Knock knock

Dana began fluffing her hair dry with the towel she had just picked up. She had a funny feeling it was Kristen's – mainly because it smelt fresh from the laundry – so she deliberately left it on the floor.

"Hang on a sec…"

Knock knock

She grabbed the house coat from the hook on the door. Again, she guessed she picked up the wrong one, because this one had 'Missoni' stitched across the top pocket (why there was a pocket there, she had no idea), and it was pristine white with gold stitching. And it was clean.

"Just a minute!"

Knock knock knock

She tied the belt hurriedly and slid on her slippers (this she was sure of because they felt worn in and warm), before storming across to the door.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE I SAID WAIT A SECOND!"

She flew open the door.

"Woah," she scrunched up her nose, "déjà vu."

Logan pushed past her into the room.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, "Shouldn't you ask before you barge into a girls' private abode?"

"I'm gonna pretend you spoke English there," Logan slid his hands into his pockets, "and just ignore you."

Dana glared at him.

"Did you miss me much?"

She knew to keep up this charade with Logan she'd have to lie.

"No," she replied, "it was kinda nice having peace and quiet for a bit."

Logan stepped into her room, across all the strewn clothes and sat on the edge of the other bed.

"Get up!" Dana screeched, "Kristen'll kill me!"

Obediently, Logan stood back up, but frowned at her as Dana began smoothing down the sheets where he'd sat down.

"Since when have you been afraid of Kristen Williams?" He asked, taking a place on Dana's bed instead.

"Never, but have you seen those nails? They're long," Dana patted the covers proudly with her right hand, "and sharp."

Logan patted the seat next to him invitingly. Dana stared at it.

What are you doing? Do you have the impulse to sit down? After all that he's done to you? After what he did to you last year when –

No. Don't think about that. Forbidden subject. An 'unmentionable.'

But I really want to sit down…but who's to say he won't do it again?

"Stop arguing with yourself," Logan grinned cockily, "come sit beside me gorgeous."

If Dana was to stand her ground, she knew she couldn't look into his eyes, because when she did, her heart melted. She couldn't deny Logan was extremely attractive, his tanned skin, his muscular limbs…

God he has spectacular legs.

Dana found herself crossing the room and sitting next to him. Why, she had little idea.

Perhaps the legs are as entrancing than the eyes.

"I missed you," Logan's arm found it's way around Dana's waist.

"God you're repulsive," she shook his arm off angrily, "you used practically the same dialogue that day when Kristen barged in. It's like you've just memorized it from a book!"

"Nope, all original material," Dana's arm shake was deterring him, he slid it around again, "besides, you know you want me Dana."

"I wanted you," she said, "past tense."

"Well bring the past to life."

He leaned in for a kiss, to be greeted by her palm as she held it in front of her face.

"What gives?" He cried angrily.

"Hold up," she put her hand back down, "so you're here to see me?"

"Yeah."

"And you're here to what, make out?"

"If possible," she was so close he could feel her breath tickling his cheek, "you know I can't resist you Dana."

Dana buckled. He probably knew she couldn't resist phrases like that either. While everyone assumed she was angry and nasty there really was a big old romantic inside her, that fell for the oldest lines, the corniest kisses and the sweetest love notes.

Within seconds she felt his lips upon hers. She couldn't remember how they got there, and when they got there, but they felt nice. She kissed him back. They sunk onto the bed, wrapped in each others arms.

Art tucked his basketball under his arm as he and Nate walked out of the courts.

"Nice shoots man," Nate punched him the arm, "you did good today. Living up the Point Guard tradition here at PCA; only the best."

Art shrugged.

"Whatever," he shook his head so his hair fell into his eyes, "I'm feeling totally deflated. Lisa's creeping me out. She had my underpants and everything now."

"Did you give them to her?"

"No."

Nate's eyes widened in surprise.

"Woah, scary."

"I know…" Art trailed off, "anyway, how's things with Nicole?"

"Good, I saw her again last night…" Nate had managed to rid himself of the girl on the balcony. He was still intrigued, to say the least, but he had Nicole, and Nicole was worth putting the girl on the back burner.

"Did you guys make out? Hopefully not on my bed, it's already scarred from Harry and Sha-"

"Art!"

Art froze in his tracks, as did Nate. They both turned.

"Art! Wait up!"

Lisa came into view, and she was sprinting.

"God she's sprinting," Nate breathed, "I'll duck into this bush, you run man…pretend you didn't see her."

Nate dived into the bush.

Art set off at tail speed.

Zoey knew she didn't need to knock. She slid off her necklace, took the second key with the army print on it and slid it into the lock of Room 32, praying Kristen wasn't with him.

Please, please make her have a hair emergency where her straighteners explode and singe the bottom part of her hair off.

The door clicked open.

Here goes.

She pushed it open cautiously and peeked her head around. So far so good, no sign of Kristen. She slid through the gap in the door and closed it behind her. At the sound of the 'click' from the lock sliding back into place, Chase appeared in the doorway to the bathroom.

"Oh, hey Zo, come in."

Obediently, she shuffled into the front hall. Okay, she had gotten so far, only she couldn't think of what to say. It had sounded alright in her head when she was sprinting over there, but now it just seemed jumbled and stupid.

Zoey stared at the razor in his hands.

"What were you shaving?"

"My face," he rubbed his cheeks.

"But there weren't any hairs there!"

"Hey," he waved the razor at her, "shaving is what makes a man. Would you believe Michael has to shave every morning? Seriously, if he didn't, his beard would probably suffocate him as he slept. His hair grows fast."

Zoey giggled, sitting in the familiar armchair by the window.

"I'll be out in just a second."

The bathroom door closed.

Okay, what are you going to say? Sorry? No, sounds a bit random. I mean, no apology and a year later? Better late than never? I know they say that, but is that actually true?

The door flew open again, Chase came out, wearing another band-shirt and a pair of boy-shorts. He sat down in the seat opposite Zoey.

"So…" he clicked his fingers at her, "what brings you to my lair of hair?"

"Uh…"

Tell him now. Just tell him.

"I er…"

Suddenly, 'Hey Ya' by Outkast burst into full volume. The noise seemed to be coming from Chase's shorts.

"Uh, your pants are signing," she stated as he fumbled around in his pockets, "but I commend them. Good taste."

Chase smiled, the same goofy smile that made something new inside Zoey melt. He flipped open his phone and put it to his ear.

"Hey."

Even though it wasn't on loud speaker, the person on the other end in hysterical tears so loud and ringing that Zoey could hear them from where she was sitting.

"Kristen, calm down."

Zoey's insides froze as she watched Chase listen intently to whatever Kristen was crying about.

I hope he doesn't invite her over.

"Oh God…are you serious? Are you hurt?"

More cries and wails, the words undistinguishable but Zoey could pick up on the general genre of them, that being a state of total panic and despair.

"Is Nicole there? Well, call Nicole, and she'll sort something out, she's good with hair."

There was a silence in the crying, Kristen seemed to have calmed down.

"Yes, really. Don't worry, I'm sure you still look charming. I'm going to go now, okay? Bye."

And least he never said 'love you,' I suppose.

"What's the matter?" Zoey asked, feigning concern.

"She had a straightening accident," Chase scratched the back of his neck, "the straighteners blew a fuse or something, causing this mini explosion and it singed about three inches of her hair off."

Zoey's eyes close to popped out of her head as she stared at Chase disbelievingly.

"You're kidding?" She gasped.

"I wish," Chase smiled, "then she wouldn't be in wild hysterics. Apparently, she was just singing along to her Amerie album when," he clapped his hands together, "Boom! Straighteners explode and she smells burning, only to find her hair on fire. Luckily, she managed to beat down the flames before it burnt it all off."

Woah! Maybe I should be pleading for that cute Diesel dress!

"Anyway, what were you saying before she almost burned PCA down?"

Chase looked at her interestedly.

He couldn't help but stare slightly. He knew he was with Kristen now, but just as he still harbored feelings for Kristen, he still harbored feelings for Zoey. It was funny how, at the two girls being total opposites; Zoey being cute and wholesome, Kristen being wild and slightly satanic, he was in love with them both.

"I…I know I shouldn't be saying this," Zoey looked down at her clasped hands, "but I need to get this out. I can't keep it locked inside, because it's eating me up…Chase, last year, when I…when I kissed Art. I made a mistake. I still…I still love you."

"Oh. My. God."

Nicole gasped and raised a hand to her mouth, the other hand fingering Kristen's singed locks.

"What. Happened?"

"The straighteners," Kristen moaned, "they just exploded on me."

"Where was this? Where were you straightening your hair?"

"In, in your room," Kristen paused, "Everywhere else was locked, and I must've left my key in my room, so I went to check on your room, and Bee was asleep, so I tried to wake her up but seriously, she was out for the count."

"Nightol," Nicole explained.

"Whatever, so I clapped my hands together and she wouldn't wake, then I shouted in her ear and nothing, so I just decided to do it in there. So I put on my Amerie album and was singing along, straightening my hair in front of the mirror when boom! And I beat out the flames, picked up my phone and called Chase and…and…Bee slept through it all."

"Wait? You used the plug beside the mirror?"

"Yeah."

"Straighteners don't just explode," Nicole stroked her chin thoughtfully, "and let me guess, you had the new Misty Canyon ones, right? The best on the market?"

"Yeah, I got them cause I broke my others and the PCA once were totally shi-"

"But they can't explode, the chemicals….aren't reactants…"

Kristen frowned at Nicole.

"Hey! I know my hair care, okay?" Nicole shrugged, "But the point is…it must have been a fuse, the plug…but I use that plug all the time…when did…aha, wait a second…"

"What?"

"Zoey was fiddling with that plug not that long ago," Nicole said, "because she put in her plug into the socket and when she pulled it out the whole socket face came off. So the tried to put it back on and ended up sticking it with like, Sellotape. I guess a wire must've snapped or something…but Zo said she was going to tell CoCo about it, and the electrician, this afternoon," Nicole turned to Kristen, "I guess she had more important things on her mind."

"Wait," Kristen's eyes narrowed, "are you telling me this is Zoey's fault? Because she didn't remember to tell the electrician or CoCo that the plug was faulty?"

"I suppose…"

Kristen let out a low, vehement hiss, her eyes narrowed in pure anger, her fists clenched tightly.

"She. Is. So. Dead."

She threw her head back and let out an angry, primal, war-cry like scream.

Rebecca awoke with a start.

Her dream of playing ice hockey against the Ying Yang twins, G-Unit and the mafia from Doom X (where, for some reason, they were allowed to bring rifles onto the rink) was interrupted by a girl in the audience, standing up and screaming her lungs out. Of course, one of the members of the Doom X Mafia proceeded to shooting her in hopes of silencing, the bullets went through every part of her, and she still continued screaming.

In fact, now awake, she could still hear the screaming now. She clutched her head.

Ah…killer headache!

She grasped for some water and an aspirin. After glugging them down, the screaming stopped almost immediately.

Ah…silence.

Then it started up again, even louder and more frantic than before. She threw off the bed covers and stormed across the room, pushing the door open and peering down the hall. She still had on her outfit from that morning, considering she'd fallen asleep with her clothes on, so knowing she wasn't donned in pyjamas, she set off for the source of the noise.

Chase's jaw dropped slightly.

Did she just…she didn't? Surely?

"And I just wanted to say…so I didn't have it on my chest forever, so I wouldn't have to like, suffer in silence and so that I…so that I…so that I let you know, because I never knew, I figured, if you still loved me from the past, well, love never dies, does it? I don't know, it was just a wild shot."

She let out a long, relieved breath once she had finished. Chase was still silent.

"Chase?"

Chase opened his mouth to utter a scream of disbelief, but his throat closed up and crackled as he rasped quietly, his eyes fixed on Zoey who was now staring back at him expectantly. After opening and closing his mouth like a fish, he finally managed to croak:

"I still…of course I still love you Zoey, but what you've got to understand is," he stopped. Was he going to do this? Finally, he had the chance to be with his dream girl, and he knew Art wasn't about anywhere.

But did he really want that?

What if they broke up? Would they hate each other? Not be friends?

He needed her to be there for him for the rest of his life.

And it seemed unlikely that they'd stay together forever. They were only sixteen! Sure, childhood sweethearts, but Chase had seen way too many of them turn out way bad.

"Is…I love Kristen too."

He had done it.

"And I'm with Kristen now…and she loves me back. Definitely, and while she's the spawn of Satan, I can be sure she isn't going to go kissing Art Sinclair behind my back."

Zoey felt as though she'd had a blow delivered to her stomach.

Chase didn't mean to sound catty, but he was telling the truth.

"And…and Zoey…you're…you've…" he paused, "you've had your chance. I've been waiting, since we were thirteen, and you passed them up. I've waited long enough. You're too late."

Maria Casey Wood, I checked up your lookup – thanks for adding me on your favorite author/story list! The ting is, with these pairings, they change so often that it's kinda hard to track. At the very minute, it's Chase/Kristen, Michael/Doom X, Rebecca/Glen, Nicole/Nate, (hehe) and a little bit of Dana/Logan. For what it'll be in the future, who knows. And yeah, Rebecca did sort of mess it up, and you'll see why given time…

Haley, thanks for reviewing, much appreaciated. I try to update as quickly as possible. As soon as the chapter is written, it's up there.