A/N: Thank you so much for all of your kind reviews! I'm so sorry that this chapter took me so long, I had finals so I kind of disappeared from the world for a bit, sorry again. This chapter is fairly long like the last few. I'm sorry to those of you who don't like long chapters, but I have the entire story outlined and certain things need to happen in every chapter and it makes them long. Please don't stop reading because of this, just give the long chapters a chance, at least one chance.
Oh, and yes I changed the name of the chapter. Thanks to the famous quote by John Steinbeck the whole tangled webs thing is a bit over used. I know that the new title doesn't seem particularly dramatic, but I promise it is very significant.
Well there's more notes at the bottom so I'll stop rambling up here and tell you about the music. In order the songs are: "Lies and Secrets" by The Idiots!, "Losing All Control" by Rooney, "Since I Don't Have You" by Guns N' Roses and then it switches to "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer (and this moment they are used is actually my probably poor attempt at playful song humor), "Fallen" by Sarah McLachlan, and "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap (which starts at 2min. 52secs. into the song, which sounds very different from the rest of the song so please give it a chance, the feeling of it is definitely important as is all songs used actually).
Okay, enough of my rambling now, on to the chapter:)
Lies and secrets
Lies and secrets
"I missed you," the surprise visitor claimed as he held Dana tighter. She had been deep in thought and his words didn't register with her. He pulled away concerned by the fact that she hadn't said anything at all. As he held her he studied her face and concluded (incorrectly) that the expression she was wearing must have meant she was still stunned and said, "Aw, you're still in shock, huh? This is a good surprise though, right?"
Always creeping into the game
Call the president
"Of course," Dana replied as she nodded reassuringly. She smiled, but something seemed to be weighing down the corners of her mouth. She continued playing along, "I just can't believe you're here. How did you even get here?"
The heads of government
To explain it all the way
"I used like half my savings to fly out because I wanted to see you," he said sweetly and attempted to lean in for a kiss.
Killing me slowly but I love you so
But spurred by something she didn't know, Dana dodged his kiss and said trying to find an excuse/distraction, "Oh, um…my friends are all probably eager to meet you since they're kind of watching and seem to be waiting so I should go introduce you."
"Cool, is everyone here? Do I get to meet the entire gang?" he questioned with genuine interest.
Got a moment of strain now
Pulled apart down to an art
Dana replied after a bit of a pause because she realized just how horrible of an idea this was, but he was here so the meeting was inevitable probably. So she said, "Yeah," and she lead him over to everyone.
Looking for a new fling now
Leave me alone
Don't come around here no more
Six out of seven of the gang had looked on at Dana and the mystery guy with confusion, but for the other one, for him, understanding had dawned. He understood who this guy was; he just didn't know how to think about it. He knew how he should have been thinking about it, but those weren't exactly the things racing through his mind as he saw her so close with him and his hand automatically clenched into a fist, but he wasn't ready to notice that, so he didn't.
As Dana approached the group with her boyfriend she determinedly kept her gaze away from one of the seven on her. Reaching the gang she said, "Guys this is Shane, my boyfriend." Mouths fell open slightly and confusion graced their features. Dana expected all of the looks so she continued quickly anyway, "And Shane this is-"
"Oh let me guess," Shane said excitedly cutting Dana off. He took a close look at everyone and began from left to right, "Let's see pi symbol necklace so you must be Quinn, looks like she's bursting too say something Nicole, bushy hair Chase, blond Zoey, football jersey Michael, being the only other girl left makes you Lola, and the one wearing the infamous smirk makes you Logan, Dana's told me a lot about you."
Evil minds
Empty hearts
Insecure
In the dark
No matter what the situation Logan wasn't about to let an ego boosting/screwing with Dana opportunity just pass him by so his smirk grew as he questioned cockily, "Of course she's told you a lot about me, but I wonder, what exactly did she say?"
"Well she told me about all of you, which is why it's really great to finally meet everyone. But specifically about you I think the words egotistical spoiled jerk were frequently used. I think that's just cause you annoy her though and I'm sure all of you are great if my Dana likes hanging around you," Shane said as he sweetly took Dana's hand in his. He continued, not really with any purpose, but he had heard so much about the school and everyone he was talking without thinking anything of it, "But you guys really must not get much time to hang out. This school seems to keep you really busy. I mean, every time I call Dana she's doing something else and we never get to talk for more than five minutes."
Dana was facing weird looks from her friends yet again. She knew that he wouldn't be looking at her with the same confusion but though she could still feel his eyes boring into her, she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. Why it mattered or why she was afraid to do it were things she didn't let cross her mind, it was far too dangerous.
Gone to school
Lesson learned
Logan noticed her avoidance, how she was clearly uncomfortable, and he decided to have some fun. He smirked still and said, "Well gee that's interesting, but lets get back to what's important, me. I think Cruz left out a few things about me that you need to be informed of-"
"We have to get you checked in!" Dana yelled suddenly in panic. She couldn't resist not looking at him any longer. She glared at Logan, but looking at him she immediately knew by his cocky smirk and struggle not to laugh at her that he was just screwing with her and she was relieved. Her glare quickly faded and she turned back to Shane and explained her outburst trying to brush it off like it was nothing, "Ignore him, he's an idiot. But visitors are supposed to check in when they come on campus so we better get you checked in."
Once she bites
Twice she burns
"Alright," Shane said with a shrug immediately dismissing the idea that anything weird was going on.
Lies and secrets
Lies and secrets
Logan looked like he was about to say something else so Dana hurriedly jerked Shane's hand, which was still in hers, away as she turned around and lead him to the office.
Always creeping into the game
The couple's pace slowed to normal as they walked away from the silent gang. They watched and wondered until finally Zoey asked referring to the odd exit and directing the question to Logan since he was the one Dana interrupted and who had three other pairs of eyes on him pointedly, "What was that about?"
Call the president
The heads of government
"I have no idea. I was just going to add that she forgot to tell him that I'm hot, a basketball God, and a gift to woman kind," Logan replied still smirking proud of his work.
To explain it all the way
But the gang watched the couple in the distance still and Shane released Dana's hand and wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned into him as they continued to walk and the smirk faded and the three pairs of eyes noticed. Despite the confusion, the change, the gang continued on to their late breakfast as originally planned.
Killing me slowly but I love you so
As Dana led Shane to the front office he rambled on about how amazing this school was (he had never been to the California coast before and was in slight awe). But Dana was once again not listening. Her thoughts had carried her far from the hallway of the administration building where she was currently with her boyfriend. She knew he was talking though so she smiled and nodded appropriately, but she couldn't seem to stop the persistent thoughts in her head. They got to the right door of the right office so Shane could sign in and get a visitors pass, but she suddenly changed her mind, "Okay so um…you go right through there and tell them you're a visitor they'll handle everything from there."
Dana was starting to back away and what she said sounded like she was leaving so Shane asked, "Wait, what about you? Are you leaving?"
Dana quickly compensated waving it off from worry and said, "Oh, yeah well before I saw you I was actually heading to the bathroom so while you get your pass I'm just going to be down the hall in the restroom, I'll be right back."
"Okay," Shane said smiling acceptingly, not knowing any possible reason not to trust anything she said.
As soon as the door to the office shut behind Shane, Dana hurried to the restroom. Dana opened the door, immediately noticed that the small bathroom of the administration building was empty this Sunday, and she quickly shut the door, locked it, and sunk back against it. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding.
Once again we've gone off track
And lost all hope for coming back
The room being half tile made it cooler than it had been outside, but she didn't notice. Since Shane had arrived there had been thoughts in her head, thoughts she didn't want to have. Her and Shane were complicated so not wanting to see him was pretty normal as far as she was concerned. It was the other thoughts in her head since his arrival that bothered her.
Well, it's time to restart again
And try all over again
It was just kissing. It was just a month. It was just a dance. And it was just Logan. There were rules, nothing could happen, nothing was going to happen, and nothing did happen. But those damn thoughts just kept taunting her. If they could just be in the library right now it would all just melt away. But instead she was in the girl's bathroom on the first floor of the administration building and nothing was going away.
We've lost all hope (for coming back)
We've lost all hope (for coming back)
We've lost all hope (for coming back)
We've lost all hope (for coming back)
She took a deep breath that came out shakily. She was absolutely determined, she would leave those thoughts in the bathroom, and once she left everything would be fine again. She didn't want to think these things anymore, they weren't real, they couldn't be.
Once again we've gone off track
And lost all hope for coming back
Well, it's time to restart again
And try all over again
She took another deep breath, unlocked the door, and walked back out to the hallway. But surprisingly she ran right into a solid object and stumbled backwards.
"Sorry," said the solid object, Hank.
"Its fine," Dana said quickly before noticing who it was.
Hank continued, "Oh, it's a good thing I ran into you, I was actually looking for you." Dana looked up finally and noticed that it was Hank and she was glad for the distraction from her thoughts, those that she was absolutely determined to forget. He explained, "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to ditch you. I've kind of had this thing for Wendy for a while and then she was there and it just sort of happened."
"Its fine," Dana repeated, dismissing it. But then she had an idea, "Actually, can you make it up to me?"
"Well, I'm kind of with Wendy now so we can't have like a date re-do," Hank said looking a little confused.
"No, no, not like a re-do, but could you do me a favor?" Dana asked hopefully.
Relieved Hank replied, "Yeah, sure. I mean I've seen the damage you can do so I really owe you for not beating the hell out of me for ditching you."
"Good," Dana said quickly and moved onto the plan, "So my boyfriend showed up just now-"
"Oh, well he won't hear about me taking you to the dance? Or has he heard already and he's looking for me?" Hank interrupted jumping to conclusions.
"No, I mean yes, don't tell him, but could you keep him occupied for a while?" Dana asked pleadingly.
"What?" Hank asked completely lost.
Dana debated whether to explain and how to explain, but she decided to go for it because she really needed this, "It's just that things with him are complicated and he just showed up out of no where. I need some time to…think."
Hank nodded in comprehension and inquired, "About Logan?"
"What?" Dana managed to breathe out in total shock.
Hank explained, "I saw you leave the dance with Logan. I mean, I already figure he liked you since he didn't tell me about you and he always shares hot girls, he's always generous about that."
Dana didn't let herself give his words any merit, it wasn't possible, it'd be insane. So she went on the defensive and said, "No, there's nothing with Logan. I mean we've…but it's nothing, trust me."
"Well-" Hank began to say something that would clearly contradict Dana.
But Dana cut him off stating forcefully, "It's nothing."
"Okay," Hank said putting his hands up in surrender and praying that Dana wouldn't hit him. He knew about the bruises she was capable of leaving and she was looking pretty scary at the moment so even though he was a pretty big guy, he was intimidated by the petite brunette in front of him.
"Okay," Dana said calming down. She glanced at the door of the office Shane was in and said hurriedly, "So his name is Shane, he's getting a visitors pass now and just keep him distracted for a while. Call me if you need me to take him back or I'll call you when I can have him around again."
"Alright," Hank said figuring he'd come up with something.
"Thank you so much. I completely owe you for this," Dana said gratefully.
But Hank shook his head dismissing the idea that she owed him anything and said helpfully, "You better get going if you don't want him to come out and find you still here."
Dana took his advice and thanked him again as she hurried out of the administration building.
Meanwhile breakfast with the gang wasn't as talkative as would be expected the morning after a dance or after suddenly learning that Dana has a boyfriend.
As Logan shoveled in his breakfast as usual he decided that he officially knew what it was like to be Zoey. Chase seemed to always be watching him instead of his normal routine of watching Zoey.
A little while into breakfast Zoey finally asked just to double check, "Did anyone know Dana had a boyfriend?"
While Chase and Michael simply shook their heads Lola replied, "No, and I was trying to think of a time when I've heard her on the phone, but anytime that I did I always assumed it was her parents because she never seemed to want to be talking to whoever was on the other end. And with how she gets along with her parents, hanging up quick just seemed normal."
"Yeah and I've asked her like a hundred times if she had a boyfriend in France and she always said no," Nicole added.
"Well he doesn't have an accent so I don't think he's French and if she said no to that then she probably didn't meet him over there," Quinn guessed.
"Oh," Nicole said realizing her question phrasing mistake.
Lola, however, had realized that there was someone who hadn't responded at all, "Logan, what about you?"
"What?" He asked as he chewed a mouthful of pancake which he was eating like a taco.
Zoey grimaced at the sight of half chewed food but replied, "I asked if anyone knew if Dana had a boyfriend, you didn't respond so Lola was asking you if you knew."
"Oh," Logan said as he began making another pancake taco, stuffing it with scrambled eggs and sausage. He explained, "Well I don't really listen when you girls talk unless you mention my name, otherwise I really have no interest in anything you're saying. So if Dana ever did say something about him when she was arguing or something then I didn't hear it because it wasn't about me."
He didn't seem different. That was a typical Logan thing to do. And he really didn't usually seem to be listening to them.
With a skeptical eye on him, Lola accepted it and said, "You can stop listening again then."
"Cool," Logan said with a shrug as he got back to shoveling in the newly built pancake taco in his hand.
Not noticing that her best friend and two others at the table kept looking to Logan like they were checking on him or waiting for something, Zoey admitted, "I just don't understand why she wouldn't tell us. And why would she go to the dance with Hank when she has a boyfriend?"
No one responded because no one had any answers.
Zoey was about to continue on wondering out loud about the situation, but Nicole interrupted her, "Oh there's Dana." Everyone followed Nicole's line of sight to see Dana practically speed walking across campus and heading back towards their dorm, alone.
"Let's go," Zoey said standing up and picking up her tray. She was determined to know what was going on. And she was sure something had to be going on because nothing made sense and she was just naïve enough to think that all things made sense.
Lola, Nicole, and Quinn followed Zoey and said hurried goodbyes to the guys.
As soon as the girls were out of ear shot Chase asked Logan concerned, "Are you okay?"
Logan finished chewing his last bite of his last pancake taco and replied like it should have been obvious, "Yeah." Knowing what Chase was referring too, but wanting to emphasize that there was nothing going on Logan asked slowly, "Are you okay?"
Logan got up and dumped his tray and Chase followed, he knew what Logan was doing, but he wasn't convinced that it was all really nothing.
Michael followed because he really had no idea what was going on. He asked as he followed Chase who was following Logan who seemed to be heading to their dorm, "What's going on? Why are you asking each other if you're all right? And why isn't anyone asking me?"
"I have no idea," Logan said rather convincingly.
Since Logan was being so stubborn, which Chase really should have expected, Chase responded to Michael as they entered their building, "Never mind, it's nothing."
But Michael had already caught on and he wanted to know what they weren't saying. He retorted as they made their way up to their room, "No it's clearly not nothing. There's something going on here and you guys are going to tell me. I'm not getting left out of stuff. We three have been roommates for the past seven years, it has always been a triple room and it's not gonna be a like a double now because we keep secrets from each other. You are telling me everything."
"Or what?" Logan asked as he opened their door and entered their room.
"Or…or…I'm calling your moms and telling them you're hiding things," Michael said taking out his cell phone and holding it up threateningly.
"What?" Chase asked a little confused because, though he feared the consequences of Michael telling his mom that he had a secret because then his mom would start asking questions and who knows what he would reveal. But Chase was also confused because how could Michael call his mom or Logan's mom?
"I know their numbers by heart and I will do it if you don't tell me what's actually going on," Michael revealed.
Looking at Michael like this was very strange because it was, Logan commented, "Dude that's kind of weird."
"Or really helpful right now," Michael argued. Logan and Chase weren't admitting anything though so he started dialing as he said, "Mrs. Reese, 818-55-"
"Okay I'll tell you just drop the phone," Logan caved and Michael put the phone away. Logan knew from the minute Michael mentioned his mom he was going to have to tell Michael everything. It was really clever on Michael's part to resort to Logan's mom. After all these years of living together they knew each other too well. Logan added, "But just like Chase you can't tell anybody, especially my mom."
They all sat down on their couch and Logan told Michael about all the things of the past month that went unnoticed.
Dana had raced up the stairs and into her room not knowing that she had a trail of girls following her. As soon as she slammed her door shut and got three steps into her room the door swung open again and four out of breath girls came in.
Nicole walked past Dana and collapsed out of breathe on the couch as she said, "You walk way too fast."
Before Dana could ask why they were all there (though she had a pretty good idea), Zoey dove right in, "Why didn't you tell us about Shane? And where is he?"
Dana started pacing as she replied, "I ran into Hank and had him keep Shane busy for a while."
"Why?" Lola asked curiously from her bed.
"It's complicated," Dana tried to get away with saying. But she knew that they wanted explanation and she might as well tell them. It's not like they could know anything else from her talking about Shane. She sat down and explained, "It's just that he's not my boyfriend. Well, he is technically, but not because I want him to be. We went out before I came here the first time and then I broke up with him before I left for here. I was his first girlfriend and when I came home the summer before Paris he was with his second girlfriend. And when I came home last summer after Paris they were still together. But then after I was home like two weeks she broke up with him. It was brutal and public. He was crushed, I think he really loved her or something. So then we were bored and hanging out and we ended up back together. But as soon as we got back together I remembered all the reasons I broke up with him besides being half way across the country. He's boring and he never has an opinion of his own and he's clingy. I don't like him, but I've already broken up with him once so I didn't want to do it again. Even though I don't like him he's still a nice guy and I can't do that to him again. So I didn't end it when I left and I figured he'd get tired of long distance and meet someone else. All I'd have to do is wait and he'd lose interest and break up with me."
"But instead he flew out here to see you," Lola said figuring out the problem.
"Yeah, so I guess I'm still waiting. But I'm still trying to get him to lose interest so I thought even though he's here I'd still avoid him for a while," Dana explained.
"Why didn't you tell us about him?" Zoey repeated.
Dana shrugged and replied, "I guess I figured there wasn't anything to tell. I was hoping he'd end it by now."
"Why don't you just break up with him?" Quinn asked not quite understanding why Dana hadn't if she didn't want to be with him that much.
Dana revealed her reasoning, "He's been in three relationships, two of them with me, and if I break up with him again then he's always the one to get dumped. Don't you think that's the beginning of something that would give a guy a complex?"
"True. All of that makes sense," Lola supported, but she wasn't as curious about Shane as she was about something else. She continued, "But how is this whole secret boyfriend thing going to affect that other secret?"
"What secret?" Dana asked playing dumb and hoping that she didn't know.
"Oh I don't know," Lola said as she got up and walked across the room to Dana's bed, she reached underneath and pulled out a red cape and said in triumphant accusation, "maybe that you were with Logan last night."
With gasps from Nicole and Zoey, Dana immediately jumped up in her own defense claiming, "It's a red cape, he wasn't the only one at the dance with a red cape. It doesn't mean anything."
"Except Logan's the only one that had Hot Dark Prince sewn in the back," Lola said as she flipped it over to show that the words were there.
Dana shrugged trying to brush it off and lied, "So I stole it from him. He screws with me, I screw with him. How exactly do you think this is a secret?"
"Because you're secretly having some kind of torrid affair with Logan," Lola accused.
Dana laughed disbelievingly and said, "And you got that from a cape?"
Lola smiled and shook her head, "No, I got that from when you grabbed his wrist and told him you're so sorry this morning right before you took off to greet Shane." Dana's face suddenly sunk, everything was crashing down around her. No one was supposed to know. And she wasn't supposed to think about this anymore, those thoughts were supposed to be left in the first floor bathroom of the administration building. Lola continued on offering the proof to her theory to everyone, "Last Wednesday when we went to talk to Quinn about Jack did anyone notice anything different about Dana's appearance?"
As Zoey shook her head, Nicole offered, "She was wearing that really cute red skirt."
"And…" Lola prompted so they could get to the same thing she had.
Quinn hesitated but said, "Well, I remember thinking her lips looked different. I wasn't really sure though I just though they maybe looked a little…puffy?"
"Yes," Lola said excitedly and explained, "Dana wasn't working on a paper in the library she was making out with some secret guy long enough to get her lips all swollen. And when I asked her if it was Hank she didn't say yes because she couldn't because it wasn't Hank. And now that this morning made it clear that it's Logan it all fits. I've found them in here alone together. And-"
"She's been late to everything and so has he," Quinn finished.
"Oh my God," Nicole said shocked and completely believing it.
"Logan?" Zoey questioned.
"Ew," Nicole said reading most of their minds.
"Logan?" Zoey repeated not understanding why any of it was happening.
"Ew," Nicole repeated at the mention of his name.
"Seriously, Logan?" Zoey said again since she wasn't getting a response.
"Ew," Nicole couldn't help saying again at the mention of his name.
Dana hadn't been responding to their incessant questioning. This was not how she expected this day would go. It was the day after the dance, she thought she'd be hearing about how Chase didn't do anything to make himself more than Zoey's friend, what Lola's decided about Michael, how Quinn's date with Jack went, and a detailed account of every guy Nicole danced with. But this, she didn't think she'd ever have to admit this. In fact she didn't think about it in the future in anyway. It was always a just in the moment type of thing. But one thing was clear, they knew and she had no way of denying it. She had to admit it, but she didn't have to give it any meaning because it didn't have any, "Yeah. So?"
With her eyes practically bugged out of her head Zoey couldn't believe she had to say, "So? So it's Logan just…"
"Ew!" Nicole repeated the thought and filled in Zoey's thought at the same time.
"So you are really with him?" Lola checked. She knew all the things she figured out pointed to it being true, but she still wasn't one hundred percent sure.
"No," Dana said quickly and explained, "I'm not with Logan. We were just bored so we've been occasionally having a little fun. It doesn't mean anything. I still can't stand him when he talks."
"Ew!," Nicole repeated, but this time added, "Why?"
"Like I said, I didn't have anything better to do," Dana said with a shrug. Her friends seemed to share the same confused looks so she added, "And besides, you know how we always thought he had that enormous ego for nothing? Well, it turns out it wasn't for nothing."
"It's that good?" Lola inquired with a quirked eyebrow.
"Oh yeah," Dana said in a slightly breathy but deeply satisfied tone, "I definitely recommend giving it a try."
"You wouldn't care?" Zoey asked still not fully understanding the situation.
"Why would I?" Dana returned.
"I don't know anymore. This is all really confusing," Zoey said as she sat down on the couch.
"No it's not," Dana began. She started pacing slowly again as she explained, "I'm still with Shane because breaking up with him again would be mean. I'm not with Logan because I really don't like him, but we do have a little fun when we're bored. And Hank ditched me at the dance because he likes Wendy McCoy and they're together now."
"Hank's with Wendy? Oh my gosh, but didn't Andrew Jameson like her too?" Nicole asked getting side tracked by gossip.
"I don't know," Dana replied clueless.
"It hasn't been little," Lola commented to everyone's confusion.
"What?" Dana asked figuring that the comment was probably directed at her since it seemed to be "Let's talk about all of Dana's secret's day."
"Your fun with Logan, it hasn't been little," Lola explained what she was referring to and continued, "You're always no where to be found and you have been for a long time. I thought maybe that was just how you are. That maybe you just like spending as little time in your room as possible, but that's not it. You're never here because you're always with him."
"How long has this been going on?" Zoey questioned.
"Since the election," Dana was able to answer promptly since they had just figured that out a few days earlier when Chase asked.
"That was a month ago! You've been with Logan a month? A month?" Zoey questioned frantically.
"That's exactly what Chase said," Dana let slip in surprise at the similarity of their responses.
"Chase knew?" Nicole asked as it seemed Zoey had suddenly lost her eagerness to question and comment.
"He walked in on us last week and we threatened him extensively not to tell," Dana explained trying to make it seem like Chase didn't have a choice because though she didn't really know what was going on, she did notice the sudden silence of her friend.
Lola wasn't sure what to believe anymore. She checked, "So after a month it's still nothing?"
"Of course," Dana promptly replied and continued, "it's still Logan. He didn't get a new personality so it's not possible for it to ever develop into anything."
"But he didn't know about Shane," Quinn stated for she knew it was true, that much she thought was clear.
"Why would I tell him and not any of you?" Dana replied reasonably, but also faultily.
"Because you're with him, but not with him," Lola offered in language she figured Dana couldn't argue with.
Dana understood and thought that it would have been clear, but explained anyway, "The fact that it wasn't monogamous was very clearly implied by the whole not liking each other thing."
It seemed perfectly reasonable, but the thing that made Lola realize that there was something going on between Dana and Logan made Lola question, "Then why'd you tell him that you were sorry?"
Dana had been wondering about that herself quite a bit, until she left the bathroom at least. She offered the only reason she was willing to accept, "I couldn't think of anything else to say."
Zoey had been silent for while, she had only vaguely been listening to the conversation though she had been very interested in it. She spoke finally as she got up and left, "I need to go. Good luck with everything Dana."
This was strange so with everyone exchanging worried glances Nicole was the first to get up and go after her.
"So what are you going to do?" Lola asked curiously.
"I'm going to let Hank deal with Shane until he can't anymore. And by the time that I see Shane again I hope he's really pissed that I'm avoiding him and he breaks up with me," Dana said as she plopped back down on the couch and turned on the TV.
"Whoa," Michael said in response to Logan's fairly brief tale of the last month. In a state of information overload he spoke to speak and without really thinking, "So I guess that explains why Chase was asking you if you're okay." Michael paused and then asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Logan replied not really understanding why he kept getting asked this question when he already made it perfectly clear that him and Dana weren't anything.
"Because Dana has a boyfriend," Chase explained though he thought it was obvious.
"So," Logan said still not getting it. It wasn't that Logan was actually that slow, it was just easier to deal with if he tried to make sure he didn't understand.
"What do you mean so? She has a boyfriend. The only girl you've ever seen more than once has a boyfriend," Chase ranted on not understanding how Logan wasn't getting the significance.
Though the question had already been asked, Michael repeated thinking maybe the answer had been a lie earlier, "Did you already know or something?"
Logan was getting pretty tired of this so he replied lazily, "No, but like I said, we were just having fun. You know me, I don't actually like a girl, I just keep things simple, easy, and fun."
"But you've been with her for a month," Chase repeated.
"And I still don't get why that's a big deal," Logan said as he checked himself out in the mirror.
Chase looked to Michael and Michael gave him the go ahead to explain what they were both thinking. Chase explained, "Because you haven't ever gone on a second date with a girl or made out with one twice no matter how hot she was. The girl you're with one day is never the same girl you're with the next. And once you've been with a girl for however brief of a time, you never go back. But you've been with Dana a month, you've kept going back for a month."
"That doesn't mean anything," Logan quickly declared. He explained, "I don't see girls twice because then they start to think that it's going somewhere like a relationship and I have absolutely no desire to be in one of those. But me and Dana had an arrangement, we didn't want it to turn into anything because that girl is still annoying as hell, but it turns out that she can also make you forget your own name. So we've been having fun, it's convenient and no matter how much we use each other we know it's not going anywhere because we didn't want it to."
Michael shot Chase a small glance before saying, "That actually kind of made sense, for you at least."
"Of course it did," Logan said as he sprayed on some cologne. He checked himself in the mirror again and said cockily, "I'm Logan Reese and I don't do crushes or relationships. But I guess I'll have to find another casual thing since Dana's boyfriend is here. And since I have needs that need to be fulfilled, I'll see you guys later, I'm going girl hunting." With that being said and an appropriately confident smirk Logan left.
As soon as the door shut behind Logan, Michael questioned, "You noticed his tense change in that little explanation too, right?"
"Yep, and it all sounds like Logan, but I don't know, maybe there is something there," Chase pondered. Chase shrugged, giving up on the situation because it wasn't really any of his business and sat down at his computer.
Michael, however, didn't want all conversation to be over. There were things he needed to discuss, "So how'd last night go with Zoey? I know you're still friends, but any developments?"
"Yeah there is," Chase said spinning around in his computer chair so he was facing Michael who was on the couch. Zoey's words had been haunting Chase, it seemed like he heard them so often and he was starting to come to certain conclusions. He decided to share those conclusions with Michael, "Zoey called me her best friend again and I am, but I think that that's all I'm supposed to be. I mean the one time I actually tried to tell her fate intervenes and she doesn't get the message. And I think that these past months I haven't been getting the message fate was trying to tell me. Me and Zoey aren't meant to be anything more than friends and it's time for me to accept that and move on."
"What? You've got to be kidding me. I just found out about you two and now you're giving up," Lola said bursting into the room after clearly eavesdropping on the conversation and causing both male occupants to jump up in surprise.
"You told her?" Chase quickly accused Michael.
But before Michael could respond, Lola quickly defended, "He didn't have to, everyone knows, it's completely obvious you're in love with Zoey. Though, I did catch on a little later than everyone else."
"Everyone knows," Chase said disbelievingly just above the sound of a whisper as he sunk down onto the couch.
"Yeah, except Zoey," Michael assured. He continued because this conversation had already began, and Chase might as well know how far everyone extended, "But other than that pretty much everyone. A lot of guys know because Logan spread the word back in the first year Zoey was here that she was off limits. It was his way of helping you out, giving you a better chance. A lot of girls know because, I don't know, but they just seem to notice it. And then Mr. Bender and Dean Rivers and one of the cafeteria ladies seems to know too, you know, the one with the gray hair that's about four foot something, the nice one." With a pause while he let it sink in with Chase, Michael realized he had an important question for Lola, "This whole not knocking thing is just this once right?"
Lola knew that not knocking was sort of overstepping a person's personal boundaries, but she had her reasons. "Yes," she agreed, "but this situation didn't leave time for knocking. He's giving up."
The fact that everyone knew still hadn't really sunk in with Chase, but there were more important things to think about at the moment. The rest of the world could be left for later, right now Chase needed to talk about Zoey and what he thought about them. He retorted to Lola's comment, "I'm not giving up, I'm just…accepting that I'm not supposed to be with her."
"And that's what you got from the tekmate situation?" Lola questioned.
"Yeah, her tekmate falling in the fountain when I told her I love her was clearly a sign that she's not supposed to know because we're just supposed to be friends, nothing more. And it's past time that I accept that and move on. I mean it's only every day that I get reminded that I'm just her friend, I really should have noticed by now that that's all I'm supposed to be," Chase reasoned. He had been doing a lot of thinking lately and that was the only conclusion he came up with. But the lately he had been thinking was actually the previous night, after the dance, after hearing her call him her best friend again, after feeling like he had actually been more all night and then had it all ripped away in a single moment. With nights like the previous, he was quickly losing hope.
Luckily he had friends like Michael and Lola. Michael explained, "Yes Chase, I agree, the tekmate falling in the fountain was a sign. But did you ever consider that maybe the sign was that you shouldn't tell Zoey you love her in a text message over an electronic device?"
"I definitely wouldn't want a guy to confess his love for me in a text message, it's too impersonal," Lola chimed in.
"Exactly," Michael agreed, "fate wasn't telling you to give up on Zoey. It was just preventing you from ruining things with her by telling her wrong. You are meant to be with Zoey, you love her. But you can't tell her you love her because you're sorry for a mistake you made; you can't tell her you love her in a text message. You have to tell her you love her when the moment is right, and that moment wasn't right, that's why her tekmate fell in the fountain. Think about it." Michael concluded and, to Lola's confusion, took her hand and lead her out of the room. He answered Lola's unspoken question once the door shut behind them, "He needs time to think alone."
They continued down the hallway, Michael still holding Lola's hand, in silence until they got to the elevator and Michael asked, "Why'd you come by anyway?"
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. As they got in Lola responded, "To see you, we have a new project besides Chase and Zoey now."
Michael had a feeling he knew what she was referring to and he knew that if he was right the day was going to continue to be very interesting.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Nicole asked Zoey for about the fifteenth time since they left Lola and Dana's room.
They were at the small coffee shop on campus, which was always crowed as it was this Sunday.
Zoey took another sip of her mocha and assured, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed some caffeine."
Even though Zoey had always said she was fine in response to her question, Nicole still didn't believe that Zoey was actually okay. There was just something off about her, but since she obviously didn't want to talk about it, Nicole didn't want to harp on the subject. So, Nicole changed the subject, "So this whole Logan, Dana thing is weird."
After a beat of silence Zoey responded simply, "Yeah." She was clearly somewhere else in her head, somewhere far from Nicole's attempts at conversation.
But her friend re-gained her attention when she let out a small yelp. "What?" Zoey asked.
Looking like she was so excited she was about to jump out of her seat, Nicole said in a rush that Zoey had learned to understand, "John Ely just walked in and while he was ordering he looked over at me and smiled. He smiled at me!" But as soon as Nicole had finished her excited gush, she got skeptical, "Wait, maybe it wasn't me. Is there anyone behind me that he could have been smiling at?"
Zoey looked behind Nicole and saw three guys all staring at a laptop in front of them. She figured it was pretty safe to say, "No there's not really anyone there. I think that smile was meant for you."
Nicole squealed and glanced back up to see that John was receiving his freshly made to order drink. She decided not to look and seem like she was waiting for him to come and join them, but she was really hoping he would come over.
After a minute passed and he hadn't come over, Zoey got impatient and didn't want her friend to get depressed jumping to conclusions as to why he hadn't come and said, "Just look and see where he went Nicole. Maybe he was here with friends. He could still come over."
Nicole looked up and around the small coffee shop once, then again, and said, "I don't see him."
This prompted Zoey to turn around and scan the small room as well. She thought, "Well, he couldn't have just disappeared." But it seemed that that was exactly what had happened because as far as anyone could see, John Ely was not in the coffee shop.
John Ely was in fact in the coffee shop though. He had been dragged through a door labeled staff by a very angry looking Tiffany.
"What the hell were you doing?" Tiffany demanded as she quickly released his forearm that she had dragged him in by.
"Whatever do you mean sis?" John retorted playing innocent.
"I told you not to call me that," she growled, "you being my stepbrother is only temporary. I'm making sure of that."
"Still claiming that? It's been two years and all of your stupid little attempts to get your daddy's attention back on you instead of my mom have gone completely unnoticed. Time to give up, isn't it Tiff?" John taunted knowing she hated that name as well.
"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you?" Tiffany lamely retorted.
"Yes," John quickly confirmed before she could try and say something else, "I love my mom and I want her to be happy. Your dad makes her happy so I'm happy for her. I know that's a hard concept for you to understand since you're a heartless bitch, but us humans actually want the people we love to be happy."
"Screw you!" Tiffany yelled angrily to his insult. Changing the subject and getting back to the point she added, "Just stay away from Nicole and all of my other cheerleaders."
"Or what?" John asked knowing that she wasn't finished.
"Or your mom's not going to be so happy anymore," Tiffany said with an evil glint in her eye. She closed in on John making the space between them almost nonexistent. She looked up and met his eyes as she said confidently, "I always get what I want. I want you to stay away from my cheer squad. If you don't then I'll just have make my dad hate your mom. And don't doubt me because it's always been me and my dad, I know how to pull all of his strings and I know exactly how to get him to leave your mom. It's a little extreme, but if you don't do what I want then I'll just have to do it anyway. And I'll make sure he doesn't let your mom and your stupid little brother and sister and you get a single cent of his money so that you go back to the trailer park where you belong." She paused, she could see the threat was sinking in with him, and then she added, "So are you willing to risk your mom's happiness and your family's financial security for one of the pathetic girls that I'm forced to be nice to?"
"You're never nice," John said honestly.
Smoothly Tiffany replied, "Actually this has been my nice. If you want to see what I'm like when I'm not nice, keep watching. You have one week to make the right decision, and during that week you'll be seeing just how not nice I actually am." With that Tiffany strutted out of the small back storage room. She was confident that John would give in to her demand and in the mean time, she was going to enjoy being as malicious as she wanted.
When John exited the back room, he hurriedly made his way past Nicole as he hid behind other people. His mom and his brother and sister were really happy with Tiffany's dad and if he was thinking smartly then he was going to have to give Tiffany what she wanted because if the Tiffany he knew was her being nice, then her week of mean was going to be horrible, for everyone.
Michael and Lola had been seated in the empty outdoor seating of the cafeteria for quite some time. They exchanged every detail of the conversations they had had that day, which only left both of them with questions.
Her story of what happened in Dana's room just completed, Michael asked Lola, "If you knew that Dana and Logan were together last night then why didn't you say something this morning when I brought it up with them?"
"First of all, I wanted to be able to spontaneously reveal the cape for dramatic affect," Lola explained as if that should have been obvious, "And secondly I wanted to see how they would cover and if it would be easy for them. They covered so smoothly it just further convinced me that I was right and this thing with them had been going on a while."
"Yeah an entire month," Michael mentioned pointedly.
It took Lola a second, but she caught on to its meaning, "Logan doesn't do months. He doesn't even do twice. Oh, this is big, this is really big."
"I don't know," Michael began doubtfully, "Logan's reason for it being able to continue did make sense for him. This is a complicated one. Why are we trying to figure it out again?"
"Because I'm not getting left out of the loop again this year, this year I'm going to be very in on everything. Plus, I'm curious, and what if they need extra help just like Chase and Zoey?" Lola reasoned.
This prompted Michael to ask, "What have we done to help Chase and Zoey?"
"You're constantly making sure that Chase doesn't give up on Zoey. And in twenty minutes you're going to go check on him again to make sure he hasn't decided to do something stupid. That's what you're doing and I'm working on some things," Lola concluded mysteriously. She sighed and added playfully, "Besides, don't you like having an excuse to spend your day hanging out with me?"
He did actually, he had fun being with her, so Michael didn't respond to the comment, he just smiled and said, "So what are we deciding about Logan and Dana? Is there really nothing between them or is there something?"
Lola smiled at the questions because she knew he wanted to stay with her, but the questions were still too confusing. She voiced her concerns, "I have no idea. There are just too many things we don't know. Like, how did it start? Did they ever do anything besides making out? How did Dana end up with his cape? Did she actually take it or he give it to her?"
"Is it over? Because it seems like they're both talking like it is, but why? If she was in a relationship and continues to be then what's changed?" Michael pondered cutting Lola off.
"Oh that's good," Lola commented and paused to think about it. It really didn't make sense. If Logan and Dana weren't exclusive at all, then why did the arrival of Dana's boyfriend suddenly end things. Sure, while her boyfriend was there they'd have to stop fooling around, but why were they both talking like they wouldn't continue after he left? Only one reason occurred to Lola, "Maybe it's over because something changed and Dana's boyfriend showing up was just a convenient out. But what could have changed?"
Michael had absolutely no idea. He figured that the obvious answer was that what they had wasn't nothing anymore and that's what changed. But if they had something and it was now over, shouldn't one of them or both of them let off some kind of sign that they were ending something important. Because Dana and Logan didn't seem any different, completely unaffected by what was going on, and if it meant something then that just didn't seem like the way they should have been acting.
Lola was having the same dilemma and she was tired of it. She took out her cell phone and as she scrolled through her phone book Michael asked, "Who are you calling?"
"Dana, I'm getting answers," Lola said determinedly.
"Hello," Dana answered.
Lola began, "Hey Dana-"
"Oh thank God it's just you. I thought it might have been Hank and I didn't want to have to take Shane back yet," Dana interrupted relieved. Getting back on track, she asked, "So what's up?"
"I need to ask you some questions," Lola replied.
"Okay, just make it quick I'm watching a re-run of Friends and I like this episode," Dana said slightly distracted by the television.
"What episode?" Lola asked curiously.
"The Thanksgiving one with Brad Pitt," Dana replied promptly.
"Oh that's a good one," Lola commented wondering if maybe she should just go back to their room and watch too while she talked to Dana, but decided against it because results would need to be shared with Michael and she was already with him. Getting back to her purpose Lola continued, "Okay, well first question: who started this thing between you and Logan?"
"Don't know," Dana said evading having to answer.
Lola sighed frustrated and said, "Yes you do. If you want to get back to watching TV then just answer the questions honestly the first time so we don't have to keep going through this. Now who kissed who first?"
There was silence from Dana's side until finally she said, "He kissed me."
"What was going on when he did it?" Lola quickly questioned.
"We were arguing, he was losing and he kissed me," Dana said as simply as possible.
"What happened next?" Lola inquired.
"I hit him. We yelled some more. Then we made out for a while," Dana explained not noticing that it didn't really make sense.
"How did you end up making out with him?" Lola asked confused.
Dana hadn't ever actually wondered about that. It seemed pretty natural in the moment, but she didn't want to say that, it didn't seem like the right answer so she said, "I don't know."
Lola actually believed her this time so she moved on to more recent events, "How'd you actually end up with his cape?"
"I took it from him," Dana repeated, but knowing that she wasn't getting away that easily she detailed, "He had taken it off just like I took off my wings. Then I got cold and picked it up off the floor and put it on. When I left later I forgot to give it back."
"What'd he say when you put it on?" Lola asked thing Logan wouldn't like anyone taking his stuff.
"Nothing," Dana said suspiciously because she didn't understand why Lola would ask that.
"What else happened last night between you two?" Lola asked because she had been thinking that something had changed.
"Usual. Did you want details?" Dana asked though no matter what the answer she wasn't saying anything else.
Lola immediately responded, "No, no, no."
"Good," Dana said and continued trying to guess at why Lola could have asked that, "and if you were worried that I'd let him get too far or something then you have nothing to worry about. Since it was meaningless and we wanted to keep it that way, I have rules and Logan knows them. He never got past first base."
Lola covered her phone with her hand and pointed out to Michael who had also been listening, "She changed tenses too." But getting back to the conversation with Dana she responded, "Good, just checking. So did you ever do anything besides the usual?"
Yes, they did, and she hated saying it, but if she lied wouldn't it mean more? So Dana didn't deny it, she said as flatly as possible to try and emphasize how not big of a deal it was, "Yeah, we danced once last night cause of the whole dance thing."
This definitely increased Lola's interest, "At the dance or when you were alone and where were you alone?"
"Alone in the library basement," Dana answered and added sensing Lola's next question, "and yes, the library has a basement."
"What song?" Lola promptly questioned.
Friends had distracted her so Dana didn't quite catch the quick question and had to ask, "Huh?"
"What song?" Lola repeated a little irritated.
"Shout," Dana replied still slightly distracted.
That wasn't what Lola was expecting, her brows furrowing she asked, "So it wasn't a slow dance?"
"No, it was," Dana answered and she knew what Lola was thinking, she had been trying not to think it herself.
"'Shout' is not a slow song," Lola stated.
"I know," Dana immediately replied firmly because pausing or faltering at all would just be another thing that would mean too much. Not liking any of the things that she thought Lola may say next Dana lied, "I'm getting beeped. Someone's trying to call me and it might be Hank so I've got to go." Dana hung up and turned up the volume on Friends to drown out all thoughts.
"It was surprisingly easy to get all of that out of her," Michael commented.
"Of course it was, if it was difficult and she didn't just unemotionally answer the questions she thinks we would be suspicious," Lola explained catching on to her roommate's thought process.
Catching on to the twinkle in Lola's eye Michael knew, "But we're suspicious anyway aren't we?"
"With good reason we're suspicious," Lola said with a mischievous smile, "and I have an idea. I'll call you when I've completed my plan and meanwhile you should go keep an eye on Chase, make him see hope."
Michael obeyed and headed back up to his room to aid his friend who was losing faith as Lola sought out to put her plan into motion, but for that she needed to find Logan.
Logan had headed out of his room a while ago. His intent was to go girl hunting, a favorite pastime of his, but he had yet to actually start.
I don't have plans and schemes
And I don't have hopes and dreams
No, he was not wandering around campus thinking about everything that had happened. He was just walking because it was good exercise and basketball season was coming up. And no, he wasn't thinking about her. Okay maybe he was, but not in any special way, no matter what happened with a girl or what kind of a personality she had, he couldn't help but continue to appreciate their anatomy.
I, I, I don't have anything
Since I don't have you
That was all it ever was. He wasn't wandering, he wasn't thinking, he wasn't doing anything, because it hadn't meant anything.
And I don't have fond desires
And I don't have happy hours
Even though he had asked her to dance and that wasn't what they were about either. He didn't know why he did it; it just seemed to come naturally.
I don't have anything
Since I don't have you
He kept doing things with her without thinking. But not now, now he wasn't thinking of her at all. Nope, never, he could never do that, be captivated by a single girl and especially a girl like her.
Happiness and I guess
I never will again
It hadn't happened, it wasn't happening, and right now he was just walking. There was nothing in his head just like there was nothing between them.
When you walked out on me
In walked ol' misery
And she's been here since then
Wait a minute, this wasn't right. Logan looked around suspiciously. This was all wrong. He was Logan Reese and absolutely everything was okay. Of course it was okay he never got attached to girls. Logan Reese was a ladies man and it was past time for him to let the ladies have him back. Actually, it was perfect timing because he spotted a gaggle of hot girls just standing around waiting to be pounced on. And he was Logan Reese, more than ready to pounce.
Lookin' for some hot stuff baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff baby tonight
I want some hot stuff baby this evenin'
Gotta have some hot stuff
Gotta have some love tonight
Yeah, for Logan Reese this was much more appropriate. It was hunting time, and business as usual, nothing was different.
As Dana was about to start watching the third hour of the Friends marathon, Hank finally called.
"Hey Hank, what's going on?" Dana greeted.
Hank hesitated a second but replied, "Well, I think I might have gotten Shane a bit angry. See, I told him that you were needed by a faculty member so, as per PCA tradition, visitors were supposed to be given tours of the campus and that's why I was there since you were occupied and couldn't do it."
"Okay," Dana said following. It was a much more detailed reason than she was expecting Hank to come up with, but it worked.
Hank continued, "So I've been showing him around and you know I walked slow and took lots of time through everything. Then I ran out of places so I took him with me to see Wendy since she had been calling me. I pulled her aside for a second and told her not to say anything about you and me or you and Logan and you can trust her, don't worry. But I think he's finding Wendy really irritating and it's really starting to bug me now because I thought he was a cool guy and I did like him, but he's starting to get kind of rude to my girlfriend."
"He's getting kind of pissed off?" Dana asked cheerily.
"Do you want him that way?" Hank inquired since Dana's tone clearly said she was happy about it.
"Yes, the angrier the better," Dana replied immediately and explained, "I'm trying to get him to break up with me, without doing something to directly make him break up with me. You know, I'm not telling him about you or Logan because then he's kind of forced into it and it needs to be his decision."
"Okay," Hank said even though he didn't really get it. He offered, "Well, he's not that mad yet, but I could keep him a while longer and he probably will be."
"That would be great. Thank you so much," Dana replied gratefully. She added, "And if he really irritates you about Wendy then feel free to not hold back. If you feel like hitting him then go ahead and do it, I don't care."
"It's not that bad," Hank assured, "besides I've noticed he isn't the only one that doesn't enjoy Wendy stories. I don't get it, I like them, but then I also like her so I guess I'm bias."
Dana smiled because Hank was a really nice guy, and Wendy was lucky. She concluded, "Well good luck, and thanks again."
"No problem," Hank replied selflessly and hung up to return to his helpful task.
Meanwhile Dana returned to the silence that re-runs of Friends offered.
Michael returned to his room almost two hours after leaving Chase there alone with his thoughts and when he returned Chase was in the exact same spot. Sitting on the couch with the television and stereo off staring into space, he was clearly somewhere else.
Michael disrupted Chase from his thoughts, "So what are you going to do?"
Chase shrugged. He had been thinking about what Michael and Lola said. It made sense, just as much sense as what he had decided the incident meant, but maybe he just wanted it to be as possible as the conclusion he had come to because then he still got to love Zoey.
Michael sighed and sat himself in the chair across from Chase. He figured the shrug meant that he hadn't made his mind up about it so Michael commented, "If you decide that fate was telling you that you aren't supposed to be more than friends with Zoey, would you stop loving her? Just because you think fate has told you to move on and you date another girl, do you think you'll love her less? Because you've loved Zoey for over two years and I don't think that's changing."
Chase didn't say anything still, but for the first time he moved. He looked to Michael, paused, looked at the door, got up, and left. He knew what he believed in now and there was no point sitting on the couch when he knew.
Michael wasn't sure what happened. After a minute he got up and tried to follow after Chase to determine whether what happened was good or bad, but he couldn't find him. He had a feeling though that telling Lola that he lost Chase was not going to be a good conversation.
Logan strutted away from five pretty girls with five phone numbers. It was really too easy, all he had to do was smirk and say hi and they were practically begging him to call them.
Logan was heading away from the girls and crossing in front of the movie theater when Lola finally found him. She had a plan, she wasn't entirely sure that it would work at all and she definitely wasn't at all thrilled to do it. But she wasn't very patient so she didn't want to just wait and see how things played out. She wanted to get results and she wanted them now.
Lola walked right up to Logan and before he could even say hello she kissed him. It lasted maybe one second because she didn't actually want to do it, she just wanted the results she hoped it would bring.
It was far too short for Logan to react, but when it was over and she was standing in front of him it didn't take him long to be himself, "So you must have heard about my arrangement with your roommate and you'd like a similar position. The more the merrier so okay, did she tell you the rules or would you like to disband those? I'm defiantly for getting rid of any rules."
He was smirking and he seemed unaffected, but he wasn't really Lola's aim so she wasn't that discouraged. She smiled to his smirk and replied to irritate him, "Nah, actually, no thanks. It wasn't good enough."
"Of course it was, it was with me. But fine, you did catch me by surprise so come on lets have a do over," Logan said trying to save his precious reputation.
"No," Lola replied simply. She waited, but he didn't say anything. After a couple of beats of silence she finally caved and asked, "You aren't even going to ask about her? About what she's been doing?"
"About who?" Logan countered playing dumb very well.
"Fine, have it your way," Lola resigned. If he was going to be difficult then she was going to move on with her plan which was for Dana anyway.
"Everything is always my way," Logan said cockily.
But Lola, she was determined to leave an impression so she responded, "Yeah, yesterday I would have thought that was true. But today, it's just not anymore. I guess you'll have to change that." With that Lola left because she wanted him to think about it. She thought that there was something that he wasn't getting his way with today and she was hoping that since she had pointed it out that maybe he would fight for it. Of course this all depended on whether or not he actually cared.
Logan decided to head back to his room. He got five numbers so girl hunting was good today and it could be over for now.
Nicole had returned to Dana to fill her in on Zoey. She had told her that Zoey wasn't letting on about anything, but something definitely seemed up.
"So she's not okay?" Dana checked.
"No I don't think so. She didn't seem to want to talk about it though and then I got distracted," Nicole added this time for she hadn't mentioned the entire situation when she told Dana the first time.
"What's his name?" Dana asked knowing her friend well.
"John Ely," Nicole squealed out.
"Ah," Dana said understanding how he was a distraction.
"But I lost him," Nicole said gloomily. She explained, "One minute he was there and smiling at me and the next he just disappeared." She paused for a minute and then got up as she said, "Actually, I think I'll go look for him. Maybe he's hanging out somewhere around campus and I can just happen to run into him and he can smile at me again and then this time it can actually turn into something more."
"Good luck," Dana yelled as Nicole exited and Lola entered.
"Took your advice," Lola began as she tossed her keys on her desk.
"About?" Dana inquired still trying to watch the marathon on the TV.
Lola walked over to the coffee table, grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV. Before Dana could complain, Lola answered, "I gave kissing Logan a try."
"So, that's not a reason to turn off Friends," Dana complained playing it like it didn't matter.
Lola ignored her comment and continued on her mission, "It was just alright though. There weren't any sparks. And I don't understand how you could keep something up with a guy when there isn't a spark."
Oh damn. She had spent the entire day drowning out thoughts, so carefully trying to control everything she let slip from her mouth that Dana confessed something without meaning to. "No it wasn't sparks, it was more like a freaking fire," she said slightly caught up in the memory of it, of him.
That was better than Lola was hoping for. She was absolutely thrilled that her second of torture was really paying off. She asked, "You have a fire, not sparks and you still think it means nothing?"
"It means I'm attracted to him," Dana conceded but reasoned, "but he's hot so that's understandable. And attraction doesn't mean anything."
"What if it did? Why would that be so bad?" Lola questioned because she really didn't get it. Sure it was Logan and he was vain and cocky and kind of slutty, but if he made her happy then what was so wrong about it?
Dana felt like all she had been doing was repeating the same thing all day. She said it again, "Because it's Logan and it didn't mean anything so why are we still talking about this?"
Dana was saved from Lola continuing by a knock on the door followed by Shane poking his head in slowly since he wasn't positive it was the right room.
"Hey," he said entering and shutting the door behind him. "It has been such a long day, but completely worth it since I get to see you," he said sweetly as he crossed the room to her.
Crap. He wasn't angry. Dana's eyes shot down to the floor, avoiding him. She needed to come up with something. She didn't know what she was going to do, not break up with him of course, but she decided they needed some privacy. Still not looking to him, but to Lola she asked, "Can you give us a little bit?"
"Yeah," Lola immediately responded understanding Dana's meaning and she grabbed her keys and left to find Michael.
Logan returned to his room and barely a minute later there was someone knocking on his door. He hoped it wasn't Lola with some new attempt. He opened it to find Hank.
"What's up Logan?" Hank greeted as he brushed past Logan inviting himself in and making himself comfortable on the couch.
This wasn't really unusual. Hank and him were friends and he would usually invite himself in and help himself to anything in the room so Logan didn't think anything of it. He shut the door and answered, "Not much. I just got back from getting some phone numbers. What about you?"
"I spent the day with Dana's boyfriend," Hank revealed and paused to gauge Logan's reaction. As Logan sat down in the chair across from Hank he looked confused, but then that made complete sense and really didn't let on about anything. So Hank continued, "Yeah he's a cool guy. He's a drummer. He's really laid back. But Dana doesn't seem to like him very much. She wanted me to get him angry so he might dump her."
"Has he met her? Cause that should have sent him running already," Logan commented resorting to old habits.
"It didn't send you running," Hank quickly retorted. He could see that Logan was wondering how he knew that. And actually Dana had never really told him what was going on with her and Logan so he was kind of guessing. But just because he didn't know the details, didn't mean he didn't notice things. Hank supplied his other proof besides Dana's brief statements, "You left the dance with her. And you didn't tell me about her so don't try and deny that you like her because you're a sucky liar."
"I'm a great liar," Logan defended.
"Not when it comes to her," Hank countered.
"There's nothing going on with her. I don't like her and that's not lying, it's the truth," Logan said and he thought it was true. Well, actually, if he didn't think about it then it remained true, but that left him ignoring a lot.
"Yeah whatever," Hank said doubtfully as his phone started to vibrate. He pulled it out and found he had received a text message. He stood up and said, "I've got to go, Wendy's waiting." He called over his shoulder as he left, "Good luck with that denial."
Logan was tired of having to endure everyone and their questions and their comments, but at least now it was quiet. Actually, it was too quiet and his thoughts, those that he been trying to ignore for so long, could be heard. Loudly, clearly, they flooded his head. Damn, he was in trouble now.
Michael had lost Chase just like Nicole had lost Zoey because no one except them knew exactly where their secret spot was. When Chase arrived at their lakeside spot he found Zoey already their. He had gone to their spot because Michael was right. It really didn't matter if fate was telling him to give up on Zoey because he was never going to stop loving her.
"Hey," Chase greeted as he took as seat on the grass beside Zoey. He commented, "Weird day, huh?"
"Yeah," she agreed, but added with a slight edge to her voice, "but not really for you." Zoey had been thinking about them a lot that day too, but her conclusions were not as hopeful as Chase's.
"What?" Chase asked confused.
"You already knew," she replied keeping her gaze firmly on the lake in front of them and not on him.
He leaned forward, trying to get her to meet his eyes so he could figure this out easier. He figured honesty was best so he said, "Yeah, I couldn't tell though. Remember the whole I knew a secret about Logan thing? It wasn't something I could repeat. Are you mad at me or something?"
Zoey's head snapped in his direction at that and her eyes let him know that yep, she was pissed. But she couldn't stand looking at him and knowing that this was actually happening. That they actually had to go through this again when she had tried to ignore it so much the first time. She got up and walked away, yelling in response, "Yeah Chase, I'm angry. I can't believe you. Of course I remember you having some sort of thing you were lording over Logan, but I thought it was something like he talks in his sleep about…I don't know something embarrassing. Or he knows the words to every Faith Hill song or something, but not something this important." She turned around knowing that Chase was following her and yelled walking towards him now, "And it's something important and you couldn't even tell me? This is big and this involves my friend too. And you said, you said that if you could tell me you would tell me. What did you not trust me? Did you think I'd tell? Because this is something that you could have told me. But you kept it hidden because they threatened you. What did they threaten you with?"
This was bad. Zoey was absolutely enraged, and worse she was right and everything was quickly looking very bad for him. Chase lied even though he knew it was a weak one, but he was desperate, he didn't want to fight with her, "It was Logan and Dana what do you think they threatened me with?"
Her arms flailing wildly, her face contorted in fury, Zoey was only more sure of her anger by his newest comment, "Jesus Chase how stupid do you think I am? You know neither one of them would actually hurt you no matter how much they threaten or talk about it. They would threaten violence but you would never take it seriously. Just stop lying!"
"I can't tell you!" Chase retorted, yelling just so she would hear.
"Just like you couldn't tell me about the tekmate and what was in the message you didn't want me to get. You know Chase for someone who told me just yesterday that you don't have a lot of secrets from me there sure seems to be a lot about you I don't know," Zoey said turning away from him again to will the tears threatening to fall to stop. She continued quieter, "I tried to forget about it. You said you'd tell me and then we got interrupted so I thought you'd just tell me later, but you never did. And I tried to ignore it, but I'm supposedly your best friend and you hide things from me that are clearly important to you. You don't even trust me. You lie to me probably more than I know."
"I-" Chase was about to say "I don't" but he stopped himself because she was right and if he claimed otherwise she would just be more convinced that he lied to her. But here they were in this situation again. She wanted to know what he was lying about, but once again, just like the tekmate situation, if he told her he'd be telling her to end a fight. And Michael had made a point earlier; this was not the sort of thing that he should just say casually to end a fight. It already had more meaning than that. He said simply and honestly, "I'm sorry."
Zoey turned back around to face Chase. She wanted to be able to ignore all of this; she had been trying so hard to since the tekmate incident. But today and the reminder of lies and secrets and she just couldn't handle it anymore. She couldn't pretend everything was okay when everything was so far from okay. She said sorrowfully, "I'm sorry isn't enough Chase. I'm sorry is for when you accidentally step on my toe or something. But you keep lying to me because you don't trust me. And I can't trust you because you keep lying to me. I kept telling myself that we were best friends, but clearly I was just fooling myself because friends don't treat each other this way."
"Zoey please tell me how I can fix this," Chase plead as if he was pleading for his life because to him he was. His life without Zoey in it in any way was not something he wanted to live, not at all.
"I don't know if you can fix this," Zoey said honestly and rushed away because the tears threatening to fall weren't waiting anymore and she didn't want him or anyone to see. She wiped at her tears hurriedly as she walked away from Chase quickly, hoping that even if he followed she could keep him at a distance because she couldn't handle seeing him anymore. Seeing him was just a reminder of everything they didn't have.
It's the bitter taste of losing everything
That I've held so dear.
Chase wanted to go after her, but he didn't know what to say if he did. He couldn't tell her the truth. The moment wasn't right. He couldn't just tell her because he was sorry. And he couldn't lie to her again, he always hated lying to her. So he was left standing where she had left him not knowing what to do.
I've fallen...
I have sunk so low
I messed up
Better I should know
So don't come round here
And tell me I told you so...
Nicole had been looking for John Ely for quite some time, but though she had covered half of campus she still hadn't found him. She could have been through more of campus, but when she dropped by the movie theater to look for him she accidentally got distracted by someone who she thought was him, and turned out to be a girl, which freaked her out a bit and she ended up stumbling into some mud. And of course she wasn't going to walk around with muddy shoes on, especially when she was seeking out a guy. So she went back to her room and changed her shoes, but then they didn't really match her outfit so she changed that too. What she didn't know was that whether she had actually made it to all the hang out spots of campus or not it didn't actually matter because John Ely wasn't at any of them. He was in his room wondering what the next week of Tiffany being terrible would bring. He didn't really know Nicole, but he liked what he knew and he was interested in her. But Tiffany's threat was going too far and she was going to win, he knew it. And Nicole kept wandering around looking for him not knowing that Tiffany had already decided their fate. So unknowingly searching for someone she wasn't going to find, Nicole decided to head up to the front of campus to continue her pursuit.
Michael was still going to have to tell Lola that he lost Chase, but since he had lost Chase he came up with worse things to inform her of.
They met back at the cafeteria and Lola immediately told him everything that happened. She was excited about it, she thought progress had been made even if it did cost her some discomfort, which kind of grossed out Michael when he heard about it. Then again, her determination was one of the things he liked about Lola.
Once Lola was finished telling Michael what she had been up to, she asked, "So what's going on with Chase?"
"Okay well I have good news and bad news," Michael began. He explained, "See first I lost Chase. When I got back he was sitting in the same spot on the couch, he hadn't made up his mind, and I said something to help him decide on Zoey. Then he didn't say anything and he got up and left and I tried to follow but I lost him. The good news is that I found him, he was by the lake." Michael paused, the next part was the bad news and he really didn't want to see Lola disappointed.
Lola caught on and said, "Wait, that was first news and good news. What happened to the bad news?"
Michael still hesitated, but replied, "When I found Chase he was with Zoey and they were fighting. It looked really bad. I didn't want them to know that I was there so I couldn't get close enough to hear what it was about." At that came the face he didn't want to see. She looked so discouraged. He decided getting involved with their friends' lives was bring them down too much, they needed a break, "It's Chase and Zoey though so I'm sure they'll be fine. I'll just take you to a movie and by the time it's done I'm sure Chase and Zoey will be best friends as usual."
"Did you just ask me out?" Lola questioned feeling better already.
"Yep," Michael confirmed.
"Very smooth," Lola complimented. She gladly accepted deciding to concentrate on her own life and not other peoples, "So what are we going to see?"
"I thought you could decide that this time," Michael said clearly implying that he meant for this to happen again as they started strolling towards the front of campus to get to the movie theater.
Dana had been walking around campus for a while. Her conversation with Shane was surprisingly brief. In fact, she didn't expect the way it went at all. As soon as Lola left she looked up and met Shane's eyes and words just started spewing out of her mouth. Everything she said was true, she accepted that. What she couldn't accept was any of her possible reasons for saying anything she did.
But she didn't want to think about that anymore that's why she was walking. She told herself that she was just avoiding. But with every click, clunk, click that her suede knee high boots made against the pavement they were only saying one thing. She may not have known where she was heading, but her feet were defiantly taking every step with a clear purpose, seeking out a particular direction, a certain person.
Dana's feet stopped taking steps at the front of campus because they found who they were seeking out. Logan had also just been wandering. He had been thinking, but nothing was different. Just because he had decided some things didn't mean anything was different. After not seeing each other since everything began there that morning, and after both of them doing a lot of thinking throughout the day they were both determined to think that nothing had changed, though they knew that certain things had been done and said.
"Whoa, weird," Logan said as they continued walking toward each other until there was only a foot between them, "this must be like the place today."
Dana smiled relieved that seeing him wasn't incredibly awkward, "Yeah, I would say it's serendipitous, but I don't want to have to explain its meaning to you."
"Good one. So where's your boyfriend at? Did he get tired of all of your wise cracks?" Logan questioned and still attempted to return the playful and typical insult.
"Must have since I don't know where he is," Dana said lying slightly. She had some pretty good guesses as to where he could be, but she didn't actually know his specific location at the moment.
"What you lost him? You know you're kind of horrible at the whole girlfriend thing," Logan said in the usual playful insult that they always did, but there was definitely subtext this time.
And Dana caught it. Yes, he was just joking, but he was also broaching the subject. She had been thinking about it and she knew what he said about it before, but she wasn't taking it back. She said hiding her nervousness about how he could react the best she could, "Probably. Sorry about that though." She said it again and she knew what he had said, but that didn't have to mean that it was…something. She compensated a bit, "I know we don't…but I knew about Wendy, you knew about Hank and you should have known about Shane too. You know common courtesy and all…" she trailed off.
He had been wondering about that. In the moment he didn't know if it was…real. Thinking about it he didn't know if he wanted it to be real. But then she said it again, showing him she meant it, and he was relieved because it made everything he was trying not to think easier. Logan kept his reply in step with his normal personality saying jokingly, "Yeah and you thought I'd be the one to break the rules."
"You did break plenty of rules," Dana reminded with a smirk. Sure she created the rules for a reason, but she ended up completely not caring about all the rules that were broken. Logan smirked bigger, as if he was proud of himself for his accomplishment in rule breaking. But Logan didn't retort and there was silence so Dana decided it wasn't weird yet so maybe she should just leave to avoid any awkwardness. She checked, "So, we're alright, right?"
"Well I'm great of course, but you've always seemed off balance to me," Logan remarked getting back to that typical playful insulting that also let her know that they were okay.
"Said the guy who only has pictures of himself in his wallet," Dana countered as she took a step backwards preparing to leave. She turned around and continued stepping away as she ended the conversation, "I'll see you."
"Hey," Logan yelled to her despite the fact that she wasn't actually that far away. Dana stopped and turned around and Logan quickly walked over to her, stopping this time with less than half a foot between them. He decided to go for it and he told himself that the only reason he was, was because he felt like it. He told himself it wasn't going to mean anything, but he still couldn't help taking the leap and saying, "What about my goodbye kiss?"
Oh thank God, Dana thought. She couldn't seem to bring herself to take the same chance that he did, but God did she want to. She smiled slightly before inching closer, placing her hand on his chest, and she leaned up to kiss him. Logan didn't hesitate to kiss her back, glad that he didn't leap for nothing immediately thinking as soon as she kissed him, oh thank God.
They were making out even though they were in public, but it didn't matter anymore. It hadn't even been an entire day since they were last together, but they missed it. Maybe they didn't miss each other yet, but they missed what they had and it was a beginning.
Nicole, who had headed to the front of the campus to look for John Ely, was surprised to find Dana and Logan together, making out.
Shane was suddenly by her side, the same bag slung over his shoulder that he had been carrying that morning.
Mmmm what d'ya say,
Mmmm that you only meant well?
well of course you did
Nicole tried to cover for her friend, "Oh, that's not anything. Trust me Dana does not like him, it's really just nothing."
Mmmm what d'ya say,
Mmmm that's all for the best?
of course it is
Shane scoffed and replied bitterly, "Yeah, she told me it was nothing too, right before she broke up with me."
Mmmm what d'ya say?
Mmmm that it's just what we need
you decided this
Last time Nicole had spoken with Dana, which really wasn't that long ago, there was no way Dana was breaking up with Shane. She had said she just couldn't do it. She couldn't break his heart again.
Mmmm what d'ya say?
The sudden change of everything she thought she knew actually left Nicole speechless, a very rare occurrence for her. And Shane's next comment only pushed her further into her confused thoughts. He said resentfully, "It sure doesn't look like nothing."
Mmmm what did she say?
And he was right. Dana's arms were now tightly wrapped around Logan's torso and his hands were gently cupping her face. It was so tender and it seemed so intimate. A crowd had even seemed to gather loosely around them because this was definitely not something they saw every day. It was Logan Reese with Dana Cruz, it was so unexpected and it absolutely didn't seem like nothing.
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Midsweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
Speak no feeling
Their friends' very public moment had also stopped Lola and Michael on their way to the movies making them just two more people in the growing crowd. Like everyone else they didn't understand what this was. Weren't Dana and Logan both talking like it was over? And didn't they diligently maintain that it was nothing?
No I don't believe you
You don't care a bit,
You don't care a bit
Zoey passed by the display as well on the way back to her room, but she wasn't asking herself the same questions as her confused friends because she didn't notice it. Tears stinging at her eyes she hurriedly made her way behind the crowd. And none of the backs of the people facing her turned around and noticed her breaking sight.
(Hide and seek)
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Midsweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
Chase was ten steps behind her. He glanced at the stare worthy scene, but Zoey was the only thing on his mind. Though he was following her he didn't actually have any intention of approaching her. He didn't know how to fix them and he didn't want to say the wrong thing and upset her more. He was following her and he knew he would stop when she got to her building, but he followed anyway because he just couldn't seem to help himself. It was Zoey, and he couldn't resist the desire to be near her even when everything was falling apart.
(Hide and seek)
Speak no feeling
No, I don't believe you
You don't care a bit,
You don't care a bit
Dana and Logan continued their display, not knowing and not caring that it had become a display. For them everything that the day had been didn't matter anymore, being together made it all go away.
(Hide and seek)
Oh no, you don't care a bit
Oh no, you don't care a bit
The day after the dance had been filled with lies and secrets. For most of the gang all of the lies and secrets just made figuring out what was real even more confusing. For Chase and Zoey the continuing of lying about secrets had taken a great toll on their friendship. It had fractured their friendship so deeply that the possibility of healing was uncertain. And for Dana and Logan the revealing of secrets had forced them into making decisions. It was always impulse before. It was always in the moment. But he decided to ask for that kiss and see if she would go back to before the dance. And she decided to kiss him knowing everything that it meant. But both Dana and Logan were still lying to themselves. They were both telling themselves that it didn't mean anything. But the actions that their decisions caused made nothing officially just another lie. It seemed that the gang was going to remain deeply entangled in their webs of lies and secrets.
(Hide and seek)
Oh no, you don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
A/N: Direction Notes: At the end with Dana and Logan making out and their friends mixed in with the crowd, I'd zoom out on the entire situation from a more aerial angle. Not like having the camera at a ninety degree angle to the ground, but more like a fifty five degree angle to the ground. Showing the expansion, the hugeness of the situation, keeping Dana and Logan in the center and distracting from them somewhat the practically running Zoey and slower Chase only feet behind her. I don't know why I really see it that way, but I just think it's better than going from person to person and it just shows something…more.
Reader involvement again: The chapter after next is going to be a Christmas chapter/episode. I am going to try to have it out by Christmas, but seeing that I tend to be a very busy person and to get it done by then I'd be writing somewhere over sixty pages in the next week along with everything else I have to do to prepare for the holidays, I can't make any promises. But if it's not out by Christmas, it will be out by New Years for sure. Now where I need your help is in Chase's gift for Zoey. Their friendship is in a delicate state right now. And if you're thinking that Zoey's outburst was out of character, well should it be? If someone as important to you as Chase is to Zoey, was clearly hiding things from you and lying to you when you trust them with anything, wouldn't you eventually just break down? It was time for Zoey's break down. Now other things will happen between them in the next chapter, but I'm not revealing what. But the Christmas gift needs to represent that Chase knows Zoey and that he cares about her a great deal. Absolutely do not suggest jewelry. Jewelry is a safe bet gift when buying for a girl, it's usually not thoughtful or personal, it's just pretty. And though like many girls I do enjoy shiny pretty things, this gift needs to mean more than that. So unless you can give a piece of jewelry the same significance that the pendant had for Rachel when Ross gave it to her in Friends, then please do not suggest it. And yes, your suggestion should have meaning to be considered (whether you get it from the story, the show, or you make it up yourself). Obviously the reward for having the best idea is that your idea gets used and you will get recognition and thanks for your contribution. I would greatly appreciate your help so please think about it and let me know what you come up with.
Oh, and in case you were wondering about that comment in my author's notes a couple of chapters back where I said: Damn NBC and that statement would be made clear at the end of this chapter. Well that statement was in reference to how NBC used the song "Hide and Seek" in a promotional commercial for Heros and completely butchered it up. I hate it when songs get cut up like that, like "You're So Damn Hot" is in that new Payless Shoes commercial.
About the future of this story: I know it's seemed romantically centered lately, but characters will get into things besides romance very soon. Like I've said, I have the entire story planned out and there is a process of how things need to develop. So at certain times certain story lines will seem like they're dominating, but the other's will still always be there and they will rotate into focus, you just have to be patient and wait for your favorite to move into focus. That being said, lets continue to what the foci will be for the next chapter.
Next Chapter/ Episode: I've actually been changing the title for a while and I'm not actually sure what I'm going with at the moment, so you'll have to wait to find out that one. Obviously the next chapter is going to include a significant amount of the story line focusing on Zoey and Chase. Zoey's actually going to encounter more problems than just Chase, because people aren't perfect and they don't like watching a show about someone who doesn't seem to make mistakes (at least that's the response I've gathered from most people who continue to watch the show and their diligence to the "perfect" Zoey premise). Now don't think I'm turning this totally dramatic on you, but Chase and Zoey are in a serious situation so they won't offer much comedic lightness next chapter. Along the un-romantic storyline front, will be Nicole, because as Tiffany said, "keep watching" which will mean many things for Nicole and the other cheerleaders who will be reappearing. Now in case you were thinking that Tiffany was your typical mean girl, she's not, she has motivation for her actions, it's not so random for her and it will come out. Lola and Michael will take on a new pop culture craze and we will also finally find out what is in Quinn's red notebook. Of course I'm not forget the pair that you already know is one of my favorite, but they've been in the focus lately so though they will continue to develop, they're going to fade from focus just a tad. I know there's a lot of DL fans reading and so to entice you to keep reading you should know that Christmas will be…something for them as well, but it won't be nearly as big as new years for them. Actually, after Christmas will start something seemingly small for Chase and Zoey at first glance, but it will end up being rather large. So all you DL and CZ fans, you definitely have things to look forward to in the new year.
Okay, I'm going to stop rambling for good now. Thank you again for all of your support. It really motivates me to write even when there are so many other things I should be doing. So, PLEASE REVIEW and let me know if you're interested in finding out what's going to happen, with everyone.
I really hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Oh, and there were many hints to why it wasn't nothing anymore for Dana and Logan. Many things besides what I directly said. There were big things, small things, nothing has been pointless. So you are welcome to give figuring them out a try, if you'd like
Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed it enough to want to read more.
-Simply Sarah
