Disclaimer: I know that it isn't all that good but I do appreciate reviews. I don't own anyone but Amanda.
Bailey, London, Zack, Cody, Marcus, and Woody were at the juice bar when their friend Maya came running up to them. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand.
"You'll never believe what I've got in my hand," she said. She was slightly out of breath from her little run and the look upon her face suggested that her news was extremely important.
"Let me guess," Zack said. "You're holding a crumpled piece of paper with a bunch of useless words on it that no one cares about." Maya rolled her eyes as the rest of them laughed.
"No, not exactly," she said. "The paper wasn't crumpled when I got it. That was just from running over here. This paper was on my door this morning. It's a notice for a new roommate." Bailey smiled. She liked having new kids on board because that meant London had new people to taunt and wasn't focused on her.
"That sound pretty cool," she said. "What's her name?"
"That's just the thing," Maya responded. "Her first name is Amanda but her last name was covered with a sharpie or something. I've tried everything but I can't see what it says. That got me thinking, why would someone cover up her last name like that? I think that she's trying to hide something and whatever it is her last name would give it away."
"If she's your roommate then she's probably enrolled in school," Bailey pointed out. "Why don't we just ask Ms. Tutweiller if this Amanda girl's last name is on the roster?"
"That's a great idea," Cody said. "You guys can do that and Marcus, Woody, Zack, and I will talk to Mr. Moseby. He's coming this way now." They all split ways. The girls found their teacher not far away sitting at a table, enjoying a blueberry smoothie.
"We need to ask you something," London said. Ms. Tutweiller rolled her eyes.
"Of course," she said sarcastically. "Why would I ever need a break from you people?"
"Good! You can talk!" Maya said and they all sat down. "So anyway, I got a new roommate and I can't read her last name on the notice because it's been crossed out. We figure you know what it is because it's on our class roster. Can you tell us?" Ms. Tutweiller wrinkled her nose.
"I don't know you guys," she said. "If it's crossed out it's probably for a good reason and I don't want to get myself into any trouble."
Back at the juice bar the boys waited for Moseby to come over. He had to stop to talk to people and tie his shoe and fix his pocket hanky. When he finally got over to the juice bar the boys nearly let him pass, but Zack stopped him.
"Hey there Mr. Moseby," he said. "We hear there's a new girl on the ship and we want to ask you something about her." Mr. Moseby rolled his eyes at the boys.
"No I will not set any one of you up with her," he told them. "How many times do I have to tell you that? And how many times do you four have to ruin things with the girls on this ship before you realize it's a bad idea?"
"Believe me, we know that is not a good idea," Cody said. "We just want to know if you could tell us her last name. Maya says it's not on her new roommate notice." Mr. Moseby looked a little hesitant.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he said. "The wiser choice would be to except the fact that you don't know and move on with life."
"Oh come on Ms. Tutweiller," Bailey pleaded. "How big off a deal can it be? It's just a last name. I make it a point to know everybody's last name so if they go psycho I can give the police a full name." Ms. Tutweiller gave Bailey a funny look.
"Well if she goes on a psychotic rampage I'll tell you her last name," she said. "For now I'm not quite sure you need to know." The girls frowned.
"Well can you at least tell us what the big deal is?" Maya begged. Ms. Tutweiller thought a moment.
"Well I guess I could let you in on a small part of the secret….."
"Mr. Moseby you can tell us," Marcus said. "All of us here are trustworthy gentlemen." Mr. Moseby watched Woody bite into a turkey leg he found on the floor and Zack spray whipped cream into his mouth straight from the can.
"Oh yeah," he said sarcastically. "You're all real classy." The boys all let out a groan. Moseby could see they weren't going to give up and that if he didn't give in soon they would take matter into their own hands. That never ended well so he decided to cave just a bit.
"Okay I guess I could tell you what the big deal is…"
"The whole reason that Amanda's last name isn't on the notice is because she's Moseby's daughter," Ms. Tutweiller explained. "He didn't want to tell you guys so he blacked out her last name so you wouldn't find out." All the girls' jaws dropped.
"Moseby has a daughter!" London said shocked. "And I didn't know about her!" They sat there in silence for a moment as the shock wore off.
"The reason that the new girl's last name wasn't on the notice is because she's my daughter," Moseby explained. "I crossed out her last name so you all wouldn't know." They boys looked at him with confused expressions.
"That's not a funny joke Mr. Moseby," Woody said. "Now seriously, why was this Amanda girl's last name crossed out?" Moseby rolled his eyes.
"I was serious," Moseby told them. "My daughter has come on board for the seven seas high school summer session. Look here she comes now." At that moment Ms. Tutweiller pointed out the same girl coming down the stairs all the kids looked. Amanda looked back and forth between the two groups of children staring at her. She shrugged and went toward the group of girls.
"Hey mom," she said as she walked right up to Ms. Tutweiller. This shocked the kids even more than before.
"MOM!" they all said in unison. Amanda put her hand on her mouth and looked back and forth between her parents who both hid their faces in their hands.
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Amanda asked.