Hey, all! Here's my second Suite Life story! I love this show, mainly for Zack since he's so hilarious. In my last story, I paired him with London (the story's called "London Fever"), but in this one, he finds himself drawn to a girl not seen in the show, and one who is not much to look at, at least in her opinion. Will he boost poor her self-esteem?
The story is set in "Suite Life on Deck," sometime before Zack meets his girlfriend later in the show, and it's a story I wrote a few years ago, I'm just now getting it posted.
I hope you guys like this one! =)
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"Who's the new girl?"
"Who cares? What score did you get on Top Commander?"
Haley knew that she would get this kind of reaction. She always did whenever she entered a new school. It didn't matter if it was on the sea or land, people still had the same opinion of her. Also, it didn't help that this was the worst break-out that she ever had on her face, not that the one she had since she was twelve was any better. The only areas without zits were her eyelids and lips. It wasn't an allergic reaction, puberty just wasn't very nice to her.
The bell rang, and she left her history class, passing her other classmates in the Seven Seas High hallway. She walked fast passed them so she could get to her next class, Geography, without being noticed. Not that people would notice her, anyway. She would just make it to the classroom and hide in a corner desk. Maybe the teacher wouldn't call on her to introduce herself. She didn't need to first period, thank goodness, since she ducked under her desk.
In the hallway, she ran head-on into someone as she was lost in her thoughts. Her binder fell to the floor, as well as her books. Papers flew out of her binder. She quickly knelt to pick them up and noticed the person just standing there.
"Help her!" some guy chided, and the person she ran into knelt down and started picking up her papers and handing them back. She noticed in the corner of her vision that this was a guy, and someone smacked his shoulder and said, "Apologize."
"Sorry I ran into you," he said and she finally looked up as she had everything in her hands. She blinked a few times. What a cute boy!
She stood up, as did he. He handed her a couple papers as she stared at him, and she took the papers absentmindedly. "Um... it's okay."
"You must be new," said the other guy with him, a blonde as well. "I saw you in first period, but I didn't get a chance to introduce myself."
She blinked and looked between the two blonde guys for a second. They looked alike, were about the same height, and looked the same age... twins? Her gaze remained on the one she ran into, a guy with a black and blue plaid shirt on. "Yeah, I am," she said and tucked some frizzy dirty-blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm Haley Daily."
The guy she ran into snickered, and the other guy gave him a look, then nudged him with creased brows. They both looked back at her. She knew her name was comical—people made fun of it all the time in her past four high schools, two middle schools and three elementary schools.
"Sorry about him." The other guy held out a hand. "I'm Cody Martin, and this is my tact-less and blind brother Zack."
"Hey," Zack protested.
"Well, you did run into her," Cody reminded him.
"I was focused on something else."
"Yeah, a something else that happens to have long, sleek brown hair."
Zack smirked. "Something worth looking at."
Cody shook his head and looked back at Haley. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Haley. Where are you from?"
Someone hadn't been this friendly with her on her very first day before, and a cute guy, no less! This was very new to her. "I'm from Boston."
Cody's eyes widened. "Really? So are we!"
"Really?" She was genuinely surprised.
"Yeah. We..."
He was cut off by a girl suddenly appearing next to him. "Hey, Cody."
"Hey, Bailey." He took her hand, and they smiled at each other. They were probably dating. She glanced at Zack. Was he dating anyone?
Bailey looked at Haley and smiled, and she noticed Zack fold his arms and look off to the side, looking like he was bored. "Hi," Bailey greeted her. "I saw you in first period. Are you new?"
"Yes," Haley said, admiring her long curly hair about the same color as hers, and pretty smile. "It's my first day."
"And she's from Boston, like Zack and me," Cody added.
"Really?" Bailey squealed. "That's so cool!" She held out her hand. "I'm Bailey Pickett."
Haley shook her soft hand. Bailey seemed like a nice girl, and Cody seemed like a nice guy—no wonder they were dating. She glanced at Zack again, who nodded and smiled at a pretty bleach-blonde girl passing by. He seemed to be a flirt, either that, or he just liked girls. Maybe it was both.
The bell rang. Cody said, "Well, on to our next class. What class do you have next, Haley?"
"Geography."
"Really? So do we! You're a junior, right?"
"Yes, I am."
"Why don't you come with us?" Bailey suggested, and Haley smiled, not used to getting this treatment. It was refreshing.
"Sure."
They all started walking and met up with a larger guy with dark-brown curly hair and glasses. They called him Woody. He introduced himself to her and then got talking to Zack about what was being served in the food court. Haley smiled to herself as she walked with the group and as Bailey talked with Cody about an assignment in their chemistry class. The conversation went a bit over her head—those two sounded like they were pretty smart.
She actually made friends. Well, acquaintances. She shouldn't get too excited yet.
~ ~ ~
Bailey, Cody, Zack and Woody all happened to be in her chemistry class, the last class of the day. In fact, they were in five of her six classes. A very pretty Asian girl was in the class, too, and she looked a little older than the rest of the kids. Odd, since Asians tend to look young. Maybe she really was older than they were.
The class had an in-class assignment, and the teacher assigned Bailey to be Haley's partner. As Bailey looked through the microscope, Haley couldn't help but eye Zack, who was working with Woody. Woody was looking through the microscope while Zack just sat there, looking blankly at something. He's soooo cute, I can't take it!
He waved and smirked cutely in her direction, and that made her heart jump. No way, he wouldn't be waving at her. She looked around and saw a pretty red-headed girl sitting behind her. Oh.
"Well, that's prophase," Bailey said, and Haley snapped out of it and wrote that on their worksheet. Bailey looked at Haley for a moment. "So, you're from Boston, right? Is the rest of your family there?"
"No, they're back in Australia. They, meaning just my parents since I'm an only child, travel the world, and I went along with them. I missed a bunch of school, so they thought it would be good for me to go to Seven Seas High so I could go to school and still see the world."
"That's pretty cool. How long have you and your parents traveled the world?"
"Just this past year. Before that, we moved around a lot because my dad would always re-locate for his job. He had enough of it and decided to just travel."
"What's the most amazing place you've been?"
Haley thought for a moment. "Um... I would have to say Madagascar. It's the place that's the most different from the other places I've been, and the people there are so kind."
Bailey's brows rose. "Wow, Madagascar? You've really been around!"
"I have." More than she wanted.
"So, you've been to a bunch of different schools, then?" Bailey asked as she looked through the microscope again.
"Yeah. I was born and raised in Boston, but after that, I was at three different elementary schools, two middle schools and four different high schools across the US, and one in England. I'm glad that I can settle in one place for a time." She paused. "I mean at one school since this boat travels everywhere. Where are you from?"
"Kettlecorn, Kansas. It's about sixty miles away from..."
"Kansas City," Haley finished. "My parents and I have driven through it before when we were driving to Nevada from Georgia. It's a cute little town. We stopped at the local mart there to get some dinner."
Bailey beamed. "You've driven through it and even stopped at Piggly Mart?! Oh my gosh! Yeah, it's the best little country town you'll ever be in."
Haley thought Bailey's country drawl was so cute. The two girls chatted about Kettlecorn and Haley's travels as they continued to work on the assignment. At the end of class, Bailey said, "Well, I'm super happy to meet someone who knows where my hometown is, and who's been to more places than me, even though I've been on this ship. We should hang out and talk more about it."
Haley smiled, knowing that she maybe found a friend in Bailey. She didn't have a best friend, or even close friends, since she moved around so much. "I would like that."
The two girls worked more on the assignment, and soon, the end of class came. Cody came up to Bailey and linked arms with her. "Are you ready to head up to the Sky Deck my fair maiden?"
"Why yes, kind sir," she cooed at him, and Zack made a disgusted face behind Cody. She looked at Haley. "Would you like to come up with us?"
"Um," she stared at all of them, including Woody and Zack, looked at her. She felt her cheeks heat up under her acne. "Actually, I can't. I have to call my parents, but... maybe later I'll be up there."
"Okay. See you later then," Bailey said, and they all left the classroom. She stared after them for a moment. She really hoped that she made some new friends and hoped she would stay on the SS Tipton for a while so those friendships could blossom. Would she be friends with Zack? She really hoped that, too. She was never friends with cute guys, or just guys in general. Then again, her stay on the ship so far revealed some firsts. Maybe her life would finally change for the better. Maybe there really were people who could see passed her appearance.