Ray and I continued our journey, and he had agreed to take a pit stop to see my old friends. We took turns driving, not wanting to leave too much of a bread crumb trail in case P.I Schwartz was looking for us. Ray had called his mom a few days earlier, just to tell her that he was fine and there was nothing to worry about. Ray has a really weird way of convincing people, so, naturally, she believed him, and wished us both luck. We managed to get to New Jersey in about three or four days. We stopped at a hotel before we got into my neighborhood and slept for a while, got ourselves presentable, and we drove down my street. Peter was outside, looking for us. I pulled over and turned off the car, and got out.

"PETER!!" I yelled, running over to him. He grinned and hugged me.

"Zoey!" He smiled. I looked him over and realized just how, well, big, he was. I mean, when I left he was scrawny, and now it's like BAM!

"Dude, I'd lay off the steroids, someones gonna get suspicious." I joked. He laughed, and hugged me again. I looked over at Ray and waved him over. "Ray, this is Peter, Peter, this is Ray." I introduced quickly. They immediately got along and Peter dragged me inside. The house was empty, and I looked at Peter.

"Wow, you certainly redecorated." I smiled. He grinned.

"SURPRISE!!!" I heard a million different voices yell. I jumped about a foot in the air and looked around. Everyone was there, Bobby and David Tori, Micayla, Emma, Zarah, Matt, Ariel, Abby, Haylie, Taylor, Shannon, Sam, Brandon, Izzy, May, Lorelei, Kiana, Drew, Kira, Ashley, Alex, and a bunch of other people. I squealed and ran around hugging everyone. We all sat down.

"Tell us everything!" Taylor commanded. I nodded.

"Well…." I launched into my tale.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"And that's what's been going on since I moved." I finished. Everyone, even Ray, was staring in shock. I simply sat back and popped another nacho in my mouth. Alex whistled, low and long.

"Damn, Zoey, how are you not dead?" He asked. I shrugged, and looked around.

"I'm crafty." I replied. Ray laughed. We all looked at him.

"That is the understatement of the century." He smiled. Everyone, including me, laughed.

"Okay, enough about me, what have you guys been doing?!" I said. Everyone looked at each other.

"Okay, so after you left everything was so different! I mean, it was like this place got even rainier!" Taylor started.

"And no one would really laugh. Well, we would, but not at the same stuff, and definitely not as hard." Abby continued.

"And no one was nice to us anymore." Alex said, and Izzy, Brandon, Sam, and Kiana all nodded in agreement.

"And seriously, no one can tell it to us straight like you can Zoey." Shannon said.

"And who else is gonna make fun of me?" Peter added. I grinned.

"Yeah. And plus, you're the only one brave enough to go up to old Mr. Dawson's house on Halloween and demand candy." Matt smiled. I laughed.

"And I like to make fun of you, shorty." Zarah smiled. I rolled my eyes, but smiled back.

"And we want our orchestra buddy back!" Tori, the twins, Kira, and Drew all whined. I sighed.

"I wish I could stay guys. But I have to go back eventually, and I really am starting to want to kick Travis's ass." I reasoned. They all laughed.

"There's the Zoey we know and love." Haylie laughed. I grinned.

"Oh, right, hey Peter, do you still like you-know-who?" I teased. He stuck his tongue out at me and looked at Taylor, who got up and sat on his lap. I swear that my jaw hit the floor. The looked at each other and smiled. I shook my head.

"I knew you guys didn't tell me everything. 'Cause some people suck at lying." I looked at Peter who grinned. I smiled back.

"So you're cool with it?" Taylor asked, worry filling her eyes. I laughed.

"Am I cool with it? Of course I am! Dude, you guys really aren't that good at faking feelings." I smiled. They both laughed. I looked around. Everyone was tired, I could tell. It was almost one in the morning.

"Alright, guys, I'm beat, so I'll see you all tomorrow?" I said. There was a collective 'yeah' and 'see ya' Ray and I got back tot eh hotel and crashed.