Chapter 12

We don't any of these characters except ones we create.

Later that night in Boston, Kurt Martin just sat at the kitchen table, a drink in his hand. Carey Martin sat across from him.

"Kurt, settle down..."

Kurt just shook his head. "I have nothing to settle down from! Our son deliberately lied to us so he could be with that Pickett girl!"

Carey sighed. "Her name was Bailey, and in case you've forgotten, she and Cody were inseparable until you and George Pickett pulled them apart..."

Kurt got up to pour himself another drink. "Those Picketts are no good, low down, whining, pieces of..."

"Careful of what you say...And haven't you had enough to drink tonight?"

Kurt glared at Carey. "Our son betrayed us! Why isn't this a big deal to you? And as for another drink, I think I've earned another!"

"That's all you do nowadays is drink too much..."

Kurt smirked. "Well, I'm sorry...My job is rather stressful. The booze helps ease the strain after a long day..."

Carey just shook her head. "No wonder Zack and Cody wanted to get away..."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, have you considered why Cody did this? Or have you just thought about how it affects you?"

"It shouldn't matter why he did it! The fact is the Martin family hates the Pickett family. Cody betrayed us by going off to be with that girl!"

Carey was about to say something when they were interrupted by the phone.

Back in Kettlecorn, George Pickett was pacing the kitchen floor in anger. Sally Pickett was trying to soothe her husband.

"Settle down. This isn't that big of a deal..."

George turned and glared at her. "Not that big of a deal? Bailey has betrayed this family. Hanging out with that Martin boy can only lead to trouble. Those Martins are no good, low down, back stabbing, pieces of..."

"Careful. Obviously our daughter doesn't agree with your opinion..."

"Sally! She flat out lied to us!"

Sally smirked. "Didn't you lie to her by keeping all of Cody's letters from her?"

George paused. "I was doing what I thought was best..."

"You remember how mad she was about that. What do you think will happen if you pull her away from that ship and Cody now? I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep our daughter in our lives..."

"I'm her father. Its my job to protect her and keep her away from undesirables!"

"Undesirable to you or to her? Cause you kept trying to force that James boy on her, and she was clear she wasn't interested..."

George sighed. "Fine! I'll let her stay on the boat, but I'm going to make sure she stays away from that Martin boy!"

George picked up the phone. "Get me a Kurt Martin in Boston, Massachusetts."

"What are you doing?"

"Putting a stop to this once and for all!"

Meanwhile back on the S.S. Tipton, Zack and Jen have ran all the way back up to Bailey and Jen's cabin. As they bust in, Cody and Bailey immediately pull away from another kiss they were sharing.

Bailey sighed. "Couldn't you have knocked first?"

Jen shook her head. "One, its my cabin too. Two, there was no time!"

"What do you mean no time?"

Jen shoved a piece of paper in front of Cody and Bailey. "Look at this..."

Bailey frowned. "Its the Seven Seas Newsletter..."

Cody paused. "Uh oh..."

"What?"

Cody pointed to the section on birthdays. "That..."

Bailey sighed. "Oh no..." She paused. "Is there anyway to stop this from going out?"

Zack shook his head. "No. We already tried. But Tut said the real ones don't have the birthdays listed on them..."

Cody was confused then. "What is this then?"

"This is a copy of a fake one James made and sent to our parents. We printed this off of his computer five minutes ago..."

"James..."

Bailey shook her head. "But...I thought he was my friend. He said he wouldn't say anything..."

Cody shook his head and his anger was building. "I knew I should have kept an eye on him..."

Bailey's anger was rising too. "Where is he? I'll kill him! He knows I can neuter a bull with my bare hands!"

Zack grimaced at that. "Okay, note to self. Don't tick off Bailey..."

Bailey grabbed Cody's hand. "Come on, we need to go find that snake in the grass!" And with that, Bailey dragged Cody out of the cabin. Zack and Jen looked at each other, shrugged and followed them.

Back in Boston, Kurt picked up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Well, well...If it ain't that no good, back stabbing Kurt Martin..."

Kurt growled. "George Pickett...What the hell do you want?"

"I want to know why you let that chip off the old block son of yours brainwash my daughter!"

"My son did no such thing. I bet this was all your little hayseeds doing. My Cody is a good boy. I know he would never do anything like this without your daughter encouraging him!"

"Well, my Bailey would never do anything like this, so your boy has to be the one at fault!"

"Well, don't you worry about that anymore. The ship is going to be docking in Hong Kong next week. I'll be there to pull my sons off that ship so fast it'll make your daughter's head spin!"

"No you won't because I'll be there before you to drag my daughters off that ship and take them somewhere that delinquent son of yours never finds my Bailey ever again!"

And with that, both fathers slammed their phones down. And both mothers just stared at the fathers knowing that there would likely never be peace in the families ever again.

Back on the ship, Bailey and Cody storm onto the skydeck and see James sitting at the smoothie bar. They march over, and Bailey spins James around and slaps him as hard as she can.

"I can't believe you!"

James was rubbing his cheek. "What did I do?"

Bailey takes the piece of paper Jen printed out and shoves it in his face. "And I thought you were my friend!"

James looks at the piece of paper. "Its the Seven Seas High Newsletter...So what?"

By then, Jen and Zack had arrived behind Cody and Bailey.

Jen smirked. "Yeah, the one we printed off of your laptop. Miss Tutweiler told us the real ones didn't include birthdays on them.

James stands there seeing four angry faces starting back at him. Realizing he was caught red handed, he decided to come clean.

"Alright. So I did it. I was doing what your father asked me to do. I was trying to keep you safe..."

Bailey was incredulous. "Who was I in danger from? Cody? Hardly! Cody loves me and I love him. I've never felt more safe in my life than when I with him. And thanks to you, our parents are probably going to try to pull us apart again..."

"But..."

"But nothing! I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being!"

Cody finally spoke. "I'm with Bailey. I will find Bailey again, and then we will make sure your life is a living hell!"

Zack nodded. "And we'll help!"

Bailey glared at James once again. "I made the mistake of thinking you were my friend. Never again! I wouldn't throw water on you if you were on fire. I hope everyone knows soon just what kind of a scumbag you really are. I...I..." Bailey's anger was rising so much, she wanted to physically hurt James.

But before she could, Cody held her back. "Bails, he deserves to be punished, and if there is a God, he will be. But right now, we have other things to worry about right now..."

James took the opportunity to run away like the coward he was.

Bailey turned and looked into Cody's eyes. Immediately, she began to calm down. "You're right. Cody, what are we going to do?"

Cody paused. "Maybe you can call one of your other sisters and get them to get to the mail first. Maybe I can call Esteban or Maddie and get them to get to our mail first..."

Bailey nodded. "That might work..."

Cody smiled at her. "It has to. We've come too far to be separated again. Bailey, I refuse to go anywhere without you."

Bailey smiled back at him. "I feel the same way, Cody. I love you."

"I love you too..." Cody was about to lean in and kiss her again when his cell phone rang. He sighed and looked at the display and looked up with a look of horror on his face.

"Cody, who is it?"

"Its our home number in Boston..."

To be Continued...