Curse of PCA
Zoey and the gang had hiked up to Redstone Gulch to search for proof that Charles Galloway really existed and went insane. They had found proof alright, an old necklace with his name on it. Everyone made Logan bury it again before they left and he did with some mild protest. But then a few minutes later the blazing hot sun they had been hiking in all day disappeared behind a massive thunderstorm.
Lola was who knows where making her way back to PCA with Laife, while everyone else was still together for the moment, but the storm kept growing worse and worse, the wind was howling and lighting was striking the ground right in front of them. They could barely hear or see each other over the lightning, wind, and thunder. Thankfully Zoey could still see Chase was right next to her, but everyone was growing more and more panicked.
"What is that?" Zoey asked, seeing a glowing green cloud of something gathering on the horizon as more and more lighting struck all around them.
"I don't know! This weather makes zero meteorological sense!" Quinn shouted, sounding terrified.
"What do we do?" Logan screamed.
"Run!" Chase yelled as lightning flashed again and again, everyone ducking down to the ground instinctively.
They all ran in random directions, Zoey could hear Chase behind her for a while but then the lightning flashed again and she couldn't hear his footsteps over the howling wind anymore.
"Chase!" Zoey yelled. "Chase!" Driven by fear, she just kept running, she tried to stop near the edge of a hill, but she misjudged the distance, her foot slipped off the edge and she took a tumble down the side of the hill. She felt a snap in her ankle and suddenly felt a red-hot spike of pain traveling up her leg.
"Ahhh!" She tried to stand up, but putting any weight on her leg made it even worse. She reached for her walkie-talkie on her belt, but she couldn't find it, she must have lost it. "Chase!" Zoey screamed. "Ow." She gingerly felt her ankle, and it felt like it was pointed the wrong way. She must have broken it. "Chase!" She needed him, she always needed him, but now more than ever.
She glanced around wildly, the howling wind almost sounded like it was moaning and groaning with anger all around her, she couldn't see any sign of her friends anywhere. "Chase!" Zoey felt entirely helpless, she tried once again to stand up, but she couldn't make it more than two steps without screaming in pain. Where was he? "Chase! Chase!" She couldn't hear anything, and she couldn't walk, so she started to painfully drag herself forward, a few inches at a time, but with all the uneven ground she still didn't think she could actually go anywhere.
All she could do was keep screaming, and hope some of her friends heard her. "Chase! Quinn! Logan! Michael! Chase!"
Out of the darkness, Chase suddenly appeared, and Zoey had never felt so relieved in her life that she wasn't alone.
He knelt down beside her. "Come on let's go!" Chase shouted.
"I can't! I hurt my ankle!" Zoey yelled back.
Another gust of wind blew past this one sounding like a scream and they both saw the glowing green haze slowly traveling down the slope towards them.
"Don't worry Zoe, I got you!" Chase yelled, he put one arm behind her back and the other under her thighs and lifted her up.
"Ow Ow Ow Ow!" Zoey couldn't help grimacing in pain as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I'm sorry Zoe. But I don't want to find out what that thing is." Chase apologized.
"I'm fine, well not fine just go Chase!"
Chase started running as fast as possible, while still watching his step to make sure he didn't trip and fall either. Zoey just ducked her head down and tried to keep from crying out in pain as his every step jostled her ankle. She didn't want to distract him and make him fall.
After another 15 minutes of running, they finally made it back to the road to PCA, and the storm seemed to let up as quickly as it appeared. Chase set Zoey down to give himself a breather and she was gingerly feeling her ankle, it was definitely swollen and felt hot to the touch.
"Do you really think it could have been a ghost?" Zoey asked while Chase paced around and caught his breath.
"I don't know. I just never believed in all that stuff."
"Me either."
"There's gotta be some sort of explanation."
"A trick?"
"Come on, even Logan with his money can't create a huge thunder and lightning storm and that green cloud thing. Whatever that was. Anyway, it's over."
"Yeah. Ow." Zoey gingerly felt her ankle again.
"I've got to get you to the infirmary, get that ankle looked at." Chase knelt down beside her once again. "Arms around my neck." He reached out to take her in his arms again lifting her up as Zoey wrapped her hands over his neck.
As he stood up he groaned slightly.
"Don't groan when you lift me." She warned him.
"I'm not used to carrying humans in my arms for long distances." He shot back.
"Well, maybe you should go to a gym."
"Your ankle may be broken, but I'm glad your sass survived." Chase joked.
"Hey, I can still take you down. I've only ever lost a single wrestling match."
"Technically that's correct, but if I wanted I could just leave you here."
"I know you won't do that, I'm the light of your life." Zoey smiled.
"You got that right, I would never leave you alone in your time of need." Chase promised.
"Yep, you're my knight in shining armor." Zoey tried to keep the humor going, it was better than screaming in agony.
After another half hour of walking, they finally made it back to campus. Zoey felt beyond exhausted, and Chase was definitely panting, she would have felt bad if she wasn't so helpless herself. She really didn't know what she would ever do without him.
They made it to the entrance of the infirmary. "Sorry, Zoe, I promise you aren't heavy, but I need to set you down now." He panted out.
"Ow!" Zoey tried to keep her voice down, but she couldn't help whimpering in pain as he set her down.
"I'm sorry, just give me a minute." Chase panted, hands on his knees.
"Its not your fault Chase. How about I try just leaning on your shoulder, and keep my right foot off the ground?"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Chase finally got his breath back.
He helped her up again and she threw one arm over his shoulder, while he held her around her waist. They limped slowly towards the nurse's office, but by the time they made it, Zoey was feeling dizzy with pain.
"Hey, I got a girl with a broken ankle here." Chase said as they entered.
"Oh, crud. Call you later." The nurse hung up the phone. "Put her on that bed there." She pointed.
"Right." Chase led Zoey to the bed. "Almost there, pain is just in the mind. He said under his breath."
Zoey sat on the bed and pulled her legs up still grimacing with pain. Chase still hung over her, looking ready to help her out anyway he could, he reached out to take off her shoe.
"Don't touch it." Zoey ordered.
"Right, I'm stupid." Chase took a step back.
The nurse checked her out, quickly deciding that her ankle was indeed broken. She wrapped it up with a splint and bandages and packed some ice around it. She also gave Zoey some medicine to try to relieve the pain. "Now, just keep that ankle elevated, tomorrow we'll send you to the hospital to get a cast put on that. Just try to relax, eat some soup, and don't spit on the floor."
"Aww, she can't spit on the floor?" Chase whined.
"I don't like your brand of comedy." The nurse warned him, even though he caught the flash of a smile in Zoey's eyes.
"Understood."
"I'm gonna go nuke a burrito." The nurse left the room.
"So, pretty weird out there tonight." Chase started as Zoey took a few bites of soup.
"It couldn't have been a ghost. Could it?" Zoey asked him.
"If it was, it was definitely an angry ghost."
"I know, why?"
"Maybe Charles Galloway didn't like us messing around his place, you know the place he used to live before he… stopped living."
"Or maybe it was some kind of freaky weather thing."
"Yeah, we'll just go with that. Eat your soup." Chase suggested.
"Mmm. It's pretty good. You want some?" Zoey said after taking a few spoonfuls.
"I'm never one to pass up free soup. Lay it on me." Chase smiled, leaning over so Zoey could spoon some into his mouth.
"Delicious. How's your ankle feeling?"
"Still hurts like a there's a nail stabbing into it, but it's better than it was. Thanks for getting me back here Chase."
"Of course, I would never leave you behind. I promise you that."
"That didn't stop everyone else. Oh hey, we should call everyone to tell them we're alright, and make sure they're all OK."
"Got it." Chase walked over and grabbed the nurse's phone, "I'll call Michael and see how they're doing. You eat your soup."
"Yes Dr. Chase." Zoey laughed obediently taking another spoonful as Chase started to explain to Michael what was going on.
"Michael says everyone else is fine, they're all in the lounge waiting for us, but if we're gonna be here all night, they'll head to bed and meet us in the morning."
"I think that's fine." Zoey yawned and realized she felt exhausted. "Wait, you'll stay with me right?"
"You don't even need to ask, I'm not going anywhere Zoey." Chase sat back down in a chair beside Zoey's bed and checked the clock on the wall. "Oh, sorry Zoe, looks like your time with the ice is up for now." He gently grabbed the bags of ice and set them down in the sink.
"I hope that means you listened to everything the nurse said, because I was pretty distracted between the pain, and the medicine and the splinting, all I really heard is that it is broken."
"The basic gist is that we'll go to the hospital tomorrow morning to get a cast and X-rays. And you should be taking this pain medicine every four hours tonight. Don't worry I already set my watch. And ice for a maximum of twenty minutes at a time every 3-4 hours."
"Wow, I knew you were good at biology but I didn't know you were some medical nerd." Zoey smiled at him.
"Oh I'm not, I paid attention because its for you. I'm sure the nurse will be checking on you all night too, but I'm going to be right here, whatever you need." Chase promised, even reaching out to squeeze her hand in reassurance for a moment.
"And you said we would go to the hospital tomorrow right? You don't have to come with me. It will probably be pretty boring. And we have that econ test tomorrow. You aren't missing it for me." As Zoey kept talking her voice got blearier and blearier and her eyes steadily closed.
"You are more important to me than a test I'm going to fail anyway because I've spent the last 10 hours wandering around the middle of nowhere instead of studying."
"Um, can you grab me a blanket?" Zoey asked, her eyes already half-closed.
"You got it Zoey. Sweet Dreams."
"Goodnight Chase." Zoey relaxed as much as she could and thankfully she quickly drifted off to sleep.
Chase sat back down in the chair beside her. When he was sure she was asleep, he whispered. "Goodnight Zoey. I love you." He too drifted off to sleep.
But true to Chase's word he woke Zoey up every 4 hours to make sure she got her medicine on time and gave her a chance to ice her ankle. He did this twice and then both went back to sleep only waking when the nurse shook both of them to tell them it was time for Zoey to go to the hospital.
"Come on Ms. Brooks, Mr. Bender said he'd drive you over to the hospital."
"Alright, do you have crutches or a wheel chair or anything?" Zoey asked.
"Nope, I'm sorry honey."
"Don't worry, I got you." Chase walked over and once again lifted Zoey up and carried her out the door.
"You know I could get used to this." Zoey giggled against Chase's neck.
"I could too." Chase sighed under his breath.
"What?"
"I mean, you know, I'm your knight in shining armor right? I can't just abandon you. Plus you know, get my workout in."
"Hey!" Zoey playfully slapped his shoulder. "Lifting me is not a workout."
"Right, my mistake you are as light as a cloud." Chase reassured her.
"Chase! Zoey! There they are!" When they stepped out the doors of the infirmary, all their friends nearly ran into them.
"Zoey are you OK?" Lola asked.
"It's just a broken ankle, thankfully Chase found me and carried me back to campus. We're going to the hospital now to get an X-ray and a cast."
"Wait Chase carried you all the way back to campus? Stud!" Michael clapped him on the back, almost making him drop Zoey, and making them both hold each other tighter while Chase got his balance again.
"Ow!"
"Hey!" Chase shouted as he regained his balance.
"Sorry, my bad." Michael apologized. "So I'm assuming you're going with her?"
"Of course I am."
"Hey Zoey, where's your backpack?" Logan asked.
"I've got it on me." Chase said. He had both his and Zoey's backpacks on his shoulders.
"Can I see it?"
"Why?" Zoey asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Because I did something stupid, and then that freaky storm happened, and not that I believe in ghosts, because I don't but just in case…"
"Logan, what did you do?" Zoey asked.
"So you know how we found Charles Galloway's necklace?"
"Yeah." Everyone answered.
"And you told me to bury it again?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I didn't. I hid it in Zoey's backpack since Chase promised to frisk me and Quinn scanned me with her X-ray goggles. Which was not cool by the way."
"Logan!" Everyone yelled at him.
Logan ran around Chase and took the necklace out of Zoey's backpack. "There now all we have to do is take it back to Redstone Gulch before anything else insane happens."
"Fine, let's go." Zoey smiled determinably.
"Zoey, you aren't going anywhere near that place again with a broken ankle, and besides Mr. Bender is waiting for us." Chase reminded her.
"Oh alright, I guess you have a point. At least now we all know this is Logan's fault."
"Oh, I'll call Laife so he can lead us back there." Lola offered, already pulling out her phone.
"No! Let's just go now, we still have just enough time to take it back and get back here in time for our Econ test." Michael reminded everyone.
"Let's go!" Quinn ordered, "I checked the GPS data on the tracker I put in my backpack last night, and I made a map straight to Redstone Gulch. Let's go." The rest of the gang started sprinting away.
"Don't you want to go back there?" Zoey asked Chase as he walked slowly towards Mr. Bender's truck.
"I don't want to face another storm or insane ghost, and I don't want you to get hurt any worse. You need to see the doctor Zoe."
"Alright fine."
"Hey Chase, hey Zoey." Mr. Bender greeted them. "Owch Zoey, I heard what happened, are you feeling OK?"
"It's better than it was last night." Zoey said as Chase set her down in the front seat of the truck, she scooted over to the middle to make room for Chase to hop in.
"Now, I can take you there before school starts, but then I'll leave to teach my first classes. I'll come back during my prep period before lunch to pick you two back up if that's good with you?"
"That's great Mr. Bender, Chase and I will be fine on our own." Zoey agreed.
"Alright then."
True to his word, Mr. Bender walked them into the hospital and helped them get checked in and find a wheelchair for Zoey to use before he left to go back to PCA. When they were finally greeted by the doctor, Chase pushed Zoey into the exam room and stayed by her side throughout the whole process. Except when the doctor forced him to wait in the room while Zoey was getting X-rays and the actual cast put on.
Zoey hobbled back into the room on crutches, wearing a bright purple cast that reached just below her knee. When Chase saw he stood up quickly to help her sit down as the doctor gave her directions on everything she had to do, and what she could expect over the next 6 weeks she would have the cast on.
The doctor explained, "The main thing is take it easy, make sure you're getting plenty of calcium and take the medicine I prescribed to help deal with the pain, and of course make sure you don't get your cast wet. But I bet your boyfriend here will be more than willing to help you out with whatever you need right?"
Chase and Zoey both glanced at each other and then looked away, equally blushing scarlet. "Oh Chase isn't my boyfriend, we're just friends."
"Oh I'm sorry, I just assumed."
"Don't worry, but you did have one thing right, I will be helping Zoey with whatever she needs, in fact, could I have a copy of all her directions so I can make sure she follows them?" Chase said a little awkwardly, both were still avoiding looking at each other.
"Of course you can young man." The doctor smiled at them. "Well Zoey, you should be good to go now. You two take care of each other."
"Thanks Doc." Chase helped Zoey stand up again and followed close behind as she hobbled out of the doctor's office. Thankfully, she seemed to get the handle of using crutches pretty quickly. Chase was sure he would have fallen flat on his face three times by now if their roles were reversed.
Mr. Bender was standing by his truck and he and Chase both helped Zoey climb in the cab. Chase put her crutches in the bed and they drove back to PCA.
When they made it back Zoey and Chase went straight to Room 101 to take a break. Zoey sat down on her bed and put her foot on a pillow, while Chase checked the fridge. "Do you need anything Zoe?"
"Yeah, toss me a Blix."
Chase grabbed a Blix for Zoey and tossed it over to her and also grabbed one for himself. "So do you need anything else? Are you hungry, cold, in pain?"
"No more than normal Chase. I'm good. You know you don't have to do everything for me, no matter what the doctor said."
"That's cute that you think I won't. I promise, you aren't going to lift a finger until you're off those crutches."
"This is gonna be a long, 6 weeks." Zoey sighed, "but at least I know I'll have you around."
"Of course you do."
"Hey, do you want to be the first to sign my cast? At least that's one good thing that came out of this. I've never had a cast before." Zoey smiled as she tried to look on the positive side.
"Um, yeah, of course." Chase's eyes scanned the room until he found a black marker. "Do you care where I put it?"
"You deserve front and center since I would still be stuck out there without you, and so I can see your name easily, plus you definitely earned best friend status after last night."
"As you wish." Chase grinned, he kneeled to get closer and wrote his name in big, bold letters down her shin. There you go."
"Thanks Chase." Zoey smiled.
The door burst open and all their friends ran in excitedly. "Zoey you're back!" Lola screamed, both Quinn and Lola ran forward to hug her shoulders.
"Chase! You won't believe what just happened!" Michael yelled.
"Why are you guys so excited?" Zoey asked.
Logan began their tale, "So, we returned the necklace to Redstone Gulch right? And this time I promise I left it where we found it. So then we all sprinted back to campus to try to make it in time for Econ."
Then Lola interrupted. "But we were like 30 seconds late and Mr. Hodges was being super horrible to us and the whole class like usual and was about to give us our test that you know, none of us studied for."
Michael then joined in, "But then, this green mist appeared and spun Mr. Hodges around in a tornado and sent all his papers flying all over the room it was drippin!"
"So then Mr. Hodges cancelled the test and class for today!" Quinn finished and they all cheered.
"That sounds so great." Chase was smiling even wider now.
"Wow, nice cast." Lola finally noticed.
"Yep, Purple for PCA, Go Stingrays!"
"Wait a minute, No!" Logan shouted.
"What Logan?" Zoey asked.
"If you broke your ankle that means you can't play basketball! The team is gonna suck without you!" Logan noticed all his friends looking at him strangely for his outburst. "I mean, way to go Brooks, now it looks like I'm the only point guard so I'll get more playing time again, in fact I'm sure we'll be even better now that we're a boys only team again. Right guys?"
"Thanks for the concern Logan." Zoey said equally sarcastic, but she knew deep down he meant it.
"Awe! I wanted to be the first to sign your cast, of course Chase would beat me to it." Lola whined.
"Well Lola, here you go, you can be second." Chase tossed her the marker, but Michael intercepted it.
"Nope, its going to be me." Michael laughed and knelt down to sign the cast. Everyone else took a turn to sign it, arguing slightly over who got to be next.
They ordered sushi for lunch and all ate together in Room 101 to keep Zoey company, before everyone else had to leave for their next classes. Chase promised to take good notes for her and to call him if she needed anything.
Zoey spent most of afternoon sitting on her bed, doing what homework she could. She also called her parents to fill them in on the situation, and had to promise them she was mostly perfectly fine, and she had all her friends around to take care of her while she was healing.
Dustin stopped by to check on her and sign her cast as well. He also grabbed a few books that she needed that were lying around the room so she wouldn't have to get up before he had to leave again. After a few more hours of sitting alone in her room Chase knocked on her door and entered.
"I know you're probably already tired of this question, but how are you feeling?"
"Better now that you're here, I was starting to get bored out of my mind."
"Well, you didn't really miss much in math or English class, we just worked on our papers some more, and learned some stuff about binomials. Oh this was pretty funny, guess what Mr. Birkedal's favorite four letter F-word is?"
"Do I want to know? And I feel like whatever I guess is guaranteed to be wrong.
FOIL, its how you multiply binomials. Its First, Outside, Inside, Last."
"So did he use that joke?"
"Yeah, Michael and Logan both raised their hands to answer, but thankfully for everyone Mr. Birkedal called on Quinn."
"So can you teach me to FOIL?"
"Sure, then do you want to get dinner delivered from somewhere?"
"Yeah, I'd rather just eat here, we can save our first trip to the cafeteria for tomorrow." Zoey agreed.
"So what does the lady want?"
"We already had sushi today, so how about some tacos?"
"You got it." Chase pulled out his phone to order before he and Zoey started working on the math homework together, and later enjoyed their tacos. After they ate and did some more studying they put all their books away and watched a movie together on the couch in Zoey's room, joking and laughing the entire time, until it was finally curfew and Chase had to go back to his dorm.
"I'll see you tomorrow Zoey. Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm good Chase. See you tomorrow." Zoey smiled back as he walked out the door.
The next morning as the girls were getting ready for the day someone knocked on their door.
Lola walked over to open it and asked, "Chase! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help Zoey. Sorry, if I'm a little early, I just figured it was better to be early than late."
"Don't worry Chase, come in." Lola stepped aside and he walked over to the couch.
Zoey was fixing her hair in the mirror, but she turned and gave him a smile when she entered. "Good morning Chase."
"Morning Zoey. How's the ankle?"
"Still painful, but more annoyance level now. You know you don't need to do this."
"Yeah, but I want to."
"OK then, can you grab my backpack? And those two textbooks on my nightstand?"
"You got it Zoey." Chase walked over, grabbed the books, and threw the backpack over one shoulder.
Zoey hopped over to where she left her crutches, using the wall and her dresser as support, but that didn't stop Chase from jumping up and throwing his hand around her waist to hold her up.
"Chase, don't worry I can make it myself, it's only ten feet."
"Maybe you can, but you won't until you can use both your feet as long as I'm here." Chase promised.
Zoey grabbed her crutches and left the room with Chase right behind her.
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Chase asked as they walked through the lounge.
"Yeah, I had some biscuits and honey from Quinn. And Lola went and got me some grapes."
"Can I have some?"
"Sure, open wide." Zoey paused her walking and picked up a bunch of grapes and started tossing them one by one into Chase's mouth, she made every shot without a sweat. She may not be able to play basketball right now, but she could still throw grapes.
"So, ready for history?" Chase asked when he was finished chewing.
"Yep, we better get a move on," Zoey glanced at the clock, "we don't want to be late."
"I think you have a pretty good excuse, but don't worry, you have plenty of time."
"Let's just see how this goes, this will be the farthest I've had to go at once with the crutches."
"I know you got this." Chase said as they started walking to class.
When they made it to class, Chase pulled Zoey's chair out for her so she could sit down more easily and she shot him a grateful smile when he sat down next to her. And then when they left, he helped her stand up and of course, took her bag for her.
The rest of the school day went just like that, except for the two classes they didn't share, then Chase would walk with Zoey to her class, drop off her bag and help her into her chair before sprinting off down the halls to make it to his classroom in time. Zoey tried to ask Lola to take over his duties for him, but he refused, claiming he could handle it.
At lunch everyone sat down around their usual table, with Chase once again pulling out Zoey's chair for her. "What do you want for lunch Zoe?" He asked her.
"Hmm," Zoey thought for a moment, "can you get me a chicken sandwich and some fruit?"
"You got it. I'll be right back Zoe." Chase walked away.
"So Zoey, how's your ankle feeling?" Quinn asked, everyone else already had their own lunches and were starting to dig in.
"It's fine for now, actually I think it's time for me to take some more medicine, plus if I don't Chase will probably remind me anyway." Zoey chuckled to herself and fished the medicine out of her bag.
"Has he left you alone at all since you got hurt?" Michael asked, "I haven't seen him at all today unless he's with you."
"Well, yeah, we don't share every class, but he's been the best. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't been late to any of his stuff yet."
"So, now you know how I feel, it feels pretty nice to be waited on hand and foot right?" Logan asked.
"Chase is not waiting on me hand and foot." Zoey denied.
"Here you go Zoe." Chase set down her tray of food in front of her, and also set his own tray down right beside hers.
"Thank you Chase. And these grapes look really good."
"Yeah, I noticed they looked really fresh so I grabbed as many as I could. Did you take your medicine?"
"Yes, I just did, don't worry."
"Hmm." Logan smirked at Zoey.
"Alright, Chase thank you for being so awesome, but you don't need to do everything for me. I can do some things, or I'm sure everyone else wouldn't mind taking a turn."
"Speak for yourself, if Chase wants to be your nurse/butler let him, I'm out." Logan said.
"OK, everyone but Logan apparently." Zoey rolled her eyes, not that she wanted Logan's help of all people. He'd probably tell everyone they were dating again.
"No don't worry Zoey, I'm happy to help you out. Whatever you need." Chase insisted.
"Well, if Chase volunteers to go solo that's fine with me." Michael said.
"Yeah if he wants to let him." Lola said. Unnoticed by Zoey or Chase, Lola, Quinn and Michael sent knowing looks each other's way. "Besides you two spend all your time together anyway."
"Don't worry Zoey, I've got you covered." Chase promised, patting her hand before he turned to his food.
"Thanks Chase, but if I say I can do something, will you let me?"
"Only if it follows the doctor's directions, and matches the research I've been doing."
"What research?"
"Just seeing how long this will take, what you should and should be doing. Stuff like that."
"You know Zoey, I have been experimenting on medicine to accelerate bone healing, I just haven't had a human test subject yet. Would you—?"
Zoey held her hands up to stop her. "Sorry Quinn, but I'd rather just play it safe the old-fashioned way. Plus apparently, my nurse here isn't going to let me do anything not medically approved." Zoey playfully elbowed Chase beside her.
"Um, yeah, no untested experiments allowed on Zoey." Chase mumbled around the food in his mouth.
"OK, but when you start to go stir crazy from how long the healing process takes let me know."
"Don't worry, it will suck yeah, but I'm sure I'll be fine."
Four weeks had passed and Zoey was still in her cast. She was sitting in the lounge, studying with Chase, but she was having trouble focusing. "I hate my stupid leg." Zoey sighed.
"Why? I mean I can guess, but there's no reason to hate it." Chase tried to reassure her.
"This is just taking forever and I can't stand all this nothing I've been doing, You know I've loved everything you've been doing for me, and I would not be surviving without you. But I also hate being a burden for you."
"You will never be a burden Zoey. Only two more weeks right? I know you can make it. And since you obviously aren't in the mood for studying, let's do something else."
"Like what?" Zoey happily closed her textbook.
"We could have a race." Chase said.
"Very funny." Zoey grabbed a grape and bounced it off his forehead.
"I know I'm hilarious, please hold in your laughter." Chase said, entirely straight-faced and this managed to make Zoey giggle a bit. "There's that smile, so for real, let's play would you rather. Would you rather…fight a zombie or a werewolf?"
"Zombie obviously."
"Why?"
"Cause I can run away from a zombie, but a werewolf is probably as fast as a wolf. Well not right now, I'm equally helpless but if I was normal I would run away from a zombie no problem."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, but I think if it was an actual fight, I'd go against the werewolf."
"Why?"
"I was great with Elvis when we had him in our dorm. I bet I can train a werewolf as long as I have Milk Bones with me."
"So you aren't really gonna fight it? Super brave Chase."
"Well you aren't planning to fight a zombie either."
"OK then." Zoey playfully rolled her eyes. "Would you rather…?"
Zoey thought to herself, she was being totally honest when she said she wouldn't survive without Chase, as much as she hated relying on someone else for everything, she could never complain about Chase never leaving her side for the past month. When she did get in a depressed or angry mood, he always knew how to cheer her up again.
And he was always there to literally support her, often holding onto her waist or lightly holding her arm when she had to go up or down stairs, not even mentioning the whole journey back to PCA during that storm when she had never felt safer, even though she was freaked out and was in pain, she had enjoyed being in his arms, and hearing his heartbeat in her ear. She even sometimes reached out to hold onto him, just as much in the reassurance that he was there in addition to her excuse that she needed to keep her balance.
She always had a warm feeling in her chest whenever she saw Chase, he had been her best friend since day one, but over the past month they had been spending more time than ever together, and there were moments, that she could see him just watching her with a smile on his face out of the corner of her eye. But she also found herself studying him when he wasn't looking either. From his curly bush of a head to every angle of his face, and even down his body, he was always skinny, but Zoey knew now that he had some muscles hiding beneath his t-shirt. But then whenever Chase would glance back at her she would quickly turn away, hoping the heat in her cheeks wasn't noticeable.
One of the good and bad things about having a broken ankle was that Zoey had a lot of time to think, and more and more, she was thinking about Chase. Everything about him, and how nearly all her favorite memories involved him in some way. He always made her laugh, and they always helped each other through thick and thin. Even when they did fight, it was different than fighting with her other friends, like over Spring Break last year, or the dance in 8th grade, or the election, or the radio. There wasn't much that could divide them, and whenever they were Zoey couldn't sleep until they made up again. Or how both of them were always the first people they searched for when they needed help or advice, like when Zoey didn't know how to help Dustin without looking like she was helping him, or when Chase's Grandma died, and she stayed with him all night until he finally went to sleep. Too many times to count really, even before the past few weeks when Chase never left her side.
One idea kept circling in her head. Maybe I do like Chase as more than a friend. She had thought about it before, but she always convinced herself that they were only best friends, and there was no way Chase would see her that way even if she did. They were Chase and Zoey, best friends from the moment they met, and Zoey would never want to risk ruining that. That was one of the reasons she decided to go with Glen to the dance years ago. Even if she would have enjoyed her time more spending the night with Chase, the idea of going as his date would have been too weird.
But now, all those moments they caught each other staring, or when they held onto each other a bit tighter or longer than strictly necessary. For the first time Zoey really believed that maybe, just maybe Chase felt the same way she did, and she definitely felt something.
She made a promise to herself, she would wait the next two weeks when she got her cast off before doing anything, and she would try to pay attention and see if Lola and Quinn had been right at the beginning of the year. With all the drama Rebecca caused Zoey had denied it and shoved it in the back of her head. She wanted to be sure, before she did anything.
Two weeks later, the whole gang was at Sushi Rox, celebrating with Zoey that she finally got her cast off. She still had to wear a boot, but she could finally walk without crutches, and despite Chase's minor protests, she insisted she could carry her own backpack around campus again.
Everyone left the restaurant together, but Michael and Logan quickly split off to head to their dorm, and then Quinn's phone went off and she started freaking out that she was missing some important part of whatever experiment she was working on that day, so her and Lola started sprinting in the direction of their dorm.
"So, I know we'll be slower than those two, but do you care if we take our time? Hopefully, you can avoid any explosions or gas clouds." Chase suggested.
"Yeah, that will be good." Zoey answered back. They walked along in silence for a while and Zoey was quickly thinking to herself, her brain and heart going a million miles a minute. Should I? But if he doesn't, I don't know what I'd do. But Quinn and Lola sounded so sure at the beginning of the year, and he's been the best person on the planet while my ankle healed. And he did break up with Rebecca for me, but that was for our friendship. She suddenly couldn't look at Chase, she was terrified.
Chase tried making conversation with her, but she was so distracted by her own thoughts she had no idea what either of them were saying. About ten minutes later, they made it back to her door.
Chase finally asked her, "Are you feeling OK? You look like something's bothering you, is it still your ankle? I could have carried you again if it was hurting."
"No Chase it wasn't that." Zoey brushed her hair to the side in her nervousness. And she suddenly couldn't look Chase in the eye.
"What is it? you know you can tell me anything."
"I know. Look, I've been thinking a lot the past few weeks, and there's something I want to know, but I'm also scared of what the answer could be."
"OK? Is this for a class or something?" Chase asked, sounding confused.
"No, its not."
"Well, can I help?"
"Yes, you can." Zoey finally glanced up at Chase and saw his eyes were filled with emotion, he was always ready to do anything for her. She always knew that and that was when she realized, she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if she didn't take this chance.
Zoey walked two steps closer, so that they were almost nose to nose, only a few inches separating them. "Thank you for everything you have ever done for me Chase." She reached out and hugged him tightly, and soon Chase was hugging her back.
"It was my pleasure Zoey. You're my best friend."
"I know, and I know this might be stupid, but I need to do this."
"Do what?" Chase asked.
Zoey stretched her head up and captured his lips in a tender kiss. Her heart was pounding over her anxiety at what a massive mistake this might be, but everything disappeared when Chase started kissing her back. They moved in perfect harmony together, completely blind to the rest of the world around them.
They finally broke away after a few moments and both were smiling, and both were reading what they had been secretly and not so secretly hoping for since the day they first met. Absolute love and happiness in their best friend's eyes.
"I really like you Chase, and as more than a friend. Do you think we could go out sometime?"
"You don't even have to ask. I really like you too Zoe, from the first day we met, I've been dreaming of this day."
"You have?"
"Yeah, but I could never tell you because it could ruin our friendship."
"Yeah, I thought about that too, but all your help for the last month or so finally allowed me to see all of you, and broke the wall my heart was hiding behind. I love you Chase."
"I love you too Zoey."
So you've liked me from the first day we met?
"No, I've loved you from the first day we met. But like I said I was always scared. I'm happy you made the first move." Chase sighed.
"I am too if it means we can be together."
"We will always be together. We've been through everything over the past three years. So where do you want to go?"
"Let's worry about that later, 'cause right now I'm about to get a hundred I told you so's."
"What?"
Zoey smiled, and finally left Chase's arms, but still kept hold of one of his hands. She grabbed her key and opened the door, making Quinn and Lola fall to the floor where they had been eavesdropping behind the door.
"Ow! See Zoey we told you so!" Lola yelled.
"Alright, that's enough out of you. Goodnight Chase."
"Goodnight Zoey. I love you."
"I love you too." Zoey smiled and entered her room shutting the door behind her.
"See we told you so!" Both Quinn and Lola screamed in Zoey's ears.
"Fine you were right. Are you two trying to make me deaf?"
"So what made you finally realize?" Quinn asked.
"I know you've said I've been oblivious forever, but I do have to admit, the way Chase was mothering me for the past month, and the fact that we only left each other's side when we absolutely had to, made me finally realize my feelings, and made me brave enough to act on them." Zoey admitted.
"So, where's your first date?" Lola asked.
"We haven't decided yet. Now let me get ready for bed."
"You sure we don't need to call Chase?" Quinn joked.
"Hey changing my clothes was like the only thing he would let me do by myself." Zoey defended him. She pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed. She smiled when she checked her phone and had a text from Chase.
Goodnight Zoey, I'm going to bed, but for once my dreams won't be better than reality. I love you.
My dreams won't ever be amazing as you either. I love you Chase. Goodnight. Zoey texted back and then went to sleep with a smile on her face.