Chapter 14

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

Bailey looked at Cody in a panic as her eyes went wide.

"The fire alarm?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah..." He paused and looked across the room. "Hey, Zack? Is this your handy work?"

Zack smirked. "Of course not! At least not this time. Besides, I was in here with you guys when the alarm went off..."

Cody paused and then his eyes went wide. "That means..."

Bailey finished his thought. "FIRE!"

All four of them quickly jumped up and for the next few seconds they acted like four chickens with their heads cut off. They all slipped on shoes and ran out of the suite as fast as they could. And with the fire alarm triggering an automatic shutdown of the elevators, they had to head down twenty-three flights of stairs. Fortunately though, their adrenaline helped mask any fatigue they were building up. Arriving at the lobby, they immediately made their way out the front door and gathered with everyone else in the park across the street.

Zack and Maya were standing off by themselves when they heard a voice boom from behind them.

"Alright, you hooligan...what did you do now?"

They both turned and found Mr. Moseby glaring at Zack.

"I swear, from the moment you and your brother have gotten to this hotel, you've made it you mission to create as much chaos and havoc in my life and at my hotel as possible! This is the last straw! I'm of the a mind right now to..."

But before he could continue, Maya cut him off. "Zack had nothing to do with this. Betty and I were with both Zack and Cody at the time the alarm went off!"

Moseby glared at her. "What?"

Maya glared back. "I was with Zack when the alarm went off. I think I would have known if he had done it."

Moseby paused. "Well then...If you will excuse me."

Maya shook her head. "Uh uh. You aren't going anywhere until you apologize to Zack for falsely accusing him!"

Moseby rolled his eyes. "Then this is the only time that Zack didn't do it..."

"So, you have no guilt whatsoever for falsely accusing Zack of something he didn't do?"

Moseby rubbed his eyes. "Look, Maya..."

Maya's eyes went wide and quickly corrected him. "Its Mary..."

Moseby frowned. "But you said your name was Maya yesterday, and your friend is Bailey..."

Maya shook her head. "No, my name is Mary and my friend is Betty."

"Are you sure?"

Maya gave Moseby a false smirk. "I think we know what our names are."

Moseby shrugged. "Whatever. The point is you just met Zack yesterday. I've known him for a while now. He's done nothing but cause me problems since he's moved in..."

Maya sighed. "And you can't cut him some slack? He's thirteen for goodness sakes. When I was that age, I was a terror too. But, he will get better as he grows up."

Moseby just gave her a look. "Right..."

"Weren't you thirteen once?"

"Of course I was, but I was always on my best behavior so it would make things easier on my mother." He paused and frowned. "But it was never good enough! I could never compare to my brothers Spencer or Dwight."

Zack was about to speak up as he had never heard Moseby mention another brother besides Spencer but Maya cut him off.

"Then you of all people should be more sympathetic to Zack!"

Moseby just have Maya a look. "Pardon me?"

Maya sighed. "You were constantly trying to get your mother's attention away from your brothers who you feel hogged it. How can you get on Zack's case for doing the same thing?"

"What?"

Zack turned to Maya and gave her a look imploring her not to go where he feared she was going. But Maya was undeterred.

"All Zack is doing is trying to get his mother's attention so that she sees him the same way as Cody. Surely you can understand that?"

Moseby turned to Zack. "Is that true?"

Zack sighed. "A little bit..."

Moseby paused. "I had no idea. I mean, I knew Cody and I once bonded over having big brothers who didn't respect us, but I didn't know you felt like you were in a competition with him."

"Its not easy having a brother who is so good at everything..."

Moseby nodded. "Tell me about it. To my mother, Dwight is her favorite. He can do no wrong. She never appreciated my efforts with ballet or croquet or even badminton. But Dwight...just because what he could do with a ball..." Moseby shuddered as Zack looked at him confused. "Anyways. Zack, I am sorry I accused you of this when you were innocent."

Zack shrugged. "No big deal. You just happened to pick the one time when you were wrong."

Meanwhile, a little bit away from them, Bailey and Cody stood there trying to figure out what was going on. And by then, the wind had picked up a little making it a tad bit chilly. Bailey began to shiver a little bit, and Cody noticed.

"You cold?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah...its cooled off from earlier."

Cody took Blankie from around his shoulders and handed it to her. "Here. This should help a little bit."

"Thanks." Bailey paused and apprehensively looked at it. "I know you said this reminded you of your grandmother, but it seems like you are very attached to it..."

Cody sighed. "I am...there is a little bit more to the story."

"Like what?"

"Well, Blankie is a twin too. Grandma gave one to both Zack and myself. And she gave them to us while we were staying with her while Mom and Dad were fighting once again. Grandma told me that no matter what happened, this blanket would be there to comfort me."

Bailey nodded. "I guess I can see that."

Cody continued. "It was about a week later that Mom and Dad told us they were getting a divorce. I couldn't understand that, and I spent many nights wrapped up in Blankie crying."

Bailey felt her heart breaking. "Wow...that had to be so hard."

Cody sighed again. "And to make matters worse, Grandma died not too long after that. Its all I had left of her. I could just remember her telling me that Blankie would keep me comforted. I don't know, but every time I hugged it, it felt like Grandma was hugging me again telling me everything would be alright."

Bailey hung her head. "I had no idea. No wonder it means so much to you."

"It was there for me in my darkest hours."

Bailey paused. "Your parents divorce must have been pretty hard for you, huh?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah. It was. I mean, I know they loved each other. If you love someone, shouldn't you do whatever it takes to make things work?"

Bailey sighed. "Sometimes, its not that easy."

Cody gave Bailey a confused look. "Why not? If two people love each other, that should be the most important thing, right? You constantly see movies or read books or hear stories where true love conquers all. Is that just a lie to sell merchandise?"

Bailey stopped to consider that. "No. Its not. True love conquers all. I believe that with all of my heart. But you are forgetting something."

"What?"

"True love is between people. And people are not perfect. They can be stubborn or hard headed or let their emotions get the best of them. But it doesn't mean the love dies. That's when the love needs to be its strongest. And if it is, true love will prevail."

Cody paused to think. "Yeah, I can see that. Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

Bailey smiled. "We all do, even when we don't mean to."

Cody shook his head. "It all sounds so complicated."

Bailey chuckled. "It is...but its oh so worth it."

Cody smiled at her. "I look forward to finding out."

"Just remember...Its the people that you love the most that have the power to hurt you the most."

Cody nodded. "I can see that. It would only be the people that you truly let into your heart that have the power to break it."

"Exactly. But you want to hear a secret?"

"Sure."

"They are also the ones who have the power to put it back together again."

"I can see that. I guess once someone is truly in your heart, they never leave."

Bailey smiled. "No, they don't...And you don't want them to. Trust me...there is no better feeling in the world than to have your heart whole again."

Cody paused. "Sounds like you speak from personal experience."

Bailey nodded. "I do. But you want to hear the best part?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah."

"When your heart is whole again...its stronger than before. It knows what it feels like to be broken, and will do everything to prevent that from happening again."

Cody smiled. "Now, that sounds good to me..."

Bailey paused. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure."

"Does Zack still have his Blankie too?"

Cody laughed. "Yeah...But don't tell anyone I told you. He's really embarrassed about his Snuggie."

Bailey held back her laughter. "I won't say a word."

To be Continued...