The Fence
He saw the photo in the yearbook. Why didn't he realize someone was taking this random shot then? He figured it was probably taken using a telephoto lens by one of those photography students that kept following him around all year since he was named MVP.
Her face stared at the picture image of him in an expression of hurt. She appeared so vulnerable with her eye make-up smudged and her lips in a pained pout. Her littlest finger peeked from the side of his turned head. It grasped at the wire of the fence between them as if she desperately wanted to break through it.
Why didn't he see that before?
He knew why.
The camera wasn't able to capture it, but he remembered. He remembered his cowardly feelings when he came over and met her by that fence.
She was standing just beyond the fence of the football field in her black dress. He felt his heart race and he gulped a breath of air to calm himself. He slowly approached her and stopped inches from the wire fence. He was glad for the fence for he couldn't allow himself to approach her openly. The dreams of her that day in the car haunted him ceaselessly and he wanted nothing more but to act on them. He knew he shouldn't be feeling this way. It was wrong and he had to right it now.
"Please don't tell Gabriella," he uttered to her in one breath even before she could say a word. He quickly looked away. Perhaps if he hadn't turned so fast he would have seen a very different expression on her face. But all he saw a split-second later when he turned back to her was her cold gaze.
"Oh don't worry Troy, I won't tell your girlfriend. And don't worry I'll tell the girls not to announce my triumph until after the weekend when Gabby's back at Standford."
"Wh-what do you mean?" he asked, startled.
She laughed. It was that fake, harsh laugh he was so used to hearing when they were in high school in Albuquerque.
"Troy, Troy, Troy. Didn't you realize what last Saturday was?"
He shook his head.
"It was my initiation," she continued. "For my sorority. You see, even beautiful, talented and perfect, rich little me can't get into the prima college sorority without passing through an initiation. And the girls devised just the perfect little challenge for me to do: get a college MVP in the sack after he wins a game."
He stared at her in shock and confusion. He shook his head to indicate he didn't understand.
She laughed again, this time it sounded dry and forced. "Please don't tell me you believed I was dancing barefooted on top of that car because I was enamored by your charms. That was part of the challenge: seduce him creatively in broad daylight. And I did just that. Nothing like a little drive in a classic convertible in the middle of the afternoon and a little dance on the hood to get you going."
He couldn't even look at her. She squashed the little spark of hope that burned guiltily inside him since that day. He felt… used.
He turned around and walked away without a word. But she called out to him one last time:
"Don't worry Troy, since we're old friends I'll do you another favor. I'll keep your secret that you're a virgin until last Saturday. I'm supposed to report your 'experience' rating as part of the challenge too."
"Don't bother," he hissed at her without looking back. He walked away and when he came to the other end of the field he punched on the wire fence over and over again until his hands bled.
He stared at the photo in the yearbook. Her image was caged beyond the fence, out of his reach.
He didn't see it then. He didn't see through her lies.
The proof of what she really felt that day came too late.
All he had now was the permanent image of them separated forever by the wire fence.
A/N: This story was inspired by two pictures from the Elle Photo shoot: the one with Ashley on top of a car while Zac is holding his arms out, and the one of them separated by a wire fence. If you haven't seen them, go to elle dot com. I want to thank ascii27 for telling me about the pictures and putting up a challenge for me to write a racy one-shot based on the pics. I wrote this in a little more than an hour, after she mentioned she was expecting a story. Hope you all liked this although I think I've crossed the line of darkness in this one.