Chapter 1

Things were in full swing at Lava Springs as it always was in the summer. Troy and his friends were working hard to meet the high standards of Mr. Fulton, who had even worked them harder than before. Ever since the Midsummer's Night Talent Show, Sharpay's wrath towards the Wildcats had intensified and Fulton made it known by assigning more hours and laborious tasks. Thankfully, it was mitigated most of the time by the group's friendship with Ryan.

Things between the Evans twins had been a little rocky and it was sometimes tense when the two were in the same room, but no one could blame them. Ryan and Sharpay had always been by each other's' side, through every up, down, and twist. After spending the latter part of the summer spying on Kelsi, Troy, and Gabriella for his sister in the hope that they'd keep their title as the Midsummer's Night Talent Show Champions, he was completely blindsided when his twin set him aside to pair up with Troy and realized that her plan focused only on what she wanted.

It was bad that there was this temporary rift between the twins, but one good thing came out of it; Ryan socialized with his other schoolmates, became friends with them, and found his own voice, basically. He was no longer Sharpay Evans's twin brother. He was Ryan Evans; dancer, actor, pianist, baseball superstar, and friend.

"Alright guys, quitting time." Troy announced. "Hey Chad, wanna come to my place, shoot some hoops?"

Normally, he'd stay for a while with Gabriella or go to her place to hang out, but she and Taylor had a lot of responsibilities, including screening the new member for the school's decathlon team and the yearbook and it was taking a lot of their free time.

"Want to, but I can't." Chad replied. "I'm meeting Ryan at the batting cages. If you have nothing else to do, why don't you come with us?"

Troy had nothing else going on and he could start and try to get to know Ryan better. It was the least he could do since Ryan was the mastermind behind the plan that saved him from Sharpay's clutches. The two Wildcats arrived at the cages to find Ryan waiting for them.

"Hey Ryan, I brought Troy along since he had nothing else to do." Chad explained.

"I got the text, but I'm shocked." Ryan said with mock terror. "The Troy Bolton has no plans on a Friday night?"

"Well, maybe I just wanted to spend some time with two good friends at the cages." Troy returned with a smile. "But Jason and Zeke were busy."

The three teens chuckled and Ryan led them to an empty cage.

"I thought this place would be full by now." Chad stated. "You dad doesn't own this place too, does he?"

"No, but I used to come here a lot." Ryan clarified. "The owner would always have at least one cage ready for me." Chad was first. Out of the twenty balls, he hit fourteen, three of which were definite home runs. "Alright Troy, you're up."

The captain of the basketball team entered the cage and prepared himself. Seconds later, the ball launched, Troy swung the bat, and missed.

"Well, it's a good thing you aren't on the baseball team." Chad joked.

He wanted to glare at his friend, but decided against it. The next ball sped towards him and Troy was able to hit it this time, but found the ball a few inches away his foot. Troy sighed in frustration and turned when he heard the door open.

"Come on Troy, just relax." Ryan said as he approached the brunette. Ryan showed Troy the errors in his stance and adjusted him slightly. Troy thought it was going to be weird, but it wasn't. The way that Ryan moved his body around felt nice, even. His skin was as soft and smooth as his sister's, possibly even more so, but while his twin held Troy in a vice grip, Ryan's touch was more gentle, as if he was holding a fragile egg.

"Alright, just clear your head and focus." Ryan said as he exited the cage. Troy nodded and took in a deep breath. The machine launched the ball and Troy hit it, dead centre. That may have been the only homerun he got, but he hit ten more balls after that. He exited the cage and handed the bat to Ryan, smiling at him while thanking him. Ryan entered the cage the first ball came at him. The blonde timed his swing perfectly and hit the ball for a homerun. Troy stared in awe as more balls flew at Ryan and he hit them all. Just like when he was dancing, Ryan's movement was graceful, precise and hypnotic. Troy found it even harder to turn away when Ryan swung the bat and his shirt rode up slightly, revealing some of the porcelain skin of his back. The brunette mentally slapped himself and shook his head.

'What are you thinking?' He asked himself. 'I'm just tired and hungry. That's it.'

"Nineteen out of twenty." Chad announced and high fived the blonde. "If you hadn't gotten cocky, maybe you would've hit all of them."

"I still won, Danforth." Ryan replied with a smirk. "Come on, I know an awesome burger place near here."

"You like burgers?" Troy asked.

"Yes, the boy who probably was fed the most expensive food in the world since he was a kid likes burgers." Ryan replied sarcastically before smiling. "Besides, I think it would be a crime against my country if I didn't."

The three of them chuckled and headed for Troy's truck.

"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Ryan asked as he climbed into the passenger seat.

"This thing's been through hell and back, and it still manages to get me and Chad to Lava Springs every morning." Troy replied.

"Barely." Chad added from the back of the truck, making Ryan chuckle. "So, where are these awesome burgers?"

The three arrived at a diner not far from the batting cages. They got seats at the end and the two boys practically drooled when the waitress brought their burgers; two pure Angus beef patties in between toasted sesame buns with fresh tomatoes, onion, lettuce, pickles, and melted cheddar cheese dripping at its sides. One bite and the Wildcats were in heaven.

"How do you keep yourself in shape when you eat like this all the time?" Troy asked, halfway through his meal.

"Well the most obvious reason is that I don't eat like this all the time." Ryan replied with a smile. "And properly eating and exercising is pretty important to me, like you guys. I mean, you guys ate like dinosaurs in the cafeteria, but you still stayed in shape." Troy agreed and they all finished their meal, happy and content.

"So, why aren't you on the baseball team?" Troy asked.

"Honestly, I just joined a team when I was younger because my dad and I used to play catch, and I thought it'd be a great way to spend some time with each other." Ryan explained. "After three years, he saw that I wasn't as into it as before and asked me if I still wanted to do it."

"I get it." Chad said. "I mean, Troy and I wouldn't have been playing basketball since we were kids if we didn't love it. Right, Troy?"

"Uh, yeah." Troy replied. Ryan seemed to have caught the hesitation in his answer, but didn't press further about it. Ryan checked his watch and realized it was getting late. "We should hang out again." He suggested and the other two agreed. "Want a ride back to the spa?" Troy offered. "No, I've got my own." Ryan replied. As if on cue, a black car stopped in front of them and the driver got out and opened the door to the back seat for the blonde. "See you guys."

That night, Troy was lying on his bed, unable to fall asleep. His mind kept returning to that evening, questioning why he kept staring at Ryan.

'Why? Because he's hot.' A voice in his head said. 'You couldn't stop staring and his shirt only rode up a little. Imagine if he was in his old, probably tight, uniform.'

Troy groaned into his hands and looked at the picture of him and Gabriella on his side table. Ever since she and Taylor had begun working on their stuff for school, it felt like the two of them had gotten distant from each other. The brunette's face suddenly lit up and grabbed his phone.

'All I have to do is go on a date with Gabriella again.' He thought triumphantly. Sending a quick text asking when she was free, Troy went down for a glass of water and returned to Gabriella's reply saying that she was free for dinner tomorrow. Sending a quick confirmation and goodnight, Troy lay back down on his bed and tried to fall asleep.

Troy arrived at Lava Springs extremely early, due to the fact his subconscious wanted to plague his dreams with Ryan Evans in a tight baseball uniform, hot, sweaty, and panting. He walked out of the locker room in his Lava Springs outfit and Mr. Fulton gave him a questioning look before returning talking to the staff. He had around an hour before his shift started, so Troy walked around the spa. Only a few patrons were up at this hour and most of them were in the gym. It was quiet and peaceful in most places. Troy walked down the hall and was approaching the music room when he heard a piano, playing the intro to a very familiar song.

Once in a lifetime means there's no second chance

So I believe that you and me should grab it while we can

Make it last forever and never give it back

It's our turn and I'm loving where we're at

Because this moment's really all we have

The brunette was shocked, not because of that the voice he recognized belonged to Ryan Evans. It was beautiful and melodic as always, but the way he was singing, he sounded sad. The brunette moved closer to the music room and stopped beside the open door and peered inside. Ryan sat at the piano, playing and singing with his back turned to Troy slightly, but he still couldn't see the blonde's face.

Everyday of our lives

Wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight

Gonna run while we're young and keep the faith

Troy watched as Ryan skilfully play the keys, listening to only his voice and blocking out everything else. And he heard it again, in what was supposed to be a happy song, the Ryan's tune was sad. Troy knew Ryan and Kelsi composed the song together for Troy and Gabriella, and questioned as to why that was the tune the male half of the Evans twins sang the song in.

Everyday from right now

Gonna use our voices to scream out loud

Take my hand together we will celebrate

Oh everyday

Ryan stopped playing and rested his elbows on some on the keys, making a terrible noise, and buried his face in his hands. Troy watched and was stunned when Ryan turned his face slightly and he saw the blonde's cheek stained with tears. The scene broke his heart and before he could approach Ryan, he heard the sound of heels clicking and saw Sharpay approach her brother. Troy watched the two talk for a while. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but the two smiled and hugged before leaving the room together. Troy walked back to the kitchens deep in thought. He didn't know why Ryan was so sad, but he knew he didn't like seeing the blonde sad and vowed to get to the bottom of this. His first move was to talk to Kelsi, since she wrote the song with him.

"I'm not in the mood to talk right now, Shar." Ryan said as he stared at the ivory keys.

"Why?" Sharpay asked. "Because you're still mad at me or because that song was supposed to be about Troy?"

"How did you know?" He asked with a shocked expression.

"I heard you play this tune once." Sharpay explained. "When I heard Kelsi play it at the talent show, I got suspicious, and when I heard you help her compose it I figured it out. Plus, you're really transparent when it comes to your emotions Ry."

"You're right" Ryan said with a sigh.

"Wanna talk about it?" Sharpay asked as she sat next to her brother.

"What do you want to know?" Ryan replied.

"Since when have you liked him?" Sharpay asked.

"Honestly, I think I've always liked him, ever since we moved here." Ryan said. "But I think it got serious when you started having Fulton make him your caddy, wait on you, or talk to dad. He'd look miserable from time to time and I talked to him, cheered him up. Dad even left us alone one time while he took a business call and we just talked about random things to pass the time." Sharpay nodded and hugged her brother's arm. "You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad?" She asked confused. "Because we fell for the same guy? It actually makes me relieved that now I know your taste in guys is just as good as your taste in clothes." The twins chuckled, glad that they were back to the way things were. "But I realized that I only wanted Troy because he was now a star in both basketball and theatre, and having him with me would only boost me even further."

Ryan smiled knowing that his sister wasn't obsessed with the brunette captain. This way, he didn't have to see them if they were together.

"So how did Kelsi get a hold of your song?" Sharpay asked.

"I was singing it one afternoon here, a few minutes before they got off work." Ryan explained. "Apparently she heard and thought it was the song for Troy and Gabriella. I went with it knowing that if I had said no, there would've been questions that I didn't want to answer."

His sister smiled sympathetically at him. Ryan was not as gifted as her in music, but he was extremely talented in his own right. And in those rare occasions when Ryan wrote a song filled with emotion, they were powerful and moving.

"Well, I think we should go to the mall later. It's been a while." Sharpay said as she stood.

"As much as I want to, I don't think shopping will fix this, Shar." Ryan replied.

"We can always try." Sharpay insisted. "Remember the saying; whoever said that money can't buy happiness didn't know where to go shopping."

"I'm glad things are back to normal between us, Shar." Ryan said as they stood and shared a hug.

"I am too, and you don't need to worry about me double-crossing you again." Sharpay said. "I'm glad to know that you're just as deceptive and vicious as everyone else in our family.