Chapter 13

Again, I don't own any of these characters

Bailey and Cassie open the door to the cabin and find that Zack was nowhere in sight. Cassie sighed as she realized that Zack had gone off looking for his brother. She turned to Bailey and said it looked like they were on their own. They quickly headed out and immediately went to Rebecca's cabin figuring that was the last place they knew Cody was going. As they walked outside her cabin, they noticed that her porthole was open. They couldn't hear what was going on, but new they definitely heard noises coming from the room.

Bailey turned to her cousin. "Give me a boost so I can look through the porthole…"

Cassie sighed and dropped to her knee and made a step by interlocking her fingers. Bailey stepped onto her hands and lifted up enough to see what was going on inside the room. A few seconds later, Bailey stepped back down with a confused look on her face.

Meanwhile

Zack was searching the entire ship for his brother too. He had checked near Rebecca's cabin, but there was no sign of him. Zack tried to think of anywhere else his brother could be. He checked his watch. 9:45. Zack knew he had to hurry as curfew was in 15 minutes. He quickly checked anywhere Cody was likely to frequent and as a last minute gamble, he checked the skydeck. And there he was. Cody was sitting on the towel counter just staring off into space. Zack walked up next to him and hopped up next to him.

"How did it go?"

Cody turned to his brother. "I'm still trying to figure that out..."

"What happened?"

Cody paused. He knew what happened to Rebecca was not his story to tell. But, Cody knew he had to tell someone or he might go crazy thinking about it. And since Bailey had made it clear they couldn't associate with each other until after the pageant, he turned to Zack. "What I am about to tell you, you cannot tell a living soul..."

Zack was taken aback but nodded. Cody proceeded to tell Zack everything that Rebecca had told him. By the time that Cody finished with the story, Zack was sitting there with his eyes open wide and his mouth hanging open.

"Wow..."

Cody sighed. "Tell me about it..."

"What are you going to do?"

Cody shakes his head. "I have absolutely no idea..."

Zack rubs the back of his head. "I knew that Josh guy was a jerk...but that sounds like pure evil..."

Cody sighs. "I know...But what can I do about it? If I try to bust him, he turns around and ruins Rebecca's life already more than it is..."

Zack nods. "And if you don't..."

"I know..."

Zack pauses. I take it the after hearing all of that that you no longer hate Rebecca?"

Cody shakes his head. "No...I feel sorry for her..." Cody turns to his brother. "I mean...What kind of guy would do to her what her ex tried?"

"I don't know, Cody...There are just some horrible people in this world..."

"I suppose so...I guess I've always tried to avoid thinking of things like that. I mean, we grew up in a posh hotel. Those things just weren't part of what we had to deal with..." Cody shakes his head again. "That sounds so Pollyanna of me..."

"Dude, we were lucky...Its like you said, we were never around people that it had happened too..."

Cody sighs. "I know, but now that I have...Its made me think about it."

"What do you mean?"

Cody can feel his anger rising. "This jerk claimed he loved her. How can anyone claim they love someone and then hit them or try to...try to rape them?"

Zack tries to calm his brother. "That's just it. If he did love her, then he wouldn't have..."

"But she didn't deserve that!"

"Cody, no one does..."

Cody sighs. "I know...It just made me think of Bailey. I love her with all of my heart. I could never imagine raising my hand to her for any reason...Let alone...forcing her to...And Zack, if anyone else tried to do that to her..." Cody pauses. "I think I would kill them..."

Zack rubs his brothers shoulder. "I know you wouldn't...And if someone was stupid enough to try, then I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be hard for you to form a posse to administer some justice..."

Cody turns to his brother. "Thanks, Zack..."

Zack smiles. "No problem...Its pretty obvious to everyone how much you love her...And like I said, she's kind of like a sister to me now..."

Cody finally cracks a smile. "I feel the same way about Cassie..."

Zack laughs. "Easy there, Codester...We are still over a year behind you and Bailey..."

Cody sighs. "Bailey...How do I tell her everything I just found out? It would destroy her..."

Meanwhile, back outside Rebecca's cabin

Cassie just looks at her cousin. "Well?"

Bailey pauses. "She was lying in her bed in the fetal position crying her eyes out…"

Cassie's eyes open wide. "I guess Cody really laid into her then…"

Bailey nods. "I guess so…" She pauses. "Is it wrong that I wish I could have been there to see it?"

Cassie shakes her head. "Everything considered, no…" She checks her watch. "Its almost curfew, we should get back to your cabin before we get caught out. Hopefully, Zack has found him or Cody is already back at the cabin…"

Bailey nods. She and Cassie return back to her cabin, but are disappointed to find it empty. Bailey is starting to get worried. "Where could he be?"

Cassie shrugs. "I don't know…"

Bailey sighs. "I should have been here with him the whole time…"

Cassie rubs her shoulder. "The important thing is that you are back now…"

"I hope Cody feels the same way..."

Cassie smiles. "He will..."

"I need to talk to him...He was right, we should have both just skipped this pageant nonsense..."

"Don't be too hard on yourself...You were challenged and reacted in the heat of the moment..."

Bailey sighs. "I'm usually so good about not going off like that..."

"Bailey, nobody's perfect..."

"I know...I know I'm certainly not..."

Cassie laughs. "Well, except in Cody's eyes..."

Bailey smiles. "I like the way Cody sees me...It makes me feel so safe and secure...and loved..." Bailey appears to be wistfully lost in a memory. "I still remember that night in New Haven so vividly. When he looked at me..."

Cassie looks at her cousin. "What are you talking about?"

Bailey blinks back to reality. "Oh...ummm..." Bailey pauses. Zack already knows, so there is no point in keeping it from Cassie. Bailey knew she could trust her with her innermost secrets. "I was remembering the night that Cody and I first made love..."

Cassie just stares at her cousin. "You two...I mean...you...ummm..."

Bailey nods. "Yeah..."

Cassie is stunned. "Wow..."

Bailey giggles. "I think that word was used quite a bit that night..."

Cassie pauses. "So...What was it like?"

Bailey smiles. "Magical..."

"Its just...I know you've heard the stories from other girls about their first times..."

"I did...And it was nothing like those stories..."

"How was it then?"

Bailey smiles. "I've never felt so loved...desired...adored. I still get goosebumps thinking about it..."

Cassie smiles. "Good..." She pauses. "I'm really happy for you both...I know I'm looking at the real thing with you two..."

Bailey smiles. "Call me an optimist, but I think I can see the same thing with you and Zack..."

Cassie blushes. "I don't know about that..."

"Oh come on...I know you're crazy about him...I saw your face when you saw him again in Kettlecorn...and you two were inseparable in Boston..."

"Well..." Cassie pauses and smirks. "Wait a minute, I guess now we know what you and Cody were doing when you snuck off by yourselves..."

Bailey laughs. "You are so bad!"

Cassie laughs. "Yet, I didn't hear a denial..."

Bailey shakes her head. "Nope...No details about my love life..."

Cassie sighs. "Fine...Speaking of which, he still isn't back and neither is Zack…"

Bailey pauses. "What should we do?"

Cassie checks her watch. "Its past curfew now...I say we stay here and wait. They have to know its past curfew now too. There probably on their way here now…"

Back to the skydeck

Zack looks at his younger brother. "So, what are you going to do?"

Cody sighs. "Maybe its good Bailey did move out for a few days...It will give me time to think of something..."

Zack pauses. "Ummm...About that...She's back in your cabin right now..."

Cody turns to Zack. "Huh?"

"Cassie was going to try to talk some sense to her..."

Cody groans. "What do I do now?"

Zack shakes his head. "Its too bad that there isn't someone we can call for help...like Batman..."

Cody laughs. "That would be nice, but I think I'd rather have Bruce Wayne right now..."

Zack. "Yeah, too bad we don't know influential people...Well, other than Wilfred Tipton, but I'm not sure he even knows we exist..."

Cody turns to Zack and thinks. "Zack! You're a genius!"

"Huh?"

"Let me think...We're in the Mediterranean and its after 10 PM here...that would make it still early afternoon in Boston..."

Zack is confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Cody smiles. "I have a phone call to make!"

"You're going to call Wilfred Tipton?"

"Nope, but I do know of someone one who might be just as good..."

To be Continued...