Disclaimer: i do not own high school musical I'm just using its characters in my twisted little game
chapter 14: happy campers.
Ryan
When we got out of the car at the gas station in Santa Fe i spent a good four or five minutes hugging troy. He hugged me back and didn't ask why, he had even endured a few questionable looks from costumers of the gas station. I just needed him in that moment. I knew even if my parents didn't love me he did and its all i needed. I had thought a lot about what Sharpay had said about bringing troy to new york with me and the idea seemed to make sense the more i thought about it. He could be happy there and once upon a time he had struggled with the decision to pursue Julliard if given the scholarship. But what if he didn't want that? I was back and fourth with the issue of me leaving soon.
Granted i didn't know if i was getting back in or not, the letter asked me to be at the admissions office on September 1st. I doubt they would make my fly half way across the country just to tell me i couldn't come back. But what if i was aloud to go back?
We fondled each others hands leaning against the hood of the car as josh filled the tank. " you.. you're like really gay?" josh asked troy who raised an eyebrow.
" yeah something like that" troy said blushing
" gay for me" i said josh rolled his eyes.
" gay for Ryan" troy said shrugging. I slapped his arm. " why do you ask, I'm sure you have figured for a while now"
" i did" Josh said " i mean, its not completely obvious unless you know that Ryan is gay, then its pretty obvious , i guess its just weird" i raised an eyebrow and joshes eyes widened. " no i said that wrong!"
" a little?" i said
" i just mean, you where a legend man" josh said to troy. " its crazy that the guy that every school in the district feared on the court..."
" yeah, that's not homophobic at all" i said sarcastically josh shook his head.
" Ryan shut up" he said " i don't care that you are gay, why would i care that he is, all i am saying is from a player to player perspective i did not see that coming."
" i get it" troy said " i guess i should be flattered that I'm taking back a hundred years of stereo types"
" while you conform to them eh Ryan?" josh said messing my hair, i ducked away from him.
" screw you!" i said sticking out my tongue." where the hell is Sharpay anyway?" we all looked over to the little store attached to the gas station. I decided i would go into see see what she was up too and pay for the gas at the same time, i took the receipt from josh when he was finished and went into the store. Sharpay was standing there with a basket filled with at least 20 different things.
" that's a lot of food Shar" i said taking in all of the chips and candy. She rolled her eyes.
" well, i like salt and vinegar and you like ketchup, josh is a barbeque guy and i didn't know what troy liked so i got dill pickle sour cream and onion and all dressed just in case, then i thought that was too much chips so i grabbed the chocolate almonds and recess cups then i figured you would want a snickers then i remembered that troy liked snicker doodles and i figured soda was needed as well and can you believe we have never tried chicharones!?" she gushed. I took a step back.
" Sharpay relax" i said.
" what are we going to do Ryan?" she said frowning, i knew she was going to dwell on the dinner debacle, it was in her nature to worry about my parents, she was always scared of getting in trouble and there for giving up her freedom of speech and expression. That was where me and my father did not get along well, i would not bend to his whim and for that he hated me.
" dads not going to cut you off Sharpay" i said she looked doubtful but she knew as well as i that he just wouldn't.
" what abut you?" she asked worried.
" I'll live" i said with a shrug, though the idea of getting cut off was a scarey one, i would think of troy and none of that seemed so awful. He was living, he didn't have a trust fund to tap into and neither did most of the young people in this country so at the end of the day i would be no different then them. " it will be a whole new adventure."
" I'll pay for you" she said suddenly, " if he takes the money , and you get back in school I'll pay your tuition, I'll pay your rent I'll do it all" i shook my head.
" Sharpay, i need to learn how to stand on my own feet" i said , i didn't want her wasting her money on my future and disregarding her own.
" still Ryan, you have a second chance to pursue your dreams i will do everything in my power to make sure you can do that" she said putting the basket of snacks on the counter the owner looked at us like we where crazy and Sharpay just smirked and pulled out her platinum card.
We let josh drive since he was the one who knew where he was going, troy had confessed to usually crossing the border into Colorado whenever he and his family went camping so knew of few places in Albuquerque to go, it was all for the best with me since i got to share the back seat all the way there. It was almost a fifteen minutes drive down a dirt road heavily wooded but once we hit the booth and paid then we drove towards our grounds when we arrived we found it was right beside a river that had a Rickity dock going out over it.
" they don't put a lot of maintenance into these places" Sharpay said siting on the hood of the car as josh and troy put up the tents, i made myself busy by unloading the rest of our things, sleeping bags, alcohol etc...
" its a forest Sharpay" josh said shaking his head.
" that you have to pay to sleep in" she said incredulously. I tried not to laugh, camping was not a pass time i would have taken joy in either but like her i was doing it because troy and josh seemed to think they are tom Soyer and Huck Finn. I was going to enjoy being away from home and away from my parents. It was very dark at the moment seeing as how it was very late, and we had only two flashlights which made the setting up of the camp grounds hard to say the least. " should i make a fire, you do that right?" troy and josh shared a look.
" yeah camp fires are a large part of camping" troy said dropping a pole and walking over to me, as a result the tent collapsed and josh dead panned.
" you are the worst helper ever Bolton" he said
" do you even know how to make a fire?" troy asked me ignoring joshes insult, I shrugged.
" i was ostracized in high school so yeah fire starting should come easy" i said dryly which josh scoffed at but seemed to only upset troy, i turned away. " I'm going to go get fire wood then"
" don't get cereal murdered" Sharpay said while looking at her self in the compact mirror she kept on her at all times. I walked away from the camp ground with the smaller of the two flashlights, i picked up pieces of wood that i thought would burn well and had a large stack piled and ready to bring back when i heard leaves ruffling behind me. I turned around but saw nothing where i shone the light. Every Friday the thirteenth and wrong turn film flashed threw my head in that moment.
I heard more movement turning around once more before feeling a pair of arms close around my waste, the pile of wood was in the air and falling to the ground. I let out a loud squeak before a pair of lips pressed themselves to mine. He chuckled seductively as the flashlight glowed up at us from the ground. " you scared the shit out of me" i said beating playfully on his chest.
" i know" he said nuzzling my neck but i could see the tension in his face. " sometimes you scare me" i raised my eyebrow i don't think i have ever crept up and scared troy before.
" um how?" i asked genuinely confused.
" sometimes when you say stuff" he said shrugging. "it makes me think..."
i backed up. " stuff like what?" i asked. I thought about the joke about wanting to burn down the school it was just a joke to me, but he read into it differently it seems.
" what you said about being ostracizeed" he said biting his lip. " i know it was just a joke, i know that" i could feel the but coming on. " but sometimes i think it bothers you more then you let on" i felt the heat rising in my face and looked away from him.
" what are you talking about?" i asked trying to be evasive but troy wouldn't budge.
" i was a dick to you in high school" he said frowning.
"no troy" i said not wanting him to bring it all up i knew it would hurt me i knew it would hurt him and we were here to have a good time. But could i really have a good time? I was angry and sad and frustrated and jealous and sceptical about everything including him and its started to feel a little overwhelming.
" Ryan, i never gave you the time of day" he said not holding back his honesty. i wasn't sure how to feel about it but i heard him out. " and you have been the driving force in my life since i got it back and sometimes i feel like i don't do enough for you" he looked sad and i felt my heart break a little. He really did care about me, for so long i felt like i was alone uncared for unthought of, it soured my image of the world thinking no one cared about anyone but themselves the one person i love more then anyone else in the world takes the time to think about how i am feeling. He was of a different spices troy Bolton, beautiful and complex inside and out, sheer proof that chivalry still has a pulse in the world and he was mine.
" i love you" i said. " and you are here, no matter what happened in high school or after no matter who we where back then, we have each other now and we now we know who we are"
" I'd do anything for you and I'm sorry" he said i was about to protest but he cut me off " I'm sorry to myself to us, that i never knew you because if i had..."
" well now you do" i said, i kissed him and pulled away from his arms. I picked up all of the wood i dropped and we walked back to the camp sight. There was a fire in the pit already burning " so much for me making a fire"
" well you decided to make out with your boyfriend instead so..." josh said filling the cooler with ice. " but whatever i sort of have camp fire OCD" i wasn't sure what to do, what where you supposed to do when you where camping besides make fires and go fishing and stuff?
" who wants a shot?" Sharpay said holding a bottle of tequila at the door of her and joshes tent. Safe to say drinking was on the short list of camping activities.
It was well past midnight when a group of other campers came strolling up to our site, they where older at least 25 and introduced themselves as Sarah, Kim and john. They had noticed us coming into the grounds. We offered them a few drinks well more then a few, after a while we where getting along like we had known them forever and distinguished both a peeing tree for both men and woman.
Kim however was laying the flattery on thick with troy and i wondered in my alcoholic state of being if this was going to happen for the rest of our lives. I didn't mind , in fact i was proud that i had been the one to own his heart but the irritation of seeing girls just shamelessly flirt with him was sometimes to much. After about an hour i made the executive decision for both of us to intertwine my hand in his before getting up to get a beer. There was a brief silence amongst our new friends but it lasted only a moment Kim never dropped another line on troy for the rest of the night. It was when the stars began to disappear in the sky that we called it a night and went to sleep.
But even sleep didn't come until troy and i had sex, unlike the first time troy knew where to put it and not to hesitate, we grunted threw it making sure not to get to loud knowing Sharpay and josh where in the next tent, but after a few minutes we threw a little cation to the wind knowing they where probably doing the same thing over there.
I woke with troys arms around me, i felt very hot with the sun beating down threw the trees onto our tent and separateed myself from him. My head was pounding and it was a hot day. Part of me hoped i had slept the day threw so the sun would go down in a matter of hours but i soon found as i picked up my cellphone from the side of the deflating air mattress that it was only 1:30.
i rolled back over and put my head on his chest " you up?" i whispered
" i am now" he said cracking one eye to look down at me. He smiled down at me and kissed the top of my head. " its hot"
" you noticed?" i said reaching for my underwear, i pulled them on and then reached into my jeans for my pot, it was the hang over helper after all. I rolled up a quick joint and sat at the door of the tent. Troy pulled on his own boxers and came up behind me putting his legs on either side of mine, he laid his head on my back and we passed the joint back and fourth.
" i think that was the best so far" he said puffing on the joint. I nodded. Letting the high wash away my head ache. I heard a zipper quickly open and the pink fathered mess that was Sharpay came out.
" you actually broguht that thing?" i asked in regards to her pink robe. She glared at me and then grunted at troys provocative position.
"you two look like an Abacrombie and Fitch add." she sat down on the grass next to the door to our tent. She held her hand out for the joint.
" hell has frozen over" troy said in shock.
" trust me no one is more surprised then me" she said taking a dainty drag. She coughed and blew out the smoke, " ok that's me high" she got up walking to the cooler.
" water!" josh called from the tent.
" yeah!" Sharpay called right back. I laughed , it was funny Sharpay had never been with someone who was as domineering as she was. Josh was no where near as domineering but he was a personality. She stomped back over to the tent and disappeared with the bottle of water. I doubted they would be up for a while but i was surprised when they both joined us for breakfast around the fire. Josh lit up the roach we had from the joint and we ate fried egg and toast on the portable flat top troy brought.
I heard the sound of twigs and dirt and turned around to see Sarah johnny and of course Kim walking towards our site.
"hey guys" johnny said " fun night"
" not so fun morning" sharpay scoffed.
" listen we are heading up to the jumping rocks of you guys wanted to come, its usually a huge party spot on weekends" he said " pack a cooler and a lunch and head up the red marked trails." the girls each said bye before they left the way they where going.
There was a lot of protest from Sharpay but in the end we made the hike to the notorious jumping rock, it was not as bad as i expected and when we got there the party had already started we spotted johnny and the girls and a number of others growing over time. Sharpay peered over the side of the cliff at the river below.
" i am not jumping off of that" she said, josh gave her a playful shove towards the edge and she jumped punching him in the arm. " ass hole"
" its deep and completely safe" josh said
" completely?" i asked doubting it was completely safe.
" well pretty much safe" josh said pulling off his shirt to let the sun beat down on his bare chest. " i have camped here a million times and come here a million more and i have never died jumping into the river"
" clearly" i said rolling my eyes. I walked over to the edge looking down at the water below, it was high but i felt like i could do it if i wanted to, i looked to troy who stood well away from the edge. "are you down?"
" no, i mean i guess if you want" he said nervously. I walked over to him and put an arm around his waste.
" I'm sure we will be fine" i said " i mean i have a huge fear of heights and i wanna try" i pulled him closer to the edge and he resisted but still came. He bit his lip gently.
" I'm not scared" he said in his defence but i knew him better then that, " its just ... high"
" yeah i guess" i said nonchalantly walking towards the others. The first thing i knew i was being passed a beer from Johnny.
" i drank about six of yall's last night" he said. I sipped it for a few minutes letting the sun really get me hot.
" its freaking boiling out today" Sharpay said fanning herself and unfolding a chair in the shade. Troy also took his shirt off and i couldn't help but giggle a little about it, i guess he was never one to be outdone. Several of the girls there gawked and several of their boyfriend glared but i could do nothing but revel in it. He was all mine, and i new before the day was over he would be jumping off of that cliff with me.
After a few beers we made our way down to the water on a much less complicated trail then the one we took to get here. Sharpay didn't want to leave our stuff but the other girls assured her that it would be sitting right at the edge of the forest where she left it when we came back. Troy, josh and johnny threw around a football on the way and Sharpay struggled behind taking her time on the steep parts. Somehow i found myself between Sarah and Kim and felt an onslaught coming.
" its Ryan?" Sarah asked politely.
" yeah" i said " Sarah and Kim" i said pointing to each of them in turn.
They giggled and nodded " yeah, didn't think any of you guys remembered after how drunk we all got"
" you did didn't you?" i asked
" well we have a couple of years on you guys" Kim said with a smirk. Funny those years didn't stop her from scoping out my boyfriend. "so you and troy are like together right ?" . i wanted to roll my eyes but i didn't. I never liked talking about this kind of stuff without troy there, i always feel like i am going to say something wrong.
" yeah, we are" they both awed and i did actually roll my eyes, i thought girls thinking gay guys where cute was ridiculous, i didn't think straight couples were cute nor did i think lesbians where cute but i let them swoon
" how did that happen?" Sarah asked intrigued, i was assuming she meant how was i lucky enough to find a gay vision of every females fantasy.
"well we went to high school together" i said they awed again. " no its not like that, we weren't really friends back then but we both went on our respective way after school and after a year just clicked i guess. We have been together since the beginning off the summer"
the girls shared a look. " well between you and me, you bagged yourself a real 10" Kim said which came not at all as a surprise.
" well between me and you" Sarah said with a sexy smile. " troy is the one who hit the jack pot" my face warmed at the idea that a girl was flirting with me, i was not used to that, most girls i had known had just assumed i was gay or thought Sharpay being my sister was far to much work and Kelsey was meek when we dated and didn't have the game to spit.
" um might not want to let your boyfriend here you"i said eyeing the boys further ahead. The two of them had to stop due to laughing. I was confused and it drew the attention of both Sharpay and the boys.
" johnny is not my boyfriend!" Sarah said almost as embarrassed i was at this point. " he's my brother!"
now that i thought about it i hadn't noticed anything that suggested that they where anything more then bother and sister, i guess things just looked how they looked, neither one of them looked like the other so there was little resemblance. " right, brother and sister, and Kim fill me in what are you a cousin, estranged neighbour?"
" just the best friend" she confessed. We reached the boys and walked the rest of the way together, josh fell back to help Sharpay which i felt was her intentions, Sharpay and i had mastered the most complicated dances yet she was having trouble hiking.
Once we reached the water i wasted no time in jumping in. It was cold but refreshing and the current was weak enough that i didn't have to put a whole lot of effort in not floating down stream. Troy followed me in and dunked my head under the water. I came up and did the same to him and he grabbed me round the haste picking me up and throwing me into the water again.
" not fair!" i said when i came up for air. " you're stronger then me"
" i cant help it" he beamed. I splashed him and he splashed me back which led to an all out splash war which turned into wrestling which turned into just swimming around in each others arms. Our new friends where generous with their beer and even began to grill up hot dogs over a fire. We drank and ate and smoked pot and swam the day threw and i completely forgot about everything bad that was happening in my life.
By comparison i had daddy issues to some of the things others had to deal with so maybe troy was right it did get to me more then i let it show. But today and the rest of the weekend wasn't the time to think about it. It was time for something positive.
Troy and i made our way down the trail passing a joint back and fourth. " you know summer is almost over" i said playing with his fingers. " have you thought about what you want to do when it is?"
he stopped in almost dread. " is that what you wanted to go on a walk for?" i knew it was an issue he was struggling with, figuring out what to do with his life, finding the inspiration and the last thing i wanted was for him to think i was stepping on his toes.
"no troy its not like that" i said pulling him along i put my arm around him and we walked. " I've just, I've wanted to ask you something but there hasn't really been a good time to do it" i knew this was right i cold feel it now that this was the best idea weather he liked it or not i would know where i stand and i would be able to move on from there.
"is this going to be one of those change everything conversations?" he asked , clearly he was oblivious.
" i got a letter from Julliard" i said ripping the band aid off, he looked like he didn't know how to feel " i think they are going to give me a second chance" i could see the hesitation in his face but it was replaced by a huge grin.
" that's awesome" he said but i felt unconvinced. " new york is where you want to be, I'm happy for you" but he wasn't i could see it in his eyes that this was his world falling apart and all he knew he could do was be happy for me.
" you sound happy" i said sarcastically. He looked rather taken aback and i laughed.
" whats so funny?" he asked crossing his arms. " look i don't know what you are getting at but I'm not going to be okay about you just leaving" i could see he was really starting to get worked up so i knew i had to nip it in the bud.
" i know" i said " that's why i want you to come with me"
Troy was stunned silent, he just looked down at me like he had misinterpreted what i had just said " you... said... but why?"
" because i love you" i said " and i love new york and you would love new york and this time, we can face it together" i wanted this more than anything and the ball was now in his court.
" i cant afford that" he said
" i can" i don't know if that was true as of last night but knew i couldn't do this without him, if i went to new york alone and just left troy here alone i would fail and so would he, this way we can both succeed in a new place together. " say yes"
" yes" he said without hesitation. " my mom will die but yes, i want that very much." then we stooped walking and he pulled me into a hug. " i don't think you know what it means to me Ryan" he said into my shoulder.
" i do" i said squeezing tight. " it means a new start, a real one we can be who ever we want to be"
troy kissed me then, hard and heated and eager and i let him have everything he wanted. There was nothing that could upset me at this moment. Troy and i had a future, there was no fear of what will happen next with us. He was part of the next step and it was almost to good to be real. I realized we where closer to the top of the trail then we where to the bottom and a devilish grin spread across my face.
" what?" troy asked, i just garbed his hand running to the top of the hill. " Ry, what?" he laughed until we reached the forest edge and looked down over the river. " oh hell no!"
" please?" i asked, i don't know what it was but i just wanted to so bad, if i didn't have troy i would probably be scared but he put new life into me as i did him and i knew if we did it together it would be okay.
" no" he said flatting my dreams. I rubbed his hand.
" its just us" i said " i know you are afraid i am too, but its just you and me and we are doing this because i love you and you love me so just hold on"
" to what?" he asked frantically i rolled my eyes.
" to me" i said flatly " on the count of three"
" if i die, I'm going to kill you"
" 1"
" if you die i am going to kill you"
"2"
" i love you"
"3"
and then we jumped.
A/N: okay so my original plan of 16 chapters is still a go, the next two chapters might not be on my regular update schedule so if i don't have a chapter up next week its only because the chapters themselves are going to be quite long. And for anyone who is worried that means the end of troy and Ryan's adventure it is not because i will be posting the first chapter of the sequel this summer