AN: New midget story. Only eight chapters.

I'm so lame. So much for no new HSM stories, right? Yes, yes, you can all bitch out at me for being all dramatic about it and then taking it back. But I did retract and revise the statement in my profile, and in case you don't read that, here it is again: instead of no more HSM stories in general, it's more like no more Troyella. I've been writing them for nearly two years, and I really don't like them anymore. And for those of you who know me, you know that my new obsession is... Chadpay. I am absolutely, hopelessly, totally in love with this pairing. It's like a match made in heaven. I could go on forever about them, for reals. And thus, came this story.

Also, this story is dedicated to Heath Ledger. :'( Not that that really means anything. But Angelina (JolieMarie) and I were talking about me making this story and basing it on 10 Things I Hate About You days before he died, and we were both terribly upset when it happened. :( So we decided I would dedicate this to him.

Speaking of Angelina, I give a ton of credit to her for helping me with the revised plot for this story. She helped me a lot, so thank you. :)

Title: Cruel to be Kind
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: Ryan likes Taylor, but he can't date until Sharpay does. Chad is the only one deemed brave enough to tame the wild beast. But he didn't expect to find a human being behind her facade.
Genre: Romance/Humor
Chapter: Chapter 1

She sat alone in class; she walked alone in the halls; she ate alone at lunch. It had been that way for the last two months. Even since, during the summer, she had nearly ruined The Golden Couple's relationship and driven nearly all of her classmates insane with her many demands as daughter of the boss, no one wanted to talk to her. But Sharpay Evans could really care less. Soon, she'll graduate and never have to see any of these people again as long as she lived.

Yes, things were looking up.

A couple people at the table next to her glanced up to stare, and she glared at them. "Can I help you?" she snapped. They quickly looked away, keeping their heads down, but Sharpay could still see their necks redden in embarrassment. Smirking smugly, Sharpay popped a french fry into her mouth. With her reputation, tied in with being a loner, people just loved to talk about her. But none of them had enough balls to say anything to her face. They were afraid of her.

She liked it that way.

--

"Hey guys," said Gabriella Montez softly. "We should ask her to sit with us... I feel bad."

Her friends looked up from their trays of food and glanced at Gabriella in confusion. "Who?" asked her boyfriend, Troy Bolton.

Jerking her head slightly to the left, everyone's gazes followed the direction of her gesture. They spotted Sharpay, her eyes narrowed around at the entire cafeteria. Six heads swivelled back to her, expressions that clearly suggested they thought the girl was out of her mind.

"Are you crazy?" cried Chad Danforth, voicing the thoughts of everyone else. "Sharpay?"

"Yeah," protested Gabriella. "I know that not all of us get along with her, but still... she's sitting all alone. I used to always sit alone, and I know how much it sucks."

"You, of all people," commented Taylor McKessie, "should want to keep her at a pole's length away from your boyfriend."

Jason Cross scowled. "She'll make me call her Miss Evans again."

Looking desperately at the last member of the group, Gabriella pleaded, "What about you, Zeke? You like her, don't you?"

Zeke Baylor shook his head with a deep sigh. "After she threw my third batch of cookies back in my face, I..."

"We told him to move on," interjected Chad. "We can't hang around someone so pathetic."

Zeke nodded sadly.

"Still," frowned Gabriella, "no one deserves to be alone."

Taylor shrugged. "Gabriella, if you want her to sit here," she waved her arm toward the blonde, "go ahead and ask." She stood up and grabbed her backpack. "But Ryan and I have a Physics lab to finish, so we'll see you later." Ryan followed suit, and the two strode out of the lunchroom.

Troy looked at Gabriella expectantly. "You gonna ask her, or what?"

"Don't," warned Chad.

Gabriella glanced at the four boys watching her, and nodded in determination. "I'm gonna do it." She stood up purposefully and walked over to Sharpay's table. The volume in the lunchroom decreased significantly, as everyone watched the scene unfold. It was no secret what happened at the Lava Springs Country Club between the girls, and the two had had hardly any interaction since the school year began.

"Hi, Sharpay," said Gabriella sweetly, leaning her knee against the seat across from Sharpay. The blonde looked up at her, her face blank, her jaw set.

"What?" she asked bluntly. She chewed on another fry.

"I, uh..." Gabriella cleared her throat. "I was just wondering if wanted to sit with us? We have some empty seats."

Swallowing her food, Sharpay placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "And why would I want to sit with you?" she asked in a low voice.

Gabriella flushed. "To, uh... you know, have someone to talk to?"

Sharpay laughed. "If I wanted someone to talk to, it wouldn't be you." She shook her head, smiling condescendingly. "Look, Gabriella, I don't need your pity. I choose to sit alone. Stop trying to make me your good deed of the day. Everyone already likes you, so you don't need to keep proving your sincerity."

Her voice had projected to the entire lunchroom, and everyone who hadn't already stopped talking ceased their conversations. Gabriella's entire face heated up as everyone stared at her. Lowering her eyes, she turned around and slunk back to her table. She plopped herself down into her spot between Chad and Troy.

"I don't wanna say I told you so, but --" began Chad, but Gabriella interrupted him.

"Her karma is a bitch."

--

Inside the Physics lab, two backpacks lay unopen and forgotten on the lab tables. The two students who claimed to be finishing up their homework who crouched in the corner of the room, attached at the face and limbs entangled.

Taylor pulled away, out of breath, and said, "Ryan --"

"Hm?" he mumbled, kissing her neck.

She sighed softly, but put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him away gently. "Stop."

"What?" he asked, finally looking up.

"I don't like what we're... doing here," said Taylor, standing up and smoothing out her jeans. She walked over the lab station and opened up her backpack. Ryan, his brow furrowed in confusion, followed and pulled up a stool to sit next to her.

"What are we doing? Making out?"

She laughed lightly. "Yes. That."

"Would you like to just... talk?" he tried slowly, as if saying the words for the first time; foreign policies on his tongue.

She shook her head. "No."

He suddenly looked at her fearfully. "Do you wanna break this thing off?"

Taylor hesitated before saying, "No..."

"You paused," he said instantly. "I heard it, you paused. You do wanna end this, don't you?!"

"No, I don't," she said firmly. She sighed again. "But I don't like this sneaking around thing."

He frowned deeply. "Um, well, we wouldn't have to if I could help it. But I told you already, Sharpay would --"

"Can't you talk to your parents?" she exclaimed. "Tell them about me. Ask them if you can take me out, for real. Please? I hate how we can only see each other during school, under the tables in science labs."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Oh, really? Because I love it," he said sarcastically.

"Please," begged Taylor, grabbing his hands and gripping them tightly. "Just talk to them. Maybe they'll change their minds."

"I wouldn't bet on it," he said, but at the sight of Taylor's pout, he groaned. "Fine! Fine. I'll talk to them after school." He bit his lip nervously.

--

Chad was unfortunate enough to have English with Sharpay directly after lunch. This was very displeasing, as his food had not digested at that point, making it easier for him to perhaps throw it up.

Their teacher, Mr. Morgan, was passing out Shakespeare's Sonnet 141, and Sharpay asked loudly, "Why do we have to study him? It's like studying French literature; you can't even understand it."

"You can understand it just fine," retorted Chad, from the other side of the room, "if you had a brain."

"Ooooh, good one, Chad," mocked Sharpay. "You always have the greatest remarks."

He rolled his eyes. "I learn from the best," he sneered.

"Will you two shut up, already?" snapped Mr. Morgan. "Damn, Sharpay, if you were a boy, I'd totally make Chad beat you up."

Her jaw dropped, and Chad snickered.

"Hey, you shut up, too," Mr. Morgan interrupted. "If she bitch-slaps you, I'm not doing a thing to stop it."

Chad's smile faded, and Sharpay smirked.

"I don't have to read this thing out loud, do I?" asked the teacher, waving the extra sheets of paper around in the air. "You can all read, right? I assume I've taught you that so far." He held up the sonnet and said, "I want you all to write your own version of this sonnet."

"What!?" cried Sharpay and Chad in unison, while the rest of the class tittered in protest.

"In iambic pentameter, too," Mr. Morgan said.

"The only thing that would make this better," drawled Sharpay, "is if you made it due tomorrow. Please, pass along that great news."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Evans," said Mr. Morgan sardonically. "You have a couple weeks to do it. It isn't due until after Homecoming."

"Oh, fantastic!" cried Chad. "So when I'm hung over after the dance, I'll have this to do."

--

Sharpay, as usual, arrived home a half an hour earlier than her brother. He liked to linger with his friends after the final bell; she chose to hop into her convertible and peel out of there as fast as the accelerator would let her.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a granola bar and watching a repeat of America's Next Top Model while her mother did some work in the kitchen and her father read the newspaper, when the front door opened and Ryan appeared in the dining room seconds later. He had a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box of Godiva chocolates in the other.

"Hey Mom and Dad!" he cried enthusiastically, and Sharpay immediately tore her eyes away from the television set. She glanced at her brother suspiciously.

"Hello, son," greeted Mr. Evans, not looking up from his paper. He jumped, however, when Ryan tossed the box of chocolates on top of the paper, and looked up. "What's this?"

"Oh, just something I picked up on the way home," said Ryan jovially.

Sharpay smirked. "The closest Godiva store is twenty minutes out of the way," she reminded him.

Ryan ignored her and stepped into the kitchen. "Here, Mom." He handed the flowers out to her and she took them delightedly.

"Oh, Ducky, these are wonderful!" She brought them to her nose and breathed in deeply. "They smell wonderful!"

He beamed and shrugged noncommittally.

"What do you want, Ryan?" called Sharpay.

"Nothing," he snapped. He got himself a bowl and filled it with cereal and milk. Settling himself down in the chair between Sharpay and his father, he shovelled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "You know, I was wondering..."

"I knew it!" Sharpay screeched.

He glared at her. "Shut up." Turning back to his parents, he said, "You know, I'm seventeen years old. In a year, I'll be away at college and able to vote."

"Mhm," his father said mildly, settling back into his newspaper whilst munching on a chocolate.

"So... don't you think I should be allowed to date?" he asked.

"Date?" his mother exclaimed incredulously. "Why ever would you want to date?"

Ryan blinked. "Because I'm a normal teenage boy with raging hormones?"

"You know the rules, Ryan," his mother said dismissively.

"I think it's time for a new rule!" he cried. "I mean, it was a good rule when I was in seventh grade and still afraid of girls, but --"

"Seventh grade?" said Sharpay disdainfully. "You were still afraid of them last year."

Ryan leered at her. "Regardless of the validity of that statement --"

"Which is affirmative," she offered.

"-- right now, I want to date."

"Ryan, sweetie," his mother cooed. "You and your sister are twins, and you have to do everything together."

"I can't believe this!" he exploded, waving his hands so that bits of cereal and milk flew into the air. "I have never once heard of a set of parents who wouldn't let their teenage son date until their teenage daughter dated." He shook his head. "I should write a book about this. It would be ground breaking!"

"No, Ducky," Mrs. Evans reprimanded sweetly. "It's not that. If Sharpay wanted to date, I would tell her to wait for you. I want you two to date at the same time!"

"But Sharpay has no interest in dating anyone!" he cried.

"Not true," Sharpay interjected. "I don't want to date any high school boys. College guys, on the other hand --"

"Don't even think about it," grumbled their father. Sharpay pouted, her arms crossed.

"Twins do everything together," Mrs. Evans repeated. "You two tried the same food at the same time, got potty-trained at the same time, were in every musical together." She sighed dreamily.

Sharpay smirked. "At least she doesn't try dressing us the same," she muttered to her brother, who turned to glare at her.

"Can't you just find some guy to take you to the movies?" he snarled. "Be selfless for once."

"You can't tell someone to be selfless," she retorted, her eyes narrowed. "And why should I be selfless for you? When have you ever done anything for me?"

He blinked. "The meaning of the word 'selfless' is doing something for somebody without expecting anything in return."

"Well, then, selfless is clearly not a word I want to be familiar with," she said airily, taking another bite of her granola bar.

"Why do you wanna date so badly, Ryan?" Mrs. Evans asked pleasantly. "Is there a... girl?" she asked, giggling.

Ryan scowled. "Actually. Yes."

"Martha, right?" said Sharpay knowingly, crinkling her nose in disgust. "God, even you can do better than that."

"No, not Martha," he said through gritted teeth. He looked up to see his mother watching him expectantly; even though his father was still staring at the newspaper, his eyes were not moving. He sighed in defeat. "Her name is Taylor, and --"

"TAYLOR?!" shrieked Sharpay. "No. Fucking. Way."

"Language," scolded the two parents simultaneously.

"Seriously – Taylor?" reiterated Sharpay. "As in, Taylor McKessie?"

"Yes," he said shortly.

Whistling, Sharpay said, "Wow, I thought it was gonna be, like, Gabriella or someone equally as scandalous – or taken."

"You'd like that, huh?" jested Ryan with a curled lip. "And then you could take out Troy to comfort him --"

"Troy?" she scoffed. "Please. I'm so done with him."

"Well, Ryan," his mother cut in, "she seems like a nice girl --"

"All you've heard is her name!" blurted out Sharpay.

"-- but the rule still stands. Until Sharpay dates – and no college boys," she added as her daughter opened her mouth, "– you can't date either."

Ryan stood up quickly, his chair tipping over and crashing to the ground. "This is so ridiculous!" he shouted. "Are you guys seriously following through with this?"

"Why wouldn't we?" his mother asked breezily.

Letting out a load groan of frustration, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

Sharpay swallowed the piece of granola bar she was chewing and said, "Wow, he's acting like the teenager daughter, what with the dramatic exit and the --" as she paused, a door slammed, "-- door slamming." She took another bite and said, with food in her mouth, "He really is a girly boy, isn't he?"