A/N: Yes, chappie two is here; I updated faster than I thought. But then again this story is gonna be really long so I guess that's a good thing. Besides, that's just more good news for you people. I just have to thank you all for my awesome reviews for chapter one; I was "squee"-ing for like five minutes straight. I specially have to thank and PnayBabyGurl:you guys' review made me double squee. I love every review I get, but I especially love reviews that tell or quote things they like about the story and comment on things I should improve on. All also have to thank maximumfan; I'd so love to see that Australian lingo (yeah, I totally made up kangaroo shoes). I changed the spelling of Delfiggilo to DelFigello because I'm pretty sure I was spelling it wrong before. Well, seeing as how this chapter's a bit longer than the first, I'm gonna say bye-bye for now.
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Zoey101: I could bribe Dan Schneider with my life savings so he could hand over the rights to me, but unfortunately that's only fifteen dollars and thirty-three cents.
"Okay, would you rather…be farted in the face by a pregnant orangutan or be forced to eat 1 million marshmallows in an hour?" Zoey asked snacking on a grape. She and Chase were the first ones at their usual lunch table waiting for their friends. But secretly, they enjoyed their time alone.
Chase thought pensively while stroking his chin. "Hm…definitely farted on by the monkey; those marshmallows would go straight to my thighs."
Zoey laughed so hard she almost choked on her fruit.
"You know," as soon she regained control, "we haven't done this in a long time."
He raised an eyebrow and held on to those brown eyes with a stare. "You know what else we haven't done in a long time?"
He leaned across the table and graced her lips with a chaste kiss. He released soon, mirroring Zoey's smile.
"Only if you consider ten minutes ago a long time," she playfully answered.
"Well, in dog years that's about seventeen hours."
"No, it's not."
"I know." He chuckled then they dazed at each other and kissed once more. Chase cradled her cheeks while she gently marveled at his crazy, bushy mane. It's been so blissful between the two since last year's prom. Every emotion they've ever had for each other was bottled up for so long, and even though they've been with each other the whole summer, they still had so much more of it to release. In Maui it truly felt like a summer romance—sun bathing near the ocean, sun burning near the ocean, and romantic dinners by candlelight while watching the latest episode of Girly Cow—and even though ordinary summer romances always come to an abrupt end, Zoey and Chase was no ordinary couple. Nothing could ever sever the feelings they had for one another.
"Um, hello? You're blocking the ketchup!"
Zoey and Chase pulled abruptly pulled apart and leaned back in their seats. They turned to notice an annoyed friend now sitting between them.
"Lola? When did you get here?"
"Oh," she looked at her wrist, "about eight seconds after you guys started ripping each other's face off with your lips."
Zoey blushed. Chase was a bit embarrassed but easily hid it with his sarcasm (a classic Chase Matthews move).
"Ha ha ha. You're not even wearing a watch; what a cheap form of physical comedy."
"Ketchup please," she repeated. Zoey willingly obliged and grabbed the ketchup, but instead of putting it on her fries, she squirted a whole bunch of it in her Blix bottle. Chase laughed; Lola was shocked. She watched speechless as Zoey closed the cap and shook it. She placed down the ketchuppy artificially flavored soft drink with a very satisfied smile.
"Wh…wha—what was that for!?"
"That was for keeping me and Quinn up until three in the morning with your stupid East Asian furniture arrangements."
"Oh, yeah… Well, it bores me now so I'm done with it. But hey! I learned a big word because of it."
"What's that?" asked Chase.
"Spiritual Equilibrium"
"…But that's two words."
Lola snacked on a French fry. "Speaking of spiritual equilibrium, Michael wasn't in first period today, but I saw him go to his second period class."
"…But that has nothing to do with spiritual equilibrium."
"Why wasn't he there, did he skip?" Zoey asked with concern ignoring Chase's comment.
"Speaking of skipping," chided in Vince Blake now walking toward the table. He kissed his girlfriend on the cheek before continuing. "Did you here Lisa's moving to New Hampshire today?"
"But that has nothing to do with skipping!" yelled Chase. What was up with people and their false word associations?
Zoey gasped (again ignoring her boyfriend's cry of confusion). "She had to have told Michael this before anyone else… That's why he must have been screaming this morning!"
"And why he wasn't in class," continued Lola.
"Wait," interrupted Vince, "He's going all crazy and skipping class just because his girlfriend's moving?"
"That is a very Michael-thing to do," reminded Chase.
"Would you act all crazy and skip class if I moved?" Lola asked Vince very coyly with big puppy dog eyes. Vince pondered the question and tapped his chin.
"Well, I guess it depends…but I'm not much of a screamer." Lola gasped. How hurtful!
Vince smiled in reassurance and kissed her on the cheek again. "I'm just kiddin', hot stuff. Look, I gotta go get lunch but I'll check you guys later." Vince took a glance near Lola's tray to notice something very refreshing. "Ooh, Blix, I'm parched."
Lola, Zoey, and Chase all stared at each other wide-eyed before turning back to Vince, who grabbed the bottle. "Wait, Vince stop!" They all yelled in unison, but it was useless; Vince was already walking away juggling the bottle of ketchup flavored Blix in his hands.
Lola cringed. "Oh, great, now I have to deal with a football player with an incredibly upset stomach later on."
"Sucks for you," said Chase. Lola whacked him in the head with a French fry.
Zoey, however, was still hung up about Michael and just couldn't let it go. "Poor Michael; his girlfriend is moving across the country and he might not ever see her again."
"That's a bit pessimistic don't you think, Zo?" asked Chase.
"Well," Lola added in, "she might have a point. New Hampshire is a million…thousand…well, a lot of miles away. It's senior year; maybe it won't work out between them…" She paused in contemplation then glanced back between Chase and Zoey. "But then again, it did work out for you two, and Chase was across the ocean."
Zoey looked at Chase.
Chase looked at Zoey.
Zoey smiled at Chase.
Chase smiled at Zoey.
Zoey kissed Chase.
Chase kissed Zoey.
God, how they loved each other.
"Oh, come on! Ew!" Lola groaned and chomped down on another French fry.
"Hey guys!"
"Yeah, what's up?" Logan and Quinn finally met up at their lunch table and greeted their friends.
"Well, Quinn and Logan, I would greet you back but I can't, see as how Mr. and Mrs. McLovin over here is IN MY WAY."
That was obviously Zoey and Chase's cue to separate. They lightly chuckled and continued with their lunch.
"Get a room," teased Logan.
"Well, I have a room," replied Chase, "but instead of sharing it with the girl of my dreams I share it with two nimrods."
"What's a nimrod?"
"Aw," cooed Zoey, "I'm the girl of your dreams?"
"You know it."
"Aw!" They were lunging for each other again until Lola blocked their path with her hand.
"Five minutes!" she yelled. "Five minutes is all I ask!"
Quinn laughed. She thought it was cute that Chase and Zoey could finally openly express their feelings, but obviously her other friends considered it insanely annoying.
"So," she started, "what's been up besides all the lovey dovey moments?"
"Did you hear?" Chase began with the formerly discussed topic. "Lisa's leaving PCA so she and Michael are breaking up."
Quinn gasped. Lisa? The girl that Michael was attached to by the hip? The girl that haunted his every dream (he should know; she performed a dream analysis on him for a science experiment a couple of weeks ago)? That Lisa was moving away from him?
"Break up? But Michaels' crazy for that girl—"
"—literally," Logan interrupted.
"What is he going to do?" The whole screaming incident was all starting to make sense to her now.
"We don't know," worried Zoey. This too much reminded her of the last year situation with Chase. They were apart for so long. It really did hurt her indescribably, and even though she tried to ignore that, sidetrack every conversation centered on Chase, and neglect every object that reminded her of him, no distractions could ever make her let Chase go. But the difference was she realized her feelings and got Chase in the end, and Michael may not get Lisa in the end.
"I wouldn't worry so—" Lola was stopped by the vibration of her Lazor Phone. She reached in her bag for her cell then opened it to read the lighted screen.
"What's that?" asked Logan.
"Oh, it's a text from Mandy Franklin. She wants me to let her borrow my History notes."
"Wait, isn't that Make-Out Mandy?" Chase asked.
Logan chuckled, "Yeah—Hey, guess what? For Physics we have this project thing, and Mandy's the girl I'm paired up with."
"Oh, really dude, that's sweet—"
SNAP!
Everyone at the table turned to Quinn who stabbed her fork in her macaroni so hard the plastic spork broke in half. Logan gulped. Crap!
"Um, I know the macaroni's a little bland but geesh," commented Chase.
"Uh, Quinn, is there something wrong?"
She threw Logan a quick glare before turning back to Zoey. She was happy. She was content. She was satisfied with the fact that she could relax without having to hear the words "Mandy" "Franklin" or "Make-Out" in her presence. Now, having Lola not just bring up her name but Logan influencing the dreadful conversation really overcooked her grits (lol I know that expression is really cheesy but I always wanted to say that!). "Oh, no I'm fine, but won't you, Lola, tell Mandy how much Logan is looking forward to being his project partner. Really, he's ecstatic." She ended sourly.
"O…kay…" Lola started typing words but was stopped when Zoey closed her phone.
"Lola, no." Apparently Lola didn't realize Quinn was just kidding. Or was she?
Logan shot her a glare back. What did he do? Okay, he knew what he did but why was that so harmful? He just brought it up as a casual conversation with his buddy. He thought they were over this! Well, she was NOT going to make him look like a fool. No one made Logan Reese look like a fool…besides him.
He turned to Chase. "Hey Chase?"
"Yeah?" Chase could sense there was some trouble brewing.
"Don't you have next period with DelFigello?"
"Yeah."
"Well, won't you please mention to him how eager Quinn is to be working with him for the next three weeks and how she misses him sooo much."
"Oh, please," Quinn addressed him directly, "don't start with that!"
"Me? You started it first with how I'm so thrilled to see Mandy Franklin!"
"Oh, so you admit it!"
"What? No—"
"But you just—"
And so it began…
Zoey, Lola, and Chase just stared at each other in confusion as the couple continued to fight over…something.
"This is so like you, Logan. Like the time you let that Samantha Prater share your personal information."
"She was interviewing me for the basketball team!"
"But I'm sure she didn't think of it that way…"
It continued like this, but then all of a sudden—literally out of nowhere—
"DO YOU WANT TO MAKE-OUT WITH ME AS MUCH AS I WANT TO MAKE-OUT WITH YOU?"
"OF COURSE, I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK!"
And in a flash, they were gone, knocking over students with their weird sudden making out urges.
Lola frustratingly massaged her temples. If she had to witness public display of affection from her friends one more time, she was going to cut off all of her eyelashes!
"Hey," hinted Chase to Zoey, "I think they're on to something."
"Ooh," she smiled, "just what are you thinking, handsome—"
"UGH!!"
The couple turned to Lola who grabbed her tray and angrily stomped away.
"Where are you going?" they asked.
"TO FIND SOME SCISSORS!" and she was gone.
It only took three seconds for the pair to burst out in laughter. Their spontaneous and cunning plan worked!
"Man, don't you love messing with her?" Chase took a drink of his orange Blix.
"So love it. Now she knows how we feel when we have to sit and watch her and Vince all "kissy-kissy-goo-goo"."
"Exactly. Please promise me that we won't get all obsessed like that."
"Now matter how much I love your bushy head?"
"Now matter how much you love my bushy—hey! My hair has feelings, too."
"I wouldn't doubt that. Your hair's so huge it probably took control of your entire brain thus manipulating your every emotion."
"You know, I should really take back that science fiction novel I let you read."
Zoey snacked on her last grape. "Too late, I'm hooked."
It was finally after school and Logan and Quinn were relaxing in the boys' lounge. Quinn sat happily in Logan's lap as she snacked on a yogurt cup. Logan kept sticking his finger in the Strawberry Delight getting tiny tastes. They were extremely content enjoying each other's presence—almost as if they didn't want to bite each other's heads off a few hours ago.
"I could so make better yogurt," said Logan with clear displeasure of the strawberry mixture.
"Oh yeah, I highly doubt that." Quinn swallowed another spoonful.
"Well, little miss missy, I see you have some yogurt on your glasses."
"Really? Where?" she squinted in hopes of seeing what he was talking about.
"Here, let me get that." He reached to take her glasses. She was expecting for him to wipe them with the end of his shirt and give them back, but he gave her a sneaky smile and raised them above her reach.
"And I highly doubt that you'll get these back." He waved them back and forth with that same smug smile.
"Hey," she tried to make her voice sound infuriated but instead it came out in comfortable laughs, "give them back!"
"Oh no, I don't think so." Logan couldn't help but laugh at her false-anger. How adorable.
"I mean it, Reese."
"So do I, Pensky."
"If you don't give them back in five seconds—"
"You'll what?"
She started to trail her fingers along his sleeveless arm toward his shoulder. "Well, I just happen to know a certain pressure point located right in the—"
Before she could finish her threat, her glasses were already placed correctly on her face accompanied by a light kissed on the nose. They both started laughing again.
"Why do we always find stupid reasons to fight?" asked Quinn as her laughing started to quiet down.
Logan was about to answer with "so we can find stupid reasons to make-out" but was halted with the sight of Mark DelFigello walking into the lounge. Almost instantaneously his happiness flushed out of his body and was replaced with disappointment and annoyance.
Logan answered her question. "Maybe it has something to do with that guy."
Quinn immediately noticed the drop in his voice, and the stiffness of his figure. Was there something wrong? She turned her head to notice Mark give a quick greeting to a red-haired kid then make his way over. She sighed. She didn't hate Mark, honestly she didn't, but darn him for ruining Logan's finally happy disposition! That's when she remembered about their Physics project. He probably was coming to discuss it with her, and that wasn't bad at all. Quinn had so many amazing ideas that would probably win her a Nobel Prize let alone an A in Physics. She hopped down from Logan's lap and gave him a caveat stare.
"Be nice," she warned.
Logan rolled his eyes and opened his mouth for a really snappy remark but thought twice and held it in. Despite the many insults he was throwing DelFigello in his mind that could easily escape, Quinn's feelings mattered more to him than anything, and he knew that would hurt her if he fully expressed his opinion about him (why that would hurt her still made him confused and a bit uneasy, to be honest…). He sucked in his breath as Mark approached the two and offered a casual greeting.
"Hey, Quinn…Logan."
"Hello, Mark," smiled Quinn. Mark took a quick inspection of her. Her usual brunette curls were accompanied with a green and white head band. She had on a spaghetti-strapped green light-sequined top, dark blue skinny jeans and a bag over her right shoulder. He never really noticed before how different she looked this year. She was more…hm…
"DelFigello." Quinn shot Logan a quick glower that fortunately only he noticed. "What?" he mouthed.
"So, we have a project…" started Mark.
"Yeah," agreed Quinn.
"…for Physics…"
"Yeah,"
"…about Physics stuff…"
"Yeah," Quinn couldn't help but become a bit annoyed.
"…with each other…"
Logan rose. Someone was getting a little too close for comfort: Logan's comfort. "Just what are you saying, Mark?"
"I'm saying that we have a project…for Physics…about Physics stuff…with each—"
"OKAY!" interrupted Quinn, "Mark, I've already wrote down some ideas in my bag. I'm ready to start whenever you are."
"…How about now?"
"NO!" Both turned to Logan's outcry. Mark gave a questioning look while Quinn's glare became more distinct. He tried to cover himself. There was no way he was going to let stupid DelFigello steal his girlfriend away from him now. He was enjoying her company way to much; he liked the escape he always got with her didn't want his moment ruined by reality. "Um, remember Quinn? You have to help me study for Mr. Pancake's test."
"It's Pentlatski and his test isn't for another four and a half weeks."
"Yeah, but…I really need the grade so I really need to study. Sorry Mark, come by later, okay?"
Mark was confused. Was he going to use his protractor or not?
Quinn smiled apologetically at him. "Um, excuse us Mark."
"Yeah, excuse us, DelFigello." Quinn gave him yet another intensifying glare and dragged him to the corner.
"You know," teased Logan, "if you glare like that too much your eyes will get stuck like that."
"What is your problem!?" she whispered.
"What do you mean, I didn't do anything."
Quinn heaved a deep sigh. She really did not want to argue with Logan again; she loved him too much (despite his stupidity and child-like behavior). "Look, we'll be in the PCA library for only two hours—"
"One hour"
"One hour and thirty minutes—"
"Ten minutes"
"One hour and fifteen minutes and that's my final offer."
Logan also heaved a deep sigh. He didn't want to fight with her, either. There was never a project that Quinn did not start early and finish early; Logan didn't dare disrupt that pattern. And besides, even though she was extremely attractive with the way her nose flared when she was mad, he loved it even more when he could make her smile. With this DelFigello situation, he would agree against his feelings just to make her smile…for now.
"Alright," he whispered. "Take as long as you need; I'll be fine."
Quinn blinked. Was he seriously backing down and obliging to her? "Really?"
"Really. My whole life doesn't revolve around you, you know."
"Yes it does."
"Yeah, whatever" There was no use lying, especially to her. Let's all face it; his whole UNIVERSE revolved around Quinn. She smiled in gratitude and turned back to Mark.
"Well, Mark I'm ready. Let's go to the Library. I have these excellent floor plans online of a medieval catapult but they need a little—"
"Hold up a second." Logan artlessly grabbed Quinn by the arm and spun her around to crash his lips into hers in a very sumptuous kiss. His arms traced her silhouette admirably and tailed to her neck then up to gently cradle her cheeks. He pressed into her lips, and with the brief sensation of his tongue tracing her bottom lip, she subconsciously opened and kissed him back with equal force. She didn't know what or why he was doing this, but her mind was too clouded and hazy to object.
Mark coughed. Not even a slap in the face could make him feel more awkward and out of place than he felt now.
About forty-five seconds later, Logan finally decided she needed air and broke apart. He laughed at her askew glasses and carefully readjusted them. All the while Quinn's breathing sped up and her heart busted out of her chest. Yep, with that kiss there was no way she would have anyone else but Logan on her mind.
Logan turned to Mark. "Alright, DelFigello, she's free to go." He gave her a light push forward. Quinn, still slightly dizzy, staggered as she reached for her backpack and gave Logan one last look before heading out the door. Logan laughed as he watched her leave; with that walk there was no way she would pass a drunk driver's test.
"Hey, Zo, look at my new shoes!" Lola used the floor of their dorm room as a runway and modeled them for her roommate. They were black and red cowboy boots with bejeweled silver rhinestones along the heel and toe. She struck a pose then stopped.
Zoey hopped down from her bed after repositioning her picture (for the thousandth time) and inspected her shoes. "Ooh, cute."
"Aren't they?"
"Yeah…you know if you like the whole overly-bejeweled look."
Lola froze. "What?"
"Well…according to Buzz Magazine, bejeweled boots have been rated officially out-of-season."
That certainly raised her embarrassment level up a notch. "Alright," Lola sunk into her pink beanbag chair and began tugging off her shoes. There was no way she was going to be caught dead in last season's boots. She would be the laughing stock of her mind. "These babies are going in the closet."
"Why don't you just return them?"
"This is why," she lifted up the bottom of the left boot to reveal three different colors of bubble gum. From the looks of it they were waaay stuck in there.
"Ew."
"Yeah, I know." She grabbed them as if they were contaminated with the most reeking dog doo and walked to the closet. Zoey shrugged and turned back to her picture—WHICH WAS STILL CROOKED!—but was jolted by the sound of an earthquake in her room. She turned around to find the sound coming from the closest.
"Lola?" she called. "What happened?"
"Purse avalanche! Purse avalanche!" Her voice was muffled so that had to be true. Zoey ran to the closest to see a mountain of Virolang and Danicci (totally made up by the way) crushing a very exasperated Lola.
"No kidding…here, let me help you," she found a waving hand underneath a handbag and pulled. About ten seconds later Lola was free and gasping for air. "Okay, I may be a shopoholic but there's no way all of those are mine!"
"Nope, they're mine. It's my purse collection I've started ever since the sixth grade when my mom got me the Cerci bag I was dying for."
"Collection? More like a museum!" she glanced over the area to admire the millions of trendy bags covering the floor when she spotted something gold and sparkling extremely well against the light from their lamp. "Do you have a pot of gold in here, too?" Zoey gave her a quizzical brow as Lola bent down to grab what she saw. Both gasped in bewilderment at the gold beautiful piece of jewelry that now lay in her hands.
"JAMES' NECKLACE!?" cried Lola.
Zoey's eyes were so huge she was afraid they would pop out of her head. She couldn't understand why all of a sudden her heart rate increased a thousand times more than before. Maybe it was because it was the first time in five months that his name was spoken. Maybe it was because she was staring at the necklace that said "I LOVE YOU, JAMES" from her EX-BOYFRIEND. Yeah, it was definitely one of those two. She was…shocked…astonished…terrified…all too many thoughts and emotions running through her brain at once, suffocating her mind in those three tiny seconds. Fortunately Lola didn't give her a chance to talk.
"What are you doing here!? Why are you in this closet!? Didn't Zoey give you back to James after prom last year!? Why does she still have you after so long!?" She was so flustered she didn't realize she was talking to an inanimate object.
"Um, Lola…" Zoey managed to say.
Lola looked back and forth between Zoey and her hand. "Oh." She regained her sense and immediately started attacking the right person.
"What is this doing here!? Why is it in this closet!? Didn't you give it back to James after prom last year!? Why do you still have it after so long!?" Right now Lola was showing way more emotion than Zoey was. She couldn't believe this! After so long—what, five months—Zoey still kept James' necklace and never said a word—the necklace which was a token of her ex-boyfriend's affection, the necklace which was symbolism for his love. All the time Zoey's been reuniting with her beloved Chase Matthews, soaking up sun in her romantic Maui getaway, and annoying one of her best friends at lunch with her love struck attitude, this beautiful gold necklace was with her, mocking her and Chase's relationship in a Virolang bag. Wait—was that the reason she was keeping this? Why she never returned it to James? Did she not love Chase anymore? Was she secretly holding on to James, silently wishing that she could see him and be with him again?
"Lola, I—" but she didn't give Zoey a chance to talk, for she was attacking her again.
"Wait…that's it isn't it?"
"What's it?"
"That!"
"What?"
"Ha! Oh my gosh, I can't believe this…"
"Believe what!?"
"You know in my head I'm right."
"…Lola, I don't know if you know this but…I CAN'T READ MINDS!"
"Oh…yeah, sorry…but what I'm thinking is that you've kept this necklace because your heart has been lingering away from Chase, and you secretly wish to see James again thus keeping the necklace as part of a plot to kill Chase and hop on a plane to reunite with your ex-lover."
Zoey may have been extremely confused at this moment, but she wasn't nuts. She gave Lola her famous "you-can't-be-serious" stare. "You've been watching too many soap operas lately."
"I know I have but you know I'm right about you keeping this thing because you miss James, and your heart is lingering away from Chase."
"UGH!" Zoey walked over to her bed, grabbed her big yellow pillow, and walked back over to Lola. Without any warning she bopped her on the head with the cotton-filled weapon. "My heart is NOT lingering away from Chase. He's my boyfriend; you know how I feel about him!"
"Or do I?"
Zoey bopped her twice.
"Okay, okay, I know you're right about Chase. But: do you still miss James?"
"NO," but Zoey let go of the pillow and thought. "…I mean, not really…I mean…maybe a little but not like that…" God, Zoey's brain hurt. This was the first time she's thought of this question, yet alone having it being addressed to her directly. After prom last year everyone was still wired on the news about Chase being back, and Logan and Quinn confessing their love for each other, and Stacey Dilson magically losing her lisp; none of her friends ever mentioned James at all. The next day they heard from Dean Rivers that he took an early release from school "to visit his sick grandfather", but it was only until the first week of their senior year that she heard word around campus he wasn't coming back. Now that she was reflecting on it, she never realized how curious she was as to why he wasn't coming back. Was it because of her? Was it because of her friends? She guessed she suppressed her worry about him for so long over other things—especially having Chase back in her life—but it never dawned on her until now that…maybe…she did miss James Garrett.
"But," Lola interrupted her train of thought, "does that explain why you've kept his necklace?"
"I was going to return it to him, the night of prom…but to be honest I didn't think he'd want to see me let alone make him take his necklace back. All of you guys knew there was something wrong with me then, and for those couple of hours I was trying to find out what. Then…I got that phone call from Chase and…" Zoey stopped and replayed the events in her mind of that life-changing moment. The romantic-ness of the surprise was a tad ruined with his fall down the stairs, but all of that disappeared when he gazed at her with those big, almond eyes she loved. He injured his arm during the fall, and what first started as a concern inspection ended up a heated kiss which released every emotion she had bottled up inside since the first moment she saw him.
"…and the rest is all history," Lola finished.
"A-anyway," Zoey shook out of her memory, "I kept James' necklace in one of those purses and I honestly didn't remember I put it there until now."
Lola nodded her head. She knew Zoey was telling the truth; there was no way the Zoey Brooks she knew would lie about something so serious. But still…just to be sure…
"So, how do you feel about Chase now?"
Zoey smiled while releasing a deep sigh. Finally a question she didn't have to think about. "The same way I've felt five weeks ago; the same way I've felt five days ago; the same way I've felt five minutes ago; the same way I've felt five seconds ago."
Lola thought. "…So that's a 'yes' to the question 'Do you still care about him'."
Zoey's smile widened. "That's a definite yes!"
Lola felt like mentally slapping herself. How could she even think for a second that Zoey's and Chase's relationship was in danger? They were like the star couple of PCA (well, besides and her hot boyfriend Vince Blake) and cared more for each other than for themselves. Chase would literally kiss the ground she walked on if she asked him to, and knowing that Zoey would never ask him to just showed how much respect and love she had for him. If she knew anything, she knew that nothing—even a dinky necklace from Zoey's past—could sever their bond. She gave Zoey an apologetic smile and wrapped her up in a bare hug.
"I'm sorry for acting all crazy and jumping to conclusions."
Zoey gladly accepted her apology. "You know you're famous for being crazy and jumping to conclusions."
"But that's why you love me."
"That's right."
Lola pulled apart and inspected the jewelry that was still in her hand. "So, what are you going to do with this?"
Zoey made a reach for it but abruptly pulled back her hand. Touching it would be…still too much for her right now. Instead she turned back towards her bed to focus back on her crooked picture on her wall. "Just put it back in the closet. I'll know what to do with it later."
"Oh crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Chase ran with ultimate speed knocking down chairs, tables, and innocent bystanders. He just had to get to the girls' dorm and fast. The end of the world—and his life—was at risk! He rushed through the doors of Fulton Hall and knocked down some other innocent bystanders until he found room 101.
He burst in the door where Lola was helping Zoey post up a picture near her bed. "Girls! Girls! Girls!"
"What? What? What?"
"You need to help me! My life is at risk!"
"Oh my God!" Lola gasped and hopped down from the bed, bumping into Zoey thus causing her to fall on her butt. She didn't notice the nasty look Zoey gave to her.
"Do you have cancer?" she asked in horror.
"No."
"A tumor?"
"No"
"Glioblastoma multiforme?"
"No—wait I don't even know what that is."
"It's a cancer in the back of the head."
"Oh."
"So do you have it?"
"NO!"
By that time Zoey rose up from her position on the floor and sat in a bean bag chair near Chase. "Look, Lola, he's not literally going to die. That's just Chase talk for he forgot something major and now he's gonna get in serious trouble if he doesn't fix it," she said matter-of-factly.
"Oh…so you're not dying?" She asked Chase.
"Nope, I got a clean bill of health."
"Okay, then, I'm out." She grabbed her bag from her bed and headed for the door.
"Wait," called Zoey, "where are you going?"
"I got a no-longer-sick boyfriend to see. Later!" and she was gone (but secretly she left because she didn't want to give herself the opportunity to spill Zoey's secret).
Chase turned back to Zoey. "Zo, you gotta help me!"
"Okay, okay, tell me what you did."
"Well," he began, "I got an email from my mom congratulating me on the A- I got on my History paper, then she asked me if I remembered my sister Holly's birthday and if I got her anything. That would be all fine and dandy on a regular occasion except this one since I DIDN'T remember her birthday and I DIDN'T get her anything!" he took a deep breath.
"Wait—you have a sister?" after knowing him for four years she still couldn't believe she didn't know he had a sister. As if the James situation didn't make her feel crappy enough.
"Yeah. She's 24, lives in Napa, and married to a guy with a dog named Schlappy but my sister nonetheless. Anyway, her birthday is tomorrow and the last time we talked she promised to kill me if I didn't get her anything."
"Ooh, sibling homicide, we don't want that. Let me guess; you want me to find you something girly that she may like so you can mail it to her, right?"
Chase smiled. She understood him so well. "Well, you are the girliest girl I know."
Zoey laughed and stood up to start inspecting her room. "Well, I got a whole bunch of stuff; what kind of thing is she into?"
"You're the girl—you should know that."
"Uh, you're the brother—you should know that."
"I don't even know if she likes her peanut butter smooth or chunky. Look, I have to MailEx this gift tonight if I want it sent to her on time, so please use that big beautiful fashiony head of yours and find something that'll save my butt."
"Okay, but only because I love your butt." She remembered the incident from earlier—not the confusing finding James' necklace incident but the purse avalanche incident—and went in her closest. Those purses were apart of her seven year collection, but if it was for Chase, she supposed it would be okay to give away just one. "Do you at least know her favorite color?" she asked him.
"Yeah, it's green. Don't ask me for a specific shade of green because I'm not that good."
Zoey found the perfect Danicci bag and threw it to him. "There you go; any girl would love that for a birthday present."
"Yes! Thank-you!" He ran out the door, but within seconds ran back in and kissed Zoey on the cheek. "Call you later, bye!" He then ran back out. Zoey waved goodbye, completely oblivious to the fact that Lola hid James' necklace in that very same bag. DUH DUH DUUUHHHH
A/N: Whew; two chapters down, five million to go. I really wasn't anticipating this chapter to be so long, but you know how it gets when you're really into your writing and you know you've typed a lot but can't find a good place to end it? Well, that's exactly what happened here. I hope I quenched the thirsts of all Choey lovers. I got so into writing about James, he's sooo gonna stir things up next chapter MWAHAHAHAAA!! For you guys that miss Michael (like me) he'll be in the next chapter which—Oops! I've said too much. (Duck tapes mouth shut)
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