The next day, Ryan sauntered into school like he was attending a movie premiere. Sharpay, who always arrived at school like that, didn't seem to notice. Today was the day. He was going to do it, he was going to ask out Chad Danforth. At this point, he was barely even nervous. They'd already kissed twice - how badly could this possibly go, even if Chad had run away that time in the janitor's closet? Ryan was sure that was just from the shock of remembering what happened at the party. After all, it had seemed pretty crazy to him too. But now he'd thought about it, nothing could make more sense. He smiled as he pushed open the doors at the front of East High. Today was the day.
Time seemed to pass impossibly slowly until lunch, although Ryan could not remember a single thing that happened in his lessons. He was too excited about the likelihood of Chad becoming his boyfriend to focus on anything else. When the bell finally rang, Ryan practically sprinted out of his algebra class. He knew that Chad's last class before lunch was right next to the cafeteria, and he wanted to get there before any of Chad's basketball friends did. When he got there, though, it seemed that his luck had run out. Troy Bolton was already sitting across from Chad at the team's usual table, seemingly deep in conversation.
It's okay, Ryan told himself. He didn't have to ask Chad out in front of Troy, he could ask to speak privately with Chad, somewhere away from all the people in the cafeteria. He took a deep breath, suddenly much more nervous than before, and stepped forward towards them. But when he heard Troy's voice, he had to stop.
'So you'll pick Taylor up at seven, and meet us at the restaurant,' he was saying, a confused look on his face.
'Yes,' Chad said. 'For the last time...it really isn't that complicated.'
Troy didn't look like he believed that but that was the last thing on Ryan's mind. Why was Chad picking Taylor up to go to a restaurant? That sounded like… a date?
'But if I meet you at the restaurant, how will Gabriella get there?' Troy asked, sounding quite distressed.
'She can come with you!' Chad sighed. 'Look, I'm not explaining this again. I promise you it will work.'
'Hey! What restaurant are you going to?' asked Ryan, butting in on their conversation with a big smile that wasn't completely genuine. His heart was beating so fast that he felt sure they could hear it.
If it was even possible, Troy looked even more confused at this interruption. 'There's more than one restaurant?!' he said, his hands clutching handfuls of his hair in panic. 'How will I find it?'
Ryan ignored him, looking at Chad instead.
'Um...just the pizza place,' Chad said. Ryan was sure he looked uncomfortable.
'Oh, a basketball team thing?' he asked, trying to keep his tone light.
Chad fidgeted a bit before meeting Ryan's eyes for the first time since he'd entered the cafeteria.
'It's a date,' he said, and Ryan's heart plummeted. 'A double date. I'm going with Taylor.'
'Oh,' Ryan said. He couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. 'I mean...that's great, have fun.'
He turned and walked out of the cafeteria, and continued to walk until he found himself outside the cupboard that he and Chad had occupied only yesterday.
It's funny how so much can change in a day, he thought, and went inside. He sat down and hugged his knees.
By the time he arrived at Taylor's house, Chad had already convinced himself that this was a great idea. He could totally go out with Taylor. She was smart, and cute, and he'd probably get used to her eventually. What's more, his friends approved, and his parents probably would too. He could do this.
Chad rung the bell and immediately heard yelling from inside the house, at least three voices were involved. Oh god what had he gotten himself into, he couldn't do this, he-
'Why are you here?' asked a girl, as she swung open the door. Chad stared. This wasn't who he was expecting to see. She looked like Taylor, only smaller, with curlier hair and bubblegum snapping in her mouth.
'Uh, does Taylor live here?' Chad asked, suddenly worried that he'd got the wrong house.
'Yeah but she's still in her underwear so you're gonna have to wait.'
'Oh…' Chad looked away, embarrassed. He didn't particularly want to think about Taylor in her underwear.
'You can come in if you want,' the girl said. She smiled, and Chad saw that she had a small piece of gum stuck to her braces. 'I'm Brianna.'
'Thanks, Brianna,' Chad said. 'I'm Chad.'
'And you're going on a date with Taylor?' Brianna asked.
'Well, yeah...I mean, more of a friend thing really, kind of…' Chad paused. Why did he feel the need to explain this to Taylor's little sister? He was going to have to be a bit more convincing.
At that moment, Taylor arrived downstairs. She was wearing a red dress that was way too formal for the pizza place he was taking her to, and Chad saw that she had stitched a small white W just under the neckline. He cringed. A Wildcat dress. She leant against the doorframe, shoving Brianna out the way in order to do so.
'Ow, watch it,' grumbled Brianna, but Taylor ignored her.
'Hey, Chad,' she said, 'you look hot. Ready to go?'
'That's er...that's why I'm here,' Chad replied, laughing weakly. He was probably imagining it, but he could have sworn he saw Brianna roll her eyes at him before she went back inside the house.
'Good.' Taylor smiled and stepped towards him. 'I was worried you were just here to…' She paused, looking behind her. She lowered her voice. '...trade clothes.'
Chad started choking and he could feel his face burning. 'No!' he said, a little too fast. 'I mean, maybe later.' He could hear the basketball laughing at him, but he tried to focus his attention back on his date.
Taylor's face lit up. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to his car.
When they arrived at the restaurant, it seemed that Troy had figured out the logistics of getting there, as he was waiting at the table.
'Gabriella's in the bathroom,' he announced as soon as Chad and Taylor arrived.
'Um...hello to you too Troy,' Taylor said.
They sat down and opened the menus.
'So, what are you guys gonna have?' asked Troy 'I'm thinking steak!'
'Troy, this is a pizza parlour.'
'Yeah?'
Chad sighed. Taylor looked confused. Chad guessed that she didn't spend much time around Troy despite being his girlfriend's best friend.
A waiter came over and they ordered. Troy ordered for Gabriella, who was still in the bathroom, and Chad felt sorry for her since he doubted Troy actually ordered what she asked for. A few minutes passed, and Chad attempted to think of something he could talk to Taylor about. He found himself thinking about what he would talk about if Ryan was there. They could talk about dancing, he realised. He could talk about dancing, and he wouldn't have to pretend he didn't know anything about it. He shook his head. No. This was not why he was here. Well, it was, but it shouldn't be. He liked basketball now! And Taylor! Maybe? He was a star basketball player and Taylor was a pretty girl. This made perfect sense.
He was distracted from his thoughts when Gabriella returned to the table. She looked… different. Maybe she was ill? That would explain why she had been in the bathroom so long. Chad was unsure but Troy didn't seem to be worried so it was probably nothing.
'Hi, how are you?' asked Chad, grateful that Gabriella was finally here. He could talk to Gabriella, she was normal. Well as normal as you could be when you were dating Troy Bolton.
'I'm fine, sweetie, but I'm even better now I'm with my Troy again,' she giggled and threw her arms around Troy's neck, starting to kiss him.
'Uh, okay…' Chad turned to Taylor, to see if she thought this was weird as well but as he turned something caught his eye. Or rather, someone.
Was that… Ryan? Chad looked closer. It was Ryan, and it looked like he was on a date with Kelsi! Oh god, this was not happening.
'Are you listening to me?' Chad looked up. Taylor was glaring at him. Chad had no idea what she had just said, but at least she was acting normal again.
'Uh...of course,' he said. 'Um...photosynthesis?'
Taylor narrowed her eyes. 'Right again. Hmmm.'
Gabriella smiled. 'It's so nice to see you kids listening to each other,' she said. 'When I was your age, a boy would ask you to dance at a party but you'd know nothing about him. You wouldn't get to talk to him at all.' She sighed. 'How I envy you guys, your whole lives ahead of you…'
Chad was puzzled by this (Gabriella was their age) but he had more pressing things to think about. Why was Ryan here? Was it just coincidence, or… Ryan did know they were going to be there so had he come here on purpose? But why would he have, that didn't make sense. Chad shook his head, Ryan must have already planned this date and that's why he made that weird face when Chad had told him they would be at the pizza place too. Ryan was probably worried about them crashing it. And Ryan...liked Kelsi, Chad thought. Obviously. The theatre star and the composer. It made sense...didn't it?
He felt Taylor rest her hand on his leg and jumped. She gave him a questioning look.
'Ah, sorry, I just, uh, need to use the bathroom,' he said quickly, before escaping Taylor's hold and almost running to the bathrooms.