Chapter Three – Stranded
"My birthday is ruined," Nicole moaned as she slumped beside Quinn on the grass. "Why'd we have to break down in the middle of nowhere?"
"When this happens in the movies, the group usually splits into pairs and looks for help," Lola commented while inspecting her fingernails, making it obvious that she had no intention of doing just that.
Zoey jumped up, "That's a great idea. Chase and I will go look for help." She was dying to get away. Sitting around being helpless just wasn't her style. And Quinn kept asking her to test things for her to create a makeshift distress signal.
"We will?" Chase asked, and then changed his tone at Zoey's look, "I mean, yes we will."
"Hang on, why should you guys go?" Logan demanded.
"Yeah," Nicole agreed, "I don't want to sit around here anymore."
"You really want to walk for who knows how long in those shoes?" Zoey indicated Nicole's bright purple pumps and then her own white sneakers.
Nicole frowned, "You make a good point. I think I'll stay here with Quinn."
"What about me?" Logan asked. He was determined to go with them so he could intrude.
"Why don't you and Michael head the other way on the road? Whoever finds something first will go back with help and then pick up Quinn, Dustin, Nicole and Lola and keep heading the other way to find you guys," Zoey suggested.
Chase grinned. Trust Zoey to come up with something smart like that to get rid of Logan.
Logan opened his mouth to argue, but Michael grabbed his arm, "Come on, let's get a head start on them so we can find help first." That got Logan working. He liked to win more than to spy on people's conversations.
Zoey and Chase watched them disappear around the bend and then turned back to the four sitting on the grass.
"Are you guys sure you'll be alright waiting here?" Zoey asked.
Quinn waved them away without even looking up from her work. Lola and Nicole shrugged.
"We'll be fine," Lola replied, "And we'll make sure nothing bad happens to Dustin."
"As if!" Dustin exclaimed, "I'll be making sure nothing bad happens to you guys." He flexed his arm, trying to show some muscle.
"He's been around Logan for too long," Zoey muttered under her breath to Chase. Then she changed her tone, "Sure thing Dustin. You protect the girls. We'll be back as soon as we can."
With that, Zoey and Chase started heading back the way they'd come from.
After five minutes of walking, Zoey broke the silence.
"What do you think we'd be doing right now if we'd made it to Malibu Castle?" she asked, glancing at Chase.
"I'd be kicking Logan's butt on the go-kart track while you girls cheer me on?" Chase suggested.
Zoey punched him lightly in the arm, "I had enough cheerleading after the people auction thank you very much. And I'm sure that it'd be me kicking 'butt' instead of you."
Chase rubbed his arm gently, "Oh most definitely. You can kick my butt anytime."
"I'll hold you to that," she replied with a grin.
Silence fell between the pair again as they both reflected on what exactly that would entail.
Suddenly, Zoey was screaming.
"BUG! THERE'S A BUG ON ME! GET IT OFF!" she cried, throwing herself at Chase in a panic.
He grabbed her arms and steadied her.
"Where? I don't see anything," he said, giving her the once over.
Zoey felt stupid for squealing like an idiot. She was certain something had fallen off the branch they'd just passed under.
"I think it's in my hair. I felt something laid on me," she whimpered, still horrified at the thought of a disgustingly awful bug having a great time crawling around her head.
Chase took her head in his hands and inspected her hair. Sure enough, there was a tiny little bug struggling to escape her dark blond hair.
"Don't move," Chase instructed. He carefully picked the bug from her hair and flicked it away into the grass. "There, all gone."
"Thanks," she said gratefully. She looked at him and he looked back, his hands still grasping her chin.
'That look…' she thought, seeing something glaze over Chase's eyes making her heartbeat speed up.
"Chase?" she asked, getting no response. "Chaaaase?" She waved her hand in front of his face and he snapped out of it, dropping his hands down like her face had burnt them.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
They looked at each other awkwardly again.
'Do you really want me Chase? Am I really that special?' Zoey thought as she watched him try and think up a conversation topic to get rid of the uncomfortable air.
"Come on," she chided, "We'll never find help if we keep standing around."
He smiled weakly at her; grateful she managed to turn around the situation.
To his surprise, Zoey grabbed his hand and smiled… almost somewhat shyly.
'Could she know?' he thought frantically, secretly pleased and frightened to be holding her hand again like this. The last time they'd held hands they almost ended up kissing courtesy of Dustin's bad-girl girlfriend.
They started to walk again when Zoey stopped suddenly and pointed.
"Look Chase!" she pointed excitedly, "I see a house!"
'That's great…' Chase thought as she dropped his hand again and started running up the hill towards the house.
"Someone up there hates me don't they?" he asked, looking up at the sky before running to join Zoey at the house.
