition in the families of twins.
"So, what's new with the Drama Club?" Ryan asked Kelsi and Sharpay, just to change the subject.
"Nothing really," Kelsi said. "Mostly congratulations in order for the tour you guys were on. Which, of course, could not have been orchestrated without me composing it."
"Very good, Kels," Zeke said. "That is very big news to everyone at this table who is not you, me, or the twins."
"That's true," Troy said. "Congrats." The room hushed all of a sudden, and there was a guy standing at the podium on the mini-stage, where the DJ was.
"Okay, peoples, here's the sitch. This is our five-year reunion. Mingle, eat the free food, drink the free drinks, and dance the free music. Okay?" the guy said.
"Who was it that put him in charge of the talking? He sounds like he's spent the last five years on the beach in California, standing next to a surf board," Taylor said, rolling her eyes.
"Next to a surf board?" Chad asked.
"He does not have the body to be an actual surfer dude, trust me," Taylor said. Chad rolled his eyes at his wife.
"Back off, men, she's married," Troy joked.
"Ha ha not," Taylor said.
"I'm not even going to bother to formulate a response," Chad said. "Oh, no, wait, I thought of one. Nope, I lost it. Never mind."
"Okay…" Zeke said. "So, who wants to dance some more?"
A/N: Well, there's the first half of this… Interesting, interesting, interesting. If you guys hadn't noticed, I'm trying to get at least one thing posted a night, because I updated, like, once in June.
So, thanks for reading, please review! I don't own anything!
Samantha.