The Truth Finally Comes Out

Tuesday Afternoon

Zack let out a sigh of frustration as he walked into the mail center and looked at the large stack of envelopes that were waiting for him to be delivered or sorted through. After this, he had to go back to work at the Easy Squeeze and then go and try to do his homework, find time to eat, and then go to sleep.

"This bites." He muttered to himself as he started to sort through some of the mail, putting it in piles of crew, teachers, and students. He stopped when he saw a large envelope addressed to him and Cody. His blue eyes shifted to the top left hand corner and he smiled when he recognized his mom's messy handwriting.

Grinning from ear to ear, Zack quickly tore open the letter and started to read it.

Dear Zack and Cody,

How are you guys doing on the SS Tipton? I know that report cards are coming out soon and don't think that because I'm far away from you I can't ground you Zack. I'm just kidding, sort of. Hopefully it won't come to me having to do that. I bet you're wondering how everybody back here is doing. The Tipton is much quieter without you guys and Mr. Moseby around. I can tell you that much. But nobody is stressing out about things either, so that's kind of a good thing. Esteban is still a bag boy, but he goes around acting like Mr. Moseby some of the time, just because, believe it or not, the staff misses him.

Maddie still works at the candy counter, she works on the weekend to raise money for her family, even though she had gotten a scholarship to UMass. It's good to have a familiar face around when you boys aren't here. She doesn't like to admit it, but she misses you guys and London a lot. Arwin…wow, it's hard to say this, but Arwin and I have started dating. I'm going to save you the details because I know you don't like to hear about me dating, as you think I'm old. But I've started to see him in a different light because he is one of the only people that want to see me happy. Especially since he waited so long form me to notice him. So do me a favor Zack, tell Cody not to overreact and think that your father and I are getting back together, because I don't think that that's going to happen anytime soon.

Well, I don't know what else to say, as there hasn't really been much going on. Write back, I want to hear all about the friends you've made and the adventures you have.

Love you,

Mom

Zack smiled to himself as he folded up the letter and stuck it into his pocket. The letter from home caused him to work diligently in silence for the next few minutes, that is, before Cody and Bailey came strolling into the mail room, wondering if they had any mail.

"Here you go," Zack said in monotone as he handed Bailey a large package, that looked beat up, and the folded letter to Cody. He turned towards Bailey. "You got some food from your parents, but just so you don't find out later, the chocolate that they sent you is gone."

"Thanks for going through my personal mail, Zack." Bailey said with a disappointed frown on her face. She turned to Cody. "I wouldn't be surprised if he went through that letter he gave you too."

"Actually, it's a letter from our mom, thank you." Zack replied, annoyed.

"Don't fight guys," Cody chided as he shook his head. "Especially over something as little as this."

Zack then turned to look at Cody and a sly smile crossed his features as he looked back and forth between Bailey and Cody. "Are you guys on a date or something?"

"Yeah Zack, I would take someone on a date to the mailroom." Cody replied looking two-parts annoyed and one-part embarrassed. "I'm not that weird."

"Want a second opinion?" Zack replied as he raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. "I'm just joking, buddy, don't take it personally."

"Is something going on?" Cody asked as he looked at his brother curiously.

"I just have a lot on my mind." Zack replied vaguely.

"Wow, Zack with a lot on his mind," Bailey teased. "That's something you don't see every day." Her features softened when she saw the look on his face. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings Zack, I was just teasing you."

"I know." He replied.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Not really, I'll see you guys later." Zack replied and turned his back on them as he went back to what he was doing. Bailey looked at Cody, who shrugged in reply, but knew that it was a good idea to leave his brother alone for a while.

Zack waited until he heard the footsteps walk out of the mailroom and slumped against the counter, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Cody is so lucky sometimes." He muttered to himself. "He can just go through life not having to-"

"Talking to yourself? You know that's the first sign of insanity, right?"

Zack whirled around and saw Riley looked at him curiously. He frowned and walked over to the front counter. "What do you want?" he asked lowly. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything for a second.

"Ok, I'll let that slide because you're in a bad mood." She stated and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning against the counter too. "What's gotten your boxers in a bunch?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"If I didn't know any better I would say that you were trying to get rid of me." She commented lazily.

"Wow, are you that slow?" Zack asked, trying not to let his anger show. 'How dare she come in here and act like nothing has happened between us at all.'

"Watch it," Riley said sharply as she pushed herself into a standing position. "I could tell Mr. Moseby that you're not being nice to a customer."

"You're not paying me." Zack replied as he raised an eyebrow.

"You got a point there," Riley replied and then crossed her arms over her chest and studied Zack with her dark blue eyes. "Something's on your mind. And I'm guessing that from the fact you're being so standoffish means that you're mad at me about something." She paused. "Am I right?"

"I hate it when you do that." Zack finally said after a few moments of silence and then threw his arms into the air. "Fine! Yes! Ok, I'm mad at you!"

"You can't possibly still be mad at me for us breaking up." Riley stated as she raised an eyebrow. When Zack didn't say anything, she let out an incredulous laugh as she looked around before turning back to him. "Zack….I can't believe you can be so stupid! Why are you still dwelling on that? It's what happened, like, two years ago, and there's nothing that we can do to change it."

"So you can't even apologize for breaking my heart!" Zack shot back.

"In case you're forgetting, you broke my heart too." She replied coldly.

"Hey, we need to talk." Riley said as she walked over to Zack and stood above him. He opened his eyes and smiled up at her, but his smile faded when he realized that something was bothering her. Letting out a sigh, as if he knew what was going to happen, he stood up and brushed off his shorts. "Have you been sleeping in the park all day?"

"Not all day," Zack replied as he turned to face her and then nervously bit his lower lip. "But that's not what you wanted to talk about is it?"

"No," Riley shook her head in reply. "That's not what I wanted to say." She looked around at Liberty Park and let out a soft sigh before holding her hand out to Zack. "Let's take a walk."

"No, I think you can say what you have to say now." Zack replied staring at her coldly. Riley took a step back and looked at him weirdly before taking another breath and saying what she had to say.

"I'm leaving soon." She replied quietly.

Zack didn't have to ask why; he knew the risks that he was taking when he first started to pursue her. Considering she is in an internationally famous band, she didn't have a lot of time to say in one place and have a relationship, but he wanted to try it anyway. At first she didn't want to go out with him, and have shot him down every time he asked her. But then she realized that she had feelings for him and decided to go out with him. The two had been dating for about two years, as they had met when they were thirteen and they are now fifteen.

"When are you leaving?" he asked as he ran his fingers through his hair, refusing to look at her.

"As soon as the weekend is over." She replied after a second, as if she was ashamed of having to wait so long to tell him.

"That's only a few days away!" he looked at her with wide eyes.

"I know." She replied simply.

"Then why did you wait so long to tell me?" Zack asked, looking angry.

"I didn't know how I was going to!" Riley replied, not sounding like herself. "I knew that you were going to be upset about it whether or not I told you sooner or later."

"So, that's it, you're going to break up with me?" Zack asked. Riley shook her head and placed her hands on her hips, starting to get mad herself.

"That's not what I want to do, Zack." She replied, clenching her teeth.

"Well you might as well!" he cried, taking a step forward, causing Riley to instinctively take a step backwards. "You're going to be going around the world where there are other guys around who want your attention. How do I know that you won't cheat on me?"

"I would never do that, Zack!"

"Really?" Zack snorted. "I'd just like to see you prove that."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"How do I know that you won't cheat on me?" Riley snarled, stabbing a finger into his chest. "I mean, you've done it before and I took you back after that. How do I know that you aren't going to do it again?"

"You're right," Zack finally fell quiet. "How do you know that I'm not going to do it again?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riley's hands were now clenched into fists and they were shaking, but her voice had grown soft too.

Zack rubbed his nose and looked at the ground, refusing to meet her gaze, meaning that he was either about to start crying or he already was. "Maybe breaking up is a good thing for us. I mean, we weren't really that great together anyway." He took a deep breath and said the largest lie that he had ever said in his life. "I mean, I didn't really like you that much anyway." He lifted his head when he didn't get an answer and was met with the rare sight of Riley close to tears.

"So you're saying that you strung me along these past two years?"

"Yes," Zack turned his head away again.

"Zack…you…you…" Riley punched herself in the thigh. "I can't believe that I even fell for you! I'm happy that I'm leaving!"

"Well, you might as well go now; you have a lot of packing to do." Zack's voice cracked as he glared at her. She glared back and shook her head again.

"Fine." She replied simply and then reached around her neck, taking off a necklace that he had given to her. She carelessly tossed it at his feet and turned her back on him. "Bye."

"Bye."

"You knew that I had no choice but to go on that tour, it's kind of my job." Riley said as she looked at Zack with a hardened expression, her fingers drumming on the counter.

"No," Zack replied staring back at her with the same expression written on his face. "You didn't have to go; you could have just told your siblings and your dad that you wanted to stay a normal teenager for a while."

"And disappoint all of my fans, I don't think so." Riley replied.

"You know you're acting really selfish."

"How am I acting selfish? I was thinking of my fans, thinking about someone else, maybe you should have done that before you lied to me."

"How do you know I lied?" Zack asked quietly.

"In case you've forgotten, Cody was like my best friend." Riley replied with narrowed eyes. "He tells me everything." She sighed. "Why did you lie to me? And I want the truth"

"Well, you were leaving, and that was breaking my heart as that was," Zack muttered in reply. "And I guess I wanted you to feel it too."

"You succeeded, I can tell you that."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them and finally Riley had to look away, usually in their case dark blue always won against light blue, but this time she had to be the first one to turn away.

"I know that we didn't leave off on good terms," she muttered. "But I thought that when I got back on the boat that we could at least be friends again." She turned back around. "Can we at least try that?"

"I'm not sure."

Riley gave a faint smile. "Well, at least while you were on this ship and while I was away, you grew up."

"You know it." Zack gave a small smile in reply. "I can't always be the screw up I used to be. I screw up about five minutes later than I usually would."

"Uh, I guess I'll see you later."

"Right."

"Bye"

"Bye"

Kind of a short chapter, but I wanted to show Zack's sensitive side, the reason why he and Riley broke up, and how they are now. Hope you enjoyed it!