Chapter 4

All day, Kelsi and Ryan were getting along great. In their classes together, they passed notes and whispered to each other and laughed, sometimes getting in trouble with the teachers. Ryan even got Kelsi and Brittany to sit with them at their table. Sharpay, who seemed especially grumpy today, turned up her nose and went to sit with her Drama Club friends.

"Ryan, can I talk to you for a second?" Troy asked. He stood up and gestured over to the other side of the cafeteria.

"Okay." Ryan stood and followed Troy over to a window on the other side of the cafeteria. "What's up?"

"When are you gonna ask Kelsi out?"

"Uh…I don't know…I thought, maybe like when, I mean, you know, I," Ryan stuttered. He hadn't really thought about it, much less planned too.

"Dude, right after lunch, you have English with her, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ask her then, you know, like through a note."

"But Troy, I…"

"No buts. Dude, what did we do all this for?" Troy gestured Ryan's clothes and hair. "We did this so you could impress Kelsi and ask her out. You've impressed her, so now you should ask her out. The year's gonna end soon. It's now or never."

"I guess you're right, Troy," Ryan sighed.

"How else are you gonna find out if Kelsi likes you or not?"

"Well, actually, I already know that she likes me."

"How'd you find that out?"

"I, uh, found her diary when she was, uh, changing in the bathroom and, uh, read it."

"Dude, why the heck did you do that?" Troy screamed.

"Quiet, quiet, don't scream. Yes, I did it, but I don't know why I did it. Sharpay's my twin sister, so maybe it's the little ounce of Sharpay in me."

"Highly probable."

"Look, I'll tell her, I'll just find the right moment to tell her, and when it comes up, I will."

"Okay. You promise?"

"Promise." Ryan shook hands with Troy and walked back to the table. "Where'd Kelsi go?" Kelsi wasn't at the table anymore.

"She said she was gonna go get a couple bags of cookies for us all. She ran out of punch too, so she went to get a refill," Chad said. Suddenly, they heard a loud scream and a crash. They all looked up to see Kelsi on the floor, covered in punch and cookie crumbs, and a bucket was on her head.

"Oh my gosh, Kelsi, are you okay?" Brittany cried. They all ran over to Kelsi, and helped her up. Gabriella yanked the bucket of Kelsi's head and smoothed her hair.

"I was walking back and all of sudden, there was this bucket in front of me and I tripped over it, and it splashed all over me. My punch dumped all over my chest and the cookies got on me, and, and…I don't know. The bucket wasn't there when I walked over to get the cookies and punch, but when I turned around and started walking back, it was."

"Somebody must've put it here on purpose then," Taylor said.

"The question is, who though?" Zeke asked.

"Excuse me," someone said. It was Principal Scott. "What's going on here?"

"Kelsi tripped over a bucket and fell and she got water and punch and cookies all over her."

"I don't have any janitors scheduled to clean up in here until after lunch. There wouldn't be any buckets in here," he sighed. "Well, also, I need to ask a favor. The cooks spilled tomato sauce and some meat and things in the back kitchen, and they need a student to help them. Will one of you help them out?"

"I'll do it Principal Scott!" Sharpay jumped up from the seat on the table next to them and smiled.

"Thank you Sharpay. I'll excuse you from your English class with Mrs. Bunker. Just go into the cafeteria when the bell rings." He walked off and out the doors. Sharpay smiled smugly at Kelsi and waltzed off through the doors leading into the kitchens.

"That girl is up to something." Taylor said, crossing her arms.

When the bell rang, Kelsi headed off to the bathroom like she did every day before English.

"I'll wait for you at the corner of the hallway," Ryan said. Kelsi smiled at him and went into the bathroom and reapplied her makeup and washed her hands. She popped a few mints into her mouth. Once she was done, she walked out to go meet Ryan, with a decision that if Ryan didn't ask her out by the end of the period, she would. But when she stepped outside the door, a large bucket full of chunky tomato sauce, meat, and who knows what else, fell on her head.

"Aaahhh!" Kelsi screamed. The substance went down her shirt and got into her boots and eyes. Chunks were stuck in her hair and ears. Some of it even got in her mouth! When she tried to walk away, she slipped in the puddle and fell down with a splat. "Oh my gosh, this is disgusting! Now Ryan will never go out with me!" she muttered to herself.

"Exactly," someone scoffed. Kelsi looked up to see Sharpay standing over her. "You pathetic composer wannabe. You thought you could go out with my brother and turn him against me and make him work for you instead of me? Well you thought wrong! Ryan works for me and only me! So stay away from him, because he's working for me, not you! If you don't stay away from him, you'll be sorry, 'cause nobody and I mean nobody messes with SHARPAY EVANS!" Kelsi jumped up and ran down the hall, little drops of red falling from her hair and scattering all over the floor.

"Sharpay! What is wrong with you?" Ryan screamed. "What did Kelsi ever do to you?"

"She was going to ruin my career, Ryan! If she took you away, there'd be nobody there to support me and get me up and running on Broadway!"

"Why do you need me anyway, Sharpay? You like having the spotlight all to yourself! At Lava Springs, you ditched me to win the talent show! You didn't need me then, so why do you need me now?"

"'Cause I realized I was wrong then and I want you to do this with me! Why are you defending Kelsi anyway?"

"Because I love her!"

"What?" Sharpay gasped in surprise.

"I've loved Kelsi since we met her in middle school. No matter what anybody did to her or said about her, I still loved her! And she loves me! Now, if you can't handle that, then I most definitely am not starting my career with you!" Ryan took off running down the hall, looking for Kelsi. He finally found her in the bathroom near the music room.

"Hey," he said, coming in.

"What are you doing in here? You're not a girl. And more importantly, what do you want?" Kelsi snapped.

"I came to see how you were doing."

"Don't know why you are, considering you're always on Sharpay's side. You probably were in on all these shenanigans she did to me today, and you're just pretending to like me 'cause you think it's funny to pick on me. So why don't you go and hang out with your stupid sister?" Kelsi glared at him, and then took a swig form her water bottle and swished it in her mouth before she spit into the sink.

"That's not true at all. I didn't know Sharpay was going to do any of the things she did today. I don't want to hurt you, I just…"

"Just what?" Kelsi asked, lifting her head out of the sink and wringing her hair she had been washing.

"Nothing."

"Come on, Ryan. Tell me."

"You're gonna laugh at me."

"No I won't. Just tell me."

"No."

"Ryan!"

"I wanna go out with you!" Ryan blurted out. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands, appalled at what he just said. Kelsi's mouth hung open in surprise. She quickly put some mints in her mouth and shut it, and then went into a stall to change.

"Turn around." Kelsi said. Ryan turned around and faced the door. "Look, I'm not stupid like Sharpay thinks I am, Ryan. I know better. Plenty of guys did this to me in middle school. They thought it'd be funny to toy with my heart 'cause they know I would like to have a guy like me but none of them ever did. So why should I believe you?"

"'Cause I'm not playing. Look at this." Ryan grabbed his journal out of his bag and slipped under Kelsi's stall door. "Page four."

"'Dear Journal," Kelsi read. "'I'm really excited about tomorrow. I'm gonna be dressed up to try to impress Kelsi. The boys took me to the mall today to buy the clothes and stuff. I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm a little nervous, though. Kelsi might say no, which every other girl I've asked out says. But you never know. Gosh, I hope she says yes."

"Turn the page," Ryan called.

"Kelsi is the prettiest girl in the world. Her hair is like bouncy little ringlets of chocolate, cascading in waterfalls. Her blue eyes make me think of the ocean and the sky, sparkling brightly. Every time I see her, my heart soars. Everyday, I wake up thinking about Kelsi. When I go to sleep, I think about Kelsi. I like her so much. I hope one day she will like me as much as I like her.'" Kelsi emerged from the bathroom, dressed in her work out clothes, a white tank top and green sweatpants and jacket. "Is this true, Ryan?" she asked quietly, handing him the journal.

"Every word," Ryan put the journal on the ground and took Kelsi's hands in his. "I've liked you since the first day I met you, back in middle school. I wanted to stand up for you when you got made fun of, but every time I tried, Sharpay would give me this look and get really suspicious. I'm always afraid that people will make fun of me for liking you, 'cause, you know, we're so…different. But I'm ready to let my feelings out, thanks to the guys. They've helped me boost my confidence. And I've also realized I shouldn't care what people think. What matters most is if I'm happy with the way I am. I really wanna be with you Kelsi. I know it's almost the end of the year, but Troy told me it's now or never. So…will you go out with me and be my girlfriend?" Kelsi smiled and hugged Ryan and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that," she sighed. Ryan hugged her back and smiled down at her.

"So, is that a yes?" he chuckled as Kelsi playfully hit him.

"Of course!" Kelsi giggled and kissed Ryan on the cheek. "Come on, let's go." Ryan grabbed Kelsi's bag. They walked out of the bathroom hand in hand. They came around the corner and saw the gang standing at the front of a crowd of kids in front of the bathroom where Kelsi had gotten the gross stuff dumped on her.

"What's going on?" Kelsi asked, pulling Ryan to the front of the crowd with her.

"Sharpay's throwing a tantrum, and people gathered to watch," Brittany explained. Sharpay, indeed, was screaming and yelling, stomping her feet and throwing her arms around. Some of her drama friends were trying to calm her down, but she screamed louder every time they said something to her, so they backed away, slowly, into the crowd.

"I see you two are doing well," Taylor said, smiling and looking at them holding hands.

"Yeah, we're going out now," Ryan whispered to Troy.

"Alright, Ryan!" Chad yelled, giving Ryan a clap on the back. Suddenly, Sharpay stopped, turned, and looked where they were standing.

"You!" Sharpay screamed, pointing at Kelsi. "This is all your fault, Kelsi Nielson! My life is ruined now, thanks to you! I'm never going to be able to start my career on Broadway without, Ryan, now that you've stolen him from me!"

"Shar, calm down," Zeke said, trying to give Sharpay a one-armed hug. But she swatted his hand away.

"I knew this would happen!" she screamed at him. "Now Kelsi's got you on her side too! Great! Why don't you just leave me know Zeke and go run off with goody-two-shoes-little-Kelsi!"

"Sharpay, I wasn't…"

"Don't give me any of your lame excuses, Zeke Baylor!" Sharpay screamed, poking Zeke in the chest. "I know how the world works, don't think I don't! So just go run off with your little playmate! Have fun without me and leave me behind in the dust!" Zeke tried to say something to Sharpay again, but Kelsi held up a hand to stop him.

"It's okay, Zeke. I got this."

"Kelsi, what are you doing?" Ryan whispered in her ear.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Kelsi whispered back. She walked out into the circle where Sharpay stood and took a deep breath.

"Look, Sharpay. It's hard for me to believe we've known each other since middle school and haven't found a way to get along. But I want you to get something straight through your thick skull," Kelsi's voice started to rise, a little anger in her voice each time she spoke. "I am not trying to steal Zeke away. We're just friends. We helped each other out on the dance committees back in high school and we just hang out as friends now. As for Ryan, we can't help it that we like each other." She looked over at Ryan and smiled shyly, who winked at her. She then turned back to Sharpay and continued.

"It stinks it took us this long to express our true feelings for each other – middle school to college. So, quoting someone we all know, 'It's now or never'." She glanced over at Troy and smiled. He smiled back at her and winked. "I never wanted to steal him from you or ruin your career. I just wanted him to go out with me and be my boyfriend. If you can't handle that, then you've got some serious issues. You're always used to getting what you want. Well, news flash, Sharpay! You don't always get what you want in the world! I wanted to be the cool girl, but I'm not, am I? I didn't want to be a pushover, but I was. I'm not anymore. You're not going to tell me what to do anymore! I've finally realized you're a spoiled brat who thinks she's the queen of everything, and I'm not gonna let that happen anymore! Because no one deserves to be treated that way! I'm not your servant any longer, Sharpay. So find your self a new one, you stupid Ice Princess!" Sharpay gasped and looked simply furious.

"Ryan! Did-did you just hear what this little creature said to me?"

"She's not a creature, her name's Kelsi," Ryan said defensively.

"What?" Sharpay squawked. Ryan stepped forward and put an arm around Kelsi.

"Her name is Kelsi. I'm sick of you always being mean to her, Shar. I know we're twins and twins tell each other everything, but I kept my feelings for Kelsi a secret from you all these years. I was always afraid of what you would say and do to me, and I was afraid that everyone else would make fun of me. But, thanks to Troy, I realized I shouldn't care what people think of me, as long as I'm happy. He also taught me you should only care what your friends think of you. And my friends think it's great that I and Kelsi are together. So, if you're gonna act this way to Kelsi, then I will not start on Broadway with you." Sharpay's mouth hung open in shock. Ryan had never spoken to her like this.

"But-but-you're my brother! You work for me and me only!"

"Not anymore. I'm going with Kelsi. So have a nice life, Sharpay. You've always wanted the spotlight to yourself. Now you've got it." Sharpay stood there, flabbergasted. She sputtered and tried to say something, but ended up shrieking in anger, and stomped away. Everyone watched her go, and then they all looked back at Ryan. Suddenly, someone started clapping. Ryan and Kelsi turned to see Troy clapping his hands. Gabriella followed suit, and then Chad and Taylor did, then Zeke, then Brittany. Soon, everyone in the hall was clapping. Chad started a chant, and soon everybody joined in:

"Ryan! Kelsi! Ryan! Kelsi!"