Hi guys. Thanks for the reviews. I love hearing from everybody. I just have to warn you that my computer has recently gotten messed up and I no longer have my Word. But I don't want to leave you guys hanging, so I'm typing it on WordPad. Sorry for my terrible spelling! I can't spell without those little red lines. When I get Word back, I'll fix all that stuff.
All Alone with No One to Hold
Chapter 3: Taken Away
Finally, they walked into the bowling alley after endless flirting between the two lovebirds to find everybody else standing in a lane with their bowling shoes already on.
"Sharpay! I'm so glad you're here!" Gabbi squealed as she ran over to Sharpay and gave her a huge girly hug. Ryan just rolled his eyes. Sharpay may pretend to be close to everybody, but Ryan knows she would never forgive anybody who knocked her down a step in life. The only reason she was nice to all of these people was because she wanted to stay where the power is.
"Come on, guys, let's get this game started!" Chad said, putting his arm around Zeke and pushing him in the direction of the shoe rentals.
"Sharpay, I can't wear those shoes! Look at them! I didn't pick out this outfit for nothing!" Ryan whispered to Sharpay. Her only response was a glare.
"Ryan, nobody cares what kind of shoes you're wearing. Just put them on and don't make a scene," Sharpay ordered, then turned away. Ryan rented the shoes, but couldn't help but grimace as he put them on. The flourescent orange and purple shoes stuck out like a sore thumb next to his well thought out outfit.
"You're up, Ryan," Troy said. Ryan looked up at the screen with the scores. Had everybody really gone already? When he looked up, he realized why they had all gone so fast. There were five strikes up on the board! Even Sharpay got a spare and Ryan couldn't remember the last time they'd gone bowling together.
Ryan took a breath and grabbed the lightest ball there, the orange 7 lb. ball, closed his eyes, and rolled it down the lane. He almost didn't want to open his eyes, but when he did, it wasn't a pretty sight. He could already see the ball sailing down the gutter. He turned around and saw everybody trying to hold back their laughter.
"I haven't really done this in a while," Ryan said, his face turning bright red. On his second try, he managed to knock down six pins. He turned around, waiting to be congratulated, but saw that nobody was looking at him, they were all talking to each other. He sighed as he walked back to his chair and sat down. That was when he realized that he didn't fit in. He was an outcast.
"Ryan, what did you think you were doing going out like that?" That was the first thing Ryan heard when he walked throught the front door. His mother immediatally grabbed his arm and pulled him into the dining room where his dad was already waiting for him.
"We give you all of the freedom in the world. We don't pressure you to do anything. You're allowed to do anything you want. You do your theater when you want and you have your social life when you want. You've been pretty good about balancing everything so far, but after this, I'm not really sure!" Ryan could feel his throat burning up. Report cards were supposed to come in some time this week and he knew he didn't do so well. His parents weren't the punishing type, but how far out of the loop would he be if he wasn't even allowed to go otu when he wanted to?
"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry! I know I'm not doing to well in school. I'll try to get my grades up. I'll get a tudor.Anything, please, just let me do stuff with my friends," Ryan pleaded. There was a look of shock on his mother's face.
"I'm glad to hear that you care about your grades, and I'm proud of you for wanting to get a tudor, but right now, I'm more worried about your acting career! You recently destroyed it by losing a simple lead and instead of searching for a way to make it all better, you're out associating with the people who robbed you of your natural talent! I expect for you to stay away from those kids and focus more on your acting and singing. And raising your grades would be nice, too."
"Mom! Those kids are my friends! I haven't had friends in years, I've just been with Sharpay. The second something good happens, you take it away from me!"
"Maybe just having Sharpay was good for you. When you two get to Broadway, you'll be there for each other, but your friends won't be there. They'll be gone! And you will make a new friend, your tudor."
"Why are you just mad at me for this? Sharpay was there, too!" This time, Ryan was close to tears.
"At least Sharpay tried to stop those kids from stealing her role. You just stood there. She's just with them to get a name for herself. She's being smart. You're looking at this entire situation the wrong way. You should be more like your sister."
"For the past ten years, I've been exactly like my sister. For once, I want to be something else. I thought you would like that. I guess you can only deal with one personality and you want Sharpay's more than mine." Ryan stormed up to his room, not caring whether or not what he said made sense. How could life get any worse?
