I still don't own HSM.
Chapter 6
Can't Stay Away
Ryan really didn't like Troy. If it weren't for Troy, Gabriella would have never questioned him. The ocean? Who cared? Ryan really didn't like the way his fiancée was looking at Troy, either.
This was so wrong. Gabriella was his. Ryan sighed as he came up with an idea. He would bring Gabriella some flowers. It would cheer her up and hopefully remind her of what she had.
Ryan knew Gabriella was too smart to give up what she had.
Marriage in Nowhere for women was basically a must, or they ended up living with their parents for the rest of their lives and becoming cashiers at the grocery store. Those women were the social outcasts, the women who weren't good enough to have a man. Ryan knew that Gabriella didn't want that, and if she didn't get married, she would become a social outcast too.
Ryan walked to the town and found a banquet of carnations for Gabriella. He whistled as he walked over to her house. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Gabriella was his, and nothing could change that.
Ryan rang the doorbell, and Mrs. Montez answered the door. "Hi, Mrs. Montez," Ryan stated. "Is Gabriella around?"
"She's still in bed," Mrs. Montez replied, sounding somewhat concerned.
Ryan glanced at his watch. It was 11 in the morning. Gabriella was always up by nine.
"Well, thanks," Ryan replied. "I'll come back a little later."
Ryan left feeling rather confused. Something wasn't right.
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Gabriella groaned and stretched as she started to wake up. Her clock read 11:30.
She had slept in really late and she really didn't feel like she had slept a wink. Gabriella spent the night tossing and turning, not able to get Troy out of her mind. She must have eventually fallen into a restless sleep, though, because it was almost lunchtime.
Gabriella dragged herself out of bed and shuffled down the stairs. She found her mother in the kitchen mopping the floor.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," her mother said, looking up from her task.
"Morning," Gabriella mumbled.
"Ryan stopped by this morning around 11."
Gabriella's heart quickened a bit. She hoped her mother didn't notice her moment of panic. "Oh," she mumbled.
Mrs. Montez stopped mopping and looked at her daughter. "Is everything okay, honey? You slept in late, which you never do, Ryan came by with a bouquet of flowers, and you just don't seem like yourself this morning. Honey, you don't look like you slept a wink last night."
Was Gabriella really that obvious? "I- I don't feel so great," Gabriella lied. Well, it wasn't totally a lie. Gabriella really didn't feel great.
Mrs. Montez gave Gabriella a concerned look. "Maybe you should go lay down for a bit."
"No," Gabriella said. "I've slept late enough."
Mrs. Montez sat down on a chair at the kitchen table, and motioned for Gabriella to join her. Gabriella reluctantly sat next to her mother. She really didn't want to talk to anybody right now.
"Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you're nervous about getting married? It's okay if you are. I mean, you're going to be with Ryan for the rest of your life."
Gabriella let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to talk about it right now." She got up and shuffled back up to her room. She heard the doorbell ring as she closed her door, but thought nothing of it as she went into her bathroom to brush her teeth.
As Gabriella finished up with her teeth, she heard a knock on her door. "Who is it?" she asked.
"Ryan," came the muffled reply from the other side.
Gabriella's heart quickened again, and she dropped her toothbrush.
"Coming," she said in a panicked voice as she forced a brush through her hair and tried to find something to wear. Half way through finding a pair of jeans, she stopped herself. This is how Ryan was going to see her every morning for the rest of his life, so why should she be so worried about how she looked?
Gabriella boldly opened the door. Ryan looked up and down at her. "Just wake up?" he finally asked.
Gabriella felt slightly taken aback. "Yes," she replied. "I had trouble sleeping last night."
"Oh. Well, it seemed like what I said to you yesterday bothered you, so here." He produced the carnations he bought earlier that day from behind his back. "I hope this can help you feel better. I really do care about you, Gabriella."
Gabriella smiled. That was really sweet of Ryan to buy her flowers. He gave her a chaste peck on the lips.
That small kiss made Gabriella feel horribly. Not only did that peck remind her of the kiss her and Troy had shared last night, but she wanted so badly for Ryan too really kiss her. She didn't want another chaste peck on the lips. She wanted meaning behind his kiss.
"I forgive you," she mumbled, not quite sure that she meant it.
Ryan gave her a curious look. "Gabriella, I'm not sorry for telling you we aren't going to the ocean. But I really do want you to know that I care about you, and I really want what's best for you."
Gabriella was disappointed. In fact, she seemed to be feeling like that around Ryan a lot lately.
Before her brain could catch up with her mouth, she asked, "Ryan, do you love me?"
Ryan gave her a curious look. "Of course I do!"
"Do what?"
"Gabriella, you know what I mean."
Gabriella looked at the floor. "Can you just say it?"
Ryan sighed. "You women can be so insecure sometimes, but I don't care, because I love you."
That wasn't exactly the answer that Gabriella was looking for, but he did say it, right?
"Why don't you go fix yourself up and we can go for a walk."
"Alright," Gabriella agreed. She knew that if she wanted to stay away from Troy, she was going to need to get back on track with Ryan. She loved him, after all. Well, hopefully.
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Gabriella managed to avoid Troy all day, and for the rest of the week, which turned into quite a challenge, since Troy was staying at Ryan's place. Gabriella still managed to, though.
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Sharpay, on the other hand, was getting quite a bit of time with Troy. Troy found that she was showing up in his room daily and usually more than once. Troy enjoyed Sharpay. She wasn't like the other girls he had met in Nowhere, who were gentle and rather timid.
Every time he was around her, he felt like Sharpay had some sort of plan. Usually girls like that made Troy uncomfortable, but her self-assuredness was a nice break.
Troy had made it a week without talking to Gabriella, who seemed to be doing what she could to avoid him, which was probably for the best.
Dinner was no exception that night. Gabriella had come over to have dinner with the Evans', which she did often, but her and Ryan slipped off again before Troy could say anything. Troy decided to go up to his room and relax some, like he usually did. About ten minutes later, Sharpay showed up at his door, just like she did every night.
"Hey, Troy," she said, leaning against his doorframe. "How's it going?"
Troy sighed. He was getting bored of Nowhere. He was ready to move on, but something was keeping him there. "Do you guys ever do anything fun around here?"
Sharpay frowned for a moment, and then a confident smile spread across her lips. "Follow me," she said.
Troy raised his eyebrows and stood up from where he had been sitting on his bed. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Just trust me," Sharpay replied, grabbing Troy's hand. She started pulling him out of his door and down the steps.
Troy started laughing and Sharpay smiled as she led him out of the house and away from town.
Twenty minutes later, Sharpay and Troy were weaving their way around cacti, headed up a steep slope.
"Sharpay, this is killing me. Where are we going?" Troy asked, trying to sound annoyed.
"Trust me," Sharpay replied, a smile tugging on her lips. "If I told you, it would kill all of the fun."
Troy let out an exaggerated sigh and continued walking with Sharpay until they reached the summit of the hill they were climbing. On the top was a large flat rock.
"Give me a boost," Sharpay said to Troy. He put his hands out, and she stepped onto them and then onto the top of the rock. Troy followed, pulling himself up.
"Now turn around," Sharpay said.
Troy turned around and gasped. Below him was the town of Nowhere, all of the houses off to the left. What really got his attention, though, was the brilliant orange sun setting to the left of the houses.
"Wow," Troy finally mustered. "How did you find this place?"
Sharpay giggled. "When Ryan and I were little, we loved to sing and dance, but it drove my mom nuts. One day we were playing around in the desert and saw this rock from afar. We decided to go check it out, and it turned out to be a great stage."
"Wow," Troy said again as he sat down. Sharpay quickly joined him. "So you and Ryan used to sing and dance?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but then when Ryan met Gabriella, he decided that it wasn't manly enough or whatever, so I just stopped too."
"I'm having trouble picturing Ryan singing and dancing."
"Oh, he was into everything: the sequins, the glitter, the show tunes. He loved it all. Sometimes I wonder if that was his stress reliever because he seems so moody now."
Troy wasn't sure what to say. This girl he had known for only a week was practically pouring her heart out to him. Of course, he had also managed to kiss a girl he had only known for an evening.
"Don't freak out on me here. I promise I won't start blubbering or anything," Sharpay said, giving Troy a playful shove.
"Oh, so that's how you play," Troy said, referring to her shove. "Well, that can go two ways." Before Sharpay could react, Troy was tickling her sides.
"Stop," she gasped between laughs.
"What's the magic word?" Troy asked as Sharpay fell backwards.
Troy was now leaning over Sharpay, still tickling her sides.
"Please?" she said between gasps for air.
Troy stopped and looked down at her. He bit his lip, and she looked at him expectantly.
Troy found himself facing the same inner battle he had just a week ago. Should he kiss her? Was it right? At least Sharpay didn't have fiancé.
Suddenly Sharpay rolled out from under Troy and stood up. "Well, we better get going before it gets too dark," she said, almost too cheerily.
"Right," Troy agreed, relieved that he didn't have to decide whether or not to kiss her, but before he even said it, Sharpay had jumped off the rock and was headed back down the hill.
"Come on," she coaxed, looking over her shoulder.
Troy smiled at her and jogged down the hill to catch up to her.
A/N: Hopefully you're starting to see where to old Ryan went. Also, I just love twists!
If you're reading this, then PLEASE REVIEW!!! I accept signed and unsigned reviews, and I accept flames just as much as compliments, so no excuses!
