She Should Have Dropped the Necklace

Chapter 8

Revenge Is Best Served

"Any last second advice…?" Chase asked quietly as they walked up on their unaware group of friends, lounging and taking up the entirety of the wraparound couch in the girl's dorm as it seemed it was going to be one of those lazy Saturday mornings. "Be yourself…like we were saying…you're adorable normally. Don't try to act like a badass…like I'm actually having a negative effect on you." Chase shot Dana a small smirk but she was too busy staring at the group to notice.

"It won't impress Zoey or make her jealous…it will just piss her off."

Chase nodded, "Okay…show time." Dana nodded quickly, stopping as Chase made their group of friends aware of their presence, doing a good job of keeping his voice and body language from showing the nervousness he was suddenly feeling.

"Hey guys."

While the tension in the room immediately got amplified everyone greeted them, even Zoey and Logan on the furthest end of the huge couch managed a mumbled hello to their friends. Almost in unison, Chase and Dana tightened their grip on the other's hand for support as their fingers had remained clasping one another for most of the last half hour as the awkward silence began to set in. Trying to save the entire group from going to an uncomfortable place, Michael quickly thought of something to say.

"You got my text man?"

Chase nodded after a second. "Yeah, I was wondering what you guys were doing."

"You left early…"

"Really early," Lola finished Michael's statement with her eyes on Dana the entire time. The brunette was up, dressed, and out the door before Zoey or herself was out of bed. She couldn't easily remember the last time that had happened, and wondered if it ever occurred prior to that morning. Dana nodded, dropping her head a few inches as she felt a blush trying to fight its way on to her face.

Hoping that the situation would be a little less uncomfortable when they were sitting as well, Chase took initiative and gently led Dana by the hand around the corner of the couch, opting for the side Lola and Michael were on instead of Logan and Zoey. As they made their way to the center of the couch, Lola launched another question at them.

"Where have you guys been?"

As Dana turned around and sat down in unison with Chase, she answered quickly, trying to come off as nonchalant as possible. "Around…" Dana's didn't have the urge to explain further as once again she was uncomfortable and was uncharacteristically hoping that Chase would be the big, strong man and take charge. They had let go of one another's hand as they sat down and for a brief second were both sitting with their hands in their laps, regardless that their hips were almost touching. A brief glimpse from Dana that held hints of nervousness and almost terror gave Chase an indication she had no idea what to do next. Coming to the rescue, Chase almost immediately wrapped his right hand around the back of the couch and Dana's shoulders, softly resting his hand on Dana's right upper arm. Next, Chase took his left hand and placed it over Dana's, once again intertwining fingers as he rested his hand softly on the top of hers.

Dana and Chase could both tell the group was now growing more uncomfortable than they were themselves by their rather affectionate actions toward each other, and they managed to breath slightly easier. Since all eight eyes were still focused solely on them, Dana turned her face to whisper into Chase's ear so she wouldn't be heard.

"Thank you."

Hoping no one noticed the slight shutter that went through his body from Dana's breath on his neck, Chase nodded without a word. Turning their attention back towards the group, Dana and Chase both found enjoyment in how Zoey and Logan shifted in their seat from their public display of affection.

"So ummm…you guys going to finally tell-"

"How'd you get together…?" Lola squeaked out, the volume of her voice above normal as she stared at the "couple". Michael gave Lola a slightly irritated glance after being cut off by her for the second time in a minute but quickly turned his attention back to Chase and Dana. The actual couple at the couch didn't say a word, but Zoey and Logan both sat up some in their seat, Logan's hand falling off the back of Zoey's shoulder as they were in a similar position to that of Dana and Chase.

"Do you umm…" Chase looked at Dana for a brief second before continuing the story they had come up with and rehearsed briefly on their way over. "Remember about a month ago when all you guys went to see a movie?" A small scoff could be heard from Logan as he confirmed his recollection.

"Yeah, Twilight…"

Chase nodded. "And I didn't go..."

Zoey finished Chase's statement for him. "Because you had homework, I remember…"

Chase nodded again as he let Dana do the talking. "And I just didn't feel like going and seeing some stupid preteen chick flick." Logan and Michael laughed quietly as everyone nodded. "Well, I was bored and felt like doing something…and since you guys were all at the movie I texted Chase."

The entire group gave questioning looks to Chase and Dana. In defense, Chase replied, "We actually studied chemistry for…like half an hour. Ummm…" Offering back up, Dana continued to add to their elaborate lie as she could feel Chase stumble ever so slightly.

"It didn't last long…don't really like studying." Everyone nodded as Dana's study habits were no secret. Thinking back on their previous year tutor sessions, Lola recalled how she became attracted to Chase for being sweet, funny, and caring. Curiously, Lola asked, "And then what happened?"

"Uhhh…" Again, Chase faltered slightly as he hadn't expected their friend's questioning to go so far into detail. Chase raised an eyebrow as Dana let out a small laugh and tightened her grip on his hand as she gave him a small smirk. Holding his breath, Chase hoped Dana didn't let the story get extremely farfetched in a hurry.

"Uhhh…you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The entire group moved a bit closer or sat up in their seat. Lola said, "Tell us." The whole group nodded in agreement as they stared at Dana and Chase, their curiosity rising as they saw the blush on Chase's face and mistook it for embarrassment for what Dana was about to reveal instead of embarrassment for what Dana was about to make up on a whim.

"We got in an argument because Chase still wanted to study for his test," Dana stopped to roll her eyes for effect, "And I didn't want to." Everyone nodded or continued to listen closely. "I threw a book at him I was so mad." Playing his part the best he could, Chase nodded his head and rolled his eyes. Michael let out a chuckle as he leaned forward in his seat.

"He was so upset." Dana said, letting out a small laugh as she quit talking.

"Then what…?!" Zoey wanted to exclaim, but Lola did for her.

"Trying to be nice like he always is," Dana smiled at Chase as she reached up and pinched him on his cheek. Logan's disgust showed for a second at Dana's behavior towards Chase, but he quickly wiped away his scowl. Zoey fought back the urge to scoff and roll her eyes as she looked away from Dana and Chase for a few seconds. "He asked me what I wanted to do." Lola and Michael nodded.

"I said I didn't care…as long as it wasn't studying freaking chemistry." The look in Dana's eyes as she shot him a short look caused Chase's heart rate to climb. He knew that look, she had set herself up to drop the bomb and was about to have fun with the story. "He said you can either leave…or…"

The brief pause caused everyone except Dana to hold their breath in anticipation. "Then he patted his leg." Dana tapped her own leg with her free hand not entwined with Chase's for additional effect. Thinking of something brilliant on the spot as she briefly met eyes with Logan and then with Chase, a smirk crossed her face at just how deviant she was.

"And then he said or…you can come over her and make out with the champ." The entire group exclaimed, Chase doing his best to muffle his but it wasn't heard regardless. Regardless, Zoey and Logan were the loudest, Logan's scoff much louder than Zoey's as his mouth fell open in disbelief and his eyes bulged.

Trying not to look too pleased, Chase fought back the urge to smother Dana with kisses for her brilliance as he saw the disgust that showed clearly on Logan's face. Dana was equally pleased with the slight look of nausea on Zoey's face that she tried to fight against with a fake smile.

Intentionally trying to kick a little dirt in the wound Dana opened up; Chase looked at Logan and calmly stated, "I ummm…got to thank Logan for that one."

Logan didn't appreciate the thank you as he finally managed wipe his face clean of his less than happy demeanor. Lola and Michael laughed deeply as they shook their heads. "So then what…?" Logan asked, holding back his anger as best he could as he cut the laughter short. Dana shrugged, "Well, I went over and sat down on his lap…got close to him until he closed his eyes…"

Dana intentionally stared at Logan as she finished her statement. "Didn't step on his foot…and then rocked his world. (A/N: in my mind, Logan and Zoey had a small break during the early parts of their relationship. This resulted in the PCA dance episode where Chase tries to go with Zoey, Dana and Logan get matched up, and the infamous make out/ foot stomping scene occurs as it did in the series. Shortly after the dance, Zoey was slightly more upset and less forgiving of Chase then she was in the series and got back together with Logan)

Looking at her boyfriend, Zoey let her disappointment show when she saw the look of anger on Logan's head as he shook his head. He stopped, trying to save face, but Logan didn't react quickly enough as Zoey let out a small scoff and decided she would rather look at the nausea causing wreck of a couple in her opinion than her boyfriend at the moment as she snapped her head back towards Chase and Dana. Seeing Chase lean in to whisper in Dana's ear, unaware that it was him returning the thank you for her saving his rear end this time, and then gently kissing her on the lips before pulling away caused her to fight back the urge to scream or vomit as she snapped her head away and decided to look out the nearest window for a few seconds.


After what seemed like forever, the questioning finally stopped as the group sat quietly and had been watching television for about ten or so minutes without a word. The tension was less, but still there, and everyone decided to ignore it, pretend it wasn't there, or stare at the television and hope it would go away. Dana and Chase played with each other's hand as Dana rested her upper body on Chase's chest. They were doing this solely for show and to further infuriate Logan and Zoey if they looked their way…or at least that's what they knew the other one thought regardless of why they were doing it themselves.

Leaning back on Chase, Dana tilted her head up to look at Chase, softly saying, "We did good…" as she attempted to pat Chase on the leg. Her words were too soft for anyone to make out, but were enough to grab Zoey's attention as she looked over at them. Her intentions were innocent, but a slight miscalculation of hand placement as she maintained eye contact with Chase caused Dana's hand to travel and land a few inches off target and extremely close to a more sensitive area of Chase's lower body as he shot up in his seat a few inches.

Embarrassed, Dana and Chase's eyes instinctively fell to Zoey as she stared at them. Dana ate up the ridiculous expression that fell onto Zoey's face, who didn't release the mishap was not intentional, and quickly snapped her head back to the television when she saw them looking at her. Dana waited patiently, and after a few seconds Zoey turned her head slowly back in their direction, once again quickly snapping it back when she released Dana was still staring at her.

Chase's eyes grew in size as Dana let out a low, seductive, "Hmmm…" and looked up with him. Knowing where her mind was going and trying to stop it in a hurry, Chase shook his head at Dana when no one was looking.

"No, Dana…" Chase said quietly but firmly, trying to stop Dana as she bit her lower lip and he could see the look in her eyes. "I think you've had enough fun for today." A huge smirk fell on Dana's face as she could feel Chase shift in his seat uneasy as she sat up in her seat slightly and removed her body weight from his chest.

"Revenge," Dana started, her voice still holding a seductive tone, "is best served cold…or…hot." Dana's last words lingered a few seconds as she leaned in and her hot breath could once again be felt by Chase on his neck.

"Dana…Dana…" Again, Chase whispering attempts at stopping Dana fell on deaf ears as she placed her hand on Chase's chest and slowly moved down his body."Just be quiet…" Dana's voice, while still sexy, was more firm than before. "I don't know…pretend it is Zoey and not me…" She stared at him for a second to get her point across. "Don't get too excited."

Chase opened his mouth wide to reply, but closed it as his brow furrowed and he pouted. About the same time Dana's hand reached its destination she leaned in and whispered orders into Chase's ear.

"Now listen…I can't see them…but I know they are all staring…or about to be…"

Around the time Dana had made her third up and down motion on the general area most sensitive on Chase's body and he was trying to focus his mind on things such as his mother, cold showers, and icebergs, the entire group's attention was back on them. Everyone's mouth fell open as Lola covered her mouth with a free hand and Michael mouthed his favorite three letter acronym in its entirety. Extremely embarrassed, Chase lowered his face until he was touching cheeks with Dana, looking down at her and playing it off as if he wasn't aware everyone was staring at them.

"After they are all staring…we are going to get up…you are going to attempt to play it off…but badly…and make it very aware to them that we are going back to your dorm…and then we are going to leave…and I'm going to wash my hands…immediately…understand?"

Chase nodded quickly; swallowing back hard as he was doing a poor job of staying calm and collected in a variety of manners. Chase reattached his hand to Dana's, breathing a silent sigh of relief as he finally removed it from his body and they both stood up. Being a rather bad liar, Chase found it easy to intentionally try to play something off and not give away his motives but fail. All he had to do was act natural.

"Hey umm, we are going to catch up with you guys later."

Chase waited a few seconds for a reply but all he received was stares of disbelief as his friends looked up at him and Dana from their seats.

"You guys are going to be here for a while…Michael…Logan…?"

Still staring in shock, Michael slowly nodded his head.

"Like…here…not…going back to our room or anything…?"

Acting her part, Dana let out an audible scoff mixed with a sigh as she shook her head. If it was possible, Zoey, Logan, Michael, and Lola's jaws all dropped more and their eyes all bulged out of their skulls further as they fell right into Chase and Dana's act.

"Ummm…I…no…" Michael said, pausing a few seconds between each syllable he managed to pronounce.

"Okay, well ummm…we'll catch up with you guys a bit later."

Everyone nodded their head slowly, staring at Chase and Dana as they walked away quickly and with purpose without another word. After they left, everyone faced forward in their seats as a few moments of silence passed. Finally, Michael raised a hand with one finger up as he opened his mouth.

"Did they just…"

Michael let his hand fall to his lap as he looked over to Lola with his mouth still wide open.

"Was she…with her hand…?"

Lola nodded.

"On his ummm…"

Lola nodded.

"And their…going…" Michael pointed in the general direction of his dorm room with his hand before letting it fall back into his lap.

Again, Lola nodded.

"And right now…they're about to…" Lola didn't have to reply as Michael nodded his own head. Growing silent, Michael let his lower jaw hang open as he stared at the ground in front of him. Waiting, Lola realized Michael was done talking after about ten seconds of silence and looked over at Zoey and Chase. They didn't have to say anything, their body language said enough as Zoey leaned back against the couch with her arms crossed over her chest and Logan leaned up, resting an elbow on his knee as he stared off to nothing in particular.