Zac hung up his phone and sighed. He put both of his hands on his face. The love of his life was hurting and he couldn't be with her to comfort her. Zac picked up his phone again and dialed his mother's number. He waited for her to answer her phone until she finally picked up.
"Hello?" Starla answered.
"Mom! Have you looked on the internet this morning and seen the articles about Van?" Zac asked.
"Yes, I was going to call you later and tell you how crazy the tabloids are getting" Starla said.
Zac sighed.
"Mom, this time they are true" Zac said.
"What do you mean Zac?" Starla asked her son.
"Before High School Musical, Van took some pictures of herself for her boyfriend. She sent the pictures to him but he said that he never got them. Today, Van's publicist called her and said the pictures had been released. She's in pain, mom and I am not there to help her. I feel horrible" Zac said.
"Have you talked to her?" Starla asked.
"Yeah, it hurts that I can't be there with her. I want to come home so badly" Zac said.
"Honey, I know you are upset but you need to stay in Australia. Is she at home or is she with her parents?" Starla asked.
"She's with her parents. Mom, can you please go over there and make sure she is okay? You are the closest thing to me that she can get right now" Zac said.
"Okay Zac. But what if she won't talk to me?" Starla asked.
"She will want to talk to you. I told her you were going to want to come down and talk" Zac said.
"Did she agree? I don't want to push her" Starla said.
"She agreed" Zac said.
"Okay, then tomorrow I will go see her" Starla said.
"Thank you" Zac said.
"You are welcome" Starla said.
Starla and Zac talked for a little while longer until both of them hung up. Starla walked to the living room where her husband, David was sitting.
"I'm going to LA tomorrow to see Vanessa" Starla said.
"Is everything okay?" David asked.
"No but it will be" Starla said.
The next day Stella, Vanessa's sixteen year old sister walked into the house and saw her mother.
"Hi mom" Stella said.
"Hi honey" Gina said.
"I heard something at school today about Vanessa. It was crazy" Stella said.
"Stella, the news about Vanessa is true. Don't talk to her about it okay? She's really upset" Gina said.
"Okay. Is she still in LA?" Stella asked.
"No, she's upstairs" Gina said.
"Okay" Stella said as she walked upstairs.
Stella walked to Vanessa's room and poked her head in. She saw Vanessa lying on her side with tears running down her face. Stella knocked on the door softly. Vanessa looked at the door and tried to wipe her tears away.
"Nessa, it's okay. Don't hide what you are feeling from me. I heard what happened from someone at school. Are you okay?" Stella asked as she walked over to her sister's bed and sat on the edge.
"It's fine Stell. Don't worry about me okay? I'm fine" Vanessa said.
"Van, I know you better than anyone else. I know when you are hurting. You can't keep everything bottled up" Stella said.
Vanessa broke down. Stella hugged her sister tightly and kissed her head. She released some tears of her own. Stella had never seen Vanessa so upset and it hurt her to see her this way. She rubbed Vanessa's back soothingly.
"I'm sorry if everyone at school is bugging you about it. It's my fault" Vanessa said softly.
"Hey, it's okay. I ignore them. It's not your fault Nessa" Stella said.
"I love you so much Stella. I know this whole thing is hard for you too" Vanessa said.
"I love you too Vanessa. It's hard for me to watch my best friend hurt because of something like this. Have you talked to Zac?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, he said his publicist told him about everything. I didn't want him to be dragged into this too" Vanessa said as she wiped her tears away.
"Is he going to fly in to see you?" Stella asked.
"No, but Starla is coming tonight and that's the closest I will be able to get to him right now" Vanessa said.
"Okay, I will let you relax. I just wanted you to know that I am always here when you need to talk" Stella said.
"Thanks Stell" Vanessa said as she hugged her sister.
"No problem" Stella said as she walked out of the room.
Vanessa sat on her bed and picked up her phone. She dialed Zac's number and waited for him to answer.
"Hey baby" Zac answered.
"Hi, are you done filming for the day?" Vanessa asked as she lied down.
"Yeah I just finished. How are you doing?" Zac asked.
"I'm okay. Your mom is coming over tonight" Vanessa said.
"Oh okay. Babe, when my mom comes over snuggle with her and just talk about everything okay? She is the closest thing to me that you can get right now. Don't hold back just to make her have a peace of mind" Zac said.
"Okay, how's filming going?" Vanessa asked her boyfriend.
"Honestly, it's going horribly. I try to concentrate but my mind always drifts back to a beautiful brunette that is at home dealing with some really heavy stuff" Zac said.
Vanessa sighed.
"Zac, you need to concentrate. I know you are concerned about me but you need to do your job. I love you for thinking about me but right now your priority is work" Vanessa said.
"I know, it's just hard. You are dealing with all of this and I'm not there. Yeah work is my priority I agree with you there, but you are my priority too. I wish I was home with you and helping you through this instead of Stella or your mom dealing with all of it. I love you Vanessa Anne Hudgens" Zac said.
Vanessa had tears running down her face. She sniffled.
"I love you too and I miss you more than ever. I can't believe I did something so stupid" Vanessa cried.
"Baby, don't cry" Zac said.
Vanessa cried and didn't know how she was going to get through this.
"Van I am coming home" Zac said.
"No. You can't come home Zac. You have to stay in Australia" Vanessa said.
"Babe, I want to come home and see you. Will it make you feel better if I came on a weekend where I don't have to film anything?" Zac asked.
"What weekend do you not have to film?" Vanessa asked.
"This weekend" Zac said.
"Don't you have to be back by monday? You would have to leave on Sunday" Vanessa said.
"Yes, I will leave Friday morning and I will get there on Saturday morning. I will take all the time I can get with you" Zac said.
Vanessa sighed.
"Okay" Vanessa said.
"Alright, I will see you in two days okay?" Zac said.
"Okay, I love you" Vanessa said.
"I love you too baby girl" Zac said.
The couple hung up. Vanessa got off her bed and walked downstairs. She went into the kitchen and saw her mother.
"Are you okay?" Gina asked her daughter.
"Zac is coming home in two days" Vanessa said.
"I thought he had to stay for three weeks?" Gina asked.
"He does but he wants to come see me. He said he feels bad that he's not here while all of this stuff is going on" Vanessa said.
"Is he going to go back?" Gina asked.
"Yeah, he's just staying for the weekend" Vanessa said.
"Okay, are you going to go back to your house or his?" Gina asked.
"I don't know. It depends on how we feel" Vanessa said.
"Okay, what time is Starla coming tonight?" Gina asked.
"I think Zac said that she is going to be here around five. So I have an hour" Vanessa said.
"Alright, did you see Stella?" Gina asked.
"Yeah she came into my room when she got home. We had a little talk" Vanessa said.
"Oh. Stella was really worried about you" Gina said.
"I know. We talked for a while and she helped me through a breakdown" Vanessa said.
"She cares about you honey. Stella may only be sixteen but she knows you better than anyone else" Gina said.
"I know she does. It's just all of this photo scandal stuff is just draining me. Sometimes I feel like no one cares" Vanessa said.
"Everything will get better in time okay? Go get ready for Starla" Gina said as she kissing her daughter's cheek.
Vanessa walked upstairs and went into her bedroom. She was so happy that she had a family that had her back. An hour later, the doorbell rang. Vanessa walked downstairs and opened the door slowly. Starla Efron stood at the front door and smiled. Vanessa walked into her boyfriend's mother's arms without words. Starla kissed Vanessa's cheek softly.
"How are you doing honey?" Starla asked.
"I'm doing okay. Just trying to get through everything" Vanessa said.
"We are going to go to Zac's house so we can talk" Starla said.
"Okay" Vanessa said as she got her purse.
Vanessa and Starla drove to Zac's house in silence. Starla parked her car in the driveway and the two women got out of the car and walked into the house. Vanessa and Starla went into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"Have you talked to Zac?" Starla asked.
"Yeah. I talked to him a couple hours before you came over. He said that he is going to come home for the weekend to see me. I told him not to but he said he is going to come anyway" Vanessa said.
Starla smiled.
"That's good. Vanessa sweetheart, Zac feels horrible. Yes he wasn't involved in any of it, but he hates seeing and hearing you depressed. I certainly don't like it either. Zac tried to get me to let him come home, but like you I told him to finish filming" Starla said.
"He said that he felt bad that he isn't here to help me through all of this. But he doesn't realize that he is. Zac's my strength and the only thing that is going to keep me from killing myself over this. I have cried day after day and asked myself why did this happen to me? But then I realize that without Zac, I wouldn't be sitting here and talking to you calmly right now" Vanessa said.
Starla smiled.
"Can I ask you a question about the pictures?" Starla asked.
"Okay" Vanessa said nervously.
"Honey, if anything I am asking makes you uncomfortable tell me and we will skip it" Starla said.
Vanessa nodded.
"Why did you take the pictures in the first place? I know your parents may have asked you this already but I want to know" Starla said.
Vanessa looked down at her hands and then looked up.
"I thought I was in love. I was sixteen and naive. I thought love was all about sex and stuff like that. My boyfriend at the time wanted some pictures because he was leaving on a trip for a month. I told him okay and I took the pictures. I sent them to his email and he never got them" Vanessa said as silent tears ran down her face.
Starla leaned over and hugged Vanessa. Vanessa wrapped her arms around Starla. She pulled back and wiped her tears away.
"Sorry" Vanessa said.
"Hey, it's okay. If you need to cry, then by all means cry. Did you tell Zac about the pictures when you first started dating?" Starla asked.
"No I didn't. I tried to block the memory out of my head" Vanessa said.
"Okay. So about Zac, do you trust him?" Starla asked.
"I trust him with my life" Vanessa said.
"You don't think he would try and look at the pictures on the internet?" Starla asked.
"No" Vanessa said softly.
"I'm not trying to pry honey, I just want to find out a couple things" Starla said.
Vanessa nodded.
"Do you love him?" Starla asked.
"Yes" Vanessa said simply.
Starla smiled. The two women continued to talk until they finished their conversation. They drove back to Vanessa's parents house. Vanessa promised Starla that she would keep her updated with everything. She walked into the house and went upstairs. Vanessa got into bed and fell asleep. She had two days until she could finally feel safe again.