Maybe A Little

Chapter 11

So I never start with author's notes because they annoy me when I'm trying to read a good fic but holy cow you guys, 1.4k reads?! I love you all and thank you to all of you that have been encouraging me to write more. Chapter 11 goes out to you lovelies :)

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For as long as Chad could remember, Troy Bolton had been his best friend. They had been close enough to walk unannounced into each other's houses since they were 12. They had spent an insane amount of hours playing one-on-one. They didn't talk about things like problems and feelings, though.

And it was times like this that Chad wished he and Troy were like that - able to talk problems out instead of ignoring one another. But they weren't, so they didn't. Zeke wasn't Troy, though.

After Zeke finding him freaking out in the bathroom, the two headed back to class. Chad was both pleasantly surprised and mildly guilty when he realized that he and Zeke shared every afternoon class together.

He had also not realized, though, that Ryan and Sharpay happened to share their third block class as well. He and Zeke had made it to the classroom and Zeke had his hand on the door handle when Chad grabbed his arm, pulling him backwards.

"Dude, what the hell? Troy's not in there, is he? No, I know he's not in there, I would have remembered. What's wrong?"

Chad tensed a little at the mention of Troy, but remembered that wasn't the problem at hand.

"Zeke, look in that room and tell me who you see." Zeke scanned the seats through the small window on the door.

"Taylor?"

Chad had to refrain from rolling his eyes. "No, Zeke."

"Oh, Sharpay's in there. God, doesn't she look gorgeous today? I've always thought pink looked really good on her."

At this point, Chad couldn't even find the will to roll his eyes. He stared at the taller boy blankly. "One more guess."

Zeke looked at Chad for a second as if confused as to why Chad wasn't as excited to see Sharpay as he was. Then he turned back and looked into the room once more. Chad could pinpoint the second the realization hit the boy. "Oohhhh, shit, you meant Ryan."

This time Chad really did roll his eyes. "Yes, Zeke, and now that we've tested your process of elimination skills, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

Zeke, the wise and caring person he is, was ready for this question. "You go to class dude. Duh?"

Chad groaned in frustration. "But Zeke I don't even want to look at him right now, and he's the one who stood me up at lunch today, so obviously he's not too happy with me an-"

"No Chad, listen to me. You are literally just going to class. He just happens to be sitting in said class. This is a place to learn. This is not the place to let all of this get in your head. And on the off chance that Ryan really was just being a dick and ignoring you, avoiding him and running in the opposite direction every time you see him is not going to do you any favors. We need to get to class, so are you in or out?"

Chad had to take a moment to process all of that, but when it sank in he ducked his head, blushing. Since when did Chad Danforth act like a 12 year old girl?

"Let's go," Chad muttered, sidestepping Zeke and pushing through the door himself. Zeke smirked the whole way to his seat.

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Going to class had seemed like a great idea, especially after Zeke's pep talk. However, Chad had steeled himself for Ryan ignoring him. He had not been prepared to see the blonde glancing at him every thirty seconds. This was a whole different situation if Ryan was giving Chad attention.

By the end of the class Chad knew he wouldn't be able to leave without talking to the other boy. And he was dreading it, because God knew he was already an emotional wreck, but he kept in mind that to talk to Ryan had been all he wanted all morning and who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? Ryan didn't seem angry with him, so it couldn't be that bad.

As the bell rang, Chad took his time gathering his things, knowing if he tried to rush out Ryan would only attempt to follow him and cause a scene. Sure enough, as Chad stood up and swung his bag over his shoulder, someone cleared their throat behind him.

"Chad?" Ryan mumbled, his voice barely over a whisper. "I'm sorry."

Chad could tell just by the tone of his voice that Ryan felt bad, but Chad had felt bad too, and Ryan had been the reason. So Chad only looked at him.

"Listen, Chad, I'm so sorry. I know I should have tried harder to spend lunch with you, but you know how all the teachers get when there's a new student. They made me spend lunch giving this kid the tour of the school.
Do you know how big our school is, Chad? It's freaking huge, and I tried to walk him by my locker so I could stop and explain to you why I wasn't there but then this kid wanted to know how nice our theater was and you know I can never turn down an opportunity to boast about the drama club so I had to..." Ryan trailed off, finally noticing the look Chad had on his face.

"So this guy is interested in theater, huh? I guess that means you'll be seeing him all the time then?"

Ryan looked at the curly haired boy, confused. "I mean, I guess? What...what does this have to do with me missing lunch?"

"I don't like the idea of you spending more time with a guy that has the same interests as you than you do with me. I'm jealous, okay? I'm worried you're gonna go out and replace me with someone better and it's terrifying Ryan because if I don't have Troy and I don't have you, who in the world am I supposed to be?"

By the end of his rant Chad had tears streaming down his face. Ryan pulled him in and held him and the two of them stood seemingly frozen in time in the empty classroom.

Ryan took a deep breath and Chad tensed. "Baby first of all, no matter what happens, you're always going to be you. People are going to come and go and it's going to hurt, and you might wish you were a different person. People are going to try and make you change who you are, but you'll never become a completely different person. You are you, and no one can take that away."

"...and?"

Ryan laughed softly - of course Chad wouldn't forget there was something else.

"And," Ryan whispered before kissing the other boys forehead, "No one will ever be better for me than you."

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IT'S NOT OVER. As perfect of an ending as this might be, I've got more planned. Watch out for the next chapter :)