An HSM Reunion? Yes! Oh, how I wish they would've picked more than one winner - but to that lucky young lady...I'm a bit jealous! Have fun and enjoy that amazing trip! :) Now, for our story's sake, do you think it was an easy decision for those involved? I'm guessing it wasn't for everyone.
Again, I don't own these characters or anything HSM related other than a few trinkets - and now an HSM Reunion '13 t-shirt! (yay!) This is just another idea from the fictional/fanatical brain of one 'crazed fan'.
Thanks for reading and KTZLF!
adc
Scenarios: Rehab - Chapter 3 - In
"I'm in…"
The response came after a long conversation between old friends who were more like siblings. Vanessa sighed as she sent the message that committed her to a charity event unlike any other that she had been a participant.
Austin knew as soon as she walked into his New York apartment that something was on his girlfriend's mind. Instead of the "Hey, Baby!", and smiling face followed by a hug and kiss, he had been greeted by a single index finger in the air while she spoke on the phone and a shaking head when he offered to take her single, small suitcase.
Vanessa had nervously ended her call and wandered into the small kitchen to grab a glass of water. From there she stared into the living room where her boyfriend was calmly watching tv. When she finally walked to the other room and sat down beside Austin he met her with his own unsure voice.
"What's up?" He tried to smile at the dark haired woman beside him but couldn't meet her eyes.
"Monique needs some help," Vanessa started without noticing that Austin wasn't looking her in the eyes – because she was avoiding his as well.
"What kind of help?" His soft voice spurred her to continue and made Vanessa realize that she had, perhaps, already sent him a fearful vibe.
"With her webcast," Vanessa slid her tongue over her mouth and then ran her top teeth over her glistening bottom lip. "She's having a fundraiser for Gimme Mo," she explained a bit further.
"Okay," Austin chanced looking at Vanessa's cheekbones. "How much does she need? I thought the show was doing alright."
"Well," Vanessa twisted her lips and looked into his eyes for the first time since she had arrived on the East Coast. "You know every project can always use financial help. But this one's a little more complicated. She's trying to grab more viewers along with the cash flow."
Austin turned his body toward hers on the small couch in the living room and rested his long arm along the back of the furniture. He tilted his head to try and read Vanessa's expression. "Makes sense… Where do you fit in?"
Vanessa smiled at him with closed lips, showing tiny dimples in this explanation that should have been less than complicated. "She wants to have a dinner – a contest – where fans who make donations could win a chance to have dinner with us."
Austin pressed his lips together as his eyebrows dipped slightly. "Us?" He reached out with the tip of his thumb and touched Vanessa's shoulder. "You mean like…me and you, us? Or you and Monique?"
Vanessa's nervous lip-biting habit hadn't changed over the years. What had become a signal to her previous boyfriend was the same to her current one. Austin retracted his light touch.
"What?" He asked with a slow, serious breath.
Vanessa swallowed and looked at him. "She and Corbin have devised a plan for a High School Musical reunion of sorts…"
Austin rolled his tongue in his mouth and looked past Vanessa's cheek to the wall behind her. He nodded with little understanding. "Reunion as in…"
"As in the main six of us, maybe a few others. Dinner. Meet and greet with whichever fan wins the contest and a special edition of the webcast. A chance for us to get back together and just catch up for a little while… It's been five years since the third movie came out…"
Vanessa's tears betrayed her in more than one way. The thought of how far they had all come in half a decade was simply overwhelming. The bonds that she formed with her friends were some that she could never deny. The idea of spending time with all of them again was amazing- but frightening at the same time. Mostly, though, she didn't want Austin to think she was attempting to use her emotions to sway a decision that really wasn't even his to make.
He watched her duck her head to try and hide the teardrops. He attempted to run through the facts that she had shared but still couldn't wrap his mind around much more than his love's emotional display and the role that her ex-boyfriend might be playing in this whole scene.
Austin blinked a couple of times and quietly breathed in. He scooted closer to Vanessa on the cushions and wrapped his arms around her. "Shhh," he pressed a kiss against her hair.
Vanessa leaned against his kiss. She didn't say anything more but found his hand with hers and weaved their fingers together.
"How was your flight?" Austin diverted the conversation to a safer topic and felt her sarcastic chuckle against his shoulder.
"L.A. to New York; nothing exciting other than the family of five that recognized me as they boarded the plane," she quietly laughed against his shirt and used the gesture to regain her composure and squelch the tears.
"Uh-oh," Austin brushed his nose through her hair and shared her short laugh. "Tell me it was the dad who picked you out of the crowd." He smiled genuinely as she looked up at him and shook her head.
With a quick kiss to his lips Vanessa breathed out and relaxed enough to show him her own grin. "No, it was the little guy that I accidentally tripped. He was probably about 10 years old, maybe. His mom was poking him to keep moving and I happened to shift around and stuck my foot into the aisle just as he shuffled past me. I apologized and he looked up at me. His eyes got huge and he looked back at his mom and said, "She looks like Gabriella, Mom!" And then his mom turned blood red and she apologized to me before pushing him harder to get to their seats."
Vanessa laughed at the memory. "I have this feeling the mom was a crazed fan at some point, you know?"
Austin shook his head. He knew exactly what she was referring to; one of those experiences with her former lover that he could only imagine. But in this moment he wouldn't give into that cringing thought. "I think you're a bit crazed. Did you get away without giving an autograph?"
"Yeah," Vanessa nodded, "But you should've seen their faces. I figure, from the looks of it, all of them recognized me, but if Mom wasn't willing to say something, the rest of them weren't going to, either."
The two shared another smile before Austin opened his arms and beckoned her for another hug. Vanessa leaned closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him pull her closer into a proper greeting for a couple who hadn't seen each other in nearly two weeks. When she pulled back slightly it was only to allow their lips to meet.
Both followed the lip-lock by pressing their own lips together and savoring the fact that they were back in the same room once more.
"So," Austin began again, "Monique wants a reunion," he held her gaze. "I take it this includes…Zac?"
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"No."
Zac's answer was plain and simple and left no room for Corbin to even suggest a good reason to take part.
"You need to do this," the African American attempted to counter the one word Zac had spoken.
"Need?" Zac raised his eyebrows. That, in addition to the higher pitched scowl of his voice, told Corbin that, perhaps, he had chosen the wrong word.
"No, what I need is to just get out of the house and go surfing or sailing or something. I don't need to be in the same room with a bunch of people reliving the past that is just that…in the past. It's time for me to put the past behind me Corbin and finally move forward. That's what I need."
"So what am I doing here right now then? Mo-Mo was right? Is that what you're telling me? You don't need us in your life anymore? Time for the mighty Zac Efron to move on and do something better with his life?" Corbin's lips pressed together with a slight blaze showing in his darkened eyes. "I thought maybe you were reaching out to us because being with your friends could help you get through this a little easier and get back on the right track."
Zac turned toward the counter in his kitchen where they were standing and opened his dishwasher. He knew he had hurt his friend's feelings and that wasn't what he intended. But the idea of being in the same room as Vanessa and pretending to enjoy the time together while some fanatic dissected their every facial twitch wasn't his idea of making progress with the inner struggles he was facing.
He reached into the device and pulled several plates from the bottom rack. After a deep breath he turned around and pushed the dishes toward his darker-skinned friend. "That's not what I meant and you know it, Corbin." He gestured his head toward a cabinet behind the other man where his other plates lived.
"Then what do you mean?" Corbin did as requested and put the dishes away before crossing his arms over his chest. "Monique's gonna do this fundraiser thing. With or without your blessing she's going to do it. She's billing it as an HSM reunion and you're going to have to play some part in it. You know there's no excuse for you not to be involved."
Zac raised his eyes and met Corbin's with an attempt to fight his last line. Still Corbin pushed on. "If you love her like you claim you do, there's no excuse."
Zac's eyes softened. "If I love who, Monique…or Vanessa?"
"Ashley, you doof…actually all three of them!" Corbin laughed at his own joke while Zac rolled his eyes. "Ash and Mo-Mo will both call you out on any excuse you try to give. You know, in the end you'll have to do something. If you aren't actually there… I don't know… you'd better come up with something really good if you seriously don't want to do this."
"Is she in?" Zac pulled a coffee mug out of the washer and leaned against the counter watching Corbin.
"Vanessa?" Corbin wondered, knowing exactly where Zac's mind had gone. "I don't know yet. This whole idea just kinda popped up. Monique was going to call Ashley and then tag-team V to see if they could get her on board, but I don't know if it worked or not. Last I heard, V was heading across the country for the weekend so I don't even know if they've talked to her or not."
"She's back in New York?" Zac's mind latched onto a tidbit of what Corbin was saying.
Corbin nodded slowly. "Just visiting as far as I know, but yeah."
Zac nodded and turned back to the clean dishes on the racks. "I can't watch her cozying up to somebody else, Corbs, you know? I like the idea of the reunion thing. It should be great for Gimme Mo, and I'd love to help, but I don't know that I can be in the same room with her, knowing she's fallen in love with someone else."
"Aren't you still friends, though?" Corbin wondered innocently. "I know you're hurt and she was hurt along the way and you didn't mean to hurt each other…it just kinda happened. But deep down aren't you still friends, at least?"
Zac looked at his friend and felt the knot catch in his throat. "Deep down? Deep down I still love her. Deep down I would do anything for her. And deep down I'm afraid that if you put me in the same room with her and I can't wrap my arms around her and walk out of that room with her… then you might as well just give me a dirty heroin needle and a bag of crack and just forget about me."
"Don't!" Corbin snapped at the words and the way Zac stated them.
"Don't what? Don't tell you what I'm thinking? I'm sorry if that bothers you, but that's exactly what comes to my mind when I think about that situation." Zac looked at the floor and blinked several times knowing his friend was watching. "It's a different side of me, Corbs. It's a part of me that I don't like and I'm trying to ditch it. But the thoughts are still there."
"I'm sorry," Corbin mumbled as he focused on a floor tile and listened to the man in front of him.
Zac shook his head and took a deep breath. "There's nothing to be sorry for, my friend. But when I tell you 'no' to this reunion dinner idea…that's why I mean, 'no'."
Corbin nodded in understanding. He stepped closer to the counter and leaned his elbow onto the granite. "Can I ask you something?" He watched Zac put away some forks and spoons into a nearby drawer.
"Shoot," Zac shrugged his shoulders.
"Are you mad…at her, I mean? Whatever pushed you to try the drugs… is part of it because you're mad at Vanessa for finding Austin?" He tightened his lips as he thought about what Zac might say.
Zac stood up straighter and stretched his back. He looked out the window of his kitchen to the pool that made up much of his back yard. "Mad? Yeah, probably. When she left it was because of the drinking. I didn't want to admit that maybe I had a problem but she could see it. Hell, most people could. Thing is, I had to see it and I couldn't. So, I was p.o.'d that she'd even think there was a problem. And, I reached a point where I thought, "If she thinks I have a problem, I'll show her a problem," and…" he hesitated, "I was in a place that the coke and crack and heroin were readily available."
"Do you blame her?" Corbin lifted himself off the floor and sat on the counter top watching his dear friend 'come clean'.
Zac shook his head. "No." His eyes moved slowly around the room looking at various items on the counters and walls. He opened his mouth to say more and then stopped as he thought through the various memories and situations that were all at once shooting through his brain all over again.
"I can't blame…Vanessa. I let things get out of hand. If anything, now, I'm angry and frustrated with myself. I never tried to be Mr. Squeaky Clean, but somewhere between being movie star and being myself I got lost. So I guess I blame myself…and that just takes me down a whole other path," he sighed.
Corbin watched him quietly, trying to understand what Zac was feeling and wondering if there was anything that could've been done differently, by any of them, to help him avoid what he had been through. The truth remained; Zac had already come through the formal rehab, admitted that there was a problem and turned for help.
"What path do you want to be on now?" Corbin asked gently.
Zac looked up at him and smiled. "I want to be on the one with friends who love me and care for me. I want back on the one where I can go out and have fun and live my life."
"V could be one of those friends. She still cares, Z-man. She still loves you."
Zac looked at his friend as though Corbin was a little boy. "And I still love her. And one day, maybe that part of my heart can open up again…the part that will allow me to be just a friend to her and not want everything we used to have, but just the friendship. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah," Corbin nodded and smiled.
After a moment he hopped down from the counter and walked to the fridge to grab a soda. He opened the stainless steel door and fumbled around looking for the can he wanted. "Even after all that," he started with his head still inside the cooler, "Mo-Mo's still not gonna let you get away with nothing for this reunion. If V is in, and Ashley's in - God help us all – I've already thrown my name into the hat and I'm pretty sure Lucas is on board, you're gonna have to do something."
He pulled the cola can out and turned around, popping the top and slurping the fizz from the lip of the container.
Zac rolled his eyes and sighed rather heavily. "I know. Mama Monique is on the war path. I'll have to come up with something."
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"Come on, Nessie, you know you wanna be in on this. We'll get our schedules coordinated, go out shopping, get our nails and hair done. It'll be like old times!" Ashley's excitement only reverberated slightly against Vanessa's ear.
"I have a lot going on the next few months Ash. You know that. The Gimme Shelter opening, I'm supposed to go with Austin to a charity auction, and I've got a ton of potential scripts to read through." Vanessa ran her hand through her hair as she thought of the laundry list she was reciting – mainly poor excuses – for why she might not be able to join their so-called reunion.
"Pshhh," Ashley blurted. "No excuses, Hudgens. You're in. You know you want to be and you know you can't come up with an excuse good enough to weasel out of it. Bring Austin. It'll be fun!"
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Fun? Do you hear yourself telling me it'll be fun? I'm not the biggest fan of having dinner with a total stranger. Nor am I a big fan of the idea of being in the same room …" She let her words trail off thinking Ashley wouldn't catch onto her most recent thought.
"With Zac?" Ashley's tone became more serious as she noted Vanessa's silence. "Is that what you were going to say, Vanessa?"
Again the line was silent for a moment.
"Yeah," Vanessa admitted quietly.
"I thought Corbin said you were okay with that," Vanessa's blonde friend switched her phone to the other ear as she worked to progress the conversation.
"I don't know, Ash. The more I think about it, the more…I don't know…the more scared I am? I mean, just think… All of us back together, then add some fans into the mix. It's hugs and pictures and all 'where do you think Troy and Gabi would be now? Will you guys ever make another HSM?' kind of conversations." Vanessa couldn't express what her heart was trying to convey.
"So?" Ashley responded with little understanding.
"So," Vanessa sighed and put a hand over her eyes. "I don't know if I can do that. I'm scared that old feelings will start to brew again and my heart is just now getting over the first round."
"But if Austin's there with you..." Ashley tried.
"Then there's a whole other can of worms to get opened," Vanessa quickly added. "I still care, Ashley. Don't think I don't. I can't lie about that. But I have fallen in love with Austin and I don't want to reopen old wounds for me or him…Zac, I mean," she struggled to say his name.
"Come on, though, Nessa. We're all adults now. Don't you think it would be a great time for us to try and show Zac that we all still care. I think supporting him and each other would give us all a little boost. Here we are, five years later, and we can still come together as friends – family, practically." Ashley's voice was more like the caring big sister that Vanessa had turned to on more than one occasion. She was the same big sister who had also been there for Zac. The older, fun-loving, woman had been a common ground for the two young lovebirds, a sounding board and most of all a friend.
"I want to see you and Mo, and Lucas. I haven't seen him in ages. Will Mo invite Kenny, or Chucky? When is she talking about doing this and where? How many outsiders is she talking about?" Vanessa's thoughts and attitude changed easily which put a smile back onto Ashley's face. Still, the older sibling of sorts delved back into the rough subject.
"Wouldn't you like to see Zac, too? He's been through a lot, Nessa. Wouldn't it be good to see him so you could know he's doing okay?"
The line between the two women was silent other than the breaths each was taking. Ashley resolved to say nothing more, knowing it was a decision Vanessa had to make. And after another moment the dark-haired woman whose heart was still somewhat torn, made the call.
"I'm in."
Rehab Chapter 3
