Chapter 11
"Oh Brother!"
Summary: Zack and Cody may be having a little more trouble on their hands than they thought when they start getting strange feelings for each other? Reluctant to believe the truth, Zack tries his best to resist. Cody tries to meet his brother's standards but ends up falling hard. All notes, thoughts and settings are written in italics.
A/N: Wowie, I almost thought this story was a goner, didn't you? After looking over my reviews, I thought it would be quite selfish if I didn't continue, so my apologies and thank you for all your reviews! Take this good or bad, but you might notice a change in my way of writing compared to how I used to write before (slightly!) Anyway, enough babble. Here is a slightly LONGER chapter for all you awaiting readers. :)
"Zack...honey..." Carey murmured, almost more to herself than to her son.
Zack whipped his head to face her, surprised at the sudden change in his mother's tone.
"Yeah, mom?"
Her eyebrows scrunched in frustration as she searched for the right words.
"That was the principal…Gizmo's mother called and she threatened to press charges. Apparently, you might have broke his nose when you decided to go on with your little act…"
Zack twitched. Press charges…that wimp had to get his mother involved, didn't he? He didn't even recall punching Gizmo all that hard, but it was hard to tell when your head was full of a bunch of red haze.
There was a long silence and it seemed that Kurt didn't even have anything to say as they waited for her to continue.
"The principal said that he could try to pull a few strings to try to avoid the charges. Suspension…or expullsion—
Kurt sprang from the couch immediately.
"They're gonna try to expell MY kid just for punching someone in the face? Man, when I was his age, we got into trouble that was twice as worth and got away with it, too!"
Carey flickered her eyes at her ex husband, she too, trying to contain her frustration…although doing a much better job.
"They said it might be better if you went away for a while, honey…to…let things calm down." She added.
"WHAT?! WHY!? So, I kicked him off the team, BIG DEAL! And if he didn't decide to throw a ball at Cody's face, maybe I wouldn't have had to punch him!" Zack defended, thumping his hand which was now balled into a fist agaisnt the coffee table in front of him.
Carey sighed, making Cody shift uncomfortably in his seat as he anxiously waited for her to decide the fate that lied for his brother.
"Gizmo isn't like you, Zack. You may not see this as a big deal, but to him, it is!"
She paused a moment before she continued. "Gizmo has anger management problems…and he nearly deafened a student at his old school, according to his mother. I just don't think it'll be safe for you two to be in the same classes for a while."
"What are you trying to say, mom?" Zack snapped, hardly aware of how rude he was being.
Cody cringed upon hearing his brother's unfamiliar harshness.
"…I think you should leave Buckner for a while, honey. At least until Gizmo forgets about this little mishap. I'm sorry, Zack, but I am not gonna allow some woman to press charges agaisnt you and have you under probation like…some kind of animal!"
Cody's mind was spinning quicker than a washing machine upon hearing the words escape from his mother's mouth. He glanced quickly over to Zack to see that his expression was unreadable. His lips had pulled together to form a tight line, oh how he wished that he could somehow make the smile reappear.
Cody opened his mouth to speak, but much to his dismay, nothing came out.
"So what am I supposed to do? Stay at home until things 'clear up'?" Zack scruffed sarcastically.
Carey's eyebrows scrunched up in thought as she turned her eyes away from her son. From what Cody could see, she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Carey." A voice called, coming out much softer than the last time it had spoken.
"Hm?" She hummed, not taking her eyes off of the imaginary target that held her focus.
"A word." Kurt blurted, coming off more as a command as he took her gently by the arm and led her outside.
The door closed with a quiet click and the twins were left alone once more.
Cody sat quietly next to his brother, afraid that the slightest motion would set him off. Zack's fist remained unchanged on top of the table, Zack's expression however, was as hard as stone.
"I'm sorry, Zack." Cody choked as he tried to use what was left of his voice.
This time, Zack did not respond. The familiar curling of a smile was gone. The softening of his eyes gone along with it. Cody's heart ached. Was he mad?
Little did Cody know, that there was more going on in Zack's mind than he would let show. A thousand thoughts seemed to fly into his head at once and he could not think straight. Staying home couldn't be that bad, but from the looks of it, he was sure that home wasn't exactly the place where he'd be staying. He really would have to go away. Away from the Tipton, away from his mom…away from Cody.
The two continued to sit in silence, a raging battle burning inside the both of them, as they waited for their parents to return.
