Author's Note: So here I am folks, a long-time stalker of the Zoey 101 fanfiction archives who has recently plucked up enough courage to post her first ficcie up. Hope it's not too lame.
Keep in mind that I began to write this before "Coffee Cart Ban" even aired and that I based the storyline around my interpretations of its promo as well as "Chasing Zoey"'s.
And now without much further ado…
CHAPTER ONE
"One petite javachino, please."
Quinn Pensky flipped her stylishly waved hair over a shoulder as she placed the order and gazed out over the campus of Pacific Coast Academy. Thank GOD the coffee carts have been unbanned, she thought graciously. That entire fiasco was ridiculous!
Her thoughts wandered back to just two weeks ago when a fellow student, Logan Reese, had patented his own coffee cart and completely overpriced everything! Soon, the other students of PCA were rebelling to the point where Dean Rivers had just had enough, therefore allowing the actual coffee carts to take their usual places on school campus once again, much to Logan's bitter protests.
The sixteen-year-old scientist also allowed her mind to rake through the silly, and yet painful conversation of their final argument as a secret couple. Struggling with the memory, Quinn paid the student worker in full and turned on her heel with a resounding, "Jerk. I can't believe I ever went out with Logan Reese. Biggest. Mistake. Of my LIFE."
--
Dorm room 101 was currently a mess as Lola Martinez ripped through every eye shadow case she owned and carelessly tossed each one over her shoulder. "Ew, why do I even OWN salmon?" the aspiring actress groaned.
That particular color soared right past Quinn as she entered the room and missed her pancreas by inches. Her hazel eyes followed the small, rectangular palette until it hit the sofa. She looked rather amused as she said, "Lola, should I even bother to ask what you could possibly be doing right now?"
"Well, since you kind of did," Lola smartly replied, her head now buried in the closet, "I'll tell you that I'm on a search for the perfect prom dress to wear this Friday!" She emerged, hair slightly tousled, with a heap of bright clothing grasped tightly in her arms. "And the perfect make-up scheme to match, of course."
"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, settling herself on Zoey's bed. "A prom?"
"Yeah!" her roommate said excitedly. "PCA is holding a junior prom for us this year! Friday, in fact. I think that's much too soon, but you know—," Lola broke off at Quinn's unhappy expression. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Quinn hurriedly answered. "It's just… a prom sounds fun and all, but… I don't have anyone to go with." She tried to push away her sudden feelings of loneliness, but her heart still ached as she thought of Logan and how she loved to dance with him, janitor's closet included.
Lola sat down next to Quinn, the bundle of clothing still intact. "Aw, is this about Mark?"
Quinn stared at her in surprise. "Mark?" and then hastily recovered. "I mean, yeah, kind of."
"Well, listen," Lola began, patting Quinn's knee, "you don't need a guy to go to prom. Go with your friends! Mark Schmark!" She waved her hand wildly. "Who needs boys?"
Quinn stared at Lola quizzically. "But you have a boyfriend."
Lola stopped, eyes traveling upward as if she were thinking. "Well, yeah," she finally said. "But whatever! Let's go dress hunting!" She pulled her friend off the bed and they were soon immersed in the deep confines known as Zoey's Closet.
--
Zoey Brooks fell into step with her boyfriend as they walked out of their history class, ecstatic that she had just completed her last final exam of the semester.
Presently James, aforementioned boyfriend, was smiling down at her, golden hair shining in the California sun. "How about some celebratory coffees, huh Zo?"
"Sounds great." Zoey smiled happily as they reached the nearest coffee cart. "Oh, hey! Are we still on for tonight?"
"Our movie date?" James asked. "Yeah, course. Wouldn't miss it." He gave her a brilliant smile, handing over a French vanilla cappuccino.
"Thanks," Zoey said. "And in that case, I need to go get ready back at my dorm room. You mind?"
"Nah, it's cool," James replied, winking. "I have to go and clean myself up, too. Need to look good for my best girl, right?"
"Aw, but you always look hot," Zoey half-teased, briefly hugging him and turning to leave. However—
"Wait! Zoey!" James called, as if he had just forgotten something.
Zoey quickly reversed herself, only a few feet away. "What, what's wrong?"
"Um." James was nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "You hear about the junior prom this Friday?"
"Junior prom?" Zoey questioned, obviously surprised. "No, I didn't. What about it?"
Adorably uneasy, James began to shift his weight from one foot to another. "You wanna maybe… go with me?"
Zoey paused, pretending to think while painfully stretching out the next few seconds. Finally, after twirling a strand of hair thoughtfully, she said, "No, I don't."
For a moment, James just stood in place, completely shocked. "You don't?"
She smiled as she closed the distance between them and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "Of course I do. And you're so sweet for asking, James Garrett. I will most definitely go with you to the junior prom."
James gave a sigh of relief. "You realize that that was the most frightening thing you could have said?"
Zoey shrugged. "Yeah, I know." She turned to leave once more and said over her shoulder, "But you love me for it!"
James watched his girlfriend's retreating figure. "Yeah, I do," he said more softly, grinning to himself.
--
The sun had begun to set over Pacific Coast Academy and still, a teenage boy sat, hunched over and staring at the ground as if it were going to meaningfully speak to him. So immersed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice as a very petite blonde seated herself next to him.
"Hey, Logan," she said, giving a flirtatious smile. "Whatcha doing?"
There was no answer as the boy continued to vacantly stare ahead of him.
The blonde tried once more, a little shaken and also confused. "So, you doing anything this Friday?"
No answer. Not even a simple blink. It was as if he had been body-snatched.
"Logan Reese?!" she cried indignantly.
Finally, he awoke from his trance. "Huh, what?" He glanced to the girl beside him. "Emily? When did you get here?"
"Since when do you not even notice me?" she asked, insulted. "You are a piece of work, Logan." She stood up and huffed off, her ego obviously attacked.
Logan watched her go, eyebrows furrowed. Emily… is hot! Why did I just do that? What's happening to me? He laughed bitterly, despite his situation. "Quinn Pensky happened to me," he muttered.
For the thousandth time, Logan was sure, he reminisced about his ex-girlfriend, Quinn. She was so great... Soft, brown hair. Black, plastic frames. And the smell of jasmine… jasmine and science… "That doesn't even make sense," he said aloud, shaking his head.
And once again, another girl seized the unoccupied seat next to Logan. She however, did not notice that he wasn't paying attention to her babble. It was Stacey Dillsen after all.
"…and it would just be so wonderful if we could go to prom together. I mean, it's been my dream since the first time I've ever laid eyes on you! I think that you're so awesome, Logan! It's not even a question. One day, I want to become Mrs. Logan Reese and—well, I'm getting off topic. Would you like to escort me to the junior prom?
However, Logan's thoughts were still with Quinn. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he vaguely said, remembering the exact shade of her deep brown eyes.
A freakishly loud squeal was emitted from Stacey as she excitedly jumped up from the bench and rushed off, wanting nothing more than to purchase her prom dress at that very moment. Racing down the sidewalk at top speed, she collided with Michael Barret, almost knocking him clean over.
With a frightened expression upon his face, Michael took a seat next to Logan. "Dude, what is up with her?"
"I think… I just agreed to take her to the prom," Logan calmly informed, a matter-of-fact tone present.
Michael's eyes widened. "Are you serious? What's wrong with you?" He began to look his friend over, searching for signs of sickness or delirium.
"Oh, it's just…" Logan trailed off and in a horrific nanosecond, realized his present company and snapped right out of his misery. "Nothing! I… I just thought I'd be nice is all."
"Yeah, whatever," Michael said unbelievingly, but seemed to let it pass as he eagerly continued with, "Man, you will never believe what happened to me, though! The prom committee asked me to be the Master of Ceremonies this Friday! Cool, right?"
"Yeah, totally," Logan agreed, genuinely happy for Michael.
"So," Michael said, holding up a basketball, "you wanna go shoot some hoops with Vince?"
"Sure," Logan said, trying to act as carefree as possible. "Let's go."
Michael seemed satisfied as he stood up and began walking toward the basketball courts. Logan slowly followed him, but not after realizing that the bench he had spent most of his afternoon with was the very same bench where he and Quinn shared their first kiss.
--
A few hours had passed and still, dorm room 101 was a complete and utter mess. Evening wear of all kinds lay scattered across the furniture. Shoes were strewn from corner to corner in random piles and a colorful assortment of jewelry was taking up what little space the dresser had to offer.
"How do I look?" Quinn asked for the millionth time in a row, smoothing out the folds in the dress.
Lola looked her roommate over, scrutinizing every single detail from her place on the couch. "Like a type of citrus," she finally concluded, nodding her head.
Quinn was offended. In contrast to Lola, she thought the bright orange was actually flattering.
"No, babe," Lola said, taking note of Quinn's disbelief. She began sorting through a pile of gowns in her lap. "You need something like... THIS!" She threw a sparkling blue dress towards Quinn, who clumsily caught a hold of it.
She eyed it suspiciously. "You sure?"
"Positive!" Lola pepped. "Now try it on!"
A few minutes later, Quinn spun herself around, enjoying the feel of the blue fabric against her body. Reveling in the newfound confidence, she asked Lola, "Am I prom ready?"
Lola was so amazed, she stood next to Quinn and exclaimed, "Oh, my God! You look HOT!"
Quinn smiled at the approval and revolved once more. As she came back around, their third roommate entered the room. At the sight of the disarray, Zoey asked, "Am I missing something here?"
The girls shared a laugh as she attempted to wade through the mess that was their dorm room. Setting down her bag, Zoey began to search for a new blouse as she awaited an explanation.
"We're getting Quinn ready for the prom," Lola answered, excitedly grasping the brunette's arm.
"Oh, yeah!" Zoey said in recognition. "James just asked me to go. Isn't it great?"
"Quite awesome," Quinn chimed in, unattaching herself from Lola.
"AND we have a special date tonight," Zoey added, finding a suitable top at last.
"How adorable," Lola commented with a grin. "Ugh! Stop spinning!" she commanded Quinn. You're making me dizzy!"
Zoey laughed while giving her appearance the final check over. She then left the room, shaking her head at the two girls.
"Sorry!" Quinn said reproachfully. "I am just in love with this dress!"
"Hey," Lola interrupted. "We haven't even talked jewelry yet." At that, she pulled her roommate over to the dresser and began to uncomfortably stick her with earrings of all shapes and colors.
--
Oh, come on James! The movie starts in three minutes. Where are you? Zoey paced the front of the movie theater and began to rationalize. He probably just got caught up somewhere. No need to freak out, Zo.
She stopped her repetitive movements and smoothed out her blouse. But he better get here soon!
Suddenly, Zoey's thoughts were diverted as she felt a vibration in her front pocket and a default ringtone. "Who's calling me?" she wondered aloud, whipping out her phone. Its LCD screen read: 'Chase Matthews' and when she flipped it open, revealed an old picture of him that was taken while he was a still a student at PCA.
"Oh, my God," she whispered before pressing 'Answer.'
"Hi, Zo," Chase greeted warmly.
"Chase," Zoey said breathlessly. "It's so good to hear your voice!"
"You, too," he replied. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be wearing that red shirt, you know, the one with the bronzy streaks across it?"
Zoey glanced down at herself and said, "Well, yeah, but—"
"And you wouldn't happen to be standing in front of the PCA campus theater, would you?"
"Yes, I am, but—"
"But you're wondering how I know all of these things?" Chase asked, interrupting her once again.
Zoey sighed, almost exasperated. "Yes!"
To that, he simply said, "Turn around."
She did and saw nothing… until she gazed upward. There on the roof of one of the neighboring class buildings sat Chase, sporting his brown, bushy hair accompanied with a winning smile.
Hanging up her phone, Zoey said, "Oh, my GOD!"
"What's up, Zo?" Chase asked, putting his own cell phone away.
"Chase!" she excitedly squealed. "What are you doing up there?"
He stood and spread his arms out. "Makes for a good entrance, don'tcha think?"
"I'll say," Zoey said, looking up at him. "Now get your butt down here so I can hug you til suffocation!"
"Well that doesn't sound very promising," Chase teased. However, he disappeared out of view, no doubt making his way down a ladder. Soon, he emerged from the shadows and trotted towards Zoey for a much needed embrace.
He's warm, Zoey noted, snuggling deep into his broad chest. "I missed you," she said, her voice a bit muffled.
"I missed you, too," Chase mirrored, speaking into her hair. "I can't wait to—"
"Zoey?" a third voice spoke, the sentimental moment shattering.
The hug was broken and the two jumped apart to devastatingly find James standing before them, a flower in hand and an utterly confused look upon his face. "What's… going on here?" he asked as he approached the pair.
After a painful silence, Zoey spoke first. "James…" she addressed. "This is Chase. You know, I told you about him. He just came back from London."
"Hi," he curtly said, his eyes flitting to Chase for a split second.
"Hey," Chase replied, raising a hand half-heartedly.
"And Chase, this is James… my boyfriend," Zoey said, wincing inwardly at the last two words.
Another uncomfortable quiet penetrated the threesome.
"Oh," Chase finally said. "Well then, um, should I go? Were you in the middle of something?" He nodded towards James' hand, which was currently handling a red rose.
"Well—," Zoey began.
"No," James finished. "You guys catch up. I know it's been a while, you being in London and all…" He began to back away. "Night, Zoey. Bye, Chase." And before Zoey could protest, James turned his back and headed in the opposite direction.
At a loss of words, Zoey and Chase merely stared at each other for several minutes. Both of them silently knew that James' quick exit was not to be mistaken as a humble gesture; he was pissed.
The OTHER Author's Note: Well, tis the end of the first chapter and it wouldn't be all that bad if you dropped a lovely, little review. Feedback people, c'mon! Tell me how I'm doing so far! Constructive criticism is welcome. Immature flames are not.
Have a nice day.
-Sin