FicWad

Disclaimer: It's probably obvious, but I don't own any of the HSM characters or the cast or their related stuff. Also, though this story involves the names of real people, it is a complete work of fiction in terms of characterization and plot.

Author's Note: Man, FF deleting this story was quite a shock to the system. I mean, why me? There's a million Zanessa stories up there that seem to be thriving still. Ahh, well... I guess I shouldn't waste my time worrying about it. The best way to deal is to bounce back and write the best story I can, right.

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Chapter 11 - Picking It Up

Part I

Closing his hotel room door behind him, Zac turned and saw Ashley heading toward him down the hallway, an oversized purse slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face.

Oh, great.

With some guilt, he felt reluctant to see her. She had stuck unusually close to him ever since he had broken it off with Vanessa, constantly sweeping him off to Salt Lake City's finer sights. Just the two of them. He liked her, but spending so much time with only Ashley had become... a bit much.

"So." Ashley put her hand on her hip, her smile becoming conspiratorial. "I've got two tickets to the improv tonight. You in?"

She looked at him expectantly, but he let out a sigh, hoping it sounded regretful. "Sorry, Ash. There's an outdoor movie showing at the Gallivan Center today--you know, that outdoor theatre a couple blocks north of here. And I said I'd go with those guys."

"Oh, right--that." Her smile slowly turned into a thin line. "Who's all going again?"

"You know--Corbin, Lucas, Monique." And Vanessa, he thought, his heart lifting slightly. "I haven't had a chance to spend much time with them, so I thought it would be good since we're almost wrapped. I'm just on my way there now."

But Ashley was suddenly giving him a hurt look. "Oh, Zac. You know I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. Lucas and I wrap after the big dance number. So I won't get to see you much longer." She gave a hopeful smile and touched his arm. "I thought we could spend some time alone... just the two of us."

As if we haven't done enough of that already.

He shook his head. Hey--be nice.

"Awww, Ash." He smiled. Draping his arm around her shoulder, they started walking slowly back toward the elevators. "I'll be back before you know it. I've just got five more days than you. And you know we'll see each other enough at home."

"But it's not the same." She pouted slightly, then smiled sadly at him. "Here, it's just you and me, you know? We've had so much fun during this shoot."

Oh, Ash.

"Yeah... I know." He sighed, genuine this time. "I'm sorry. Tonight... I just promised those guys I'd go."

She dropped her head on his shoulder mournfully. "But we'll see each other, I promise," he said. "Maybe after the shoot tomorrow. We'll make it a Zac and Ashley thing. Like this whole shoot has been."

They reached the elevators and she looked up at him. "Really?"

"Really." He grinned.

"OK." She narrowed her eyes at him playfully, then relaxed into a twinkling smile. "Maybe I'll see if Christopher's around, see if he wants to take a girl to the improv instead."

"Thanks, Ash." Impulsively, he wrapped his other arm around her and hugged her. And suddenly, it sounded as if she had caught her breath. Nah. "You're the best."

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Corbin let Zac into his room, swinging the door open to reveal Lucas and Monique sitting on the floor holding video game controllers, intensely focused on the first-person shooter game displayed on the TV.

Discreetly, he scanned the room for Vanessa, but didn't see her. True to her word, they had been trying to rebuild their friendship over the last week or so, but shooting and rehearsals had become intense--plus the Ashley factor. In fact, today was the first time they had spent any time together. Corbin had seen the ad for the free movie night at one of Salt Lake City's many theatre productions and urged everyone to go. One of the last Salt Lake hurrahs before the film wrapped. It hadn't been a tough sell--especially when he found out that Vanessa would be there.

But where is she?

As if on cue, Corbin answered. "We're just waiting for Vanessa, then we'll be off."

Zac nodded, climbing onto the bed and settling in to watch the game. Suddenly, on one side of the screen, one of the soldiers rounded a corner and dived, shooting the other in the ankles.

"Damn!" Lucas shouted. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Monique laughed. "I told you--I've got a brother."

"A brother who's a military sniper?"

Corbin sat down on the edge of the bed and laughed.

"Whoa there, let's not get too agitated over this," he said. Suddenly his look turned cautious. "Hey--you didn't have too much water to drink today, did you Luke?"

Lucas looked at Monique with cold eyes. "No, Corbin. But thank you for asking."

He nodded a brief hello to Zac and turned back to the game. A nice change, Zac thought--right after the breakup, Lucas had been grudgingly polite toward him, but he seemed to be warming up to him lately.

Suddenly another knock came at the door. Corbin pulled the handle to reveal Vanessa struggling to carry a towering bundle of blankets. Corbin steadied her and Zac leapt off the bed to help.

"Hey, guys," she said, smiling at Zac as he pulled half the blankets off the top. "I hope I got enough of these from the maid. It might be really cold tonight out there."

Hey. He smiled back at her. "Good thinking. That didn't occur to me at all."

"That's why I'm here, Efron--what would you do without me?" said Vanessa, dumping the rest of the blankets on the bed and tapping her finger to her head, laughing. "I'm always two steps ahead."

He grinned at her. Always, Nessa.

Suddenly she clapped her hands. "So OK, are we ready? The movie starts in forty-five minutes. We gotta get down there and get a good spot."

Lucas tossed the controller down in disgust. "Yeah, I'm ready to go."

Putting her controller down, Monique laughed. "Hey, don't hate the player. Hate the game."

They gathered up their things and left the room. Scooping up half the blankets, Vanessa tossed Zac a look, hurrying after them. "Betcha I'll beat you downstairs."

He raised his eyebrows, smiling. "Oh, is that a challenge, Hudgens?"

But she had already run out of the room, giggling madly. Laughing, he grabbed the rest of the blankets and chased after her. Two steps ahead, Ness. Still means I'm right behind you.

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Incredibly Long Author's Note: Remember, this is just part I. We're definitely going somewhere with this, so stick with it.

Further, the Gallivan Center really exists. It's known as Salt Lake City's outdoor living room and has all kinds of fun public performance stuff going on all the time. I've never been there but I looked at a bunch of pictures and hopefully described it somewhat accurately (or will, as part II will really be the test). It looks like a great place, actually.

It also really is about two or three blocks north of the cast's hotel. Vanessa said in an interview with Scholastic.com that they stayed in Little America in Salt Lake City, and so for this entire story I have been trying to use the location of the real hotel as a point of reference when figuring out things for them to do. Not that they wound up doing much outside the hotel in the end, but that's where I was mentally centering the story, anyway.