Zac and Ashley alone on the beach? A shirtless Zac? Did I leave you guys at a bad point on the last chapter? :P Okay, so I did, and that's the reason I decided to update this sooon xD Read chapter 27. Enjoyy<3
Song of the chapter is "Say Okay" by Vanessa Hudgens. ZAC EFRON, in the music video . . . *_*
Chapter dedicated to BettyD95 because she's an amazing person<3
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Fifteen minutes later, the two teens stumbled back into the beach house and shut the doors behind them.
"That was fun," Ashley said. Her face was glowing with happiness, and her cheeks were rosy because of the cold wind blowing.
Zac nodded. "Yeah. I was right again, wasn't I?" he asked with a laugh.
Ashley rolled her eyes at his cockiness. "Sure," she deadpanned.
Zac laughed again as he gazed at Ashley, his eyes glued to her face. He watched as Ashley made to take off the jacket. "Wait!" he exclaimed.
Ashley paused while she was unzipping the jacket and looked at Zac quizzically. "What happened?"
"Keep it with you for now," Zac said as he zipped back the jacket she was wearing, and stepped back.
Ashley frowned. "It's yours, remember?"
"Yeah, I'll take it from you later. Anyway," Zac shrugged. "I think it looks great on you," he admitted, somewhat shyly.
"Zac, it's your letterman jacket," Ashley reminded him.
"I know," Zac agreed. "I'll just take it from you later. No biggie!"
"Uh, okay," Ashley nodded looking bemused. "So what now? D'you wanna wake up the others?"
"Well I would, but they'd probably kill me for waking them up early on a holiday."
"You're right," Ashley laughed.
"Let's wake them up anyway," Zac said. "We can go ahead with the rest of our day. I'm looking forward to today."
"So am I . . ." Ashley agreed.
"See you in a while," Zac said with a lopsided, charming grin once they reached the first level.
"Yeah uh," Ashley somehow found her legs turning into jelly again. "See you," she said as she hurriedly got into the girls' room and shut the door behind her. She shut her eyes and leaned on the door, breathing heavily. 'I think I might li— no way! I can't possibly have feelings for Zac . . .'
'Of course you can. Have you seen the way you get around him lately?'
'We're just good friends and that's it.'
'Are you hearing yourself talk?'
'No. I'm not. I can't hear my conscience because it doesn't have a voice. It's just thoughts.'
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Shit . . ." she murmured softly. She was faced with the dilemma of two sides of her conscience arguing, both of them trying their best to prove something.
'You're totally into him.'
'Am not!'
'Am too!'
'Am not!'
'Oh shut up. Say that in a few days.'
Ashley sighed as she pushed herself off the door and made her way towards the sleeping girls. She sat down next to Victoria, who was the nearest. "Victoria," she spoke softly as she gently shook the blonde girl by her shoulders. "Wake up . . ."
"Wake up Jade first," she muttered sleepily before she turned to the other side and pulled the sheets over her head.
Ashley shrugged as she moved over to sit in between Jade and Haley. "Wake up sleepyheads," she joked as she shook them lightly. She frowned as they didn't even stir.
"Hey Ash," Gabriella spoke up sleepily before she sat up straight. "Morning . . ."
"Oh thank god you're up," Ashley said. "None of them are looking like they're gonna wake up any time soon."
"Well, that's them," Gabriella shrugged before she yawned loudly. She rubbed her eyes after she yawned and sat up straighter. She peered at Ashley, now fully awake. "Ash, how come you're wearing Zac's letterman jacket?"
"What?" Jade sat up sleepily and gasped, startling Ashley. "Ash, you what?"
"Why didn't you wake up that way when I tried?" Ashley grumbled as she purposely chose to ignore Gabriella's question.
"Haley, Victoria, wake up. Ashley is wearing Zac's letterman jacket!" Jade exclaimed as she shook the two sleepy girls.
"What?"
Both girls sat up immediately, now fully awake from their slumber.
"Really?" Victoria asked excitedly.
"Uh, yeah, I guess," Ashley replied nervously as she fingered the hem of the jacket. "Why are you guys making such a huge deal out of this?" she asked.
"He doesn't even let anybody touch it," Gabriella explained.
"He's totally into you," Jade squealed. "How cute!"
"He's not," Ashley denied. She blushed as she recalled the time they spent together that morning.
"Yeah right, and you're not into him either," Victoria said sarcastically.
"Wha— what? Of course I'm not into him?" Ashley said hotly.
"That's not what I meant."
"She meant that you and my idiotic brother are totally into each other," Haley grinned.
"No," Ashley stood up. "There's nothing like that," she said weakly.
"You said yourself that you might have a thing him, Ash," Gabriella reminded her gently. "Remember?"
"Yeah. The keyword was might, I wasn't so sure of it back then. Right now, I'm freaking sure I don't like him that way," she said, trying to sound as determined as possible. "We're just friends . . ." she trailed off as she wondered whether it was the girls whom she was trying to convince, or if it was herself.
Victoria shrugged. "You'll know for yourself, soon enough."
"Let's get to breakfast," Haley suggested. "I'm starving."
***
"I love movie time!" Victoria grinned happily. "Which movie d'you guys wanna watch?"
Daniel laughed at her childish excitement. "How about Tom and Jerry marathon?"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "No Dan, seriously. Which movie d'you guys wanna watch? Ashley?"
Ashley shrugged. "Anything. You chose."
Five minutes into the movie, Heath groaned. "Tori, really? This looks like a shit movie."
"You're silly then," Victoria replied, her eyes glued to the screen. "I think that 500 days of summer is like, one of the best movies ever!"
"Nah, it's weird," Daniel agreed. "What d'you guys think?"
Sean shrugged. "Don't know, I haven't really seen it, have I?"
"I don't mind watching it, I guess," Zac admitted as he glanced at Ashley, who had laid down on her stomach in between Jayden and Jade, and was swinging her legs back and forth.
"I think it would be a nice movie, and I would love to watch it," Jayden said enthusiastically. "I like the summer season."
Everybody who was listening gawked at Jayden, trying to make some sense of what he said.
"I don't get it," Daniel said slowly. "Is that the reason you like it?"
"Yes," Jayden nodded. "C'mon Tori, play the movie now!"
Heath chuckled. "Man, Jayden, you're one of a kind."
"I know," he grinned.
Zac hadn't noticed any of this happen. He was unnaturally quiet, and lost in thoughts. Sean nudged Zac in the side, making him jump. "Earth to Zac!" he exclaimed in a whisper.
Zac glared at him. "What was that for?"
"A penny for your thoughts?"
"Uh, I don't know," Zac bit his lip. "I think I have an idea, I'll tell you about it later."
"Is it to do with Ash?" Sean asked knowingly.
Zac gaped at Sean. "Yeah," he said slowly.
"What about her?"
"I think that maybe," Zac sighed. "I think she has a thing for me."
"That's old news, Zac," Sean rolled his eyes. "Are you really realizing that now?"
"Don't know," Zac shrugged. "Guess I had an idea before."
"And now what is it, if not an idea? I mean, I don't think that Ash even told Gabi about what she thinks of you." Sean laughed, "last what I heard, she thought that you were an arrogant asshole."
"What?" Zac looked startled. "When was this?"
"Oh about a week after she joined . . ." Sean trailed off as he focussed his attention on the movie instead.
"Right," Zac frowned. "How about you ask Gab about what Ash thinks of me?" he whispered. He glanced at Sean as he didn't get a reply. He rolled his eyes before he nudged Sean in the sides. "Sean!" he exclaimed.
"What?" Sean yelped loudly, distracting everybody from the movie. "Sorry," he said sheepishly when he realized that everybody was glaring at him.
"Sean! Thanks to you, I spilled my juice on the floor," Jayden complained.
"What, where?" Ashley asked as she hurriedly stood up.
"Right in front of you and I," Jayden pointed out.
"Well, this happened, no thanks to Zac who thought that it would be fun to poke me in the sides," Sean said as he glared at Zac.
"Well, it's okay," Gabriella, being the level headed person that she was, intervened. "That mess can be cleaned up in no time, and you three can find some other place for yourselves," she grinned. "Problem solved."
"Who's gonna clean it up?"
"I'll get the sponge," Zac sighed as he stood up and stretched.
"I'll clean up," Jayden offered. Zac nodded as he went towards the kitchen.
Ashley plopped herself down in Zac's place on the couch while Jade shifted away from where the juice had spilled. Jayden looked towards the kitchen, waiting for Zac to come out with the sponge, while everybody else got back to watching the movie.
"Hey, you snagged my place," Zac whined as he walked towards the couch after tossing the sponge at Jayden.
"Well, too bad," Ashley teased.
Sean, who was sprawled out on the ground next to the couch, shifted to make space for Zac. Sensing him move, Gabriella shifted herself so that her head was in Sean's lap. Zac sat down next to Ashley, who was sitting next to Sean.
"What's up?" Zac whispered jokingly as he sat down next to the brunette.
Ashley rolled her eyes as a smile crept on her face. "Just watch the damn movie, CB," she giggled.
"You—" Zac put his arm around Ashley and pretended to strangle her between his forearm and upper arm.
Ashley didn't struggle. Instead, she peacefully leaned into Zac after poking him a couple of times.
About one and a half hour later, Zac glanced at Ashley as the credits started to roll. Ashley, he saw, had fallen asleep with his arm around her. "Hey Gab," he called out softly. "Can I have a little help here?"
Gabriella looked from Zac to Ashley and back to Zac. "You guys are adorable."
"Don't look at me," he shrugged. "She just fell asleep and I didn't even realize it."
"You both are my favorite couple," Jade said contently as she took in the sight of Ashley and Zac and pulled out her phone.
"Shut up," Zac muttered awkwardly as he glanced at Ashley. His head jerked up as he saw a bright flash. "Jade, you didn't just click us this way, did you?"
"Maybe," Jade smirked as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.
"You could just wake her up and walk her till her room," Sean suggested.
Zac nodded at Sean. He turned towards Ashley after Sean strolled away towards where Daniel, Heath and Jayden were discussing movies. "Ash?" he whispered as he shook her gently. "Wake up, you can go sleep in your room."
Ashley stirred as she opened her eyes. She sighed. "Why do I keep falling asleep?" she asked with a yawn as she sat up straight.
"No idea," Gabriella chuckled. She was watching the duo, looking interested, along with Jade, Haley and Victoria.
Victoria smirked. "What were you doing last night, anyway, that you didn't catch any sleep?" she asked her as she looked between Ashley and and Zac.
"I was listening to my ipod," Ashley rolled her eyes as she stood up next to Zac.
"Okay," Zac laughed. "D'you wanna go and catch up on your sleep, or d'you wanna come out and grab some lunch with us? We could get something back for you."
"I'll come along," Ashley said as she glanced at the clock. It was almost noon.
"Oh we're gonna go to the beach after that. I can't wait. I've been dying to play beach ball since quite some time!" Haley exclaimed happily.
"We'll go tanning too," Victoria added with a grin. "Everybody grab your beach wear!"
"Yeah that too," Haley teased.
"I love the seaside so much," Jade said as she got lost in her thoughts. "Please tell me that we're gonna be there during sunset?"
"Yeah, we will. How about we make a bonfire?" asked Zac.
"That sounds like fun, and so does the sunset and the tanning part," Ashley's eyes sparkled. "Let's make a move."
"That's why I like you Ashley," Victoria crossed her hands as she looked at Ashley. "You know what's the right thing to do."
"Uh, okay?"
"You're welcome," the blonde said.
Ashley gawked at her, before laughing nervously. "Um, so when are we gonna leave?"
"Right now," Jade said happily, as she linked hands with Ashley. "Come on Gab, Haley, Tori, let's go get ready."
"I'll go tell the guys . . ." Zac said as he strolled off towards where the boys were, with his hands shoved into his pockets.
***
"This is bliss . . ." Gabriella said softly, about an hour later.
"You're right," Ashley said as Haley, Jade and Victoria murmured in agreement. The girls were lying on their towels on the beach. "I've just been this way since ten minutes, but it feels great."
"I don't get what is it about tanning," Daniel grunted. "I just see it as an excuse to be lazy."
"Where are Zac and Heath?" Haley asked as she looked around with squinted eyes. "I don't see those two anywhere."
"They've gone to grab some food from the beach house. It's been fifteen minutes," Sean explained. "We're hungry."
***
"So, man, d'you wanna grab a few beers as well?" Heath asked, sounding hopeful.
Zac gawked at him. "Are you kidding me? Hell yeah, we need beer!"
"I thought so."
As they walked towards where their friends were after having grabbed loads of food and beer, Heath glanced at Zac, only to see that he was almost drooling in the direction of the beach. He followed his line of vision and gave a low whistle as he saw what Zac was staring at. "Man, Ashley's looking hot."
Zac snapped his mouth shut and threw an angry glance in the blond's direction. "You think every girl is hot."
"Most girls, yeah. Ashley's cool though. She's not an airhead," Heath pointed out.
"I know," Zac said through gritted teeth.
Heath continued to speak, oblivious of Zac's annoyance. "You know, if you're not into her, then maybe I can go out with her . . ." he trailed off as he saw Zac glare at him. "Sorry?"
"I'm very much into her, Heath. So don't even think of it," he spat.
"Just kidding, mate," Heath chuckled. "Almost everybody who knows the two of you knows that you're into her."
Zac rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, his voice full of annoyance.
Heath chuckled. "I'm not gonna date her or anything, but you really can't deny that she's hot," he said in a low voice as they were a few metres away from their friends.
"I'm not denying," Zac muttered as his eyes searched out Ashley, who was basking under the sun in her plain, black bikini, along with the rest of the girls.
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Chapter 27, everybody<3 Seeeee? I'm updating pretty regularly:P Haha please please PLEASE leave your comments? I'd love you guys till eternity if you did that. THANKYOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Xx