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The text was short and to the point: You need to see this. Glancing at his watch, Ryan decided the dining room was probably empty enough that it wouldn't cause anyone to get in trouble with Fulton for not working hard if he dropped by the kitchen. When he got there, everyone fell silent.
Chad walked over and handed him a sheet of paper. "Here. I figured you probably didn't get any more warning about this than we did."
It didn't take long to see why Chad thought he should know. Fury flooded Ryan; he wanted nothing more than to kill someone, but that someone wasn't there, and now that he actually had friends, he really didn't want to take it out on them. He didn't look up until he felt he had control of his expression, and even then all he managed to say was a curt "thank you". Trying to avoid meeting anyone's gaze, he fled the room as quickly as he could without running.
Knowing he wasn't capable of dealing with people just then, Ryan kept walking. He found himself at the baseball diamond eventually; deciding his subconscious knew what it was doing, he took advantage of being the owner's son and got out his master key. He unlocked the equipment shed and dragged a bag full of balls out to the field, where he attempted to work off some of his frustration and anger by throwing pitch after pitch as hard as he could against the fence.
It had grown dark and Ryan had had to retrieve the thrown balls two or three times before someone tracked him down. Somehow he wasn't surprised when the figure that appeared to his left turned out to be Chad.
"I'm sorry, man," Chad began awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I know how hard you've been working. I don't know what your sister thinks she'll gain by keeping the staff out of the show, since she's already got Troy singing with her, but you'd think she'd have some consideration for you, at least."
Ryan laughed bitterly. "That's where you're wrong, Chad. She doesn't care about the staff at all; she's doing this to punish me for not following orders."
"Huh?"
"Remember when you asked what I was doing at the baseball game? I wasn't kidding, she really did tell me to spy on you. She was...not happy when she found out I was helping you instead. This is her way of teaching me a lesson."
"Wow, man, that's harsh. I know she gets competitive and all, but it's just a stupid talent show. It's not like the auditions last winter or anything; there's nothing really at stake here, right?"
"Less than nothing. She'll win the Star Dazzle Award the way she does every year, regardless of how well anyone else does. Fulton's too afraid of how she'd react to even dream of giving it to anyone else."
"So what you're saying is, she's just being petty and vindictive."
"Surprised?"
"That Sharpay would do something like that? Not at all. That you'd admit it? A little, yeah."
There didn't really seem to be anything he could say to that, so Ryan changed the subject slightly. "How's everyone taking it?"
Chad shrugged. "The girls are pretty disappointed. The guys are too, but more because they don't like the idea of your sister getting her way than anything else. Gabriella seemed pretty upset, though; no one's seen her since the announcement was made. Rumour has it she quit, actually."
That caught Ryan's attention. "She did? Why?"
"Beats me; I"ve never understood girls. Listen, I"ve been on my feet all day; would you mind if we sat down?"
"Oh! Sorry." Ryan led the way over to the bleachers.
"No problem. You'd think I'd be used to this by now, but...," Chad sighed. "So, Sharpay's mad at you so she got Fulton to ban us from the show to get back at you."
"Basically, yes."
"Can't you do the same thing? If Fulton's scared of her--and I wouldn't blame him--can't you just go over his head? Surely your mother could overrule him or something if she knew you couldn't do the act without the rest of us."
Ryan stared into the night, weighing the pros and cons of going to his mother. "She could, yes, and probably would if I asked, but then Shar would just find some other way to get what she wanted. We can't win."
"Well, that sucks."
A thought struck him. "Unless...."
"Yeah?"
"If we can find a way to get Fulton's 'no staff' ruling reversed at the last minute, so she's left with no time to plan, we just might stand a chance."
A grin spread across Chad's face. "I like it. But won't she simply find some way to get back at you later?"
"Probably," Ryan admitted, not looking forward to the idea.
"You know, you're not technically banned from the show. If you wanted to enter by yourself and avoid being the target of Sharpay's revenge, we'd all understand. I'm sure you've got other songs you could do without us."
Briefly Ryan considered the idea. "Nah. I'd rather get a little revenge of my own, I think. And...I've liked working with you guys. You've all worked really hard to get ready for the show, and it wouldn't feel right to participate myself while all your effort went to waste."
Chad stared at him a moment. "Are you sure you're related to Sharpay? Maybe there was a mix-up at the hospital."
One corner of Ryan's mouth quirked up in acknowledgement, but he couldn't help remembering how as recently as the beginning of the summer he, too, would have dismissed any consideration of the Wildcats. He tried to be more polite to staff than his sister was, but that didn't mean he would have passed up a chance to perform--even in a mere amateur talent show--out of solidarity with them.
Silence fell between them, which Chad eventually broke. "So...d'you want me to bring Taylor in on this? Since she came up with the plan that got Troy and Gabriella to drop out of the callbacks back in January, and all?"
Ryan suppressed a wince at Taylor's name. He'd tried to like her, really he had, and it certainly wasn't her fault he couldn't, but.... "I've got a better idea. We have a rehearsal scheduled for before your shift tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, and I'm still trying to figure out how you conned us all into agreeing to get up that early."
He grinned briefly; it hadn't been easy, but in fact Chad had been one of the first to agree to the morning rehearsal. "Spread the word that we're still going to meet, despite Fulton's announcement. Only instead of rehearsing for the show, we're going to brainstorm ways to ensure we'll have a chance to be in it at all."
Chad groaned. "And here I thought the one good thing about this would be having a chance to finally catch up on my sleep."
"Sorry," Ryan chirped unrepentantly. Surely with everyone contributing they'd be able to come up with a way to make it into the show--and not-so-incidentally infuriate Sharpay. He was definitely starting to look forward to it.
"Right." Chad sighed and stood up. "Well, it's getting late, and if you want me awake and capable of thinking first thing in the morning, I'd better get home."
"You'll tell the others?"
"Sure."
"Great. See you in the morning."
"G'night. And, Evans?"
"Yeah?"
"As fun as it will be to see your sister taken down a peg, I really am sorry she's doing this to you."
"Thanks," Ryan replied quietly, genuinely touched.
The following morning, Ryan rose early and unlocked the yoga studio they'd been using as a rehearsal space. He laid out some yoga mats for people to use in lieu of chairs and dragged in a flip chart he'd borrowed from the conference room, then sat down to await the others.
Shortly before 6:30 people started trickling in. To Ryan's shame--he should have thought of it--when Chad arrived he was bearing two large thermoses of coffee and a stack of paper cups; Zeke brought a variety of breakfast pastries he must have been up half the night baking.
Somewhat to Ryan's surprise, the entire group (minus Gabriella) actually showed up despite the change of plans. Unfortunately they all seemed to be looking to him to lead the meeting. A rehearsal was one thing, but here Ryan was out of his element. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he'd faked a confidence he didn't feel.
"I guess we should go ahead and get started. I'm not sure how much Chad told you; basically we need to come up with a plan to get Fulton to reverse his decision right before the show, so my sister won't have time to do anything about it. Now, I probably could get my mother to overrule Fulton, but waiting until the last minute to ask would seem a little suspicious. And anyway, I suspect you guys might prefer to get back at Sharpay more directly. I know I would. So. Anybody have any suggestions?"
Without needing to be asked, Taylor went to the flip chart and started recording people's ideas. She naturally took over as the facilitator of this little brainstorming session, for which Ryan was grateful.
By the time people had to go clock in, several ideas had been tossed out, and they had all been rejected for one reason or another. They'd managed to put together a list of requirements and things to be careful of, however, so the meeting wasn't a complete loss. Ryan promised to continue thinking about it; the problem was that Fulton was unlikely to knowingly go against Sharpay's express wishes, so what they really needed was a way to change her mind, not his. Unfortunately, Ryan's lifelong knowledge of his twin had taught him how difficult that could be once she'd set her mind on something, rather than how to make use of her hidden weaknesses. (Hidden weaknesses she had, certainly, but given that one of them was intractable stubbornness, they were hardly going to be of any use in this case.)
He was no closer to a solution when Chad's lunch break rolled around, so he went into the kitchen to resume brainstorming while Chad ate. Instead he was greeted by an unusually glum mood among the kitchen staff.
"What's going on?"
No one seemed inclined to answer at first; then Taylor glanced warily at Chad, but spoke up.
"Troy came in this morning all peppy and kind of patronising. Considering that we hadn't been able to think up a way to get back in the show, it brought everybody down. And then during my break I called Gabriella and confirmed that she did in fact quit. She broke up with Troy, too--which I whole-heartedly approve given how he's been acting, but...."
"I see." Ryan sighed. One more thing his sister had ruined that he now felt responsible for putting right.
Chad picked at his lunch while the rest of the staff went about their duties with even less enthusiasm than they usually displayed. A few minutes later Kelsi burst through the exterior door, clearly excited.
"Hey, everybody!" she called out. "Oh, Ryan! I'm glad you're here. You'll want to hear this, too. Guess what I just overheard!"
"Not really in the mood for guessing games, Kelsi."
She stuck her tongue out at him briefly before continuing. "Troy quit the show!"
That got everyone's attention, all right.
"What do you mean, he quit the show?"
"Exactly what I said, Chad. They were supposed to rehearse again this afternoon, but when he turned up he told Sharpay he'd asked Fulton for his kitchen job back and wasn't going to sing in the talent show."
"Well, now," Ryan said in the silence that followed that announcement. "Isn't that...interesting."
"You've got an idea," Chad accused.
"Not just yet. Give me a minute."
It was a good thing he was accustomed to having hundreds of people staring at him onstage, because all activity in the kitchen had stopped as attention focused on him while he thought.
Gradually a smile spread across his face. "I've got it. At least, I think I have."
"Well?"
"Before I go any further.... You all know Troy a lot better than I do. Can we assume that his cancelling on Shar and wanting his old job back means he's finally realised what a jerk he's been to you, and if so, how badly will he want to make it up to you?"
Everyone then turned to look at Chad, who appeared to give the question serious consideration.
"If he's really come to his senses, we might be able to get him to do something to make up for it, if that's what you're asking."
"Good. Okay, here's what we do: my sister is going to be less than happy, shall we say, with the last-minute change of plans. So right before the show, we get Troy to offer to sing with her after all--but only if she lets everyone else do the show, too. And here's the tricky part, but you've manipulated them before, so.... If you think we can pull it off, I bet we can even get Troy and Gabriella back together while we're at it."
"How?" Taylor asked skeptically.
"You'll have the hard part in this plan, I'm afraid," Ryan told her. "We somehow get Troy to learn Every Day, trick him or whatever. You convince Gabriella to take him back, and make sure she shows up here in time to sing her part. They seem to have this thing about singing together representing their relationship or whatever. Anyway, my sister gets forced to back down, the worst of the damage she's inflicted this summer is reversed, everybody wins."
"What about you?" Chad asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"This all started as a way to keep your work with us from going to waste. Now you're talking about giving your part to Troy, and even if he manages to learn the song, there's no way he'll get the choreography right in so short a time. Trust me, I've seen the dude try to dance; it's scary."
"I know. We'll scrap the choreography entirely; you guys just go out there and improvise like we did at the first couple of rehearsals. The show's not the point anymore," Ryan replied. "Do you think it'll work?"
The murmurs seemed to be generally affirmative, so he assigned certain people to start refining the plan, working out the details. Everyone was too engrossed in the discussion to notice Fulton's entrance, until his voice rang through the kitchen.
"You're being paid to work, not stand around gossiping! Chop-chop!"
The staff rushed back to their stations, but Ryan couldn't let them take the blame. "I'm sorry, Fulton, I had something I needed to discuss with them."
"Mr. Evans! I didn't see you there. By all means, carry on." Fulton seemed flustered at Ryan's intercession; understandable, since normally he left interfering in Fulton's job to Sharpay.
With no show to prepare for and people who knew Troy and Gabriella working on refining the portions of the plan that involved manipulating them, Ryan was at loose ends the rest of the day. At some point he drifted out to where the stage had been set up; the area was deserted, so he walked onstage and looked out over the familiar landscape, sighing. This would be the first Star Dazzle show he wouldn't be participating in since his parents had started the tradition years earlier. He just had to keep telling himself he was doing the right thing.
"There you are, Evans." He looked down to see Chad standing in front of the stage looking up at him. "Are you sure about this?"
"About what? Helping get Troy and Gabriella back together? Of course. It's pretty much my sister's fault they split up, after all."
"No, I mean giving up your spot in the show. I know you don't like Troy very much, and I don't really blame you. Right now, I don't like him much either. I also know that being onstage means a hell of a lot more to you than it does to him and I don't want you to feel like you have to sacrifice yourself just because your sister's evil. None of what happened was your fault, and we know that, man. No one would blame you if you changed your mind and decided to do the act the way we've rehearsed it."
Ryan shook his head, lowering himself to sit on the edge of the stage so they were on roughly the same level. "I've got to do this, Chad. I don't want to, but I have to."
"Why?"
He sought for a way to explain. "For basically my entire life, I've been more like an extension of Sharpay than a real person," Ryan began quietly. "I'm tired of it. I've found I like making my own decisions, and I don't want to lose that. Now that Troy's changed his mind about singing with her, she'll probably insist I sing with her after all...and I'm afraid that when she does it will be all too easy to go back to how things were. I'm hoping having a reason not to give in will help."
Chad had taken a seat next to him while Ryan was speaking, and now they both stared out at the desert in what Ryan was still surprised to find was a companionable silence.
"I don't know what to tell you, Ryan," Chad said at last. "But it's not fair for you to have to give up on something you've worked so hard for just because other people have been acting like idiots. You deserve the chance to get up there and show everyone what you can do. I know you said the award is fixed, but people have eyes. And ears, and stuff. All the Star Dazzle Awards in the world won't keep them from seeing that you're just plain better than she is."
Ryan smiled ruefully. "I appreciate your confidence in me, but past experience suggests she'd find some way to upstage me no matter what. I might as well do some good instead."
"Well...so you know, if you change your mind about giving your part to Troy, none of us would think any less of you."
Ryan suddenly had to blink back tears. He told himself it was simply the stress of the past 24 hours, but the fact was he was overwhelmed for a completely different reason. He still wasn't used to the idea that these people--many of whom wouldn't have willingly spoken to him at the beginning of the summer, or he them--now considered him a friend. And here was Chad, encouraging him to choose himself over Troy Bolton, of all people.... It was too much. Especially given the rift that had developed between him and Sharpay.
He got himself under control enough to manage a quiet thanks before Chad's break ended and he had to return to the kitchen. Ryan, deciding that hanging out around the stage he wouldn't be performing on that night was making him melancholy, set off to find his mother instead. She was probably busy, but sometimes just hanging out while she worked made him feel better.
By virtue of having to work more closely with Fulton than the kitchen staff, Taylor found out that Troy's return to his old job would be effective that very night, which they hoped would make tricking him easier. For one thing, they wouldn't need to track him down--or lure him out to Lava Springs the way they would Gabriella.
To Ryan's relief, he found that having a plan did make it easy to turn Sharpay down when she begged--well, ordered--him to sing with her after all. In fact, it was surprisingly fun to throw her words back in her face for once.
As the time for the show approached, Ryan hung out in the kitchen with the others, waiting to see if Troy really would put in an appearance. When he did, Ryan hung back, not wanting to intrude on the apologies, but apparently Troy had taken it into his head that Sharpay's decisions were his own fault, and that he therefore owed Ryan an apology as well. Since it happened to give him a perfect opportunity to put Phase One of the plan into motion, Ryan went with it.
At first Troy didn't seem to want to cooperate, but with Chad and the others assuring him they were fine with Troy's singing with Sharpay now that he wasn't treating them like...well, like she did, he soon caved. Apparently he'd really had a crisis of conscience, because they didn't even have to suggest making letting the rest of the staff participate in the show a condition of his performing with her; he actually thought of it himself. They sent him off to talk to Shar, Kelsi following to make sure that conversation got the results they needed. She came scurrying back to the kitchen just ahead of Troy, and Ryan sent them both off to teach Troy Every Day.
How Troy thought Sharpay could have gotten word to the kitchen that she'd changed her mind about what song to sing in the twenty seconds it took him to walk down the hall--or why he thought she hadn't told him herself--Ryan couldn't imagine. But Chad had been right, he hadn't questioned it.
A quick phone call confirmed Taylor was on the way back to the club with Gabriella in tow. Everything was set.
While the Wildcats were spreading the word among the rest of the staff members who'd been in the act that it was back on, Ryan waited with Sharpay and her friends so he could be there to see Troy ask his sister about the change in songs.
It was surprisingly gratifying to be the one gloating, for once--especially after she'd spent the summer dismissing him.
What wasn't as surprising as it might be was Gabriella's pulling him onstage a few minutes later; he'd noticed she had a tendency to want to include everyone. Part of him mourned the loss of the choreography he'd worked so hard on, but he put that out of his mind long enough to enjoy sharing the stage with his new friends. Then Sharpay grabbed the mic out of Fulton's hand and gave him the Star Dazzle Award--Ryan's first ever--and he recognised that act as the unspoken apology that it was.
Better than the award itself was this incredible feeling--having his sister back, surrounded by the congratulations of friends, looking out and seeing the pride on his parents' faces.... It was overwhelming.
Much later, once the members had gone home and the clean-up was finished, they all gathered again on the hill behind the main clubhouse. He blamed the lateness of the hour for the fact that he joined some of the others in frolicking--there was really no other word for it--among the sprinklers. He eventually ended up lying on the wet grass gazing up at the stars, his hat on one side of him and Chad on the other.
"So what happens now?" he asked softly.
"What do you mean?" Ryan heard a rustling sound and assumed Chad had turned to look at him, but he preferred to avoid eye contact for this conversation, so he didn't reciprocate.
"Will it be like last time? Truce over, everything back to normal?" He very nearly held his breath, waiting for the answer.
"What? No!" Chad sounded genuinely surprised by Ryan's doubts, but Ryan didn't see why. It wasn't as though it hadn't happened before. And this time he really didn't want their friendship to end.
Still, he couldn't quite bring himself to come out and say so. Eventually Chad spoke again, more quietly this time.
"Look, Evans, I don't know about you, but I've had a lot of fun hanging out this summer. I'd hate to lose that just because Troy has stopped being a jerk."
"Really?"
"Yeah! You're awesome, dude. And besides, you haven't even had a chance to beat me at baseball yet."
"Oh, well, in that case...." But Ryan couldn't help smiling a little all the same.
Six months ago, he suspected, Chad would have phrased that in terms of Ryan losing to him--again. He certainly wouldn't have implied he believed it possible Ryan could beat him at anything athletic; it was a sign at least some things had changed since then.
And change, Ryan had decided, was definitely a good thing.