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"Isn't he Hot?!" Ashleigh exclaimed when Zac left to get a soda.
"Uh yeah, he's okay." I lied.
"OKAY? Are you nuts?He is amazing! I met him at the canteen. I saw him sitting there all by himself and I just had to go say hi. I mean, I'd be stupid to pass up someone as good looking as he is, don't you think?"
"Ya, I guess." I answered. I didn't want Ashleigh to know how attracted I was to Zac. She really seemed to like him, and she saw him first, so it was only fair...right? He had only been hanging out with us for about five minutes so far, but his whit, humour and charm had already captivated me like no guy ever had before. Actually, I hadn't really ever liked a guy very seriously. Sure, I had met guys and thought they were hot, but we never actually had a connection. None of my relationships ever lasted any more than two weeks because I just couldn't make myself like anybody to stay with them. Zac was different though. I just knew it.
"He looks kind of familiar to me, what about you? I'd say maybe he just resembles somebody back home, but nobody in all of Maine looks like that. Although I wish all the guys did!" Ashleigh exclaimed. She was acting rediculously girly, and it was kind of funny. Now that she mentioned it though, he did look familiar.
"Ya, actually he does."
Zac ran back to us, holding three sodas.
"You didn't have to buy me one." I said, smiling at him as he handed me mine.
"No worries." He replied. "It's hot out today."
"It's hot here everyday!" I said with a laugh.
"Let me guess, you're not from California?" Zac smiled.
"No, actually we just moved here a few days ago." I said. "How'd ya know?"
"Well for one, you can't handle the heat. Plus, your extreamly white skin kind of gave you away." Zac slapped my theigh lightly as he sat down between Ashleigh and I. I got goosebumps when he touched me.
"So Zac, do you live around here?" Ashleigh asked in her flirty voice.
"Actually yeah, not far at all. Only about a ten minute walk. What about you guys?"
"We're not far either," Ashleigh began to reply, "just down the road..."
She was interrupted by a high pitched shreiking noise. It was coming from a girl, about thirteen years old, standing in front of us with her friend.
"You're Zac Efron!" She said excitedly.
Ashleigh and I looked at eachother, confused. Then we looked at Zac, who just had a smile on his face. He didn't look confused at all. Why were these girls screaming at him? He stood up and approached the two young teenagers. They asked him for his autograph, which he gave them, along with some hugs, and then they two girls were on their way, giggeling as they left the beach. Zac sat back down as if this was normal, and after a minute of nobody saying anything, I broke the silence.
"Uh okay, what the hell was that all about?"
"My thoughts exactly!" Ashleigh said.
Zac started laughing. "It's a long story. Actually, no, it's not..people just...know who I am."
"And why is this?" Ashleigh asked, looking confused.
"I'm an actor." He said with a laugh.
"Are you like, a big deal?" She replied.
Zac laughed again, obviously not wanting to answer such a question. He was modest, which I liked. And that's when I finally realized who he was.
"High School Musical!" I shouted, maybe a little too loud. "Remember Ash, we watched it on one of our girl nights? It was awesome! So cute. He was the hot guy!" I felt a little embarrased when I said that, but when I saw him smile at me and his face turn a slight shade of pink, I was kind of happy I said it. I made him blush. It was cute.
"Oh my god, right! So you were on a bunch of other stuff too! Like Summerland and stuff. We looked you up on the internet after we watched the movie." Ashleigh said excitedly.
***
After the initial shock over the fact that we were hanging out with a major celebrity set in, we had a really good time. Zac was amazing. The three of us went swimming, and ended up having a total splash fight. It was an amazing day, the only down side was the fact that Ashleigh was majorly flirting with him, and he didn't seem to mind. I tried to hide the fact that I was jealous. I wished that I could flirt with him too, but I couldn't. Not only was Ash obviously into him, but I was totally incapable of doing that. It wasn't that I was shy, it was just that I was a little insecure. My entire life, I was told that I was crazy for having such low self esteem because I was so "beautiful", that I could "be a model", and I knew I wasn't ugly, but for some reason I could just never feel good about myself.
At one point, Ash went back to the canteen so she could use the washroom there to fix her hair, and then to get us some more soda, and Zac and I got the chance to talk alone. I couldn't get over how much of a connection I felt with him. He made me feel so comfortable, so at ease. He was so funny, and so down to earth. Especilly for being someone so famous. I hated the fact that he was probably into my best friend, but loved the fact that I could tell he and I were going to be awesome friends. Friends was better than nothing, and by the end of the day, it felt like I had known him forever.
He walked us back to our house when we finally decided that we had been out in the sun for much too long. I sat down on the swing that we had on our wrap around deck, and Zac sat down next to me while Ashleigh went inside to change her clothes. I felt wet and gross too, but I didn't want to say goodbye. Not yet.
"I had a lot of fun today." I said. I looked at him, and he smiled.
"Me too. I'm glad I met you guys. I thought today would be really boring. I wasn't expecting to have today off, so I didn't have anything planned."
"It must be nice just to hang out at the beach though, if you work so much."
"It totally is," he replied, "but I love my job too, so it's not bad no matter what I am doing."
"I always kind of wanted to get into acting." I said.
"How come you didn't persue it?"
"Well, there isn't really much of a calling for actresses in Maine, and until recently, I couldn't afford to come here. Plus, I highly doubt anybody would want someone who looks like me in their movie." I put my head down and tried to smile.
"Chloe..." Zac said, looking at me. "Why would you say that?"
"I don't know..." I replied. "I just..."
"Because you know, you're like, beautiful."
I looked up at him, not knowing what to do. I hoped I wasn't blushing, but my face felt a little hot.
"Thanks." was all I could manage to get out.
Just then, Ashleigh arrived, all dolled up. She had re-applied her make-up, dried and styled her hair, and put on a pretty pink tube top with her jean skirt.
"I'm back!" She stated, sitting in between Zac and I. Zac put his arm on the back of the swing. It wasn't around her, but it was behind her. He might has well have put it around her. It was obvious that he liked her, and she liked him. I just had to deal with it. Zac and I could just be good friends. That's it. Good friends.
"Well, I should get inside. I'm kind of tired." I said, standing up.
"See you later Chloe! I'll call you later, okay?" Zac said, holding up the piece of paper with my cell phone number on it that I had given to him earlier, while we were at the beach. Ash gave him her number, so I figured I might as well do it too.
"Sure." I smiled, and headed inside.
I was laying on my bed about twenty minutes later, when Ashleigh burst into my room, all smiles.
"Is Zac gone?" I asked.
"Yeah." She giggled.
"What are you so happy about?"
"I asked him on a date, and he said yes!" She exclaimed. "Isn't that awesome? I know it was kind of forward of me to ask him out, since I'm the girl and all, but I couldn't help myself."
"Girls ask guys out all the time..." I sighed under my breath.
"I'm gonna go out with a celebrity! A HOT one!" She said, jumping a little.
"That's great Ash." I said, trying to look happy for her, reguardless of the fact that my heart was in my stomach.