Chapter Four

Ryan thanked his lucky stars that he'd shared an apartment with someone like Kelsi. When he arrived, all his various possessions had been sorted into boxes, waiting by the door to be taken back to New Mexico.

Kelsi welcomed him in as warmly as ever, but he sensed a slight impatience in her manner that had grown more and more noticeable as he planned his return to Albuquerque.

They'd joined together at East High to oppose Sharpay, but at Julliard Kelsi had become part of a large group of people, none of them particularly rich, who encouraged her compositions instead of looking down their noses at them.

That's not to say there was a sudden barrier between her and Ryan: they still enjoyed each other's company to a certain extent, but she was eager to live alone with her long-term boyfriend, sans the presence of an Evans twin.

In the apartment block's hallway, she embraced Ryan and assured him that he was welcome back at any time. Gathering his boxes, Ryan stepped into the waiting elevator and started the journey back to his home state.

Less than a week ago he would have felt a terrible sadness at losing a permanent link with his last high school friend. Now, he thought only of Chad and the possibility of seeing him again. With a cruel twist of fate he realised that they hadn't exchanged numbers and he had absolutely no idea where Chad lived.

****

Back at the family home again, Ryan started carrying the last of his belongings upstairs and began sorting them. As he opened one particularly large box, an explosion of feathers, the remnants of a prop from a production long since forgotten, flew up into his face and scattered across the carpet. He gathered up those nearest to him, stretching his arm for a couple just out of reach, and noticed with a start, a pair of high heeled sandals complete with expertly maintained feet standing amongst the boxes.

"Oh, hey, Shar."

He sat back on his heels and looked up at her, waiting for a response.

"There's a charity ball at Lava Springs tonight, so don't forget to check your outfit with me beforehand. We don't want to clash."

Ryan sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I don't have to attend, do I? I've only just got back and I'm rather tired."

"Well, I'm sorry if Albuquerque doesn't equal the standards of New York: you'll have to make do with us for now, even if the society here isn't glamorous enough for you!"

Ryan recoiled, shocked at Sharpay's words, and stuttered,

"What.....no.....I...."

"You just floated off up there, without so much as a backward glance, starring in productions on Broadway and socialising with the rich and famous."

"I gave all that up in order to come back here. I've had enough of the façade, the sickeningly fake front that everyone there puts up, but as soon as you're out of earshot, they stab you in the back."

He stood up and reached to take her hand, but she snatched it hurriedly out of his grip and narrowed her eyes.

"You did it to spite me."

"What? Of course I didn't!"

She continued as if he hadn't spoken, spitting each word out.

"You stole the scholarship from me, disappeared to enjoy a new life of fame and fortune and here you are, back home to gloat."

Ryan could hardly believe what he was hearing and stood speechless for a moment, until Sharpay turned to leave. He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him.

"That isn't true in the slightest, and you know it. You didn't need a scholarship to attend Julliard: it was pride that kept you here." A pleading tone entered his voice. "You were so happy for me at graduation. What changed?"

Sharpay prised his finger from around her arm and turned on her heel. She slammed the door behind her, causing Ryan's neat pile of feathers to rise into the air and float down at his feet.

****

Sitting in his sweats, beer in hand, Chad kept his eyes fixed on the TV and called out as the front door opened,

"Evening, Tay."

She walked through the hallway and dumped her shopping bags on the kitchen table.

"Can you come and put all the groceries away."

"There's only ten minutes to go."

Chad finished the last of his beer and, hearing no reply, turned up the volume not to miss the score and went to help with the shopping.

"Hard day at work?"

"Yes, yes, too many people messing up parole orders and......Don't put that there! It goes in the cupboard by your knees."

Chad quickly moved the packets of cereal and went to check on the game from the doorway. Taylor threw on an apron and began chopping vegetable at an alarming speed, muttering,

"You could have started this before I got home, seeing as your office closes early, instead of sitting around in front of the TV."

"I'd only just got in from a jog and my team is playing."

"It's always about sport, isn't it?"

Chad put the game on mute and turned to look at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Laying her knife down, Taylor put her hands on her hips.

"I'm just saying that there's a lot more you could do to help me with running this house."

"I always offer to help and you say, "Oh, leave it to me, Chad. You aren't capable, Chad." What am I supposed to do?"

Taylor continued with her chopping and replied in an even tone, punctuating each sentence with a slice of her knife.

"Whenever there's a spare few minutes, you have to sit down to a game or go and train at the gym. Sport isn't the only thing in life, Chad. You seem to have forgotten about your career."

Attempting to answer calmly, Chad took a deep breath.

"My career? I work for a computer graphics company, not a high powered legal firm. Who did you think you married, Taylor? Someone as intellectual as you or one of the school's biggest jocks? You should have thought about that before you got caught up in the cute idea of marrying your best friend's husband's mate."

Chad didn't wait to hear what Taylor had to say in answer to that. He flung on his jacket, scooped his keys from the hall table and shut the front door with as much force as he dared.

Starting the engine of his car, he pulled out of the driveway and drove off, trying desperately to calm himself down.

****

Ryan flicked through the suits in his wardrobe before settling on a fairly neutral blue one and carrying it across the landing to Sharpay's room. He found her happily laying her outfit on the bed, as if her towering rage earlier had been nothing but a figment of his imagination. She noticed he was standing in the doorway and beckoned for him to come closer. Checking the pale blue against a blinding turquoise cocktail dress, she spoke in a conspiratorial whisper that reminded him strongly of her constant plotting at high school.

"I'm going to ask Zeke to accompany me."

Whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't this, and he let it sink in for a moment before asking tentatively,

"You do remember that he's married, right?"

"Of course I do. Have you seen my Prada clutch anywhere?"

Aghast, Ryan ignored her question.

"You can't ask a married man to be your date, Shar. That's not right."

Shooting him a look of pure venom, Sharpay spoke in a tone that dared him to contradict her,

"Don't try and tell me what's right and wrong, when you think it's perfectly acceptable to forget all about your family for the sake of your own ambition."

Ryan began to protest vehemently, but she continued regardless,

"It's not like you've ever had someone, married or not, who wanted you as desperately as Zeke wanted me."

Satisfied that her poisoned words had wounded him sufficiently, Sharpay turned back to her clothes, humming a tune to herself with an smug grin lighting up her face.

Ryan tried desperately to ignore the lump that had risen unexpectedly in his throat and prevent Sharpay from seeing that she had touched a raw nerve. He fled back to his own room and stared out of his window without seeing.

There was someone who had wanted him, with his faults and imperfections, all those summers ago.

****

His neck had been burnt particularly badly in the stifling heat of July, but he continued staring down at the ground, exposing the reddened skin to the sun as he trudged along on of the gravel paths.

A golf buggy pulled up beside him and with much enthusiastic gesturing and giggling, Taylor and Gabriella encouraged him to join them at the staff baseball game.

He wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, but he suddenly found himself face to face with none other than Chad Danforth, all swagger and self-satisfied smirks.

"You got game?"

Well, who was he to turn down a challenge? He found himself answering with a confidence he certainly wasn't feeling,

"A little."

The game itself passed in little more than a blur as he watched Chad sprint around the diamond, yelling words of encouragement at his team mates and every now and then, shooting Ryan a sly, knowing smile.

He'd never been a good loser, but for once it didn't seem to matter that he'd lost to a Wildcat, of all people. Turning away from the celebrating team, he started to walk back to the golf buggy, feeling the happiest he'd been all summer.

"Hey, Evans! I'm not saying I'm gonna dance in the show, but if I did: what would you have me do?"

He would have been walking on air for hours just thinking about what he would like to do to Chad, and had resigned himself to those fantasies until a well muscled arm gripped his shoulder as he stepped into the shade of the changing room.

Chad was still wearing that peculiar, enticing smile and it was all Ryan could do not to lean forward and press their lips together.

It happened too fast for him to resist as Chad pulled him closer and crashed their mouths together, forcing him to lean against the lockers for support.

Half an hour later he was sitting at a table, arm brushing Chad slightly, and enjoying the feel of the other boy's cap and jacket against his skin.

****

Of course, in reality it had been nothing like that. Ryan was tempted to laugh at his overactive imagination, but the lump in his throat grew larger, almost choking him. That baseball game had been perfect, the highlight of his summer, despite certain locker room activity only happening in his mind as he lay awake at night. Shaking his head, Ryan began to slip off his rumpled travel clothes and don the pale blue suit.

****

Chad pulled up at the site of the old scrap yard where he and Troy had spent so much of their free time. Advertising boards now hid it from view, displaying digitally enhanced images of the proposed plans for a block of expensive apartments, complete with smiling, plastic families.

For a long while he sat, unconsciously drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, and stared out of his car window. The shadows of the trees nearby grew longer as the light began to fail and he allowed all manner of absurd schemes to enter his mind.

He could fly to California and ask to stay with the Boltons for a while, or go to New York and search for Ryan. Those plans were ridiculous, and he knew it, but he entertained the idea of a night at the local strip club quite seriously. He'd only been there once before, with the Wildcat team (sans Troy) sometime after graduation. It hadn't been a particularly enjoyable experience then, and he doubted it would offer much pleasure now, except for a plentiful supply of alcohol to numb himself with. Starting the engine again he drove off but in the opposite direction of the club, with no clear decision of where he was going.

****

The entrance to Lava Springs loomed out of the darkness, a warm glow of lights casting a circle around a crowd of expensively dressed guests as they took their leave of the hosts and slipped into their waiting cars.

Chad hadn't consciously driven there, but he found himself creeping along behind the other vehicles, trying to remain inconspicuous. He watched a gaggle of middle aged women, draped in floaty scraps of fabric, kiss each others' cheeks lightly so not to leave a lipstick stain. His eyes were drawn to the centre of all the activity and as the crowd parted slightly, he recognised Ryan, dressed impeccably with his arm around the waist of a slim girl who simpered and blushed.

Irrational though it was, Chad felt a surge of jealously directed at the unknown girl. He could hardly bear to look at the pair of them and revved his engine, causing many disapproving glances to be shot in his direction, and sped off into the darkness, wanting desperately to sleep and forget for a while.

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