Sometimes It's best to Have Fun:
A/N: So things are heating up a little! Thanks to the people who reviewed, it brought a smile to my face. Especially thanks to Just-Another-Meaningless-Soul who's review really gave me a kick up the bum so to speak. There's a major metaphor in here, so look out for it!
Warnings: Some abuse in this chapter, just to let you know.
Disclaimer: Do I ever own anything?
Tick tock, tick tock. The clock counted down in steady slows clicks. Time is an inevitable thing. The big hand and the little hand always turn the same way, and the seconds always mount to minutes-minutes to hours.
Clouds brew in the ink wash sky, and a stifled flash of lightening illuminated the world every few minutes. A warm moisture had started to sink low over Albuquerque, the air seemed alive with static. It was on that day when the wind blew hot, then
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Troy my man!" called Chad, slapping Troy on the back in greeting. They both dodged and upturned drain.
"What's up?" Troy asked cheerfully as they sat down on the edge of the fountain. Chad grinned at him, setting his basketball at his feet.
"Oh, loads. You know that Evans dude?" he said ,eyes sparkling. Troy looked down at the palms of his hands and frowned.
"You mean Ryan?" he corrected. Chad raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head.
"Who cares man?" Troy shrugged nonchalantly and fell silent again, gazing at his feet. Chad gave him a sideways glance, "Well some of the guys are planning the ultimate humiliation at lunch!" Chad said in a rush, his voice tainted with wild excitement. Troy felt his stomach sink. And then the part that he had been dreading:-
"You in?" asked Chad, eyes boring expectantly into Troy's, who shifted around uncomfortably. He looked over the lush green lawns and clusters of students, dotted around. If only the bell would ring.
"Yeah sure," he said finally when he feared Chad had smelt a rat. Troy sighed unhappily and looked up at the brilliant blue sky. He squinted and used one of his hands to shade his eyes as the wind blew a gust of warm air that ruffled his hair. Chad gave him a nod of respect and then grinned. Quickly his smile faded when he spotted Sharpay and her equally annoying brother chatting close by, Ryan was looking at them curiously his lips pursed. He nudged Troy with his elbow, alerting the boy from his daydream.
"Huh?" grunted Troy.
"You better watch out man, I think the fag has a crush on you!" Chad cackled and yanked him up by the elbow as the bell rang. Troy gave a weak burst of laughter and followed his friend, face burning.
The rest of the day went past far too fast for Troy's liking and before he even knew it lunch had arrived in a blur of colour and nerves.
The lunch line was long, noisy and cramped.
Troy waited restlessly on the edge of the of the cafeteria , twisting a woolly grey bobble hat in his hands. He scanned the endless hoards of students for a certain afroed friend. As if connected by though Chad appeared at his elbow bearing a tray groaning with what looked like the entire lunch menu. Jelly, curry fires, milk, soda, custard, cake, baked beans, tomato ketchup, soup, pickled beetroot , tea and coffee. Troy's stomach lurched dangerously. He looked up at Chad with a sickened expression ,who nodded meaningfully.
"We're gonna dump this, on the Evans homo!" Chad said ,as if he was revealing a punchline to a joke. Troy tried to muster up a chuckle but it came out like a gagging cough.
"And you know the rest?" Chad asked expectantly, his eyebrows rising almost to the point where they were beneath his bushy hairline. Troy clapped a hand to his friend's shoulder.
"Yah, I got it, don't worry man," Troy assured him with a small smirk, he waved the bobble hat in Chad's face and then stuffed it in his pocket. He scanned the crowd for their target. It didn't take long to see Ryan sat on the top level of the cafeteria, staring off into space. He was wearing a black baker boy cap, a plain white button down shirt and black jeans. Troy knew his own t-shirt and pants looked boyish and scruffy compared to Ryan's sophisticated attire. He began to pick at a loose thread trailing from the hem of his shirt , and then Chad dug him in the ribs with his pointy elbow.
"Let's go, the target is unsuspecting," Chad glanced at his watch and then gave Troy another nudge with his elbow, "Go!" he said and then disappeared into the crowd of students. Troy was left alone to motivate himself . He took a deep breath and danced through the crowd to the staircase. As always it was difficult to gain access to the stairs with nearly the whole drama club practicing on them.
Finally with what seemed like a thousand mutters of "Excuse me," and "If you could just..." Troy was on the top floor. He concealed himself behind a support pillar and glanced around for Chad. He winked at Troy conspicuously from across the room, standing in full view.
"So much for discretion," thought Troy and pulled the bobble had from his pocket. He really didn't want to be seen holding the gross garment, so the quicker her got rid of it the better. Troy crept up to Ryan's table and sat down in between him and Sharpay.
"H-hey," he said, turning a shade of puce. Ryan and Sharpay both gave him the same gob smacked look ,and then raised their eyebrows at each other. Troy made sure he kept his hands, and the hat well under the table.
"Well Troy," Sharpay said in a sickly sweet voice, her eyes glinted dangerously.
"What brings you here?" she asked, gave a little giggle and then cocking her head to one side. Troy gulped and looked at Ryan, who seemed to be having trouble keeping down a fit of laughter. He quickly looked away , just in time to see Chad walking towards them. Ryan took a quick glance under the table, spotted the hat and put two and two together.
He leaped backwards out of his seat just as Chad "tripped". The tray soared through the air, and in it's way was Troy. Nearly all the food ended up splattered on Troy's clothes and face, on the floor and even a little bit on Sharpay. She let out a car stopping screech and Ryan stood a few meters back, with a smug smirk. He pulled his hat down further over his eyes and then slipped discretely from the scene.
Troy sat quite still his hands poised up in front of his face in an attempt to shield his eyes. He blinked once, twice and then groaned. So much for a master plan. He glared at Chad and then mouthed "You're dead," at him.
Troy brushed beans from his forehead and hissed as he started to feel the hot tea and coffee scorch his skin. Sharpay seemed to be hyperventilating next to him. She grabbed the front of Troy's shirt and yanked it close.
"What is the meaning of this?!" she hissed, giving him a small shake and the releasing him. She huffed loudly and stormed from the table, knocking over a can of soda in her wake. Troy watched her stomp through the cafeteria until the double doors swung shut behind her. He stood up, peeling his shirt from his skin and thumped the grey hat into Chad's chest.
"Nice plan," he growled lowly and retraced Sharpay's footsteps shaking his head and trying to block out the hundreds of pairs of eyes that were following him.
Troy stood in the toilets. The taps were running full blast and he was dabbing at his face with damp paper towels, trying to remove most of the stains. He sighed angrily, pulled his t-shirt off completely, and threw it in the bin with an angry shout. He looked down at the reddened skin on his arms and chest where the hot drinks had burned him. He yanked a few more paper towels out of the dispenser and ran them under the taps. He squeezed out the excess water and then pressed them onto his stomach, watching his face twist with discomfort in the mirror. Troy sighed and picked a bit of pink jelly out of his hair. (( A/N:XD you guys remember that?))
Suddenly the door of the men's toilets swung open and smashed against the wall behind it. Troy jumped in fright and dropped the towel to the floor with a wet squelch. Ryan appeared framed in the doorway. He chuckled and took his hat off. He smoothed his hair down and replaced it again.
"You master plan didn't work then?" he said and then put his bag on the counter top, casting a sideways glance at Troy, who looked mortified again. Ryan threw a small grey tub with a red label at him.
"It's for burns," he explained as Troy flicked the lid off , sniffed the white paste inside and recoiled. Ryan continued to rummage in his bag as he spoke.
"Thing is Troy," he said pulling out a folded square of cloth. He threw it to Troy who just had time to replace the lid on the cream to catch the t-shirt. Troy took a discrete glance at the label and his eyebrows rose spontaneously. Ryan giggled at Troy's impressed face, and then coughed, expelling his laughter. He handed a white fluffy towel to him and then zipped up his bag. Ryan leaned against the wall and watched Troy dab a small amount of the paste on is arm.
"Just forget what happened in the store cupboard yesterday, I honestly didn't mean it," Ryan shrugged, shuffling his feet in their black Italian leather shoes. Troy didn't respond he just ran a corner of the towel under the tap and scrubbed at his face, evidentially pretending he couldn't hear him.
A few minutes of silence later and Troy was clothed in Ryan's navy blue t-shirt, his burns considerably cooler under their coating of white healing paste. He smiled at Ryan, "Thanks for that," he said. The t-shirt was slightly more snug than he usually liked, but he was thankful to have something to wear. He held out his hand for Ryan, who looked slightly puzzled and then shook Troy's hand firmly.
They both walked awkwardly through the halls. Troy cleared his throat, "So we might as well ditch for the rest of the day," he sighed looking down at his watch.
They both exited through the gym and snook around to the car park where Troy fumbled for his keys. They both got in the car and sat in silence as Troy leaned over to Ryan, their faces dangerously close once again. ...
A/N: MWUHAHAHA...are they going to do what you think they might? You'll have to wait and see! XD
I've finally seem HSM2, thanks Stace for letting me commandeer your television for two days now!
Well Don't forget to review, and sorry this chapter is rushed, I got fed up of it.
Gabriella