Fic: Something New
Title: Something New
Pairing: Referenced Chad/OC, Sharpay/OC
Rating: PG
Warnings: Sexist frat boys. Gratuitous Chad abuse.
Summary: Chad gets hazed and comes out. Sharpay meets a boy.
[Frat!verse prequel type thing: "Did you know he introduced me and Matt? By accident, of course, I would not have been talking to Chad Danforth intentionally."]
Chad had always figured outraged women only actually slapped men across the face in movies. He hadn't really thought about it or anything, but he'd never even seen Sharpay Evans unleash a real slap on anyone, and she was by far the most dramatic (and easily outraged) person he'd ever met. So it came as something of a shock when Melinda's palm cracked against his cheek. It was loud, and it stung like hell, and by the time he actually processed what had happened, she had turned and stalked away in a huff.
He raised a hand to brush his fingers against his cheek, then turned and stalked back to where two of the active frat members -- Snorts and Matt, his older brother -- were laughing. Snorts broke into applause as he walked up, arms crossed.
"Looked like you were doing okay there, actually," Matt said, grinning widely. "I mean, until she slapped you. How'd you manage to screw it up?"
He held out the hand Melinda had been poised to write her phone number on. Some girl named Tammy's number was already scrawled across his palm. "She figured out I wasn't super sincere," he said simply. "And I guess she was very offended. By the way, ow."
Snorts shook his head. "Close, but no cigar. You've still got to get two more numbers."
Chad sighed. "Yeah," he said. "Okay."
Matt leaned over towards Snorts and they held a hushed conference. Chad let his mind wander while they discussed which unsuspecting girl who wandered by he should hit on next. He'd already managed eight phone numbers over the last few hours -- not bad. But then again, he had it easy. This particular bit of hazing was designed to make shy pledges squirm by making them talk to hot girls, and Chad was really not shy. And anyway, he saw no reason to stress out about asking girls for their phone numbers, since he had zero interest in calling any of them. But he hadn't actually mentioned the fact that he was gay to any of the active frat members yet. He'd get around to that eventually.
"Oh, oh, I got one!" Snorts yelped, and Matt looked where he pointed. Chad looked, too, since he was the one who was going to have to go be charming at her.
And he froze.
"Blond," Matt mused. "Mini-skirt. Pink. Is -- is that a dog in her purse?"
"Yes," Chad groaned.
And that was a mistake. Because Matt and Snorts both turned on him, suddenly looking way too cheerful.
"That," Matt said, "was definitely an unhappy noise."
"Don't tell me we finally found your type," Snorts added gleefully. "Two hours and you haven't squirmed at all. That's, like, a record or something."
"Go get her, kid," Matt said.
Chad debated arguing. But on the other hand, the worst that could happen was that Sharpay slapped him, and that was preferable to whatever torture his future brothers would cook up for him trying to get out of hazing. So, steeling himself for what would doubtlessly be the most unpleasant few minutes since he'd arrived at college, he jogged towards Sharpay.
She saw him coming right before he caught up with her, but didn't break stride as she made her way across the quad and towards one of the buildings. "Hi," he said.
"Oh, it's you." She kept walking, didn't even glance at him. "Let me make this very, very clear, Danforth: you and I are not friends, we're not going to hang out no matter how homesick you are, and I don't have the slightest interest in ever speaking to you."
"Uh huh, ditto," he said. No point in lying. "Thing is, I'm pledging to this frat, and at this exact second I'm being hazed. I'm supposed to get your phone number. I assume the brothers chose you because, you know, it's supposed to be torture. So if you'd please give it to me -- or a fake one, since I'm never going to call you -- that would be awesome."
"I'll bet you never call me," she answered, and actually stopped walking. "But then, to hear Eric tell it, you're not big on calling people in general. And he'd know."
Chad gaped.
He only knew one Eric at U of A. They'd met during orientation week, and... Well, Chad had gone from "never intentionally flirted with a guy" to "no longer a virgin" in a matter of hours, thanks to Eric. And, to his surprise, he hadn't even freaked out or anything afterwards -- he'd really, really enjoyed it, in fact. But Chad hadn't thought Eric had expected him to call, since it wasn't like they were friends or they'd gone on a date or anything. Not a lot of actual talking had happened between smiling at each other across the refreshments table and taking each other's clothing off.
"You know Eric?" he finally said, sounding a little pathetic, even to himself.
"Naturally. As it happens, I'm in the market for a gay sidekick with great fashion sense, preferably who wears a lot of hats."
Yeah, that described Eric pretty well. On the other hand, it also described --
"Out of curiosity, is there a reason your first gay hook-up was with my twin brother's doppleganger?"
"Wouldn't you be your twin brother's doppleganger?" Chad said, ducking the question. "Like, isn't that the whole thing about being twins?"
"At least you're not denying the gay thing," she said, ignoring him almost entirely. "I hope you meant to be out at college, because Eric is a gossip. I doubt I'll be the only person who put together 'freshman basketball player with the hair,' with..." She shuddered. "No accounting for taste, I suppose."
"I'm not denying the gay thing," Chad agreed. "I'm not exactly out to everyone yet, but that was the eventual plan. I just..." He glanced over at where Snorts and Matt were trying unsuccessfully to act like they weren't watching. "It hasn't exactly come up in conversation."
"But you want it to?" She looked amused. "That's easily done, Danforth. Should I assume the two jackasses who are pretending very hard not to stare at us are the ones in charge of torturing you?"
"Yes, but -- " He broke off as she started to stride purposefully towards them. He caught up with her easily. "You can't just go out me!"
"Relax, I'm not going to. I'm just going to give you an excuse to do it yourself, if you're really going to do it." Which I doubt hung in the air, unsaid.
Chad groaned. This was going to be bad on so many levels. But there wasn't much he could do about it; she was like a force of nature when she was determined, and Matt and Snorts were about to get hit by Hurricane Sharpay. He wondered if it would rain pink glitter or something.
"Excuse me," she demanded, coming to a halt in front of them, hand on hip and glaring. "Your pledge is bothering me. Do something about it."
Matt and Snorts exchanged looks. Matt said, "Bothering you? That's not what we sent him to do at all."
"Danforth," Snorts said, pitching his voice with mock anger, "drop and give me ten." To Sharpay, "Will that cover it?"
"Oh, you are kidding me," Chad mumbled.
Snorts raised his eyebrows.
"I hate you," Chad informed Sharpay.
"Now that wasn't very nice. Make it twenty," Matt said.
Chad gave up arguing, resigned himself, and got down on the ground to do pushups. He kept listening, though.
"Will that about cover it?" Matt asked Sharpay.
"That is delightful," Sharpay agreed. "But not really the point. First: it is ridiculous that you use girls as a way to test your pledges at all. We're people, not tally marks."
"Three," Chad said loudly, dipping towards the ground. "Four."
But to his surprise, Matt said to Snorts, "She does make a point. I mean, we've literally been tallying them."
"You want to ask her for her number, don't you?" Snorts answered, sounding mildly disgusted.
Chad glanced up. Matt looked suitably guilty.
"Ha," Sharpay snapped. "As if I'd ever give my phone number to an idiot frat boy."
"What about a reasonably intelligent, well-meaning frat boy?" Matt asked.
"Seven!" Chad half-yelled.
"And anyway," Sharpay continued, "it's not only sexist, it's incredibly heterosexist. What makes you think all the girls you're using are even attracted to boys? For that matter, what makes you think all of your pledges are attracted to girls?"
That was her idea of giving him an opening? Chad froze, his arms extended.
"We hope that any of our pledges would be open with us about something like that," Snorts said after a startled second, but he sounded pretty dead serious.
"I'm so sure. With you pressuring them about getting girls' phone numbers, yeah, I'm sure you're all real open to hearing about it. I mean, do any U of A frats have gay members?"
"No one gay has pledged," Matt said. "That's not our fault. We wouldn't have a problem with it."
"I'll bet."
"Hey!" Snorts half-yelled. "I don't know who you are, okay, but don't make assumptions about our frat when you don't know anything!"
Chad looked up. Snorts actually looked outraged, hands clenched into fists. Matt put a hand on his shoulder, looking shaken and defensive. Sharpay, for her part, looked taken aback.
"So prove me wrong," she said finally, but the edge was gone from her voice.
"Not that it's any of your business," Snorts snapped, "but my dad is gay. And I wouldn't be in a frat that wasn't totally open to gay brothers."
"Oh," Sharpay said.
Matt repeated, "We don't have any gay brothers because no one gay has pledged."
"And if any of our pledges turn out to be gay," Snorts said, "we'd be cool with it."
Chad didn't need Sharpay to tell him that was his cue. He still had six pushups to do, but stood, cleared his throat, and said, "Um, actually?" And they turned to look at him. "Um, yeah. I am. Gay. I'm gay."
"Oh," Matt said.
Snorts turned to Matt. "You owe me fifty bucks." To Chad, "It's about time you got around to telling us, Danforth. Come here." Chad stepped forward awkwardly, and Snorts wrapped his arms around Chad and hugged him quickly.
Chad flushed. "I was going to tell everyone. But, you know... The team, and..."
"Dude, I get it," Snorts said. "I have two daddies, remember? Me and Matt will take care of the team and the brothers."
"Really." Sharpay didn't sound too impressed.
Matt gave her a smile. "We have a little influence with important people."
"Important people meaning some drunk guys and the basketball team? Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Can't hurt, right?" Matt shrugged and turned to Snorts. "This all brings up a very good question, though. What do we do about the phone numbers?"
Snorts laughed as he shifted, leaving an arm slung around Chad casually. "Well, obviously, the eight girls don't count. I'm thinking his count drops back to zero and we have Danforth start asking guys."
Chad groaned.
"That sounds good to me," Matt agreed. And to Sharpay, "So you know Chad?"
"Unfortunately."
"How would you like to help us pick out dudes for him?"
"Well, I do like the idea of torturing him," she mused.
"Did I do something to you at some point?" Chad snapped at her.
She turned to Matt. "Your pledge is bothering me again."
"Danforth..." Matt said.
Chad sighed. "Another ten?"
"Yup. And make it snappy; I'm thinking the phone numbers are going to take you a bit longer this time. Just a gut feeling I've got." He gave Chad a wide grin, but shifted it towards Sharpay easily. "My name is Matt, by the way."
Sharpay gave Matt a disdainful look, though it faded and was replaced with mild interest as her gaze swept down his body. Finally she returned his grin with a predatory smile of her own and answered, "Sharpay Evans. Nice to meet you."
Pairing: Referenced Chad/OC, Sharpay/OC
Rating: PG
Warnings: Sexist frat boys. Gratuitous Chad abuse.
Summary: Chad gets hazed and comes out. Sharpay meets a boy.
[Frat!verse prequel type thing: "Did you know he introduced me and Matt? By accident, of course, I would not have been talking to Chad Danforth intentionally."]
Chad had always figured outraged women only actually slapped men across the face in movies. He hadn't really thought about it or anything, but he'd never even seen Sharpay Evans unleash a real slap on anyone, and she was by far the most dramatic (and easily outraged) person he'd ever met. So it came as something of a shock when Melinda's palm cracked against his cheek. It was loud, and it stung like hell, and by the time he actually processed what had happened, she had turned and stalked away in a huff.
He raised a hand to brush his fingers against his cheek, then turned and stalked back to where two of the active frat members -- Snorts and Matt, his older brother -- were laughing. Snorts broke into applause as he walked up, arms crossed.
"Looked like you were doing okay there, actually," Matt said, grinning widely. "I mean, until she slapped you. How'd you manage to screw it up?"
He held out the hand Melinda had been poised to write her phone number on. Some girl named Tammy's number was already scrawled across his palm. "She figured out I wasn't super sincere," he said simply. "And I guess she was very offended. By the way, ow."
Snorts shook his head. "Close, but no cigar. You've still got to get two more numbers."
Chad sighed. "Yeah," he said. "Okay."
Matt leaned over towards Snorts and they held a hushed conference. Chad let his mind wander while they discussed which unsuspecting girl who wandered by he should hit on next. He'd already managed eight phone numbers over the last few hours -- not bad. But then again, he had it easy. This particular bit of hazing was designed to make shy pledges squirm by making them talk to hot girls, and Chad was really not shy. And anyway, he saw no reason to stress out about asking girls for their phone numbers, since he had zero interest in calling any of them. But he hadn't actually mentioned the fact that he was gay to any of the active frat members yet. He'd get around to that eventually.
"Oh, oh, I got one!" Snorts yelped, and Matt looked where he pointed. Chad looked, too, since he was the one who was going to have to go be charming at her.
And he froze.
"Blond," Matt mused. "Mini-skirt. Pink. Is -- is that a dog in her purse?"
"Yes," Chad groaned.
And that was a mistake. Because Matt and Snorts both turned on him, suddenly looking way too cheerful.
"That," Matt said, "was definitely an unhappy noise."
"Don't tell me we finally found your type," Snorts added gleefully. "Two hours and you haven't squirmed at all. That's, like, a record or something."
"Go get her, kid," Matt said.
Chad debated arguing. But on the other hand, the worst that could happen was that Sharpay slapped him, and that was preferable to whatever torture his future brothers would cook up for him trying to get out of hazing. So, steeling himself for what would doubtlessly be the most unpleasant few minutes since he'd arrived at college, he jogged towards Sharpay.
She saw him coming right before he caught up with her, but didn't break stride as she made her way across the quad and towards one of the buildings. "Hi," he said.
"Oh, it's you." She kept walking, didn't even glance at him. "Let me make this very, very clear, Danforth: you and I are not friends, we're not going to hang out no matter how homesick you are, and I don't have the slightest interest in ever speaking to you."
"Uh huh, ditto," he said. No point in lying. "Thing is, I'm pledging to this frat, and at this exact second I'm being hazed. I'm supposed to get your phone number. I assume the brothers chose you because, you know, it's supposed to be torture. So if you'd please give it to me -- or a fake one, since I'm never going to call you -- that would be awesome."
"I'll bet you never call me," she answered, and actually stopped walking. "But then, to hear Eric tell it, you're not big on calling people in general. And he'd know."
Chad gaped.
He only knew one Eric at U of A. They'd met during orientation week, and... Well, Chad had gone from "never intentionally flirted with a guy" to "no longer a virgin" in a matter of hours, thanks to Eric. And, to his surprise, he hadn't even freaked out or anything afterwards -- he'd really, really enjoyed it, in fact. But Chad hadn't thought Eric had expected him to call, since it wasn't like they were friends or they'd gone on a date or anything. Not a lot of actual talking had happened between smiling at each other across the refreshments table and taking each other's clothing off.
"You know Eric?" he finally said, sounding a little pathetic, even to himself.
"Naturally. As it happens, I'm in the market for a gay sidekick with great fashion sense, preferably who wears a lot of hats."
Yeah, that described Eric pretty well. On the other hand, it also described --
"Out of curiosity, is there a reason your first gay hook-up was with my twin brother's doppleganger?"
"Wouldn't you be your twin brother's doppleganger?" Chad said, ducking the question. "Like, isn't that the whole thing about being twins?"
"At least you're not denying the gay thing," she said, ignoring him almost entirely. "I hope you meant to be out at college, because Eric is a gossip. I doubt I'll be the only person who put together 'freshman basketball player with the hair,' with..." She shuddered. "No accounting for taste, I suppose."
"I'm not denying the gay thing," Chad agreed. "I'm not exactly out to everyone yet, but that was the eventual plan. I just..." He glanced over at where Snorts and Matt were trying unsuccessfully to act like they weren't watching. "It hasn't exactly come up in conversation."
"But you want it to?" She looked amused. "That's easily done, Danforth. Should I assume the two jackasses who are pretending very hard not to stare at us are the ones in charge of torturing you?"
"Yes, but -- " He broke off as she started to stride purposefully towards them. He caught up with her easily. "You can't just go out me!"
"Relax, I'm not going to. I'm just going to give you an excuse to do it yourself, if you're really going to do it." Which I doubt hung in the air, unsaid.
Chad groaned. This was going to be bad on so many levels. But there wasn't much he could do about it; she was like a force of nature when she was determined, and Matt and Snorts were about to get hit by Hurricane Sharpay. He wondered if it would rain pink glitter or something.
"Excuse me," she demanded, coming to a halt in front of them, hand on hip and glaring. "Your pledge is bothering me. Do something about it."
Matt and Snorts exchanged looks. Matt said, "Bothering you? That's not what we sent him to do at all."
"Danforth," Snorts said, pitching his voice with mock anger, "drop and give me ten." To Sharpay, "Will that cover it?"
"Oh, you are kidding me," Chad mumbled.
Snorts raised his eyebrows.
"I hate you," Chad informed Sharpay.
"Now that wasn't very nice. Make it twenty," Matt said.
Chad gave up arguing, resigned himself, and got down on the ground to do pushups. He kept listening, though.
"Will that about cover it?" Matt asked Sharpay.
"That is delightful," Sharpay agreed. "But not really the point. First: it is ridiculous that you use girls as a way to test your pledges at all. We're people, not tally marks."
"Three," Chad said loudly, dipping towards the ground. "Four."
But to his surprise, Matt said to Snorts, "She does make a point. I mean, we've literally been tallying them."
"You want to ask her for her number, don't you?" Snorts answered, sounding mildly disgusted.
Chad glanced up. Matt looked suitably guilty.
"Ha," Sharpay snapped. "As if I'd ever give my phone number to an idiot frat boy."
"What about a reasonably intelligent, well-meaning frat boy?" Matt asked.
"Seven!" Chad half-yelled.
"And anyway," Sharpay continued, "it's not only sexist, it's incredibly heterosexist. What makes you think all the girls you're using are even attracted to boys? For that matter, what makes you think all of your pledges are attracted to girls?"
That was her idea of giving him an opening? Chad froze, his arms extended.
"We hope that any of our pledges would be open with us about something like that," Snorts said after a startled second, but he sounded pretty dead serious.
"I'm so sure. With you pressuring them about getting girls' phone numbers, yeah, I'm sure you're all real open to hearing about it. I mean, do any U of A frats have gay members?"
"No one gay has pledged," Matt said. "That's not our fault. We wouldn't have a problem with it."
"I'll bet."
"Hey!" Snorts half-yelled. "I don't know who you are, okay, but don't make assumptions about our frat when you don't know anything!"
Chad looked up. Snorts actually looked outraged, hands clenched into fists. Matt put a hand on his shoulder, looking shaken and defensive. Sharpay, for her part, looked taken aback.
"So prove me wrong," she said finally, but the edge was gone from her voice.
"Not that it's any of your business," Snorts snapped, "but my dad is gay. And I wouldn't be in a frat that wasn't totally open to gay brothers."
"Oh," Sharpay said.
Matt repeated, "We don't have any gay brothers because no one gay has pledged."
"And if any of our pledges turn out to be gay," Snorts said, "we'd be cool with it."
Chad didn't need Sharpay to tell him that was his cue. He still had six pushups to do, but stood, cleared his throat, and said, "Um, actually?" And they turned to look at him. "Um, yeah. I am. Gay. I'm gay."
"Oh," Matt said.
Snorts turned to Matt. "You owe me fifty bucks." To Chad, "It's about time you got around to telling us, Danforth. Come here." Chad stepped forward awkwardly, and Snorts wrapped his arms around Chad and hugged him quickly.
Chad flushed. "I was going to tell everyone. But, you know... The team, and..."
"Dude, I get it," Snorts said. "I have two daddies, remember? Me and Matt will take care of the team and the brothers."
"Really." Sharpay didn't sound too impressed.
Matt gave her a smile. "We have a little influence with important people."
"Important people meaning some drunk guys and the basketball team? Is that supposed to impress me?"
"Can't hurt, right?" Matt shrugged and turned to Snorts. "This all brings up a very good question, though. What do we do about the phone numbers?"
Snorts laughed as he shifted, leaving an arm slung around Chad casually. "Well, obviously, the eight girls don't count. I'm thinking his count drops back to zero and we have Danforth start asking guys."
Chad groaned.
"That sounds good to me," Matt agreed. And to Sharpay, "So you know Chad?"
"Unfortunately."
"How would you like to help us pick out dudes for him?"
"Well, I do like the idea of torturing him," she mused.
"Did I do something to you at some point?" Chad snapped at her.
She turned to Matt. "Your pledge is bothering me again."
"Danforth..." Matt said.
Chad sighed. "Another ten?"
"Yup. And make it snappy; I'm thinking the phone numbers are going to take you a bit longer this time. Just a gut feeling I've got." He gave Chad a wide grin, but shifted it towards Sharpay easily. "My name is Matt, by the way."
Sharpay gave Matt a disdainful look, though it faded and was replaced with mild interest as her gaze swept down his body. Finally she returned his grin with a predatory smile of her own and answered, "Sharpay Evans. Nice to meet you."