Chapter Three
Kissing cheeks, promising to stay in touch and standing still long enough for Troy to give him one last slap on the back, Chad wheeled his suitcase towards the terminal entrance. Taylor, waving enthusiastically as Troy and Gabriella sped away from the airport, commented,
"Well, I thought that was quite enjoyable overall."
Chad looked over his shoulder to reply, but she had already strode passed him and was organising a trolley and checking flight times.
Fortunately, they didn't have long to wait and were soon boarding the plane. Somehow Taylor have managed to wrangle an upgrade from the legal company where she was employed, so Chad found himself reclining in comfort amongst the business class. With a slight smile he imagined his own computer graphics company, with its shabby offices and worn down carpet, funding anything more than a new printer.
The plane began its ascent and as one, the wealthy passengers opened their laptops and turned on their phones, despite the warning lights still flashing. Feeling a little out of his element, Chad saw that these were the kind of people who owned three sports cars, at least two houses and a membership to Lava Springs.
How long had it been since he'd spared a thought for that place?
Without realising it, Chad had spoken aloud and Taylor replied,
"Sorry, I can't talk now. I've really got to take this call."
She clamped her phone to her ear and spoke quietly, with increasing speed. Knowing from experience that she was building up to a full blown rant, Chad pitied her colleague on the receiving end. Reclining in his luxurious leather seat, he closed his eyes and cast his mind back to that endless summer of disputes, dancing and discovering that his assumptions were not always correct.
****
It had seemed the perfect plan when Troy had first suggested it: a paid job where he would be able to spend as much time as he wanted with his friends. That was, of course, before they realised that Lave Springs was owned by none other than the Evans' themselves.
He may have played the part of a dissatisfied best friend, regretting having accepted the job, but it was clear that Troy should be the one considering leaving to escape from Sharpay's talons. A mind like Troy's, however, never looked further than the here and now so for him, a summer spent there could only have a positive outcome.
Sharpay had been her usual interfering, manipulative and, ultimately, desperate self and at the time, Chad had assumed that her brother was nothing more than her poodle, as he so charmingly called himself.
The staff baseball game had changed his opinion pretty quickly and to the surprise of everyone, not least himself, Ryan had proved to be an entirely different person from spineless sidekick they had assumed him to be. Of course, Chad thought with a quiet chuckle, Ryan still had the Evans' manipulative streak; how else would he have been able to convince the entire Wildcat team to learn a dance routine? In Ryan, Chad had found someone surprisingly similar who was able to crack a witty joke, sometimes at his own expense, and talk about more than basketball and girlfriend issues.
Yes, that summer was ingrained the deepest on his memory despite, or perhaps because, of the absence of Troy.
Chad's secret smile faded as he remembered his senior year. Back in the chaotic atmosphere of East High, with the stress of college applications and musicals, there had been little time for fragile, new friendships so his relationship with Ryan had been put on hold indefinitely. They still acknowledged each other, were friendly even, but it wasn't the same closeness that they had shared over the summer and Chad regretted that sorely.
All he knew was that Ryan had accepted his Julliard scholarship, which he had undoubtedly earned, and headed to New York with Kelsi. Perhaps, if he had been able to attend the reunion, they would have exchanged a few words, but instead he had enjoyed Troy's inane conversation for just about as long as he could tolerate.
It would have been nice to see everyone else as well: he'd heard nothing from Zeke and Jason was married with children, that much he knew, but he had been unable to make it to their christenings. The missed opportunity of see Ryan stung more than he thought possible and in an attempt to put those uncomfortable thoughts out of his mind, he opened his eyes.
Taylor was engrossed in a weighty looking novel with words printed so small she had to hold it up to her face. Not wanting to disturb her, Chad spent the remainder of the flight inspecting the seat in front of him and trying not to think of Ryan.
****
"Right, I'll be back in a minute or two, just go and wait for me somewhere."
"Okay, I'll be standing just over there," Chad indicated one of the entrances to Albuquerque's airport and Taylor raised her hand to show she understood as she headed in the direction of the toilets. Wheeling the trolley of suitcases towards the door, Chad found a space and leaned against the wall with his hands shoved deep inside his pockets.
Hearing the sound of screeching tyres, he turned like everyone else, and saw a taxi pulling up to the entrance, its passenger stumbling out and thrusting a handful of change at the driver.
As the taxi drove off, the passenger hurriedly wheeled his small suitcase towards the airport and in his haste, somehow tripped over and landed sprawled on the pavement.
Chad's heart stopped for an instant as he recognised a brightly coloured hat, knocked slightly askew, on light blond hair and realised that it was –
"Ryan!"
Lifting his head slowly, his cheeks stained a deep crimson at being recognised making a fool out of himself, the man's eyes widened in shock.
"Chad?"
"Do I look like anyone else? Here," Chad offered his hand and Ryan took it gratefully, pulling himself up.
"How are – "
"How've you – "
Laughing as they spoke in unison, they moved away from the door and Chad repeated,
"So, how've you been, man?"
"Quite well, thanks. I'm just flying back to New York to clear out my apartment and then moving back here for a while."
"You're moving back here?" Chad asked, astonished.
"Everyone seems so surprised by that. I guess I did go on about how fantastic it would be to leave there, but," Ryan shrugged, "I need a change."
"Fair enough. Change isn't always a bad thing, although I do wish my relationships with some people had stayed the same."
Ryan raised an eyebrow at that, causing a peculiar butterfly-like feeling somewhere in Chad's stomach.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I've just come back from visiting Troy and Gabriella with Taylor, and it feels completely different from high school."
"You can't expect everything to stay the same forever, Chad, but it's nice you're still in contact with Taylor. I always found her more interesting than Gabi."
"Oh, well, we're........" Chad hesitated, and altered his words." We were quite close during senior year."
Ryan nodded and seemed about to ask something more when he glanced at his watch quickly.
"Damnit, I really have to go." He appeared to agonise over whether he could spare a little more time, but knowing the plane wouldn't wait for him, touched Chad's arm briefly, saying,
"We should meet up sometime, when I get back."
"Yeah, yeah, we should," Chad cleared his throat, realising he sounded a little overenthusiastic and added, "Mind you don't trip over that bag again."
Blushing slightly, Ryan grinned and sped off in the direction of the check-in desks. Chad watched his brightly coloured hat for as long as he could, still staring after him when the crowd had long since hidden him from view.
"Who was that?"
"Chad jumped as Taylor's voice cut into his thoughts; he obviously hadn't noticed her return and answered,
"No one in particular, I just helped them with their bags."
"Well, don't just stand there staring. Help me push this trolley to the car."
Chad followed her slowly, his thoughts still on the bizarre coincidence: how often did it happen that after thinking about someone, someone you hadn't seen in year, you bump into them a few hours later?
With a newfound spring in his step, Chad wheeled the trolley through the car park.
It was only when he was pulling into their driveway that he stopped to wonder why he hadn't admitted to being married and why he had decided to keep his chance meeting with Ryan a secret from Taylor.
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