Ryan Evens walked confidently down the hall behind his sister Sharpay as all students male stopped their conversations to gaze upon her beauty. And she deserved it too, Ryan knew. He thought he deserved to have a few girls admire him every once in a while, too. But with Troy Bolton around that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Girls seemed to think Troy looked better than any other guy in school. Not that Ryan could blame them. Troy was such a dork, though. Seriously, a guy who throws balls through a hoop, calls it fun, and gets everyone drooling over him for it?
That was why he was helping his sister out here. If she could get Troy to go out with her (personally he couldn't see why Sharpay liked Troy so much either, but whatever) then the rest of the girls would be free to notice his handsome looks and dramatic skills. Not that Sharpay didn't deserve his help getting whatever boy she wanted anyway, but this was a little bonus for him in the mix.
He was a little annoyed about getting detention, but it was only because he had been helping Sharpay with the phone call she thought she would be getting in the middle of class.
It seemed like kind of a stupid thing to Ryan, answering your phone in the middle of class when there wasn't even a call, but what did he know? Certainly his sister would have had a good reason for it. She had a good reason for everything. And who was he to deny her the help she needed?
Of course if he was at home he would probably just be keeping tabs on Sharpay's friends/enemies for her. He supposed that detention in drama class was one of the better things that could happen to him.
He was sure that his sister would find some way to blame the whole thing on him, but he knew that that was just the way she dealt with things.
Sharpay slowed in front of him and he stopped his train of thought to pay full attention in case of a problem. She turned opened the bathroom door.
"I'll just be a moment, Ryan, dear," she purred before disappearing inside, the door slipping shut behind her.
Ryan sighed. There was no problem. And the unspoken command told him to stay there in the hall to wait for her. He knew she would be longer than a moment, though, so he opened the door to the men's room a few feet away and stepped inside.
He would have time.
He hadn't had time.
"There I was, relying on you to be here. Trusting you. And you just walk off to who knows where!" Sharpay groaned dramatically and Ryan mentally rolled his eyes, "Think of the things that could have happened to me!" she continued, "What if I had been mauled by those idiotic jocks running maniacally down the halls?!"
"Troy Bolton is a jock," Ryan mentioned timidly.
"You just don't understand, do you?!" she screeched, "Nobody understands me!"
Ryan sighed and scratched an itch behind his left arm. She would be done with her rant soon enough.
Well, he corrected himself, Not soon enough. But soon, nevertheless.
True to his instinct (and experience) Sharpay's anger was finally reduced to sulking as she walked down the hall with the same proud, confident step of the high-class she always had, her slight frown warning others not to interfere lest they face her wrath.
Seeming to notice his awkward silence, Sharpay slowed her pace slightly and walked closer to her brother.
"That's alright, Ryan," she consoled him, "I'm sure you'll do better next time, won't you?" she looked at him pleadingly.
She must need something from me, Ryan thought absently while his mouth said, "Of course, sis."
She smiled sweetly at him and brought him closer into a hug. Then she jumped slightly and stopped the hug.
"What's on your back?" she asked.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"I said what's..."
"I heard what you said," Ryan interrupted, cringing as an afterthought to what he had done.
But she was so engrossed in thought she didn't notice, "Well, then, what is it?" she asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked, "There's nothing on my back."
"I felt something," she insisted, stopping in the middle of the hall and the few students still left in school streamed around them.
"Like what?" he asked, "A bug?"
"Not like an insect, if that's what you mean," she said with an impatient wave of her hand, "More like an ailment kind of bug," she ran her hand over the back of his shirt again, "Like a sunburn or something. Were you in the sun too long yesterday?" she asked him, suddenly suspicious, "I told you not to stay out too long."
"No," he insisted, "I came in right when you did, remember?"
She blinked, remembering, "That's right. Well, what is it?" and before he could stop her she peered down inside his shirt.
"So what is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed at the liberties being taken. She didn't say anything so he said, "Sharpay? What is it?"
He looked back at her. She was standing behind him, eyes staring into space.
"Sharpay?" his experience told him to leave her to think whatever she was thinking, but she looked more shocked than thoughtful. He waved his hand in front of her face, "Sharpay?"
She blinked and her eyes focused on Ryan's face.
"You've got wings," she whispered.
"I've got what?" he asked incredulously.
"Wings," Sharpay repeated, "Stuck to your back."
"Well maybe you have them too," Ryan said feeling the back of his sister's shirt.
"Don't touch me!" she suddenly shrieked, jerking from his grasp.
She turned and ran back down the hall the way they had come, people parting to make way for her wild dash. Ryan tried to follow, but the seems of the path she had created were already starting to close.
"Excuse me, pardon me, out of the way, let me pass," Ryan said as he frantically tried to weave through the crowd toward his sister.
Sharpay dashed into the ladies' room, the door slamming behind her.
Ryan turned into the men's room and removed his shirt, turning so that he could see his back in the mirrors over the sinks.
It was true.
He had wings. He touched them delicately with his hand, then more firmly as he tried to remove them. But they were there to stay it seemed.
Ryan's eyes widened as he remembered what he had felt on his sister's back before she had ran.
It was rough, like his wings.
He hurried out the door to the hall, struggling to put his shirt back on. He looked up and down the hall, but Sharpay was nowhere in sight.
He heard a high-pitched scream of terror from the ladies' room and suddenly he knew where Sharpay was.
And she had wings.