Introduction

By Lodylodylody

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"Alright class," Emma Tutweiller said in an effort to refocus the discussion. "Let's stick to the topic at hand."

"What was the topic?" London asked with genuine confusion, having become lost in her text conversation with Chelsea.

"Romance," Cody replied.

"With you?" the heiress scoffed. "Keep dreaming. I don't understand how Bailey puts up with you." She then turned to her roommate. "You can do so much better."

"No, no," Cody said in exasperation. "The topic is romance in literature." He paused. "And besides, I am quite a catch!"

"Of course you are sweetie," Bailey reassured him. "But back to the point…some people think that romance in stories needs to be between characters that were specifically designed to be together."

"Like in Romeo and Juliet," Addison offered. "I mean, obviously the whole story was planned about them being in love."

"Yeah, and that worked out so well," Zack said.

"But I think that if you write good three dimensional characters," Bailey went on. "Then romantic storylines can develop naturally. Just like real life. You never know who you'll fall for."

"That's crazy," London objected. "Romance only works when people are meant to be together."

"But how do people know if they're meant to be together or not?" Bailey countered. "Who can say? Under the right circumstances, anyone could fall for anyone?"

"Well, maybe not for Woody," Cody commented.

"Hey…hurtful," the curly haired boy responded.

"You know," Ms. Tutweiller said, "This could be an interesting exercise. To see if stories can be written where any two people, chosen at random, could be presented in a believable romance."

"What?" Zack asked. "You mean we just draw names out of a hat to see what characters we use in the story?"

"Exactly!"

"Sounds insane," Zack concluded.

"I think it sounds like fun," Bailey enthused.

"Hmm…I wonder what would happen if someone tried to pair us off at random?" Addison mused.

And so it begins…

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If you're interested in participating in this year's collection here's what you need to know: Anyone is welcome to participate, and pairings are totally random.

If you're interested in participating PM me and you will be sent a pairing. If you don't like your initial pairing you get one do-over, but then MUST write for the do-over pairing.

Stories may be any rating (M stories must be clearly marked as M rated when you send them in). You are welcome to request the type of pairing you'd prefer (m/f, m/m, f/f, or anything goes) when you ask for a pairing but remember the characters you receive will be assigned TOTALLY at RANDOM.

No incest pairings will be given out. No pairings that are illegal due to age differences. No depictions of or allusions to sex between adults and minors. If someone were given a pairing of an adult and minor, their story must be set in a time period where the younger character is 18 or over. The only exception to this is if you wish to write a story where the younger character is a minor and is portrayed as having a one-sided crush on or infatuation with the older character.

All characters that have appeared in the Suite Life series are eligible to be drawn for these stories, including the crossover characters. All stories must be ONE-SHOTS, complete in one chapter. You are welcome to submit as many stories as you can write.

For further details about the rules please visit the 'Strange Love' threads at my forum boards. Stories should be sent to me via docX connection.

Have fun everyone!