A/N: Hello wonderful people! Sorry I took so long to update but like I said, I had a chorus concert going on and I have a World History project that's due on Wednesday about Western Africa. And I'm only half way done with it! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I love you guys!
Vanessa Turner: Thanks!
megan: It's okay. At least you reviewed! And don't worry, this will have a happy ending... eventually... hopefully... I think. LOL
thunderyoshi: Thanks! I wish I could have puppies for Christmas too! But sadly, I can't :(
LaffertyLover: I always wanted a puppy too!
lol925: It's okay that you reviewed late. Sometimes that happens to me too! And sometimes when I read other people's stories and start laughing or crying, my parents are weirded out too! And thanks for the comment. You're so sweet! Yeah, and on the last chapter, I kinda messed up because I forgot to add the rulers. Anyway, here's an update!
Okay, here is chapter 13! Hope you guys like it!
This Is War
Chapter 13: How Not to Start the New Year
"I cannot believe dad's getting married!" Roxanne shouted as she collapsed on her bed with Rachelle sitting at the edge of Roxanne's bed. Everybody had left after the Christmas dinner and it's now the girls' bedtime.
"Me neither. And he calls that a Christmas present?" Rachelle replied.
"He is out of his mind! How could he marry her?" Roxanne asked her twin.
"Well, he really likes her. Maybe he even loves her." Rachelle explained.
"But I thought he loved Leslie!" Roxanne shouted.
"Well, that was a mistake."
"So you're saying we're mistakes?" Rachelle asked her twin.
"Well… no… I guess… yes… maybe… I don't know! Why are you asking me this stuff?" Rachelle said.
"Sorry, it's just that… UGH!" Roxanne groaned as she put buried her face in her pillow.
"You think I don't feel the same?" Rachelle said. "But dad's mind is made up. So there is no way possible for us to try to change his mind." Rachelle said. Roxanne just groaned some more.
"Cheer up. Ms. M is nice. She can be a mother." Rachelle said.
"True but she's not our mother. I want our mother to be dad's wife. Not someone that he just met a few months ago that happens to be our teacher. Think about it! The humiliation!"
"She can't be that bad. I mean, we don't even know her that well and you're overreacting." Rachelle said.
"So what if I am? I have the right to! I mean, our dad is getting married to a woman we know nothing about except that she teaches second grade and is madly in love with our father."
Rachelle rolls her eyes. "Just go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." She said before standing up and leaving to go to her own room.
The next day, Ryan and the girls went to Central Park to go ice-skating. Ryan is going to teach the girls how to skate since it's their first time.
"Okay girls, first thing you do is balance yourself on the ice. Try not to fall over because it really hurts your behind when you fall." Ryan explained. The girls held their hands and went on the ice. They both fell and Ryan helped them up.
"Are you girls okay?" Ryan said.
"Yes dad."
"We're fine."
"Okay, try again." Ryan encouraged. The second time the girls went on the ice, their knees wobbled but got their balance.
"There you go, nice. Now try to let go of each other." Ryan instructed. The girls obeyed and let go of each other. They held their hands out for balance. Luckily, they didn't fall.
"Good. Now try to move your feet and skate."
The girls lifted their feet and wobbled a little but were soon skating slowly.
"Nice. See, you're doing it!" Ryan said enthusiastically.
"We're doing it!" Rachelle said. A few minutes later, the girls were getting faster and doing small tricks. There were still a few stumbles but they were very good for their first try.
"Let's take a break. Who wants hot chocolate?" Ryan asked as the twins raised their hands eagerly.
A few minutes later, Ryan and the girls were in the café and the girls were sitting at the table while their dad was in an extremely long line for hot chocolate.
Suddenly, Leslie came into the store and "coincidentally" saw the girls.
"Hi girls!" She greeted.
"Hi Leslie!"
"Listen, girls, I don't have much time. Your dad doesn't want me talking to you. Anyway, I know we don't know each other that much and you might think I'm a horrible woman for leaving you-"
"We don't think that." Roxanne said.
"Thank you. But anyway, girls, how would you like to live with your mom and make up all the lost time?" Leslie asked oh-so sweetly.
"Seriously?" Rachelle said.
"Yes, seriously. Just don't tell your dad about it because he'll definitely freak out. So how 'bout it? You wanna do it?"
The twins looked at each other as if to check if it's really what they wanted to do. After a few moments, they faced Leslie.
"When do we start packing?"
Less than a week later, Ryan is again preparing for another party. A New Year's Eve party. He is in the kitchen with the girls preparing dinner.
"Why do you get to host all the parties daddy?" Rachelle asked.
"Because it's my turn to host the parties. Next year your Aunt Sharpay is going to host the parties."
"Hey dad, can we invite Leslie again?" Roxanne asked.
Ryan thought about it for a while. Well, she wasn't that bad at the Christmas Eve party. And then, she just sat at the table and ate at Christmas. Eh, what the heck. Three times a charm. "Sure. Why not?"
"Thank you!" The girls hugged their dad. Then, they walked out of the kitchen for a little while and Rachelle pulled out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hello?" Said the voice on the other line.
"Hey Leslie. We convinced dad to invite you. Now what do we do?" Rachelle asked.
"Nothing right now. Just wait. I'll tell you later when I get there. Okay?"
"Okay, we'll see you later. Bye." Rachelle said and she hung up the phone.
"What did she say?"
"She said we have to wait until she gets here."
"Then I guess we'll have to wait."
"Hi girls how are you? So nice to see you again!" Taylor said as she, Chad, and Devon entered the Evans' threshold.
"Nice to see you too Miss Taylor." The twins said politely.
"Oh, we'll take your coats." Rachelle said as she reached for Taylor's coat as she took it off.
"Thanks girls." Chad said. The girls put their coats away and came back.
"Can I play with you two again?" Devon asked.
"Sure! Come on!" Roxanne said as she pulled Devon and Rachelle upstairs.
A few minutes have passed and Kelsi and Jason, Gabriella, and Leslie and Troy finally came.
"Hey guys, so glad you can come!" Sharpay said as she hugged everybody except for Leslie.
"Leslie." She said.
"Sharpay." Leslie said back.
"What are you doing here?" Sharpay asked harshly.
"Well, I'm here because Ryan invited me and I didn't want to be rude and not accept." Leslie answered plainly.
"Ryan invited you?" Sharpay said, not believing a word that Leslie said. Leslie just nodded her head. Sharpay then looked at Troy to see if she was telling the truth. Troy gave her an apologetic smile as if saying, 'She's telling the truth, sorry'.
Sharpay just smiled. "Excuse me, I have to um… I have to… do some… stuff." Sharpay said as she rushed to the kitchen where her brother was preparing to put the dinner on the table.
"Ryan… I need to have a word with you." Sharpay said as Ryan put the tray down and went with Sharpay in the powder room.
"Why do we have to be in the powder room?" Ryan asked.
"Did you invite Leslie to our New Year's Eve party?"
"Why do you ask?"
"She already came for the other two parties, and I don't think I can stand seeing her in one more of our parties one more time."
"Well, I invited her because I thought that she means well. She just wanted to spend time with the girls."
"What? First you won't even let her think about them, and now you're allowing her to spend some time with them? What is wrong with you?"
"I don't know. Maybe because I'm just trying to be nice."
"Well, you're nice already so don't push it."
"Hey, I invite who I wanna invite. And besides, it's not like she's gonna do anything to the girls." Ryan said as she opened the door and found everybody circled around the powder room, eavesdropping on them.
"Hi, everybody. How are you guys doing tonight?" Ryan said embarrassingly as he rushed to the kitchen to save his burning dinner.
A few minutes of retouching his dinner, he put it on the table and Leslie helped put the drinks on the table. Then it was time to eat.
A few minutes after dinner, someone rang the doorbell. Ryan came and answered it and found a man standing at the door. Leslie looked to see who it was and when she saw them, a smile crept on her face.
"Can I help you?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, I'm looking for Rachelle and Roxanne."
"Why are you looking for them?"
"Oh, they're sleeping over at their friend's house tonight. I'm the father and I'm here to pick them up."
"On New Year's Eve? I don't think so."
Suddenly, Rachelle and Roxanne came down the stairs and came to their dad.
"Please daddy!" Roxanne pleaded
"Just this year!" Rachelle said.
"Well…"
"PLEASE!" The girls shouted.
"Okay, okay! Just this year. And promise me you'll be back tomorrow."
"Actually, we won't be back until next week."
"Next week? Oh no."
"Please! You never give us any freedom!" Rachelle shouted.
"We hate you!" Roxanne said.
"Okay, if I let you go, will you love me again?" Ryan asked.
"Yes!" They shouted.
"Then okay, I'll see you girls next week. Wait, don't you need to pack your stuff first?"
"Way ahead of you." Roxanne said as she and her sister raced up the stairs and came back down with their duffel bags.
"Wow." Ryan said. Then he turned to the man. "You make sure to take care of my daughters."
"I promise they'll be back next week."
"All right. See you girls. I love you." Ryan said as he bent down and kissed their foreheads.
"Love you too daddy. See you next week." The girls said as they went with the man in his car.
When the girls were gone, Sharpay started texting in her cell phone. A few seconds later, Ryan's sidekick began beeping. He flipped it open and read the text message.
Whats wrong w/ u?
Nothin. What r u talkin about?
Im talkin about u just lettin ur girls go like that. Thats not the bro I know.
So I gave them freedom. Whats so bad about that?
Its not u.
Well, theyll b back next week anyway.
Did u have 2 much 2 drink?
No. I only had half a glass of wine.
Tell the truth.
Thats the truth!
When Sharpay didn't reply. Ryan looked at her and she gave him her famous glare. Ryan started texting again.
I think I'm gonna go 2 my room. U guys go ahead and count down the new year w/o me. Sharpay read as she saw Ryan stand up and go upstairs.
When Ryan got to his room, he took off his dress shoes and collapsed into his bed. His favorite hat fell off from his head and onto the floor but he didn't take the time to pick it up. His head was throbbing. Everything was spinning around him. "What is wrong with me tonight?" He asked himself. A few minutes of resting on his bed, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.
Meanwhile downstairs, Sharpay flipped her phone close and saw that it was only five minutes away until midnight. She was sad that she was going to count down the New Year without her brother and her nieces beside her. They were always there every year. Why does this year have to be different? Sharpay thought. She decided to check on her brother.
As she climbed the huge staircase, she saw little Devon coming her way.
"Ms. Sharpay! Ms. Sharpay! Come with me!" Devon said as he pulled on her hand, urging her to climb the steps faster. Sharpay did as she was told and followed Devon into Ryan's room.
"Mr. Ryan's dead!" Devon shouted as he showed Sharpay Ryan on his bed, hardly moving at all, his favorite hat on the floor, and his clothes still on.
Sharpay hurriedly picked up her brother's hat on the floor and put it on his dresser and then rushed to her brother's side and held his wrist. She felt a pulse, but an uneven one. She also saw that he was paler than usual and he was sweating all over. She took off his suit jacket for him to help him cool off. She didn't know what was going on but it didn't feel right. She also didn't want to scare Devon.
"He's not dead sweetie. He's just sleeping."
"Does he always go to sleep like that? Because it looks like he's not gonna wake up for anything." Devon asked.
"No honey, he doesn't usually sleep like that. I don't know what's wrong but hopefully he'll feel a lot better in the morning." She said as she took little Devon's hand and led him downstairs for them to countdown.
Gabriella approached Sharpay with a worried look on her face. "Shar, is Ryan okay? He didn't look good when he went upstairs."
"Oh, he's fine. He's just a little tired. He's upstairs resting." Sharpay lied. She didn't want to worry Gabriella and Ryan's condition might just be temporary.
"All right everybody! It's time to countdown to the New Year!" Zeke shouted as everybody rushed outside so they can see the fireworks.
"Everybody count down!" Chad shouted.
"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" Everybody shouted. Then they saw the fireworks go off in New York City.
The couples started kissing. Zeke kissed Sharpay, Taylor kissed Chad, Kelsi kissed Jason, Leslie kissed Troy, and Gabriella… well… Gabriella didn't have anyone to kiss. She saw that Devon was standing just a few feet away from her, looking at the fireworks in the distant sky. She then picked him up in her arms, twirled around, kissed his cheek, and then put him back down again. She smiled at him and he smiled at her and Devon gave her a hug.
"Thanks little D." Gabriella said.
"For what, Ms. Gabby?"
Gabriella smiled. "For being so cute, adorable, and irresistible." She said as she pinched his cheeks. Kinda like Ryan. She added as an afterthought.
A few minutes after midnight, Leslie told everybody that she was going to go home. She told Troy that she was walking and he could take the car home whenever he wanted to.
When she got out of the front door, she snuck into Ryan's backyard. She had a plan in mind and she wasn't afraid to use it.
She tried to find where Ryan's window was. She knew it was on the second floor, but she didn't know which window. So she had to climb onto all the balconies.
By her luck, she found his room on her second try. She tried to open the balcony door but couldn't. She took out one of her credit cards and slid it through the lock and like magic, it worked. She snuck in without waking Ryan up.
She found that Ryan's suit jacket was already off. She continued to take his clothes off until all that was left was his boxers. She checked his body out. "It's exactly how I remember it." She said to herself. She then put the covers over Ryan.
After putting the covers on Ryan, she took his clothes and started plopping them on the floor as if he carelessly left them there. After doing that, she then took her own clothes off leaving just her underwear. She also took her clothes and threw them carelessly around the room. Her top landed on his dresser, her skirt landed on the floor and her bra hanging from the lampshade. She then got under the covers with Ryan. She faced Ryan and kissed his cheek.
"Sweet dreams Ryan. Because it might be the last you'll have in a long time."
Oooohh... so what do you guys think? Please, please, please review!!! What do you guys think is going on? Some of you may be confused and some might get it, but your questions will be answered in the next chapter. As soon as I put it up! And don't forget to leave a REVIEW!