aloha!

thank you guys for the reviews! here we have, the second chapter (obviously...)

WARNING: SEX SCENE!

HAHA, fooled you. oh yes, how mean of me. oh don't tell me you fell for that? a sex scene in the 2nd chapter? yeah right. heh, anyways, there's not a lot i can say about this chapter, so you'll just have to read it :) enjoy!


Chapter Two: Getting to Know You

In a stark contrast to his bright attire, Ryan was feeling rather blue. He sighed as he sat on the edge of the stage. It was free period, and he and Sharpay had just practiced a number from the next school play. Kelsi sat beside him.

"Hey Ryan." She said. "Something wrong? Your cha-cha wasn't as springy as it usually is."

Ryan shrugged. "I guess I'm just tired."

But Kelsi was still suspicious. That was a pretty obvious lie, especially for the Drama King. Something was clearly wrong. "You sure?"

"Well…" Ryan said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go for it." Kelsi said brightly. "What is it?"

"It's Troy and Gabriella." Ryan said. "There's just something about them that bugs me. What d'you think is wrong with me?"

Kelsi nodded in realization. "Ohh, so that's what it is."

"What? What is it?"

"I think Ryan's jealous." Kelsi said, grinning wide. Ryan frowned.

"Ha, no I'm not jealous of that annoying show-off." Ryan spat. "I'd gladly say I'm jealous of anyone else, but not him."

"Whoa, okay Ryan, chill out." Kelsi said, taken aback.

"Sorry. But do you see what I mean? I can't stand them!"

Kelsi sighed. "Have you even tried to get to know them?"

Ryan looked at Kelsi. "Why would I—"

"Why wouldn't you?" Kelsi asked. "They're not horrible people, you know. Just give them a chance."

Ryan let what Kelsi suggested sink in. He never did get a chance to really talk to either of them. They were always just there. And Sharpay's grudge against them may have rubbed off a bit on him. He had to admit, Twinkle Towne wasn't really that spectacular as Troy's understudy. But maybe Kelsi was right. Maybe Ryan was just judging them too quickly. After all, there had to be more to them than what he always saw. "Oh fine… I'll give them a chance."

Kelsi patted Ryan on the back. "That's the spirit." The bell rang, and Ryan and Kelsi headed for the cafeteria.

As crazy as it sounded, Ryan hadn't brought a lunch to school that day, even though there was an army of chefs in his kitchen. Must have slipped his mind while he was sulking. In any case, Ryan was pretty hungry now, so he descended from his usual table overlooking the cafeteria and got into the lunch line.

How degrading Ryan thought. The line was particularly rowdy and unorganized that day, as the special of the day was pizza. As he fought to keep his place in the line, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hands off buddy! The last ham and pineapple is mine!" Ryan whipped around and came face to face with Troy.

"That's okay, I'm goin' for the meat lovers." He said, grinning.

"Oh Troy!" Ryan said, feeling his temperature rise. "Sorry I didn't know it was you."

"Hey no worries." Troy said. "Ham and pineapple's always first to go."

Ryan let out a nervous laugh.

"No five-course lunch today?" Troy asked.

"No… I must have left it at home or something."

Troy nodded. "I see." Despite the shouting and screaming for the last of the pepperoni, an awkward silence fell between the two boys.

"Next!" Called the incredibly nasally voice of the cafeteria lady. Ryan spun around. "What'll be dear?"

"Ham and pineapple please."

A paper plate with a pathetic excuse for a slice of pizza on it slid his way. Ryan looked incredulously at the lunch lady.

"Hey, don't look at me. Get your tush down here faster next time and get a better piece. Next!" As Ryan turned, he gave Troy a final glance.

"Uh, see you around."

"Yeah, see ya." Troy said, before ordering his pizza.

Making his way back to his table, Ryan sighed. He supposed that was an okay first step in getting to know Troy Bolton better. As he took his seat and ate his pizza, he wondered if maybe Troy wasn't really the annoying, selfish person Ryan made him out to be.

Maybe…

-o-O-O-O-o-

It was time for math class again. As everyone filed into the classroom, their teacher collected the homework. The homework Troy didn't do.

"That means detention, Mr. Bolton." His teacher informed.

"Yes sir." Troy said grimly, making his way to his desk. Ryan couldn't help but feel a little smug that Troy landed himself a detention. He was pretty distracting yesterday. But the voice of Kelsi echoed inside his head.

"They're not horrible people, you know."

Ryan sighed. Maybe he felt a bit sorry for Troy too. After all, he knew math wasn't Troy's strong subject. He heard a familiar giggle as Gabriella entered the class.

"Trooy!"

Ryan groaned. Here we go again… Gabriella swept past Ryan to Troy's desk, sitting atop it.

"Hey." Troy greeted. "Listen, I won't be able to do anything today. I've got detention."

Gabriella shook her head. "See, you should have listened when I told you to get back to work."

"Sorry babe." Troy said, taking Gabriella's hand. "Maybe tomorrow."

Yes, maybe tomorrow, Ryan thought. Maybe tomorrow you can restart this horrible cycle of sugar-coated cuteness until it kills me. Oddly, Troy was not as enthusiastic as Ryan on the notion. Gabriella hopped off Troy's desk and took her seat.

Today's class was marginally better than the last. Troy, having learned his lesson, was busy with his work, and the room was more or less peaceful. Ryan was able to finish off his homework before the bell rang, much to his delight. At the end of class, Ryan happily made his way to his locker. He was looking forward to a quiet night at home. After gathering his books from his locker, Ryan made his way down the science hall to leave. As he passed by one of the chemistry rooms, he spotted Troy. If Ryan had it his way, he would have ignored this sight and moved on, but Kelsi's voice berated him again somewhere in his subconscious. That, coupled with Troy's positively gloomy demeanor, pulled Ryan into the detention room. Noticing he had a visitor, Troy looked up from a textbook he was reading.

"Hey Ryan." He greeted.

"Fascinating stuff, isn't it?" Ryan said, gesturing toward the book and taking a seat beside Troy.

Troy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, really." Ryan let a small smile stretch across his face. Silence fell between them again, but Ryan was determined to break it somehow.

"So are you trying out for the play?"

Troy shrugged. "Depends."

"On?"

"Well, I definitely won't be doing another mushy play with Gabriella again."

Ryan quirked an eyebrow. This was news. "Why's that?"

Troy gave Ryan a look that said Oh please. "I might sing and dance, but I can't stand all the theatre romantics! It's hard enough in real life!"

Ryan laughed. "Fair point. How about a comedy then?"

Troy gave the idea some thought. "I'd consider it."

Ryan nodded. Okay, this was good. He was having a normal conversation with Troy, and without having to suppress the need to vomit. He was getting to know Troy.

Happy now Kelsi?

The conversation continued. Troy and Ryan batted ideas back and forth for the new play. Troy was all for the high-energy dance numbers, which complimented Ryan's idea for extravagant costumes. They both agreed comedy had it all over romance. As they whiled away detention discussing musicals, Ryan was starting to forget that he almost considered just passing Troy by. It was actually nice to talk to Troy. He had no idea that a jock would have such interesting opinions on theatre. Talking with Troy had become less of a necessity and more a pleasure. In fact, he would have continued, but a certain angry sister had finally found her missing sibling.

"Ryan!" Shrilled the unmistakable voice of Sharpay. Her heels clicked against the linoleum as she stomped over to Troy and Ryan's table. "I have been looking all over for you. What are you doing here?"

Ryan shrugged. "Just talking to Troy."

Sharpay shot a glare at Troy who forced a smile and a feeble wave.

"You were supposed to come shopping with me after school." Sharpay said, aggravated. "What are you going to wear for dinner this Friday?"

"Clothes, hopefully." Ryan quipped.

Sharpay pointed a finger at Ryan. "Don't test me today Ryan. I have broken three nails!" And Ryan realized the finger she was holding in front of his nose sported a chipped nail.

"Oh no, how terrible. How awful of me to test your patience"

Sharpay's face scrunched up. "Oh you think you're so funny. Well you can laugh yourself all the way home through a blizzard, because I'm leaving without you!" And Sharpay fled the room as fast as her heels and distinguished strut would allow. Ryan sighed.

"I'd better catch up with her. Something tells me she isn't kidding."

Troy nodded. "Yeah, all right then. Thanks for stopping by."

Ryan grinned. "I figured you might need something a bit more interesting to do. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya."

Ryan waved to Troy as he left the room. That wasn't too bad. Troy was actually a pretty cool guy. He wondered why Troy had always come off as so annoying before. Was Ryan really that blind? Why couldn't Ryan see more of that Troy? He continued to wonder as Sharpay grasped his arm and dragged him outside, sputtering something about him not knowing his priorities.

-o-O-O-O-o-

Troy felt a bit strange as his truck rumbled down the icy streets for home. Ryan had unexpectedly showed up for a visit during his detention earlier, and Troy was curious to know why. He had never really spoken to Ryan in the past. He had nothing against Ryan, but the same couldn't be said for the opposite. He and Sharpay undoubtedly held some grudges after being beat out for the leads of Twinkle Towne. Even before then, Ryan was never really that talkative with Troy. He was pretty good at avoiding Troy. He figured they just didn't share any interests. However, another thing could be said for today. He and Ryan could have talked for ages had it not been for Sharpay.

He liked it. He enjoyed having a nice, casual conversation with Ryan, and wondered why it didn't happen more often. The answer skipped into his head with a giggle and a cute dress. Gabriella. There was nothing wrong with her, but she was with him a lot. Troy felt guilty saying it, but he was almost grateful for his detention. It provided a short break from never-ending attachment with Gabriella.

"But," Troy said to himself, "She is my girlfriend. It's totally okay for her to be like that." He nodded in agreement with himself. Troy liked to say things to himself sometimes. It gave them more meaning, and it helped Troy be more sure of himself. Even if it was a little silly.

As Troy stepped out of his truck onto his driveway, he tugged on the scarf wrapped around his neck. Winter was definitely ending, and the sun seemed pretty eager to warm up Albuquerque again. Shedding some of his heavy attire, Troy fumbled for his keys and let himself into the house.

"Time for some math homework." He sighed.


and so ends chapter 2.

man oh man, am i ever tired. its 2:37AM right now, which is actually pretty early, since im usually up till 4AM reading or writing stuff, but ive had a very busy week. lots of gruelling swimming. and i spent last night trying to learn some of the dances off Hairspray. i have no idea how it is even possible to do a Mashed Potato, someone will have to personally teach that one to me, but other than that, i've kinda got Ladie's Choice and Peyton Place :). oh, and i decided to review my HSM dances as well :) i was in a dancy mood.

anyways, enough chatter about dancing. i hope you liked that chapter. i think its really cute how Troy talks to himself, i'll definitely be doing more of that. and i always have a lot of fun writing dialogue between Ryan and Sharpay.

now, im going to try my hardest to keep the Gabriella bashing to a minimum, but it's so damn hard when you're writing a Tryan. ARGH!

oh, and to Tertiary Genesis about my writing style, ive always kinda written like that (with other fandoms), but all my other HSM fics had a lot of character interaction, so they had more dialogue and describing all the things they did together. this story focusses a lot on just individual people sorting through their thoughts, and thus long streams indepth stuff and rhetorical questions. if that clears things up.

so um... yeah, that's about all there is to say for now. im halfway through chapter 4 (i like to keep ahead, just in case i get writer's block or something), so the next few chapters should be coming your way soon. in the meantime, pleeeaaase review, it means the world to me!!

thanks so much for reading!