After Zac and Vanessa got together, Ashley and Lucas were the only ones left who hadn't paired off. This made things a little awkward for them when everyone was watching movies together.
Especially one night when everyone but Ashley and Lucas fell asleep with their respective partners. Ashley was curled up on a bean bag chair and Lucas was sprawled on the floor in front of the couch.
"Lucas?" Ashley practically breathed. Lucas lifted his head and turned towards her.
"We should go." He mouthed, gesturing towards the boy's kitchen. Ashley nodded and they carefully picked their way into the kitchen and Lucas turned the dim microwave light on.
She slid down the fridge and brought her knees up to her chest. Lucas sat down across from her and leaned against some cabinets. "I don't want the filming to end." She confided.
"I know, I don't either." He agreed. "I've had so much fun living with Mo and Ness, drinking coffee with Corbin, staying up all night watching movies with everyone, flirting with you-" Ashley broke off and blushed.
Lucas bit his lip to hide a smile and stared at her. "Well Miss Tisdale, I have thoroughly enjoyed your company as well." Ashley giggled then stood up and swayed around.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Dancing," She replied simply then held her hands out to him, "Dance with me?" She pouted. Lucas stared at her for several long moments then took her hand and stood up.
She smiled and put her hands around his shoulders. He took her waist and they started to sway together. He matched his hips to her and they began to move back and forth in perfect harmony. Ashley couldn't breath, couldn't think, couldn't focus on anything but the feeling of Lucas moving with her.
Lucas was having similar feelings. 'Okay Lucas, we need to be professional' He thought. 'You can do it, you can do it. Step back…now!' His mind argued for a long time.
He hadn't realized that they'd stopped moving until he noticed how much closer he and Ashley were. His face was hovering right above hers, he could count her eyelashes, and it almost felt like her breaths were his.
As he was titling her head towards his, a crash came from the living room and the leapt apart like they had been burned. Ashley stumbled into the room where the rest of the cast slumbered and turned a light on.
Drew, who was visiting for a few days, and Monique had rolled off the couch which caused Olesya to wake up and slide out of Corbin's lap and onto the floor. This then caused Vanessa to scream when Olesya landed on her which jolted Zac awake.
Lucas ran in with a fire extinguisher and everyone stared at him.
"What?" He asked, "I didn't know what happened. There could have been a dangerous forest fire reeking havoc on you!" He defended.
Everyone rolled there eyes and laughed and Ashley sank to the floor, still weak from her almost kiss with Lucas.
"I think we all should go to bed." Monique said, getting off the floor and dragging Drew up. "We have another long day tomorrow." The boys all shuffled back to their rooms, Olesya curled up on the couch because she was too tired to go back to her room and the girls retired to their rooms.
Ashley could not sleep; one thing was on her mind. Lucas… Little did she know that Lucas was having similar thoughts about her in his room.
WDCT
The next day, they filmed the scenes leading up to 'Bop to the Top.' The first things they shot were the two scenes where Gabriella and Troy are practicing on their own and Ryan and Sharpay hear them.
They started with the boys because they were less likely to laugh and therefore it would take less time. Zac sat on some bleachers and sang 'Breaking Free' while Lucas walked up some steps and titled his head when he heard Zac's voice.
He fiddled with the door handle and Zac stopped singing then Lucas skillfully dropped to the floor and looked under. Ken instructed Zac to tilt his head so he turned it and executed it quickly.
Lucas then stood up and sighed before continuing to walk down the hall. "Yes! I knew starting with you was a good idea!" Kenny cheered and Lucas and Zac laughed.
"Hey man, nice hat." Zac joked. Lucas righted his hat and scowled, "Not my fault I have a hat head." He replied then started laughing.
"Okay, let's do the girls now." Kenny said, gathering the equipment and walking to the other side of the building. Ashley and Vanessa were talking with Chris about food while they waited for Kenny to show up.
"I like cinnamon buns." Ashley said dreamily.
"Those are really bad for you. They have a like a billion calories." Vanessa replied.
"I'm not counting."
"I'm not either; it's just probably not healthy to consume all of them."
"But they're sugary and sticky and gooey and yum!"
"Yeah, gosh Vanessa!" Chris countered. The girls giggled at him.
"Besides, Pop Tarts kick cinnamon buns butts!" Chris informed them.
"Do not!" They squealed.
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"How could Pop Tarts possibly be better than cinnamon buns?!"
"Pop Tarts probably don't have as many calories!"
"Do you know that for a fact?"
"No, I'm guesstimating."
"Guesstimating doesn't count!"
"Why not?"
"Because it's guessing!"
"It's an educated guess!"
"Yeah, whatever you say Chris!" Thankfully for Chris, Kenny chose that moment to arrive and quickly broke up their debate.
They quickly set up the scene and stared to film. Ashley strutted down the hall and paused when she heard Vanessa singing then turned and walked into the bathroom. She looked around and saw no one so she expertly lifted her leg and karate kicked one of the doors.
As she was doing this, her other foot slid off her heel and she fell forward and grabbed onto the stall. "HA! I didn't fall!" She yelled triumphantly.
"Cut!" They restarted and this time, Ashley kept her balance then turned and instead of not seeing Vanessa, caught the younger girl's eye and started to laugh. It took ten minutes to settle the actresses down and finally, Kenny called for attention and they finished the scene.
The next few scenes were Vanessa and Zac rehearsing with Olesya then came the big plot scene. Ashley and Lucas hadn't really spoken since the previous nights events and Lucas didn't really acknowledge Ashley at all.
They walked down the hall singing 'Bop to the Top' then pretended to hear singing. Ashley gasped and turned towards Lucas who grimaced, "They sound good." Ashley scoffed and clicked to the door then stood on her toes and peered in.
She pretended to see Vanessa and Zac singing then spun around and clutched the door. "We have to do something!" She cried.
They continued to walk down the hall and scheme until Ashley paused, "Too bad all these events weren't happening on the same day. At the same time."
"But that wouldn't work out because then Troy and Gabriella would miss the final call backs-" Ashley gave Lucas a "duh" face and he nodded, "I'm proud to call you my sister." He said with a smile. She smirked, "I know!" Then sauntered away.
"Cut! Great job!" Ashley and Lucas smiled.
"Lucas?" He turned towards her, expecting her to confront him about last night. Instead, Ashley pulled the towel off his shoulder and fidgeted with it. "What's with the towel?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Eh, Maureen shoved it at me on my way out of the trailer." He shrugged.
"It makes no sense! Unless you were like working out before this or something and you wiped the sweat off your brow."
"Or if I went swimming."
"Or you're a bull fighter in your off time and you're so skilled, your towel thingy's white." Lucas burst out laughing. "Oh yeah, that's it." He replied sarcastically.
They then moved into a large, dark and slightly humid room to have their big scene with Alyson. Olesya sat at a piano and doodled in a notebook, trying to make it look like she was composing when she heard a door slam open and she shot her head up.
"…Then I might actually agree with you." Alyson told them, then turned and made a dramatic exit. Ashley sighed in relief and played with her purse while Lucas stared after Ms. Darbus.
"Was that a yes?" He asked. Instead of saying her line, Ashley gave him an over-exaggerated wink and turned out of the room.
They broke for lunch then started in on the day of the call backs scenes. Lucas didn't speak to Ashley at all during lunch even though Ashley kept trying to start conversations with him.
Ashley was crestfallen and confronted Monique about it, "Maybe he's just tired." She suggested but Ashley shrugged and slouched off to change her costume.
They did the "Pi pie" scene and had a lot of fun throwing the bean bag basket balls around then they set up chairs and benches so the basket ball team could do their part.
Zac and Corbin led Ashley and Lucas forward and Ashley leaned against the door frame while Lucas stepped back to let Alyson forward then leaned against the opposite door frame.
"Watch, from our team to yours!" Corbin told them then got in his place. "G.O.D.R.A.M.A.C.L.U.B. EXCLAMATION POINT!" They performed.
Ashley tried to keep a straight face but lost it when Chris started to rock back on forth as each person said a letter.
They reset the scene and did it three more times. "Well, it seems we Wildcats are in for an interesting afternoon." Alyson muttered then pushed past Lucas.
"Go-go go dr-dra-dray-dray?" Lucas stuttered as an improvised reading disorder. Ashley stared at him then rolled her eyes and walked back into the class room.
After that, Bart and Zac did the infamous shirtless scene, during which all of the girls huddled around the camera to watch the play back. "Back off of my man!" Vanessa teased as Ashley and Olesya simpered.
They also did the gym scene where Zac ran up behind Vanessa and spun her around. The cast spent the rest of the day finishing off all of the scenes that were before and after 'Bop to the Top,' which Kenny scheduled for the next day.
After spending an entire day being almost completely ignored by her co-star, Ashley lost it. He walked into her mini dressing room to see if she was ready to go and she whirled on him.
"What is your major childhood trauma?!" She demanded.
Lucas was taken aback and stared at Ashley. "Excuse me?"
"You-you are impossible!" She shrieked. "You are all 'flirt, flirt, flirt' for weeks on end then last night you and I had one small moment and now you're all 'professional!' What is wrong with you?!"
Lucas opened his mouth to explain but she grabbed her purse and cut him off, "Save it for someone who wants to hear it, because I'm through with listening to you." She hissed then stormed off, leaving Lucas extremely confused.
Ashley maintained silence at Lucas the entire van ride to the hotel and talked to everyone but him.
That night, Ashley cried bitterly in the shower then fell into an uneasy sleep while Lucas continually slammed his head into the wall of his room until Corbin piped up with, "Dude, quit it before you die! Or worse, I come in and kill you."
'What have I done?' Was all Lucas could think for the entire night.
Ooh, dramatic much? Do you think Ashley over reacted? I was thinking that while I wrote this but I think sometimes you just need to vent. And don't worry, this will all work out. I promise. Any suggestions as the end draws nearer? I haven't quite decided a few things, such as when Ashley and Lucas get together but I think I've almost got it. If you have anything you want to see in the story, PM me or write it in a review. It's not or never! Thanks for reading this lengthy and rather OCD story though! XOXO!