Chapter Text
Summer was coming to an end, and Ryan wasn’t ready for senior year.
He should’ve been jumping out of excitement, with the possibility of finally going off to college and meeting more people like him - people he could relate to and would actually appreciate him.
But all he felt was a knot in his stomach.
It was all because of him. The heterosexual and extremely attractive jock whom Ryan had bonded with over the summer. Chad fucking Danforth…
Ever since that one baseball game, they’d gotten along pretty well, hanging out at every chance they got. Though, Ryan knew that all good things must come to an end. If he talked about it with Sharpay, she’d get confused and probably ask something like “Shouldn’t you be excited to spend more time with him at school?”
The answer would be no. Ryan knew that once school started, things would be different. Sure, they had a great time in the summer, but there was no way Chad would keep hanging out with Ryan at school. Why would he? Why would any straight guy ever hang out with him? Perhaps the fact that his parents owned the Lava Springs made Chad think he had to get along with Ryan to avoid getting fired.
Ryan let out a long sigh as he buttoned up his pastel pink shirt. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Shit, he thought, I look like a walking stereotype…
Of course, Ryan had always been aware of the fact. He’d never not been the one to prioritize fashion rather than what people would think of him. He considered changing to something simpler, less flamboyant. Maybe, just maybe Chad wouldn’t mind being seen with him then. Not that Chad had a problem with how Ryan looked, but he didn’t want to risk anything.
So, he ended up in a pair of cuffed dark blue jeans, and a red t-shirt. Unsatisfied with his look, he decided to accessorize by putting on a white cap that he slightly turned to the side. As a final touch, he hooked a red carabiner on the belt loop of his pants and attached his keys to it. So much for not wanting to appear gay, he thought to himself. Only when he finished getting ready did he realize that he was wearing East High’s colors. He had been doing that a lot since the baseball game. Sharpay would probably snap at him for clashing with her, or make fun of his ‘school spirit’ but he didn’t care.
Speaking of Sharpay…
Ryan was startled by the scream that came from downstairs. He quickly made his way to the living room and spotted his sister in the middle, breathing heavily - and dramatically, he might add.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Ryan, oh Ryan! It’s horrible, worse than you could ever imagine.” Sharpay looked like she was going to faint, fanning herself with her hand.
“What is it?” Ryan asked, worried. He couldn’t wait for her to get to the point.
“Mom and Dad fucked up!” Sharpay suddenly yelled, anger apparent in her voice. “We have to take PE because they forgot to do something about it in time! Can you believe it?”
Ah, good old physical education. Every year, their parents would turn in a note to the principal so Sharpay and Ryan could be excused from it. They didn’t have an actual reason, but Sharpay hated PE so much that their parents had to make up health reasons which allowed them an escape. Oddly enough, the school had bought it, despite the twins keeping active with all kinds of dancing in the drama club. Or maybe they just didn’t want to lose the two students with the richest parents in the state to another school.
Sharpay went on a rant for a good couple minutes, about how her hair and makeup would be ruined, before Ryan physically couldn’t take it anymore.
“Look, I’m sure they’ll find a way to sort this out. Until they do, there’s nothing we can do. I mean, c’mon, PE isn’t so bad.”
Sharpay looked like she wanted to kill Ryan for that last statement. Instead, she stormed out, and Ryan heard the sound of her car’s engine not long after. All he could do was watch from the window as the pink convertible drifted off into the neighbourhood. Great, now he had to drive himself to school. Though, he was grateful that he didn’t have to listen to his sister complain during the entire ride to school.
Chad woke up with a groan, his face buried in his pillow with one leg hanging off the side of the bed. He heard his mom yelling about how he was going to be late if he didn’t get his ass up. The clock on the bedside table looked back at him once Chad finally mustered up the strength to open his eyes. He basically jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. The boy cursed at himself for sleeping in. Now, he didn’t even have time to have breakfast, let alone take a shower. He figured he could eat on the way and shower at school after the first period, which was physical education.
All night, Chad had trouble falling asleep - tossing and turning as his mind was filled with thoughts of his last year in high school. He had been worried about where everyone would end up after the school year was over, even before it started. He wished that nothing would change, and everyone would stay where they are. Unfortunately for Chad, that wasn’t possible. He knew that, of course, but he tried his best to be in denial of the upcoming changes.
During the summer, he overcame his fear of change - or so he thought. Dancing and the possibility of never seeing your best friends again were completely different. Maybe Chad just wasn’t capable of any significant change.
He quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a silly joke written on it before leaving his room. The absence of an item made him stop in his tracks as he returned to his room, picked up his basketball, and finally exited the house. Chad didn’t know why, but the presence of his basketball gave him comfort. It made him feel secure. He heard a truck pull up to their driveway and cursed under his breath. Chad had completely forgotten that Troy was picking him up that day. He grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl in the kitchen, kissed his mom goodbye and quickly made his way outside.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” Troy greeted him once he got in the car.
“I’m tired,” Chad replied, buckling his seatbelt. “You?”
“Same here. I was with Gabriella almost the entire night,” he raised his eyebrows at Chad suggestively. “If you know what I mean.”
Chad let out an awkward huff and hoped it sounded like a laugh. He didn’t ask what happened, ‘cause he didn’t want to know, but Troy told him anyway. He went on and on about his romantic night with Gabriella and how far they went, unaware that Chad had completely zoned out. He never liked it when the boys talked about the dirty details of their relationships. It’s not that Chad was a prude, he just deemed it unnecessary. He never talked about his relationships with them.
Well.. that was mostly because he never had a real relationship. Sure, he went out with Taylor a few times, but that was it. Their relationship never went further than some friendly hand holding. That’s what they were, friends . Now don’t get him wrong, he absolutely adored Taylor, but not in a romantic way. It wasn’t that he didn’t find her attractive, either. They just weren’t compatible and that was okay.
“Hey, Chad. Are you listening?” Troy asked when he noticed the lack of reaction from his best friend.
“Uh, yeah, sorry. Like I said, tired.”
Troy let it go, and Chad was thankful for it. They didn’t talk for the rest of the road, but it wasn’t awkward. It was never awkward with Troy.
Sharpay’s bright pink car was the first thing Chad noticed when they pulled into the parking lot. That most likely meant that Ryan was already here.
Ryan…
If there was one thing Chad was excited about, it was seeing Ryan more often. Sure, they were in each other’s presence a lot during the summer, but didn’t get to spend a lot of time since Chad’s boss was constantly on the search for reasons to fire employees from East High. Once Troy finished parking and they were out of the car, Chad considered going over to Sharpay, who was leaning against her car. He quickly changed his mind after he realized that she was arguing with someone on the phone. Ryan was nowhere to be seen, which was a bummer. He hoped he could see him after PE.
On their way to the entrance, Chad spotted Gabriella and greeted her with a hug before she turned to Troy and gave him a kiss. A kiss that soon turned into a makeout session, making Chad roll his eyes. For his own sanity, he decided to leave the couple alone, heading for the door.
When Ryan finally arrived at school, the first person he looked for was his sister. Luckily for him, Sharpay was right by her car, which wasn’t that hard to spot. He walked up to her, trying to keep calm.
“Hey! I thought we were supposed to go together.”
Sharpay looked him up and down, and didn’t respond. Instead, she continued to argue with her mom on the phone, still trying to get them out of PE.
“Hello, I’m talking here.”
“Ryan,” she started, putting her phone down momentarily, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone with mom? Go mingle with your fellow Wildcats, or something.”
Ryan couldn’t tell if she was mocking the color scheme of his outfit or being serious. Knowing Sharpay, it was probably the former. In the end, though, he did what she asked - as usual. Not like he had another choice, anyway. He walked towards the entrance, looking around for any familiar faces. The sight of Troy and Gabriella swapping spit with each other made him want to turn right back around and drive home.
“I know, right,” Kelsi said, and only then Ryan relaxed the disgusted expression he didn’t know he had on.
“Hi Kelsi,” Ryan greeted her with a smile, turning towards his friend and they shared a quick hug.
“Are you excited for senior year?”
“Eh, not really,” Ryan said truthfully, “I feel like it’s not gonna be any different from last year. Besides, y’know, graduation and stuff.”
“You never know, maybe you’ll finally get a boyfriend this year,” she said, making Ryan laugh at how low the possibility of that happening was.
“Forget about me, how about we find you a girlfriend instead?” Ryan shot back, and Kelsi blushed at the thought.
“Good luck with that. I gotta run, Ms. Darbus wanted to see me before the first period.”
Before Ryan could say goodbye, Kelsi was running off to the building, almost dropping her binder full of music sheets in the process. He paused for a moment and thought about what she said. A boyfriend did sound nice, but there was no way he’d be able to find a guy who liked him, let alone one who was interested in men. Plus, it wasn’t like he wanted anyone other than- No. Ryan tried to dismiss the thought as he walked towards the entrance, ignoring Troy and Gabriella who were still sharing a kiss.
He headed for the locker room, hoping to get there before anyone else. There was nothing he hated more than the boys’ locker room - except, maybe, polyester clothing. Quickly making his way through the corridors, he let out a sigh of relief when he entered the empty space. Ryan hadn’t been in the locker room since freshman year, so it took him a minute to remember where his locker was. Inside, there were a pair of white sneakers, blue shorts, a white t-shirt and a headband. He cursed at past-Ryan for not leaving clothes in here that wouldn’t make him a target. Nevertheless, he quickly changed into the clothes, tilting the headband sideways before he headed for the gym. He didn’t care that he was early, Ryan was not about to wait around in the locker room for his classmates to come in and be openly uncomfortable by his presence. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to start stretching before everyone came in.
Chad could not take his eyes off of Ryan. Ryan’s ass, to be exact. He didn’t mean to stare, but he just couldn’t help it. Ryan’s blue shorts ended right under his cheeks, and they slightly rode up as he stretched. Sharpay had a matching outfit, only her shorts were pink, but Chad couldn’t care less about what she was or wasn’t wearing. Why was he staring so much, he didn’t know. He cursed the teenage hormones for making it impossible for Chad to stop staring at his friend’s backside.
Friend that he had yet to greet. When Chad first entered the gym, he didn’t even notice Ryan, mostly because he wasn’t expecting to see him. Only with Sharpay walking in, late and thumping her sneakers loudly on the floor, did he realize the twins were also taking PE. Judging from Sharpay’s attitude, Chad figured that it wasn’t by choice.
Ryan seemed to be doing fine, though, and looking fine at the same time. He also seemed to notice Chad staring at him, as he started walking towards the boy. However, before he could feel embarrassed about ogling at Ryan, someone caught Chad’s attention.
“Pfft, only a homo would wear an outfit like that,” one of their classmates said under his breath, just loud enough for Chad to hear.
“What the hell did you just say?” he turned to the guy, his hand in a fist and his eyebrows furrowed. Ryan was standing right behind Chad, confused.
“Chill out, dude. I was just stating a fact. Are you a homo too or what?”
Almost immediately, Chad pushed the guy hard enough that he landed on the floor, and Ryan reached for his arm as an attempt to stop the events from getting bigger.
“Hey, you stop that right now!” the teacher yelled at Chad, eyeing Ryan in the process. He helped the guy on the ground get up, before he turned back to the two. “You two are staying after class to clean up the equipment, no excuses.”
“What? But he was the one who-”
“I don’t wanna hear it! It’s either that or detention.”
Chad bit the inside of his cheek in anger, but didn’t attempt to argue. He knew it would’ve been fruitless, anyway. Unfortunately for him, Chad didn’t have time to apologize to Ryan before their teacher had everyone doing laps around the gym.
When class was over, Chad didn’t even have time to celebrate before he remembered that they were on equipment duty. At least it was with someone he actually liked, instead of an asshole like that guy from earlier.
“Hey, man. I’m sorry for getting you into trouble,” Chad said when they were left alone in the gym.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryan gave him a half smile, “It’s not your fault that we have a homophobe as a teacher.”
“Or a racist.”
“Or both.” They laughed at the sad but true statements.
“Dude, I can’t stand the guy. Don’t your parents have enough power over the school to get him fired or something?” Chad asked.
“My parents are rich, not magicians. Also we’d need some hard proof to pull something like that,” Ryan explained as he balanced 4 basketballs between his arms and chest.
“Yeah, you’re right. Why were you in PE today, anyway? It didn’t seem like your sister wanted to be here.”
“Our parents forgot to sign some papers to get us out of it, or something. I don’t know the details. Sharpay is the one who’s been on the phone with them the whole day.”
“Ah, so that’s why she’s in a mood today.”
“She’s always in a mood,” Ryan said as he rolled his eyes, getting a chuckle out of Chad.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you, but I’m not complaining. I missed you,” Chad confessed as he put away a jumping rope.
Ryan stared at him with an expression Chad couldn’t read before he said, “I missed you too.”
Soon enough, they were done cleaning up and headed towards the locker room.
“Finally, I can’t wait to get a shower,” Chad said, fanning himself with his t-shirt and immediately taking it off once they were inside.
“Uh.. I think I’ll just get changed and go,” Ryan said as a subtle blush started to form on his cheeks.
“And stay sweaty all day? Dude, no offence but that’s kinda gross.”
“Okay, first of all, saying ‘no offence’ doesn’t make what you say any less offensive. Second, I just don’t do public showers.”
“Why, ‘cause you’re too good for them?” Chad asked with a smirk.
“No, because straight boys don’t want a gay guy being around while they’re naked.”
Chad’s face dropped instantly, “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. I’m used to it, but this is why I don’t take PE. So that I don’t make anyone uncomfortable with my existence.”
Chad didn’t know what to say. He could try to argue and claim that it wasn’t true, but not after what went down earlier.
“Look, man, it’s just you and me here,” Chad started, his voice genuine, “I’m getting a shower no matter what, and I encourage you to do the same. I’m not hanging out with you later if you stink.”
Ryan laughed before he realized what Chad said and asked, “We’re hanging out later?”
“Like I said, not if you reek of sweat and gym air.”
Ryan seemed to consider what he said for a moment, but Chad sensed that he was still unsure.
“Dude, I mean it, I have no problem with you being here. You can stare all you want. Hell, I’d be offended if you didn’t,” Chad flexed his muscles as he continued, “I mean, come on. Look at these babies.”
Ryan snorted at Chad’s goofiness. “What are you trying to prove?” he asked, after taking a quick glance at Chad’s arms - so quick that Chad almost missed it.
“Just that I’m fine with you being here,” he replied.
“Fine, guess I’ll get a shower too,” Ryan said after a sigh, finally giving in.
Chad smiled, “Guess I’ll see you after school.” He headed to the showers, not looking back at Ryan. Though, he could almost feel the blond smiling behind him.
Under the cold water, he thought about Ryan’s question. What was he trying to prove, really? His answer wasn’t exactly wrong, he did mean to make Ryan know that he didn’t cause Chad any discomfort. But perhaps, that wasn’t all. Was he trying to prove that he was hot? For the most part, he was already aware of it. Chad could pull any girl he wanted, if he wanted a girl. Maybe that was the problem, that he didn’t want to. He quickly shook off the thought. Maybe he just wanted Ryan to acknowledge that he was hot.
But why?