Fic: Can’t Get You Outta My Head (1/2) HSM
Title: Can’t Get You Outta My Head (1/2)
Author: i_l0ve_my_az
Summary: AU. Troy is a college student and works as a barista. The HSM cast didn’t meet in high school but are fixtures in one another’s lives. Ryan becomes a regular at Troy’s Starbucks and a tentative flirtation follows.
Disclaimer: HSM and all affiliates belong to the Mouse. Starbucks belongs to Howard Schultz and co.
Author’s Notes: Have never worked in a Starbucks so situations described within are basically taken from my experience as a customer. Sorry about any mistakes. Also, story is SLASH, so don’t read if it isn’t your cup of tea.
He meets Ryan Evans on a Tuesday, a half an hour after the morning rush. He likes to pin the blame on Jason--he would have worked his regular afternoon shift had Jason not begged, wheedled and basically sold his soul to Troy for a change in schedules because he really, really needed that subject and the last available slot was for three PM and could Troy please, please switch with him, the entirety of his future rests on his taking that subject this semester.
For an ex-high school jock, Jason could be an enormous drama queen.
So Troy’s basically stuck with the crappiest shift ever, serving half-dead morons before they head off to work and dealing with the inevitable lunch break flood of the caffeine-deprived. The only saving grace to all this would be Chad, who was pretty much the awesomest shift supervisor ever.
He’s stuck working the till now, which he's fine with. Chad deals with the customers from 8.30 to 9.15, and that is basically the reason behind the tiny little shrine to Chad that someone had set up in the break room way before the idea of working at a Starbucks had even entered Troy’s mind.
They don’t get that many celebrities at this branch, i.e. none at all, so when Ryan Evans walks in wearing over-sized sunglasses and a scarf, Troy thinks nothing of it. Doesn’t even recognize him.
“Hey, what can I get for you?”
The only thing that registers in Troy’s head is, hey, blond and good-looking.
“I’ll have two non-fat venti lattes and a cranberry scone.” The order comes with a smile and Troy finds himself hard-pressed not to smile back. He is a can-do partner after all.
“Can I get your name?”
Another one of those brilliant smiles. “Ryan.”
“Hello, Ryan.” He feels kind of stupid saying that but Ryan blushes and grins at him, so that more than makes up for it. He rings Ryan up, gives him his change and directs him over to the pick-up area with a gesture and a “thanks for coming. Hope to see you again soon.”
Ryan leaves him with a half-smile and Troy turns to the next customer in line.
And yeah, he feels like a complete idiot when he looks up to track Ryan’s exit from the store but is kind of gratified when Ryan stops for a last look in his direction.
Huh. Maybe the morning shift isn’t so bad after all.
*
Troy Bolton doesn’t remember a time when basketball wasn’t a part of his life.
He remembers being three and hugging his dad’s ball to his chest, the orange ball being so much bigger than him that his arms had struggled to keep it in place. His mother had taken a photograph of that moment, a piece of time commemorated--the ball eclipsed more than three-quarters of his body, his smile so wide and eager and his father standing at his side looking so very tall and proud.
The picture is set in a silver frame and stands on the mantelpiece of his parents’ home. It's just one of many photos his mother has taken over the years and decorated the house with.
It’s just one of the many things he’d rather not think about.
*
He stops by a Whole Foods store on the way home from his last class. Zeke is sort of a pain to have as a roommate in that way, but he cooks and is always open to suggestions and will sometimes bake for Troy when his day was crap, so Troy puts up with his (admittedly few) quirks.
He passes the newsstand and, as per usual, his gaze is drawn to the sports magazines. He doesn’t know how long he stands there, bathed in overly-bright fluorescent lighting, in the middle of a supermarket when someone calls out his name.
He looks up to see Gabriella Montez pushing her cart over to him, waving and smiling brightly. She’s a nice girl he met in his Intro to Medieval Poetry class a few years back. He still wonders what she, a Physical Chemistry major, had been doing there.
They’d been on a couple of casual dates; never anything serious, though. She’s too focused on her academic career and he doesn’t want to deal with anything too permanent.
“Troy, hi!” Gabriella always seems happy to see him. He likes that about her. They hug and she bounces a little as she says, “A few of us are planning to go check out that new club this Friday. You should come with!”
“The one with the dancers in the fish tanks? Kinky, Gab.”
She blushes and swats him on the arm. “No, see, Taylor’s given up on Chad making the first move, so she’s planned this ‘group thing’ and invited him. And you should totally come with us, if only to give Chad a familiar face!”
They both know that that's a lie, Chad makes friends easily. She’s not fooling anyone. She's asking him to go because she’s worried about him. He hasn’t been as social as he could have been in the past few weeks.
He shrugs. “Yeah, sure, why not?”
She beams and pecks him on the cheek. “We’re meeting up at my apartment at around eight. See you then!”
She pushes her cart off to the check-out. He stands there for a few moments before moving on.
He doesn’t buy the sports magazine.
*
Troy’s first time had been with Dana Walker, back in the tenth grade. She had been the head cheerleader and they’d been together for four years. She was blonde, blue-eyed and had the most genuine smile.
It happened after the Homecoming Dance, after she'd just been crowned queen. They’d slow-danced to Stairway to Heaven and, later, drove his car out to an abandoned airfield.
Dana had come prepared.
Troy’s first time with a girl happened on a cotton blanket spread over a field of grass, spring flowers in bloom all around them, the full moon bright against a night sky filled with shining stars.
It had been magical.
*
It had been hell during the first two hours of his shift. They’d had a trainee on and she couldn’t work the espresso machine and managed to spill foam just about everywhere. He and Chad had to deal with disgruntled customers yelling insults and threats without it ending in a throw down. Then the girl had to start crying.
So it had been a pretty much hellish morning and Troy is more than relieved when Chad assigns him to the register at 9.30 while he comforts the probie in the break room. Molly, who’s mopping the floor, rolls her eyes at all the drama.
Troy’s wiping down the counter when someone says, “Hi.”
He looks up and it’s Ryan, who’s half-smiling at him. He’s still wearing a scarf but the sunglasses are gone, replaced with a hat. Troy thinks he’s gaping at how blue Ryan’s eyes are.
He recovers before he can make an even bigger fool out of himself and manages a “Hey.”
Ryan’s smile turns into a full-blown grin. “Can I get two non-fat venti lattes and a plain croissant?”
It takes Troy’s brain a moment to decipher that sentence. “Uh, yeah. That’s great.” He could slap himself for being such a spaz. He uncaps his marker and looks Ryan in the eye. “Ryan, right?”
Ryan nods, his nose crinkling as he smiles wide. Troy notices that though his teeth are movie star white, they aren’t perfect--his two front teeth are a bit too large. Troy thinks that that’s probably the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. He also thinks about maybe writing his number on the sleeve of Ryan’s cup but decides that that would be too forward.
It’s Molly who reminds him to ring Ryan up when she clears her throat then exasperatedly grabs the cups from his hands. Ryan lets out a silent laugh and Troy feels himself blush. He hasn’t blushed in close to a decade. He maybe wants to disappear into the floor right now.
He’s careful not to touch Ryan more than is appropriate when giving him his change.
*
Troy’s eager to see Ryan again on Thursday and has probably annoyed Molly with his fidgeting since the start of their shift. Chad’s amused and has most likely been laughing at him behind his back the entire time.
He’s so excited that he misses Ryan entering the store and approaching the counter.
“Troy, right?”
His head jerks up and he sees Ryan and his ever-present smile. “Hey, yeah, how did you…”
Ryan smirks (attractively, Troy can’t help thinking) and points to Troy’s name tag.
Troy almost literally slaps himself on the head. “Oh, right.” He basically turns into a twelve-year old girl around Ryan. “So, two non-fat venti lattes?”
Ryan laughs. “Yeah. Yes.”
Troy nods, sage-like. “And what can I get you from our five-star pastry line-up?”
That manages to draw another laugh from Ryan and Troy thinks he could happily spend forever just making Ryan laugh. They’re staring at each other and grinning. Behind him, Troy can hear Molly making gagging noises as she fills Ryan’s order. Troy can’t find it in himself to care.
*
He gets to the apartment at half-past nine and goes straight to the refrigerator.
He finds another note written in Zeke’s loopy handwriting.
‘Your mother called again. Told her you were at work. CALL HER BACK MAN.’
He takes out a carton of orange juice and drains it dry. Another item to add to the shopping list Zeke insists they keep.
He tosses the empty carton in the trash on his way to his room.
He ignores the note.
*
Today’s Friday and Troy tells himself that this will be the day he mans up. He will ask Ryan for his number. Or give Ryan his. The technicalities don’t really matter.
Only, when 9.30 rolls in, Ryan isn’t alone.
He’s with a girl (who's wearing sunglasses that cover nearly half her face) who can only be described as shiny. Her blonde hair is shiny. Her white pants are shiny, though Troy cannot understand how. Her white top is studded with those fake diamond things that girls wear that Troy doesn’t know the word for. Her leather boots are also white and shiny. Her feather boa, white and silver. Also shiny.
She’s carrying a Chihuahua while Ryan brings what could be the dog’s carrier--pink and shiny and Bedazzled.
She stops in front of the pastry case while Ryan walks up to Troy. He’s biting his lip and is pink-cheeked. Troy’s inner adolescent girl is waving her arms and squeeing.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
Troy really hopes that girl isn’t Ryan’s girlfriend.
“Two non-fat venti lattes?”
“Oh my god, NO!” The girl shoves herself in front of Ryan with a well-placed hip. “Ugh, Ryan, are you on a quest to make me fat? Do you know how many calories are in a cup of their lattes? Non-fat is such a heinous lie!” She directs her attention to Troy. "Give us two tall chais. And ooh! Two bagels.”
Troy just blinks at her.
She stares at him. “What? God, do you want my autograph? Gah, it’s so hard being famous! People always want things from you!”
Troy frowns. Clearly he has missed something here.
She grabs a U.N. pamphlet from the display and steals his marker. “There! Now could you go and do your job?” She flounces off, muttering about the little people and how boring it must be to be ordinary.
Troy follows her with his eyes as she kicks chairs out of her way, flips her hair away from her face and trips over Kelsi’s bag. Troy purses his lips to hold in his laughter. He almost comes to Kelsi’s defense as Ryan’s companion waves her arm around yelling about the near damage to her face and how things like those are just lawsuits waiting to happen, and that Kelsi’s lucky she’s such a magnanimous person. Other people would sue, you know.
Kelsi looks the way Troy feels. Dumbfounded. Troy makes a mental note to encourage Jason to date Kelsi. She’s a regular and had set up fort at the same table for the last seven months, hoping to catch Jason’s eye.
He hears Ryan clear his throat.
“Sorry about that. My sister’s kinda…high-strung.” Ryan grins apologetically, blushing. Troy is equal parts relieved (that sparkly-girl isn’t Ryan’s girlfriend) and appalled (that someone as crazy as sparkly-girl is related to Ryan).
He rings Ryan up and thinks that it is quite possibly not his imagination that Ryan’s fingers linger over his when he hands back Ryan's change. He thinks, ah, to hell with it and just when he leans in to ask Ryan for his number, he’s interrupted by a shrieking banshee.
“OH MY GOD! I SO TOTALLY SAW YOU PUT WHOLE MILK IN THAT!” Ryan’s sister is pointing at Molly, who doesn’t have a come back in the first time in the history of ever (or for the first time since Troy’s known her). “RYAN WE ARE LEAVING THIS PLACE! YOU JUST LOST YOURSELVES SOME VERY VALUABLE CUSTOMERS!”
Ryan’s sister stomps off, flicking the ends of her feather boa over her shoulders. Ryan gives Troy another apologetic grimace and goes to pick up his order. He’s cut off from apologizing to Molly when his sister starts rapping impatiently on the glass front of the store.
He shoots Troy an enigmatic, lingering look before he leaves.
Troy gives up and gives in to the urge to bang his head on the counter. Repeatedly.
He’s almost sure that he’s never going to see Ryan again and resolves to blame this all on Molly and her whole milk pouring ass.
Molly immediately begins slapping his shoulder. “DID YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?! That was SHARPAY EVANS!”
Troy lifts his head and brings it down on the counter. Hard.
Fuck. The guy he’d been not so covertly been crushing on was Ryan Evans. The Ryan Evans.
Trust Troy Bolton to go and fall for a fucking celebrity billionaire and be the last person ever to know about it.
Author: i_l0ve_my_az
Summary: AU. Troy is a college student and works as a barista. The HSM cast didn’t meet in high school but are fixtures in one another’s lives. Ryan becomes a regular at Troy’s Starbucks and a tentative flirtation follows.
Disclaimer: HSM and all affiliates belong to the Mouse. Starbucks belongs to Howard Schultz and co.
Author’s Notes: Have never worked in a Starbucks so situations described within are basically taken from my experience as a customer. Sorry about any mistakes. Also, story is SLASH, so don’t read if it isn’t your cup of tea.
He meets Ryan Evans on a Tuesday, a half an hour after the morning rush. He likes to pin the blame on Jason--he would have worked his regular afternoon shift had Jason not begged, wheedled and basically sold his soul to Troy for a change in schedules because he really, really needed that subject and the last available slot was for three PM and could Troy please, please switch with him, the entirety of his future rests on his taking that subject this semester.
For an ex-high school jock, Jason could be an enormous drama queen.
So Troy’s basically stuck with the crappiest shift ever, serving half-dead morons before they head off to work and dealing with the inevitable lunch break flood of the caffeine-deprived. The only saving grace to all this would be Chad, who was pretty much the awesomest shift supervisor ever.
He’s stuck working the till now, which he's fine with. Chad deals with the customers from 8.30 to 9.15, and that is basically the reason behind the tiny little shrine to Chad that someone had set up in the break room way before the idea of working at a Starbucks had even entered Troy’s mind.
They don’t get that many celebrities at this branch, i.e. none at all, so when Ryan Evans walks in wearing over-sized sunglasses and a scarf, Troy thinks nothing of it. Doesn’t even recognize him.
“Hey, what can I get for you?”
The only thing that registers in Troy’s head is, hey, blond and good-looking.
“I’ll have two non-fat venti lattes and a cranberry scone.” The order comes with a smile and Troy finds himself hard-pressed not to smile back. He is a can-do partner after all.
“Can I get your name?”
Another one of those brilliant smiles. “Ryan.”
“Hello, Ryan.” He feels kind of stupid saying that but Ryan blushes and grins at him, so that more than makes up for it. He rings Ryan up, gives him his change and directs him over to the pick-up area with a gesture and a “thanks for coming. Hope to see you again soon.”
Ryan leaves him with a half-smile and Troy turns to the next customer in line.
And yeah, he feels like a complete idiot when he looks up to track Ryan’s exit from the store but is kind of gratified when Ryan stops for a last look in his direction.
Huh. Maybe the morning shift isn’t so bad after all.
*
Troy Bolton doesn’t remember a time when basketball wasn’t a part of his life.
He remembers being three and hugging his dad’s ball to his chest, the orange ball being so much bigger than him that his arms had struggled to keep it in place. His mother had taken a photograph of that moment, a piece of time commemorated--the ball eclipsed more than three-quarters of his body, his smile so wide and eager and his father standing at his side looking so very tall and proud.
The picture is set in a silver frame and stands on the mantelpiece of his parents’ home. It's just one of many photos his mother has taken over the years and decorated the house with.
It’s just one of the many things he’d rather not think about.
*
He stops by a Whole Foods store on the way home from his last class. Zeke is sort of a pain to have as a roommate in that way, but he cooks and is always open to suggestions and will sometimes bake for Troy when his day was crap, so Troy puts up with his (admittedly few) quirks.
He passes the newsstand and, as per usual, his gaze is drawn to the sports magazines. He doesn’t know how long he stands there, bathed in overly-bright fluorescent lighting, in the middle of a supermarket when someone calls out his name.
He looks up to see Gabriella Montez pushing her cart over to him, waving and smiling brightly. She’s a nice girl he met in his Intro to Medieval Poetry class a few years back. He still wonders what she, a Physical Chemistry major, had been doing there.
They’d been on a couple of casual dates; never anything serious, though. She’s too focused on her academic career and he doesn’t want to deal with anything too permanent.
“Troy, hi!” Gabriella always seems happy to see him. He likes that about her. They hug and she bounces a little as she says, “A few of us are planning to go check out that new club this Friday. You should come with!”
“The one with the dancers in the fish tanks? Kinky, Gab.”
She blushes and swats him on the arm. “No, see, Taylor’s given up on Chad making the first move, so she’s planned this ‘group thing’ and invited him. And you should totally come with us, if only to give Chad a familiar face!”
They both know that that's a lie, Chad makes friends easily. She’s not fooling anyone. She's asking him to go because she’s worried about him. He hasn’t been as social as he could have been in the past few weeks.
He shrugs. “Yeah, sure, why not?”
She beams and pecks him on the cheek. “We’re meeting up at my apartment at around eight. See you then!”
She pushes her cart off to the check-out. He stands there for a few moments before moving on.
He doesn’t buy the sports magazine.
*
Troy’s first time had been with Dana Walker, back in the tenth grade. She had been the head cheerleader and they’d been together for four years. She was blonde, blue-eyed and had the most genuine smile.
It happened after the Homecoming Dance, after she'd just been crowned queen. They’d slow-danced to Stairway to Heaven and, later, drove his car out to an abandoned airfield.
Dana had come prepared.
Troy’s first time with a girl happened on a cotton blanket spread over a field of grass, spring flowers in bloom all around them, the full moon bright against a night sky filled with shining stars.
It had been magical.
*
It had been hell during the first two hours of his shift. They’d had a trainee on and she couldn’t work the espresso machine and managed to spill foam just about everywhere. He and Chad had to deal with disgruntled customers yelling insults and threats without it ending in a throw down. Then the girl had to start crying.
So it had been a pretty much hellish morning and Troy is more than relieved when Chad assigns him to the register at 9.30 while he comforts the probie in the break room. Molly, who’s mopping the floor, rolls her eyes at all the drama.
Troy’s wiping down the counter when someone says, “Hi.”
He looks up and it’s Ryan, who’s half-smiling at him. He’s still wearing a scarf but the sunglasses are gone, replaced with a hat. Troy thinks he’s gaping at how blue Ryan’s eyes are.
He recovers before he can make an even bigger fool out of himself and manages a “Hey.”
Ryan’s smile turns into a full-blown grin. “Can I get two non-fat venti lattes and a plain croissant?”
It takes Troy’s brain a moment to decipher that sentence. “Uh, yeah. That’s great.” He could slap himself for being such a spaz. He uncaps his marker and looks Ryan in the eye. “Ryan, right?”
Ryan nods, his nose crinkling as he smiles wide. Troy notices that though his teeth are movie star white, they aren’t perfect--his two front teeth are a bit too large. Troy thinks that that’s probably the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. He also thinks about maybe writing his number on the sleeve of Ryan’s cup but decides that that would be too forward.
It’s Molly who reminds him to ring Ryan up when she clears her throat then exasperatedly grabs the cups from his hands. Ryan lets out a silent laugh and Troy feels himself blush. He hasn’t blushed in close to a decade. He maybe wants to disappear into the floor right now.
He’s careful not to touch Ryan more than is appropriate when giving him his change.
*
Troy’s eager to see Ryan again on Thursday and has probably annoyed Molly with his fidgeting since the start of their shift. Chad’s amused and has most likely been laughing at him behind his back the entire time.
He’s so excited that he misses Ryan entering the store and approaching the counter.
“Troy, right?”
His head jerks up and he sees Ryan and his ever-present smile. “Hey, yeah, how did you…”
Ryan smirks (attractively, Troy can’t help thinking) and points to Troy’s name tag.
Troy almost literally slaps himself on the head. “Oh, right.” He basically turns into a twelve-year old girl around Ryan. “So, two non-fat venti lattes?”
Ryan laughs. “Yeah. Yes.”
Troy nods, sage-like. “And what can I get you from our five-star pastry line-up?”
That manages to draw another laugh from Ryan and Troy thinks he could happily spend forever just making Ryan laugh. They’re staring at each other and grinning. Behind him, Troy can hear Molly making gagging noises as she fills Ryan’s order. Troy can’t find it in himself to care.
*
He gets to the apartment at half-past nine and goes straight to the refrigerator.
He finds another note written in Zeke’s loopy handwriting.
‘Your mother called again. Told her you were at work. CALL HER BACK MAN.’
He takes out a carton of orange juice and drains it dry. Another item to add to the shopping list Zeke insists they keep.
He tosses the empty carton in the trash on his way to his room.
He ignores the note.
*
Today’s Friday and Troy tells himself that this will be the day he mans up. He will ask Ryan for his number. Or give Ryan his. The technicalities don’t really matter.
Only, when 9.30 rolls in, Ryan isn’t alone.
He’s with a girl (who's wearing sunglasses that cover nearly half her face) who can only be described as shiny. Her blonde hair is shiny. Her white pants are shiny, though Troy cannot understand how. Her white top is studded with those fake diamond things that girls wear that Troy doesn’t know the word for. Her leather boots are also white and shiny. Her feather boa, white and silver. Also shiny.
She’s carrying a Chihuahua while Ryan brings what could be the dog’s carrier--pink and shiny and Bedazzled.
She stops in front of the pastry case while Ryan walks up to Troy. He’s biting his lip and is pink-cheeked. Troy’s inner adolescent girl is waving her arms and squeeing.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
Troy really hopes that girl isn’t Ryan’s girlfriend.
“Two non-fat venti lattes?”
“Oh my god, NO!” The girl shoves herself in front of Ryan with a well-placed hip. “Ugh, Ryan, are you on a quest to make me fat? Do you know how many calories are in a cup of their lattes? Non-fat is such a heinous lie!” She directs her attention to Troy. "Give us two tall chais. And ooh! Two bagels.”
Troy just blinks at her.
She stares at him. “What? God, do you want my autograph? Gah, it’s so hard being famous! People always want things from you!”
Troy frowns. Clearly he has missed something here.
She grabs a U.N. pamphlet from the display and steals his marker. “There! Now could you go and do your job?” She flounces off, muttering about the little people and how boring it must be to be ordinary.
Troy follows her with his eyes as she kicks chairs out of her way, flips her hair away from her face and trips over Kelsi’s bag. Troy purses his lips to hold in his laughter. He almost comes to Kelsi’s defense as Ryan’s companion waves her arm around yelling about the near damage to her face and how things like those are just lawsuits waiting to happen, and that Kelsi’s lucky she’s such a magnanimous person. Other people would sue, you know.
Kelsi looks the way Troy feels. Dumbfounded. Troy makes a mental note to encourage Jason to date Kelsi. She’s a regular and had set up fort at the same table for the last seven months, hoping to catch Jason’s eye.
He hears Ryan clear his throat.
“Sorry about that. My sister’s kinda…high-strung.” Ryan grins apologetically, blushing. Troy is equal parts relieved (that sparkly-girl isn’t Ryan’s girlfriend) and appalled (that someone as crazy as sparkly-girl is related to Ryan).
He rings Ryan up and thinks that it is quite possibly not his imagination that Ryan’s fingers linger over his when he hands back Ryan's change. He thinks, ah, to hell with it and just when he leans in to ask Ryan for his number, he’s interrupted by a shrieking banshee.
“OH MY GOD! I SO TOTALLY SAW YOU PUT WHOLE MILK IN THAT!” Ryan’s sister is pointing at Molly, who doesn’t have a come back in the first time in the history of ever (or for the first time since Troy’s known her). “RYAN WE ARE LEAVING THIS PLACE! YOU JUST LOST YOURSELVES SOME VERY VALUABLE CUSTOMERS!”
Ryan’s sister stomps off, flicking the ends of her feather boa over her shoulders. Ryan gives Troy another apologetic grimace and goes to pick up his order. He’s cut off from apologizing to Molly when his sister starts rapping impatiently on the glass front of the store.
He shoots Troy an enigmatic, lingering look before he leaves.
Troy gives up and gives in to the urge to bang his head on the counter. Repeatedly.
He’s almost sure that he’s never going to see Ryan again and resolves to blame this all on Molly and her whole milk pouring ass.
Molly immediately begins slapping his shoulder. “DID YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS?! That was SHARPAY EVANS!”
Troy lifts his head and brings it down on the counter. Hard.
Fuck. The guy he’d been not so covertly been crushing on was Ryan Evans. The Ryan Evans.
Trust Troy Bolton to go and fall for a fucking celebrity billionaire and be the last person ever to know about it.