Logan walked down the halls of his dorm, yawning loudly as he towel-dried his hair. He and Quinn had gotten back from the beach a little while ago, but it felt like they had brought back more than half the sand with them. Once their classes ended, they raced to the beach to find the perfect spot to watch the night sky. The sun had just started to set when they finished setting up their dinner. Take-out containers full of their favorites from Vaccaro littered the blanket as they ate, talking about their day and enjoying their rare moment alone. It was a perfect evening for the two.
He was able to track down the hidden beach they had found all those years ago when the girls first came to PCA. It seemed it was still hidden because there was no one for miles, leaving it just the two of them, and he couldn't have asked for anything more. They lay on the blanket, looking up at the sky, watching as the sky changed from a glowing orange hue to a dark night sky. They watched the stars twinkle for a while before the meteor shower began. It was a sight to see, something he was so grateful he got to experience with her. Had he not been with her, he would have never known about the rare occurrence and would have been asleep in bed. Then again, he also wouldn't have been able to spend the evening with her in his arms, so he counted his lucky stars. She spouted off facts about space as she pointed to the constellations that seemed to be glowing brighter that night.
He looked over to stare at her while she talked his ear off about the existence of stars and what they're made up of. She glowed brighter than any star in the sky that night. Even before they started dating, he noticed that when she talked about science, her whole being would perk up, and she seemed so excited to tell everyone what she knew. He didn't care as much back then, but now he found it insanely adorable. She must have realized he was watching her instead of the sky because she told him that he was missing the show. He didn't think he was and started to kiss her.
She cupped his face as he held the back of her head and pulled her body closer to his. That was how they spent their night, rotating from staring up at the starry night sky to making out underneath the shooting stars. He wanted to do more, he always wanted to do more every time they kissed, but they were out in the open. It was too public for them. He settled for kissing her under the cover of the night, loving how she felt in his arms whenever she curled up closer to get warm. The temperature had dropped since they arrived, and he was happy to act as her personal heater.
He could have stayed all night out there with her, but the alarms ringing on their phones told them it was time to go. Curfew was coming soon, and they both knew that if Dean Rivers found out they didn't return, their parents would get a phone call in the morning. Something he doubted his father would care about, but he didn't want her in trouble with her parents or worse, they disapprove of him being with their daughter. They packed up their bags and headed back to PCA. Their arms wrapped around each other the entire. He walked her to her dorm, kissing her good night with a promise to see her in the morning for breakfast. It seemed her roommates were asleep by the time they had gotten back, so he didn't have to worry about getting sprayed with water for lingering in the doorway.
He made his way back to his dorm but stopped by the showers first. He needed to wash the sand out of his hair before he even thought about going to bed. It was only him walking the halls of his dorm building, so he strolled the halls with a towel in his hair and one wrapped securely around his waist. From the time flashing on his phone, it was well past midnight, and he was exhausted. Maybe he could convince Quinn they could sneak a nap together during their break tomorrow. Opening the door to his room, he expected his own roommates to be sleeping but groaned when he saw they were sitting on the couch. "Seriously!" he threw the towel he had in his hair into his hamper. Stomping over to his dresser, he pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie to change into for bed. "You losers are still watching this?" none of them had seen the two in class all day, and when they tried calling, neither would answer. From how they didn't even blink when he walked in, he suspected they hadn't moved in hours.
Looking around the room, he saw the box his father had supposedly sent him. Taking it off the table, he placed it on the ground and examined it. The signature looked enough like his father's, but that didn't mean much. He had been forging his father's signature since he was six years old after his teacher sent him home with a failed math test that she needed to be signed. Shifting through the many packing peanuts, he pulled out the DVD Michael told Zoey about. He didn't recognize the cover and looked at the back to see it was an entire series, over 100 episodes that were only about twelve minutes long each. He didn't know how, but they managed to put all the episodes on one disc. This was further proof that his father hadn't sent him this because the whole thing seemed low budget and bad quality, and that is not how the Reese men roll. Throwing the DVD down, he stood back up to get his friend's attention. "Would you two freaks pay attention!" he waved his hands in front of their faces, but neither moved. They just stared, mouths parted slightly as their focus was on the screen behind him. Groaning again, he turned around to look for the remote but halted when he caught sight of the screen. He looked at the show that had his two friends hooked; seeing the two main characters seemingly battle a monster was weirdly interesting.
Ding
The phone in his hand rang out; the specific ringtone he had set up for Quinn sounded in his ears. He shook his head, looking down at his phone to see that she sent him a good night message with a kissy face. "I gotta get out of here." He didn't know what was happening, but he knew staying in this room was not a good idea. Running over to his computer, he pulled up the video calling feature that Quinn had installed on their computer last year and called her. Then he opened the window and jumped out. He wasn't taking the chance of turning around and looking at the screen again.
After Quinn had been dropped off at her dorm, she hopped into the shower to wash the sand off her body. Thankfully it seemed that most of it had come home in Logan's hair compared to her own. Forgoing blow-drying it that night, she put her wet locks in a braid and crawled into bed. The night had been perfect, one she would look back on fondly, but now she was exhausted and wanted to sleep. Tomorrow during the break, she was thinking about asking Logan if he wanted to take a nap with her. She had set up a prewritten message to be sent out to her boyfriend, wishing him a goodnight. She had hoped to do so herself but was too exhausted to keep her eyes open. The moment her head landed on her pillow, she was knocked out, much like how her roommates were when she came back.
It was a peaceful night.
Only to be interrupted by their computer ringing out in the room. The three groaned after the third ring woke them all up. Being the closest one to it, Zoey rolled over in her bed to sit up and look at the screen. "Quinn," she groaned, sagging her shoulders and running her hands through her messy hair. "Why is Logan calling you at one in the morning?"
"He's what?" Quinn sat up, putting her glasses back on as she staggered over to the computer. Sitting in her seat, she accepted the video request but was confused when she didn't see her boyfriend, only their dorm room that had the TV on with Chase and Michael watching it on the couch. "It's Michael and Chase, and it seems they're still watching that show."
Knowing she wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, Zoey pushed the covers off her body and sat on the edge of her bed to look over her friend's shoulder. "Are you serious?" she huffed, blowing some hair out of her face. She was so going to let Chase have it tomorrow.
"Who cares!" Lola groaned, throwing a pillow at the two girls from the top bunk. "Just end the call and go back to bed." She had been in the middle of a very good dream where she won all the awards for acting, and she wanted to go back to that.
Knock Knock
The three screamed, Lola, sitting upright in her bed while Quinn jumped into Zoey's bed. The two girls huddled together, hearts beating rapidly from the sudden panic. Surveying the room, she sighed in relief when she saw who was knocking at their window. "Logan," while her two roommates groaned, she got off the bed. "What are you doing here?" she opened the window for him to jump inside the room.
"I had to get out of there; it's not safe." He took her hand, pulling her over to the computer screen, and pointed at the tv that was off to the side. "I don't know what weird show that is, but it's got some weird power."
Zoey frowned, curling her legs up on her bed to cover them with her blanket. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"
Usually, he argued or insulted her, but he shook his head instead. "Look, I'm telling you the truth." He pointed at his two roommates, who hadn't moved an inch since he left them. "That show is cursed. I looked at the TV for all of a second and almost got caught. If Quinn hadn't messaged me good night, I might have been its next victim."
"That's stupid," Lola wanted to say he was too, but that meant more talking, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep.
"Well," Quinn didn't really want to amuse the idea of a TV show being cursed, but there was a little science behind it. "There are some shows that produce a silent frequency that our brains recognize and become addicted to."
Zoey hummed, thinking about what her friend just said. "So, it's sort of like how with reality shows where we keep watching them even though we know they're trash?" that was the only example she could think of that made sense.
"Exactly!" Quinn nodded, that was the perfect example.
This time Lola was the one to throw her covers off. Jumping down from her bed, she walked over to the group. "Okay, if these guys are brain zombies, what do we do?"
"The best course of action would be to send someone in there that isn't susceptible to such frequencies," Quinn told them her theory.
"I'll ask James to do it tomorrow," Zoey said, hugging her stuffed octopus to her chest. "He hated reality shows and fell asleep every time they were on." He was the best person for the job.
Lola nodded, "Great, sounds like a plan." She looked at Logan and pointed at the window. "Get out."
"No way." He pushed himself out of the computer chair and held his hands up. "I am not going back in there." He did not want to become a brain-dead loser like his two friends had become.
Quinn felt bad for her boyfriend and was also very worried for him. She didn't want to send him back into the room if it meant he could get sucked into the same trance. Putting on her best puppy dog eyes, she looked at her friends, silently begging them. "Maybe for tonight, he could-"
"Not happening!" both girls yelled, shaking their heads and stopping her before she could even finish her sentence. They did not want him to stay in their room with him at night. It was bad enough that he was always there with them during the day.
"Oh, come on," she clasped her hands together, literally begging them at this point. "If that show is really as dangerous as it seems with its addictive frequencies, we can't send him back in there knowing that." Plus, she really didn't want her boyfriend to become a brain-dead zombie. She liked him how he was right now. "Please!"
Zoey sighed, the annoyance evident on her face. "Fine,"
"But just for this one night," Lola did not want this to become a new thing. This was a one-time-only deal, and it was going to stay that way. "The minute we fix those two idiots, he goes back to them."
Quinn nodded, unable to keep the huge grin off her face. She turned to face her boyfriend, who was smiling just as wide as her. Making a few adjustments to the computer, she deemed the screen lighting and muted things but kept the video feed going. It would be better if they could see what was happening. With that settled, everyone went back to bed. Zoey throwing the covers over her face and back, turned away from the computer so she wouldn't have to look at the screen any longer. Lola crawled into her bed, instantly collapsing into the comfortable pillows and sheets. Logan rolled into the bottom bunk, twisting himself to be on his side so that his back was against the pink wall, and he had his arms wide open so she could join him. Giggling, she happily curled into his body, slinking down to pull her comforter up to cover them both. They had just gotten comfortable when Lola's head floated down from above, scaring them both. "Those clothes had better stay on the whole night, or else I will shave both your heads." The future actress warned them.
"Ditto." Zoey lifted one arm up, pointing a finger in their direction, agreeing with that threat.
Quinn smiled, "I promise, clothes will stay on." She may be spending the night with her boyfriend, but she is in a room with her best friends. She wasn't going to do anything with them in there.
The actress wasn't going to just take her word for it; she wanted confirmation from both of them. She turned to glare directly at Logan, who sighed, "I promise to."
Satisfied with this, the girl returned to her bed, leaving the happy couple to laugh together. Cuddling up once more, Quinn rested her head in the crock of his neck, glasses now off and safely placed on the table behind them. He curled one hand to rest on top of her head while his other held her body close against his. In an instant, both were out cold, and soon, the other two in the room followed.
Lola groaned when her alarm started to buzz under her pillow. Sometimes she really hated that she agreed to get morning coffee with her roommate before they went for breakfast. By the same type of groan, Zoey also seemed to regret the decision. Sluggishly she rolled over to throw her covers off and jumped off the bed. "Morning," she yawned out, stretching her hands above her head.
"Morning," Zoey gave a yawn of her own, rubbing the last remains of sleep from her eyes.
The two girls moved slowly around the room, trying to wake themselves up a bit more while starting to get ready for the day. Stripping out of her pajama pants, the big t-shirt she wore covering her bottom, she turned to the dresser but stopped when she saw the mop of brown curly hair in Quinn's bed. She screamed, pulling her shirt down to cover her now bare legs. Zoey, who had been in the process of unbuttoning her shirt, screamed as well and pulled her shirt tightly across her chest to keep herself covered.
Logan awoke with a start, screaming with them and jumping from his spot. He flung his head up, hitting it hard against the top bunk bed. "What is wrong with you people!?" he yelled, hands covering his face and head, rubbing the sore ache he now had.
"You keep your eyes closed!" Lola cried out, taking steps back and away from the boy she had forgotten spent the night in their room.
He shook his head but complied so that he wouldn't get yelled at anymore. "Why?" hands removed from his face and flailed out to ask why he had to keep his eyes shut.
"Because we're changing!" Zoey told him, coming to stand beside her friend to give her the pj bottoms that were on the floor.
He just scoffed at them, "Is Quinn changing too?"
Lola looked confused, "No, she's not even in the room." He was the only one in the bottom bunk; the other girl in the 101 room was mysteriously absent.
"Then I don't care." He threw himself back down to lie on the bed but rolled over so that his back was facing them. There was only one person he was interested in seeing get changed.
Lola raised her eyebrows, completely thrown off by his disregard for them changing right before him. She didn't know why, but she was weirdly insulted by that. By the look on Zoey's face, it seemed she felt the same way. However, even though he said he wasn't interested and was now facing away from them, it didn't mean they were comfortable changing with him in the room. Giving each other a knowing look, they walked over to their closet and stepped inside. They had just closed the two doors when Quinn walked into the dorm, carrying four coffees and a large brown bag. A moment passed when they stepped out and reappeared, fully dressed, hair and makeup now done.
Quinn was very impressed, "One of these days, you guys have to tell me how you do that." Her two roommates looked very proud of themselves.
"Is that Quinn?" Logan asked from his spot in the bed, his back still turned to them. He wasn't taking any chances; the girls had attacked him before for lesser reasons.
Zoey merely rolled her eyes at his question. "Yeah, she's back."
"Is she getting changed now?" he asked, and all three girls threw pillows at him. "Hey!" he turned around, flinging the plush objects off.
Shaking her head at her boyfriend, Quinn handed her two friends the coffee she got for them and left the food she brought on an ottoman in the middle of the room. Walking over to sit down on her bed next to Logan, she handed him his coffee, just the way he liked it. "Good morning, baby."
"Morning sweetie," he sat next to her, wrapping one arm around her waist and kissing her good morning. She tasted like toothpaste with a hint of caffeine. "Thanks for the coffee."
"Please don't make me vomit first thing in the morning," Lola said, sitting on the couch, coffee in one hand with the breakfast Quinn had brought them resting in her lap. It was sickening seeing them be so lovey-dovey this early in the morning.
Quinn merely smiled; she knew her friend didn't mean any harm. "I saw both James and Lisa on my way back and explained everything to them about what's happening."
Zoey took a long sip of her coffee, feeling so much more awake now. "That's great! James can knock some sense into them, and Lisa will help." Both were known to be very level and calm people. If anyone could knock some sense into their friends, it was those two.
"Let's hope," Lola really didn't feel like having another sleepover with Logan again. Looking at the computer, she scoffed a little at the sight. "I don't think those boys moved all night." They all looked at the screen now, and all let out a long groan when they realized she was right. The two boys were in the same positions as when they saw them last night.
They saw the room to the boy's dorm open. "Look, it's James and Lisa." They gathered around the computer screen to watch the events happening in the room unfold. They saw James talking to the two boys, but when they weren't answering, he started to wave his hands and snap his fingers in their faces. Lisa marched over to Michael to grab his arms, trying to force him to look at her, but the two guys weren't moving. Lisa and James gave each other a defeating look when from the corner of their eyes, they saw the screen. Slowly their heads turned to the television, where they saw a spaceship flying through the galaxy that had two princesses battling alongside fighting penguins. Slowly they backed up until they two were sitting on the couch, now prisoners to the show.
Zoey cried out, "No!" slamming her hands on the computer desk.
"We've lost James and Lisa." Lola gasped out, covering her mouth with her hands.
Quinn shook her head, making everyone step back and look away from the computer. "Guys, this is so much more powerful than I thought it was." This made her nervous. Her original calculation of the show was wrong, and the results she just saw made that very obvious.
"What do we do?" Logan asked, knowing if anyone could figure it out, it would be her.
She bit her lip, "I'm not sure." She started to pace, trying to rack her brain for an idea. "Would your dad know anything about the show? He's in the entertainment business; perhaps he's heard of it and might know how to break the trance."
"Maybe, but he'll be shooting until the afternoon." Logan always got a breakdown of his dad's schedule whenever he was on set. It was given just in case of an emergency, and he had to contact him.
Zoey scoffed, "We can't wait until then." Before, she was mad that Chase stood her up for a date, but now, she was genuinely worried. Four of their friends were sitting there motionless, watching some dumb tv show. It was very concerning.
"Yeah, we have to do something." Lola looked back at the screen, frowning when she saw Lisa and James had the same blank expression on their faces. Eyes glazed over with their mouth gaping open. "It's just some dumb nerd show!" she's seen plenty of those in her day, and never once had she stopped to think they would be fun to watch. Maybe if a hunky actor was starring in it, but even then, she was most paying attention to them, not the story.
"We have to!" Quinn looked at all three of them, gesturing to the screen and their four lost friends. "Until we learn more about what this show is and what it does to our brains, we have to stay away from the room." She wanted to help the others just as much as they did, but none of them would be any help if they all fell into the same trance.
"Okay," Zoey sighed in agreement, but she didn't like it.
She didn't like how this plan sounded, but Lola would go along with it for now as well. "Alright."
Logan seemed to be the only one in complete agreement with her. If Quinn said it was too dangerous, he would trust her. "So now what?"
"Do you remember anything about the show before you ran out of the room last night?" she asked her boyfriend, hoping that if they had a bit more information about it, she could come up with a solution.
He shook his head, "I looked at the cover a bit."
"That's great," Lola smiled, feeling a bit better about all this. "We can look up the title of the show and see what people online are saying about that."
Quinn nodded, having the same thought as her friend. "What was the name of the show?"
"Don't know," he barely looked at the cover before throwing it back in the box it came in. "I looked at it for all of three seconds before I almost got sucked in. I didn't stop to check it again before I ran out of there."
They frowned, disappointed. "Well, what do you remember about it?" Zoey needed this guy to use his brain for once and be useful.
He thought about it, "It had two girls on it. They wore these weird costumes that looked like someone made space suits into swimsuit dresses, and weirdly, there were penguins everywhere and…" he was trying to recall the cover artwork but stopped short when he saw the three angry looks he was getting. "What?"
Zoey rolled her eyes at him. "Of course, you would remember the half-naked girls but not the title."
Realizing the issue, Logan looked at his girlfriend, who seemed to be anything but amused. "I mean, sure, but that's only because they were dressed so weird and…I wasn't…I mean, I didn't…I…" he knew nothing he said now would work, so he figured keeping silent was the best option.
Sighing to herself, Quinn grabbed his wrist. "Come with me," she pulled him towards the door. "If we do an image search, we might be able to find the show." As much as she didn't want to, it was their only option until they could get ahold of his dad. Logan stopped her from pulling him and held up one finger, asking for a minute. Like the girls, he stepped inside the closet, and a moment later, he emerged dressed and ready for the day. "Does everyone know how to do that but me?" she did a doubletake, trying to understand the science behind that little trick.
"Where are you going?" Lola asked, confused as to why they were leaving.
"To the computer lab. I don't want to risk us tampering with the computer and losing our connection to the room." She told them, pointing at the screen. While she didn't believe that could happen, she didn't want to run the chance of that happening and they can't see what's happening anymore.
The two left the room, leaving Zoey and Lola to stand in the room, contemplating what to do next.
"Are we seriously going to wait until Logan talks with his dad?" Lola slammed her coffee down on the computer table; her frustration that they couldn't do anything was starting to overflow. Their friends needed their help, but instead, they were just standing around waiting.
Zoey shook her head. "No, we're going to get them out." She knows Quinn said it was dangerous, but she didn't care. They were her friends, and if there was one thing Zoey Brooks knew how to do, it was solving problems.
"I still don't get it." Quinn walked alongside Logan as they made their way back to her dorm. They had gone to the computer lab to try and find the show, but the description he had given her wasn't enough. Many other movies came up, but he said none of them were what he saw on the DVD in his room. After over an hour of trying, they decided it was time to throw in the towel and wait until they talked with his dad. As they made their way back, she asked him to explain the clothes-changing trick that he, Zoey, and Lola could accomplish so easily, but she couldn't wrap her brain around the concept of it.
He chuckled, finding it cute that she was having such a hard time with this. It was a very rare day when Quinn Pensky didn't know something. "Maybe a hands-on approach will help you." He waggled his eyebrows at her and made a kissy face while she playfully slapped his arm. Giggling at his silly nature.
"Vince?" she noticed the football star standing in front of her dorm, banging on the door. "What are you doing here?"
Turning around to face the two, he sighed and pointed at the closed door behind him. "Lola was supposed to meet me for yoga, but she never showed up, and she's not answering my calls."
Quinn frowned; that didn't sound like her friend. "That's weird. I wonder why-!" she gasped, a chilling realization dawning on her. The look on her boyfriend's face told her he had come to the same conclusion. Pushing the two guys aside, she unlocked her dorm and ran inside. Groaning when she saw it was empty.
Logan came in next and threw his hands up in the air. "Great, this is just great." He placed his hands on his hips and started to stomp his foot. "Tell me they didn't."
Spotting a pink note left for her on her bed, Quinn picked it up and read it. "They did." She showed him the message, only making him groan.
Carefully Vince entered the room next, surveying the empty dorm and looking very confused. "Does someone want to tell me what's going on?"
Quinn pointed to the computer, instructing him to follow her. "Someone sent Logan a fake care package that held inside a devious deception meant to ensnare him in the clutches of a program that is producing addictive frequencies." She explained the situation to her friend's boyfriend, bringing him up to speed.
Only he seemed even more confused. "And that means…?" he looked to Logan for some answers.
"They're become mindless zombies because of dumb show." He explained in a much simpler version.
Vince nodded, "Okay, got it." He still didn't fully understand, but he's experienced weirder things during his time at PCA. Besides, one look at the screen and seeing their friends sit around, not moving with an empty stare as they looked at the screen told him that this was real. Zoey and Lola sat on the floor on either side of the coffee table. They two now wore the same blank expression that the rest of the group wore.
Ring Ring
Logan's phone rang. "It's my dad!" he pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly answered the call. "Dad? Can you hear me?"
"Put it on speaker," Quinn told him, and he did it right away.
"Logan? Are you okay? I got your message."
When they were heading to the library, they had left him a message to call his son the moment he could. That it was urgent, and they needed to talk with him immediately.
"Dad, what do you know about some weird show that makes people total zombies when they watch it?" he asked his father.
On the other end, the producer snorted. "That's pretty much any show I produce." It was his job to make people watch tv and forget what was happening around them.
Logan groaned, knowing that his father was right, and usually, he'd laugh at that statement, but now was not the time. "Okay, but what about a show involving two space princesses and a bunch of penguins?
What sounded like a chair rolling back and falling over could be heard in the background of the call. "Logan? Please tell me you're not talking about Space Princess Cadets: Galactic Emergence."
"Yes!" Logan jumped, a wide grin taking over his face. "That was the name of it." He finally remembered.
Quinn sighed; it was too early to celebrate. She was happy they at least now had a name to go off of. "Mr. Reese, what can you tell us about the program?" she took the phone to talk to the receiver. "Someone sent a DVD to Logan under the pretense it was from you."
"That it's been banned in nearly every country of the globe. If someone managed to send you a DVD copy, they would need to know their way around illegal sites."
Quinn frowned; a few people attending this school popped into her mind. "What do we do? Some of our friends watched it, and now they're under its spell?" Vince asked, coming to stand next to Quinn. The more he looked at their friends, the more worried he grew. "We can't just keep sitting here watching them become zombies."
"I need you to listen to me. If you are anywhere near that show, you have to get away. The entrainment industry has lost a lot of good men and women because of that program." he spoke with a hint of fear in his voice. It seemed there was a lot more to the show than they realized.
"We're not really watching it," Logan told his father, hoping to prevent him from worrying so much. "I have a video feed set up in my room on Quinn's computer so we can see what's happening with the guys."
Mr. Reese gave a sigh of relief. "Whatever you kids do, do not look directly at the screen. I've seen that show ruin more than a few good people."
That was the message Logan's father left them with before he had to return to set, but not before making his son promise to call him at the end of the day so he knows that he didn't fall under the show's influence as well.
"Now what?" Vince sighed, looking at his two friends and the group that was on the computer screen.
Quinn bit her bottom lip, foot repeatedly tapping as she thought. "Follow me." She had an idea.