I was sitting at the juice bar with Caleb, Zack, Cody, and Bailey talking. We were pretty excited that we were docking in Athens for a couple of days. However, Bailey was bummed out that there wouldn't be any time to explore it further. I felt the same since I was really wanting to have more time to explore.
"I can't believe we only have two days in Athens. How are we gonna fit in all the great museums?" she asked.
"Mmmm easy! We need to get the bus driver to go 2,000 miles per hour," Cody replied.
"Without getting a speeding ticket," Caleb nodded.
"Unless he drove a rocket," I stated.
"Or, we can cut out the museums entirely and go straight to the beach," Zack interjected as he snatched a map of Athens Cody had in his hand and slammed it on the counter.
That second, a notification went off on Cody's laptop and the screen switched to a video call.
"Uh, Cody? Why do you have a giant nose screen saver?" Zack asked.
"That's Arwin calling!" Cody replied recognizing the goofy janitor back in Boston, who always invented pretty clever things, but often went haywire.
"Hey guys!" he called still leaning into the screen.
"Hey, Arwin!" Zack exclaimed ecstatically.
"Uh! Arwin! Back up! Your nose hairs look like a jungle" I remarked.
"Oh! Sorry," he apologized as he went back a foot away from the screen, "Hey! Do I have any bats in the cave?" Arwin leaned close to the screen again so we could see his nose in further detail.
"So you're the famous Arwin," Bailey smiled.
"You didn't tell me there was a girl there! I'm all up in my nose!"
"Don't worry, she won't bite," Zack said.
"I'm Bailey," Bailey introduced herself.
"And, I'm Caleb," Caleb waved at the screen.
"I don't suppose the boys and Marley mentioned me."
"Are you kidding? Cody sent me a 9-page email just about your hair," Arwen replied.
Bailey, Caleb and I each turned to Cody with a weirded out expression.
"Uh...that was a typo. I wasn't writing about Bailey's hair. It was supposed to say, "Daily Bear," which is a column I write about bears...daily," Cody explained awkwardly.
Yet again, he couldn't get over his crush on her.
"Nice save!" Arwin smiled, "Hey, your mom told me you're going to the Museum of Greek Antiquities. My cousin works there, you gotta look him up! His name's Milos Hakakop'olis!"
All of us nodded. I pulled out a notepad and wrote down the name. Though I might've spelled it wrong though!
"Alright! What's he like?" Zack asked.
"Ah, he's a little quirky, awkward, clumsy, nothing like me!" Arwin replied as he leaned back in his chair, "Here we go!" That second, he fell backward and his feet shot up, revealing a pair of alligator shaped slippers.
"He's often like that, but a really fun guy," I turned to Caleb, who nodded at me.
⚓
The next day, we toured the Athens Museum. I had my camera out and took pictures of the sculptures and ancient artifacts that dated back to when Greece was a world empire. Caleb walked alongside me and looked at some of the artifacts and read the information on them.
"Wow! These artifacts are breath-taking!" Bailey gaped ecstatically.
"Hardly!" London scoffed and pointed at one of the feminine statues, "I'm prettier than her." She pointed at the second figurine, "Prettier than her!" Then moved on to the next one, "Prettier than her!"
London turned to the rest of us, "Hey Zack! Marley! Three old ugly triplets!"
I just shook my head and continued taking pictures.
"You know, you'd think infancy place like this can at least afford statues with arms," Zack remarked after looking at one of the armless statues.
"Zack, they're thousands of years old," Bailey shook her head.
"She's right. They all have stories behind them, especially on how society started," I added.
"Okay, their arms a little flab hangin' down!" Zack nodded.
I was about to take a picture of an alabaster colored vase as Bailey gasped at both artifacts nearby.
"What a beautiful sculpture!" she remarked and then walked over to me, "What a magnificent vase!"
"What a hot guy!" London gasped.
I wondered what she was talking about.
"London! You try and buy some of the world's most magnificent pieces of art, how are you distracted by-" Bailey was cut off when London turned her around.
I too looked in the same direction. I saw that it was a tour guide who was attractive. And nope! It wasn't the main guy, Sam Worthington on the Clash of The Titans remake, which Caleb and I watched the night before!
"Sweet potato pie!" Bailey interjected, "I wouldn't mind lookin' for a penny in a haystack with him!"
I glanced at Cody, who looked like he was offended. He went over to Zack. Caleb and I approached the twins.
"Look at her!" Cody frowned, "Drooling over him like he's some kind of Greek Adonis!"
"Hello, my name is Adonis," the tour guide approached our group.
"Spoke yet too soon," I muttered to Cody.
"I will be your student tour guide. Come, follow me," Adonis said.
Bailey giggled as all of us followed him. I overheard Cody ranting to Zack that Adonis might foil his plan on winning over Bailey in a period of six months on seeing her getting charmed by the handsome Greek tour guide like he was a popular celebrity.
"And, tomorrow we will be unveiling a new exhibit generously donated by Mr. Tipton," Adonis continued as London stepped in front of Bailey grinning at him.
"My daddy," London smiled like a five-year-old.
"It will feature the recently unearthed Amulet of Aphrodite."
"Ohh! I love a good amulet! Especially with egg whites with low-fat cheese and mushrooms!"
I shook my head. Had she not been paying close attention?
"London that's an omelet!" Bailey corrected her.
"The amulet is the most important artifact found," Miss Tutweiller came around filling in before being cut off by Bailey.
"Found in the last hundred years. According to Greek mythology, this is the necklace that Zeus gave to his daughter Aphrodite when she was born from the sea," Bailey finished.
"I was gonna say that," our teacher added.
"Me too. But it sounds so much better coming from your lips," Adonis smiled.
Bailey giggled once again. Miss Tutweiller giggled sarcastically and lightly shoved Bailey and Adonis apart.
"Hey! Tour guide!" Cody called as he and Zack approached our group, "You're supposed to be telling us what stuff is. What's this?" He pointed at a fire extinguisher close by.
"That is a fire extinguisher," Adonis replied.
Cody glanced at it briefly and back at him, "Thank you."
"Want Marley and me to take a picture of you in front of it?" Zack asked jokingly.
"Will you join me on a roof-top garden to watch the god Helios pull the sun across the sky and it sets uh winks goodnight to you through the pillars of the Acropolis?" Adonis asked Bailey.
She giggled once again, "Okay."
They left with linking arms. I snapped a picture of the sight smirking. Cody gave me a death glare as if to tell me to delete the photo.
"Whoa! He is smooth. I mean I'm thinking of going," Zack remarked.
"How am I gonna compete with this guy?" Cody asked freaking out.
"We'll only be in the city for a short amount of time and you won't have to worry about him," Caleb said.
"He's got a point Codes," I nodded.
"Well uh, Bailey loves Greek stuff, you know the Parthenon, the amulet, Adonis. Why don't get her a gift?" Zack suggested.
"Great idea," I smiled, "I think the gift shop has something she might like."
Zack glanced at the alabaster vase and picked it up, "You can probably afford this it looks used."
Caleb and I jerked as our friend tried finding a price tag on it.
"Why aren't there any price tags on this?" Zack asked.
"That's because it's a museum display, you idiot!" I gaped worrying that he'd accidentally drop the vase.
"Put that down it is very fragile!" a man in a green jumpsuit panicked as he snatched it, but it flew out of his grip. Cody quickly caught it.
"You got it! Thank you kind stranger!" the man sighed in relief.
"Oh, no problem," Cody nodded as he carefully placed the vase back on its display column and shook his hands with the man, "I'm Cody. This is Zack, Marley, and Caleb."
I got a good glimpse of the man and saw that he resembled Arwin a bit, but without the glasses.
"You must be Milos, Arwin's cousin!" I smiled.
"Oh! How did you know? Here we are going!" Milos exclaimed as a trolley, which he had been leaning against started moving, which sent him slamming onto the floor. Next thing, there was a crashing noise.
"Lucky guess," Zack replied.
"I love cousin Arwin. Like my own life. Did he happen to mention anything about me owing him money?"
"No," Cody replied.
"HE'S A LYING PIG!" Milos screamed making Caleb, the twins and I jump out of our skins, "Did you say no? Nevermind."
I sighed feeling relieved that it wasn't turning to an annoying family rant.
"So, you saved the vase, is there any way I can repay you?" Milos asked taking out a cleaning rag from his pocket and started polishing the nostrils of a head sculpture as if it had a head cold.
"Uh, I'm trying to impress this girl I know," Cody answered, "Is there anything in the museum's gift shop that girls really love?"
"Oh! Come! Come! Follow me!" Milos gestured for us to follow him over to a counter where there was a large crate in place. He took out a small gold box from it, "The souvenir replica of the Amulet of Aphrodite. Huh? And your beloved will be the first to have one because they are not on sale yet."
"Excellent! Thank you, Milos!" Cody smiled as the friendly janitor handed it to him.
"Bailey's gonna love it!" I mumbled happily.
"So uh Milos, what's your actual job here at the museum?" Zack asked.
"Well, I'm in charge of many things," Milos replied with a chuckle.
That second, a couple doors opened and a bald-headed man in a suit entered in the display room along with a couple security guards. I could tell he ran the place.
"Milos! The toilet on the second floor is backed up again!" he called.
"This is one of those things," Milos added.
"Do it now! Tomorrow the museum will be stuffed with people like rice into a grape leaf."
The manager approached Zack, Cody, Caleb and I with a secured black case that was easy to carry around, "All here to see the Amulet of Aphrodite." He opened the case and showed it to the four of us.
The second he displayed the amulet to us, Milos shone a flashlight at it trying to sing angelically. All of us stared at him. The manager turned to glare at him, which made him stop singing.
"Toilet. Right," Milos nodded.
He was about to take off when he bumped into the manager, colliding into Cody, Zack, Caleb and me, causing both the souvenir and original amulets to fall. Cody and Milos scrambled on to the floor and grabbed them both. Milos held up the amulet and shined his flashlight at it once again and tried singing angelically again until the manager snatched it from his grasp.
⚓
Later, back on the ship, I was on the Sky Deck getting a drink from the juice bar. I overheard Uncle Marion suggesting to London that she had to write her own speech since she would represent her father for the unveiling of the Amulet of Aphrodite the very next day, right after trying to pass off a speech already given by Abraham Lincoln. Obviously, that wouldn't work since we were in Greece and it wouldn't fit with the unveiling!
Caleb arrived the moment Miss Tutweiller said she'd help London with researching Greek culture as London nagged her into writing the speech for her until our teacher smacked a sticker on the airhead's mouth to shut her up.
"Hey Marley," Caleb smiled as he sat next to me.
He pulled out something from his pocket, which was a small navy blue gift bag with a gold sticker and ribbon on it.
"I got you something from the museum shop," he added handing it to me.
I opened it and saw that it was a dolphin shaped pendant for either a necklace or a charm bracelet. I remembered telling Caleb once that I had a thing for dolphins. I remembered seeing them a lot in Hawaii.
"Caleb, it's adorable! Thank you!" I smiled and hugged him with one arm.
"I thought you'd like it," he added.
"I definitely do. Thanks again."
"You're welcome."
⚓
The next day, I was hanging out at the juice bar with Caleb, Zack, and Cody when we suddenly heard Milos shouting for us.
"GUYS! GUYS!"
"Milos!" Zack called out and turned to us, "Looks like he's in a hurry."
Next thing, Milos was right next to where Cody was sitting.
"I just found out! The gift you gave your beloved! You know the...the souvenir Amulet of Aphrodite! It is the real one!"
It suddenly hit me. When Milos crashed into us and when both the replica and original amulets fell, Cody mistakenly grabbed the real one while the museum still had the duplicate.
"Oh my gosh! How did you find out?" Cody gasped standing up. Zack, Caleb and I followed suit.
"Because the one at the museum says 'Made in China'!" Milos replied.
I attempted to hold back a laugh but managed to pretend to choke on something.
"If they find out I will be fired! It's terrible!" Milos added.
"That's awful, it's tragic. I'm gonna go grab a burger," Zack said not really caring and started walking off.
"Zack!" Cody frowned.
I grabbed Zack by the back of the shirt, stopping him.
"If they fire me, you will be sent to prison," Milos said with a hint of dread.
Caleb, the twins and I turned to the janitor with dead silence.
"Greek prison is very, very bad. The filo pastry is hardly flaky at all," he added the small detail about the prison life in Greece.
"Plus, prison looks really really bad on a college application," Cody jumped in.
Caleb and I nodded in agreement.
"Oh that's your problem," Zack turned to Cody and turned to leave.
"Think about it, Zack! No girl will wanna go out with ya if they learned you've served time in prison! And I'm sure her dad will scare you off on learning about that!" I said.
Zack stopped walking at my remark and came back over to us.
"You got a point Mar," he nodded at me.
"I got it!" Milos exclaimed, "I will distract Bailey with a Greek dance."
He then started doing a type of Greek dance and continued, "And then, you hit her with a sheep bladder." Milos gestured at Zack and then at Cody, "And then, you rip the amulet from her neck! Ah ha!"
I shook my head at his ridiculous plan, "No. That's a terrible plan."
"Where would we find a sheep's bladder by the way?" Caleb asked.
"Or, I just ask for it back," Cody suggested.
"Can I still dance?" Milos asked.
"Sure," Zack replied.
"OPA!"
Milos danced while my friends and I approached Bailey.
"Hi, Bailey. Uh this is kinda awkward, but I really need -," Cody started but was cut off.
"Cody I love this necklace so much," Bailey smiled interrupting him, "If I live to be 100, I'll never take it off."
"Well, happy 101st birthday," Zack laughed causing me to elbow him hard in the stomach.
"Huh?" Bailey looked at the rest of us feeling confused.
"Look by mistake, I gave you the real amulet of Aphrodite," Cody confessed.
"You mean this is the actual priceless artifact?" Bailey asked and panicked, "I wore it in the hot tub!"
"Oh great so we'll be returning it clean!" Zack exclaimed.
"Now how are we gonna get it back to the museum without getting caught?" I asked wanting to get on with the plan before the unveiling was spoiled.
"Look, Milos, you work at the museum, can't you make the switch?"
"I can't," Milos replied.
"How come?" Caleb asked.
"Of course he can't. I'm sure there's some type of advanced security system, motion detectors, laser trackers," Cody listed the various alarm systems that a lot of museums have.
"Nope. Just a big heavy glass case. I cannot lift it. I need your help," Milos answered.
"But how are we gonna get past the guards?" Bailey asked.
"Milos has a brilliant plan," he replied in the third person as he stared at a distance.
The five of us started out in the same direction as him.
"What are you looking at?" Milos asked turning to us.
⚓
Turns out, Milos' plan was to disguise us as statues, white powder, togas and sandals that were all white.
"This is your brilliant idea?" I asked frowning.
"Boy am I gonna need some sun," Bailey remarked.
"How long do we have to stay like this? I'm starting to cramp up," Zack complained.
"Me too," Caleb groaned trying to steady himself.
"Just until they put the amulet in the case. When they all leave the room to go to dinner, we make the big switch, everything knock knock good good," Milos explained.
That second, we heard movement getting closer to the room.
"They are coming! Quick! Act like a rock!" he yelled.
My friends and I got into position, not even moving a muscle at all as people entered the room.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the museum manager announced starting the unveiling, "It gives me great pleasure to place the Amulet of Aphrodite in a place of great honor so we can all marvel at its beauty."
"Did someone say beauty? Because here I am!" London smiled entering the room.
"Ah, Miss London Tipton, the daughter of our generous benefactor!"
Everyone applauded at that moment. Cody suddenly sneezed. Fortunately, no one noticed us.
"Ladies and gentlemen," London began. However, she pronounced 'gentlemen' with a 'Q' at the start of the word.
"Get ready to flee the country, quickly," Uncle Marion muttered to Miss Tutweiller.
"Legend says the amulet was given by Zeus to his daughter, Aphrodite. Perhaps it was because she was beautiful, like me. Of course, I'm not a goddess, officially," London added.
"I gotta go to the little statue's room," Zack whispered.
"Shh! Statues don't go to the bathroom," Bailey hushed him.
"Well, this rock has to make pebbles!"
"Guys, shut up!" I shushed.
"Mr. Moseby?" Miss Tutweiller turned to my uncle after glancing back at us, "Do the faces on those statues look familiar to you?"
"How old do you think I am?" Uncle Marion asked with a bit of sarcasm.
"I'd like to think I know it was like to walk in her shoes. I mean, everyone thought she was just a pretty girl with a powerful daddy. But turns out, she was more than that. I think Zeus gave her the amulet because he was proud of her just as I'm proud to represent my daddy today. So even though the amulet is 2,000 years old, the emotion behind it is eternal. I think that's what museums do. They remind us that people then and people now aren't so different at all. Thank you," London concluded.
The audience applauded. I almost wanted to applaud since London did outstanding on her speech, but it would look weird for people to see a statue clapping hands.
"Mr. Moseby, are you tearing up?" Miss Tutweiller asked.
"I just ate a spicy olive," Uncle Marion replied not wanting to admit it.
"And now!" the museum manager announced, "I invite all of you to our garden courtyard where we will have a wonderful meal. I hope everyone likes Chinese!"
Everyone then exited the room.
Who'd want Chinese food in a Greek museum? I thought.
Milos closed the door after the last person got out.
"The coast is clear! Get moving!" he exclaimed to us and smacked his hand on a real statue thinking it was one of us.
"Who knew Arwin was the normal one," Cody muttered.
"Milos, just keep everyone out while we exchange the amulet," I suggested.
"Let's go!" Caleb remarked as the five of us went over to the case.
"Man I'm so stiff," Zack groaned.
"You wouldn't be if you joined me for morning yoga," Cody told him.
"You know what, I will as soon as I wanna look like a dork."
Just then, there was someone talking at the door. My friends and I froze into place like the toys on Toy Story as Milos rushed to the door.
"Milos! I want my briefcase back!" the manager yelled as the clutsy janitor kept closing the door multiple times.
"Don't worry I'll get it for you!" Milos hollered and rushed to get it.
The manager entered the room. Milos threw the briefcase at him, which hit the manager hard once he caught it.
"I will get you some ice!" Milos exclaimed as he led the manager who looked like he was in pain out of the room.
"Alright, here's the real amulet, now lift up the case," Bailey said.
Zack, Cody, Caleb and I struggled to lift the glass lid.
"It's too heavy," Cody panted after we failed to get the case open.
"Milos we need your help!" Zack called.
"No no no no, he needs to guard the door!" Bailey exclaimed as Milos ran towards us, but ran back towards the door.
"But we can't do this without him!" Cody remarked and the janitor once again ran back to us.
"No!" Bailey, Caleb and I hollered in unison.
"We need you!"
"No! Door!" Bailey demanded.
"I'm getting dizzy," Milos remarked as he headed back to the door.
"Now what?" I asked.
"Too bad Adonis isn't here, he could lift it," Bailey sighed sadly.
Right out of the blue, Cody grabbed the glass lid and held it up like he was the Hulk.
"Whoa!" Caleb and I gaped in unison.
"Maybe I should rethink this yoga thing," Zack stated as Bailey quickly switched the amulets and Cody placed the lid back in place.
"Cody, that was incredible. Your muscles rippled," Bailey smiled in awe.
"Well, yeah," Cody started but was cut off by the museum manager's arrival.
"THIEVES! THIEVES!" he yelled.
"They are not thieves, they are statues," Milos explained trying to defend us as a couple security guards entered in along with everyone else from the unveiling.
"You are stealing the Amulet of Aphrodite! Call the police!" the manager hollered as he approached us.
"No no no no! We weren't trying to steal it!" Cody stated.
"We were trying to replace it," Bailey added,
"Oldest story in the book!" the manager scoffed not believing us.
"But it's true!" Zack nodded.
"The children are telling the truth. I accidentally gave them the real amulet," Milos confessed.
"Well, the second we found out about it we replaced it," I added and gestured at the original amulet in the display case, "You see there it is!"
"See, this is just some cheap piece of souvenir junk," Bailey stated showing the manager the replica amulet.
"Exactly," Caleb nodded.
"Glad you like my gift," Cody muttered sarcastically to Bailey.
"So everything is fine, everyone is happy. Everything is knock knock good good," Milos expressed trying to calm the manager.
"NOT REALLY! YOU ARE FIRED!" the museum manager yelled at him.
"You can't! I owe everyone money!"
I noticed London standing by and walked over to her, "Milos is Arwin's cousin! Do something!"
"Get out of here and never come back," the museum manager shouted at Milos.
"If you fire Milos, I'll tell my daddy to stop funding this museum," London demanded to step in.
"You didn't let me finish," the manager glanced at London and then turned to Milos, "Get out of here never come back until you take up your new position as vice president of souvenir junk."
"YES!" Milos cheered excitedly, "I get to sell the little bobble head, Hercules! He's so cute! He goes like this!"
Milos acted out the bobblehead.
"Everything's good good knock knock!" Zack smiled trying to imitate Milos, but in the wrong way.
That minute, there was the sound of Greek music playing.
"I hear the band playing!" Milos smiled.
"Let's not stand here like statues!" I grinned.
"We dance!"
I wound up grabbing Caleb's hand and London's hand and all of us started dancing.
"Sorry if this messes up your six-month plan with Bailey," Zack turned to Cody while dancing.
"I'm holding hands and dancing, that's month two!" Cody smiled.
"You might wanna look again!" I smirked noticing that Cody was holding Milos' hand.
"No wonder her knuckles were so hairy!"
"Sorry, I forgot to shave them today!" Milos apologized, "OPA!" he cheered and we all wound up dancing out of the room.