A/N Hello! First let me say that I am terribly sorry for taking so long to update. I was ridiculously busy with school, friends, more school, my boy friend, even more school, and the fact that I was unbearably every other week. I had no time! On the bright side, this is the longest chapter so far so that's good right? Well... I guess that's all I have to say, so, on with Chapter 3!

::Chapitre Trois::

Troy Bolton's room was decorated to go along with a very specific color scheme, those colors, of course, being red and white. The comforter was solid red, and had matching vertical stripped, red and white sheets to go with it. His pillowcases were the plain white, just like the walls, which were poster-covered. The effect was rather tacky, but he was obsessed, and everyone can be excused one obsession in their life, can they not? Troy, however, was not concerned with his bedroom's appearance, or basketball, or anything of that sort at the moment. His mind was focused on a certain blonde boy.

"I asked him out!" Troy was smiling like a stupid clown. "Even if he thinks it's just as friends… I still asked him so it counts for something!" He honestly felt like skipping around the house. Being in love makes you do weird things like that. That is correct; Troy was in love with the drama king, Ryan Evans. No one knew he was gay of course. It wasn't because he was afraid to come out or anything like that, he had always found being afraid of doing something like that rather… stupid. He just never found a reason as to why he should tell anyone, but if someone were to ask, he would answer, "Yes," without any hesitation.

For the last twelve minutes he had established a routine of dialing Ryan's cell number, pressing send, and then hanging up before it rang more than once. He wanted to call Ryan and talk about what they were going to do this coming weekend, but feared he may seem too eager. He didn't want to scare Ryan… and, after all, it was only Monday. He knew it was best to wait until Friday, unless Ryan was to ask first.

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Drama practice was terrible, as usual. It wasn't terrible in the sense that Ryan didn't like doing it. It was just that, when all he wanted to do was rest, Sharpay would yell "Let's do it over! It isn't perfect yet!" and when he thought it was finally over, and he got to sit for a moment, Sharpay would have him up on his feet again. This would go until five in the evening, when Miss Darbus would finally come and say they had to go home because the school was closing. And when they got home, it was straight to the dance room, to practice again, and again, and again, and then some more after that. She accepted nothing less than perfection and didn't stop until perfection was reached.

So here was Ryan, walking to his locker, feeling like he would collapse at any moment, going to fetch his homework that he forgot. How could he possibly remember it? Not after what had happened earlier this morning. Remembering Troy asking him out made him want to smile.

He fiddled with his lock. "14…5…19…8…" He tugged at it. The lock refused to open for him, no matter how many times he'd put in the damn code. "Turn it to the left to 14, twice to the right, 4, twice left, 19, and then right once again to 8." He heard a click and the lock fell to the floor.

"Oh well… at least it's unlocked…" Ryan bent down to pick up the black and silver pad lock when he felt something grab his collar. "Sharpay, I said I'd be right there!" The person grabbing his collar pulled him up, turned him around, and pushed him against the lockers. This wasn't Sharpay.

"Hey fag. Why were you talking to Troy?" Chad spat.

"Why do you care?" Ryan asked, obviously annoyed."

"Just answer you stupid queer."

"We were just talking. That is what civilized people do. They talk."

"Well don't talk to him."

"Why? I can talk to whom ever I please."

"We don't need your gayness rubbing off on our captain."

"Being gay isn't a cold. It doesn't rub off on people. Maybe if you paid attention in health you'd know that!"

"Well then let me put it this way, you talk to him again, and I will make sure you can never talk again." Chad's face was dangerously close to Ryan's.

"Is that a threat, Danforth?"

"Yes, it is." Chad, quite literally, spat in Ryan's face, and then pushed him to the ground. After giving him one more cold glance, Chad walked away, satisfied that he had made his point.

"Great." Ryan thought. "Now I'm going to get herpes or something…" Ryan wiped the disgusting liquid his face and pushed himself to his feet. He felt a sharp pain in his head. "Must have hit my head on lockers when he pushed me…" Ryan returned to rummaging through his locker in search of his lost homework. "Here it is!" Ryan yelled, even though there was absolutely no one to listen. He slipped his lock back through the lock-hole and then made his way to the parking lot.

٠٠٠♥٠٠٠

And so the week drug on. Tuesday was uneventful, Wednesday was just like Tuesday, and Thursday was just so completely boring that it was really pathetic. Troy and Ryan had virtually no contact, all thanks to Chad. He made a point of keeping a distance of at least fifty feet between the two boys. Obviously, Ryan was upset about this, but Troy; he remained completely clueless as to the situation.

But alas, Friday did come. Classes ended, and the halls of East High emptied. The students returned home, to prepare for whatever they may be doing this evening. And Troy- he flopped down on his bed and took out his cell. This time, he'd be calling Ryan for real. There would be no hanging up after it rang once; he was actually going to let it go until Ryan picked up.

Troy dialed the number Ryan had given him, and pressed send. It rang once… twice… thrice… "He's not going to pick up…" Troy was about to hit the end button when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello?" It wasn't Ryan, it was his twin sister.

"Um…" Troy hesitated for a moment. "This is Ryan's phone, isn't it?"

"May I ask whose calling?"

"Troy. Ryan told me this was his number. Did he give me yours by mistake?"

Sharpay giggled. "Oh, no, this is Ryan's, he's just busy practicing at the moment, and I heard it ring so I picked it up."

"Oh, should I call back later?"

"No, that won't be necessary, he can talk now." Troy heard her scream her brother's name. Clearly, she expected him to come to her, and not the other way around.

"Hello?" The blonde dancer sounded out of breath.

"Ah…" Troy thought, "There's the voice I was waiting for…" "Hey Ryan, it's Troy."

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Are we still going out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, what did you plan on doing?"

"I don't know. Is there anything you wanna do?"

"Nothing in particular."

"Do you wanna go out to eat somewhere, maybe see a movie?" "God… how cliché am I?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll pick you up around twelve."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Troy laid down on his bed, took a good minute to stare at the ceiling, and sighed.

٠٠٠♥٠٠٠

Pulling up the Evans driveway, and taking a good look at their house made Troy realized just how different Ryan in him were in terms of money and social class. Ryan had everything he didn't, and even if there wassomething Troy had that Ryan didn't, Ryan had the money to go get it. "Well, actually he'd probably send one of the maids to get it…" Troy chucked at his little joke.

With each step he took closer to the front door, Troy's heart beat got a bit faster. This would be the first time he spent more than a few minutes with Ryan. Hell, this was the first time he'd be alone with the boy he'd dreamed about for months. He took a deep breath, and rung the door bell. The door opened immediately, revealing a person who was neither Ryan or his sister… or either of his parents. This man was tall and muscular with light brown hair cut rather short, but also somewhat elderly looking.

"And who," the man spoke with a thick German accent, "may I ask, are you?" He spoke with a tone that seemed, to Troy, like one of superiority; like Troy wasn't good enough to be here.

"Troy Bolton," he answered with some arrogance. "And who may I ask, are you?"

"I am Dierk, the butler." He answered with the same sort of arrogance as the teenage boy who stood in front of him.

"Great, the butler thinks he's better than me. In Ryan's world… even the help are better than 'the common people'"

"Why is it that you are here… selling Girl Scout cookies perhaps?"

"I'm here to…" Troy stopped mid-sentence when he saw Ryan atop the stairs, pulling on a black peacoat. His outfit, which made him look even more gorgeous than usual, was most certainly designer, but Troy had know way of telling which ones. He suddenly felt as inferior as the butler saw him; wearing a pair of jeans from Hollister and a navy blue polo that he wore under a hoodie he bought at Abercrombie. His sneakers were old and cheap compared to Ryan's spotless ones that must have cost more than Troy had in his entire bank account.

"Hey Troy."

"Oh," the German butler spoke again, "you know this boy?"

"Yes, we're going out."

Troy turned red. "He said we're going out!" "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Ryan ran down the stairs and out the door to where Troy stood. They began to walk to the car when Ryan stopped for a moment, and turned around to say something to the butler who was still watching the two boys leave. "Dierk, if you don't mind, could you tell Dania not to clean my room, that I'll do it myself?"

"Of course."

Troy and Ryan once again began walking toward the car, and once again, Ryan stopped to say something. "Oh and Dierk, why don't you take the day off?"

"That… That would be nice." Dierk answered; almost stunned by the words he had never thought he'd here before. As the two boys got into Troy's beat-up truck and drove away, the German smiled- something he hadn't done in ages.

٠٠٠♥٠٠٠

Troy looked over at the blonde who was visibly uncomfortable on the cloth seats. Right now, his only wish was for a car with the upper leather interior Ryan was used to. "So what do you wanna do first, eat or see a movie?" Troy asked.

"Your choice, it doesn't make a difference to me." Ryan answered.

"Movies then, what do you wanna see?"

"Doesn't matter, whatever you would like to see, I suppose."

"I wanna see Sweeny Todd." "That way, it suits his liking for musicals and my liking for gore…And if he gets scared, I'll be right there to comfort him."

"No."

"No, what?"

"I'm sorry; I don't want to see Sweeny Todd."

"Why? You like musicals don't you?"

"Yeah… I do… It's just that…" The blonde boy said awkwardly "I'm sort of afraid of blood. Even just seeing on TV makes me sick."

"Oh, well, is there anything you'd like to see…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, what is it then?"

"Don't laugh, promise?"

"Promise."

"I want to see the new VeggieTales movie. The Pirate Who Don't Do Anything, I think it's called."

Troy burst out in laughter.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh!"

"No, it's not that I think that's stupid or anything, it's just that I thought I was the only one who liked VeggieTales."

"Really?"

"Yeah. VeggieTales is awesome!"

Just seeing Troy's stupid smile made Ryan burst out laughing just as hard, if not harder, than Troy had a moment ago.

"So The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie it is then?" asked Troy.

"VeggieTales it is!"

Ryan and Troy felt incredibly awkward, being the only teenage males in a theater filled with moms and hordes of children sitting in booster seats and crying babies that had to be taken out periodically to be changed. Even still, they laughed harder, ate more popcorn, and enjoyed the movie much more than every child in the theater. There was one moment, one that neither boy would ever forget, where Troy's hand found its way on top of Ryan's. Just for a moment, Troy laced his fingers into Ryan's.

Following the movie, Troy took Ryan to a local diner. Troy knew it was probably nothing compared to what Ryan was used to, but it was the best he could afford with his allowance and part-time job.

"So, how are you feeling, your wrists I mean," Troy asked, trying to create a conversation. The silence between them was bothering him.

"I'm fine. It doesn't really even hurt anymore."

"That's good, I guess. Did you ever figure out who did it?"

"Um… no… I never did…" Ryan answered awkwardly. He hated lying to Troy about what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to tell the boy he was in love with that he tried to commit suicide because his love wasn't returned.

"Oh."

"Yeah…" And another prolonged silence followed.

The silence was broken when a woman, probably in her late fifties, walked over with a pad of paper and a pen in her hands. She was average height, around 5' 5", and had curly bottle-blonde hair up in a messy bun. She had a look on her face of wanting to be anywhere else but here.

"'Ello, my name is Bertha and I'll be your server for this evening. May I get you anything to drink." She asked. Ryan could see the gum she was chewing.

"I'll have a coke," answered Troy.

"Okay, and you?" she asked, turning towards Ryan.

"May I have a glass of water with no ice and a lemon, please?"

"Anymore specifics?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm. Ryan turned a shade of pale red and stared down at the floor. "Well, I'll be back in a minute with your drinks and then I'll take your orders, okay" Without waiting for a thank you from either of the boys, she walked away with no intention of bringing the drinks right away- she'd bring the drinks when she felt like it.

After waiting to make sure the bitchy waitress was out of sight, Troy said, "I'm sorry."

Ryan picked his head up. "For what?"

"For how rude the waitress was to you. It's not usually like that here."

"It's fine, it's just that… that's what I order everywhere I go, and no one says anything, so I just assumed they'd do it here too."

"Yeah, I can't afford the places you're used to," Troy answered half jokingly, half seriously."

"Oh, know, I didn't mean it that way. It doesn't matter to me where were we went, I'm just glad to be here."

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"You know, Ryan…""Knows my chance, I'll tell him about my feelings!" "I've…" but just as he was about to speak, the waitress, the same look of discontent for her life on her face, returned. She placed; well more like threw their drinks in front of them, took her pencil out from behind her ear, and said, "So what can I get for you?"

"I'll have a plain burger," said Troy.

"You want lettuce, tomato, or onion with that?" asked the waitress.

"I'll have the tomato and onion, no lettuce."

"Another picky one I see…" she mumbled under her breath. "And what about you, what do you want?"

"Oh, I'll have a garden salad," answered Ryan.

"Would you like any dressing with that?"

"No, but may I have some olive oil?"

"Sorry, but we don't have any of that, but would you like me to go and get you some at the super market." She answered with sarcasm; as if his request was completely unreasonable.

"Oh, well, then no thank you. I'll just have it dry…"

"Okay. So that's a cheese burger, tomato and onion, no lettuce, and a dry garden salad?" she asked. Troy nodded.

"Your meals will be out shortly."

The waitress began walking away when Troy called her back over, "Excuse me."

"What?" she asked.

"Do you think you could try being a bit nicer to my friend? Being rude is no way to get good tips." The waitress stared at him in shock for a moment and then walked away, obviously angry.

"You didn't have to do that…" Ryan said.

"Oh, it was fine. She was being a bitch unnecessarily. She deserved it."

"Thank you… So what were you going to say before she came over?" Ryan asked.

"Oh… um… I forget…" Troy had completely lost his confidence.

"Oh…"

"So how are you're parents? I haven't seen them since last summer."

"Oh, they're fine, I suppose. They went to Prague."

"Cool! I've never even left the country. When are they coming back?"

"I have no idea?"

"Really? Don't they tell you?"

"No… never… They do stuff like this all the time. They'll just tell Sharpay and I that they're going off to some country. Sometimes they'll come back in a few days, sometimes they'll stay a month. They stay until they get bored with the country."

"That's… that's… terrible… They're your parents. Shouldn't they be home, taking care of you and Sharpay?"

"No, it's life. They've been doing this since we were little. Our care was left in the hands of the army of nannies our parents hired."

"That's horrible."

"It's okay, neither of them are very… parental. My mother is wrapped up in her own little world, completely oblivious to all her surroundings. And my father… well… I don't want to talk about him… Let's just say, our relationship isn't a good one…"

"Did something happen between you?"

"I don't want to talk about it…"

"Is it because you're gay?"

"I don't want to talk about it! Would you stop asking?! It's not any of your business!" Troy was in shock, never before had he heard Ryan Evans yell… and at him no less. Troy didn't say anything in return.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't have yelled."

"No it was my fault, I shouldn't pry into you're life." Another extended silence followed.

"So what's up with you?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing, nothing interesting. Just school and basketball, you know stuff like that."

"That's cool."

Following that, their food was brought over by a different waitress than before. This one was young, around the same age as the two boys, and had straight brown hair that extended to the middle of her back. She wore the same uniform as the other, but it looked much more flattering when worn by a girl who was forty years younger. She came over with the hope of flirting with Troy, hopefully getting his number, but, frankly, Troy hadn't even noticed her walk to their table, put their food on the table, and walk away. Troy and Ryan ate their lunches, while conversing about a variety of topics, some serious, some completely pointless. Troy had just told a joke that made Ryan spit out a bit of lettuce from laughing when Troy's phone began to ring.

"Hey," Troy said to whoever was on the other line.

"Yo,"

"Oh hey Chad, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Wanna hang out or something?"

"Sorry, can't I'm busy."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Hanging out with Ryan."

"Ryan… Ryan Evans? Dude, are you serious?"

"Yeah, he's cool. I like him."

"Whatever, just don't let the queer get too close." Chad was obviously upset, but Troy hadn't heard a word his best friend said; he was too busy staring at the blonde boy across from him, watching him eat.

Troy chuckled, "Ryan, you have a piece of lettuce on you lip." Ryan quickly reached for his napkin to wipe it off. Troy chuckled again at Ryan's adorable embarrassment.

"Yo, dude, you there?" asked Chad, who was not taking being ignored lightly.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," answered.

"I'll talk to you later. Go have fun with the fag," said Chad. Troy hung up, without even a goodbye.

Chad threw his phone at the wall like it was a baseball. Realizing what he had just done, he ran over to where his phone now lay and saw the glass cracked beyond repair. Seeing his phone in this state only made him throw it again, this time at the opposite wall. The black razor broke in two.

He wanted to scream until his voice was lost, and didn't understand why. Troy hung out with other people all the time, and never once did Chad even spend a moment caring. But there was something about being rejected for Ryan; it made anger boil up inside him, and at the same time, it made him want to burst out in tears.

…And Ryan. He had told Ryan to stay away from Troy. Did little fag actually think Chad was kidding when he had told him "I will make sure you will never talk again?" He was going to show that dirty queer that he never backed out on a promise. Ryan would never talk to Troy again, he'd make sure of it.

E/N So how did you like this chapter? I hope it was good!!! The last three paragraphs were horrid! I promise the next chapter won't be such a long wait. Well... Review!!!! Nice long ones are the best!