Fickle
Old Fiat
Currently Listening: The Wicked original Broadway cast recording. I love it! OFnFR got it for Christmas. :D It is totally bitchin'! Also the soundtrack for Music and Lyrics (especially the Cora songs. They are such fabulous Britney parodies!!).
Argh! It's taken me SO LONG! I'm so sorry! I had finals and then we had to pack up the house and then we had to drive out to California for the holidays. It was worth it though. I love CA.
I hope you all had great holidays! Happy New Year!
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Chapter 9: Raoul
I didn't get to talk to Ryan for the rest of the day. I think he was avoiding me, embossed by the fact that I saved his ass. Anyway, I spent most of the day with Gabriella, which is always fun. But I had sort of hoped that Ryan would be all grateful and stuff, but I guess that's not his thing which makes sense really. I mean, would you go all "Thank you so much!" to some guy who rescued you from having your head bashed in by a metal door, thus making you seem really desperate? I don't think so.
When I got home the house was empty. This wasn't really a surprise—mom is a lawyer and dad often has to stay late at the school to finish his paper work and stuff—but I had sort of wanted to recount my "Part of Your World" incident to someone. Gabriella had been told by Ryan at some point (I honestly don't know when…) and I don't really talk to anyone else so… yeah.
But I got home, put together a sandwich and went to my room to do my homework. It sort of sucks having nothing to do besides homework when you get home. I wished the Phantom of the Opera song book I told the book store to order would come in. Then I could procrastinate by memorizing the songs. Anyway, I spent a couple hours doing my homework until the phone rang.
I nearly fell out of my chair as I thundered down the carpeted stairs to the kitchen where the cordless phone sat in its cradle. I picked it up and said into the mouthpiece "Hello?"
"Hi, this is Ryan. Is this Troy?"
I chose not to mention what happened in the locker room so as not to wound his pride. "Yeah, what's up?"
"No much, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my house tomorrow after school."
My heart pounded hard against my chest and my cheeks turned a fiery shade of scarlet. I don't know why I reacted like a big celebrity, like Michael Jordan or somebody had asked me to go to their home but still, the only thought pounding through my head was Am I awake? Right now I'm writing this thinking LAME! might as well have been painted across my forehead, but… yeah.
I gripped the counter the way Gabriella does when her dad calls so she won't collapse from excitement/shock and steadied my voice.
"What for?" I asked. I really was genuinely curious. Why would Ryan want me over at his house?
"I have a copy of the script for The Phantom of the Opera at my house and I was thinking you could come over and we could practice it or something."
I resisted the urge to ask why Ryan had a copy of the script for it before Ms. Darbus had given them out. "So we're definitely doing that? Because I'm having the book store order the song book for me and if it turned out we were doing something else I was going to give it to you for you and Sharpay to use."
Ryan gave one of his strangely unique laughs, all soft and breathy. "I have a copy, but do you want to come over then?"
"Sure thing," I said, grinning. "Who is going to practice as who? Can I be Raoul?"
"Raoul?" he scoffed. "Oh you can have him. Wouldn't you rather play the Phantom?"
"No," I shrugged. "He has to wear about a ton of stage make up."
He laughed. "See you."
"Bye," I said and hung up.
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I think probably the best word to describe what I felt when I pulled into the Evan's driveway behind Ryan's car is overwhelmed. A huge house towered over me as I slammed the truck door shut and followed Ryan up to the front door. I mean, I live in a nice neighborhood, but "Woodshore", the gated community slightly outside of the suburbs of Albuquerque, looked like, I dunno… Stepford or something. I could see as we drove in some of the other families in the neighborhood, most with small, weirdly perfect looking children, and their manor-like homes. One woman I saw would've looked identical to Mrs. Evans except she had brown hair and her husband looked like something out of a fifties film, including his hairstyle and suit.
Weird. Very weird, I thought, but didn't say it so as not to be rude.
I had actually asked Gabriella if she would come with me but she had just said that she probably wasn't auditioning for this semester's performance. Having her with me probably would've melted a bit of my icy shock at the immense… hugeness of the Evans' home. Heck, even the ice queen Sharpay's presence would've been able to calm me down.
But that would only be if she was speaking to me outside the drama club, which she wasn't.
Or maybe she was, because when Ryan and I entered the house, she ran down the steps in greeting and immediately ordered us to follow her down into the basement.
"Shar…" Ryan moaned. "Can't we eat something first?"
"No," she said and gave him an angry look. "I'm still angry at you."
"I don't get why you're angry," he said. "Troy said that he wanted to play Raoul!"
"Because you convinced him!"
"Why would I do that?"
"Ugh!" she scoffed. "Everyone knows that you've wanted to play the Phantom since you were born!"
"Which is why I should play him! I know the part better than Troy!"
Sharpay was about to say something when I decided I was really sick of the sibling bickering and cut in.
"Sharpay, I actually want to play Raoul," I said with a slight smile.
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Sure." But she gave it up and we headed downstairs.
The Evans' basement was separated into two parts. I think one-third of it was a storage space and the other part was almost completely empty except for two small armchairs, a miniature TV, a baby grand piano (plus bench) and a CD play which was hooked up to four large speakers hung on each upper corners of the room. Mirrors lined the room and the floor was made of formerly smooth wood (no longer so from what I suspect were many years of tap dancing). Against the wall farthest from the door was a platform to practice choreography.
We practiced for several hours until my cell phone began to vibrate in my pocket, signifying a call from my mom to tell me to come home. I'd told my dad that I wouldn't be home by dinnertime and that they should eat without me, but eleven is really my mom's limit for me staying out (fairly early compared to some of my friends, but she's partially mental as I said before.) and it was about eleven forty-five when I arrived home.
Ryan helped me get my jacket out from the visitor's closet. "Troy, do you know if Gabriella is going to audition?"
"She said she probably wouldn't," I said, pulling my car keys out of my pocket to make sure I hadn't dropped them. "Why? Does Sharpay want her to play some supporting woman or something?"
"I don't know if she does or not," he said, leaning against the open closet door. "I was just wondering."
"Well, I'll see you later, Ryan," I smiled at him and headed outside. I was nearly at my truck when Ryan called after me.
"Hey, Troy!" he caught up with me as I pulled open the rusty door.
"Yeah?"
"Um, Sharpay is having a party next Saturday and we were wondering if you wanted to come? Gabriella is going to be there too along with a couple members of the drama club."
"Sure," I said and slid onto the worn seat. "See you later."
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Wow, absolutely nothing happened in this chapter. And it was really short. I'm really sorry. I'll make sure a lot happens in the next chapter and that it's longer.
Please go to my YouTube page (the link is in my profile) and watch some of my music videos. Almost all of them are HSM ones and I recently put up a wicked funny parody-type thing.
Please go there! I'll also be putting up a trailer for Fickle soon so… Yeah. Please review and go to my YouTube page!
-OFsI