PCAChase: Hey, Zoey, what's up?

ZoeyB-Girl: Nothing much I just signed up for basketball camp!

PCAChase: Oh… yeah I heard about that- wait, you're going?

ZoeyB-Girl: Yeah I leave tomorrow

PCAChase: Well, uh… guess what?

ZoeyB-Girl: What?

PCAChase: I'm going too! I guess I'll see you tomorrow on the bus then?

ZoeyB-Girl: You are? That's great! I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye!

PCAChase: Later

Chase watched as Zoey logged off the computer. Then he leaped to his feet and snatched the pink flyer off of his desk. Michael had found it rolling around on the floor and had brought it into the dorm room to look at later, but he never did. Chase quickly skimmed the flyer and then ran out of the room, heading for Mr. Bender's classroom and praying that he wasn't too late to sign up.

"What… are you doing?"

Quinn looked up from her latest experiment- changing strawberries into milkshakes just by zapping it with a straw. She was having difficulty making the straw work the way she wanted it to though and was trying to find out where she went wrong. Now she was looking at a curious (and also frightened) Michael.

"I'm conducting an experiment that will change the face of strawberries."

Michael sighed. "I shouldn't have asked."

Quinn worked in silence for a few minutes and then groaned loudly, dropping her scientific straw on the table she was working at. She was having an 'inventing block' and felt as if a million marshmallows had been clogged inside her brain. She looked at Michael who was staring at the deformed straw in… was that amazement? Somehow, she doubted it.

"Do you need something?" Quinn asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, I could get some help on this chemistry homework," Michael said hopefully, taking his Science textbook out of his backpack.

Quinn frowned. "You mean… do it for you?"

"Well…" Michael hesitated. Catching the look on Quinn's face he shoved the textbook back in his bag and said, "No. I don't want you to do it for me." He sighed and muttered under his breath, "Well… not really anyways." He cleared his throat and continued talking. "I just need some help. I don't get some of these weird scientific phrases."

"Well, I'd be happy to help!" Quinn said cheerfully. She moved her invention out of the way and Michael sat down across from her. Together they worked out word problems, chemical formulas, and even had a few laughs together. While reading over page 36 of the textbook, Quinn started to feel a fluttery feeling in her stomach. She frowned.

Michael glanced up at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Quinn said, rubbing her stomach. "Maybe it was something I ate. I'll be right back I'm just going to use the facilities for a moment." She hopped out of her chair and hurried away.

Michael frowned. "Did she just say facilities? Why couldn't she just have said bathroom like a normal person?"

Nicole sat in the small overheated restaurant, sitting at a little wooden table and waiting for her mother to arrive. She felt extremely nervous and a bit jumpy so to calm her nerves she chewed loudly on a piece of strawberry flavoured bubblegum. She glanced at her watch every five minutes and was just about to leave when the glass doors of the restaurant swung open and Mrs. Bristow walked in.

"Over here," Nicole called, waving her hand in the air. Her voice stuck in her throat and came out in a funny way. She spat her gum out into a napkin and held it in her hands. She realized her palms were sweating. Why am I so nervous? It's just my mom. Who cares if I haven't seen her in like, a year? Who cares if it felt like she abandoned me? She's back and that's what matters, isn't it?

Mrs. Bristow rushed over to greet her daughter. She kissed both her cheeks and then sat down across from her. Nicole examined her mother. She hadn't changed much although she looked a bit paler. Nicole mumbled a hello and grabbed a menu to cover her face with.

The two of them sat in silence for awhile. A waiter came to take their order and they both ordered the same thing- a hamburger with no onions and a glass of orange crush with ice. When Nicole was younger, her mother had called it their 'special' meal.

When the food was brought to their table, they started eating. They didn't talk until Nicole finally asked what was on her mind. "Mom, why are you here?"

Mrs. Bristow lowered the burger and cleared her throat. "Well… I came to see you mainly. I missed you, you know. Did I tell you that already/" She coughed and began rummaging through her purse.

"Yes, you told me," Nicole said stiffly. She glared at her hamburger before starting to speak again. "Where did you go in the summer? Dad wouldn't tell me and you never phoned me to tell me you were alright."

Mrs. Bristow pulled a packet of pills out of her purse and swallowed some with the help of her orange crush. "I'm sorry, Nicole," she sighed after swallowing. "I wanted to tell you… but I couldn't."

Nicole felt anger bubble up inside of her. "So you made me cry all night for the entire summer because you 'wanted' to tell me something, but you couldn't? You made me worry about you and wait for you every day because you 'wanted' to tell me something, but you couldn't? You made me worry SICK about you, but-"

"Nicole, I'm sorry," Mrs. Bristow murmured, tears in her eyes.

"No!" Nicole shouted, pushing her chair back and rising to her feet. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for worrying about you and I'm sorry for thinking you were going to come back in the summer to actually see me. And I'm sorry that I thought you were here purely because you loved me. If you really loved me you would at least give me an explanation to why you didn't want to see me in the summer." She crossed her arms. "I'm giving you ten seconds to explain. Ten."

"Nicole… I…"

"Nine."

"Oh Nicole, stop being childish and sit down."

"Eight."

"Nicole, you know I love you! That's why I'm here."

"Seven."

"Do you really want an explanation?"

"Six."

"Well… you see… oh, I'm sorry Nicole, but I can't…"

"Five."

"Let's not be silly now… just because I don't tell you about my absence doesn't mean that I don't love you."

"Four."

"I had things to do!"

"Three."

"And those things were of course not as important as you, but I had to deal with them as soon as possible and they took longer than I expected…"

"Two."

"I… I'm sorry Nicole."

"One."

Nicole grabbed her purse and left the restaurant, leaving her mother and her half eaten burger on the table. Once outside, Nicole felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She realized that she was still holding the napkin with the spat out gum in it.

Dana lay on her bed, flipping through the Coconut Tree House waitress guide book. It wasn't really the most interesting thing to read, but she had to look through it so she was ready for her first shift tomorrow. She was just reading about how to balance five plates at a time when there was a knock on the door. She glanced up from the book and yelled, "Come in, the door's unlocked!"

The door opened and Logan stepped in, looking pale and fragile, the last two words you would use to describe Logan Reese. Dana dropped her book and rose to her feet to stare at him. He looked like he was ready to collapse. His lips looked as if they were white and he was sweating. Taking two steps towards her he whispered, "Dana… I…" Then eh fainted to the ground.

Dana screamed when he collapsed. She started to panic. What do I do? What CAN I do? Should I call the nurse? Should I call the hospital? She decided to look in his wallet and find out if he had an emergency contact number in there. She found his black leather wallet in his back pocket and flipped it open. Inside she found a list of phone number and quickly skimmed through it.

Cell phone numbers… home number… There! The emergency contact number was written in red ink at the very bottom. Dana read the number and felt her eyes grow wet. She was his emergency contact. She took a shaky breath and looked over at the fainted Logan.

"I'm sorry, Logan," she whispered. "I'm your emergency contact, but I can't do anything to help you." A tear ran down her face and landed on Logan's nose. She smiled a sad smile and wiped it away. Then she called Michael.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Michael, it's Dana."

"What's up?"

"I just came to my dorm and Logan is lying on the floor! It looks like he fainted. Will you come and take him to the nurse or something?"

"What? I can't right now, I'm studying with Quinn."

"I don't care if you're studying with the president. Take him away."

"Fine, fine, I'll be there in two minutes."

They both hung up.

Quinn stood over a sink, looking at her reflection in the mirror. The fluttery feeling was gone. She wondered what it was. It was strangely familiar and it felt rather sickening… but in a nice kind of way. She smiled a little and left the bathrooms to go meet Michael again. But before leaving, she quickly checked her hair, something she hadn't done since Mark was her boyfriend.

When she arrived back at the table, Quinn found a note in Michael's place. She picked it up and read it, feeling a new feeling in her stomach. It was a funny feeling this time… a mixture of disappointment and drained hope.

-Quinn

I went to go get Logan. He fainted in Dana's room. Thanks for your help.

-Michael

Quinn sighed sadly and started to pack up her things. She realized that Michael had forgotten his textbook at the table. She picked it up and put it in her bag along with her other things. I'll give it to him next time I see him. She felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of seeing him again. Hold on. Could these feelings be…? No… of course not.

Quinn shook her head and left the student lounge, Michael's note held tightly in her hand.

Logan opened his eyes. He looked around. He realized he was in the nurse's room. Groaning, he sat up in the bed he had fallen asleep on. He wondered how he had gotten there. Judging by the bright sunlight that was shining through the window, it was morning. He scratched his head and yawned. He had such a head ache…

The door suddenly burst open and Michael walked in, holding a glass of orange juice. "Oh, you're awake," he remarked, handing the juice to Logan who took it unthankfully.

"Yeah, I'm awake. What time is it?"

"10 AM," Michael replied. "You slept forever, man. I thought you were DEAD!"

Logan made a face. "Yeah, whatever… Where's Chase? Isn't he worried about me?"

"He had to wake up early this morning and go to some basketball camp thing," Michael said, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, he told me to tell you to get better soon." He snickered. "Imagine… you, Logan Reese, fainting in Dana's dorm room!"

Logan froze. "Huh?"

"You don't remember? Dana phoned me and told me to take you to the nurse's office. She said she came into the room to see you fainted on the ground." Michael grinned slyly. "Nice move, Logan. You know I'm never going to let you forget it."

Logan groaned loudly. He put the orange juice down on the dresser table and put his head in his hands. "I'm a first class loser, aren't I?"

"Well… yeah… you are…"

Logan lifted his head and glared at Michael. "Thanks."