Zoey 101: All Or Nothing ☑

Chapter 4

Zoey POV Continued.....

So?” Chase asked.

It was then that I realized that he had walked us to the hair salon at the mall.

“Right now?”

He hesitated for a few beats. “Why not?”

Twenty minutes later, he was seated in a chair. The stylist grabbed his hair and then worked her scissors across.

Chase's hands went directly to the back of his head. “So crazy.” His voice sounded a little distant, like he couldn’t believe it himself.

The stylist then handed me the hair. I studied it, thinking about how long he’d been growing it out. About how Chase had this whole other life before I met him. It hit me then about what it must’ve been like to really start over.

In some ways, I felt like I’d had to start over after the accident. But I still woke up in the same bed, went to the same school, had the same friends. There was something reassuring about waking up and knowing you were home. Hopefully, Chase would get to the point where he would feel like this was home to him.

I watched transfixed as more of Chase’s hair came cascading down around his chair. The stylist didn’t talk much, concentrating on the angles of his hair. When she was done cutting and styling, she turned Chase’s chair around and he faced me. I hardly recognized him. His hair was now only about an inch long at the top and appeared darker, probably since his “newer” hair hadn’t seen much sun.

“What do you think?” Chase asked, eyes wide.



“I like it.” I really did, even if it was the same haircut most of the guys in school had.

“Really?” He was staring at himself in the mirror. “You really like it?”

“Yes.” I came over and couldn’t help but run my fingers through it. “It’s so short, but it looks nice on you.”

Chase trembled at my touch, probably not used to having anything or anyone be so close to his neck.

He jumped out of the chair. “Let’s go do something.”

“Um, I thought we were doing something. We’re at the mall.”

He groaned. “You know that’s not what I meant. Let’s go play mini golf or go to the park or do something.”

I glanced at my watch. “I can’t. I have to get everything ready for tonight.”

His shoulders sank down in defeat. “Okay. But Mom’s really insisting on bringing something. And she only gets annoyed at me when I say you don’t need anything.”

“I don’t want her to bring anything. This is my supper for you guys, a thank-you to your family for everything and a celebration for us that school’s starting next week.”

He shook his head. “You’re the only person who gets excited that school’s starting. Haven’t we had an awesome summer?”

It had been a great summer. But I still craved the discipline the school year gave me.

I still needed the distractions.

I knew Dad was only trying to help, but I had everything planned down to the minute. I’d taken some cooking classes at the Y over the summer and had been getting better at it. I was making the salad while the lasagna was baking in the oven.

“You sure you don’t need anything?” he asked for the seventh time.

“Seriously, Dad, I’ve got it. Please go do something, anything. Go watch TV with Dustin.”