Author's Note: Gah! I hate how short this one is. It's pretty much a filler to transition to the beginning of their senior year. :X More excitement is coming soon, though, I promise! So don't get bored and stop reading, haha. Sorry for all of the A/Ns. I don't usually write a lot of these, and I feel that I've been rambling in them much more lately...
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Summer was over, and the Wildcats were back at school. Kelsi and Jason were hiding that their relationship was so on the rocks, and Martha had been steadily moving in on Jason. Kelsi was just glad that Martha liked Jason instead of Ryan. Kelsi was busy dealing with her parents and applying to colleges and the winter musical—which was another Sharpay and Ryan show, of course. The Wildcats didn't feel like doing the winter show. They were all too busy. Kelsi had a lot on her plate, and she wasn't in the mood to be worrying about Jason Cross all the time.
She was glad though because she and Ryan were closer than ever. She found herself liking him more each day, and was struggling to find the line between the real Ryan and her fantasy man. After working on the talent show and the winter musical together, Kelsi and Ryan finally had the friendship Ryan had spent the past two years wishing for. Still, they kept it almost a secret. It was a private thing between the two of them that no one else needed to know about. They had moments that they shared together in the auditorium and in the music room that no one else ever suspected.
Kelsi sat with the girls at lunch. There was the basketball table, and the basketball team's girlfriends' table. Then there was the drama table, which now basically held Ryan and Sharpay. Ryan didn't mind, though, because he almost always left lunch early and met Kelsi in the music room. They had recently spent a lot of time talking about their mutual dream to go to Julliard.
Still, it killed Ryan to know that they were so perfect for each other and that she didn't see it. Kelsi did see it, she just didn't believe it. She was so convinced that she was imagining how great Ryan was. Even Jason seemed great until Kelsi trusted him—then he turned around and started using her and lying to her. No one knew about Jason and Martha, except for Kelsi. Kelsi was too weak to break up with Jason, even though she knew he was being a jerk to her and cheating on her.
Martha had become a cheerleader and went to all of the basketball games, like the rest of the girls did. What no one else knew was that Martha and Jason had been hooking up after the games. Kelsi didn't even really pay attention to the games themselves, though. She was too distracted. She had convinced Ryan to become the Wildcats new mascot, and she thought he was the greatest, most adorable thing in the world when he stepped into that costume. It took her away from her thoughts of Jason and his lying and away from the other stress and drama she dealt with on a regular basis.
"Good job, mascot," Kelsi said after one of the games. He laughed, taking off his head and revealing his sweaty tousled hair.
"I only did this because you were so convincing," he reminded her. Kelsi just smiled.
"You do a great job. After all, I need something to watch when I come to the games, right? I'm not a big basketball fan..."
"Your boyfriend is a basketball player," he reminded her. Kelsi shrugged and sighed, watching Jason go to the locker room.
"I doubt we'll be together for more than another few weeks, anyway," she admitted. Ryan was shocked.
"Really? What's wrong?" he asked. Kelsi looked around and noticed that they were surrounded by people.
"We can talk about it later," she said. "Good job today, Ry," she said again, hugging him before going to find the others.