Rebecca scraped back the chair beside Zoey and sat down, sliding her tray onto the table.
"Hey," she smiled, pushing her sunglasses back up onto her head, "I'm –"
"Rebecca Sinclair," Nicole interrupted, "I'm Nicole Bristow, so nice to meet you. It's actually amazing, you're really pretty, and your brother, woo, is he gorgeous. If it wasn't against the rules I swear I'd just –"
"I'm Zoey," Zoey interrupted sternly, "and that, is Nicole on overdrive."
"Evidently," Rebecca flashed a toothy grin, "so you're Zoey Brookes?"
"Uh-huh, why, have you heard of me?"
Rebecca picked up a french fry from her plate and stuck it in the side of her mouth like a cigarette.
"Heard of you? You have any idea how much he talks about you?" Rebecca jabbed her thumb in the direction of Art, "when I get home from the holidays it's like 'Zoey did this fundraiser' and 'Zoey made these backpacks.'" Rebecca looked across at Nicole quickly, "And a few 'Zoey has this nice friend, Nicole. She helps.'"
Nicole's face lit up.
That was kind of her, Zoey thought, I'd have expected less from Art's sister.
"So, what's your name?" Rebecca turned brightly towards Michael.
"Er…um…my name is…" he looked about nervously, "er…"
"That's Michael," Zoey sighed, causing him to blush furiously, "and that's Chase."
"I know about Michael I think," she replied, "you're on the basketball team with my brother, right?"
Michael nodded.
"And you," she turned to Chase, "you write plays about aliens and lifeguards."
"Occasionally," he shrugged, "so are you new here?"
"Technically," she said, chewing thoughtfully on the chip hanging from her mouth, "but I've heard so much about this place it feels like I've been here for my whole life."
Nicole stared over Rebecca's shoulder and at Art and his band of loyal sport players. She had never seen anyone more good-looking in her life. Sure, she'd had crushes before, but this was to the point of obsession. Rebecca followed her gaze.
"Are you into my brother!" She gasped, her eyebrows shooting up towards her hair line.
"He's dreamy," Nicole sighed, sinking her head into her cupped hands.
"Eurgh! No way!" Rebecca laughed, "He's disgusting! He doesn't clean up after himself, he smells all sorts of funky in the morning and…"
Zoey patted her on the shoulder reassuringly.
"She's not listening," she told her, "when Nicole's in love, she's a woman possessed."
Zoey and Nicole returned to the girl's lounge little after their lunch with Rebecca. They'd talked about TV shows, Harry Judd, music, movies and were just edging on the topic of crushes when her phone began screaming a real tone of 'She Wants to Move' by N.E.R.D. She told them she was sorry, but she had to take this call, wiggled her fingers into a delicate wave and scurried off, cell phone stuck to her ear.
"Zoey!"
Quinn ran up behind them, two test tubes smoking in her hands.
"Is there some sort of clothes sale going on in your room?" She asked, "Or is it just midgets wrestling?"
Zoey raised a quizzical eyebrow. Some of the girls at PCA really weren't sane.
"What are you talking about?" Asked Nicole.
"Well all you hear when you go past it is 'thump thump thump' AAAH!"
"What?" Zoey gasped, clutching her chest, "What is it!"
"What are you screaming at!" Nicole said weakly.
"Nothing," said Quinn, "that's the noise you hear when you go up."
Nicole peered over the top of the smoking test tubes.
"So, what's that then?" She asked, nodding towards the tubes warily.
"It's my newest experiment!" Quinn announced excitedly, "I'm trying to fuse the concentrated solution of sodium persulphate and the powdered solution on cobalt potassium carbonate."
"To produce what?"
Quinn's excited smile fell off her face and was replaced with a thoughtful frown.
"I'm not sure," she said.
"Well whatever, just don't be testing stuff on my brother," said Zoey, "he's had a rough year."
Zoey and Nicole climbed the stairs to the third floor, walked down the corridor cautiously, listening out for bangs and screams.
Silence.
The girls opened the door to Room 101.
"Woah…" Nicole stepped inside and surveyed the room, "it's so…clean."
"It's so tidy," Zoey mused, nodding in approvement, "it's so –"
"Un-me?" Dana appeared in the bathroom doorframe in a familiar pair of ripped trousers and net vest. Zoey noticed the suitcases to her left.
"Care to explain?" She said.
"Quinn's moved out of her dorm and in with some red-headed freak who likes science too," said Dana, "I asked for a single dorm before I even arrived here so I was first on the waiting list."
"For?" Nicole asked, puzzled.
"A dorm of my own," Dana threw Nicole a dirty glare, "no duh."
"You're moving!" Zoey screeched, "I thought we were friends!"
"Yeah, I just need my space," said Dana, "we can still be friends. As long as you're not up in my face all day then cool, whatever."
"The room'll look odd," Nicole said, "there'll be three beds and two girls!"
"Keep your teddy-bear panties on," Dana told her, "a girl's getting sent up."
"From where?"
"She got put in a dorm of nine," Dana grimaced at the thought, "she's just new so…"
Tap tap tap.
"Was that you?" Zoey asked Dana, trying to hide the hurt she was feeling. She thought finally liked them, after tantrums over single dorms Dana had gone quiet and acted friendly. But now she was leaving? So what was the past year? A big fakey friendship?
"Zo, get the door," Nicole was face down on her bed. Zoey had a distinct feeling she was attempting to hide tears. Nicole may not have gotten on with Dana, but she thought they were friends too.
"Zoey!" Cried a familiar voice, "Nicole! You're the girls at Room 101!"
Rebecca dropped the several Louis Vuitton luggage holdalls on the floor and embraced Zoey in a tight hug.
"This is so cool!" Rebecca said over Zoey's shoulder, "We're roomies!"
Nicole stood up and started jumping about, screeching excitedly.
"I bet you could tell me loads about your brother!" She screeched, "And hair, and make-up and clothes and –"
"If you think we're happy," Zoey smiled, "you should wait to see Michael's expression when he comes round tonight."
Rebecca stepped inside the room and grinned.
"It's so clean!" She said, taking in all the made beds and tidy table tops, "My dorm was like a midden. And it stank. Nine different girls using different deodorants and perfumes equals bleurgh."
"Who's this?" Dana asked, sneering slightly.
"Rebecca," Nicole told her, as Rebecca began dragging all her bags into the room, "she's Art Sinclair's sister."
Dana watched Rebecca stare around the room in awe, fingering the curtains and running her finger along the surfaces with a disguisted look on her face.
"What's wrong Dana?" Zoey asked snidely, "Having cold feet about leaving?"
"I don't know whether I should leave you with this," Dana indicated towards Rebecca.
"Oh no, we really like Savannah," Nicole smiled, swinging an arm around Rebecca's shoulders so hard that Rebecca stumbled and had to straighten herself up, "we met her at lunch today."
Dana's nostrils flared for a brief moment as she picked up her suitcases defiantly. It was not going as planned. She was supposed to leave Nicole and Zoey in fits of tears (which had looked likely before Miss-Art-Sinclair's-Sister had rapped on the door) so they'd miss her. That's all she wanted. To be missed. To be felt for. Of course, if Logan noticed she was gone then so be it…who was she kidding? She wanted him to miss her the most, she wanted him to lust after her, not being able to see her casually with Zoey and Nicole, he wanted her to have to come see her and her only, and then she'd know. Then she'd know what those weird feelings inside her meant. She slammed the door behind her.
Was she doing the right thing? Moving? Was getting Logan to confess really better than abandoning her best friends with some Louis Vuitton luggage obsessed, hyperactive new girl?
Of course it was.
She set off down the corridor confidently, dragging her suitcases behind her. She heard feet clunking up the stairs, footsteps way too heavy to belong to any girl. Chase, Michael and Logan appeared at the foot of the stairs.
"Going somewhere?" Logan sneered.
"Why don't you guess?" She shot back.
"The dog pound? Going back home Dana?"
Michael sniggered but Chase just rolled his eyes and pushed past them all, heading down the corridor, disappearing into the open door.
"Actually," she shook her head so her curls would move of her face. She'd read somewhere that guy's like it when girl's play with their hair. "I'm moving to my own dorm."
"You're kidding?" said Michael, scratching his head, "I thought you girls were all friends."
"Friends doesn't equal privacy Michael," she snapped, sneaking a glance at Logan to see his expression. He was looking thoughtful, slightly out of it, and if she wasn't mistaken, a touch of panic in his eyes. Perfect.
"Well, if you need me," Dana hoisted the bags back up her shoulder again, "Room 72. You know where to find me."
"Where's that?" Logan teased, "the Zoo?"
"Now why would I be going back to your house Logan?" she smiled, tilting her head to the side so her curls would fall down her shoulder. She finished with a half-hearted wave and made her way down the stairs.
Perfect! You saw that look in his eyes girl. Now it's only a matter of time.
Logan and Michael walked back down the corridor.
"So are you upset?" Michael asked.
"What? Why would I be?"
"Aw come on dude. You so dig her," Michael slapped Logan playfully on the arm but dodged out of the way quickly for a slap back. He knew Logan didn't really know the term 'punch them softly.'
Logan swallowed a lump in his throat. Now what was he going to do? His cover was blown. He didn't go down to Room 101 to see Zoey or Nicole, he went down to see her. The fact she was in there was a perfect cover-up. He would just pretend he was going to see Zoey and Nicole, after all, he was seen about school with them enough. The excuse was totally plausible. But now she's gone to a dorm of her own! Even Dana'd work out if he visited her there was something underlying – i.e, the 'L' word. The 'L' word that was followed by 'O,' 'V' and 'E.'
She wanted privacy?
I guess, when we're dating, we'll have a lot more privacy.
And hopefully, they'd need it.