A/N: For your future reference, to ostracize means to shun. No, it doesn't have anything to do with ostriches.
Standard disclaimers apply here: I don't own anything except When The Rain Comes. I do actually own everything associated with that.
SLASH story. You have been warned.
No one knew, but Kelsi had a crush on Ryan Evans, the school's Drama King. Or more affectionately termed, the Ice King, seeing as he was twin brother to Sharpay, the resident Ice Queen. Being the shy person she was, Kelsi had never been able to confide in anyone the way she felt towards Ryan. Turns out that it was probably a good thing, since that year had been the year that both Troy Bolton, basketball extraordinaire, and Ryan Evans, drama geek, had both officially come out as a couple. That could have potentially been extremely embarrassing for her, professing her love for a gay guy. Not that Kelsi was in any way mad that Ryan couldn't be hers, in fact, she was very happy for them. She thought they were rather cute together. At least that had done away with Gabriella hogging all the spotlight for herself. Kelsi had always harbored a bit of a grudge against Gabriella because she had gotten everything that Kelsi had ever wanted.
Now, Troy Bolton and Ryan Evans were the new "it" couple. Of course, this never stopped the few homophobes from their crude acts towards the two. Quite often, Ryan would hear lewd remarks in the hallways or in the classrooms from the anonymous person who just couldn't accept him for who he was. In a way, Kelsi thought she could empathize with Ryan. Not in such a drastic way, but Kelsi had always felt shunned for being different. Couldn't dance, couldn't sing, couldn't do anything right. She practically tripped over her own feet all the time. That had been especially embarrassing when Troy had been watching her after the Winter Musicale auditions. She had fallen just about flat on her face and scattered her sheet music all over the stage. Of course, Troy, being the ever present gentleman, had offered to help her pick up her things. Ok, she could permit him a smile, even if he had stolen Ryan from her. Oh well, all in the natural course of things.
She'd move on in time, bury herself in her schoolwork, and try to forget. She couldn't really busy herself with friends because she tended to repel people fairly rapidly. The majority of people couldn't handle the strange sort of nervous energy that she exuded. Kelsi sighed and figured that she probably tried too hard to get people to be friends with her. That was exactly why she had liked the idea of Ryan so much. He had always been a bit of a rebel and different from everyone else. Flamboyant perhaps. But he had always followed his own path, not the paths of others as so many had. He didn't care what others thought of him. The hurtful words that were so often plastered to his locker didn't particularly bother him. He would brush aside the nasty comments and turn to Troy to walk with him to class. Kelsi could only wish to have the confidence and strength that Ryan showed. She'd been shunned one too many times in her young life, and this had shattered her self esteem. She spent too much time thinking of how others would treat her and how best to fit into the crowd. Little did she know, but it would be exactly what she didn't need.
It had been an ordinary Sunday just like any other throughout the year. But this one had been inherently different. A few neighborhood hooligans thought it would be funny to pull a "senior prank" of sorts on good old East High. They had somehow managed to break in to the school and cause damage. Vinegar sprayed on the walls and the carpets, manure littered the hallways and clogged the air ducts, and ladybugs swarmed over every square inch of the school. The custodians worked tirelessly to try and clean up the mess before school on Monday, but their efforts were futile. The ladybugs had been relocated to various places, but the halls still reeked of vinegar and manure. That day was almost unbearable to the students' noses; all possible windows and doors were opened to let the stench out. Most of the classrooms were usable, but the gym and auditorium still had to be cleaned. Gym and drama wouldn't be having proper class any time at all that week, for that matter.
The loudspeaker crackled to life with Principal Matsui's voice, "Students, there was an incident early Sunday morning. As many of you know, there has been a terrible case of vandalism. If anyone has any ideas as to who committed such a heinous crime, please come forward right away. Any and all information rendered will be confidential. Thank you. That will be all."
As soon as the loudspeaker clicked silent, the school buzzed with gossip as the rumor mill started warming up.
"Did you hear? It was the basketball team. They dirtied the school as a sort of protest against not having clean locker rooms or a proper team room."
"No way! I heard that it was the drama students who were all fed up with that cow, Mrs. Darbus."
"Really? I thought it was the skater dudes just trashing the school."
As the speculations circulated around school, they all eventually reached the principal and the teachers. Of course, Mrs. Darbus would just not stay quiet about this one.
"Settle down, class. Homeroom has started. Now, there have been some very serious allegations against the drama department as to who gave our school such an atrocious odor on Sunday morning. We must honor the sacred chapel of the arts that is the theater! I sincerely hope that it was not one of you acting as a vagabond just to get some attention. We, in drama, pride ourselves on our high integrity and morals..."
Mrs. Darbus rambled on about the theater and musicales and who knows what else. The entire class could have broken out into song, and she would not have noticed since she was so wrapped up in her little spiel. The students took full advantage of this and chatted quietly among themselves for the remainder of the half hour class period. Troy and Ryan sat in the back of the room gazing at each other in what could only be described as a lustful manner. Gabriella and Taylor talked about their upcoming Scholastic Decathlon against West High. Chad, Jason, and Zeke were trying to play h-o-r-s-e with crumpled paper balls and the trashcan. Sharpay sat at her desk and tried to discreetly text her friend without getting another detention with Darbus. The last one had been bad enough, what with painting scenery for a musical she hadn't even starred in. And Kelsi, well, she was sitting by herself trying to finish her composition for the next Spring Musicale, When the Rain Comes, one of her own compositions.
Unbeknownst to Kelsi, Jason was staring at her in a slightly bored fashion to see what she was up to. She hadn't really moved in the past ten minutes, so Jason sighed exasperatedly hoping to catch her attention. And she still didn't get the hint. Kelsi was so intent on getting the melody onto paper that she had closed off all outside noises so she could concentrate as best she could. She still had the next period to work some more anyways since it was Biology, and she normally used that class as a free period. The bell rang signaling the end of class, so Kelsi shuffled her papers into some semblance of order and stuffed them into her bag. As she stood up by her desk, she was startled by the sudden presence of Jason. He had been extremely bored the last part of class because he lost their little game and had to wait for Chad and Zeke to finish and see who won. He had wanted someone to talk to, and Kelsi was the only one who wasn't occupied with something or someone else. Not that he really knew Kelsi well, it was just that he was so bored with waiting. Heck, he would have talked to a banana if he had one. But he didn't, so he thought Kelsi would work just as well. Even if he was talking at her instead of to her.
"Hey Kelsi," Jason managed to say before Kelsi tried to squeeze past him. "So, uhh, what class do you have next?" Wow, she must really not like me since she so clearly wants to get away from me right now. It doesn't look like she even wants to make small talk.
Pushing her glasses back up her nose from where they had slid down, Kelsi muttered, "Hmm, oh, you're talking to me? Oh, let's see... I have Biology next. Umm. Ok. See you later." Excellent, give off the impression that you're anti-social. That's the way to get a guy.
"Well, ok, so see you in Gym class then?" Jason asked hopefully. "Oh wait, we cant's go in the gym. What are we doing then?" He ran his fingers through his hair in a state of confusion.
"We're meeting out on the grass for field activities. Well, I really have to get to Biology now. It's upstairs and I'm going to have to run if I want to get there on time. Or at least pretend like I could be on time." Kelsi replied quickly and turned to walk away so he couldn't see her blushing.
Upon reaching her Biology class, Kelsi leaned over her desk to catch her breath after running up the stairs and down the hall to her classroom. Shit, Jason is messing with my head. He couldn't just leave me alone like everyone else. Noo, he has to come over and talk to me. Good going Kelsi, one person tries to have a decent conversation with you and you run away with the lame excuse that you have to go to class. Everyone knows that you don't even pay attention in Biology anyways. Why am I talking to myself? Hmm. Oh a worksheet.
A/N: Interesting little note. The "senior prank" in this chapter was actually pulled at my school. It smelled like vinegar and manure in the hallways for literally a month. The carpets wouldn't get clean. And the rooms would get so hot because the manure in the air ducts prevented us from using the central air conditioning until it got cleaned.