Here's chapter 5! I hope you like it…I really do. Don't forget to review!

Tonight Will Be My Night

Chapter Five

Zoey's eyes fluttered open the next afternoon to a rainy California sky. Her clock read 12:30. It was strange for her to sleep so late, and she wondered why she had stayed in bed. And now that she thought about, she didn't even remember getting into the bed. She was surprised to feel that she was still wearing her jeans and shirt from the day before. 'What happened?'

Zoey turned to her side and saw the picture of her and Chase, their arms wrapped tightly around one another. That's when it hit her. She sat up quickly in her bed, the conversation from the previous night finding itself back into her memory.

"It's Chase. He was driving to the store, and a drunk driver came speeding around a corner through a red light." Her heart began to beat quickly, as it had the night before. "He died on impact, Zoey."

"No! It's not true!" She screamed as her eyes swelled with tears. She began choking on her tears as she attempted to convince herself that it hadn't really happened. But she couldn't. She remembered clearly now the bleak faces of her dearest friends as they entered the room. She could now recall the trepidation in the Michael's voice as he tried to tell her the tragic news…and then it went blank.

The sudden pain that Zoey felt pulsated through her body in a terrifying way. Her whole body shook as she let her tears fall all at once. Not only was Zoey experiencing emotional heart break, but her body also began to feel weaker. She grabbed the photo of her and chase and clutched it to her chest, gasping for air as she tried to calm herself down.

The door of the room opened and in walked Nicole and Dana, surprised to see Zoey awake.

"Zoey…" said Nicole cautiously.

The look that Zoey had on her face as she looked to Nicole and Dana brought tears to both their eyes. Never before had they seen a person so worn out and lost. She looked as though she herself had died. And that, more than anything else, was what made Nicole and Dana cry. They knew that Zoey would be with Chase no matter what. It had never occurred to them that her life was Chase, and with him gone, she believed she had little to live for.

"Tell me it's not true…Please. It can't be true…" Zoey cried softly and pleadingly as Nicole and Dana slowly sat on her bed, reaching to hold her hands. They didn't know what to say. They opened their mouths, but said nothing. For once, they were both at a loss for words. Zoey looked at them, newly shed tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't live without him. I don't want to. What am I…?" Her weeping voice gave way as she began to break down. The tears never stopped.

"You have to keep living your life, Zoey." replied Dana. "You have so much to live for. And you have such a promising future…Chase wouldn't want you to give up everything." Zoey couldn't take it anymore. How could she live without him?

"No! You don't understand! I'm nothing without him…"

"Zoey, I know you're hurting." said Nicole, trying to make her friend feel better.

"No, you don't understand!" screamed Zoey. "You don't know what it's like to be in love. He made me feel whole! I am who I am because I had him. Because…Chase…loved me." His name was hard for her to say, but afterwards she felt completely helpless.

"Chase…" Nicole and Dana watched Zoey as she fell back onto her pillow curling her tear streaked face in her knees, knowing full well that they were unable to help.

"We're here. If you need us." whispered Nicole.

Zoey spent the rest of the day lying in her bed, staring out into the rainy sky through her window. Her history paper stayed untouched on the screen of her laptop from a sad attempt to take her mind of Chase. She couldn't concentrate. But she also know knew that she wasn't trying. She didn't want to stop thinking about Chase.

Nicole had tried to make Zoey come to dinner that night, but she refused. She sat on her bead, eating a cereal bard, the only thing she felt like she could stomach, when she heard a knock on her door. She wondered who it could be as she slowly stood up and opened the door.

There were two people, a man and a woman, who were much older than she was. The man had brown hair and was slightly balding. The lady had curly light brown hair and a very beautiful face. Zoey had met them before. They were Chase's parents.

"Hello, Zoey." Said Mr. Matthews

"Hi." She didn't really know how to respond, or what she should say.

"We wanted to talk to you, Zoey. We know how much Chase loved you…" said Mrs. Matthews as she bit her bottom lip to prevent tears. Zoey found herself crying again despite the fact that she wanted to stay strong in front of them. She felt as though she had no right acting more devastated that his parents.

"Oh, Zoey." Mrs. Mattews pulled her into a hug. She had always treated her as her own daughter. Zoey sobbed into her yellow button-up shirt.

"I just don't know what I'll do without him…" Zoey began to feel better as Mrs. Matthews held onto her, stroking her hair and telling her it will be okay. She needed the reassurance from an adult, but more importantly, from someone who was probably in more pain that she could imagine. Zoey felt as though crying with Chase's parents was the first step to mending her breaking heart.

Chase was important to her friends, too. She knew that. The way they all looked when Michael told her the news was enough evidence to show her that Chase was one of a kind. But what did they know about loving him? And not just love, because for Zoey, that didn't even begin to explain the way she felt towards Chase. She needed him. She had always needed him.

Zoey needed Chase for more than just his love. She needed him to support her like he always had, to make her laugh when nothing was funny. Zoey needed him to talk to. She needed him to collect shells with her and create beautiful sandcastles only to have the ocean swallow them up as they sat together watching the sun set. Zoey needed him to make her feel better when she was homesick. She needed Chase to remind her that life is always worth the trouble. He understood her. He knew her flaws and loved her still the same. Zoey found it incredibly hard to imagine her life without Chase. Who now could ever make Zoey feel the same happiness that Chase had brought into her life?

Four days later the sun was shining above a large crowd of people. They all stood closely together. Students and faculty gathered with family members and friends from home. The grass they stood on was still a little soggy, but they paid no attention to their sinking and muddy shoes. All eyes were on Zoey.

Through all the years that the PCA students and faculty had known Zoey Brooks (and who didn't), they had never seen look so vulnerable. But they stood in awe as she took a deep breath and found a sudden courage within her. She began to speak to a crowd of over two hundred.

"I don't know how many of you actually knew Chase personally, but I know that everyone here today has a memory of him. Maybe you remember him as a clumsy sushi delivery boy, or as the guy who fell asleep in math class. Either way, he has somehow affected your life and had truly been a friend to all. I still haven't found the perfect words to interpret what I've been feeling these past few days, but I have something I wrote in my journal last week that I would like to share with you all."

Zoey looked carefully into the crowd at her friends, who were all holding onto one another. Logan's hand rested on Michael's shoulder and Dana, Nicole, and Quinn held hands.

"As I look back on all these years--growing up, growing together, changing you, changing me...there are times when we dreamed together, when we laughed and cried together. As I look back on those moments, I realize how much you mean to me and how much I truly love you. The past may be gone forever...but whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow. So, Chase, it is with all my heart that I give you my love, hoping that you'll always carry it with you, for all we have meant to each other and for whatever the future may hold. I love you, Chase" she said, wiping the tears from here cheeks, "and I always will." She threw her white rose into the grave, watching it land softly on the cherry wood.

A week later, they were graduating. Zoey smiled despite the pain she was still feeling inside as she returned to her seat, diploma in hand. Every now and then Zoey would feel tears forming in her eyes, but after Chase's funeral, she had felt better. She had said what she had been feeling all along. Her feelings hadn't changed, so she didn't find it necessary to write something completely new. Zoey was smiling again, and it took more effort for her to laugh, but she could. Zoey resolved to never take anything for granted and live everyday to its fullest potential, a very positive outlook on life. But when she lay in her bed at night, especially last night, the last night she would spend at PCA, she wished they hadn't taken so long to fall in love. This was when her tears would come again. Zoey was taken from her thoughts by the sound of Quinn's voice finishing her valedictorian speech.

"All good things must come to an end, but I wouldn't want it to end with any other people or be at any other place. Congratulations class of 2009! We did it!"

Together, they stood up and threw their hats into the air, screaming. Zoey stood up quietly, keeping her hat on her head, and looked out onto the Pacific Ocean. She wondered what her life will be like now that she was leaving PCA for good. She wondered what experiences she would go through in college and what kind of job she would get. But what she really wondered was 'Will I ever love again?'

One more chapter left! Thanks so much for reading! What Zoey said at the funeral was based off a quote by C.L Purdy, and I didn't make up what Quinn said, but I've heard that everywhere. I hope you liked this chapter…to let me know all you have to do is review!

dorkiss