CHAPTER 2:Tick

It was no suprise that Lola dreamed about Chase. Every sign of affection played through her mind. From the time she rested her head on his shoulder in the lounge when they were dating all the way to prom when she first realized his prescence and threw herself into his arms. In the real world a smile played about her lips at the fond memories. Then without warning, the scene changed once more. It was a dark night and she could see two boys on the basketball courts. They were fighting, or rather, one was getting the crap beaten out of him by the other. Lola could recognize both boys. The one on the ground getting pummeled was Chase. The large athletic boy administering the punishment was her boyfriend, Vince Blake. Vince was wearing his tuxedo. Chase too was dressed the same way that he was at prom. Lola looked at herself to find she was wearing her prom dress.

"STOP!" Lola screamed as she ran towards them. The slim brunette was intent on stopping the attack even though she didn't have the slightest idea how. She felt like she was moving in slow motion while the rest of the dream moved at a normal pace.

"Stop, Vince, please don't do this!" she cried.

"I have to!" Vince barked at her, "It's because of him that I was kicked out of here! Besides, I saw the way you hugged him at the prom! You love him, don't you!?" Lola looked hopelessly into her boyfriend's eyes. They were full of rage and bloodlust. She on the other hand felt a calm pass through her.

"Yes." she said peacefully "He is probably the closest I will ever come to having a brother." Vince fumed and stalked back and forth like a wild animal..

"Why are you trying to deny me?!" he screamed. Any resemblance this madman had to the young man she fell in love with had disappeared. It was the old Vince, spiced with her own fears of what he could be like if he ever reverted.

"Deny you what?" Lola asked still totally serene.

"My vengeance!"

"For what?"

"For everything!" Lola could clearly see that there was no reasoning with him. She gave up and sighed heavily.

"Ok, if you have to." she said quietly. Vince turned back to his victim. Just before he struck again Lola dove on top of Chase's limp form.

"You'll have to go through me first."

"You think I won't!" his right hand balling into a fist.

"It doesn't matter. You're not the person I love."

"Lola, it's too late, he's already killed me." Chase managed to choke out before going slack in her arms. She looked up and Vince was towering over her, his fist raised high.

Lola awoke with a gasp. She looked around at the familiar surroundings of Chase's hospital room before turning to look at Chase. Her mind was still trying to grasp the meaning of the terrible ending to her dream. Or perhaps it was trying to prevent her from grasping it because the painful truth was so apparent. Vince was responsible for the fact that one of her best male friends was lying, possibly dying, in a hospital bed next to her. For a while she looked truly lost. What should she feel? There was no script for the actress this time. Looking through the large glass window which looked into the hall, Lola saw her two roomates staring back at her with tears freely running down their faces. She got up, lightly kissed Chase on the cheek, and walked to the door. When she got directly in front of Zoey and Quinn, she collapsed sobbing into their arms. All three girls collapsed to the floor as they continued to pour out their sadness. Nearby Logan was fighting tears himself and Michael wasn't even bothering to fight them.

"How is he?" Quinn managed after composing herself.

"Still unconscious." Lola replied. The girl could not bring herself to meet Zoey's questioning eyes.

"Will he be all right?" the blonde girl asked. Lola shook her head.

"The doctors don't know yet. I'm sorry Zoey." she sobbed as she broke down into tears again. Despite her own pain, Zoey wrapped Lola in a comforting embrace.

"Hey, hey, I'm just grateful that you were there when it happened. If not..." Zoey's voice trailed off as she left the thought unspoken. As she knelt in her friend's arms, scenes kept flashing through her mind. Every helpful thing Chase had ever done for her, every kidness, every sign of affection, however small, played over and over inside her head interspersed with scenes from her nightmare. Taking a few deep breaths Lola straightened herself.

"I better get back to PCA before I'm in trouble."

"Don't worry about that, Coco understands." Zoey told her. Lola nodded.

"I have something that I need to take care of anyway." she said and stood to leave.

"How are you getting back to PCA?" Michael asked.

"It's not that far and I could use a good stretch." she turned to the nurse and using her powers of persuasion, convinced her to let Zoey into Chase's room.

"You shouldn't go alone." Michael said standing up. Lola raised a hand to stop him.

"I'll be fine." she reassured her friends, "Like I said it's not that far." She began to walk away then stopped and turned back.

"But maybe I should borrow your zap-watch just in case." Lola said to Quinn. Quinn removed the device from her wrist and handed it to Lola who secured it to her own.

"Just be careful not to set it too high. You could kill somebody." Lola nodded and walked away bidding her friends goodbye.

Music to my ears. she thought.