Chapter One : The Invitation
Bennett High
Carl Montclaire and his guardian angel, Porter Jackson, stood staring at a poster that had been taped to the wall. The poster read;
All Grade 10's Will Be Taking An End Of The Year Cruise On The S.S. Tipton For The Entire Month Of July And August! Attending This Trip Is Optional. If You Are Interested In Attending, Please Sign Below.
Surprisingly, there was only one signature underneath the poster. Jane Casey. Jane was Carl's childhood friend and former crush. Carl had recently had a crush on Jane but due to her feelings for Porter, Carl decided to step aside and let Porter get this girl. Carl knew that Porter still hadn't asked Jane out because he still felt guilty about hiding his crush on Jane from his best friend.
Carl picked up the pencil taped next to the poster and sloppily signed his signature. Porter then picked up the pencil and wrote his name in very neat cursive.
Porter was an Angel-In-Training who had come to Earth to help Carl become popular. Before an AIT could earn their angel wings and become a real angel, they were given a human 'assignment'. They usually had to perform a task for this assignment. Once the task was completed, the AIT would be forced to go back to Heaven and claim their angel wings. Porter's task was to make Carl popular, which was not such an easy task as Carl was a very cynical and unlucky person who was often picked on by the school jock, Serge and the "dumb blonde", Brittany.
Denise Simmons watched the boys as they walked away. Denise was also an AIT but unlike Porter, she didn't have an assignment. Denise was an AIT back in the 1400's until she carelessly performed a body swap with a racoon puppet, trapping her in the body of a racoon for centuries. Her existence as a racoon was miserable as she was forced to eat garbage and perform in lame puppet shows. Luckily, the advisor for AITs, Dr. Cassabi, found the puppet and recognized it as her. For several centuries, Denise was forced to live as a puppet named "Dennis" and several centuries of being stuck in a racoon often caused her to get amnesia and forget she even had a human life. Luckily, Porter carelessly performed a body swap on Carl, but the spell messed up and released Denise from the puppet, but also ended up trapping Carl in the puppet. However, by the end of the day, Porter was able to return everyone to their proper bodies and Denise's human body was restored to her.
In the 1400's, Denise had a boyfriend named Lex, who was also an AIT. After becoming trapped in the racoon body, Denise was hopeful that Lex would find her and release her. Denise spent many lonely years waiting for Lex to show up, before she eventually lost hope and ran away. Luckily, Dr. Cassabi found the puppet and recognized it as her. Now that she had several centuries to ponder things, Denise realized that her relationship with Lex wasn't as wonderful as it had seemed back then. Lex often ignored her, relied on her Angel Magic for favors and never showed any affection. Denise had never once been kissed, by an angel or a human. Even though romance was strictly forbidden, that only made her more curious to learn about the mortals and their way of romance. Carl and her had dated briefly but her ex-boyfriend, Lex, came back and split them back up by informing Ms. Stern of their relationship. Ms. Stern was a well respected woman in Heaven and she had a very firm policy on humans dating angels. Denise still missed Carl terribly and hoped that they would find their way back to each other.
Picking up the pencil, Denise signed her name to the poster as well and walked away, smiling at the thought of being able to spend two months on a romantic cruise with Carl. Well, Porter and Jane would probably be there as well, but Denise intended to spend as much time as possible with Carl. This would be the greatest cruise ever!
The Russo Home
"All right, kids." Jerry Russo gathered his two sons, daughter and wife together. "I have an announcement to make."
Theresa wrapped her arms around Jerry. "Your father and I are going on a romantic cruise to the carribbean!"
"That's great, Mom!" The oldest son, Justin stood up and hugged his parents. Justin was the most sensitive and academic of the three siblings.
"What does that have to do with us, though?" Alex, their only daughter asked. Alex was the middle child and an academic slacker which frequently caused her to argue with Justin.
"We booked you six tickets on the S.S. Tipton!" Jerry held up three tickets for the S.S. Tipton. "You three will spend your entire summer on board a cruise ship while receiving an education at the same time?"
"Yes!" Justin jumped up at this, excited at the idea of summer school.
"What?" Alex asked. "Isn't the point of summer to not go to school?" the idea of going back to school frightened Alex.
"I'll get to see London again!" Max, the youngest Russo child was the most clueless and generally the "weird" sibling.
"Relax." Jerry said. "Your classes won't all be at the same time, and each class will only be about an hour."
"How many do we have a day?" Justin asked.
"Four." Jerry replied, reading from a schedule.
"That doesn't sound too bad." Theresa added, trying to cheer up Alex and Max.
Alex shrugged and then asked "Can I invite Harper and Mason?"
"Can I invite Zeke?" Justin added.
"Of course!" Theresa replied. "That is why we got you three extra tickets."
"Start packing your bags, kids." Jerry said. "You'll be there all summer."
Sonic Boom Music Store
"Guess who got a job at the toy store!" Trish bounded into the room, a ridiculous cowboy hat sat on her head and she had a teddy bear snuggled under her left arm.
"How long until you get fired?" Dez asked, high-fiving Austin.
"Well, I was supposed to be in charge of the Lego toys section, but I snuck off for a little bit." Trish replied.
"What?" Ally exclaimed. "You just left the store?"
"Hey!" Trish protested. "It's not my fault! Nobody was buying anything."
"Trish." Ally carefully emphasized each word. "It is almost a week before summer. People are busy buying gifts for their children. Those people were probably carefully considering gifts."
Trish shrugged and hugged the teddy bear closer to her.
"Oh, by the way." Trish reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a large envelope and handed it to Ally.
Ally opened the envelope to find four tickets to the S.S. Tipton and a letter for Austin. Ally read the letter aloud:
To Mr. Austin Moon,
The staff of the S.S. Tipton, the most grand and deluxe cruise ship in the world and Mr. Tipton, himself, the owner and creator of this magnificent vessel, invites you and your friends to perform at the S.S. Tipton. You will be required to spend your entire summer on the boat. You will be given three free meals. Any and all luxuries you desire shall be provided to you, free of charge. You are required to perform twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you desire, a professional songwriter will be hired to replace your current songwriter. Band members will also be provided unless you intend on bringing your own band. Enclosed in this envelope are four tickets to the S.S. Tipton. One for you and the other three are for your friends. You will also have to attend our sea school if you wish to board the ship. The boat departs on the 9th of June. Come to Starfish Harbor if you intend on boarding the ship. We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Marion Moseby
"A cruise?" Trish exclaimed, tearing the hat off of her head and whipping out her cellphone. Trish quickly dialed a number and practically screamed into the phone. "Hello? I quit! Goodbye!" Trish hung up the phone in glee.
"Austin, this is amazing!" Ally exclaimed. Ally's face fell as she remembered what the letter said. "But, we probably can't go."
"What?" Austin asked, oblivious to Ally's panic. "Why not?"
"The man is offering you a new songwriter and a new band." Trish replied quietly.
"Yeah, so?" Austin asked, still not understanding the problem.
"So, you can replace us with famous musicians or songwriters!" Ally exclaimed.
"Why would I do that?" Austin asked, looking over at all of them.
"Look, Austin. You want to be a rockstar. Having famous musicians and songwriters would probably help you out more than amateurs." Trish explained quietly. "They'll probably even offer you a new manager."
"And a new filmmaker." Dez added.
"Guys, I would never do that!" Austin protested. "Trish, without you, I wouldn't have been able to handle so many gigs. If it wasn't for you constantly reassuring my fans, they'd probably be all gone."
Trish smiled sadly at Austin's praise. "Thanks, Austin."
"And, Dez!" Austin turned to Dez. "You've been my best friend since like first grade! You're like the best filmmaker I know! Your ideas might not always make sense but the videos always turn out radical! If it wasn't for you, I would have never filmed my first music video!"
Dez nodded at this and smiled at Austin.
"And, Ally." Austin turned to his songwriter. "You..." He found himself unable to come up with any words. Ally was glancing at him with a look of anxiety on her face. "I practically owe my career to you. If it wasn't for you, I probably would have been exposed as a fraud on the Helen Show. I don't care how many famous songwriters there are out there. I chose you as my partner and we're going to reach the top together." Austin wrapped his left arm around Ally's shoulder, he used his right hand to gesture to Trish and Dez to approach him. When they did, he wrapped his right arm around both of their shoulders. "We're a team. All of us."
Shake It Up Chicago Studio
Dizzy with this feeling And I'm sure I'm not too young feel this way
Odder than I'm even
Girl you got me reeling
Eh, eh, eh, eh
They can try to stop it
Sweat me like the tropics
You're my favorite topic
Eh, eh, eh, eh
They think I'm young
They think that I
Can't be serious
But I know
That who I am
You'd understand
Girl are you curious?
Ayy ayy, ayy ayy, Ayy ayy, ayy ayy
I'm not too young to feel this way
Ayy ayy, ayy ayy, Ayy ayy, ayy ayy, Eh eh eh eh
As the music ended, the host of Shake It Up Chiago, Gary Wilde, stepped forwards, holding a microphone in his hands.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we have left on Shake It Up Chicago!" Gary shouted into the microphone. As soon as Gary finished his sentences, the cameramen stopped filming and the show ended. The dancers began making their way to the changing rooms. As Rocky and her best friend CeCe made their way to the changing rooms, they were stopped by Gary.
"Rocky, CeCe." Gary stopped them and approached them. "Hang on a minute." Gary reached into his jacket and pulled out two envelopes.
"What's inside of these?" Rocky asked. Gary shrugged and walked away.
Rocky and CeCe tore open their envelopes at the same time to reveal two letters which read:
To Miss Raquel "Rocky" Blue and Miss Cecelia "CeCe" Jones
You are both formally invited to perform on the S.S. Tipton.
You will be expected to perform on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
You will be expected to stay on the boat the entire summer and study at our beautiful sea school to study ocean wild life.
Internet sensation Austin Moon and his songwriter Allison "Ally" Dawson will also be boarding the ship. Hannah Montana is expected to arrive on the ship in July.
The boat will depart on the 9st of June at Quail Harbor.
Sincerely,
Marion Moseby
CeCe and Rocky jumped up and down in excitement.
"I need to start packing!" CeCe exclaimed, dashing out of the studio with Rocky following her. Unbeknowest to CeCe, she had dropped the letter in her excitement.
Two certain twins walked off the stage, scowling. They stormed past Gary but they stopped in their tracks upon noticing a wrinkled piece of paper on the ground.
"What is this?" Gunther leaned down and picked up the paper. As he read the papers, his hand clenched tightly around the paper, an angry scowl appeared on his face.
"What is it, Gunther?" Tinka was leaning over his shoulder, reading it along with him.
"Rocky and CeCe have been invited to perform on the S.S. Tipton." Gunther managed to growl out. Tinka let out something between a snarl and a hiss.
"Why would the luxurious London Tipton want them to perform?" Tinka asked. "Surely, we are the better dancers."
"You and I know that." Gunther replied. "But the world does not. Gary favors Rocky and CeCe over us."
Tinka gasped, covering her mouth with a gloved hand.
"You know it is true!" Gunther exclaimed. "When was the last time we had a spotlight dance? Even Justin Starr thinks we are...'weirdo's'."
"It is not fair!" Tinka stamped her foot. "They always get the spotlight and we can't do anything about it!"
"Hold on a minute, Tinka." A smirk formed on Gunther's face. "If something were to delay Rocky and CeCe's arrival onto the ship then surely they would need replacement dancers?"
"Well, yes." Tinka shrugged, not understanding her brother's plan. "But, I do not think they intend on being late."
"What if we make them late and then sneak on board in their place?" Gunther asked.
"Or what if we sneak into their luggage and board the ship with them?" Tinka suggested.
Gunther clapped his hands together. "A good idea, sister!"
End Of Chapter One!
This Chapter is meant to be a prequel of sorts, explaining how they all get onto the ship. The Suite Life characters will not be introduced until the next chapter! Sorry if this chapter was a little long for your tastes, chapter two should be up shortly. Perhaps even tonight or early tommorow seeing as my holidays have started early. Enjoy your holidays!
-Ms. Oh