A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to my first story featuring Maya! We don't know her too well yet, but here's hoping I wrote her okay. I've got all but the last two chapters completely written... so review and I'll get them posted ASAP!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
It was nearly the end of Zack's shift at the smoothie bar and he shivered a little as a cool breeze swept across the Sky Deck. It was no wonder there were no passengers on deck at the moment- it was dark and chilly, and it was ridiculous that he was required to keep the Easy Squeezy open all the way until curfew.
Mechanically, he wiped out the few remaining smoothie cups, lost in his own thoughts. Ever since the incident with London's shoe submarine, the only thing that had really occupied his mind was a certain beautiful, brunette New Yorker, and the way she'd retracted her confession of her feelings for him. Maya liked him, he was almost positive of it. And since he'd decided she was the one for him, he'd been on his best behavior. So why didn't she want to date him?
Footsteps off to starboard startled him out of his musings and he looked up, smiling as he saw one Bailey Pickett bound onto the Sky Deck, luggage in hand. She looked around with a grin, dropping her heavy bags at her feet. "I'm baaa-ack!" she announced exuberantly, then frowned, seeing no one but Zack at the counter. "Where is everybody?"
Zack folded his arms and came out from behind the counter. "Yeah, it's great to see you too, Bailey. Geez."
"Sorry, Zack!" Bailey apologized, crossing the deck to hug him. "I missed you so much! And the rest of the gang! And the ship! And the smoothie counter!" she pulled away from him to run a loving hand over the smooth surface of the smoothie bar.
"We missed you too, Bailey." Zack told his friend. "Of course, I can really only speak for myself. Although I'm also authorized to speak for the smoothie counter."
Bailey laughed, sitting down on one of the stools as Zack went back behind the bar. "Thanks, Zack. Is it too late for me to get a Banana Fofana?"
Zack checked his watch. "Nope, I'm still on the clock for another ten minutes." He grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl. "But isn't it a little chilly for a smoothie?"
Bailey shrugged. "Maybe, but it's been a long couple of weeks, and I've missed them. Why, are you cold?"
Zack rubbed his bare arms. "A little." he admitted.
"Oh! Hold on!" Bailey leaned down and dug through one of her bags, coming up with a sweatshirt. She slid it to him over the counter. "Here, you can wear this."
Zack raised an eyebrow and picked up the sweatshirt. "'Cheevers High Mathletes.'" he read. "Hey, this is Cody's!"
"I know." Bailey said softly, idly drawing designs on the countertop with one finger. "I don't want it anymore."
Zack frowned. As happy as Bailey seemed to be back on the S.S. Tipton, it looked like there were some things she was still missing. Deciding not to say anything, he shrugged into his brother's sweatshirt and continued making her smoothie. "So how was Kettlecorn?" he asked, changing the subject.
Bailey smiled at him gratefully. "Oh, it was good to be home for a while. See my family, hang out with my old friends. But I didn't really get much down time, what with all the farm work that needed doing. My shoulders are killing me!"
Zack's eyes widened. "I thought London was joking when she said your family was making you pull the plow!"
"Pull the plow? What the feathers?" Bailey said, offended. "I can't believe London said that! I can't pull the plow! Do I look like an ox to you?"
Zack bit back a smile, sliding her smoothie over to her. "Sorry. So how'd you hurt your shoulders?"
"I had to lift up the tractor so Moose could get under there with a wrench." Bailey explained. She took a sip of the Banana Fofana and sighed blissfully. "Mmm."
Huh, so Cody was right about Moose. ...And have these people never heard of a jack? Zack really didn't see how expecting Bailey to lift a tractor was any less ridiculous than expecting her to pull a plow, but he didn't want to offend her again. "But you got it fixed?"
"Yep!" Bailey said proudly. "So, tell me, what's been going on since I left? Any news?"
"Well, over the weekend I almost died when London's shoe submarine submerged by accident, trapping us inside without any oxygen reserves." Zack offered.
"No way!" Bailey gasped. "...London let you into her shoe submarine? I've been trying to get in there for months! Does she really have a pair of ruby slippers with actual rubies?"
"Yes, yes she does." Zack answered. "Thanks for your concern."
"Sorry." Bailey said sheepishly. "So what happened?"
"Well, we couldn't read any of the panels because for some reason London bought some kind of clunky old Soviet-era death trap instead of something more modern and made by English-speakers."
"Cody knows Russian." Bailey pointed out. "Couldn't he help you?"
"He did." Zack snorted. "Eventually. Although he gave me quite the earful later for ruining his chess match with some super-hot Russian chick."
Bailey sat up straight. "Super-hot Russian chick?" she repeated.
"Relax." Zack waved his dish rag at her. "They were playing chess, not spin-the-bottle."
Bailey blushed hotly. "Whatever. I don't care who Cody plays chess with. Or spin-the-bottle."
"Yeah, me neither." Zack agreed. "Anyway..." He didn't know why he hadn't mentioned Maya, but now he was wondering if this wouldn't be the perfect time to get an outsider's perspective on his romantic situation. He leaned in on his elbows. "So, Bailey... you're a girl."
Bailey took a long pull of her smoothie. "Very good, Zack. You found me out... the first day we met, remember?" she drawled sarcastically.
"I know, I know." Zack said. "It's just that, I've got kind of a... girl situation, and I was wondering if you'd be able to give me some advice."
"A girl situation?" Bailey crossed her legs and leaned in as well. "Let me guess: you can't find a bra that fits right?"
Zack scowled at her. "Uh, no, it's a situation involving a girl. But the mockery is really helping."
Bailey was intrigued by the gravity in his tone. "Okay, sorry, mocking done. The great Zack Martin, having girl troubles? What's going on?" she asked, seriously this time.
"Well, a couple weeks ago this new girl came on board." Zack recounted. "She's a new student in our grade, and she took a job waiting tables here."
"Uh huh..." Bailey said slowly, prompting him to continue. "So what's her name? What's she like?"
"Maya." Zack answered, a smile crossing his face just at the thought of her. "She's... she's just... wow. I mean, she's gorgeous, and funny, and sassy, and..."
"-And won't give you the time of day?" Bailey guessed.
"Not exactly." Zack said. "Well, I mean, at first, yeah. I tried flirting with her and every time she just shut me down."
"Ooh, that must have been rough for you." Bailey sympathized. "Setting your sights on a girl who actually has more self respect than to swoon into your arms when you look her way."
"Hey, I date girls with self-respect!" Zack protested. "On occasion..." He sighed. "Well, it seems she'd heard that I have a bit of a reputation as a player, and she was looking for something a little more serious than a casual two-week fling."
"Can't blame her for that." Bailey shrugged, sipping her smoothie. "I like her already."
"I know, but here's the thing:" Zack paused for a long moment. "I think I might be looking for something a little more serious too."
Bailey's mouth dropped open and a yellow rivulet of smoothie dripped down her chin.
"Hey!" Annoyed, Zack reached across the counter and closed her mouth, swiping her chin clean with the dishrag. "What?"
Bailey grinned at him stupidly. "Aw, Zack! You're in love!"
"Whoa, no, love's a strong word." Zack denied carefully. "I'm just... I really like her. A lot."
"And you think about her all the time?" Bailey probed gently. "And whenever you enter a room, you automatically look around for her? And you think you see her everywhere you turn, just because you wish she was there?"
Zack thought about it. He did do those things. "I guess so."
Bailey laid her hand over Zack's and gave it an excited squeeze. "That is love." she told him with a soft smile.
Shaking his head, Zack sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, when we were trapped in the submarine together, I told her that I really liked her, and I wanted to be more than friends. I wasn't sure if I'd get another chance to tell her how I felt."
Bailey covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh, Zack... what did she say?"
Zack smiled, remembering. "She said she liked me too."
Bailey bit her lip, beaming at him. "That's great! So what's the problem?"
Zack shook his head, the smile fading from his face. "Once we were out of danger, I asked her on a date and she turned me down. She said she only made that confession because the lack of oxygen was affecting her brain. She made it seem like she still just wants to be friends."
"Oh..." Bailey said quietly. "That's terrible. I'm sorry." She reached over and rubbed Zack's shoulder. "I can't believe she's playing with you like that. You're a great guy, Zack. Just because you've been a bit of a skirt-chaser in the past doesn't mean that your feelings now aren't real, and if she can't see that, it's her loss."
Zack frowned at her. "Don't give me that, Pickett! I still want to get her! Give me something I can use!"
Bailey rolled her eyes at the sexist notion that Maya was something to just get, but considered. "Well, I can think of one thing that might work..."
"What's that?" Zack asked, leaning in interestedly.
Bailey pushed herself forward on her elbows and began to explain.
Maya stood in the shadows on the Upper Deck, watching Zack and his customer with a troubled look on her face. Maya had never met the girl before, but she was certainly pretty, and she seemed to be getting pretty familiar with Zack.
She hadn't meant to spy on him from above like she was some kind of creeper, but she'd been intending to come hang out with him until the end of his shift, knowing he must be bored out here in the cold all by himself. But before she went down she spotted him chatting with the other girl. She'd watched as the new girl had stroked his shoulder, before he leaned closer to her, making their talk seem private and intimate, and an unpleasant chill had washed over Maya, a feeling like being doused with a bucket of cold water.
That nasty feeling couldn't be... jealousy. Could it?
Maya bit her lip, turning away from the scene below. This was ridiculous. She and Zack were just friends- just like she'd wanted. She had told him loud and clear that she didn't want to be anything more... yet. She'd just wanted to make sure they didn't rush into anything too fast, that Zack had time to be certain that he wanted her for more than just her looks.
But, truthfully, he had seemed like a sweet guy under his chauvinistic facade, and Maya had to admit that she thought he genuinely did like her for her, that he would wait for her to be ready...
But now she wasn't so sure. Was she being unreasonable, demanding that he remain her friend despite knowing that it was difficult for him? Had she pushed him too far when she had retracted the confession she'd made aboard that submarine? Maybe he'd felt rejected, assumed it was never going to happen between them. Maybe he thought he should just forget about her and move on to a girl who wasn't going to unfairly dangle a relationship in front of him, only to snatch it away again. A girl who wouldn't make him chase her for weeks on end because she wasn't "ready."
The crazy thing was, every minute, she was getting more and more sure that she was ready.
But how could she know?
She could think of only one other person on the boat she would trust for advice about Zack... After all, who would know him better than his brother, Cody?