Chapter three

Nicole looked around the boys' dorm. She loved it. It was untidy and smelled kind of funky, but she loved it. Because it was where the hottest guys in the world, Ty, Ryder, and Jem, lived.

Nicole laughed at loud when she saw a Shakira CD lying on one of the beds. She and Dana always made fun of Zoey for liking Shakira (A/N: Sorry, all you Shakira fans! I like Shakira too, but this fits in with the story). "Whose is that?"

Ty blushed. "Uh, mine."

"Oh," Nicole's eyes widened. "Well, I only laughed because it's so funny that you like Shakira and I like Shakira!" she lied.

"You like Shakira? That's so cool!" Ty exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" asked Nicole in bliss. Ty had just said that something about her was cool—well, sort of, anyway.

"Yeah," nodded Ty. "Hey, would you like to come back to my dorm later and listen to Shakira on my new Ipod speakers?"

Nicole nodded eagerly, too happy to speak. Hot Ty had just asked her to listen to music with him!

"My favorite song is La Tortura," Ty continued. "What's yours?"

Nicole bit her lip. "Um—I like Hola Chica," she said. Hey, it was bound to be a song, right? Wrong.

Ty gave her a quizzical look and was about to speak when Jem said, "Man, I can't find my phone! Will someone call it?"

"I will!" answered Nicole quickly. She pulled out her mini Nokia. "'Kay, what's the number?"

Jem gave it to her. Within seconds, The Game's How we do blasted from under a mattress.

Jem shrugged and pulled his phone out from under his bed. "Okay, whose ready to go?" Ryder asked.

"I am!" Nicole yelled, waving her hand around like an anxious school-girl.

Ty stared at her and then broke into a grin. She was so cute.

Zoey couldn't decide what to do. On one hand, if she broke up with Chase she could get Ty before some other girl did. But, on the other hand, breaking up with him would break his heart. And there would be no turning back—Chase would be gone from her forever. But if she didn't bag Ty soon some other girl would, and he'd be out of her reach for who knows how long?

Chase was leaning close to Zoey. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to kiss her.

"Chase…" Zoey was saying.

Chase closed his eyes and let his lips graze hers. She was scared out of his mind, but if she liked him as much as he liked her…

"Chase!"

Zoey suddenly pushed him away from her. His eyes popped open and his face turned tomato red. "What's the matter?"

"Chase, I want to break up," said Zoey softly.

"Zoey, why do you want to break up?" asked Chase in disbelief.

Zoey shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know, Chase," she said, her southern accent more audible than usual. Chase loved her accent. He loved everything about her.

"Zoey, you can't do this to me," he moaned.

Zoey bit her lip. She felt awful. Chase looked so disappointed! Oh, how she wished Ty had never come into her life. Everything had been so perfect before. But he was there, he was cute, and there was nothing Zoey could do about it.

"Look, just give me a reason," Chase said. "I mean, I just want to know why!"

Zoey knew that if she told him the reason he would only feel worse. But she had to say something…

So she decided to lie.

"Yay RYAN!" Nicole cheered, leaping up. Ryder's cousin Ryan had just scored his third goal. The four of them (Ryder, Nicole, Jem, and Ty) were sitting on the bleachers at a high school a mile or so away from PCA. Usually, Nicole hated long walks, but she didn't mind it today, because she was accompanied by three of the hottest guys in the world.

"Hat-trick! Yes!" Ryder jeered.

Nicole turned to him. "You can do a hat-trick?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Uh, I guess. I've done it before," said Ryder.

"Can you show me?" Nicole asked him eagerly. She plucked Jem's Yankees cap off of his head and gave it to Ryder.

He gave her a quizzical look. 'Nicole, what do you want me to do with the hat?"

"A trick!" she answered.

A big grin spread across Ty's face. "Nicole, a hat-trick is when you score three goals," he explained with a laugh.

"Oh," Nicole pouted. "Well, Jem, here's your hat back."

"Nah," Jem answered. "You can wear it, Nicole. It would look cute on you."

Nicole squealed and put it on. It was a little big, but she didn't mind.

"Hey, it does look cute," remarked Jem.

Nicole giggled and batted her eyelashes. Even though Ty was cuter, it was harmless to flirt with Jem, right?

Dana was in a sulk. Nothing was going her way. She really liked Logan, but he had to go and be his stubborn self. They almost had a date! Thanks a lot, new girl, thought Dana sarcastically.

Getting up off of bed, she switched on her white laptop and signed on Instant Messenger. Logan was on! Dana fought the urge to instant message him, but when he IMed her she figured that it was okay to reply.

PerfectionItself: Well, well, well…if it isn't Detention Dana.

BackOff66: What do you want, Logan?

PerfectionItself: Hey, what did I ever do to you?

BackOff66: You were born.

Dana knew it was a lame and over-used comeback, but she couldn't think of any other 'tough girl' things to say. She wished that she could let her guard down around Logan, but she was afraid that he wouldn't like her if he knew that she was vulnerable. Even worse, if she made herself vulnerable she was able to get hurt. And no one could hurt her more than Logan.

PerfectionItself: A little feisty there, eh?

BackOff66: Shut up if you want to keep your face, pretty boy.

PerfectionItself: I know I'm pretty, Dana. I know you can't resist me, but you don't have to be so obvious about it.

Dana knew he was kidding, but if only he knew how right he really was…

BackOff66: Why are you wasting my time?

PerfectionItself: Fine, I'll make this short. I just wanted to tell you that I found another date for next week, so don't be so hard on yourself for canceling. Cheers, babe.