Part Twelve: Dumped

I sat up as Troy hopped down off the stage, and watched Sharpay lead him over to the side. “Wonder what that’s about…” Gabriella murmured to me.

I shrugged, “No idea. I got a sense that it wasn’t good news, though.”

“Twin telepathy?” she teased. I shoved her on the arm.

“Shut up!”

“Like I’m taking orders from half a smurf!” But she grinned as she set down one of the paintbrushes she was holding, then put a hand to the corner of her mouth, “You have a little something… Right here.”

I rolled my eyes, “Very mature, Montez.”

“What? I’m just trying to help…”

“Uh-huh…” I could feel the paint starting to dry on my face, and it itched like hell. “I’m sure you are…in your own demented little way…”

As we bickered, Sharpay and Troy seemed to be having a slightly more serious discussion. He had one hand on her arm, and was saying something in a low voice, like Gabriella and I didn’t know better than to eavesdrop. Sharpay looked uncomfortable, which in turn made me uncomfortable. What was going on?

Gabriella had her head down, and was working on the backcloth again. “He’ll tell us,” she muttered to me out of the corner of her mouth.

I sighed, doing likewise and dipping my brush back into the paint tray, “So will she, no doubt. I just hate the wait…” She nodded in agreement.

“Ryan?”

I turned to face Sharpay, who had come back to the base of the stage. She had a smile in place. A glance told me that Troy was still standing by the wall, a weird look on his face. “What?”

“Mom said to tell you that she’d be out tonight, so the house is ours. I was thinking Movie Night?”

I grinned. Movie Night was a monthly ritual. The timing varied depending on when we had the house to ourselves, but we made sure that we always did it. “Definitely.”

“Fabulous. Don’t make plans.” She gave me another smile, turning to leave, but she paused. “And if you’re going to insist on that new look, then I’ll have to teach you how to apply it properly.” Nodding, she turned and bounced off.

The smile faded from my face as soon as she was gone, “Something’s definitely wrong.”

“She seemed fine,” Gabriella said, a confused quality to her voice.

I snorted incredulously, “She wasn’t. She’s upset about something.” Scrambling down off the stage, leaving all my grace behind in the process, I went to Troy, “What happened?”

He was gripping one arm close to his body, that weird look still on his face. He shrugged listlessly, “She dumped me.”

My jaw dropped, and I heard Gabriella let out a gasp. I hadn’t seen that coming. Despite all of Troy’s former advances towards me, his relationship with my sister had always seemed fairly strong. She had appeared to like him a lot, and he had definitely been one of her longest relationships to date. “What? Why?”

“She wouldn’t give me a reason.”

I was even more flummoxed. That wasn’t like Sharpay, either. She normally revelled in telling guys just what was wrong with them. “Well, are you sure you heard right?”

Troy turned his blank gaze to me, “It’s not really something you mishear.”

“But I don’t understand.”

Gabriella crouched down on the edge of the stage, “She couldn’t know…could she? About the…?”

“Who would tell her?” I asked, turning to look at her. “I didn’t. You didn’t. Chad… doesn’t believe it. And Troy…”

“I didn’t.” He was shaking his head as I looked back to him. “Excuse me,” he muttered, pushing past me and sprinting for the doors of the auditorium.

I turned to face Gabriella again, “He really liked her, didn’t he? Despite everything with me… he liked her.”

She nodded sadly, “What can I say? He just has a thing for Evans’.” As I crossed to the stage, she smiled softly, “He wouldn’t have stayed with her for so long, otherwise.”

I splayed my hand on the stage in front of me, “I didn’t realise.”

“He didn’t start dating Sharpay to get close to you, Ryan,” she told me. “He just realised he couldn’t control himself around you once he had.”

“I knew that he liked her.” A sigh left my mouth, “I just didn’t see how much…”

“Hey,” a new voice called from the back of the auditorium. I cringed, leaning even more heavily against the side of the stage, causing Gabriella to give me a questioning look. I raised a single finger, motioning to my face, and understanding came into her eyes. She’d managed to get used to the paint, and hadn’t realised the probable humiliation this would cause.

But I smiled and turned to face him as he walked down the aisle nonetheless, “Hey, Chad.”

He stopped short when he saw me, his eyes widening, “Whoa! Did you miss the canvas or something, Gabi?”

“It was Troy,” I corrected, pulling my aqua coloured peaked cap down over my face in an attempt to hide some of it.

But Chad was grinning as he crossed to me. “C’mon, Ry…!” He greeted me with a soft kiss as he reached me, then whispered: “You know I always love you in blue…”

I laughed as he kissed me again, more firmly this time. “Like you notice what I wear!”

He patted me on the cheek condescendingly, “Ry… It’s hard not to.”

I thumped him on the arm, “Shut up.”

“Glad to.” He kissed me again softly to aid his silence. “You free tonight?”

I shook my head apologetically, “Nah. Shar and I are staying in. I said I’d do it. She’ll be down after the thing with Troy as well, so…”

He frowned, “What d’you mean?”

“Didn’t you talk to Troy coming out?”

Chad shook his head, “I didn’t see him. Why? What’s happened?”

“They broke up,” Gabriella told him. While Chad and I had been talking, she’d managed to put on her jacket and collect her bag. “I’m gonna go make sure he’s okay.”

“Fix other people’s love lives since you don’t have one of your own…?” I teased.

She nodded solemnly, “That’s a cutting remark, Smurfette…” Then she leapt off the stage and seemed to glide down the aisle and out the door, “‘Bye!”

I scowled, “Charming creature.”

“You’re just jealous that she got the last word.” Chad smiled, “I better go check he’s okay as well. Are you cool to get home?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, brushing my lips over his once more. “I brought my car. See you later.”

*****

“I think we should go for this one first.” She held up a DVD. “Get the horror out of the way before it gets dark.”

I shrugged, “Sure.” And as she smiled and went to put it in the disc tray, I considered my words carefully. “Shar?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you break up with Troy?” I winced as she froze. Okay, so upfront was a bad tactic. “I mean, I don’t understand. You seemed fine.”

“We were,” she said stiffly. My frown deepened.

“Then why did you-?”