That Friday Night:

Sharpay wildly dug through her closet, tossing clothes left and right. She had made Ryan help her choose, because she wanted a boy's opinion.

"What do you think of this one?" she asked, holding up a sparkly, long, purple dress in front of her. "Too fancy?"

"It's a just a movie theatre, Shar" Ryan groaned, wanting to go take a nap. "Just put on a nice shirt and some jeans." His sister glared at him.

"It is not that simple, Ryan! We girls take over an hour to pick out an outfit! Everything has to be coordinated just right!"

"Fine then, I'll just leave" Ryan stood up, but Sharpay immediately threw her arms around his waist, giving him a little-sister, puppy-dog smile that she knew he couldn't refuse. He was a softie like that; he hated to see girls "upset".

"Aww, stay RyRy, I need your help" she said, going back to a childhood nickname she had given him. "Please?" Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll stay" he said, flopping onto her bed, hoping to catch a few moments of sleep in between this pain-staking process. Sharpay smiled at him, and skipped back over to her closet.

An hour and a half later, Ryan and Sharpay emerged from the room, Sharpay in tight jeans and a dark green, pretty shirt. Ryan trudged down the stairs, mumbling about how ridiculous girls were. He hitched a ride over to his night-job, and Sharpay got picked up by Troy at exactly 7 pm. His car was now working nicely, and-though Sharpay did not know it-, he was wearing the same outfit he had met Gabriella in last New Years Eve.

They reached they theatre and bought their tickets without any mishap. Sharpay went inside the actually theatre to reserve seats, and Troy walked over to buy them some food.

"Excuse me," he asked distractedly to the nearest worked, about to ask them how much two combos would cost, when he jumped in recognition of the familiar voice and blonde hair.

"What are you doing here Ryan?" he asked, gaping at him. Ryan raised an eyebrow. He was now wearing the typical Gateway t-shirt and hat, with some baggy jeans.

"I work here, smart one," he said in a "duh" voice, "this is my night job."

"Oh…" Troy said, and then forked over the money, still weirded out by the fact that Ryan Evans did anything outside of school besides dancing. It was the same sort of feeling you get when you see your teacher at the grocery store; it just isn't right. Ryan gave him his change, and then quickly ran off to go clean up a huge mess of popcorn in theatre 8.

Shaking his head, Troy walked over to theatre 5, where Sharpay was waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" she asked, accepting her small sprite, and holding the bag of popcorn for him.
"I didn't know your brother worked here," he responded, "and we ran into each other. Just surprised me a little." Sharpay's eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about his job here. And if I know Ryan, he will probably go into "protective-older-brother" mode, and chaperone this movie."

"But he's your twin- not your older brother"

"He was born a full 20 minutes before me, so I consider him an older brother. He acts far more like one then Will does." Hushing Troy suddenly, she looked eagerly up as the screen as the lights dimmed and the ads began.

"It's just the ads," Troy whispered at her.

"I know, but it feels weird to talk during these. Besides, I might see a movie I like!" Winking at her boyfriend, Sharpay focused back on the movie. Out of the corner of his eye, Troy could see the "chaperone" for the movie walking down the other isle. He could tell by the glint of blonde hair that Sharpay was indeed correct; Ryan was going to be watching him. What a paranoid.

Troy felt a small nudge on his leg, accompanied by a small "'scuse me", and as he stood to let the person pass by, they both suddenly recognized each other, and cried out at the same time.

"TROY!"

"GABRIELLA!"

Hearing them yell, Sharpay stood up, pushing Gabriella far away from her man, knocking the popcorn out of Gabbi's hands.

"What are you doing here, Montez?" she asked spitefully. "Couldn't get over the fact that Troy dumped you for me?" Gabbi stared at her, then at Troy, her hands clenching into fists.

"You're already dating her??" Gabbi managed to spit out, wanting currently nothing more than to slap Troy across the face. All of a sudden, she heard a cry of pain, and realized that for once in life, she had slapped a guy.

"DON'T YOU DARE SLAP MY BOYFRIEND!" Sharpay screeched, yanking on Gabbi's hair. People all across the room were yelling at them to shut up, and the chaperone came running over.

"Come on guys, break it up or leave" Ryan said, hoping they wouldn't recognize his voice. No such luck.

"Ryan, you tell your sister and her boyfriend that they need to grow up and get the heck away from me!"

"Don't listen to her Ry, she's nothing but a liar!"

"You must be mistaking me for your boyfriend!" As the two lunged at each other, Ryan pushed them apart.

"I mean it, stop it!" he said, having a very hard time restraining Sharpay. "Shar, leave Gabriella alone!"

"LEAVE GABRIELLA ALONE!" Sharpay yelled, turning on her brother. "SHE STARTED IT!"

"Shar, please-"
"Ryan, don't believe your sister, help me please!" Gabbi begged, the tears in her eyes making Ryan's heart tear to pieces. His sister or the girl he liked.

"Shove out and shut up Ryan" Troy said, sick of this guy interfering, and shoved Ryan out of the seats so he fell head first down a few steps. Massaging his sore head, Ryan saw Troy turn back to try and calm the girls. Amidst the clamor, he heard Troy say the distinct words, "He never has fought back, don't worry Shar. Your brother will leave us alone now."

Ryan's head surged with memories. Memories of his dad telling him to be more like a man. Memories of Sharpay pushing him to the shadows, as he made no noise in protest. Memories of his mom dressing him up in bright-colored clothes. Memories of kids at school laughing at him while muttering "gay" comments. Memories of his brother wrestling him, leaving him sore for two weeks afterwards. Memories of Troy and his basketball friends giving each other those "secret" grins whenever he walked into the room, making it clear they had been talking about him. Memories of Gabriella telling him to stick up for himself. There she was now, yelling at Sharpay and Troy, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ryan slowly stood, as if in a dream. His ears seemed to have stopped working as he walked over to Troy, with only one thought on his mind.