Chapter 9: The New Waitress

Disclaimer: I do not own characters except ones I made up

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I hit a major writer's block and I had a ton of work to do before school started.

Zack lazily dragged himself out of bed at noon. He made sure the first thing he did was check the calendar to check how long it was until Christmas vacation. He couldn't believe he still a week and a half to go. He woke Marcus up and got showered. He put on his Easy Squeezy uniform and headed out the door. When he got to the Skydeck, he saw Cody and Bailey sitting at the juice bar. Zack walked up to them.

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

Cody simply smiled at Zack. "Nothing."

"Zack!" called a voice from behind him. He turned around to see it was Daphne. "You're late. I had to make and serve the smoothies all by myself for like an hour."

"Sorry, Daphne. It's not my fault you just decided to volunteer to do stuff until I showed up."

"I didn't volunteer; it's my job to serve the smoothies. It's not my job to make them too."

"J…job?"

"Yeah. I told Cody and Bailey I needed a job and they got me one here."

"…I see…" Zack glared at Cody.

"Yeah, I'll have a Blueberry Blitz." Cody said as he smiled.

"Coming right up!" said Daphne . "Get on it, Zack. " she said angrily.

"Sure thing." he said. He shot another look at Cody before going behind the counter and beginning his shift.

A few hours later, Zack's shift was over and he summoned up the courage to talk to Daphne.

"He-Hey, Daphne."

"Hey, Zack. Sorry I got on your case about being late. I really need this job and I can't take the blame for anything."

"Actually, I should apologize for being late. I guess I should be more considerate now that I have a partner."

Daphne just stared in amazement. "Wow, Zack. You…apologized for something."

"Yeah. Why not? I mean I don't want someone I'm gonna be with all the time to hate me." Zack paused a moment as Daphne slightly blushed. "No—I meant we're gonna be working together. So…We'll be together five days out of every week." Zack, realizing that he was screwing up big time, he decided to change the subject. "Uh…Would you like me to walk you to your cabin?"

Daphne patted Zack on the cheek. "Not on your life, sport." Daphne tossed her apron into Zack's arms and walked off.

Zack watched her leave as if in a daze. He put his hand on his cheek, sighed and fell back into a lounge chair. Unbeknownst to Zack, Cody crept down the stairs and stared at Zack who looked like he had just died and gone to heaven.

"Hey, Zack."

"Cody!" Zack immediately lunged out of the chair and turned to face his brother. "Cody I can't believe you did something like this! What did you do? Go to Moseby and beg him to let Daphne be waitress?"

Cody was hesitant to answer. Zack looked like he was about to wrap his hands around Cody's neck and kill him instantly. "…Yes."

Zack just stared at him with the angriest expression Cody had ever seen, and eventually he let out a calm, "Thanks." before storming off.

All week, Zack was asking Daphne if he could escort her to her cabin and she continuously turned him down. Eventually, Daphne went to her roommate, Addison for advice.

"So, Addison. I've got an awkward subject to ask you about. Everyday after work, Zack asks me if he can escort me to my room. Do you think I should let him."

"Do you think he likes you?"

"I don't think so. I know all about Zack's reputation. I think the only reason he's being so persistent is because he thinks I'm the only girl who's ever turned him down."

"I don't know. Usually Zack isn't that dedicated to chasing a girl. It's been a week. I think he would've moved on if you've been denying him that long. Maybe, just maybe…he's being sincere."

The next day, after their shift, Daphne went to Zack who was finishing cleaning the counter.

"Hey, Zack. So, first apologizing and now cleaning. I don't believe it."

"Ha ha. What are you still doing here anyways?"

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you. Maybe we could talk on the way to my cabin."

"Wait a minute. Your asking me if I wanna walk you to your cabin?"

"Maybe."

"Well this is kinda awkward considering I've asked you all week, but okay."

When they got to Daphne's room, Zack stopped her from going in. "Listen, Daphne. Christmas vaction starts in two days and there's gonna be a dance. And I don't have a date."

"And you made fun of Cody thinking he'd never have a date."

"Yeah…Well, y'know…I was kinda hoping that, as a friend you could pretend to be my date?"

"Wow…Ya walk me to my cabin and we're suddenly dating." she joked.

"Well…"

"I guess I'll go with you, but I'm not posing as your date. I'll go as your friend, but only because I don't have a date either." She walked into her room and immediately called Bailey. "Bailey, guess what?"

And outside in the hall, "Cody, guess what?"