Why do you think they're acting like they're in the third grade? I never saw any guys kissing each other in the hallways when I was in the third grade... but fine. I'll at least try to make them somewhat less innocent. –smirks– Just innuendo, though. I wanted to keep it pretty Disney, minus a tiny bit of swearing that would never get by on the Disney channel.
I'm was hoping to have this whole thing finished before the back nine air, so hopefully I'll have another chapter out ASAP, but I don't think I'll be finished by then. :(
Also, I CAN'T WRITE SHARPAY. So, sorry her part stinks. Her character is just so complex... but I digress. Read on!
15: Pretty in Pink (The Psychedelic Furs)
"When are they getting here?" Kurt asked for perhaps the hundredth time. He was sprawled out on Ryan's bed, texting Mercedes with one hand and scrolling through songs on his iPod with the other. Ryan looked up from where he sat on the floor, his nose buried in homework from his History of Dance class.
"My parents won't be here until dinner-time because of some business thing or other, but Sharpay's flight should be landing in an hour." He looked up from his book long enough to catch Kurt's smirk. "I know you're excited to meet her."
Kurt nodded enthusiastically, pulling his ear-buds out of his ears and stuffing his iPod in his pocket. "She sounds like my kind of person. I wish I had a sister like that." Ryan laughed, shaking his head.
"No, you really don't." Kurt didn't seem convinced, but Ryan didn't feel like elaborating. "Just... you'll see when you meet her, okay? I've only been telling you the good parts. She gets on your nerves after a while." He sighed, tossing his homework aside and climbing up on the bed beside Kurt, looking at his phone curiously. "Don't get me wrong, I love her and miss her dearly, but I actually kind of love having all this freedom."
He poked Kurt in the ribs, and Kurt pulled himself away from his phone long enough to glare. "She's probably not going to like the fact that we're dating."
"Oh?" Kurt asked quizzically, forgetting about Mercedes's texts for a moment to search Ryan's face for answers. "But I thought you said your family was really supportive of your sexuality? Why won't she like that we're dating?"
Ryan laughed, tugging Kurt closer so that he could cuddle him properly, securely pulling Kurt's body flush against his own. "She won't like that I'm dating you because we made a pact when we were little that we'd never get together with anyone better-looking than ourselves, so we'd always be the stars." His breath was hot on Kurt's ear, and he shivered slightly, smiling at the words being spoken. "I'm pretty darn sure I'm breaking the rule, considering how hot you look in those skinny jeans."
Kurt giggled when Ryan started kissing the back of his neck, and undeniably ticklish spot. "Why, thank you. You're pretty darn hot yourself."
"You know," Ryan murmured, lowering his voice, "We do still have an hour until Sharpay's flight lands." Kurt's breath caught.
"Only an hour?"
Sharpay Evans was waiting for her brother to pick her up from the airport. Waiting. Sharpay Evans never waited for anything.
She tapped the toe of her extremely expensive pink shoe distractedly, her phone out and texting. She had expected him to be here, waiting for her; if she hadn't suspected that her brother was having a secret relationship in New York before, she sure knew now. There was no way Ryan would stand her up for just anyone, after all.
"Where R U?" she texted quickly, saying the words out loud as she did so and earning herself a few worried looks for passersby. Ryan's reply came almost instantaneously; "Srry, we'll be there in a sec." Sharpay frowned. We? So he was bringing his new boyfriend with him.
She waited for probably the longest time she had ever waited for anything, standing just inside of the airport lobby. When her brother finally arrive, Kurt in tow, she was ecstatic, throwing her arms around her twin in perhaps the most affectionate hug she could muster, her high voice screeching her greeting more loudly than she had intended. They had been apart for nearly three months, after all. Who wouldn't have missed their brother after not seeing him for three months?
Kurt was rather shocked to see Sharpay. It wasn't that she didn't look quite a lot like her brother, because she did. They had the same shade of blonde hair, the same soft blue eyes, the same high cheekbones and slim, gentle noses. It was what she was wearing that astonished him; she looked exactly like a Barbie doll. Her outfit was made up of several different shades of pink, none of which went together in Kurt's opinion. Her pink leather skirt was too short, and her magenta leggings were atrocious. The soft pink of her heels matched the pink of her ruffled shirt, and she had a hot pink bow in her hair, just over one ear. The whole thing was awful, and he found himself staring as the two greeted each other, both so similar and yet... not.
"Kurt, this is Sharpay," Ryan introduced, snapping Kurt out of his fashion-induced delirium. He took the hand that Sharpay offered him daintily, her nose slightly in the air. He felt as though the words I have money were radiating from her every pore, and she knew it; though Ryan had never been overly snooty about the fact his family had money, it seemed as if that was something he and Sharpay did not have in common.
"Pleasure," Kurt said meekly, holding his tongue though he desperately wanted to point out her garish ensemble. The outfit was so horrible he could literally feel it melting his brains the longer he looked at it; but he wanted to make a good first-impression on Ryan's family, and insulting their taste was just not the way to do that. (But, oh, how he wanted to!)
She seemed to be holding her emotions in check as well, as she gave him a large, fake smile and politely said, "Likewise." The whole thing seemed unnatural, forced and awkward; Ryan stood nearby, pulling at his lapel nervously.
"Come along, Ryan," Sharpay ordered instinctively after greetings were delivered, falling into their usual routine. Ryan picked up the luggage she had left on the floor (which was also a shade of pink, Kurt noted dully) and fell into step just slightly behind her, as though they had always walked that way, with Sharpay ever-so-slightly taking the lead. And for most of their lives, they had; it was a hard habit to get out of, and Ryan was thankful for his newfound independence as he loaded her suitcase into the back of his Cadillac.
Sharpay had gotten into the driver's seat, and Ryan didn't exactly protest, handing her the keys casually and taking the passenger's seat. Kurt had already climbed into the back and done up his seatbelt, feeling ridiculously like a child while doing so, having slight flashbacks to when his father would drive him to junior high, and he was still too short (according to the little safety sticker on the dash) to sit in front.
The ride to campus was quiet, and when she parked in a spot that wasn't the one Ryan usually took, Kurt was surprised that he didn't protest. The spot she had chosen was in the sun, for goodness sake! Ryan never parked anywhere but in the shade, for fear of over-heating his baby. But the male twin seemed not to notice, for once.
"I figured we'd take you on a tour," Ryan told Sharpay as they disembarked, Kurt following slightly behind the pair, feeling distinctly like a third wheel. "My dorm is just down this way..."
There was something wrong with Ryan, Kurt noticed. He seemed to let his sister lead him, though she had no idea where she was going, and was hanging on her every word. His self-confidence had diminished to an all-time low since she had arrived in New York, and that was severely bothering the soprano. This was not the young man he had been falling for! This was an imitation, standing behind his sister in his expensive Italian loafers.
Kurt tugged on Ryan's sleeve, catching his attention. He tried to give the taller boy a look that said, what the hell are young doing? But instead of receiving the message, Ryan just looked confused.
"What's the hold up?" Sharpay demanded, wanting to know why they had stopped. Ryan glanced at her, trying to come up with a suitable answer.
"Um, Kurt just wanted to know... um..." He paused, looking at Kurt for guidance. Oh, well, Kurt thought. He might as well tell the truth.
"I just wanted to know who dresses you," he said as politely as he could, and Sharpay's eyes lit up. She was taking this as a compliment, the poor misguided girl. He would have to set her straight. "Because it looks as though the whole Barbie franchise threw up all over your clothes."
Ryan winced and Sharpay's expertly-shaped eyebrows came together in a frowning way, her lips suddenly pursed. "Excuse me?" Kurt decided to be clearer.
"It looks as though someone might have gone a little overboard on the pink. You should really fire that somebody. It's blinding me."
Sharpay cocked her left hip, putting her hand on it and staring at him appraisingly. She then smiled in a way that was slightly less creepy than Rachel hiding in your closet, her teeth gleaming and white just like her brother's, but not nearly as inviting. Kurt resisted the urge to wince, especially at the look Ryan was giving him. He felt as though he had just gone through a test, and had no idea whether he had passed it or not.
"I like him," Sharpay declared, eying him carefully. "He's a little bitchy, but that's what makes him interesting. Good choice, Ryan." She took a step closer to him, her smiling not diminishing in the slightest. It was making Kurt feel queasy. "Why don't you take me to see the campus, Kurt?" she asked, hooking her arm through his determinedly and strolling forward, causing him to hastily follow to avoid having his shoulder violently removed from its socket.
Kurt gave Ryan a startled (and maybe a little frightened) glance, but he had this I told you so look on his face that made Kurt feel both disgruntled and nervous. Sharpay was already talking to him about the goings on in her life, as though they had been besties for years, telling him about Zeke's latest recipe disaster. Kurt had no idea who this Zeke guy was and had no desire to learn, though he nodded and smiled as he tuned out her rambling.
Kurt managed to tune her back in when she started talking fashion— she talked as though she had taste, though she dressed as though she had none. He spoke quietly with her as they meandered around the campus, and he pointed out the interesting features and places as they passed. Ryan followed a step behind his sister, looking worried and biting his lip. She turned to him after they got to the auditorium building, her voice shrill when she asked if this was where he would be performing. He said yes.
"Oh, I can't wait," she said, ogling the building a little. "It looks as though this place as good acoustics— look at that ceiling!" Sharpay let go of Kurt's arm (he quickly massaged his shoulder she wasn't looking) and clapped her hands together excitedly. "Mother and Daddy are going to love this place! Did they say when they'd be coming?"
"Their flight lands at seven," Ryan told her, still apprehensive. He wasn't used to his sister acting so friendly to his boyfriends (not that he'd had all that many, but the point is still valid), and it made him weary. "You really think they'll show?"
"Of course," Sharpay dismissed him, waving her hand in the air to show she meant what she was saying. "They promised they'd come, and they'll be here. You always were a worrier." She directed her attention back to Kurt, her smiled large again. "You will be coming to the show, right?"
"My seat is right next to yours," he said, suddenly realising something. "But you won't be wearing that to the open-house, right? Not even a doll can pull off that look." Sharpay shook her head, her curls flying in all directions.
"Of course not. I have a Dolche & Gabbana original waiting in the wings for tonight." She looked at Kurt's outfit, raising one eyebrow and returning her hand to her hip. "Besides, I could ask you the same question. I mean, really? Suede and silk together? What were you thinking?"
Kurt looked down at himself, feeling quite insulted. (There was absolutely nothing wrong with his outfit.) He looked back at her, eyebrows raised. "I'll have you know that I have a Marc Jacobs suit laid out on my bed for later. This is just my pick-up-people-from-the-airport outfit." He smirked. "You're not all that important to me, so I didn't feel the need to dress up."
Sharpay's smile got even bigger. "Oh, how self-indulgent of you," she half-sighed, her eyes betraying how much fun she was having teasing him. "You could really be a great addition to our team. You know, I could see you spending the summer with us at our country club." She turned to her brother, suddenly less compassionate. "I like him. You'd better not screw this up."