Chapter one. you're manic then you're depressed. do you ever feel okay?
Was Sharpay complex or did she really just want to be?
Ryan was complex, she knew. Ryan wasn't stupid, just absent-minded. He was witty and clever. He was… observant, as he called it. "Observant" translated roughly to "obsessive-compulsive." He had medication for that.
But if it was really medication that made a person complex, Sharpay was set.
The entire Evans family was.
The family shrink would always say, "Sharpay is prone to…" as if he didn't want to commit her to one single disorder. "Sharpay is prone to manic fits and depressed phases." "Sharpay is prone to excessive spending."
While her brother, her poor brother, was defined by his disorder.
These were all Evans family secrets.
That sounded pretty complex.
Sharpay wondered if Gabriella was the same--- popping pills and keeping secrets. Then again, Sharpay (was trying to convince herself that she) didn't really care. Gabriella had no reason to be upset about anything. She had her perfect grades, her perfect body, and her perfect boyfriend.
When Sharpay looked in a funhouse mirror, the really scarey ones that distort everything, including the very basis of all things realistic, she saw Gabriella.
When she looked into the honest mirror in her bathroom, she saw the most imperfect human being on Earth.
More or less.
A bit "more" than "less."
Sharpay was prone to extreme fits of jealousy.
"You horrible, ugly girl," she whispered to her reflection. "What happened to being perfect?"
There was a knock on her bedroom door. "Sharpay? I just got home." came Ryan's voice. "Where did Mom and Dad go?"
"I don't know, Ry. You wanna come in here and tell me about your little bonding time with Golden Boy Bolton?"
The door slowly opened and Ryan took a few hesitant steps inside the room. "The way you talk about Troy confuses me." he said, sitting down on the bed.
"Why?" Sharpay snapped. That was a rather stupid topic to bring up.
"… You talk about him with all this contempt but you still want to be with him. I can tell, because of the way you look at him when you think no one's looking."
Sharpay shrugged and played with a strand of her hair. "I'm just a little upset at how stupid he can be sometimes." she muttered.
"He really seems to like Gabriella."
"That's the problem, Ryan! God!"
Ryan seemed a bit stunned at Sharpay's outburst. "Sharpay, have you taken your me---"
"No."
"Sharpay!"
"Shut up!"
Ryan stood up and took a few more hesitant steps, this time in his sister's direction. "… Why are you always looking at yourself in the mirror?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Because I'm just narcissistic like that."
The answer didn't satisfy Ryan. "Something going on with you." It wasn't a guess; it was a statement.
"Nothing's wrong!" Sharpay rolled her eyes again, only because she was starting to sound exactly like Gabriella.
"Sharpay, come on. We're twins. I can tell when something's wrong with you." The moment turned unexpectedly tender. "You're half of me, Sharpay."
Sharpay's expression softened. She put a cold hand on Ryan's thin arm. "I wish I could live up to everything the other half of you deserves." she said quietly.
"You do." Ryan insisted, mirroring Sharpay and placing his hand on her arm.
Ryan moved away from him quickly. "Ryan…" she started, but she left it at that.
"If this is about Troy---"
"It's not about Troy."
"Then please tell me what's wrong."
Sharpay needed to say something convincing; something that would get Ryan off her back, at least for a while. "I'm just… very worried about Gabriella, is all." That wasn't quite a lie, but not exactly the truth.
"Yeah., she seemed a bit… off. Probably stress. School's starting in just a week. Senior year. Everyone's gonna get a little stressed."
Sharpay knew better than that.
It was very obvious that she wasn't the best of friends with Gabriella, but she knew at least a little bit about the girl's personality. "It's funny…" she started, going over to her bed and falling back into the pile of blankets and pillows. Ryan followed suit.
"What's funny?" he asked, giving his sister's arm a pat.
"She doesn't even try to be perfect, but she is. That's just funny because some people really do try."
"I'm sure she tries very hard."
Maybe so.
But Sharpay tried harder.
Three new messages, Gabriella's phone said.
All three from Troy.
"Hey, Gabriella. I hope I'm not calling to late. Just, uh, call me back if you can." 10:47 P.M.
"Yeah, it's me… again. I really just want to talk to you… Call me back." 3:23 A.M.
"Hey. It's a bit early, but… just call me when you wake up. Okay? Bye." 7:35 A.M.
Normally, Gabriella would call Troy back in a heart beat. She would smile at the sound of his voice. Today, she didn't feel like doing that.
Her phone told her that it was 1:30 in the afternoon. She rarely ever slept that late.
Downstairs, Mrs. Montez was yelling, "Gabby! Wake up! It's too late to be sleeping!"
"Okay, Mom!" Gabriella yelled back, but she didn't get out of bed.
She was safe in her bed, the same bed she'd had since childhood.
No one could touch her.
No unwanted hands could graze her body.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she flipped open her phone and called Troy. He answered on the first ring, giving a very frantic "Hello?!"
"Hey, Troy." She could feel the relieved smile taking over Troy's voice.
"Hey! Are you okay…?"
"Yeah. I was just feeling a little sick yesterday. That's all." Gabriella was a fairly good liar, but could she fool Troy?
"Oh!" Troy's sigh almost broke Gabriella's heart. "Well, I hope you're feeling better. … Do you want me to come over? You know, bring you something, or…?"
"No! No, I'm fine and I don't want to risk you getting sick."
"Oh." Troy sounded nothing less than disappointed. "That's fine, I guess. You just… rest up, okay? You'd better get to feeling better before school starts back…"
"Okay. Bye, Troy." Gabriella snapped her phone shut. She couldn't believe how patient and wonderful Troy was being, especially after the little blow-up last night.
"Gabby! Are you up yet?"
"Yes, Mom!" Gabriella yelled, but she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed.
Troy threw his phone on the floor, picked it up, dialed Gabriella's number, cleared it, and then called Ryan, who had a vaguely amusing ringback tone that Troy had never heard before. It was like a brief reminder that he was talking to someone who was submersed in a culture that was liked, but not always understood by Troy.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Ryan!" Troy put on his best enthusiastic voice.
"Oh, hey, Troy!" Ryan sounded equally enthusiastic, only perhaps a bit more genuine. "What's up?"
"Ah, nothing much… I guess I just wanted to… thank you… or whatever. You know, for being such a good sport and listening to me ramble about Gabriella for an hour. That must have been pretty lame for you."
"It's no problem, honestly. Have you talked to her today?"
And that's what Troy liked about Ryan: his amazing ability to be caring without being nosey. Troy felt like Ryan could be trusted, a characteristic Sharpay seemed to lack. "Yeah, I talked to her. She said she was sick."
"Oh, yeah…" Ryan's tone matched the perplexed, dumbfounded expression he had the tendency of displaying. "She looked a little pale last night and… disheveled. That happens, though."
"… You know, Ryan, you should let your sister keep you from being this nice."
Ryan was silent.
Troy was regretting that immensely. "Ryan, I di---"
"No, Troy. You're right. It's just… she's my sister. My better half."
"Your better half?"
"Yes."
"Are you hers?"
"I hope so."
Ryan's tone was melancholy. Had Troy just weaseled his way into a deep-rotted family issue? The beautiful Evans twins, with their ice-cold eyes and their headshot smiles. How strong was the force that bound them together?
"Yeah, I'm definitely sorry I said any of that." Troy mumbled.
"No, it's fine. But, really, why are we sitting around in all this negativity? Sharpay and I were supposed to see Brideshead Revisited at that artsy cinema downtown, but she was called up at the last minute to help teach a jazz class. You should come. I mean, you know… period dramas are always intriguing."
Troy thought about this. There was nothing wrong with trying to forget all of his woes for a while… and he had always wanted to go to that artsy cinema. "Yeah, I'll go. You want me to pick you up or what?"
"Yeah, that'll be cool. See you in a bit."
"Sweet. Bye."
Troy ended the call and let out an awkward sort of laugh. What was going on?
"So, what exactly are we seeing?" Troy asked, deciding not to waste any of his money on overpriced concessions. After all, his truck was still in need of basically everything. Popcorn could wait.
"Brideshead Revisited. It's about fitful British aristocrats. Very serious and whatnot." Ryan replied, trying to locate their auditorium. "Hmm. End of the corridor."
"So, there's no action? You know, happiness is a warm gun, bang bang, shoot shoot? Or anything?"
They started walking.
"Uh… no. Not at all."
"Huh."
"You'll like it. Promise."
The two sat through the movie without saying a single word. Troy squirmed--- but just a bit--- when the weak and tragically beautiful Sebastian Flyte killed the quiet, mysterious Charles Ryder.
Ryan let out a small sigh when Sebastian said that he loved his sister; the reason? She was so very much like himself.
But Troy did like the movie, just like Ryan had promised. "The characters…" he pointed out. "They were all so beautiful and miserable."
Beautiful and miserable, like the stunning Evans twins.
Notes: Blah blah review, pleaseee. Full chapter title taken from "Sunrise, Sunset" by Bright Eyes.
