Zoey POV Continued

So I went to the only other person I trusted for girly advice: Lola

I sent her a quick text that I was coming over, and left for her house. I was too excited to wait around for a response. It wasn't unusual for either Lola or me to stop by the other's house unannounced.

I was only a few steps away from the front door when it opened. For a split second I assumed Lola had seen me approaching the house. But someone else stepped out of it.

Vince.

"Hey, Zoey!" he greeted me. "How's it going?"

The door swung open and Lola jumped outside. "Hey, what a surprise!"

"I sent you a text," I stammered, trying to make sense of what I was witnessing.

Lola waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no worries. Vince was getting the, ah, homework assignment we had in history."

Vince looked at her weird. "Yeah, sure. Catch you later." He walked down the street like he didn't have a care in the world.

"It's not what it looks like," Lola assured me once we got to her room.

"Then what was it?" I asked. I refused to sit down next to her on her bed. I folded my arms and waited for her explanation.

"Vince and I were just hanging out. Honestly. I'm trying to get to know him better. Last time I checked, that wasn't a crime."

"What about Chase?"

"Chase knows." She picked up a magazine on her nightstand and started flipping through it like we were done with this conversation.

We were not.

"Chase knows what?" I prodded.

"He knows that Vince was coming over today to study. They're friends."

"Yeah, some friend."

"It's complicated."

I was so sick of that excuse. Because that's all it was: an excuse. "Then explain to me. Because honestly, Lola, I have no idea what's going on with you lately."

Lola dropped the magazine as if I was being the unreasonable one. "I'm just confused, that's all. And I'd appreciate it if you weren't so hard on me. We can't all be perfect like you."

I glared at Lola. I didn't appreciate that she was trying to turn this around on me. This had nothing to do with me. Although it felt as though it did.

She could tell that I was still waiting for a response. "Listen, I like Chase, I do. He's so sweet and cute. But I also like Vince. So I'm spending time with Vince just to see if, you know …"

"No, I don't know." I could practically hear the icicles cover each syllable as they came out of my mouth.

Lola sulked. "I like them both. I want to make an informed decision before I choose."

"Are you being serious right now? What you're doing to Chase is completely unfair."

"I know." Lola looked sad. "I do. I promised myself that I had to make a decision by graduation."

"That's over a month away," I reminded her.

"Please, you're not going to tell Chase what's going on, are you?"

I got up and headed for the door. "Really, Lola? I wouldn't even know where to start."

Chase: Where to start?

Zoey: I got it. When somebody tells you you're seeing things that would get them in trouble, you're most likely not imagining it.

Chase: How about when someone tells you she's hanging out with someone she used to have a crush on just to study, don't believe her.

Zoey: So true.

Chase: Or if your best friend says she's going to a track meet solely to keep you company, you don't assume she's there to hit on another guy.

Zoey: That was not why I went.

Chase: Who's lying now?

Zoey: I'm not lying. I can't help it that my tan skin and sparkling charisma make me irresistible to men. What was I supposed to do, be rude?

Chase: Whatever.

Chase POV

I thought having a girl best friend and a girlfriend would've given me some understanding of how the female mind worked.

Yeah, not so much.

Things became really bizarre between me and Lola. She began being extra enthusiastic around me. And any time I mentioned Zoey's name, she would laugh and then change the subject.

Zoey wasn't much better. It used to be that whenever I mentioned Lola's name, she'd smile. Now she winced.

A buddy of mine in Cali gave me his theory that they were both in love with me and fighting over me.

Yeah, right. Maybe if this was a dream.

I avoided talking about Zoey with Lola and vice versa. As long as Lola didn't come up, things were normal between Zoey and me. So I was looking forward to going to the high school's track and field meet with Zoey and Quinn.

We sat in the bleachers with Zoey in the middle. She held up her hand to shield the sun from her eyes. "Glad I brought sunblock," she said before riffling through her bag and applying lotion to her face and arms.

She continued to squint. "Here, take my sunglasses," I said. I had a hat on so at least the sun wouldn't bother me as much.

"Oh!" Quinn elbowed Zoey. "Look — Ian's stretching."

I couldn't see Zoey's reaction, but whatever it was made Quinn laugh.

Who's Ian? I thought. I looked over and saw some guy stretching his hamstrings and doing a quick jog with his knees up. Did Zoey know him? I didn't remember her ever talking about an Ian.

I studied Ian. He was tall and skinny with dark hair that curled up at the ends. I guess he'd be considered handsome, if you liked lanky guys. I mean, I could be considered lanky. So would I be Zoey's type?

He took to the starting line and was in the middle lane with seven other guys.

"What times are we looking for?" Zoey asked me. She didn't seem too interested in him. Maybe Quinn was the one with the crush?

"I usually do the four-hundred in fifty-five seconds. So, hopefully, they're around that time."

The shot fired off and the runners began sprinting. I noticed that they held their chests out more than I do. I have a tendency to slouch when I run. Not good for speed.

Ian was in a close second, and as they rounded the final corner of the track, he sped up.

"GO, IAN!" Quinn stood up and cheered. She grabbed Zoey to join her.

"Could you be more embarrassing?" Zoey asked her.

"Challenge accepted."

Zoey waved her hands. "Never mind. I give in!"

They both cheered as Ian finished first by a hair. We waited for the official times to be announced. Ian finished in 50.82 — nearly four seconds faster than my best time. And while four seconds doesn't seem like a lot of time, in track it might as well be four hours.

"How do you know Ian?" I asked as Zoey watched him cool down.

"Oh, he came to …" She winced.

"He was at the New Year's Eve party," Quinn finished for her. "And he's been asking about Zoey."

"Oh." I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that Zoey would have guys interested in her. And I had a girlfriend, so it would've been completely hypocritical of me to be jealous that she could potentially have a boyfriend.

I told myself I wasn't jealous. Just protective.

Quinn jumped up. "I'm going to get something to drink. And it so happens that I'll need to walk right by Ian. Imagine that."

Zoey groaned. "Have fun — not like I could ever stop you from doing otherwise."

"At least you understand your limitations." Quinn hopped down the bleachers and leaned against the fence as she talked to Ian.

"Is it too late to transfer schools next year?" Zoey asked.

"So, do you like him?" The words came out before I had a chance to stop them.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really know him that well. He's cute."

So he was Zoey's type.

"Well …" I didn't know what to say. I knew I should've been supportive about it, but it was making me uneasy. I decided to pretend she was one of my buddies back home. "Why don't you invite him out and we could go on a double date?"

That wince again.

I decided to not dance around this anymore. "Are you in a fight with Lola?" I asked.

"Not exactly." Zoey started digging through her bag. I knew that meant she was avoiding something.

"What's going on, then? You've been acting weird. You're both acting weird." I grabbed her bag so she would stop doing whatever it was she was doing and be forced to pay attention to me.

"I don't want to be stuck in the middle between you two. Just talk to Lola" she stated bluntly.

"I talk to Lola all the time," I reminded her.

"ZOEY!" Quinn screamed from the track below. "COME SAY HI!"

She groaned. "Look, Chase, I'm in a very awkward position between the two of you and I don't want to have to lie anymore. So talk to Lola. Really talk to her."

"What do you mean you don't want to lie to me anymore? Have you been lying?" I'd never thought Zoey was the lying type.

"Not exactly." She grabbed my hand and leaned in. "I'm really sorry. Just talk to Lola."

She hopped up and made her way down to Ian.

I didn't know what bothered me more: the fact that my best friend had been keeping something from me or that she was currently flirting with some guy.

I climbed the steps to Lola's house slowly, feeling the weight of whatever revelation was on the other side of the door.

"Hey!" Lola greeted me with her usual kiss.

"Hey." I tried to smile back at her, but I could tell something was wrong. Something was different. Maybe it had been there for a while, but now I was paying attention.

And so was Lola.

"Is everything okay?" she asked with a tilt of her head, like she was trying to size me up.

"Not really," I confessed. "I think we need to talk."

"Oh." Lola didn't seem surprised. She led me to the couch in the living room. "What's going on?"

"I think you need to tell me."

She paused. "I don't know what you're talking about." But that pause told me she knew exactly what I was talking about.

"I talked to Zoey today."

At the mention of Zoey's name, Lola's smile vanished. "And what did Zoey have to say?" There was a sudden hardness in her voice.

"She said you and I needed to talk. She wouldn't say what it was, but it's been pretty clear to me something's been going on. I really wish someone would just tell me. All I know is that it seems Zoey's trying to be a good friend."