Work Text:
The note in his locker was simple, yet disturbing. "Beginning of lunch, behind the gym. Don't tell your sister." He didn't recognise the handwriting, which was part of what made it so disturbing.
Mysterious anonymous requests for him to meet someone in an isolated location could not possibly end well for Ryan. Then again, if someone knew Sharpay well enough to specifically request she not be told, surely they could guess what her reaction would be to anyone who hurt her brother, and wouldn't be so stupid as to provoke her wrath...right?
In the end, Ryan's curiosity got the better of his common sense, and he made up an excuse to not accompany Shar to the cafeteria like he usually did. Still not sure he'd made the right decision, Ryan cautiously turned the corner.
And stopped.
Waiting there was one of Troy Bolton's groupies--the one who appeared to have a basketball permanently glued to his hands. Chad, Ryan thought his name was.
"Good, you came."
"I almost didn't. Could you possibly be any more cryptic?"
Chad shrugged and took a few steps toward Ryan. His body language wasn't threatening, so although Ryan tensed instinctively, he held his ground. "I figured you'd ignore the note if you knew it was from me," Chad continued.
"Probably. But if you don't tell me why you wanted me here soon, I'm leaving anyway."
"Right. So. Callbacks."
Ryan's eyes narrowed. "No."
"You don't even know what I want to ask!"
"Doesn't matter. Under no circumstances am I going to throw an audition just so your precious captain can take my role. Not going to happen," he repeated firmly, turning to leave.
"Wait! That's not what I wanted at all."
Ryan sighed, exasperated, but turned back around. "Well?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in his best imitation of Sharpay's "you have exactly half a second to do what I want" face. Apparently it wasn't a very good imitation, since Chad didn't seem at all frightened.
"Actually, I, uh...I want your help making sure Troy and that new girl don't go to the callbacks at all."
That was unexpected.
"You have my attention."
"Okay, good. See...we've got the championship game in just two weeks, and if our captain's not focused because all of a sudden he's worried about singing or whatever, we won't win. So I'm trying to put together a plan to get Troy's mind off of this musical nonsense and back on what's important."
Deciding averting the disaster that having someone else get the leads would be was worth overlooking the insult, Ryan asked skeptically, "And you want me to help?"
Chad shrugged. "Well, yeah. I mean, you don't want them to do the callbacks either, right?"
"Of course not. But you've got the wrong Evans; I'm not the one who's good at scheming. My sister is."
"Dude, your sister scares me."
Not as dumb as he looks, Ryan thought, somewhat surprised. "Fine, but I don't know what help I could be. Plotting really isn't my thing."
"That's cool. During free period I plan to talk to one of the brainiacs--I think they want Gabriella for some nerd-thing--so we can let her come up wtih the ideas. If you do think of something, great, but I figure we can leave the thinking to someone who's good at it," Chad concluded with a grin.
"Fine. I can't promise anything, but if you come up with a plan that seems workable, I'll think about it."
"Awesome."
Since nothing further appeared to be forthcoming, Ryan again turned to leave, only to be stopped mone more.
"Oh, hey! I need your number."
"What?"
"Your phone number, Evans. So I can get in touch with you when we need your help."
"Ah. Right." They exchanged numbers, and Ryan was finally allowed to go to lunch.
He thought about telling Sharpay, since she really was amazing at thinking up ways to destroy other people's lives, and she'd definitely approve of sabotaging the competition. On the other hand, he was pretty sure she was planning to do that anyway, and if he told her someone else was working on the same problem she'd immediately take over. And...it was kind of nice being the one someone came to for a change, even if that was only because his sister was scary. So maybe he'd keep this to himself for a little while longer after all.
Over the next two days, Ryan had no luck thinking of ways to ensure he and Shar got the parts they deserved, but he did discover that he rather liked having a secret. One downside of being a twin was that it sometimes felt like he didn't have a life of his own, just half of Shar's. Less than half, really; even simply knowing something she didn't was basically a new experience for him.
Still, he wasn't expecting Chad to actually call him with news of a plan.
"So that Taylor girl is going to help us rig a hidden webcam in the locker room, and we're going to get Troy to say stuff about not wanting to sing, or whatever. Taylor will make sure Gabriella's watching, she'll get upset and dump him...it'll be perfect," Chad explained excitedly.
"Uh-huh," Ryan said skeptically. Sure, he wasn't the most clever guy around, but even he could see a flaw in this plan. "And how exactly are you going to get him to say what you want?"
Chad spluttered. "Well, I'll--we'll--I don't know, I'll think of something."
Ryan sighed. "Right. Meet me in front of the school in half an hour."
"What for?"
"I may not be good at plotting, but I know when a scene isn't going to work. And if you don't practice what you're going to say, this scene will be an outright disaster. You asked for my help, so let me help you write your script and rehearse your lines."
"All right, all right. Half an hour."
That only left Ryan with ten minutes to decide what to wear and choose the right hat to go with it, but this was something of an emergency, and besides, he doubted Chad would be capable of appreciating even that much effort, so what would be the point of delaying?
Chad was waiting when he pulled up in front of the school, so Ryan didn't bother parking the car, instead rolling down the window and instructing Chad to get in.
"Where're we going?"
"Somewhere we don't have to worry about being seen together." Ryan had given this some thought on the way to the school. Lava Springs would be perfect if it weren't so far from town. He had keys to the theatre and dressing rooms at school, but so did Sharpay, and it seemed best to avoid the risk of having her show up. In the end, the only place he could think of where neither his sister nor Chad's basketball buddies would ever see them was the dance studio.
"What is this place?" Chad asked as Ryan unlocked the door and flicked on the lights.
"What does it look like?"
"Should we even be here?"
"It's fine. I teach here on weekends; they let me practice here any time they're not open, for when I need to work on something without my sister's interference."
"Well, if you're sure it's okay.... Um, you're not going to make me dance or anything, are you?"
Ryan gave him the contemptuous look that question deserved. "Do try not to be a complete moron, would you? Thank goodness I didn't let you go in there tomorrow unprepared. There's no way you could manipulate anyone into saying what you want them to say on your own, if this is a sample of your brilliant reasoning."
"Hey!"
"Look, do you want this to succeed or not?" Sheepishly, Chad nodded. "Then sit," Ryan ordered, doing so himself. He pulled a notebook and pen out of his bag.
"So...how does this work?" Chad asked, taking a seat on the studio floor facing Ryan.
"Let's start with deciding the kind of thing we need to get Troy to say, and work from there."
Three hours later, they had a script for Chad's side of the conversation, complete with alternatives depending on just how Troy reacted at key points. They'd rehearsed the scene as many times as Ryan felt necessary to convince him Chad would remember his lines well enough to deliver them without having to stop and think. It was late by the time he called it a night, but he had to hand it to Chad, once Ryan had demonstrated in their first improv why it would be a good idea for him to prepare, he'd buckled down and kept complaints to a minimum.
Ryan gave Chad a ride home before returning to his own, where he headed straight for his room, cheerfully ignoring his sister's demands to know what he'd been doing out so late when he knew they had an audition coming up.
He wasn't sure just when the next day Chad and that Taylor girl intended to put their plan in action; he kept checking his phone every fifteen minutes--except for when he was in Darbus' class--in hopes of a missed text reporting the outcome. Classes had ended and he and Shar, having skipped the stupid pep rally, were halfway home when it came--a single word: success. Grinning to himself, Ryan distracted Shar from her questions about who could be texting him with a question of his own about her ideas for their callback piece.
He'd hoped for a fuller report that evening, but no call came. The next morning as he passed Chad's desk in homeroom, he received a quick wink, but otherwise the temporary alliance appeared to be at an end.
Well, so what if it was? He and Sharpay had what they'd wanted (even if she didn't know it yet): no competition for the leads. Nothing else mattered, right?
Unfortunately, a few days later he was heading to his locker after helping out with sets for a couple of hours, and he heard definite sounds of someone singing that unfortunate duet from the end of the second act. Someone who sounded suspiciously like Troy Bolton.
Without a second thought, he pulled out his phone and called Chad. As soon as he answered, Ryan said, "We have a problem. Bolton's rehearsing for callbacks again."
"Oh, that. Um. We couldn't stand seeing them so unhappy, so we confessed everything," Chad explained sheepishly. "I'm sorry, man; I should have told you."
Yes, he should have--this whole thing had been his idea, after all--but Ryan didn't feel he really had the right to complain. What loyalty did Chad owe him, after all?
"It's fine." It wasn't, but then, Sharpay was still working on the problem, at least. So what if she hadn't come up with anything yet? She'd come through; she usually did where her own self-interest was concerned.
"No, really, dude; you helped me and all, I should at least have let you know the plan was off."
He actually sounded remorseful, but that wasn't Ryan's problem. He didn't care. "Just so you know, my sister and I are still going to do whatever we can to stop them."
"That's fair."
Ryan hung up without saying goodbye, telling himself he wasn't upset at being brought in to the whole Stop Callbacks Plot only to be forgotten when plans changed. Sure, he was upset, but he'd just found out his role was at risk after all--he had reason to be. It had nothing to do with anything but that.
The next day Shar was with him when he once again heard the interlopers rehearsing, and this time, she realised what they had to do. Luckily, getting Darbus to reschedule the callbacks was easier than he'd expected. He briefly considered warning Chad before remembering that their alliance was over; they didn't owe each other anything anymore.
Judging by the overt way they were being ignored by half the people in homeroom the next morning, Darbus had wasted no time in making the schedule change known. Chad, however, didn't turn away when Ryan met his eyes; if he didn't know better Ryan would swear he looked hurt. But that was impossible.
Sharpay kept him busy rehearsing--over and over and over--but Ryan was aware enough of what was going on around him to notice a suspicious increase in interaction between the jocks and the science geeks that Gabriella girl had taken up with. It appeared Chad had formed another alliance, and this time brought his whole team along. Well, fine; let them plot. No way could they convince Darbus to change her mind, and it wasn't like they'd be able to reschedule their playoff game or the scholastic decathlon. And he seriously doubted Coach Bolton would allow his son to just skip an important game for any reason short of death, and possibly not even then.
He understood Chad's loyalty to his friend--who better?--but he couldn't help wanting to gloat. And besides, Chad was the one who'd claimed they should team up in the first place; if he hadn't done that, Ryan really wouldn't have cared if he'd changed his mind about Troy's attempt to take over the drama department. But he had, and Ryan did, and now Chad would learn that Evanses always got their way in the end.
Friday morning, Ryan was surprised to see Chad approaching him before homeroom, and even more so when he dragged him and Sharpay over to the classroom door to watch the entire basketball team behaving like cheerleaders. (Though not nearly as scantily-clad, alas. That at least might have been interesting. In fact, just imagining it was so distracting he completely lost his train of thought each time he tried to read their shirts.)
All day everyone seemed to be acting strangely. Even more so than usual on days the school was once again obsessed with some sporting event, which Ryan hadn't thought possible. But eventually 3:10 arrived and he watched carefully as Troy Bolton entered the boys' locker room along with the rest of the Wildcats. The game was indeed proceeding as scheduled, which meant that all that was left now was to perform the typically over-the-top number Sharpay had insisted on choosing as though it were...anything whose lyrics made sense, really, and demonstrate once again why they always had the leads in the school shows despite his sister's sometimes questionable taste and her frequently unfortunate attitude.
They pulled it off without a hitch, and with no sign of Troy or Gabriella. It was turning out to be a good day--and then the interlopers themselves came running onstage. For a brief time it looked as though Darbus was going to stick to the rules and forbid them to audition late, but then what seemed like half the school poured into the house, led by Chad and the other basketball players, and suddenly she reversed her decision. He and Sharpay were forced to stand in the wings and watch as two newbies with no sense of stagecraft, no notion of even so basic a concept as sightlines--he soon lost track of how many times one or the other of them closed themselves off or, worse, completely turned their backs on the audience--attempted to steal the roles that were rightfully theirs.
When it became clear that Darbus was indeed going to allow the casting of the show to turn into a popularity contest, Sharpay flounced off to lock herself in the dressing room, leaving Ryan standing alone backstage while the cool kids celebrated their victory right in front of him. It wasn't fair; they'd worked hard for this, even before they knew they'd have to. Theatre was all they had at this stupid school, and now it had been taken from them by two people who didn't even really care, but just thought it might be fun.
At some point Chad broke away from the celebration onstage and walked over the the fly rail, where Ryan had retreated to sulk.
"Hey, man," Chad began awkwardly. "Sorry you didn't get the part."
"Whatever." He really wasn't in the mood for sympathy.
""You have to admit, though, they were pretty good."
"We were better."
Chad shrugged. "I didn't see you guys, so I couldn't say."
"Yeah, well...we were."
"Look, it's not my fault Darbus picked them. All I cared about was getting them back together, and doing the callback seemed to be the only way to do that. I'm not going to apologise for wanting my best friend to be happy."
"No one asked you to," Ryan pointed out, not caring that he sounded bitter. He was.
Chad rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Anyway, I'd better go; they'll probably be starting the game again soon. You should come."
Ryan's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Come? To the game?"
"Sure! Why not? I mean, you're done with the audition, right?"
"Yeah, but...." He couldn't think of a way to explain just how insane the idea of their attending a basketball game was. "I'm just waiting for Sharpay to come back so we can go home."
"Great! Then you don't have other plans. You should totally watch us play; we're awesome. We always are, but we're even more awesome today, I mean."
"Uh, yeah. We'll see."
Chad grinned, then bounded back over to the crowd, leaving Ryan to wonder what on earth that was about.
Before long, everyone filed out of the theatre, presumably on their way back to the gym or where ever else they'd come from. Now that the coast was clear, Ryan decided it was time to try and talk Sharpay into coming out of her sanctuary.
And then perhaps they'd drop by the gym. Just for a few minutes. A few minutes couldn't hurt, right?