The party came surprisingly fast, to Ryan's annoyance. News had spread, and by 7:45 everyone was there. It really wasn't that horrible, as Gabriella gloatingly rubbed in his face. They both agreed, however, that Sharpay attempting to force everyone to wear the lime green feathery party hats was a bit over the top. The DDR machine was a huge hit, and Chad kept challenging anyone who would walk by to a disco dance-off. Troy accepted, and Ryan had to walk away after he started grinding on Chad jokingly, much to the pleasure of Taylor, who was videotaping the entire thing. After about an hour, Sharpay stood up on a chair, screaming into a microphone.
"WILL EVERYONE PLEASE SIT IN A CIRCLE AROUND ME?" She yelled. Chad moaned "Oh God…who gave her the microphone? Kill me now!" and the entire group burst into laughter. Sharpay casually flipped Chad off, and continued. "Actually," she said in a much quieter tone, "it's time to play spin-the-bottle." At these words, the group of ten to fifteen people crowded around Sharpay, and she held aloft an enormous pink bottle encrusted with blue rhinestones. Ryan groaned, and Troy laughed, clapping him on the back. "Now, because my dear brother Ryan," Sharpay pointed at him with the bottle, "Is the birthday boy, and…well, there's no easy way to say this…desperate," a few people laughed and applauded. Taylor threw a cupcake at Sharpay, which completely missed. "Hey, it's true for him, and most of you. Anyway, I've decided to change up the rules a bit to make it more fun. After the bottle is spun, and the lucky couple is chosen, everyone else will decide on what the two must do." Chad wolf-whistled. "No one will be going that far, basketball-for-brains." Chad coughed behind his hand, and Sharpay rolled her eyes. "I mean, if we don't like the couple, they can just kiss. But…" Sharpay narrowed her eyes and her voice saturated with drama, "if we feel that these two people share something special…that they are destined for each other…" her voice went back to normal, "then we'll just have to give them that extra push into each other's lives, whether they want it or not, you know?!?" she giggled, and stared at Ryan. "Who knows, Ryan. Maybe you'll get lucky." Ryan paled. Sharpay unceremoniously threw the chair she was standing on out of the circle, and kneeled in the grass, grasping the bottle with both hands.
"Now remember the rules. You spin the bottle, and kiss whoever it lands on." She looked over to Ryan, and then to Troy. "Whoever it lands on. Once you're done, the person you kissed will spin the bottle, thus choosing the next person to spin. You can't kiss the same person twice, and if you've just kissed someone and the bottle lands on you, it will be spun again." There were a few murmurs, and Sharpay gripped the bottle. "Is everyone ready?" she asked quietly. Ryan felt ready to pass out, but Sharpay had already spun the bottle. It landed on Chad.
"Alright Chad, spin the bottle one time, and you have to kiss whoever it lands on."
"What? I don't get to lock lips with Her Majesty?" Chad asked in mock disappointment.
"Psh…as if." Sharpay scoffed. Chad shrugged and spun the bottle, his eyes widening as it landed on Gabriella. Gabriella giggled, and puckered her lips. Chad looked over at Troy for approval, which was given silently with a head nod, and the two stood up. Sharpay spoke.
"Alright now, who thinks of this as a match made in heaven?" no one raised their hands. Gabriella laughed, and ruffled Chad's hair.
"I'm sorry, dear," she said in a falsely sad voice, "but our love can never be!" Chad laughed, and played along.
"Then perhaps a kiss, before we say goodbye, my only?" Chad leaned down and kissed Gabriella for a full five seconds, before Sharpay allowed them to break apart. The two were greeted by rounds of applause, and Gabriella leaned down and spun the bottle again. It landed on Martha, who twirled the bottle around to Zeke. After a loud smattering of applause, the two kissed fervently for twenty seconds, backing away blushing and breathing heavily. This went on for about half an hour, Taylor filming every kiss between two boys happily. Gabriella leaned in to spin the bottle for the third time, but Sharpay intervened.
"Hmm…it seems our birthday boy hasn't gotten any action." Sharpay handed the bottle to Ryan, who tried to run away but was grabbed by Taylor and Martha. Ryan winced, and spun the over-sized bottle, wishing he had broken a bone during yoga that morning.
The bottle spun twice, and then it hit a rock and rolled on its side- right into Troy Bolton's hand. Troy looked up at Ryan and blushed, noticing how Ryan was doing the same. Sharpay grinned, and Taylor readied her video camera.
"So!" Sharpay's voice snapped Ryan out of his daze. "I think it's fate, what about you?" Taylor slowly clapped, nudging Martha. Soon, everyone was clapping, even Gabriella. There were a few cheers, and the two boys stood up. Ryan looked as though he would run at any moment, so Sharpay nodded at Taylor, who kicked Troy hard in the back of the leg. Troy stumbled forward a bit, and Ryan caught him.
"You okay?" Ryan murmured to Troy. Troy nodded, and wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist, taking him by surprise. His eyes grew wide, as Troy brushed his lips against Ryan's neck.
"Happy Birthday, Ryan." Troy whispered, dragging his lips up to meet Ryan's. Ryan gasped, and Troy took the opportunity to let his tongue explore the inside of Ryan's mouth. Ryan smirked into Troy, and kissed him back with equal force. Ryan's hands tangled themselves in Troy's hair, and he moaned softly, causing Troy's erection to become much more noticeable. Ryan gasped again as Troy's hand slowly slid up Ryan's shirt, and after they explored a bit, his hand slowly traveled downward, dancing along his boxers. Just as Troy's fingers slithered down to caress a part of Ryan not normally seen, Sharpay cleared her throat and turned the microphone back on.
"Alright, Bolton, that's enough. Don't steal my brother's innocence in front of so many witnesses."
"Keyword…witnesses," Troy whispered huskily into Ryan's ear, nipping it softly and pulling away. A blushing and disoriented Ryan looked out to all of his friends. There was silence. Gabriella looked like she was about to kill someone, Zeke and Jason looked disgusted, and most of the girls were smiling widely, crowded around Taylor and the camera. Chad was no where to be found. Troy looked over at Ryan. His fingers were caressing where Troy's lips had just been, and before Troy could say anything, Ryan had run away. His hat flew off, and Troy picked it up, running after him.
"Well, that was interesting. Okay, everybody who wants to keep playing, go ahead. Everyone else…disperse." Sharpay spoke quickly, walking over to talk to Gabriella.