Chapter 2

Uncle Russell threw a golf ball back at two of the boys behind him in the ancient car.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauties!" he yelled, causing Troy to stir from his deep sleep. "It's time to get up!" Chad turned off his mp3 player, and looked over his shoulder.

Jason had let Troy take up two seats, but Ryan had soon been moved to the seat farthest back. And there he lay there the entire, sprawled across all three seats, with his ipod still plugged into his ears. Not a sound had disturbed his slumber; not the almost-wreck, the fire truck, his uncle's deafening country radio station, the other almost-wreck (Uncle Russell wasn't the best of drivers), or the two hour long traffic jam. Troy had fallen asleep after the second almost-wreck, and Jason later said to Kelsi that he doubted if the sleep was natural; more like being knocked unconscious from the most frightening experience of his life.

Jason, who only had a portable CD player, threw a battery at Ryan. He twitched, but didn't wake up.

"I think he's dead," Troy laughed, and kicked the dancer's leg. He mumbled incoherently under his breath something about Cheetos and Jell-O, but still no movement.

"Let him sleep; he'll come around when he feels like it," Uncle Russell muttered, climbing out of the car to empty the stuffed trunk. Chad peeked out of the window (not an easy feat with his hair).

"Hey, why are we at the Evans'?" he exclaimed.

"Like I know where you three live! Just call your parents and tell them to pick you up!" Uncle Russell remorsefully clicked off his blaring country music and turned off the car.

"Yah; come on, children, this isn't rocket science," Chad smirked, addressing the Jason and Troy.

"I only see one child hear; the one smelling of kiwi and cinnamon and taking up three seats," Jason grumbled, side-tackling Chad out of the car. Troy piled out after them, and heaved his duffle onto the sidewalk.

"Stop fooling around, kids, and haul your butts inside." Chad winked at Jason.

"Personally, I just think our man Troy here wants to see a certain someone who lives inside the house." Troy glared at him.

"Yah, I wonder who it could be…" Jason said, assuming a position of thinking.

"Don't be thick, Jason; it's Mrs. Evans"

"Sharpay?"

"No, stupid; Sharpay's mom! Don't you know anything?" Chad barely escaped having the flesh ripped off his scalp with a Swiss army knife by the timely arrival of Sharpay. She embraced Troy, therefore rather disabling his murderous movements.

"Missed you!" She giggled, and pulled him into a kiss. Jason and Chad rolled their eyes, but stopped the rolling at once when they saw two familiar girls sprinting across the lawn. Kelsi and Taylor followed Sharpay's suit of embracing their boyfriends, while Uncle Russ grumbled something about teenagers these days.

Gabriella ran out of the Evans' house as well, but looked around in confusion.

"Where's Ryan?" Troy, who was now hugging Sharpay fondly, answered her.

"Your lover is asleep in the back seat; he's been zonked the entire ride home."

Sharpay snorted. "Amateurs. Let his twin sister do the working." She poked her head inside the car.

"OH MY GAWD; IT'S ASHTON!" At the sound of his favorite actor's name, Ryan sprang from his temporary bed. Unfortunately for him, his bed was seats in the back of a car, and the ceiling was a bit closer than it usually was when he sprung out of bed. Ergo, his forehead colliding with the ceiling of the car, sending him crashing back onto the seat in a slightly more awkward position. Blinking the stars out of his eyes for the second time that weekend, Ryan climbed out of the car.

"Gabbi!" He cried with delight, and drew her into his arms with joyful surprise. Laughing under her breath, Sharpay grabbed Troy's hand and started tugging him towards the house. The rest of them soon followed, and were treated to delicious, homemade lemonade.

After the jug became bone dry, everyone relaxed in the Evans' large and lush backyard. Chad, Taylor, Jason, and Kelsi sat on the side of the fountain, Sharpay and her boyfriend flopped in the warm, soft grass, and Ryan and Gabriella sat side by side on the bench swing.

"How was your weekend?" Troy asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Very pleasant," Taylor smiled. "We all received massages, pedicures, manicures…oh, and did a lot of girl talk!" Chad wrinkled his nose.

"Sounds boring"

"Chad, if you had thought it sounded fun, we would have to have a very long talk!" Everyone chuckled, and Chad soon joined in.

"Hold on ladies; I have some questions for you." Chad put on imaginary spectacles and made a very serious face. "How long can you girls talk 'girl talk'? And what all does 'girl talk' include….and do I really want to know?" Gabriella glanced at Taylor, who looked at Sharpay, who looked at Kelsi, who looked at Gabriella. They all burst into giggles.

"What's so funny?" Ryan asked, his ears turning red (the other guys were feeling terribly awkward as well). The girls only laughed harder, remembering the long night in the hotel room.

Shrieking like howler monkeys on steroids who had found helium balloons, the girls ran around their hotel suite. Taylor's sister, Marie, was staying in the room next door. Lucky for them, she was out like a light at 10:00. Their clock now read midnight, and Gabriella was surprised the hotel manager had not called their room and ordered them to be quiet yet. They had already prank called many kids at their school, and now Sharpay was bugging a stoned-sounding Troy on her cell phone to tell her about his day (trying very hard to sound mean). Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi popped more popcorn while she chatted. Gabriella heard her say,

"Ryan's was good at horseback riding? Why on earth can't he be a jockey like that Frosty guy?" Kesli raised an eyebrow. Taylor snorted into her Sprite.

"Is she talking about Frosty the Snowman?" Gabriella shrugged.

"I don't recall horse riding being the in that magical Christmas night." This sent them into another burst of giggles, but they hushed up as soon as Sharpay walked back over to them.

"So what have the boys been up to?" Taylor asked.

"Evidently, our favorite dancer has gone sporty." Kelsi choked on a kernel.

"Ryan? Sporty!"

"Well, not really sporty sporty; he seems to be obsessed with idea of becoming a jockey"

"That's a weird thought; Ry on horses," Gabriella agreed. "Are you sure Troy wasn't just messing with us?"

"Gabriella, I woke him up at midnight to tell his girlfriend about his day. He's not awake enough to joke around." A small silence followed, but Taylor soon disrupted it.

"Speaking of Ryan," she giggled, "how is the dating thing going?" Gabriella sighed, and curled up inside her covers. The other girls formed a circle around her, clutching their pillows; the traditional 'girl talk position'.

"Well, he's very sweet and all…but I feel like there is something missing!"

"Don't worry, Gabriella; my brother is a complete freak when it comes to relationships. He takes everything really slowly"

"Jason and I have only kissed once, too! And we are perfectly fine with it"

"It's not that I don't mind him going slowly…it's just…I dunno, when I see you two, Shar and Taylor…"

"Be blunt dear, it's only us here"

"…ok, when I you and Tay making out with your boyfriends, and all Ryan does is sit in his adorable, innocent way-"

"-you wish he would do something?" Gabriella grinned awkwardly, feeling bad more even this small accusation of Ryan.

"Not exactly make out, but at least kiss more often, or something!" Sharpay smiled at her, and, after finishing her handful of popcorn, spoke again.

"If I know Ry like I think I know him, all he needs is encouragement. He's dead shy about these things; he really likes you, but just needs you to make the first move. He will be happy as long as you are. When are ready to move on 'to the next level', he will follow you." Gabriella turned bright pink. "Then just get him alone and lead it. Trust me, he'll go along quite happily with it. Just let him know you are ready." Gabriella sighed, nodded, and then turned to Taylor.

"So, Tay; do spill about you and Mr. Danforth. I've had my share of embarrassment. It's your turn now!" Taylor giggled, and took a deep breath.

"Let me see…so far, the only problems that have arisen are his commitments to basketball; but I am committed to the scholastic decathlon too. But we always manage to work out time problems, and make sure to go on one date a week." Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"Geez, y'all are so organized! Troy has 'commitments' to basketball to, but we just try to get together every night"

"Yeah; get together in some dark, secluded corner in the middle of nowhere—can't be too hard to find, Shar!" Gabriella let out a loud giggle, and Sharpay threw the popcorn bowl at Taylor. A friendly catfight ensued, and a soon as all kernels of popcorn had been retrieved, Gabriella popped in "The Notebook", and the girls gathered around the TV to sob together through the chic flick.

Of course, not a word of these goings on was breathed to the boys; "everything that happens at girl sleepovers stays with the girl sleepovers," as Sharpay put it.

The friends chatted until "parentals" came to take them away, and everyone remembered their homework. Ryan succeeding in splashing Sharpay with water from the fountain, and she had nearly drowned him in the small pool when Mrs. Evans pulled her off. The twins raced up the stairs and, to Sharpay's annoyance, Ryan beat her by a good 20 seconds to her bedroom, where they worked on their homework together.

"Since when did you get so fast at running?" she panted. He shrugged.

"I just ran"

"Ryan, if you were any more clueless, I would worry if you had a brain at all. My own little scarecrow…how exciting." He hurled The Poisonwood Bible at her. She threw it back at him.

"Read it, genius; we have a quiz over it tomorrow!"

"Through what chapter?"

"Seventeen."

Ryan groaned. "I haven't even gotten through thirteen! Shar, will you-"

"No"

"But I really-"

"No! Gabriella strictly told me not to help you so much with your reading! You need the practice." A knock on the door interrupted their argument. Mrs. Evans walked in with a bag of Oreos.

"Anyone want some? Chad said he didn't want them." Sharpay eagerly snatched the bag, but her brother shrugged.

"I'm not hungry." His mother glared at him.

"Eat, Ryan. That whole bag had better be gone by the time your homework is finished!" Sharpay raised an eyebrow at Ryan as soon as their mom had left.

"Troy said you haven't eaten since last night. What's it this time?" The dancer blushed to the roots of his light hair.

"I don't know what you mean!"

"Oh yes you do! You always have some lame reason for being all anorexic! And you are not getting away with it this time. First it was that you wanted to be an acrobat in the circus, and then a male model for Abercrombie, then a diver for the marines, and then it was dancing. What is it this time; Guinness Book of World Records for skinniest junior alive?"

"Well…out at Uncle Russ's, they have horses, see…" he stopped short when he saw how hard his sister was laughing. "I wasn't trying to be funny"

"I'm-gasp-sorry Ry, I just can't believe what Troy said was true! You actually want to be a jockey!" He sat up a little straighter.

"What's so wrong with that?"

"Troy told me all about the little 'wrong build' conversation you had with that trainer dude…."

"Mr. Frost?"

"That's the guy! Anyways, he told me that you were being all weird weighing yourself late at night, not eating, blah blah blah blah, all of which means that you are now depressed and starving yourself again so you can be the right weight to go professional"

"….it sounds bad when you say it"

"Honestly," Sharpay said in despair, "just because you get a little fling to ride a horse doesn't man to go all out! Just because things worked out that way in drama doesn't mean it will in elsewhere!" Ryan smiled.

"Elsewhere? You really have been hanging out with Kelsi and Gabbi too much." Sharpay raised her hands to the ceiling.

"Ryan, stay on topic; you have never been able to make up your mind what you want to be 'when you grow up'. Just stick to the stuff you know!" Ryan began to hum a familiar tune. "Cut it out! I'm trying to be serious! Stop messing around with sports and stick to music-oriented stuff! You are an artsy kind of guy; not a jock. Just abandon the idea already and move along!" Ryan's shoulders slumped, and he was about to focus his attentions on reading when the girl next to him suddenly giggled.

"What now?"

"I was just thinking…in my last sentence, I quoted another song too; move along, move along just to make it through…" Ryan snorted, and blotted Sharpay out of his mind so he could read. He had a lot to catch up on to keep his grades up in English.

---

"Ryan! Ryan Evans, get your butt over here!" Ryan stared at Jason. Since when was he invited to hang with the jocks during free period? He glanced nervously at Sharpay. She was busy highlighting all her lines in the latest script; she hadn't noticed her boyfriend and his "posse" beckoning Ryan to join them. The "drama king" gulped, and walked cautiously over to the waiting team. He noticed that Troy was not among them.

"You guys need something?"

"Yah man; I was just wondering if you were at all interested in track!" Ryan gave him a very blank stare.

"Why would I be interested in it?"

"Troy told us that Sharpay had squashed your ideas of becoming a jock," Chad started. Ryan laughed sharply.

"Making me engulf a whole bag of Oreos and seven pieces of pizza before bedtime is not quite what I would define as merely 'squashing' the idea. Talk about a night of no sleep." The guys nodded sympathetically.

"Anyway, practices are after school today. We would love it if you dropped by and at least gave it a try." The blonde eyed them suspiciously.

"Why do you think I would be actually decent at track?"

"You have been dancing since you could walk, no?" Troy asked.

"Well, yah, but-"

"So you would be in fairly good shape?" a tall kid in the back asked. Ryan shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess so…"

"Then you can try out for track!" Jason said happily, thumping Ryan on the back. He himself was a proud member of the track team. "I think you would be best for the high jump…powerful legs, flexible body...what do you think, Chance?" The tall junior inspected the skinny teenager, who shifted uneasily from foot to foot.

"I'd say he would be definitely be best off in high jump. We have good jumpers, don't take me wrong; but Jimmy isn't as great as he thinks he is. So what do you say, Ryan? Willing to give it a shot?"

"Of course he will!" Chad said happily. "He would do anything to help out his friends; wouldn't you, Ryan?"

"I…I…" he stuttered unhappily.

"Great! Tryouts are after school day at 4:45; think you can make it?" Ryan opened his mouth, but no words came out. He sheepishly nodded an affirmation. "See you then!"

As the jocks walked away, Ryan wondered to himself how he had ever consented to try out for the track team. He didn't even know who coached it, much less what any of the "rules" were. His cell phone vibrated, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Sharpay had just texted him. Groaning to himself, Ryan headed back up to the auditorium, where she would no doubt be waiting for him with knife in hand. Probably something worse, knowing Sharpay. She would never understand this. As much as Ryan didn't want to admit it, somewhere deep down inside of him a more masculine part was very interested in trying out for sports.

Gabriella walked casually over to Sharpay during drama, helping her paint another ladder.

"So…what's got you so ticked?"

"I'm not mad," Sharpay snapped, flicking paint angrily at the innocent wood. "I'm just mad at my stupid brother for…for…deserting me!" She cried dramatically. Gabbi raised an eyebrow.

"How is he deserting you?"

"By getting involved with sports!"

"Shar, we already went over this; he isn't 'sporty sporty', he just likes horses." Sharpay brushed her aside with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, he's far over that. The guys and I convinced him out of the idea. He was ready to go starve himself again so he would be the right weight! What else would any good sister do but make him eat? I don't want his eating habits to be any more screwed than they already are"

"Amen to that," the chocolate-brown haired girl laughed. "But…I must say, I'm surprised he got over the idea so quickly"

"Ryan has never been one to plan the future. Horse riding was just one of those phases he goes through; now Troy and his team have him trying out for track!" Gabbi gaped at her.

"You're joking"

"I wish I was!!! Ryan is going to completely embarrass himself, and at the same time completely forget about me and his huge acting talent!"

"Shar, I don't think it's that drastic. You're just over exaggerating"

"I NEVER over exaggerate!" Sharpay cried out, stomping her foot viciously. Seeing the look her good friend gave her, she relented a little. "Okay; maybe every now and then I stretch the truth, but really I'm pretty good about it! Anyways, I'm not exaggerating now! You'll see! He will give up his role in 'Once Upon a Mattress', and then you might end up having to kiss my boyfriend. And I know you have been looking forward to kissing Ryan repeatedly for so long, I would hate to ruin the experience for you." She laughed at Gabriella's flushed face.

"I must admit, I was scared that Chad or someone would get Sir Harry…and that would prove just a little awkward, considering I am Lady Larkin"

"I completely agree. But stop changing the subject! How are you going to get Ryan to make out with you? You know, other than a few stage kisses kind of thing?" Gabriella made rapid motions for her to quiet down.

"Geez, let the whole world know! I already told you, I'm not interested in make-out!"

"They probably already do; there are no secrets in this school, I swear"

"I wonder why," Gabriella said sarcastically, but Sharpay missed the sarcasm. She shrugged her shoulders, and walked off to get a new load of paint.

In spite of herself, Gabbi was quite disgruntled. Not only the tender subject of Ryan's open affection towards her, but what Shar had said about him not being "one to plan for the future". How far was the future? Was he even considering where their relationship might go? With these annoying, deep, and disturbing thoughts attacking her brain, Ms. Montez went back to her original job of sewing costumes.