fic: Don't Have to Share
Author/Artist: kisforkurama
Title: Don't Have to Share [or: Studying Romeo&Juliet]
Pairing(s): Ryan/Chad and incidental Chad/Kelsi
Summary: They're just like Romeo and Juliet-if Romeo smoked weed and Juliet was a guy, that is.
Rating: PG-13 because lol reefer.
Warning(s): This is a story about drugs in a highly silly and possibly mildly offensive way. If you didn't like Reefer Madness, this is not the fic for you.
Word Count (for fic): 5058
Disclaimer: All High School Musical characters herein are the property of Disney. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Do me a small favor? When you're reading this, don't think too hard about it. Just remember that Reefer Madness is your favourite musical about weed and time is sort of wibbly-wobbly anyway. Also: apparently I cannot tell what day it is.
The books landed with a resounding thwack! onto the smooth surface of the kitchen table. There were eight of them-though one didn't necessarily count because it was a notebook belonging to one Ryan Evans currently staring across the table at one Chad Danforth and tapping a glittery pink pencil against the table in a smooth, rhythmic beat. It didn't matter that Chad was jock star of the sports department and Ryan was just the pretty star of the school's drama department, they were there there to study and they would study-if Ryan had any say in the matter.
It was Romeo&Juliet for crying out loud! Besides Julius Caesar, it was only his favourite Shakespeare play and Ryan absolutely adored studying it. That was what the notebook was for-three years of Shakespeare appreciation had left him with stacks of notebook filled to the brim with notes and commentary on everything Shakespeare. There were, in total, five spiral-bound notebooks on Romeo&Juliet but only one was particularly important at that moment because Act 1 was a good place to start (obviously) and Ryan somehow doubts that Chad understands anything anyway.
Chad shifts in his seat so he's sitting up (relatively) straight, “We're studying Romeo&Juliet, right?”
“Yes,” Ryan replies curtly, “is there anything in particular that you don't understand?”
“Man, everything from the pro-low-gyu on. This stuff is hard.”
Ryan tries not to smack his head onto the table. He succeeds.
“It's called a prologue.”
“Yeah, whatever. I keep getting it confused with Mon-tay-gyu. That's not even a real word-I looked it up in two different dictionaries to make sure.”
Ryan counts to five before responding. “Montague? It's Romeo's last name.”
“Oh. That makes sense . . . Where'd you learn all this stuff?”
A small, tiny part of Ryan wants to scream. Loudly. He counts to five again.
“English class-you know, the one you keep sleeping through?”
“Hey, I don't sleep through class all the time!”
“That's not the point. The point is we're here to study. And we are going to study.”
Ryan has a very resolute and determined expression. After about twenty minutes his expression is mostly dogged and stubborn. And after two hours, his expression is very weary and worn-out. But they got through the first two scenes! It makes Ryan feel accomplished in that way people feel accomplished when they've completed a crossword puzzle that should have taken twenty minutes but it takes four hours because really what was a four letter word for “make a trade” anyway?
Then again, Ryan isn't particularly good at crosswords. He also isn't particularly good at making Chad understand Shakespeare, but Ryan has a sneaking feeling that no one is particularly good at making Chad understand Shakespeare. He sighs dramatically and puts his head down on the kitchen table. Chad emerges from the bathroom and taps Ryan on the shoulder.
“You okay, dude?”
Ryan manages a smile, “Peachy. Let's call it a day-are you hungry?”
“Yes-I thought you'd never ask, man.”
Without dignifying that with a response, Ryan gets up to make sandwiches. There is lettuce, an onion, cold turkey from last night, cheese, some unidentified lunch meat, tomato, peanut butter and jelly in the fridge. He thinks about it for a few seconds and still has absolutely no idea what Chad would want. So he closes the fridge and walks back over to where Chad is and taps him on the shoulder.
“What would you like? I have lunch meat-I think it's ham-cheese, turkey, lettuce, peanut butter and jelly.”
Chad looks up at Ryan, “Dude, whatever's fine. Turkey would be awesome though.”
Turkey with lettuce and mayonnaise and tomato-which is fine with Ryan, because he doesn't much like tomatoes. They taste okay, but he's honestly got more of a sweet tooth than a savoury tooth. Peanut butter and jelly for him, turkey for Chad. Ryan nods to himself as he fixes the two sandwiches. After returning to the kitchen table, he sets the plate down in front of Chad and slides onto the bench across from Chad.
Ryan's about to take a bite of his sandwich when he notices that Chad is eating the sandwich like he hasn't eaten in a week. It's almost endearing. Almost. And then Ryan remembers how impossibly bad Chad is at Shakespeare and comes back to his senses. Chad is not endearing. Chad is a giant dumbass who couldn't tell Shakespeare from Sondheim if they were both wearing nametags.
But Ryan has to admit that Chad is pretty cute. Not that he regularly finds guys cute or anything like that-oh no. Ryan likes girls that aren't his sister because he doesn't really like her much at all. She's screechy and he's getting really tired of her constant temper tantrums. It isn't that he hates her, just that she's irritating sometimes. Like any sibling should be, really-or at least that was the way it was in all the movies and books and things like that. Ryan doesn't much about other siblings because he doesn't have any others and he doesn't really know anyone who does.
Anyway, the point is not that Ryan doesn't like Sharpay all the time. The point is that Ryan thinks Chad is kind of cute and Ryan wouldn't really mind dating him-provided he could get over the fact that Chad couldn't understand Shakespeare if his life depended on it. Luckily, Ryan loves Shakespeare so much that probably isn't an issue and god. Ryan is glad that Chad is going home after this. He needs to clear up the stress of trying to teach Chad with some intensive yoga.
----
“Yo, Evans! Wait up, dude.”
Ryan really wants to keep walking, but he sighs and turns around. He even manages a smile for Chad-which is nothing short of an absolute miracle.
“Hi Chad.”
“Hey Evans, are you busy? The gang is going down to the five and dime if you're free.”
He is incredibly busy. He has to choreograph things and study for his Chemistry quiz and finish learning a song for the upcoming musical and write an essay so really he has no time at all for this sort of-
“Gee,” he hears himself say, “that sounds like fun! Are you sure I can come?”
“Of course, dude,” Chad replies, “unless you don't like milkshakes. Because then you're just cruisin' for a bruisin'.”
The words I'm not fond of milkshakes are on the tip of his tongue. Because really, milkshakes are very rich and they'll probably make him fat, not that he really cares about his weight but Sharpay cares and if he gets fat then Sharpay is just going to make him lose weight and he'd really rather not because that probably means he can't eat any more cranberry pistachio wedding cookies which is really a shame. It doesn't matter though, because those aren't even close to the words he says.
“Milkshakes are boss.”
“Evans,” Chad says gravely, “promise me you'll never say that again.”
Ryan raises an eyebrow, but agrees. So maybe he's not that great at using slang, but he thought that was an okay usage. Either way, he follows Chad down to the five and dime for a milkshake.
---
Ryan is kind of a fream, in Chad's opinion. He doesn't really fit in anywhere-not even with his own group. He is, however, a mostly cool cat. Guy knew loads about Shakespeare and all sorts of other stuff, which makes him pretty cool-even if he's a little hard to understand sometimes.
While they're sitting in the five and dime, Ryan gets quiet and starts looking around watching people. Chad thinks it's a little weird, but he doesn't have much time to think about it before Ryan says something out of the blue.
“President Roosevelt is coming to the school next month and hosting a dance competition.”
Chad makes a sound of interest-even though he doesn't dance and he never has danced so it's kind of stupid to act interested. Ryan makes Chad do things he would probably never do otherwise.
“Do you want to be my dance partner?”
He's about to say I don't dance when Ryan gets up and floats (there's no other way to describe it) to the centre of the five and dime. He's looking at Chad and smirking for some strange reason-and then Ryan motions to a girl sitting a couple booths over. She stands up and joins Ryan. They look at each other and suddenly, they're dancing. Chad watches, kind of mesmerised. He didn't know people could move like that-but he still doesn't dance. Ryan being such an actor won't change his feelings about that. Even if it is kind of sexy to see Ryan dancing like that-Chad is looking at the girl mostly, but the dancing is kind of what's sexy. It's really weird, actually.
So weird, in fact, that Chad doesn't notice the random guy who slid into the booth where Ryan was sitting until he speaks.
“That guy is pretty good.”
Chad turns to stare at the guy. He doesn't recognise him and random people don't generally talk to him at the five and dime, so this is a weird experience on top of a weird experience. The guy doesn't seem to notice Chad's discomfort.
“You gonna be his partner?”
“No,” Chad replies, “I don't dance.”
“Too bad,” the guy says, “because I coulda helped you out.”
Chad is intrigued, “Really?”
“Sure, I'm pretty cookin' on the dance floor.”
It's then when Ryan comes back to the table, breathless and looking for all the world like he's just had the most mind-blowing sex in his life. Chad isn't in control of his mouth any more then, because the sight of Ryan like that is more mesmerising than when he's dancing.
“Yes, I'll be your dance partner.”
Ryan's eyes light up, “Great! I have to go to dance class now. I'll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Chad says, “I'll see you tomorrow.”
Ryan takes one last sip of his milkshake and retrieves his things before he's rushing out the door with a wave in Chad's general direction. Chad waves back and turns to the mysterious guy.
“I need dance lessons.”
“Thought you said you didn't dance.”
“I changed my mind.”
The guy regards him for a long moment before standing up. He motions for Chad to follow and then they're in a car driving to some house. The guy introduces himself as Troy, which Chad thinks is a strange name, but he doesn't say anything about it. In the house, he's introduced to three more people-Kelsi (the wide-eyed piano player), Jason (the really oddball college kid) and Gabriella (the sweet mother-like figure). He introduces himself politely, like his mother taught him, and Kelsi offers to play him the piano-that's where they're walking to when Chad hears the crash. It makes him rush back into the living room. Gabriella is sitting where the glass on the coffee table used to be. There isn't any glass now.
Because Chad just wants to make sure, he asks, “Is everything all right?”
Gabriella fixes her hair and gives him a smile, “Everything's fine, Chad. I just fell.”
Kelsi coughs, which makes Chad turn toward her. She's holding a cigarette-Chad has no idea where she got it from, but it's only polite to light it for her, so Chad fumbles for something to light it with.
“Oh. Let me light that cigarette for you, Kelsi.”
“It's not a cigarette,” she says softly, “it's the good stuff-reefer.”
Kelsi places the cigarette between his lips and smiles. Chad is a little starstruck, Kelsi has a really pretty smile.
“Let's share it.”
That brings Chad back to earth, and he hands the cigarette back to Kelsi. He doesn't smoke-that's just not the way he was raised. He knows what drugs do to the body, being an athlete taught him that.
“No thanks. I really should be going to basketball practice and-“
“Oh,” Kelsi says, “I thought you were a cool cat. I didn't know you were scared to try reefer. Sorry.”
There is one thing Chad cannot turn down, and that's a challenge. He wonders if Kelsi knows this when she says that or if it was just coincidence, but it doesn't really matter either way. Chad Danforth is not afraid of anything-a few puffs of reefer won't kill him.
Against his better judgement, Chad snatches the stick from Kelsi and lights it.
----
It is dark and smoky. Perhaps he is asleep, but perhaps he isn't. As the smoke clears, Chad certainly feels as if the whole thing is a dream-but that may just be a product of all the sexy, nearly naked women currently dancing around him. There is absolutely no way that many sexy (and nearly naked) women would be dancing around Chad at the same time. It really had to be a dream.
Then again, there were some nearly naked guys dancing too. Funny, one of them looked almost like Ryan. What the hell was his subconscious even thinking, adding dancing (and nearly naked!) men into an otherwise perfectly amazing dream? Then again, Kelsi is beckoning him toward a giant hookah with her shy smile. Chad doesn't even know how he knows the thing was called a hookah-must be part of the dream magic-but he knows that Kelsi is cute and that's really about all he needs to know right then. The world could be-is that Ryan dressed as a goat coming down from the hookah?
This dream is really messed up, in Chad's humble opinion. Then again, Ryan looks pretty damn-no! Focus on Kelsi. Kelsi is sweet and polite and the kind of girl he could take home to his mother, but Ryan. Ryan is wild and free and a whole lot cooler than most people give him credit for. Ryan is also holding out a hand to him in an unmistakable invitation to dance.
Chad frowns. This dream is taking a turn toward Freakytown and Chad isn't sure he likes that. Maybe it would be best to just. Wake up. Could you even wake up from a dream by thinking about it? Maybe. Maybe not. Oh well, no time like the present! Chad focuses.
I want to be awake. I want to be awake. I want to be awake.
Unsurprisingly, nothing happens. Chad takes this as a sign and figures that it's probably best to just. Go with the flow. He takes Ryan's hand.
----
When he's walking out of the school, Ryan usually has to walk by the gym on his way. Normally, he kind of just ignores the gym. Sure, some of the guys look pretty smokin' without their shirts on in a way that anyone could appreciate but it's weird to stare and kind of rude so Ryan just pretends the gym doesn't exist. It's easier that way and anyway someone would probably get mad at him for poking his head around in there when he's not on a team.
None of that stops him from poking his head in for a second on his way out of the school to try and flag down Chad this particular time. He doesn't spot him and he's just about to leave when that guy Sharpay sometimes hangs out with and makes out with calls his name.
“Hey, Ryan!”
Ryan cannot immediately remember his name-but he knows it starts with z, because he remembers thinking that was kind of unusual and cool-Zeke. The guy's name is Zeke.
“Hi, Zeke. Do you need something?”
“Nah,” Zeke says with a smile, “but you're looking for Chad, right? So I figure it's only polite to tell you he left early today. He wasn't feelin' too great-wasn't lookin' it either.”
“Oh. Uh. Thanks.”
Ryan gives a sort of head-bob that he means as I have to go now but it will probably be misinterpreted on Zeke's end. He can't be bothered with the details now though, because he has a bad feeling about this and if he's learned anything over the years, it's that his gut feeling about situations is usually correct. He needs to find Chad and make sure he's okay. It's not because he likes Chad or anything-it's simple necessity.
Chad has agreed to be his partner for the dance and that's pretty much the most important thing to Ryan. He would've been partnered with Sharpay-they usually partnered together-but she had said that she was going to do the competition with Zeke. They had argued about that for a long time, but it ended like it always did. Sharpay got her way, no matter what the costs. Ryan hates that, but he's determined to win the dance competition just to show Sharpay that yes. He can do something on his own. He'll prove himself to Sharpay-and everyone else-if it's the last thing he does.
But that plan kind of involves Chad, which was why Ryan is ringing the doorbell on Chad's house and waiting for someone to answer the door. Praying that someone would-a women that looked to be in her late thirties opens the door and Ryan breathes a sigh of relief before smiling.
“Hello, my name is Ryan Evans and I just stopped by to see if Chad Danforth was okay. I'm tutoring him in English and someone said he wasn't feeling well so he went home.”
The woman regards him carefully, like she's not sure what to do with him before she instructs him to come in-and leave his shoes by the door, because the carpet has just been washed do you hear me boy? Ryan obediently complies, leaving his shoes neatly by the door before following her into the house and stopping with her in front of a door clearly marked “Chad's Room: Do Not Enter.” The woman raps on the door and there is an indistinct muffle from inside.
“You've got a visitor-his name is Ryan. And for chrisstakes Chad, throw your clothes in the hamper before you let him in.”
With that, Ryan is left in front of the door by himself. He stands there like that for a full minute before Chad opens the door. His eyes are bloodshot and he looks absolutely hellish. They stare at each other awkwardly for a moment before Ryan finally remembers what he was going to do. He rummages in his messenger bag for a moment before pulling out a very neat copy of the English homework.
“You English homework-but this copy isn't for you, because no one told me you weren't in class so it's mine. I copied it down because Sharpay never remembers to.”
Chad stares at Ryan for a long moment before blinking slowly, “Man, has anyone ever told you that you've got gorgeous eyes?”
Ryan regards Chad carefully. He's not sure if the statement is actually a compliment or caused by medications Chad may or may not be on. Unlike Sharpay, Ryan is unwilling to take compliments at face value. Ryan figures that it's probably the meds talking and not Chad, so he ignores it.
“Chad. Please focus.”
“What? Oh yeah, sure man. Anything for you.”
“Copy this down.”
Carefully, Ryan hands over the sheet of paper to Chad. Chad takes it over to his desk and Ryan follows, noting with amusement that the clothes just got shoved under the bed and never made it anywhere near the hamper in the corner. Typical jock. They're all very much similar, Ryan has found-which makes it easier for him to deal with them when he has to tutor them, so he isn't complaining but it's funny to see how similar people can be. Ryan doesn't think he's like anyone, which is probably why-Chad holds the paper out in front of Ryan and Ryan stares for a second before taking it and putting it into his messenger bag.
Then, having completed what he came to do (and not having anything else to do), Ryan shifts his weight awkwardly before smiling awkwardly.
“Um. Well, that's it. I'm going to go now-I'll see you for practice tomorrow?”
Chad stares at him blankly, “Practice for what?”
“You agreed to be my dance partner,” Ryan says simply.
“Oh, right. Right. It just slipped my mind-blame it on the medicine.”
“I will.”
The smile is a little less awkward the second time around, but not much.
----
In hindsight, it was probably a stupid idea to take Kelsi's smoke, but he can't exactly turn back time now so it's a moot point. He's really addicted to the stuff and he can't stop now so it's just very logical to take the money from the donation box to feed his addiction. It's not like anyone will miss the money or anything and reefer is really kind of expensive to keep on constantly buying so that's probably why Troy is always selling to people and stuff but like it doesn't really matter 'cause Kelsi is always there to put him to bed and stuff, which makes everything okay.
Chad suspects that Ryan knows what's going on, but isn't saying anything because Chad goes to practice like a good guy and he's getting pretty good at the dance which is weird 'cause he totally doesn't dance at all so it's not like it's normal for him to be good at dancing or anything but anyway he is. And that's kind of nice, 'cause Ryan always smiles really nice when Chad does good on the dances and Chad likes those smiles. He likes Ryan in general, actually-but he likes Ryan's smiles the best probably. Maybe. Chad's not so sure what's what any more. He's in a kind of foggy daze of reefer and dance. Which is a little weird and strange but whatever.
The money from the donation box is enough to buy like. One more week of reefer. That's okay, because Chad has enough for a couple of days and he's sure he can get enough money for more later from somewhere. Anywhere.
Chad lights a smoke and inhales. The smoke he inhales wraps around him like a blanket, covering up all his worries and cares.
----
It's dark and smoky again. Chad wonders if this is how it always is when you do reefer. He hasn't really been doing it for long enough to know if it is, but that seems to be how it is for him which is totally okay because it's relaxing and hey. The reefer makes it so he doesn't really care. He kind of hopes that Ryan is in his dream-or Kelsi. Why did he say Ryan first? Huh. That's weird. Really weird.
The smoke clears and Chad is sitting on a chair in the middle of a very large white room. It mostly reminds him of a restaurant, but that's probably because there's a lot of people sitting at tables around him drinking wine and stuff. It's a pretty classy place that he's sitting in-which makes Chad wish he had some wine or cranberry juice at least. Maybe a table, being in the middle of a room all by yourself isn't very much fun. It's kind of lame, actually and he's really thirsty.
Chad forgets that he's thirsty when the curtains on the stage (what stage? Was that always there?) pull back and reveal someone that looks really, really familiar but he can't quite place who it is for a few seconds. He thinks that maybe it's one of those dancers that Ryan has been showing him or maybe something else but then he starts thinking about how much he totally wants something to drink and that's when it hits him. The guy standing on the stage is Michael Crawford-the guy in his fridge at home. Why the guy was in his fridge Chad didn't even know when he wasn't high, but there was a picture of the guy in his fridge. Yup.
His mom was really weird sometimes.
“Dude,” Chad says suddenly, “you're Michael Crawford.”
Everyone in the room kind of turns to look at him and stare. Chad gets that feeling he sometimes gets in school when he knows he's just said something totally retarded, but whatever. He's totally proud of himself for figuring out that it's Michael Crawford. It's a big accomplishment when you're higher than a kite.
“That's me,” Michael Crawford says, “and I have a very important message for you. Drugs are bad and they totally mess up your voice. It's not cool to do them, and you hurt a lot of people when you do because people care about you and it's hard to see someone fall into a twisted spiral of bad plotlines.”
A part of Chad knows that what Michael Crawford is saying is supposed to be like those movies where someone drops from the sky and gives a big, long speech about changing your ways and doing the right thing, but Chad is too totally stoned to understand what the heck Michael Crawford is trying to say. It's hard to understand philosophy when your primary concern is trying to get a drink from one of the waitresses walking around. Chad doesn't even hear half of what he's just said because there's a waiter that looks a little like Ryan and Chad has his attention focused wholly on that waiter and trying to flag him down. When Michael Crawford finishes, Chad looks back over with an unfocused and cloudy gaze.
“I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, dude.”
----
Ryan is many different things at many different times, but he is usually not stupid. He knows that Chad is mixed up in something bad for him and he's pretty sure he knows what it is-not that it takes a big genius to smell the reefer on Chad-but he hasn't done anything about it yet because he's not the best person to be telling Chad that sort of thing. Ryan is only Chad's tutor and dance partner, not his girlfriend or parent. In the grand scheme of things, Chad doing reefer doesn't affect Ryan much at all.
When the reefer starts affecting Chad's dancing though, then Ryan gets upset. Dancing is everything to him and if he doesn't win the competition, then Sharpay will probably mock him and make his life miserable for at least the next few months. He'll show her though. He'll show her that he doesn't need her to do anything, because he can do things by himself. That's why Ryan steps in to do something about Chad's addiction. It has nothing to do with the fact that Ryan thinks Chad is cute at all (for certain values of “thinks Chad is cute” at least). It's not like Chad helps the situation any-he's an excellent dancer and when things don't involve Shakespeare, he's actually a pretty dandy guy.
So Ryan convinces himself that it's the right thing to do, stepping into Chad's personal affairs.
“You know,” he says to Chad suddenly during one of their dance practices, “reefer is really bad for you.”
Chad looks at him, “You don't say.”
Ryan doesn't do big, motivational speeches. He doesn't have the time or the patience for them after spending so many years around Sharpay. Instead he turns to Chad, a hand on his hip, and looks at him as if he cannot believe what he is seeing.
“You're cool, Chad. Don't let the reefer take over you, because you'll be cruisin' for a bruisin' if you do. I've seen people chewed up and never spit back out-I don't want that to happen to you too.”
There is a silence during which Ryan can tell that Chad is trying to process what has just been said. Because the idea hangs in the air like an elephant sitting at the kitchen table and sipping tea and it isn't like either of them are subtle about it, Ryan leans forward and presses his lips to Chad's. It's is gentle and quick-the sort of kiss that's over almost before it begins. At least it isn't awkward, which is something Ryan is absolutely thankful for. He hates awkward kisses-in hindsight, that's probably why he's not that into girls. They kiss rather awkwardly, but Chad doesn't-the math there is not particularly hard to figure out and Ryan isn't even that good at math.
Chad is staring at him like he wore the grey, pinstripe fedora with the off-white, pinstripe shirt-a truly hideous combination in anyone's opinion. After a second of panic, Ryan blinks and looks down at his outfit for the day. He wasn't wearing that combination. He was wearing the navy blue fedora with the silver belt buckle contraption that matched the pinstripes on the navy blue button-down. Which meant Chad was staring at him for some other reason and Ryan had no idea what that reason could be, unless he had something in his teeth. He really hoped he didn't have something in his teeth because that would be an absolute tragedy. Especially if it was spinach.
In the end, it didn't really matter much because Chad was leaning back in for a kiss.
----
“I love you like Romeo loves Juliet.”
Ryan laughs, “Don't say that. They both die in the end, you know.”
Of course Chad totally didn't remember that Romeo and Juliet died, but whatever. The point wasn't that Romeo and Juliet died, it was that he loved Ryan a lot in that same totally irrational and ultimately stupid way. It was totally romantic though, because he was giving up reefer for Ryan and everything-that sort of thing takes devotion and Chad is totally devoted to making Ryan happy. Which means Chad is totally devoted to doing the dance Ryan has choreographed for them better than perfect. They are going to rock the dance competition next week.
Seriously, Chad doesn't lose.
----
More Author's Notes: I did not have the heart to kill off Ryan. :| If you're really curious, the rest of the story goes roughly like the plot of Reefer Madness. Troy gives Chad a delicious reefer brownie, Jason manages to seduce Ryan, Ryan gets shot, Chad goes to jail for shooting Ryan (regardless of the fact that he didn't do it), Jason eats Kelsi, Troy shoots Jason, Gabriella shoots Troy, Gabriella saves Chad, Ryan comes down from heaven and tells Chad he'll be waiting, all the weed is burned. The end. They do win the dance competition somewhere in there though.
Title: Don't Have to Share [or: Studying Romeo&Juliet]
Pairing(s): Ryan/Chad and incidental Chad/Kelsi
Summary: They're just like Romeo and Juliet-if Romeo smoked weed and Juliet was a guy, that is.
Rating: PG-13 because lol reefer.
Warning(s): This is a story about drugs in a highly silly and possibly mildly offensive way. If you didn't like Reefer Madness, this is not the fic for you.
Word Count (for fic): 5058
Disclaimer: All High School Musical characters herein are the property of Disney. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Do me a small favor? When you're reading this, don't think too hard about it. Just remember that Reefer Madness is your favourite musical about weed and time is sort of wibbly-wobbly anyway. Also: apparently I cannot tell what day it is.
The books landed with a resounding thwack! onto the smooth surface of the kitchen table. There were eight of them-though one didn't necessarily count because it was a notebook belonging to one Ryan Evans currently staring across the table at one Chad Danforth and tapping a glittery pink pencil against the table in a smooth, rhythmic beat. It didn't matter that Chad was jock star of the sports department and Ryan was just the pretty star of the school's drama department, they were there there to study and they would study-if Ryan had any say in the matter.
It was Romeo&Juliet for crying out loud! Besides Julius Caesar, it was only his favourite Shakespeare play and Ryan absolutely adored studying it. That was what the notebook was for-three years of Shakespeare appreciation had left him with stacks of notebook filled to the brim with notes and commentary on everything Shakespeare. There were, in total, five spiral-bound notebooks on Romeo&Juliet but only one was particularly important at that moment because Act 1 was a good place to start (obviously) and Ryan somehow doubts that Chad understands anything anyway.
Chad shifts in his seat so he's sitting up (relatively) straight, “We're studying Romeo&Juliet, right?”
“Yes,” Ryan replies curtly, “is there anything in particular that you don't understand?”
“Man, everything from the pro-low-gyu on. This stuff is hard.”
Ryan tries not to smack his head onto the table. He succeeds.
“It's called a prologue.”
“Yeah, whatever. I keep getting it confused with Mon-tay-gyu. That's not even a real word-I looked it up in two different dictionaries to make sure.”
Ryan counts to five before responding. “Montague? It's Romeo's last name.”
“Oh. That makes sense . . . Where'd you learn all this stuff?”
A small, tiny part of Ryan wants to scream. Loudly. He counts to five again.
“English class-you know, the one you keep sleeping through?”
“Hey, I don't sleep through class all the time!”
“That's not the point. The point is we're here to study. And we are going to study.”
Ryan has a very resolute and determined expression. After about twenty minutes his expression is mostly dogged and stubborn. And after two hours, his expression is very weary and worn-out. But they got through the first two scenes! It makes Ryan feel accomplished in that way people feel accomplished when they've completed a crossword puzzle that should have taken twenty minutes but it takes four hours because really what was a four letter word for “make a trade” anyway?
Then again, Ryan isn't particularly good at crosswords. He also isn't particularly good at making Chad understand Shakespeare, but Ryan has a sneaking feeling that no one is particularly good at making Chad understand Shakespeare. He sighs dramatically and puts his head down on the kitchen table. Chad emerges from the bathroom and taps Ryan on the shoulder.
“You okay, dude?”
Ryan manages a smile, “Peachy. Let's call it a day-are you hungry?”
“Yes-I thought you'd never ask, man.”
Without dignifying that with a response, Ryan gets up to make sandwiches. There is lettuce, an onion, cold turkey from last night, cheese, some unidentified lunch meat, tomato, peanut butter and jelly in the fridge. He thinks about it for a few seconds and still has absolutely no idea what Chad would want. So he closes the fridge and walks back over to where Chad is and taps him on the shoulder.
“What would you like? I have lunch meat-I think it's ham-cheese, turkey, lettuce, peanut butter and jelly.”
Chad looks up at Ryan, “Dude, whatever's fine. Turkey would be awesome though.”
Turkey with lettuce and mayonnaise and tomato-which is fine with Ryan, because he doesn't much like tomatoes. They taste okay, but he's honestly got more of a sweet tooth than a savoury tooth. Peanut butter and jelly for him, turkey for Chad. Ryan nods to himself as he fixes the two sandwiches. After returning to the kitchen table, he sets the plate down in front of Chad and slides onto the bench across from Chad.
Ryan's about to take a bite of his sandwich when he notices that Chad is eating the sandwich like he hasn't eaten in a week. It's almost endearing. Almost. And then Ryan remembers how impossibly bad Chad is at Shakespeare and comes back to his senses. Chad is not endearing. Chad is a giant dumbass who couldn't tell Shakespeare from Sondheim if they were both wearing nametags.
But Ryan has to admit that Chad is pretty cute. Not that he regularly finds guys cute or anything like that-oh no. Ryan likes girls that aren't his sister because he doesn't really like her much at all. She's screechy and he's getting really tired of her constant temper tantrums. It isn't that he hates her, just that she's irritating sometimes. Like any sibling should be, really-or at least that was the way it was in all the movies and books and things like that. Ryan doesn't much about other siblings because he doesn't have any others and he doesn't really know anyone who does.
Anyway, the point is not that Ryan doesn't like Sharpay all the time. The point is that Ryan thinks Chad is kind of cute and Ryan wouldn't really mind dating him-provided he could get over the fact that Chad couldn't understand Shakespeare if his life depended on it. Luckily, Ryan loves Shakespeare so much that probably isn't an issue and god. Ryan is glad that Chad is going home after this. He needs to clear up the stress of trying to teach Chad with some intensive yoga.
----
“Yo, Evans! Wait up, dude.”
Ryan really wants to keep walking, but he sighs and turns around. He even manages a smile for Chad-which is nothing short of an absolute miracle.
“Hi Chad.”
“Hey Evans, are you busy? The gang is going down to the five and dime if you're free.”
He is incredibly busy. He has to choreograph things and study for his Chemistry quiz and finish learning a song for the upcoming musical and write an essay so really he has no time at all for this sort of-
“Gee,” he hears himself say, “that sounds like fun! Are you sure I can come?”
“Of course, dude,” Chad replies, “unless you don't like milkshakes. Because then you're just cruisin' for a bruisin'.”
The words I'm not fond of milkshakes are on the tip of his tongue. Because really, milkshakes are very rich and they'll probably make him fat, not that he really cares about his weight but Sharpay cares and if he gets fat then Sharpay is just going to make him lose weight and he'd really rather not because that probably means he can't eat any more cranberry pistachio wedding cookies which is really a shame. It doesn't matter though, because those aren't even close to the words he says.
“Milkshakes are boss.”
“Evans,” Chad says gravely, “promise me you'll never say that again.”
Ryan raises an eyebrow, but agrees. So maybe he's not that great at using slang, but he thought that was an okay usage. Either way, he follows Chad down to the five and dime for a milkshake.
---
Ryan is kind of a fream, in Chad's opinion. He doesn't really fit in anywhere-not even with his own group. He is, however, a mostly cool cat. Guy knew loads about Shakespeare and all sorts of other stuff, which makes him pretty cool-even if he's a little hard to understand sometimes.
While they're sitting in the five and dime, Ryan gets quiet and starts looking around watching people. Chad thinks it's a little weird, but he doesn't have much time to think about it before Ryan says something out of the blue.
“President Roosevelt is coming to the school next month and hosting a dance competition.”
Chad makes a sound of interest-even though he doesn't dance and he never has danced so it's kind of stupid to act interested. Ryan makes Chad do things he would probably never do otherwise.
“Do you want to be my dance partner?”
He's about to say I don't dance when Ryan gets up and floats (there's no other way to describe it) to the centre of the five and dime. He's looking at Chad and smirking for some strange reason-and then Ryan motions to a girl sitting a couple booths over. She stands up and joins Ryan. They look at each other and suddenly, they're dancing. Chad watches, kind of mesmerised. He didn't know people could move like that-but he still doesn't dance. Ryan being such an actor won't change his feelings about that. Even if it is kind of sexy to see Ryan dancing like that-Chad is looking at the girl mostly, but the dancing is kind of what's sexy. It's really weird, actually.
So weird, in fact, that Chad doesn't notice the random guy who slid into the booth where Ryan was sitting until he speaks.
“That guy is pretty good.”
Chad turns to stare at the guy. He doesn't recognise him and random people don't generally talk to him at the five and dime, so this is a weird experience on top of a weird experience. The guy doesn't seem to notice Chad's discomfort.
“You gonna be his partner?”
“No,” Chad replies, “I don't dance.”
“Too bad,” the guy says, “because I coulda helped you out.”
Chad is intrigued, “Really?”
“Sure, I'm pretty cookin' on the dance floor.”
It's then when Ryan comes back to the table, breathless and looking for all the world like he's just had the most mind-blowing sex in his life. Chad isn't in control of his mouth any more then, because the sight of Ryan like that is more mesmerising than when he's dancing.
“Yes, I'll be your dance partner.”
Ryan's eyes light up, “Great! I have to go to dance class now. I'll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Chad says, “I'll see you tomorrow.”
Ryan takes one last sip of his milkshake and retrieves his things before he's rushing out the door with a wave in Chad's general direction. Chad waves back and turns to the mysterious guy.
“I need dance lessons.”
“Thought you said you didn't dance.”
“I changed my mind.”
The guy regards him for a long moment before standing up. He motions for Chad to follow and then they're in a car driving to some house. The guy introduces himself as Troy, which Chad thinks is a strange name, but he doesn't say anything about it. In the house, he's introduced to three more people-Kelsi (the wide-eyed piano player), Jason (the really oddball college kid) and Gabriella (the sweet mother-like figure). He introduces himself politely, like his mother taught him, and Kelsi offers to play him the piano-that's where they're walking to when Chad hears the crash. It makes him rush back into the living room. Gabriella is sitting where the glass on the coffee table used to be. There isn't any glass now.
Because Chad just wants to make sure, he asks, “Is everything all right?”
Gabriella fixes her hair and gives him a smile, “Everything's fine, Chad. I just fell.”
Kelsi coughs, which makes Chad turn toward her. She's holding a cigarette-Chad has no idea where she got it from, but it's only polite to light it for her, so Chad fumbles for something to light it with.
“Oh. Let me light that cigarette for you, Kelsi.”
“It's not a cigarette,” she says softly, “it's the good stuff-reefer.”
Kelsi places the cigarette between his lips and smiles. Chad is a little starstruck, Kelsi has a really pretty smile.
“Let's share it.”
That brings Chad back to earth, and he hands the cigarette back to Kelsi. He doesn't smoke-that's just not the way he was raised. He knows what drugs do to the body, being an athlete taught him that.
“No thanks. I really should be going to basketball practice and-“
“Oh,” Kelsi says, “I thought you were a cool cat. I didn't know you were scared to try reefer. Sorry.”
There is one thing Chad cannot turn down, and that's a challenge. He wonders if Kelsi knows this when she says that or if it was just coincidence, but it doesn't really matter either way. Chad Danforth is not afraid of anything-a few puffs of reefer won't kill him.
Against his better judgement, Chad snatches the stick from Kelsi and lights it.
----
It is dark and smoky. Perhaps he is asleep, but perhaps he isn't. As the smoke clears, Chad certainly feels as if the whole thing is a dream-but that may just be a product of all the sexy, nearly naked women currently dancing around him. There is absolutely no way that many sexy (and nearly naked) women would be dancing around Chad at the same time. It really had to be a dream.
Then again, there were some nearly naked guys dancing too. Funny, one of them looked almost like Ryan. What the hell was his subconscious even thinking, adding dancing (and nearly naked!) men into an otherwise perfectly amazing dream? Then again, Kelsi is beckoning him toward a giant hookah with her shy smile. Chad doesn't even know how he knows the thing was called a hookah-must be part of the dream magic-but he knows that Kelsi is cute and that's really about all he needs to know right then. The world could be-is that Ryan dressed as a goat coming down from the hookah?
This dream is really messed up, in Chad's humble opinion. Then again, Ryan looks pretty damn-no! Focus on Kelsi. Kelsi is sweet and polite and the kind of girl he could take home to his mother, but Ryan. Ryan is wild and free and a whole lot cooler than most people give him credit for. Ryan is also holding out a hand to him in an unmistakable invitation to dance.
Chad frowns. This dream is taking a turn toward Freakytown and Chad isn't sure he likes that. Maybe it would be best to just. Wake up. Could you even wake up from a dream by thinking about it? Maybe. Maybe not. Oh well, no time like the present! Chad focuses.
I want to be awake. I want to be awake. I want to be awake.
Unsurprisingly, nothing happens. Chad takes this as a sign and figures that it's probably best to just. Go with the flow. He takes Ryan's hand.
----
When he's walking out of the school, Ryan usually has to walk by the gym on his way. Normally, he kind of just ignores the gym. Sure, some of the guys look pretty smokin' without their shirts on in a way that anyone could appreciate but it's weird to stare and kind of rude so Ryan just pretends the gym doesn't exist. It's easier that way and anyway someone would probably get mad at him for poking his head around in there when he's not on a team.
None of that stops him from poking his head in for a second on his way out of the school to try and flag down Chad this particular time. He doesn't spot him and he's just about to leave when that guy Sharpay sometimes hangs out with and makes out with calls his name.
“Hey, Ryan!”
Ryan cannot immediately remember his name-but he knows it starts with z, because he remembers thinking that was kind of unusual and cool-Zeke. The guy's name is Zeke.
“Hi, Zeke. Do you need something?”
“Nah,” Zeke says with a smile, “but you're looking for Chad, right? So I figure it's only polite to tell you he left early today. He wasn't feelin' too great-wasn't lookin' it either.”
“Oh. Uh. Thanks.”
Ryan gives a sort of head-bob that he means as I have to go now but it will probably be misinterpreted on Zeke's end. He can't be bothered with the details now though, because he has a bad feeling about this and if he's learned anything over the years, it's that his gut feeling about situations is usually correct. He needs to find Chad and make sure he's okay. It's not because he likes Chad or anything-it's simple necessity.
Chad has agreed to be his partner for the dance and that's pretty much the most important thing to Ryan. He would've been partnered with Sharpay-they usually partnered together-but she had said that she was going to do the competition with Zeke. They had argued about that for a long time, but it ended like it always did. Sharpay got her way, no matter what the costs. Ryan hates that, but he's determined to win the dance competition just to show Sharpay that yes. He can do something on his own. He'll prove himself to Sharpay-and everyone else-if it's the last thing he does.
But that plan kind of involves Chad, which was why Ryan is ringing the doorbell on Chad's house and waiting for someone to answer the door. Praying that someone would-a women that looked to be in her late thirties opens the door and Ryan breathes a sigh of relief before smiling.
“Hello, my name is Ryan Evans and I just stopped by to see if Chad Danforth was okay. I'm tutoring him in English and someone said he wasn't feeling well so he went home.”
The woman regards him carefully, like she's not sure what to do with him before she instructs him to come in-and leave his shoes by the door, because the carpet has just been washed do you hear me boy? Ryan obediently complies, leaving his shoes neatly by the door before following her into the house and stopping with her in front of a door clearly marked “Chad's Room: Do Not Enter.” The woman raps on the door and there is an indistinct muffle from inside.
“You've got a visitor-his name is Ryan. And for chrisstakes Chad, throw your clothes in the hamper before you let him in.”
With that, Ryan is left in front of the door by himself. He stands there like that for a full minute before Chad opens the door. His eyes are bloodshot and he looks absolutely hellish. They stare at each other awkwardly for a moment before Ryan finally remembers what he was going to do. He rummages in his messenger bag for a moment before pulling out a very neat copy of the English homework.
“You English homework-but this copy isn't for you, because no one told me you weren't in class so it's mine. I copied it down because Sharpay never remembers to.”
Chad stares at Ryan for a long moment before blinking slowly, “Man, has anyone ever told you that you've got gorgeous eyes?”
Ryan regards Chad carefully. He's not sure if the statement is actually a compliment or caused by medications Chad may or may not be on. Unlike Sharpay, Ryan is unwilling to take compliments at face value. Ryan figures that it's probably the meds talking and not Chad, so he ignores it.
“Chad. Please focus.”
“What? Oh yeah, sure man. Anything for you.”
“Copy this down.”
Carefully, Ryan hands over the sheet of paper to Chad. Chad takes it over to his desk and Ryan follows, noting with amusement that the clothes just got shoved under the bed and never made it anywhere near the hamper in the corner. Typical jock. They're all very much similar, Ryan has found-which makes it easier for him to deal with them when he has to tutor them, so he isn't complaining but it's funny to see how similar people can be. Ryan doesn't think he's like anyone, which is probably why-Chad holds the paper out in front of Ryan and Ryan stares for a second before taking it and putting it into his messenger bag.
Then, having completed what he came to do (and not having anything else to do), Ryan shifts his weight awkwardly before smiling awkwardly.
“Um. Well, that's it. I'm going to go now-I'll see you for practice tomorrow?”
Chad stares at him blankly, “Practice for what?”
“You agreed to be my dance partner,” Ryan says simply.
“Oh, right. Right. It just slipped my mind-blame it on the medicine.”
“I will.”
The smile is a little less awkward the second time around, but not much.
----
In hindsight, it was probably a stupid idea to take Kelsi's smoke, but he can't exactly turn back time now so it's a moot point. He's really addicted to the stuff and he can't stop now so it's just very logical to take the money from the donation box to feed his addiction. It's not like anyone will miss the money or anything and reefer is really kind of expensive to keep on constantly buying so that's probably why Troy is always selling to people and stuff but like it doesn't really matter 'cause Kelsi is always there to put him to bed and stuff, which makes everything okay.
Chad suspects that Ryan knows what's going on, but isn't saying anything because Chad goes to practice like a good guy and he's getting pretty good at the dance which is weird 'cause he totally doesn't dance at all so it's not like it's normal for him to be good at dancing or anything but anyway he is. And that's kind of nice, 'cause Ryan always smiles really nice when Chad does good on the dances and Chad likes those smiles. He likes Ryan in general, actually-but he likes Ryan's smiles the best probably. Maybe. Chad's not so sure what's what any more. He's in a kind of foggy daze of reefer and dance. Which is a little weird and strange but whatever.
The money from the donation box is enough to buy like. One more week of reefer. That's okay, because Chad has enough for a couple of days and he's sure he can get enough money for more later from somewhere. Anywhere.
Chad lights a smoke and inhales. The smoke he inhales wraps around him like a blanket, covering up all his worries and cares.
----
It's dark and smoky again. Chad wonders if this is how it always is when you do reefer. He hasn't really been doing it for long enough to know if it is, but that seems to be how it is for him which is totally okay because it's relaxing and hey. The reefer makes it so he doesn't really care. He kind of hopes that Ryan is in his dream-or Kelsi. Why did he say Ryan first? Huh. That's weird. Really weird.
The smoke clears and Chad is sitting on a chair in the middle of a very large white room. It mostly reminds him of a restaurant, but that's probably because there's a lot of people sitting at tables around him drinking wine and stuff. It's a pretty classy place that he's sitting in-which makes Chad wish he had some wine or cranberry juice at least. Maybe a table, being in the middle of a room all by yourself isn't very much fun. It's kind of lame, actually and he's really thirsty.
Chad forgets that he's thirsty when the curtains on the stage (what stage? Was that always there?) pull back and reveal someone that looks really, really familiar but he can't quite place who it is for a few seconds. He thinks that maybe it's one of those dancers that Ryan has been showing him or maybe something else but then he starts thinking about how much he totally wants something to drink and that's when it hits him. The guy standing on the stage is Michael Crawford-the guy in his fridge at home. Why the guy was in his fridge Chad didn't even know when he wasn't high, but there was a picture of the guy in his fridge. Yup.
His mom was really weird sometimes.
“Dude,” Chad says suddenly, “you're Michael Crawford.”
Everyone in the room kind of turns to look at him and stare. Chad gets that feeling he sometimes gets in school when he knows he's just said something totally retarded, but whatever. He's totally proud of himself for figuring out that it's Michael Crawford. It's a big accomplishment when you're higher than a kite.
“That's me,” Michael Crawford says, “and I have a very important message for you. Drugs are bad and they totally mess up your voice. It's not cool to do them, and you hurt a lot of people when you do because people care about you and it's hard to see someone fall into a twisted spiral of bad plotlines.”
A part of Chad knows that what Michael Crawford is saying is supposed to be like those movies where someone drops from the sky and gives a big, long speech about changing your ways and doing the right thing, but Chad is too totally stoned to understand what the heck Michael Crawford is trying to say. It's hard to understand philosophy when your primary concern is trying to get a drink from one of the waitresses walking around. Chad doesn't even hear half of what he's just said because there's a waiter that looks a little like Ryan and Chad has his attention focused wholly on that waiter and trying to flag him down. When Michael Crawford finishes, Chad looks back over with an unfocused and cloudy gaze.
“I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, dude.”
----
Ryan is many different things at many different times, but he is usually not stupid. He knows that Chad is mixed up in something bad for him and he's pretty sure he knows what it is-not that it takes a big genius to smell the reefer on Chad-but he hasn't done anything about it yet because he's not the best person to be telling Chad that sort of thing. Ryan is only Chad's tutor and dance partner, not his girlfriend or parent. In the grand scheme of things, Chad doing reefer doesn't affect Ryan much at all.
When the reefer starts affecting Chad's dancing though, then Ryan gets upset. Dancing is everything to him and if he doesn't win the competition, then Sharpay will probably mock him and make his life miserable for at least the next few months. He'll show her though. He'll show her that he doesn't need her to do anything, because he can do things by himself. That's why Ryan steps in to do something about Chad's addiction. It has nothing to do with the fact that Ryan thinks Chad is cute at all (for certain values of “thinks Chad is cute” at least). It's not like Chad helps the situation any-he's an excellent dancer and when things don't involve Shakespeare, he's actually a pretty dandy guy.
So Ryan convinces himself that it's the right thing to do, stepping into Chad's personal affairs.
“You know,” he says to Chad suddenly during one of their dance practices, “reefer is really bad for you.”
Chad looks at him, “You don't say.”
Ryan doesn't do big, motivational speeches. He doesn't have the time or the patience for them after spending so many years around Sharpay. Instead he turns to Chad, a hand on his hip, and looks at him as if he cannot believe what he is seeing.
“You're cool, Chad. Don't let the reefer take over you, because you'll be cruisin' for a bruisin' if you do. I've seen people chewed up and never spit back out-I don't want that to happen to you too.”
There is a silence during which Ryan can tell that Chad is trying to process what has just been said. Because the idea hangs in the air like an elephant sitting at the kitchen table and sipping tea and it isn't like either of them are subtle about it, Ryan leans forward and presses his lips to Chad's. It's is gentle and quick-the sort of kiss that's over almost before it begins. At least it isn't awkward, which is something Ryan is absolutely thankful for. He hates awkward kisses-in hindsight, that's probably why he's not that into girls. They kiss rather awkwardly, but Chad doesn't-the math there is not particularly hard to figure out and Ryan isn't even that good at math.
Chad is staring at him like he wore the grey, pinstripe fedora with the off-white, pinstripe shirt-a truly hideous combination in anyone's opinion. After a second of panic, Ryan blinks and looks down at his outfit for the day. He wasn't wearing that combination. He was wearing the navy blue fedora with the silver belt buckle contraption that matched the pinstripes on the navy blue button-down. Which meant Chad was staring at him for some other reason and Ryan had no idea what that reason could be, unless he had something in his teeth. He really hoped he didn't have something in his teeth because that would be an absolute tragedy. Especially if it was spinach.
In the end, it didn't really matter much because Chad was leaning back in for a kiss.
----
“I love you like Romeo loves Juliet.”
Ryan laughs, “Don't say that. They both die in the end, you know.”
Of course Chad totally didn't remember that Romeo and Juliet died, but whatever. The point wasn't that Romeo and Juliet died, it was that he loved Ryan a lot in that same totally irrational and ultimately stupid way. It was totally romantic though, because he was giving up reefer for Ryan and everything-that sort of thing takes devotion and Chad is totally devoted to making Ryan happy. Which means Chad is totally devoted to doing the dance Ryan has choreographed for them better than perfect. They are going to rock the dance competition next week.
Seriously, Chad doesn't lose.
----
More Author's Notes: I did not have the heart to kill off Ryan. :| If you're really curious, the rest of the story goes roughly like the plot of Reefer Madness. Troy gives Chad a delicious reefer brownie, Jason manages to seduce Ryan, Ryan gets shot, Chad goes to jail for shooting Ryan (regardless of the fact that he didn't do it), Jason eats Kelsi, Troy shoots Jason, Gabriella shoots Troy, Gabriella saves Chad, Ryan comes down from heaven and tells Chad he'll be waiting, all the weed is burned. The end. They do win the dance competition somewhere in there though.