Episode 25

"I Got 99 Problems"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Boston

Standing around the front door of the Miller house were three people who were all thinking vastly different things. One on hand, you had Zack who was still trying to figure out what was going on exactly, but he thought he had a pretty good guess. Then you had Amanda who was still trying to recover from the shock of seeing and hearing from her ex-boyfriend for the first time in almost a year. Finally, there was the other guy, Jake, who had come to see his ex in hopes of trying rekindle something with her. But her statement of having a new boyfriend had crashed his hopes for that and made the situation extremely awkward. And feeling that sting, Jake wanted nothing than to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Boyfriend? I...ummm...I had no idea. I...uhhh...I have to go." And with that, he made a hasty retreat back to his car. And once he was gone, Zack closed the door behind him. He turned to check on his friend who still looked she had seen a ghost.

"I'm taking it that was your ex, huh?"

She looked up at Zack. "Yeah, I..." She paused and put her hands up to her mouth. "Oh my God! I am so, so sorry for telling him that you were my boyfriend! I was so surprised to see him standing there that I just panicked..."

Zack smiled. "Don't worry about it. You just kind of surprised me by saying that at first. But I understand. I can't say how I would have reacted in the same situation."

She sighed. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"You still look frazzled. Maybe we should put off our celebration for another night."

"I think that would be a really good idea. Would you mind?"

"Nah. I can tell you've got a lot on your mind right now. I take it him showing up has really thrown you for a loop that you need time to think about."

Amanda walked over to the couch and sat down. "Yeah, it has. You have no idea how much it has..."

Zack sat down next to her. "Enlighten me then."

She sighed again. "I hadn't seen him in a year. And I thought I was over him. But seeing him again, I...I don't know. It felt like someone punched me in the stomach."

He nodded. "So, you still have feelings for him?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I thought I was over him and ready to move on with my life." She looked at Zack. "Is it possible to be completely furious with someone and still have strong feelings for them at the same time?"

Zack smiled. "Yeah, it is. Its like what the Codester told me when I was first dealing with Maya dumping me. Its the people who mean the most to you that have the power to hurt you the worst."

Amanda just shook her head. "Great..."

"Tell you what. You just let me know when you're feeling better and ready to do something. Then, we're going to have some fun. After this past semester, we both deserve it."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks. You're a good friend, Zack..."

He laughed. "Just a friend? I've been downgraded already?"

Amanda laughed too. "Yeah. Sorry about that..."

Zack paused. "Well, if you want me to do some acting and pretend to be your boyfriend to get back at him some, just let me know."

She just looked at him and nodded. "I appreciate that. And...I might just take you up on your offer..."

New Haven

The next Saturday afternoon, about six o'clock that evening, Cody and Bailey arrived back at LW after finishing their Microeconomics final. And both were happy to only have one final left. When Cody opened up the door to his room, he saw Tapeworm was packing up some of his things into a bag.

"Don't tell me you're already done with finals..."

Tapeworm turned to him and smiled. "Yup. Just finished my last one about an hour ago. Figured I'd go ahead and begin packing up my stuff so I can get out of here tomorrow. After these past two weeks, I'm kind of getting sick of looking at this place."

"I can't say I blame you. You will have dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning with us before you leave, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, I can do that. I can finish packing tonight while you two head back to the library and study. I'll return our refrigerator tomorrow morning before I leave."

Cody smiled. "Well, its been a fun first year. I look forward to us moving up to our deluxe apartment in the sky next fall though."

Tapeworm laughed again. "Me too. I may have to make a trip up to Boston over the summer to see you guys and Zack again. Who knows? Between all of us, maybe we can finally solve the mystery of what happened to Max?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Tapeworm sighed. "Maybe this is the summer I finally solve the mystery of finding a girl who actually likes me?"

"You will, buddy. Just be patient."

The next morning, Cody, Bailey and Gertie said and hugged Tapeworm goodbye after breakfast. And once again, everyone told him that they fully expected him to keep in touch with them over the summer. After breakfast that day, he packed his car up and headed home. The remaining three of the quartet returned back to studying. And with Tapeworm now gone, Cody and Bailey moved their base of operations back to Cody's room which he now had all to himself.

The next day was Monday, and after an early breakfast, Cody and Bailey found a quiet place near their testing room to review their notes one last time before their exam. And when it was over, both walked out sighing in relief knowing they had just finished their freshman years of college. But there would be no rest for the weary. They had to get back and pack. And another bit of fortune smiled down up on them as they returned to LW. On one of the side streets by their dorm, a free parking space was open. So, while Bailey stood in the middle of it to reserve it, Cody caught the shuttle bus over to their parking garage to get the car. And while he was gone, Bailey got her fair share of dirty looks for people wanting the space too, but she just smiled and waved them on. Finally, about twenty minutes later, Cody arrived back with the car which would make their moving out a whole lot easier.

Back upstairs, each headed to their own rooms to begin packing. And when Bailey got to hers, Gertie had her head buried in her Architecture History text book. She looked up when Bailey entered and smiled.

"All done now?"

Bailey smiled back. "Yeah. Now, its time to pack up. I'll try to be quick about it though so I can get out of your hair. I'll just take everything and store it down in Cody's room."

Gertie sighed. "Lucky you. My last exam is tomorrow afternoon at 2:00. Of course, I would have a test in the last slot of the semester."

"True, but look at it this way, you have all this extra time to study."

"I guess. So, when are you two heading out tomorrow?"

"Right after breakfast. That way, we figure we'll avoid both morning and afternoon rush hour traffic in Boston."

Gertie nodded. "Probably a good idea."

"And you?"

"My flight leaves Wednesday afternoon. I'm dropping off some boxes to mail home later, and the university airport shuttle is picking me up here Wednesday at eleven that morning."

Bailey smiled. "Well, if you have time, we'd love for you to have breakfast with us in the morning."

Gertie smiled back. "I'd love to."

And that's what they did. After the final early breakfast with Gertie, they hugged and said goodbye to her too.

"Now, we fully expect you to keep in touch with us over the summer. We'll try to coordinate it so that we move in on the same day in August. And if you're in Boston over the summer, you better look us up."

Gertie smiled. "I will. You two have fun this summer with your jobs, and I'll see you both next fall when we're all in the big house."

With that, Cody and Bailey headed back to LW to begin loading their things into the car, and that only took them about an hour. At 9:00 AM, they handed in their room and mailbox keys, got in the car and began their drive back to Boston. They waved goodbye to New Haven knowing the next time they were there, they'd be sophomores.

Boston

A little before noon, Cody and Bailey pulled into the Tipton parking garage. And once they got out of the car and stretched their legs, they looked at each other.

"Unload everything now or later?"

Bailey paused and thought. "Might as well do it now while we're thinking about it. If we don't, we might get too comfortable doing what were doing and not want to deal with it."

"Good point. Alright, I'll go grab us a luggage cart. I think we can fit everything on to one of them."

And after quickly planning out how they were going to do it, they did fit everything on to one luggage cart. Of course, it was extremely full and it took both of them pushing and pulling on it just to get it to budge. Once up in the lobby, Bailey stopped by the front desk to see if London was there. She wasn't, but Esteban had a key to the penthouse at the front desk waiting on her. Once she had it, they pushed the cart over to the elevator. Long story short, they spent the next thirty minutes unloading Bailey's things in the penthouse before taking the cart back down to the 23rd floor for Cody to unload his. And when they walked into the suite, they found Zack sitting on the couch eating a sandwich.

Cody frowned. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "They have this new concept called a lunch hour..."

Cody paused. "Oh...I guess that makes sense."

"Well, I guess you two are back for a few months huh? I guess I'll have to get used to seeing you two around and living with Broseph again."

Bailey nodded. "I guess so." She yawned. "Cody Bear, I think I'm ready for a nap..."

"Me too, Boo Boo..."

Zack faked gagging. "I think I liked Cody Kitten and Bailey Bunny better than those two. Anyways, before you two get too comfortable, I have something to show you."

He headed out of the suite and down the hallway with Cody and Bailey just shrugging and following him. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his keys and unlocked the door down the hall.

Cody sighed. "Don't tell me you stole keys to another suite again..."

Zack grinned. "Nope, these were actually given to me..." He opened the door to show them the inside of the room.

Cody and Bailey walked in and looked around in shock. Bailey shook her head. "Has FEMA been called in yet? This place is a mess..."

Cody turned to Zack. "Don't tell me you had something to do with this..."

"I'm completely innocent...this time. It was a band that did this after one of their shows."

Cody looked around again. "Okay...So, why are you showing this to us? Why would I care about what a band did in here?"

Zack grinned. "Because, Broseph...this suite is ours...yours and mine!"

Both Cody and Bailey whipped their heads and stared at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"Well, you guys know all about me going to BU next year right?"

They both nodded. "Yeah..."

"One of the remaining questions was whether I would move into the dorm or stay living here. Well, the idea of having my own place really started sounding good. But, BU is having housing shortages. So, it looked like I was going to have to still live with Mom. Then, I got lucky and this happened. As a reward for getting a 3.76 this semester, London agreed with my suggestion."

"Which is...?"

"If you and I fixed this suite up, we could have it to live in free of charge!"

Cody looked at his brother like he was crazy. "And why would I want to do that? Zack, I'm only going to be living here for at the most, four months a year. And this looks like a lot of work!"

"Come on, Bro...it'll be fun..."

Cody shook his head. "Sorry, Zack. I don't think so. In case you've forgotten, I have a summer job that will take up a lot of my time. Beyond that, I want to spend as much time with Bailey as possible."

Zack grinned as he was about to pull out the ace up his sleeve. "Okay, think about it this way. With you living here, you can slip up to the penthouse or Bailey slip down here without Mom ever knowing..."

And he was right. That definitely got Cody's attention. Cody paused to seriously consider the idea now. And if that wasn't enough to sway him, Bailey linked her arm with his.

"You know, Cody. This would be a good project for us to work on together. It would be a good chance to see how much I've taught you in the wood shop this year..."

He looked at her. "You really think so?"

She smiled. "I know so. And...for maybe the first time in his life, Zack does make a very good point."

Cody nodded. "I know...Scary, isn't it?" He paused to think again before turning to Zack. "One quick question though. We'd have to have materials and all new furniture for this place..."

Zack grinned and cut him off. "Already got it covered. Arwin said he would give us all the materials we need and even help us out fixing it up too. As for furniture, he said there was some old furniture left down in the basement."

Cody frowned. "I thought he burned all of that up several years ago when we got stuck in that blizzard?"

"He did, but supposedly, there was some remodeling done while we were on the ship, so there's more now."

"Alright. Now, if I agree to this, I'll have a couple of requirements."

"Just name them."

Cody smirked. "For one, you fix up your own room, and I'll fix up my own. The common areas will be join efforts. And I fully expect you to do your half...and I do mean half of the work. This won't be like Christmas where we did things in thirds. Bailey may be helping, but she's doing that out of the goodness of her heart."

Zack rolled his eyes again. "Fine."

"Second, while I'm away from school, no one uses my room without my express permission. Don't assume I would be okay with anything. And that means my room is off limits to you as well."

Zack sighed. "Geez..."

"And third, I expect you to do your equal share to keep it clean and cook your own food. I won't be your housekeeper or personal chef here, Zack."

"You know, Codester. You sure do know how to turn something fun into something that's not..."

Cody shrugged. "Those are my initial conditions, but I'll probably have more later. If you can't abide by those, we'll leave now and head back to the suite."

Zack shook his head. "Fine. I agree."

Cody smiled. "Good. Now, I..." He paused. "Wait a minute...how did Mom react to all of this?"

"Well...ummm..." Zack hemmed and hawed. "I was kind of hoping you would tell her..."

Cody shook his head. "Nope. Sorry. I'm out of here!"

Zack sighed and grabbed his brother's arm before he could leave. "Fine. We'll tell her together. Come on, Codester. Do this for me. You're out on your own and living your own life. Let me do the same..."

"Well..."

Zack closed his eyes. "If you do, I promise I will never live on yours and Bailey's couch ever in my life!"

Cody turned to Bailey who was nodding her head vigorously. He nodded too. "Will you put that in writing, Zack?"

"Anything! Will you please do this for me?"

Cody looked around and sighed. "We're going to need trash bags, paint and a lot of spackle..."

Zack grinned and hugged his brother. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Cody turned to Bailey. "I really need that nap now..."

She smiled. "Agreed. Once we wake up, we can begin cleaning up this place."

Zack smiled. "Good. You two do that while I have to go back to work."

The Offices of London Inns, Inc.

About four thirty that afternoon, Zack began winding everything up for the day. He had gotten done everything he needed to, so he decided to head home early. Besides, he and Cody had to sit down their mother and tell her what was going on. While he wasn't particularly looking forward to doing that, he was anxious to get started on his new place. He was shutting down his computer when there was a knock at his door. Looking up, he saw Amanda standing in his doorway.

"Hey...What brings you down here?"

She paused. "I want to take you up on your offer..."

"What offer was that exactly?"

"The one where you would pretend to be my boyfriend so I could get some revenge on Jake."

"Oh..." He smiled. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well, his parents are throwing a party on Saturday. Its an annual fundraiser, and my family has attended it for years. We bought a table for it, and I was hoping you would go with me as my..." She held her fingers up in quotation marks. "...date."

Zack laughed. "Do I need to find a tux?"

Amanda sighed in relief. "If you could, that would be amazing. My sister, Kathy and her boyfriend, Barry will be there too. And there's room if you want to bring Cody and Bailey with you so you know other people there."

"I'll mention it to them, but I think I can talk them into it. Any other special instructions I should know about?"

She paused. "I don't know yet. Let me think about it. But...you know...just try to make it as realistic as possible."

Zack smiled. "Consider it done. Just let me know what time you want me to pick you up on Satuday night. I'll make sure the top is down on my car. Seeing you with me in it should really get to this Jake guy..."

Tipton Hotel

Zack and Cody sat on either side of Carey, both trying to soothe their crying mother.

"Mom...You're only looking at the downside of this. Look at the positives. We'll only be down the hall from you, so its not like we're moving across the country or heading back to the boat. You'll still see us everyday. Well, at least me. Cody's going to leave to head back to school in a few months, but I'll still be here for you..."

Carey cried even more that her babies were leaving her again as Cody shot daggers at Zack. He decided to try a different approach. "And think about it this way, Mom. You'll actually have a bedroom to yourself now. You won't ever have to sleep on that lumpy pull out sofa ever again..."

Carey looked up at him. "I guess that's true."

Cody smiled. "And think about it this too. Never again will you have to cook for Zack or make sure he's awake on time or clean up after him or do his laundry ever again..."

This time, it was Zack staring daggers at his brother. But before he could dispute that, Carey perked up a little bit.

"Those are really good points, Cody. I actually like the sound of that." She paused and smiled. "You guys are right. This is a good thing. And you guys will just be down the hall. I'll still see you as much as I ever will." She began laughing. "I don't know what I was so upset about, but this is going to work out great!"

Cody looked over at Bailey, swiped his forehead and mouthed a 'whew' to her. She just smiled and shook her head. Carey stood up. "I really appreciate you guys taking the time to tell me about this. Alright, I need to get going to my rehearsal. I'll see you all later." And with that, she headed out of the suite.

Zack continued staring at his brother and smacked his shoulder. "Thanks a lot, Broseph!"

"Zack. Mom is accepting this and actually happy about it. Wasn't that our goal in all of this?"

Zack grumbled and nodded. "Fine. But you two owe me big for this!"

Bailey just looked at him. "What exactly do we owe you for?"

"That doesn't matter right now. But you can make it up to me by agreeing to help me out on Saturday. And Codester, get your tux ready..."

New Haven

About that same time, Gertie returned back from her last final of her freshman year. And when she got back to her room, she fell back on her bed to relax and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness that's over! All I have to do is finish packing and be ready when the shuttle picks me up."

Deciding she would relax after she was packed up, she pulled all of her bags from underneath her bed. Starting with her clothes, she began folding everything and putting them in her bags. Leaving herself a change of clothes for the next day, she moved on to taking down her personal effects she had all over the room. She could box them up and drop it off at the post office in the morning. Finally, she had everything packed up except for her laptop. And when she walked over to it, she saw an envelope was placed on top of it with a note written on the front.

'Just some pictures of all of us so you wouldn't forget what we looked like over the summer. And, in case someone really wanted to know what we all looked like. Talk to you soon, Bailey.'

Gertie just shook her and and smiled. She opened the envelope, and began looking through them. There were several pictures taken during the blizzard and even more during spring break. But when she got to one towards the end, her eyes went wide. Quickly, she flipped it over and noticed Bailey had written a description on the back.

'Bailey, Cody, Tapeworm, and Cody's twin brother Zack before we headed out for the big Halloween Bash'

Gertie flipped it back over and stared at it again. There was Cody and Bailey dressed as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. And there was a guy dressed as Zorro who looked enough like Cody that she deduced that he must be Cody's twin brother. And then there was the fourth person. The back of the photo said it was Tapeworm. But in the photo, he was dressed as Captain America. She laughed to herself as she thought that was a coincidence. And that's when she remembered that her cousin had been playing that silly game with someone dressed as Zorro. She flipped back to the picture

"That must have been Zack..."

And that's when it fully registered on her. "Wait a minute! Tapeworm was MY Captain America that night?"

Boston

Cody and Bailey just looked at each in surprise after Zack had explained what he needed them to do.

"I'm not sure this is a real good idea, Bro."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Of course its a good idea. Its a great idea! This guy treated her like dirt, and we're going to help teach him a lesson."

Bailey shook her head. "But we don't even know this guy. Trust us, we've learned there are always two sides to every story. I just think you're asking for trouble by agreeing to this."

Zack smirked. "Am I? Hmmm. Let me think. I remember once Cody told someone that you were his girlfriend when you weren't yet. And as I recall, you said if he had just asked you to pretend, you would have been happy to doso. And, you two are engaged to be engaged now, so I'd say it worked out pretty well for the both of you when you did it..."

Both Cody and Bailey winced. Cody sighed. "Fine." He paused and stared at his brother. "Wait a minute...Are you doing this because you like Amanda as more than a friend now?"

Zack began laughing. "No. But she is a friend of mine, and I want to help her out."

Cody sighed again. "Alright. We'll help. But I'm getting a really bad feeling about this..."

Zack got up to get him a drink out of the refrigerator. "Codester, you worry too much."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Zack laughed as he walked over to answer it. "This plan is perfect. Its foolproof. There is absolutely nothing that can go wrong"

He opened the door, and Zack's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open in shock as he saw those familiar eyes staring back at him.

"Maya?"

To be Continued...in Season 2...Coming in 2012

AN: Alright, I'm guessing you can see what two of the major story arcs in Season 2 will be now. Anyways, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Kwanzaa, a Joyful Festivus or simply a Happy Holidays. Season 2 will begin in 2012 as its own story. So, keep an eye out for it.