The Start of Something New (Editing)

Chapter Three

Alana
East High
Albuquerque, New Mexico

   I subsequently allowed Ryan Evans to walk me to Chemistry, and boy was he happy! We walked past the main bulletin board, causing me to stop and stare. Ryan tried to pry me away.
"I don't think you'll be interested in that." He said, pulling on my arm. I pushed his hand off, stepping forward.
"An audition for the winter musical?" I suddenly leaped for joy. I looked back at Ryan who was absolutely terrified. I pulled out my pen and signed my name. I swear I heard him mutter something under his breath, but I ignored him.
"You shouldn't have done that, Alana." Ryan jerked my arm, marching me down the hall to my Chemistry class. I was confused. Why was I not allowed to sign up for the winter musical?
"Meet me in the music room after school."
   He left without another word. Not even a goodbye or "have fun" like he said to me outside the calculus classroom for second period.
   I just stood by the door, watching as he walked down the corridor in the opposite direction in which we came. I sighed.
   I spent Chemistry alone, mostly just fiddling my pencil and writing song lyrics. I finished my assignments before anyone else because I'm so smart. With that, I received scowls from my classmates.
   Finally get bored of writing lyrics, I decided to draw, another one of my hobbies. I hummed to the tune of the song Ryan and I sang the other night at the New Year's Eve party.
"Hey, you're Alana, right?"
   I looked up to see a friendly face. A pair of baby blue eyes and caramel bangs were the first thing I saw.
"Yeah."
"I'm Troy." said the boy with blue eyes. He held out his hand for me to shake. I took it and he gently shook my hand. "We met this morning."
"Oh, right. The star basketball player." I nodded, drawing light lines along the outline of the face of a student. "I suppose you're here to get some of the answers from me?"
"No. I was hoping you and I can be friends. Get to know each other."
"Why?" I frowned upon the star player. I continued to ignore his prowling smile. "So you can pry me for answers? Make me popular? Try to make me your girlfriend?"
   Troy shook his head aimlessly, scooting closer to me, leaning over my shoulder to watch me draw. He brushed his bangs out of his face, sighing with annoyance.
"I saw you and Ryan dancing in the hallway this morning...I was wondering if you could teach me how to dance like that. There's this girl I like..."
I had to smile. Troy Bolton asking me to teach him to dance only because he likes a girl? Is this not the cutest thing ever?
   I packed away my drawing and pencils into my backpack. I stood up, glancing at the clock.
5 minutes.
   I swung my bag over my shoulder. Troy stood up expectingly.
"I'll teach you." I said. A grin spread across his face and he was about to hug me, but I squirmed away.
   I got into position, telling Troy about his position. Hand on my shoulder, my hand on your shoulder, and take my other hand in yours. Ready? Take a step. Follow my lead. Don't forget to breathe. Add a smile.
   Troy and I waltzed out of the classroom, with me ended it with a twirl, spinning out.
"See? You already got it. Good job. And hey, I'm always available for dancing practices." I gave him my number in case he wanted to come over and practice. In return, he gave me his number.
    I still can't dance even if my life depends on it. If Ryan will teach me more dance steps, maybe I can pass them down to Troy.
"Ok. Thanks, Alana."
   I smiled, plugging in my headphones to my mp3 player. The flood of students died down rather quickly, more so than I expected. Luckily, that meant I can jam out to my music and dance how I want while making my way to the music room.
   After everyone left, I checked twice to be sure, I broke out into my happy dance. Personally, I don't care how I dance when I'm alone. It's just me, right?
I even did an air guitar solo. I belted out every lyric to every song.

"You're late." Ryan Evans said to me as I walked through the door. He sat at a grand piano, a platter was set before him with two tea cups and a beautiful ceramic tea pot. He wasn't wearing his hat.
   I grinned widely. "How am I late? You never gave a specific time." I wrapped my headphones around my mp3 player and tucked it inside my backpack.
   It was silent for a while. We just stared at each other. I started getting tense, a feeling I often felt around Ryan since two nights ago. By his actions, I concluded that Ryan felt no different than his normal self. How can he love a girl like me?
   I sat down next to him on the bench. I read over the music sheets, warming up my fingers. I pressed down on the keys, following the notes precisely and hummed.
"What is this for?" I asked, nudging his arm.
   Ryan shook his head. "I can't say. If my sister heard you sing, she won't like it. No one ever beats her out of an audition."
"Is this because I signed up for the winter musical?" Anger rose in me.
   Throughout elementary school, Ryan was there to encourage me to do things like the science fair, the spelling bee, the fifth grade poetry contest. What's wrong with a freaking musical? I don't see what's wrong with auditioning for a musical. This will be my chance for other people to hear my talent, to let myself shine in the spotlight.
"Princess," Ryan was starting to beg. His eyes pleaded with mine. "Please. You can't do the auditions."
"Says the one who encouraged me to try to do things!" I felt broken. Why is Ryan doing this?
"No on beats Sharpay out of an audition... She's been in theater her whole life, Lana. You haven't. You'll break the status quo and Sharpay will hate you even more and I won't get to talk to you anymore than I already get to."
"So, you're saying that I can't be the smartest girl for the scholastic decathlon and be in theater at the same time? So, Troy Bolton can't be seen waltzing around the school and acting like a gentleman while be the snobby star basketball player?" I snapped. "You're more worried about being one person, having one talent than having two? At my old high school, we were allowed to be anybody we wanted to be. There was no status quo."
   I stormed off, running down the hall to the gym where my brother was staying after for basketball practice.
   Apparently I came into the midst of a song, sung by Troy. My head's in the game, but my heart's in the song.
So he loves theater, too?