All standard disclaimers apply.

Chase 101

Chapter 4

PCA campus was bustling Sunday morning, almost all of the students who hadn't arrived showing up the day before school started. A group consisting of Zoey Brooks, Quinn Pensky, Michael Barrett, and Logan Reese were maneuvering their way around a packed campus towards their dormitory buildings. Logan on the right end, beside his girlfriend Quinn, Zoey was next to Quinn, and Michael was on the end opposite of Logan.

One of Michael's bags started sliding of his shoulder, sending Michael lightly shoulder checking Zoey as he tried to regain control of it. "Oh….ha, sorry Zo." Zoey's reply was immediate and without emotion. "No problem." Zoey seemed extremely distracted, the group noticing as she didn't say more than a few words all morning and didn't get involved in a single one of the groups' colorful conversation during the hour and a half car ride from Logan's to PCA.

Everyone figured Zoey was merely nervous and excited to see Chase again, they all were. "Awww man, these bags are heavy! How much further?!" Quinn rolled her eyes at Logan's statement. "Quit complaining, it's your own fault you packed as much clothes as Zoey and I combined!" Michael's smile faded as he stared at Zoey waiting to see a rise out of her and saw nothing. Michael looked at Logan with a satisfied smirk, thinking he had the solution to his problem. "Logan man, why don't you have your movers carry your bags for you?"

Logan shook his head, beads of sweat forming along his hairline and rolling down his face. "Can't…too busy moving the entertainment system and all the electronics." Michael rolled his eyes. "Oh…guess you've got to tell your Dad to rent you more movers next time." Logan smiled, taking Michael's sarcasm completely serious. "Yeah…that's a good idea." Again, Michael rolled his eyes.

Logan turned his head to face Quinn. "Hey, how much further did you say?" Quinn looked at Logan and smiled. "I didn't. It's about a fourth of a mile to my estimates." Logan smiled back at Quinn, but his expression turned to upset as soon as he heard he say how far. "A fourth a mile?! Ahhh!!" Just then, a small 7th grade boy walked past them, going the opposite direction, on a cell phone. Logan grabbed the kid with one of his arms. "Hey kid, do you want to make twenty bucks? Carry my bags to my dorm for…" The kid shook his head, wiggling his arm free from Logan's grasp, pointed to his cell phone with his other hand, and quickened his pace past the group.

"Ahh!" Logan throwing his head back in frustration caused Michael to frown at him. "Man, quit being a baby! It's not that far away!" Logan was about to recoil when he caught a scolding look from Quinn out of the corner of his vision. Logan deeply inhaled and let out a sigh, quickly leaned in to peck Quinn on the cheek, and then addressed Michael. "Look, I just want to get to our dorm, unpack and claim the single bed from my own, and then go grab some lunch at…" Logan began pumping his fists into the air in frustration. Quickly losing interest, he let his posture slouch and his hands fall to his sides, his face forming a pout as he started dragging his feet.

Quinn reached her hand out and placed it on Logan's upper arm, gently rubbing it, trying to comfort her boyfriend. "Baby, what's wrong?" Logan frowned at Quinn, and then looked past Zoey and her to Michael. "Michael, you said Chase came back earlier this week right?" Michael raised his eyebrows, confused as to why Logan was acting weird. "…Yeah…why?" Logan's voice came out a whine. "Ahh, I know Chase took the single bed. That means another year in a bunk bed like I'm 10 years old!"

Logan sighed, the anger inside of him slowly dissipating. Anger management classes had done him some good. Quinn continued to rub Logan's arm trying to cheer him up. Just then, a thought hit Quinn, causing her to take her hand off her boyfriend, snap her head around, and address Zoey. "Hey Zoey, it's been a long time since our group has included Chase, I'm sure there is so much you want to say to him. When are you going to tell him to your face that you're in love with-"

Zoey's voice accidentally came out a few decimals above a scream, everyone jumping at the first sounds that had came out of her mouth all morning that held any hints of emotion. "Can we just get to our dorm rooms?!" Zoey looked as Quinn with apologetic eyes as if to say sorry. "Uhh, I…I agree with Logan," From both ends of the walking horizontal line, Michael and Logan looked at her with eyebrows raised to their fullest and confused faces. Quinn only tightened her lips and raised one eyebrow slightly at Zoey's odd behavior. "Our stuff is really heavy. Can we just get to our dorms, please?" The entire group nodded and shrugged their shoulders. Michael looked at Zoey, "Uhh, yeah…. sure Zoey…let's keep going."

CHASE 101

"Hey, this is it right here Zoey!" Quinn pointed to a dorm door that read 117, shifting her shoulders to redistribute the weight of her bags. As Zoey fumbled around with her new key, trying to get it into the lock, Quinn complained, "Zoey, hurry up!" Finally, the door was open, both girls piling in and dropping their bags once they were a few feet into their new dorm. Both girls' mouths and eyes widened as they looked across the room at the bunk bed.

Chase and Lola were both on the bottom bunk. However, only Lola was identifiable by Quinn and Lola. Lola was on top of Chase, sitting on his lap, straddling his hips were her legs, as Chase was laying flat on his back against the bed. Lola was leaning over Chase, so her head wouldn't hit the top bunk. Lola was shirtless, revealing a hot pink bra, her upper body only about a foot away from Chase's. Chase's blue New Era hat was completely forward on his head, unable to face backwards because of the bed's mattress, blocking his face from being seen by Zoey or Quinn. Chase was also shirtless; his ripped upper body completely exposed. Both of Chase's hands were firmly placed on Lola's hips.

Zoey and Quinn did not have time to process all of this information. Regardless, they did catch that Lola was partially naked and straddling a buff male on her bed. An instant after the two girls became Lola, and unknowingly Chase, Lola and Chase became aware of them by the noise they made coming into the dorm room.

Lola's hand shot down to the floor where Chase's and her shirts were located, grabbing her own article of clothing to cover herself with. "Zoey, Quinn, I didn't know you would be here already!" Chase raised both hands from Lola's hip to cover his face, letting a quiet chuckle to escape his lips at the compromising position Lola and him were in.

Quinn and Zoey's eyes quickly shoot over Lola, the mystery "stud" she was straddling, then finally to each other within an instant. Twice as quick as their rushed entrance, the two girls once again piled through the door, uttering apologies on their way out as they slammed the door behind them in haste.

Once outside their dorm room, Quinn and Zoey made their way towards the dormitory exit. Few notions and no words were exchanged between the two until they got out of the girls dormitory building. Once outside, Quinn initiated conversation between the two still flustered girls as they walked aimlessly, their only intent trying to get far away from their dorm room.

"Zoey? Who was that perfect display of the males' muscular anatomy in there with Lola?" Zoey's bewilderment turned into frustration towards her intelligent friend. "…What?!" Quinn let out a small scoff at Zoey's rudeness, rephrasing her statement. "Who was that…extremely attractive and buff guy Lola was having her way with?!"

Zoey shrugged with a curious look accented by a smirk on her face. "I don't know. New student, maybe?" Quinn's face held a smile as she giggled. "Wow, we are so lucky! Last year we get James to replace Chase. Now, we get mystery man to replace James!" Zoey's smirk instantly changed to a frown towards her friend's comment. "Hey! Are you saying I replaced Chase with Ja…what do you mean replac…oh, oh, wait! You think…you thought Chase was hot?!" Quinn shrugged her shoulders as a small blush came across her cheeks.

"Well, yes. He need some work…the whole complete lack of style and just wearing the first thing he pulled out of his drawer…and the hair…even though it was adorable…but there was a hot guy in there somewhere, you just had to look. Besides, you obviously were in love with him and thought he was attractive." Zoey looked down at her feet. When she finally spoke her voice held sadness. "Yes…yes I did."

A silence ensued that Zoey broke by changing the subject. "…And what's this about mystery man being extremely attractive? Quinn, you didn't even see his face." Quinn looked at Zoey with her "Are you serious?" expression. "Zoey, with a body like that he could have a hideous face and still be hot." This got the smile to return to Zoey's face, her forgetting about the sensitive topic they earlier discussed. "Yeah."

Quinn raised a finger towards Zoey and gave her a playfully disapproving look. "Zoey…? I got my own sexy man, Lola obviously has mystery stud in there, and Chase is back. You shouldn't be thinking about other…" Quinn stopped speaking as she noticed a depressed look on Zoey's face as if she was about to cry. "Zoey, what's wrong?" Zoey shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.

"Nothing…hey, I'm starving…do you want to go grab some lunch?" Quinn stared at Zoey with sympathetic eyes as they made their way across campus. "…Sure." Quinn continually noticed the past few months how she avoided talking about Chase. Quinn knew Zoey had secrets about what happened between Chase and her. Quinn even knew one of these secrets about Chase and her that Zoey made her swear to keep a secret. Zoey would eventually tell her and everyone else what happened with Chase. There was a time and place for everything.

CHASE 101

"I'm bummed." Michael had just swallowed an oversized bite of a piece of his hamburger, turning his face into a frown once he got down swallowing. Logan spat out words from his half-full mouth from the other end of the partially full table. "Yeah, me too." Quinn targeted Logan with her question but Michael responded. "Why?"

"I had my hopes so high! We tried to sneak in and catch Chase off guard but he wasn't even there!" Michael's frown turned into a full-fledged pout. Quinn gave Michael a sad look and then turned her gaze to her irritated looking boyfriend. "You too, huh?" Logan nodded, looking more upset with each passing moment. "Yeah. Plus, I missed seeing Lola half-naked." This caught Zoey's attention, as she snapped her head towards Logan. "Pig…" Quinn's mouth was open, trying to reprimand either Zoey or her boyfriend and not sure which one, as Logan looked past her to Zoey.

"Shut up Brooks!" Before Zoey could retaliate, Logan turned his attention to a mildly irritated Quinn. "Quinn, I was just joking, honest." Quinn eyed Logan with an angry expression on her face. Quickly, the scowl turned to a smile. "Okay, I believe you…what's really wrong?" Logan smiled at Quinn. "I'm happy, I got you…" Quinn blushed as her boyfriend still had ways of making her feel butterflies even after dating for more than half a year. Logan's genuine smile turned into a look of pure disgust. "…But this is bullshit! First, I have to compete with model boy James for my crown. Now, I have to compete with this…this Mr. Olympia meathead!" This caused Zoey, who had repeatedly been drifting off to her own little world, to snap back to reality once again. "What crown?!" Logan grabbed his hair with both hands before extending them out to his sides. "Hottest Guy at PCA!"

Immediately, Zoey rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You are the biggest jerk!" They were both about one rude comment away from having an argument that rivaled the one they had on Michael and Chase's web show that whipped the whole student body into a hysteria. Quinn, stuck in between the two bickering teenagers, took charge by raising her right hand and pointing towards the zap watch wrapped around her wrist. After a moment of intense staring, the two both leaned back in their chairs with an angry grunt.

A minute of silence passed at the table, ending when a large influx of mostly giggling, gossiping, and overly excited girls started walking past their table. The whole group tried to pick out what some of them were saying as they passed their table.

"Oh my God, he is so hot! How does he like her? In my opinion, she should have just stayed with Chuck Javers." The group of girls nodded as the statement the one made, another one chipping in her opinions as the girls walked by. "Well, Javers was out of the picture as soon Chase beat him up." The whole group of girls nodded in agreement and continued out of the groups' range of eavesdropping.

Zoey met eyes with Logan, forgetting the heated comments they just exchanged, both of them shaking their heads slowly from side to side in disbelief. The whole group had history with Javers, especially Logan and Zoey. They both had felt his wrath in the same day and it ended in them in beds in the nurses' office. Javers was undefeated, in wrestling and fighting, regardless of who challenged him. They knew the girls were talking about Lola, she having dated Javers for most of 2nd semester the previous school year. An abusive relationship that the group regretted not interfering with out of fear, until she finally broke it off with him.

Zoey only maintained eye contact with Logan for maybe a second, quickly snapping her neck towards Quinn as she did the same. They were both thinking the same thing; did that girl say "Chase"? PCA was huge, with over 1,500 students, their class hovering around 275, but they still only knew of one Chase. Another group, this time two senior guys, walked within range for the group to listen to their conversation.

"Man, I know he got huge, and if anyone would do it…it would be him…but wow! I still can't believe I witnessed him beat Javers' ass with my own eyes!" They two males hi-fived, showing their hatred towards Javers that most of the people that knew him felt.

Zoey and Logan didn't have time to share another shocked stare as another group, consisting entirely of what looked like freshman and sophomore girls, passed by. "Chase Matthews, oh my God, who knew right?!" Another girl in the group instantly replied. "I know, right? Like, he was always cute and adorable…but he's like a complete buff badass now! I know Lola is gorgeous but how-" The rest of the girl's statement went unheard, the entire table looking around to one another with looks of shock at hearing about Chase. All of this within a minute, it was a system overload to the group as they couldn't comprehend half of it.

Quinn and Zoey snapped their heads around to look at each other either one of them could have suffered whiplash. They both shook their heads as the realized the obvious. They were talking about Lola, and Chase. The mystery "stud" Lola was with in their dorm room was Chase.

They should have realized that Chase and Lola must have been close from the massive amount of people who were talking about them that came out of nowhere, but they didn't infer that, too busy trying to digest all the things they heard. They whole group almost suffered whiplash, snapping their heads to attention towards the sound of Lola's and a deep, but familiar, voice approaching. No one breathed as they strained their ears to try and make out what they were talking about.

"Yo, still da same spot after all dis time?"

"Yep. Hey, I'm going to go grab something to eat. You want something baby?"

"Uhhh…jus something small…a muffin and a iced tea baby."

The entire groups' eyes bulged as Chase and Lola finally became visible, less than 20 feet from them, appearing in view as they walked horizontally to get lined up with the table, one of the giant potted plants that was placed in the food court for scenery previously preventing the group from seeing them.

"Okay."

Zoey let out a scoff that no one heard at their use of pet names towards each other. When Lola closed the distance between them, leaning up and placing a short kiss onto his lips before walking away with a wave, Zoey fought back the urge to gag.

"I'll give you some time to get reacquainted with the group!"

Chase nodded, a smile on his face, as he waved her off and kept walking towards the table his group of friends was sitting at. Chase stopped about 10 feet from the table, waiting for their reactions. No one moved or said a thing, the entire group in too much shock to greet their friend. Chase smirked, he figured this would happen, and removed his hat, tilted his head, and extended his arms to his side, similar to the way he refreshed Lola's memory. He made direct eye contact with all of his old friends, except Zoey, laughing internally at the looks of shock and disbelief they stared at him with. The group continued to stare, absorbing in the new Chase: the haircut, the swagger and confidence that seemed to ooze out of his pores, style, and his body that seemed to triple in size since they last time they laid eyes on him, emphasized by a tight blue wife beater that matched his outfit and showed off his huge upper body.

After giving them a good 15 seconds to stare in disbelief, Chase broke the silence. "Damn, dis is how you welcome back people to PCA? I should have just stayed-" Chase didn't finish his statement as Michael, Quinn, and Logan swarmed him, wrapping him up into a giant group hug. Scared, confused, and frustrated, Zoey didn't move from her seat but kept her eyes on Chase, looking at him from top to bottom and repeating the process.

After an extended period of hugging, the group questioning of Chase began, all three of his friends still standing close. The questioning seemed as if it would never end, questions ranging from his hair, muscles, his time at London, Lola, and many other things. Finally, after touching base on everything new with Chase, the group of four exuberant friends returning to the table and sitting down.

Chase took his seat, directly across the table from Zoey. Chase's face turned into a "mean mug" as he stared at Zoey, his eyes not wavering, as they seemed to be able to burn holes through her. Zoey also stared back, her face expressing a pensive, unsure look, with her head tilted down to avoid most of Chase's stare.

Quinn, Logan, and Michael's exuberance, laughter, and smiling that was the result of Chase being back died down as they realized the uneasiness between two people that used to be the best of friends and loved one another. They didn't know what was going to happen, they weren't well informed, but they did know that a rift had come between Zoey and Chase and this was the first time they had talked, in any form, in months. They all held their breath in fear of what could happen next.

"Hmm…oh yeah, how could I forget? Last but not least, Zoey Brooks." It seemed as Zoey was as scared as what was going to happen as the rest of the group, her voice trembling with fear. "C-Chase…y-you look different." The table was surprised as Chase leaned towards Zoey, placing his elbows on the table exposing bulging arms, with a smirk on his face. Everyone at the table was confused by Chase's tone of voice, trying to make out the emotion that his words best displayed. "Yeah…no doubt…Looks like you changed too."

Zoey raised her face, meeting her glossy eyes with Chase's baby blue pupils that always seemed to make her feel better, in preparation for the worst. "Yeah…wit dem new highlights, make-up, and a tight shirt…" Zoey joined the rest of the group in not breathing as Chase talked to her with his new "accent" and deeper voice. Zoey selfishly hoped there was a chance, no matter how small, that Chase was actually going to compliment her, forgive her, hold no grudges, and everything would be all right between them. " …You look…ummm…damn! What's da word? It starts wit an "s"…"

Trying to lighten the mood, Quinn offered Chase her help. "Stunning? Sexy? Salacious?" Chase snapped his fingers. "That's it! Zoey, you look…absolutely sickening! Yo, enough to make me lose my appetite for sure." Quickly, Chase started to get up from his seat. "Peace, I'm out." Logan managed a small laugh as he looked at Zoey and then to a departing Chase. Quinn would have slapped Logan for laughing, but Michael and her were too stunned to do anything useful.

Zoey sat there motionless, her head hanging with her eyes focused on her hands that she placed in her lap. She fought hard against the tears that desperately wanted to roll down her cheeks. Luckily, the small amount of anger she had, the fact she expected this, and the fact she had let many tears fall down onto her pillow at night the past few months helped her fight off the tears.

The groups' attention was now drawn to Lola, who had snuck up on the table, as she laid a plate of food down at the table. Grabbing Chase's muffin and iced tea in her hands, Lola looked at a group of bewildered looking friends, and then to her boyfriend who was now standing.

Lola held out both hands that held the iced tea and chocolate muffin, Chase only accepting the iced tea. "For you." Chase nodded, appearing to be deep in thought. "Thanks, babe." Chase glanced once again at her friends, and then to Chase. "…What's up guys?" Chase nodded towards the way they came to the food court. "Hey, I'm gonna bounce." Lola's happy face became a pout. "Awww, but why?" Chase shot a glance out of the corner of his eyes towards Zoey, replying louder than necessary.

"I just lost my appetite." Not allowing Lola to try and persuade him, Chase pulled her into his masculine frame by wrapping an arm around her waist. On pure instinct, Lola threw her hands over Chase's shoulder, wrapping them around his neck, as he pulled her close. Their display of public affection, a deep kiss lasting a couple of seconds, caught the attention of not only their table but a couple of nearby tables filled with students as well.

When they released from their embrace, a huge smile accompanied a deep blush on Lola's face due to their public display of affection. Chase smirked at Lola; he knew she no longer had the ability to beg him to stay, or form words, before he walked away.

No one was aware as Zoey brushed away a lone tear that streaked down her face. An embarrassed Lola bit into her newly acquired chocolate muffin as she took Chase's seat. Lola let out a muffled, "Mmm…" as she looked at her friends, covering her mouth with her free hand. Once finished chewing and swallowing the muffin, Lola spoke. "So…what's going on guys?"

CHASE 101

Everyone was now standing at the table. Michael had his mouth fully open as he stared across the table at Logan, his mouth also ajar but formed into a loose smile. Half of the food court could hear Lola and Zoey screaming at one another, with Quinn pointlessly trying to scream over both of them.

"Lola, why are you defending him?!"

"Why wouldn't I Zoey?! Uh, he's my friend...he's not just mean to people for no reason! ...And oh yeah, he's my boyfriend Zoey!"

"I don't care he had no reason to say that!"

"Uh yeah, I think he did!" Lola quit screaming, her voice returning to a normal level. "...And I think we've all been wondering, for a long time, what that reason is." Zoey tried to fight back, failing as her words got caught in her throat. Defeated, Zoey placed both of her hands against the table for support, staring at the table and refusing to look up. "...No point in telling us no, right Zoey?!" Zoey shook her head, not replying as she only remained staring at her hands. "I'm out of here..." Storming off, Lola left without saying another word.

Looking at everyone, minus Zoey who still wouldn't look up, Michael's eyes darted around and his bottom lip quivered. Taking a deep breath, he spoke. "I'm going with her." This caught Zoey's attention, as she looked at Michael with a look on her face as if she had just been betrayed by her best friend. Michael shook his head, "Look Zoey...I don't know what happened between Chase and you, no one does...and I'm not trying to take sides here." Michael closed his eyes, taking in another deep breath before finishing his statement. "All I know is Chase has been my best friend since the sixth grade, and I haven't seen him in seven months..." Michael searched inside for more words, coming up with nothing. Silently, allowing a sigh to escape his lips as he looked at Zoey one last time, he walked away from the table, following after Lola.