fic: How to hold your ground
How to hold your ground
Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens, 1066 words, PG.
Notes: For lemonsherry. On the set of the first HSM film.
In which Zac does not have a crush.
"Someone has a crush," Ashley sing-songs, her hands dropping onto Zac's shoulders.
Zac doesn't have a crush. He really doesn't. In fact, he's a firm believer in the notion that thinking someone is pretty damn cute is not equivalent to having a crush on that someone. Just thinking someone has a good sense of humor, hair that always smelled great, and a nice ass is in no way tantamount to actually harboring a crush on that person. Right.
"I don't have a crush." He has to bite his lip to stop himself from adding, but I do have a crush on your mom. Because that would be lame, and he's pretty sure Ashley would kick him in the nuts for it.
"Sure," Ashley says. She squeezes his shoulders, then walks around to stand in front of him. "Just keep telling yourself that. Or you could, y'know, actually tell her the truth."
Zac doesn't want to tell her. He doesn't want to embarrass himself, and he's pretty sure she doesn't like him like that, except for the fact that she smiled at him a little longer than usual that afternoon over lunch, and she laughs a little longer at his dumb jokes than Corbin's.
And, also, there's nothing to tell because he doesn't have a crush.
Ashley smirks at him like she knows exactly what he's thinking. Zac makes up his mind right then and there to prank her. Maybe he can even get some of the crew in on it.
*
The next day is a whole lot of dance rehearsal, and Zac is feeling a whole lot stupider than he has in a long, long time. They're practicing the scene that's set in the gym, the one where Troy is torn between the sport and the music. If Zac had thought it was ridiculous back when he was first reading the script, then it's pretty much ten times more so when he's actually attempting to sing soulfully at a camera that isn't there, dribble a basketball, then pass the basketball to the other guys with mostly successful aim.
Anyway, it's just a rehearsal for the guys, so there's really no reason for Vanessa and Ashley to be standing at the front of the room by the door, watching them. Except maybe boredom. Or interest, a tiny, hopeful corner of his mind whispers.
Vanessa waves at him, and Zac's hand is halfway up to wave back when he realizes she could be waving at someone else. He ends up making a motion in their direction that could be interpreted as a wave, or could be him swatting a fly from the air, just in case.
Vanessa smiles even wider than she had been, and now he's sure that she's looking at him. Zac smiles back. Ashley makes a rude gesture at him behind Vanessa's back.
He almost jumps at the sharp sound of Kenny clapping his hands to regain the attention of those that had let their minds wander elsewhere. He wills himself to think less about the real people in the room, and more about fictional basketball players who find they are a little less inclined to play basketball than usual. And, for the rest of the rehearsal, he finds himself trying even harder not to make too much of a fool of himself.
*
Sometimes, Zac imagines all of the possible conversations he could have in a day with various people. People being Mo, or the PA who's always so polite to him, or his mom, or Corbin, or Vanessa. He imagines topics of conversation ranging from the weather to the state of affairs in the White House to his favorite dinosaur.
So, with all that in mind, it's probably even sadder than it already is that Zac can think of absolutely nothing better to say to Vanessa the next day than "Yep," when she says, "So, someone mentioned this, and now I'm pretty sure we were both at the Thunderbirds premiere about a couple years ago. Weird, right? But in a cool way."
He is an embarrassment to humankind, he thinks. He is not cool enough to be an actor.
Luckily, Vanessa seems slightly more adept at social interaction than Zac on this day. She raises her eyebrows, continues with, "Are you usually this quiet? Ashley's called you a lot of things, but not exactly a 'man of few words.'" She pauses, then wrinkles her nose. "Unless it's just me, and you'd rather be talking to someone else."
"Oh, it's definitely you," Zac says.
"Really," Vanessa says. She looks amused.
"Oh, yes. I can't stand you. I've actually declared you my mortal enemy." Zac pulls a face. "I can't believe Ashley didn't at least tell you that." He allows himself a small, pleased smile when Vanessa laughs.
Even so, Zac hasn't felt this awkward since some of his very first auditions, and he's not too happy to be feeling it again. But more than that, this isn't him. He doesn't usually fumble what he wants to say, he doesn't usually get like this around people or girls he may or may not like, pretty as they may be. He's starting to clue in that the situation just may be different than he's used to. Different than he's expecting.
"I feel like we should have good superhero and villain names, if you're going to walk around calling people your mortal enemy," she admits, smiling.
Zac likes her smile. Vanessa has this certain wide, sweet smile where she gets dimples in her cheeks and her eyes crinkle at the corners, and Zac always smiles back when he sees it, and he is willing to admit, at this point in time, that he might have teensy, tiny crush on Vanessa. But he still won't admit it to Ashley, that's for damn sure.
"Would you ever wanna go out sometime?" Zac blurts out. "I mean, not in any, like, official way, but. We could go get something to eat, or whatever."
He kind of wishes for the ground to swallow him whole as soon as the words leave his mouth, awkward as they are, except Vanessa is still smiling that smile, and she's not running away, and she even says, "Yeah, that'd be nice," so Zac figures he must've done something right.
Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens, 1066 words, PG.
Notes: For lemonsherry. On the set of the first HSM film.
In which Zac does not have a crush.
"Someone has a crush," Ashley sing-songs, her hands dropping onto Zac's shoulders.
Zac doesn't have a crush. He really doesn't. In fact, he's a firm believer in the notion that thinking someone is pretty damn cute is not equivalent to having a crush on that someone. Just thinking someone has a good sense of humor, hair that always smelled great, and a nice ass is in no way tantamount to actually harboring a crush on that person. Right.
"I don't have a crush." He has to bite his lip to stop himself from adding, but I do have a crush on your mom. Because that would be lame, and he's pretty sure Ashley would kick him in the nuts for it.
"Sure," Ashley says. She squeezes his shoulders, then walks around to stand in front of him. "Just keep telling yourself that. Or you could, y'know, actually tell her the truth."
Zac doesn't want to tell her. He doesn't want to embarrass himself, and he's pretty sure she doesn't like him like that, except for the fact that she smiled at him a little longer than usual that afternoon over lunch, and she laughs a little longer at his dumb jokes than Corbin's.
And, also, there's nothing to tell because he doesn't have a crush.
Ashley smirks at him like she knows exactly what he's thinking. Zac makes up his mind right then and there to prank her. Maybe he can even get some of the crew in on it.
*
The next day is a whole lot of dance rehearsal, and Zac is feeling a whole lot stupider than he has in a long, long time. They're practicing the scene that's set in the gym, the one where Troy is torn between the sport and the music. If Zac had thought it was ridiculous back when he was first reading the script, then it's pretty much ten times more so when he's actually attempting to sing soulfully at a camera that isn't there, dribble a basketball, then pass the basketball to the other guys with mostly successful aim.
Anyway, it's just a rehearsal for the guys, so there's really no reason for Vanessa and Ashley to be standing at the front of the room by the door, watching them. Except maybe boredom. Or interest, a tiny, hopeful corner of his mind whispers.
Vanessa waves at him, and Zac's hand is halfway up to wave back when he realizes she could be waving at someone else. He ends up making a motion in their direction that could be interpreted as a wave, or could be him swatting a fly from the air, just in case.
Vanessa smiles even wider than she had been, and now he's sure that she's looking at him. Zac smiles back. Ashley makes a rude gesture at him behind Vanessa's back.
He almost jumps at the sharp sound of Kenny clapping his hands to regain the attention of those that had let their minds wander elsewhere. He wills himself to think less about the real people in the room, and more about fictional basketball players who find they are a little less inclined to play basketball than usual. And, for the rest of the rehearsal, he finds himself trying even harder not to make too much of a fool of himself.
*
Sometimes, Zac imagines all of the possible conversations he could have in a day with various people. People being Mo, or the PA who's always so polite to him, or his mom, or Corbin, or Vanessa. He imagines topics of conversation ranging from the weather to the state of affairs in the White House to his favorite dinosaur.
So, with all that in mind, it's probably even sadder than it already is that Zac can think of absolutely nothing better to say to Vanessa the next day than "Yep," when she says, "So, someone mentioned this, and now I'm pretty sure we were both at the Thunderbirds premiere about a couple years ago. Weird, right? But in a cool way."
He is an embarrassment to humankind, he thinks. He is not cool enough to be an actor.
Luckily, Vanessa seems slightly more adept at social interaction than Zac on this day. She raises her eyebrows, continues with, "Are you usually this quiet? Ashley's called you a lot of things, but not exactly a 'man of few words.'" She pauses, then wrinkles her nose. "Unless it's just me, and you'd rather be talking to someone else."
"Oh, it's definitely you," Zac says.
"Really," Vanessa says. She looks amused.
"Oh, yes. I can't stand you. I've actually declared you my mortal enemy." Zac pulls a face. "I can't believe Ashley didn't at least tell you that." He allows himself a small, pleased smile when Vanessa laughs.
Even so, Zac hasn't felt this awkward since some of his very first auditions, and he's not too happy to be feeling it again. But more than that, this isn't him. He doesn't usually fumble what he wants to say, he doesn't usually get like this around people or girls he may or may not like, pretty as they may be. He's starting to clue in that the situation just may be different than he's used to. Different than he's expecting.
"I feel like we should have good superhero and villain names, if you're going to walk around calling people your mortal enemy," she admits, smiling.
Zac likes her smile. Vanessa has this certain wide, sweet smile where she gets dimples in her cheeks and her eyes crinkle at the corners, and Zac always smiles back when he sees it, and he is willing to admit, at this point in time, that he might have teensy, tiny crush on Vanessa. But he still won't admit it to Ashley, that's for damn sure.
"Would you ever wanna go out sometime?" Zac blurts out. "I mean, not in any, like, official way, but. We could go get something to eat, or whatever."
He kind of wishes for the ground to swallow him whole as soon as the words leave his mouth, awkward as they are, except Vanessa is still smiling that smile, and she's not running away, and she even says, "Yeah, that'd be nice," so Zac figures he must've done something right.