`A/N: I'm sure it is common knowledge by now that I own nothing in this story other than the OCs, including the despicable Chace Cooper and the plot, which I earnestly hope you guys are all enjoying. By the way, no offense to Michael Jackson is intended by Troy's comment. The man was a talented performer, no one can argue with that, but his nose did fall off of his face while he was in court.
Chapter 22: Upstage
The six pairs of drama students stood at attention, lined up in a militaristic fashion as their instructor issued her commands, her voice echoing off of the hallowed walls.
"Today you will be selecting the musical piece to accompany your performance."
Jesse Fitz, a tall, lanky boy with shaggy blond hair raised his hand.
Ms. Darbus cut him to the chase, silencing his forming question. "Mr. Fitz, I am well aware that eight of you have been paired with a partner of the same sex. In drama, we are very open-minded, and we will abide by the Shakespearean practice of utilizing a male in a place where a female is lacking."
Jesse turned to his partner Jeremy Chen and shrugged helplessly.
Ryan did his best not to appear smug at the boys' looks of exasperation. It's about time. For far too long, it seemed, he had been the only of the drama department that would have preferred to be partnered with a member of the same sex. Now, Ms. Darbus was enforcing the practice.
He could feel Troy grinning beside him and he knew the brunette's thoughts mirrored his own. They could sing together, be as openly romantic as any heterosexual pair and they would not have to be subjected to ostracizing and demoralizing jeers by the ignoramus percentage of the student body.
"Get to it!" With a wave of her hand, Ms. Darbus ushered her pupils to tend to their task.
Kelsi and her partner Allison stood at the center as the other ten clustered around them. Sharpay pushed her way through, Gabriella on her heels. Her stance suggested that she meant business and her tone emphasized this. "Kelsi, I want first pick. I want to be sure the song is up to par with my standards." She let out a haughty sniff.
Flustered, Kelsi combated the urge to roll her eyes and rifled quickly through her manila folder of songs.
Gabriella smiled duplicitously, laying the charm on thick to negate the harshness of her partner's demand.
Troy wrinkled his nose in disgust. "She's phonier than Michael Jackson's nose. God, I was such an idiot!"
"Don't you blame yourself," Ryan murmured, his gently lilting voice having a sedating effect. "She had everyone fooled. At least you managed to see her for what she really is…"
Troy quirked an eyebrow. "And what would that be other than a manipulative, cheating succubus?"
Ryan casted an icy glare on the dark-haired girl. He scowled, folding his arms over his chest. "A conniving skank."
"Here Sharpay." Keeping her tone carefully polite, the brunette composer relinquished her sheet music to the reigning queen of the theater.
Sharpay looked over the sheet, her brown eyes gleaming and a smirk of satisfaction curling her lips. "Thank you Kelsi," she remarked in a syrupy sweet tone. "This will do."
Gabriella peered over Sharpay's shoulder enthusiastically.
Ryan couldn't help but wonder what the piece was that had thrilled his twin so, but Sharpay was a brick wall these days, her thoughts sealed off to him. Not even "twin telepathy" could give him insight as to what went on behind her mental wall.
As she strode past, mouthing the words to herself, for an instant, she raised her head and her brown eyes met her brother's clear blue. Guilt and terror clouded her gaze and as abruptly as the eye contact had been initiated, she severed it, blanching slightly.
Why is she unable to face me? Ryan held in a sigh, feeling Troy's steady touch on his shoulder.
"She'll get over it," the athlete whispered.
Ryan gave a nod, trying to prohibit the blossoming of hope within his chest.
"Troy, Ryan," Kelsi called. "Come on. If you don't choose, you might get stuck with something unflattering."
With a glance at each other, the two boys made their way over to the vertically challenged girl.
9-14
Dear Diary: I apologize for the sporadic updates. I know my entries have been few and far between, and the only justification that I can offer is that a lot has happened since I last recorded the events of my life story.
The school now knows of Troy's relationship with me and I haven't seen such division of two opposing sides since the days of the Montagues and the Capulets or the Jets and the Sharks. Thankfully, Troy's "basketball robots", as Sharpay dotingly refers to them, are loyally supporting their former/captain to be. And the members of the drama club have no qualms with their reigning king finding true love in the arms of the basketball god.
It's the ones that are riled by my desecration of their beloved golden boy that make it a point to voice their opposition of our union; the envious fan girls and the brutish Neanderthals that make up a good sixty-five percent of EHS's athletic department. The hatred that was directed toward my openness Before Troy has only increased with the unveiling of our partnership. And I fear for him.
As we selected our song to be sung as part of our drama assignment, Troy and I couldn't help but pay mind to the way that Kelsi became very shy, introverted and easily embarrassed in our presence. At first, we assumed this reaction was once of initial shock, a method of dealing with our relationship going public. However, as she and Martha made a point to proactively show support, thoughts of such a nature were quickly dissuaded.
Troy flashed Kelsi that smile that makes the girls and my fellow gays swoon and liquefies my heart, and her face went red as a beet.
I gave her a polite smile as all principles of etiquette and my proper up bringing would dictate, and I swear that Troy and I could almost hear her heartbeat increase.
As Troy and I made out in the vacant teacher's lounge during free period, we came to the conclusion between our lips smacking beauteously together that Kelsi was in love with us. His lips ghosting down my neck, making me quiver with blissful arousal; Troy murmured that it would be for the best that we not mention our realization to anyone, especially not Jason.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
"No good will come of her loving us when we're gaga over each other," I added. Mere friendship between Troy and I would never suffice.
He's the drug that fuels me, that keeps me alive. And without him, I have no reason to exist. Without him, I'm not at all certain that I would exist period…
Troy… my life, my love, my universe.
He is the life-giving blood pulsing through my veins.
- Don't Let Me Drown-
"I hope they aren't serving us S.O.S. for lunch again," Troy remarked, his expression one of mild repulsion. He held his stomach, which loudly churned its agreement.
"Or M.A.M," Ryan contributed.
"'M.A.M.'?" Troy raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued as his lips curled up in amusement.
"Mashed-potatoes And Mucus."
The taller boy let out a loud, genuine laugh that couldn't be compared to the false, hollow laughter of people that don't understand your sense of humor, but intend to be polite anyway.
Ryan never really considered himself a comedian, but Troy somehow always managed to extract humor from his words where it was expected to be found. And seeing his lover throw back his head, a smile cracking on his superbly handsome face, unleashing a wave of boyish laughter always had a way of negating and dissolving all of the negative feelings.
"Ryan."
The blond turned to face his drama teacher. "Yes, Ms. Darbus?"
"Assist Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Mason with storage. They need someone who knows their way around backstage."
"Uh…" Ryan looked to Troy, wary of leaving him. At the athlete's nod, he found no reason to object. "Sure thing." He leaned in and gave Troy a peck on the lips. "Wait for me in my dressing room, okay?" He whispered.
"Alright." Troy felt a faint thrill course through his body as he wondered what sort of splendors awaited him in his lover's dressing room. He needn't ask for directions as the pair of them had changed in one another's company during last year's show.
And the guilt of beating out the blond, a far more refined and talented theater veteran had never entirely left him. He watched Ryan head off, his hips swaying rhythmically with his elegant gait. God he loved him. The way the tight red of his denim trousers accentuated his perfectly round rear. The way his porcelain skin seemed to have been sculpted by the lenient, skillful hands of a high-ranking legion of seraphs. The only thing that can best Ryan's looks is his personality. He's more precious than diamonds or gold.
Sliding the strap of his book bag up his shoulder, Troy set out for his destination. Along the way, he caught sight of Gabriella and Kelsi's partner Allison chatting it up. The dark-haired girl was smiling and batting her eyes as she spoke in a manner that reminded Troy of her flirtatious gestures.
That wouldn't make any sense, he chastised himself. Gabriella likes boys; otherwise she wouldn't have been playing tonsil tennis with Chace. Still, he reminded himself, this is high school and anything is possible. If the "almighty Troy Bolton" can play for the other team, who's to say a scholastic decathlon champ can't have a fancy for curtains.
He blinked, slightly thrown out of whack by where his train of thought had taken him. He slackened his stride, falling back to listen in. He had no intention of feeding the fire. He would leave the gossiping and rumor spreading following their break-up to his ex. It was out of pure curiosity that he stopped to eavesdrop.
"You'll be fine," Gabriella was assuring the girl, flashing her a smile. "I used to have stage fright too, but everyone does. It's natural. And once you're up there, you learn to push the fear aside and just have fun."
Although he rolled his eyes at the pulling of the "stage fright card", which was such a load of horse dung, Troy couldn't help but take notice of the sincerity of Gabriella's reassurance.
"I hope so." Allison sounded as though she was unsure, but feigning a smile anyway.
"Kelsi's great. She helped me out and can do the same for you. And if you still need help dealing with your stage fright, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand."
Gabriella beamed, which caused Allison to smile back. "I'd like that. Thank you."
Shaking his head, Troy continued on his way, trying to put the thought of how close the conversation had sounded to Gabriella asking the girl out far from his mind.
"Hey," Ryan greeted his lover.
"Hey, babe." Troy smiled as the blond crossed to him.
"Miss me?" Ryan inquired, sidling in close.
"Maybe." With a cheeky grin, Troy closed off the distance between them, pulling the svelt performer into an embrace.
"I missed you too." Dropping his voice to a whisper, Ryan used his hip to close the door behind them. He then proceeded in guiding his love to chair before the vanity, relishing the warmth that had been absent when the brunette was not around.
He felt Troy's hands roaming down his backside, exploring the curvature of his spine and the firm pertness of his rump. Troy's pink lips brushed against his neck, making him shiver with delight.
"You smell so good," the brunette admonished.
"It's a new brand of cologne." Ryan let his hands wander intentionally over Troy's chest, his index finger outlining the male's pectorals through the linen of his t-shirt. His lips brushed the taller boy's earlobe as he leaned in. "Wild Cherry Sensation."
"Mmm…" Troy groaned in his throat and it went directly to Ryan's crotch. "I love cherry…!" he gasped.
"I know."
-Don't Let Me Drown-
The bell rang to dismiss the students to their next class period.
For a brief instant, Sharpay caught herself looking for her brother and Troy. For a second, hope fluttered in her chest that she could somehow sort things out with her darling brother and apologize for the way she had been horribly mistreating him. Troy was right. Ryan would truly do anything for her and she regarded him as lower than a worm. She treated him like shit. For a moment, Sharpay Evans was no longer the "ice queen" or the "drama queen". As she sat there, frantically chewing her thumbnail, she didn't feel like a queen at all. Because a queen wouldn't deny her brother's existence over something so stupid.
Guilt and grief clutched her chest in a vise like grip and the emotion broke through, desperation flaring in her brown eyes. Panicked, she looked frantically around, finding neither a black and red fedora adorned head of blond hair nor a shaggy brunette mop anywhere in sight. I'm sorry, Ryan! I'm so, so sorry!
Suddenly there were people staring at her, fear and bewilderment in their eyes.
She was an Evans. Evanses don't break down. Evanses don't loose control. She tore her thumbnail off and then plastered a confident smile on her face. Her composure returned. Hoisting her purse up on her shoulder. She was Sharpay Evans once more; powerful, beautiful, guileful and a skilled actress.
The moment had passed.
-Life and Death-
Ryan straddled Troy, running a hand up and down the jock's sun-kissed toned torso, his fingers ghosting over the taller boy's compact abdomen. "I can't believe you got such a perfect body from basketball."
"Basketball isn't the only reason," Troy's face was considerably flushed, his hands toying with the hem of Ryan's shirt. He coaxed the blond in close to him, keeping but a centimeter's distance from his lips. His voice dropped to a low huskiness. "You keep me plenty busy as well."
Ryan blushed, his lips curling into a slight smile. He closed off the remaining distance, a mewl of delight rising in his throat as he parted Troy's lips, letting his tongue dance through the brunette boy's mouth.
With a moan, Troy allowed Ryan's tongue to relish its dominance, lavishing in the wondrous sensations the skilled muscle evoked. After several moments, however, he soon took charge.
Ryan pushed his hips forward as his lover's tongue enticed his oral orifice, sending out wave after wave of delicious, stimulating pleasure. He fell back, allowing himself to be dominated by the golden boy, letting Troy's hands find his belt buckle and remove the strip of leather from the loops that held it fastened about his waist. His slender hands effortlessly tugged the shirt off of his lover's head so that they could administer gentle and oh-so-arousing massages in a circular pattern down the god like boy's backside.
As Troy ground his hips into his, he began grinding back, sating himself and his lover with the only method he was versed in.
-Save Me-
"Gabriella, I've got a plan for the Bolton-Evans downfall." Chace Cooper, a tall, lean brunette with golden blond highlights stood beside his girlfriend in the empty chemistry classroom.
Gabriella met her boyfriend's gaze, mentally comparing him to her ex. Chace's hair was always neat, perfectly trimmed and groomed. His eyes were a perplexing green that kept his intentions shrouded in mystery. Troy's blue eyes were portals to the soul within. Where Troy had been respectful, establishing boundaries when he felt they were necessary, Chace had no limits. He would go as far as pleased, unafraid of the consequences.
Troy was thoughtful, considerate and honest. He only said what he meant and when he made a promise, he was bound by impulse to keep it.
With Chace, one could never be entirely certain of what was going on his head.
The biggest difference and the most significant one was that Troy was a good person.
Chace was not. But Chace had been willing to give her what Troy denied her, what the basketball god starved her of; attention and affection. Troy stopped short at calling her "amazing". Chace showered her with compliments, never failing to tell her how beautiful she was or how her eyes sparkled or how her clothing fit her body in all the right places.
She wanted to think of herself as a good person; virtuous, sweet, caring, compassionate.
Yes, Ryan was beautiful. She couldn't deny it. And oh how she envied him for taking Troy from her. But even Ryan had stood up for Troy when she and Chace had printed those lies in the school paper in the hopes of destroying the golden boy and making him regret what he had done. Ryan Evans; the fag, the queer, the flamboyant cock-sucking theater king was a better person than she was.
But did that mean that she believed he deserved Troy? No.
Biting her lip, she turned to face Chace, ready to listen and act out his plan.
Troy and Ryan were good people. Chace was not a good person. And she was his girlfriend. Not Troy's. Not Ryan's, no matter how much she wanted to be. So what did that make her?
-Escape-
Troy thrusted into Ryan, setting a languid pace. Fervent cries erupted from them simultaneously. The blond felt his bare chest brush against the smooth material of the cushioned bench that sat opposite his bench. If he were to peer into the lighted glass surface, he would see himself and Troy reflected there, their reflections indicating that they were at the peak of ecstasy.
"Aah! Aah!" Disembodied groans filled the air, Ryan's subconscious associating them with the entities that emitted them. The experience was too intense; it all seemed surreal. And then the intensity built-up. Ragged gasps filled the room, floating on a stream of desperate cries, proclamations of love and obscenities that would earn any child whom had self-respecting parents a mouthful of soap if they were ever to utter them. Their bodies tensed as they came, muscles relaxing as the white, sticky substance was emptied. Ryan buckled, falling forward onto the bench with Troy hugging himself to his back.
After several moments spent panting to regain breath control, Ryan spoke up. "That was…"
"I liked it…" Troy professed.
"You have no idea how badly I wanted to do that during last year's winter musical," the blond confided, feeling at ease in the other boy's company.
"Well…" Troy shifted his weight, moving so that he was in his love's line of sight, "now neither one of us has to hold back."
Neither one…? Ryan sat up, his gaze imploring.
Troy, however, kept quiet, his only response a cheeky grin.
As the meaning of his words sank in, Ryan broke into a smile. "That's right. Neither one of us."
Somewhat drowsily, Troy stumbled over and laid several pillows on the floor, creating a makeshift bed.
The blond felt his eyebrow elevate in inquiry. "What are you doing?"
"Taking a nap." Costumes from preceding shows soon joined the pillows. "Care to join me?" He hadn't bothered to refasten his fly, which Ryan couldn't help but notice.
Significantly drowsy himself, the male twin wouldn't pass up an opportunity to envelope himself in his lover's bodily warmth. With as much grace as one can have after a good forty-five minutes of intense love making and the contented exhaustion that followed it, Ryan lofted himself down and laid himself beside the brunette, leaving his shirt open and his desirables exposed.
Troy wrapped an arm about the boy's trim body and the two of them snuggled into each other, letting the world fall away.
In their dreams, they were onstage, kissing before the eyes of a vast audience that filled the auditorium to capacity, safe in a place where the discrimination, the taunts, the jeers, the malice couldn't reach them.
Somewhere in the distance, a bell rang.
A/N: Next Chapter: Troy and Ryan attend a party, attempting to be "normal" teenagers. Please, leave a review and let me know what you thought.