Title: Evans(ton) Family Secrets
Author: Live2TiVo/ Musical Junkie/ Tally
Feedback: is like when TV DVDs are on sale at Best Buy and I actually have money- amazing and awesome.
Pairing: Rypay (NOT Twincest)
Word Count: 1,584 without this thing at the top and the begging for reviews at the bottom. It's pretty short, but I felt bad about not updating in so long, and I wanted to get this up as soon as possible.
Rating: T (PG-13)
Genre: Romance/Humor
Summary: Ryan and Sharpay get delayed before they can tell their parents about their relationship.
Notes: This chapter is a late Christmas gift to my friend Jacky. Sorry it took so long to get it posted. Most of the B'Way references in this chapter are based on what you said are your fave shows. Also, I changed the date of the show and pushed it back a week. It doesn't effect the plot, I just wanted to move it back a bit.
Special Thanks: To the people who review and/or add this fic to their faves and/or alert lists. And to Thomas, Rachel, and Jacky who all know why they're being thanked.
Spoilers: And, once more, your daily spoiler from Live2TiVo/Musical Junkie: Every chick flick ever ends with the guy getting the girl. Sorry if I ruined it for you.
Warnings: A Chorus Line will get stuck in your head. Always. You have been warned.
Disclaimer: Don't own HSM or any of the other 400 musicals I reference in this chapter. Seriously, if I owned it, I wouldn't be writing my own version of it. Plus, if I owned HSM, the dialogue would have been a lot less corny and a lot more full of obscure pop culture references like an episode of Gilmore Girls back when it was good.
Ryan and Sharpay left the gas station parking lot after about 15 minutes of intense kissing with Camp blaring in the background, during which time Ryan had decided that "The Ladies who Lunch" can be a very romantic song.
"Well, that was fun." Sharpay smiled; Ryan laughed. "What?"
"Look at your hair in the mirror, Shar."
"What's wrong with my hair?" Sharpay said in a panic.
"Nothing, unless the 'I just narrowly survived an intense fight with the Audrey II' look isn't in this season."
"Oh my God!" Sharpay looked at herself in the sunshield mirror and gasped. "I look like Cassie during those flashback scenes in the movie version of A Chorus Line!"
"Relax, Shar. Your hair is no where near as badthat mullet."
"Shut up, Ryan. Where's my hairbrush?"
"In your purse, Larry the Cucumber."
Sharpay playfully slapped Ryan on the arm before she dug through her Mary Poppins sized purse for a brush. While she did so, Ryan changed the music from Camp to Hair thinking it would be funny. Which it was, just not to Sharpay.
"She asks me why; I'm just a hairy…"
"Ryan Evans! I swear to God if you finish that sentence Sweeney Todd will seem like a happy little Muppet compared to me!"
"You know Sharpay, there are these great things called jokes and sometimes when people loosen up they can be funny."
"Put on Aida, track six."
"You do it. I'm driving."
Sharpay grabbed the CD case and quickly found the disc she was looking for. "Have I told you lately how insanely OCD it is that you alphabetize your CDs?"
"It's not like I'm Monk or something. It's just easier to find them that way, and if you don't put Hair back in the right place, we're listening to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which is conveniently located between Jersey Boys and The King and I."
"Ah, but if you did that you'd be punishing yourself, too."
"Just put it back in the right place, Shar."
"Between Gypsy and Hairspray?"
"Right."
Sharpay made a big show of deliberately turning every page in the CD case before slowly lowering Hair into its proper slot.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, and now I have to start the song over, I missed it when you were blabbering."
"Let it be, Sharpay. You've heard 'My Strongest Suit' a million times, and, besides, we're almost home."
He was right. By the time the last note of 'My Strongest Suit' had faded out and 'Enchantment Passing Through' began, they were in their neighborhood and had turned onto their street.
Ryan pulled into his driveway and turned off the car.
"Ryan!"
"What
did I do now?"
"You know I hate it when you stop right in the middle of a song."
"And you know I don't care and you can just listen to it later. I know you have it on your iPod."
Sharpay opened her mouth to deliver a biting comment that would most likely include an insult using a character or song from a Broadway show, but she was cut off by Ryan's other next door neighbor (besides the Evans, of course), Jacky Elatan, a Sophomore at East High, who had come outside to check the mail.
"Hey, Ryan. Hey, Sharpay. Do you like my new t-shirt?" Jacky was currently wearing a tee that proclaimed her love for Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.
Ryan was confused, having never seen the movie, but Sharpay understood. "Brat Pack. Can't go wrong there."
"Right you are, Chickadee." For some reason, Jacky had recently taken to calling people "Chickadee" which amused Ryan, who laughed.
Sharpay shot her boyfriend a dagger stare and turned back to Jacky. "Get anything good?" She asked, pointing towards the mail in Jacky's hands.
"New issues of M, Teen People, and Teen Vogue."
"That's a lot of magazines."
"Well, I have to keep up with the teen Hollywood scene, besides, it gives me something to stare at during Math when Ms. Alley won't shut up. I mean, we live in New Mexico but the woman's voice is like an Alabama accent mixed with finger nails on a blackboard. I need Michael Seater to help me tune her out."
Sharpay nodded in agreement, having spent many a class period staring at Adam Pascal and Hunter Foster instead of the quadratic formula. Although, she had a deep suspicion Jacky was looking at pictures of Drake Bell and Teddy Geiger as opposed to the cast of Jersey Boys like Sharpay did.
"So, what are you two up to?"
"Play rehearsal. The show's next week, you know." Ryan said.
"Yeah, I bought my tickets during lunch yesterday. Are you still going to do We Will Rock You in the spring? I listen to the original London cast recording you gave me all the time."
"I really hope so." Ryan had always loved Queen. Their Platinum Collection was one of the few non-Broadway CDs he owned. Freddy Mercury was on his list of "People I'd Want To Meet If They Were Still Alive" along with Jonathan Larson, Cy Coleman, Bob Fosse, and Ethel Merman.
"That'll be your last ever school musical, won't it?"
"Actually, Ms. Darbus is going to try and do one more show after that. I really want to do How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying but Ryan wants to do Into the Woods."
"Into the Woods is clever and it's Sondheim, while How to Succeed is corny and the title takes forever to say."
"I think that may have been the most unbalanced comparison ever made. What does the length of the title have to do with the quality of the show?"
"Why isn't Kelsi writing one of the shows this year?" Jacky asked in an attempt to stop Ryan and Sharpay from arguing.
"She's too busy with college applications and that kind of stuff. Plus, she did the underscore we're using in Romeo and Juliet."
"And she's secretly composing a new show to give to Ms. Darbus at graduation. She's been spending every spare moment tweaking every little bit even though it's only November. At this rate she'll have five shows to give to Darbus by the end of the year. Just don't tell anyone. It's a surprise." Ryan elaborated.
"Of course not. I wouldn't want to ruin it." Jacky paused. "Did you hear that West High hasn't even chosen a spring musical yet?"
"How did that happen?"
"The chorus director and the drama coach can't agree on anything. Apparently, the drama teacher, Mr. Bay, wanted to do Thoroughly Modern Millie or Pajama Game but the chorus director, Mr. Mackley, said that Millie had too much brass and he only likes two of the songs in Pajama Game. Then Mr. Mackley suggested Cinderella even though they did Once Upon a Mattress last year and that would be two fairy tales in a row. Now Mr. Bay isn't going to be involved with the musical so only the chorus kids are going to get parts because Mr. Mackley doesn't think that anyone who isn't in chorus deserves a lead."
"How on Earth do you know all this?" Sharpay asked.
"My friends Rachel and Taylor go to West High and are completely fed up with Mr. Mackley, who, according to them, is somewhat of an asshole."
"He sounds it. 'Too much brass', seriously? There's got to be something wrong with that man."
"Well, according to Rachel and Taylor, there is. He's got his head so far up his…"
"We get it. Thanks." Sharpay cut her off.
"Okay, well, I'll see you later. I've got to get back inside before my mom starts wondering if I've read Feeling Sorry for Celia too many times and thought it would be a good idea to run off and join the circus." Jacky laughed at her own joke. "Bye, Chickadees."
Ryan and Sharpay just smiled and said "Bye" to Jacky, neither knowing what she was talking about, not having read Feeling Sorry for Celia.
"So, are you ready to tell the parentals?" Ryan asked as Jacky closed her front door and he and Sharpay grabbed their backpacks from the trunk of his car.
"As I'll ever be. Do you want to tell them together or separately?"
"Separately. But you better not chicken out this time."
"When have I ever chickened out from doing something like this… don't answer that."
"Just say to yourself: 'I'm the bravest individual I have ever met.'"
"Don't you quote Sweet Charity to me."
"How are you going to stop me?" Ryan jokingly stuck out his tongue at Sharpay and began to sing. "There's gotta be something better than this. There's gotta be…"
Sharpay stopped him the best way she knew how; with a kiss.
"Shar, our parents could walk out and see us any second."
"Who cares? They're gonna find out tonight anyway."
"True. I mean, who…"
"You know, Ryan, I've been meaning to talk to you about this whole 'you talking' thing."
"What about me talking do you have a problem with?"
"That you need to stop talking and kiss me."
"I can do that." And that he did.
They broke off a few minutes later and walked to their houses.
As she unlocked her front door, Sharpay yelled out to Ryan, "And don't think I'm not still mad at you for turning off the radio right in the middle of 'Enchantment Passing Through'." She went inside before Ryan could retort with "I wouldn't expect anything less."
Okay, that's all for now. PLEASE review. I love getting reviews. They make me so very happy. Oh so very happy. Extra hugs to past, present, and future reviewers. And keep in mind if you tell me your fave show, I'll reference it in the next chapter.
A few side notes: The thing with West High's musical is actually going on at my school right now. I'm going crazy. Also, I have nothing against any of the musicals my characters insult in my story (unless, of course, they are Andrew Lloyd Webber shows and should be shunned.) That's all folks.
Merry Christmas, Jacky. Hope you liked the chapter. Call me after you read it.