Life With Drake::II
Contents
Chapter 6 Drake And Lola
Drake and Josh showed up after lunch. They dragged some suitcase with further belongings for Megan around.
Megan grinned. "Awwwww... boobs are still good as carrier slaves!"
Dustin agreed.
I wondered who were Megan's and Dustin's double-dates for the upcoming weekend.
Megan lifted the grey veil: "Dustin will be with Janie, my best friend for over a year..."
I had already seen her briefly, hence I nodded solemnly.
"And Dustin has chosen his former roomie Jack 1 for me," explained Megan.
Of course I knew Jack. I had stumbled across him one of the first days I arrived at PCA, for he had been hanging out a lot with Dustin.
Jack had already witnessed Dustin's catastrophal affair with that loose girl named Trisha Kirby. He had even been one of the boys who denounced this abomination unto me.
Even if Dustin and Jack were no longer seen together that often, probably since Robbie Carmichael became his roomie, I knew that Jack wouldn't be one to worry about as Megan's date.
Drake was curious when he heard about Megan having a date in a few days. But he was calmed down easily by my remarks, understanding that Jack was nowhere near like that obnoxious Corey guy who had shamelessly cheated on Megan.
Maybe I would have liked watching Dustin and Megan from the bushes when they were bound for their double dates, but I had a lot of other things to worry about.
Drake was looking forward to convincing Dean Rivers of his abilities as a guitarist.
I had sent the younger kids away in order to talk some serious words to Drake. "Being the leader of a renowned school's band does not only mean playing the guitar well!"
"I know," replied Drake, "I may also sing quite well."
My head would almost have burst from laughing.
But the situation was really serious.
I sighed. "The main point is responsibility and being a good example for the pupils," emphasised I in front of Drake.
Josh was mightily impressed by my syssiphus-like efforts in trying to educate Drake into being somewhat less of a jerk.
Drake did not understand what I was talking about.
Josh tried to make it any clearer to Drake, but without any avail.
I did not lose my patience. "OK, Drake, the problem is: You like to make out with random girls, right?"
Josh nodded vigorously.
Drake beamed. "Sure! That's my second greatest gift, barring playing the guitar of course. Will making out with girls be part of my job, do? I'm all in it!" He beamed like a supernova.
I coughed. "Drake, listen, it will not be part of your job, quite the contrary. This is a coed school, and the parents of the female students expect that their daughters here are somewhat safe. And you would be a bad example for the male students if..."
Drake objected, "hi! They could learn a lot from me about digging girls. Do you want me to show?"
I grunted noisily, but I still maintained my albeit thoroughly stressed and strained patience. "They might, and that's the problem. Dean Rivers does not want you to do so."
Drake shrugged. "He envies me..."
I was not goinbg to defend our headmaster, as he was stuck in the middle of a tough marriage with a psychopathic wife named Tippers. "Maybe, but the rules of the school don't allow for what you would like to teach the boys here."
Drake was utterly confused.
I breathed heavily. "You have to convince Dean Rivers into seeing that you are not a moral danger for the girls or the boys."
Drake shrugged helplessly.
Then I explained my plan.
Josh grinned. "That sounds like a genius plan! But who is the example of Drake's virtues?"
I picked my cellular phone, typing Lola's number. "Her name is Lola Martinez she's a wannabe Hollywood star, she was already in a few promos, but not yet..."
Josh twitched. "Hey, she was at Première Theater for a première party."
I had not known that. "Hi Lola, Drake is here, same room as agreed on. Come here!"
Drake had not yet seen Lola, or, rather, he had seen her in short scenes without knowing who he is.
Josh guessed that it was going to be a tough task for Drake.
A few minutes later, the door went open.
Lola walked in.
Josh reminded Drake, "remember, do not flirt with her!"
Drake nodded, but he saw immediately that it was easier for an elephant to jump through a burning hoop. His eyes bugged out, as Lola was even a trifle more gorgeous than he had suspected from the videos.
Lola greeted Drake, "hi!"
Drake felt melting away. "Hi Lola, I..." He blushed, and he had a hard time staying calm.
Lola grinned. She gave Drake an apple. The ultimate test for good kissers! 2
I had not agreed on that test with Lola. Was she going too far too early?
Drake, still struggling with his urges, went through a dozen of different shades. He bit the apple.
Lola was now convinced that Drake was the best kisser --- ever, better than Lafe.
Drake and Lola were really struggling in order to stay away from each other.
Josh and I, we had to talk them into staying strong.
Twitching Josh could not stand the tension, and he walked out on us.
There were only twenty minutes left before we had to go to Dean Rivers.
I had to remember over and over again the seriosity of the situation unto Lola, but she was way too weak to hold on forever. I needed to grab her blouse in order to prevent her from moving towards Drake.
Then the moment of truth had come.
Beverly, the secretary of the Pacific Coast Academy, let us into the office of Dean Rivers.
Our headmaster was playing mini-snooker. 3 Apparently, he was not really in a good mood.
It was not obvious whether his mood was the result of performing poorly in the desktop billiard game, or whether he used said game in order to rlease some his anger which had different causes.
Whatever the reason, the mood of the headmaster was not going to make it much easier for Drake to land the envisioned job.
I knew that I had to be very careful.
Dean Rivers noticed us. "Don't you see that I'm busy?"
I shrugged. "We are appointed, right now..."
Dean Rivers looked nevertheless at Beverly in an apparently quite dismayed manner. How could she let in pupils when he was playing a match of mini-pool with himself?
I remained patient. "Sir, this is Drake Parker, the young man who has applied for the position of an adviser for the school band."
Dean Rivers nodded and sighed grudgingly. "Beverly, the folder!"
His voice was totally impolite, and it made me wonder how Beverly was able to bear the dean.
Then he went through the mentioned folder. "OK, Drake Parker, born yes, sex yes, please! ..."
Josh poked Drake's ribs. "I told you to let me fill in the questionary for you."
Drake beamed, clueless as of what bad things he had done.
Apparently, the grave mistakes in the application did not provide any reason for the headmaster's mood to improve.
I was fainting, because Drake has messed thoise little things badly. Was there even as much as a snowflake's chance in a blast furnace left?
Dean Rivers boomed stuff about wasting his time, and the seriosity of this school and its staff...
"A serious headmaster would not play desktop pool during official appointments," dared I to reply.
Dean Rivers glared aghast.
Apparently, my remark had been in order.
Dean Rivers was going through the rest of Drake's application. "OK, your references sound fine, but I've heard rumours about your public demeanour..."
Alas, exactly in this moment, the worst scenario happened: Lola and Drake could not keep themselves back any longer, and they made out for a second.
Josh was consternated, and he twitched like an idiot.
I was no less consternated.
Dean Rivers plastered a diabolic grimace.
It was all over, my confidence was shattered for good.
In addition, Dean Rivers was hardly going to follow any of my suggestions anymore.
Lola reacted fast. "It's OK, we are engaged."
I looked aghast. That was impossible! Of course Lola was acting. She's great at acting spontaneously, that's why she's hoping for an Oscar as long as she was still a teenager...
Dean Rivers coughed. "OK, that's something completely different. Welcome to PCA, the job is yours... but why don't you wear rings?"
Lola and Drake looked puzzled.
I intervened. "It's because of the paparazzi. You don't want to have them here on the campus, do you?"
Dean Rivers had to agree wholeheartedly. "Hell no, we are not a Hollywood studio."
Back to my room...
I was alone with Lola. "Are you aware of what you've done? If it turns out that it was a lie..."
Lola moaned. "But he's sooooo..."
I gasped. Of course Lola thought like this, and I would not have minded. But was Drake really a happy-ever-after sort of guy? I hoped so for Lola, but he has not yet done anything in order to suggest this possibility, quite to the contrary. Megan had already told me stories...
Lola pouted because I did not rejoice with her.
I would have loved to, but if the fraud ever turned out, I was ruined for good.
The next Sunday, Josh visited my in 101 Brenner. "Hi, Zoey!"
I sighed, "Oh, Josh, what's up?"
Josh moaned, "I'll be very busy with college stuff. I want to go Caltech and so on..."
I nodded. "You'll make it there, I'm sure."
Josh smiled. "I've seen that you've never lost the patience with Drake, and you drove a hard bargain and so on,... don't you want to take over the rôle as his manager?"
I was a bit surprised. "Really? I have never done anything like that!"
Josh had not had any prior experience, either. "I know that you would be a very good manager..."
I sighed. "OK, I give it a try, but that's because you are really busy..."
Josh nodded. "And my fiancé Mindy ran away..."
I comforted Josh. "Talking about fiancés... what do you think about Drake and Lola?"
Josh sighed. "Drake had never been able to keep the same girl for more than three weeks..."
I had heard so. "My reputation here depends on them..."
Josh nodded sadly. "At least, Josh promised to give his best. he really likes Lola, there's no doubt about it, but that doesn't warrant much."
I nodded solemnly.
Josh wondered about somne scattered test tubes. "Aree you performing chemical experiments?"
I shook my head, uttering a resounding "No!". I giggled. "My room-mate Quinn Pensky is responsible for them."
Josh shrugged. "OK..."
Megan bounded in. "Hi Zoey..." She noticed Josh. "Hi bigheaded boob!"
Josh twitched with disgust.
I greeted Megan back. "How was your double-date?"
Megan moaned, "nice, but..." She didn't look glad.
I was disappointed, as I had hoped for a better outcome for Dustin than just nice.
Megan explained, "we had Japanese candy in Sushi Rox... Kazu has got the best..."
I smiled. "Good for you..."
Megan nodded. "OK, the afternoon was a lot of fun, but, finally, Janie and Jack told us that they were continue the dates, but... with each other, only the two of them, not with me and Dustin..."
I sighed. "Oh my Lord! What a double-date!" It was funny, but I felt so sad for Dustin.
Josh twitched.
Then Megan talked about Drake and his `fiancé'. "He's certainly in his league, so there's nothing bad, but I still can't believe that Drake can be serious. He says that he is, but he said that too many times before to be believable."
I nodded.
Megan was determined to remind Drake every time that he was going to miss out on a great chance, should he dare to drop Lola for oter girls. "He will feel my pranks for the next seven generations..."
I giggled. It was going to be hard, but not impossible...
1 cf. Zoey 101 : Haunted House, and a few cameos before and after 2 cf. Zoey 101 : Curse At PCA 3 cf. Zoey 101 : Great Vince Blake
Chapter 7 Saving Quinn
My room-mate Quinn had had that boyfriend of three years named Mark Del Figgalo.
Alas, their relationship seemed to have run into some deep crisis.
Without a trace of a reason, Mark had asked Quinn for giving their relationship sort of a break.
Quinn did not understand why, but she had accepted it, anyways, until she figured what had been going on:
Mark del Figgalo had found a new girlfriend named Brooke Margolin. 1
Quinn was terribly annoyed.
I had tried to suggest Quinn to give it a rest.
The real Quinn was way too smart to just hold or get a boyfriend at any cost.
Alas, my attempts of talking any reason into Quinn appeared futile.
Quinn could be so irrational at times.
That was incredible for a science girl.
Well, I guess that Lola's mental shallowness and superficial demeanour had infected Quinn to some degree.
That was sad, very very sad!
I met Megan after lunch.
She was already in a hurry. "Soccer practice..."
I nodded. Was that really the only thing that put her under pressure?
Megan waved, and gone she was.
Then I saw the reason.
Quinn showed up.
I had been observing how much Megan had been avoiding Quinn.
So, Megan being the same as Paige Howard would have made perfect sense.
After supepr, I made it into Megan's dormitory.
She was talking to Monica.
Megan grinned. "Finally, Monica will be in a double date with Dustin."
That was not my reason to make it there.
"That's good for Dustin." I smiled. "Whom has he chosen for you?"
"Some Henry," replied Megan nervously.
Henry 2 had been a frioend of Dustin for three years. He had been adamantly opposed to his date with obnoxious girl Trisha, for he knew that she was too loose for Dustin, and totally evil and dangerous. He was certainly not a bad thing for Megan.
Monica waved. She felt that I had to mince some serious words with Megan.
I excused Monica.
Megan trembled.
I sighed. "Sorry, but this thing between Quinn and you... it can't go on like that."
Megan sighed, totally embarrassed.
I asked straightforward, "are you Paige Howard?"
Megan almost passed out, stammering "I was..."
Of course, I expected some explanation.
Megan moaned. "Sorry, I didn't want to blow up the school. I also didn't want to cause embarrassment for Quinn... I don't know science well and didn't know what I was talking..."
Of course it was not my task to judge Megan's abilities as a scientist.
But wasn't it strange how Megan had been able to fool Quinn, Mr. Beringer --- our teacher for physics --- and the vistors from Caltech who praised her?
Megan explained, "I had a micro chip in my ears..."
I understood that someone must have instructed Megan from afar.
Those who had instructed Megan were probably the real culprits.
"So, who used you?" asked I with grim determination.
Megan squealed. She did not want to answer.
I shrugged. "OK, I have to talk to Drake and Josh about that."
Megan screamed in agony. "No, not them!"
Now I remembered Megan's familiarity with Wayne Gilbert aka Firewire. Who was more interested in embarrassing Quinn than Firewire? I mentioned him.
Megan went totally pale.
I sighed. "We're not done!"
Megan hid herself under a blanket.
I walked away. Firewire was now so due!
Along with Lola, I caught Firewire in his dormitory room.
Wayne Gilbert played with action figures and some web cams. "What are you looking for? You disturb my web action movie about Galaxy Wars!"
Lolatook one of the action figures and started gnawing at it.
Wayne squealed, "noooo!"
I told Lola to stop it. "I know, Lola is a bit insane, but I can't vouvh for anything."
Wayne wanted me to get that perverse fury out of his room.
I sighed. "OK, I have got a few questions concerning the visit of Paige Howard."
Firewire went pale.
I so knew that he was the culprit. I tickled Lola secretly.
She took a web cam and started pulling at the wires.
"That's my new Japanes J-cam," squealed Wayne with disgust.
I grunted, "Lola, be more careful!"
Wayne's teeth shattered like a full cupboard during an earthquake.
"You've ordered Megan Parker to feign being a science Geek girl..." thundered I, "admit to that!"
Firewired nodded with terror.
Lola looked at another action figure, "yummy!"
I sighed. "Enough for today!"
Lola needed to wash her mouth now.
We were on the way out.
Firewire bellowed, "I was not alone..."
I turned around. "So, who was your henchman?"
"Some Mindy Crenshaw,..." admitted he.
I gasped. The ex-girlfriend of Joshuah Nichols?
So, Mindy and Firewire had ganged up in order to get back at Quinn and Josh.
That made perfect sense.
Now we were gone.
Quinn was down as she was.
Thius I did not want to stir up the whole thing with Paige Howard.
It would have hurt her even more.
And it would have hurt me to know that I actually knew Mindy.
But I did not know that back then.
I snuck back into Megan's dorm.
She was still all pale, and she started weeping.
According to Drake, this was totally unusual for her.
I tried to get her back onto her feet. "Quinn won't blow your head off. I won't allow her to."
Megan glared aghast.
I knew that there was something more.
Megan sobbed and stammered, "Quinn is now in even more danger..."
I wondered what she was stammering. I sat her up. "OK, what's going on?"
Megan whispered, "last night, I've been home early, and I noticed Ashley calling that Logan jerk on her phone..."
I coughed. "You've been spying Ashley's phone call?"
Megan moaned.
Alas, Logan and Ashley exchanging phone calls was probably not unusual.
Malcolm's dad was a Hollywood producer.
She may simply have asked for informations about new projects.
Megan reported, "Ashley said something about Quinn's current instability. She will be an easy prey for Logan's fake charm."
I gasped. So, Logan was going to try to hit on Quinn? For what reason?
That information was important enough to get proferred unto Quinn.
I guided Megan into 101 Brenner Hall.
Lola and Quinn were already there.
Lola was reading her favourite journal, the Buzz. "Purple lip gloss and pink sun glasses? There's an idea..."
Quinn had replaced her nerdy spectacles with contact glasses.
The braidlets in her hair were gone.
Apparently, she either tried to reconquer Mark or get new boys this way.
Megan waved at Quinn. "Hi!"
Quinn lokked up. "Paige?"
Megan sighed. "You know me as Paige, but ..."
I introduced Megan to Quinn.
Quinn looked aghast.
Then we talked about Ashley's conversation with Logan.
Quinn wondered, "why would Logan want me?"
I shrugged. "Who knows? He's a jerk anyways."
Quinn sighed. "He is..." Now she was warned.
But Megan promised to be on guard. She saw her chance of repairing the damage she had caused unto Quinn by assuming the fake identity of Paige Howard.
Megan and I crossed the campus, watching out for Logan and his knavish tricks.
Michael crossed the campus.
"A horse," squealed Megan.
I was flabbergasted.
There was really a horse following Michael around.
Megan stepped up to the horse. "He's so cute!" She smiled. "When I was smaller, I wanted a pony., I believed in ponies laying eggs. 3" She giggled.
Michael sighed. "Probably, but he follows me everywhere... including the shower cabins."
I giggled.
But it wasn't much fun for Michael.
Megan examined the horse's back. "A mark!"
Michael and I looked carefully.
The stallion bore the marks of its owner.
All we needed to do was looking through a list of registered marks.
There was one on the interweb, wasn't there?
Megan smiled. "Oh, I know the mark!"
We turned our faces with curiosity.
Megan explained, "I had once ordered a zebra via interweb. 4"
"A zebra." replied I with consternation. But I should have expected that after having heard some stories about Megan from Drake.
Megan nodded. "I could not keep it at home, so I looked for a suitable ranch, and I found that of the Dunnaway family, not far from here. I've seen the marks on their horses, the same as this one."
Michael screamed, "Cool!"
Megan still had the phone number of the Dunnaways, because she visited her zebra regularly. She typed a few digits.
I was standing still.
Michael sighed.
Megan was finally done. "His name is Winchester," said she, "he escaped from the meadows, a few days ago. They have already been looking everywhere."
I sighed with relief.
Megan told me that Mrs. Dunnaway was going to fetch Winchester the very next day.
Just one more day for Michael.
Megan helped him, as she had made good experiences with horse-like animals.
Winchester was gone.
But the most studdy stallion of the Pacific Coast Academy was still roaming the campus, i.e. Logan Reese!
Quinn had sat down somewhere.
Logan snuck up to her, apparently feigning understanding for her situation.
I watched from afar.
When Logan moved too close to her, I stepped up to them. "Oops..."
Logan looked with disgust. "Zoey? What are you doing here?"
I grunted, "what are you doing here?"
Logan glared. "I comforted Quinn, because..."
Quinn gasped.
I giggled. "OK, you've successfully comforted her, and now you may report back to Ashley."
Logan glared with dismay. "Ashley Blake? What the..."
I glared with grim determination. "So, what was your deal?"
Logan trembled. He tried to escape.
But Quinn tripped him up. "Logan Reese!"
Logan sighed. "Yes, I have got a deal with Ashley... she has taught me acting in a humane manner, in turn for getting her a rôle in dad's next movie."
At that point, I did not get to know that their deal was running a lot deeper.
Their relationship had started much earlier, and it was by no means over.
"But why Quinn?" wondered I.
Logan sighed. "You know that my grandpa was a teacher at Caltech. 5 Dad wants this family tradition to be continued, grandad has left a large scientific library, so I get part of my heritage assigned prematurely if..."
"You've abused me for money," concluded Quinn. "I'm so done with you!"
"Quinn..." stammered Logan.
But it was too late.
Quinn was up and away.
I shrugged helplessly.
I met Megan again, telling her about the encounter with Logan.
"You mean that Dr. Reese," replied Megan, who is Josh's favourite example to live up to, next to Einstein?
I did not know that.
Megan explained. "Josh has even made me read his book about advanced molecular theory. 6"
I remarked, "Einstein is also Quinn's example to live up to."
Megan smiled. "Sure, maybe he could talk to Quinn, and they get out of their depression?"
I scratched my nose. "Why not?" I high-fived with Megan.
The plan worked out nicely.
Quinn and Josh were soon going to be hardly separable. They read many scientific books together which no sane pupil could understand.
Megan grinned.
Unfortunately, her carefully planned double-date had been less of a success than that improvised encounter of Josh and Quinn.
Just as Janie and Jack had disappeared together, so did Henry and Monica.
Dustin was once again very sad, as Monica had been totally likable.
Megan sighed deeply. "I'm not going to give up. I've got more friends... not Ashley, of course."
I smiled. Dustin will sure get his chance.
But Quinn was saved.
And for the time being, this appeared most important.
Alas, there was one more annoying discovery left.
Josh showed us a picture of Mindy.
She was no other than a girl that had once plagiarised my design of a backpack. 7 She must have enrolled here using a fake name after getting suspended from Drake's school for fraud. 8
Quinn suspected that Mindy had been trying to spy after her secret formulae. "She will hardly give up that fast."
I feared that this was true.
In any case, Quinn forgave Megan.
I sighed with relief.
1 cf. Zoey 101 : Quinn Misses The Mark 2 cf. Zoey 101 : Bad Girl 3 cf. Drake & Josh : The Gary Grill 4 cf. Drake & Josh: Sheep Thrills 5 cf. Zoey 101 : Zoey's Tutor 6 cf. Drake & Josh : Megan's New Teacher 7 cf. Zoey 101 : Backpack 8 cf. Drake & Josh : Honour Council.
Chapter 8 Per Mile
A week later, I entered the lounge of the boys.
Josh had won a match of snooker against Logan.
The jerk shrugged. "Beginner's luck!"
Alas, I knew this to be wrong.
Drake had told me that Josh was once known as the pool shark of San Diego. 1
Alas, Michael thought himself to be the best. He placed various items onto the snooker table. Then he explained how he expected the balls and the obstacles to interact after his cue strike.
Logan and Chase laughed like mercilessly tickled hyenas.
Michael pouted. "You don't believe me?"
Logan replied, "I'd rather believe you fly to the moon in your boxers and wearing a pair of Stacey's cotton swab wings."
Chase nodded solemnly.
Stacey Dillsen was a freaky girl at our school who talked with a lisp and who was obsessed with making sculptures from cotton swabs. She was avoided by most pupils. Fortunately, she was not here in the lounge.
Quinn and Lola were missing, too.
Quinn was a passionate snooker player.
But Lola was about trying to knit a new top for Quinn. She needed to fit the shirt.
Michael squealed. "I'm going to show you!"
"Dream on," replied Logan.
Megan walked in. "What are the boobs doing?"
I explained the situation.
Megan grinned. "Cool!"
Michael offered a bet. "If I win, you will let me play with my clack-clack balls whenever I want to, in our dorm, that is." Michael was totally addicted to clackers, the most noisy of all toys ever invented.
Chase and Logan chuckled.
"OK," replied Logan. "If you lose, you will cross the campus in a chicken wing costume."
I wanted to object. "You can't do that, Lola is allergic to meeting people in those costumes." 2
Logan grinned.
Michael and Logan shook hands.
The bet was now official.
Michael picked his cue. "OK, there comes Mr. Snooker!"
I shook my head.
Megan glared strangely at the pool table.
The cue struck the white ball.
As if being dragged by an invisible cord, the white ball did exactly what Michael had predicted it to do.
Logan and Chase had lost their bet.
This was a bit scary.
I looked at Megan. Did she practice telekinetic powers?
Suddenly, a scream was heard behind my back. It sounded so much like Lola's.
I startled.
Lola's scream could have been an exercise for some upcoming audition, or it could have had a real reason.
I turned around.
Lola stood there, wrapped in a net of wool. She floundered and fumbled with her knitting needles.
Quinn followed Lola. "She has caught herself in her own woolen chaos..."
Lola panted and cursed, "why does this gog-blasted knitting have to be so complicated!"
"Why don't you go to knitting classes," asked I.
Lola glared aghast."Zoey, how dare you! The boys in knitting classes are as ugly as beasts, such as Dork del Dweebalo." She felt forced to empty her stomach in one swipe.
Too da the woolen chaos prevented the vomit from getting too far.
Megan giggled.
Lola was covered with some self-made stink.
Drake was disgusted, but he helped Lola freeing herself from her malodorous prison.
Quinn ran away in order to fetch her silent deodoriser, another quinnvention.
I had to announce something. "Listen, the next charity walkathon will be next wee. I want to run with Dustin. You may sponsor us with a certain amount."
Megan sighed. "Zoey, I would rather run with you than with Drake."
I shrugged. "Drake, would you please run with Dustin?"
Drake glared. "That's too much work."
I sighed. "OK, it's a charity walkathon. You may improve your public relations a lot by participating. The rock star with a golden heart."
Drake beamed. "OK, I'm in it!" He was also glad to be Dustin's partner, because the latter was not as much of a whipper as Megan.
Lola smiled. She was now almost free, and she smelled a lot better. "I'm going to sponsor Dustin and my sweetbubbles. Thirty bucks!"
Drake swooned. "Awwww!"
I nodded. "That's cool!"
Chase begged Lola into knitting him woolen earcuffs.
Logan seconded that. "Michael will torture us with his clackers."
Chase sighed.
Morning had broken.
This was the day of the great charity walkathon.
Megan was a soccer player, so I hoped for at least twenty miles.
Dustin and Draked had worked hard, too. They wanted to show that boys were not as lame as Megan thought.
Lola and Drake had done a lot of stretching and yoga exercises.
Drake was thus at least very flexible.
Dean Rivers started the race, swinging a plaid flag.
Megan went into the leading position.
Our main sponsor was Chase. He invested one solid buck per mile. Apparently, he hadn't saved as much money as famous Hollywood starlet Lola.
Stacey offered one cotton swab per mile.
Mark del Figgalo broke down after half a mile, and he needed to be taken to St. Illness 3 hospital.
The red hot sun burnt up the coastal hill braes.
Drops of billowing sweat kept on eating their way down our skin.
After twenty miles, my feet started burning like living hellfire.
Megan was already panting heavily.
We decided calling it a nice race.
Not many pupils were still on the race track.
We had especially believed Drake to have given up long ago. We were on our way to the girls' toilets.
Suddenly, Drake thundered past us.
Megan was consternated. "How was he doing that?"
Dustin followed in Drake's leeward region. "Frazz 4," answered he, grinning like crazy.
Megan shrugged without a trace of an idea. "What is a frazz?"
I had to rummage through my memories. "Oh yeah, that must be it..."
Megan listened with curiosity.
I explained, "Frazz is the name of some power drink invented by Quinn. That was two years ago."
"Not fair," replied Megan. She was struck with disappointment.
I calmed her down. "It's not really a competition between us and the boys, but a wellfare event. You don't have to envy Drake for this. All they get will be a handshake from some office tooter."
Megan sighed deeply.
I hugged Megan. "Everyone knows that in a real competitions, boys could not hold a candle to us girls."
Megan panted with relief.
Fifteen miles later...
Drake and Dustin blew a final gust of steam through their orifices. Then they stretched themselves gracelessly onto the pavement.
I grabbed Dustin. "Are you OK?"
Dustin nodded silently, and he fell fast asleep.
I could not help but dragging him back to his dormitory room.
Scooter helped me dealing with my sleepy brother.
Megan had to call for Josh's help in order to deal with Drake.
The stakes having been meant per mile, I calculated swiftly that Lola owed now approximately 1,000 bucks to the charity group.
Well, she must have earnt a lot by means of acting.
(
)
I woke up in y dorm.
Lola had been trying to knit something all night through.
The room was now one woolen chaos.
I had slept a whole night through. But when I woke up, I had to talk to Lola. "OK, Drake and Dustin made 35 miles, your stakes were 30 bucks per mile, that is..."
"per ... mile," stammered Lola,
I nodded solemnly.
Lola went pale.
Her teeth rattled like a snake's tail.
"Lola," replied I, "what's up?"
She had understood 30 bucks as her stakes for the whole distance, and not per mile.
I coughed. "You did not read the smallprint, did you?"
Lola shrugged. "I hate reading smallprints. Your eyes turn ugly from doing so."
I banged my head against the wall. "At least you're lucky enough to have some money..."
Lola stammered, "er... honestly..."
I wondered what was wrong.
Lola sighed deeply. "Most of my money goes to some account I can't get at without my dad's consent. Those are savings for my future."
I choked. "Erm..."
Lola concluded, "and the rest I've already spent on beauty articles."
I sighed. "Why had I not thought about that earier?"
The result: Lola had nore more than thirty bucks in her hands, and she was unable to get at the required amount within a few days, and without begging her parents.
Needless to say, most parents would be very upset if their teenage daughter requested touching those savings.
In other words: We had got a big problem!
Back to the boys' lounge.
Logan celebrated Drake. "Finally, someone showed the girls who are the lords of the world!"
Drake smiled. "Yeah!"
Logan sighed. "But my ears hurt... Michael tormented me all night long."
Michael shook his head.
Chase nodded solemnly. "Oh, Zoey, here are your twenty bucks..."
I shook my head. "The money goes straight to Carmine Puckkett 5 from Pacific Charity Association."
Lola walked in.
Her head was hanging almost between her knees.
"Honeybunny," asked Draked, "what's going on?"
Lola sighed bitterly when she told Drake about her debts.
Drake coughed. He had not read the smallprint, either. "Dern!" He screamed with agony. Was Lola ever going to forgive him?
Megan came along. She wanted to know why Lola was so depressed. "Her knitting prowess has improved a bit, so..."
Drake explained the situation unto Megan. "So... what about the cheque over thousands of bucks that Doheny has given unto you?" 6
I shrugged. "Doheny? The master illusionist?"
Megan nodded. "I've helped him a bit... but the cheque was fake. He just wanted to tease Drake and Josh. That was my idea..."
Drake went pale.
Megan continued, "alas, if it had been for real, I'm still too young to care for such a sum. Mom would have put it into some insurance, and stuff."
I understood that concern. I knew that Megan had somehow helped Doheny to recover from his depression. But what had she done? Something similar to conrtrolling Michael's snooker ball? Was she a telekinetic artist? Megaang, the last airbender? 7. Scary...
Next morning...
Less than a day was left for us to pay for Lola, or else...
Carmine looked really mean.
I stood in front of Dustin's dormitory room.
Upon hearing about Lola's misery, my brother had locked himself into his dorm, weeping piteously.
Even Scooter had fled. He was now living with James Garrett in some dark janitor's cell.
Dustin's weeping and whimpering voice thundered across his dormitory block.
I begged him to open.
Alas, he could hardly forgive himself.
Megan came along. She panted, moaning "it seems you still can't get him out of there?"
I shook my head.
Megan continued, "I've got some idea... Helen Baxter might loan us some bucks."
I scratched my chin. "The woman from Premi`ere Theater?"
Megan nodded. "She's rich... and she has fished Drake fished more than one pool of dung."
I shuddered. "OK, I hope it helps. Better than calling Oprah Winfrey, as suggested by Josh Nichols."
Megan chuckled.
Suddenly, an obnoxious blonde passed by, grinning idiotically.
I startled. "Trisha?" I introduced Trisha Kirby to Megan.
Trisha laughed satanically. "OK, Carmine from Pacific Charity Association is my uncle. I may dissuade him from murdering Lola, in turn for..."
I was dismayed. In turn for what? It could not be any good.
Trisha grinned. "... in turn for Dustin, of course... not just one kiss, more like a steady boyfriend, for always and ever..."
I choked. "That was so disgusting."
Megan lunged forward, grabbing Trisha's shirt. "You don't dare to, you cheap bitch! You'll rue the day if you don't get your dirty fingers off Dustin..."
Trisha turned around and ran away.
Alas, this was not going to render her uncle any more merciful...
Helen Baxter had actually showed up.
We were now in Carmine's office.
As I had feared, Carmine was now particularly angry.
Helen was --- fortunately --- a good rhetorician. She was able to talk Carmine shut. She also threatened to inform the authorities because most of te pupils did not have their parents' permit for that action.
Carmine ran away with his tail between his leg, after he had promised to teach Lola knitting.
She was allowed to pay her share by knitting clothes for hobo kids.
Helen paid 1000 bucks.
But Mr.Puckett was going to return them upon completion of the woolen clothes.
I wiped a lot of sweat off my face.
Megan wondered, "A nice double date would help Dustin, wouldn't it?"
I smiled. "I guess so..."
1 cf. Drake & Josh : Pool Shark 2 cf. Zoey 101 : Zoey's Balloon 3 cf. Drake & Josh: Treehouse 4 cf. Zoey 101 : Spring Break-Up 5 surname constructed 6 cf. Drake & Josh : Great Doheny 7 alludes to Avatar, a carton which I don't own, featuring some hero named Aang
Chapter 9 The Return Of Vince
The following week, I was sitting peacefully in my lounge.
The lounge was pretty much jammed.
But Megan snuck in.
Don't ask me how she snuck past everything and everyone
She just did. And she looked totally excited.
I wondered what was up.
Megan panted. "Ashley talks all day and all night about her brother's return. His expulsion was totally unfair, and stuff."
Ashley apparently thought of revenge.
I gasped. "Vince is coming back? Is Dean Rivers serious?"
Megan shrugged.
I went through the history.
Chase had caught Vince cheating in a test about national history. He had denounced him to Mr. Toplin, his teacher.
Vince had been suspended from all activities. He was the captain of our football team, thus he had to miss out on that match.
Too bad it was a very important match.
Vince and his pals were upset enough to beat Chase black and blue.
Thereupon he was completely expelled from the school.
Returning to Pacific Coast Academy, he was probably up to getting back at Chase.
I could not allow for that.
Megan had another reason to talk to me. "Would you mind an older girlfriend for Dustin? For a double date..."
I gasped. "It's not Trisha Kirby, is it? And her name isn't Rebecca, either, right?"
Megan shook her head. "Never! Who is Rebecca?"
I told Megan about Chase's former girlfriend who had been so mean to me.
Megan sighed. "Sorry for that. I wouldn't want Dustin to date any girl of that sort, honestly."
I panted. "If she can accept that younger boys can't do what most older girls would expect from boys, it's OK."
Megan nodded. "Addie 1 is nowhere near like Trisha or Rebecca."
I sighed with relief.
Megan explained a bit more, "she used to be my best friend like three years ago. But she lived in Pennsylvania, and she only was here in California in order to visit her cousins. But she has actually switched to Pacific Coast Academy as of last year. I haven't known it earlier. She's a sophomore. You don't have to worry. She's nice and definitely not a nymphomaniac fury."
I nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good." In a double date it was less dangerous, anyways. I wondered about Dustin's pick for Megan. Maybe someone older, too? Dustin has learnt to tell a jerk from a decent boy, so he wasn't going to pick someone really foul and disgusting for Megan. I could rely on Dustin when it came down to that.
I complained in the office of Dean Rivers.
The headmaster grunted, "the shrinks, his parents, and everyone else have confirmed that Vince Blake is no longer aggressive, and thus no longer a danger for our school and our students. Thus there's no reason for upkeeping the ban."
I was consternated. "Have a nice day!"
My sweat watered the ground.
I needed to warn Chase.
Chase and Michael were sitting in their lounge.
I walked up to them."Bad news!"
Michael and Chase looked flabbergasted.
I talked about Vince.
Michael was deeply concert. "That's insane! Vince is a serial killer."
I nodded sadly.
Chase sighed. "It isn't that bad. My cousin Corey from Phoenix has joined recently. He is killed in karate and will defend me. 2"
I sighed with relief.
But then...
I choked. Corey? Megan's perverse ex-boyfriend was also named Corey, and he was a hell of a martial fighter.
That was no good...
It was the last weekend trip home to San Diego before Vincent Blake's return.
He wa sproperly expected back on Saturday.
But I was already in my car, waiting for Dustin and his pick for the double date.
Drake was going to take Megan and Addie to San Diego.
Chase passed by. "Hi!"
I admonished him to be careful with Vince.
Chase shrugged. "I don't have to until Sunday evening."
I looked aghast. "You're leaving the campus over the weekend?"
Chase grinned. "That's true!" Then he jumped into my car.
I was consternated. "What are you doing?."
Dustin approached with his luggage. "OK, I don't have much, so..."
I let Dustin board the car. "Chase?"
Chase grinned. "Dustin picked me for a double date, with your new step-sister... what was her name?"
I gasped. "Megan?"
Chase grinned. "That's her!"
Dustin nodded solemnly. "Megan chose an older girl for me, so I chose an older boy for her."
I started the engine. I still couldn't trust my ears.
"As per Dustin, Drake is away for a concert on Saturday night, so ..."
I knew about Drake's plan, as I was his manager.
Don't get me wrong!
I was way over Chase. In addition, I could not say that Chase was a bad company for Megan.
Definitely not!
It was, nevertheless, something in need of getting accustomed to.
I needed to concentrate on driving, though.
Chase fumbled with a few sheets of paper. "I've written a few lyrics for songs for Drake." He had started doing so a few weeks earlier, at least officially. Actually, writing lyrics for Drake had been his dream since Drake's concert during my first spring jam at 'buildingPacific Coast Academy.
Drake appeared to like Chase's texts.
Michael was adding appropriate tunes.
Inspite of being Drake's manager, I didn't understand much about music. I just liked to listen to it.
The weekend had been a lot of fun.
But I did not notice much of it. I had to take care of Drake's concert.
Since starting that thing with Lola, Drake had not only stopped hitting on me, but also on random girls. He was more able to concentrate on his music and this a lotr more serious with his career as the next superstar.
Managing Drake also diverted me from having to think about Vince Blake's possible revenge.
But now we were returning to our campus.
The critical moment was near.
I halted my craft, letting Chase and Dustin out of there.
Where was Vince?
We could not see him.
But there was apparently a reason for that.
Vince was entoured by many fans. He didn't even look like a bully anymore.
I was shocked when I saw two particular fans of Vince waiting in the que. "Lola? Quinn?"
My breath froze.
"Hi Zoey," replied my roomies, smiling brightly.
I gasped. "What are you doing? Don't you remember what Vince has done to the boys?"
While beating up Chase, Vince had also socked it to Logan, Michael, and Mark who were in his way.
Lola and Quinn nodded solemnly. "But now he's such a gentleman."
Lola explained, "Vince is even in my yoga classes. Now we want an autograph!"
I sighed deeply.
But maybe they were right, and I was only seeing chimeras.
Logan and Michael were not that easy to convince.
Oops... con-vince, you get it?
Sorry for that pun.
Usually, it isn't my style.
Whatever!
Chase snuck away. He was probably going to fetch his cousin Corey.
I grinned.
Drake and Megan arrived in that moment.
I explained the situation.
Megan shrugged. "I would not trust his new face. He's Ashley's brother, so... OK, just be careful, please!"
I nodded solemnly.
Chase returned with his cousin.
Drakke and Megan saw the boys approaching. "Corey!" They were consternated.
I had been right.
Chase's cousin was one bully ass.
According to Megan, Corey had been expelled from Première Theatre after the brute incident, as much as Vince.
In other words: In fetching Corey, Chase was nothing but moving from the frying pan into the boiling water.
I stepped in front of Drake and Megan. "Don't worry, now I'm here."
Chase smiled. "This is my cousin Corey..." He turned his face towards his relative. "These are my friends Zoey, Drake, Megan, Quinn, Lola..."
"Interesting," replied chuckling Corey.
Apparently, Dean Rivers and the rest of the school's administration was very careless when accepting new pupils coming from San Diego.
Midy Crenshaw had been one example.
Corey was the next.
Akas, this time Corey had to get past me.
The year before, I had faced Chuck Javers 3, an unstoppable wrestling machine. Granted, my lights had gone out after a few seconds only.
That wasn't fun.
But Javers had not at all been able to break my dignity.
Poor Chase did not understand what was going on.
Corey laughed like a hyena. "You are really dating that pathetic bitch?" He hinted at Megan. "Out of my way," boomed Corey, "I don't beat up girls!"
But I was not going to budge. Core was apparently much more pathetic and deprecable than Chuck Javers.
Corey decided to run away. "Have fun with Vince Blake." He grinned sadistically.
Drake and Megan sighed with relief.
Alas, what did we have to see just two seconds later?
Trisha Kirby emerged from the masses. "Hi sweets!" She wrapped her arms around Corey.
They made out in a most perverse manner.
That was uttermost disgusting.
And that happened in front of all the pupils.
At least Trisha deserved such a windy guy of the most deprecable sort.
Drake thanked me.
I hugged Megan and Drake. "OK, but we need to be careful."
Finally, Logan and Michael appeared to have forgiven Vince.
Chase did the same.
Was that a good idea?
We were sure going to find out.
The nexzt evening, I met Chase again in the lounge.
Chase remarked that he had not seen Corey or Vince all day long.
I sighed with relief. "OK, so, how was your double date?"
Chase stammered, "nice..."
I had expected him to say so. "Sure..."
Chase moaned, "may I talk honestly?"
I urged him to do so.
Chase sobbed. "I know, it was a date with Megan, but," stuttered he, "I think I'm now really into Addie." He was sort of embarrassed.
I gasped. "Three strikes --- out!"
Chase was flabbergasted.
I remarked, "sorry, I meant... this always happens at the double dates of Dustin and Megan. It's so frustrating."
Chase nodded. "I know. That makes it so hard to admit to my feelings. But they are there."
I wondered, "what do you like so much about Addie?"
Chase replied, "she writes interesting poems, and she plays them on her guitar, and she's a bit clumsy with her feelings, which has destroyed her previous relationships ..."
It was almost like describing himself.
After all, his feelings for Addie appeared to be a totally natural match.
There was nothing to say against them.
But it must have hurt Megan and Dustin.
Vince entered the lounge.
He greeted us in a friendly manner, and then he moved on to his new girlfriend, Mandy Franklin. 4
They made out.
Mandy was one of the chieftains of the cheerleading squad. She was a typical dumb blonde.
Little wonder Vince was into that annoying sort of girl.
I had not seen Ashley since our weekend trip.
Whatever, something told me thad she was somewhere pulling the strings.
And this meant really no good at all, I can tell you.
1 cf. Drake & Josh : Honor Council --- identified with Addie Singer from Unfabulous which I don't own 2 Zoey 101 : Great Vince Blake mentions an anonymous cousin of Chase that is skilled in karate 3 cf. Zoey 101 : wrestling 4 mentioned in Zoey 101 : Chasing Zoey --- identified with one cameo Mandy in Drake & Josh : Football