The sound of an alarm clock woke Zac Efron in the early morning. He stretched his body out and turned to the figure laying beside him.
"Morning, babe" Zac said said.
"Mmmm morning" Vanessa said sleepily.
Zac kissed her forehead and got out of bed. He walked to his daughter's room and opened the door. Stephanie Efron laid in her bed asleep. Her brown curls that she inherited from her mother cascaded down her chest. The fourteen year old girl had a slight smile on her face. Zac loved his daughter more than anything in the world. He went over to the bed and shook his daughter lightly.
"Steph, come on time to get up" Zac told his daughter.
"Five more minutes, dad" Stephanie told her father sleepily.
"Come on, you got to get ready for school" Zac said as he saw Stephanie's eyes open.
"Okay, I'm up" Stephanie said as she walked to the bathroom to get ready.
Stephanie looked at herself in the mirror. She brushed her teeth and put on light makeup. Stephanie walked out of the bathroom and got dressed. Ten minutes later, she walked downstairs and went into the kitchen. Vanessa was eating an apple when Stephanie walked in.
"Steph, you have about ten minutes until we have to leave, so hurry up" Vanessa told her daughter.
"Okay" Stephanie said.
A couple minutes later, Stephanie and Vanessa were in the car driving to East High (do not own). Vanessa pulled up to the driveway and Stephanie got out. Stephanie walked to her locker to empty and collect her books when her boyfriend, Ben surprised her.
"Hey!" Stephanie said kissing him.
"Hey, can we talk for a minute?" Ben asked as they entwined their fingers and walked to a bench.
"Sure, what's up?" Stephanie asked.
"I think we should break up" Ben said solemnly.
"What? But, everything is fine. Ben, I love you" Stephanie said.
"I think it's for the best. We both have been on separate pages and I think it's just time we meet other people" Ben said.
"We could have tried to sort through everything. We could have made it work, I love you" Stephanie said.
"I'm sorry, Steph" Ben said as he walked away.
Stephanie was numb. She couldn't feel her heart beating through her body and her mind was racing. Stephanie knew she was young and to have feelings that strong for someone was crazy at the age of fourteen but they were real. She went through her classes emotionless and when the bell rang that signaled the end of the day she couldn't have been happier. Stephanie walked to her mother's car and got in.
"How was your day?" Vanessa asked.
"Ben dumped me" Stephanie said tearing up for the first time that day.
"Honey, I'm so sorry. Did he say why?" Vanessa asked.
"He said we were on different pages in our relationship and it was for the best that we break up. I haven't been in this much pain before, it's awful mom" Stephanie said as they walked into the house.
Vanessa engulfed her daughter in a hug. She kissed her head and let her daughter take her emotions out. Zac came into the room and saw this and was confused.
"What happened?" Zac asked concerned.
"Ben dumped me, dad" Stephanie said crying.
"Oh, baby" Zac said hugging her close.
"I love him, but I guess it wasn't good enough" Stephanie said.
"Boys always want more than they have, Stephanie. They want you for a while but then dump the girl and break their heart. It's not right but it's what it is. I love you" Zac told his daughter.
"I love you too, daddy" Stephanie said holding onto her father tighter.
"How about you go take a bath and get ready for bed. You need to relax a little bit, okay?" Vanessa said.
"Okay" Stephanie said walking to her room.
Vanessa went over to her husband who looked like he was deep in thought.
"Zac? What are you thinking about?" Vanessa asked.
"Thinking about my hurting little girl" Zac said looking at Vanessa.
"She just needs time, babe" Vanessa said.
Vanessa kissed Zac and left the room. She walked past Stephanie's room and saw her in a ball on her bed. Vanessa walked into the room and smoothed the hair out of her daughter's face.
"I love you, Steph" Vanessa said as she kissed her head.
Vanessa walked out of the room and saw Zac reading a new script that he had received. Vanessa walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his head softly.
"Steph asleep?" Zac asked.
"Yeah, she's asleep. I know what she's going through. A guy that I used to date told me I wasn't good enough then I beat myself up because of it. She just needs some time to think and process stuff" Vanessa said.
"Your an amazing mother, Van. I love you" Zac said.
"Your an amazing father, Zac. I love you too" Vanessa said.
Zac kissed Vanessa's lips softly. Vanessa kissed back passionately and pulled herself onto Zac's lap. Zac stood up with Vanessa in his arms and went into their bedroom and shut the door. The next morning, Vanessa and Zac were in the kitchen talking about Zac's new movie, when Stephanie walked in.
"Hey Steph, how are you doing, honey?" Vanessa asked.
"Fine" Stephanie said shortly.
Zac and Vanessa knew it was going to take some time for their daughter to get back to her normal self but Stephanie was glad that they were not pushing her to do so.