Who Do I Choose?

CHAPTER 2:

Disclaimer: I own nothing from the show Zoey 101.

Zoey paced back and forth and back and forth in her dorm room that afternoon after her classes ended. She wasn't sure she had heard right. CHASE was coming back to PCA! Chase was COMING BACK to PCA! Her best friend who had loved her for eternity was coming back! Her mind replayed what Michael had said earlier that day:

Flashback:

"Zoey, Ch-Ch-Cha-Cha-Cha-."

"What? Michael what is it?"

"Chase is coming back to PCA!"

Her jaw dropped about ten feet at those words.

"Chase is coming back."

"When did this happen?"

"Chase called me up a couple of days ago and told me. He's returning in two days."

"Oh no. I mean, it's not that I didn't want Chase to come back. He's my best guy friend. But, I'm with James and I told Chase I loved him, and-."

"Whoa! You told Chase you LOVED him."

She shook her head in despair.

"Zoey, you gotta figure this one out on your own."

"Michael?!"

"Sorry. Catch ya later Zo'!"

"Michael!" she had called after him. "Don't I at least get a word of advice? Some reassurance maybe?"

He waved his hand to her and kept walking away.

End of flashback

Zoey still couldn't comprehend in a way what Michael had told her. Chase was the very first friend she made at PCA. The guy she didn't know had loved her for all those four years. She was now someone else's girlfriend. And yet, her feelings for Chase couldn't be forgotten. She was between a rock and a hard place of what to do with Chase. A knock at the door drew her out of her train of thought.

"Hello?" a familiar voice said.

She turned around. It was James. Oh my god, James! Zoey thought. I haven't even told him about Chase. Chase, you better be grateful about how much trouble I am going through for you.

"Oh yeah, c'mon in James," Zoey replied.

"Is something wrong Zoey?" he asked.

"Why are you asking?" she asked back.

"Because after lunch, in every class, you were very uncomfortable around me," James said. "I'm worried about you."

"Nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect!" Zoey exclaimed a little too perkily and forced out a laugh.

James looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Lying was the one thing Zoey wasn't good at.

Zoey sighed. "James," she began. "This- friend of mine is coming back to PCA," she struggled out. Why was it so hard for her to tell James about Chase returning?

"Yes?" James said to Zoey, motioning for her to continue.

"That friend is-is-is." Zoey had no idea what was wrong with her. "Chase!" she all of a sudden cried out, wanting to end this conversation.

"Zoey," James began. "From what I hear, you and Chase were great friends. Why was this reason to become so silent this afternoon?"

Zoey sighed again. "Because when I returned to PCA from England, I had found out that Chase loved me. And then, soon later, I told him I loved him too."

James lowered his eyes as if he felt he had been cheated on.

"But that was before I met you and now I love you and you have to understand that Chase and I are just friends because I'm yours," Zoey quickly added.

James smiled and took Zoey in his arms. "Now that's more like it," he said and took Zoey in his arms for a long kiss.

In the middle of this kiss, Lola walked into the room. "Oh god!" she cried out. "Get a room."

"You're in it," Zoey shot back.

Lola sighed. "I better go warn Quinn to stay out of here for a while."

"Please and thank you," Zoey replied as Lola hurriedly rushed out of the room.

Zoey looked up at James and smiled playfully. They then continued to kiss.

-Who Do I Choose?-

Two days later, Zoey woke up. She looked at their calendar and sighed. Lola and Quinn had marked on their erasable marker calendar the date of Chase's return. That day was today. Not wanting to wake up her roommates, Zoey went onto her laptop and logged into AIM. She saw that Michael was online so he sent him an IM even though her clock said 5:02 a.m.

ZoeyB-Girl: Hey Michael. Can't sleep I'm guessing.

MikeCanDunk: Nope. U?

ZoeyB-Girl: Not at all. 2 nervous about 2day.

MikeCanDunk: Ur still gonna be there when Chase gets here rite?

ZoeyB-Girl: Definitely. He's still my best guy friend.

MikeCanDunk: Remember where we're meeting?

Zoey-B Girl: Yea, the pavilion.

MikeCanDunk: Good. C u there at 9:00.

ZoeyB-Girl: U can bet on it. C u there.

MikeCanDunk: It'll b fine Zo. Bye.

ZoeyB-Girl: Bye Michael.

When Zoey had logged off, her clock read 5:10 a.m. She groaned. That meant 4 hours and 50 minutes before Chase arrived. She was glad that it was a Sunday at least so she wouldn't have to go to any classes. She sat on her bed just thinking about Chase and her reaction to his arrival when he actually was at PCA for nearly two hours.

Lola woke up around then and looked at the clock. "Zoey, it's 7:00. We gotta get ready."

Zoey merely nodded her head, still in thought, and she got out of her bed and went straight to the shower.

Lola then jumped up and down on her bed to wake Quinn up from the bottom bunk. It must have worked because Quinn fell right out of the bed due to Lola's jumping.

Quinn looked up at Lola and said, "You couldn't have just said, 'Quinn time to het up,'?"

"Nope," Lola responded with a smile.

As Lola and Quinn picked the outfit they would wear that day, Zoey walked back into the bedroom in a daze.

"Zoey are you alright?" Lola asked as Zoey walked towards her closet still in her daze.

"Just nervous. That's all," Zoey said.

"Zoey, would you like to use my Denervousizer," Quinn asked.

"What?" Zoey and Lola said together in bewilderment.

"My latest Quinnvention," Quinn replied. "All I have to do is make a small incision below your neck so I could connect some wires to your spinal cord and through this machine I have, get rid of all your nerves that are making you worry."

"Thanks Quinn, but I prefer to still be alive within the next few hours," Zoey said and picked out her outfit for welcoming Chase back.

-Who Do I Choose?-

The whole gang, including Mark and James, were waiting at the pavilion. It was 9:15 a.m. and Chase still hadn't shown up. Zoey didn't know if she should worry about why he was late or be a little happy because it would buy her more time. A few minutes later, a car pulled into the pavilion. As soon as the car halted, a boy got out of it- Chase.

Michael, Logan, Lola, Quinn, and even Mark ran up to Chase and gave him a big group hug.

As soon as Chase was let go of, which was 5 minutes later, he asked, "Where's Zoey?"

The whole group pointed to where Zoey had decided to stay behind because she didn't know if she was ready to see Chase again. Chase smiled at her. He thought she looked great in a baby pink tank top with a denim miniskirt and light tan UGGS. Her hair was down and she wore her room key and silver hoops. But, his smile immediately turned into a frown as soon as he noticed that some blond-haired guy he had never seen had his arms wrapped around Zoey.

He walked over to the two and said, "Hey Zoey."

"Chase," she said in sentiment and stepped of James' embrace and hugged her best friend whom she had missed.

Chase sighed. It felt so good to have his arms around Zoey and Zoey's arms around him again. He frowned again when Zoey and he ended the hug and she went back into the mystery man's embrace.

"So Zoey, who's this?" Chase asked.

Zoey took a deep breath. She knew that within the next few seconds, the most awkward moment in her life was about to be experienced.

"Chase, this is James and he's my boyfriend."

Author's Note: Cliffhanger! Dum Dum Dum Dum! Sorry to keep you hanging like this. I most probably won't get a chance to update until after Tuesday because of Geometry (ugh!). But, pray for some miracle that I may be able to update earlier! Plz review in the meantime. Don't be afraid to criticize because that's what makes a good author. Oh, I forgot to mention this in my last chapter: To anyone who reviewed, you will be especially thanked at the end of my story. Thnx and keep on checking back for Chapter 3!