A/N I thought I would submit another chapter to really start the ball rolling with this story. Please read it and then tell me what you're thinking! And sorry in advance...Ryan is really out of character in this chapter, but I plan on him really evolving into his character as the story progresses.
Chapter 2
The Mystery Man
Ryan looked at Gabriella and smiled.
Gabriella glanced back and giggled. "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he murmured.
"Tell me," Gabriella insisted, gently poking his side.
"Okay, fine. I'm marrying the most beautiful girl in Nowhere."
Gabriella giggled again. "And the most intelligent," she bantered.
The couple was walking hand-in-hand through the small main street in town after dinner at the Evans' house.
Ryan looked at her with a smirk twitching on his lips. "You leave the smarts up to us men folk." He puffed out his chest some. "I need a woman who can keep a house and raise my kids."
Gabriella let out another giggle. "Of course, but can't I be intelligent, too?"
"Well, I do want a woman with the intelligence of how to get a stain out of the carpet."
"Well, of course, but don't you want a woman who you can talk to about science and philosophy, too?"
Ryan laughed. "And if I talked to you about that stuff, what would that leave for me to talk about with the other men?"
Gabriella knew that Ryan was playing around with her, but there was some truth in what he was saying. She knew that he expected her to be good at cooking and keeping the house clean and raising their children, but sometimes she felt like their relationship lacked depth. Gabriella knew that she would be graduating second in her class, but that would never be enough to convince Ryan that she was intelligent. After all, it was a man who graduated ahead of her.
"Let's stop at the soda fountain," Ryan said, steering Gabriella into the door of an old-fashioned looking building. It was a drugstore with a soda fountain as well. It looked like it had originally been built as a quaint western-themed shop, complete with the fake front all of the saloons in the old western movies had. But now some of the boards were missing and the paint on it that said Drugstore was so faded that it was nearly impossible to read.
"I'll have a coke and how about a diet for the lady. I don't want anything to ruin the hips of this beauty. She has a wedding dress to fit into within the next five months." Ryan winked at her and the man behind the counter smiled.
Gabriella pleasantly smiled back, but what he said irked her some, too. She brushed it off, trying to convince herself that Ryan was just excited that they were getting married.
Ryan led Gabriella over to a small table for two near the front of the store.
They both quietly sipped their drinks in silence.
Gabriella took a breath, wanting to tell Ryan that she really wanted a regular coke, but she changed her mind. It was minor, anyways. So, the silence continued.
A few minutes later, the door to the drugstore creaked open, breaking the silence between Gabriella and her fiancé. Gabriella glanced over, hoping to see somebody she knew. Anybody. She really needed a break from Ryan's playful bantering and the silence that she was now enduring. Who she saw, though, was somebody she didn't recognize at all. She recognized everybody in Nowhere, so clearly this man wasn't from around here.
He was on the taller side. She could see that his arms were lean. Not skinny. Not muscular. Just lean. He had dark hair, but she couldn't decide if it was dirty blonde or brown. His eyes were what really caught her attention, though. They were bright. Green? No. Blue? Yes. Regardless, she could feel herself swimming in them.
Gabriella snapped out of it for a moment, and noticed Ryan gaping at the stranger as well. It wasn't everyday that somebody just mysteriously appeared in Nowhere. In fact, Gabriella was pretty certain that nobody in the 150 year history of Nowhere had ever just mysteriously appeared. This man was standing there making history in this little town, and Gabriella was certain that he had no idea.
Gabriella looked over again at Ryan. He was still staring at this stranger, and the man in the door was beginning to look quite uncomfortable.
Gabriella pinched Ryan's leg, and Ryan snapped his head over in Gabriella's direction. "What?" he asked, sounding rather irritated.
"Why don't you go introduce us to that man standing in the door. He looks lost."
Ryan let out a small snort. "Ha. Anybody who just appears in this town must be lost." With that, he grabbed Gabriella's hand and walked over to where the man was standing.
Ryan stuck out his hand to the stranger. "Ryan Evans," he said.
The man looked at him and returned the hand shake. "Troy Bolton."
Ryan smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. What brings you to our humble town?" Troy wasn't looking at Ryan anymore, though. Ryan glanced over his shoulder and realized that he was looking at his fiancé, who was shyly gazing back.
Troy stuck his hand out to her. "Troy Bolton," he said again.
Gabriella lightly touched his hand and he gently shook it. "Gabriella Montez," she replied softly.
Ryan cleared his throat. "I am so sorry I did not introduce you. Troy, this is my fiancé, Gabriella." He put his arm around Gabriella's waist.
There was an awkward moment of silence.
"Would you care to join us?" Gabriella asked.
Troy cleared his throat. "Sure," he replied. "And maybe you can tell me where I am."
Ryan and Gabriella laughed sarcastically as Troy pulled a chair over to Ryan and Gabriella's table.
"You're in Nowhere," Ryan replied.
It was Troy's turn to laugh. "I know I'm in the middle of nowhere, but where in the middle of nowhere am I?"
Gabriella and Ryan smirked, trying to hold their laughs in this time. They could tell they were starting to make the guy feel uncomfortable.
"You are in the town of Nowhere," Ryan replied, attempting to clarify Troy's thoughts.
Troy's eyes widened. "You mean there is a town called Nowhere? What kind of name…" his voice trailed off.
"The town was founded 150 years ago by our ancestors," Ryan stated proudly.
Gabriella blushed and looked down. Ryan sounded so dorky.
"Well, is there any place to stay around here?" Troy asked. "I need a place to stay for a while."
"Nope. There's no hotel around here for miles. In fact, I can't even tell you where the closest one is," Ryan replied.
"Oh," Troy said, clearly disappointed. He took a breath. "Well, do you know of any other options?"
"Nope," Ryan replied. Like I said, I don't know of any hotels around for miles."
Gabriella, who was listening to the conversation, suddenly came up with an idea. "Wait," she said. "Ryan, can I have a word with you outside?"
"The woman speaks," Ryan said to Troy as he stood up.
Troy gave him a strange look. He had never heard a man talk about a woman that way in her presence.
Ryan followed Gabriella outside. "What is this all about?" Ryan asked her.
"Ryan, there's no place to stay around here for miles. We don't even know how close the next town is, let alone the next hotel. If we had a home, I would ask you if he could have the spare bedroom, but we don't have a home yet."
"What are you trying to say?" Ryan asked, still puzzled.
"Offer him a place at your home. It wouldn't be kosher for me, a woman, to do so. You have a spare bedroom, so why not use it."
"I don't know," Ryan said, slowly. "There's just something about the guy that I don't like."
Gabriella let out an exasperated sigh. "Ryan, regardless of what you think of him, the poor man needs a place to stay."
Ryan looked slightly irritated, but clearly Gabriella had won. "Fine."
The two reentered the beat-up building. Ryan and Gabriella stood there for a moment. Gabriella nudged him with her elbow.
Ryan cleared his throat, making it sound like what he had to say next was very important. "Uh, I was thinking that since you don't have a place to stay, maybe you could consider staying at my home until you are ready to move on."
Gabriella sighed. Sure Ryan had taken all the credit, but at least if Troy said yes, she would have a chance to figure who on earth this guy really was.
Troy's eyes lightened up. "Wow. Thanks, man. That would be great. And please charge me whatever you think is fair."
"No problem," Ryan replied. Gabriella could hear a hint of untruthfulness in what he said, but she let it go because this mystery man was staying in Nowhere!
A/N Read and Review...I depend on your critiques for my survival! Okay, well maybe not that much, but I really want the direction of this story to be based on what you guys are thinking. I have the first part laid out, but I'm going to need your thought processes to figure out where to go from there, so start giving me you opinion now!
To answer your question, xdude.im.FAMOUSx, I really don't know if this will end up being a Troypay or a Troyella. I have an outline for the first part of this story and there is some of both in that part. I have also decided who runs away with him, but you'll find that out when I post that chapter. (I can't give away a major turning point in the story!) What I don't know yet is whether or not the person Troy runs away with is the person he will end up with.
