All Friends Check-In (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

2. Fairest of Them All

I was in the lobby, as usual, reading a book when I glanced up and saw Zack and Cody enter the lobby following Carey in.

"Mom, please," the twins begged her making me wonder what they wanted.

"Guys, what's wrong with your old bikes?" Carey wondered, "They're still perfectly good."

That confirmed to me that the guys wanted new bikes for some reason.

"Mom, they're tricycles," Zack pointed out.

Yep! Another reason to upgrade to something bigger. I thought imagining how embarrassed the twins felt.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but we can't afford bikes right now," Carey apologized reminding them of their financial situation, "I mean, it's that or food."

I felt bad for them all. Carey worked hard to try and feed the boys. I could tell she put a lot of effort into putting food on the table. If only the twins felt appreciative of her hard work. I wished Uncle Marion would give her a fair raise since she wasn't getting paid much.

The twins turned to each other as if getting an idea.

"No, forget I gave you that option," Carey added knowing what they had in mind and left.

The boys approached me.

"Great," Zack sighed, "Now we're stuck here with nothing to do. I mean, this is probably the most boring hotel in the history of boring hotels."

"The best thing to make it less boring is to make your own fun," I suggested, "But in a less destructive manner without my uncle catching you in the act."

"Oh, Zack," Cody was facing the other direction. He grabbed his twin and turned him to face the same way as he.

I looked over and saw a large group of girls our age along with their mothers enter the lobby and head for the check-in counter. I remembered that there was a beauty pageant set to be held in the hotel ballroom. And the girls were the participants. 

"I love this hotel!" Zack exclaimed happily at the sight of the girls.

Boys. I shook my head and resumed reading my book.

I couldn't focus on reading as the twins were in awe of the girls. Cody told Zack that he was sweating in places he had never sweated in before. I found that gross.

Next, another mother-and-daughter duo, possibly a part of the beauty pageant pushed their way through the others, cutting in line, making it to the check-in counter where Uncle Marion was in position. I found the girl, named Brianna and her mom to be completely rude, especially when the mom made fun of my uncle's name. And the list of their special requests were ridiculous, especially the bucket of fried possum fingers, which I figured was a southern delicacy.

"Remind me to count the towels in her room," Uncle Marion joked in a sarcastic manner right after the duo left.

He also could tell that Brianna and her mom were crude as they thought they were better than everyone else. For being a hotel manager, he had to deal with some guests who were rude to him. I try to make an effort to make things easier for Uncle Marion by letting him know he had my full support.

Zack tried to whoo Brianna, and like with my uncle, she was rude to him. I went over to the candy counter to get a better view of the arriving participants.

"I hate beauty pageants," Maddie shook her head as she leaned against the counter.

I always thought she was a chill person. She sometimes surprised me with free candy when Zack and Cody weren't looking.