Okay, I know that some of you might not like this chapter or the direction this story is taking. It seems like a step backwards in the whole Chyan thing to me as well, but that's what's needed right now. More explanations (ramblings) at the bottom of this page.
Chapter Nine
When Chad emerged from his room on Saturday morning he knew that the night had been far too short for his own liking; he'd barely gotten three hours of sleep. But at the same time it couldn't have ended quickly enough for him because…
Well, let's just say the amount of turning around sleepless he'd done that night was enough to make his muscles cramp and ache in all the wrong places. And his head felt twice as big as normal from all that thinking.
But, and that was the worst part, it had gotten him nowhere so far. Chad was still just as confused as he'd been yesterday over the course of Gabriella's party.
So while he prepared breakfast and took some juice out of the fridge (without sparing a glance at the stupid Michael Crawford who he just knew would be smirking at him from his mom's diet food) Chad tried once more to summarize his problem in one simple thought.
Ryan Evans, Drama King and secret baseball crack (whom he still hadn't gotten onto the team, Chad suddenly remembered his original plan)… that one Ryan Evans had somehow become a lurking constant on Chad's mind.
Okay, Ryan had become a guy he hung out with in school, too. And he had become a friend, he'd said so himself last night… but all that didn't explain why thoughts of the blond boy wouldn't leave his mind for hours.
Because… Troy was his friend, too, his best friend since ever; and he didn't lurk around Chad's brain constantly.
So why was the thing with Ryan different?
Chad sat at the kitchen table, sipping his orange juice, and wracking his brain for an answer to that.
But it wouldn't come up with anything.
Well, at least nothing acceptable for Chad.
Yeah, right… and denial was a river in Egypt, wasn't it?
While Chad spent his weekend happily ignoring the meaning of everything his mind threw at him he kept himself busy trying to come up with a plan how to convince Ryan to eventually join the baseball team. Because… well, if thoughts of the blond were constantly creeping around his mind no matter what, then Chad could just as well use those thoughts creatively, right?
Okay, so while Chad was keeping himself busy Ryan didn't have any chance escaping to denial-land over the weekend.
Sharpay's constant pestering to talk about the nightmare forced him to face what he knew already anyway.
He liked Chad, period!
Over the course of the last few weeks, or ever since their summer at Lava Springs really, Ryan had come to like the jock. And not just as a friend. He knew he wanted more.
But, and that was the hard part, it would never happen, would it?
Chad was straight.
And even if he miraculously wasn't, someone like Chad would never let himself fall for a guy wretched like him. Someone eaten up by stupid nightmares and internal scars (the ones outside might even be considered sexy).
It wouldn't happen and he had to deal with it.
And it wouldn't change anything if he'd tell his sister about all this. Even Sharpay, for whom the word 'impossible' simply didn't exist in vocabulary, even the overall feared Drama Queen wouldn't be able to change the fact that it would never happen.
So why bother?
Ryan was an Evans after all.
And as an Evans he'd long ago learned to only play the games you knew you could win. Everything else shouldn't even make it onto his radar.
Well, but somehow Chad had and now Ryan simply needed to get him off again (off the radar!).
Ryan knew of course that it wouldn't be easy, now that he and Chad were friends. He couldn't simply go and ignore the jock from now on in school.
And he realized that he didn't want to. He still wanted to be friends with Chad and the other Wildcats, he wanted to stay inside 'the inner circle' (that's what Gabriella had called them, right?).
He just needed to find a way to stop thinking of Chad as more than a friend. Chad the potential boyfriend didn't exist.
Ryan was determined to get that into his head, and Chad out of it. He wouldn't even let Chad enter his dreams anymore, not the nightmares and certainly not the other, more pleasant dreams he'd had about the jock.
He simply wouldn't!
On Sunday evening Sharpay was finally coming to the conclusion that her brother really had changed over the summer.
He'd grown somehow.
Because no matter how she'd tried to sweet-talk details about the nightmare out of him, he simply hadn't budged.
She'd tried to be gentle, insightful even (not an easy task but she was an actor after all) and when that hadn't worked she'd changed tactics and had gone into true Sharpay-mode. But not even the threatening ice-princess had been able to coax anything out of him.
Ryan had shrugged it all off with a simple "Don't bother, Shar. Just forget about it!"
But that was easier said than done.
Sharpay didn't exactly know why but seeing her twin spill his guts out because of a stupid nightmare had bothered her more than she'd ever let on.
The Drama Queen remembered all too clearly the countless nights years ago when those nightmares had come quite frequently. It wasn't something Sharpay needed to ever witness again: the slow but gradual destruction of Ryan's persona.
No way was she ever gonna let it get that far again, she was Sharpay Evans after all. She was the declared Queen of Scheming and she would come up with something to nip this upcoming disaster in the bud.
What had made those damn inconvenient dreams go away again those years ago?
A vivid image of Ryan pushed up against the tool shed with Miguel all over him came to her mind instantly and Sharpay's face changed into a knowing smirk.
Starting tomorrow in school she would find something to make everything right again.
Or, well… someone.
Sharpay grinned and turned around in bed, knowing that even if tonight she would be woken by another one of Ryan's nightmares… come tomorrow she would have the solution.
Sharpay had spent her entire Monday morning classes outlining the little scheme in her head. Ryan needed a distraction, a happy distraction from his nightmares and all she had to come up with was someone who would be willing to… ahem, distract him. There had to be someone suitable in school, some gay guy secretly crushing on her brother, right?
Ryan wasn't unattractive at all; how could he be with her as a twin? They shared most genes after all. He was good-looking, fashionable (with a little help from her), rich… and he even was funny sometimes…
So… all in all Ryan Evans was a good catch.
And Sharpay was sure that there were dozens of students who thought so as well. She simply had to find one and convince him that he actually had a shot.
That's why the Drama Queen started to take a closer look on her group of followers during lunch break; trying to separate, possibly for the first time in her life, the ones that were fawning over her from the ones that seemed to be subtly paying more attention to Ryan.
And by the end of lunch-time Sharpay had singled-out the perfect candidate.
What was his name again?
Oh, well… she didn't bother as long as he would do the job.
Sharpay had to admit that the boy didn't seem to be the brightest but he was clearly gay (one single look at his clothes was enough). He seemed to hang onto Ryan's every word, which was a good enough confession for her.
And although Sharpay remembered him to be a truly terrible singer (or no singer at all) and Sharpay wondered why Ms. Darbus had let him join the Drama club in the first place, she also remembered his stubborn determination when he'd auditioned for the last winter musical. He hadn't been able to memorize the simplest lyrics then but had read them off his hand and even that he'd done wrong…
But Sharpay couldn't help but think that the boy had gone through all of this only to get her brother's attention.
Well, not the very best plan, Sharpay had to admit it. Humiliating yourself and being noticed only because of your lack of talent, being made the laughing stock of the auditions…
… well, but he HAD been noticed after all.
'Alan, that's his name!' Sharpay remembered all of a sudden.
Well, if the boy had made it so far onto the Drama Queen's radar that she even remembered his name then he was clearly good enough to be the one to get Ryan distracted enough for the stupid nightmares to vanish, right?
"Right," Sharpay said to herself and stood up to leave the cafeteria. She noticed that Alan was the last one to follow and smiled inwardly at how easy this all turned out to be.
Without a word she motioned for Ryan and the others to walk on without her and then she suddenly grabbed Alan by the collar and pulled him into a deserted part of the halls.
"Alan," she said sweetly and smiled when she noticed the boy nearly fainted at hearing his name coming from the Drama Queen's lips, "you will do me a small favor, won't you?"
"Ugh, I… surely!" Alan managed to stutter and listened breathlessly while Sharpay gave her instructions.
TBC
Okay, explanation time: After the party and the karaoke and how the boys reacted to each other I feared that if I went on in that pace the story would be over soon. And I didn't want that because of all the things I didn't get to write yet. Many of you asked if Ryan would play baseball eventually and that's why I had to get Chad back on track trying to get Ryan onto the team. And as for his denial: well, Chad's in denial because I just don't know how to write his feelings. And I also think that he's simply the type for denial.
As for Ryan: Reading over the party scene again I noticed that I made him too vulnerable and soft for my own liking. I mean, he's Sharpay's twin after all and in HSM2 he showed that he's a strong character and he's able to come up with plans and schemes for himself… so I needed him to be a bit more… determined and Evans-like I guess.
And Sharpay: I've really come to like writing her and she's just the right one to cook up a plan that will lead this fic to less mushiness and more fun and hotness. And if you don't like the way this is going I'm sorry but… I promise the part with this other guy Alan (I somehow liked him in HSM1) won't take too much space in this fic, this is Chyan after all. But I can't promise you there won't be some Ryan/Alan in the next part because… well, that's what's in my head right now. Sorry.
Your opinion…?
