Chapter Six: Keeping it Real

"How do I look?"

Nicole glanced up from the magazine she was reading to see Zoey twirl around in her hand sewn blue dress. It looked brilliant on her and it even sparkled in the dim light of room 101. Dana was pacing the room, looking at her watch every five seconds.

"You look hot," Nicole said, sounding a little down. She was already dressed for the dance in a hot pink skirt, a white off the shoulder top, and her brilliant jean jacket that everyone had admired. "So, Zo, are you… uh, going to… you know, carry things on with Chase after the dance is over?" She picked absent mindedly at the edge of her blanket.

Zoey gave Nicole a blank stare. "Duh, Nicole, I'm in love with him. I can't just break it off with him now… it's like… every time I see him fireworks go off…" She stared dreamily into thin air. "I can't believe I didn't love him sooner… I mean… I don't even remember how it happened!"

Nicole sat up in her bed and stared Zoey in the eye. "Really? Because I remember how it happened. I know EXACTLY what happened."

Dana stopped pacing and gave Nicole a piercing stare. Nicole ignored it and continued on. "Don't you remember, Zoey? You went down to the student lounge and Quinn came and gave you that potion. Remember?"

"Quinn? Potion?" Zoey blinked her eyes and crossed her arms. "What are you talking about, Nicole? Why does everyone keep mentioning some kind of potion? It's like they think I'm under a spell or something!"

Nicole clambered down the bunk bed ladder and planted herself right in front of Zoey. "Really? Well everyone can't be wrong, Zo. You know, ever since that potion, you have been totally blowing me off. You broke your promise to me, you barely hang out with me, and all I hear is Chase, Chase, Chase! You know how tiring that is? You know how-"

"What potion?" Zoey cried, looking angry now. "If you don't explain to me right this minute what you're ranting on about, I'll have to slap you across the face!"

"You're not in love with Chase, Zoey," Nicole said. "And Chase isn't in love with you. Quinn gave you a love potion so you could test it for her. You on't remember anything because it's a side effect of the potion. It should wear off in 48 hours. That's tonight. By the end of the dance you won't remember any of this."

"NICOLE!" Dana grabbed Nicole's elbow and grinned a little at Zoey. "Excuse us." She dragged Nicole out of the room and slammed the door behind them.

"WHAT are you doing?" Dana exclaimed. "It'll be over in a few hours anyway. Don't you want them to have a good time? Besides, Zoey won't believe a word you said. She believes that she loves Chase. Are you so stupid that you can't see that?"

Nicole's eyes filled with tears. "I just… I just miss having Zoey around. She's never around like she used to be. She…" Nicole burst out into sobs now. "She… she…"

Dana looked helplessly at the crying Nicole. Sighing exasperatedly she leaned in to give her a comforting hug. Nicole blubbered into Dana's shoulder, tears streaming down her face and nose running.

"Okay, stop now," Dana mumbled, shoving Nicole away.

Nicole wiped her tears away and sighed. "Well… she'll be back by tonight though, right? She'll be back and I'll have my best friend back and then I'll have to stop Quinn from making any more weird experiments…" She broke into a fit of tears again.

Dana rolled her eyes this time and opened the door to their dorm and walked in to find Zoey sitting on her bed, looking dazed. She held a half eaten banana.

"Zoey?" Dana moved cautiously forward. "Are you ok? Zoey? What are you doing? And where did you get that banana?"

Zoey looked up at Dana. "Hi Dana," she said, grinning. "I got the banana from the fruit bowl over there…" She gestured to the desk in the room. On top of it was a gleaming fruit bowl filled with apples, oranges, and bananas. None of the girls really paid attention to it. They had enough money to buy sugary things down at the store.

"You look a little funny," Dana commented. Nicole ambled back into the room, her eyes red and puffy. When she saw Zoey holding the banana and looking confused, she frowned.

"What's going on?" Nicole asked, wiping her eyes quickly.

"I don't know," Zoey said. "Why am I all dressed up?"

"We're going to the dance in like half an hour," Dana reminded her, crossing her arms. "Okay, look, Zo, why are you acting all spaced out?"

"I don't know," Zoey said, frowning. "It feels like I just woke up…" She yawned and stretched her arms. There was a knock on the door and Nicole rushed to open it. Chase stepped in, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hey, Zo," he said shyly. "Uh, for you." He stuck the flowers out for her to take.

"Thanks Chase," Zoey said, sounding surprised. "What is this for?"

"For you because today is kind of like our first official date…" Chase paused. "You know, if you want to think of it that way. You don't have to…"

"Date?" Zoey's mouth dropped open and the bouquet fell to the floor. "Huh?"

Nicole and Dana exchanged worried glances. Chase felt himself blushing and then he caught sight of the half eaten banana.

"Did you eat that?" he asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Oh, yeah," Zoey said, nodding. "Yeah, I ate the banana. Why?"

It felt and looked as if Chase's whole face had turned entirely red. "Uh… well, I… uh… well you see, I think… uh… Quinn and…" he was stammering. Everyone's eyes were on him and he couldn't take it anymore. He turned and ran out of the room.

She eats a banana now, Chase thought furiously. He wasn't watching where he was going and he ran right into Quinn.

"Oh, Chase, there you are!" she said happily. "What's the latest?"

"She ate a banana," Chase said gloomily. "SHE ATE A BANANA, QUINN! It's over. Everything's over. Why did I let you do this? WHY?"

Quinn frowned. "Well, Chase, to tell you the truth, you and Zoey's behaviours towards this experiment have been entirely different. You seemed to be more in control and hesitant towards your actions. I even saw you give her a banana. Now what's the deal with that?"

Chase frowned. "Well… I…" he sighed. "Look, Quinn, you didn't REALLY expect me to drink something you made… I mean, you've done some pretty weird things before. How would I know I wouldn't explode?" He gulped. "So I just pretended to drink it and when you weren't looking I dumped some of it into a plant pot."

Quinn gaped at him. "So that means… the experiment had a flaw!" She started screaming. "Do you know what this means? This means all my recording is useless!" She started screaming louder and Chase plugged his ears and slowly inched away from her.

Back in room 101, Zoey was listening to Nicole and Dana hesitantly tell her about the Quinn's love potion. They explained the side effects, the cures, her actions… Her mouth fell open when she found out that she had kissed Chase.

"No way!" she exclaimed. "I wouldn't kiss Chase."

Nicole shrugged. "And you acted really weird and Chase was all we'd hear about. Chase, Chase, Chase. It was kind of annoying. And now I don't have a new dress like you promised me and-"

"So you're sure you're normal now?" Dana said interrupting Nicole's blabbering.

Zoey nodded her head. "Yeah… yeah, I'm ok now. I mean, I can't believe that happened." She shuddered. "Kissing Chase!"

"You said something about fireworks too," Nicole said.

"So what about the dance?" Dana asked. "Are you going to go still?"

"Yeah…" Zoey said hesitantly. "Yeah… I guess…" She sighed. "Poor Chase. He'll be so embarrassed…"