Are their silver bands a sign of commitment? Efron told Rolling Stone, "'Commitment' is way too weird a word for me right now." He said he wears his for a female friend, "but I can't say who, because then it would be chat-room pandemonium and teen-magazine hysteria." Photo by: ADAM LARKEY / DISNEY CHANNEL
High School Sweethearts| High School Musical, Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron
Venus, Mars, same as it ever was. What the future holds for the teenage It couple is far from clear. Before landing HSM, Efron had been accepted to the University of Southern­California but deferred his enrollment. Hudgens says she too wants to go to college. But for now both are focused on work. Hudgens dreams of playing Maria in West Side Story, while Efron could use a break from the chick-flick stuff.

A fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rocky and Bourne movies, he'd like to be in something he'd actually watch. As he told TIME of HSM: "I couldn't get through the first one." Still, both he and Hudgens are in talks for the third installment. Calling himself "lucky" to be part of HSM, Efron said, "If they still want me, I'd be honored." So there's gratitude – and then there's the girl. "Working with Vanessa was a dream come true," Efron says. Adds Hudgens: "When you get to sing with someone you care about, it's magical."

• By Karen S. Schneider with Rennie Dyball. Reported by Jenny Sundel in Salt Lake City, Liza Hamm, Lesley Messer and Christina Tapper in New York City, Jen Garcia, Jessica Herndon, Amy Elisa Keith, Jessica Maidson, Monica Rizzo, Cynthia Wangand Nicholas White in Los Angeles and Katherine Nichols in Honolulu