Ryan stared at Troy disbelievingly.
"You can't be serious," he groaned softly.
"You think you're upset," Troy grumbled, "I just got this car." The athlete sighed. "Do you know a place where we can stay at for the night? Our houses are on the other side of town. I can't possibly coast this new car there, especially with the traffic and the weather."
"My house is not too far from here," Ryan thought aloud, "… I guess you guys can stay at mine and Sharpay's place." Gabriella was already smiling at the idea of seeing where the drama duo lived, and Troy perked up a little at the thought of seeing Sharpay outside of school.
"That'll do just fine," Troy responded, smiling from inside the dry car. Then he looked up and down the soaked teenager outside.
"How far away is your house?"
"Just a block or two; why?"
"Since you're already wet, can you push from behind while I coast the car? This baby's going to need some help," Troy added, patting the steering wheel sadly. Sighing, Ryan considered it for a second. He didn't terribly feel like doing favors for Troy currently, but he didn't want to upset Gabbi. So, he finally went around to the back and began to push after Troy had managed to turn the car around in the direction of the Evan's house. Thank goodness for all of his dance lessons; they had strengthened his muscles.
The muddy journey to his house seemed years long, and during that time Ryan had gotten wetter and wetter by the cold rain until he had started to shiver. Then it was the shivering's turn to become worse and worse, resulting in it becoming very hard to push the barely coasting car. At long last, the reached the Evan's large, three-story house. Troy parked his car in the driveway, and he and Gabbi made a run for it, giggling in their haste. Troy and Gabriella ran all the way to the front doorbell as Ryan slowly caught up. A tall, red-haired lady answered it. She looked down at the still smiling teenagers, and raised an eyebrow amusingly.
"May I help you?" she asked curiously.
"I'm Troy Bolton, and this is Gabriella Montez. My car stalled not far from here, and we were just wondering—"
"Of course you can stay here!" said a cheerful, girly voice from behind the dance teacher. Sharpay popped out around the woman (who's name was Renee), and gave her two friends a huge smile. You see, she had already forgotten that Troy was involved in the argument at the country club- she was just excited to see him at her house. And she would be nice to Gabriella, who wasn't that bad, just a bit possessive of her Troy sometimes. "Anything for Troy and Gabbi" she giggled happily, pulling the two inside. Renee's eyebrows went even higher.
"Oh, so you're those guys. I've heard a lot about you." Then Renee saw the shivering blue-eyed mass still outside. "What happened to you?"
"Who cares!" Sharpay snapped, wishing no attention to be brought to her brother anytime soon. "Come on Gabs, you can borrow my clothes for the night." Ignoring the remarks behind her, Renee yanked Ryan in and began to scold him.
"You are filthy young man; what will your mother say about those ruined clothes. Moreover, you missed almost all of your dance lessons, which will not please your paying parents very much. Go straight to the laundry room and grab a towel that isn't already washed to dry off. And make sure not to track mud on the carpet or flooring, it has just been washed." Ryan nodded humbly, and after dumping out his shoes on the porch ("don't ruin the welcome matt!"), he quickly scooted off in search for a towel.
Sharpay led Gabbi upstairs to get some new dry clothes, leaving Troy stranded in the kitchen. Or maybe not so stranded.
A lady in a sharp business suit came out of nowhere. Merely by her shocking blonde hair, and the way she held herself and looked up and down him as if by cross-examination, Troy could tell that this must be the Mrs. Victoria Evans. He could now see why Renee had been so worried about Ryan and Sharpay's mom being upset; she looked ready to kill.
"So, you are the Troy Bolton I've heard so much about" Mrs. Evans said calmly, still inspecting Troy. "yes…yes you do indeed match her description." The lawyer surprised Troy with a smile. "You are quite an athletic boy."
"Ah…thank you" he said awkwardly, but also feeling relief that he had "passed the test".
"You are staying for dinner, I presume?"
"Yes" He was rewarded with another glittering smile.
"Oh good. I'll go ask Heidi to make something special then. Oh Katie," she added, stopping a nearby cleaning maid, "please escort Mr. Bolton up to William's room; I'm sure my oldest son's clothes will fit him quite comfortably."
"Yes Mrs. Evans," the college-girl responded, and led Troy over to a large spiral staircase. After climbing up to the third floor, she led him down wide hallway where there were 3 doors, each labeled with a different name. A pink door read, "Sharpay ", a red one read, "Ryan" and a dark blue one read, "Will". Katie knocked on Will Evan's room.
"Who is it?" said a low, muffled response.
"It is Katie, with a friend of Sharpay's. He needs to borrow some dry clothes." At last the door opened. A tall and well-built college boy filled the doorway. His light brown hair flopped loosely around, and he looked curiously at Troy. Then a huge smile spread across his face.
"You look just like she described you, Troy" he said, clapping the startled teenager on the back, pulling him in, and closing the door behind them. "You do look just like a popular athlete. Sort of like me." Laughing at this own joke, he walked over to his big closet, leaving Troy to look around the room. Almost every wall space was covered with famous football stars. The visiting college student's desk was covered in complicated-looking math papers, as well as some essays marked with A's. However, Troy didn't have too long to take in the sights, and Will soon returned, throwing some gray p.j. pants and a super bowl t-shirt at him.
"These fit me when I was senior, so they should fit you just fine. The bathroom is down the hallway to the left. The side covered with stuff is mine, so feel free to use it." And with that, the football player strode out of the room, calling over his shoulder, "Dinner's in fifteen minutes."
Once inside the bathroom, Troy shook his head. Will had to be as unlike his younger brother as he had ever seen someone be. Ryan's side of the bathroom was fairly neat, with some marked lines sticky-taped to the mirror. Will's side looked like a typhoon had just bowled through. While deodorant was the main smell on that half, the other side smelled of shampoo (actually, that was because Sharpay loved to steal Ryan's shampoo and put in one that would make it smell better "for the stage" and make it look silky, but Troy didn't know that right now). It was just so weird finding that some of the Evans were actually…well... kind of cool.
Now in fresh (and slightly baggy) clothes, Troy jogged down the stairs just in time for the rather large argument occurring. The main cause could be seen shirtless and still dripping mud in a side room. It seemed that Ryan's mother had discovered her missing son.
"Why did you stay so long afterwards? You missed your dance lessons and managed to completely ruin your nice clothes and the dining room carpet. You then try to cover it up by stealing a towel from the laundry room and dirtying that up too. But was that enough? Oh no-"
"Please, I-"
"Let me finish. I can understand that you would protest against the fact that it was raining. But couldn't you have gotten an umbrella? And how is it that while your two friends came off a little damp, you are soaked through and muddy?"
Ryan had no response, but only hung his head now, letting the scolding soak in as the rain had not to long ago. Why didn't he say something? That there weren't any umbrellas, or he was helping Gabriella with homework, or that he was helping Troy and Gabriella stay dry? He had spoken up against his sister earlier today, why didn't he do it again, instead of just hanging his head and accepting all this blame? Troy wanted to say something himself, but the words stopped on his tongue. His mouth felt numb, and it did not help when Sharpay came skipping down the stairs with Gabriella, both in cute, pink, and sparkly pajamas.
"Come on Troy," Sharpay coaxed, pulling him away from the argument and towards the eating room. When Gabriella stopped at hearing the raised voice, Sharpay grabbed her also. "Don't tell me you want to see Ryan get scolded again for dumping his shirt on the laundry room floor. Daddy wants to meet you two when he gets home, so come on." Seeing Gabbi still lingering, she linked arms with her and tugged more strongly. "And there is nothing to see. Ryan is only flesh and bones; no muscles whatsoever, so there's no point in watching for look's sake." In Gabbi's mind she loudly disagree; Ryan had very nice dancer abs
The three made their way over to the dining room table, where Sharpay told them where to sit. Will soon was there, and Sharpay immediately pointed out to Gabbi the similarities between the two. So it happened that when Mrs. Evans came marching in, the girls were helplessly in giggles. Smiling to herself and saying something under her breath about "teenage joys", and she seated herself at one end of the table. Almost immediately stopping her giggling, Gabbi looked around.
"Where's Ryan?" she whispered to the snickering Sharpay.
"No doubt has been sent upstairs to put on some new clothes. Probably Will's, because Mommy always wants Daddy to easily compare the two when she is ticked off at Ryan; which happens a lot." Giving Gabbi a secret wink, Sharpay turned to her mother to talk about what she had learned in her ballet lessons that afternoon. Playing with her napkin, Gabriella did not smile again, but just folded that napkin many different ways with a furrowed brow, her stomach rumbling, wishing the meal would start soon. It caught Troy's attention. Tapping her hand, he smiled into her face.
"Why so grumpy? Cheer up, we won't have to wait long to start eating." Gabbi smiled weakly at him, but went back to playing with her napkin. She just couldn't get that gnawing feeling out of her stomach; and it was not the kind of gnawing that food could satisfy. She was only brought out of her contemplation when the door behind her clicked, and she whirled around.
Ryan plodded in, looking like a mouse in elephant skins. The obviously to big for him shirt was rolled up many times, as were the pants. His bare feet pattered softly against the cold wood floor as he climbed into his chair in between Troy and Will. Troy was far closer to Will's build than short Ryan. Gabbi had to admit; he did look rather short and skinny next to them. But there was still his certain charm; though squashed and shivering, it was there. He gave Gabbi a warm smile, as if to say, "Don't you look beautiful and aren't I such a dope in this garb?" Gabbi smiled back, feeling her inside churning. Was it just the hunger again or something else? Ryan's grin was soon interrupted by a hard punch in the shoulder. He noticeably winced, making Mrs. Evans frown.
"What say you and me have a wrestling match later tonight, squirt," Will boomed, "you need more practice." Mrs. Evans nodded her agreement, and Ryan hung his head again, nodding in submission. Gabbi felt pity growing in her heart again as Will and Troy chatted about PE when suddenly all their conversations and thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a garage door opening. Ryan's head jerked up, and his face turned as white as the napkins as the table, making him look sick. Gabbi bit her lip. She could guess by the seriousness on everyone's faces what the sound meant. Mr. Jonathon C. Evans was home.