The Radio
Chase and Zoey were walking together through campus when Luke stopped them, pushing his cart full of packages.
"Hey Chase, I've been looking for you, I've got a package with your name on it." Luke smiled at them.
"Sweet it's here!" Chase excitedly signed his name on the pad and then grabbed the box.
"What'd you get?" Zoey asked.
"Well, when I was talking to my grandfather on the phone last week, I dropped a gentle suggestion that I might want the new GEO MP3 player, and now, what do you know? A package from Grandpa Joe."
"Wow, sneaky." Zoey smiled back at him and ruffled his hair.
"What me? I don't know what you're talking about." Chase feigned innocence and then walked over to a nearby bench to crack open the box. Zoey sat down beside him.
"You know this new GEO's got an eighty gig hard drive, and dual earbud ports so you can listen with a friend." Chase kept explaining as he opened up the package.
"So I can listen to music with you whenever I want?"
"Of course." Chase smiled back at her. "And…" Chase tore the tape off and dug through the box. "I don't understand what this is." Chase looked completely confused.
"Why?" Zoey asked.
Chase stuck his hands in and pulled out a few packing peanuts along with an ancient-looking orange radio or at least that was Zoey's best guess.
"An old radio?"
"Ahh, Grandpa." Chase groaned and blew off some of the dust.
Zoey peered into the box. "There's a note." She pulled it out and handed it over to Chase to read, so he traded the radio over for her to hold.
He started reading in a hilarious old man voice that Zoey couldn't help herself but giggle at. "Chase, when I was in high school, this was the radio I listened to every night. It was good enough for me, so it's good enough for you. Love Grandpa." Chase finished reading with a groan.
"Well, I think it's kind of cool looking," Zoey said.
"Cool, give me ten bucks, and it's yours."
"Hmm, let's see." Zoey handed the radio back over to Chase and dug through her backpack for a few moments. "How about five bucks…and a coupon for a free taco at the PCA cafeteria?" Zoey offered, waving the coupon in front of his face.
"Sold." Chase agreed without any hesitation.
"Your money, and your taco coupon." Zoey handed her payment over.
"Your prehistoric radio." Chase handed the radio back to Zoey with a smile. "Pleasure doing business with you," He glanced at the coupon. "Wait a minute, this coupon expires tonight!"
"Then you better go get your free taco," Zoey said.
"Hay Caramba!" Chase said and jumped up, likely heading to the cafeteria.
Zoey just smiled after him as he walked away. Then she looked down at the radio, sure it was old, but there was nothing wrong with vintage. She stood up too and headed back to her dorm room.
"Hey, guys what are you talking about?" Zoey asked as she walked in.
"Mark and Quinn have never kissed yet!" Lola announced.
"Get out! You guys have been dating for two years!" Zoey said in shock.
"It's none of your business!" Quinn defensively tried to change the subject.
"What's that?" Lola asked, finally noticing what was in Zoey's hands.
"A radio, I bought it from Chase." Zoey smiled happily.
"How old is that thing?" Lola grimaced, seems like she shared Chase's point of view on it.
"I don't know, I'm not sure." Zoey shrugged her shoulders.
"I'll check online," Quinn offered and ran to her computer, "What kind of radio is it?"
Zoey looked for a label, "It just says…Fada model 115."
Quinn started typing away, but Lola was still mostly focused on their previous topic. "He's never even tried to kiss you?"
"Hey, we're talking about radios now!" Quinn reminded her. "Ooh, here it is." Quinn smiled, "Fada radio model 115, also called the bullet, manufactured in 1941."
"Wow."
"Cool."
Quinn read some more, "made of an antique plastic called Catalin, this radio is extremely popular with collectors and very rare. Valued between TEN AND TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!" Quinn yelled, grabbing both Zoey and Lola's attention so they walked closer to see for themselves.
"Oh my god!" Zoey said.
"Seriously?" Lola asked.
"Look, it's what it says!"
Zoey read the website too, and everything Quinn had just said was true. "Woah."
"How much did you give Chase for it?" Lola asked her.
"Five bucks and a free taco."
"I hope it was a ten thousand dollar taco!" Lola smiled at her.
Zoey walked back to look at the radio some more while she got her thoughts in order. Now she felt bad. She knew she had to tell Chase about this.
"So what are you going to do with the cash?" Quinn asked her.
"I'm not going to sell it." Zoey shook her head.
"Smart," Quinn nodded, "hold on to it and in five years it will probably be worth fifty thousand."
Zoey shook her head, "No, I'm giving this back to Chase."
"Why?"
"Cause Chase is her friend." Lola supplied.
"But he sold it to you, a deal's a deal."
"But Chase didn't know what it was worth." Lola pointed out.
"Exactly, which is why I'm going to go tell him." Zoey walked out of the room.
"No! Zoey!" Quinn shouted after her before Lola derailed her attention.
"Not one kiss?"
"Stop it! And it's not like Mark is the slowest guy at PCA. Look at Chase, it's been three years and he still hasn't even told Zoey anything!"
"OK, we all know Chase is literally the absolute worst at making a move, comparing Mark to Chase isn't saying much. I mean somehow Mark is better than Chase in the romance department."
"That's because Mark is the sweetest, most handsome hunk at PCA." Quinn defended her boyfriend.
"Right, my bad." Lola agreed sarcastically, "but not a single kiss?"
Chase had just finished his shift at Sushi Rox and was walking back through the lounge over to Logan and Michael.
"Hey wait a sec is that radio really worth ten thousand bucks?" Michael shouted through the lounge.
"What radio is worth ten thousand bucks?" Chase asked him. Whatever it was, it was probably better than that piece of junk his grandpa had mailed him.
"Yours!" Logan shouted.
"What, you mean the one my grandfather gave me?" Chase asked, he was still confused.
"Uh-huh." Logan nodded.
"Well, Zoey doesn't know about this does she?" Chase asked, he wasn't sure what he was feeling right now, and he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.
"Oh, Zoey knows." Michael nodded his head confidently.
"Someone looks mad." Logan smiled at Chase.
"Well kind of, she gave me five bucks and a taco for it." Chase failed to keep the annoyance out of his voice, even though he tried to convince himself there must be some misunderstanding.
"Well, I hope it was a tasty taco," Michael said to him.
"So Zoey knows about this? What did she say?"
"Lola told us, and she said Zoey almost fainted when she found out," Logan informed him.
Chase checked his phone, and there weren't any messages or missed calls from Zoey, so it must not be very high priority for her to tell him about this. But she was Zoey, she would want to tell him about this, right? They were best friends. Chase had to go find her and get to the bottom of this. So trying and failing to ignore the hurt and anger bubbling up inside of him, he marched off to go find Zoey.
Chase marched into Room 101 to find Zoey doing a Pilates video with Stacey and Jeanie. Chase didn't really know how to interrupt them, so he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, making the three girls turn around.
"Hey?" Zoey waved to him, a bit confused.
"Why'd you turn off our Pilates video?" Stacey asked.
"Out." Chase sternly ordered, pointing at the door.
Jeanie and Stacey glanced back at Zoey for a moment before walking out. Zoey just shrugged her shoulders at them, she had no idea what made Chase so upset.
"What's going on?" Zoey asked him, she honestly didn't think she'd ever seen Chase this mad before. Had something happened? "Do you need something?"
"I want my radio back!" Chase demanded.
"Oh, you heard?" Zoey took a sip of water and smiled at him. She wasn't surprised Lola or Quinn must have told him. But it still didn't make much sense why he was angry instead of excited.
"Yeah, I heard, and I'm really surprised at you." Chase pointed at her accusingly.
"Why? What'd I do?"
"I sold you that radio for five bucks and a taco! And it wasn't even a good taco! It was mostly just limp lettuce!"
"What? You're mad at me for your limp lettuce?" Zoey tried to joke.
"No. I'm mad at you because you weren't going to tell me that radio was worth ten thousand dollars!"
"I was too going to tell you!" Zoey felt her own anger start to rise to the surface.
"Really? Cause you obviously found this out hours ago!"
"Yes, I did, and I also know it's Tuesday night, and you had to work! I wasn't going to try to track you down while you were delivering sushi!" Zoey yelled at him, but then stepped closer, her voice softening. "You're my best friend Chase, when I found out-"
"Yeah, I know Lola said you almost fainted when you found out." Chase rolled his eyes.
"Well, that's just Lola being dramatic as usual. When I found out, I felt guilty and I knew exactly what I was going to do with the radio."
"And…what was that?" Chase asked, his voice starting to soften as he calmed down.
"I am going to give it back to you. It wouldn't be right if I kept it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did, and I knew you would hate me if I tried."
"I could never hate you, Zoey," Chase said even softer, he took a small step closer to Zoey, closing the distance between them.
"I know, I'm sorry you didn't hear it from me first, but you have to believe me I was going to tell you when we go get breakfast tomorrow," Zoey promised.
"I'm sorry too." Chase sighed as he relaxed further, he tossed his sushi hat off his head and onto the ground. "Michael and Logan got me all riled up and made it sound like you weren't planning on giving it back. Not that that's any excuse. I shouldn't have worried, because you're my best friend too. I think that was one of the things that got me so mad, because I trust you with everything, so the idea that you'd break that trust over a stupid radio, really hurt."
"You're too important to me too Chase, I wouldn't let a radio get between us, whether it's worth five bucks and a taco, or ten thousand. You will always be more important to me."
"I agree wholeheartedly Zoey." Chase smiled down at her.
Zoey walked over, grabbed the radio, and held it out to him. "Here you go. It's yours."
"Thank you Zoey." Chase took it gently into his hands, his fingers dancing over hers for a moment. "You know what? I say we share it, and do you want to know what that means?"
"What Chase?"
"I say we come up with something fun to do or something fun to buy together, so we can both enjoy our good fortune."
"I think I could do that, but you don't have to. Seriously Chase, it's yours I don't want it anymore."
"Well too bad, you bought it, you still own half of it, it's only fair."
"Whatever you say then Chase. Thank you." Chase set the radio down on the bed and spread his arms wide. Zoey happily met him for a hug that they both melted into. Both of them thought no one gave better hugs than the other.
"So, you start thinking, and I'll start thinking, and we can start coming up with a plan tomorrow?"
"You bet Chase. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Zoey." Chase grabbed the radio and then walked out the door. He should have trusted Zoey from the start, of course, she wouldn't want to ruin their friendship over a stupid radio.
When he got back to his room, both of his roommates looked up at him.
"So, Zoey gave it back to you?" Michael asked, both of them zeroing in on the radio in his hands.
"Or did you have to take it from her? If I were her, I wouldn't have given it back." Logan promised.
"Of course she did, she's Zoey. She just knew I was busy tonight and so she was going to tell me tomorrow, it's no big deal."
"You really believe that? You're a sucker." Logan laughed at him.
"How am I sucker?" Chase set the radio down on his desk and went to the closet to change into his pj's.
"I'm just saying if Lola hadn't told us, and we hadn't told you, you would have never known. And Zoey could be ten thousand dollars richer right now."
"Except that Zoey would never do that. Even though I was mad and admittedly a bit of a jerk, she explained everything and handed it right over." Chase defended her.
"So Chase, what are you going to do now that you have Logan's allowance for a month?" Michael laughed.
Logan scoffed, "Please, it's only ten thousand dollars. How poor do you think I am?"
"I don't know, I told Zoey we'd come up with something either to buy or do together. So if you guys have any suggestions, I'm all ears." Chase said.
"Oh, I've got an idea."
"What is it Michael?"
"Option A, for Spring Break next semester, you could take all of your best friends on an awesome vacation. Or option B, and not to pat myself on the back, but I think you'll like option B even more."
"Just tell me what it is Michael." Chase laughed at his dramatics.
"You two could take a trip somewhere together, maybe over winter break since you two always act like you'll die if you don't see each other in person every single day."
"We don't act like that."
Michael rolled his eyes, "Sure you don't. But hear me out, you two take a trip somewhere, and when it's just the two of you, all alone, you'll have plenty of time to finally tell her everything."
"OK that's enough, I think you've eaten too many gummy worms today Michael. Besides we're both sixteen, where could we even go without an adult with us?"
"I don't know. You asked for ideas. Heck, do something with all of us, but we'll make sure you get plenty of alone time. Plus if it is over Christmas, you could get her a really nice present. Something that says how you really feel."
"There is no way I'd find something that's five thousand dollars and give it to Zoey. And there's also no way she would accept something that expensive."
"Well, you don't need to max out your budget on one thing." Michael rolled his eyes. "You're the one that asked for ideas."
"Whatever Michael, goodnight."
"Goodnight Chase."
"And Logan, you better not try anything."
"Please, why would I care about your pocket change?" Logan shot back before turning off the lights and climbing up onto his bunk to go to sleep.
Chase snuggled into his blankets while his thoughts raced, trying to think of something. Well besides a better mattress. He turned over both his own ideas and a few of Michael's but he didn't have any clear winners yet. He was sure Zoey would come up with something brilliant.
The next day at breakfast, Chase and Zoey met bright and early, just as happy to see each other as they always were. After they each grabbed a bowl of cereal and a plate of grapes, they sat down and also got right down to business.
"So Zoey, do you have any ideas about what we want to do with the money? Michael gave me a few suggestions but I didn't think any of them were real winners besides just going somewhere, or as he suggested, we take the whole gang somewhere."
"That could be fun." Zoey smiled, "Lola suggested that we should all go on a Hollywood tour, and Quinn suggested giving it to her so she could patent and start a company selling her zap watch and all her other Quinnventions.
"While Quinn usually suggests the smart thing to do, I say we do something fun with it. Do you want to go anywhere?" Chase asked her.
"I don't really know." Zoey shrugged her shoulders. "We'd have to wait for a break so we don't miss school of course."
"Of course, that would be the last thing we'd ever want to do. Missing school, the horror!" Chase groaned dramatically.
Zoey shook her head playfully at him, "I know, I know. Well for starters at least, we can go celebrate our newfound wealth. How about we take everyone to Vaccarro's? We can all dress up and rent a limo, and splurge on whatever we want."
"See, you always have great ideas. I think that sounds fun, and I'm sure the rest of our friends will be happy. I'm in."
"Good. How about Saturday night?"
"It's a date. I mean," Chase stopped himself. "I mean with all our friends, yeah. I'll tell the guys and you'll tell the girls?"
"You bet Chase." Zoey popped a few grapes in her mouth and then smiled. "Ready?"
"You bet, lay it on me." Chase opened his mouth wide and Zoey expertly tossed her last three grapes into Chase's mouth, and then Chase tossed his last three grapes to Zoey, who caught them just as easily. As long as they weren't in a rush and alone without the rest of their friends, that was how they always finished their breakfasts together.
"Oh, and wherever the radio is, I hope it's in a safe place."
"It's in my closet, and I certainly haven't told anyone else about it," Chase promised.
"Me neither beside Quinn and Lola. Ready for Psychology?" Zoey stood up from the table. "What do you think Mrs. Powers will have us learning about today?"
"I bet she'll make us reveal more secrets to each other." Chase laughed as he stood up to follow her.
"Ooh, do you have any more secrets?" Zoey asked.
"Um..." Yes. Chase froze for a moment. "While you know me better than anyone else, you don't know everything, yet."
"I don't do I? Any other embarrassing secrets you're hiding?" Zoey smiled up at him.
"Yeah, a few…" Chase muttered.
"Like what?"
"Did I ever tell you I once kissed a girl and she started vomiting?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I want to hear the exact story to that." Zoey teased him.
"No, trust me, you don't."
"Come on, please?" Zoey begged.
"Nope," Chase shook his head, but then he grinned, "only if you tell me how you got your cute little butt as a sunscreen logo."
"Oh no." Zoey started blushing scarlet, but she was still smiling. "No one is ever hearing any more of that story." They kept walking for a little bit, and Zoey raised her eyebrow in question, "Wait a minute, did you just call my butt cute?"
"Um…" now it was Chase's turn to blush cherry red. "Well, um yeah, I mean… it's um definitely not ugly, I mean. Not that I look at it, I mean. On the sunscreen bottle! I mean, yeah. I'm sorry. I, I, I'm going to stop talking."
"It's alright Chase," Zoey laughed at him. "I'm just messing with you. Come on let's get to class."
"Whatever you say Zoey." Chase mumbled, resolutely keeping careful control of his mouth the rest of the walk to class.
Saturday evening, Chase was standing in his room, dressed in a nice button-up, gray sports coat, khakis, and a tie. He was all ready for the night out with his friends, but speaking of which, he checked his watch again. It was about ten minutes before everyone was supposed to meet at the limo, but his roommates were nowhere to be seen.
Chase glanced at his phone again and was about to call Michael again when Logan and Michael walked through the door.
"Where were you guys? You know what, it doesn't matter." Chase shook his head. "More importantly, why aren't you dressed? We're all supposed to go to the limo soon!"
"No, you are heading out to the limo." Michael corrected Chase, patting some dust from his shoulders, "and you are looking absolutely Drippin!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well since you and Zoey still haven't decided anything, we all figured we'd make tonight worth your while."
"Again, I ask what you're talking about?"
"We all know you're slow when it comes to Zoey, but do we have to spell it out for you?" Logan asked, sounding annoyed.
"We aren't going, and neither are the other girls. So it will just be you and Zoey. In the nicest, most expensive restaurant in Malibu. You're welcome." Michael patted him on the back.
"No, seriously guys? Why?" Chase started whining.
"Because unlike you, we want you to tell Zoey everything," Michael informed him.
"I do want to tell Zoey, it's just-" Chase tried to defend himself.
"We know, it's never the perfect time, and you're scared for literally no reason." Michael rolled his eyes. "Look, obviously you don't have to do anything, but also you totally should."
"Michael." Chase whined.
"Just go enjoy yourself." Michael started pushing Chase out the door.
"What am I supposed to tell Zoey?"
"Just make something up."
"Tell her I have a hot date!" Logan yelled through the doorway.
"Good luck Chase." Michael closed the door after he shoved Chase into the hallway.
"Michael! Logan! This is not over!" Chase shouted.
He ran his hand through his bushy hair to calm himself. Forget what Michael said, it was just him and Zoey, just like it always was. They had gotten sushi together a thousand times before. this was precisely the same, just with a few more zeros added to the price tag.
Chase walked outside to the main parking lot to find Zoey already standing outside the limo in a beautiful gray dress.
"Hey, Zoey." Chase waved as he walked up to her. "You look great," he smiled brightly. Oh how much he wanted to say so much more but he couldn't.
"Hey Chase, you look great too, look I have some bad news. Lola apparently forgot about a rehearsal she has for drama tonight, and Quinn said she was in the middle of an important experiment and that she can't leave the science building all night. So, it looks like it's just me and you three."
Chase rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually about that, I've got some bad news too, apparently, Logan has a date."
"Who's it with this time?"
"Um…." Chase wracked his brain. "Mandy?"
"Make out Mandy? Of course, he's going out with her," Zoey rolled her eyes, "so where's Michael?"
"Um, he's…feeling kind of sick, stomach bug, he figured it would be a waste of our money if he vomited up the hundred dollar meal we were going to buy him."
"Oh no…So is it just us?" Zoey looked disheartened for a moment.
"Looks like it, unless you want to reschedule?" Chase asked her, feeling a twinge of fear that for some reason she already hated the idea of only being with him all night.
Zoey shook her head a moment later, "No, we don't have to do that. I mean, we already have the limo and we're both all dressed up. I say we go, just you and me. We always have the most fun just the two of us anyway." Zoey smiled brightly at him.
"You got that right Zoey." Chase smiled back. "So, shall we?" Chase held out his elbow to her in a gentlemanly manner.
"We shall." Zoey giggled, lacing her arm in his own. They walked to the limo, and the driver opened the door for them and soon they were on their way.
When they were seated at the restaurant they each started perusing the menus and Chase couldn't stop himself. "Oh my God!"
"What is it Chase?" Zoey glanced up at him.
"Sorry, I forgot for a minute how we're rich now." Chase laughed. "I almost had a panic attack there. I almost thought I'd have to wash dishes for the rest of the semester to be able to afford this stuff normally."
"I hear you. Good thing we don't have to worry. That collector we sold the radio to basically shoved his money in our hands."
"I don't think I've ever seen someone's eyes pop out of their head like that." Chase laughed. "And then my eyes popped out of my head, when he handed us all those bills, I thought you could only have stacks of money that big in the movies!"
"I know. So what are you gonna get?"
"I'm thinking lobster, when else I am I going to have an excuse to eat a hundred-dollar lobster?"
"Yeah, I was thinking that too. Wait do you think they'll make us pick our lobster?"
Chase shook his head. "Oh no way, I can't do that. That is way too much pressure."
"Me too." Zoey agreed, "If I had to see it swimming around first, there is no way I'd be able to eat it later."
"But do you want anything else? We can splurge you know."
"I don't know…actually, I feel like I've only ever heard of half of the sides on the menu." Zoey laughed, "all this stuff is so expensive, I have no clue how to even read this thing."
"Think all the other people around us have figured out we're actually poor high school students?"
"I don't think we're fooling anyone, but I don't care about anyone here but you."
"I know, I don't care about anyone here but you either," Chase promised.
After they ordered, they decided to pass the time the best way they knew how just because they were rich now, didn't mean they weren't still Chase and Zoey.
"So, Zoey, would you rather be trapped in Logan's haunted house for an hour, or spend fifteen minutes in a room with all of Quinn's pets?"
"And just how many pets are you including?"
Um, let's see…her bees, Herman the spider, Marvin the snake, Otis the llama, I mean Alpaca, and Buck the rat, and her guppies. Does she have any more pets?"
"God I hope not." Zoey shuddered. "Logan's haunted house, no question. Even though, I have probably slept in the same room with all of them since most of them I never knew about until they escaped."
Zoey shook her head, "Alright Chase, would you rather shave your head or grow a beard as bushy as your hair?"
"Hmm, now that's a tricky one. What do you think I should do?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Cause I want to know your opinion, I mean you'd be the one that actually has to look at it."
"Hmm, I'll say what I think you should do, but you choose first."
"OK, I would grow a beard, I mean obviously I'd look manly right?"
"I don't know about that." Zoey laughed.
"So?"
"So what?"
"Come on, what do you think I should do?"
"I, actually I don't know, 'cause you're my Fuzzyhead. But I also love seeing your laugh and smile. I don't know what to choose."
"Come on choose something at least." Chase kept needling her.
"Fine, I guess the beard, you'd look ridiculous either way, but as long as you're my Fuzzyhead, I suppose that's what I have to choose."
My Fuzzyhead? What does Zoey mean by that, and did she sort of just admit to liking my face? Chase thought to himself.
"Go on Chase it's your turn."
"Oh, right, um…would you rather…?"
"Here you are. I have two lobsters with your names on them." Their waiter set their plates down in front of them and gave Chase a bit more time to put his thoughts back in order.
"Thank you so much." Zoey smiled at him.
"Can I get you two anything?"
"No thanks, this looks great," Chase said.
"Wonderful, I hope you enjoy it."
"This sure looks good." Chase started grabbing his silverware.
"Yeah, do you know how to actually eat this thing? I've had tons of shrimp before, but nothing like this." Zoey admitted.
"Yeah, I've had crab plenty of times back home. I'll show you how we get cracking up in Baltimore." Chase promised her.
So, thanks to Chase's help, they quickly ate their fill of lobster, cheddar biscuits, and everything else on their plates, and like always constantly joking around with each other. But they weren't going to leave this once-in-a-lifetime meal without getting dessert.
"Here you go." Their waiter set their new plates in front of them. Zoey had ordered a decedent slice of chocolate mousse cake, and Chase had chosen tiramisu.
"Mmm." Zoey practically moaned in delight. "It's official, this is literally the most delicious thing I have ever eaten."
"Oh yeah? I bet mine can beat yours." Chase raised his eyebrow.
"Is that a challenge?"
"You bet." Chase smiled, he dug his fork into his dessert and held up a piece. "You ready to put your money where your mouth is?"
"Count on it, I'll bet you a hundred dollars that mine's better, but I won't knock it until I try it." Zoey leaned across the table and opened her mouth wide.
"You got yourself a deal, Zoe." Chase leaned himself closer, watching as her lips slowly closed over his fork and she began to chew thoughtfully for a few moments before swallowing with a smile.
"While it was good Chase, it's nowhere near my chocolate cake. But it's so good I'm not sharing."
"Come on not even for your Fuzzyhead?" Chase whined playfully.
"Alright." Zoey acquiesced, "but only because you're my best friend." Zoey grabbed a piece with her fork and held it out to Chase.
Chase closed his mouth for a moment to chew and once he started, he couldn't contain himself. "Mmmm." Once he swallowed, he immediately said. "You were right yours is so much better." He pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and slid it across the table to Zoey, who took it with a smile.
"See? I told you you should have gotten it."
"Can I have another bite? Please." Chase begged.
"No way, it's all mine." Zoey laughed at him, only half joking about that, and pulled her plate closer to her side of the table.
"Oh really, just how much is it worth to you?" Chase asked,
"Five bucks and a free taco?" Zoey asked and they both broke down in laughter.
When they were finally done eating and paid their bill, and oh boy, for a dinner for two, there was no way either of them could have ever dreamed of coming here if they didn't have their windfall paying their way.
When they walked out of the restaurant, Chase jokingly held out his arm to Zoey again, and both of them smiled as Zoey once again snaked her arm around his. They both hopped in the back of the limo and were soon back on their way back to PCA.
As they settled in on the comfy seat, even though they had plenty of room, neither of them moved away from the other. Zoey even rested her head against Chase's shoulder.
"This has been so much fun Chase. I know we planned to come with all our friends, but I think it was even more fun with just you." Zoey whispered softly.
"I totally agree Zoey. I guarantee if the whole gang came with us, someone would have been throwing those cheddar biscuits." Chase grinned at her and also felt the heat rise in his cheeks with her beautiful smile only a few inches away from his own.
"Yeah and I'd probably get lobster in my hair or something." Zoey giggled.
"I have a feeling you're right. Maybe we should do this again sometime? We have the money to do it now." Chase suggested.
"Maybe for a special occasion, but I think we should still come up with something big. I still have no idea what though."
"I'm sure we'll think of something together. We always work best together."
"Yeah, we do." Zoey nodded, and then yawned loudly, "Aaah. Sorry Chase, guess I'm kind of tired."
"It's cool. We've had an exciting week." Chase replied.
After drifting into silence for a few moments, Chase watched Zoey as she closed her eyes for a few seconds, and shifted a bit, almost like she was trying to snuggle even closer with him. Feeling her pressed against him, like they were connected, two parts of a whole. Chase thought silently to himself, he hadn't had any plans to act on Michael's suggestion before, but right now, he finally decided. He was always waiting for the perfect moment to make his move, but honestly, he didn't think anything could ever be more perfect than this.
In the few minutes that Chase was thinking things over to himself, he never looked away from Zoey, her eyes were half closed like she was about to fall asleep, and honestly, she had never looked cuter. Chase knew he could do this.
"Zoey," Chase whispered softly.
"What it is Chase?" Zoey turned her head to glance up at him.
"You had fun with me tonight, right?"
"Yeah, of course I did. I always have fun with you."
"I know. And I was wondering if we did this again, would you like it to be as something more than just the two friends hanging out?"
"What are you saying Chase?" Zoey looked confused.
Chase took a deep breath through his nose. "Zoey, I know this wasn't a date, but next time, or even if its just the next time we get sushi, would you go on a date with me? And I mean as more than friends."
"Hold on a minute." Zoey sat up straight and stared deep into his eyes. "Chase, are you saying you like-like me?"
"Yes, I do like like you Zoey, totally honest, even more than that. I've been in love with you since the day we met, but I could never tell you before." Chase looked away from her. "I was always waiting for the perfect moment, but I always got scared or interrupted, and I don't know if something told me it was finally here but…"
Zoey reached out to grab his hand. "You're right Chase," Zoey whispered back to him.
"What?" Chase glanced back up to meet her shining brown eyes.
"I think this moment is perfect too. This whole night has been perfect, just like it always is whenever I'm with you. I would be more than happy to go on a date with you. And do you want to know a secret?" Zoey smiled at him.
"Sure, what?" Chase asked excitedly.
"I like you too Chase, maybe even love you. Because you have always been the greatest guy I have ever met."
"I am?"
"Of course you are. Like I said, you're my Fuzzyhead."
"You got that right, I am all yours, and you're also right because this really did just become the most perfect night ever." Chase grinned even brighter.
"I can think of one more thing that can make it even more perfect," Zoey promised him.
"What is it Zoe?"
In answer, Zoey leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, Chase felt amazing, all the butterflies that were doing jumping jacks in his stomach settled, and instead, his heart felt lighter than air.
When they broke away, Chase smiled at Zoey. "You know, I really should tell my grandpa thank you."
"Why?" Zoey giggled.
"Cause this would never have happened if he hadn't sent me that dinosaur of a radio, this is so much better than a GEO."
"I better be." She warned him off with a glare.
"Oh you definitely are, you've been the best thing in my life ever since I ran into that flagpole." Chase reached out and hugged her tightly.
"Good answer." Zoey laughed and kissed him again. She broke away from Chase and smiled mischievously. "You know Chase, I think we have about ten minutes until we get back to campus..."
"And…?"
"I think I know a good way to pass the time."
"Oh, I get it, another game of would you rather?" Chase feigned innocently.
"Sure," Zoey rolled her eyes playfully at him, "Would you rather play would you rather? Or keep kissing me?"
"Hmm, that's a hard one. I hope the driver can't see or hear anything. Our would you rather's can get pretty wild." Chase tapped his chin thoughtfully for a few moments before he leaned forward to capture Zoey's lips with his own. Zoey was right, nothing would ever be as perfect as tonight.