Zoey laughed as she fought Chase's hand off from trying to grab the grapes off her plate. It was lunchtime at PCA, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful weather of another gorgeous day—some days it really paid off going to a boarding school in California. "Stop trying to steal my grapes," she playfully swatted his hand away from trying to take a grape off her plate yet again.
Chase laughed along with her, "But I want your grapes."
The two chuckled at the little joke, smiling at each other as they enjoyed being together. It had been a crazy and weird three years at PCA, but they were finally together. The unanswered and confused feelings they both had were gone, and they could enjoy moments like this together.

Michael smiled from his own seat at the table. It seemed like the happy couple didn't even realize he was sitting there, but that was okay. He was happy that they were happy. After watching his roommate pine for years at the blonde and then him literally flying across the globe to be with her, he was glad they could finally be together.
"Will you two give it a rest already." Logan groaned from his seat, head held between his two hands to block out the light. His tray of food was completely untouched.
Chase rolled his eyes, "If we're bothering you so much, then move." He was not happy that his moment with Zoey was interrupted. He had years of pining to catch up on.
Logan didn't bother removing his head from his hands or replying; instead, he just let out another loud groan.
"What's his problem?" Zoey asked, taking a bite of her salad. She's seen Logan in bad moods before, but this one seemed so random.
Michael shrugged as he sipped his soda. "He said he woke up not feeling good but refuses to go to the nurse's office."
Zoey raised an eyebrow, confused as to why he wouldn't just skip class to hang out in the nurse's office. "Why not?" that seemed like a very Logan thing to do. Take the day off to skip class and hang out in the nurses' office.
"Because Stacey Dillsen is there for some freaky yoga incident." He explained, finally picking his head up long enough to glare at his friends for making him do things. His face contorted in pain at the movement.
Zoey winced, "Oh yeah," remembering what happened this morning's sunrise yoga meet.
Chase was now the one confused. "I still don't get how someone can get hurt doing yoga."
"It's Stacey," that was all the explanation Michael needed. From the moment school started, that girl was accident-prone and usually had something bad going on in her life. "I mean, look at prom. Del Figgalo and I accidentally hit her with my car. Who else would that happen to but Stacey." He chuckled, taking a bite of his French fry.

Slowly Zoey, Chase, and Logan all turned their heads to stare at him, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.
"You hit her with your car!?" Zoey cried out, completely shocked.
Michael suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "I never told you, guys, about that, did I?" he chuckled, grabbing at the collar of his shirt. It suddenly felt very hot outside.
"Please tell me you didn't do it on purpose." Chase had to ask, a little concerned and frightened now.
Michael glared, "Of course, I didn't do it on purpose. I was teaching Del Figgalo how to drive stick by stirring the tuna and stomping the grapes when she just came out of nowhere."

Logan rubbed the temples of his forehead; it felt like his brain was trying to pop out of his skull. "Am I hallucinating, or did he just say stomping grapes and stirring tuna to drive?" he kind of wished he was imagining that because then it would make sense. The headshakes of the couple sitting opposite of him said otherwise.

"What's up, people?" Lola appeared, setting down her food tray and sitting beside Michael. She looked at the confused and disturbed faces of Zoey and Chase, the look of anguish on Logan's, and the annoyed look on Michael's. Clearly, she had missed something. "Oh look, here comes Quinn!" never had she been happier to see the other girl so much. She had only just sat down, but things felt so awkward.
"Hey guys," Quinn arrived, setting her own food tray down on the wooden table. However, as she was about to sit next to Logan, he turned in his seat to wrap his arms around her waist and pressed his head into her stomach. "Baby, what's wrong?" she placed her hands on his cheeks but gasped when she felt his flushed skin. "You feel warm. I think you have a fever." Concern immediately overtook her. Lunch now forgotten, she touched his damp forehead and felt his temperature. "We need to get you to the nurses' office."

"He won't go," Zoey informed her roommate, wanting to let her know it would be pointless.
Quinn shook her head, "Why not?" She knew the nurse didn't have the best reputation for bedside manners, but when you're sick, it's the place to go.
"Because Stacey Dillsen is in there right now," Chase added in, finally managing to steal of grape off his girlfriend's place. She gasped at him and stole the bun off his burger. "You took my bun."
Quinn took this all in, "Stacey is there?" she asked, and they confirmed by nodding their heads. "Oh, well, then he is definitely not going to the nurses' office." She leaned forward a bit, moving herself to lean against the arm of the chair he was in, and rubbed his back. He still kept his head buried in her stomach, making small groans of aches and pains.
"Why not?" Lola asked, twirling a piece of watermelon on her fork.
The genius girl of their group looked at her two roommates. "Would you want your boyfriend to be in a room with a girl who has repeatedly proclaimed romantic interest in him?"

"Good point." Both girls had to agree that they wouldn't feel comfortable either. Everyone knew about Stacey's longtime crush and obsession with Logan. In some ways, it was sweet, but in most, it was mainly just sad and creepy.

Happy they were on her side, Quinn grabbed her boyfriend's backpack and swung it over her shoulder along with her own bag. "Come on, baby. Let's get you back to your room. I'll make you some soup and rub your head." Logan let out a weak okay, allowing her to pull him from the chair and drag him across the quad.

"You think he's really sick?" Zoey asked once the couple was out of sight.
Michael pursed his lips together. "Maybe," it wouldn't be that much of a stretch for the rich boy of their group to fake being sick, but this didn't seem like all the other times he feigned illness to get out of going to class.
Chased nodded, a little concerned for his roommate. He would have to remember to check up on him. "Can I have my bun back now?" he asked, hand outstretched to take his hamburger bun back.
Laughing to herself, Zoey made a show of licking the inside of the bun before placing it back on top of the burger. Chase gave a soundless laugh as he looked at his girlfriend and then down at his food. Shrugging to himself, he grabbed the burger and took a bite.
"Dude," Michael chided him, a little grossed out. He would not eat his food if somebody had just licked it.
Chase chewed through the bite, "What?" he asked, mouth still having some remints of the burger. "Her tongue has been in my mouth, so it's fine." The three friends all groaned and chastised him for phrasing it like that. They each threw pieces of their lunch at him; French fries, croutons, and pieces of fruit all hit the boy, who tried to block them, but he was hit in the face each time. "Well," he huffed, wiping the pieces of lunch off his body.

"All I'm saying, man, is that bicycle sounds like such an icky word." Michael expressed his thoughts to his best friend as they walked their dorm halls.
"You're icky," Chase retorted, sipping his green blix drink. He had been forced to deal with his conversation ever since their last class of the day ended.
Michael frowned, not appreciating that comment or that he wasn't being taken seriously. "Come on, think about it. It has the word sick in it and ice. We let not only children ride that but senior citizens too. Don't you think we should get them to change it to something better sounding?"
"You know what I think," Chase fiddled with his empty drink bottle before pointing it at his friend. "I think the real reason James agreed to room with Vince was so he wouldn't have to listen to this conversation ever again." This wasn't a one-time off thing. Michael had been talking about this "issue" since he got back from England, and slowly, he was starting to develop a hatred of bicycles because of it.
Michael frowned, not at all amused with his bushy-haired roommates' response. Pushing past, he opened the door and walked into their room. They stopped in the middle of the dorm when they saw Logan lying in bed, half of his body hanging off the top bunk as he was curled into his pillow and what looked to be Quinn's sweater. "Guess that explains why he wasn't in class." He said, dropping his backpack on the ground next to the couch. He sadly had geometry homework since he attended classes today.

Chase sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. On one hand, he felt bad because it seemed like their friend was sick, but on the other hand, he couldn't go around skipping classes. "Come on, man." He walked over and put a hand on Logan's shoulder, trying to shake him awake. Brown eyes opened briefly before closing again and turning his head the other way. Chase looked to the other in the room for some assistance.
Putting his textbook and notebook on the coffee table, Michael joined him in trying to shake Logan out of bed. "Dude, if you feel sick, just go to the nurse and try to ignore Stacey." That statement was easier said than done, but it was better than him being in the room and infecting them. He did not want his germs.
The two continued to shake at the other, ignoring his attempts to slap them away weakly. They shook his arm and legs, pulling him until they accidentally grabbed him too hard, and he rolled off the bed. Falling from the top bunk and landing on the floor, face first. He didn't yell at them or exclaim that his facial features could be ruined. Instead, he just lay on the ground and groaned in pain.
Chase and Michael looked at each other in horror.

"I'll get the nurse; you check and make sure his face isn't broken." Neither of them could afford to fix Logan's face if he had any blemishes.
As Chase ran out of the room, Michael turned him over onto his back and put a pillow under his head. Thankfully it didn't seem like he had any bruises on his face. "It's going to be okay, buddy," he gulped, nerves starting to set in when he realized just how feverish his friend felt. This wasn't good. "Hey, if you can hear me, Chase pushed you." He whispered, looking around to make sure the other wasn't there to hear him shift the blame on him. He lightly patted Logan on his cheek, but when the other cried out in pain, he jolted and stopped, keeping his hands to himself.

The nurse finally arrived and slapped both boys upside the head for allowing their friend to be in such a sorry state. They knew things were really bad when she ended up calling an ambulance, the situation sinking in more when Logan ended up being wheeled out on a stretcher. Both boys followed them out; most of the dorm was either out in the hall or peeking out their doors. The paramedics yelled at anyone who got in their way, and the students jumped away. Chase had called Zoey and informed her of what was going on amidst all the chaos that was going on in their room.

"Logan!" They heard Quinn screech as she, Lola, and Zoey came running. The moment they got the call, they ran out of their room and raced toward the guy's dorm. "Is he okay? What happened?" she gasped, trying to keep calm and not cry as she watched her boyfriend get loaded into the ambulance.
"Hey!" James and Vince came running out of the dorms. "What's going on?" they heard from people in the hall that paramedics had rushed out with Logan. There was already a horrible rumor going around that he was dying.
Chase and Michael were gasping themselves, mostly to keep from a panic attack. "We don't know when we got back to the room, and he was lying in bed."
"Still!" Quinn howled, mouth open in a gasp when she heard that. "When I left him to go to class, I told him to call the nurse or me if he didn't feel better after his nap." She felt like the absolute worse girlfriend in history for leaving him there when she knew he was sick. "Oh god, I should have stayed with him." She felt this was her fault. She might have been able to get him the medical care he needed if she had just stayed behind.
Zoey wrapped the shaking girl in her arms, "Hey, there was no way you could have known he was this bad." She looked to Chase, worry shining in her eyes. As much as they like to joke that Logan is the worst and that he annoys them to no end, he is still their friend. They didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"Kids, how we doing?" Dean Rivers walked up to the group, offering them a sympathetic smile. He had received a call from the nurse about a student needing to go to the hospital and had rushed over from his office. It was just as much a shock for him to see the young boy get loaded off in the ambulance as it was for the rest.
Quinn sniffled, hands gripping Zoey's arms that were wrapped around her. "Is Logan going to be okay?"
He nodded. As much as the young boy could cause him headaches, he knew deep down he was a good kid. "I spoke with the nurse and paramedics. He had a fever of 103, and that's why they rushed him off as quickly as they did." Quinn hiccuped, holding tighter to Zoey. The others may not be as smart as the girl, but they knew a fever that high was not good. Vince came to stand next to Lola, wrapping his arm around her. She leaned into him and brushed her face against his shirt, trying to hide her own tears. James put a comforting hand on both Michael and Chase; neither boy could take their eyes off their dean.
"Did they say what's wrong with him?" Zoey asked, taking in a deep breath. She was trying to keep it together for her friend.
Dean Rivers shook his head, "They won't be sure until they run some tests," he looked at the group of kids, taking in their frightened faces but found it admirable that they were sticking together. "However, I did hear them say they noticed that his tonsils seemed really inflamed, so they think it might be tonsillitis. Which, if so, is an easy procedure." The group of friends all gave a huge sigh of relief when they heard this. "I promise I will let you all know once I hear back from the hospital. Now if you kids need anything, my office door is open." He patted Chase and Michael on their arms and walked off to continue talking with the nurse as they headed inside the boy's dorm. He needed to call the boy's father and let him know what was happening.

Quinn sniffled, both relief and worry flooding her system. If what Dean River said was true, then Logan would be fine, but they wouldn't know for sure until the hospital ran some tests. Until she knew for sure, she would be up all night worrying. "Hey," Zoey jostled her so that they were properly hugging, Quinn, burying her head in her friend's neck as she held tight. "It's going to be okay." Lola came to join the girls, hugging Quinn from behind and resting her head on the girl's back. This was a scary night, and they all needed some comfort. "Come on, let's go back to our room and order some sushi" she motioned for Lola to start taking her back; she would catch up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chase came to stand in front of his girlfriend.
She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. Even though she was wearing a sweater, she just felt the need to hold herself for some type of comfort. "I guess so. How about you?"
Chase sighed, running a hand through his bushy locks. "Honestly, I'm a little freaked out."
"So am I." Michael joined in, hands shoved in the pocket of his pants. He just kept replaying the moment of the nurse rushing in and calling 911. It didn't seem real until the paramedics arrived with their stretcher and loaded him on it.
Zoey didn't think she would forget this moment for a long time. "I'm gonna go make sure Quinn is okay. If you hear anything, can you let me know?"
Chase nodded, hands curling and uncurling into fists at his side. "I will, and you let me know too if you hear anything!" He called out to her as she walked off and headed in the direction of her dorm.

Michael sighed, suddenly feeling all the energy fall out of him. "Man, I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight after all that." He was sure he was going to be having nightmares for a while.
"What do you say we take a page out of the girl's book," Vince gestured for the guys to follow him back into the dorm. "We get sushi delivered and relax in the room until we hear something."
James nodded, pushing the other two forward so they could start walking. "And hey, we'll be with you guys until we know what is wrong." They were all friends. Regardless of how they felt about Logan, they wanted to know that he was going to be okay.

They did the same as the girls, ordering sushi to their dorm. It was more than they should have, but eating their weight in dead fish seemed right. Their stomachs didn't agree at the end of the night, but it made them feel somewhat better. A few people were stopping by, asking what happened and if Logan was alright, but their interest was only in gossiping. The worst part was the phone calls. Every time their phones rang, their hearts would stop, thinking it was the dean calling to update them. Instead, it was just their fellow students wanting to know what happened. After a while, they got so fed up they threw their phones under some pillows to muffle the noise.
It was good having James and Vince in the room with them. Vince was great at being a bodyguard to nosy neighbors who only wanted to gossip. James knew exactly how to keep their spirits up and help keep their minds occupied. They played video games late into the night, later than they should have from the rapid banging they would get on the wall, but they didn't care. Finally, the exhumation settled in, and they ended up passing out.

Michael was propped against his bed on the bottom bunk, back against the edge of the mattress, and his head thrown back as he let out a few snores here and there. James and Vince were sleeping on the couch; half of Vince's body was pressed against the corner of the couch while his feet were propped up on the coffee table. James had taken the other corner, head in his arms that were curled over the edge of the couch. Chase had attempted to crawl into his bed, but only the upper half of his body made it before he passed out from pure exhaustion. His arms were sprawled out on either side of his head as he slept with his mouth wide open, a trail of droll coming from him.

Zoey and Lola had the opposite problem of the guys. They had helped Quinn calm down enough that she wasn't a crying mess and let her go on about the boy for hours. They had learned more about Logan than either of them wanted to know. They told stories about the boy and their different experiences with him and shared some laughs well into the night until they deemed it was time for sleep. Opening the boy's dorm room, they sighed when they saw the passed-out forms of the four in the room. Shaking their heads, they took a few pictures before Lola slammed the door shut.
Waking them all up with a start. Chase, most of all as he let out a scream, body flailing and springing back from the bed until he landed on his back on the floor. "Why?!" He cried out, rubbing his now aching head and back.
"What time is it?" Michael groaned, rubbing his stiff neck. He was going to be feeling that for the rest of the day.
Zoey put her hands on her hips, "A little past eight."
"And the reason you decided to give us all heart attacks this early in the morning?" Michael added on, standing up to stretch out his aching muscles.
"Not our fault you guys wouldn't answer your phones." Lola scolded them, crossing her arms as she looked at the four guys in the room.
Vince yawned, "Sorry, sweetie, James and I left ours in our room last night after we ran out."

Both Chase and Michael groaned. "We shut them off last night," Chase said, stretching his arms over his neck as he remembered the chaos of the nonstop ringing. "Everyone kept calling to ask about Logan, and we…!" He stopped, suddenly remembering everything that happened last night. "Logan!" The four cried out, looking at the girls for some answers.

"Is he okay?"
"Did you guys hear anything?"
"What's wrong with him?"

"Calm down!" Zoey yelled out, hands up to keep the boys calm and not set them off in a panic. "Logan is fine."

They all sighed with relief.

"Dean River called us this morning and said it was confirmed he needed to have his tonsil removed." Lola explained, taking an apple out of her bag and started to eat it. They hadn't been able to grab breakfast yet because they wanted to talk about what they had heard with the guys.
"All that from last night was because he needed his tonsils out?" Michael huffed, both relieved and a little annoyed. He knows who he'll be sending the bill to his therapist to help get over the nightmares.
James frowned, thinking things over. "Since when do tonsils give you a 103 fever?" He had his tonsils out as a kid, and he was nowhere near as sick as Logan was.
"Apparently, he needed them out weeks ago, but because it went unchecked for so long, it led to an infection." Zoey said, telling them everything Dean Rivers had told them this morning. The girls had jumped awake so fast when their dorm room phone rang this morning at six am. Quinn nearly trampled over them to get to the device and answer the call.
Lola nodded, taking another bite of her apple. "You know how he kept complaining about getting those sore throats, and we thought he was being dramatic?" They remembered, and now suddenly, they felt bad for ignoring their friend or not being more concerned. "Turns out he had a reason to complain."
"Hey, where's Quinn?" Vince just noticed that the girl wasn't with the other two.

Lola and Zoey smiled at each other. "She went up to visit him once she heard from Dean Rivers what was wrong."
"And he's okay with letting her skip class for the day?" Chase asked, wondering if the dean would let them do the same. He wanted to check in on his friend and make sure he was okay.
"No way," Zoey said, shaking her head.
"But she's skipping anyway." Lola threw her apple core out in their thrash can.

"How is she going to the hospital if Dean River said she couldn't skip?" Michael asked, rubbing the last bits of sleep out of his eyes.
Zoey giggled, "She bribed Coco into giving her a ride."
"She told her she could make bread taste like ravioli if she drove her." Lola laughed along with her friend as she remembered their dorm advisor all but running out of the building and towards her car at the thought of ravioli-tasting bread. "We told her to call us with an update after she sees Logan."

Relief flooded the room once they learned their friend would be okay. It was good news, knowing that he was fine and not in a life-dangering situation. As much as they all wanted to go to the hospital, they knew they needed to prepare for the day and attend classes. James and Vince said their farewells and that they would meet at lunch. Zoey and Lola walked out of the room, so Chase and Michael could change into clean clothes. Everyone was going to make sure they had their phones ready for an update.