It's been 3 weeks since Zoe and Wade had their first date. They were still keeping their relationship a secret and having fun doing it. It wasn't that hard at first since everyone was still in school and getting ready for graduation but it's officially been summer vacation for a week now and it's getting harder to sneak around. They were lying on Zoe's bed, her head on his chest, one afternoon while Harley was at work.
"Lemon keeps bugging me about last Saturday when I bailed on her for our date." Zoe laughed
"Yeah Tucker was bugging me too. I had to tell him I was helping Mom with her garden."
"When do you think this will catch up with us?"
"Not sure. You ready to tell people?"
Zoe thought. "Not yet. I like the sneaking around." She leaned up and kissed him.
Wade pulled back a few minutes later. "As much as I would love to continue that, I can't bail on George and Jake again. I'll call you later?" he asked
"Yeah, sounds good."
He gave her one last kiss and was out the door.
Over at the Rammer Jammer, George and Jake were in the back playing foosball.
"So have you noticed how happy Zoe has been lately?" George asked
"Normally I would find that to be an odd question but yes, yes I have noticed. It's really weird." Jake said
"What's weird?" Lavon asked walking up to them
"Lavon! Welcome home." George slapped him five
"Hey man." Jake shook his hand
"How've you guys been? Congrats on graduating." He said to both of them
"Thanks." They both nodded
"So what's weird?" he asked again
"Zoe is. She was super depressed right before prom and now these past couple weeks, she's been super happy."
"Why was she depressed?"
"Hank Dougherty cheated on her. They dated for like six months and then Wade and I found him with another girl."
"What? And Lavon Hayes is only finding out about this now?"
"Yeah, sorry but that's old news. New news, she's weird."
"I think she had on make-up last weekend." Jake said
"Lavon? You're home?" Wade asked walking towards his friends
"Hey Wade. How's it going? Congrats on the scholarship." He hugged him
"Thanks, how are you?"
"Good, good. So back to Zoe, she was wearing make-up?" Lavon asked
"Why y'all talking about Zoe?" Wade asked
"I think she has a secret boyfriend." George said
"Oooh" Lavon and Jake
"She was wearing make-up and she curled her hair the other day." Jake brought up
"She's also been wearing perfume. Plus Lemon said Zoe told her she was at AB's house but when she called over there AB wasn't home." George added
"Why does it matter if Zoe has a boyfriend?" Wade asked
"Because she's hiding it. She's your best friend and she hasn't told you? See now it's even weirder." George shook his head, trying to think. "Do you know something?" he asked him
Wade froze, if he didn't play along with his friends, he was going to out them before they were ready. "No, I know nothing, But have you noticed she also seems to be laughing all the time and smiling a lot."
"No, I haven't noticed that." Jake said "This is ridiculous, you know who we should ask?" The guys all looked at him. "Her best friend." He said. "Let's go see AB." He led them out of the Rammer Jammer.
"No way, Zoe isn't seeing anyone, she would have told me." Annabeth said. "Zoe doesn't keep secrets from me."
"But the evidence is all there. She's using a curling iron and she got her nails done." George told her
"She did?"
"You didn't notice when she was here the other night?" Jake asked
"Zoe hasn't been here in weeks."
"Huh." All the guys nodded
"Oh my gosh, do you know what this means?" AB asked. "It means she's seeing someone and she didn't even tell me." She got up from her chair. "I have to call Lemon." She said walking into the house leaving the boys outside.
Later on that night Zoe and Wade were watching TV at her house.
"Who do they think I'm dating?" Zoe asked Wade as they laid snuggled up on the couch.
"They have no idea, but they do not like him."
"What did you tell them?"
"I don't know, what should I tell them?"
"I don't know, try and stay out of it." She giggled. "This is really funny though."
"Yeah it is."
"Since when is George and Jake so interested in my love life?"
"They just want you happy. They felt really bad about the whole Hank situation."
"That's really sweet."
The next day Wade was walking down the street when a van pulled up behind him and George got out of the back.
"Get in, we're going on a stake out. Your code name, Donkey Kong. Let's go." He climbed back in the van
Wade shook his head and smirked but climbed in anyway.
"Can you see her?" Lavon asked as they sat in Jake's mom's van outside the Butterstick.
"Yep, she's sitting down with AB and Lemon." Jake said looking through binoculars.
"You guys really think this is such a good idea?" Wade asked
"We discussed this, they would spot us if we went in there." Lavon told him
"Right." Wade rolled his eyes
Inside the Butterstick, Zoe sat with Lemon and Annabeth at a table by the window.
"It's so great to have girlfriend time." Annabeth smiled "Talk about clothes, gossip, boys." Zoe just smiled at her friend. "Speaking of boys." She hinted
"Are you thinking of someone other than Jake?" Zoe asked "AB." She said accusingly
"Uh huh." Annabeth groaned and took a sip of her tea
Lemon rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friend.
"What are they doing?" Lavon asked from the back seat of the van.
"They're talking." George said still looking through the binoculars
"Talking about what?"
"Well I'm not sure exactly but I think they ordered scones, because now they have scones."
"Scones, girls love scones. Anyone want to order a pizza?" Jake asked
"Yeah, pepperoni." Lavon said
"Or oh, we could go to a restaurant and get a pizza." Wade suggested
"Guys, we are on a stake out, let's focus." George demanded
"Oh I bet you I know who it is." Jake said
"Who what is?" George asked
"The guy Zoe is seeing."
"Oh yeah, right." George nodded
"I bet you its Jeremiah. He's been real quiet around town lately. You were kind of busy but they seemed to be flirting a lot right before you started with Tansy." Jake tapped Wade on the shoulder.
"They were?" He asked confused
"No no, my money is on the guy from New York, Joel. We would know if it was a guy in town." Lavon brought up
"Oh I bet you its Judson, he keeps to himself a lot. No one really knows his business." Jake said
"How many guys are there?" Wade asked
"It's Wade?" Annabeth and Lemon both squealed
"That's fantastic." Annabeth clapped
"I love it." Lemon laughed. "I told you y'all liked each other."
"I know." Zoe beamed "It's actually really great."
"When you didn't tell me, I expected the worst." Annabeth said
"What's the worst?" Zoe asked
"Anyone else." Lemon answered
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. We just wanted it to be between us at first. Make sure it was all real."
"I'm so happy for you." Annabeth smiled at her.
"Guys, can we get back to this boyfriend thing for a minute?" Wade asked "How did I not know about all these guys?"
"What are they doing?" George asked getting agitated watching the girls talk. "Dude, this is taking too long. We should have had answers by now."
"You're happy about this? What is everyone going to think? The guys aren't going to make fun of us?" Zoe asked
"Zoe, I am so happy for you. We are grown women. We're not like those idiot guys." She laughed
"Wonder Woman, Princess Peach, Come in Wonder Woman, Princess Peach. This is Mighty Mouse. Come in." George's voice came from a walkie talkie coming from AB's purse.
"What was that?" Zoe asked
"We should probably tell you, you have a tail." Lemon pointed to Jakes mom's van outside and Zoe's jaw dropped.
"We've been made! Go, go." George said
Jake stepped on the gas and they drove away.
"What is going on?" Zoe asked
"They wanted to know who you were dating. And now we have to tell them something. How about I tell them you're dating Judson." Lemon asked
"No, not Judson, he's boring."
"How about an out of towner?" AB suggested
"No, how would I meet him?"
"You're too picky about your fake boyfriend." Lemon scoffed
"All right, all right. I'll tell them the truth. I have to stop this before it gets worse." She laughed at her crazy friends
She walked home from the Butterstick and up her porch steps.
"I understand Jeremiah and even Joel and Judson but really? Justin Timberlake?" Wade asked very confused
"What? Wade, what are you doing here?"
"I'm the new inside man, which is ironic. But stop dodging the question." He said
"Wade, you know who I'm dating." She sat down next to him. "Is it Justin Timberlake?" she asked with a smirk.
He sighed "Wow, I don't know what happened back there. They trapped me in that van and got me all worked up." He said frustrated
"It's ok Babe." She giggled "How would I even know Justin Timberlake?"
"I don't know." he sighed
"What is going on in there?" George asked from down the block. "Wade, come in, Donkey Kong are you there?" he spoke into the walkie talkie
"He's not answering, what if Zoe's boyfriend found him and things are starting to get ugly?"
"Calm down George." Lavon laughed.
"This was my fault." Zoe said. They were sitting on the porch swing and she was playing with Wade's hand.
"No it's not." Wade told her
"Yes, apparently there was a flaw in my plan of having a secret romance."
"It seemed airtight to me." Wade chuckled
"Well we should tell them, they'll be ok with it. We're all mature."
"Where is he? Oh good, you're safe." George came running up the steps. "I mean, Hey Wade. What are you doing here?"
"Three blocks and you couldn't have come up with a better cover than that?" Wade asked
"Hey Mighty Mouse, why don't you tell the other idiots to come up here." Zoe told them
"I don't know what you're talking about." George said waving the walkie talkie and Zoe pointed at it.
"Mighty Mouse, Mario. Mighty Mouse, Mario."
"This is Mario." Jake said from the other side of the porch. Wade and Zoe looked at him.
"Hey Zoe, I was just walking by, thought I saw a snake."
"See that's a cover, not a good one, but a cover." Wade laughed
"I'm just super curious." Lavon said walking up the steps
"Alright, fine. Come up here." She told them "Wade and I." she started
"Yeah, the deal is we." Wade said
"You're going to tell them?" Zoe asked
"Did you want to?" he asked
"Yeah, well, they're my friends."
"They're my friends too."
"Gosh, you guys sound like my parents." Lavon said
"Zoe and I are dating." Wade spat out
"Yeah." Zoe nodded in agreement
The three guys stared at them. "Zoe who?" Jake asked
"What do you mean Zoe who? This Zoe." He pointed to her
"Yeah?" George asked
"Yeah, so that's what we're doing and now you know." Zoe told them
"What do you mean by dating? Like you get dressed up and go out dancing?" Lavon asked with a cheesy grin
"No." Wade said
"We could." Zoe said
Wade looked at her confused. "Do you want to?"
"No." she shook her head
"Okay." He smiled at her
"So um, have you two, uh ya know?" Jake asked with a smirk
"There it is." Zoe shook her head
"Well I think it's great." Lavon smiled
"Yeah, keeping it in the family." George gave them a thumbs up
"I mean finally right?" Jake asked
"Congratulations." George smiled
The guys just looked at them like they were dying to say something.
"Ok, you can ask one question." Zoe told them
"When did it start?" George asked
"How long has it been going on?" Lavon asked
"Have you guys, ya know?" Jake winked
"We didn't say we would answer the questions." Wade laughed
"Hey AB, its Wade." Jake said to Annabeth as she was walking down the street with Lemon.
"I know, it's great isn't it? Good for them." she smiled and winked at Zoe
"I'm so happy for y'all." Lemon smiled
"Yeah, finally." George nodded. "So are we going to go get some dinner or what?" he asked
"Yeah, let's go." Lavon said
Zoe and Wade smiled at each other. "Awkwardness over." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.
"Yeah, everything back to normal." He laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Now we just have to tell our parents." She smiled
"Tomorrow." He kissed her head.