Dear Readers,

Hello again my loyal readers, 2016 has come and gone! Hello 2017! Can you believe this is chapter 11 of this tale? Man, that's pretty good for something that started out as a possible one shot birthday present, huh? Especially when I started drafting chapter one a year ago this month! But it would still be nothing more than that one chapter if it weren't for the best little sis in the world and all of you! So pat yourselves on the back and let's get this party started!

I keep forgetting to do this but Standard Disclaimers do apply, I don't own any of these characters places or products. I am only borrowing all of this stuff for my own plots and high-jinxes... most will be returned unharmed but let's face it… Chase is gonna come back bleeding no matter what we do! It's just a fact. It's part of his Chase-ness and part of why we find him so endearing! (NEVER-change-PLEASE-Chase! Transfer back to PCA posthaste!)

Special thank you to ALL of you who favorited this story or me as an authoress. Also Thank you so much to all of you who are now following this story or me as and authoress! That's HIGH praise, and all of you who wrote in and reviewed! RHrGreatness (for both of your reviews, can you believe we've been doing this for nearly a year?) amicaricia10 (I loved your enthused review, it made me so happy, but NO! This isn't over. There is still plenty of story to go! I really hope that you will be reading along, dear!), Guest (God bless you and think you so much for your kind words. I hope that you're still reading and enjoying), Rose-Aki (You reviewed all ten chapters, getting caught up and all of your words were so kind. I love that you appreciate the Logan-maturity-and-growth thing happening too. It's literally one of the things I'm most proud of. I hope you're still reading and working on your own masterpieces to share as well! {If you haven't read her works, I HIGHLY Recommend them wink wink!}), IAmVictorius1614 (Love your name, first off! TOO COOL! Yes, I am updating! Here you go! Hope you're still reading and enjoying!) and last but not least IGottaFindYou (Glad you do like this! And Quinn and Logan! Hope you're still reading along and hope you have a great day!)

All of you keep me going! I can't thank you enough!

Getting back to the normal order of things, this chapter will be from Quinn's perspective! So excited! Even though I loved writing for Chase, it really is nice to get back to these guys and the way we've been doing this up to this point. I hope you all enjoy!

"The Collective Trials of a Quinnventor and… Logan"

Chapter 11 – Smokey's Sexy Concessions

(And yes that spelling is correct… It will make sense later I promise)

Today is the day of the tournament and I have to say, I was excited to see what happened. A little nervous, but mostly excited. Since this was happening on a Friday, we still had to go to class, we still had tons of work to do. Honestly I had a bit of trouble staying focused…

I know that I've given the few athletes I knew (yes Logan, but not just him) a hard time about maintaining their focus on schoolwork in times like these. But I really was struggling personally today. Which all of my friends enjoyed a little too much.

No one enjoyed my short attention spans more than my boyfriend. Leave it to Logan to be the kind of person who relishes in these rare recesses of my rigorous scholastic regime. This occasion would be one of the very first times that I have been anticipating the part I would be participating in an athletic event. I mean yes, I did participate in the very first basketball game held at PCA that was a girls verses boys game. But that was within my first week as a student here. Sometime has certainly passed since then and I've grown so much. Usually the only place that I competed as a rule was academically speaking or rarely for leisure. While all of this was new, if not rare for me; it was all simply another day for my athletic and sporty stud.

When he entered the gymnasium, I didn't miss the cheers, cat calls or swooning that followed. Zoey leaned towards me and said exactly what I was thinking, "Oh come on! Those girls sound like Beatle-mania, and it's Logan! Don't they know that we'll never fit his head through the doorway again? Even if we open up both doors?"

"You would think they knew better." I agreed, while I mentally added that it was a good thing that I had to save the charge in my zap watch for self-preservation in my upcoming matches. Otherwise I would have been trying to get eyes on these temptresses that were mooning over my man and trying to take aim.

Am I not allow to be jealous when no one knows about us?

Would it really change anything if they did know?

Judging by the looks of their barely there tube tops and too low hip-huggers, I'm HIGHLY doubting it would matter to them if he were married!

That was when Lola's head popped between Zoey's and mine, from her spot on the bleachers behind us (our sole friend not competing, so coach had stuck her with the camcorder). "Ah, don't pay any attention to those girls. They're just some of those North Ridge skanks!"

"North Ridge?" I asked as I noticed Zoey's face had suddenly turned to one of understanding.

"Oh yeah," Zoey began; "Apparently the whole female populace of that school is just like them."

Lola added, "Yeah, you keep hoping you just met the few worst bunches of people from there. Then as more show up you quickly realize, nope! They're all completely nasty."

"How do you know about them, Lola? I'm usually competing against them in sports." Zoey asked while Lola seemed to be mentally somewhere unpleasant.

"Uh, when I did the drama traveling troop at my old school. One of the places we performed in was North Ridge High, its way worse when you're on their home turf. It's like the walls crawl in slime and… desperation or something. Everyone's acts exactly like that too."

A shiver worked it's way up my spine, even as I fought it. "Well I'm usually only completing in brain-wars and academic decathlons. I've never encountered these North Ridge people-"

Lola said, "Not a shock."

While Zoey said at the same time, "I'm so surprised." And laughed.

Then James was announced and came in smiling adorably, eyes only for his girlfriend. While these North Ridge wretches made even louder cheers, inappropriately. He kissed Zoey to the choir of there hissing and 'boo's. So Lola sassed them loudly, "HEY! LOVE-IS-A-BEAUTIFUL-THING-YOU-BUNCH-OF-BATTLEAXES! NOW-BE-DECENT-OR-THIS-Slingblade-STARTS-TO-SWING!" She'd indicated while pointing at herself.

The homeliest of all the wretches seated together sassed back, "HEY! Who died and made you Queen of this hellhole?" Which was accompanied by the 'ooh's and 'oh snap's of the smooshed too close populace of the home-team bench side.

Lola didn't hesitate to say, "The Drama club, and prom committee did; but I didn't need any of them with my Latino heritage to back me up."

Zoey Boasted, "That's right, don't make her go loca on you!"

Then Zoey landed one of her pointed elbows right to my spline, trying to get me to add my two cents. So I said, "Oh yeah… this girl does not mind getting ghetto to help out a friend."

Michael felt the need to defuse the situation too, so he took a different route.

Comedy.

"You better watch how you be talking all that smack Miss Lola. You'll find yourself sporting spandex and seated on this bench right with us if coach hears you."

Yes, he was kidding… but that is how all of us ended up on this team. Against our will. Coach Payne had made all of us join the team and defend our school's deteriorating title in this barbaric activity. Trading in my thinking cap, as I am for a competition of the physical kind… I do find myself wishing that it were for a gentler sport. A more beautiful sport like figure skating or gymnastics… Not that I'm good enough to compete in such things, I just never saw myself as a wrestler… even though I did excel in martial arts as a child. I learned to defend myself, along with respecting myself from physical threats. I've been bullied since kindergarten, these beautiful arts taught me discipline, agility, balance and respect that I use everyday. So it does have a lot to do with who I am, I guess I just forgot.

Never in my wildest imaginings did I ever think that I would be sitting on this bench anticipating the appearance of our rivals. Then again I never thought that I would ever be the kind of person that Logan would want to date… secret or not. That's the funny thing that I have discovered about life, it never seems to stop surprising me.

He's so cute at this moment, trying to pretend he wasn't offended by the fact that the volume for James' reception was louder than his… That is a vain boy I'm dating… Yet all I have to do is cross my legs to gain his attention and subtlety fan myself and mouth the words "so hot." To watch all of that resentment fall away, the Hollywood bright of his smile to come back into full play; only this smile is way more genuine than that the smile you see him wearing on the paparazzi pages.

Having that sort of appeal to anyone is quite a heady brew. Having that sort of effect over him in particular… I don't know why it's such a thrill, but it is. That happiness can't seem to please any specific part of me either, it just makes all of me so happy that I feel like I may combust at any given moment. I hope that I don't… People wouldn't even know the cause… not that they would really need one with me.

As the two last players for our team were introduced… (Mo and Sockberger because they're our best fighters). I felt pretty good about this whole thing. I wouldn't say I was confident exactly, it wasn't anything like fearless, it was just… happiness…

Then all of that bliss was instantly sucked out of me by the appearance of our competition as they began to filter into the gymnasium. Some of the beef cakes strutting in were so hulky that they had trouble fitting through the door… Some even had the accompaniment of distant thunder accompanying their every footstep. Thunder that was actually the floor screaming under the weight and overzealous girth of the gargantuan guys and girls attempting to take a few floor boards with them evidentially. Did they seriously expect us to fight these guys? Did they really think that there would be any real contest?

To say that I was intimidated would have been an understatement. Before I lost all credibility and standing with these opponents that I could feasibly face in this triathlon. I felt a nudge against my back and something growled at me from my boyfriend.

When I somehow communicated that I hadn't caught what he'd said he bent over and growled tersely, "Would you PLEASE show some spine. Don't let them scare you, that's all they want."

"What if I can't?" I asked, and I literally heard him roll his eyes even though I know that's completely illogical to hear a silent action.

"Then at least cross your arms and give them your unchanging game face." He advised, so I tried that an maintained it until the last of our adversaries were seated and the referees and coaches were all talking in the center of the gym. Jerimiah Trottman's voice came over the speaker and announced that the competition would commence in the next ten to fifteen minutes. So Zoey, Lisa, Lola and me ran to the nearest bathroom… to try to salvage our deteriorating nerves.

Once inside Lola perched herself on the flat excess counter that was supposed to be a place where ladies's belongings could rest while she washed her hands. She was fine, it was the rest of us who were a complete shambles. Even Zoey's ever cool exterior was having a hard time not showing real anxiety. Instead of even attempting to make this better for her friends; Lola said simply, "You guys are so dead."

Lisa asked, "Really Lola, do you really think that's what we need to hear right now? That we don't know that?"

"Hey," Lola said in a yielding tone, "I'm just trying to be supportive. Though I've known all along that if any of you guys actually fought at all it was gonna get ugly."

"How is that being supportive or helpful?" Zoey asked.

"I'm here aren't I?" Lola said, and I had to admit she had a point. Lisa and Zoey too thanked her. "I know that you guys are scared. I want to help, really I do… I know you're all doing this against your will… you're all likely to get hurt or… yeah see? I'm trying to put lipstick on a pig here, you've got me in a box. There's only so much I can say or do-"

Lola's speech was cut off by one of the stalls behind us, toilet flushed just barely before the door flew open. We'd all jumped at the loud and unsuspected noise, when that door flew open we were all so paranoid that we were all hugging each other and yelling. Till we realized that we were looking at Mo. So tall, strong and imposing. She towered over us all as she stepped into the sink area.

She shook her head at us, and said to us in her rough and tough tenor, "I take it that you ladies have just gotten your first real taste of intimidation or nervousness."

"Uh Huh." Zoey and I said together.

While Lisa said, "You might say that."

And Lola sold us out, "They're petrified."

Mo smirked and said, "I gotta say, that I honestly didn't think any of you would take this long for this to happen. You're all a lot tougher than anyone gives you credit for."

We all kindly mumbled a thanks of some kind before she continued.

"It's not gonna be that bad," Mo assured, "You've all got skill and strengths that you can play up to. You've just gotta get a little better about not letting them see you feel pressured. It's usually coach's best lesson and she usually gets more time to teach it. I've done it for so long that I'm not even worried anymore. But yesterday, when I wanted to get Sockberger's attention. I was beyond intimidated, I was horrified." She confessed. "I just knew that there was no way that I could ever turn that head. No matter how much I wanted to-"

We tried to point out that she'd definitely gotten his attention as well as several other boys. She shushed us and continued, "Then all of you helped me out. You didn't even make me over to where I wasn't me anymore. You showed me how to still be me and apply this same method to dating. Confidence, playing it cool, not seeming overly anxious or coming off desperate. It's the same with any opponent you face on that mat today. You've gotta show them you're not scared, even if you are."

"Yeah!" Lola chimed in, "Like I did with those North Ridge skanks!"

"Exactly." Mo smirked, "You didn't back down."

"I usually am way better at not showing my fear." Zoey said looking at the floor. Yes, she usually was.

Then I remembered exactly what must have her worried and I said, "Yeah, but the last time that you fought in a tournament like this, your body was slammed down by the biggest dirtiest fighter in our whole charter. The only thing that broke your fall, was your own head. There's no way that that kind of experience isn't gonna have repercussions."

"As terrible and even as stupid as you may have felt doing that. It was newspaper clippings of that fight that brought my mom as well as me here to PCA. We considered it brave, and meeting you, getting to know you as I have… I see now that that bravery was only a chip off of the iceberg. You are truly an inspiration. And your story reached us after our ideals for a team coached by a woman, with one of the top fighters also female had been turned down by countless institutions. If not laughed out the door, you gave us hope."

Zoey smirked almost shyly and said, "I had no idea."

"If you let coach know that I spilled this secret, I will deck ya." Mo said as her facade of a brute had to slip back into place. She gained a chuckle from all of us, even Zoey who promised that it would never leave this room.

So for the next two minutes, Mo gave us some great tips for scaring the bejesus out of someone. After this little pep talk and session, we reemerged from that ladies room a bunch of killing machines. Lola didn't get to hit the mats with this new found bravery or stupidity (however you choose to view it, I personally feel it was genius, so it had to be nuts). So our friend could be heard the whole tournament as one of the best trash talkers in the stands. Coach is gonna enjoy that background noise in her documentations of the fights.

If only there was a trophy for that… best trash-talker… A golden mouth wide open with a trash can poking out…

The very first rep to step up and represent our school was Lil Lisa. Her first opponent was one of the imbeciles who'd really hassled her most when they were first lumbering into the arena. As newly worked up Lisa sauntered confidently to her designated little electrical taped 'x' on the mat. She didn't show even a blink of doubt.

This time when the oaf started to bark and chomp at her like some deranged Doberman on steroids. He wasn't expecting newly charged and raring to go Little Lisa. Who growled better, more blood thirsty, more menacing; She even bit the air harder and higher. The clanking of her teeth was audible and clear that her gratuitous gremlin that she was matched up against lost all of his girth. In fact he let out a shriek so keen and shrill, everyone covered their ears and the glass backboards of the basketball hoops looming overhead shattered and raining sand like shards all over our mats.

The cleaning crews cleaned it up and we were still able to have our event… but we stood around for nearly two full hours to declare the mats completely glass free and unlikely to impale us. We had to watch the mats be swept, vacuumed countless times in that time.

Believe me we were all ready to kill something after waiting that long.

If we'd known that it would have taken that long… I would have-um, I would have totally spent all of that spare time on my new prototype. Mmm-hmm yeah, that's where I could have used all of that spare time and effort. I mean, it's not like I have a boyfriend anymore or anything. Someone who could have snuck off with me and made out in some nearby closet or concealed location… no…

Listen to me, this is the sole place that I can be completely honest, and I'm still attempting to keep things under wraps. Let's begin again, glass everywhere, dangerously; a bunch of beefy security guards were walking around in tiny aprons which looked more like bibs and all of them had brushes with these little itsy bitsy dust pans. Teenagers are sneaking off left and right. Michael and Lisa disappeared first quickly followed by Zoey and James. Which left me sitting way down the bench from Logan.

He sent me a glance that melted all of my insides to hot goo and I liked it! I just tried not to let that show, how much I'd liked it. Then Lola came running at me before any of that could go any further. Complaining that she had no idea how to work Coach Payne's camcorder. She said, "I'm calling my bestie card! If I have to be such a good friend to you and Zoey. Sitting here watch all of these big men think they know how to clean. Thekn I have to have a camera I can freaking work!"

So the first forty five minutes of this lackluster intermission was moderating a stalemate between my coach and best friend. Lola was finally handed a more up-to-date recorder (turns out coach had originally wanted her to use an ancient looking projector with reel on it's back end and everything). Coach then spent the next fifteen minutes teaching Lola how the old school equipment worked and I listened in fascination too. Not how it filmed so much as how it worked was what I found captivating. Lola does love old movies and would like to star in movies in the future after all. How cool would it be too see herself in a scene recorded on real film?

I was listening to their conversation with interest until "someone" (Logan) sat down beside me and loudly cleared their throat. Before either of us could say anything Lola was plopping down on the seat next to me sending me a completely un-sorry look before asking, "What are the both of you so down about."

"I'm not down." I shrugged indifferently.

"Well you don't look happy, that's for sure. I'm not even getting started on how that one looks." She said pointing at my baby.

"WHAT?" He demanded in his famous 'I don't give a care' tone. Easily interchangeable with his, 'Beat-it' tone, 'I hate you' retort or his classic 'leave me alone-I'm a brat, who didn't get his way' manner. Only a person whose spent way too much time interpreting him (like me) can tell the difference.

How does he tuck all of that meaning into a one syllable phrase? I may never know.

Lola was not impressed, she shot back without hesitation, "You don't HAVE to sit here you know? There's a whole big gymnasium out there. Filled with your adoring fans, for you to stun with your opinion of yourself and too strong cologne."

"Yeah and I choose here and I'm already sorry." He shot back, but didn't leave.

Even though Lola's next line was literally, "Well leave then, nothing's keeping you here. And YOU, back to you Quinn! You're acting so strange! Like you didn't expect to be sitting here with me all of this time. Like you had somewhere else to be or something."

Boy, sometimes… Lola can be so close to the mark it scares me. Then there's Logan's reaction to her uncanny ability to shave it so close too. Which was to laugh into a towel and try very hard to make it sound like a cough. The buzzers chose that moment to sound and signify that all fighters needed to pay attention… The first few matches were reinterduced and it was sounding like the fights were back on…than the first guy to step out on the mats shoe sole was impaled by a shard of glass the size of a pock knife. Luckily for him it had not gone through to the bottom of his foot, but if he'd continued to step down and hadn't noticed something strange…it could have been far worse.

So the cleaning crews were asked to come back and go over everything a second time. Logan and I sat back down and Lola had never moved. Once we were all sitting again. Lola blinked, but didn't miss a beat… "Seriously Quinn, what is up?"

As Logan was still cough-laughing into his towel she asked him barely contained disgust, "Are you-like gonna cough up a hairball or something?"

"No- ((cough-cough))-I'm fine, sorry." He assured and I even pat him on the back, and Lola kinda did too. Though it looked like it plagued her to touch him.

When the focus was off of Logan again, Lola shot me a glare that told me that she was still waiting for some answers. So I said, "I don't know what you're talking about Lola."

"Oh yes you do and I don't know why you're acting so weird. I just want to understand-" Lola said, before I could even begin to explain, Lola was already saying. "What could it be, I know that your favorite teacher has been helping you all week with your patens and proto-stuff. It can't be that, and if it is science stuff making you this weird, I'm gonna slap you, because you have been WAY too focused on that and only that, too much lately! God, what is it, you seem to act like you really have somewhere else you'd rather be…"

"Good," Logan interjected, "Then it's not just me, wishing I was anywhere else." He said out loud but his eyes told me a whole different full length story. One that included a darkened patch between the plant-life outside, a shady spot under the bleachers and tons of… affection.

My neck started to perspire and feel hot, while an artic chill shot down my back. Lola once again told Logan to beat it. Then she went right back to, "What else could it be?"

"Ya know," I said kinda hoarsely…to Logan's notice… curse him. Cleared my throat and tried again. "You know, I could have had somewhere else to be… you don't know."

"It's too soon for you to be dating, or so you've told everyone." Lola said, as if this fact somehow affected her… and in a bad way. Most girls would say, 'more guys for me.' Wouldn't they? Then I was brought out of my ravine by my friend saying, "If you had a boyfriend tucked away somewhere, maybe I'd feel you had more of a case. You'd have to be sneaking around with him though, and I'd know if you were doing something like that."

"You would?" I asked

Lola was quick to say that, "Of course I would."

That was when I decided to see if I could make a certain 'friend' of mine just a little uncomfortable. I asked her, "What if I did?"

I went on to say, "What if I was interested in a seriously smoking specimen, a stud by all of our standards who'd sauntered up to me. Asking if I would like to converse over a corndog. What if, let's call him 'Smokey,' was waiting for me over by that concession stand and because I was helping you, Lola, I pretty much stood him up?"

Since Lola was using the zoom to look at some of the hotter fighters across the gym. Her focus wasn't on me, so I got the privilege of watching Logan process this information. The entire time I was talking… from his initial confusion on to where totally looking over at that food stand to see if this fictional 'Smokey' could be spotted. Then he went back to sitting, shifting uncomfortable in his seat, not sure where I was going with this.

Lola however stopped playing with her camera and turned to look at me, "Okay you're gonna have to clarify… a few things. First of all when you say smoking do you mean with sexiness or actual smoke?"

To which I answered, "Eww! NO! Do you honestly think I would date anyone who really smokes, knowing what I do about its effects on a human's central nervous system, and the humans around them?"

"Look at that, there's Quinn." Logan said… no one else knows the significance of this simple statement or why my face was suddenly pink… but you do, don't you?

Lola pressed on unfazed, "Okay good!"

As she returned to her boy-watching through the camera's lens. She rationalized, "But there's no way that actually happened. Number one, I would have seen it if it had happened. Two, you're not an impressive liar, I'd see right through you. Lastly, the only people you've been hanging around with lately are all taken or Logan. The last time I checked, Logan was limiting his dating to everyone, no brains required. Just all of the classless skank-bots the factory can turn out and none of them combined have enough sense to tie their shoes. That's why they're all in heels or slip on flats."

I tried not to laugh, I did! But I wasn't laughing for the reason that Lola thought I was. Logan shook his head and smirked at me when he saw how cheered up I must have been. He took a deep breath through his nose (like his anger management teacher had encouraged) then he said calmly, "It just kills you, doesn't it? That all of the girls I date really do smoke you in sexiness… and they're real."

He just HAD to say that and watch me have an internal struggle to keep the color from my face. A scrimmage I lost quick and brutally. If I was pink before, I surpassed red and shot straight to purple now… if not pokey-dot or plaid. Again, Lola wasn't looking at him, I was. There was so much in that word 'sexiness,' even just the way he let the word roll off his tongue…it was like he was kissing me, with his words. I could have killed him… but somehow I knew that even that wouldn't wipe that all knowing smirk off of his face.

Thank god all of this was lost on poor Lola, she probably could not have appreciated it, even if she were privy. She just laughed and said, not bothering to look at us. "Yeah right! Like I'm intimidated by those Bambis and Barbies that you deem date-worthy."

"Well, at least the girls that I date aren't mean and don't judge everything I say or do." He came back with.

Lola did turn her head to shoot over shoulder, "Right, because those are all things that you do and if you dated a girl like that. It wouldn't be fun, you'd clash. It would be like carrying around a mirror rather than a girl… but wait, look who I'm talking to. If you were dating a mirror than you would truly have met your perfect match… Remind me again why you're here and not wooing you next vict-I mean date into a stupor?"

Logan asked, "Is it alright with you if I wish Pensky luck in the contest today? Or do you object to that too?"

Lola instantly said, "Yes, I object because I know you won't mean it. Like you haven't all week."

"I didn't mean it all week because I knew eventually she'd be facing me in the ring!" he defended, "It was all of the practice sparing, leading up to this tournarment. What do you want me to do, wish her luck in handing me my own ass. No Thank you!...But this time, we're all a part of the same team, so I do mean it."

"I still object." Lola tried to divert him but he reached around her, undeterred.

Said to her, "Good thing you don't own her."

Then he extended his hand to me and shook mine heatedly as he said genuinely, "Let's get 'em today, okay Pensky? Kick some ass!"

"Yeaaah," I said sounding pretty unsure even to my ears. I squared my shoulders and tilted my head up confidently to assure "We've got this."

Little did I realize this change in my posture also puffed my chest out too. So you KNOW where my secret boyfriend's eyes traveled and stuck. Lola didn't notice much, but she noticed this and said out the corner of her mouth, "those aren't her eyes, Logan."

"I know," he said… still shaking my hand, still smiling… and staring.

Until Lola said loudly "HEY! Eyes up perv."

He bit back, "Would you quit hassling me!"

"Will you just go! Stop talking about it, go!" Lola yelled.

"Fine, I'm going… but don't you and the tampon squad get all in tizzy thinking we're dating over this, like last time." He demanded and I was still trying not to smile or laugh. As he walked away.

Lola called after him, "We only thought that because you two were found alone hugging and not trying to strangle one another. We're not that dumb anymore."

He yelled back, "Promises, Promises."

That was it for the verbal interactions that me and Logan had with each other before we were asked to lay all of our focus on survival. Which turned out to be a tedious thing when everyone is so confident in their capacity to kill you. I won't bore you with all of the gory details, because that would take forever. I will say that when I was taken out of competing, portion of this story, it was just shy of the finale. ONLY because a bigger guy cheated and nearly crushed my ankle under his stomping big foot. He was penalized then thrown from the game too… while I ranked sixth best fighter in my team. Lisa and James tied for tenth place, Zoey fifth, Michael fourteenth because of another cheater, and Logan was in the finale because he ranked third best.

He could have ranked higher for all we know… but his huge behemoth adversary in Logan's first round of the final… body slammed my baby using all of his nearly three hundred pound anatomy to do so. He not only slammed Logan's entire person, he knocked him out. He was the only member of our team that didn't pop right back up afterward. Though who could after that, this kid should not have been able to compete after that. But the ref insisted that the hit was cleanly within regulation. I don't know what book they were reading, but they must have not seen it and tried to cover up that fact. Believe me, if Sockberger and Mo hadn't both had shots at annihilating this nincompoop, I would be in my lab doing stick figure doodles on my drawing boards like Wile E. Coyote. All plotting the demise of this devil in a dolt's skin.

Logan was rushed to the infirmary on a stretcher. Since his head and back were slammed along with the rest of his body, he was even strapped to a neck brace and back board. All devices I've learned about in personal experiences. If Zoey had not caught me and held onto me with help from the others. I would have given it all away right there on those mats. Michael and Lola had to be held back too, luckily. If they hadn't grabbed me, I would have given it all away when I punched out that maggot who mutilated my… my guy!

Then I would have ran to Logan and I would have taken his hand. I would have cried over him, I would have kissed him, I would have tried everything I could to wake him up… and I would've embarrassed us both. Thank GOD Zoey caught me, she saved me from all of that drama.

We all stood there in this gathered heap, my teammates that had been fighting along side us started to all drop to their knees and Lola asked what was happening.

Michael explained, "They're praying that he's okay. Even professionals do that for fallen athletes that get knocked out cold that way.

After that I noticed some athletes paying their respects and getting down on one knee that same way. Bowing their heads and praying for my baby. Michael began to do the same thing and all of us instantly followed. James asked kindly for Michael to say his prayer out loud…

I don't want to forget how he said it. Or how Zoey and Lola both requested "Don't you make us cry."

When we were all holding hands, bowing our heads and closing our eyes. He said,

"Dear Lord, please… Please, God… help our friend Logan. We know we come to the most unlikely group you could ever create. Of all shapes and sizes, all differing faiths and backgrounds, differing races, ideals and ambitions, but we come to you as friends first. The kind of kinship that isn't found everywhere and has made us all a little better as people. Thank you for bringing us together, thank you for all of your blessings and lessons that you've let us share together. We thank you for all of it, but today one of our friends needs your help and he can't ask for himself… even though usually he would. Please Lord, our friend Logan was just knocked out by a bigger guy. We don't know how bad he is yet, or if it's bad at all. What we can say is that nothing would be the same, lord. Without that guy lying out there on that mat. None of us would be the same, if something were to happen to him. We ask that you watch over him, keep him safe and please let it not be as bad as we all feel right. We ask together, outta love, In Jesus name, Peace and Amen."

It was meant to be our prayer, it was meant to be just ours, that was how Michael had worded it like he did. The coolest thing happened instead, something we never could have suspected. Jeremiah Trottman broadcasted our prayer on the air, so it was heard on the radios and television broadcasts all throughout campus. People ran up to us for the rest of the day to let us know they'd been praying with us.

There was not a dry eye among us, or our teammates afterward. Possibly not a dry eye on campus… it was just perfect…

Though I had to personally add to all of my own prayers, 'that I might love this person…romantically as well as a friend.'

After that, all of us found it very hard to stay focused on the still happening tournament. As Sockberger was having his go with the dunderhead who demolished my sweetie. I was so distracted with my worries that I wasn't paying attention to anyone sitting down beside me. Until I heard someone tell me, "Don't worry Quinn, he will pay for what he did to your friend."

It was Mo, who also winked at me, and then she was gone to reassure the others.

True to her word, when Sockberger tag teamed her. Mo did just that, she won competition for our school… and crumpled that creeden that tried to crush my cutie! She even added a little more gold to our PCA display cases. Not too shabby for a school that almost lost it's wrestling charter. Coach, Mo and Sockberger were all whisked off by the actual press, along with the PCA broadcasting news crew. While our crew, our group was required elsewhere.

It was a HUGE hassle getting into the infirmary to see my baby. We used to visit each other all the time when we were sick. The new head nurse who runs the front desk hasn't let one student visit another since they were appointed. The only way I managed was under the proxy of a med student. My lab coat is perfectly white like a doctor's coat and I had some clothes that resembled scrubs. I thought I was home free until I ran directly into Dean Rivers the moment I got through the doors.

I thought I was in trouble, I thought I'll never get to him now. As luck would have it, Dean Rivers had no idea that our new head nurse was being so highhanded to students who wanted to see their sick friends. So he told me to go on back he would be sending the rest of our friends back shortly… that is, as long as none of us was too loud.

I couldn't wait to see him, to see if he was awake or if he was sleeping. To hear how he was feeling or tell him all about the rest of the fights he missed. I raced to the designated room and noticed all of the beds were empty, thought there was a curtain concealing one bed. I called out, "Logan, are you decent?"

I never received any reply, so I through back the curtain. Though no amount of preparation could have prepared me for the sight before me. There was my baby, tied to machines, bruised and battered looking but not as bad as I'd been anticipating. He was already beginning to regain some of his natural pigment to his skin and appeared to be breathing in and out still sound asleep. What I wasn't expecting was Stacey Dillsen to be draped across my sweetie's lap and hugging his toned shoulders like they belonged to her. Her lips had even been smacked against his the moment I opened the curtain.

She greeted me brightly, "Oh hey there soul sister! How'd the contest conclude?"

I tried to remain cool and unaffected, but I could feel my eye twitching and I could feel hands forming fists. Before I could say anything, my friends were all rushing in behind me. The majority of them froze beside me. Michael and Lola were trying to coax Stacey off of Logan without waking him, or worse, hurting him. None of them could seem to accomplish extracting Stacey from our friend because of the way she was clutching him.

So begrudgingly remained seated on my boyfriend's lap, straddling him after she'd had to fight off my two determined friends. All of us hope that she would not be able to remain for long.

I recall that it was Lisa who voiced this warning, "If I were you, I would move. The second Logan wakes up… he's not gonna hesitate throwing you in the floor."

Stacey ignored all of our warnings and persistently perched atop my man for another fifteen agonizing minutes. Luckily all of my friends were annoyed by this fact, so I wasn't completely out of character acting a bit outraged too. We kept up small talk and tried to be as quiet as we could, so Logan could rest. Stacey not only talked to us as if she was yelling across a stadium. She also had a couple of loud conversations on her phone in that time. Things that she should have left to handle… it's a thing called common courtesy. A concept that seems to be in short supply, everywhere today!

Stacey isn't all bad. She can be a great friend, sometimes… I had to keep reminding myself that she could be… That there would be plenty of times in the future where she won't be straddling my stud, boiling my blood and making me want to kill her. No, there was no need for that. For once I was really looking forward to when Logan saw just who was seated on his lap and hanging onto his shoulders.

It finally happened when I had finally gotten a chance to sit in the ONE chair that was in the entire area (we'd all been taking turns). The moment I sat down, and touched Logan's hand (like all of my friends had done, yes, even the guys), the MOMENT my skin came into contact with his… His eyes slowly blinked open, once they focused they flew wide and suddenly he was standing and Stacey was on the floor. Thank goodness, I had only let my hand pat his, and then I'd let go. Otherwise I might have been in the floor too.

He was very disoriented, at first kept asking, "Where am I, how did I get here." When those questions were all answered to his satisfactory. He wanted to know all about the ending of the competition and "Did we win?" We told him that Mo had won it for us, while James, Michael, and Lola all put on a complete reenactment of how Sockberger and Mo worked together to take down that jerk who had hurt him. They're theatrics and good news all made Logan smile, until his next question became, "Why did you all let Stacey sit on me?"

We all tried to explain that she was on top of him long before any of us got here. Which set Stacey off on this whole elaborate story of how she'd faked an injury using a ketchup packet. All because she knew the new head nurse didn't allow visitors and she HAD to see Logan.

Little did she know that the Dean and nurse where both coming to see Logan and heard her whole story. So needless to say Stacey has been banned from ever visiting ANYONE in the infirmary again unless she is really in need of their services.

Then the Dean and nurses were pretty much kicking everyone out saying, that "Logan needs his rest and it was time for him to get a shot."

"A shot?" Logan demand as if the idea was insane, then the next part became a shaky, "W-w-what do I need a shot for."

A nice female nurse that was way too pretty explained, "Well you see mister Logan, when you were first brought in we gave you a once over and found these in your skin."

She held out a petri-dish that contained a pretty good amount of sand-like glass. She explained that apparently none of it had drawn blood but he was overdue for the shot anyway, it was all for safety sake.

All of our friends were bailing left and right and Logan was very nervous. So it was easy for no one to notice I stayed and held one of his hands as he was given the shot. I whispered to him, when we were alone again, "I never pegged you to have belonephobia."

"Huh?" He asked.

"I can't believe that you're afraid of needles."

"I'm not afraid of them… I just hate them. They always hurt so much, whenever I see one I get all sweaty, shaky and my stomach hurts or gets all queasy."

"Yep, I'm afraid that's all part of the phobia, it's a mental thing. You seemed fine when we were quarantined that time." I said, and Logan explained.

"Yeah, I was fine in front of you girls because Michael distracted me the whole time and Chase was holding on to my shoulders."

So I took his hand and asked him if that helped.

He said back tensely… "I don't know."

As the nurse swabbed the area she was about to stick with some alcohol on a cotton ball, Logan nearly jumped right outta the bed. The only thing holding him still was me. I ended up sitting on the bed behind him and clutching his shoulders to keep him in place. I told him, "If you'd taken off like that when she was sticking you. You could have really hurt yourself."

"I have actually done that, and I just can't help it." He said as she stuck him and his face scrunched up. It only took a second and she was done. I told him, "You did it, it's over."

You should have seen the breath of relief and exhaustion that left him. While shockingly the Dean had chosen the moment she pulled the needle out of Logan's arm to come in. I guess the sight of it was enough to make him faint right on his face... I didn't even see him come in all I saw was him face planting loudly on the ground. Looks like Logan isn't the only one with needle phobia.

The nurse called for help and a team of them dragged out Dean Rivers who was only out for a second. I was in the group that was helping him up and outta the room. I was about to keep on helping him outta of the room entirely, but the nurses said they had it and thanked me. So I went back to Logan, to say bye I guess; I had been here a while and the visit was probably over… But Logan had other ideas. He caught hold of my hand and started tugging on me like he wanted a hug. So I hugged him, but that wasn't all he wanted. Before I even knew what he was doing, I was pulled up into the bed with him and seated on his lap. When I tried to climb back down he spun me and sat me down going the opposite direction of the way he'd been found with Stacey.

I hissed in a whisper, sizzling with sass, "Logan what in the world are you doing? Did that bump on the head knock something loose."

"I don't know," He whispered back all oozing charisma and charm. Smiling in that way that made my insides all fluttery. "What do you think is going on?"

"I think that you're trying to get fresh with me in a nearly public place and anyone could just walk in anytime they want. I don't think that's wise." I whispered back in protest, while he didn't seem the least bit worried.

"Really, you don't think it's wise for a guy who was denied the chance to make out with you during that endless break earlier? That was Lola's fault, I know; it still would have been a WHOLE lot better if I could have even spent a moment of that time pinning you to a wall of one of the nearby hiding spots."

"Yeah," I had to agree and let his face snuggle mine. Then I tried to wiggle free again and said, "But hey, no, no! We can't – Someone could-"

"-Quinn, we need this, both of us. I fought a whopping total of twelve different fighters today, all before that twelfth guy literally smashed me, full length. Huge Donkey Kong reject-looking ass bag, I was manhandled by a bunch of rough guy nurses who threw me around more like construction workers. I got… I don't know… assaulted by Stacey, stuck with a needle and now my girlfriend is too shy of getting caught to give me just a little … reassuring."

"Well, this is a hospital-like place, people in and out all the time. So it's rational to show a little reluctance…" Her eyes went from his eyes to his lips as she hesitated, "Not to mention, baby… I don't think that Stacey's bubble gum pink liquid lip stick is a very appealing color for you."

"Oh god… Was she kissing me again?" He asked as he began to wipe at his face, almost self-consciously. I forget how important appearances are to this guy, which makes me wonder what in the hell is he doing with me.

"Yes…" I laughed before I caught the end of that statement. "Again? Does this happen often?"

"Only every waking moment she gets a chance… why was that a little bit of jealousy I saw cross your face?"

"No, not exactly. It could be jealousy if I didn't KNOW Stacey's harmless."

"I'm glad YOU know that, I don't think I could ever safely say that." He said as I used a moist toilette I found in a packet nearby. As I dabbed away the makeup, I tried to be mindful and gentle, because his face was sporting some newly made bruises and contusions that had to be sore.

I was so focused on my task of getting his face makeup free that I didn't realize how much I was messing with his mouth. Or how thin the wipe I was using, not till he was kissing the back of my hand with his newly cleaned mouth. "Thanks for getting that off and thanks for not being one of those chicks."

"One of what chicks, and can we please find a more eloeqant term?"

"I mean, thanks for not being one of those girls who wear so much makeup, that I don't wanna touch you, because I don't want to end up wearing it too. Lots of girls do that."

"You mean lots of the girls that you date did that-"

"Dated, past tense." He stressed, "I told you that I wanted to date you and only you, I meant that."

"I know you did…" I said leaning my head against his shoulder. "I just still can't believe it."

"Why is so hard to believe?" He asked, leaning back to look at me. Before I could answer a nurse stepped into the room and we flew apart. So that I was sitting on the mattress, though the moment that the nurse was gone again, he pulled me right back up onto his lap. Simply because it was all he wanted and honestly… all that I needed too.

For a minute we just held onto one another, then I started to see what happened earlier happening in my head all over again and I heard myself saying. "I was so afraid, sitting there, and there was nothing that I could do."

"I wasn't afraid of that, I was fine until that fat ass cheated. No, not scared at all. Do you know what did scare me?"

"That needle?"

"No."

"Stacey-"

"Come on, Quinn. No."

"I don't know, when those referees rode in on Segways?"

"Yeah, NO! Not even a little!" He said like he was insulted at the idea that these were the things I thought could scare him. He put one of his hands on the side of my face and asked, "Do you remember that guy in your… second round. The one who just liked to jump right at you?"

"Yes, who could forget an opponent like him?" I said, and yes, I realize that I hadn't mentioned any such person in this retelling. I am now, and it was only because it seemed insignificant because I still beat him with no problem. It was just something that stumped me all of that first point he earned on me but that was all he got.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie, that guy had me nearly racing out there, and taking him out."

"How did you even notice a thing about that match? You had your own enemy that you were grappling with at the time?"

"Oh, don't I know it! Yet all I kept seeing was that lunatic jumping at you and crowd gather around you guys so tight that I could only see sometimes. My heart was in my throat the whole time and I know the guy I was fighting got the blunt end of that."

"Poor guy," I did just manage to get out before Logan's head came down and my attempt to divert his attentions from doing what he wanted most, was unsuccessful. His lips finally connected with mine and after the day we'd had… the relief found in such affections was overwhelming, chill-inducing, toe-curling and all-consuming. Needless to say, everything went a little blurry for a while after that. So yes, against my logical reasoning, I made out with my boyfriend for a few moments when we were alone.

As far as I know there was no one who saw us, the curtains surrounding us were closed the whole time and remained so… but in all honesty, even if Albert Einstein himself had time-traveled from his own era to walk into that hospital room. Just to tell me I'm brilliant, I can't say that I would have gotten any of that, I don't know if I would have noticed.

When we ran out of breath and 'needed a breather,' I tried to climb down and sit beside him on the mattress again. Neither of us took up much room there was plenty of space for the both of to sit comfortably. However Logan would not hear of it.

I said, "Logan you're already hurt enough. I want to make you feel better, not worse."

"Well, it makes me feel better to have you as close as I can. In fact, I think the way you're sitting now is still playing it a little too safe. If you ask me."

"Good grief, what do you want me straddling you and crawling all over you?"

"Is that a trick question?" He asked while I almost hit him on his shoulder. Then I caught sight of the bruising and battered looking flesh peeking out of his (ever) sleeveless shirt. I didn't have the heart to follow it through.

So I ended up just scolding him, "Behave now."

"I am behaving, I don't know one guy in all of California who wouldn't want to be that close to his… extremely sexy girlfriend."

I looked around behind me and asked him, "Who the hell are you looking at? Is there a picture of like a supermodel or some star behind me?"

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes, "No, I'm looking at you, ya goof!"

"Goof?"

"Yeah, the only sign behind you is an old 'got milk' poster of Kenan and Kel… I was not talking to them."

"There is?" I asked as I turned and looked, and there they were.

All while Logan complained, "Yeah, like he drank anything BESIDES Orange soda that whole run! Remember the x-ray episode? Anyways, I said this whole sexy thing and you killed it. I really like dating you, spending time with you and being your boyfriend. But Quinn, you have got to stop being so damn hard on yourself."

"I do?" I asked and he said a little too loudly, "YES!"

A nurse came to check and see if he was okay, and the same nurse told me that I needed to leave in the next minute or two. He did need his rest. So I was thinking that I would just say, sweet dreams and that would be all. I did not expect this…

"Quinn, I've always liked you and I've always thought you were… pretty. Now that I've gotten to know you better, 'pretty' doesn't do you justice. You're truly incredible. Listen, your family loves you, your friends love you, you kick ass at science and… you have a boyfriend who thinks you're somehow a little more fascinating every day. If you had just a little more confidence, believe me nothing could make you hotter than just a little more faith in yourself."

I know I turned three shades red and promised I would work on it…

Then for the next three days (Logan's whole stay in the infirmary), every time I looked at my phone. Logan had texted me another confidence booster or outright flirt. I really thought that would end when he got out of the hospital-like setting. It didn't, now that we're in this new habit, we can't seem to quit flirting this way. Even when we're in the same room as our friends and all of them have taken notice of the interchanging hues coloring my face.

When Logan got to return to his normal class schedule, a whole bunch of us sat together at lunch to celebrate. The only thing that we ALL had on our trays, was PCA pickles. Which are some of the best pickles that I've ever had. I was explaining how nearly anything can be pickled when Lola had the notion to try and pickle a French fry…

Yes it was not her brightest idea, but Logan said to Lola, "Your Lame."

Which made her snap at him, "You're dumb!"

Before I could stop them, before I could even think ANYTHING… I heard myself snapping at Lola, "Leave Him Alone!"

I felt like those words rang at the end, almost echoed. What made this all so much worse was that the entire table went silent and stared at me while my secret beau was trying to single to me to play it cool.

Zoey asked me, "Why are YOU defending Logan?"

Lola added to the horror by adding, "Yeah?"

My brilliant response was, "I'm n-not… stupid Logan." And I started to naturally dig into my lunch. Slowly all of my friends followed my lead. I began to wonder what in the heck had come over me, then I notice Logan move. When my eyes met his, I was given the brightest, sexiest smile I've seen from him all week and I knew exactly why I had defended him without even thinking.

This guy… He wasn't just turning out to be one of my best friends, or one of the greatest guys I've ever known… he was also turning out to be the best boyfriend that I'd ever had. I'd never met anyone that would go to such lengths just to make those around them feel loved or special. I really lov-

Wait a minute… was I about to think that I-

Then Michael came running and screaming something so manically that none of us could understand him. When we all gathered around the spot he'd crash landed into he said breathlessly, "VINCE… BLAKE… IS BACK!"

That's all for now, and YES, the next chapter will be featuring the epic return of Vince Blake. I have already started drafting the next chapter and so far… it's a bit different from all of my other chapters. Because it will be my first swing shifting chapter, where the perspective is switching all throughout the entire chapter. So keep an eye out for that update, I will be posting it as soon as I can!

But how did we like this chapter? Did we like it, love it, hate it, tolerate it? Let me know? I love hearing from you all and you guys keep me going! Thank you again all of you who reviewed, all of you who are reviewing right now and anyone reading these words right now! Thank you for being a part of it and I hope that it made your day a little better. No matter what is happening around you, because that's what writing these tales does for to my day! Much Love to you all, God bless and till next time!

~DarcyBeDippy85