Summary: Sequel to Reawakening The Past. Zoey and the gang are back for freshman year of PCA. And everything's about to change, especially when they meet the new kids. Trusts will be shattered, hearts will be broken. Thanks to Hybrid Speed for the title. Summary kind of stinks, but the story is really good, I promise!
A/N: This chapter's not a happy one. Just saying. Sorry!
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoey 101.
Accepting The Present
Chapter 6:
Would You Believe You
Zoey's POV
"Lola, what is…?" I stopped dead in my tracks as the tape started.
It was Lori…kissing some guy.
"Zoey?" Lola questioned.
"Who was that?" I asked, referring to the guy she was swapping DNA with. Lola sighed, pressed playback again, a sad look on her face, and zoomed in.
Realization hit me like a gunshot.
No…it couldn't be. No! No! It is…it's…
"Chase." I swallowed hard. Tear were blurring my vision. I couldn't think straight.
The world was closing in on me…Help! I need air! I need air!
"Zoey! Zoey! Are you okay?" Lola screamed at me, shaking me out of my trance. "Zoey!"
I stared at her. "I'm fine." I lied, and gave a sad smile, my voice cracking. "I mean, this was bound to happen, right? First my parents, now Chase…" Lola blinked twice.
"What are you talking about?" she questioned.
"Nothing…" I sighed. I felt like nothing right now.
I couldn't help but think that maybe this is a huge misunderstanding. I mean, Lori was related to pure evil…maybe this was all part of her plan…and she did like Chase…
"So, what now?" Lola asked sadly.
"I think I'm gonna give him a chance to explain himself." I told her. "You heard Lori. She likes Chase. Maybe this is just one big mistake."
"You sure about that, Zoe?" Lola asked with slight uncertainty in her voice. "I really don't wanna see you get hurt like I did with Michael." Her eyes widened as she said that. "No! No! I did not say that! No way!"
"Yes you did!" I pointed out happily. "I knew you liked him."
I knew it!
Lola and Michael sittin' in a tree…
K-I-double S-I-N-G.
"I do not!" she argued.
"Too late for that, you said so!" I said with a smile. "I'm sure he likes you back. Positive, actually." Lola rolled her eyes.
"That's not what he said." She sighed, referring to what he said when he walked in.
FLASHBACK
"It's true, isn't it?" I asked, happy with my discovery. "You do like Lola! Right?"
"You definitely do." Quinn put in. "I calculated the possibility and it's 99.999999999623568585 – "
"I get it!" Michael yelled. "You guys, I do not like Lola and I never will! I barely even know her! I just met her, like, 2 weeks ago! Get the picture?"
Puh-lease. Even Nicole could figure out that wasn't true. He was so in love with her.
Lola cleared her throat.
"Lola!" Michael said in shock.
END FLASHBACK
Poor Lola.
Poor me.
Everything was going wrong these days.
"Don't worry!" I reassured. "Come with me. I need to talk to Chase…now."
Chase's POV
It was lunch time…but I couldn't eat. How was I going to live with myself? How? Seriously, how? Could someone please answer? Please?
'Kay. Looks like I was on my own.
I didn't do anything wrong. But then why did I feel so dirty?
Maybe it was because I never found Logan's mouthwash…
Oh, god, who was I kidding? I was keeping this from Zoey! That was why! No denying it.
I didn't have to heart to tell Zoey, though. She wouldn't believe me. I was sure that Lori would somehow find a way to twist it around in her own sick way. I couldn't hurt Zoey like that. I couldn't lose Zoey like that. No one saw…so I was in the clear…right? And –
"Chase?" Dana waved a hand in front of my face.
"Huh? Wha…?" I mumbled.
"You okay, man?" Michael asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, 'cause you don't look okay." Nicole pointed out. "You look pretty un-okay to me."
"I agree with Nicole," Monte said with a laugh. Whoa. Why was he here? When did he get here?
"He's with me," Dana sighed, referring the evil dude next to her. "We have to finish our video project. We're doing a documentary on fights. We've been around campus and have been taping random fights!" Quinn gasped.
"Dana, that's wrong!" she gasped. It was true. You couldn't go around taping other people's business.
But honestly…I wasn't the right guy to be determining what was right and what was wrong.
"Anyways," Dana continued, ignoring Quinn's truthful comment. "What's going on in your bushy head?"
"Nothing, it's just – " I saw Lola and Zoey walking towards the table. Zoey had a smile on…but it looked sorta fake.
"Hi, guys!" Lola greeted, taking a seat next to Nicole. Zoey took the empty seat next to Lola…and me.
"Hey Zoe!" I said with a smile. "So...how's your project going?" Zoey shrugged.
"Good, I guess." She told me. "Quinn and I are doing a project about what to do for the project. It's gonna be cool."
"Nice," I commented, slight relief filling me. She doesn't know yet…phew.
"So," she scooted close to me. "Anything you need to tell me?" The whole table exchanged confused glances except for Lola and Monte.
"Uh, no, I don't think so…" I told her. Lie. Liar. Lies. Lying.
Zoey read my expression. "Are you sure?" I nodded. Hurt and anger filled her face. She stood up.
Uh oh. I was done for…I think…
"I gave you a chance, Chase!" she told me sadly, then turned angry again. "Explain this!" She grabbed Lola's video camera off the table and pushed playback. My eyes widened as I saw what it was.
The whole table gasped in disbelief.
"Well?" Zoey asked, looking as if she was about to explode into tears. "Do you have anything to say? At all?"
Fear haunted my face. I felt like kicking myself in the head. Hard. Like, concussion hard. So hard that I tumbled into darkness where I deserved to be. I blinked back tears.
"I didn't! I wouldn't!" I told her, standing up, plead in my eyes. "She kissed me! I swear! I would never do that!"
"Even if that was true, why were going to keep it from me then?" her voice cracked. People crowded around us.
"I didn't want to hurt you!" I told her, my head down.
"And look how that stupid, little plan worked!" Zoey cried.
I looked up and into her eyes.
Hurt. Pain. Disbelief. Sadness. Tears.
Tears filled my eyes but didn't fall. Whispers filled the air. There was no one there anyone. Just me and Zoey. Face-to-face.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
She looked up at me. I couldn't believe it. Her eyes were always filled with confidence and sparkle…now…nothing. It bothered me enough on its own…but it was worse…
Because…
I had put that stare of nothingness into her eyes
I'm an idiot. A huge, gigantic idiot. I was so lost in not hurting Zoey that I hurt her even more.
"I'm sorry, too." She said to me, hurt still everywhere. "Sorry that I ever trusted you. I'm such an idiot! You're just like all the others! You never really cared! It was all lies! All of it. So I hope you're happy. You've broken an already broken girl. Putting on a brave face and pretending I'm okay and perfect won't help me anymore. Was I not good enough for you? Is that why you had to go and cheat on me?"
"I didn't – "
"Well, great job." She yelled. "You're rid of me. You can now make out with anyone you want without telling me. We're done. I never wanna see you again!" She ran away as fast as she could. Nicole got up to follow her, but Lola told her no.
"Zoey, no!" I cried. "Please! I can explain…come…" I fell to my knees. "…back…" I stayed in that position for a while. The crowd began to go back to what they were doing.
I looked up at my friends and headed over to them…
"How could you!" Nicole screamed.
"I didn't! It was all Lori!" I told them. "Please! You guys have to believe me!"
Silence…then…
"Would you believe you?" Lola asked sadly.
I sighed. "Guess not…" I walked back inside to the guys lounge…thinking one thing and one thing only…
What have I done?
But I knew the answer…o-ho, did I know the answer…
I lost my girlfriend, destroyed my best friend…and…
I would never let myself live this down. Ever.
Logan's POV
"Did I miss something?" I asked the table, sitting down next to Lola. "And why is Monte sitting here?"
Everyone looked really depressed. Hello? I had arrived. Everyone was supposed to be all "Yay! The hottest guy in the wotld has arrived!"
"Oh yeah." Lola nodded. "You missed everything."
"And I got it on tape." Dana announced. The whole table gasped. "Monte, we're so getting an A on this project!"
"Dana!" Lola cried, shocked. "You cannot use that for your project!"
"Why not?" she asked, annoyed. "It's the best fight I've seen all day! And it's PCA's 'perfect' couple! It's so unexpected!"
Okay…WHAT WAS GOING ON?
"Dana!" Michael said, shocked. "Did you, by any chance, just see how destroyed one of your best friends was? And you wanna put it in your video for the whole world to see? What?"
Hello? Super hot dude confused!
"Well, it'll get us an A!" Monte agreed with Dana, backing her up.
"Ever since you've been hanging around with Monte, you've changed!" Lola yelled at her. "I can't believe you would stoop this low! It's – "
"Will someone please explain to me what the heck happened?" I yelled, silencing them all. Lola handed me her camera and played it back.
"Holy crap!" I yelled. "He…that's…" Dana handed me her video camera and played it back.
"Whoa." Was all I could say. I turned to Dana. "And you're gonna put that in your project?"
"Yup!" she smiled.
"Why have you been acting so weird lately?" I asked her.
"I haven't! Gosh!" she yelled. "I'm just making new friends! Like Monte! Who get me!"
I grabbed her hand but she snatched it away. "Dana, you can tell me what's wrong! I'm your boyfriend! Remember?" She sighed and grabbed my hand.
"Come on…" she said to me. Where was she taking me?
Normal POV
As Dana and Logan walked away, the whole gang slowly but surely went their separate ways.
A brother and a sister met up near the quad.
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"Great." He told her. "Zoey broke up with that Matthews kid. Nice job."
"I knew stealing Lola's papers and putting them back in our room would make her come. It was perfect!" she grinned evilly. "Ready for the next step?"
"I don't know…" he sighed. "I dunno if I can do this one. She's nice. I might even like her."
"Just stick with the plan!" she commanded. "For mom and dad."
Meanwhile…
Zoey Brooks walked alone by the lake. She didn't understand. She just didn't. But she knew she had to do it. She just didn't know it would cause so much pain. Where had her confidence gone?
Chase Matthews sat by himself in the boy's lounge. He hated Lori. He hated this all. Even himself. This was his fault. He knew it was. He didn't understand why Lori was so bitter. He didn't understand anything anymore. Especially love.
Dana Cruz walked across the halls of Brenner Hall. Logan needed to know the truth…even if she hated it more than anything…
Logan Reese was confused. Why would Chase cheat on Zoey? He had to put up with his annoying Zoey crisis for a year…and than he goes does that. And where was Dana taking him? Not understanding wasn't new to him…but this was just out of hand.
Lola Martinez lay down on her bed in room 101, unaware of Dana and Logan approaching. She was upset. Upset that her friend was upset. And that Michael didn't like her. She couldn't believe that she even thought otherwise for a second. Actresses are supposed to see through to people's true essence…right?
Michael Barrett stood in his room shooting crumbled papers into his garbage can basketball hoop. What was he to do? Lola thought he didn't like her. Well, he didn't like her. He loved her. He wanted her to know…but…he now knew that she didn't love him. Hey, she was an actress…but then again, he wasn't…
Nicole Bristow was the only remaining person at the table, slowly eating her cantaloupe. She felt so suckish for all her friends. Little did she know…
She was next…
All were thinking the same thing: What will become of this?
A/N: Wow. That was pretty intense. Aren't I mean, leaving y'all like that? Anyways, hold on, this story's about to get G-O-O-D.
Review, por favor!:)
FutureStArLeT101