Gah! This took longer than I hoped it would, but it's here in time for Christmas! Hooray! I had such fun with this chapter. I hope you will too. It's a little shorter, but not much. You don't mind, do you? Anyway, Happy Holidays, my cheerful little readers!
Disclaimer: Not mine, clearly. Boy would I be rich if it were…Disney must have tripled their income on this bloody film!
Warning: Slashy undertones…or overtones…either way, homophobes will not like it. (gasps) Two guys dancing together! The unnatural horror! Oh! And I used the f-word, because I'm naughty.
Notes: Uh…I know nothing about Latin ballroom dancing, not even enough to know if it truly exists. All references are based purely on guess work and I apologise if they are not factually correct. Also, I don't know how to spell phys ed. I am English. We call it P.E.
Dedication: This chapter goes to all you people out there who reviewed the first chapter and filled my spirit with such joy. Most especially Kay Springs, who left me the best review I have ever received and was almost the sole force behind me finishing this chapter so quickly. If it were not for you, this probably would have rotted until after New Year. Thank you so much. Your review truly touched and inspired me.
It was the next day before Ryan and Chad were able to arrange their first session. They had decided to keep the whole thing under wraps for the time being; Chad was worried about what the team would think (dancing isn't exactly as manly as singing, and Troy had a very cute Gabriella for incentive - he only had Ryan). Ryan was terrified of what Sharpay would do when she found out he was helping another jock. He was getting a headache just imagining the shrieking. So it wasn't until the end of the day when Chad had finished basketball practice that they were able to meet up. He had to admit he was excited. He had barely been able to concentrate in practice, let alone in class. He found himself thinking this must have been what it was like for Troy, and he wanted to share these thoughts with his best friend, but there was some part of him that wanted to keep his dance lessons with Ryan all to himself. He had never had a secret before. It was kinda cool.
Chad went to the auditorium straight from practice, too nervous to change into his regular clothes. He opened the door to see Ryan and Sharpay on the stage, arguing. Not wanting Sharpay to see him, he crept inside and crouched behind a seat, peering over to watch the twins fight, except it wasn't so much a fight as a one-sided tirade on Sharpay's part.
"How many times do I have to tell you to drop those stupid jazz squares?" she yelled. "They are NOT a crowd favourite! They are clumsy and retarded and I do not like them! If I see you do another one then I swear I'll break both your kneecaps! Understood?"
"Yes Sharpay." Ryan looked completely crushed. Chad couldn't help feeling sorry for the guy.
Sharpay smiled, pleased at having gotten her own way. "Good. Now let's get out of here."
"Actually, I'm staying here a little while. Mr. Killmartin says I'm not pulling my weight in phys ed, so I have to stay and practice climbing the rope."
"What?"
"I'll be home for dinner, don't worry. You can take the car." Ryan's face was the picture of innocence. Sharpay was either unable see past it or just didn't want to.
"Fine." She snapped, before turning on her heel and marching out of the room. Chad crouched down as far as he could, even flattening his hair as she walked past. She didn't see him, and he was free to gingerly stand up and head over to Ryan on the stage.
"Hey." He smiled.
"Hey." Ryan replied. The chirpy, innocent face was gone and all that was left was weary. Chad decided to approach the subject carefully:
"Dude, what was up with your sister?"
Ryan sighed. "She doesn't want me to do any jazz squares in our dance routines. I really like them, but she's a vicious dictator so I guess I've 'jazzed my last square'." He emphasised the last few words with a mournful waggling of his fingers.
Chad looked puzzled. "What's a jazz square?"
"You move your feet in a box and do jazz hands at the same time. It's great! Would you like me to show you?" Ryan's eyes had suddenly lit up like a kid in a toy shop. Chad shrugged. It wasn't the kind of thing he thought he would be doing, but if it cheered up Ryan then what the hell.
"Sure."
Ryan grinned and excitedly pulled Chad up on the stage, dragging him by the hand to the right spot and making sure he was standing with his legs in the right position.
"Okay, imagine there's a square on the floor in front of you. Now step forward with your left foot into the top left corner."
Chad stepped.
"Now put your right foot in the top right corner."
Chad stepped again.
"Now move your left foot back into the bottom left corner."
Step.
"And your right foot back into the bottom right."
Step.
"Now do it again."
Step…step…step…step.
"Faster."
Step, step, step, step.
"Keep going."
Step, step, step, step. Step, step, step, step. Step, step, step, step.
"Now do jazz hands at the same time."
Chad did so, getting more and more into it the longer he went. Finally, when he saw Ryan beaming at him like a father watching his son ride a bike, he realised: Good God, I'm doing a fucking jazz square!
"Fun, right?" said Ryan.
To his horror, Chad found himself replying "Yeah, it is." And it was. And he was very creeped out by the whole revelation. However, it was hard to feel bad about it when Ryan was practically exploding with happiness. It was like the blonde's unadulterated elation was somehow seeping through the air and infecting Chad. How else could he possibly be enjoying this?
After about a minute, Ryan cleared his throat and became all serious. "I guess you want me to teach you something that's not so 'show tune', right?"
Chad stopped and thought. "Yeah." He replied at last. "But right now I'm happy with the jazz squares. Care to join me?" Ryan rewarded Chad's gesture with a massive grin, and the two boys immediately fell into step, laughing as they did the most outrageous, flamboyant jazz squares in the history of jazz squares, ever. And so passed Ryan and Chad's first dancing session together.
"So, how's the dancing coming along?" Troy leaned over during homeroom, risking the wrath of Ms Darbus who was thankfully preoccupied with some drama thing Sharpay and Ryan were hassling her about. Chad jerked his head up and grinned.
"Fine! Great! Better than great! Well, maybe not better than great. I mean, it's not like I'm being taught by anybody or anything. Why would you say that? I'm just practicing in the bathroom…on my own. Nobody's teaching me!"
"Um…" Troy coughed. "I didn't say they were…"
Chad gaped at him, and then broke out into a nervous smile. "Right. Of course you didn't."
"MR DANFORTH!" Ms Darbus exploded from the front of the classroom, zoning in on her target. "Did I hear you volunteering for the drama department's latest activity?"
Chad froze. He knew the answer was no, but his lips couldn't force the words out. Ms Darbus took this as a cue to continue.
"Dance, Mr Danforth. Latin ballroom dancing. The drama club is organising a contest. Are you man enough to enter? Or is the concept of passion and grace alien to you unless associated with a piece of orange rubber?"
"I really don't think…" Chad attempted to splutter a defence, but Sharpay interrupted him with her claws bared,
"Oh we all know you don't think." She paused to lap up the spattering of laughter and then turned to address Ms Darbus. "I wouldn't waste my breath on him. We all know he couldn't dance if his feet were on fire."
"Hey, he can dance!" Troy shot back, leaping to Chad's defence. "I'll bet if he entered then he'd put you and Ryan to shame!"
Chad glared at his best friend. Whose side was he on? Sure, it was nice that he was standing up for him, but if he carried on like this then Ms Darbus would probably end up putting Chad in the competition for real!
Sharpay's eyes narrowed, set to 'kill'. "You really think Chad Danforth can beat me and Ryan in a Latin dancing competition that we organised and that we have been practicing for since we could walk?"
Chad looked at Troy, begging him with his eyes to say no, but it was too late. Loyalty and pride were forcing his hand.
"Yeah." He said. "I think he could."
"Well then!" Ms Darbus cried triumphantly. "We shall see who prevails. The drama club…or the basketball posse?" She seemed very happy with what had just happened. Chad could tell where her money was placed.
Troy glanced back at Chad and gave an apologetic shrug. Chad waved him off. He was too horrified to be angry. He peeked over at where Ryan was sitting, pretending to look animated while Sharpay went over various killer moves they could use to crush him in the contest. The blonde looked perplexed. He looked up and met Chad's eyes, smiling warmly. Chad had expected to see a challenge hidden in those pools of blue, but instead he saw reassurance. If he didn't know any better, he would say that Ryan was planning on helping him with this. But…that would be madness! If Ryan did this it would really piss Sharpay off, beyond all reasonable concept of pissed off. Heck, they'd never even find his body!
Suddenly, the bell ripped through the PA, triggering an avalanche of movement as people scurried off to class. Chad was forced to put his worries aside as the school day demanded his attention. He would have to wait until he could meet up with Ryan again after school, but for what he didn't know…
"You're going to help me?"
Chad gawked at Ryan, hopeful that doing so would allow him to hear what Ryan had really said.
"Sure. I said I'd teach you to dance. As a teacher it would be reckless of me not to teach you the steps you'll need for the competition you entered."
"Ah, technically I didn't enter. People entered for me."
"Well, whether you entered or not, you're in the contest."
"But Latin ballroom dancing? I can't…it's ballroom dancing!"
Ryan smiled. "Latin ballroom dancing is not like ballroom dancing in any sense you're familiar with."
"It's not?" Chad frowned, images of waltzing with his Grammy skipping through his head.
"No. It's fast, it's fun, and above all, it's sexy!" Ryan leapt up onto the stage and snapped a CD into the stereo. A cheerful salsa beat started pounding out of the speakers and he began moving along to the rhythm. "Ever heard of the tango?" he asked Chad, still dancing away.
Chad shrugged. "Sure."
"Mambo?"
"I guess."
"The cha-cha-cha?"
"Yeah…"
Ryan stopped mid-spin and grinned. "Well these are just a few of the dances you'll be learning. We'll go over the basic steps of each dance, and then spice them up a bit and work them into a routine, okay?"
"Sounds good to me."
Ryan stepped over and pulled Chad up onto the stage. "You'll need to find a partner. Preferably a girl."
Chad glared. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"Okay, we'll start with the cha-cha-cha." Ryan pulled Chad towards him and held his arms aloft. "Put your hand on my waist."
"Whoah! What?" Chad responded by tearing himself away from the blonde and screeching.
"Oh come on, you're not even the girl!" Ryan snorted.
"That's not the point! Nowhere in the job description did it mention this!"
"What?"
"This!" Chad motioned towards the space between him and Ryan in an attempt to indicate the amount that should always be in existence. Ryan rolled his eyes.
"This is a dance lesson, not a date. Get over the minimal amount of bodily contact there will be between us, you big fat baby!"
"But…"
"No buts! I am teaching you to dance. This is a perfectly innocent scenario, so stop acting like I'm putting the moves on you and put your hand on my waist!"
Reluctantly, Chad did as he was told and let Ryan guide him through the steps. He picked them up pretty easily, and soon he found himself getting into the swing of things, even spinning Ryan when the feeling took him.
"You're really good at this." Ryan grinned.
"Not so bad yourself."
"Fancy trying a dip?"
"What, you mean one of these?" Chad proceeded to shift Ryan's weight and luridly dip him, catching the blonde off guard and causing him to shriek in surprise. Chad couldn't help but smile at the startled expression on Ryan's face. He almost looked edible…
"Okay! I think that's enough dipping for today!" Chad cried, practically dropping Ryan in a hurried attempt to not be touching him. He definitely needed a girl partner. Having Ryan take the girl part was doing weird things to his head, it must be. "Uh, I just remembered…my mom needs me at home right now for…stuff. I gotta go."
Ryan frowned. "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Sure!" And then Chad was gone, leaving Ryan very puzzled and bruised.
END PART 2...