Chapter 1

The next day at school everyone seemed normal and carried on with their days, which was nothing out of the ordinary. The last class of the day Chad, Troy and Ryan all had together. While Ms. Darbus droned on and on, boring everyone to death, the students began to let their minds wander out of boredom.

Ryan sat in the back of the classroom side by side with Sharpay. They deliberately chose to sit in the back, that way, they could talk about, and critique everyone else without them ever knowing. Ryan was scoping out the class, and he saw nothing of particular interest until he happened to catch a glimpse of Troy. He looked like he was in deep thought. But it somehow seemed even more intense than that, like he was planning, or maybe even deliberating something. Ryan then focused his attention to what Troy was looking at. That's when he saw that Troy wasn't just off in la-la land lolly-gagging. He was looking at Chad, no better yet, staring at Chad.

Did he put a sign on Chad's back, was something stuck in his curly fro? Ryan couldn't figure out just why Troy was staring at him so intently. Then it hit him- Troy was looking at Chad very much like Ryan himself had when he had it bad for Troy. No, that can't be it. He's Troy Bolton, the golden boy for God's sake, he couldn't be- is he- Troy's gay? Ryan's thoughts were running a mile a minute. He would've kept right on staring at Troy staring at Chad if it hadn't been for a little pink post-it note stuck to the edge of his desk.

Sharpay had written him a note. What are you looking at? Tell me you're not back at it with Troy?! Give it up Ry, he's just not into you! He read it and quickly responded to it with a fierce shaking of his head. He simply wrote back: No, it's not that. I'll talk to you later.

For the rest of the class, Ryan entertained himself with watching Troy and Chad. Once the day was finally over, he had gained the courage to go and confront Troy head on. He met him in the parking lot by his truck.

"Hey Troy." Troy was just on the brink of closing his door. "You don't have practice today?" Troy gave him a puzzled look, stepped back out of the truck, and leaned against its side.

"No, not today. Dad's out of town on a conference, so we get an early weekend I guess." Troy couldn't guess for the life of him what the blond haired drama king could've wanted. "So what's up Ryan?"

"Oh nothing. Uh, what're you doing this weekend? I was thinking of throwing a little 'end of the year' bash tomorrow at my house. You in?" Of course Ryan hadn't planned any party, but he was a quick thinker on his feet and he didn't think his parents would even be in town, and of course he knew that Sharpay wouldn't mind the extra attention.

"Uh, that sounds nice. I might drop by for a few."

"Yeah, do that. Everyone's going to be there, Gabby, Taylor, Sharpay, Me, Kelsi, Jason, Zeke, and you, if you're interested. " Troy was barley even paying attention anymore. "Oh, and Chad might come." The Golden-Boy's head snapped up, and a goofy grin spread across his face.

"Okay, cool. I'll defiantly be there." Said Troy.

"Alright, see you around 7:30, 8-ish?"

"No problem." And with that, the two boys parted ways.

Chapter 2

Chad was up in his room, grateful that it was finally Friday. He was changing into a pair of shorts, and a wife-beater. That evening, he and Troy were supposed to meet to play basketball in the court a few blocks down from his house. Chad had about twenty minutes or so to finish getting ready and head over to the court.

"Chad!" His mother called from the bottom of the stairs. "You've got company Hun!" Chad quickly smiled to himself. Even though Troy had been his best friend since forever, and he was constantly over his house, his mother still had a habit of calling him "company." It had almost become a running joke in their family.

"Be right down!" he shouted back. He grabbed his gym bag, and flew around the corner and down the stairs. "Ready to shoot….some…." Chad stopped mid-sentence. Who he saw standing in his doorway wasn't Troy at all. Instead, it was, of all people, Ryan Evans. What could he be here for? Chad thought to himself. "Uh, hey Ryan." Was all that he could muster to say.

"Hey Chad. You look….nice."

"Um, thanks. So what's up?" Chad laid his bag on the bottom stair, and took a seat next to it.

"Nothing much really. I was just going to have a little get together tomorrow at my house if you wanted to come. Everyone from schools going to be there, and I just wanted to know if you'd like to come." Chad was a little taken aback. Why didn't he just send paper invites? He thought.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I'll be there. Definitely." Hearing exactly the response that he wanted to, Ryan smiled and simply replied,

"Fabulous."

~*~*~*~*~*~

About fifteen minutes later, Chad walked onto the court and saw Troy patiently waiting for him, sitting on top of his own basketball. Chad's face lit up as soon as he saw Troy. This week especially had been really hard on him, and he hadn't had a lot of time to hang out with Troy, so it was a relief to see him.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Chad put his ball on the ground and popped a squat beside Troy.

"Not a lot. I haven't really seen you this week. How've you been?"

"Busy, busy, busy. But never too busy for our usual b-ball sessions!" Chad laughed lightly while Troy attempted a half-hearted smile. After the laughter died away, both of the boys sat there for a minute, neither really sure whether or not to break the silence, or reside in it. "So, you ready to shoot some hoops or what?" Chad playfully asked at last.

Troy's heart almost skipped a beat. He had decided that he'd wanted to talk to Chad about his feelings of late, but now, he wasn't even sure if he could admit his thoughts to himself. Albeit, he knew that he could tell Chad anything and Chad wouldn't judge him one way or another. But something just seemed different now, not to mention the fact that that particular week they hadn't seen each other nearly as much as they normally did.

"Chad, I've been meaning to talk to you lately…" his words trailed off mid-sentence, and his cheeks turned a deep fuchsia.

"What's up, buddy?" Chad's big brown eyes, tied Troy's tongue. Damn, he thought. How can I ever tell someone as beautiful as him, that someone like me is in love with him? As he sat there contemplating how to spill his soul to his best friend, Chad sat there patiently and silently, unbeknownst to Troy, just as nervous as he; though, he wasn't quite sure why.

"Chad…I….it's just that-" not a moment later, the sky broke asunder, and there was a gargantuan downpour.

"Sorry man, guess we'll have to talk later!" Chad shouted over the rain and wind as he sprinted through the water towards his car.

"Yeah, talk to you later." Troy whispered, mostly to himself as he watched the boy he was undeniably in love with, jump in his car, blow his horn once, wave, and then pull off.

Troy was thankful for the storm in an ironic, twisted sort of fate. That way, Chad couldn't tell that the rain water hitting his face was minimal in amount compared to the tears streaming down his cheeks.