A/N: Alrighty then... Here would be that last "update" I promised. It's not a chapter, technically. But you could kinda call it that. So... what is it you may ask? I'm sure you're not asking though, since the "chapter title" gave it away, but this is in fact the WHOLE story in one sitting. :) Now, if you ever want to come back to this story, you can go straight to this chapter and get the whole thing at once, without having to click 18 times... :P
-------------------------------------------------
Zoey walked over to the fountain, after being told that's where Chase had gone to. When she had arrived at the fountain, Zoey saw Chase sitting on the edge, and walked over to him. Zoey just looked at him.
"Uh, you want to sit down?" Chase asked her.
"Okay," Zoey replied to him, tossing her hair back as she sat.
Chase hesitated a little. "Look, the reason– the reason I took your tekmate...was that...I wrote a text message to Michael...and I sent it to you by mistake. And I had to get your tekmate away from you so I could erase the message before you read it." Chase let out a small sigh. "I tried to put it back, but you ran off, so I couldn't."
Zoey nodded slightly. "Okay."
"So...Do you believe me?"
"Should I not?"
"No, you– you should."
"Then I do."
"Okay."
"So...?"
"Don't ask."
"I'm asking."
"Zoey, seriously."
"What was the message you sent to me by mistake?" But Chase just looked at her. "Tell me."
"I'd really rather not tell ya."
"Why, was it mean?"
"Huh?"
"Did you say something mean about me?"
"No! God, no. It was nothing like that. I'd never say anything mean about you."
"Then what could you have written that was so important to hide from me? What was the message?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Yeah."
"You're sure."
"I really wanna know."
"Okay. The message was..."
When suddenly, a voice cried out, "You guys!!!" Their friends had shown up.
"Guys," Logan starts to tell them, "the show's starting in, like, 30 seconds!"
Michael then states, "And we're not lettin' you miss it."
"Can we just have a–" Zoey asks them, but got cut off short when they pulled both Chase and her back to the dorm lounge.
Just as they entered the room, they show had begun. Everyone clapped and cheered as the gang's names came up on the screen. In the corner of the room, where Chase was standing, he kept looking over to Zoey, thinking. Michael's voice entered his head, Just tell Zoey you love her. Finally he took out his tekmate, occasionally looking back up at Zoey, and wrote "The message was... I LOVE YOU." He hesisitated before finally pushing send. After sending it, with a slight look of regret on his face, he noticed something was missing. The pouch on Zoey's hip didn't have her tekmate in it.
As everyone continued to watch the show, Zoey's tekmate, sitting on the rim of the fountain, had been washed away into the water, where it seemed to have short circuited. With everyone hooked onto the show, the device just sat there for the rest of the evening.
The Next Morning
Jonathan was out early for his morning jog. On his round trip back to the Boy's Dorm, he stopped at the fountain to rest. He laid down on the edge as he started thinking how lucky Zoey, Nicole, Lola, Chase, Michael, and Logan were for getting on TV the previous day. Jonathan closed his eyes to rest and fell asleep for about 5 minutes. When he awoke, he checked his watch and got up to head back in. But as he did, something pink caught his eye. He turned to look at it and saw Zoey's tekmate at the bottom of the fountain water. Jonathan reached in to grab it, and shook it a little to dry when he surfaced it. I wonder who this belongs to. he thought. He pocketed it and finished his jog up to his room.
As he sat down on his bed, he took out the tekmate and flipped it on, to see if he could find out who it belonged to. When it loaded, he saw the name 'Zoey' on it's screen.
A few hours later...
Zoey sat on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The room was a mess. Zoey couldn't believe she lost her tekmate. Zoey had searched the whole room and couldn't find it. Maybe Chase took it again. Zoey thought, getting a little angry.
As she was about to go find Chase to ask him, the door knocked. Zoey answered it and found Jonathan at the door. "Hey Jon, you need something?" Zoey asked him.
"No, but I do have something for you. I believe this belongs to you." Jonathan tells her as he pulls the tekmate from his pocket.
Zoey looked at him curiously until she saw the tekmate in his hand. She smiled as she took it from him. "Wow, thank you." But she suddenly frowned, "You didn't steal it from me did you?" she asked, remembering Chase.
Jonathan was shocked a little at this. "N-no! I just found it in the fountain this morning. See, you can feel it's still a little wet."
Zoey smiled again. "Oh, alright then. Thank you." she said as she went to close the door.
"No problem." Jonathan assures her as he walks away.
Zoey walks back to her bed, glad that Chase didn't take it from her again. After she turns it on, Zoey notices she has a message. Unfortunately, before the message appears on the screen, Zoey's tekmate seems to instantly freeze up. Hey, stupid thing. What's wrong with you? she yells at the tiny machine in her head. She instantly turns it back off and on again, hoping it was just a small glitch. But now the device doesn't seem to want to even turn on now. Oh come on now, work for me. Zoey frowns.
Just then, the door knocks again. Zoey opens it to see Quinn in front of her. "Mornin' Zoey!" she says cheerfully. "Do you know where Nicole is?"
"Um...I think she's out in the lounge." Zoey tells her plainly.
"Is something the matter Zoey?" Quinn asks her.
"No, not really. Just my tekmate. It seems to be broken."
"Is that all? I could fix it for you." Quinn offers.
"Really? Well, I don't want to be a bother..." Zoey admits to her.
"That's okay Zoey. I offered didn't I?" Quinn takes the tekmate and runs off to her room.
Meanwhile, at the Boy's Dorm...
Up on the rooftop, Chase sat on one of the fold out chairs, doing some thinking. Well, I told Zoey how I feel. I wonder when she's going to come find me to tell me we can't be friends any longer. Maybe I should just avoid her for the rest of my life. That way she can never cancel our friendship. Chase slaps himself in the face. Stupid Chase, why did you have to tell her!
Michael then comes up to the rooftop and calls over to Chase. "Hey Chase! What are you doing up here?"
"Thinking," Chase tells him without even looking at him, still lost in thought.
Michael notices this, and asks him, "So did you tell Zoey yet?"
At the mention of Zoey's name, Chase looks at him. "Yes."
"And...?" he asks.
"'And' what?" Chase says, staring at him.
"What did she say?"
"I don't know," Chase admits. Michael looks at him confused. "I was about to tell her yesterday at the fountain, but then you guys dragged us inside to watch the show." Michael felt a little guilty when he told him this. "But during the middle of the show I sent Zoey a text message. But she didn't have her tekmate on her, so I don't even know if she's read it yet."
Michael nodded and said, "Well, I'm going to go down and get some breakfast. You want anything?"
Chase sighed, "No thanks."
After watching Michael head back down, Chase got up and looked out towards the horizon. Maybe I should just go tell her right now. He kicked the chair he was once sitting on. Why does this have to be so hard!?
At the Girl's lounge
Zoey entered the lounge and immediately took a seat on the couch. A few girls congratulated her again for being on television the day before. She thanked them as Nicole came over.
"Zoey, can I ask you a question?" she asked her.
"Sure Nicole, what's up?" Zoey responded, sitting up a little.
"Well, I was just wondering, what were you and Chase talking about at the fountain yesterday, before the show?"
Zoey widened her eyes a little. That's right, I forgot about that. I never did get my answer from him. "Do you remember, on the first event of the game we played, that Chase stole my tekmate away from me?" she questioned her.
"Yeah, he was cheating wasn't he?" her voice a little stern.
"That's what I thought, but that's what we were talking about. He told me why he took it." Zoey paused to think about the conversation. "Chase told me that the reason he took it was that he sent some text message to Michael, but accidentally sent it to me by mistake. He said he didn't have time to put it back after he took it to erase the message."
"Oh, well, at least he wasn't trying to cheat. That's the good thing. Besides, we won anyway. Though it was kinda weird that you won the aqua battle when you had lost the thingy." Nicole said, smiling cheerfully. "Any clue as to whatever the message he erased said?"
"Well, I did ask him. I wanted to know what was so important to hide from me. And I think he was about to tell me, but you guys dragged us in to watch the show. And I haven't seen him since then."
Just then, Quinn entered the room. "Zoey, I think it's going to be awhile before I can manage to get your tekmate up and running again." She said with a sad face and quickly left the room.
Nicole looked confused. "What happened to it?"
"Well, I believe it fell out of it's case, and fell into the fountain while I was talking to Chase yesterday. Jonathan came to our room a little earlier ago and returned it to me. He said he found it there. Oh, and uh...about our room..." Zoey said, chuckling nervously, "Sorry for the mess."
"Oh, so that's what he went passed here for." Nicole said, not noticing the comment about the room.
"I'm going to go get something to eat, I'll see you later Nicole." Zoey waved to her as she walked off.
At the tables
Zoey was headed for the tables when she saw Chase and Michael sitting at one of them. She greeted them as she took a seat. "Hey guys."
"Good morning." Michael told her, while Chase just sat there nervously.
"Why are you eating chips for breakfast?" Zoey asked Michael, having noticed his small container of chips.
"Hey, these are Quinn's chips. She finally managed to figure out the problem with them, and they are now completely healthy, with no weird side effects."
'Oh' was all Zoey could say as she looked at Chase, who wasn't looking at her.
Michael looked at them both and sighed. "Chase, are you going to tell her or not? Or do you already know Zoey?" he asked Chase, but then directing a question to Zoey.
"Tell me what?" Zoey asked, getting confused, while Chase just answered him with a 'No, not yet.' Is he talking about yesterday? Zoey questioned herself.
"Alright, fine! If you won't tell her, then I will!" Michael told him loudly. Chase bolted upright, eyes wide. "Zoey, you should know, that Chase–" but just then, Chase had quickly stood up, grabbed the container in front of Michael, and quickly ran off.
"What the..." Michael looked puzzled. But when he looked down, it hit him. "Hey! You little chip thief!" he shouted after him, getting up. "Come back here with my chips!" And he ran off after him, leaving Zoey all alone.
Wonder what that was all about. I should go find Chase. I want answers, and I want them now! With that, Zoey walked to the boy's dorm area, in hopes that she would find Chase there.
The Boy's Dorm area
Now that he had lured Michael away from Zoey, he ditched the chips by the door, and sat down on the couch. Michael grabbed his chips and headed to their room, glaring at Chase as he passed. Chase sighed. Well, I got through that one. I don't have to worry about Zoey knowing for a little bit longer. He looked out the window and turned a little pale. Zoey was walking towards the building. Chase got up and ran down the hallway towards the restroom, bumping into Logan on the way.
"Dude, watch where your going!" He said, a little mad.
"Sorry Logan," Chase said quickly, looking behind him. "If you see Zoey, you didn't see me, got it?"
"Yeah, whatever." he answered, as Chase ran into the restroom. Logan continued walking as Zoey came up to him.
"Have you seen Chase recently?" she asked him hopefully.
Logan smirked, "Yeah, he went into the washroom."
Zoey ran up to the door. Hoping Chase was the only person inside, she stepped in.
Chase was leaning against the bathroom stall when he heard the door open. His heart beated much faster when he heard his name called. "Chase?" He was trapped. He couldn't escape now. He waited as the slow foot steps came closer. Soon, Zoey's image appeared in front of Chase. "Chase, what's been the matter with you? You've been acting so strange."
"I can't tell you." Chase said, trying to keep his face straight.
"Why not? What could you be hiding that you can't tell me? I thought we could tell each other everything."
Chase sighed. He tried to look at Zoey eye to eye, but he couldn't find the strength to look at her. "Have...have you looked at your tekmate lately?"
"Huh?" Zoey blinked. "No, don't change the subject!"
"Just...answer the question." he said, looking at the floor.
"Well, no. It's broken right now. It fell in the fountain when we were talking yesterday. But Quinn's working on it as we speak. Though she said it will be awhile before it should work again. But what does that have to do with anything?"
Chase sighed again. "I sent you a text message...that should explain everything. So– so when she finishes working on it, you can read it."
Zoey grabbed Chase's face with both of her hands, making him look directly at her now. "Why can't you just tell me right now?"
"I just can't right now!" he yelled, rather loudly at her, and ran out of the restroom, leaving her with her thoughts.
Zoey just stood there, in the empty bathroom, a single tear falling on her face, thinking about Chase, and how he had yelled at her. She went to a stall door, opening it, and went inside, forgetting the fact that she was still inside a guy's restroom. She put both lids on the toilet down after locking the stall door, and sat. (A/N: Please note, she is sitting, not going to the bathroom. Thank you) Zoey covered her face in her hands, and started to cry a little.
The Boys' Room
Chase opened the door to his room, and saw Michael was sitting on his bed.
"You better not be in here to take my chips again." Michael warned him, as Chase went to his own bed.
"Look, I'm just not in the mood right now, alright?" Chase told him.
"Now what is it?" he asked.
Chase sighed, "I just yelled at Zoey. I feel horrible about it." He punched his pillow.
Michael put aside his chips and got up. "Well what happened? That's not like you to yell, especially at Zoey."
"Well, apparently, Logan can't keep quiet. And he told Zoey that I was in the bathroom, after I asked him to not tell her. And so, she came in, and trapped me in a corner. Basically, she asked me why I have been acting "so strange", and that–" Michael cut him off.
"It's true, you have been acting weird." he told him.
"Have not!" Chase argued back.
"Yes you have!"
"I have not! Now, back to what I was saying..." Chase said, trying to end the small argument. "So anyway, I asked her if she has looked at her tekmate recently, but she said it was broken."
"Okay..." Michael said as he nodded.
"She told me Quinn is working on it right now, so it should be working again soon. I just told Zoey that when it's working again, that she can read that text message I sent her yesterday, and that it would explain everything."
"So where does you yelling come into play?" he asked, a little confused.
Chase looked down at the floor, still ashamed of what he had done. "Well, she didn't want to read it, she wanted me to tell her." Chase paused. "And I guess I got a little angry, and it got the best of me. Then I left and came here." Michael kept quiet, while Chase looked over at the clock. It wasn't even noon yet.
Later that night, at the girls' room.
Nicole entered the room. She had just gotten back from Sushi Rox. "Oh man, there were soooo many cute guys at Sushi Rox tonight. I'm soooo glad I went."
Lola looked up at her as Nicole slipped her shoes off. "Where's Zoey?"
"Isn't she in here?" Nicole questioned.
"No. I thought she was with you this whole time."
"I thought she was here!" Nicole said, starting to worry a little. "It's getting a little late. Maybe we should go look for her."
"She's a big girl, she can get back here on her own." Insisted Lola, since she did not feel like leaving the dorm.
"Okay, well I'm going to go look for her. She's not usually out so late." Nicole put her shoes back on and left the room. Except I have no idea where to look. I'll go ask the guys. Maybe they can help. With that, she headed down to the boy's dorms.
The Boys' Room
In the room, the guys were doing there usual late night activities. Chase was on his bed, lost in thought, while Michael ate his healthy chips. Logan, of course, was talking to himself in the mirror. When the door knocked, Michael got up to answer it. The door opened to see a worried looking Nicole. "Hey Nicole. Is something wrong?"
"Yes," she answered, " I haven't see Zoey all day. And she's not back at our room. And she's usually not one to be late. Have you guys seen her?"
"Maybe she's been trying to sneak into our room so that she could see me." Logan boasted proudly.
Michael threw a pillow at him. "Your so full of yourself. No, we haven't see her either."
"Maybe she got lost somewhere." Nicole said, looking sad. Michael gave Chase a look. Chase got up and went over to Nicole.
"Nicole, I'll go look for her, you go back to your room. I'll send her there when I find her."
"No! I'm coming with you. She's my friend too." But Chase wouldn't let her go. He had to go by himself.
Finally after five minutes of arguing, Nicole let Chase go alone, and she started to walk back to her dorm. But she stopped at the corner and looked back. She saw Chase walking in the opposite direction. Nicole turned around and followed him. When he arrived at the bathroom door, he stopped to take a deep breath. Nicole quietly ran up to the door and opened it a crack, so she could listen. "Zoey?" she heard him call. Why would Zoey be in the boy's restroom? But her thoughts were cut short when she heard Zoey's voice.
"What do you want Chase?" she asked slowly.
"Have you been in here all day?" Chase asked, feeling guilty.
Zoey just sniffled. Chase was carefully opening each stall door until he hit the last one, which was still locked.
"Look Zoe, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to yell at you like that. I just, sorta...lost it. So can you come out here?"
Nicole almost gasped out loud, shocked to hear Chase yelled at Zoey, but covered her mouth in time.
"Well it's not just that," Zoey started telling Chase, "it's also the fact that you don't trust me. Why else would you hide that from me?" She unlocked the stall door and opened it.
"I told you, you can find out everything when you read that message I sent you." Chase told her.
"But what if she can't fix it, are you just going to not tell me?"
Chase held his breath for a moment, and finally let it out. "If she can't fix it, I'll tell you."
"Promise?" she asked, looking into his eyes.
"Yes." Chase assured her. And she went in to hug him. Chase could smell the shampoo off her hair. "You should head back to your dorm now, your roommates are worried about you."
Nicole took that as her cue to leave, and quickly headed to her room, thinking about what she had just overheard.
Chase walked Zoey outside, and waved goodnight. He headed back to his room and saw his roommates were both asleep. He slipped into bed, and fell asleep almost instantly.
Nicole rushed through the halls to quickly get to her room. When she finally reached the door she went inside. "Zoey's coming. Pretend like I've been here the whole time." She told Lola.
Lola was really confused. "Why?"
Nicole was slightly out of breath. "I'll tell you later. That is, if Zoey doesn't tell us when she gets here." Just as she finished the sentence, the door opened, and Zoey walked inside. "Oh, hey Zoe!" Nicole greeted her, trying to sound perky.
"Where have you been all day?" Lola asked her, as Zoey walked from the door to her bed.
"Uh..." Zoey started, but paused to think. Should I really do it...? "Sorry, I was just taking a long walk. And I lost track of the time." Zoey didn't look at either of them as she said this. She felt a knot in her stomach.
Nicole frowned at her. I can't believe Zoey just lied. Zoey hopped into bed and didn't say another word.
The Next Afternoon
Quinn heard a knock on her door. She opened it and saw Zoey standing there. "Hello Zoey. Can I help you with something?"
"Hi Quinn. I was just wondering...if you managed to fix my tekmate yet. There's something I need it for." She asked her, walking inside Quinn's laboratory of a room.
"Well, I have good news, and bad news." Quinn told her. "The bad news is it's not done just yet. The good news is, it shouldn't take that much longer to fix it. I found one of my old quinnventions, and it's speeding up the process to repair it. It should be ready by tomorrow, maybe even tonight, I'm not sure."
"But it was just water. How could it take so long?" Zoey asked, just wanting to get her hands on the tekmate.
"You'd be surprised at what water can do." Quinn said, returning to her work.
Zoey sighed, and left the room.
The Boys' Room
"Michael..." Chase started, after Logan left to take a shower. "Look, Zoey is going to find out I love her really soon. So– so could you not tell her?"
"Alright, I'll trust you for that. But she has till next week to find out, or I WILL tell her myself." Michael answered, with a sly smile on his face.
"Gee, thanks." Chase said, rolling his eyes.
The Girls' Room
"So..." Lola said to Nicole, while Zoey was still at Quinn's. "What exactly was up last night? I went along with what you wanted me to do, but I don't get it."
"Well...you remember where Zoey 'said' she was?" Nicole asked her, not really sure herself.
"Yeah, she said she was walking." answered Lola.
"Well she wasn't. That was a lie." Lola's jaw dropped slightly. "She was in the bathroom at the boy's dorm all day."
"Okay, eww!" Lola shouted. Nicole agreed with her. "Why was she there?"
"Well, I followed Chase to the bathroom, and that's where she was. I kept the door open a crack to listen. I found out that Chase yelled at her, so she locked herself up in the bathroom all day." Nicole thought if she should tell Lola what she heard about the tekmate, but decided against it. "And that was it..."
Lola wasn't sure if she believed her, but agreed anyway.
In Dustin's room, few hours later
Dustin was knocked out cold after the extra energy given to him by Quinn's new energy drink, 'Frazz' wore out. He had been out for over 24 hours. But now, he has woken up. He opened his eyes and saw it was dark, really dark.. He wondered where he was. As he sat upright, he saw the light return, and found the darkness was just his bed covers over his head. He got up and changed and went to go find Zoey, his big sister.
He found Zoey sitting at a table with Nicole and Lola, with Nicole chattering about some guy she saw awhile ago. He noticed Zoey was being unusually quiet, and walked over.
"Hey kiddo, your finally up now." Zoey said, seeing Dustin up now.
"Yeah little guy, you were out pretty good." Nicole said quickly.
"Yep, you've been asleep for 6 months." Lola smiled.
Dustin's eyes went wide, "6 months!?"
"Lola! Don't scare the boy. Dustin, you were only out for a day." Zoey assured him.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. It was another chance for me to act." she said told her, laughing.
"So have I missed anything?" Dustin asked his sister.
"No...you haven't missed anything." Zoey told him.
As Dustin walked away, Nicole's tekmate beeped. She opened it up and looked at it. "Zoey...Quinn wants to see you." Zoey immediately got up and ran off to Quinn's.
Quinn's door knocked and she went to open it. "Hey Zoey. I finally fixed it for you. Sorry it took so long."
"That's alright," Zoey thanked her, "Thanks a lot Quinn. I'm glad it's fixed now."
"No problem. You know, I actually would have called you sooner. I sent you a text message to come pick it up, but about 10 minutes later, I realized that weren't coming. Since I still had the tekmate, you couldn't have gotten the message. So I sent another one to Nicole. So you'll probably have a message on there from me. You can just ignore it."
"Alright. Thanks again Quinn. I'll see you later." Zoey said as she waved good bye. She was eager to read the message Chase told her about, and finally see what all this craziness had been about. She ran to room where she knew she would have some privacy. When she reached the room, she went over to her bed and sat. She took a deep breath and turned it on. It works! She thought with a smile. When it loaded she saw she had 2 new messages. She first opened the one from Quinn and erased it.
The next message said it was from Chase. She looked at it for a moment, took another breath, and opened it.
The message appeared on the screen. Before Zoey read it, she looked up. Could this message really explain why Chase has been acting funny? I can't see how he couldn't tell me directly. (A/N: I have to side with Chase on that, telling them directly is reeeeally hard, trust me, I know.) But before Zoey was about to look back down to read the message, she heard a scream. She dropped the tekmate, with message still showing on her bed and ran out to the lounge. Zoey bumped into Nicole first, "What's going on? Why is everyone yelling?"
"There's a rat in here!" Nicole told her, over random girl's screams, freaked out.
Being the nice person that she was, Zoey went in to try and help the girls with their rat problem, while Nicole went in the other direction to her room. When she closed the door, she could still hear various yells from girls in the lounge. Nicole looked around the room, and saw she was alone. She went to go sit down when she saw the tekmate on Zoey's bed. She remembered the conversation she had the other day.
-FLASHBACK-
"Zoey, can I ask you a question?" she asked her.
"Sure Nicole, what's up?" Zoey responded, sitting up a little.
"Well, I was just wondering, what were you and Chase talking about at the fountain yesterday, before the show?"
Zoey widened her eyes a little. That's right, I forgot about that. I never did get my answer from him. "Do you remember, on the first event of the game we played, that Chase stole my tekmate away from me?" she questioned her.
"Yeah, he was cheating wasn't he?" her voice a little stern.
"That's what I thought, but that's what we were talking about. He told me why he took it." Zoey paused to think about the conversation. "Chase told me that the reason he took it was that he sent some text message to Michael, but accidentally sent it to me by mistake. He said he didn't have time to put it back after he took it to erase the message."
"Oh, well, at least he wasn't trying to cheat. That's the good thing. Besides, we won anyway. Though it was kinda weird that you won the aqua battle when you had lost the thingy." Nicole said, smiling cheerfully. "Any clue as to whatever the message he erased said?"
"Well, I did ask him. I wanted to know what was so important to hide from me. And I think he was about to tell me, but you guys dragged us in to watch the show. And I haven't seen him since then."
Just then, Quinn entered the room. "Zoey, I think it's going to be awhile before I can manage to get your tekmate up and running again." She said with a sad face and quickly left the room.
Nicole looked confused. "What happened to it?"
"Well, I believe it fell out of it's case, and fell into the fountain while I was talking to Chase yesterday."
-END FLASHBACK-
Nicole sat down on Zoey's bed, next to the tekmate, but didn't look at it. That must have been what Quinn wanted. To give Zoey back her tekmate now that she fixed it. Nicole knew that Quinn must have been the one to fix it, after the conversation she heard in the bathroom just last night.
-FLASHBACK-
"Look Zoe, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to yell at you like that. I just, sorta...lost it. So can you come out here?"
Nicole almost gasped out loud, shocked to hear Chase yelled at Zoey, but covered her mouth in time.
"Well it's not just that," Zoey started telling Chase, "it's also the fact that you don't trust me. Why else would you hide that from me?" She unlocked the stall door and opened it.
"I told you, you can find out everything when you read that message I sent you." Chase told her.
"But what if she can't fix it, are you just going to not tell me?"
Chase held his breath for a moment, and finally let it out. "If she can't fix it, I'll tell you."
"Promise?" she asked.
"Yes." Chase assured her.
-END FLASHBACK-
Nicole had the strongest urge to read the message. The message that, apparently, was really important to the both of her friends. She started to get confused. How could these little things be so confusing. She thought, referring to the tekmates.
Nicole wanted to respect her friends' privacy, but her curiosity got the best of her, and she looked down at the device to read message Chase had been talking about. She was shocked to find that the message was already loaded on the screen. Nicole looked up really quick to make sure she was alone, and no one would walk in on her. When she was sure it was safe, she quickly looked back down again, and started to read the short message. Nicole jumped up, eyes wide, after she read it. She wasn't sure of what she just read. It couldn't be... She looked at the message again and re-read it, all six words. She jumped again and squealed loudly. I knew it! Oh, I hope she feels the same.
Nicole then wondered if Zoey had already read the message. She did see it already open when she got there. The screams outside the room were still going. Maybe, she opened it, but when the rat showed up, she ran outside to see what was going on. It didn't really look like she had read it. I should leave it right where I found it. She thought with a smile on her face. When she placed it back on the bed, her thumb slipped, and accidentally pushed a button. She looked at it's screen, which had now changed. 'Message Erased' "What!?" She screamed, "No! Don't erase! Undo, undo!" She frantically pushed buttons and tried to see if she could bring the message back. Fortunately for her, the device could bring back any recently deleted messages. Nicole let out a heavy sigh of relief, and placed it back on the bed.
Few Hours Later
The girls had no luck with getting the rat out of the lounge. So they asked the guys to try and do it. They didn't have much luck as well. So they all asked Dean Rivers to call some professionals to get rid of it. Eventually they came and quickly got the rat out. It was night time by the time Zoey and Lola could enter their room again. They saw Nicole already inside reading a magazine.
"Hey guys!" she greeted. "Is that rat gone now?"
"Yeah, took a long time though. We couldn't get it out, so we asked for the guys' help. Chase and Michael tried their best, but of course Logan wouldn't help at all...jerk." Zoey told her, exhausted. "So, we asked Dean Rivers to call for help, and eventually they came. They got it out pretty fast too." She and Lola were tired, so they went to bed. Zoey even left her tekmate turned on, on her bed, without looking at it.
The Next Morning
Nicole woke up early. She had a lot on her mind. Zoey and Lola were still asleep. Nicole looked over at Zoey, and saw the tekmate still on her bed. She hoped the message was still there. She was pretty sure she had brought the message back. Nicole didn't want to cause anymore arguing between Zoey and Chase. After getting dressed, she walked out to get an early breakfast.
About 10 minutes after Nicole left the room, Zoey had woken up. She sat up in a daze. Clearing the sleep out of her eye, she shifted her legs underneath her bed covers, and felt a small bump. She looked at the foot of her bed, and saw her tekmate, which was turned off.
Zoey grabbed it and turned it on. It immediately flashed 'low battery power'. She frowned at it, but then got up to attach it to the charger to charge. I must be unlucky. She thought sadly. When she got dressed, she noticed there was only one other person in the room. Nicole was gone. Zoey glanced at the clock, which read 6:32 A.M. Nicole isn't usually such an early riser, I wonder what's up. She left the room to go find Nicole. When Zoey reached the lounge, she saw Nicole watching the television. "Mornin' Nicole." Zoey said, sitting down next to her.
"Good morning," Nicole greeted back.
"So, what are you doing up so soon?" Zoey asked her.
"I– uh...just couldn't sleep. So I just came out here to watch t.v. What about you?" Nicole told her.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep either..."
"So...did Chase ever tell you what that one message he stole your tekmate for said?" she asked Zoey, trying to see if she read the message yet.
"No, not yet. But he told me to look at my tekmate, and that he sent me a message, that would explain everything."
"And did you?" Nicole asked, getting hopeful.
"Well– yes...and no." Zoey answered, with Nicole looking confused. "I turned my tekmate on this morning, but it said the battery was low, and wouldn't work. So I have it recharging right now."
Nicole nodded at her, and looked back at the television. At least she will find out later on today, I hope.
Down by the Beach
Chase was sitting in the sand, looking out into the water. He mind was still thinking about Zoey. He thought it was strange that she hadn't read the message yet. Usually Quinn doesn't take this long to fix things. Chase laid his head down onto the sand, and closed his eyes. The sound of the water was very soothing to him. He almost fell asleep when suddenly a wave of water crashed over him. He quickly straightened up, coughing the salt-water of his mouth that had snuck inside. He got up, soaked in water, and tried to clear the water off of his face and eyes. When he opened his eyes, he saw a blurry figure walking over him. He rubbed his eyes again, and soon the blur revealed itself as it came closer towards him.
"Hello Chase," it's voice said.
"Um..." Chase tried to respond. "Hi Zoey."
"I–uh..." she started saying, "Wait, why are you all wet?"
He laughed a little. "The water kinda caught me by surprise..."
"Oh...Okay then." Zoey stated weakly. "Well...I– I uh, read the message. The one you wanted me to read..."
Chase gulped slightly. "R– really?"
"Yes. I did. And it was really sweet of you to say that." she told him. Chase started to form a small smile on his face. "But..." The smile on him now completely vanished. "I...just don't like you the same way. I'm sorry. And...well..." Zoey trailed off in mid-sentence, and she looked out towards the water, and not at Chase.
Chase was just standing there. He was heartbroken. Chase just felt like dying, right there and then. He couldn't find any words to say, and his knees felt weak.
Zoey turned back to him, but still not looking directly at him. "I'm sorry, I– I don't think we should see each other anymore. Good bye Chase." With that, she turned around and ran off as fast as she could.
Chase could feel the tears in his eyes. He almost didn't say a word, but then finally managed to shout at her, "Wait! Zoey! Come back, Zoey! Please! Don't go! No...don't go...please... No."
Everything went black as he dropped to the ground. Chase couldn't see anything, but he was surrounded by something soft. He struggled and kicked his way out, while shouting, "No! Zoey, don't go! Come back Zoey!" When he finally saw light, he saw the faces of Michael and Logan.
"Dude, it's seven in the morning. Why do you have to yell?" Logan asked impatiently.
"W– what...?" Chase asked, looking around. He was in his dorm room, on top of his bed covers, but not on his bed. He was on the floor next to his bed. "Oh thank god! It was just a dream."
"That's all?" Logan asked, upset. He climbed back into his own bed. "Don't wake me up again!"
Michael glared at him, and gave Chase a hand up. Chase was shaking a little as he got up. "So what happened?" he asked.
Chase didn't respond right away. He stood there to catch his breath first. When he did, he finally told his friend what happened in his nightmare. "Well, I was sitting on the beach, thinking of when Zoey was going to read the message I sent her. I sat back in the sand, and closed my eyes. Next thing I knew, a rather large wave crashes on me, and I'm all wet. I got up to wipe myself off, and there was Zoey, standing right by me." Chase paused, and took a small breath. "She...told me she read the message. I thought she was going to say she had the same feelings for me, but she told me she didn't. She told me she didn't want to see me ever again, and ran off!"
"Man, you've got it bad." Michael said to him, shaking his head. "But hey, that was just a dream. That doesn't mean she wont feel the same here in the real world."
"No. This dream was probably a sign. To warn me of what she's going to tell me when she finds out." Chase told him, now getting dressed.
"Man, why are you so doubtful. I'm she will feel the same way. I mean, it's like you two were made for each other." When Chase finished dressing, he headed for the door. "And where are you going so early?"
"I have to go ask Quinn something." He said, opening the door and leaving. He left Michael in the room confused. Chase made up his mind. He was going to see if he could get to the message before Zoey did. Chase quickened his pace to the girls' dorm. When he reached the door, he looked inside and only saw two people inside the lounge. Unfortunately, one of them was Zoey. She and Nicole were on the couch watching the television. Normally he could probably have just walked in, but now...now he wasn't sure. He didn't know if Zoey had read it or not. Chase had to talk to Quinn to find out.
While Chase tried to figure out how to get to Quinn's room, Nicole stood up. "I'll be right back Zoe." She looked around the room, and saw Chase at the door. "Oh, hey C–" she started to shout out, but covered her mouth to hush herself up. Chase's eyes widened, and quickly ran to hide. Zoey turned around just as he went out of view.
"What? Who was it Nicole?" she asked, a little confused.
"Um...no one! Yep, there was no one there. I didn't see anyone." Nicole tried to tell her. She didn't like to lie. Plus, she was a horrible liar.
"Well, okay then." Zoey shrugged. Nicole quickly walked outside. She looked around for Chase.
"Chase?" she whispered.
Chase peeked around the corner, and saw Nicole was alone, so he decided it was safe to come out. "Uh...hey Nicole." He said, showing himself.
"Chase, why are you sneaking around here?" she asked him.
"Well, I came to talk to Quinn. I need to ask her something."
"Then why didn't you just go inside?" she wondered.
"I didn't... really want Zoey to see me." He told her, looking away slightly.
"Oh, well, if it's about the message, she doesn't know yet." Nicole assured him.
"Oh...wait, what?" Chase asked, looking a little surprised.
"She. Doesn't. Know. Yet." She told him, speaking a little slower.
"Um..." Chase tried his best to look confused, "what are you talking about?"
"Oh please! I know more then you think Chase."
But Chase didn't know what to say. Finally he coughed up, "How did you find out?"
"I read it myself, on her tekmate. But she hasn't read it herself though. She was going to about ten minutes ago, but she said it had no battery power, so it's charging now."
Chase's face brightened up a little. There was still hope for him. "Please Nicole, you have to let me in your room. I need to see Zoey's tekmate."
"I don't think I should. It's hers, not mine." Nicole said, with mixed emotions.
"Nicole, please. I have to see it!" Chase begged at her.
She just stood there looking at him. She wasn't sure what was the right thing to do. But she was shocked at what Chase did next.
Chase kneeled down to the ground, looking at his shoes. "Please Nicole..."
Nicole didn't know what to say. And she never had a guy kneel before her either. She thought it was cute. Even if it was one of her friends. She was about to agree to him, when suddenly a voice appeared out of nowhere.
"Nicole? Where did you run off too?"
They both were startled a little as they heard it. And quickly after, Zoey appeared out of the corner of the building. "Nicole? Chase? What's going on...?" she asked them, bewildered. Chase was still on the ground before Nicole.
Chase quickly stood up. He was at a loss for words. Even Nicole was. They both stared at Zoey, who stared back. All was quiet. Neither of them responded to Zoey. She crossed her arms. "Well...?" she asked, getting a little impatient.
"Um...well...you see..." Nicole started saying, trying to figure out what to tell her friend. But suddenly a shout filled the air.
"Who took my hairbrush!?" All 3 of them turned around and saw Lola by the door, her hair a little wild. Nicole made a face that said 'oh man'. "I need my hair to perfect everyday if I want to become famous by my nineteenth birthday. Now where is it?"
Zoey was starting to get upset. She didn't like all these interruptions when she wanted information. She put her hand to her forehead and told her, "Look, we're kinda busy here, go back inside and I'll help you find it in a minute." Lola gave her a look, about to respond to that, but decided against it when she saw the look Zoey had on her own face.
"Alright, fine. But don't take long." And she stormed off.
Zoey turned back around. But something was missing. She only saw one person in front of her. Chase had disappeared. "Now where did Chase run off to?"
Nicole was confused. "What do you–?" she started to say, but she looked down and quit talking, seeing Chase wasn't there. "Wow... He's good."
Zoey rubbed her temples. "Oh god...whatever." She walked back inside to help Lola with her brush problem. It's too early for this.
The Boys' Room
The door quickly opened and shut again. Michael straightened up on his bed. He couldn't get back to sleep, so he was just relaxing. He saw Chase at the door, he was panting. Apparently he had ran the entire way back. "What's wrong man?" he asked him.
Chase couldn't speak. He was still catching his breath. He narrowly escaped a slightly embarrassing moment with Zoey. When he could breathe normal, he told his friend, "Long story..."
"You just don't want to tell me. Besides, I'm not going anywhere yet. So spill." Michael said with a smirk.
Chase looked over at Logan's bed, which he was still asleep in. "Fine. I'll tell you. Remember how I said I was going to go see Quinn?" Michael nodded. "Well, I got to the dorm, but Zoey and Nicole were inside. Nicole got up and spotted me. She almost told Zoey she saw me, but didn't. So she then came outside and asked me why I was sneaking around. And well, it turns out that she knows how I feel."
"Zoey?" Michael asked.
"No! Nicole. She read the message herself. But she told me Zoey still doesn't know." Chase quit talking there. He didn't feel like telling him the rest of the story.
"And...?" He asked, knowing there was more.
Chase sighed, "Well, Zoey walked in on us, and was asking questions." Chase told him, deliberately leaving out the small detail of which he did to Nicole. "Then Lola barged out yelling something about a hairbrush. Zoey turned around to look at her, and I took that time to run back here." Michael just laughed at him. "It's not funny!"
"Yes it is." He retorted back.
Chase just glared at him, and went to his own bed. He put his hands to this face. It sucks to be a teen.
The Girls' Room
Nicole stepped into her room and saw items flying every which way. Lola was having a heck of a time trying to find her brush. Zoey was trying to keep her calm. It wasn't exactly working, but it's what she had to do. As both Lola and Zoey stomped around the room, Nicole saw Zoey's tekmate in it's charger. Chase's voice entered her head.
I need to see Zoey's tekmate. It told her.
I don't know about this Chase, she said to the voice.
Nicole, please. I have to see it! The voice of Chase begged to her. Nicole continued to have her small conflict inside her head. She still didn't know the best thing to do. She took another look at the tekmate.
I'm sorry Zoey... the apologized to her in her mind. But I think this is the right thing to do. Please don't hate me... She casually made her way to where Zoey had put it, occasionally making sure Zoey and Lola were preoccupied to notice. She scooped the device up in her hand, and swiftly ran out of the room.
When Nicole made it to the lounge, she made sure that her tekmate had enough battery power for Chase. Fortunately, it gained enough power to be turned on operate. She shut it back off and made for the boy's dorm.
The Boys' Room
The room was quiet. The only sound was the occasionally snore that came from Logan. Chase and Michael were both on their beds. But then, the door knocked. Chase opened his eyes. Oh no...It's Zoey. He looked up and saw Michael walking to the door. "No Mike, wait!" But he was too late, he had the door opened.
"Oh, good morning Nicole." Michael greeted her. Chase fell back onto his bed, relieved.
"Hey Michael. Can I talk to Chase really quick? I'm pretty sure he's here." she told him.
"Chase," Michael looked back at him. "Come on, it's for you."
But Chase didn't move, he just shouted to Nicole. "I don't want to talk about it!" Thinking he knew what was on her mind. But he was wrong.
"But I have something for you," she said back.
He pondered for a second, what it could be that she had, and got up. He went outside and closed the door behind him, leaving him and Nicole in the hallway. "So...what is it?" he asked.
Nicole didn't say anything, but just showed him her hand.
Chase looked at it, and saw a small pink device. He didn't know what to say.
"Part of me didn't want to give it to you, but I think it was the best decision." she told him, and left. Chase smiled and went inside his room, looking down at the tekmate.
"What's that?" Michael asked him. Chase looked up, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
The Girls' Room
Nicole came back to her room, and saw that Lola had found her brush. She was in the middle of brushing when she entered. But Zoey wasn't in the room. "Where'd Zoey run off to?" she asked Lola.
"I don't know, she just left." she responded back.
Nicole left the room, and went to the lounge. She looked around and only saw a few girls she didn't know too well. She went to the front door and walked outside. Immediately after walking outside, she noticed Zoey sitting down at a table in the distance, her head on her arms. Before she could walk over there, she saw two other people walking toward her. It was Chase and Michael. Though, it seemed like Michael was pushing him, as he wouldn't let go of Chase's shoulders.
"Zoey, we have something of yours." Michael told her, when arriving at the table. Zoey looked up, but didn't say anything, and just looked at the two boys. He gave Chase a small shove, and Chase pulled out Zoey's tekmate. Her eyes went wide as she grabbed it from him. She wasn't sure wether to be happy or upset. Zoey still said nothing, and continued to look at them. Chase took the silence, and tried to walk away, but Michael kept his grip on him. "I don't think so. Your not leaving yet. Zoey, turn it on, and read the message. Right, now." he told her, strengthening his grip on Chase so he would not try to escape. Zoey was still slightly confused, but nodded at him, and turned the device on.
Chase tried one last time to make an escape, but came up unsuccessful, once again. He knew he would have to stick around. And nothing would distract her now. He looked down to the ground and closed his eyes as she opened the message from Chase. Why couldn't he let me erase it...?
-FLASHBACK-
"Part of me didn't want to give it to you, but I think it was the best decision." Nicole told Chase, and left. He smiled and went inside his room, looking down at the tekmate in his hand.
"What's that?" Michael asked him. Chase looked up, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Uh...it's a...cabbage." Chase tried to convince him, hiding the device behind his back.
"Do I look stupid to you? That is not a cabbage. Cabbages are not pink. They're green." Michael said to him. "Now let me see what you have." He lunged for Chase, and wrestled him to the ground. About five seconds later, Michael was victorious. "Aha! It's– why do you have Zoey's tekmate again?" he asked Chase, standing up. "Wait...and why would Nicole give it to you anyway?"
Chase knew he was backed up into a corner now. So he decided to tell him the truth. "Well...When I went over to go see Quinn, that's the reason I went. I wanted to see if she still had Zoey's tekmate. I– I wanted to...erase the message before Zoey could get to it..."
"What!?" Michael shouted, waking Logan up.
"Do you two not understand the concept I told you earlier? Do NOT wake me up!" he yelled at them. He looked over at the clock, and sighed. "I'll deal with you two later, I need to go take a shower." he told them, getting up and leaving.
"I changed my mind. I don't want her to know anymore!" Chase shouted back to Michael, as if Logan hadn't even been there.
"It was that nightmare you had, wasn't it?" he asked him. Chase looked away, closing his eyes. Michael sighed, "Look man, I told you, it's going to be all right. I promise you it won't turn out turn out like the dream."
"I don't want to chance it, just give me back the tekmate and let me erase it." he begged of him.
"I'm sorry man, I can't let you do that. I really think she needs to find out. In fact...she's going to find out. Right now. Come on!" He told him, walking up to him, and pushing him out the door.
"No, I don't want to! You can't make me!" Chase yelled, trying to get away, with no luck.
-END FLASHBACK-
There was silence. Nothing made a sound. No bird sounds, no insects buzzing, even the ocean was quiet in the distance. It was as if everything could sense the event that was taking place. Chase couldn't look at Zoey. He wanted to, but not when she was about to find out the truth, after so long.
Zoey selected the message to read, and opened it. Well, I finally get to know what's been going on. She let her eyes fall onto the screen, and started reading. After reading the message the first time. Her jaw dropped slightly. Oh...my...god... is this for real? She reread the message a second and third time. She wasn't sure if she had read it correctly. After reading the message about one-hundred times, she finally looked up at Chase, who was still looking at the ground. She then looked behind him and at Michael. He just smiled back at her, and nodded. She looked back at Chase. Can he...really...? She thought, before finally speaking up, "I...I..." she started, but got up and ran. Ran away from there. Ran to the girl's dorm. She rushed past Nicole, who saw the entire thing, though she didn't hear it.
"Zoey! What's wrong?" she asked her, with worry in her voice. Zoey did not answer her, and just made her way past her. She ran all the way to her room, and went inside.
The two boys were quiet. "You know... I pictured that going much better." Michael finally said.
"Yeah...thanks a lot Mike. Really..." Chase sighed. "Now she hates me..." he slowly walked away and back to the boy's dorm.
Nicole watched as Chase slowly slumped his way back to the dorm. Oh...this is all my fault isn't it. I hate myself now. I should try to fix things. She ran to her dorm room, and went inside. Lola was gone, and it was just Zoey and her in the room. Zoey was on her bed, looking out into space, lost in thought. Nicole frowned a little as she walked up to her. Zoey didn't notice her at all as Nicole sat down on her bed. "Zoey, what's the matter?" She asked her. Zoey didn't answer her. "Come on, you can tell me, I'm your friend. Please?" Another empty response. Nicole sighed, and got up. I'm sure she will tell me when she's ready. She thought, leaving the room.
Zoey's mind was racing with hundreds of feelings and emotions. I can't believe it...all this time... How couldn't I see it before? Looking back...it was all so obvious. She sighed. Chase...how could you? I just...can't believe it. He...loves me?
The Boys' Room
Both Chase and Michael entered their room together. "Look, maybe she was just in shock. It was pretty big news. So don't feel so bad." Michael said, trying to make him feel better.
"Michael, please. You've done enough...so, can you just leave me alone for now?" Chase asked, heading towards his bed.
He sighed. "Alright, I'll see you later then." he said, and left the room.
Aw man...Now Zoey is going to not want anything to do with me. I should just stay in here, that way Zoey can never tell me off.
Unbeknownst to Chase, Zoey was thinking the same thing. She didn't feel like leaving her own room as well. And that is just what they did. Neither Chase or Zoey left their rooms for an entire week. The only time they left was to go to the restroom. They didn't leave for classes, and they didn't leave to eat. Both of their friends had brought them those items, the missed classwork, and food. Everyday Michael and Logan would try and talk to Chase, but he wouldn't ever respond to them, while Nicole and Lola would talk to Zoey, who also would not respond back. The four met up outside, a week after Zoey read the message.
"Hey guys," Nicole said, sitting down. "How's Chase doing?" she asked them.
"Not too good. We can't get him to talk to us." Michael told her. "What about Zoey?"
"Same thing. She won't say anything to us at all." Nicole said sadly.
"Why are they acting so weird anyway? I don't understand it." Lola stated.
"How can you not know? It's so obvious." Logan blurted out.
"Didn't Nicole tell you yet? She knows." Michael asked Lola.
"No...she didn't." She said, all 3 of them turned to face Nicole.
She looked a little nervous. "Um...she never asked." she said, showing a small smile. They kept their gaze onto Nicole. "Ok fine! I just forget, okay? I was too worried about Zoey..."
"So...what is happening?" Lola asked, wanting to know.
"Well, last week, Zoey found out something about Chase. And that thing was, is that Chase has feelings for her...as more then a friend."
Lola just sat there for a moment, her expression unchanged, then said, "Well...that can't be right. When I went out with him that one time, he told me it wouldn't work out because there was someone in his hometown that he liked, not at PCA."
"Don't you get it? Of course he said that. He told you that because he didn't want you to know it was Zoey he liked." Logan told her.
"Oh...okay." she said lightly.
"So...what are we gonna do about Chase and Zoey? I don't like them like this." Nicole asked, laying her head down on her arms.
Michael started to think, and quickly had an idea. "I got it!"
"What is it?" Nicole wondered.
"I'll tell you later, just bring Zoey to the girl's lounge at..." He checked his watch. "5:35. That's in twenty minutes." He got up, and left towards the boy's dormitory, pulling Logan with him.
"What's the plan then?" Logan asked, wanting to get Chase out of the room.
"We need to get Chase to the girl's lounge before 5:35. Probably about 5:30." he told him.
"Okay...and what exactly are you going to do?" Logan asked, a little skeptical.
"You'll see." he said, before they entered their room.
Back with the girls...
"What do you think his plan is? Do you think it will work? I'm not sure about this..." Nicole was asking Lola, after the boys disappeared from view.
"I don't know...but we have a slightly bigger problem." Lola pointed out to her.
"What's that?" she asked with concern.
"How exactly are we going to get Zoey out of the room and into the lounge?"
"Oh...yeah...I don't know." They got up and headed to their room, both trying to figure out in their head how to convince Zoey to leave the room.
"Zoey..? You doing okay?" Nicole asked, when she came inside.
Chase's Convincing
"Chase, man, you gotta get up. You've kept yourself in this room for too long." Michael shouted to him.
"I told you already, I don't want to run into Zoey." Chase said irritably.
"Dude, she's doing the same thing you are, I doubt your going to see her." Logan said, a little annoyed.
"Yeah, she's kept herself in her own room, and hasn't come out for a week." Michael added.
"See, I freaked her out..." Chase said, looking away.
Logan gave him a dirty look, and slapped him. "Stop thinking like that. Now get up! Your going outside, now!"
Chase didn't move, he just stayed put.
"Alright, we'll do this the hard way then." Logan said, approaching Chase.
"HEY! What are you doing? Ow! Don't do that! OW! Get off me Logan! Ow! Okay, I give, I'll go. Just get off me." Chase told him, rubbing his sore spots.
Michael had his eyes open in surprise. "Wow, you're good." He told Logan.
"Piece of cake." he boasted.
Michael looked at the clock. It was 5:23. They had seven minutes.
Zoey's Convincing
Zoey had her legs pulled up to her stomach, and her chin rested on her knees. She was lost in thought once again. She was doing that a lot the past week.
"Zoey...we're worried about you." Nicole said, sitting on Zoey's bed. Zoey reentered reality.
"Why don't you come outside with us? At least just one night." Lola asked of her.
"I...don't know." Zoey said lightly.
"Well...uh...how about we go to Sushi Rox? We can get some food, then you can come back here." Nicole told her, knowing she could use a little food.
Zoey sighed. She was hungry, but she wasn't sure if she could handle it. Finally she said to them, "Alright...I'll go. Give me a minute to get ready." She slowly got up, and got a change of clothes on. When she was finished, she walked out the door, and Nicole and Lola followed. Nicole glanced at the clock real quick before leaving. It said 5:33. Only had two minutes left.
"So...where exactly are we going?" Chase asked once they got outside.
"Nowhere... Just walking around campus." Michael told him, though it was only half true. Chase didn't respond to him. He just craned his neck downward slightly, and watched the ground as they walked. Logan and Michael kept quiet the rest of the walk, as Chase just followed them. Chase kept his eyes on the ground, so he didn't notice the three of them approach the girl's dormitory.
Michael opened the door and held it open for Chase and Logan to walk inside. He was curious as to why Chase hadn't made any remark as to why they went to the girl's dorm, but then he noticed Chase with his head still down. No one was in the lounge except them. It was a little odd, but since it was Saturday, not that surprising. Logan ran off ahead, while Michael walked behind Chase, and grabbed his shoulders. He looked up at this, and jumped slightly. Chase was shocked to find he was at the girl's lounge.
"Uh...why are we here?" Chase asked Michael.
"To help you." he said, and pushed him forward. Logan opened up a door ahead of him.
"Hey! Let me out of here! You guys!" Chase yelled, after Logan shut the door. He pounded his fists on the door, and called out for help, hoping someone passing by would give him a hand. But his cries went to no avail, and eventually he gave up, and sat down on the closet floor. Chase started to wonder why his friends would lock him in a closet.
"Alright, now we just need to wait for the girls to come out here." Michael says to Logan, checking his watch.
"Okay... but I still don't see what your planning here." Logan told him.
"Just wait, and you'll see." Michael assured him.
"I don't like waiting..." he whined. Michael rolled his eyes, and leaned against the door. The minutes rolled by as they stood there. Eventually it was 5:35.
Zoey, Nicole, and Lola entered the room from the hallway. Both Nicole and Lola saw Michael and Logan standing on the other side of the room, while Zoey wasn't paying attention. She was walking, but she still had her head in the clouds. Nicole was the first to speak. "Oh, look guys. It's Logan and Michael."
"Oh yeah, let's go say hi. Come on Zoey." Lola said cheerfully, pulling Zoey's arm.
Zoey looked nervous as the three of them walked over to the two boys.
"Hey girls, how's it going?" Michael asked, as the three approached them.
"We were going to Sushi Rox, you guys wanna come?" Nicole asked.
"Nah, I'm fine. Not that hungry..." Michael answered her, starting to worry that Nicole might have forgotten the plan. "You doing okay Zoey?" He then whispered something to Logan as Zoey lightly responded to Michael's question. Logan made his way next to the door handle, as Michael walked around Zoey. "Well that's good. And I'm sure you'll feel a lot better...after THIS!" He gently pushed Zoey forward as Logan opened the door, and then closing it again once Zoey was inside.
"Hey! What are you doing? Let her out right now!" Nicole started to yell, but Lola quickly shut her up.
"Nicole! Don't you remember the plan Michael told us he had? That must have been it. Wasn't it?" Lola asked him.
Michael nodded. "Yes, and Chase was already inside, so now they are stuck in their together, and will hopefully work it all out."
"Oh...well, that was a good idea then. Let's go to Sushi Rox and get some food. We can come back later to check on them."
All four of them left the lounge, and headed to get their dinner. Both Nicole and Michael turned around and looked back at the supply closet door. Both felt a little regret to their best friends, but they knew it was for the best.
Inside the Closet
Zoey was still banging on the door, calling out for help. When no one would come, she finally stopped shouting, and let out a sigh. But then a voice startled her.
"Zoey...if your done shouting now...could uh...you please get off of me?"
She looked down, and saw she was standing on top of Chase. "Oh...sorry." she apologized, stepping off of him. Zoey kneeled down next to the wall, and sat. She wasn't looking at Chase, while Chase wasn't looking at her.
Finally, Chase decided to be the first to speak. "So...they locked you in here too I see." Zoey nodded slightly, still not looking at him. "Look...Zoey...I'm sorry if it freaked you out. That's why I didn't want to tell you... I wanted to be able to stay friends with you." Zoey now looked at him, but still did not speak to him, but in her mind, she did.
Chase...I do too...it's just...that was too much. I didn't know what to do... she thought, while Chase continued to talk.
"I can understand if you never want to speak to me again..." he said to her, looking away.
Zoey then finally decided to communicate back to him. "No...Chase, I do..." Chase was still looking away. She let out a sigh. Okay...I'm ready now. "Okay...Can I ask some questions?" she asked him.
Chase swallowed slightly, and nodded.
"Since when?" Zoey asked him. "Since when have you...you know..."
Chase knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he tried his best to answer. "The first day I met you...after the flagpole incident."
That long ago? How could I have not seen it after so long? "But why? How could you...I just don't understand it."
Chase now turned to look at her. "Zoey...it's simple. Your beautiful, your smart. You always know how to help everyone. A lot has happened in the, almost two years I've known you. And I know all of this has probably freaked you out, which I am sorry for. I didn't want that to happen. But I guess it's just time that you had found out...the truth. I love you Zoey. Ever since that first day... then, when I found out you got the text message that was meant for Michael, I flipped out. I didn't want you to know, because I figured it would ruin the best friendship I have ever had. And I didn't want that... I was scared of what you would think if you read it. That's why I took your tekmate. I know I shouldn't have, but I wasn't thinking straight. And...well...I can understand if you never want to talk to me again."
Zoey remained silent, thinking to herself. It was a lot to take in, she wasn't sure what to say. Wow...that's how Chase feels about me? And all those times... How he came up with the idea to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. How excited he was to kiss me for that girl Trisha. How Chase would sometimes get nervous around me. The disappointed look on his face when I brought Nicole and Dana to the movies with us. And...how he wanted to see the time capsule DVD so badly... I'm sorry Chase... "Chase?" she asked him.
"Yeah?" Chase responded, expecting to hear Zoey say how she doesn't want to see him anymore.
"I...love you too!" Zoey said excitedly.
Silence. That's all that there was. Chase was speechless. He wasn't quite sure if his ears heard correctly. "W– what?" he asked in disbelief.
Zoey's face turned a light shade of red, though Chase could not see it, as it was still dark inside the supply room they were held captive in. (A/N: Incase your confused, it's been dark the whole time. Whenever it referred to one looking at the other, it was just enough light that their eyes could see, that they saw the figure of the other in front of them) "Yeah...I guess it's true. I've been thinking a lot in the past week, since I...uh... found out. I guess...I've always known how I felt... I just never really thought about it, as I've always just referred to you as my best guy friend. Didn't really think about anything more then that... But then...when I found out the truth...it opened my eyes to it. And it scared me a little, which is why I had run off..." Zoey admitted to him.
Chase's smile grew with each passing word. He was about to speak, but Zoey continued talking.
"Chase...I love everything about you. I like how you can always make me laugh. I can always come to you for anything. You can always turn something bad into something good. All of your wild antics... And I wouldn't have your bushy hair any other way."
"That's the exact same way I've felt for almost two years now. Well...you know. Except for that bushy hair part. You don't have bushy hair...I do." Zoey laughed a little at that. "The only reason...that you found out...was because Michael thought I had kept it a secret for too long, so he pretty much forced me, and that's when we gave you back your tekmate..."
"Wait! That's it! Chase, you're a genius!" Zoey shouted.
"I am? I mean... I am!" Chase said proudly, though confused. "What was my idea?"
"The tekmates! We can use it to get help out of this closet."
"Oh yeah...I don't have mine on me though... Do you have yours on?" he asked.
"Yes" she answered, moving her hand down to the small pouch hooked onto her belt, and then bring it back up, with tekmate in hand. "But who can we call? I doubt our friends would come to help. They're the ones who put us in here...although I am kind of glad they did..." Both teen's faces turned red slightly.
"Oh, I know. Let's call you brother, Dustin. I don't think he had any help in putting us in here."
"Good idea Chase." she said, calling Dustin.
Dustin's Room
Dustin was laying on his bed, doing his English homework. He didn't like that class too much. He greatly preferred his science class over English. He was the best student in that classroom. Dustin let out a small sigh, and flipped over onto his back, looking at the ceiling. He wished something could come along to distract him from the dreadful homework. Suddenly, he heard the ring of a phone. But it wasn't a phone. It was his tekmate. He immediately got up, and looked around for it. It's ring seemed to echo, so he couldn't find it by ear. Dustin started to frantically scramble around the room in search for the device. This was the answer to his distraction, so he had to take it.
The Closet
"Come on Dustin...pick up!" Zoey said to the phone.
Chase was watching her in the darkness. Man...I can't believe what's happened in the past five minutes. Just...unbelievable. Maybe I'm dreaming again. He thinks, pinching his arm. Ow! Okay, defiantly not a dream. Yes! Zoey actually loves me!
Meanwhile, Dustin had finally found his own tekmate, and answered to the caller. "Hello?"
Finally... "Dustin! It's me, Zoey. Look... I need your help. Chase and I are stuck in a supply closet, and we can't get out. Can you come down to the girl's lounge and open up the door?" she asked her brother.
"Sure thing! I'm on the way." He replied, leaving the room. "Good-bye English!"
While Dustin ran to go help them, Zoey put her tekmate away. Both Chase and her remained silent the rest of the time. Occasionally one of them would take a quick glance at the other, but that was all. Eventually, a bright light filled their eyes, as the door next to them opened, revealing Dustin. "Why are you guys on the ground?" he asked him.
Neither of them answered that question, as they got up and out of the small room. Zoey gave his brother a small hug. "Thanks a lot Dustin. We really needed to get out of there."
"Yeah, we appreciate it." Chase added.
"Oh no...really... I should be thanking you." Dustin said, correcting them.
Zoey was a little confused. "Okay..."
"So do you need help with anything else? Really! I don't mind at all."
"No...that was all we needed." Zoey told him."
"Are you sure?" he asked again.
"Dustin..."
"Fine...I'll do my homework." he said sadly, turning back around to run toward his dorm.
"So...what do we do now?" Chase asked curiously.
Zoey didn't respond right away. She was thinking. "Well..."
"Ooh...that sounds like your 'I've got a plan' voice. What are you thinking?" he wondered.
"I'll tell you a little later. I want you to go and find Michael, Logan, Nicole, and Lola. But don't let them see you. Just go and find them. Then meet up with me at the beach. Then I will tell you. Just remember... 'Do not let them see you'."
Chase nodded and left the building.
Meanwhile at Sushi Rox
"So Michael..." Lola started, "Do you think that plan of yours will really work? What if it just makes it worse?"
"I'm positive it will. They had to be put together, and not be able to run away. It's like when your afraid of something. To get over your fear of it, you have to face it head-on."
"What are you, a fortune cookie?"Logan asked him with a smirk.
Michael just glared at him.
"I don't know...I just think maybe we shouldn't have left them like that. I think they're gonna be mad at us." Lola said. Nicole nodded.
"Yeah...and I can't have people being mad at me. When people are mad at me, I'm unhappy. And when I'm unhappy, then I just can't get through the day. I don't like being unhappy. It's just so...suckish." She added quickly.
As the four teens were talking, outside the window a certain bushy-haired teen was looking inside. I knew it! They did come here after they locked us up. Well...I guess I should go back to Zoey now, since I've done what she wanted me too. Chase thought, turning around. Wish I knew what her plan was. Why does she have to be so mysterious? Oh well...just another thing I love about her.
Chase arrived at the beach, where Zoey had wanted him to meet her, but she wasn't there. Chase was the only one in the vicinity. Maybe I'm a little early. Guess I'll wait. He sat down and looked towards the ocean horizon. It wasn't long before he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see Zoey.
"Hey." he greeted, with a smile.
"Hi." Zoey greeted back to him, as he stood up.
"So...are you gonna tell me what the plan that you were thinking of is now?" Chase asked, still curious.
"Maybe..." she said slyly. "First, did you find our friends?"
"Sure did. They were at Sushi Rox, eating." Chase told her.
"Celebrating how they locked us up, perhaps?" Zoey asked, with a raised eyebrow. It was half a question, half a joke. Chase didn't catch it though.
"I wouldn't know. I just looked in the window, and saw them. I didn't actually go inside." He said truthfully.
"Well anyway...it's good that they're there. Shouldn't ruin it then..." Zoey said, partly talking to herself.
"Um...would that mean the plan you were thinking of? Which I might add, you haven't told me that yet..."
"Oh...sorry about that." Zoey chuckled a little. "Well, are you any good at acting?" (A/N: Heh...that's kinda funny since, if you think about it in real life, it really is just acting, so, it's an obvious question.)
Chase thought about it a little, he wasn't sure how to answer. "Uh...what exactly do you mean?" Chase asked her, a little confused.
"What about lying? Are you any decent at that at all?" Zoey asked, hoping that he was.
Chase remained silent. He already knew the answer to that question.
-FLASHBACK-
"Hey, you know what you ought to do on the spring break trip?" Michael asked Chase.
Chase sighed. "What should I do?"
"Tell Zoey you love her." He told Chase.
"Man, go do your underwear math." Chase said, a little annoyed.
"It's the perfect time. Spring break, Santa Barbara...Right by the beach. It's very romantic."
"So?"
"So it's the perfect time to tell Zoey that you love her."
"Would you stop sayin' that so loud?"
"Why?"
"I don't want people to know. Okay?"
"Dude! Everyone on planet earth knows you love Zoey. The people on neptune know it. Yeah! They're up there right now on Neptune sayin', 'Hey, do you know that Chase loves Zoey?' 'Why, yes, I do. The whole galaxy knows. Naahh!'" Michael told him, in an alien-like voice.
"You talk so much." Chase said, looking away.
"Look, the only person who doesn't know you love Zoey is Zoey. So why don't you just tell her already?"
"'Cause I don't want Zoey to know I love..." Chase started to say, as Logan walked in the room. "...brussels sprouts."
"You love brussels sprouts?" Logan asked.
"Yeah. They're, like, my favorite vegetable. That a problem?" Chase asked him nervously.
"No."
Just then, someone else walked in the room. "Hey, Reese, you left your shampoo in the shower." The guy told him, and left.
"And you couldn't bring it to me?" Logan shouted back to him.
"Nope!"
-SECOND FLASHBACK-
"What's that?" Michael asked Chase, as he walked into their dorm room.
"Uh...it's a...cabbage." Chase tried to convince him, hiding the device behind his back.
"Do I look stupid to you? That is not a cabbage. Cabbages are not pink. They're green." Michael said to him. "Now let me see what you have." He lunged for Chase, and wrestled him to the ground. About five seconds later, Michael was victorious. "Aha! It's–– why do you have Zoey's tekmate again?" he asked Chase, standing up. "Wait...and why would Nicole give it to you anyway?"
-END FLASHBACK-
Chase then heard a voice call to him. "Chase? Hello? Earth to Chase!"
"What?" he asked, in a daze. "Oh, sorry Zoe. I was thinking..."
"Well? Are you?" she asked again.
"Not really...but I could try." Chase said lightly. "But tell me already, what is the plan?"
Zoey sighed. "Okay, I want you to go to your dorm room, and when Michael and Logan come back, do not talk to them at all, even if they try and talk to you. Just ignore them. Then eventually go to sleep until tomorrow. I'll be doing the same thing. Then, once it's tomorrow, and you get up, only talk to them, after they talk to you first."
"I don't get it...and what exactly are you going to do? Chase asked, confused.
"You'd understand if you would let me finish. And I'll be doing the same thing, but with Nicole and Lola. So, what you're gonna do, tomorrow morning, after they talk to you, is..."
Back at Sushi Rox
Nicole was sitting at the end of the table where she sat with her friends. She was being unusually quiet. She would occasionally steal a glance outside of the building. "Guys, I don't feel too well. I think I'm gonna go."
"Can I have the rest of your food then?" Logan asked.
"Um...sure. Whatever." Nicole answered, and got up to leave.
It wasn't true though. The only feeling she had in her right now was guilt. Michael was feeling the same, but he managed to resist it.
Nicole slowly walked back to the girl's dorms. On the way, she started to think. Man, I feel so bad for Zoey and Chase. I didn't want them to get locked up in that small room together. But Michael says its for the best, so I guess I'll have to believe him.
As Nicole entered the lounge, she took a glance at the closet door, and had another wave of guilt pass through her. Oh...I know they'll be a little upset at me, but I can't have Chase and Zoey mad at me. Nicole walked over to the door. She took a small breath and opened up the door.
Back at Sushi Rox(again)
"You guys!" Nicole shouted. "Chase and Zoey are gone!"
"What are you talking about Nicole? They're in that supply closet remember?" Michael told her.
"No they aren't. I was walking back to my room, and...well, they aren't in there anymore!"
Michael sighed. "Okay...well, hopefully before they escaped, they managed to fix things." Everyone nodded.
Later that Night(Boys' Room)
Logan and Michael came back to their room a little late. They had been with Nicole and Lola, looking for Zoey and Chase. Unfortunately, they came up with no luck. But to their surprise, when they walked into the room, they found Chase already asleep on his bed.
"See? I told you he'd be in here!" Logan yelled. "And you had us walk all around campus."
Michael glared at him. "Well I figured he'd be mad at us and go into hiding or something. I didn't think he'd just come back in here."
"Well, here he is." Logan said, still with an annoyed look in his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah..." Michael said, changing his shirt for bed. "He's asleep now, so let's just talk to him in the mornin'."
Logan threw his hand up in the air to show he heard him, and hopped into his own bed.
Meanwhile, Chase had actually not fallen asleep just yet, and was listening to the conversation they were having. His back was to them, which is why they had thought that he was asleep. I guess I just have to wait till tomorrow, for them to talk to me. I hope Zoey's plan works... It sounds like a fool-proof plan. Chase closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep. He tried with all his might to make his body fall asleep, but there was just too much on his mind. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours, with, of course, the biggest part being how Zoey told him how she felt the same way he did for her. But thinking about this just made Chase confused on the subject. We never did talk about it after we left that room. I wonder what's going to happen now. Are we going to get together? Was it maybe just something she said to not disappoint me? Could she have possibly forgotten the subject? A hundred questions flew in Chase's head. This just made it that much harder for him to fall asleep.
The Girls' Room
Nicole and Lola walked into their room. Both were tired from their search of Chase and Zoey.
"...just hope she isn't too mad at us. I can't handle people being mad at me." Nicole was saying, as she stepped inside the door.
"Okay! I get it! That's the sixth time you've said that tonight." Lola shouted at her, clearly annoyed.
"Sorry..." Nicole apologized. "Oh! Zoey! You're back!" Zoey didn't respond to her. She was sitting over on the couch inside their room, using her laptop. This surprised Nicole. She thought Zoey would say something to them. "Zoey?"
"Hello, Zoey! She's trying to talk to you!" Lola yelled to her.
Zoey still didn't respond, and starting to think, This might turn a little ugly if I don't answer... maybe I should talk back. But I need to choose my words carefully. "I know." That was all that she said.
"Uh...Zoey? Are you mad at us?" Nicole asked, with a sad look on her face.
"Maybe."
Nicole frowned. "Well, it wasn't my fault, I swear! It was all Michael and Logan's fault! They wanted us to bring you there. But that's all they told us. They never said what they were going to do. So we were both shocked at what they did, since we didn't know he was going to do that. And...well...it wasn't our fault, Zoey! You gotta believe us." Lola nodded.
Zoey still remembered her plan, but felt the need to talk. "Well, you still went along with it! You could have said no, and let it continue on by itself! But you didn't. You brought me in their, and I go ahead and get locked in a supply room for who knows how long it was."
Nicole's eyes started to water. She's mad at me... It was too late at night to leave the room, so she climbed up onto her bed, and placed her head on her pillow and started to cry.
Lola entered the conversation. "We were just trying to help you out!"
"Well, you..." Zoey paused a moment. You did... you helped a lot... She started to remember everything that happened while enclosed in the small room. Zoey started to blush, but turned her head away before Lola saw it. Then she started to remember the plan that she told to Chase earlier. Aw man... I forgot all about that. I'm messing it up. How can I fix it? When she was sure the red on her face had vanished, she faced Lola again, and told her, "Well, you didn't."
Zoey closed her laptop, and put it aside, and stood up. "I'm going to bed now." She didn't bother to change her clothes, and put her bed covers over her. She faced so her back was toward them. Lola remained silent, and Zoey could still hear Nicole's sobs. Lola walked over to the bunk bed, and whispered something to Nicole. Lola figured Zoey couldn't have heard it, but she did.
"Don't worry Nicole. We'll try again in the morning, when she's cooled off." she whispered.
I'm sorry Nicole. Really, I am. But I just had to do it... you'll probably understand tomorrow. She sighed to herself sadly.
The Next Morning
Chase and Zoey were down, walking on the beach. They had their hands held together as they walked. Chase whispered something in Zoey's ear, and she laughed. The two of them turned to face the ocean water. A wave came up and hit their shoes. Zoey watched as sand was pushed forwards and backwards by the force of the water. She looked at Chase, who was already looking at her.
"Chase?" Zoey asked.
"Yes Zoe?" Chase responded.
She didn't answer him right away. She took in a small breath. "I love you, Chase." Zoey told him, her eyes gazing deeply into Chase's.
Chase smiled. "I love you too, Zoey." Both kids were now staring at the other, their faces getting closer. Wow...is what I'm thinking is gonna happen, actually gonna happen right now? They were only millimeters apart now. Both had their eyes closed now.
"Chase?"
Chase opened his eyes back up, pulling back a little, and looked at Zoey. "Yeah?"
"I didn't say anything." She told him.
"But...I heard someone call my name." He looked around. The only people his eyes could see, besides himself, was Zoey. "And you're the only other person around..."
"Well, I didn't hear it. And I didn't say anything."
"Chase!" The voice said again.
"There it was again." Chase told her.
Zoey raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm still not hearing it."
Chase blinked at her. On his third blink, he saw Michael and Logan in front of him. "About time you got up." Logan said to him.
Chase looked around. He was sitting on his bed, in his room. The truth then hit him. He jumped out of his bed, and hit Michael and Logan in the arm. "Okay, ow! What was that for?" Logan snapped at him.
"For waking me up from my dream!" He hit Michael once more on his other arm.
"And what was that for?" Michael asked, rubbing his two sore arms.
"Because you always do it. That's like... The fifth time you've woken me up from a dream I didn't want to wake up from yet!"
Both of them eyed Chase carefully as he glared at them. Chase then struck out again. Logan was ready for this, and ducked out of the way, while Michael, however, was not expecting it. "And that was for locking me in that closet."
Both of them had their arms up to defend themselves if Chase tried to attack again. Chase let out a sigh. "Okay...I'm done now."
"We were just trying to help you out, man." Michael told him.
"Well..." Chase started to say, thinking about what happened the previous day.
"And if you're mad, well, it was all Michael's fault." Logan said. Michael just glared at him.
Alright...here it goes. Hope your right Zoey. "Well, you didn't. All you did was make it worse. And now Zoey won't talk to me ever again. She was really freaked out by it, and she told me...to– to not...be around her anymore." Chase looked away from them, with his eyes closed. His mind was focusing on something, but his face didn't show it.
Michael's mouth was hanging open. "Say what? I could have sworn she'd feel the same way for you. Man, I'm really sorry Chase. I was only trying to do what I thought was best. I mean, you were hanging around moping in here, doing nothing for an entire week. I had to do something."
Logan nodded. "Yeah, it was getting kind of pathetic. So we just had to get you out somehow."
"Tell us what happened. What exactly did you two say after we locked the door? Maybe we can help get things right." Michael offered.
"No. You two have done more than enough. So just leave it be." He told them, making a move for the door. But Logan blocked him. "Move."
"Nope. You're not leaving until you tell us what happened." Logan smirked.
"And we won't even let you leave to go to the bathroom. So, you might as well just tell us." Michael added.
Chase looked away and sighed. Dang. Zoey's good. She told me they'd probably do that. Guess I should keep doing what she told me. "Okay fine. After I tell you, let me leave!" He took a deep breath and looked back at them. Chase then began to tell them the story that Zoey wanted him to tell, which was the complete opposite of what had actually happened.
-FLASHBACK(Chase's version)-
Zoey was still banging on the door, calling out for help. When no one would come, she finally stopped shouting, and let out a sigh. But then a voice startled her.
"Zoey...if your done shouting now...could uh...you please get off of me?"
She looked down, and saw she was standing on top of Chase. "Oh...sorry." she apologized, stepping off of him. Zoey kneeled down next to the wall, and sat. She wasn't looking at Chase, while Chase wasn't looking at her.
Finally, Chase decided to be the first to speak. "So...they locked you in here too I see." Zoey nodded slightly, still not looking at him. "Look...Zoey...I'm sorry if it freaked you out. That's why I didn't want to tell you... I wanted to be able to stay friends with you." Zoey now looked at him, but still did not speak to him, but in her mind, she did.
Chase...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed so hard for you to tell me the truth. she thought, remembering the events that took place of when she read the message, while Chase continued to talk.
"I can understand if you never want to speak to me again..." he said to her, looking away.
Zoey then finally decided to communicate back to him. "Chase..." Chase was still looking away. She let out a sigh. Okay...I'm ready now. "Okay...Can I ask some questions?" she asked him.
Chase swallowed slightly, and nodded.
"Since when?" Zoey asked him. "Since when have you...you know..."
Chase knew this wasn't going to be easy, but he tried his best to answer. "The first day I met you...after the flagpole incident."
That long ago? How could I have not seen it after so long? I'm glad I didn't... but now... "But why? How could you...I just don't understand it."
Chase now turned to look at her. "Zoey...it's simple. Your beautiful, your smart. You always know how to help everyone. A lot has happened in the, almost two years I've known you. And I know all of this has probably freaked you out, which I am sorry for. I didn't want that to happen. But I guess it's just time that you had found out...the truth. I love you Zoey. Ever since that first day... then, when I found out you got the text message that was meant for Michael, I flipped out. I didn't want you to know, because I figured it would ruin the best friendship I have ever had. And I didn't want that... I was scared of what you would think if you read it. That's why I took your tekmate. I know I shouldn't have, but I wasn't thinking straight. And...well...I can understand if you never want to talk to me again."
Zoey remained silent, thinking to herself. It was a lot to take in, she wasn't sure what to say. Wow...that's how Chase feels about me? And all those times... How he came up with the idea to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. How excited he was to kiss me for that girl Trisha. How Chase would sometimes get nervous around me. The disappointed look on his face when I brought Nicole and Dana to the movies with us. And...how he wanted to see the time capsule DVD so badly... I'm sorry Chase... "Chase?" she asked him.
"Yeah?" Chase responded, expecting to hear Zoey say how she doesn't want to see him anymore.
"I...don't think..." Zoey said slowly. "..that we should be near each other anymore."
Silence. That's all that there was. Chase was speechless. He wasn't quite sure if his ears heard correctly. "W– what?" he asked.
Zoey looked away from him. "I'm sorry Chase. But...I just think it would be really weird between us now. And...I'm flattered and everything, but I just...don't feel the same way about you. I'm sorry it has to be like this. I don't want to have to lose my best guy friend over this, but it would just be really awkward between us. And I don't know how I could handle that every day." Zoey admitted to him.
It felt as if there was more weight put onto Chase's shoulders with each passing word. Chase knew this was going to come, but was still stunned to actually hear it.
"So how exactly are we going to get out this closet now?" Zoey asked. The two of them were not looking at each other, but at the walls.
Chase just wanted to die. He didn't know how he'd ever be able to go on without his best girl friend. Chase thought he felt a few tears come to his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. He managed to build up enough character to say "I don't know..."
-END FLASHBACK-
"And that's what happened... Can I go now?" Chase asked them.
Michael and Logan stood there, speechless. Chase looked at them both, and when he recognized that they were not going to answer, he just walked past them and left the room. They both snapped back to reality as soon as he turned the corner. Michael ran to him. "Wait. Just another question." He said, behind him.
Chase stopped. "Yes?"
"So how exactly did you guys get out?" Michael asked curiously.
"Huh?" Chase said, puzzled.
"You know... out of the supply room."
"Oh...that. Uh..." Chase started. He didn't know how to answer him. Zoey didn't tell him what to say if he asked. Well, she did say just don't tell him the truth. Oh man...what do I tell him? "Some girl, I don't know who, opened the door for some reason... and that let us get out. And then...well. I went to bed after that."
"Okay..." Michael stated.
Chase walked away. He left the boy's dormitory, and kept on walking. Occasionally, Chase kept looking back, to make sure Logan or Michael weren't following him. Luckily for him, it didn't seem like that they were. He made his way to the beach and laid back in the sand, closing his eyes. Now I wait.
In the Girls' Room
Zoey was just now waking up. She stretched out her arms as she yawned. Nicole heard this. She looked over at Zoey who was looking at the clock in their room. "Zoey... I'm really, really sorry. Please don't be mad at me." Nicole apologized to Zoey.
Zoey looked at her. She was the only other person in the room. Lola apparently had left already. Zoey didn't speak. Okay... what do I say? "Yes. I know your sorry. But now I've lost my best guy friend. And it's all of your guys' fault."
Nicole frowned at her. She was unhappy to hear the words 'your fault'. But then her eyes widened as she let the rest of what Zoey said to her sink in. "Wait, what do you mean, 'lost your best guy friend'? You mean Chase isn't your friend anymore? How could we have done that?" Nicole asked frantically.
Zoey sat in silence for a moment. You know...thinking back on it. If that really was what had happened, which it wasn't, then really it wasn't their fault at all. The blame would all belong to Michael. But I can't let her know that...not yet anyway. "Do you really want to know?"
Nicole nodded at her.
Zoey sighed lightly. I just hope she doesn't see right through my lie. "Okay... this is what happened..."
Zoey told her a very similar story to the one that Chase had earlier told to Michael and Logan, except it was slightly different on a few key parts. Nicole's eyes slowly widened as she told her what 'really happened'.
"And...well, now I just can't see him anymore. It would be just way to awkward. Zoey, who had put on a change of clothes as she had told Nicole her story, headed for the door. It opened as soon as she reached her hand forward to grab the knob. It was Lola.
"Oh, Zoey, you're up." Lola started, but Zoey walked past her. "Wait, Zoey! Come back!"
Zoey didn't stop walking, and was soon out of the building.
"No, Lola. It's okay. Zoey told me everything, just before you came in." Nicole assured her.
"Well, come on then. Tell me." Lola told her.
At the Beach
Zoey slowly walked her way to the beach. She would look back, hoping that Nicole and Lola hadn't followed her. Fortunately for her, they did not. When Zoey reached the first parts of sand, she noticed a figure laying down further ahead. That must be Chase. Zoey thought to herself, taking off her shoes to walk in the sand barefoot. Since it was still early in the morning, the sand was cool from the night before, and wouldn't get hot for another hour or so. As she walked towards the figure, she found out that it was, in fact, Chase. His eyes were still closed as she stepped up behind his head.
"Boo." Zoey said, hoping to surprise him, as she knelt down.
Chase now opened his eyes. "Well good morning to you Zoe." he told her, smiling.
"So?" She asked, getting to the point.
"It worked just like you told me it would." Chase told her.
"So I guess you managed to lie okay?" Zoey asked.
"Apparently... otherwise it wouldn't have worked. What do we do now?"
"Well..." Zoey started. "I guess, for now, we do nothing."
"Nothing? Why nothing?" Chase asked, bewildered.
"Haven't you figured out what we're doing yet?" Zoey asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh..." Chase stalled. He looked away from her and crossed his arms together, his face scrunched together in a thinking position. Zoey let out a small sigh as she let him do his thinking. The minutes passed as Chase's brain worked. After a good five minutes, Chase finally let out, "No."
"You took that long just to say no?" Zoey asked him.
Chase, yet again, crossed his arms and scrunched up his face.
"Chase..." Zoey warned him, with an annoyed look on her own face.
Chase laughed a little at this. "Yes I did."
Zoey couldn't help but laugh along with him. She loved how he could do that to her so much.
Chase smiled at Zoey, who did to same back to him.
At the Beach's Edge
A person appeared off in the distance. The mysterious figure watched the two teens laugh together, but was shocked to see what happened next.
Chase leaned in closer to Zoey. Chase had finally decided to do what he's been wanting to do for awhile. Chase's lips met onto Zoey's, who gave into it. They shared a deep, passionate kiss. This was cut off short, unfortunately, when Zoey pulled back, after hearing a familiar voice call to them, leaving Chase in a daze. He quickly snapped out of it and looked in the direction that Zoey was.
"Hey! What's the big idea here Zoey?" It was Nicole. "I thought you said you couldn't be around Chase anymore. And now, when I come looking for you, I find you kissing him."
Zoey had a nervous look on her face now. "Uh... well..." But she couldn't think of anything to cover this up. She finally decided to go with the truth. "I lied..." Zoey told her, looking down slightly.
"What? What do you mean?" Nicole asked, growling a little worried.
"It was all a lie. None of what I told you really happened." Zoey told to Nicole. "Chase and I came up with it so we could get you guys back."
"So...what did happen?" Nicole wondered.
Zoey glanced at Chase. All he did was shrug. Chase wasn't sure what to say, since all this had been Zoey's plan, and nothing from himself.
"Well..." Zoey said, starting to tell Nicole the events that actually took place when Chase and herself were inside the supply closet.
Meanwhile on top of the Boy's Dorm Roof
Lola ran to the boy's dorm to find Michael and Logan, and to tell them what Nicole had just told her. Before leaving, Lola sent Nicole to go find Zoey. Nicole managed to tell her exactly what Zoey had told her extremely quick, since she was naturally a fast talker, so Lola sent her to go find her since she couldn't have gone far at that point in time.
Lola thrust the door open and found Michael and Logan talking to each other in the lounge. "Guys, come with me to the rooftop. We need to talk." She told them as she continued walking to the staircase leading to the roof.
Logan and Michael exchanged glances for a moment, and followed suite. Lola was sitting down on one of the fold out chairs already as the two boys appeared in view. "So what happened?" Michael asked curiously.
Lola hesitated for a moment, then told them everything that Zoey had described. "And... I don't know what we should do now... This is all our fault."
"Yeah, Chase told us the same thing before he left the room. We really screwed up." Michael stated. "We have to try and fix this... but how?"
Lola remained quiet as Logan just shrugged.
Back at the Beach
"...And that's when I called Dustin on my tekmate to come and open the door so that we could get out of that supply room." Zoey was finishing up her tale to Nicole. "So, your plan really did, kind of work. We got to talking and now we're together." Chase smiled. "But we were still kind of miffed that you locked us up inside a closet. So we came up with a plan to get you all... sort of... feeling guilty."
"Well it worked!" Nicole shouted sadly. "I'm really sorry Zoey."
"But you can't tell Lola, Michael, or Logan any of this, Nicole. You weren't supposed to find out yet anyway. Can you keep it a secret? Chase and I want to teach them a lesson for locking us up like that. Even if it did help us, like they wanted it too, it wasn't a nice thing to do."
"Okay Zoey, I'll try to keep it quiet." Nicole said quietly. "But what do I do now? Lola wanted me to go find you. So what do I tell her when I go back?"
"Well..." Zoey started saying, but then came up with an idea. "Actually, this could be helpful. You knowing could really come in handy. Just go back to Lola and tell her you couldn't find me at all."
Nicole nodded, and started walking away. But she quickly turned back around and ran to her friend. "Zoey..."
"Yeah?" she responded.
Nicole gave her a hug. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you! Don't I look happy for you? Because I'm really happy for you."
Zoey figured she was talking about Chase. "Th– Thanks." Nicole let go, and went to go find Lola.
Zoey turned to face Chase. "She's happy for us." She stated.
"So happy." Chase nodded.
Zoey looked away from him and out towards the water as a thought popped into her head. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. And I think I know what Chase and I have to do...
"Zoey? Are you alright?" Chase wondered.
Zoey moved her gaze back toward Chase, but remained silent.
Boy's Rooftop
All three of them were silent as they were trying to think of plans to get Chase and Zoey on good terms again. Nicole popped her head into view and broke the silence. "Hi guys!"
"Nicole! So, did you find her?" Lola asked.
"Well..." Nicole tried to say, but she then remembered the promise she made to Zoey. To not her or the boys know what was really going on. She also remembered that Zoey asked her to tell them she had not found them. "No. I didn't."
Lola frowned. "Well where could she have run off too?" But just then, Logan spoke up.
"Wait, I got an idea!" He announced.
Everyone else gasped in fake shock at this news.
"Ha ha... anyway, why don't we just grab them the next time we see them, and push them to each other and force them to settle it. Just, this time no closets. That didn't work out so well last time." Logan told them.
"Logan, that's gotta be the stu– wait... actually, that could work." Lola said, lifting her head in thought.
Nicole started to walk back down the stairs as the other three planned out Logan's idea. The last thing Nicole heard was 'So we'll do it tomorrow at lunch. Remember, don't let them leave.'
Nicole walked around campus. She was thinking over what Zoey had told her awhile back. She wanted me to help her... Maybe I should go tell her what they're gonna do. Nicole finally decided to go inform Zoey of what the other three had planned. She reached the beach, and what she saw made her laugh lightly.
The two of them were rolled in the sand. Zoey was on top of Chase, their lips together. Nicole let the two have their fun for a bit longer, and finally let out a small cough to let them know she was there. Both Chase and Zoey looked up at her. "Uh... Hi." Chase said lightly.
Nicole rubbed the back of her neck, as if to get ready to tell Zoey the news she heard. "Zoey... They're going to try to get you guys back together tomorrow."
"What do you mean?" Zoey asked.
Nicole told her of everything that was talked about up on the rooftop. "And I figured you'd want to know, so I came back here to tell you."
"Thanks a lot Nicole. So it's tomorrow at lunch?" Zoey questioned. Nicole just nodded, and walked off.
Zoey looked at Chase with sadness in her eyes. "Chase..."
"What is it Zoe?" Chase asked with concern.
"We're... going to have to fight." Zoey said, her head drooping.
Chase was taken back. "Fight? What do you mean, 'fight'?" Chase asked, thinking Zoey was going a little insane.
"Do you remember what Nicole just told us?" Zoey questioned.
"Yeah. She said that Logan and them were going to try to 'get us back together'." He answered to her.
"And what have we been trying to do?" Zoey continued.
"Uh... make them feel bad?" Chase half-guessed.
"Exactly. So tomorrow, when they try to make us talk, we can just get into an argument. That should make them feel even worse." She said, trying to smile. I can't fight with Chase. I love him... I don't know how we're going to pull this off.
Chase was thinking the same thing. "And... what exactly are we going to be fighting about then?" He asked.
Zoey's expression was empty. "I don't know. Maybe we can try to wing it. Remember, it has to look real. So don't mess it up."
Chase just stared at her. How could he actually have an argument with her? His thoughts were interrupted when Zoey spoke again.
"Maybe we shouldn't hang out for awhile. At least not anymore today, and until tomorrow. We don't want anyone else to find out like Nicole." Zoey told him, starting to walk away. "I just hope Nicole doesn't blab."
The rest of the day seemed to have gone by rather easily for the two teens. Neither Logan, Michael, or Lola bothered them for the remainder of it. They also showed no signs of knowing what Nicole now knew. She had managed to keep the secret quiet.
The guys even left Chase alone that night while they were in their room getting ready for bed. Lola and Nicole did the same with Zoey.
The Next Morning
Both Chase and Zoey woke up to find their room's empty. Michael, Logan, Lola, and Nicole all left early to make sure they knew what they were doing when it came time for the plan.
Eventually, the clock ticked down, and students started to trail outside for lunchtime. Logan, Lola, Michael, and Nicole sat down together at a table between where Chase and Zoey were separated. Neither Chase or Zoey would sit with the small group.
Chase made sure to sit at a table by himself, but at a location where he could see both Zoey's table and his other friend's table.
Zoey did the same thing that Chase had done. She kept her distance from her friends, and waited for them to move. If Nicole was right, then they would be making their move at any moment. She silently prayed that Chase could handle this, but then prayed for herself as this got her nervous.
"Guys... I don't think we should do this." Nicole said, worried. She knew more then the other three did, so she wasn't sure what Chase and Zoey had planned. Who knows what could happen...
"Well, we have to try something. If this doesn't work, then I guess it's just no use. Maybe they just weren't meant to be." Lola acknowledged sadly.
But they are meant to be! Nicole shouted in her mind. She was dying to tell them the secret, but she promised Zoey to keep it hushed.
Lola noticed that something seemed wrong with Nicole, as she was being unusually quiet. "Nicole, is something the matter? You look like something's on your mind, and usually you go right ahead and talk about it."
This brought Michael and Logan's attention onto her. She diverted her eyes between each of them, keeping quiet. She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to talk, otherwise she might accidentally blab. "No, it's nothing, really."
Neither Lola, Michael, or Logan believed that, but they weren't going to question her. Not yet at least. According the Michael's watch, it was time to test out Logan's idea. "This is it. You guys know what to do. Let's hope this works." Michael and Logan sat up and made their way to Chase's table.
"Come on Nicole." Lola stated, lifting Nicole off the seat, and they walked toward Zoey's table.
Both Zoey and Chase had been watching their friends from the corner of their eye. When they all stood up at the same time, they assumed that it was time.
Guess this is it. Hope we can pull this off okay. Zoey thought to herself watching Nicole and Lola come toward her to the right.
Chase, unfortunately, was not feeling as confident. Aw man, it's time. I hope I don't mess up, Zoey probably won't be happy if I do. He though, watching the approaching Logan and Michael from his left.
(A/N: Before I continue, I must let you all know, I will be typing 2 conversations at the same time. Zoey, with Lola and Nicole. And Chase, with Logan and Michael. They are at different tables, so even though I may be typing them at the same time, they can not hear the other group. Try not to get confused. :P)
"Hi Zoey." Lola greeted. Nicole kept silent.
"Hi..." Zoey replied lightly.
"Hey man, how are ya?" Michael asked his friend.
"Just dandy," Chase said, hoping to sound sarcastic.
"So... Zoey..." Lola continued.
"So?" Zoey let out.
"Chase, could I ask you a question?" Michael wondered.
"You just did." He responded dully.
Both Michael and Logan rolled their eyes at this. "Okay fine, can I ask you two questions then?" He asked again.
"That was your second question." Chase told them, grinning on the inside.
Logan was really annoyed at this point. "Oh for... Alright, then can I ask you four questions?" Michael asked furiously, doing the small math needed in his head to say it correctly.
"I guess so..." Chase answered.
"Zoey, we want you to go see Chase. We don't like you being apart and stuff now." Lola stated, not sure how to say what she had just said exactly.
"I already told you why. I just can't see Chase anymore. It'd be too weird." Zoey said to Lola, giving Nicole a stare.
Nicole felt really uncomfortable. It was weird to listen to the conversation when she knew what Zoey was saying was untrue.
"Dude, why can't you just go talk to Zoey?" Michael questioned Chase.
"I've already said why. She– she doesn't want to see me. And I can respect that, even if it does make me unhappy."
"And that's why we're here to help." Logan told him. He somehow appeared right behind Chase, and grabbed a hold onto his shoulders.
"But Zoey!" Lola whined.
"'But' nothing. I just wouldn't be able to handle it. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish eating." Zoey said in a stern voice. She looked down at her food, and no longer at the two girls. She knew what was going to happen next, if what Nicole said was true, so that was why she wasn't looking at them any longer.
Lola glanced at Nicole, and lightly hit her on the arm. Nicole, who was still slightly out of it, looked at her and mouthed 'What?' to her. Lola gestured toward Zoey. Nicole's mind was racing, she didn't know what to do. It was all just too confusing. Finally, she broke down. "I can't do it." she said lightly.
Zoey looked back up from her food and glanced at Nicole again, trying to visually communicate with her. But she looked back down again before Lola faced her again. She sighed, and moved around the table to behind where Zoey sat, and took a hold onto her shoulders.
The next thing Chase and Zoey know, they're dragged off their seats and are now standing up and staring at each other between the many tables in the area. Lola, Nicole, Michael, and Logan had formed a small circle around Chase and Zoey so they couldn't try to run away. Chase started to smile to see Zoey, but remembered he was supposed to be faking, so he quickly wiped it off.
Everyone was quiet. But then someone finally spoke...
"Is there a reason why I'm here?" Zoey asked, trying to sound annoyed.
"Yes, you're going to fix your relationship with Chase, and your not going anywhere until you do." Lola told her.
Chase slightly gulped. I guess this will be where Zoey said she and I argue. How will I be able to fake that?
Silence.
That's all there was. Zoey and Chase just stared at each other. They both figured that the other would start the conversation out.
Okay... is she going to say anything at all? Chase wondered. We've been standing here for a few minutes already.
Zoey, however, wasn't planning on starting it. Come on Chase! Say something. We can't just stand here... though, in a way, this silence does kind of help.
Lola, Nicole, Michael, and Logan began to grow slightly bored as they stood in their protective circle. Nicole had begun to sway back and forth on her feet as she watched. Maybe that was Zoey's plan... to keep quiet. I hope so, then we can end this. Meanwhile, Logan was shouting at the two to hurry inside his mind.
More minutes passed by, and still no one spoke. At one point, Chase tried to walk away, but their friend's circle stopped him from going any further.
Chase wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Apparently Zoey wanted him to talk first since she hadn't said a word. But he finally decided speak, though he was uncertain of what to say. (A/N: Meaning me...)
"So... how about that weather? Pretty nice out today isn't it?" Chase said lightly, shifting his body a little. Zoey wanted to laugh, but kept it held inside. Logan slapped his face in an annoyed fashion while everyone just rolled their eyes and sighed.
"We'll never get anywhere at this rate!" Logan exclaimed.
"Zoey, why did you have to over react like that?" Lola asks her.
"You already know why! I don't need to repeat it." Zoey responded spitefully.
"But that's stupid! That shouldn't make you lose a friendship." She said back.
There was silence between them all again. But this didn't last long as Zoey spoke to Chase next to continue this charade.
"Why did you have to tell me?" she questioned him.
Chase was confused. Since this was all fake, he wasn't sure what she was talking about. "Huh?" he asked, puzzled.
"Why did you have to tell me all of it? We had such a great friendship! Now I can't even be near you without feeling awkward." Zoey asked again.
What is she– Oh that! Ok, now I know what she's talking about. Stupid Chase. "Well, you're the one who kept asking me what it was that text message I accidentally sent to you was. You just had to know!" Chase said, starting to ease into the charade along side Zoey.
"Well, you shouldn't have sent it to me then!" Zoey argued back.
"That's not my fault, Michael's the one who kept pestering me to tell you. I was trying to tell him that I wouldn't do it, but apparently I had sent it you by mistake!" Chase yelled.
"Hey, don't drag me into this." Michael said lightly.
Chase continued on. "You kept asking me what it said, so I told you."
"Of course I had to know! If you had sent me something that made you want to steal from me, then of course I'd be at least a little curious as to what it said. But you didn't have to tell me you know, you could have just kept quiet. I'm sure I would have left it alone after a few days, and things would have gone back to normal." Zoey countered.
"Not you..." Chase said slyly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"You aren't one to forget things. You'll keep it inside for a long time." (A/N: I think that's true... please tell me if I'm mistaken. If it's not true, well, she is in this story. :P)
Zoey frowned a little. She knew this was just a fake argument, but that comment upset her slightly. "Well you don't know that. I might have shook it off."
"Well, you didn't. You had Quinn fix your tekmate, and when she had finally finished it, you read the message on it. I was trying to erase it, but Michael made me come to you, in which he gave you the message to read."
"I said leave me out of this!" Michael told them. But they weren't really listening to him.
Chase continued on again. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. And I told him that. That's why I tried to erase the message...again. But then you read the message. And now all of this has happened. And there goes one of the best friendships I've ever had. It makes me unhappy, but I can understand it.
Their friends all watched in silence as the two spat at each other. It wasn't going as they had hoped it would. Nicole had it the worst of all. She was bursting at the seams. What's going on? I don't get any of this! I'm so confused. I thought they liked each other. Why are they arguing like this? This is just going to end badly. I just know it...
"Guys!" Lola butted in. "I'm sure we can fix this. We just need to talk this all through."
"We can't!" Zoey shouted.
Chase noticed some harshness in her voice. He'd sensed it rising throughout the entire argument. I hope she remembers this is supposed to be fake. "No, it's too late for that. But I don't care anymore. I'm just going to say this one time before I leave."
Various people from around the area had started to watch the teens argue. They weren't the kind of people to be yelling, at least to each other, so this came as a surprise at to them all.
Chase hadn't noticed this, but if he had, he wouldn't have cared anyway. "Zoey Brooks. I love you!"
This was when Zoey snapped. She completely forgot that they were faking the whole thing. Her current emotion that she was pretending to have the entire time took over her mind...and body. Zoey wasn't sure what happened. It all seemed like a blur to her now. It just happened...
"DON'T SAY THAT!" Zoey screeched at him. There was a loud smack, crack, and grunt sound next. Everyone in a fifty foot radius around them were shocked. Some of the girls in the area screamed. The remaining girls, and the surrounding guys just gasped.
"ZOEY!" Lola shouted at her, eyes wide in disbelief. The other three were tending to Chase.
Zoey backed up slowly, looking at her hands. "Chase..." she said lightly. What have I done?... She took one last look at her friend, her face scared, and ran away.
Zoey wasn't sure where she was going. She just ran away very quickly, her eyes releasing tears as she ran. I'm sorry Chase!
Why did I do that? Zoey thought to herself, tears still sliding out of her eyes.. What happened? I don't see how that could have happened. She was laying on her bed inside of her dorm room.
You're too much of a good actress I guess. I mean, it was rather convincing. I'm sure you're friends bought it anyway. A voice answered her back.
I guess so... but that's no excuse... Zoey thought lightly.
Do you have any other ideas then?
No... But I'm worried about Chase. What if I hurt him? And what if... What if he doesn't like me anymore after that? I didn't mean to hit him like that. Zoey's eyes watered some more.
I'm sure he's fine. He's a tough kid. Just go check on him tomorrow. You know, give him a little time to recover.
Zoey nodded at the voice. I guess... But I'm still worried about if he'll even want to see me now. What if that made him scared of me or something? I can't have that... I... love him.
You're over exaggerating. Just don't go around hitting him anymore, and I'm sure he'll be fine.
Zoey remained silent. The voice did seem to calm her a little, as her tears stopped falling, leaving her eyes slightly red from all of the crying. At that moment, the door opened up. Zoey turned her head to face the door. She saw that it was Nicole who came inside.
"Zoey! I can't believe you did that! Why did you hit Chase like that? I thought all you wanted to do was make it look like you two had no chance! I just don't see–" But Nicole stopped in mid sentence. She had spotted Zoey's face, which was slightly flushed from her crying. "Zoey... What's wrong?" Nicole didn't like to see her friend like this.
"Oh Nicole... I didn't mean for any of this. I don't know what happened. My emotion just took over or something." Zoey then sat up straight. "Nicole... is Chase all right?"
"Yeah, he's doing okay. He's up in the nurse's office."
"What happened?" Zoey asked with worry.
"Well, you broke his nose. That's usually what happens when you get hit in the face as hard as you swung at him." Zoey drooped her head to the ground slightly. "Oh... sorry." Nicole apologized.
"Was he mad?" Zoey questioned her.
"I don't know. When you hit him it kinda knocked him unconscious. He was still like that when I left the nurse's office. But she said that his nose was broken."
"So... I guess I'm in trouble then."
"Why's that?" Nicole asked, confused.
"Because I'm the one who hit him. Didn't the nurse ask what happened to him?" Zoey wondered.
"Oh... well, we weren't sure what to say. What you did surprised us all. Everyone figured there must have been some kind of reason why you did what you did. You're not the aggressive type. So we just told the nurse a fake story of how he accidentally rode his bike off the set of stairs by Brenner Hall. You know, that really long one. (A/N: Yeah, I don't know about that... so I made it up.) And we told her that he landed on his face." Nicole told her.
Zoey remained silent. Even after all that, my friends still won't rat on me. Wow... Zoey stared at Nicole for a moment, before saying, "I'm going to go see him tomorrow."
"Chase?" Nicole asked.
"Yes." Zoey said, laying back down on her bed, and closing her eyes. Zoey fell asleep almost instantly. She slept for the rest of the day...dreaming.
A Few Hours Later
Later that day, Lola came back from the nurse's office. Nicole greeted her as she entered the room.
"Hey Lola, is Chase doing okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, he just has to stay there for the rest of the night. Then tomorrow he can go back to his own room." Lola explained. She then started walking towards Zoey, who was still fast asleep.
Nicole appeared in front of her. "No, don't wake her up." Nicole demanded.
"Why? I want to ask her some questions. We need to know what happened. You don't just punch someone then not explain why." Lola told her.
"I know... Just, not right now. Wait until tomorrow."
"But–" Lola started to say, but stopped after she saw the seriousness in Nicole's eyes. She never saw that too often in her, so she decided to wait until the next day. "Fine."
"Thank you..."
The Next Morning
Zoey tossed and turned in bed. It was about six in the morning. She had been restless for about two hours at this point. But then she suddenly jumped in her bed. "NO, CHASE!" Zoey awoke with a start. She was panting slightly. Zoey looked around the room and saw Nicole and Lola asleep on their bunk bed. She swallowed the lump in her throat and brushed the small beads of sweat off of her forehead.
Zoey let out a sigh of relief that all of what she had just experienced was just a dream. I need to go see Chase. She jumped out of bed, and quietly got dressed, to avoid waking Nicole and Lola up, as she tried to forget about the dreams she had just witnessed.
Dream 1
Zoey walked into the nurse's office. She saw Chase asleep on the bed the nurse had left him to sleep in during the nightZoey took a quick look around. She couldn't find the nurse anywhere, so she just decided to walk right in anyway.
Zoey smiled down at Chase as he slowly breathed in and out in his sleep. He doesn't look that bad... She thought, raising her arm to shake him slightly. Chase started to stir awake a moment later. He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out who was above him, while his eyes adjusted to the light.
"Hi Chase. Are you alright?" Zoey asked with a small smile.
"Zoey? What are you doing here?" He asked back, his voice sounding slightly spiteful.
"I came to check up on you. I didn't mean for that to happen yesterday." she said sadly.
Chase's eyebrows furrowed, as he glared at her. Zoey was taken back at this slightly. It scared her to see him like this. "I want you to leave. Now!"
"Wh– what? Why?" Zoey questioned. Her happiness seemed to shatter at this point.
"You know why! Now leave! I never want to see you again!" Chase yelled, pointing towards the door.
"But... Chase. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you." Zoey told him, on the verge of tears.
Zoey closed her eyes for a moment. She wasn't happy that Chase wouldn't forgive her. When she opened her eyelids, everything was gone. All there was, was complete and total darkness.
Dream 2
Zoey was laying down on her bed, trying to finish up her homework. Chase was going to come over soon, as soon as the nurse released him. So she wanted to have it all done before he arrived. But, just as she had finished up her science homework, the door knocked.
Since she was alone in the room, she jumped out of bed to go see who was at the door. That can't be Chase. He said he wouldn't be over for at least another hour. Zoey opened the door, and she saw that it was, in fact, Chase on the other side.
"Chase? What're you doing here? You said you wouldn't be coming over until later. Did they release you sooner or something?" Zoey asked curiously.
He didn't answer her question. Chase had a sad look on his face. Zoey noticed this, and began to worry slightly.
"Is something wrong... Chase?" She asked with concerned eyes.
"Yes." He replied, looking away.
"Well, what is it?"
"Um... well, while I was at the nurse's, she wanted to call my parents. So I told her the number for it, and she called and spoke with my mom. She explained to her some story of how I fell off my bike from a staircase, which I'm guessing you guys told her, and... well..." Chase said.
"What?"
"Well... my mom wants me to come back home. She thinks it's too dangerous for me to be over at PCA anymore. And... it's kind of... immediate."
"Immediate? How soon?" Zoey asked.
"Right now..." Chase said lightly.
Zoey felt devastated. She didn't want him to leave her. Zoey looked down at the ground, and she saw suitcases by Chase's feet. She was so busy talking to him that she didn't notice this at first.
A sound of a car horn then filled the air. "That... would be my ride." Chase told her sadly. "Bye Zoey." He looked at her for a moment, then slowly walked away.
"No, Chase... come back..." Zoey whispered softly, as everything got dark.
Dream 3
(Zoey's third dream was the worst of them all. She wasn't sure why she dreamt this, as it wasn't related to the previous day's events in the slightest, but it still scared her none the less.)
Zoey was entering the boy's dormitory. She turned her head left and right, looking around the lounge for Chase. Today was going to be the first official date of Chase and her being boyfriend and girlfriend.
She checked her watch, which read 5:03. Where's Chase? He said to meet here at 5:00. She thought, sitting down on one of the couches. And I thought I was late...
The minutes passed, and Zoey was still sitting down on the same couch. As she started to get restless, she thought of something she had just noticed. The guy's lounge was unusually empty. There was no one when she entered it, and not a single person had come in or left as she sat and waited for Chase. Odd... Oh well. Maybe Chase said his dorm room, and not the lounge... Zoey thought, trying to make an excuse for Chase being late.
She decided that she heard him incorrectly, and got up to walk to Chase's room. The walk took a lot longer then it usually did, but Zoey shook it off. As she reached the door, Zoey took a moment to check herself, to make sure her outfit was straight and everything. When she was sure she looked her best, Zoey raised her arm to knock on the door, but as she did so, she noticed the door was open a crack. Hmm... strange. She thought. Zoey walked inside, expecting to see Chase inside... And she did.
As she pushed open the door, Zoey started saying, "I'm sorry Chase, I thought you had–" but she was cut short from what she saw. She saw two people in the room. One of them was Chase. Right at the moment, he was backed into the corner, with a frightened look on his face. Zoey didn't know who the other man was. He had a black ski mask covering his face, and another item, which caused Zoey to swallow slightly... a pistol.
"Zoey! Get out of here! Now!" Chase shouted. But she wasn't quick enough. The man faced her, gun in hand.
"I don't think so young lady. Close the door... and move over there." The man ordered, pointing to a spot near Chase, but not exactly next to him.
Zoey was scared, and wasn't sure what to do. But she obeyed anyway, and walked to where the man had pointed, shaking as she went.
"You're just in time Ms. Brooks." The man told her.
Zoey's eyes went wide. Who is this guy? How does he know my name?
"I was just about to get rid of this guy here, and I could use a decent audience." the man continued.
"What? Chase, no!" Zoey exclaimed.
"I'm sorry Zoe." Chase said. He wasn't sure what was happening either.
"So, any last words Matthews?" The man sneered.
"Yes..." He took a deep breath, knowing that it would be his last. "I love you Zoey."
Zoey's eyes began to water. Chase... The next thing she heard, was one very loud gunshot.
"NO, CHASE!" And that was when Zoey awoke in her bed.
At the Nurse's Office
Zoey walked into the nurse's office, and asked the nurse if she could see Chase.
"It's a little early to be visiting isn't it?" she asked.
"I know... but it's important. Can I please go see him?" Zoey begged.
"Alright, go ahead."
Zoey walked in the room, and saw Chase on a bed. But he wasn't asleep. He was staring at the window, looking outside. "Hi Chase."
Chase turned his head toward the voice. "Oh, hey." He said with a smile.
"Are you mad at me?" Zoey asked sadly.
"Not really... should I be?" Chase wondered.
"You know... from yesterday. When I... accidentally hit you."
"Oh that... No, I'm fine. I knew that was an accident. It really hurt though... but I knew you didn't mean it."
"I'm really sorry Chase." Zoey apologized.
"That's okay. I guess you're just a pretty good actress, and you started to believe your own lie. Just don't be hitting me anymore." teased Chase.
She smiled at him, glad he wasn't upset. But then Zoey started to cry.
Chase was surprised at this. "Zoe, what's wrong?"
"It– It's nothing... really." she said through the tears.
"Don't give me that. I know you. It's not nothing. So tell me, what is it?"
"Well..." Zoey told him of the dreams that she had suffered through a few hours before, and how upset they made her feel.
"Oh, Zoey... it's okay. I'm not dead." Chase said comfortably, pulling Zoey in for a hug, hoping it would calm her down.
Zoey pulled back from their hug, and smiled at Chase. "So, did it work?" Chase asked.
"Did what work?" Zoey asked, slightly confused.
"You know, your plan." Chase told her.
"Oh...yeah, that worked all right. But I didn't mean to hit you like that... I don't know what came over me."
"That's okay. So, are we done pretending now?" Chase question.
"You tell me." Zoey stated, and started to lean over Chase, and pulled him into a kiss. Chase happily accepted..
Time seemed to stop for the two as they kissed, but it stopped abruptly when they heard someone behind them.
"Excuse me." the voice said.
Zoey let go of Chase, and turned around to face the voice. She saw all of her friends standing in front of her. Nicole, Lola, Michael, and even Logan. Nicole was about to burst from happiness.
"What the heck? I thought you didn't want to be anywhere near Chase Zoey. And here you are kissing him!" Lola shouted.
Zoey grinned slightly, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well... you see..." she started saying.
"No wait! Zoey, let me tell them! Can I please tell them? Please? I want to tell them!" Nicole shouted.
Zoey shrugged. "Okay, tell them."
"Yay!" Nicole smiled, and turned to the other three. "Okay well, it's like this. Waaaaaaaaay back when we locked Chase and Zoey in that closet, they were stuck together and forced to talk to each other. And they did. What they told us was that Zoey wasn't happy about this and wanted Chase to stay away from her, right?" Michael, Logan, and Lola all nodded. "Well, that's not true. What really happened was that Zoey told Chase that she felt the same exact way. And they were both happy about this."
"So...how did they get out?" Michael asked.
"Well, Zoey still had her tekmate on her, and she called Dustin, who came over and opened the door for them. Then Zoey came up with this plan to get back at us for locking them up and butting into their life as badly as we did. So Zoey told Chase to make it seem like it went badly. Which, I guess, worked. So after that, I found Zoey and Chase kissing at the beach, and that's when they told me everything. But Zoey made me promise to not tell you guys. Which was hard!"
"See! I knew something was wrong with her!" Logan exclaimed.
"And I guess Zoey came up with this 'master plan' thingy, and that's where she and Chase argued with each other around us. And they hoped that, that would teach us a lesson in butting into people's lives."
"You mean you planned to punch Chase right in the nose and break it?" Lola asked, bewildered.
"No...that was an accident." Zoey told her.
"Well hey, if it wasn't for us, then you two would never have gotten together." Michael added.
"That may be true, but I just hope that taught you to not interfere in stuff like that anymore." Zoey said.
"We're sorry..." Lola and Michael said. There was a slight pause after that. Lola slapped Logan in the back of the head after it ended.
"Okay fine! Me too... I guess." Logan said bitterly.
Zoey turned back around toward Chase, and pulled him in for another kiss, which, once again, he accepted.
"Yay!" Nicole shouted, clapping softly.
-------------------------------------------------
A/N: And there you have it, the full story of Zoey101: Secrets Revealed. I hope you're all happy. :) And guess what, this whole story was 63 pages long and over 30,000 words long! (GASP) Heh... So, if anyone has any last reviews for this story, write them now or forever hold your peace.
Before I continue my other stories, I'm going to write me a one-shot. Yes, my first one... so be on the lookout:P
Bye all!
-Hybrid Speed