'Hey, Chase, man, don't forget to kiss the bride!'

Chase rolled his eyes at the hundredth immature comment he'd received that day, trudging past the gaggle of chuckling juniors on his way to class. He was getting extremely tired of this whole marriage prank. The others might find it funny, but he couldn't wait for it to be over the next day. At least then he wouldn't have to be around Zoey anymore, knowing there was now no hope.

He blinked as someone grabbed his hand, and looked round to see Lola smiling slyly up at him. 'Hey, Chase, come and look at this!'

'OK,' Chase said wearily, allowing himself to be led into the girls' lounge, not really caring anymore. He blinked again as she cooed loudly at him, 'Oh, Chase, I don't believe this! Chase, I… I love you, too!'

'Huh?' Chase didn't have time to respond. Lola planted her lips firmly on his. He pulled away as he caught a camera flash out of the corner of his eye. 'Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute!'

Lola spun him round to face an eager photographer for the school paper, flanked by a reporter holding a dictaphone. 'Chase, you're the other half of PCA's shock It couple! Your wedding is tomorrow, and here you are declaring your love for another girl! What do you have to say?'

Chase stuttered, gobsmacked. 'I…I…'

Lola jumped in. 'Chase has had a change of heart. Literally. Some of you may remember that Chase and I dated a few years ago. We've realised we still have feelings for each other, and it'll be me and him getting married tomorrow.'

The lounge burst into shocked cries of 'Ohmigosh!' as the camera zoomed in on Lola pulling Chase into a full-on kiss.

Zoey walked out of her dorm room, drawn out by the loud chatter from outside. She stopped dead as she saw Chase and Lola locked in an embrace, and the photographer quickly turned his camera on her and snapped a photo of her blank face. 'Zoey, did you know about this?' the reporter demanded.

'I have no idea what is going on,' Zoey said slowly. 'Excuse me.' She backed into her room and slammed the door in their faces.

/----------------------------------/-----------------------------------/----------------------------/

'Lola, are you sure about this?' Zoey asked steadily. 'I mean, I know you want this prank to be as dramatic as possible…'

'Zoey, how many times do I have to tell you?' Lola sighed. 'This is totally for real. Chase told me he's been in love with me the whole time. And we are getting married tomorrow.' She squealed. 'I'm so excited!'

Zoey frowned. 'Uh, Lola, Chase told me he's in love with me.'

She shook her head triumphantly. 'No, no, he told me he was confused and misplacing his affection. He likes you as a friend and all, but… I'm the one he's going to spend the rest of his life with! Oh, that guy is so cute!'

Nicole frowned. 'I don't buy it. Chase loves Zoey.'

Zoey got up from the bed and shrugged on her jacket. 'OK, I am going to go talk to him. This is crazy.'

'Hey, Zo, you are OK with this and everything, aren't you? I mean, you did say you only like Chase as a friend, right? He's not worth a long-distance relationship, were your words.' Lola quizzed her as she opened the door.

'Yeah, yeah, of course I'm cool with it,' Zoey snapped. 'It's just… so weird. This was all just meant to be a big trick on the rest of the school, now it's… it's throwing up all this stuff.' She shook her head. 'Well, see ya.'

'Say hello to my future husband!' Lolo cooed. 'It is alright if I borrow the white dress, isn't it? I don't have time to get one! I'd go with you to see my beautiful boy myself, but it's bad luck to see the bride on the eve of the wedding, isn't it? OK, bye!'

Zoey had already shut the door. 'Ugh.' Lola collapsed onto the bed before reaching for her cell phone and flipping it open. 'Michael! We have a code 101, Zoey's heading over to your dorm right now! Get Chase out of there, I don't care how, and feed her the story! OK, great, thanks. Yeah, it just might work! OK, bye.' She hung up.

Nicole looked at her, face scrunched up in confusion. 'Huh? Are you tricking Zoey? Why are you kicking Chase out of his room? I don't understand…'

Lola leaned forward. 'Nicole, we are not tricking Zoey and we are not kicking Chase, OK? We are helping to bring them together!'

Nicole was still frowning. 'So… you're not marrying Chase…'

'No! It's just another prank, like the one where Zoey and Chase were getting married, remember? I thought of that prank to help get them together. But it seems I have to take it a bit further to do that.'

'OK,' Nicole shrugged, flipping the page of her magazine.

'Don't tell them,' Lola warned dangerously. Nicole zipped her lips. 'Oh, please, like I'd ruin this for them! Those two are so totally M.F.E.O!'

Lola wrinkled her nose. 'What?'

'MADE FOR EACH OTHER!' Nicole cheered.

/----------------------------------/-----------------------------------/----------------------------/

Zoey knocked nervously on the door of the boys' dorm room, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. There was a scuffling sound, then Michael opened the door with a big, cheerful smile. 'Oh, h-eyyy, Zoey! Come on in, what can I do for you?'

'Uh, I just wanted to talk to Chase,' Zoey told him.

Michael leaned casually in the door frame. 'Oh, of course, you want to congratulate him, right? Hooking up with Lola and all that.' He chuckled. 'Kinda like a fairytale, makes you feel all warm inside, doesn't it?'

'Michael, stop talking bull,' Zoey snapped. 'Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? Let me see Chase!'

'You just missed him,' Logan yelled from inside the room. 'He went off to see Lola.' He snorted. 'Talk about bad luck, night of the big day. But the guy is crazy about her!'

Zoey gave a furious scream. 'This is insane! Michael, c'mon, you're just going to let Chase throw his life away like this?'

Michael shrugged. 'If it makes him happy.'

'With someone who is totally wrong for him!'

Michael frowned. 'Hey, he and Lola are good together! What's up with you, Zoey? You should be happy Chase has found someone, especially since it'll be two of your best friends getting together.'

Zoey didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She felt like she was in a really bad dream. 'I know, I know,' she muttered. 'I'm sorry, it's all just so… sudden, y'know?' Without another word, she wandered off. Michael looked wordlessly after her. If she'd looked back, she would have seen his eyes filled with compassion, but she didn't. Quickly, he shut the door. 'Logan, get him out of there! I'll call Lola and tell her to leave her dorm room – Zoey can think the two of them are out canoodling in the fountain or smack.'

Logan jumped up from his beanbag and opened the wardrobe. A gagged and unconscious Chase stumbled out, a red bruise on his forehead. Logan winced. 'Sorry, dude, it had to be done.'

Michael gave him a high five. 'Good thinking, man. That sure got him out of the way. I can't help feeling kinda bad, though. I just condoned the beating of my best friend.'

Logan rolled his eyes. 'Forget it. Tomorrow, Chase won't know how to thank us.'

'I sure hope you're right,' Michael sighed, as he dialled Lola's number.

/----------------------------------/-----------------------------------/----------------------------/

That night, a letter arrived at the school office for Chase.

In his room, Dustin played back the footage of Lola and Chase that he'd taped from the PCA channel over and over again.

Quinn slipped into another residential building, grasping a syringe and chuckling.

A sleepless Zoey tossed and turned. With eyes closed, she saw Chase. With eyes open, they always seemed to land on the merrily sleeping Lola.

All of these things were interlinked, and time was running out. What would happen when they all culminated?

/----------------------------------/-----------------------------------/----------------------------/

Hope you enjoyed! As always, please review if you liked it or have any criticism. Could the next post be the grand finale? Wait and see!