Zoey 101: All Or Nothing ☑

Chapter 23

Chase POV Continued

"After you!" Alexa said as she and Quinn opened up the double doors.

I put a scowl on my face to let them know how much I didn't appreciate this situation as I began to walk into the room.

"SURPRISE!!!" A loud shout echoed in the large ballroom. It took me a second to figure out what was going on as I saw the faces of friends and family greeting me. Then I saw a HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN BIRTHDAY, ZOEY AND CHASE! sign.

The secret meetings between our parents had been for a birthday party.

I turned to look at Zoey, who looked as shocked as I felt. So she hadn't been lying to me about not knowing what was going on. But she was lying about something else.

Mom came up laughing. "Did we pull it off? Were you surprised?"

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Chase: I don't think I'd ever been so shocked in my life.

Zoey: Talk about being oblivious.

Chase: I know, they got us so good.

Zoey: I was referring to our parents. How could they not have figured out we weren't even talking?

Chase: Yeah, we weren't speaking and they threw us a joint surprise party.

Zoey: I'm more shocked that Quinn didn't say something to my dad. She doesn't hold things in.

Chase: Like you do?

Zoey: Oh, yes, I was the one who was being irrational.

Chase: Man, I was being such an idiot.

Zoey: I'm sorry, I don't believe I heard you. Could you repeat that?

Chase: Yes, I was being an idiot, a total idiot. Even I wouldn't have wanted to hang out with me.

Zoey: And people think girls get emotional.

Chase: Again, I was really confused after you abandoned me.

Zoey: And you wondered why I had to leave the country?

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Zoey POV

I was shocked at first by the unexpected group of people cheering "SURPRISE!" And the evening got even more surreal from there.

Dad came over and gave me a big hug, followed by Dustin.

Dad beamed. "Here I thought you were too smart for your old pops to get you."

I looked around and saw about fifty people, from all over my life. There were mostly people from school rounded out by some family members and a few of my cooking class friends.

It wasn't hard to pick out who was for Chase and who was for me. It was like this one wedding I went to the summer before. Mom's friend from college was marrying a guy Mom didn't approve of. Everybody on Suzanne's side was dressed in suits or dresses. The groom's side was completely different. I heard Mom "tsk-tsk" a few times as people walked in dressed in khakis and jeans. Someone even had jorts on.

"Who wears jeans to a wedding?" Mom had asked under her breath.

I'd shrugged. I was only ten at the time, so I didn't have that great an answer.

Six years later, I still didn't have the answer for a lot of things.

Chase went over to the jock contingent. It was then I noticed Lola was there. I was pretty sure Chase's mom wouldn't have invited her. I scanned back in my head to see if I'd ever officially told my dad that we weren't really friends anymore. She hadn't been to our house in years.