Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dance Moms or Dance Academy (the people who do probably wouldn't write fan fiction). Certain details from Dance Moms belong to Collins Avenue Productions and Lifetime, Characters and plot line references from Dance Academy belong to Joanna Werner and Samantha Strauss and the rest of the story came from my imagination.
Pairing: Chloe and Zack. I'm open to your suggestions, I might put in some other pairings and mix things up a bit.
Rating: Teen - for language.
Author's Note: I've already written a bit of chapter 3, but please give me more story lines and ideas because I still haven't decided what is going to happen after or later on during the Hawaii trip :)
In this story: Chloe is 17, Paige is 18, Zack is 19 and Brooke is 21. And that would also mean: Mackenzie is 12, Maddie and Kendall are 16 and Nia is 17.
Secret Holiday Part 2
Chloe was standing awkwardly near the fire, with an arm wrapped around her front, the other hand holding a drink that she didn't really like. Paige had started making friends with some random guy, but Chloe was so out of her comfort zone at this party. This wasn't her scene. She was used to reading in her room and small get-togethers with friends.
Someone taps her shoulder and she turns around.
"Chloe!" The guy says, surprised.
"Zack?!" Chloe utters disbelievingly. So she wasn't hallucinating before in the cafe! "I thought I saw you before!"
"I thought I saw you as well!" Zack exclaims. "It really is a small island!"
"Oh my gosh, how are you?!" Chloe asks, leaning forward and giving him a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"I'm great," Zack replies, returning the hug. "I'm in my first year of College and I'm on student exchange here, doing some dance at the local dance studio."
"That's awesome! We're only here on holiday."
"We?" Zack asks.
"Yeah, Paige and I." Chloe replies, pointing to where Paige is. Paige is now making out with the random guy.
"Oh wow. I'm surprised that old witch Abby let you out, considering you guys are like her prisoners." Zack retorts.
Chloe narrows her eyes. She might get frustrated with Miss Abby and dancing once in a while, but that was so uncalled for and nobody outside of ALDC was allowed to talk about her dance instructor that way!
"You shut your pie-hole, Zackery Torres! You don't know anything about Miss Abby or our dance group!" She yells, mustering all of her courage and stomping away.
She wasn't used to blowing up at people like that, but she was so frustrated with the gossip that the Candy Apples spread about them. They danced for themselves. They practiced to get better. Not just for Miss Abby.
"Chloe, wait!" She hears Zack call after her, but she keeps walking down the beach.
Christian looks at Zack after witnessing the ordeal.
"Was that an ex or something?" Christian asks.
"No, actually..."
"We never seem to fully get over them, do we?" Christian says with a faraway look in his eye, not even listening to Zack.
Zack considers Christian's words. Maybe there are some crushes you never get over. Crushes that had to be pushed aside for competition purposes before...
The guilt of being away from dance and the studio is still plaguing Chloe, so she finds a quiet spot down the beach and starts dancing. She goes over basics and tries some new steps, anything to keep herself practiced, but it is pretty difficult on the soft sand.
"Well hello there. How you doin'?" A drunken guy comes up and puts his arm around her. Chloe pushes his arm off. The drunken guy tries again to put his arm around her. She glares at him angry and starts to say "Get your arm off me", when a male voice booms behind them. "You have 3 seconds to leave the girl alone." Chloe turns around and sees that it's Zack who is coming to her rescue. The drunken guy has also seen Zack and his bloodshot eyes are taking in Zack's tall, toned figure and even a drunk guy would not be stupid enough to challenge him to a fight.
"3..." Zack starts counting. "2..."
The drunken guy starts running away from Chloe and off the beach in surprisingly good time for somebody who looks like he has consumed a whole liquor store. She directs her eyes back at Zack and notices that he is giving her the once over with concern in his eyes.
"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No. Well, maybe my pride a little bit." Chloe's phone beeps.
Text from Paige: 'U ready 2 go? I'm going to the walkway now.'
"I have to go. Thanks for, you know...saving me." Chloe says sheepishly.
"Chloe wait, I'm so sorry about what I said before. You were right; I don't know anything about Abby and your group..." Zack babbles apologetically.
"Stop. I'M sorry. I overreacted. I'm just on edge right now because you were right too. I'm not supposed to be here, Miss Abby doesn't know. And sometimes I disagree with her...teaching methods, but it's what I put up with for dance."
"I can understand that," Zack says knowingly. "There's not much I wouldn't do for dance."
They smile at each other for a moment, happy to bond through their mutual love of dance.
The moment is pierced by a shrill cry coming from the walkway.
They look up and see a crowd forming around something pink.
They look at each other and run over to see what is happening.
Chloe and Zack push through the crowd to see Paige on the floor crying, her ankle twisted at an angle that it should not be. Zack disappears and Chloe rushes forward, putting her arms around her best friend, her long blonde hair shielding Paige's face from the crowd. It is clear that Paige's ankle is broken.
"You were right." Paige sobs. "I shouldn't have worn these stilettos. Wendy and mom are going to be so mad."
"Shhh, don't worry about that now. You're going to be fine." Chloe soothes her, as if trying to convince herself of that as well.
A guy beside them speaks up. "She was just standing here, waiting for you, and this drunk dude came running out of nowhere and knocked her over." Chloe recognises the guy speaking as the boy Paige had been kissing earlier.
"Crap. Where's Brooke?" Chloe asks.
"She mentioned going to a famous bar." Paige whimpers, clearly in pain.
A Police car pulls up on the boardwalk next to the crowd and one police officer and Zack get out.
"Move back, people! Give the girl some space!" The policeman yells and everyone except Chloe moves back.
"I went to get help." Zack says as he reaches them. He and the police officer very carefully pick Paige up and put her in the back of the car, trying not to move her leg.
There's only room for one person to go in the front of the car, so Zack looks at Chloe and says "You ride in the front with her, I'll meet you at the hospital."
"Thanks," Chloe says worriedly. "And could you please bring Brooke to the hospital? She's at a 'famous bar' apparently?"
"I think I know which one. See you soon!"
Chloe gets in the front seat of the Police car with Paige lying in the back and they drive off to the hospital.
Zack steps into the bar, which is a college student hotspot and is famous for their cocktails. He scans the bar and doesn't seem to find Brooke until he spots her at the very back table with some friends. He has to look a few times because he hasn't seen her in person in a long time.
"Brooke!" He calls to her, walking over.
She squints at him unfamiliarly for a few seconds until it dawns on her. "Zack! Oh wow, great to see you!"
"Paige has hurt her ankle!"
"Okay, not so great to see you."
"I'm driving you to the hospital, let's go."
"Okay, okay." She says, gathering her stuff quickly and saying goodbye to her friends. "Mum is going to kill me if her injury is serious."
"Maybe, if Abby doesn't kill you first."
"About that…I'll explain in the car." Brooke replies.
Chloe was in the waiting room, freaking out. She was using the hospital hand railing as a barre and was going over ballet barre exercises at a rapid speed, which she only did when she got really nervous. Her smoky eye makeup had smeared on the way and turned into raccoon makeup.
The emergency room doors burst open and Chloe looks up to see Zack and Brooke rushing over to her.
"Where's Paige?!" Brooke asks breathlessly.
"In with a doctor, they wouldn't let me past the waiting room because I'm not family. I said I was her sister but they asked for ID." Chloe says tearfully.
"It's okay; I'll go see her now." Brooke says, patting Chloe's arm and going over to the desk to show her ID.
Once Brooke passes the waiting room doors, Chloe goes back to frantically practicing at the substitute barre. Her eyes water and her body shakes and she struggles to keep standing, but she can't help it.
"Whoa, whoa. You need to calm down." Zack says and Chloe's lips just tremble harder in response.
He notices this and sighs, taking her into his arms and giving her a big bear hug. Chloe bursts into tears at this.
"What if this is serious? What if she can never dance again?...I shouldn't have let her wear those stupid shoes!" Chloe sobs into Zack's chest, taking heaving breaths in between words. "And the guy that knocked her over, I'm pretty sure it was that stupid drunk guy that hit on me on the beach!"
"Damn it." Zack murmurs guiltily. It was him that scared that guy into running so fast...
It's been hours and they are still at the hospital. The clock reads 1AM. Chloe is a lot calmer now and is sitting in a waiting room chair. She had already removed all of her makeup in the bathroom and is now wearing a pink jacket she kept in her bag, in case she got cold. Zack had left ten minutes ago, saying that he was going to the bathroom and Chloe is surprised at the emptiness she feels without him there. When she is worried, he seems to have a comforting presence. To be fair, she reasons, she is probably just too tired to keep stressing out and she would probably be grateful for comfort from anyone at this point. Brooke had texted her saying that she could go back to the hotel 5 hours ago, but she is too anxious to leave and Zack insisted on staying too.
Chloe picks up her phone and decides to text Christi to let her know what was going on, in case Kelly hadn't already told her. Chloe had called Kelly when they wouldn't let Chloe in with Paige, but Kelly hadn't answered so she had left a voicemail. Chloe is pretty sure that Brooke would have called her anyway.
Chloe considers letting Josh know as well, but decides that Kelly would tell him the minute she found out.
A cup of coffee appears before her and she looks up to see Zack offering it to her, with his own cup perched in his hand.
"This will keep you running for a bit longer, but you should probably sleep soon."
"Thanks," she says, accepting the cup. "But I don't think I could sleep right now."
"You should try. Do you mind if I..." Zack mumbles off, leaning his head on Chloe's shoulder. He's snoring before he can finish his sentence. She rests her head on top of his and not long after, she feels her eyelids getting heavy.
Chloe wakes up to someone standing over them. Zack's head is still heavy on her shoulder.
"Awwww." A voice coos.
She blinks and sees Brooke standing over them, squeezing a pillow. "That's so cute!" She squeals and Chloe grabs the pillow embarrassedly and gently moves Zack's head onto the pillow and onto the armrest instead of her shoulder. She looks up at the clock. 6AM. Had they really slept for 5 hours?! The two girls walk a few metres away so they can talk.
"How's Paige?"
"It was a pretty clean break, Thank God. She can go back to the hotel tonight. They put a cast on her foot and she can get it removed in 6 weeks and can probably dance a week or two after that."
"Phew, I'm just glad that Paige will be fine and still able to dance after this, she'd be so devastated if she couldn't."
"Yeah, she's pretty lucky. Unfortunately, I spoke to mom and she thinks that it would be best that Paige stays here until Paige is fully healed."
"That makes sense, so will I fly back by myself at the end of these two weeks?" Chloe asks.
"I'm not really sure. Your parents and my parents can't get time off work, but my mom said something about sending backup. She wasn't specific about whom, but it'll probably be Aunt Kate, who lives in California, which is about two thousand and four hundred miles from here. So either Kate will stay here with Paige and we fly back together, or I stay here with Paige and Kate will fly back with you." Brooke says confusedly, trying to figure out her mom's plans with so little details to go on. "Aunt Kate did mention wanting to visit mom a few weeks ago anyway."
"That's fine, I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chloe smiles reassuringly.
"Anyway, you and Zack really should go and get some sleep, preferably not together though. Your mom would kill me if I allowed that to happen. Paige and I will be back at the hotel in a few hours."
Chloe's cheeks burn with embarrassment at Brooke's comment about sleeping, but she's hungry and too tired to protest so she just nods.
"Do you want to go in and see her for a few minutes? She's in room 12B. I can sit here and watch Zack." Brooke offers, pointing at the sleeping boy.
Chloe nods again and smiles. "Thanks Brooke," she says and goes to see the patient.
Paige's thin frame looks so small in the big hospital bed. Her leg is in a cast, elevated on a few pillows. She is playing some intense looking game on her phone when Chloe walks in.
"Paigey! I'm so glad you're okay." Chloe exclaims, rushing forward and giving her friend a hug.
"I'm fine, Chlo. Mum insists on sending us a chaperone though. And she's so ticked off that Brooke wasn't watching us properly, though she admits that this accident was not preventable."
Chloe gives a sympathetic chuckle and sits on the edge of the bed.
"Anyway," Paige rambles on. "I'm not sure if it was hallucinations from the pain or the morphine button that police guy gave me on the way to the hospital distorting my memory, but I swear Zackery Torres helped carrying me into that police car."
"It wasn't a hallucination. Zack's here on exchange."
"Oh, wow. Well this will be interesting." Paige says, eyebrows rising.
"What will be interesting? We're not competitors anymore. And it's not like we weren't all friends before."
"A few years ago, I liked Zack as more than friends for about a few hours, but then I realised he liked you."
"What? No he didn't."
"There was something intense about the way he watched you dance, as if his eyes were memorising your every move."
"That's because he was afraid that I was going to beat him."
"Oh, Chloe. Sweet, innocent, naive Chloe. He wanted you so bad. But he was dancing with Cathy and you were dancing with Abby, it wouldn't make any sense. But now, he's not with Cathy anymore..." Paige hints cheekily.
"Don't get any ideas, Paige."
"I'm still slightly high on Morphine, I can't help it."
Paige and Chloe talk for a bit longer, before Chloe decides to head back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
Chloe gets back to the waiting room to find that Zack is already awake and talking to Brooke. They're both laughing. Chloe doesn't know why but she feels jealous about the fact that Brooke has been closer to Zack in the past, with them ice skating together that one time before the New York competition. The competition that had her tie with Zack, only to have him beat her due to technique. She pushes the feeling down and dismisses the sharp pain in her chest as a cramp from sitting in hospital chairs for too long and goes over to them.
"Was Paige a bit strange with you?" Brooke asks.
"Yes," Chloe giggles. "She mentioned still having a little bit of morphine in her system."
"A 'little' bit? She wouldn't let go of the green button!" Brooke exclaims as she gets up and stretches, before she leaves Chloe and Zack together in the waiting room.
"So..." Chloe says.
"Sooo..." Zack repeats, emphasising the 'o' sound. "It's almost 7AM."
"Yep."
"...Wanna get breakfast?"
"Sure." Chloe agrees and they walk out of the waiting room together.
"I drove my uncle's car here." Zack says, as they enter the parking lot.
Suddenly a loud female voice rings out through the car park.
"Chloe! Chloe!" the voice calls.
Chloe turns around to see a lady around her mom's age waving and coming towards them. She is pushing a little girl in a wheel chair. The little girl is thin and pale and is wearing a bandana.
"Hi! Sorry to disturb you. My daughter, Megan, is a huge fan!" The lady babbles. "She watches you on Dance Moms every Tuesday, even when she's having chemotherapy. Your dancing and the rest of your team's dancing really inspires her."
"Thank you, that means so much to me." Chloe says, tearing up. "Can I have a hug?" She asks the little girl. Megan nods shyly and reaches her arms up as Chloe reaches down and gives her a heartfelt cuddle.
"Sorry to trouble you more, but can we get a photo?" Megan's mom asks hesitantly.
"Of course!" Chloe exclaims. "It's no trouble at all, we're on holidays."
Chloe poses with Megan and they let her mom take a few photos until Zack says "Let me take a picture of all of you" and they take a few more with Megan's mom. Chloe tells them to wait a second and she takes off her pink jacket. Luckily, she had swiped a free pen from the hospital and pulls it out of the pocket and writes:
"Dear Megan,
You say I inspire you, but YOU are my inspiration.
Call me whenever you want to talk.
Love, Chloe. xoxo"
She then writes her phone number on the materials label, so that it can be cut off later.
Megan's face lights up when Chloe hands her the jacket and Megan's mother's eyes mist over.
"I can't thank you enough for giving her that and your time." She says.
"It's no problem at all." Chloe says and she watches Megan's mom wheel Megan into the hospital.
They stand there for a few seconds of silence.
Zack's voice breaks the silence "Well that was sweet. But how come they didn't recognise me?!"
Chloe grins. "Well it has been a while and you've changed a lot since you were on the show, I don't think anyone who doesn't know you well would recognise you."
"So you know me well, huh?"
"Pretty well." She says and they both smile and get in his car.
They spend the next hour having breakfast together at the closest Cafe they find. Zack has Bacon and Eggs and Chloe has waffles. He then drops her off at her hotel and goes home feeling strangely happy for some reason.
