A/N: 3,784 words—longest chapter yet. :D

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The Problem with Ryan

Chapter 14: Deluded Perceptions.

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Mrs. Darbus commandeered free period for all Drama club members, and now Gabriella sat in the middle row of the auditorium, silently peeved that her study time was taken away in order to "mediate in theater," as Mrs. Darbus put it. Gabriella thought herself intelligent but even she had no idea what that meant.

"Troy, darling," Gabriella rolled her eyes as Sharpay called the brunet boy over, then she giggled slightly at his panicked look, "Would you be a sweetie and help me with this," she gave him a sweet smile as he bent to pick up her fallen purse, he handed it to her and she lifted herself on her toes to peck him on the cheek. The brunet blushed slightly, embarrassed and feeling caught off guard at her sudden and more than usual forwardness. For some reason, Gabriella found this display unusual and instead of "mediating" she mulled over her odd thought.

On the linoleum stage floor, griping a battered notebook, Ryan sat crossed-legged as he looked at Kelsi then looked at her swirly script, "…I feel like a skeleton shattered by your words," he read aloud, squinting at the lines more because of his uneasiness rather than any difficulty at reading her handwriting, "My veins melt with the heat of my anger," then he looked back at Kelsi, "Well," a pause, "It certainly portrays pain."

"You hate it," Kelsi determined, her eyes becoming downcast.

"No," Ryan said quickly, "No, no!" He looked at the page again, his eyes scanning the paper quickly to find something to compliment, "It shows," he flipped a couple of pages, "Uh, it's descriptive," Kelsi looked at him with a faint smile, "And.. and it has unique dialogue!" he nodded.

"It's alright," she giggled a little, "Thanks for the feedback," she giggled even more at Ryan's puzzled look, "Really, I'll have to work on it some more."

"So, you're not upset?" He handed her notebook back to her, "I was a little worried," he gave a hesitant smile, "I'm not a literary expert but I couldn't help but feel all the teen angst," his smile turned teasing, "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No!" Kelsi replied quickly, "I just didn't know how to write a romance having never really been in one," she shrugged.

"What about Jason?" And a moment soon after Ryan felt like a jerk, "Sorry, none of my business," he said apologetically.

"No, it's alright, that wasn't really anything," she said peeling at the edge of her notebook, "It was, well," she looked up suddenly as if she caught herself talking more than she'd like, "I guess, I just want to write something tragic but hopeful," She looked at her notebook more meaningfully, "I have a lot of work to do," she resolved.

Ryan stood a little awkwardly, unsure what to say he nodded at the small brunette girl, "Well, I'm always willing to read your script, if you need another pair of eyes," he pointed at his own and Kelsi found herself laughing slightly at the display.

"Okay," She said happily, "Thanks!"

Suddenly both teens turned to the sound of crashing in the back closet, looking at each other in alarm they both headed over to the hall closet near the backstage exit.

Running over to the closet doorway, both Ryan and Kelsi stood at the threshold, their eyes wide as their gaze lowered to Sharpay huffing on the floor, her high-heal shoes off her feet and her pristine clothes lightly dusted with dirt. "Get her out of here!" She screamed. And Kelsi looked at Ryan a little fearfully before scrambling away. Ryan hesitantly stepped toward his sister, she looked at him with watery eyes and at the sight he rushed over to hug her.

"What's wrong?" He gave her shoulder a squeeze and she dropped her head on his chest.

"Everything!" She muttered.

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows at her defeated tone, "Shar?"

"It's not working Ry," She spoke quietly, "I don't what to do," She looked up at him, "I want him to love me," Ryan felt his heart squeeze, "What should I do?"

Ryan stood on one knee, his arm around his sister trying to comfort her, but inside he was so torn, and he had no idea how to respond. How could he give his sister advice on capturing the heart of the boy he lusted over? How could he give her the support she needed to continue something he desperately wanted her to stop? He hated her constant pursuit of Troy, and he wasn't sure this feeling started when he realized his own feelings for Troy.

So as he looked into her eyes, straight into the rarely but warm brown gaze, he found complete trust. Anything he said at this moment would resonate with her, it would have an impact. When did it become like this? He thought suddenly. Was she so hopeless that she would turn to him for help? Or was he the only one she trusted to let her guard down and allow herself to follow his lead instead? He didn't know.

"I think," He looked away unwilling to keep his gaze locked with Sharpay's, "You should back off for now," He's such a jerk, he thought, such a selfish jerk.

"Really?" She asked, "I don't know Ry," she broke away from him and Ryan looked at her more firmly.

"No, it's better if you back off, play hard to get," inside he cringed, as if that would work he thought self-depreciatingly.

"Maybe you're right," She straightened, dusting off her pale pink shirt, her tone returning to normal, "He'll miss all this," she smirked, and Ryan felt relief at the sound of her broken hopeless voice washing away.

She quickly lifted herself up, leaving Ryan on the floor. She smiled down at her brother and gave him a wink, "Don't worry Ry, everything will turn out perfect," and she left the dusty storage closet as Ryan's gaze lowered to the floor. He brought both of his knees under his chin, his mind becoming clouded.

He just misused his sister's trust to get what he wanted. He felt disgust linger in his gut. This was different than this summer, he swallowed the bile in the back of his throat, she didn't deserve his betrayal. She didn't do anything outrageously devious. Then again, wouldn't she do the same to him? Wouldn't she manipulate him to get what she wanted?

Was that even an excuse?

A knock at the door startled his swirling thoughts, he looked up in surprise, Gabriella stood at the doorway, "Mrs. Darbus needs everyone on stage," she said. Then she tilted her head slightly, looking concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ryan brushed off his slacks and walked beside Gabriella to the backstage entrance, "I'm fine." Everything is just fine.

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"So, are you up for the game on Friday?" Chad asked. His body was stretched over the Bolton's couch with a bowl of chips settled on his stomach.

Troy regarded Chad from his seat on the adjacent couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table, "Yeah," he replied distantly.

Chad felt the silence stretch further and it irked him. It felt as if they had nothing to talk about anymore, so Chad tried to fill in the quiet with questions, "You studied for that chem. test?"

The television in front of them had some sitcom on, a rerun they both probably watched a bunch of times, yet Troy seemed completely focused on the screen, "Yeah, a little." He answered. No follow up question, no story about his late night cram session, nothing. The curly brunet's head filled with confusion at the withdrawal, he couldn't understand it.

It wasn't like this last year, Chad thought. Troy didn't suddenly want to avoid hanging out with the basketball team after Twinkle Town. And Chad knew Troy was avoiding them, no matter how many dumb excuses the shaggy brunet came up with. Frustration began to build within Chad as he never remembered ever having to make such an effort to get Troy to hang with him then. What was going on to his best-friend now? Chad had a feeling it was more than the musicale. He had a feeling something happened to Troy to make him so reclusive and sometimes Chad felt Troy was hiding something from him.

And sometimes Chad began to wonder if maybe this withdrawal had to do with the future. What if Troy was starting to cut off ties now? What if entering college meant leaving your high school friends behind? Chad feared the uncertainty. He hated thinking of the future without his friends, but maybe that's what growing up meant, being an individual, an adult, and supporting yourself. At least, that's what Chad always thought being an adult meant but supporting yourself didn't mean losing your friends, that's crazy, right? Chad worried his lip, losing your childhood friends and gaining adult ones, was that what part of being an adult entitled?

The thought of losing the wildcats to the future plagued Chad and it made him more upset that no one seemed to care. It was as if he was now realizing that everyone went into high school knowing that in the end everyone would go their separate ways. Everyone was just bating time until their real life began, in adulthood.

Now, they were sitting in the living room, with Troy avoiding his gaze and Chad making up stupid questions just to start some type of conversation. Was this just a brush off, or was it something else entirely? These questions welled in him until he felt overwhelmed.

Chad sat up abruptly, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Chad was never one for subtlety, and Troy's wide-eyed expression would have been laughable to the curly brunet had he not been so upset.

"What?" Troy sat rigidly, "What'd you mean?"

"What I mean is, you're acting really weird," Chad didn't want to be so confrontation but he didn't know any other way of handling the situation, it was either ask directly or continue to act like he didn't notice, and Chad was never good at acting.

"I'm not acting weird," Troy's tone edged on defensive as he lifted his legs off of the coffee table and his feet hit the floor.

"Yeah, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Wow, you two still act as you did in preschool," Troy's mother laughed quietly. She just entered the living room on her way to the staircase near the front door.

Chad and Troy looked at Mrs. Bolton in surprise. Their bodies were leaned over the table on opposite ends as they glared at each other. Mrs. Bolton shook her head in amusement before heading off, "Don't fight in the house boys," she called over her shoulder.

Troy looked back at Chad with the same guarded expression the curly brunet had grown used to, "Chad, I don't know what's up with you but I'm not going to argue with you," he said in irritatingly calmness.

Chad narrowed his gaze, giving a mirthless chuckle, "Funny, you act like mister perfect, well, newsflash, I'm not the one with the problem, and you keep acting like everything's fine but it's not, I'm not stupid, Troy, something is wrong, something is really wrong with this."

"With what?" Troy shot back, "You're the one bringing up things to argue about, at least before you had real reasons now I think you like fighting!"

"You think that's what this about?" Chad asked angrily, "You think I have stupid score to settle?" Chad stood up, suddenly feeling hurt, "You think I'm like that? Well, then maybe you don't know me as well as I thought," Chad shook his head in disappointment, "If this is how it is then fine," giving mirthless snort, "I get it," Chad paused a moment, looking at Troy with hard eyes, "Friends till the end means friends till graduation well," he looked away, "It ends now," Chad resolved, picking up his jacket and storming out without so much as a glance back, and not seeing the utter confusion written on Troy's face.

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Sharpay and Ryan entered the school building in their usually flashy fashion, and Ryan had the urge to run away and hide. Not that he didn't like the attention even though most of the time he didn't, it was just that today Sharpay would be taking his insincere advice. She was going to actually ignore Troy and pretend to be uninterested in him.

"Ry, you're going to ruin your lips if you keep eating away at them like that," And Ryan's eyes widened as he hadn't realized he was gnawing on his bottom lip.

"Shar, um."

"You know," She smiled in contentment, "This may be one of your more brilliant plans Ry."

"Yeah, about that—"

"Ah, I can't wait to see his reaction when I don't say hello to him." She smirked.

Ryan felt like groaning, since when had she ever taken his advice on anything? And why in the hell was she starting now?

Now that Sharpay actually liked his plan, what reason could he have for suddenly not wanting her to use it? A part of him wanted her to stay away from Troy, maybe then she'd find someone else, maybe Zeke could finally make a move instead of hiding pastries in her locker. Yet, what if Sharpay backing off gave other girls a chance to be with Troy, a real chance, then of course Troy would date one of them. Troy was straight Ryan concluded, nothing could deny that, yet, Sharpay had never stopped Troy from being with Gabriella, so why hadn't Troy dated since then?

For some reason Ryan held on to that sliver of hope, and he often got angry at himself for the part of him that still fantasized about the golden brunet. He still dreamed about him.

"And maybe if I'm with someone else," Sharpay continued, Ryan whipped his head back to his sister, "Then that'll make him even more jealous."

"Shar, I don't think that's such a—"

"Oh, Ry," She smiled at him, and Ryan felt years younger than her suddenly, "You came up with a good outline, let me fill in the finer points, okay," she shook her head as if he amused her, Ryan's lips thinned.

"I'm going to get my books," Ryan stated, leaving his sister to her deluded plans.

He'd have to see how the rest of the day panned out. And maybe Sharpay will give up on his advice and this guilt weighing on his heart will lift away.

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Another free period, another moment of time wasted here, Gabriella thought in exasperation. She loved the drama club, really she did, but she was only human, she needed time to study and midterms were just a few short weeks away. Actually, exactly 18 days away, she calculated. And if her free period was to be wasted away sitting in this auditorium seat …mediating…how was she going to have extra time at home to rest and relax? She sighed.

"Hey," a soft voice said, Gabriella turned and watched Kelsi settle herself in the seat next to hers.

She smiled, "Hey Kelsi!" She watched as the shorter brunette girl took out her notebook and started to scribble something in it, "Is that a new masterpiece," she grinned.

"Ah, well," Kelsi gave a sheepish smile, "Not really, it's my history homework," Gabriella watched as the small girl continued to scribble away and suddenly she envied the other girl. She couldn't just bring in a notebook like Kelsi without it looking suspicious.

Gabriella sighed again.

"Something wrong?" Kelsi inquired.

Gabriella shook her head, "No, it's nothing."

Kelsi looked at her for a moment before resuming writing in her notebook, her feet on the seat with her knees bent and her hat shadowing her eyes.

"Hello ladies," Gabriella turned in her seat and smiled at Ryan approached them, "Resting the mind, are you?"

"You could say that," Gabriella replied tiredly, Ryan frowned and Kelsi looked up, they both shared a look before they both turned to look at Gabriella in concern. Gabriella smiled, "I'm fine guys, really, I just don't see why we have to be here without a play to rehearse for," Ryan nodded in understanding and Kelsi gave her best sympathetic smile.

"Ryan, could you help Sharpay and Troy in the back," Mrs. Darbus called from the stage, "There seems to be a dilemma," she supplied vaguely, and Ryan felt his stomach churn in discomfort and anxiety.

Gabriella looked at Ryan curiously, watching his usually open and relaxed face turn guarded and tense. A series of thoughts occurred to her all at once like a problem statement before her eyes. Ryan tensed at the mention of being in small space with Sharpay and Troy, this could mean several things:

Either he didn't want to be with his sister, which seemed unlikely no matter how much the rest of the East High student population would think otherwise.

Or the idea of being with Sharpay and Troy together wasn't appealing, which was an emotion that was understandable since being stuck with Sharpay flirting with Troy and then being ignored was annoying.

Or he didn't want to be near Troy, which created even more questions. Some very interesting questions indeed…

Gabriella watched as Ryan made his way toward the backstage, her thoughts in a spiral of analysis.

'Well,' she thought with a slight smirk, 'If I'm going to be here doing absolutely nothing I might as well solve an interesting puzzle.'

When Ryan reached back-stage, he held back from being seen just for moment to observe Troy picking up a bunch of cloth from several fallen boxes while Sharpay examined her nails.

Troy sighed, rolling up his sleeves as he bent on one knee, a sheen of sweat on his tan skin and the two top buttons of his collar shirt open, Ryan swallowed thickly.

Sharpay continued to examine her other manicured hand, Ryan wasn't sure for what exactly but he had a feeling this was all part of the 'ignore Troy' plan. Ryan felt a headache coming on.

Taking in a deep breath, he stood up straight and exhaled before stepping into the stuffy back-stage, "Need any help?" He said as brightly as he could.

Sharpay turned to him instantly, covering his vision of Troy, and not seeing the startled look on his tan features.

"Oh, Ry," She said cheerily, "Since you're here I can leave," she leaned into him, "Mention I have a boyfriend," She whispered, pretending to brush away something on his shirt, then she leaned back, "I'm off, Ryan," She said, purposely leaving out Troy's name.

Troy held himself back from glaring at the blonde girl, and as she looked back at him she turned away quickly and giggled to herself. Ryan sighed before he could help himself. She probably thought his stupid plan was working.

For a moment Troy looked at him and they held an awkward and tense gaze before Ryan broke it, "Hey," he said uncomfortably, looking off to a corner of the stuffy backstage.

"Hey Ryan," He heard Troy say, and when he looked back Troy continued to stuff the long woven cloth into the box.

Ryan stepped forward, bending on one knee, "Wait," he said simply, taking the fabric from Troy's hands, folding it and gently placing inside the box.

"Heh," Troy looked at Ryan sheepishly, "I guess I'm not so gentle," his deep blue eyes gazed into Ryan's. Ryan found himself looking away, and he was sure he was blushing but he pretended to act nonchalant, gathering more of the fabrics around them and putting it on his lap, folding each piece one at a time.

"They're rich fabrics," Ryan said, focused on the cloth in front of him, "And most of them fall apart easily if they're not handled carefully," his hands slowly ran over the patterned velvet and when he looked up he found Troy's eyes were focused on his hands, so he abruptly stopped their movements.

Troy looked up and blushed, the blond thought this was usual but quickly forgot this thought as he registered just how close Troy was, his knee brushed against Troy's. And soon the other long piece of fabric on Ryan's lap slowly slipped off as Troy reached over to take the cloth, the blond tensed at the feeling of fabric brushing across his lap.

Troy grinned, "Let me try," and Ryan watched his tan hands take the edge of the cloth and bring it across to the other edge folding it slightly crooked, and to Ryan's surprise he found himself lean over and adjust the fabric, tucking it a little so the fold became even.

Ryan suddenly noticed that Troy tensed, and the blond feared for a moment that he overstepped his boundaries, he looked up to apologize but the words stuck in his dry throat, he froze at Troy's penetrating gaze, his blue eyes darkened a degree and Ryan's pale blue eyes widened at the heavy sight.

Ryan watched as Troy leaned forward, his hand brushing against Ryan's, the feeling was warm and tingly, it sent Ryan's heart beating rapidly.

Troy's lips parted slightly as if he was about to speak but nothing came, and Ryan focused on his pale pink lips inching closer.

'I want him to love me'

Ryan jerked away, his heart hammering in his chest as the sound of Sharpay's broken voice entered his mind.

'What should I do?'

Out of all the times… Ryan thought distractedly, his guilt edged its way into his mind.

"Is something wrong?" Troy asked, his body seemed farther way, and Ryan thought maybe it was his own delusional thoughts. Troy wasn't going to kiss him. No, it was all in his head, "Ryan?" Troy came closer to him and his eyes looked softer, bluer, and Ryan couldn't help but feel like they were drawing him nearer.

'It's not working, Ry,'

Ryan backed away hastily, his arm knocking into the box resting next to him, "I-I have to go!" Ryan practically jumped out, rushing out of the backstage.

Ryan almost ran out onto the stage, his legs burning as he kept a fast pace out toward the exit.

Gabriella watched curiously as the door slammed after Ryan's quick exit. What could that be about? She thought. Suddenly, she watched as Troy stepped out onto the stage. He looked confused and when he searched the empty audience his gaze landed on her. He looked sad. Oh, no, Gabriella thought…What happened?

x x x TBC x x x

A/N: First and VERY foremost I want to say I'm SOOOOO SORRY for being this late in updating! I don't want to drown you down with excuses but I had a lot going on with school and for some reason I couldn't write a chapter 14 I was happy with. This is actually the third version of this chapter, the first two just didn't feel right and I ended up being happy with this one. And I just felt so horrible for not updating when you guys left such nice reviews. Hopefully you guys like this chapter.

As for this chapter, I kept Troy's thoughts hidden. I really wanted to show how he is seen through the eyes of other characters, especially Chad. But don't worry his thoughts will be revealed next chapter.

As always suggestions and ideas are welcome.