It had been seven years since the last installment of High School Musical premiered and a lot had changed. The cast had gone there separate ways and started working on their own projects. The separation had also driven apart Zac and Vanessa, who had been dating since the start of it all. The pair broke up and lost contact. Vanessa had a new boyfriend named Austin and they had been dating for three years and were currently living together. They had met through Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa's best friend. The couple had moved in together and everything seemed perfect.
"Hello? Babe, I'm home" Austin said as he closed the door and walked into the house.
Austin walked into the house and went into the kitchen and saw his girlfriend drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hey, how was your shoot?" Vanessa asked as she kissed her boyfriend's lips.
"Fine, the magazine should be out in about a month" Austin said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing these pictures" Vanessa said.
Austin kissed Vanessa's lips again.
"I was walking down the street and I saw a magazine that caught my eye. I think you should take a look" Austin said.
Austin handed Vanessa the magazine. She looked at the front cover "Zanessa speaks out". Vanessa looked up at her boyfriend.
"What is this?" Vanessa asked.
"I read the article and it gave your reasoning behind the breakup" Austin said.
Vanessa's eyes widened. She had totally forgot that she talked to a reporter.
"Oh" Vanessa said.
"Are you okay?" Austin asked.
"Yeah, I just don't want this to be brought up anymore. We haven't talked since we broke up" Vanessa said.
Austin smiled slightly.
"Vanessa. Baby, listen to me. I know that he is a sensitive subject for you and I'm sorry for bringing it up. This conversation is forgotten okay. We won't talk about it anymore" Austin said.
Vanessa's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID.
"It's Ashley" Vanessa said.
"Go talk to her" Austin said.
Vanessa answered the phone.
"Hey Ash" Vanessa said.
"Hey have you seen the magazines everywhere?" Ashley asked.
"Yeah, Austin just brought one home" Vanessa said.
"Are you okay? I will bring wine and cheese over if you aren't" Ashley said.
Vanessa giggled.
"I just don't want to bring it up anymore. We have moved on" Vanessa said.
"Good for you honey. Starla called me today" Ashley said.
"Why?" Vanessa asked.
"Zac has been going through a lot and his parents want him to go to rehab but he won't go. Starla wants to give him an intervention. She asked me to be involved" Ashley said.
"Well, you are one of his best friends. I think you should do it for him" Vanessa said.
"She also mentioned that she wanted you to participate as well. She thought that if you were the one to say something then he would do it" Ashley said.
"Ash" Vanessa started.
"Nessa, listen to me. I understand you both broke up and lost contact. But you are the one thing that can talk him into making a good decision. Starla knows that and so does everyone else" Ashley said.
Vanessa closed her eyes and sighed.
"Can I talk to Austin about it and get back to you?" Vanessa asked.
"No, because you will forget that this conversation even happened. Bring Austin into the room and put me on speaker" Ashley said.
Vanessa sighed. She pulled away from the phone and put it on speaker.
"Babe?" Vanessa called.
Austin came into the room.
"What's up?" Austin asked.
"Ashley needs to discuss something with us" Vanessa said.
"Hi Austin" Ashley said.
"Hey Ash, what's up?" Austin asked.
"So I got a call today from Zac's mom. He's in really bad shape and his family is trying to get him to go to rehab but he won't go. They want to stage an intervention and want me and Nessa to participate. I told Vanessa about this and she said she needed to talk it over with you but I know that she will forget about it because it's about Zac" Ashley said.
Austin looked at Vanessa. Vanessa looked at Austin.
"Why can't you just be the one to participate? Why do they want Nessa to be involved?" Austin asked.
"His mom wanted her to because she was always a person that he could come to when he needed help. She thought that if Vanessa said something then he would get the help that he needs and go to rehab" Ashley said.
Austin looked at Vanessa.
"Babe, I think you should do it" Austin said.
"What?" Vanessa asked.
"You may be the only person that could get through to him" Austin said.
Vanessa sighed.
"Okay I will do it" Vanessa said.
"Good. Can you call Starla and tell her please?" Ashley asked.
"Yeah" Vanessa said.
"Alright. I love you. Don't worry. Everything will be fine" Ashley said.
"Love you too" Vanessa said.
The two women hung up the phone. Vanessa looked at her boyfriend.
"Why am I am a good person?" Vanessa asked.
"Because you have a good heart and you care about other people. Everything will be fine. If it doesn't work out, at least you can say that you tried" Austin said wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and kissing her cheek.
Vanessa nodded.
"I have to call Starla" Vanessa said.
"Alright. I'm going to go to the gym. I love you" Austin said.
"I love you too" Vanessa said kissing Austin's lips.
Austin left the house. Vanessa took a deep breath and dialed her once "second mother's" number. She waited for someone to answer the phone.
"Hello?" Starla answered.
"Starla- I mean Mrs. Efron. Its-" Vanessa started.
"Vanessa Anne Hudgens. Mrs. Efron is David's mother. How are you sweetheart?" Starla asked.
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm okay. How are you?" Vanessa asked.
"I'm hanging in there honey. What's going on?" Starla asked.
"Ashley called me and told me about Zac and how you wanted to plan an intervention for him" Vanessa said.
"Nessa honey, if its too hard on you, I don't want you to do it" Starla said.
"No, I want to do it. I want him to get the help that he needs" Vanessa said wiping a tear that was falling from her eye.
"I'm proud of you Vanessa. I wanted to do it next week. Is that okay?" Starla asked.
"Yeah, that's fine. Are you going to come down here or is he going to go up to San Luis?" Vanessa asked.
"He's coming up here. I wanted to have you, Ashley, Dylan, and David and I to come in one by one and just talk to him" Starla said.
Vanessa nodded.
"Alright. I will see you then" Vanessa said.
"Vanessa, even though you both are broken up, you are still my daughter and I love you very much" Starla said.
Vanessa smiled slightly.
"I love you too" Vanessa said.
The two women hung up and Vanessa released all her tears that she had been holding in. A week later, Vanessa woke up and got ready to drive up to San Luis for Zac's intervention. She picked up her keys and walked into the bedroom and kissed Austin's lips.
"I love you" Vanessa said.
"I love you too" Austin said.
Vanessa left the house and drove to San Luis, where Zac's parents lived. Starla had texted her as she drove to let her know what time to come to the house. Vanessa pulled up to the Efron home and sighed.
"It's now or never. Face your fear" Vanessa told herself.
Vanessa got out of the car and texted Starla to let her know that she was there. David, Zac's father, opened the door before she could ring the doorbell. He smiled at the woman that he knew so well. Vanessa hugged her once"second father".
"It's good to see you. Thanks for coming" David said.
"It's good to see you too. How's it going in there?" Vanessa asked.
"Ashley is talking to him now. Dylan talked to him earlier and we just talked to him. Now it's your turn" David said.
"Does he know I'm here?" Vanessa asked.
"No. We didn't tell him because we didn't want him to make an excuse and try to get out of this. He's done with giving excuses" David said.
Vanessa nodded. David opened the door and tried to listen and see if Ashley had finished talking. He closed the door.
"It's your turn Nessa. Good luck" David said kissing her cheek.
Vanessa smiled. She walked into the house that she once knew and memories flooded into her head. Vanessa walked into the living room, where she saw Starla and smiled.
"He's taking a break. He will be back in two minutes" Starla said hugging Vanessa.
Vanessa nodded.
"You are doing a good thing, honey" Starla said kissing Vanessa's cheek.
Vanessa walked over to two chairs that were set up and sat down in one. She took a deep breath. Vanessa heard footsteps and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. Zac came back into the living room and his eyes widened.
"What's going on?" Zac asked.
"Honey, you need to listen to what she has to say" Starla said putting a hand on her son's shoulder.
Zac sat down in front of Vanessa. Vanessa took a deep breath.
"Hi" Zac said.
"Hi" Vanessa said.
"What is this all about?" Zac asked.
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
"Zac, you know I care about you right?" Vanessa asked.
"That's debatable but okay" Zac said.
"Zac" Starla warned.
"I want you to get the help you need because people should be able to see the funny, happy, loving, and talented man that you are. Drugs and alcohol aren't the answer to your problems and they shouldn't be your therapy either Zac" Vanessa said.
"Why should I listen to you? You left me" Zac said.
"Zac, I know you better than anyone else. I want you to be happy and healthy. Just because we aren't together anymore doesn't mean that I don't care because I do. If you want to ruin your life and the career that you have worked so hard for, then by all means, go ahead. But I am telling you that when you do that-" Vanessa stopped and released the tears that she couldn't hold in anymore.
Zac tried not to show any emotion to Vanessa crying.
"If you don't get help, I swear to God I will never talk to you or communicate with you ever again. It kills me to know that you are like this" Vanessa cried.
"I don't need your help" Zac said.
"If you don't need my help, then do whatever you want. I can't do this, Starla. I'm sorry. I have to go" Vanessa said getting up and walking to the front door.
"Nessa wait!" Starla said running after Vanessa.
Vanessa walked out of the house. Starla took Vanessa into her arms.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't get through to him" Vanessa said.
"Hey, at least you tried honey. You faced your fear by coming up here and talking to him" Starla said.
Vanessa nodded.
"I should be getting home. I just need some time to think" Vanessa said.
"Alright. I love you Vanessa. Never forget that okay?" Starla said.
Vanessa nodded.
"I love you too" Vanessa said.
Vanessa walked to her car and started driving home. She knew that she had tried to get through to Zac but she felt horrible that her efforts didn't work. Vanessa was pulled out of her thoughts when she pulled into the driveway of her home. She got out of the car and realized that she was crying. Vanessa unlocked the front door and walked into the house. She went into the kitchen where she saw Austin cooking. He looked at her.
"What happened baby?" Austin asked.
"I tried to get through to him. I tried to make him go but he won't listen" Vanessa said.
Austin opened his arms and Vanessa walked into them. He kissed her head softly and rubbed her back as she cried.
"It's not your fault" Austin said.
"It feels like it" Vanessa said.
"It's not Nessa. You tried to get him some help and he refused. There's nothing else you can do for him now. The ball is in his court. He needs to make the decision to get help" Austin said.
Vanessa nodded and sniffled.
Go take a hot shower and get into her comfiest pajamas and relax okay?" Austin said.
"Okay" Vanessa said quietly.
Austin kissed Vanessa's lips softly. Vanessa walked upstairs and went into the bathroom. She hoped that Zac would make a good decision and get the help that he needs.