Disclaimer : I still don't own Zoey101 or Pacific Coast Academy .
" You and Michael had sex ! I cant believe you are just now telling us, Lisa "
Lisa and the girls were meeting for breakfast in the quad which consisted of smoothies , iced javacinios , grapes for Zoey, and muffins as they did the girl talk thing . The guys hadn't arrived yet so they were taking advantage of their absence to discuss the more personal issues including Lisa sharing her details of her night with Michael with her very best girlfriends , even if she might want to kill Lola and her big, fat mouth .
Lisa bristled and glowered at her actress friend ." Thanks, Lola , because I wanted to over share with the whole campus "
Lola winced , apologetically and took a sip of her smoothie ." Sorry, Lisa ," said Lola, leaning closer and lowering her voice ," Its just exciting is all . I'm sure no one heard me …..how was it ? "
Quinn narrowed her eyes at her best friend ." It is wow ," murmured Quinn, softly ," and very private between Lisa and Michael . She doesn't need to reveal to us all of the special, intimate moments …"
Lisa was grateful for Quinn's sensitivity . Color rose to her cheeks as she thought of how wonderful the night had been and how Michael had made her feel .
" Michael was so sweet ," allowed Lisa , biting on the straw in her drink ," it wasn't anything like I imagined and yet being with Michael in that way ..I love that guy so much ."
Her Michael had already blown up her phone with funny messages and love notes .
" Well if your happy then we're happy for you, Lisa " added a quiet Zoey, her own face flushed with the topic at hand , " though I suspect that Michael will be glued to your hip even more now ."
She couldn't resist teasing her friend because they all knew that Michael was the more emotional one in the guys and this was a huge event in their relationship .
" What about you and Chase ?" inquired Lisa , curiously .
" Chase and I are letting our relationship progress at its own speed, thank you very much ," informed Zoey, staunchly ," we only just got together , Lisa ."
" After forever " reminded Lola , breaking her fat free muffin in half and handing the other to Quinn ," you cant tell us you or Chase haven't thought about it , Zo ."
Zoey popped a few grapes in her mouth to stall this conversation . She loved Chase more than she ever thought possible and yes, she had thought about being close to him but it was a big leap . One she didn't think they were quite ready to make together yet .
" Not talking about this ," informed Zoey, shutting them down ," though on a brighter , less personal note , we need to start shopping for prom dresses soon ."
" Prom "
Quinn twisted her fingers together , nervously , her friends chatter fading into the background as she fought the battle within her about revealing all to her best friends . God, she was really starting to hate having to lie all of the time to Zoey and Lola about her relationship with Logan . Even she wasn't believing her own lies and she couldn't understand why they were still believing them either .
It was still a huge risk and honestly , nothing had changed .
It was as if she and Logan were in some sort of holding pattern in their relationship and she didn't know how to take them to the next level . Not the intimacy level but honesty and sharing their feelings and she was still terrified of what his might be for her .
Oh how she wanted to go to her prom with him but it was simply impossible .
Quinn stared down at the PCA ring on her finger, smoothing her lips together , and wishing she could contribute to her friends heartfelt conversations without fear of their disapproval and just be happy she had found love .
***********************PCA*********************************************
Michael was over the moon and giddily in heaven as he helped unload boxes of the rest of Chase's things back into their dorm, his smile so bright it could light up the whole campus ,oblivious to his friends mocking him behind his back .
" Lisa is perfect ," gushed Michael, ever the romantic ," I knew my woman was perfect before but she is even more beautiful . You guys don't understand ! "
Chase and Logan exchanged bemused looks as Logan tossed a basketball in the general direction of his friends head , narrowly missing .
" We know , we know ," commented Logan , " stop being a girl about it ."
" We don't need to know all the sordid details , man ," informed Chase , slightly embarrassed ," there is such a thing as too much information ."
" We hear more in the locker rooms, Chase, than what I have told you guys," stated Michael, rubbing his hands together ," I am a really lucky guy is all I'm saying ."
He handed Chase a stack of hangers as his friend proceeded to unpack and hang up clothes in the closet while Logan played on his phone , again .
" Hey, you were lucky in the first place that Lisa even wants to be with you , Michael ," tossed in Logan, not meaning anything mean about it ," I'd give it a rest about your night with her . This would be something you don't want to gossip about or she'd probably kill you then break up with you …"
Chase looked up, slightly surprised by the accuracy of his statement ." Logan has a point ," concurred Chase , with a slight chin nod ," I can't believe I'm agreeing with him but there it is ."
Logan smirked at him ." We all know I'm right about this ."
Vince knocked loudly on the door then stepped inside ." What is Reese right about ? "
" Michael clamming up about his night of love with Lisa " told Chase , simply .
Vince accepted it for what is was ." So, uh, yeah , Michael ," said a somber Vince with a half smile ," I wont mention this to my girlfriend for the safety of all involved . For the men code and all the other codes , I adore Lola but this is new romantic fodder for her so it's best left alone ."
" Lola wouldn't blab about my love life " insisted Michael , matter of fact as they were close friends ," anyways what ? A guy cant tell his best guy friends when he's happy and with the right woman he loves …"
Logan shifted , uncomfortably , painfully aware this could have been about him except that is wasn't . He wanted to tell Michael the truth about him and Quinn but had his own doubts about whether he would be believed and Michael would probably be the first one to give them abuse in the first place.
Why did all this love stuff have to be so deep and complicated ?
Lately he had been thinking a lot about telling Quinn how he felt about her and had came up with a dozen or so different ways he could tell her that he was in love with her then decided most of them were lame .
Logan Reese didn't do lame which put him back to square one .
What if she wasn't in love with him ?
What if he wasn't smart enough for her or maybe he was just a distraction for her ?
Now he was being stupid and lame because Quinn wasn't a shallow type girl but he had absolutely no clue how to go about saying those three important words to her .
Words he had only ever said out loud to his Mom , not anyone else who was special .
Quinn was special and important and had become to mean everything to him .
Vince cut through his thoughts to defend his girlfriend ." I'm sure Lola respects the privacy of you and Lisa , Michael ," replied Vince ," however , mum is the word ."
" There should be no telling of Mums either "
Vince, Michael, and Logan shot Chase dubious looks at his sense of humor .
" Sorry ," Chase shrugged his shoulders in defense of himself ," a little Covington humor there . My friends in England would have laughed at that ..probably ."
" I doubt it " commented Logan , glancing at himself in the mirror to make sure he looked handsome and perfect .Of course , when didn't he ?
He was after all the most good looking guy in the Junior class and possibly all of PCA.
" You ready or what ?" asked Vince , rolling his eyes upwards as Logan preened in the mirror . He hoped that Quinn would break him of his vanity and ego eventually though to be fair Logan had changed quite a bit on his own. .
" Yeah, I am " said Logan, figuring he looked good in jeans and his red sleeveless shirt .
" Where are you guys going ?" inquired Michael, curiously ," I didn't think you worked out every day ."
Vince and Logan exchanged looks then sent a pleading one to Chase as they hadn't figured out how to explain this one out exactly to Michael. He was part of their team, too.
" Just going to do some detective work on this thing ," managed Logan , pointing at Vince ," cause we got a thing we thought we should check out ."
" For the girls ….Logan and I thought we'd check it out before we said anything " contributed Vince , casually ," it was just an idea Logan and I had is all ."
" Logan ? Since when did you figure out a clue and not tell me and Chase ?" demanded a suspicious Michael, watching a nervous looking Logan .
Logan never got nervous and when he did it was only because he was feeling threatened so this was interesting . Very interesting indeed .
" Because it might not be anything at all ," babbled Logan ," its more about helping Quinn cause you know , she got those roses and that is a little strange so me and Vince thought we would interrogate this guy who might have a thing for her ."
" So, we're going to go now …later " Vince grabbed Logan's arm and dragged his friend out of the dorm before Michael could dig deeper into questioning them and as much as he enjoyed watching Logan squirm to come up with new reasons , it was dangerous. .
Once they were out of earshot , Logan shook his arm off and they headed out of Maxwell Hall towards the other side of campus where the suspect liked to hang out .
" I can handle this nerd alone , you know ," stated Logan , waving at one of the guys on his golf team in passing ," I'll be able to tell if he's lying about Quinn ."
" Oh , no way in Hell am I letting you alone with this guy ," expressed Vince who knew his friend would react on instinct first ," Del Figgalo didn't matter to you because he isn't a threat to you and Quinn . On the off chance Henry Lattimer actually does have a thing for your girlfriend, I'm here to make sure you don't get yourself expelled if he says the wrong thing ."
" I have more self control than that "
" Maybe , maybe not but either way, pal, I am here to help " offered Vince, plainly .
" According to Quinn, this poet dork likes to drink some sort of fruity tea and write his poetry near the fountain by the library " explained Logan ," so, he should be easy for us to spot ." He scanned the area and sure enough a thin, gangly guy dressed in dark jeans and a Permanent Midnight tee shirt was perched near the fountain with his laptop . His light colored hair was sort of messy and he wore glasses .
" That has to be him ," declared Logan ," Quinn talked to him already but I doubt the jerk would have admitted anything to her in the first place ."
" It would ruin his secret admirer thing he has going on " agreed Vince ," okay, lets do this but we are not doing the good cop/bad cop thing either ."
" Quinn is my girlfriend, I will handle this my own way " Logan took a deep breath , checked his hair once more then approached the nerd who seemed engrossed in whatever he was writing ," hey you , Henry ? You write poetry and crap ? "
Vince groaned under his breath and wished Logan was more subtle .
Henry closed his laptop, adjusted his frames, and met the jocks gaze head on .
" That is me though I would hardly call my poetry crap ," answered the writer , as if the coolest, most popular guy at PCA had a conversation with him everyday ," and your Logan Reese . What do I owe this honor ? Are you in need of my services ? Need me to write some romantic sonnets for you to present to your latest conquests?"
Logan's prowess with the ladies on campus was legendary Henry was positive they had never had a class together or that the cool guy had ever spoken two words to him before .
" I don't do conquests anymore ," said a flustered Logan , folding his arms across his chest ," I don't need your help with sappy poems, I'm already romantic ."
Vince stepped forward, tapping him on the shoulder ." Not the point , man "
" Right " Logan puffed out his chest , focused ," I'm here to talk to you about Quinn Pensky . You know Quinn . Right ? What do you think of her ?"
Henry's blue eyes flickered briefly at the mention of her name ." Quinn is brilliant ," admitted Henry , admiration in his voice ," she has a tumble of hair lovely like that of Rapunzel and a voice to enchant like a siren with a sweet heart ." He blushed ," Sorry it is just that I admire Quinn very much and that wasn't what you asked me ."
Logan felt jealousy rise up in his chest as his hand clenched in a fist inching to hit the dude for the way he was going on about Quinn.
Why did he promise Quinn no violence ? This dude obviously had the hots for no one was touching her hair or any other part of her but him . Quinn was his woman .
Quinn was a genius so how the hell did she not get the right signals from the dork ? The moron wasn't even pretending to lie to him about it or anything .
Stupid poet idiot .
" Does Quinn know that you like her ? " Vince jumped in while Logan worked on calming himself down ,which might take a few minutes ," those are pretty strong words from a poet like yourself .or for a regular dude "
Henry hung his head, collecting himself then looked back at the jock." No, Quinn is a complex woman and I wouldn't begin to know how to woo a genius like her ," admitted Henry , ruefully ," I know you guys are good friends with her so I must beg of you not to repeat anything of this to her . I would be mortified ….we've only spoken a handful of times in class and out of class ."
Logan's jaw ticked, angrily ." So, you didn't maybe decide to take the chicken way out of all these feelings for Quinn and send her red roses . Did you, Henry ?"
" Roses are the language of love but I've only just recently started a conversation with Quinn on a personal level , I wouldn't want to rush her "
Logan didn't know if he believed the guy or not . For a dork and a nerd, he had that suave thing going on which might appeal to some girls and Quinn would probably like what he had to say about her hair and stuff . Still he didn't quite trust ole Henry either .
Dorks weren't supposed to be suave .
" You didn't send Quinn the roses ?" Logan tried again, moving into Henry's space and hoping it would intimidate him into telling the truth .
" I don't think he did …." said Vince , " and Henry , I would advise that you keep your little crush on Quinn to yourself ."
" Why ? "
" Quinn has a ..that is she is seeing someone already and you shouldn't even look at her the way you are thinking about her " said Logan in a thick voice ," you should stop it if you know what is good for you ."
" I haven't seen Quinn with anyone since the break up with Mark " tried Henry , this conversation making no sense to him," I thought she is available .
" Just trust us on this and stay away from Quinn " warned Logan, firmly .
" Thanks for talking to us " called Vince , once again pulling Logan away from the situation ," Okay that dude is majorly crushing on Quinn but I think he's too wimpy to send her flowers or he probably would have caved to our coolness and told us if he had ."
" Did you hear the way he was talking about Quinn ? That dude totally wants my girl and I didn't believe a word he said ," declared Logan, glancing backwards as if wanting to go back and beat the pulp out of ole Henry ," and he never exactly answered us about the roses . I need to talk to Quinn about all of this …"
Vince halted and made his friend stop ." Logan, I get that your worried about Quinn but you just want Henry to be the guy and frankly , I think your jumping the gun ."
" If it were Lola and you heard all of that, you wouldn't be telling me this ," retorted Logan, glaring at him," Thanks for the help but I'm going to find Quinn now ."
" If you tell Quinn all of this, your going to fight ," reminded Vince, trying to be helpful," you don't want to fight with her ."
" Quinn trusts me , I wont make her mad " reassured Logan, non-plussed and took off towards their meeting spot on the other side of the quad near the trees .
************************PCA*****************************************
" So, you wanna go to the prom with me ?"
Chase grinned , leaning in to drop a light kiss across his girlfriends mouth and slipped an arm across her shoulders. For years he had dreamed of taking Zoey to prom and now it was happening in real life , he still couldn't believe it .
" I would love to be your date for prom, Zoey " declared Chase , marveling at how pretty she looked today in a pair of denim shorts and a bright yellow top and gold flats .
Then again, Zoey always looked fantastic and there didn't seem to be shadows behind her eyes today either which was good .
It meant she was sleeping and not freaking out over the attack .
" I think the girls and I are going to start shopping for dresses soon ," declared Zoey ," I think Lisa is dead set on wearing pink so you lucked out , Chase ."
" You cant wear pink too ? I mean, it is your favorite color and you and Lisa don't have the same style or anything "
Zoey just shook her head at him. Boys never understood about fashion.
Even Chase and the boy did get points for trying to get it .
" No, but I will let you know when I find the right dress " Zoey stole his Blix to take a sip ," So, I suppose Michael has told you guys about him and Lisa taking their relationship to the next level ."
Chase blushed and couldn't quite look at her ." Oh yeah, you know Michael , he was acting goopy and sappy about it for a couple of hours ," explained Chase, with a strangled laugh ," he'll be planning the wedding next ."
" Lisa is over the moon to " admitted Zoey, handing him back the drink ," I'm happy for them now if only Quinn could find someone to love …but I guess we shouldn't rush these things . She hasn't even acted into another guy since Mark and her broke up and its been a long time now …"
Chase started to say that Quinn had found Logan but caught himself since the idiots were still insisting on keeping their relationship a secret from the rest of their group .
He did however feel the need to discuss the thorn that was hanging around their relationship before it festered and caused them real problems .
He was the King of letting bad things fester but this one didn't need bigger .
" So, James hasn't tried asking you to prom yet " broached Chase , getting it out there ," Don't look at me like that , you know it's a real possibility since he doesn't care one way or another if we're together or not ."
" James is still hurting badly, Chase , and I just really don't want him to hate me ," admitted Zoey, her drink forgotten ," He did save me , you know, and I think if we give him time he'll move on from me ."
Chase fixed her with a questioning look ."Really ? Because James was quick to throw his friendship with Michael and Logan right out of the window over us so I don't see him respecting us anytime soon "
" Okay, I don't understand why James did that but your not being fair, Chase ," pleaded Zoey, unsure why she was so adamant on taking her ex-boyfriends side here . Or Maybe it was because she still felt like the bad guy ," you don't know him the way I do ."
Momentary hurt flashed in Chase's green eyes then held , steady ." Your right , I didn't date James so maybe I'm jumping the gun here but I don't think so ," replied Chase , squeezing her hand ," Call me paranoid but I don't want to spend some of my time worrying about whether Mr. Perfect Guy is going to steal you away from me ."
" Chase , now you're the one being ridiculous ! I love you, you big idiot ! " Zoey punched his arm, hard ," and if it will help ease your mind , I will talk to James for the billionth time and be clear that you and I are solid . "
" Good " relieved Chase pulled her closer and into a long, lingering kiss while Rebecca watched them, a strange expression on her beautiful face , almost wistful then stomping her foot to the ground in aggravation , she marched away from the couple .
*****************************PCA***************************************
Quinn fiddled impatiently with her laptop, ignoring the melee of voices that carried across the quad , as she waited for her boyfriend to arrive for their afternoon tryst.
She had decided that they should discuss the matter of prom and what they should do about the important high school ritual of formalwear and dancing with dates .
A year ago she had envisioned the perfectly romantic prom evening for herself and Mark but now , she had new visions, new dreams , and included dancing and being held in Logan's arms during the ultimate romantic of songs .
Sigh! It would be romantic and blissful .
Maybe she could reconsider confiding in him that her feelings for him had grown deeper .
She knew , she felt in his words and his actions , that Logan cared about her, too .
" Quinn " Logan stepped between the alcove , his eyes lighting up at the sight of her ," have I ever told you that outfit is funky on you and shows off those great legs you have, babe ."
Quinn was wearing a denim mini-skirt, a boho style green and orange long sleeve blouse and her wedges .
" Thanks ," Quinn's lips curved upwards, slightly ," where have you been ? "
Logan pulled her body to his and drew her up for a leisurely kiss , taking his time , savoring her lips , showing her how much he missed her and felt her sigh against his lips as her arms went around his neck .
" Logan …." Quinn simply melted and wondered if he could actually see her heart was in her eyes, on her face, and there for him .
" I missed you ," admitted Logan , noticing that she was wearing his ring plainly today ," sorry I'm late but it took longer than I thought interrogating Henry . Well, Vince helped me and babe, I think he's the creep that sent you those damn roses ."
Quinn moved her hands down to her lap and sat down ." Logan, I think its sweet that you tried to help me with this but Henry didn't send me the flowers . I asked him quite plainly myself and he said he didn't …I believe him "
Logan smirked more to himself then reached for her again ." Quinn, that dork has a big thing for you ," informed Logan, matter of fact ," he was a wuss so he lied to you . He wasn't shy at all when he told me and Vince about how much he likes you and your fairytale hair …"
She arched a delicate brow ." Fairytale hair ?"
" Just trust me , the guy is into you but I made it really clear that he should stay away from you " stressed Logan, importantly .
Quinn crossed her arms and gaped at him, unbelieving ." Logan , you cant do that ! Did you also tell Henry that you're my boyfriend or did you just go all macho and threaten to beat him up ?"
" I didn't tell him the truth though it would have gotten my point across faster ," said Logan, placing a hand on her knee ," You never said Henry was suave , Quinn. For a poet dork, the dude didn't act like a normal geek either ."
Quinn laughed and slid her hand into the curve of his arm and leaned into him, relaxing .
" I don't actually think Henry is either of those things , Logan, but he is a nice guy ," Quinn pressed the palm of her hand against his cheek ," and maybe the roses were someone's idea of a joke. I don't know , its not important, I guess ."
She twined their fingers together . They really were the perfect fit , even though perfect was an impossibility . They were all human and flawed.
Still, she and Logan fit well together and now wasn't the time for her to be a scientist about her romantic feelings of love for the jerk .
" Prom is coming up soon ," mused Quinn , softly ," its all Lola can talk about ."
Logan nodded ." Will you go to the prom with me, Quinn Pensky ?"
Her heart leaped at his invitation ." I would love to be your date for the prom, Logan Reese , but you know we can't "
" All of our friends will be going together , Quinn, " Logan tried another approach ," we've been together a long time now , the longest I've ever been with any girl . I want to go to our prom with you and if we get abuse, I don't care …"
She closed her eyes , her smile soft and a lot dreamy as she brushed her lips across his in the sweetest of kisses and wished they could just stay in this moment forever .
" I know and you know I want to go with you as your date but we would never live the abuse down …"
" Most of our friends already know about us and they don't have a problem with us ," argued Logan, not backing down ," and I am running out of reasons why we cant be a couple like we really are and who cares what people think ."
" Logan, we've talked about this before ….maybe it would be for the best if we got other dates for the prom " murmured Quinn, uncertain about her own idea ," its just for one night and they wouldn't per say be real dates ."
" You want me to ask another girl to our prom ?" asked Logan, slightly hurt by her suggestion . Getting a date with any girl on campus wouldn't be a problem but he only wanted to take the pretty scientist who was suggesting the stupid thing .
What was Quinn thinking ? Had she lost her mind ?
Quinn made a face , disgusted as a number of girls she knew who would volunteer to go with Logan to the dance but tried to be positive . They hadn't made any sort of commitment towards one another though neither of them had been dating others since they had started their relationship . Platonic dates for one evening seemed practical .
" No, not really , " chirped up Quinn, trying to put on a brave front so he couldn't see how much she didn't want him to ask out another girl ," but no one will suspect about us if we both bring other dates to the prom ."
" Fine and I don't want you going to the prom with some random guy ," blustered Logan, standing up to pace his feelings ," I mean, no Henry , because he just wants to grope you anyway and there is no way that is happening !"
" Logan, do we have to fight about this ? This makes the most sense for us is my point " says Quinn, pressing her lips together in a thin line .
" I didn't want to fight with you at all , Quinn," Logan ran a hand through his hair , aggravated at himself and with her ," especially when it feels like its been days since we've had a chance to be alone together . I 'm not in the mood to talk about prom with you right now ….I'm just going to go ."
He didn't want to say something he would regret and didn't want to chance them breaking up over this stupid idea . It was better if he just went back to his dorm .
Quinn's face crumpled as she reached out to touch his hand ." Logan, don't go ."
" I've agreed with everything you've said , Quinn, " replied a serious Logan, letting go of her hand ," well, most of it anyhow, but prom is important and so are you . To me …I'll talk to you later , okay ."
Quinn watched him walk away and wondered when she had became such a coward .
***********************PCA********************************************
Lady Ladykiller
With a rose in his hand and a heart full of lies
He paced across the carpet of his room, his strides angry, impatient , his mind a jumble and a whirr of mixed emotions as his plan was unraveling all the wrong ways .
His plans were solid, concrete , hadn't he had years to refine it before he set the gears in motions ? He had waited until the time was just right and it was now .
He tightened the leather wristband around his wrist , wanting the pain while he figured out the angles and paused to gaze at himself in the mirror , let out a breath calmed by what lie behind his own eyes .
He was smarter than this , he could be smarter , and wouldn't let one little snafu stop him from his quest . It wasn't in his DNA to simply give up , he deserved so much more .
It wasn't his fault that no one saw , or understood yet , even though he had done everything to perfection .
There had been no pleasure in bloodying Del Figgalo , he had expected a certain sense of satisfaction from the deed but the loser hadn't even put up a fight and the incident had left him feeling nothing .
It had been very unrewarding .
Quite the disappointment , really .
Zoey was being a little too much cautious and Matthews was always with her which was such a pain. He had considered going after the honor student but it would be wrong , Chase might be straight as an arrow type of guy but he could use him later , perhaps .
Caught in his sights with an aim so true
Take what you got
Yes, he needed to cling to the edge to keep from falling , it would all come together .
Be clear, be focused , and keep his eye on the prize .
He opened the drawer to his desk, pulling out a picture , and a slow, almost maniacal smile fell into place as he studied the picture of Quinn working in the lab all by herself .
Time to let Quinn know that he had her in his sights .