A/N: Welcome to Chapter 3, in which Bailey falls deeper into the abyss created by Zack's insistence that she can trust him...

Chapter 3: The Octopus Strikes Again

True to his word, Zack treated me like I was just one of the guys when we were around Cody, Woody, London, and the rest of our classmates. And I tried not to gaze dreamily at him when we were alone in our cabin. As I kept reminding myself, I'd come to Seven Seas High to be a boy, and to get away from a boy.

Getting mixed up with another boy? Not part of the plan.

But despite my honourable intentions, it didn't take long for things to heat up.

For our second biology lab, Ms. Tutweiller assigned a frog dissecting project. This should have been against her better judgment. A roomful of teenagers, expensive scientific equipment, and a bunch of dead frogs... what could possibly go wrong?

Zack had been my partner for the first lab, but this time I worked with Cody. Unlike Zack, who had yet to take the shrink-wrap off his textbooks, Cody earns straight A's and aspires to see his name in the Guinness Book of World Records under "Most Nobel Prizes Won." Since I need to make sure my own straight-A record doesn't slip, Cody was the sensible choice. Not to mention, I definitely didn't want to be anywhere near Woody wielding dissecting tools.

"So, you decided you don't want to fail biology?" Cody asked me as we set up our apparatus. "Or do you just not trust Woody with a scalpel and forceps?"

I laughed. "All of the above." I still didn't know Cody that well. Whenever the gang hung out together, Zack took the spotlight, cracking jokes—mostly at Cody's expense—and regaling us with tales about terrorizing guests and staff at the Tipton Hotel.

Despite my efforts to cultivate a macho persona, I let Cody do the dissecting.

Cody sliced into our lifeless amphibian. "Look at the mesentery and the pancreas," he said as if he were Charles Darwin himself, discovering an exotic new species. "And check out the perfectly preserved oviducts and cloaca."

While I recorded our observations on our assignment sheet, Mr. Moseby walked in. Although he's responsible for the whole ship, he often frequents our area. It's like he expects to find trouble. But you can't really blame him. According to Zack, when he and Cody arrived at Seven Seas High, Mr. Moseby jumped overboard.

"May I speak to you for a minute, Ms. Tutweiller?" Mr. Moseby asked, dapper in his navy blue blazer, precision-folded pocket hanky, and white sailor shorts that looked even whiter against his dark skin. He took in the sight and smell of pickled frog guts, and grimaced. "In the staff lounge," he added.

"Of course," Ms. Tutweiller said, collecting her purse. "Class, I'll be right back."

"Get me a triple-shot, non-fat cinnamon latte with extra foam and coconut sprinkles," London called after her. London acts like everyone is her own personal servant.

"Hey, Cody, check THIS out!"

Cody and I both looked up as Zack thrust a pair of freshly dissected frog's legs into Cody's face.

Cody shrieked and leapt backward, sending his chair flying. "Zack, stop it!" He sounded like a little girl.

I bit my tongue to avoid letting out any girlie shrieks of my own. A lesson learned when Zack attempted the fist pound.

"You look just like Maddie and Esteban when they thought you were the cursed mummy of Queen Qui Qui," Zack jeered, chasing Cody with the frog legs. Most of Zack's stories starred Maddie the Candy Counter Girl, Esteban the Bellhop, London, and—of course—poor, long-suffering Mr. Moseby.

"Oh, that was hilarious!" London hooted with laughter. "But you had to be there," she said before her lab partner, Addison Cartwright, could start asking questions. Addison has a ballet dancer's figure and waist-length light brown hair that any girl would envy. Just looking at her makes me wish I didn't have to keep my hair hidden under a baseball cap. Like London's father, Addison's dad also runs a multinational company. Judging from her hyperactive nature, the company manufactures either candy or Ritalin.

The inevitable mayhem struck when Zack tripped over Cody's chair and slammed into the aquarium, knocking it to the floor.

I happened to be closest to the aquarium. A tidal splash hit me, along with assorted aquatic flora and fauna.

And the octopus.

"Zack, look what you did!" I yelled as the mushy creature flopped in my lap, spewing black ink. Five days at sea and the octopus had made me its victim twice.

Cody scooped the octopus off me. "You're such an idiot," he snapped at Zack, who stood there laughing his head off with Woody at his side.

Stupid immature moron. Just like Moose and all those other rednecks back in Kettlecorn.

"I'm gonna go get a mop," I said between gritted teeth, and I marched out of the lab.

Ms. Tutweiller had pointed out the nearby cleaning supplies closet on our first-day tour. She must have known we'd need it. I yanked open the door and rummaged for a mop and bucket.

"Bailey, I'm sorry."

Mop in hand, I turned to see Zack standing next to me.

"I was just kidding around," he said. "Come on, don't be mad."

"Leave me alone, Zack. Just go." I wanted to stay furious with him, but my resolve was fizzling. How could it not, with those bluish-green eyes sparkling at me, those lips quirking into a grin that seemed designed to neutralize my anger?

He stepped closer to me, and the door shut behind him.

"Zack..." My voice trailed off. The space around us was shrinking, pushing us together, the air heating as though the closet had become a sauna. And then our faces were inches apart. His breath tickled my cheek. My knees did their wobbly thing again, like I was balancing in the middle of a teeter-totter.

I'm not even sure who kissed whom first. One graze of the lips and Zack and I were all over each other right there in the closet, amid dusty brooms and corrosive liquids and rags that been who knows where. Breathless and eager, tongues tangling, hands in each other's hair. That kind of kiss. His mouth tasted like chocolate ice cream from the dessert buffet.

I had no idea how much time had passed when a cry rang out—from the lab, thankfully.

"What in the world is going on here?" Ms. Tutweiller.

Clonk. A spray bottle hit my head.

Woody piped up. "Hey, where are Zack and Bailey?"

I giggled and let my forehead drop onto Zack's shoulder. My heart was racing. So was his. I could feel it through the fabric of his shirt.

If only they knew...

A/N: Secret action in a closet… a love story's gotta have it. Big thanks to you guys for reading. Stay tuned for what happens next. Reviews and suggestions always welcome. (And yes, I am still working on the other roommate story :) Xoxoxo – Ellie