The poster was laying on her bed, spread out. It was a picture of her from a photo shoot that she had done a few months earlier, but it wasn't exactly the same picture. Someone had drawn all over her face with a big bold marker, and had written cruel things all over saying she was a bad actress, that she looked hideous, and so on.
"Oh my gosh." She barely whispered through her hands that were covering her mouth, her eyes beginning to tear up. It was the very first piece of hate-mail she ever received throughout her growing career.
"Why would someone do this?" She asked, shaking her head. "This is so wrong." She said running her fingers over the words. After a few more seconds of starring at the poster, she quickly grabbed her purse and pulled on a big hoodie, then left the suite. She pulled on her sun glasses over her eyes as she rode down the elevator to the hotel lobby, and made her way out of the hotel. Vanessa had no idea where she was going, but she just needed to get out. She began walking down the street until she came to an empty park and decided to go sit on one of the isolated swings.
"I seriously didn't think my first hate mail would be like that." She said to herself, throwing her bag to the side on the sand, as well as her sandals, before taking a seat on the swing. She just kept staring at the sand as so many thoughts ran through her mind.
I shouldn't even be reacting like this. She thought, shaking her head. It was just a first, and I'm pretty sure there's more to come. I just have to be strong, and take it. I still have more fans than I do haters... hopefully. She sighed. Then she began to kick the sand in front of her with her toes, still intensively looking down at the down at the sand. Vanessa sat there for about ten minutes, grasping the chains of the swing as she continued to lightly kick the sand with her feet, occasionally making designs with her toes, thinking of anything she could to get her mind off of that poster. But she had no luck. It was a reality check that she had overlooked before that some people aren't going to like her work that she does, and some people would, and it kept her in a deep thought. Tears had started to run down her face, but she didn't care.
"Are you okay?" A small voice asked. Vanessa quickly sat up and wiped her face, trying to hold back the tears. A small boy, about 4 or 5 was standing in front of her with his head cocked to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of her face when she was staring at the ground.
"Uhm, yeah." She gave him a smile, she thought he was adorable. "Thank you."
"Why are you crying?" He asked, tilting his head to the other side.
"Uhm, well, I was.. err... hurt." She tried to explain.
"Oh." He said, making a big "O" with his mouth as he drew his head back a little before while saying it. "So are you better now?" He asked in a cute little voice again. Vanessa couldn't help but laugh at how cute and caring he was.
"Uh, not really." She giggled.
"but you're laughing, so you're happy." He looked puzzled.
"Well, I am happy because you're helping me." She smiled. "But I'm still sad on the inside."
"I see." He nodded. " OH! WAIT!" He suddenly exclaimed and wailed his arms in the air before running off.
"Okay.." Vanessa said slowly before giggling some more. The little boy had ran off somewhere, but she couldn't see where because the playground was in the way. The little boy had longish light brown, a small pudgy face, and hazel beady eyes. He was wearing khaki shorts, and a navy blue and white thick striped polo. After about a minute or so, the little boy came vigorously running back towards Vanessa with his short legs giving him small strides. Vanessa grinned at that.
"Here you go!" He beamed, handing her a freshly picked flower.
"Aww, thank you!" She said looking at the flower as he began to blush. It was missing a few petals since he had been running with it in his hands, but it was the thought that counted.
"There you are Kyle!" Vanessa heard a woman say from behind her.
"Hi mommy!" He waved excitedly.
"I'm so sorry if he bothered you, I've been looking for him everywhere... we were playing hide-and-seek. But thank you for watching him." His mother explained.
"It's fine." Vanessa shook her head. "You're son is quite the gentleman." Vanessa grinned showing her the flower that he had given her.
"She was crying momma! I made her happy!" He exclaimed.
"Oh really?" His mother looked at him.
"Uh huh, ask her!" He pointed to Vanessa, causing her to laugh some more.
"Yes you did, and thank you very much, Kyle. It's also nice to meet you." Vanessa held out her hand to him.
"It's nice too meet you too.. uhh.. I don't know your name.." He scratched his head.
"I'm Vanessa." She said.
"Vanessa!" He finished.
"I'm Carol." Kyle's mother said, holding her hand out to Vanessa.
"Vanessa." Vanessa said as she shook his mother's hand.
"Thank you again. You're a lovely young lady, and thank goodness he didn't end up in the wrong hands." Carol let out a sigh of relief.
"I hide good." He said to Vanessa.
"Apparently you do." Vanessa nodded. "And trust me Carol, really, it was no problem."
"So, are you new in town? We come here a lot, and I've never seen you here, but you look so familiar." Carol asked.
"Uhm, actually, no. I'm in town for work." Vanessa nodded her head.
"Wow, really? But you're so young. Jobs usually don't send people around as young as you to different places."
"Well, actually I'm an actress. I'm here filming a movie." Vanessa explained. She didn't mind having them know since they didn't know she was an actress in the first place.
"Oh really?" Carol said surprised. "Wow, that must be interesting. So what movies have you been in?"
"Not many, but I'm usually recognized for Disney's High School Musical." Vanessa said from her swing.
"That's where you're from!" Carol snapped her finger. "My kids love that movie!"
"Oh, I assumed Kyle was your only son.." Vanessa began.
"Oh, no, no. I have another son, and a daughter. They go to extracurricular activities at this time, so Kyle and I come to the park to spend time."
"Aww, that's so sweet." Vanessa said.
"You're famous?!" Kyle's jaw dropped and face shocked, finally realizing what Vanessa and his mother had said earlier.
"You're just the cutest thing ever!" Vanessa laughed. "I guess you can say that." She shrugged.
"Wow!" Kyle exclaimed.
"But you wanna know a secret?" Vanessa whispered, crouching down to his level. Carol watched in amazement at how sweet and caring she was with Kyle. Kyle nodded his head excitedly.
"I still like being a normal girl better." She whispered and winked.
"Whoa!" Kyle exclaimed once more. Vanessa and Carol laughed.
"You so good with kids." Carol complimented.
"Thanks. I love kids." Vanessa said. "I've got a younger sister, but she's not that much younger, so we bond a lot. But spending time with the little ones is always a blast."
"Until they become a pain." Carol laughed, and looked at her watch. "Oh my, we've gotta go pick up your brother and sister now Kyle. It was nice to meet you." Carol shook Vanessa's hand once more.
"You too." Vanessa replied sweetly.
"Aww. But I wanna stay with Vanessa!" Kyle whined.
"You can't honey, she's a busy girl..." Carol began.
"But.." Kyle interfered, trying to find and excuse.
"Aww, I'd like to hang out with you more too, Kyle, but you've got to go pick up your brother and sister now." Vanessa said as his eyes started to tear up.
"But I like you!" He stomped his foot. Vanessa grinned. Why is it easier for guys to say things like that when they're little? She thought.
"Hmm, tell you what... You can come spend time with me some time while I'm here, and I'll if it's okay with your mom." Vanessa said.
"Really?" He asked hopefully, and Vanessa nodded her head. "Can she mommy?! Can she babysit me one day?!"
"I'm not sure." Carol said unsure. "I'm sure you have a busy schedule..."
"We only work until 5, sometimes earlier than that." Vanessa explained. "You could have the day off, and you don't have to worry about him. We've always got security with us, I bet there's one following me right now, so he'll be safe, or you can come along with your other children as well.." Vanessa assured her.
"Well, alright, if you say it's alright.." Carol caved.
"It's fine, trust me. Besides, I think your son here actually brightened up my day, so I would have to say that i definitely owe him." She smiled.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. It'll give me some time to actually spend time with my other two kids." Carol smiled. Vanessa pulled out a piece of paper from her purse and wrote her number on it.
"Here you go, you can call whenever you'd like me to watch him." Vanessa said.
"Thank you so much, I think this really means a lot to him." Carol said as she watched her son jumping around happily.
"I can see that." Vanessa laughed.
"Alright, come on Kyle!" Carol called to him. "I'll see you soon Vanessa." Carol said.
"Bye Vanessa!" Kyle said waving.
"Alright. Bye!" Vanessa said before taking a seat on the swing again, kicking more sand, and looking at the flower Kyle had given her.
"Cute kid." Vanessa said, sitting back on the swing with her flower in hand. She sat there for a while, just staring out into space. Five minutes later, she was still caught in a deep thought.
"You know, if you wanna swing, you gotta give a good kick." A voice said from behind her. Vanessa quickly spun her head around to see who was talking to her. Zac stood a few yards away with his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts, wearing a navy blue and white stripped polo, and sandals.
Wow, Kyle was like his mini-me. Vanessa thought and lightly laughed.
"What's so funny? It's true, you have to kick." Zac said, taking a seat in the swing next to her.
"Oh, uh, nothing. Your outfit just reminded me of something, that's all."
"I see." Zac nodded. "So... why are you out here? I thought you had dinner with Kevin?" He asked, lightly kicking off the ground to make him sway back a forth a little. Vanessa's eyes just followed Zac's swinging body.
"He and Karl left after practice. Something came up, so they left before all the others." She explained.
"Oh, I see." He nodded, halting himself from swinging any more.
"Yeah." She nodded. "I was gonna stop by so we could talk, but I figured you had other things planned since I said I would drop by later tonight."
"Well, I am one busy bee." He said sarcastically. "Just kidding. Nah, I was just watching some TV in my room. So what are you doing here at the park?"
"I don't know." Vanessa shrugged. "I just started walking and I ended up seeing that the park was empty, so I came to the swings." Zac just nodded.
"So, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"You make it sound like I'm not aloud to be here." He laughed.
"No." She laughed as well. "I didn't mean it like that.. I meant..."
"Chill, Ness. I know what you meant." He laughed some more. "Actually I'm always here. Kinda. This is where I usually go while all you guys are out or whatever."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I usually just come here, walk around and think. Stuff like that."
"Well, it's a pretty nice place to think. I think I've been here for like an hour or so." Vanessa said. Zac just nodded his head as silence fell between the two. Neither knew what to say.
"So.." Zac said just to break the silence.
"Why is it so weird between us now?" Vanessa asked quietly.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "But at least we're talking... I think."
"Well, we are talking right now, aren't we?" She laughed a little.
"Well, yeah, but I meant... nevermind. I'll just confuse myself." He stopped himself from continuing.
"It's fine, I get what you're saying."
"So.. are we friends?" He asked hopefully.
"I hope we are, but we both haven't been the best of friends towards each other lately." She began.
"Yeah... Like I said before, Ness, I'm sorry..." He cut her off.
"I should be apologizing too. I'm sorry, Zac. I haven't been that great of a friend either to you and the rest of the gang. I was trying to be a good girlfriend to Kev, and all the debut stuff, and..." She began to ramble.
Girlfriend. The word rang in Zac's head. Once again, another reminder of why it's so hard. She's Kevin's, not mine. He kicked himself mentally.
"I understand." He cut her off. "I haven't been so great to everyone either. I mean, not taking the time to spend time with everyone and all that.." He explained and Vanessa nodded her head.
"I know it's a corny question and all but, can we be best friends again?" She giggled.
"We never stopped." Zac grinned.
"Good." She smiled and quickly got up and threw her arms around Zac as he stood up seeing Vanessa practically jump into a hug. They held a tight embrace.
"I missed you, Zac." She said.
"Yeah, I missed you too, Ness." He said as they let go, and went back to their swings.
"So... Now that we're on good terms, tell me Zachary, what's wrong? And you can't deny it because I know you're hiding something, and it's bugging you like crazy!" Vanessa asked, twisting her swing to face him. Zac just stared at the ground, not saying a word.
"Are you dying?" Vanessa began to ask questions since he didn't answer.
"No, Ness, I'm not dying." He chuckled.
"Are you.. sick or something?"
"No, I'm pretty much healthy."
"Boy problems?" She eyed him.
"I guess you could say that." He shrugged.
"Is this about a girl?" She gave him a look.
"Uh..." He contemplated whether he should tell her or not.
"I'll take that as a yes." She laughed. He likes someone? Who?! Well, she's a lucky gal. Vanessa thought.
"Yes, it's about a girl. I'm only telling you this because we're best buds." He laughed.
"Damn right." She said proudly. "Hmm, let me guess.."
"Alright.."
"You like a girl, but she doesn't know. You wanna tell her, but you're afraid of how she'll act, and or you don't know how to tell her. And if you two are already friends, you're afraid that if you tell her, it might ruin your friendship and you end up with less than you already had." Vanessa said.
"Yep. You pretty much got down the major points." He nodded. Plus she has a boyfriend, and oh, that girl is YOU! He thought.
"Am I genius or what?" Vanessa laughed.
"Am I that obvious?" He asked.
"No, well, kinda. I could just tell that you had a problem, but when I found out it was about a girl, that's just the usual case with a guy... Or every time a guy talked to me about it, it was." She explained.
"Oh." Zac said.
"So, care to talk about it?" She offered as Zac just shrugged.
"I don't know." He said plainly.
"Hm, do I know her?"
"A little too much." He laughed.
"Interesting..." She said, pretending to think while tapping her chin, suddenly stopping when a name popped into her mind. Ashley?! Zac likes Ash? Vanessa was caught up in her thoughts for a few minutes.
"Hey Ness!" Zac waved his hand in front of her face. He was now standing in front of her.
"Huh?" She looked at him.
"Wanna head back to the hotel? It's kinda getting late."
"Oh, um, sure." She said getting up and walking back to the hotel with him.
"So, did you eat yet?" He asked on their way back.
"No, not really." She shook her head.
"Wanna head back to my suite and order pizza like old times?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'd like that. Plus I'm starving. But I can't stay too long because we're having a girls' night tonight."
"No biggie. As long as I know you're not starving yourself or anything." He said.
"Trust me, food is another one of my best friends, and you know that. Anyways, you're coming with us tomorrow morning for breakfast right?" She looked at him.
"Why? What's happening?"
"Nothing. We're all just gonna go out for breakfast like we used to. So you have to be there! It's just the old gang together." She said as they stepped into the elevator of the hotel.
"Hmm, I don't know... I might not be awake.." He said hesitantly.
"I'll wake you up!" She said. "I'll be your personal alarm clock. Morning wakeup calls, whatever it takes." She laughed.
"Oh gosh. You plus a phone is nonsense." He joked. "I can't imagine a wake up call from you."
"Well, good for you. You're dreams will come true, because you're getting one. Please Zac!! Come to breakfast with us! Just like old times. Do it for me." She pleaded, giving him her best puppy dog face.
"Fine. Because I haven't hung out with everyone in a while, and because I'm still sorry." He said.
"YAY!" She cheered, wrapping him in another hug.
"What's will all these unexpected hugs?" He laughed as he hugged her back.
"I don't know. I guess it's because since we haven't hung out much, and I just missed it." She shrugged.
"Well, you give the best hugs then."
"Duh, no one else can give a Vanessa Hudgens Hug." She laughed.
"True."
"Plus, you're supposed to hug someone like it's the last time you're gonna see them. Just because life is unexpected."
"I never really thought of it like that." Zac said, sitting on the couch.
"Well, you should. It does make a difference, a huge difference in fact, when you think about it."
"That's kind of sad though in a way."
"Yeah, it is." She agreed. "but it's also good I guess." Suddenly her cell phone began to ring.
There you go! Hope you liked it. Review please! And thanks for all you faithful readers and reviewers. I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again, but I'm hoping soon. But school is getting crazier by the day and it's getting hard to get onto the computer. Plus I've got other issues to deal with. Soo, I'm hoping to update within the next week. Alright, ima go try and write as much as possible as i can right now, and who knows, that update might come sooner than expected. LOL. peace.