There is no offer to go to England, but there is still a prom. The girls whip themselves into a frenzy months earlier than they should, flipping magazines for dress ideas and eyeing potential prom dates from the lounges while giggling. Lola and Zoey join the planning committee and go around asking people what colour scheme they like and which band should play and what the theme should, and soon there isn't a lunchtime or study session that goes by without some kind of promposal, failed or otherwise.

Michael asks Lisa simply and sweetly with a bouquet of flowers. Lola doesn't quite say yes but also doesn't quite say no to four different guys so that Zoey and Quinn expect to have a full-on entourage of corsages and cologne bursting down their door on the night. Mark shrugs, says he doesn't want to go and doesn't see Quinn's face fall, the way she tucks her dress back into its plastic and folds it away. She spends every lunch break for the next week needling Logan into actually committing to a girl, watching him get more and more flustered with a hard stare.

"I'm too hot to have just one date!"

"Really? Because last time I checked not a single girl had asked you out," Quinn says.

"That's because they're expecting me to ask them, like a gentleman," Logan replies, glaring when he receives a snort from everyone sitting at the table.

"Then ask one out."

"I can't play favourites," says Logan. "It would break their hearts!"

They continue to bicker, eventually embroiling everyone in a discussion about the ethics of asking someone on the day of prom, the frequency of last-minute dumpings, and whether dateless boys could be trusted on prom night. Finally, Chase looks up from his laptop and quirks an eyebrow.

"Sounds like someone might need a chaperone."

Logan's mouth drops.

"Excuse me?"

"And it would give Quinn something to do other than watch geology documentaries with Mark," Michael adds.

"I don't want to spend my night with Logan!" Quinn protests.

"We'll all be there," says Lola.

Chase's text to Zoey reads: the lady doth protest too much, methinks. She rolls her eyes and bats him on the arm before stealing a sip of his drink. Quinn and Logan are still muttering when her eyes drift towards the new student, James, who smiles when he catches her gaze. Zoey blushes.

"You better get in quick," Lola warns. "He's the hottest guy in school, you're going to have some contenders."

"I'm just looking," shrugs Zoey. For a moment, Chase seems to tense beside her, then sighs and goes back to his laptop. For a moment, she wonders who he might be thinking of asking out, but it doesn't seem right to ask him in front of everyone. He takes it more seriously, she thinks, and starts to ponder the ways she might be able to help. Maybe she knows the girl, or maybe she can help him pick out a tux.

James and Zoey seem to drift towards each other during their English class, their discussion about Othello secondary to the stares they give one another. His hair seems to be glowing golden in the sunlight, the blue of his eyes especially dazzling, and Zoey laughs easily at his jokes, finds comfort in the lull of his voice. She might have a chance after all.

She's walking back to her dorm in a slight daze when she spots Chase sitting under a tree, a much underlined and post-it-noted book beside him. She can tell he's tired, but he still offers her a small, lop-sided smile when she sits in front of him. They say their hello's and she offers him some of her notes, which he gratefully accepts.

"So..." she begins. He rolls his eyes.

"Don't."

"Who are you asking to prom?" He shakes his head. "Come on, I want to know! Do I know her?"

"There's no girl," he says after a pause. "Because I'm not going." The surprise seems to catch in her throat a bit, feels slightly like her heart sinking for some reason.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Why?"

"I don't really think it's my thing," Chase says. "Didn't exactly have the best time at the last dance. And I kind of messed it up for others." Zoey just shrugs, though admits to herself that she'd had a better time teaching him how to throw rocks than actually dancing. She looks down at the grass, picks at it with her fingers.

"James seems nice," Chase offers after a while.

"He might not ask," she replies.

"Come on, Zo. Who wouldn't ask you?" he smiles. If she thinks about it for too long, the answer makes her disappointed.

After that, Zoey can't quite muster up the same enthusiasm for prom. She redesigns her dress from an elaborate affair to something simpler, more playful than romantic. The planning committee itself seems to get less ambitious and more disorganised: the colour schemes are mismatched, the band gets smaller and smaller, and the theme is given up entirely. Lola remains in high spirits, but it's mostly because whenever she complains about trying to organise something one of her beaus brings her chocolate. When James eventually does ask her to be his date after class, Zoey feels her shoulders tense and a hot prickle along her spine. She tells him he's sweet but she'd rather go with friends while looking down at her shoes.

With less than a week to go, most lunches are spent trying to cajole Chase into attending. He is surprisingly stubborn, staring at them all with an amused expression as they attempt to list the many benefits of going.

"You'll be with us, your best friends," Michael emphasises, gesturing wildly around the table.

"In a room with live music and terrible acoustics. I doubt we'll be having any riveting conversations," quips Chase.

"There will be dancing," Lola offers.

"Which you all banned me from doing."

"And food," adds Quinn.

"There's a mini-fridge four steps away from my bed," Chase says. Half the table sighs in exasperation while Lola flings her hands into the air dramatically. Chase pops a french fry into his mouth.

"Dude, is this because you don't have a date?" Michael asks. "Because tons of people don't have dates. Hell, Lola will have about twelve of them, you can probably steal one."

"Great, I'm sure that I and one of the footballers who punched me in the face will get along swimmingly. Do you think he'll want to waltz?"

"He's right," Lola says, ignoring Chase's comment. "Lots of people are going by themselves. Like Firewire -"

"Thanks."

"And Stacey -"

"And me," Zoey says. She feels everyone's eyes on her and hears the beginnings of questions on Lola and Quinn's lips, but she keeps her focus on Chase. She'd spoken up almost as a challenge, but his eyebrows are creased with genuine concern and confusion. "Just...consider going. For me?" She blushes when she realises it sounds like "with me", wonders whether the unspoken "as friends" is clear. She ducks her head, but when Chase speaks he isn't looking at her.

"Maybe," is all he says. "We'll see."

The night of the prom, Zoey does her hair and make-up simply, smoothes her hands over her dress, and smiles. She and Lola calm Quinn down when she frets about her makeup and make sure she wears her glasses. They laugh as they spritz each other with perfume, the room smelling like a mix of tropical fruit juice and a rose garden when they're done.

The infatuation between Lola and her suitors has started to wear off, so they hang out by her door, nodding to each other. To Lola's slight disappointment, the realisation that they're all there for her only results in some declarations about the strength of the bro code, rather than any kind of jealousy-inspired wrestling matches. She hangs back with Zoey and Quinn as they start walking towards the dance hall. Lisa and Michael join them, arms threaded and looking smitten. They meet Logan and Chase halfway, the former looking uncomfortable in an overly puffy tux while the latter is dressed casually in black pants and a light green button-down, the sleeves rolled up halfway. When Logan sees Quinn, he stammers out, "You look - you look, fine. I guess," to which Quinn rolls her eyes. Chase awkwardly hands Zoey a single red rose before tucking his hands deep into his pockets.

"It's not a corsage but," he trails off and shrugs. She smells it and gives him a small smile.

"Thank you," she says.

They naturally fall into step with each other as they continue to walk, Chase's arm brushing against hers once or twice. Lola flutters amongst all of them, asking each of them what song they hope the band (or maybe it's just a DJ, she can't remember) will play, whether the rumours about so-and-so are true, isn't her nail polish pretty, and so on. And Zoey thinks that she probably was right to say no to James, that the simple act of getting dressed up and being with friends and not having to complicate things with romance is enough.

The group immediately commandeers two of the tables and pushes them together. Chase grabs a couple of bottles of Blix and hands one to Zoey without asking and they all sit down and start to chat while the music is just a low pulse and the dance floor is still empty. They talk about how hard one of their exams was, comment on some of the more questionable fashion choices that walk through the door, and eventually, even Chase seems to be having a good time, leaning over to whisper wry comments in Zoey's ear and making her snicker. She realises that she's been twirling the rose between her fingers, touched that despite Chase's nonchalance he'd cut the thorns off. He looks pleasantly surprised when she places it behind her ear, the deep red contrasting with her golden hair.

After a while, Michael and Lisa glide to the dance floor and liven things up. One of Lola's dates pulls her up and twirls her and ducks her, but his pace is too quick for the song and he ends up stepping on her feet despite both their best efforts. Pushing Quinn and Zoey onto the floor turns out to be a much better option, despite Quinn's retro dance moves, and soon they're satisfyingly sweaty and flushed and laughing. Beside them, Michael and Logan flounder as they attempt to have a dance-off, and Zoey's smile widens as she hears the unmistakable sound of Chase's laughter. He grins as she walks over to him, phone in hand as he records Michael and Logan, most likely for future blackmail purposes.

"They might have more rhythm than me but they are not good under pressure," he says, half-shouting over the music. "Even I can do the macalana."

"You can," Zoey says, and holds out a hand. "Dance with me."

He stares at her hand for a moment, "I can't hear you, the music's too loud."

"Come on, I know you've got the moves." When he continues to ignore her, she grabs both of his hands and pulls him from his seat anyway and drags him to the dancefloor, much to his chagrin and the cheers of everyone else. She doesn't let go of his hands but pulls him towards her, and she's about to try to teach him some actual dance moves when he takes over instead, creating the daggiest dad dance ever conceived of.

"Said you shouldn't let me dance," he says, and even though he's trying to embarrass her she just laughs as his smile grows wider and wider. Michael soon swoops in to steal her place as another uptempo track kicks up and the whole crowd is jumping and bumping along. A song later, she hears a giggle and finds Lola being twirled by Chase, and it makes her stomach clench ever so slightly. She turns away and catches a glimpse of James, a kind girl named Jessica hanging off his arm. It's odd, knowing that could have been her, heads bowed together, the corsage on her wrist matching his tie, but while there's sadness there's no regret. By the time she's turned around, Chase has gone back to his seat.

It's a speech or two later, congratulating them on another great year when Zoey can finally make her way back to him. By then, the slow music has started: Lisa and Micheal cuddle into one another, and Lola has selected one of her dates to dance with while the others play on their phones. As Zoey sits next to Chase, he points to the corner of the room containing an animated Quinn and Logan, though it's hard to know whether they're arguing or not.

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?" she asks. Chase just shrugs. He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, watching all the meandering couples. Turning his head toward her, he says,

"I'm sorry you couldn't go with James."

"He asked. I just...said no." Chase cocks his head.

"Why?"

"I don't know," she admits.

"I wouldn't have thought you wanted to go on your own," he says.

"I'm not," she says after a pause. "I'm with you. And Lola and Quinn. and Michael and Logan. It's not bad, being with you guys."

"Good," Chase says. She nudges him with her shoulder.

"I'm glad you came too," she says, and, "I'm serious, tonight wouldn't have been any fun without my best friend," when he tries to shrug it off. Soon enough (perhaps a bit too soon), the music has quickened its tempo again and Michael is pulling Zoey to her feet, and Chase is merrily waving them off and telling them to have fun. By the end of the hour, she's very jealous of him and comfortable shoes, her feet aching as she slides into the seat next to him. She can't remember much else of that night except dozing on Chase's shoulder, feeling his hand brush her hair away as he tucks the rose back into place behind her ear, and having him half-carry her back to her dorm room.

It happens slowly after that. They text more throughout the summer ("please tell me if you get a girlfriend before I walk in on you this time") and sometimes call each other late at night, just to ask if the other is watching the same movie or how their day has been. She becomes more aware of the distance between them, about just how much this person has started to mean to her, and she tries not to let it scare her. She goes on some dates that she doesn't always tell Chase about, but they seem too brash and inscrutable for her to take them seriously, or even like them all that much.

They come back to PCA and she can't help but view him differently. She looks at him, taking in the pale green of his eyes and the line of his jaw, and feels something settle into her chest. She's only known Chase for a few years but she thinks about how much they've both changed, how she knows him well enough that she can fill in where the softness in his face used to be. She notices when their arms brush when they sit next to each other, the way his fingers run along the neck of his guitar, the quirk of his mouth when he makes a joke and knows.

She asks him at lunch one day, not that long after summer has ended, but long enough.
"Is this a prank?" he asks after a pause.

"Nope," she says, popping the 'p'. "So, see you Sushi Rox tonight at 7?" He stares at her in stunned silence, and she wonders if he might kiss her.

"Ok," he says eventually, and it's so quiet she almost can't hear it.

Luck would have it that Sushi Rox happens to be almost empty that particular night. She knows the rumours, has even started to accept them, and she's grateful for any moment that feels private. She's greedy for them, wants to steal anything between them that was talked about by everyone else before she got to truly experience and appreciate it for herself.

When Chase sees her, he tells her she looks beautiful with such sincerity she almost forgets to thank him. They sit down and order and talk about school and it feels just like them, just more intense. He lets his eyes linger on her more than he'd ever let himself before, and she does so in turn, taking in the kindness in his eyes, the surprise and apprehension worn plainly on his face. She wants to hold his hand.

It's not until they've left Sushi Rox that the quiet they fall into feels new. They still haven't said anything when they walk past the fountain and Zoey stops to look at it. It feels right, for them to be there together. She turns around to find Chase already looking at her, the same serious expression he's been wearing all night even more intense now. It makes her blush, but she meets his gaze, trying to make her eyes scream kiss me because if she has to wait a second longer she thinks she might scream or cry. Instead, he says,

"You probably know I've wanted this for a while. A long time. And...it's ok if you don't." It's low and quiet, and while she's touched by the honesty of the statement, she's also frustrated.

"Is that why I asked you out? Because I don't?" She can't help but look at his mouth while she says it, inches herself closer to him.

"I don't know, maybe you're just trying to be nice," Chase says with a small laugh. "I mean...how serious are you? Because I don't know how to...not be serious about you. About," he points his finger to her and then himself, "us."

She looks at his face, half-lit in the light by the fountain, and hears the water rushing in her ears. She thinks of them dancing around it, the time Chase tried to tell her about Rebecca, the way he looked at her after the Spring Break-up fiasco. But she remembers the small moments too, in-between classes and during lunch when they'd just sit and talk.

"Ok," Zoey says, and leans in and kisses him. And again. And again.