"Come on, Chase!" Bree nearly shouted as she removed her books from her locker. "Just ask her already! You need a partner, she doesn't have a partner. It can't be that difficult!"
"Yeah man. All you gotta do is ask her. Plus you've had a crush on her since, like, forever," Leo stated coolly. Chase looked across the hall at Zoey.
'She's beautiful. She'll never want to be my partner. Especially not when Brett is her boyfriend,' he thought.
"Right. All I have to do is ask her," Chase said mockingly, "That's easier said than done. Even if I did ask her, there is a 90% chance she will say no." He closed his locker and stuffed a few books in his bag.
"That means you have a 10% chance she'll say yes," Leo said. Chase looked annoyingly at him.
"That's greater than 90, isn't it?" Adam asked. The others looked at him hopelessly. Leo patted him on the shoulder.
"No. It's not," Leo answered. Adam looked at him confused.
"Are you sure?" Adam once again asked. They all nodded. "Okay, anyway, Chase all you have to do is go over there and ask her." They all looked at Zoey who was talking to the rest of the cheer squad. Her green eyes were sparkling.
"I can't," Chase countered. Zoey caught his gaze. She smiled and waved at me, but he quickly looked away. A slight pink tint to his cheeks.
'She would never say yes. Why go through all the trouble only to fail? The odds are stacked against me.'
"Look, Chase, it's simple. You just go up to her. And ask her," Adam instructed. "Watch and learn." Adam left Leo, Bree, and Chase and ran over to the group of cheerleaders. From what Chase could see, Adam was talking to Zoey, and she was laughing.
"I don't believe it! He's actually talking to her!" Bree exclaimed as the three of them stared at Adam, dumbfounded. Adam suddenly pointed back at Chase. Zoey looked at what Adam was pointing at and smiled. She once again waved at him. This time, he waved back, a little embarrassed. Zoey nodded before Adam ran back to him and the others.
"Good news. She said she'll be your partner!" Adam announced proudly. He patted Chase on the back. "You're welcome!" They all stared at Adam, amazed.
"Thanks, Adam!" Chase exclaimed. "When will we start working on our project?" The bell rang and students started to head to their classes.
"Oh. Well, we didn't actually set a date, but she said to meet her by her locker at lunch," Adam responded before running off to class. "Sorry!"
"What!" Chase called after his brother.
"Bree and I should probably head to class, or we'll be late. Come on, Bree," Leo said. He and Bree left Chase at his locker. He closed it and zipped his bag shut. Chase was about to go to class when Zoey stopped him.
"You're Chase, right?" Zoey asked him.
'Wow. She's even prettier up close.' He thought before he snapped back to attention.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm Chase. Nice to meet you," Chase greeted as he extended my hand. She took his offered hand and shook it.
"Well, we've already met. But, it's nice to meet you again, Chase," Zoey giggled as he blushed.
"Of course, sorry."
"We better get to chemistry class, huh?" She inquired while she smiled.
"Right. We have chemistry together! I totally forgot about that too!" Chase laughed as they headed up the stairs together.
"Well we are working on the project together," Zoey laughed with him as they walked through the halls. They soon reached the door to the Chemistry class.
"Ladies first," Chas held the door open as Zoey walked in.
"Thanks. And don't forget our meeting at lunch," She informed as she took her seat at the back of the room.
How could I? Chase thought longingly.
The bell rang and he took his seat in the front of the room. Chase couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was telling them. He already knew everything anyway. So, he simply took notes from the power point and let his mind wonder.
What will Brett, her boyfriend, think? How long is this meeting? Will she want to come over to my house? Will I go over to hers?
Chase was so lost in thought that he almost didn't even realize when the bell had rung. He quickly packed his bag before heading out of the room. He briskly walked to my next class, Trigonometry, to avoid being late. If there was one thing that Chase hated, it was being late for anything.
The next couple classes were a blur. Zoey couldn't wait for lunch, so she could meet up with Chase. Working on a chemistry project with him was incredibly exciting. In fact, it was like a dream come true. She didn't tell this to anyone. Not even her best friend Macy. They have been friends since forever. Okay, it's only been a few years, but it feels like forever to them. Macy and Zoey were practically inseparable. They told each other everything. She was just as excited as Zoey was after Adam, Chase's older brother, had left. He had asked Zoey if she wanted to be Chase's partner for their Chemistry project. Zoey didn't know why he didn't just ask her himself, but she assumed he was just shy. She could understand that.
After her last class before lunch, she went to the spot where she and Macy usually met up. Unfortunately, Brett also met them there. He was her boyfriend, an extremely clingy boyfriend. They've been together for 2 years, but Zoey believes that their spark has died. She doesn't like him like that anymore, but she doesn't have the heart to tell him. Besides, he can be very possessive. She's a little afraid to tell him that she'll going to be spending lunch with Chase.
"Lost in thought again?" Macy asked her best friend as Zoey was brought out of her thoughts.
"Yeah. I was just thinking about Brett. How do you think he's going to react when I tell him about Chase?" She inquired. Macy offered a small smile while she thought about the question. After a minute of thinking she finally answered.
"You know how Brett can be. Sometimes he can get a bit jealous. Maybe you just shouldn't tell him," Macy answered as Zoey's gaze shifted down to her feet. It wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for.
"If I don't tell him now, it's going to be much worse later," Zoey quietly informed her. "I've been thinking, and maybe I should break up with him." Macy looked at her kindly. In these moments, Zoey was glad to have a friend like her.
"I think that would be a good idea. Plus, the spark you once had for Brett has burned out. You like Chase now, don't you?" Macy said as Zoey looked at her in surprise. She could feel herself blush a little bit. Macy giggled, noticing the blush, before explaining. "I see the way you look at him, Zoey. Your eyes light up whenever someone says his name. Besides, Brett doesn't seem like a good fit for you anymore." They shared a smile. Macy understood her perfectly.
"You're right, as always, Macy," Zoey praised as Brett walked over to the two girls. He wrapped his arm around Zoey's waist and lightly kissed her forehead. It took a lot for her not to flinch when he did this. Macy gave her friend a 'Now or Never' kind of look. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't know if she could do it.
"Ready for lunch girls?" Brett asked, but he didn't receive a reply. "What? Is it something I said?"
"No, Brett. It's not you, but I made plans for lunch. I'm supposed to meet up with someone for a project," Zoey told her boyfriend. She worried about how he would react. Macy stepped a couple feet back.
"Okay. Where are we going?" He asked. She could tell by Macy's look that he was deeply annoying her. Zoey unwrapped his arm from around her waist and moved back a bit.
"We aren't going anywhere. I am going to meet up with a friend," For a second she saw something that she had never seen in his eyes before. Pure anger and jealousy. But it was only for a second. His cool nature returned and he put on a smile. Zoey has known him long enough to know that this was a fake smile.
"Okay. That's alright. I'll sit with the football team today. They've been bugging me to sit with them for a while anyway," He responded before walking away. Macy stood next to the brunette and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
"I'm doing the right thing, right?" She asked Macy as she removed her hand and headed towards the cafeteria. She turned around to look at her friend one last time.
"Definitely," She confirmed before disappearing into the crowded room.
He had been waiting at Zoey's locker for a couple minutes. He was starting to lose hope that she would ever show. Just as he was about to walk to the cafeteria, he saw her turning the corner. She looked upset and lost in thought. However, when she saw him, she smiled and her mood seemed to brighten.
"Hey, Chase. I am so sorry for making you wait, but I had to take care of something. I hope you don't mind," She said to him as she opened her locker and retrieved a green notebook.
"Hey, Zoey. It's okay. I don't mind. Besides, you're here now. So, shall we start on this project?" Chase asked her while she closed her locker. She smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Why don't we head to the media center?" Zoey suggested as they began to walk in that direction.
Once they reached the media center, they picked a table in the back of the room so that they wouldn't be disturbed. Zoey placed her green notebook on the table and pulled out a matching green pen. She flipped the book open to a clean sheet of paper and wrote 'Chemistry Project' as the title. Chase decided that he should do the same, so he pulled out his chemistry folder and a pencil.
The point of the project was to create and label models for the molecular structures of a gas, liquid, and a solid. After a lot of talking, the pair decided to create the molecular structure of nitrous oxide, mercury, and plastic. Zoey drew the structures in her notebook and Chase wrote down the materials needed to complete the project. In the end, they still had 30 minutes to spare.
"Why don't I go over to your house tomorrow after school so we can start the project?" Zoey asked him while they were packing up. Chase thought about this for a minute. After all, he, Adam, and Bree were bionic and Zoey couldn't find out.
'But, she probably won't even notice anything strange.'
"Sure. That sounds like a great idea," Chase answered. He knew he was going to regret this later, but there was no taking it back now. Zoey smiled at her partner as she placed her tote bag on her shoulder.
"Great. Let me give you my number and then you can text me your address later," Zoey insisted as Chase took his phone out of his back pack. He turned it on as they walked out of the media center and entered his password. As soon as his phone was unlocked, he handed it to her.
"Nice case," Zoey stated, admiring the royal blue phone case as she input her contact information. "Royal blue is one of my favorite colors." She smiled at Chase and her green eyes sparkled.
"Thanks," He replied while he smiled back at her. She returned the phone when she was done. They talked while they were walking to the cafeteria.
She actually laughed at my jokes!
They arrived outside the cafeteria with 20 minutes to spare.
"I actually had fun. Thanks, Chase," Zoey stated kindly as she opened the door to the cafeteria. "See you around." She smiled at him before disappearing into the crowded lunch room.
"Yeah, see you around," Chase whispered, but he didn't go in after her. He remained outside where it was peaceful and quiet. Chase sat down at the round bench that was in the middle of the room. He gathered his thoughts and replayed the last 40 minutes over in his head.
Spending time with Zoey was a lot of fun and she actually liked hanging out with me. I can't wait until tomorrow afternoon.
