Well, chapter 8 is here…sorry for the delay, I've been pretty busy; my chapters will probably take more time to post, but don't give up on me! I will continue to post this story as long as you guys keep reviewing! Speaking of which, I'm getting less and less reviews for each chapter (again) and it's a bit disappointing. I understand that you all are busy, but please leave a review for me so I know to continue! Thanks to all who keep reviewing, I hope you stay with me!

Chapter Eight

(Ryan)

"Brilliance!" Ms. Darbus dramatically waved her arms about, flopping a copy of our finished script on her desk. "Sheer brilliance!" I smiled. "But, I don't know if our student body can handle a play of such…"

My face fell. Of such what? Ms. Darbus seemed to read my mind.

"…Of such intensity, one might call it…"

"Or love," I said, bluntly. "At least I'd call it love." I looked down at our finished script, the script we had worked so hard on. I felt worse and worse as the seconds crawled by. Ms. Darbus looked at me.

"Ryan," she began, sitting down. "You know that I fully support fully your ideas and this play and its message. But we also have to consider all possible reactions this play could get…the good, and the bad…" she gave me another glance. I shrugged, acted as if I hadn't thought about it that way, but I had…

"I think that people should be able to react however they want," I said, looking down at my feet. "If they like it, that's great. If they don't…" If they don't, screw 'em! I thought. "…If they don't, then that's for them to decide." Ms. Darbus nodded at me, blinked a few times, and looked intensely at the wall, she was thinking.

"You all seem so sure in the success of this play," she began. "But I'm still not totally convinced. But I'll make you a deal, if you can get enough support for this show from people who aren't in your little circle of friends, and if you can get sufficient adult support from the community, I might actually consider putting this show on the stage where it belongs." Ms. Darbus smiled at me. I smiled back, even though I knew this was not going to be as easy as I wanted it to be.

::-//-::

"So we need more support…we can pull it off." Troy said, as he sat with me on my bed. Troy and I had walked home from school, and I told him of my conversation with Ms. Darbus. I sat with my hand in Troy's hair, becoming rather preoccupied with the whole idea. I bit my lip and squinted my eyes.

"She said she loved the idea we had, so why doesn't she just go through with it?" I asked, annoyed.

"She's just looking out for the better of the school, that's her job," Troy assured me as he pulled me closer. I nuzzled his ear and sighed heavily.

"I just want this so bad," I said, hugging Troy.

"I know," Troy gave me a tight squeeze. "But you've done what you can so far, now you just have to wait. Give it time to sink in, and Ms. Darbus will come around, she has to."

"She better," I corrected Troy sternly. "I can't stand waiting, it makes me think of all the possible reasons why she wouldn't do it." Troy laughed quietly, and ruffled my hair.

"I'm sure she'll let us do it," he smiled down at me. "She just needs some time. We'll just have to wait, and go back later. In the meantime," Troy began to lean back, assuming a more comfortable position. "What say we take a little nap?" I grunted and squirmed as Troy pulled me closer to his chest, he giggled slightly as he did so. The closer I got to Troy's body, the clearer his heartbeat became. Like a solid metronome, it slowly and gently lulled me to sleep.

::-//-::

"Sign this form, now!" Sharpay had a unique way of getting people to do what she wanted. The jock signed his name, his eyes ever nervous, were locked on Sharpay's hysterical demeanor.

"Sharpay," I walked up to her. "We have to be a little bit nicer to people, so they sign the form with actual meaning. Not because you threaten their lives if they don't."

"Hey, if it weren't for me, you'd never have gotten this many signatures," Sharpay said with a calculated flip of her hair. She was right, she had gotten nearly one hundred signatures, and in less than ten minutes. "Besides, people around this school need more force if you want them to do something."

I shrugged, it was pointless to argue. I went around and got as many signatures as I could, which Sharpay was eager to point out how she had tripled my amount by the end of the day. Troy showed up with almost as many signatures as Sharpay, who was quite upset and asked politely, "Where the hell did you get all those signatures?!"

"Cheerleaders." Troy sighed, smiling. I gave him a quizzical look; he gave me a quick hug and a kiss on my forehead.

"I think we might have almost enough to give Ms. Darbus." I said, reviewing the signatures.

"We'll have enough to give to her and give the ones left over to people as Christmas gifts!" Sharpay giggled, clapping. I raised my eyebrow at her. "What? I was joking! Jeez, you are no fun! I'm going home, you two can stay here and snog or something!" My mouth dropped and Troy blushed slightly. Sharpay smiled wickedly and walked off, leaving Troy and me alone in the halls of the school. I felt Troy's fingers lace between mine, and he gently pulled me closer, placing a kiss on my face, then my lips. I kissed back; I couldn't believe Sharpay wasn't here to say "I told you so!" but it didn't matter.

"Ahem!" I had to mention Sharpay, who was standing in the middle of the hallway. Troy and I pulled away from each other. "Oh, don't mind me!" Sharpay said. "I forgot my signatures list, but I'll let you two get back to your Love Shack moment. See you at home, dear brother!" she turned on her heels and left. I giggled nervously, and gazed at Troy, who was running his fingers through his hair.

"I guess I better go…home, I guess…"

"I'll drive you," Troy said suddenly. "That is, if you don't mind."

"Sharpay took the car, and it's cold outside," I pretended to ponder the situation. "And you're my boyfriend, yup, I think that's legally an option." I smiled. Troy smiled and held my hand in his. We walked out to the parking lot, where we found Sharpay standing, mouth agape, next to Troy's car.

"You didn't vandalize my car, did you?" Troy asked sarcastically, but then his beautiful eyes filled with terror.

"What is it?" I asked, going up to Troy's side. "What's wrong---oh, my God…!" I gasped in horror. On the side of Troy's car, in bright red letters, was the word: FAG. Next to it, the phrase, THERE'S NO PLACE FOR GAYS IN THIS SCHOOL!

My eyes filled with tears, Troy held me close, although he was still in shock himself.

"Who would do this?" Sharpay asked, her hands clenched in fists at her side. "I swear if I find out who it is I'll…"

"No!" I cried suddenly, causing Sharpay to jump. "Don't do anything! Not now, Sharpay, not because of this!" I sobbed into Troy's shoulder, I knew I had brought him into this. If we never went out, this could have been prevented.

"Do you think Ms. Darbus will know about this? I mean, it could ruin our chance of ever doing our show…" Troy said softly.

"Word travels fast at our school," Sharpay replied angrily. "She probably already knows. But we'll still get to do the show, we have the signatures, this is only a small bump in the long winding road…"

I collapsed into Troy's arms; I didn't want to deal with this, not right now. I had enough stress going on, I didn't need this on top of everything else.

We all stood there for what seemed like forever, and then some. I never wanted this to happen, but it did. And it was all my fault…

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Well, there was Chapter 8, I hope you enjoyed it!

Chapter 9 is soon to come, but I need reviews, I expect more!

Thanks for the continued support! See you in Chapter 9!

ShadowAngel26

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