"You should call him." Gabriella said to Sharpay.
"Who?" asked Sharpay in a nonchalant voice.
"Sharpay, you know who." said Gabriella.
"I'm not sure who you're talking about." said Sharpay acting clueless.
They were sitting in their fourth period class waiting for the over-dramatic Ms. Darbus to make her entrance. It had been thirteen minutes since the bell had rung and she still hadn't arrived. This conversation had gone on between them every day since Ryan had left for rehab.
"Sharpay, it's been six months and you haven't seen or talked to your brother at all. You haven't even gotten a phone call or a letter telling you how he is. How can you act like he doesn't matter to you?" asked Gabriella, worried for her friend.
"Because he doesn't." said Sharpay simply, while looking at her reflection in her mirror.
"You don't mean that, Sharpay. You and Ryan always have and always will love each other."
"Oh yeah? If that's true then why did he call me an evil, backstabbing, blond, bitch, Gabby?" said Sharpay with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Sharpay, from what you've told me about the fight it sounds like he was mad and you were mad and you both ended up saying stupid, hurtful things that neither of you meant." said Gabriella. "Now call him. Call him. Call him Call him. Call him. Call him."
"Alright!" said Sharpay in defeat. "I'll call the rehabilitation center at lunch and leave a message for him. Now will you shut up about it?"
"Fine," said Gabriella cheerfully, "It's a start. Darbus is here anyway."
All attention turned towards the front as Ms. Darbus finally entered the room with a smile on her face.
"Good morning, fellow thespians!" Ms. Darbus greeted her class which was met with silence and blank stares. "I apologize for my tardiness. As I always say the theatre waits for no one and now we have lost so much time. There was an important meeting in the teachers' lounge and every staff member had to be there. But to make up for it I have brought someone with me to class that we all know and adore."
"Brad Pitt!"
"Tyra Banks!"
"Johnny Depp!"
"Naomi Campbell!"
"Justin Timberlake!"
"Quiet down everyone or else there is fifteen minutes for the whole class after school!" shouted Ms. Darbus over the yells of her students. Everyone instantly shut their mouths and paid attention to their teacher. "I don't have anyone quite so famous. But this person is someone that you all have known ever since you were little."
"Is it Barney!?" asked Jason excitedly.
Everyone groaned and looked at Jason as if he was crazy and he lowered his head in shame at the foolishness of his question.
"No, Mr. Cross, it is not Barney." said Ms. Darbus also annoyed with Jason's senseless questions. "Since this is getting us no where I will just call him in." Ms. Darbus turned to the door that led to the hallway and called, "Would you please come in now?!"
All heads turned towards the door as everyone waited for their mysterious guest to step through it and reveal himself. One leg appeared inside dressed with satin black pant leg and with a black shoe on. For a few seconds that is all that appeared in the room and every student was on the edge of their seat anticipating whose leg it could be. When the person's full body entered the room some jaws hit the floor, some eyes kept blinking wildly disbelieving what they saw, and some people just shut down. But one single thought went through every person's mind.
Oh . . . my . . . god.
The person that stood before them in satin black pants and polished black shoes, with a light blue button up shirt, and with a black fedora on top of golden hair that went to the bottom of his neck, was the one and only Ryan Evans. He scanned the classroom full of students with his icy blue eyes while a sweet smile rested on his face. When his eyes landed on Sharpay and her expression of utter disbelief his smile turned into a smirk. Sharpay saw the change and her expression turned into one of anger and she quickly turned her head, taking more interest in what was happening outside of the classroom window.
"That's right. I'm back." said Ryan to the class, but more directly to Sharpay. "And I'm so glad to be here."
"Well, we're glad to have you back too, Ryan." said Ms. Darbus sincerely. "How I missed my leading male actor during the winter musicale? Troy decided not to participate and so we had to cast a complete amateur. Let's hope you don't get into trouble so that you'll be here for the spring musicale."
"Don't worry. I'll be staying for a very long time." said Ryan, again more to Sharpay than anyone else.
"Now let's see," said Darbus looking around the room, "It seems your seat has been taken by somebody else, so the only seat is available is in the back. Right beside Jason Cross. You don't mind do you?"
"Not at all." said Ryan as he looked at the boy he would be sitting next to.
"I should have you back in your original seat by tomorrow." said Ms. Darbus going to sit down at her desk.
"Take your time." said Ryan walking to his seat. "I'm in no hurry to move."
As Ms. Darbus began to start the class Ryan sat in his seat and took a sideways glance at Jason, who couldn't take his eyes off of the boy. With a smirk on his face Ryan thought that his return to East High would be a very fruitful experience.
Lunch time took forever to roll around and when it finally did Ryan made sure to take an extra long time at his locker. This lunch period was going to be fun, and the bigger the audience the bigger the enjoyment.
"Seriously, he's back?!" asked Taylor in shock.
"Yeah," said Gabriella telling her friends the details of fourth period, "Ms. Darbus shows up to class with a special guest and out of nowhere Ryan walks into the room. He seemed much more . . . tame than I thought he'd be."
"So he's not a loony anymore?" asked Chad.
"Shut up, Chad!" said Taylor giving her boyfriend a good whack over the head. "He wasn't a loony; he was just having trouble with drugs."
"Ouch!" said Chad rubbing the sore spot on his head. "Geez, I'm sorry. So he wasn't a loony. Either way he wasn't acting right in the head."
"And he's still not right in the head. Which is why we have to find a way to send him back."
Everyone looked at Sharpay in shock. She had been silent since seeing Ryan fourth period and now she was suggesting something that seemed crazy to the others.
"Sharpay, obviously you're still a little mad at him." said Gabriella trying to reason with her friend.
"No, Gabi. This has nothing to do with my feelings for him, or how he's been a jerk, or how's much he's embarrassed our family, or how completely stupid he has been. I know that there is something wrong with him." Sharpay argued.
"Yeah, obviously this has nothing to do with your feelings." said Gabriella sarcastically.
"Ryan is sorry, Sharpay," Troy interjected, "And I'm sure he really wants to patch things up with you. How can he do that if you, his own twin, don't trust him?"
"How can I trust him?!" said Sharpay. "Everything he has ever said and done in his life has been a lie. Why would he start being truthful now? Have you guys forgotten he was sentenced to a full year in rehab? Why is he back after only six months?"
"Ask him." said Kelsi motioning towards the cafeteria doors.
Every single table, but the group's had noticed had Ryan had swung open the double doors and strode into the cafeteria. Even though the doors stopped before they were able to hit the walls and make a sound Ryan's presence caught the attention of everybody. Now as everyone watched him to see what he would do next he looked around to make sure that they paying very close attention. He confirmed all eyes were on him as he started his very slow and long steps into the cafeteria. When he had made it all the way to the gang's table he took a seat between Jason and Zeke.
"Hey guys!" said Ryan in a cheery and quite loud voice, devoid of the malice that filled his voice before. "Hope you guys didn't have too much fun while I was gone. I already missed half the year and I have so much to catch up on. So, tell me everything."
"Get away from here." said Sharpay, every word dripping with deadly venom. Even though his voice didn't hold any evil she could see it in his eyes. Those cold, calculating eyes that told of all his lies and his nice façade. She would expose him.
"What was that, Shar?" asked Ryan, still louder than necessary.
"Get away from here!" said Sharpay becoming just as loud as her brother. "You filthy, asshole! How dare you come here and act like everything is just peachy keen?!"
"Sharpay, I'm just trying to have a nice lunch with our friends." said Ryan, gesturing to the rest of the group.
"Your friends?! You weren't acting very friendly to them six months ago! You didn't want to be around them six months ago! You think they're seriously going to forgive you just like that after how you treated them?! Who the hell do you think you are?!" Sharpay ranted on.
"Sharpay, you need to calm down." said Ryan as he took a second to scan the cafeteria. "Why don't you come and give your brother a hug?"
As Ryan got up to approach his sister Sharpay stood as well. "Stay the hell away from me! I don't want you to touch me, to talk me, to look at me, to even think of me! You are a parasite! All you do is harm everything you come into contact with!"
With that said Sharpay removed herself from the table and stormed out of the cafeteria with her heels nearly cracking the floor tiles with every step she took. The gang watched her go and then turned to Ryan who had an innocent, sad looking face on.
"I guess she's still a little upset with me." Ryan explained. "I don't really blame her. I did such awful things to her and to you guys in the past. I am so sorry." Ryan tilt his head downward as he apologized to his friends, but just as it went down it suddenly snapped back up, "Anyway, I got to go." he said in a newly happy tone of voice. "See you guys later."
With a small wave Ryan walked out of the cafeteria faster than he had entered and left with much less noise than his sister. Everyone watched him leave, but only the group was able to tear their eyes away from the door when he was gone.
"I told you he was a loony." said Chad.
For once Taylor was unable to pop one over Chad's head at his rudeness and was only able to weakly nod in agreement, as did everyone else who sat at the table.
The final bell rang signaling the end of the school day and Sharpay rushed to her pink convertible without saying a goodbye or giving a simple wave to her friends. Going at least 20 miles over the speed limit she rushed to the Evans' mansion to tell her parents of the awful news she witnessed at school.
It took about ten minutes for Sharpay to cross a normally twenty-five minute drive across town. When she was finally parked in the driveway she jumped out of the car and rushed to the door so fast that she didn't notice the black Hummer that was parked right next to her car. Once she was inside the house she started belting out at the top of her lungs, "Daddy! Mother!"
After minutes of calling out for her parents and searching around the house Sharpay faintly heard the sound of laughter coming from her father's study. Sprinting in that direction in her high heels Sharpay got closer and closer to the study causing the laughter to become louder and more distinct. From the sounds of it she could distinguish that there were three different laughs. Two of them she recognized to be her parents and the other she vaguely remembered, but refused to believe that it belonged to who she thought it did.
When she finally reached the study Sharpay threw the doors open and found her suspicions to be true after all. There in front of her sat her mother and father, her father sitting at his desk with a cup of black coffee and her mother sitting on the couch with a cup of tea on a platter. Right next to her mother sat the owner of the third laugh, Ryan. They all looked at her in surprise as she burst in.
"Hello, pumpkin," said her mother sweetly before taking a sip of tea, "We were just welcoming Ducky back from his trip."
"Trip?" said Sharpay looking at her mother in confusion. "Don't you mean rehab?"
The room went silent at the mention of the word. Sharpay watched as her mother looked down to her lap, her father looked out the nearby window, and as Ryan continued to watch her with that unfaltering smile.
"I prefer to think of it as a trip, dear sister. A learning experience where I was able to change the error of my ways and see the light." said Ryan.
"Yes, yes." said their mother returning to life, trying to retain the previous friendly atmosphere.
"A trip?" Sharpay asked again.
"Yes, Sharpay." said Ryan looking at her with a big grin. "I missed you all so much since I went away on my trip. So I came home to talk to Mom and Dad."
"You lying . . . wait a minute." said Sharpay looking at Ryan and forgetting her anger for a second. "Did you just say Dad?"
"Yeah," said Ryan, "Dad. He's sitting right there in his chair."
When Sharpay saw Ryan indicating Rick she felt her anger start to rise again. "Since when did you start calling him Dad?" she hissed at Ryan.
"Since I got over that little phase I had before my trip." said Ryan patting the area on the other side of him. "Now sit down so we can have a family talk."
"To be a part of this family you have to actually live in this house." Sharpay said through gritted teeth.
"Well, that's exactly what I wanted to talk about, Sharpay." said Ryan, his smile getting bigger. "I got back while you were in school and decided to come here first. And when I came to apologize I also asked Mom and Dad," said Ryan, making sure to stress for Sharpay, "If I could come back to the house. It took a little convincing at first but,"
"Oh no." gasped Sharpay as she realized what her brother was telling her.
"I'm moving back in." said Ryan cheerily looking at his parents with grateful smiles. And it was only Sharpay who noticed the victorious smirk Ryan sent her before her parents could notice. Ryan stood up and walked to his sister before stopping two feet in front of her and opening his arms. All Sharpay could do was stand helpless as he uttered the words she dreaded most. With a smile, which turned into an evil smirk while his back was to his parents he said, "I'm home, sis."