A/N: Hello, dear readers! This started out as an assignment for creative writing class to develop the first chapter of a fantasy novel for junior readers or teens. I chose teen readers. As with all assignments, I found it helpful to base the characters on Suite Life characters – just makes them easier to write :) Here is the SL-ized version.

Disclaimer: Disney owns all their Suite Life characters, but that doesn't stop me from writing about them.

Thank you to my trusty beta-readers Waldojeffers and Tiger002

"Or We Won't Be Able to Save Bailey"

"I'll be right back," Zack Martin called to his new roommate, Woody Fink, as he stepped into the corridor. "Just going to get my other suitcase."

The suitcase was right where he had left it after getting out of the taxi, on the front lawn of Wilfrid Hall. Holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the bright September sunshine, Zack surveyed his surroundings.

Rolling green hills spotted with fir trees covered the landscape around Tipton Academy, the newest boarding school in western Massachusetts. Perfect for snowboarding—one of the reasons Zack had lobbied for Tipton Academy after his mother and step-father broached the topic of boarding school last winter. Nothing like downtown Boston, his home for the past sixteen years. With its wide-open piney smell, neither did the air. Everything felt different from Boston, and that was perfectly fine.

A brown station wagon was edging along the road that curved round Wilfrid Hall, moving slowly enough for Zack to get a good look at the girl sitting in the back seat—a cascade of brown hair and a pink bow behind her ear.

As the station wagon passed, Zack waved and took a step closer, only to stumble on his suitcase, sending him to the ground in a sprawling heap. The girl gave him a quirky smile. And then she winked.

At him!

Sweet, he crowed inwardly as he got to his feet. He gave himself a mental high-five despite the blunder. He'd been at boarding school for less than half an hour and already he'd met a cute girl—well, almost met her.

Once the station wagon had rounded the bend, Zack picked up his suitcase and headed up the stairs to the second floor. He would make sure to keep an eye out for this girl at the welcome barbecue that afternoon.

When he got back to Room 212, Woody was talking animatedly to another boy. He was a lanky boy with shaggy blond hair, just like him, and wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey, jeans, and Vans sneakers, just like his.

They both turned to look at Zack when he walked in.

Zack dropped his suitcase with a thud.

"Hey," said Woody cheerfully. "Cody was just telling me about the crazy concert road trip you took with your dad in the summer."

Zack stared at the newcomer. "Cody?" he repeated. It was all he could think of to say. When his eyes connected with Cody's, goosebumps rose on his arms underneath his own Red Sox jersey, as though Arctic air had been blasted into the dorm room.

"Thanks for bringing up my suitcase, bro," said Cody. He leaned forward and pulled the suitcase away from Zack's feet, smiling a broad, affable grin that made Zack want to force him to swallow his teeth.

He had to break eye contact. His gaze shifted to the two beds in the room.

"Yeah, about that," Cody broke in smoothly. "I've already talked to our dorm advisor about the glitch, and they're arranging for a cot until we can move into a triple room."

Zack looked to Cody again, unable to form any response. It was as if he could read Zack's thoughts.

"Identical twin roommates," Woody bubbled, his eyes flitting from Zack to Cody. "This is so awesome." The rotund boy pushed his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. "This year is going to be even more fun than I thought."

It is? Zack's jaw tightened, and he raked a hand through his hair, palm slick with sweat, at odds with his plummeting body temperature.

Cody took a photo from a pile on the desk in Zack's half of the room, a photo of Zack strumming an ivory Gibson Stratocaster at a concert in July. "I see you brought that photo of the guitar Dad let me play."

"That he let you play?" Zack gritted out, his head tilting slightly to the side.

Cody chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "OK, that he let us play," he said in an apologetic tone.

Woody cleared his throat, like he was trying to break the tension, and glanced out the window. It looked onto the back lawn of Wilfrid Hall where clusters of students were beginning to gather.

"They're setting up the buffet for the welcome barbecue," he said, a beam replacing his uneasy expression. "I'm starving. Let's go check it out."

"You go on ahead," Zack spoke up before Cody could say anything. "I just need to talk to my brother Cody about something."

"OK, see you guys out there," said Woody as he ambled out.

Zack shut the door and lunged at Cody, grabbing him by the collar and yanking until Cody was on his toes.

"Hey–"

"Don't you 'hey' me." A moment later, Zack had shoved him against the door.

"Who are you?" he hissed into Cody's suddenly serious face. "I know damn well I'm an only child and I don't have any twin brother. So what the hell is going on here?"

In one swift movement, Cody slipped out of Zack's grip. "I'm you," he replied. "From three weeks in the future."

"But..., but that doesn't make any sense! Who are you really?" spluttered Zack. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Cody's eyes narrowed to a glare. In a hiss that matched Zack's, he said, "I'll explain all that, but we need to start working together. Right now. Or something terrible's going to happen and we won't be able to save Bailey—or anyone else at school."

Zack's mind whirled. "Bailey?" he demanded as Cody's expression took on a pleading urgency. "Who? What are you talking about...?"

A/N: OK, just slightly AU…! :) Since the assignment was to write only the first chapter, this is as far as I got. But many, many ideas have been thrown around for a full-length story, so if you like what you see here, or would want to read on to Chapter 2 if this were a real novel, please let me know. Your thoughts and input are always valued. Thanks very much for reading. Warm, fuzzy winter thoughts. Xoxoxo – Ellie