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CHAPTER ELEVEN
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-----FLASHBACK-----
Ryan walked through the halls of the NASA somewhat nervously. He knew that he was at least ten years younger than the youngest person working there. They had a minimal age requirement of 26 that was only broken for unusual circumstances.
Ryan looked down at the tiny map in front of him, an asterisk indicating his final destination. As he slowed his step, trying to find his bearings, he found himself flying through the air and hitting the ground, hard.
He looked up dazedly and saw off to the side a group of young men laughing and pointing at him, one of which had a sneer of triumph on his face.
"So you're the new kid, the 'genius' who's here to solve the mysteries of the universe."
Ryan looked down, "I'm not at liberty to discuss the experiment with you," He said as bravely as he knew how. He didn't want any trouble and knew that there would be no one there to help him if he did.
"Oh," the man said going over to help Ryan up. Ryan assessed him quickly.
He looked to be a little younger than 30 with dark hair, eyes and the shadow of a beard. Ryan concluded logically that this man must be the youngest person working there and therefore felt threatened by Ryan. The writing on his chest read 'Steven, engineer in training.'
"Thank you, Steven." Ryan said quietly, instantly suspecting something was wrong. It was illogical that this man, who Ryan was sure had been the one who tripped him, would so soon try to help him.
"No problem, and hey, I'm sorry for tripping you. This is your first day here, right?"
Ryan relaxed a trifle. Maybe this guy wouldn't be so bad. "Yeah it is."
"Well let me help you, where are you trying to get to?" Ryan handed over the map and pointed to the star. "Oh, you're trying to get to Mr. Avery's office. Well right now we're here," Steven said, pointing to a corner. "So if you turn left the keep walking straight until you reach the door numbered 20034, then turn right and go up the stairs you should be fine." With a smile, Steven handed back the paper to Ryan.
Ryan smiled back eagerly. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.
-----END OF FLASHBACK-----
"And?"
"It was a supply closet." Ryan said, feeling slightly ashamed at having been tricked so easily.
"What a scum bag." Troy said mildly. "And I'm assuming that other things happened?"
"Yeah, like a lot of teasing. People made fun of me because I was so young. Steven was the worst. I think he was just jealous. I dreaded going every day. I learned to keep my cell phone on me at all times and even had the Superintendents' number on speed dial from being locked in rooms and closets all the time."
"Didn't he suspect anything?"
"Nah, if I'd said anything it would only have been worse. I'm quite a convincing liar."
"But why would that impact your decision here at home?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes exasperatingly. "Troy, kids are cruel, and we are cruel. We always tease people who are different and make their lives miserable. Ryan just wants to be normal so he never has to go through that again."
Troy raised an eyebrow at Ryan, who was sitting on the bed, re-living the awful memories at the NASA base.
Troy nodded, seeing that Ryan was serious. "Well I'll try my best. I'm sorry that I forced you to come to lunch today. I didn't realize how you felt."
Ryan looked up and smiled. "Don't you worry, Troy. It felt nice to be with other people again and not just Sharpay and I."
Troy's eyes narrowed. "How on earth do you stand it? I listened to them today; they treated you like a little child! Like you don't even understand two-syllable words!"
Sharpay gave a bitter laugh. "Now you know how I feel." She looked at Troy with a wealth of emotion in her eyes. "Every day I have to hear people tease Ryan because they think he's dumb. You think I don't hear what they're saying? Well I do. It's only because Ryan wants it to remain a secret that I've kept quiet for so long."
Sharpay looked at Ryan softly. "Not that you need me to fight your battles, Whiz."
"Puh-lease," Ryan laughed. "I could kick their butts."
"Really?" Troy asked, remembering what Ryan had said earlier about taking Chad on.
"Of course. I work out every day and go down to the local gym once a week."
"Ryan, Sharpay, we need to leave, like now, if we're to make reservations on time." Their father shouted up the stairs.
"Oh, Troy," Sharpay said as they led him to the door. "You weren't able to make it to the ACDC yesterday I noticed-"
"Yeah, dad called an emergency basketball meeting." Troy explained, not wanting them to think he hadn't gone on purpose.
"Well I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come with me tomorrow instead. I'd really like another teenager there to work with."
Troy nodded. "Okay, after school? I'll meet you on the bus, since we don't want anyone getting suspicious about your secret."
Sharpay grinned. "You mean Gabby don't you?"
"Huh?" Troy was shocked that Sharpay could be so sharp.
"It's obvious you like her, Troy. You don't want her to see me with you and get the wrong impression." Sharpay grinned.
"Uh," Troy said unsurely, seeing that he was trapped.
"Troy, it's obvious." Ryan stated firmly. "As if you almost sacrificing basketball wasn't enough, that little kiss on the cheek after call-backs was a dead give away. Why didn't you make a move after that?"
"Well, I guess I don't want to move too fast. We're good friends and I don't want to jeopardize that relationship." Troy shrugged. "But anyways, I've gotta go. I'll be late for dinner." With that Troy practically ran out of the door, wanting to get as far away from the Evans's and their probing questions as possible.
Sharpay rolled her eyes and looked at Ryan. "This will take some planning," she said with a wink as their father hustled them towards the car.
A/N: Okay, everything about NASA I made up, I know that they probably wouldn't stand for bullying there, but I had to think of a reason why Ryan wouldn't want people to know. And kids really are cruel.
Just to clarify, this will NOT be a Troy/Sharpay or Troy/Ryan. I have other plans for the Evans's…