(Author's Note: This story is Rated M because it will be dealing with themes that may not be suitable for younger readers and may be offensive to others such as violence and sexual material and references to homosexuality. If you don't like it or may be offended by it, don't read it. Also, I feel as though it should go without saying considering the name of this website, but I do not own the Suite Life of Zack and Cody or any of its characters. I only own my original characters. That is why this is written on this site instead of airing on the Disney Channel which I also do not own. If I did own it, it would be called the Zack and Cody channel and air nothing but episodes of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and the Suite Life on Deck which I also do not own. I would make Dylan and Cole Sprouse [neither of which I own] very rich[er].)

Teenagers

Chapter 1: Meet Jordan

The wind was blowing which made it feel much colder than it actually was. The school day was finally over and sixteen-year-old Jordan Farmer was running to catch the bus. He missed the bus yesterday and had to walk home because someone stuck gum in the lock on his locker and he had to have Mr. Kafri, the janitor, come and cut the lock. Today he hoped to make it without incident. Jordan was used to these sorts of incidents by now. His father was in the military and his family moved around a lot because of it. He'd gone to three different schools in as many years. Being the perennial new kid, he often found himself the target of bullies. He also found it hard to make friends. It wasn't because he wasn't likable or that he didn't like the other kids. The problem was knowing that he may have to move again at any time and he had learned the hard way that it isn't easy to say goodbye to friends. These days, he kept mostly to himself out of fear of getting too close to someone. This, unfortunately, made him more of a target for bullies and as a result, he had developed a low self esteem. He became very shy and insecure.

Malvern Junior High School was one of the nicer schools Jordan had attended. In this town, the ninth grade was housed in the junior high with the seventh and eighth grades, even though it was still counted as high school. The campus was made up of three main buildings, the smallest of which was located on the north end of the complex near the parking lot. It housed the administrative offices and the teacher's lounge area. The other two buildings, which held the classrooms, were arranged parallel to each other with their northern ends starting on either side of the administrative building with a large courtyard in the center. At the southern end, each of them had a smaller building. The one on the east side housed the gym and the choir room. The one on the west side held the student cafeteria and the band room. Between these two smaller buildings the area was covered by a metal canopy. The area under this canopy had come to be known as the "wind tunnel" by the students and faculty alike because of its tendency to act like one on windy days. At the very southern end of the complex was the football field with a bus lane between it and the school buildings. That bus lane is where Jordan was headed right now. And he almost made it.

About halfway across the courtyard Jordan felt something trip him. He was running and his momentum carried him to the sidewalk hard and fast. He grunted hard as he landed. His knees and the palms of his hands took the brunt of the fall, but he also hit his head. He could feel the burn of dirt and concrete in his fresh cuts and it took his breath away momentarily. He rolled over and tried to catch his breath. As he did, he could see what had tripped him. He followed the leg from it's Nike cleated shoe, up the black sweat pants, to the football jersey with the number 23, and, finally, the face of its owner, Tommy Bell. Tommy was on the school football team and Jordan's number one aggressor. Right now, he was standing over Jordan's prone body laughing with two other football players standing behind him doing the same.

"Hope you had a nice trip. See you next fall." Tommy laughed as he and his crew walked away. Even in his pain Jordan thought about how juvenile that line was. That word, juvenile, pretty much summed up what Jordan thought of Tommy. He acted very immature and was always spouting off stupid cliche lines like that while picking on other kids. Tommy thought he was a riot. Everyone else thought he was stupid.

Jordan climbed to his feet and dusted himself off. The knees of his pants were ripped and blood stained and he could feel the fresh blood trickling down his legs. His hands had little bits of gravel in them and were skinned up pretty bad, but weren't bleeding as bad as his knees. He reached up to feel his head and didn't feel any blood there. There was already a bump forming where it had hit the sidewalk, but there was no cut. He sighed as he began picking up his school books that had been in his backpack before the fall, but where now scattered all over the ground around him. More of Tommy's handy work no doubt. Once he had gathered all of his things, Jordan made his way as quickly as his cut up and bloody knees would let him the rest of the way to the bus stop. He arrived just in time to see the bus turning out onto the street and leaving him him behind.

Feeling defeated, he sat down on the steps and pulled out his cell phone. He knew he wouldn't get an answer, but he tried to call his mother anyway. When her voicemail picked up, he took a deep breath followed by a long sigh. He gathered up his things and began the two and a half mile walk home.

(Author's Note: To give you an idea of what Jordan looks like, when I write him, I picture actor Freddie Highmore.)