Standard Disclaimers apply. (and the song that Ryan sings that he supposedly wrote, is actually by a singer who goes by the name The Labors of Sisyphus, who has decided to no longer continue, but check out his stuff on pure Volume)

Here is Chapter 4. Thank you to everyone who reviews, they make me smile.

Petting the Mountain Lion
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I stared at Troy from across the cafeteria table, "You want me to go where? With who?"

He squinted at me and gave me an are-you-dumb-? Look, "I want you, to come with Ryan, Sharpay and me, to an internet cafe, because they're having an open mic night," He repeated it all very slowly.

"Oh no, not after what happened last time. I'm not hanging out with IT again."

"Come on, she's not that bad. She's really pretty cool if you get to know her."

"Is that before you get chewed up and spit out, or after?"

Troy sighed again, "It's not going to be so bad. They have their computers on a LAN there. We could play Halo, or Star Craft."

"Wait a minute, open mic night? Like all black, and snapping instead of clapping type thing?"

"No, it's more open than that, there are a couple of people that will do poetry, but sometimes people sing, and some even do comedy routines. Ryan is planning on doing a couple of songs."

"Ryan sings?"

He raised an eyebrow. Oh duh, "I mean he sings without being in the shadow of the Beast?"

"I told you, you shouldn't call her that. Someday she's going to hear. And of course he does. He does kinds of music that Sharpay's not into."

"So, how about it? I can get a chance to crush you in Halo, and we can watch some routines."

I thought about it. Maybe this would be my chance to redeem myself in front of the Mountain Lion. The She-beast may won round one, but I think I can make a strong finish. "Yeah, okay I'll go."

He let out a breath in relief, "Good."

"But why the sudden interest for all four of us to spend time together?"

Troy looked at me closely, I think he was trying to figure out whether I knew his secret or not, "Because, since Ryan and I are spending a lot of time together now, and you two are our best friends, we're just trying to get everyone to know one another better."

"So when is it?"

"Friday at nine in the Muddy Waters Cafe."

"Alright, I'll be there."

He punched me in the arm, "Thanks man, you're the best."

I smirked, "I know.

Every Friday, I walk Taylor home, I know it's kind of cheesy and old-fashioned, but she appreciates the sentiment, and its a really good bonding time. Holding her hand and carrying her books, and just talking.

Taylor looked up at me and smiled, "So what are you doing tonight?"

I thought for a moment, "Oh, I told Troy I'd do this thing with him."

"Is he still trying to get you and Ryan to get along?"

"I don't have a problem with Ryan, it's the Mountain Lion I can't stand."

She rolled her eyes agreeing with my thoughts.

"But," I pulled her closer to me letting go of her hand and wrapping my arms around her waist. "I'm free all Saturday?"

"And what, Mr. Danforth, are you suggesting we do?"

I kissed her suggestively, and she giggled. Sighing contently, I re-took her hand and we continued on our way.

When we reached the front of her house I pulled her into me again, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

She sighed a little bit and closed her eyes and leaned further into me. I could have stayed there forever.

Muddy waters isn't a bad place, despite it's name. It's like disaffected teenager meets cyber nerd. One part of it is like your normal open mic night cafe with a tiny stage, bright flood lights and impossibly small tables. The other side is full of computers that are all on a LAN for the purpose of playing games and/or Internet usage.

The only reason me and my buddies prefer the Supreme Bean to it, is that there's always this group of girls that sit around and gossip and usually it's about two boys. Really weird I know. Some guys named Zac and Lucas? Apparently they're a pair of torrid lovers. All they do is sit around and drink black coffee and whine about it. Weird I know. But we used to come in all the time to play some AVP.

When Troy and I walked in we found Ryan and the She-beast sitting at a table. Ryan was quietly strumming a guitar and IT was drinking a latté.

When Ryan saw Troy he quickly stood up and gave him a hug. Troy returned it with zeal, seeing me behind him, his grin suddenly turned awkward, he let go of Troy and tried to hug me too. I patted his back, but I was really relieved when he let go.

Ryan picked up his guitar, and left to go on stage. The person who was in charge of lights put on a blue spot light, and he struck a few chords on his guitar. "This set is dedicated to the person that no longer makes me feel this way," Ryan looked directly at Troy, taking a deep breath and began singing, "Another night wasted for my day to come when I just get the same afternoon, with no sun. But sometimes I get the biggest moon you'll ever see, but since you'd rather not, I'll just share it with me. I'm a solo, sung so low, by one who doesn't know, how it goes."

As I was listening I realized how good he was. Ryan wasn't destined to be the shadow of the monster. He was going to be really, really good. "When no one ever wants to be with me, including me. I just want to be them cause I can't buy a friend. At least loneliness comes for free. So I spend my days staring at the ceiling, staring at the walls."

I looked over at Troy and he had this far off dreamy smile on his face that was incredible to watch. "I'm staring at the telephone, with no calls. I pick up the phone dial, let it ring. Hey how you been? I'm okay I guess, I've just been talking to myself again." I turned my look from Troy to the other occupant at the table. And for once the Mountain Lion didn't look feral, or scary, IT looked... Human.

Ryan Finished the first song and started to do a cover of the White Stripes "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself." Shaking my head, I thought to myself, "I must be imagining things. I gotta get rid of this." I looked up at Troy, "Troy man, I'm going to go kill me some aliens."

To my surprise The She-cat stood up along with my and said something about checking Email. Troy's face still looked dreamy and far away "Yeah, sure, I'll wait for Ryan."

I probably could have beat him up and he wouldn't have blinked.

I banged on the mouse some more, trying to turn before I got nailed in the head. "Move!" I sat back, "Stupid PC."

I heard a scoff behind me, I turned around and came face to face with the Mountain Lion.

Of course IT had to come back, right when I got killed. The look on that pretty, little face was a snarl of pure disgust, "And since when did you become a computer genius?"

"Hey," My response was a bit defensive, "I know more about computers than you may think," It was true. In my spare time I liked to fiddle around with computers, take them apart (although I wasn't the best at putting them back together) and even program a little bit.

"So what's wrong with this one?"

"It's just a PC being stupid with a lot of lag."

"And what would you prefer to a regular computer? a trend whore Mac?"

"I happen to let you know Mac's have the most stable operating system out of all of them, and they're horizontally integrated, so they don't have a monopoly over the market. Unlike Microsoft, with their Windows domination." I was totally prepared for the growls that would be capitalism arguments this time. What I heard next though was completely unexpected

"Monopoly?" The snarl sounded more like laughter, "Are you kidding me? Do you know what Bill Gates does?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "He's still CEO of a giant corporation that takes money from the smaller people."

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen his foundation? How much he donates to Charities in a single year? I mean sure he grew up rich, but that doesn't mean he has compassion."

"I'm sure everyone else donates to, it's not just him."

"Like who? Steve Jobs? Please, he's a pot smoking ex-hippie who got lucky with his best friend. He denied the fact he had a daughter for the first TEN years of her life, except that he named a computer after her. There's the sentiment of the year."

Where does this creature get all this information? I raised an eyebrow at the monster.

"And last year the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, not only provided almost 1/3 of all steam cell research period, but they gave scholarships to underprivileged college bound kids, research for AIDS and other diseases. They've donated billions of dollars to so many good causes, and you can't support him because you don't like his operating system?"

"Hey, who said I didn't support him?"

"Well you seem to want to support a Disney Tycoon."

"What's wrong with Disney?"

"After all you say about wanting to support the little guy, you hate the person that donates probably more than anyone else in the world, and support the one that holds the most Disney AND Mac shares in the stock. What's wrong with Disney?" The She-beast leaned in close to me, and I rocked my chair as far back as I could, "What's wrong with you? you're so blind to notice what's going on in the world. You have no idea what other countries are doing, and what people in our country are doing for others."

Our mouths were mere centimeters away, so close I could just... ew.

The mountain lion stood up and flipped a flaxen lock behind IT's shoulders, adjusted IT's skirt, and went to find Ryan and Troy. I followed meekly after. This feline was one crazy cat.

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Once again not entirely sure, but fairly sure that all the information about Bill Gates and Steven Jobs are true. But I'm not entirely sure.

But thanks to Danielle for Betaing. And don't be afraid to review!