Zoey giggled as Chase guided her along the path. He had taken a suit tie, one she suspected to have come from Logan, and tied it around her eyes. He said the surprise he had waiting for her was a little bit of a walk, but he wanted to reveal it all when they arrived. So she let him lead her to their destination, both of them stumbling along but laughing as they held onto each other. "Okay, are you ready?" they finally came to a halt, and she could feel him practically jumping in his spot.
She nodded, "I've been ready." She was smiling wildly already, excited and eager to see what he had planned for them.
With shaking hands, he undid the tie from her vision to present to her the surprise. "Ta-da!"
Before her was a candlelit dinner for two…on their school's volleyball court.
"I wanted to take you to the beach, that same one we found the first year you were at PCA, but I don't have a car or remember exactly where it was, so I figured this was the next best thing for a romantic beach date." He was telling her his thought process that went into planning their date for the evening.
"Uh-uh." Flashbacks of her having this exact same date with James raced through her mind, making the big smile disappear.
Chase noticed this immediately, "What's wrong?" he cleared his throat, messing with the collar of his dress shirt as nerves began to settle in. "Do you not like it?"
She quickly shook her head, "No, I do! I think it's so romantic that you did this."
"But?" he heard the but in her sentence. There was always a but, and he did not like it.
She winced, not wanting to tell him but knew that she had to. "But James did this exact date for me last year."
"Oh," His mouth dropped open, looking completely stunned at what she just told him. "I see," hands on his hips, he looked around at the dinner he had worked so hard to put together, frowning.
"I'm sorry, are you mad?" she tried to smile, trying to let him know that it was okay, but what do you say when your current boyfriend does the exact same date that your ex-boyfriend did before?
He shook his head, "No, I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?" he stammered on, marched to the table, and sat down. Not sure what else to do, she followed and sat across from him. "So what if your ex-boyfriend, who you still hang out with all the time, did this exact same date scenario for you? It's just a funny coincidence." He picked up his silver wear, forcefully cutting into the steak dinner that he had specially ordered. An uncomfortable laugh left his lips that made them both cringe. "It would be even funnier if it was the same meal too." He shoved a choppy piece of steak into his mouth.
She winced, looking at the plate and then at him. "Well, I mean not the total same meal." There were a lot of similarities. For instance, she and James also had steak, but Chase prepared their meal with corn, and she didn't have corn with it last time.
"Oh, come on!" he threw his utensils down, no longer feeling hungry anymore.
Zoey frowned; this was so not how she thought the night would go. "I'm sorry; if I had known you were going to do this, I would have said something." She felt bad, but how could this be her fault? He kept their dinner date a secret, and she's not a mind reader. There was no way she could have known he would have had the same date idea as her ex-boyfriend. "And I thought you were okay with me and James still hanging out?" it wasn't like they had any one-on-one time. She hung out with him when he was with their group of friends. He was still good friends with their group, and she wasn't going to tell everyone to stop hanging out with him just because they broke up.
"I am okay with it. I just…" he sighed, running some now buttery fingers through his hair. When he was attempting to cut the steak, the force made him touch the meat more than he should have. "I'm just a little bothered that a day after we broke up, you hooked up with this guy and were with him for the whole semester." If he was being honest, he felt a little intimidated by the blond boy. James was not only really nice but super good-looking and amazingly good at sports. Many girls on campus came up to him every day asking for his number or giggled when they saw him working out in the gym. It didn't help that he could see that the guy and Zoey still seemed to have a connection between them.
She did a double take. "I did not hook up with James a day after you and I broke up. Also, how can you say we broke up when you and I barely made it past the first date?" she did not like what he was implying, nor that he seemed to be blaming all this on him.
"Well, maybe it wasn't right after, but it sure happened quickly," he didn't mean to raise his voice, but the insecurities he had been pushing down were starting to surface. "What happened to you waiting for me until I came back from England?" they had admitted they loved each other, he said he would wait for her, and he thought she would do the same. Clearly, only one of them kept their promise. "While I'm off in another country away from my friends and family, you had no problems replacing me."
"You cannot seriously be blaming me for you being in England." She stood up, slamming the napkin she had down on the table. "You're the one who went there without talking to me."
He stood up too. "And you came back here without saying a word to me either!"
"Well, I'm saying this to you," she glared, stuck out her tongue, and blew a raspberry at him before walking off in a huff.
Chase watched her go, arms spread out wide. "Oh, real mature!" he mocked as he watched her stomp off the sandy volleyball court until she was out of sight. Sighing, he sat back down and threw his head down on the table, moaning loudly and sadly. He heard a faint noise and looked up to see a seagull had joined him at the table. Jumping up, he backed away slowly from the bird that was making him very uncomfortable with the way it kept staring at him.
Lola held onto Vince's arm as he guided her through the PCA campus. She had met up with him shortly after splitting up with Zoey. After he finished telling her how beautiful she looked, he offered her his arm and guided her down the walkway. She was so excited for tonight. He had been talking about it for the last few days, how it was going to be so exciting and a night full of fun and laughter. Looking up at the starry night sky, she gave a dreamy sigh as she imagined all the different scenarios of what he could have prepared for her.
"Here we are." He waved his arm once they had arrived at their destination.
She stood there, looking at their location. "Sushi Rox?" she looked at the infamous PCA Japanese restaurant and then at her boyfriend. "How is this a surprise romantic location?" they were literally here just yesterday for a lunch date.
He seemed almost giddy when she asked. "Because it's a special Valentine's Football Event!" he pushed her inside the restaurant that was filled from wall to wall with their school's football team and a bunch of girls. Most of them were their school's cheerleaders.
Lola felt her jaw drop open at the sight. "A what now?" she was putting all her acting skills to use as she tried not to look too disappointed or upset.
It seemed to be working because he didn't notice a thing. "Isn't it great," he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her in close as he guided her through the room. "One of the guys suggested we do this since that'll be our last year at PCA, so why not spread the love with the whole team and our favorite girls." He waved at everyone who greeted him, smiling when he saw her doing the same. Albeit hers had much less enthusiasm than his.
"Vince!"
"Buddy!"
The two guys' chests bumped each other upon greeting.
"Oh man, you have got to see this sushi. Kazu arranged it into a football!" the excited linebacker said, practically jumping on the balls of his feet as he pointed to the counter where nearly every guy was. They all seemed pretty taken in by the design of sushi.
Vince gasped, "That is so cool." He turned around to kiss Lola on her forehead. "I'll be right back, sweetie, and then we can get to our romantic dinner!"
Lola doubted that very much as she watched him follow along with the rest of his football buddies. Rubbing a hand over her face, she tried to fight off the headache that was coming while salvaging the rest of the night. Grabbing a water bottle from a cooler that had been placed on the table, she rolled her eyes at the sight at the guys. She swore they were way too easily amused.
Surveying the scenery, she took note of all the decorations; someone had gone a little crazy with all the pink hearts and streamers, but it was still somewhat cute. The night had not gone at all how she thought it would, but she would make the best of it. Looking around, she saw a group of three girls only a few feet away from her. Walking over, she tapped one of them on the shoulder. "Hi," she greeted them with a small wave. They silently turned around to look at her, eyes going up and down her body, silently judging her. "I'm Lola." She had a tight smile on her face as she did her best to hold back her thoughts on them and their tacky outfits. How dare they try to judge her when they were wearing neon pink matching sweaters with pink leggings. Did they think they were in a candy commercial? "Vince's girlfriend."
"Oh my god!" that seemed to get their attention. They instantly perked up at the mention of her boyfriend; she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. "Like, it's so good to meet you!" one girl said. She seemed to be the leader of the group. "I'm Candy."
"I'm Sandy."
"I'm Andi."
Why did it suddenly feel like her brain had been slapped just from them introducing themselves to her? "Nice to meet you all." She gestured to the pompoms in their purses. "I'm guessing you're on the cheer team?" she hoped so; otherwise, why carry pompoms if you're not?
They nodded, looking very proud of themselves. "Duh! We are the pride and spirit of our school." They cheered out in unison, making everyone else at the party do the same. Lola flinched at their sudden outburst. "So, like Lola, what do you do? And how come a stunning girl like you isn't on the cheer team?" Candy reached out to grab her by the arm. "You would be so great at getting thrown in the air."
Suddenly wishing she had a zap watch of her own, Lola pried her arm free. "Thanks…I guess. But I'm studying to become an actress one day."
They all gasped. "Oh, my god. An actress that is so a-standing." Candy danced in her spot, giving the girl a blank but happy stare.
The empty look behind her eyes unnerved the future actress. "Do you mean astounding?" Lola corrected the girl, feeling like her brain was losing cells the more she talked with her.
They all gasped again. "And she's super smart too." They grabbed her arms once again, dragging her over to where Vince and the guys were taking pictures with themselves and the football sushi. "Vince!" Candy called over to the quarterback, signaling him over. "We are obsessed with Lola. Where have you been keeping her."
A proud smile was on his face when he heard them say that. "Isn't this great! You're already one of the group!" he had been a little worried she might be feeling left out, but seeing the way the girls accepted her right away told him he had nothing to worry about.
"Vince, you have got to get over here! Tony is drinking Apple Berry blix with Orange Mange blix at the same time!"
Their school's football star and her boyfriend went rushing over to cheer on his teammate as he downed two bottles of Blix at the same time. Lola had never felt more betrayed in her entire life. He left her alone with these girls, who hurt her head whenever they opened their mouths. She swore she would get him back for abandoning her with them.
"Aren't our boys so silly?" Candy said, releasing Lola so she could begin to make a plate of sushi for herself. "They're always like this. I doubt they'll ever change." the three girls all giggled, finding that funny for some odd reason.
Suddenly Lola was seeing her future. The glamorous football after-parties didn't seem so high-class Hollywood anymore. Not when she knows what goes on in the locker room. Vince really needed to keep some things to himself. "I need some air." Grabbing her purse, she rushed out of there before anyone could blink.
Both Zoey and Lola took off from their dates. One marched away angrily, while the other took off in a panic. Both had left different locations but had ended up at the same destination. They collapsed at the same time on the couch of the lounge, each letting out one long sigh.
"What's your problem?" Zoey asked, instantly regretting her harsh tone. It wasn't her roommate who she was upset at.
It seemed that Lola didn't even notice. "Vince took me to a Valentine's party for the whole football team, and I just realized my whole future is going to be with a bunch of dumb muscle heads whose girlfriends make air look smart." She was panting mess all over again as her voice went high and higher the more she explained what happened. Zoey scouted half a seat away from her friend, who seemed like she was ready to snap. "How come you're not with Chase?"
At this, Zoey let out another long sigh and threw herself back against the couch. "Because we had a fight," she crossed her arms, pouting as she thought about what had happened. "He planned this super romantic dinner for us, but it was on the volleyball court."
"What's wrong with that? That sounds…exactly what we did to make up for the date with you and James." Lola hadn't seen the problem at first, but then she realized why the blonde looked so defeated. Her boyfriend had inadvertently planned the very same date her ex-boyfriend had done. A date they had also helped with. "I take it he wasn't too happy when you told him?"
"No!" Zoey huffed, sitting back up and slamming her hands down on the couch. "He got all weird, saying he feels uncomfortable that me and James are still good friends, and can you believe he blamed me for him being in England."
Lola sighed, "That boy's talent is putting his foot in his mouth." Pushing her hair to one side, she leaned forward to rest her chin in her hand. "At least Chase was paying attention to you. The minute Vince and I walked into his stupid football party, he forgot I existed."
"Boys are so stupid," Zoey said.
"The stupidest." Lola couldn't agree more.
The two girls sat together in the empty lounge. Nobody was around except for Coco, who came running through and looked to be carrying a big tray. They didn't even bother looking, too used to her weird shenanigans at this point.
"Hey, I have an idea." Zoey sat up, finally smiling for the first time since she got there. "Let's forget about the guys and have ourselves a Galentine's Day night in." She gestured around to the empty living quarters and the giant tv in front of them. "Nobody is in the lounge, so why not have ourselves a movie night."
Lola seemed to like that idea. "Yes, we can watch the corniest of all the corny romance movies and make fun of them." That was the best way to make up for a bad date night. Not to mention the snacks they could gorge themselves on while they watched. "Can we stop by the room first to change?" She didn't really feel like watching movies in her fancy dress. She wanted to be in her comfy sweats if she was going to lounge around.
"You read my mind." Zoey was feeling the exact same way. Movie nights meant sweatpants and comfort, not her best dress.
Smiling at their plan, they headed out of the lounge and towards their room. They know they promised Quinn they wouldn't return until she messaged them, but stopping in to grab some comfy clothes would not take long. They would even get changed in the communal bathroom so that the two could still have their dinner date. Who knows, maybe even Quinn was having a bad night and would want to join them on their Galentine's Day movie night.
Coming up to room 101, they opened the unlocked door and stepped inside.
Only to stop dead in their tracks when they saw the half-eaten food on the picnic blanket was left unbothered as two bodies were instead moving around on the bottom bunk. All they saw was a
shirtless Logan lying on top of Quinn in her bottom bunk bed, the two were moaning and giggling each other's name.
They screamed and shut the door, on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Did we just…?" Lola asked in a shaken voice as Zoey nodded. "And are they…" her voice filled with horror as her finger shook, pointing to the door. Zoey nodded her head violently, almost as if she was trying to shake the image out.
Suddenly the door opened, and Quinn stood before them, wearing Logan's shirt with the pants she had put on that morning thrown on backward. The three girls were standing there, gaping at each other. She looked extremely embarrassed about getting caught. "Guys, I'm so sorry. I should have locked the door, but we got caught up in the moment and…" She bit her lower lip, trying to form some coherent sentence, but it was hard to do when your mind was reeling. "We didn't realize the time or how late it's gotten or-!" She stopped mid-sentence, sparing a glance at her watch, and looked confused. "Wait, it's not even nine; why are you guys back already from your dates?"
Lola and Zoey stood there, tight smiles on their faces. This was not a situation they had been prepared for. They knew their friend and her boyfriend were active and moved on to the next step of their relationship, but they had always done their best to avoid seeing it. Clearly, by what they had, unfortunately, bore witness to, her night was going just fine, and they had managed to ruin another moment for the couple. It seemed like this night was not done making them feel bad. "Because they were terrible, okay?!" Lola screeched, sighing heavily and pushing her way back inside their dorm room. Zoey followed suit, and both girls took a heavy seat on the edge of the single bed in the room.
Logan was sitting up in Quinn's bed, wearing nothing but her robe, and didn't bother hiding the glare he was giving them. They ignored him and instead turned their attention to the romantic dinner that was laid out before them. The sight caused them both to scoff and frown.
Awkwardly shutting the door and giving her boyfriend a sympathetic smile, she sat back down on the picnic blanket, looking up at her two frowning friends. "Guys, what happened?" Both girls looked so excited about their dates when they had left their room, but now they seemed like it was the end of the world.
"Chase planned the exact same date James did for me last year and then freaked out on me." Zoey recounted her tale of what had transpired between her and her boyfriend.
"Vince decided it was more fun to be with his football buddies than spend our first Valentine's Day alone with me." Lola sneered, crossing her arms as she looked at the plate of brownies. She so wanted to eat one right now.
Quinn felt her heart go out to her two best friends. "You guys, I'm so sorry that happened." This was a night they had been looking forward to for so long, and for it to end up going so bad was depressing. "I know everyone can have bad dates, but that is just…" she didn't know how to describe it.
Zoey couldn't help but scoff. "Apparently not you. You're dating someone who used to be the sleaziest guy on campus and yet somehow pulled off the most romantic evening of the night." She was letting her bitterness show through. This seemed to Quinn back, looking hurt that her friend would talk to her that way. Zoey felt bad and offered her an apologetic smile.
"Oh, who cares!" Logan groaned from his spot on the bed, throwing his hands up in the air as he listened to their bad date stories. "Get over it and get out." He did not appreciate them coming to ruin his time and date with Quinn, nor did he like how her supposed friend was talking to her.
Sensing a fight coming, Lola knew it was best to stop before things got too heated. "Would you relax? We're going. Zoey and I are going to change into some comfy clothes and hang out in the lounge all night so you can get back to doing…that." She gestured to him and the bed, a look of disgust appearing on her face as she thought of what her best friend and boyfriend had been doing when they walked in. God, there were just some things a person should never see.
Quinn jumped to her feet as her roommates walked over to the dresser and started pulling out oversized hoodies and sweatpants. "That's it? You guys aren't going to try and talk with Vince or Chase?"
"Why would we?" Lola held her article of clothing in her arms.
"It'd just be a waste of time, and I'm so not in the mood to deal with them right now," Zoey added, throwing her sweatshirt over her shoulder as she pulled out her favorite pair of sweats.
"Now see," Logan got up and stood beside his girlfriend. "That's where your problem is," he looked at the two girls like they were stupid. "You guys didn't talk with either of your two idiots about what you wanted tonight to be. You just assumed they knew, and when things didn't go your way, you came in here and had a temper tantrum." He crossed his arms and stared down at them. He was so over their attitudes and them coming in here and ruining the night. This wasn't the first date they had ruined for him and Quinn. "You wanna know how Quinn and I had a good night? We talked about our plans! I knew she was setting up something for dinner, so I didn't make any reservations. Instead, I just prepared the gifts I was giving her cuz I'm not an idiot."
Zoey wanted to knock his lights out. Her hand balled into a tight fist as she glared at the sneering boy in front of her. "I hate it, but he's right." She sighed, throwing her sweats down on the ground in a huff.
Lola followed suit. "God, that sounds so wrong to say. Logan is right." She was ignoring how offended he appeared at their words. "I never once told Vince I wanted tonight to be just him and me. I always figured he knew."
"And Chase and I…well, communication has never been our strong suit." Zoey hated to admit it, but most of their fights, even before they got together, came about because they never properly communicated their feelings. "Quinn, we're sorry about messing up your date night."
"Again," Lola knew this wasn't the first time they had been interrupted by their friends, and she felt bad they were doing it all over again. The three girls hugged each other, each offering their own apologies. While Logan stood off to the side, shaking his head. He was never going to understand girls.
Pulling back, Zoey tapped Lola on the arm. "Come on, let's go find the guys." They had a lot of things to talk about before the night was over.
With the door shut and the two gone, that left only Quinn and Logan alone in the room together once more. She placed a comforting hand on his arm and gave him another apologetic smile. "Baby, I'm sorry this night hasn't gone the way we planned."
The frown he wore softened as he felt her rub up and down on his arm. "Not your fault," he fully blamed her two roommates for messing up their time. He knew she was too kind-hearted for her own good to turn away her friends when they were in trouble.
"You know, we still have some time left before the night is over. Maybe we could pick up where we left off." She gave him a flirtatious wink as her other hand drew circles on his bare chest that was peeking out through her robe.
Liking her idea, he picked her up and threw her back down on her bed, kissing her briefly before pulling away. He all but jogged over to the computer and grabbed the chair that was at the desk. Picking it up, he walked over to the bedroom door, locked it, and shoved the chair underneath the door handle. "Just to be safe." He smiled when he saw her laugh.
"Come here, you." she reached out her arms for him, and he happily complied. All but jumping on top of her, they resumed their kissing. Both really wanted to pick up from where they left off.
It was the next day life returned to normal at PCA. Zoey and Lola both had long talks with their boyfriends about not only their expectations but also how they needed to be better about communicating things in the future. It was going to be a bumpy road, but they felt their relationships were worth it.
After a long night of talking and a little more fighting, everyone decided it was time to turn in for the night. It was nearing midnight by the time the girls returned to their dorms. The guys had escorted them back. It took all four of them banging on the door of the locked dorm for Logan to finally move the chair and walk out. "Children," he greeted them, blowing a kiss in the sleeping Quinn's direction before he swaggered off to his dorm. The girls looked disgusted, and the guys looked both envious and annoyed.
Quinn had been the first to wake up and left to get breakfast with Logan, Michael, and Lisa. It seemed her roommates were still sleeping, and she didn't want to disturb them. When she asked Michael about how his Valentine's with Lisa went, he said he spent half the night chasing Coco down because she ran off with the ravioli he had made. It seemed that everyone's night had a few bumps in the road, but she thought that was okay. No relationship is perfect, and sometimes you need those bad moments to make the good so worthwhile.
Heading back to her dorm to change out her books for her next class, Quinn walked in on both Zoey and Lola on their hands and knees in the middle of the room, wearing long rubber gloves with a container of bleach between them as they gave the floor a deep clean. "You guys, you're being ridiculous." She frowned, watching as they scrubbed the area where she had her picnic last night. She frowned even more when she saw what container of cleaning products they were using. "Hey, that bleach was meant for my next experiment." Now she was going to have to buy some more.
Lola pointed a purple-colored glove finger at her as she grinned at the girl. "Trust me; we could be worse."
