Chapter Three
Troy slammed into him, knocking Chad off balance as he yanked the ball from Chad's hands.
"Hey!" Chad protested, backing up a step. "I thought this was a friendly game."
"What's the matter, Chadders? Can't handle a little competition?"
Chad frowned at the unpleasant edge in Troy's voice. "What's your problem?" he demanded his hands on his hips.
Troy scowled. "I don't have a problem, you do."
"Dude." Chad shook his head and held out his hand. "Give me my ball, I'm out of here."
"Maybe I don't want to." Troy spun the ball between his fingers and gave him an insolent look.
"Look, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, but you've been acting weird since winter break and I'm way over it. So just give me my goddamn ball and let me get the hell out of here."
"I've been acting weird?" Troy let out a bitter laugh. "You've been acting weird. Hanging out with that freak, Ryan Evans, and his little band of followers all the time. You've even ditched practice so that you could help with that stupid musical of theirs. What the fuck is up with that? You don't even like musicals."
Chad wanted to punch Troy for calling Ryan a freak, but he just took a deep breath and said, "Oh, so it's okay for you to ditch me hang out with the Ice Princess all the time, but I'm not allowed to miss an unscheduled practice to hang out with my friends."
"Friends, yeah right." Troy slapped the side of the ball with one hand. "You don't have anything in common with them, other than the fact that you're human. And I am not ditching you to hang out with Sharpay. She's even more of a freak than Ryan."
"Then why are you auditioning with her for the spring musical?" Chad asked with a sneer.
"What?" Troy suddenly looked like he was about to ralph all over his shoes. "How did you find out about that?"
Chad gave him an amused look. "What part of 'Ryan is my friend' didn't you understand?"
"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Troy asked, a pinched expression on his face.
"Not if you don't want me too," Chad answered. "But I don't see why you would. Won't everyone know after the fact?"
Troy blinked at him. "I hadn't thought of that."
"Why am I not surprised?" Chad asked with a laugh.
Troy plunked down on the ground with a sigh and tucked the ball under his arm. "You don't think everyone will be mad at me, do you?"
Chad dropped down beside him, his hands draped over his knees. "Naw. Why would they? You're the big man on campus. Everything you do is golden." He chuckled. "I bet you could decide you were into interpretive dance and it would suddenly be the new hotness."
Troy gave him a wide grin. "See, this is why I need you around. You keep my feet on the ground. Here I was freaking out, thinking the world would end if I decided I wanted to sing, and in less than two minutes you've got my head back in the game."
"Way to mix your metaphors, dude." Chad gave him a friendly shove. "Like anyone other than your mother would care about you singing."
"Yeah, well." Troy shrugged. He stared up at the sky for a bit and then said, "I've missed having you around."
"Didn't seem like it," Chad admitted grudgingly. "What with the way you kept disappearing on me and not answering my texts."
"Sharpay confiscates my phone before we start," Troy said sheepishly. "She says it ruins her concentration if it goes off while she's rehearsing."
Chad shook his head. "I can't believe you willingly hang out with her."
"She's not all that bad, once you get to know her."
"Neither is Ryan," Chad pointed out. He took a breath, wishing for the hundredth time that he hadn't promised Ryan not to tell anyone about them until things were more definite between them.
"Now that's something I just don't get. Why would you even want to hang out with him?" Troy asked with a confused expression on his face.
"What do you mean?" Chad snapped, feeling defensive.
"You know exactly what I mean. He's weird. And really into that whole dance drama thing."
"So, it's okay for you to be into that whole singing drama thing, but he can't like dancing?" Chad shot back. "Dude, I didn't know you were such a hypocrite."
Troy glared at him. "I'm not a hypocrite. It just doesn't seem to me that you would have anything in common with him. You hate dancing and musicals and all that other stuff your mom loves. And don't try to tell me you don't, because I've known you since before you could talk, and you hated them way back then."
"Yeah right, like you could even remember that far back." Troy opened his mouth but Chad held up a hand. "And even if you could, things change. Maybe I've matured, like my mom always said I would, and finally have an appreciation for the finer things in life."
Troy snorted. "And maybe a pig will fly out of my ass."
Chad made a face. "Dude, I hope not."
"Whatever, you know what I mean." Troy took the basketball in both hands and squeezed it. "I just don't get what you see in him is all."
"That would be why he is my friend and not yours." Chad lifted a shoulder. "And I don't think that there is anything else left to say about that."
Troy looked like he wanted to say something, but Chad glared at him and he settled back on the grass without opening his mouth. They lay side by side and Chad found himself remember when they were kids, doing this exact same thing. Except then they would have been talking about knights and dragons or which superpower they wished they had. Chad shifted, feeling nostalgic and wishing his life was still that uncomplicated. Troy sat up abruptly, interrupting Chad's thoughts.
"It's just not fair," he exploded. "Ryan's already got the hottest girl in the school hanging on his every word, why does he have to have you too?"
"Wait," Chad sat up slowly and held up a hand, "since when is Gabby the hottest girl in the school?"
Troy flushed and mumbled, "Have you looked at her? She's an angel."
Chad made a face. "Hardly. She's the bossiest person I know. And manipulative too. You tell her straight out that you are interested in doing whatever it is that she's gotten into her head and the next thing you know you're practicing vocab or studying algorithms or something equally idiotic."
Troy shook his head. "She's just single minded, nothing wrong with that. Plus, she's way smarter than everyone else, so of course she expects people to go along with her plans. And don't act like you haven't been acing all of your math and science tests since you started hanging out with her. I know that's not due to your study habits."
"Whatever." Chad shook his head. "Back to what matters, just because I've been hanging out with Ryan a lot doesn't mean that I am any less of your friend."
"Yeah right." Troy crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have any time for me now. You're always running off to do something stupid with him."
"And by something stupid you mean--" Chad gave Troy a meaningful look.
Troy shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned. "You know what I mean. You missed the last three Team Nights in a row and you didn't come with me to the junkyard last Saturday. We always go to the junkyard on Saturdays."
The hurt look on Troy's face made Chad pause. Maybe Troy had a point. He had been backing out of a lot of group events lately. And it was because he was with Ryan. But, well, he'd promised he wouldn't tell anyone yet. Which was really starting to suck. It would make everything so much easier if he could just tell Troy that he wanted some one on one time with his boyfriend instead of just canceling without giving a reason why. Chad sighed. He was going to have to have a long talk with Ryan in the near future. But for now, at least, he could do some damage control.
"Maybe you're right," Chad said slowly. "I have been kind of a dick about showing up to things lately. But that's not all on Ryan."
Troy snorted. "So it's just a coincidence that you stopped hanging out with me when you started hanging out with him?"
"Other way round. I started hanging out with him when you stopped hanging out with me. But whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry I've been bailing on you, bro. I promise I'll be a better friend in the future."
"You do that," Troy said with a grin. He hopped to his feet and dribbled the ball. "You ready to get schooled?"
"Yeah, right, Hoops," Chad shot back as he popped up and smacked the ball away. "Other way round."
"Stop that!" Sharpay slapped at Ryan's leg as he twirled past. Ryan ignored her as he kicked high and he belted out the end of the song. "Stop that," she said again, which was silly, since she knew good and well that the song was done. He gave her an amused look and then bent over, stretching his back and legs. "Show off," she muttered.
Ryan grinned at her as he popped back up. "And you aren't?"
She rolled her eyes and flipped over a page in her magazine. "You know I hate it when you sing the girl parts."
"Only because I'm better than you at it," he shot back.
"Hardly," Sharpay scoffed.
Ryan snorted and settled into an alternating chaînés and piqués. He studied his reflection as he turned, waiting for Sharpay to tell him about whatever it was that had her looking like a thundercloud. He was on his third time back across the room when she finally spoke.
"I don't like it."
"What? My form?" he joked.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "This whole you being friends with other people thing. I don't like it." Sharpay tossed her magazine aside and jiggled her foot. "It's not right."
Ryan finished his turn and dropped his arms. "How is me having friends not right?" He walked over to his water bottle and took a drink. "You've got friends other than me."
"No I don't."
"Oh? Then what are Jackie, Lea and Emma?"
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Backup singers. Duh." She took a deep breath when Ryan didn't laugh. "Okay, so maybe I do have friends, but they aren't important and you know it."
"So maybe my new friends aren't important either," Ryan said calmly, putting the cap back on his water.
"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid," Sharpay snapped. "Of course they are important. You spend practically all your time with them and they've got you eating carbs."
Ryan wrinkled his brow. "I've always eaten carbs."
"Whatever." Sharpay crossed her arms and pouted. "It's not fair! You've got a boyfriend and a best friend and what have I got?"
"Boi?" Ryan widened his eyes and tried to look innocent, but Sharpay still chucked her discarded magazine at him. He dodged it and laughed. "And things with Chad are complicated, as you very well know. He's," Ryan paused, searching for the right way to describe what he was. After all, he and Chad hadn't exactly formalized things between them yet and he was still sort of expecting things to implode, which made explaining whatever they were to himself tricky, let alone his sister.
"Dreamy?" Sharpay cut into his thoughts in a syrupy voice. She batted her eyelashes wildly, clutched her hands to her heart and mock swooned.
"Well, yeah," Ryan agreed, moving over to sit on the arm of her chair. "But besides that, he's a really cool guy. He's smart, funny and always smells good. Which is more important than most guys our age realize."
Sharpay rolled her eyes. "God, could you be any more in love?" She slumped in the chair, pouting like there was no tomorrow.
"Shar, you know you mean more to me than any of my friends." Ryan slid his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "You're my sister and I love you most of all."
"That's nice," Sharpay said, batting his arm away, "but utter crap. And you know it."
Ryan stood up. "Whatever." He walked over to the c.d., ignoring Sharpay's icy silence, and shut it off. Then he headed for the door. Right before leaving, he paused to say, "I told Ilya to make Tikka Masala for dinner with samosas and garlic naan."
"You can't bribe me with Indian food."
Ryan lifted his eyebrows.
"Oh, alright, I forgive you," Sharpay muttered ungraciously.
"Of course you do. I'm an Evans and no one can stay mad at us long." Ryan flashed her a grin and then left the room.
Chad pulled open his phone as soon as he left Troy's house and dialed Ryan's number. He listened to the chorus of Anything Goes and then heard Ryan's slightly breathless hello.
"You told me to call you when I left Troy's. So I am."
"What, no hello?" Ryan teased.
"Hello, Ryan. This is Chad, your tall, dark and handsome boyfriend. I was just wondering if you wanted to get lucky tonight," Chad replied.
Ryan laughed. "How lucky?"
"Lucky enough."
"Sounds good to me. Want me to pick you up?"
Chad cut through the Mermen's back yard. "Yeah, but I'm not home yet and I need to shower. So how about you show up in a half hour or so?"
"Were something nice," Ryan advised.
"Why? Do you want to go somewhere fancy or something?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out."
"Dude, are we five?" Chad skirted around a mud puddle and then stepped back on the sidewalk across the street from his house. He looked up and down the street and then crossed it.
"Can't a guy surprise his boyfriend every once and a while?" Ryan asked with a melodramatic sigh.
Chad smiled as he walked up the steps to his front door. "Consider me surprised." He pushed open the door and then started to climb the stairs to his bedroom. "So I'll see you around six then?"
"With bells on," Ryan replied before he hung up the phone.
Chad snapped his phone shut and then walked down the hall to his room. He set his ball onto his bed and toed out of his shoes. Dropping onto his desk chair, Chad bent to remove his sock before tugging his shirt off at tossing it in the direction of his hamper.
"Something nice," he mused as he stood in front of his closet. He shook his head, deciding to deal with the issue of what he wore after his shower. Chad left his room and took a towel out of the hall closet, then went to the bathroom. He turned on the water, set the towel down and stripped off his shorts. Then he stepped into the shower.
He closed his eyes as the water rushed down his body, just enjoying the warmth of it. He reached blindly for the soap and then quickly rubbed himself down. The crisp, clean scent of the soap refreshed him almost as much as the water beating against his back. Chad turned and let the water run down the front of him, rinsing the dirt and sweat of the day away. He set down the soap and picked up a bottle of shampoo, squeezing some into his hands. As he massaged it into this hair, his thoughts drifted to Ryan. Chad felt himself grow hard and groaned. He turned again, washing the shampoo from his hair as his hands drifted downward.
The shampoo left his hand slick and he gasped as it closed around his erection. Chad sucked his lower lip into his mouth and pictured the way that Ryan had looked in the hot tub, water drops clinging to his chest and his trucks sagging low on his hips. Their make out sessions had left Chad with a pretty good impression of what would be under them and he stroked himself as he imagined peeling those trunks off and tossing them aside.
Chad moaned as his free hand tweaked a nipple. Ryan had this way of licking and sucking at Chad's neck that he just knew would translate into one hell of a blowjob. And his mouth, with those pink, puffy lips. Chad let his hand speed up as he thought about what it would feel like to have them on him. He gasped as he came and let the water wash him clean as he recovered from it.
When his legs felt like they could hold him, Chad reached up and shut off the water. He pushed open the shower door and grabbed the towel he had left on the toilet seat. The first thing he did was use it to it dry off his face, then he quickly ran it down his body and before stepping out of the shower, wrapping it around his hips. The mirror was fogged up, so he wiped a section off and then studied his reflection. There was a light shadow on his jaw and he ran his fingers along it, judging the length. It was a little too long to let go, so Chad reached for his shaving cream.
He whistled as foamed up his hands and then coated his face. He rinsed them off, dried them on the towel around his hips and picked up his razor. It slid over his skin with a soft rasping sound. Chad swished it in the water and tried to guess where Ryan was taking him tonight.
They hadn't really gone on a date since they started going out; they mainly just hung out at each other's houses and made out as much as possible. Which was perfectly fine as far as Chad was concerned. He didn't have a job, his parents said it would interfere with his studies, and so his spending money was limited to whatever he could save out of his lunch money. Which was pretty much nothing.
He stopped mid-shave and quickly calculated how much cash he had on hand. Chad winced when he realized that it was less than twenty bucks. Maybe going out to some fancy pants place wasn't such a good idea after all. He didn't want to come up short and wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought of Ryan paying for him. Chad frowned as he started shaving again. He would just have to convince Ryan that a burger and fries at Betty's Fifties Dinner was better than filet mingon and butter herb roasted potatoes at Vernon's Hidden Valley Steakhouse for forty-two dollars a plate.
Chad caught the end of his towel and patted his face dry, then straightened and studied his reflection again. He nodded, pleased with the smooth look of his face. He started whistling again as he applied deodorant and then left the bathroom. It wouldn't be that hard to get Ryan to change his mind. Chad would just point out that the faster they finished eating, the faster they would be able to get back to doing important stuff, like making out.
He glanced at the clock as he walked into his room and then cursed. It was ten minutes till six and he was still sopping yet. Chad pulled his towel free and dried his hair with it as he moved to his closet. He yanked a nice looking button down green shirt that his mother had bought him for the family Christmas picture and tossed it onto his bed. Then he hurried to the dresser and dug around until he found the slacks that went with it. They joined the shirt on the bed as he hunted for a pair of dress socks to go with his nice shoes.
Chad let out a crow of satisfaction when he found them. They got tossed over his shoulder onto the bed as he the grabbed the first pair of boxers he saw. He dropped the wet towel onto the floor and then slipped into them. The socks went on next and then the slacks. He shoved his arms into the sleeves of the shirt and then buttoned it all the way up. Then Chad rooted around in the back of his closet in an attempt to find his nice shoes. One of them was easy to spot, but the other one took awhile, since apparently Chad had decided to put it under a pile of gym shorts. He wrinkled his nose as he exacted it, telling himself remember to chuck the shorts into the hamper before they turned toxic.
He slid his feet into the shoes, wincing a little at the tight pinch on his toes. There was a reason he went for the jeans and tee look: It was comfortable. Chad sighed as he made his way back to the bathroom. One night wouldn't kill him and it would make his mother happy to know that she hadn't wasted money on clothes he only wore once. Once in front of the mirror, Chad undid the top two buttons on his shirt. Yeah, it was a little on the causal side, but he looked like a complete tool with them done up.
He ran a hand through his hair, wondering what he could do to tame it. Deciding that tying it back would have to do, he pulled open a drawer and hunted through his little sister's hair things. Sure enough, there was a dark green band that perfectly matched his shirt. Chad quickly secured it back and then sprayed a little bit of Cool Water into the air and then stepped into it, letting it settle on him evenly. He put the bottle down, gave himself one last once over and then left the bathroom.
The clock on the wall told him that it was two minutes after six when he made it to the living room. Chad sat on one of the couches and flicked on the tv, not wanting to appear too anxious when Ryan appeared.
"Going somewhere?" his mother asked as she bustled into the room.
"Yeah. Out with friends."
"Troy?"
Chad shook his head. "No. Other friends."
"Oh," his mother laughed. "I didn't know you had any."
"Mom," Chad protested.
She laughed some more and opened her mouth, but was cut off by a knock on the door.
"That would be them," Chad said, jumping up to open it. "All call you if I'm going to be out late."
"You do that," he mother answered as she walked over and turned off the tv. "Have fun and be safe."
Chad rolled his eyes but said, "I will." He pulled open the door, grinned at Ryan and then stepped outside before his mother could give him any more advice. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"In a rush?" Ryan asked as he started walking, his eyes skimming up and down Chad's body.
"To be alone with you?" Chad grinned. "You bet ya."
Ryan laughed, then said, "You clean up nicely."
Chad's grin got wider. "So do you." He touched the brim of Ryan's black fedora.
"Yes, well," Ryan gave a self-deprecating smile. He stopped at his car and unlocked the door and opened it.
Chad climbed inside, pulling the door shut behind him. He glanced around admiring again how sweet the interior looked. "I love this car."
"So do I," Ryan said as he got behind the wheel. "Ready for an adventure?"
"Yeah, about that," Chad paused and then pushed ahead. "I don't know what you have planned for tonight, but I'm a little low on funds right now so," he trailed off.
"Don't worry about it."
Chad made a face. "Seriously, dude. I don't want to be rude or anything but--"
"Then stop protesting as just enjoy the evening," Ryan cut him off as he started the car.
"Okay," Chad said grudgingly, "but only if you let me get the next one."
"Deal." Ryan reached over and squeezed Chad's hand.
Chad leaned into Ryan's space as dropped a kiss on his neck. "So what am I'm going to be enjoying?" he asked as he settled back into his seat.
"Well, a typical first date is dinner and a movie, but I'm not typical. So I thought we could hit up the Mystery Café."
"And enjoy murder with our meal?" Chad asked, quoting the advertisement.
"Exactly."
Chad smiled. "A wise choice, my good man."
Ryan smiled back at him. "I thought you'd say that."