Ok, I was at home and really bored waiting to go to a 4th of July party. So I decided to write a little one-shot.

Disclaimer: Like a said before a million times. I DON'T own anything. Or July Fourth, that's America's.


The Magic of Fireworks

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On a hot Californian morning of July 4th, a young blonde actress sat on her patio reading a book. Which was very rare because as the famous actress of High School Musical, Ashley Tisdale doesn't have a lot of time just sitting around reading? The tranquility was broken by the singing of 'He Said She Said' from her cell phone. She quickly checked the caller ID, and found it one of her friends, Zac Efron, a brunette actor which she had a crush on ever since she met him while greeting a friend on the set of Summerland but fate had led them to High School Musical.

"Hey Zac, what's up?" She always said greeting her best friend.

"Hey Ash, I was just wondering. There was a barbeque at Lucas's house for the 4th of July. And I wondered if you wanted to come? The whole gang's going to be there."

"Sure I'll love to come when is it?"

"It's in two hours, so bring your bathing suit 'cause it's a pool party too." He said quickly as she checked her clock to be only 9:00.

"What?! That's not nearly enough time to get ready! I mean there's picking out clothes, getting my stuff, do my hair and makeup-" But cut off by a very stupid question asked by no other than a male mind.

"Why makeup? It's going to wash off anyway."

"Cause I just do. I have to go and get ready! Bye."

"Bye." He said laughing as she hung up the phone and rushed upstairs to get everything ready.


Two hours later, she finally decided to bring her pink bikini, which she wore over her white tank top and her short jean shorts. She did her long hair in loose curls and checked herself in the mirror. She filled her bag with her towel, tanning oil, and other essentials. She finally finished and quickly got her keys off her table, and called for Blondie her adorable white maltipoo. What party is it without Blondie? Knowing Vanessa she probably brought her black miniature poodle, Shadow, to her party too. She quickly snapped the pink leash to Blondie's collar and they were ready to go!


When she got near the house, she could already hear the sounds of music, laughter of her friend, and the smell of Lucas cooking hot dogs, corn, and other meats and foods on the grill. She parked her car safely in the driveway as she got out and walked though the gate. She could see Zac and Corbin cannon balling into the pool, Monique and Vanessa talking on the lounge chairs under that huge umbrella that Lucas set up. (A/N: I forgot what those were called. My friend Devin had one at her pool party but I don't know what they were called.) And Lucas grilling which every so often, Corbin would steal some stuff that he cooked off the plate. Nobody really noticed her looking in from outside the gate until Blondie started barking when she noticed Shadow.

"Hey Ash!" Lucas said happily as she got, put Blondie down quickly and gave him a hug.

"Hey Luc, it's great to see you again! Nice party!"

"Hey Ash!" Monique called out.

"Hey Mo, V!" She said with a smile on her face as she gave her best friends a hug.

"Seems like Shadow and Blondie are having fun." Vanessa said giggling as she pointed to the two dogs that were now chasing each other after they jumped into the pool. They were still soaking wet when Vanessa called them to her and she shook out the water in front of her. Everyone was laughing at her and her face was priceless.

"That wasn't funny!" She called out pouting a little while laughing at herself.

"Hey Ashley! Over here!" Corbin called out as he tried to give her a hug but she refused giving him a confused face.

"Not you, you're all wet."

"So, you're going to get wet sometime." He said with a smirk.

"No I'm not; I might not even go swimming today." She snapped back at him, still with a smile on her face.

"Well too bad, Corbin's right. You are going to get in the water today whether you like it or not." A familiar voice said as Zac came into the picture.

"Yeah……right. Fine! I'll get in later." Ashley mumbled knowing what's in store for her if she didn't go it.

She quickly put her bag down and took off her top and bottom leaving her the only girl ready to go in the water.

"Come on you guys!" She said calling to Lucas, Vanessa, and Monique. "If I'm getting in the water, you guys are coming in with me.

Monique and Vanessa reluctantly said yes and took off their clothes until they were in they're bikinis and Lucas gave a mumble of 'fine' as he stopped grilling and took off his shirt and dived into the water. The girls on the other had just used the steps and slowly made their way into the freezing cool water.

"Come on! You guys are such wimps!" Corbin called out as all the guys got out of the water.

"No! You get away from us! Monique called out as Corbin picked up Monique, Lucas got Vanessa, and Zac grabbed Ashley by the waist and was followed by the girl's screams and the huge splash in the water.

"Uhhh! I can't believe you guys did that to us!" Vanessa said spiting the water out of her mouth.

"Sorry V but we had to, you guys were so slow." Lucas said laughing as he gave all the guys a high five the guy way. And all jumped into the water.

They all had fun playing pool games and such like Marco Polo and water volleyball for a while but just as they almost ran out of ideas……..Vanessa had a brilliant one.

"Let's play chicken!" She called out receiving nods from everyone as they got into their teams, Corbin with Monique, Lucas with Vanessa, and Zac with Ashley. As Ashley got on Zac's shoulders, it kind of got awkward but she soon got used to it and got ready for the first round.

"Ok, first is Lucas and Vanessa against Zac and Ashley!" Monique called out from Corbin's shoulders making her seem really tall.

The round didn't last very long since Ashley easily pushed Vanessa down because she was pretty strong and still pumped from the Disney Channel Games. The second round was a different story, Monique was a tougher challenger and after a while, Monique pushed Ashley off and she landed on top of Zac. She quickly got off but blushed a little and Zac had a small smile on his face. The others quickly caught on and knew what to do.

She swam away to her friends and the guys went to Zac.

"Dude, tell her that you like her already." Lucas said nudging Zac a little.

"What are you talking about? Zac asked but he knew exactly what it was.

"Don't act stupid." Corbin said with an 'I know what you're up to' face. "Just tell Ashley you like her.

"No! I can't do that! It will ruin our friendship!" Zac said in a loud whisper.

"Come on, you know she likes you back. Just tell her." Lucas said while he and Corbin got up and went to the table to eat.

"Maybe….." Zac said as he followed the guys to the table.


"Come on Ash! We all know you like him." Vanessa said with a smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Ashley said trying to use the same technique Zac used.

"Ashley. You know what we're talking about." Monique said with a 'you're not kidding us' look.

"I don't know. What if he doesn't like me back?" Ashley asked. "Then if would be totally awkward.

"And what if he does? Then he would be your boyfriend!" Vanessa said.

"Fine, I'll make a deal with you. If you guys get together with Lucas and Corbin, I'll get together with Zac. Deal?" Ashley said knowing it will never happen.

"Deal." Vanessa and Monique said in unison just before they all got up to eat.


After they were done eating, it was already almost 8:00 and it was getting dark.

"Hey Ash, do you want to go the lawn to watch the fireworks?" Zac asked nervously.

"Sure." She replied as they walked to the front of the house where there was already a couple of chairs put out……


"So, what's going on between Ash and Zac?" Corbin asked stupidly receiving a bop on the head from Monique.

Just then, there were bright red, white, and blue streaks in the sky and the foursome sat down to watch. After a while, Lucas felt something leaning against his should and found out it was Vanessa. He looked at her and he caught her eye. They slowly leaned in and he finally felt her soft lips onto his. She wrapped her arms around his head deepening the kiss, as he put his hands around her waist.

"Hey, look." Monique said nudging Corbin on the side.

"Ow! That hurt." He said as he turned his head. "They finally got together."

"Yeah, they finally did." She said looking at the fireworks.

"Hey Mo?" Corbin said slowly.

"Yeah?" But she was cut off by a small kiss.

"Thanks." He said smiling.


Meanwhile……….

Zac and Ashley were walking in silence and it was kind of getting awkward until Ashley finally broke the silence.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" She asked looking into the clear dark sky and the little stars.

"Yeah, it is." He said staring at her.

After a while, Ashley felt that someone was staring at her. She looked to her right and found it was Zac. Zac, who found out that Ashley found out he was looking at her, quickly turned away blushing. For a while, they were sneaking glances at each other but one time, they both caught each other's eyes. They stared into them and both slowly leaned in and slowly shared a passionate kiss. As they pulled away, the fireworks started. There were red, white, and blue streaks everywhere in the sky.

"Hey Ash," He started as she looked toward him. "I'm sorry."

But Ashley just smirked and leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Don't be."

As she quickly leaned in closing the gap between them as they shared a breathtaking kiss.


Ok! My longest one-shot so far! I was bored while waiting to go to a party and it was Independence Day so what the hey?! Hope you liked it! And R&R Please!

-Emily