Round #3: Impress Her Brother

The four contestants didn't have smiles on their faces as they entered their familiar meeting room that Friday. Jason seemed sleepy (how striking!), Chad seemed like he was ready to cry, Troy looked distant and Mark's face was emotionless, like he was absorbed somewhere far away.

"What happened guys?" Coach Bolton and Zeke asked together. "Was it that tough?"

"You tell me!" Troy finally spoke a word. "It was disaster, at least for me. It was the worst idea I'd ever had, impressing her brother. My plan was genius but then… I don't know how, it became a real loss."

"Come on, tell us. No one seems to have done particularly well either!" Jason insisted.

"Well, you know how I got the lead role in the winter musical?" he started, but seeing cold glares at him he spoke more quickly. "Obviously, you do. I was hoping around every day and I was only talking about that when I did. So, I told myself that if I wanted to impress Ryan, all I had to do was a repeat. Therefore, I went to the auditions for the spring musical, what could have been better? Not to mention that I might actually gain a role next to Sharpay! Fortunately, Gabriella won't sign up for this one because there's too much pressure from Taylor and the Academic Decathlon team."

"So, where's the problem?" Mark asked. "As far as I know you are a decent singer!"

"I thought that too, as I started to sing the auditions song!" Troy started to sing. "It's hard to believe that I couldn't see you were always there besides me… I went on, and even did the do-do-do-do's at the end, like Sharpay and Ryan. I could see Sharpay was really interested, because she clapped. She stood up clapped, and commented on how she'd enjoy a duet for me. Too bad she was the only one! "Very well, Bolton!" I heard Mrs. Darbus say. "I see you spiced up your songs a little. Unfortunately, what you just sang was the audition song for the winter musical and now it's …spring!" Everybody laughed, and I stood on the scene, emotionless.

I saw Ryan shooking his head with obvious disapproval, then whispering something to Sharpay. They both started laughing. Then, he said to me: "The do-do-do-do's in the end, they were no good. You should better sing in a way that flatters your voice" It was a gentle remark really but to me it sounded mostly like "that was pathetic." As I say the twins going away, I felt like a looser."

"That wasn't that bad!" Mark started narrating his story. "I mean… it was but listen to my story; it may actually make you feel better. I guess if you sang correctly, Ryan might have even feel offended, like you start to compete with him. My thought was, preparing the perfect cafeteria experience for Ryan and Sharpay, since I was the prefect in charge for the cafeteria this week. As we'd been out together, I knew Sharpay had eclectic tastes and I believed Ryan would share them. So, I decided to serve them myself."

"That's too far-fetched," Zeke remarked. "You are not Ryan's servant but, on a second thought I might have followed a similar strategy. At least, it shows good manners towards a lady and her brother."

"The best thing the cafeteria had to offer that day was the infamous double hamburger, a personal favourite. Zeke pal, I got one of your books telling how you can spice up cafeteria food and it seemed nice to put some nut sauce in it, to give it an exotic taste. Apparently, this was the worst idea I've ever had."

"Why?" Chad interrogated. "Your plan seems decent to me!"

"It was." Mark sighed. "Guess I should have taken that warning when Ryan gave a sideways look at the meat and declared with a high voice: "I'm a vegetarian. Thank you for thinking for me, though." As he took the meat out, I heard a shriek behind me. It was Sharpay! "Mark, please don't tell me that hamburger has nut sauce in it!" I couldn't but nod. Was it my idea or her rosy cheeks were becoming deep red? This couldn't be good! "Are you crazy?" Ryan got up immediately, shouting at me. "Can't you see she has food allergies?" The least I could do was to act quickly: I got up, held her and ran to the school's medical centre."

"Geez! I hope she's all right…" Jason whispered. "At least, I left her in a good condition! You see, I didn't know what to do, so I decided to impress Ryan by beating him at his strong point: wearing a hat!"

"But you don't have any hats!" Troy pointed out.

"I know, so I went in Hat Trends at the mall, to buy a dozen. If Ryan sees a fashionable guy, I thought, he'll make sure he's the right one for his sister. I couldn't be more wrong, as my plan backfired. When I entered the store, Ryan …was there too! I almost gasped when I saw him. "What do you want, Cross?" he asked me, with his menacing, flat voice. "I… I'd like to buy a dozen of hats!" "A dozen of hats? he frowned. "What for?" I heard they are very fashionable this season and I admire you a lot so I'd love to look like you." I was shocked."

"Hehe… That is unbelievably gay Jason!" Zeke cried.

"No, it's not a bad idea at all," Mark insisted. "I should have done that!"

"Ryan saw me trembling" Jason went on with his narration. "As I thought I was doing disastrous enough, he tried to help: "Why don't you wear that one, the purple flat with the green stripes." "Nah, I replied. It seems awfully gay; I mean who wears purple and green nowadays?" Just as I finished my sentence I saw the hat he was wearing… It was identical to the one on display. Instead of impressing him, I had offended me. "Get out right now from my favourite shop, you blasphemous, unfashionable twit!" or something like that was the last thing I heard."

"Guys, I really feel better now," Chad started to narrate his story. "Still, I didn't do well either, when I was expected to. You know, the only thing Ryan Evans and I have in common is baseball, so I decided to play my sporty card. I signed up for the school's friendly game. I told you I'd do. It was yesterday. Imagine my disappointment when I didn't see anyone of you, my basketball pals there!"

"We had practice!" Troy defended the team. "What happened with you though? Tell us!"

"I got voted MVP of the game. I really did my best as Sharpay was in the stands, watching me. In the end she clapped very hard!"

"So, what's your problem?" Coach Bolton asked. "You did well."

"Yep, I'd have done brilliant if he task was about impressing Sharpay. But as the rest of you, Ryan didn't turn up at the match. I didn't see him anywhere. Later I learned that on Wednesday evenings he baby-sits his younger cousin, Robert, a spoiled twelve year old and they play videogames!"

"Everybody sucked at this task, didn't we?" Mark remarked bitterly. "So, let's get on to the voting procedure. As usual, Zeke and the Coach should start first.

"I definitely vote for Mark," Zeke said, seriously. "He messed up with two of my favourite things: food and Sharpay!"

"Mark, I'm afraid it'll have to be you," Coach Bolton added. "Zeke's right".

"I'll vote for Chad. He technically didn't meet Ryan, so it's like he didn't even try!" Jason remarked, going back to sleep.

"I agree with Jason," Troy made his point. "So, Mark, I won't vote for you this time. Chad."

"I'll vote for Mark too" was Chad's reply.

As to Mark, now a sure to be duelist he only said "Jason." This was the first time he didn't vote for Troy. He went straight out of the door not hearing Jack's summing up the names one of whom would leave the race in the next round. It was Mark Sindall with 3 votes and Chad Danforth with 2.

"How come Jason always does the most stupid thing and never gets nominated? He almost told Ryan he was gay! I mean, he insulted him!" Mark thought as he was heading toward the school's medical centre. "And all of the other ones remaining are not single! Chad, for God's sake, has an affair with Taylor!"

Sharpay was still recovering, resting on a bed. She seemed all cute and innocent and Mark felt really, really terrible for bringing her to that condition. How could he be such a jerk? He was angry with himself. He liked Sharpay so much; he could do anything and now…

"Don't worry," he heard a familiar voice from the school's hospital bed. "I'm okay, really. It wasn't your fault. You just wanted to be helpful!"

"Does that mean that you're not mad at me?" Mark smiled.

"Of course I'm not mad at you! I mean, how many people would have come to see me? Just let me make sure I'll give you a list of my taste aversions next time you want to be nice with me…"

"Alright," Mark laughed. "Still, I felt guilty and brought you a little something."

"Oh, that's a get-well-soon card! How cute is that, Mark? Mark? Well, I supposed he left," Sharpay muttered to herself. Where could he be? She didn't open the card and instead she got back to sleep, to get some rest. Had she opened the card, she would have only found only three words and an exclamation mark: I love you!

Author's Note: I really wanted to do this a Jason vs. Mark thing, but I decided to do it slightly more difficult. For this round, my sympathy goes with Mark for this round because I don't want him to be just another Troy clone… So it's Chad vs. Mark, who will you vote for? The excitement is great, isn't it? The entire HSM cast is adorable in some way or another, but there is room for only one winner (even though it would be cool for Sharpay to have her own harem…) I know I had promised to update Ryan's Hat Tricks but I decided to finish off this story first. Don't worry, it won't be much long! I can tell you, I'm past the middle! Feel free to vote, and be sure that your opinion will be heard!