Chapter One
Departure
"I can't believe we're graduating in three weeks!" Nicole shrieked.
"I know! And we're going to New York!" Lola cried.
Zoey sighed. She didn't understand what was so exciting about graduating. She had never been more scared. They were going to be leaving behind everything they had ever known at PCA. They would be splitting up. What if they lost touch? She didn't know if she could handle that.
"Let's go see when the bus is getting here to take us to the airport!" Nicole exclaimed.
She and Lola hurried out the door, leaving Zoey alone with her thoughts.
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Chase Matthews strolled down the girl's dorm hallway. He was packed and ready to go to New York for their senior trip. He was just ready to get out of high school period. It had not been an easy experience for him. He smiled to himself, thinking of his many failed attempts to tell Zoey how he felt about her. He had already told Michael that if he didn't tell her himself by graduation that Michael had to tell her. How she felt was his deciding factor to which school he chose.
Chase thought of the two acceptance letters in his dorm, one to UCLA and the other to NYU. He knew Zoey had already been accepted to UCLA and planned to attend there in the fall. His choice was all up to how she felt about him. If she loved him, UCLA it was. If she didn't…He wanted to be as far away as possible to nurse his broken heart.
He came to a stop when he reached dorm 101, its door wide open. He smiled as he looked in at Zoey slowly packing. She was so beautiful. She always had been. But why on earth was she still packing? The bus was going to be there any minute.
"Knock, knock." Chase said as he entered.
Zoey turned around; smiling when she saw it was him.
"Hey."
"So, why are you still packing?" He asked.
"Just slow, I guess." She answered, not wanting to admit the real reason she wasn't done. What would Chase say if he knew she was just putting it off because she was unsure of the future?
Probably laugh at me, she thought.
"Need some help?" Chase offered.
Zoey smiled. "That would be nice."
They packed in silence a few moments before Chase spoke.
"So, are you excited about the trip?"
"I guess…Shopping in NYC sounds awesome."
"There's other stuff to do besides shopping, Zo." Chase said, grinning.
"I know."
"And we're going to do it all together."
"We are?" Zoey asked, excited at the prospect of lots of time with Chase…Possibly alone time with Chase. She could still hardly believe she had fallen in love with her best friend. The first time she'd realized her feelings went a little deeper than friendship, was that time when Lola decided she liked Chase and they had just progressed from there, finally coming to a head with the whole Rebecca fiasco. After that, Zoey had known there was no denying it. She was in love with Chase Matthews.
She frowned realizing he'd never answered her earlier question. She glanced up to see what had him preoccupied and immediately her cheeks started to heat up. Chase was holding a black, lacy bra that belonged to HER!
"Chase!" She cried, embarrassed. "What are you doing?"
Chase immediately dropped the bra like it had burned him.
"Sorry! I was just putting your clothes in the suitcase and it was in the pile!" He stammered, clearly embarrassed as well. What would Zoey think if she knew he'd been imagining her in it.
I'm such a pig, he thought. I've been hanging out with Logan too much.
Zoey just grabbed the unmentionable and threw it into the suitcase, not daring to so much as look at Chase for fear she'd burst into tears.
"Aww, Zo don't be mad…It was an accident." Chase said.
"I'm not mad…Just…"
"Embarrassed?" Chase supplied.
She looked up and smiled. "Yah."
Chase was silent a moment. "Well, if it helps…It's nice."
Zoey put a hand to her face and burst into laughter.
Chase looked at her, confused. "What's so funny?"
Zoey sat on her bed, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
"You, me, this whole situation."
Chase started to grin. It was sort of funny. He began to laugh as well.
That was how Lola and Nicole found them upon their return to room 101. Both of them, on the floor, laughing hysterically, Zoey's head resting on Chase's stomach.
"When are you two going to grow up?" Lola asked.
Chase and Zoey looked at each other.
"Never." They said simultaneously, which set them off again.
Lola shook her head and went to grab her bag muttering something about 'oblivious' and 'perfect for each other' as she went.
"Our ride is here!" Nicole screeched, dragging her bags out the door.
Zoey and Chase jumped up and quickly dumped the rest of her stuff in her suitcase and hurried to meet the bus, only stopping on their way to grab Chase's stuff from the floor of the girl's lounge, where he had unceremoniously dumped it. They arrived just as everyone was loading their luggage.
"Lord, Nicole did you have to bring so many bags?" Michael complained as he heaved a second one up on top of Logan's Hummer.
"Why aren't we taking the bus?' Zoey asked
"The bus was full, so Logan offered to drive us in this sweet ride." Michael grunted as he pushed another of Nicole's suitcases on top.
"He's actually gonna leave it at the airport parking lot? I'm impressed." Chase said.
Michael shrugged, as Chase helped him tie down the luggage. "Apparently so."
"I call shotgun!" Nicole cried.
"No way! There is no way in hell; I'm driving us to the airport with her chattering in the front seat." Logan said, coming around the side of the vehicle.
"Dude, where have you been? You were supposed to be helping me load all of this!" Michael asked, annoyed.
"Sorry man, I've got a bad back. You know how it is." Logan said getting in the driver's seat.
Michael grumbled to himself about a 'load of bull' as he and Chase finished throwing the rest of the luggage in the back.
They all piled in, Lola riding shotgun, much to Logan's relief, and headed to the airport to board a plane to NYC, where they would discover things that would challenge their friendship, possibly changing it forever.