Fic: A Little Song, A Little Dance, A Little Swing [High School Musical // Ryan/Chad] [Chapter 2]
"Hey, Danforth! I hear you've got yourself a little fag friend now. You playing for the pansy team?"
Chad sat down in his seat in chemistry lab, rolling his eyes and ignoring the Wildcat wrestler two tables behind him. He couldn't even remember the guy's name, so he wasn't about to give his words any credence.
"I hear they give better head," said someone else. Chad was surprised when he turned and saw that it was one of his basketball teammates. "Do guys give better head? Hey, Danforth, why don't you show me after class?"
Chad wasn't sure what he'd expected to come out of the rumours. He hadn't given it much thought beyond the encounter with Troy earlier in the day. Still, whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. Still, he was hardly going to back down. "Sorry," he said. "I'll be too busy kicking your ass in practice next period. Besides, I'd need tweezers to do anything with it." He smirked as he waited for Kenny to work through that, and was saved from retaliation by the entrance of their teacher. Class proceeded normally after that. Mr. Tyler was too strict for anyone to try anything. Chad knew that it was a brief reprieve, though, and nothing more.
He should have expected the next problems to be in the changing room. Troy was already at his locker when Chad entered, and he was doing very poorly at hiding his nerves. Half the team wouldn't look at Chad, and the other half was outright disgusted, making comments much like Kenny and the wrestler had made in chem lab.
But it was Troy's father that really surprised Chad. "Danforth, my office, now." And, without waiting for an answer, Mr. Bolton walked away.
A hush fell over the changing room; Chad threw on his jersey and walked into the coach's office. "Something wrong, Coach?" he asked.
"Close the door, Chad," Coach Bolton said. Chad, suddenly a lot more nervous, did so. "I'm disappointed in you, Chad," he said. "I don't care if you're gay or straight, but what you do affects the team. The team comes first, you know that. If you're going to... do this, I'm going to have to ask you to resign."
That was unexpected. Well, maybe not entirely, Chad allowed, but he hadn't expected the coach to just come out and say it like that.
"You do realise," he said, slowly, "that you're asking me to resign from the team over a rumour that I'm dating a guy? You haven't asked me if it's true. You haven't given me the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, you really don't care if I'm gay or straight." A surge of anger rushed through Chad. "I could sue over this, you realise," he continued. "Discrimination. Ryan and I have talked about it -- you know, the guy I'm supposedly dating? We're just friends, by the way. The rumours aren't true. So thank you, Coach, for letting me know exactly where I stand on this team. You know what? I'm not even going to bother fighting this. If this is the way I'm going to be treated, I don't want to be on the team anymore."
"Wait, Chad-" Coach Bolton began, but Chad had already marched out of the office and back towards his locker.
"Give this to your dad," Chad said, shucking his jersey and tossing it unceremoniously at Troy. "Apparently an unproven rumour that I'm gay is more important than the three years I've put into this team." He grabbed his shirt from his locker and tossed it on before hooking his backpack over his shoulder and stalking out of the locker room. He knew exactly where Ryan would be right then, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to see his friend -- maybe his only friend.
"Chad?"
Of course Gabriella would choose that moment to show up.
"Hey, Gabriella." Chad resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to say something to her.
"I'm glad I found you. I wanted to apologise for Troy," she said. Which was not what Chad had expected. "I think you surprised him this morning. I was wondering, though, if what you said was true? I mean, I don't mind, I really don't. My cousin's gay. He came out a couple of years ago. I just wanted you to know... If it is true, if you do want to date Ryan, I could talk to Troy for you? Maybe help him understand it a little better. And help him understand why you didn't tell him before."
Chad decided right there that he regretted every uncharitable thing he'd ever thought about Goody-Two-Shoes Gabriella. "Thanks, Gabriella," he said, his grin back already. "The rumours aren't true," he explained. "I'm not dating Ryan." He hesitated a moment, but this day was going that direction already. "But what I said to Troy's true, too," he added. "I think I want to date Ryan."
Gabriella rushed over and enveloped Chad in a hug. "I'll talk to him," she said, smiling back. "He'll come around." She paused. "Aren't you supposed to be in basketball practi-" She stopped mid-word, frowning deeply. "My mother knows a lawyer who works with the ACLU, if you need some advice."
"I don't think it's going to come to that," Chad said, "but thanks. Right now, I think I just want to go find Ryan."
"He and Kelsi are in the music room," Gabriella mentioned. "I think they're working on the music for a dance piece."
Chad knew exactly what piece she was talking about. "Thanks," though, was all he said. "I'll look for them there."
The door to the music room was cracked open a little: just enough for Chad to hear, as he approached, the conversation going on inside. "But what if he doesn't want to hang out with me anymore?" Ryan was asking. "I mean, his reputation -- he could, I don't know, decide that being macho and playing basketball are more important than hanging out with me."
Chad didn't wait for Kelsi to reply. "Doesn't matter," he said, smirking just a bit. "Apparently there's plenty of room on the team for a gay guy, as long as he doesn't do anything like date a guy. Because that's disrupting team spirit or something." He paused. "Gabriella already offered her mother's friend in the ACLU, in case you're wondering, and I think Troy's going to be getting a lecture." Another pause. "Hey, Kelsi."
"Hi, Chad," replied the diminutive composer. She grinned. "Should I leave you two alone?"
"If you don't mind," Chad said. Kelsi shook her head, kissed Ryan chastely on the cheek, gathered up her papers, and left the room without another word. Although she did grin a little wider over her shoulder as she closed the door -- tightly -- behind her. "So. I got kicked off the team."
Ryan was staring wide-eyed. "We can fix this!" he said. "I mean, we can stop hanging out. You can tell them it was a mistake, or something. Just rumours."
"You're assuming I want to," Chad pointed out. He moved over to the piano bench that Kelsi had vacated, and patted the surface right beside him, gesturing for Ryan to join him. "I've been thinking a lot about the rumours today. I mean, they're not true. We're not dating." He paused, and the events of the past few months clicked into place. "Okay, so I was wrong. We've totally been dating. But it doesn't count if I didn't realise it."
"I was hoping it would go on long enough that you wouldn't freak when you figured it out," Ryan explained, letting some of his familiar humour back into his demeanour.
Chad laughed. "Well, no freaking here," he said. "But I do have a plan. You still want to meet me in the cafeteria at lunchtime? I've got a couple of things I need to get ready first, but I wanted to check in with you, make sure that we're on the same page."
"I'll see you there," Ryan said, nodding. "I have to admit, I'm more than a little worried about this plan of yours."
"Don't be," Chad insisted. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Ryan's. "After all, I learned from the best."
"Sharpay?"
"Please, no. Taylor."
There was another brief kiss, and then they said their goodbyes and Chad walked out of the room. Kelsi was sitting against the wall just outside, her nose buried in book. "He's all yours," Chad said, grinning at her. Kelsi grinned back.
"Funny," she said. "I was thinking that he's all yours."
Chad wondered exactly how much Ryan told Kelsi, but decided that it was probably just as much as he thought it was.
He left the vicinity of the practice room and began walking towards the drama room, where Darbus spent her time during free period when there wasn't a show in rehearsal or production. Of course, he stopped again when the theme of the day recurred:
"Chad."
"You know," he said, turning to face Sharpay, "if people keep saying my name like that, I'm going to develop a complex. Although I'm glad you showed up, you're just who I was looking for."
Sharpay frowned. "You were looking for me? I think you have the wrong Evans twin in mind, Chad."
"Nah, I just spoke to Ryan. I needed to ask you something."
There was a moment where Sharpay looked at Chad as if she honestly didn't know how to react. "You... want to ask me something?" she repeated. "Does this have something to do with the rumours going around the school? I'm not going to lie for you, Chad. If people ask me if you're dating, I'm going to have to tell them yes."
"Well, okay," Chad said, shrugging. "Everyone already believes it anyway, and I guess Ryan and I kinda have been." This was not the reaction Sharpay had expected, Chad realised, as she went red, then white, then red again, in quick succession.
"You mean you're not denying it like some jerky jock homophobe?" she asked. "I'm surprised, Danforth. I didn't give you that much credit."
Apparently, Chad reflected, Ryan really didn't tell Sharpay everything. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if you could make sure that the drama society table is clear at lunch," he said. "I need it for something -- something Ryan's going to like, and I think you will, too. Can you have them sit somewhere else?"
There was a calculating gaze now, and Chad felt oddly naked under it. "I suppose I can arrange something," Sharpay agreed. "But this better be good, Chad. If you hurt Ryan in any way, I'll have Daddy put out a hit on you." She turned and stalked away, leaving Chad to wonder exactly how serious she was.
It was the fact that he had to wonder that made him worry very much for his continued well-being as he dated Ryan.
"Chad?"
"I really am going to develop a complex," Chad muttered, turning to Taylor, who was approaching from the direction opposite where Sharpay had left. "Hi," he said, louder. "I guess you've heard the rumours?"
"And probably eight different evolutions," his ex-girlfriend -- if you could call someone an ex after two perfectly boring dates and not even a kiss to show for it. "Did you know that Ryan and Sharpay have apparently bought you, Troy, and Zeke into slavery for their harem?"
Chad stared. "People are not really saying that," he said. "They can't be."
"Martha heard it from Jason, who heard it from four different people," Taylor explained. "Although some variations involve Coach Bolton being in on it."
They shared a shudder at the thought.
"You don't..." Chad began. "I mean. I guess I should probably explain?"
Taylor shook her head. "It's... not surprising," she said. "I mean, if it's true. Is it?"
Chad grinned at that. "Well, I hadn't thought it was, but then I kinda realised that we've been dating without me realising it. You always said I was a clueless, lunkhead basketball neanderthal."
Taylor playfully slapped at Chad's shoulder. "If it had happened while we were dating," she said, "I'd have been upset, but as it is, it mostly just makes sense. And it's not like I think I turned you off girls," she pointed out. "I mean, I don't know that there's any one theory I ascribe to when it comes to homosexuality, but there's no evidence that it's formed any later than early childhood."
"I'll pretend I know what you're talking about," Chad said, grinning. "Oh, and can you make sure that Gabriella's in the cafeteria at lunchtime today? I think Troy might need the support. And... Thank you." He paused. "I got kicked off the team."
"Gabriella's mother knows an ACLU lawyer," Taylor said, "and I've already got four different cases researched." A moment passed. "I mean, I thought this might happen, is all."
Chad wondered if this was what being friends -- honest to God real friends -- with a girl was like. He decided he liked it. "Thanks," he said. "Gabriella already mentioned her mom's friend, but if I do decide to fight this, I'll need all the help I can get."
"If you don't fight it," Taylor said, "I'm going to kick your ass into next Tuesday."
Chad hung back, a little nervously, in an out-of-the-way hallway near the cafeteria. The period was almost over, which mean that people on a free period -- mostly juniors and seniors like himself, who were either done with their activities already, or simply didn't have them -- were drifting towards it. Any moment now the bell would ring, signalling the rush of the rest of the student body.
The bell rang. He saw Gabriella pass by the end of the hallway, Troy and Taylor a few steps behind. Sharpay went the other direction, her drama club minions in tow. The Wildcats, by which Chad meant the rest of the basketball team, swarmed by a few moments later.
And then Ryan went by. Chad's heart leapt up into his throat for a moment as he wondered what the hell he was about to do, but he pushed back the nerves the way he did before every big game. He waited another moment or two, another minute, until he figured most people who were going to the cafeteria would already be there, then he left his hiding place to enter the cafeteria proper.
Like always, the wave of sound that swept over him as the door opened before him came as a shock to his system, no matter how much he expected it. There was so much chatter going on, so much noise, that it was an assault to his ears in a way that a basketball crowd wasn't. There was focus, there, people cheering, people screaming for them. This was just noise. Chaos.
Chad looked around first for Ryan, and spotted him sitting, alone, at a table on the bottom level, off in a corner. He considered heading there first, but he saw, too, that Sharpay had been exactly as good as her word and, in her absence, no one else had dared sit at her drama club table. He walked down the stairs to that level, walked up to the table. Stepped onto the bench. Stepped onto the table itself.
He looked out over the bulk of the cafeteria below him and took a deep breath.
One of the advantages of hanging out with Ryan Evans was that, whether he'd wanted to or not, he had at least learned something about how to project. The breathing control exercises they'd done as part of the dance training helped, too. This was what Chad put to use, standing above the student population of East High.
"I'd like you all to know," he yelled, as clearly as he could. The chatter started to fall away as people noticed him, turned to look at him, stopped talking. "I'd like you all to know," Chad repeated, "that the rumours going around today aren't true. I have not been dating Ryan Evans." He risked a glance over towards where Ryan sat, saw Ryan's eyes go dark. Saw him look away. "That doesn't mean," he continued, grinning now. He knew that he was probably committing social suicide, that he was ruining any chance of getting back on the team, but he had to try. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to. Hey, Ryan! Want to go out with me?"
As if they'd rehearsed it, Ryan stood up and walked a few steps towards him. "What, honestly?" he asked, his projection so much more natural than Chad's. "Okay, but only if you cut that ridiculous hair and wear a hat instead!"
People laughed.
Chad looked around at their fellow students. People were laughing -- and not at them. Gabriella and Taylor were giggling, and Kelsi, too, at a table near them where she sat with Martha and Jason. Other people were laughing, too: Ryan's hats, after all, were legendary in the school. Troy looked mostly confused, but that wasn't anything new. Chad assumed Gabriella would explain it all later.
There were a few glowers, still, for all the laughter, and people were muttering, whispering. Time to go for the kill.
"Y'know, nine months ago, I would never have imagined standing up here," Chad proclaimed. "Of course, nine months ago, Troy Bolton was the Hoops Dude, and I was his wacky, better-dressed sidekick. We ruled the school. What team?"
There was a ragged reply of, "Wildcats!" A few strong voices stood out, Gabriella and Ryan among them.
"I said, 'What team?'" This time the reply was stronger, more together, but still not where Chad wanted it. "What team!"
"Wildcats!" The call, Chad swore, shook the room. The banners on the wall even swayed a bit in the breeze, or so he imagined.
"Wildcats!" he called back, grinning. And, on cue, he joined the crowd to cry, "Getcha head in the game!
"This is the game," Chad added, into the silence that followed the call. "This. Not basketball, not theatre, not even high school. Real life. Do you guys really think it matters if I like guys? I mean, you accepted Zeke, and he bakes!" Laughter again, this time more of the crowd. Zeke's continued experiments in the kitchen had become a legend in their own right, rising almost to the status in the school's mind of Ryan's hats. "Nine months ago, Troy Bolton decided to sing in the school musical, and he brought us all together. We realised that we're all in it together. Today, you guys showed me that this didn't mean anything. That we're not as accepting as we told ourselves we were.
"Okay, so I like guys. I admit it. I'm gay, and I totally like Ryan Evans. Y'know what? I can still kick all y'all's asses on the basketball court."
Chad stopped and took another deep breath, hoping that his nerves didn't show.
He waited through a long moment of silence... and the crowd burst into cheers, leaping to their feet. Martha, Chad could see, was (unsurprisingly) breaking out the hip-hop. He did have to wonder, though, when the marching band had arrived, just in time to swing the crowd up into a rousing chorus of Kelsi's finale from Twinkle Towne. Off to the side of the room, Ryan was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, one knee cocked. It was the sexiest thing Chad could remember seeing.
Ever.
He walked down the staircase and let himself get pulled into the impromptu party that had begun. He rode the swell of people until he escaped right by Ryan. "I don't think they'll notice if we sneak away," Chad said. "You?"
"Oh," Ryan replied, smirking, "I'll definitely notice." He reached out, then hesitated, but before he could pull his hand back, Chad took it and pulled him out the door.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Fanmix
Chad sat down in his seat in chemistry lab, rolling his eyes and ignoring the Wildcat wrestler two tables behind him. He couldn't even remember the guy's name, so he wasn't about to give his words any credence.
"I hear they give better head," said someone else. Chad was surprised when he turned and saw that it was one of his basketball teammates. "Do guys give better head? Hey, Danforth, why don't you show me after class?"
Chad wasn't sure what he'd expected to come out of the rumours. He hadn't given it much thought beyond the encounter with Troy earlier in the day. Still, whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. Still, he was hardly going to back down. "Sorry," he said. "I'll be too busy kicking your ass in practice next period. Besides, I'd need tweezers to do anything with it." He smirked as he waited for Kenny to work through that, and was saved from retaliation by the entrance of their teacher. Class proceeded normally after that. Mr. Tyler was too strict for anyone to try anything. Chad knew that it was a brief reprieve, though, and nothing more.
He should have expected the next problems to be in the changing room. Troy was already at his locker when Chad entered, and he was doing very poorly at hiding his nerves. Half the team wouldn't look at Chad, and the other half was outright disgusted, making comments much like Kenny and the wrestler had made in chem lab.
But it was Troy's father that really surprised Chad. "Danforth, my office, now." And, without waiting for an answer, Mr. Bolton walked away.
A hush fell over the changing room; Chad threw on his jersey and walked into the coach's office. "Something wrong, Coach?" he asked.
"Close the door, Chad," Coach Bolton said. Chad, suddenly a lot more nervous, did so. "I'm disappointed in you, Chad," he said. "I don't care if you're gay or straight, but what you do affects the team. The team comes first, you know that. If you're going to... do this, I'm going to have to ask you to resign."
That was unexpected. Well, maybe not entirely, Chad allowed, but he hadn't expected the coach to just come out and say it like that.
"You do realise," he said, slowly, "that you're asking me to resign from the team over a rumour that I'm dating a guy? You haven't asked me if it's true. You haven't given me the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, you really don't care if I'm gay or straight." A surge of anger rushed through Chad. "I could sue over this, you realise," he continued. "Discrimination. Ryan and I have talked about it -- you know, the guy I'm supposedly dating? We're just friends, by the way. The rumours aren't true. So thank you, Coach, for letting me know exactly where I stand on this team. You know what? I'm not even going to bother fighting this. If this is the way I'm going to be treated, I don't want to be on the team anymore."
"Wait, Chad-" Coach Bolton began, but Chad had already marched out of the office and back towards his locker.
"Give this to your dad," Chad said, shucking his jersey and tossing it unceremoniously at Troy. "Apparently an unproven rumour that I'm gay is more important than the three years I've put into this team." He grabbed his shirt from his locker and tossed it on before hooking his backpack over his shoulder and stalking out of the locker room. He knew exactly where Ryan would be right then, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to see his friend -- maybe his only friend.
"Chad?"
Of course Gabriella would choose that moment to show up.
"Hey, Gabriella." Chad resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to say something to her.
"I'm glad I found you. I wanted to apologise for Troy," she said. Which was not what Chad had expected. "I think you surprised him this morning. I was wondering, though, if what you said was true? I mean, I don't mind, I really don't. My cousin's gay. He came out a couple of years ago. I just wanted you to know... If it is true, if you do want to date Ryan, I could talk to Troy for you? Maybe help him understand it a little better. And help him understand why you didn't tell him before."
Chad decided right there that he regretted every uncharitable thing he'd ever thought about Goody-Two-Shoes Gabriella. "Thanks, Gabriella," he said, his grin back already. "The rumours aren't true," he explained. "I'm not dating Ryan." He hesitated a moment, but this day was going that direction already. "But what I said to Troy's true, too," he added. "I think I want to date Ryan."
Gabriella rushed over and enveloped Chad in a hug. "I'll talk to him," she said, smiling back. "He'll come around." She paused. "Aren't you supposed to be in basketball practi-" She stopped mid-word, frowning deeply. "My mother knows a lawyer who works with the ACLU, if you need some advice."
"I don't think it's going to come to that," Chad said, "but thanks. Right now, I think I just want to go find Ryan."
"He and Kelsi are in the music room," Gabriella mentioned. "I think they're working on the music for a dance piece."
Chad knew exactly what piece she was talking about. "Thanks," though, was all he said. "I'll look for them there."
The door to the music room was cracked open a little: just enough for Chad to hear, as he approached, the conversation going on inside. "But what if he doesn't want to hang out with me anymore?" Ryan was asking. "I mean, his reputation -- he could, I don't know, decide that being macho and playing basketball are more important than hanging out with me."
Chad didn't wait for Kelsi to reply. "Doesn't matter," he said, smirking just a bit. "Apparently there's plenty of room on the team for a gay guy, as long as he doesn't do anything like date a guy. Because that's disrupting team spirit or something." He paused. "Gabriella already offered her mother's friend in the ACLU, in case you're wondering, and I think Troy's going to be getting a lecture." Another pause. "Hey, Kelsi."
"Hi, Chad," replied the diminutive composer. She grinned. "Should I leave you two alone?"
"If you don't mind," Chad said. Kelsi shook her head, kissed Ryan chastely on the cheek, gathered up her papers, and left the room without another word. Although she did grin a little wider over her shoulder as she closed the door -- tightly -- behind her. "So. I got kicked off the team."
Ryan was staring wide-eyed. "We can fix this!" he said. "I mean, we can stop hanging out. You can tell them it was a mistake, or something. Just rumours."
"You're assuming I want to," Chad pointed out. He moved over to the piano bench that Kelsi had vacated, and patted the surface right beside him, gesturing for Ryan to join him. "I've been thinking a lot about the rumours today. I mean, they're not true. We're not dating." He paused, and the events of the past few months clicked into place. "Okay, so I was wrong. We've totally been dating. But it doesn't count if I didn't realise it."
"I was hoping it would go on long enough that you wouldn't freak when you figured it out," Ryan explained, letting some of his familiar humour back into his demeanour.
Chad laughed. "Well, no freaking here," he said. "But I do have a plan. You still want to meet me in the cafeteria at lunchtime? I've got a couple of things I need to get ready first, but I wanted to check in with you, make sure that we're on the same page."
"I'll see you there," Ryan said, nodding. "I have to admit, I'm more than a little worried about this plan of yours."
"Don't be," Chad insisted. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Ryan's. "After all, I learned from the best."
"Sharpay?"
"Please, no. Taylor."
There was another brief kiss, and then they said their goodbyes and Chad walked out of the room. Kelsi was sitting against the wall just outside, her nose buried in book. "He's all yours," Chad said, grinning at her. Kelsi grinned back.
"Funny," she said. "I was thinking that he's all yours."
Chad wondered exactly how much Ryan told Kelsi, but decided that it was probably just as much as he thought it was.
He left the vicinity of the practice room and began walking towards the drama room, where Darbus spent her time during free period when there wasn't a show in rehearsal or production. Of course, he stopped again when the theme of the day recurred:
"Chad."
"You know," he said, turning to face Sharpay, "if people keep saying my name like that, I'm going to develop a complex. Although I'm glad you showed up, you're just who I was looking for."
Sharpay frowned. "You were looking for me? I think you have the wrong Evans twin in mind, Chad."
"Nah, I just spoke to Ryan. I needed to ask you something."
There was a moment where Sharpay looked at Chad as if she honestly didn't know how to react. "You... want to ask me something?" she repeated. "Does this have something to do with the rumours going around the school? I'm not going to lie for you, Chad. If people ask me if you're dating, I'm going to have to tell them yes."
"Well, okay," Chad said, shrugging. "Everyone already believes it anyway, and I guess Ryan and I kinda have been." This was not the reaction Sharpay had expected, Chad realised, as she went red, then white, then red again, in quick succession.
"You mean you're not denying it like some jerky jock homophobe?" she asked. "I'm surprised, Danforth. I didn't give you that much credit."
Apparently, Chad reflected, Ryan really didn't tell Sharpay everything. "Anyway, I wanted to ask if you could make sure that the drama society table is clear at lunch," he said. "I need it for something -- something Ryan's going to like, and I think you will, too. Can you have them sit somewhere else?"
There was a calculating gaze now, and Chad felt oddly naked under it. "I suppose I can arrange something," Sharpay agreed. "But this better be good, Chad. If you hurt Ryan in any way, I'll have Daddy put out a hit on you." She turned and stalked away, leaving Chad to wonder exactly how serious she was.
It was the fact that he had to wonder that made him worry very much for his continued well-being as he dated Ryan.
"Chad?"
"I really am going to develop a complex," Chad muttered, turning to Taylor, who was approaching from the direction opposite where Sharpay had left. "Hi," he said, louder. "I guess you've heard the rumours?"
"And probably eight different evolutions," his ex-girlfriend -- if you could call someone an ex after two perfectly boring dates and not even a kiss to show for it. "Did you know that Ryan and Sharpay have apparently bought you, Troy, and Zeke into slavery for their harem?"
Chad stared. "People are not really saying that," he said. "They can't be."
"Martha heard it from Jason, who heard it from four different people," Taylor explained. "Although some variations involve Coach Bolton being in on it."
They shared a shudder at the thought.
"You don't..." Chad began. "I mean. I guess I should probably explain?"
Taylor shook her head. "It's... not surprising," she said. "I mean, if it's true. Is it?"
Chad grinned at that. "Well, I hadn't thought it was, but then I kinda realised that we've been dating without me realising it. You always said I was a clueless, lunkhead basketball neanderthal."
Taylor playfully slapped at Chad's shoulder. "If it had happened while we were dating," she said, "I'd have been upset, but as it is, it mostly just makes sense. And it's not like I think I turned you off girls," she pointed out. "I mean, I don't know that there's any one theory I ascribe to when it comes to homosexuality, but there's no evidence that it's formed any later than early childhood."
"I'll pretend I know what you're talking about," Chad said, grinning. "Oh, and can you make sure that Gabriella's in the cafeteria at lunchtime today? I think Troy might need the support. And... Thank you." He paused. "I got kicked off the team."
"Gabriella's mother knows an ACLU lawyer," Taylor said, "and I've already got four different cases researched." A moment passed. "I mean, I thought this might happen, is all."
Chad wondered if this was what being friends -- honest to God real friends -- with a girl was like. He decided he liked it. "Thanks," he said. "Gabriella already mentioned her mom's friend, but if I do decide to fight this, I'll need all the help I can get."
"If you don't fight it," Taylor said, "I'm going to kick your ass into next Tuesday."
Chad hung back, a little nervously, in an out-of-the-way hallway near the cafeteria. The period was almost over, which mean that people on a free period -- mostly juniors and seniors like himself, who were either done with their activities already, or simply didn't have them -- were drifting towards it. Any moment now the bell would ring, signalling the rush of the rest of the student body.
The bell rang. He saw Gabriella pass by the end of the hallway, Troy and Taylor a few steps behind. Sharpay went the other direction, her drama club minions in tow. The Wildcats, by which Chad meant the rest of the basketball team, swarmed by a few moments later.
And then Ryan went by. Chad's heart leapt up into his throat for a moment as he wondered what the hell he was about to do, but he pushed back the nerves the way he did before every big game. He waited another moment or two, another minute, until he figured most people who were going to the cafeteria would already be there, then he left his hiding place to enter the cafeteria proper.
Like always, the wave of sound that swept over him as the door opened before him came as a shock to his system, no matter how much he expected it. There was so much chatter going on, so much noise, that it was an assault to his ears in a way that a basketball crowd wasn't. There was focus, there, people cheering, people screaming for them. This was just noise. Chaos.
Chad looked around first for Ryan, and spotted him sitting, alone, at a table on the bottom level, off in a corner. He considered heading there first, but he saw, too, that Sharpay had been exactly as good as her word and, in her absence, no one else had dared sit at her drama club table. He walked down the stairs to that level, walked up to the table. Stepped onto the bench. Stepped onto the table itself.
He looked out over the bulk of the cafeteria below him and took a deep breath.
One of the advantages of hanging out with Ryan Evans was that, whether he'd wanted to or not, he had at least learned something about how to project. The breathing control exercises they'd done as part of the dance training helped, too. This was what Chad put to use, standing above the student population of East High.
"I'd like you all to know," he yelled, as clearly as he could. The chatter started to fall away as people noticed him, turned to look at him, stopped talking. "I'd like you all to know," Chad repeated, "that the rumours going around today aren't true. I have not been dating Ryan Evans." He risked a glance over towards where Ryan sat, saw Ryan's eyes go dark. Saw him look away. "That doesn't mean," he continued, grinning now. He knew that he was probably committing social suicide, that he was ruining any chance of getting back on the team, but he had to try. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to. Hey, Ryan! Want to go out with me?"
As if they'd rehearsed it, Ryan stood up and walked a few steps towards him. "What, honestly?" he asked, his projection so much more natural than Chad's. "Okay, but only if you cut that ridiculous hair and wear a hat instead!"
People laughed.
Chad looked around at their fellow students. People were laughing -- and not at them. Gabriella and Taylor were giggling, and Kelsi, too, at a table near them where she sat with Martha and Jason. Other people were laughing, too: Ryan's hats, after all, were legendary in the school. Troy looked mostly confused, but that wasn't anything new. Chad assumed Gabriella would explain it all later.
There were a few glowers, still, for all the laughter, and people were muttering, whispering. Time to go for the kill.
"Y'know, nine months ago, I would never have imagined standing up here," Chad proclaimed. "Of course, nine months ago, Troy Bolton was the Hoops Dude, and I was his wacky, better-dressed sidekick. We ruled the school. What team?"
There was a ragged reply of, "Wildcats!" A few strong voices stood out, Gabriella and Ryan among them.
"I said, 'What team?'" This time the reply was stronger, more together, but still not where Chad wanted it. "What team!"
"Wildcats!" The call, Chad swore, shook the room. The banners on the wall even swayed a bit in the breeze, or so he imagined.
"Wildcats!" he called back, grinning. And, on cue, he joined the crowd to cry, "Getcha head in the game!
"This is the game," Chad added, into the silence that followed the call. "This. Not basketball, not theatre, not even high school. Real life. Do you guys really think it matters if I like guys? I mean, you accepted Zeke, and he bakes!" Laughter again, this time more of the crowd. Zeke's continued experiments in the kitchen had become a legend in their own right, rising almost to the status in the school's mind of Ryan's hats. "Nine months ago, Troy Bolton decided to sing in the school musical, and he brought us all together. We realised that we're all in it together. Today, you guys showed me that this didn't mean anything. That we're not as accepting as we told ourselves we were.
"Okay, so I like guys. I admit it. I'm gay, and I totally like Ryan Evans. Y'know what? I can still kick all y'all's asses on the basketball court."
Chad stopped and took another deep breath, hoping that his nerves didn't show.
He waited through a long moment of silence... and the crowd burst into cheers, leaping to their feet. Martha, Chad could see, was (unsurprisingly) breaking out the hip-hop. He did have to wonder, though, when the marching band had arrived, just in time to swing the crowd up into a rousing chorus of Kelsi's finale from Twinkle Towne. Off to the side of the room, Ryan was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, one knee cocked. It was the sexiest thing Chad could remember seeing.
Ever.
He walked down the staircase and let himself get pulled into the impromptu party that had begun. He rode the swell of people until he escaped right by Ryan. "I don't think they'll notice if we sneak away," Chad said. "You?"
"Oh," Ryan replied, smirking, "I'll definitely notice." He reached out, then hesitated, but before he could pull his hand back, Chad took it and pulled him out the door.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
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