Troy and I had been talking about random stuff on the way home. "You and Sharpay coming to one of the winter musical performances?" Troy had asked casually.
"Yep," I nodded, grinning slightly. Even though I wasn't in it, it was a lot of fun to watch musicals too.
"Which one?"
"Um…" I thought for a second. "The one on Friday."
Troy just nodded. We walked in silence for a few minutes. Troy finally spoke up. "Uh, Ryan?"
"Yeah?" From what I could see, he was trying to gather up courage to ask me something. I had no idea what though.
"You and Sharpay have starred in all the theater productions the school has had, right?" Troy questioned a little nervously.
I stared at him with a puzzled look. Why was he asking such an obvious question? Everyone in school knew the answer. "Yeah. Where've you been?" I figured he was trying to ask me something, but didn't want to offend me or something.
Troy ignored my comment. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but have you two had to kiss?"
I relaxed when that was all he asked. "Yep," I said as if it was no big deal. It wasn't a big deal to me. But apparently it was a big deal to Troy, because his reaction took me by surprise.
"Yep!" he repeated my answer, acting if I was crazy.
I just rolled my eyes. "Uh, yes! Most plays and musicals are romantic to some degree, so there's obviously going to be some kissing involved."
Troy didn't seem satisfied with my answer. He had stopped walking and I walked ahead of him. He ran to catch up to me and walked beside me. "So, you've had to kiss every single time?"
"Not every time," I said truthfully. "We've been able to get around it a few times, but most of the time we've had to kiss."
"How can you be so calm about it?" Troy was almost yelling now. He seemed pretty mad too. I had no idea why. What was the big deal? "She's your sister!"
By then I had just about enough of his attitude. I stopped and stepped in front of him, blocking him path. "You know nothing about acting," I stated simply and resumed walking. "If you knew anything about theater you'd know that when you're acting you're not yourself, you're a character. When Sharpay and I are acting we aren't brother and sister. We're characters. The kissing doesn't mean anything. Get it?"
I shoved my hands in my pockets as we walked along. I had on a rather annoyed expression. I was quite fed up with Troy. He was making this into something a lot bigger than it actually was.
Troy thought for a moment as he took everything in that I said. He nodded, but still tried to argue, "That may be so, but it still seems wrong."
"What do you want us to do?" I demanded. "Refuse to kiss? The whole show would be ruined!"
"I'm not saying you shouldn't kiss," Troy tried to argue. "I'm just saying you shouldn't act like it's so normal."
"For us it is normal," I retorted, starting to raise my voice. "We've been doing this for a long time. It doesn't bother us anymore."
"But she's your sister!" Troy repeated what he said earlier.
"There is nothing wrong with kissing your sister!" I cried. When I realized what I said, I covered my mouth with my hands. Troy gave me a really scared look and began to back away from me. I had to try to cover up. "I meant in theater!"
Troy came closer to me, but still looked scared. He suddenly got a quizzical look on his face. "Wait… do you like it when you kiss?"
My eyes widened at Troy's question. I couldn't believe he asked that! I waved my hands in front of myself defensively. "What? No, no! Are you suggesting that have a crush on Sharpay?"
Troy gave a small nod. "Well, yeah."
I was in complete shock after that. I didn't know how to respond at first. "I do not like Sharpay!" I finally explained.
"Ryan! You don't like Sharpay! I can't believe my ears!" I heard a female voice cry out.
It was Taylor. We had arrived at my house. Taylor was standing in front of it. I groaned at her. Everything I said that day seemed to be said at the wrong time. "I meant like like," I explained. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm looking for Sharpay. Is she home?" Taylor asked simply.
I shook my head. "No. She's at the mall with Gabriella."
"Ok. I better go then. Bye!" she gave a small wave before running off.
I turned to Troy and glared at him. "Let's go study," I retorted angrily. Troy nodded and we headed inside.
I hated showing my anger at Troy like that, but he had made me so mad! I couldn't help it. And what's worse, even though I knew he was wrong, the idea kept bugging at me. No matter what I did it wouldn't leave me alone. Troy had really messed my mind up this time.