"We all thought we had signed up for just another Disney Channel movie," says Hudgens (on Aug. 19, 2006) of the cast's surprise over the success of HSM. When the musical won two Emmys, Hudgens says, "I started bawling." Photo by: Mathew Imaging / FilmMagic
High School Sweethearts| High School Musical, Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron
But sitting next to each other in the theater and later at a party, the two were hand-in-hand – just as they had been in a private moment in the green room before the MTV Movie Awards on June 3. And at HSM2's premiere at Disneyland on Aug. 14, neither could resist wrapping an arm around the other. While they both refuse to discuss details about their relationship, each is effusive when praising the other. "He's an amazing guy," Hudgens said at the L.A. premiere. And as Efron told PEOPLE during filming, "Vanessa just brings sparkle to everything."

There was no hiding their chemistry when the two took a vacation together in Hawaii in April. Staying at the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui's Polo Beach, the couple splashed around in the surf, seeming more grown-up as they kissed and embraced. (Rumors they broke up after a fight later that month were untrue, sources say.) His girl, Efron told Rolling Stone, is "a very, very sexy woman." Speaking of his so-called friendship ring, he blushed.

At heart, the biggest teen stars on the planet remain two low-key kids who were raised by middle-class parents and like to do pretty much the same things they did before they were stars. While filming in Utah, they hung out and watched . . . and watched . . .and watched . . . Anchorman ("Will Ferrell is a God," says Efron), worked out ("Zac goes to the gym almost every single day," Hudgens told PEOPLE on the set. "I try to go with him, like that's my motivation, but sometimes I'll be like, 'Forget it'") and on one occasion whaled on each other. "Once it was snowing, and Zac was on the phone, and I got a huge snowball and, like, hit him with it," said Hudgens, laughing. "We had a snowball fight all the way to rehearsal."