Zoey 101: All Or Nothing ☑

Chapter 13

Zoey POV Continued

 I hid my face. I was grateful that the only time my boyfriend and best friend got competitive was during track. The varsity track coach, Mr. Story, had already told Chase he was pretty much a shoo-in to be on the varsity team this year.

Ian and I sat through the entire game. I tried to pretend to be interested in what was going on, but honestly, if Chase wasn’t playing or the players weren’t wearing green and gold, I couldn’t have cared less.

I did spend a significant amount of time avoiding eye contact with the cheerleaders. Lola performed like she didn’t have a care in the world, and she probably didn’t. She’d dated Vince for a bit, followed by Logan, then James, then Jeremiah, then Lafe. Despite all her concerns, she never struggled to fit in. She had an even bigger circle of friends now.

Quinn had gone with me “in the divorce,” which was good, because I’d really needed her dry sense of humor to help me after the breakup. Whenever Lola and I had class together, we’d sit and chat, but as soon as the bell rang, she’d go to her new friends. But I had new friends of my own, which made it easier not to have hard feelings.

After the game was over, Ian and I waited by the locker room for Chase.

He exited the building with a gray hoodie pulled low over his head. His entire posture showed defeat.

“Hi!” I tried to be enthusiastic for him, but not too enthusiastic.

“Hey, guys.” Chase continued to look down at the floor.

“I told your mom we’d give you a ride home. But first maybe some custard? On Ian?”

“Hey!” Ian grabbed me by the waist.

I swatted his hands away. “Ever the gentleman.”

Chase wasn’t amused. “Nah, I’m okay.” He wouldn’t even look at us.

There were two words for a moment like this: awk-ward.

We got into Ian’s car. I could practically feel Chase’s eyes roll into the back of his head when a rap song came blasting from the stereo. I turned the music down.

“So, Chase.” Ian glanced in the rearview mirror. “I heard you’re dating Rebecca Martin?”

I didn’t think you could technically call one coffee and one movie dating. But Chase nodded.

“Isn’t she a freshman?” Ian’s interest in Chase’s dating life was making me anxious.

“Hey, pot, are you calling this kettle black?” Chase said with a laugh. I was relieved that he still had his sense of humor.

“No,” Ian stammered. “I’m just saying she’s cute.”

“Hey!” I playfully hit his arm.

“That’s not what I meant. She’s not my type.”

“Oh, so cute isn’t your type?” I countered.

“Sounded like that to me,” Chase announced from the backseat.

“You know, you guys are no fun,” Ian sulked. “Nobody can ever win anything with the two of you ganging up on poor, poor souls.”

“Oh, please.” I turned around and gave Chase a high five just to annoy Ian further.

“Blimey if we can help it,” Chase said in a British accent.

“Ack!” Ian protested. “Enough with that blimey stuff. You guys are too much.”

“I believe he means too much awesome,” I clarified.

“Clearly,” Chase agreed. “Can’t imagine what else it would be.”