Escape
Author's Note: My latest project, fresh from the notebook my history teacher thinks I use for class notes. Enjoy! The dividers indicate major time jumps...the first and second dividers both represent 5 years, and the last represents 3.
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of the High School Musical franchise.
Summary: Kelsi has always escaped into her music. When Ryan came along, though, something changed. What will Kelsi do when the thing she's trying to escape from is...inescapable? And does she really want to escape from it?
For as long as Kelsi could remember, music had been her escape. Even as a young child, she turned to music to drown out the constant arguments of her older siblings. Abigail, the oldest, donated her old cassette player to Kelsi. Anytime the older Neilson children began to fight, Kelsi would sneak one of the family's cassettes into her room and listen. The only shelf she could reach was the lowest, where her parents kept many of the classical piano recordings Kelsi grew to adore.
By the time she turned seven, Kelsi had taught herself basic composition skills on the piano. Her parents often worried about their shy daughter, who they thought substituted her piano for friends. On the contrary, Kelsi had a number of good friends at school. However, she struggled with some of her schoolwork and occasionally a bully or two. After a particularly hard day at school, she would run home from the corner bus stop and crash through the door. She would yell a quick greeting to her mother, drop her backpack at the foot of the stairs, and take her place before the piano. She would open the cover gently and sit silently for a moment, her fingers poised over the keys. Finally, she would press down on a chord. From that simple release, she would escape into the music, her fingers guided by an unknown force.
Zachary, seven years older than her, usually got home next. He and Abigail would spend a few minutes with their mother first before joining little Kelsi at the piano. Zachary would sneak up behind her and shift her fingers away from a dissonant chord. He would kiss the top of her head and step aside, giving Abigail his place. She would sit beside Kelsi on the piano bench and care for the littlest member of their family.
When Kelsi was 12, the Evans family moved to Albuquerque from Rhode Island. Kelsi did her best to avoid the twins, particularly Sharpay, but their membership in the school's drama club made this very difficult. It didn't help that Ryan Evans shared her love of hats.
Kelsi crashed through the front door one Friday, shouted a greeting to her mother, and claimed her place on the well-worn piano bench. She ran through her scales and etudes quickly, anxiously, nervously. As soon as she completed the dreaded exercises, her fingers gravitated to the opening chord of her latest piece. Before she could press down on the keys, however, she felt another pair of hands slide over hers. She felt the person kiss her hatless head and knew exactly whom it was.
Abigail sat beside Kelsi, dismissing Zachary with a quick nod. Kelsi smiled sadly at her 21-year-old sister. As excited as Kelsi was to see Abigail and Zachary home from college for Thanksgiving, she couldn't help but think back to her recent school experiences.
"What's wrong?" Abigail asked. Kelsi shrugged.
"I don't know. It all started when the Evans twins started school." Abigail gasped.
"Is this about a boy?" she guessed, getting excited. Kelsi rolled her eyes, irritated that her sister seemed to take joy from her misery.
"Yes, this concerns a boy," Kelsi sighed. Abigail squealed. Their siblings sprinted into the room; the boys wielded baseball bats. 15-year-old Tessie, ever the diva, rolled her eyes.
"Why did you grab those?" she complained. "That was not an intruder scream. At worst, it was a spider scream, in which case those wouldn't help you anyway."
"You call that a scream? That was not a scream. That was a squeal," Abigail corrected.
"Why did you squeal?" Matthew intervened. At age 17, he was the middle Neilson child. He shared Kelsi's quiet and shy disposition as well as her love of hats. Often, he took the role of peacekeeper, settling the disputes of his the three louder siblings.
"Kelsi has her first crush," Abigail announced with a proud grin. Tessie squealed.
"Abby!" Kelsi exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. The boys, who had since lowered their bats, raised them again. Abigail and Tessie giggled. Kelsi ignored all but the oldest. "I can't believe you! I do not have a crush on Ryan!"
"Ryan? I didn't mention a Ryan..." Abigail acted. "Did I mention a Ryan?" She addressed the seemingly innocent question to all four of her siblings, but she failed to hide her knowing smile. Kelsi cringed slightly. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, painting them crimson.
"Isn't that the boy with the hats you've been talking about?" Tessie tattled.
"Maybe," Kelsi admitted. She turned to Matthew, hoping he would bail her out. Luck, for once, was on her side.
"Well, Zack and I don't need to be here for this," he began, grabbing Zachary's bat out of his hand and pushing the older boy out of the room. "Tessie, I seem to remember something about a failed math test you begged to retake..." he trailed off as Tessie bolted toward the door.
"Fill me in later!" she ordered, running to her bedroom.
"Not until you ace it!" Abigail called, her voice carrying up the stairs. Matthew winked at Kelsi as he and Zachary followed Tessie. Kelsi sat on the bench again. Abigail turned to her.
"So, Kelsi...tell me all about Ryan."
For the next 5 years, Kelsi's amorous feelings for Ryan increased. Their junior year, when Gabriella and Troy joined the musical, he began to distance himself from his sister and spend more time with Kelsi and the rest of the cast.
With a little prodding from Gabriella, Ryan invited Kelsi to a free outdoor classical concert.
"I'm so excited!" Kelsi gushed to Abigail over the phone as she rummaged through her closet to find something to wear. Abigail laughed.
"Really? I didn't know! You've only told me about three thousand times," Abigail joked. Kelsi ignored her sister's sarcasm. "I'm going to let you go get ready, but I'll call back after your date to see how it went," she promised. Kelsi made a muffled sound of agreement from deep within her closet. "The black beret he gave you on opening night," Abigail advised, assuming that was Kelsi's problem. Kelsi smiled. She emerged from the closet, beret in hand. She thanked Abigail, hung up the phone, and prepared for her date.
A few days later, Kelsi sat at the piano, her tears long spent. She tried to escape her frustrations through the well-worn keys, but every time she touched the smooth ivory, Ryan's face popped into her head. The phone ran. Kelsi's mother picked it up.
"It's Abby," she announced, handing Kelsi the phone.
"Hey Abby," Kelsi greeted solemnly.
"What happened?" Abigail asked gently. Kelsi sighed. Though Abigail no longer lived at home, she called regularly, especially on the days of big events.
"He did it again," Kelsi whispered, referring to the auditions for the spring musical, which had taken place earlier that day. A tear she thought she had wept slowly trailed down her cheek. Abigail sighed. She could tell by Kelsi's tone that she was mostly heartbroken; she also sensed that a piece of the story was still missing.
"Where are you?" she started. Though she already knew the answer, Abigail hoped the simple question would encourage Kelsi to tell the rest of the tale.
"I'm at the piano," Kelsi informed her, another tear lingering. "But I can't play."
"Why not?"
"I can't escape him. His face, his voice. Every song I've written recently has been about him. I can't escape into my music because he's there," Kelsi whispered. The phone beeped. Kelsi glanced at its screen. "He's on the other line."
"You don't have to talk to him," Abigail assured.
"I do," Kelsi asserted. Abigail sighed.
"Good luck," she wished. Kelsi thanked her older sister and switched lines, taking a short moment to regain control of her raging emotions.
"Hi Ryan," she greeted quietly, a hint of sadness lingering in her tone.
"Excuse me?" Sharpay replied, attitude dripping from every word.
"Sorry! It's just, Ryan is usually the only one who calls me from your house. It's not that you don't call me, you just call from your cell phone instead, so-" Kelsi rambled, her nerves overcoming her rational thoughts.
"Kelsi!" Sharpay interrupted. "We'll need you to transpose the other duet into my key." She hung up the phone before Kelsi could answer. Within seconds, Kelsi's doorbell rang. She stood slowly and reached the door just after her mother. Through the window, she could see Taylor, Gabriella, and their respective boyfriends. Kelsi groaned internally as her mother invited her friends into their family's home.
"I'll go get you some snacks," Mrs. Neilson announced, sensing the slight level of discomfort her presence added to the already nervous room. As soon as she was out of sight, Gabriella and Taylor pulled Kelsi into a hug.
"Your sister called us," Taylor explained.
"Abby?" Kelsi asked, confused.
"Tessie," she corrected. Kelsi half-smiled at the memories of their last big family gathering, when 20-year-old Tessie had announced that she was dating Taylor's older brother Jacob, who was the same age.
"She said that you were upset, and that it had to do with Ryan," Gabriella added. Kelsi shrugged.
"I thought he had changed. I guess not," she admitted.
"What did he do?" Taylor asked.
"He took my music, and they changed it," Kelsi explained. She looked to Gabriella. "I had been saving it for you and Troy."
"Want us to go beat him up?" Chad offered. Kelsi shook her head.
"I can forgive him," she sighed. "I just can't see him. Not now, not ever." Kelsi looked to her piano, pain lingering in her eyes.
"That can be arranged," Chad interrupted. Troy grabbed his shirt and pulled him away before Taylor could smack him for his comment. The girls sat on the stairs, situating Kelsi in the middle.
"I've always escaped into my music, but now he's there, in every chord and lyric," she told her friends.
"And that's a bad thing?" Taylor checked. When Kelsi responded, her voice barely had the strength of a whisper.
"Only when he's the thing I'm trying to escape from."
"Can I please smack him? Just once?" Tessie begged. Neither marriage nor maturity had mellowed her.
"It was three years ago, Tessie. Just give it a rest," Kelsi insisted, sitting very still. She glanced at her family in the mirror. Tessie, Abigail, Zachary and Matthew had all flown in for her birthday. Though Kelsi didn't know it, they had had a little help with the logistics of the trip from Ryan and his family.
"We are not here to bash Kelsi's boyfriend," Abigail scolded, adjusting one of Kelsi's curls.
"Even if he does deserve to be smacked," Zachary added with a smile.
"He does not," Kelsi argued.
"It's your birthday and he's not here," Matthew pointed out. "I don't care if he's at work. He should be here with you." Kelsi didn't respond. Luckily, her phone buzzed from a new text message. Before she could grab it, Zachary snatched it off her dresser. Matthew read the message over his shoulder. They handed it to Tessie, who showed it to Abigail.
"Tell her she'll be there in ten," Abigail instructed, pinning the last curl in place. Tessie's fingers flew across the keys. Kelsi stood and tried to reclaim her phone, but Tessie handed it off to Zachary, the tallest Neilson, who held it high above his head.
"Tell who that I'll be where in ten?" Kelsi begged.
"Ryan. He said he escaped early from work and wants you to meet him there," Matthew released, a knowing smile playing on his lips. Kelsi perked up immediately, reaching for her belongings.
"You're not going by yourself," Abigail decided, grabbing her coat.
"It's only two minutes away!" Kelsi exclaimed. Her siblings stared at her in confusion. Noticing this, Kelsi grinned. "He said he escaped," she explained, throwing Matthew's words back at him. She grabbed her purse, a light sweater, and the hat Matthew had brought. Without another word, she walked out of her apartment. Zachary understood first.
"Oh no!" he cried, following Kelsi. Tessie, Abigail, and Matthew ran after him, still confused.
"Zack!" Tessie cried. "Slow down!" She had fallen behind. He stopped and waited. Abigail and Matthew caught up within seconds and stopped, waiting for Tessie.
"Hurry up!" Zachary called back impatiently.
"Sorry," she apologized, finally reaching the spot where they stood. "Heels may not have been the best choice." Her older sister rolled her eyes.
"Where are we going?" Matthew asked, refocusing the family before the girls could start to bicker.
"Where does Kelsi always go to escape?" Zachary challenged. He took off, followed quickly by Abigail and Matthew. Tessie walked at a leisurely pace, pulling out her cell phone and calling her sister-in-law, who was just across campus.
"Taylor? It's Tessie. You've got to hear this..."
Meanwhile
Ryan paced in Julliard's main music room. Window, door, piano, table, and around again. How much time had he spent in this very room, working with Kelsi on their latest project? The door slammed open, breaking into his thoughts. Ryan's head whipped around. There stood Kelsi, wearing a knee-length, light blue summer dress. On her head was a new white hat, the kind he knew Matthew loved to give her. She stood slightly taller than usual thanks to the small heels on the shoes she wore, courtesy of Tessie.
Ryan had lit candles around the room, casting flickering shadows in the dusky light. He stared at her, dumbfounded. Part of him was ecstatic to see her, but part of him was worried. He thought about the message he had sent to her cell phone, remembering too late the wording he had chosen. Even so, Kelsi should have been on her way to the music store where he worked, with Abigail. Zachary should have crashed through the door with the ring he had picked out.
The ring: how was Ryan supposed to propose to Kelsi without a ring?
"Hey," Ryan greeted cautiously, his mind flying. Where was Matthew with the roses to fill the vase atop the piano? He gulped audibly, his nerves growing. As if on cue, Matthew and Zachary appeared at the door, side by side. Abigail's head popped up between theirs seconds later. Kelsi didn't notice them, her eyes still on Ryan in his grey lightweight suit and top hat. Zachary revealed a leather box in his hand, waiting until Ryan saw it before holding it behind his back.
"I had this whole plan," Ryan began, improvising. "Abby was going to take you to the music shop to talk to your first piano teacher about music, about escaping into the piano. From there, Abby was going to bring you to the main theater, where Ms. Darbus is waiting to tell you all about theater and how you can escape into a performance. Tessie was going to pick you up there and bring you to the courtyard outside our freshmen dorms. Martha, Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay were going to talk to you about being able to turn to friends when you need to escape. Then Tessie would walk you here, talking about escaping into your family..." Ryan paused and took Kelsi's hand in one of his. "Then you would get here, and it would be my turn." He paused again. "Do you remember that day in high school?"
"When you took me out for ice cream to apologize for ruining my song?" Kelsi asked; her mind was still on Tessie's comment from earlier that night. Ryan shook his head and chuckled.
"Well that one would work too, but I was thinking of the day I asked you to prom," he corrected, grinning when he saw the smile appear automatically on her face. "I ran into Taylor in the hallway on my way to lunch. She told me you were in the music room. She said I was the only one allowed to go in while you were working. She asked me why I wasn't there with you." He turned his head slightly, silently motioning for her siblings to enter. "I found out later that you had heard about Sharpay's absurd request, you were trying to escape from her, and you wanted me to be there. For the first time, I was your escape." As he had been talking, Abigail, Zachary, Matthew, and Tessie—who had finally arrived—had formed a semi-circle around Kelsi. Zachary, standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Ryan, slipped the ring box into Ryan's free hand, unseen by the room's other occupants.
"That was true then, and it's still true today. Tonight, I hope you'll agree to make it true forever more. I've been your escape: the person you ran to, the person you trusted." Ryan slowly knelt to the ground. "I want to be that person for the rest of my life. Kelsi, will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Unable to speak, Kelsi merely nodded. Ryan slipped the ring onto her finger. He stood slowly. They embraced.
Ryan stepped away for a moment, allowing Kelsi's family to take his place. The Wildcats waited by the door until Kelsi saw them, at which point they ran to her. Ryan rejoined the group when a myriad of hands pushed him into its center. He automatically wrapped his arms around his fiancée's waist. She turned and hugged him properly, resting her head just below his chin.
"I need to escape," she confessed. He smiled.
"Where to?" he asked softly so no one would overhear their conspiring.
"Anywhere," she whispered. "As long as I'm with you."