A/N: I'm baaack. Here's the firstchapter of thesequel for anyone who wanted it.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.


C h a p t e r

O n e


NINE MONTHS LATER

Hunter, Connecticut

"You want to look at it first, or do you want me to?"

Zack looked at the letter in his father's hand. His report card. First quarter grades at Eastbrooke High, Hunter, Connecticut. He thought for a moment, studying the label on the back. To the parents of Zachary Martin. Well, one parent, anyway.

"You can open it." he said.

His father raised a brow. "You sure?"

"Yeah," said Zack. "Open it."

Kurt tore the envelope messily and took the paper out. He scanned the grades over and Zack watched him, beginning to grin. Kurt smiled, slowly lowering it from his face and nodding appreciatively at Zack.

"Well?" Zack asked him, grin widening.

His dad laughed and draped an arm over his son's shoulders. "I am so proud of you, Zacko."

Zack leaned into his father and nodded. "Thanks. All A's and B's, right?"

"All A's and B's!" his father clarified. They walked over to the kitchen and he got out a magnet, posting the grades on the refrigerator happily. "What are your plans tonight, kiddo?"
"I was gonna go hang out at the mal-,"

"-No, you're not!" his father grinned widely, spreading out his arms. "We're going to celebrate with dinner, ice cream, and a trip to Mike's!"

Mike's was the music store in town; selling everything from CD's to old records to guitars and drums and pianos to sheet music. It even had a mini recording studio for new and hopeful artists. Zack practically lived there.

Zack cheered. "When we leaving?"

Kurt looked gallantly at his watch, but then frowned instantly as he read what it said. "Ew," he said with a disgusted tone of voice. "Bad timing." He scratched his head. "I've got to be at the dealership in fifteen minutes but hey-," he brightened. "If I leave now I can be back by six and we can leave around seven. Sound okay?"
"Sounds great!" Zack said happily. "Can I hang out with Nick until then?"

Kurt looked at him strictly. "At his house, and his parents have to be home-,"

"-I know, I know," Zack took out his cell phone. "You want me to call?"

"Yeah. Put it on speaker, will you?"

"Dad," he whined. "Why can't you trust me?" Kurt let the question fizzle and die and Zack sighed. "Fine." He pressed two on speed dial and then pressed a side button so that the ringing was heard throughout the kitchen. "Don't say anything!" Zack told his father who held up his hands in a mock surrender.

A click. "Hello?"
"Hey, man, it's me."

"Hey, Zack," the boy on the other end said warmly. "Sup?"
"You cool to hang out tonight?" Zack asked, shooting a look at his father who had made to say something embaressing like "yo, yo, sup, my homie?".

"Yeah, sure."

"Cool," said Zack. "Your house okay?"

"Yup. Bring your guitar."

"Nick, I always bring my guitar."

"Then don't forget it."

"I won't, I won't. Hey, your parents'll be there, right?"

"Yeah, my mom's trying to install a new TV."

"And how's that going?"

"You seriously don't want to know."

Zack laughed and disconnected, nodding gratefully at his father. "You managed not to embarrass me."

Kurt stretched lazily. "What can I say? It's a gift."

Still laughing, Zack hurried off to grab his guitar.


When Cody collected their mail from Mr. Moseby at the front desk his heart dropped when he saw his report card shuffled between the bills and flyers. He walked past the new candy counter girl (her name was something like Bridget or Beatrice) sullenly and gloomily rode the elevator up to the suite. He could deposit the offending envelope, but his mother would probably find out anyway and then he'd be even more screwed than he already was.

He opened the door his mother had left unlocked and closed it behind him, tossing the stack of mail on the kitchen counter and collapsing into a loveseat sadly.

"Did you get the mail?" his mother asked from the bathroom.

"Yeah," he answered moodily, heart beating nervously. He rubbed his temples and tried to quiet his breathing. His grades couldn't be that bad. They couldn't be. Not Cody Martin; not honor student since the sixth grade. He hadn't done that bad, had he? No, of course not.

Carey walked out of the bathroom and gave him a cheery grin. A grin he tried to return, but failed miserably. Literally.

"What's wrong, Cody?"

He sighed. "My report card came," he said, voice cracking on the word 'card'.

"Okay," Carey looked at him carefully, shuffling through the mail before pulling the letter out. "Am I going to be disappointed or…?"

"Maybe," said Cody, burying deeper in the seat. "Yeah."

Carey frowned and opened the envelope neatly, taking the letter out and scanning over it. "Honors Math: C," she read out loud, voice unbelieving. "Advanced Literature: C-, government: B, German: C, CAD two: C, chemistry: D+? Cody…" She looked up from the paper, face shocked.

"I know," he whispered, tears collecting in his eyes as he flushed.

"This is…This is…" Carey gaped at him. "I don't even know what to say,"

Cody sighed deeply and wiped a hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Carey looked at him for a moment, then shook her head slowly and motioned for him to join her as she slowly walked over to the couch. "Come on," she said. "We need to have a talk."

He got up from the chair miserably and sat down next to her. Carey put her arm around his shoulders and drew him closer to her

"What's wrong, baby?" she asked. "You've been so…different this year?"

Cody shrugged, withdrawing inside himself like he always did when something was wrong.

"I know you miss Zack, honey but-,"

"-I don't miss him." Cody cut in shortly, tensing up and pulling away from her.

Carey sighed sadly. "Well, I do," she said. "And I'm sure he misses us, too,"

Cody folded his arms over his chest and looked away determinedly. "Then why doesn't he come home?" he demanded angrily. "He's been there long enough, he can come back now!"

"He has to make the decision himself," Carey answered gently. They'd been over this a million times in the past nine months. "When Zack feels that he's ready he'll come back. Until then we need to give him the space to fix his own problems."

Cody rolled his eyes furiously. "He's been ready," he said savagely. "He just doesn't want to go back because he likes it at Dad's better."

"That's enough, Cody," Carey said sternly, and Cody knew he'd touched a nerve. "Just because you're angry at your brother does not mean you can slack off in school and ruin your future. You used to get straight A's, and this is not acceptable, do you understand? I want to see some improvement immediately, young man."

Cody grumbled his understanding and stormed off to his room.

Life had ceased to be fair a long time ago

Later that night Zack and Kurt returned home (new albums and guitar case in tow) and said their goodnights. In a great mood, Zack opened up his laptop and typed in his password to read his messages. One from the each of his band mates about the talent show, one from Allison regarding the winter dance, and the one from-

-Cody?

Zack's eyebrows shot up and he clicked on the subject (which said no subject) to read what it said.

If you're not coming home then at least take bk your trophies. i'm sick of looking at them. –cody (ur brother, remember?)

p.s.

nobody likes a liar.

Zack sighed stared at the screen. What the hell would he say to that? Ticked off that his great day was ruined by a rude email he switched off the laptop and went to bed, trying to forget about Boston.

Easier said than done.


To Be Continued


Please Review!