i'm feeling kind of productive, fic-wise.
Title: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Rating: PG
Summary: Ryan and Chad come out.
Pairing(s) : Ryan/Chad. But that's not what matters.
Word Count: ~1700
Notes: This is very heavily inspired by my favorite BSC fic of all time, All in the Family by celeria. :) Title based off the 1967 film with Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, and Spencer Tracy. <3
1. Troy
Chad is Troy's best friend, right, so it's always been way easy for them to talk. Or, like, not talk, even, if they don't want to. Because they share almost everything, even thought waves, it seems like. They've got everything in common, and they always had, ever since about second grade. They lived on the same block, they had the same outrageous talent in basketball, they shared the same taste in clothing, music, cars--girls. Or so Troy had thought. But it actually turns out that Chad's not so into girls.
What he's into is guys. Like, you know. In the... you know. Homosexual way.
Which is fine. As long as Chad's not into Troy because that would be crazy and, like... weird. You know? He'd said as much when Chad told him. Chad had immediately gotten this really horrified look on his face and shook his head so furiously that the sweat which had accumulated in his curls during the one-on-one basketball game they'd just been playing sprayed all over Troy's face. "That's just weird, man," said Chad. "You're, like, my brother. You know?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want your sweat all over me," Troy had replied.
The part that's weird for Troy, the part that's made of up all these crazy nonsense puzzle pieces that Troy keeps trying to rearrange in his head, is that not only is Chad into guys but that he's into this one guy in particular.
Ryan Evans.
You know, Sharpay's brother, that kid with the hats and the dancing and the singing and the really tight jeans. Last summer, Troy totally thought Ryan Evans was into Gabi. That's why Troy's been hating him with so much fervor all this time. Who knew that he was into guys too? Also in the homosexual way?
Well, Troy decided, as long as Evans wasn't trying to get his girl, he was fine. But one false move in the direction of Gabriella, and Troy would have to have a serious talk with Chad.
2. Taylor
Taylor is almost sure that in her sister's Book of Boyfriend Rules, there's nothing about boys who suddenly turn out to be gay.
It hurts when Chad tells her, she's not going to lie. She'd never cared that much for boys. Not that she never thought about wanting one of her own, but she didn't think she had the time or the patience. Not until the day Chad asked her to be his girlfriend, the day after the baseball game at Lava Springs. He'd looked so serious, so eager, so desperate, that Taylor had decided rather uncharacteristically to get off her high horse and just say yes. Chad is really cute, and he's so sweet and well-meaning--not brilliant, but Taylor has never been sure if what she's looking for in a boy is brilliance. Anyway, he's smart enough, and Taylor had genuinely liked him. It had never been love of a Troy and Gabriella variety, but at least Chad had been more than a one-date wonder.
To be honest, her pride might be hurting a little more than her heart. She'd taken a gamble--she'd thought Chad was going to stick, at least for a little while. And now it turns out she's wrong. Taylor has never liked being wrong.
Taylor doesn't betray any of this to Chad when he finds her in the computer lab after school, working on the junior life page for the yearbook, and tells her. Just sits down in one of the computer chairs--backwards, like she hates--and says, "I'm gay, Taylor."
She doesn't look away from the computer screen, but it's like the words leap into her throat and turn into granite on the way to her stomach, where they fall heavily and make her feel sick. "So... we're... not dating anymore then?" She says this very slowly.
Chad sighs. When she looks at him in the corner of her eye, he's wrapping a curl around his finger like a nervous Valley girl. "I guess not," he says finally.
"Oh." Taylor nods. She feels a little numb as she widens a photo by one pixel. She takes a deep breath. "Okay."
"I'm sorry, Tay," he says. She looks at him. He really does look sorry. There's something else behind that expression though.
Taylor frowns. Then she smiles. It must look like a sad smile, she knows, but she doesn't want to be sad. She wants to be happy for Chad because even if he's hurt her pride, she still likes him. A lot. "We're still friends, right, Chad?"
"As soon as you stop making plans to murder me and dump me in a river somewhere, then yes." He still looks sorry, but then there's also the hint of a smile that won't be suppressed for long.
"So then tell me who helped you along the road to gayness," she says, turning back to the computer. "I've got three more spreads to finish before tonight. I'll need the company."
3. Sharpay
It's not that Ryan is gay--please. Sharpay has known that since she and her brother had been eleven and had both been crushing on their same ballet teacher. No, it's that after all these years of moping around, complaining that nary a cute enough gay boy actually attended either East or West High Schools and even if one did, he definitely wouldn't be up to Ryan's standards--all these years of being partners-in-crime and checking out the same guys at the mall and avoiding the Wildcats like a red and white, particularly spirited strain of the plague--Ryan's decided to date one of them. One of the Wildcats. And not even a good one, like Troy, or Zeke, even (at the thought of his name, Sharpay squashes a rather delightful memory involving homemade cookie dough and an empty Evans manor)--but the one with the stupid hair and the stupid t-shirts and the stupid everything.
"Please tell me you're joking," Sharpay says to Ryan the afternoon after she walks in on Ryan and Chad making out on Ryan's bed. "Please tell me that this is all meaningless kissing and you've actually fallen in love with a sexy waiter in Cuba who dances really well and looks, somehow, just like Diego Luna."
"I hate that movie, Shar," Ryan grouches in reply. "What's so wrong with Chad, anyway?"
"He's one of them," she hisses. "A Wildcat."
Ryan rolls his eyes. "So's Zeke," he throws back at her. "And Troy."
"That's different!"
"Whatever." Ryan sighs and adds stiffly, "I'm sorry you had to walk in on us. I had actually been planning on telling you."
"How long have you been--" Sharpay clears her throat as primly as she can--"seeing him?"
Sharpay watches as he takes a deep breath. His face changes until it looks neutral. Her brother may be a good actor but nobody knows him better than she does, and she knows without a doubt that the expression Ryan is wearing is the guilty one. "Since February," he says.
It's the end of April.
They've never kept a secret from each other longer than a week at most. Suddenly Sharpay feels very tired. She doesn't even have the energy to scream or take her shoe off and hit Ryan with it. She just tries to throw as much disgust as she can into the words "three months" and stomps out the door back into her own bedroom.
She doesn't speak to him for six days, which would be a record if it were not for the time when Ryan purposely poured paint all over her brand new dress before Homecoming in freshman year.
4. The Wildcats
It's the last barbecue of the season for the team. For the senior Wildcats, it's the last barbecue ever. The last time East High's entire basketball team will eat everything the Boltons have in their pantry, while Coach shouts praise down the table for Jason's hustle, Zeke's free throw, Chad's pass to Troy, Jimmie's surprise last-minute three-pointer. They're all a little sad about the finality of it, but the conversation still buzzes with excitement as the team shows up, one by one. After all, it's not like this is the last time they'll see each other.
When Chad shows up, it's with Ryan Evans's hand in his own. It's not unusual for the guys to come with their girlfriends, but this is definitely something new.
Troy grins at Chad, who returns with an uncertain smile. Zeke raises his eyebrows at Travis. Travis nods at Jimmie and then tilts his head towards Chad still standing there awkwardly in front of the sliding glass door with Ryan. Jimmie exchanges a glance with Donny, who gives a curious look to Jason.
Jason raises his glass of lemonade and says, "Hey, Coach! Tell Mrs. B this is the best lemonade I've ever tasted!"
"I made that!" protests Troy, and they're all laughing.
Ryan squeezes Chad's hand and they sit down at the table. Nobody else says anything about it for the rest of the night. Well, not until Coach Bolton interrupts a conversation about spring training to say, "Hey, Danforth. If you don't get this kid to at least try out for baseball next month, you're gonna be on the bench the entire season."
5. Gabriella
It doesn't bother Gabriella a single bit that Ryan and Chad are dating. In fact, she thinks it's kind of adorable. She's met tons of gay people, and she doesn't see why anyone would ever have a problem with it. Or why people would actually leave the restaurant, their faces disgusted when they catch a glimpse of Chad's arm around Ryan's shoulders, when Gabriella, Troy, Ryan, and Chad are having a double date.
Ryan's whispering into Chad's ear. Chad is scowling at the newly-deserted table nearby, but after a moment he seems distracted and a little bit mollified by whatever Ryan tells him, and he gives Ryan a kiss on the cheek.
Gabriella looks at Troy, and Troy looks back at her. If they weren't with friends, they'd probably end up just staring into each other's eyes the entire time, or talking about something stupid that only makes sense to them. As it is, she just gives him a big smile and he puts his arm around her, pulling her close.
"Those people are jerks," he says matter-of-factly. Gabriella nods, agreeing.
Ryan and Chad are her friends. And even though they're all going off to different places soon, they'll always be her friends, no matter what. Because when you love someone enough, that's just the way it works. She's sure of it.
Rating: PG
Summary: Ryan and Chad come out.
Pairing(s) : Ryan/Chad. But that's not what matters.
Word Count: ~1700
Notes: This is very heavily inspired by my favorite BSC fic of all time, All in the Family by celeria. :) Title based off the 1967 film with Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, and Spencer Tracy. <3
1. Troy
Chad is Troy's best friend, right, so it's always been way easy for them to talk. Or, like, not talk, even, if they don't want to. Because they share almost everything, even thought waves, it seems like. They've got everything in common, and they always had, ever since about second grade. They lived on the same block, they had the same outrageous talent in basketball, they shared the same taste in clothing, music, cars--girls. Or so Troy had thought. But it actually turns out that Chad's not so into girls.
What he's into is guys. Like, you know. In the... you know. Homosexual way.
Which is fine. As long as Chad's not into Troy because that would be crazy and, like... weird. You know? He'd said as much when Chad told him. Chad had immediately gotten this really horrified look on his face and shook his head so furiously that the sweat which had accumulated in his curls during the one-on-one basketball game they'd just been playing sprayed all over Troy's face. "That's just weird, man," said Chad. "You're, like, my brother. You know?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want your sweat all over me," Troy had replied.
The part that's weird for Troy, the part that's made of up all these crazy nonsense puzzle pieces that Troy keeps trying to rearrange in his head, is that not only is Chad into guys but that he's into this one guy in particular.
Ryan Evans.
You know, Sharpay's brother, that kid with the hats and the dancing and the singing and the really tight jeans. Last summer, Troy totally thought Ryan Evans was into Gabi. That's why Troy's been hating him with so much fervor all this time. Who knew that he was into guys too? Also in the homosexual way?
Well, Troy decided, as long as Evans wasn't trying to get his girl, he was fine. But one false move in the direction of Gabriella, and Troy would have to have a serious talk with Chad.
2. Taylor
Taylor is almost sure that in her sister's Book of Boyfriend Rules, there's nothing about boys who suddenly turn out to be gay.
It hurts when Chad tells her, she's not going to lie. She'd never cared that much for boys. Not that she never thought about wanting one of her own, but she didn't think she had the time or the patience. Not until the day Chad asked her to be his girlfriend, the day after the baseball game at Lava Springs. He'd looked so serious, so eager, so desperate, that Taylor had decided rather uncharacteristically to get off her high horse and just say yes. Chad is really cute, and he's so sweet and well-meaning--not brilliant, but Taylor has never been sure if what she's looking for in a boy is brilliance. Anyway, he's smart enough, and Taylor had genuinely liked him. It had never been love of a Troy and Gabriella variety, but at least Chad had been more than a one-date wonder.
To be honest, her pride might be hurting a little more than her heart. She'd taken a gamble--she'd thought Chad was going to stick, at least for a little while. And now it turns out she's wrong. Taylor has never liked being wrong.
Taylor doesn't betray any of this to Chad when he finds her in the computer lab after school, working on the junior life page for the yearbook, and tells her. Just sits down in one of the computer chairs--backwards, like she hates--and says, "I'm gay, Taylor."
She doesn't look away from the computer screen, but it's like the words leap into her throat and turn into granite on the way to her stomach, where they fall heavily and make her feel sick. "So... we're... not dating anymore then?" She says this very slowly.
Chad sighs. When she looks at him in the corner of her eye, he's wrapping a curl around his finger like a nervous Valley girl. "I guess not," he says finally.
"Oh." Taylor nods. She feels a little numb as she widens a photo by one pixel. She takes a deep breath. "Okay."
"I'm sorry, Tay," he says. She looks at him. He really does look sorry. There's something else behind that expression though.
Taylor frowns. Then she smiles. It must look like a sad smile, she knows, but she doesn't want to be sad. She wants to be happy for Chad because even if he's hurt her pride, she still likes him. A lot. "We're still friends, right, Chad?"
"As soon as you stop making plans to murder me and dump me in a river somewhere, then yes." He still looks sorry, but then there's also the hint of a smile that won't be suppressed for long.
"So then tell me who helped you along the road to gayness," she says, turning back to the computer. "I've got three more spreads to finish before tonight. I'll need the company."
3. Sharpay
It's not that Ryan is gay--please. Sharpay has known that since she and her brother had been eleven and had both been crushing on their same ballet teacher. No, it's that after all these years of moping around, complaining that nary a cute enough gay boy actually attended either East or West High Schools and even if one did, he definitely wouldn't be up to Ryan's standards--all these years of being partners-in-crime and checking out the same guys at the mall and avoiding the Wildcats like a red and white, particularly spirited strain of the plague--Ryan's decided to date one of them. One of the Wildcats. And not even a good one, like Troy, or Zeke, even (at the thought of his name, Sharpay squashes a rather delightful memory involving homemade cookie dough and an empty Evans manor)--but the one with the stupid hair and the stupid t-shirts and the stupid everything.
"Please tell me you're joking," Sharpay says to Ryan the afternoon after she walks in on Ryan and Chad making out on Ryan's bed. "Please tell me that this is all meaningless kissing and you've actually fallen in love with a sexy waiter in Cuba who dances really well and looks, somehow, just like Diego Luna."
"I hate that movie, Shar," Ryan grouches in reply. "What's so wrong with Chad, anyway?"
"He's one of them," she hisses. "A Wildcat."
Ryan rolls his eyes. "So's Zeke," he throws back at her. "And Troy."
"That's different!"
"Whatever." Ryan sighs and adds stiffly, "I'm sorry you had to walk in on us. I had actually been planning on telling you."
"How long have you been--" Sharpay clears her throat as primly as she can--"seeing him?"
Sharpay watches as he takes a deep breath. His face changes until it looks neutral. Her brother may be a good actor but nobody knows him better than she does, and she knows without a doubt that the expression Ryan is wearing is the guilty one. "Since February," he says.
It's the end of April.
They've never kept a secret from each other longer than a week at most. Suddenly Sharpay feels very tired. She doesn't even have the energy to scream or take her shoe off and hit Ryan with it. She just tries to throw as much disgust as she can into the words "three months" and stomps out the door back into her own bedroom.
She doesn't speak to him for six days, which would be a record if it were not for the time when Ryan purposely poured paint all over her brand new dress before Homecoming in freshman year.
4. The Wildcats
It's the last barbecue of the season for the team. For the senior Wildcats, it's the last barbecue ever. The last time East High's entire basketball team will eat everything the Boltons have in their pantry, while Coach shouts praise down the table for Jason's hustle, Zeke's free throw, Chad's pass to Troy, Jimmie's surprise last-minute three-pointer. They're all a little sad about the finality of it, but the conversation still buzzes with excitement as the team shows up, one by one. After all, it's not like this is the last time they'll see each other.
When Chad shows up, it's with Ryan Evans's hand in his own. It's not unusual for the guys to come with their girlfriends, but this is definitely something new.
Troy grins at Chad, who returns with an uncertain smile. Zeke raises his eyebrows at Travis. Travis nods at Jimmie and then tilts his head towards Chad still standing there awkwardly in front of the sliding glass door with Ryan. Jimmie exchanges a glance with Donny, who gives a curious look to Jason.
Jason raises his glass of lemonade and says, "Hey, Coach! Tell Mrs. B this is the best lemonade I've ever tasted!"
"I made that!" protests Troy, and they're all laughing.
Ryan squeezes Chad's hand and they sit down at the table. Nobody else says anything about it for the rest of the night. Well, not until Coach Bolton interrupts a conversation about spring training to say, "Hey, Danforth. If you don't get this kid to at least try out for baseball next month, you're gonna be on the bench the entire season."
5. Gabriella
It doesn't bother Gabriella a single bit that Ryan and Chad are dating. In fact, she thinks it's kind of adorable. She's met tons of gay people, and she doesn't see why anyone would ever have a problem with it. Or why people would actually leave the restaurant, their faces disgusted when they catch a glimpse of Chad's arm around Ryan's shoulders, when Gabriella, Troy, Ryan, and Chad are having a double date.
Ryan's whispering into Chad's ear. Chad is scowling at the newly-deserted table nearby, but after a moment he seems distracted and a little bit mollified by whatever Ryan tells him, and he gives Ryan a kiss on the cheek.
Gabriella looks at Troy, and Troy looks back at her. If they weren't with friends, they'd probably end up just staring into each other's eyes the entire time, or talking about something stupid that only makes sense to them. As it is, she just gives him a big smile and he puts his arm around her, pulling her close.
"Those people are jerks," he says matter-of-factly. Gabriella nods, agreeing.
Ryan and Chad are her friends. And even though they're all going off to different places soon, they'll always be her friends, no matter what. Because when you love someone enough, that's just the way it works. She's sure of it.