Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical. I don't own John Mayer or his music. I only own Rachel Hamilton.
Full Summary: He was the school's leading man. She was the girl no one wanted. What happens when they are forced to work together?
Author's Note: First High School Musical fic. Wow…I fell in love with this movie! And I love Ryan Evans! Lucas Grabeel was awesome in the movie and I like his character.
- Pairings: Troy/Gabriella, Chad/Taylor, Ryan/Rachel, Zeke/Sharpay, Jason/Kelsi

Love Song For No One
(formerly Let The World Hear You)
By: that drama queen

Chapter 3: So Tired Of Being Alone

In the middle the hallway shortly after the Evans twins left, Kelsi came across Rachel, whose locker happened to be close to hers. She gave her younger classmate a nice bright smile but Rachel's face remained blank.

"Hey, Rachel, have you and Ryan discussed your duet yet?"

"No," the taller brunette replied.

"Listen, maybe you guys could discuss it tonight! I mean I know he's not busy tonight," Kelsi suggested, her eyes sparkling as she thought, "I know Ryan's got a crush on her…he'll thank me for this!"

Rachel replied edgily, "I don't know who you are but you have no business telling me how to deal with my duet partner."

"Rachel, just give him a chance," Kelsi pleaded with her, then pulled out a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled the Evans' address and Ryan's cell phone number onto it then handed it to the girl.

Rachel watched as Kelsi turned to her locker to grab some books then stared at the paper she was holding then she watched Kelsi walk out of the school.

Through the course of the ride home, Ryan didn't speak to Sharpay. Instead, he spent the whole time listening to his John Mayer playlist on his iPod. Once they got home, he went straight up to his room, not giving Sharpay any attention at all. He plugged his iPod onto his computer then hit play on his iTunes player. He picked one specific song and put it on repeat, singing along to it.

Staying home alone on a Friday
Flat on the floor looking back
On old love
Or lack thereof
After all the crushes are faded
And all my wishful thinking was wrong
I'm jaded
I hate it

I'm tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here

Rachel was sitting at her keyboard in her room, bored, with her Room For Squares songbook on her music stand and the paper from Kelsi holding the page she was looking at earlier. She opened the songbook again to her favorite song, pulled out the address and put it on her keyboard. She took a quick glance at the music and began to play.

Searching all my days just to find you
I'm not sure who I'm looking for
I'll know it
When I see you
Until then, I'll hide in my bedroom
Staying up all night just to write
A love song for no one

I'm tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here

Ryan continued singing along to John Mayer, allowing his thoughts to drift as he sat on his bean bag chair. He thought about his dream. He wanted to be a singer-songwriter. He wanted a music career on his own terms. He didn't want to act or do musical theater. He found his dream and had no need to hide in his sister's shadow. After a moment, he found himself thinking about Rachel. In hindsight, a part of him wished he hadn't agreed to play along with his music teacher's plan…but another part of him was glad. It was the perfect excuse to be around her…and he wasn't about to admit it to anyone, especially not his twin sister, but he was starting to have a crush on Rachel Hamilton. He had already fallen for her voice and now that he knew what she looked like, he was physically attracted to her as well.

I could have met you in a sandbox
I could have passed you on the sidewalk
Could I have missed my chance
And watched you walk away?

Rachel frowned at the piece of paper on her keyboard speaker. "Just give him a chance." Kelsi Nielsen, the resident playwright at East High, and one of Ryan's friends, from what she had gathered…the girl's pleading voice kept ringing in her ears and she couldn't stand it! She took the piece of paper to her computer, looked up the address, scribbled a note for her father, ran to the kitchen, left the note on the kitchen counter and walked out of her front door.

I'm tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
So tired of being alone
So hurry up and get here
You'll be so good
You'll be so good for me

Ryan decided to go to the kitchen to see what was there to eat and found Sharpay's note with a 20 dollar bill.

Hey, bro,
Something tells me you want some time to yourself…so I took this Friday Night Sleepover on the road. I'm at Jason's with the gang. If you need anything, call my cell. Ordered you some pizza too, pepperoni and anchovies, just the way you like it. It's on me. And if you want to go for a drive, I left the car for you and hitched a ride with Gabi and Troy. I trust you can take care of yourself.
- S

Ryan grabbed a can of root beer and was headed up to his room when the doorbell rang. Figuring it was the pizza Sharpay ordered, he went to answer the door. What he didn't expect was the younger brunette from music class standing in front of him.

"Hey, Ryan."

Ryan blinked and asked, "What are you doing here?" he asked with a bit of an edge.

Rachel bit her lower lip and replied, "I thought maybe…we could work on our duet."

"How'd you get here? How'd you know I live here?"

"That's not important," Rachel replied gently, remembering Kelsi's plea, "Can I come in?"

Confused, Ryan let Rachel into his house.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Rachel whispered, "I…"

"You don't have to apologize," Ryan snapped sharply. After letting out a loud sigh, he added, "I'm sorry…just…"

Ryan was interrupted when the doorbell rang again. He grabbed the pizza as Rachel sat at the bottom of the main spiral staircase, waiting.

"I was just gonna have some pizza," Ryan told his guest, "Care to join me?"

Rachel shrugged. "I'm not really hungry."

Ryan nodded as he and Rachel went to the kitchen to drop the pizza off then gestured for Rachel to follow him upstairs. They walked all the way up the spiral staircase, down a long hallway and stopped at a white door with a black treble clef on it. When Ryan opened the door, Rachel stepped in and looked around in wide-eyed awe.

"Wow! Ryan, this is amazing!" she exclaimed softly as she looked around at the room with the piano, the various instrument cases and the small stage.

Ryan beamed proudly at Rachel. "At a time when most kids had playrooms, we had this music room. Sharpay and I were always performers, even as little kids. It had gotten to a point where this was the only place I could be myself."

Rachel found a large rectangular case in the far corner of the room and couldn't help but be drawn to it.

"Do you play any other instruments besides the piano?" Ryan asked.

As she opened the large black case and looked at the instrument it housed, Rachel simply replied, "Tenor sax."

"Why don't you play it anymore?" Ryan asked.

"My mom and my twin died in a car accident when I was 10. Riley and I played it together but I quit after the accident and moved in with my dad. You?"

"Hmmm, I used to. But now, I mainly stick to the bass, the violin and the piano. Some of these instruments are Sharpay's, and the others are my mom's." He pointed to the one closet. "In there, Sharpay has a couple of flutes, a piccolo, and a French horn. She also took up the drums with me when we were 6. We did that all the way 'til the end of junior high."

After watching Ryan perform a drum solo, Rachel asked, "Why'd you stop?"

"Sharpay thought it would be best for me to do school musicals with her. I got tormented by seniors during our freshman year and she always felt the need to look out for me. Back then, we thought it was the only way I could sing and perform for the world…she figured, I could perform while she had her eye on me."

Rachel nodded. "I take it musical theater's not your real dream."

Ryan simply shook his head. "So what's your story? Why are you so afraid of the world?"

"No one wanted me." When Ryan frowned, she waved him off dismissively and added, "It's not important. But hey, why don't we pick a song and start working it out a little?"

Ryan frowned again, this time at the change of subject, but then he replied, "Sure! I'm open to performing anything really so if you've got something in mind, I'd love to hear it." He figured that there was no sense in arguing with Rachel, there would be time for the truth later.

Rachel thought back to the song she had been playing earlier in her room…She decided to play it for Ryan on the piano as Ryan stood over her shoulder. Rachel gave Ryan a surprised look when Ryan began to sing the first verse after she had played the intro.

"A John Mayer fan?" Rachel asked as she played.

Ryan just nodded as he joined her on the piano bench and sang, his smile growing wider as she joined in, their voices melding together.

After they finished the song, Ryan nodded at Rachel as if to say, "This can work." Rachel simply smiled back.

"How do you think we could work this arrangement?" Ryan asked, "I don't have the sheet music or anything here…"

Rachel pulled out her Room For Squares songbook from her shoulder bag and waved it at Ryan. "I thought we could use this."

Ryan laughed. "Okay, well we can do this…" He pulled out a pad of blank sheet music and wrote a few notes down.

Rachel nodded. "Well, I prefer the lower part of my vocal range so I tend to take the bottom part of the melody and put it up an octave to suit my voice."

Ryan nodded back and wrote a few more notes on the sheet. The back and forth exchange between the pair continued for a while and soon, they had an arrangement for the chorus. Before they could continue on, Ryan's cell phone went off.

"I'm gonna get this in the other room," he announced.

Rachel nodded as she played the piano. Ryan slipped through a door in the corner of the room and went into the adjoining room, a formerly empty room that used to be used for extra storage but was converted into a studio five years ago, a room he usually kept locked.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ry! Having fun all by yourself on a Friday night?" Kelsi asked in a tone that revealed to Ryan that she knew he wasn't all alone.

"Yeah…I'm having a lot of fun…it's been a while since I've had time to myself," Ryan replied sarcastically, then added seriously, "I know what you're up to, Kels."

"You'll thank me for it later. I just wanted to see if she killed you yet." Kelsi stifled a laugh.

"She's being surprisingly civil," Ryan replied casually.

"Surprises are good. I'm glad I didn't send you to an early grave," Kelsi joked some more.

"Just…just let me sort things out on my own first, Kelsi. Don't tell anyone about the whole Rachel thing. Sharpay would eat her alive," Ryan pleaded with his best friend.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't wish Sharpay on my worst enemy!" Kelsi agreed, "But I can't keep this from the gang for too long. You gotta work things out."

Ryan assured Kelsi, "You know what? I've got it covered. Thanks."

"I don't wanna keep you. I'll catch ya later."

"Later, Kels."

Ryan rejoined Rachel, who almost immediately said, "Listen, Ryan…I should be getting home. My dad's gonna wonder where I am."

Looking at his watch, Ryan realized that they had spent nearly two hours alone together. "Do you need a ride, Rachel?" he offered.

"Uh, I don't wanna impose…"

"No imposition, I swear. I'll drive you home."

Rachel reluctantly accepted and followed Ryan to his car. As Ryan drove, she gave him directions. They didn't say anything else until Ryan pulled up to her driveway.

"So yeah…this is it, huh?" Ryan asked shyly.

Rachel looked at Ryan and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for the nice evening, Ryan," she replied with a slight smile. Noticing that Ryan was starting to lean in, she added, "My dad's gotta be getting anxious to see me. I'll see you on Monday!" She darted out of the car, leaving Ryan behind bewildered.

Thanks to everyone who read this story (I know you're out there even if you don't review) and a special shoutout to the reviewers, especially ZacEfronLuver, who reviewed twice.