MBP: So, next chapter! Stupid work got me too busy to get online, but here it is! It's kinda a filler, but... anyway, all the italics are flashbacks in Kelsi's memory!

Rini: If you're looking at it movie-wise, then this happens like... at the beginning of HSM2. There's even quotes!

MBP: Shush! I hope you enjoy it, I own nothing!


Chapter Two

Things had improved greatly for Kelsi in the last few weeks. After that horribly embarrassing encounter with Ryan, she'd thought it would have been much worse, but things hadn't been so terrible. In fact, they'd been… fun. Surprisingly so, even though there had been a few… mishaps, especially at the beginning.

"Kelsi?" Ryan came up out of nowhere, leaning up against the locker next to hers. "About yesterday…"

"What? I think I just heard Gabriella calling me. Did you hear that? Coming Gabriella!" That it was a lie didn't stop Kelsi from running off, face turning bright red at the idea of even thinking about yesterday and Ryan's attempted apology.

It hadn't been the only time she'd fled –because that was the only word for it- and things had been awkward. Very, very awkward. Because honestly, Kelsi didn't want an apology. She didn't want the attention, and by avoiding Ryan, she was avoiding those things.

Except Kelsi had forgotten the very important fact that Ryan could be more stubborn than anyone else when he wanted to be.

"I figured you'd be here." Kelsi jumped in shock, the piano making a sound that shouldn't have been possible in this world. She would have retreated, except the piano was blocking one way, and Ryan was right there in the only other feasible escape route.

"Where you looking for me? Because I'm not…"

"Kelsi."

The one word had her biting her lip, a hand flying to her hair anxiously. "I… Look, if you're going to say something about the other day…"

Ryan opened his mouth to say something, and seemingly changing his mind, put his hands in his pockets as he thought. "Kelsi, if I did something wrong…"

"No!" Had he been worrying about that? She knew he got some crazy ideas in his head, and could overreact, but that's what he thought? "No, you're fine. I just… I don't need any apologies or anything like that, okay? We're good. Really!"

"You…" His lips curved into an amused smile, his eyes lighting up expectantly. "Kelsi, did I make you nervous?"

"Wh-what?" The question hit too close to home, and she nearly recoiled into the piano. "No, I just don't like the attention is all!"

"Kelsi, you're the school composer," Ryan pointed out unhelpfully. "You get your fair share of attention just for that, and you're always with Troy and Gabriella. You'd think you'd be used to it."

"But I'm not!" Kelsi protested, ending up sitting back down on the piano bench. "I don't want the attention; I just want to write my music!"

"…Alright." The easy agreement had her staring as Ryan looked back, his amusement clear on his face. "Forget the apology then. Can we be friends now?"

Kelsi blinked once, then twice, before finding her voice again. "Friends?"

"Yes, friends." Obviously her confusion was entertaining, if Ryan's grin was anything to go by. "Two people who can talk to each other without one of them running away at the first opportunity. Surely that's not impossible?"

That sounded reasonable. Safe. And far less embarrassing than coming up with increasingly unbelievable reasons to disappear into empty –and sometimes not so empty- classrooms. "No… it's not impossible…"

"Good." The grin was infectious when it grew, and Kelsi found herself relaxing enough to grin back. "Now, I'm starving. Let's go get lunch, okay? If we don't make it to the cafeteria soon, Sharpay will go nuts."

Kelsi couldn't resist a giggle, but she didn't try to say anything else. She had never noticed it in the past, but had Ryan ever made those little comments about his sister before? Or was she just noticing it now because she was giving herself a chance?

"Kelsi?" She hadn't realized she hadn't moved, so she could only stare as Ryan gestured at her. "Lunch?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, let's go!"

Kelsi felt him come up beside her before she could see him, but actually managed to finish talking to Martha about Ms. Darbus' crazy summer ranting without jumping. He kept managing to sneak up on her, but she was slowly getting used to it. She shook her head a little as she went to her locker, expecting Ryan to come over instead of Sharpay's summons and offer –more like order- of a summer job.

"Our rehearsal pianist is evidently moving…"

"Or hiding!" She wasn't able to resist saying it, though Kelsi was eternally grateful that Sharpay hadn't heard it and she was even more grateful for the conversation to be over.

It was summer, and even if she was going to be Sharpay's musical punching bag, at least there would be some money she could put aside for college. Scholarships aside, anything could help, and perhaps it wouldn't be too bad. Sharpay couldn't possibly be worse during the summer, and there would be plenty of other things for her to distract herself with.

"So, you're not planning on 'hiding'?" Ryan had successfully come out of nowhere yet again, bringing up her earlier comment with a grin. "We haven't sent you running yet?"

"Not yet. Though if Sharpay gets worse, this job just might," Kelsi joked, pulling out the last of her notebooks with a shake of her head. "If this ends up being the worst summer of my life, I promise, I will be blaming you."

"Hey!" Ryan leaned up against the locker next to hers, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Why would you blame me?"

"Because your sister would be to blame, but I can't go up to her and blame her, so I'll take you instead," Kelsi teased, closing her locker with a laugh. This was the last time she would have to close that locker for three months, and the feeling was like freedom.

"Is that so?" Ryan hadn't moved when Kelsi did, so she nearly ran into him as he leaned closer to murmur quietly at her. "I guess I'll have to make sure you have fun then."

Kelsi froze and stared as Ryan grinned, leaning back with his hands in his pockets. "After all, that's what friends do, isn't it?"

She didn't even have an intelligent reply to that as Ryan waved and walked away, whistling under his breath.

~~()~~()~~()~~

"Hey Kelsi?"

"What is it Ryan?" Kelsi looked at him absently, her attention still mostly on the words written in front of her.

"I thought you should know… hey, new song?"

Kelsi shut her notebook carefully, looking up at Ryan with a raised eyebrow as he came closer. "Just some ideas… what did you think I should know?"

"Oh, uh…" Watching Ryan hesitate was almost amusing, but he seemed worried about something.

"Ryan, really, what is it?" Kelsi put her notebook to the side, standing up to get closer to Ryan. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm… fine. Jason!"

Kelsi felt herself smiling a little, putting her hands in her pockets. "What about Jason?"

"He was…" Ryan shifted his weight uncomfortably before smiling back at her slightly. "He came by earlier. Looking for you."

"Oh, really?" Kelsi's smile grew and she shook her head. "Did he say what he needed?"

"Something about the other day? When you two were at the café." Ryan shrugged, such an odd gesture coming from him. So understated, so simple. "Other than that, no."

Now the smile was a full-blown grin as Kelsi laughed easily. "Well, what else could it be? I guess I should go find him!"

Ryan shifted to move out of her way, gesturing towards the auditorium. "He's over that way."

"Cool. I'll be going then." Kelsi brushed past him with a grin before glancing over her shoulder. "Hey, are you coming? I could use your input on a song. I might use it next year."

It took him a moment, but Ryan eventually nodded, his smile growing slowly. "I'll be right behind you.

Kelsi blinked, looking down at her phone with a confused frown. Even now, she rarely got texts outside of rehearsal times and changed schedules. And Ryan very rarely texted her for even those reasons, so this was most definitely an odd situation.

Hey, have a few good days of freedom until Sharpay pulls you in! I'll see you at the club!

She laughed easily at the text, shaking her head slightly. While it was amusing because it described how she felt about working for Sharpay, it was also weird how Ryan knew it well enough to send that text.

Still, that didn't stop her from grinning as she sent her own reply back.

Will do! See ya later!


MBP: And that's that! So, the first two flashbacks were shortly after the previous chapter, and the last one? Yeah, that happened a little after. It seems a little confusing when I reread it...

Rini: And we're not quite sure we ever saw like... communication. Texting was like... non-existent. So... Hey, they're teenagers! They have to text!

MBP: So, that was the end of that chapter! I hope you enjoyed, and please leave a review telling me what you think?