Chapter 10

A week passed, and Haley went everywhere Zack, Cody and Bailey went. The four became pretty close. The Chris situation was behind everyone, and every time the guy came into view, all Zack would have to do was give him a mean look and he would back off. Oh, how he loved that, that he inflicted fear in someone who deserves it. Honestly, he's never going to forgive the guy for doing what he did to Haley. And Mr. Moseby isn't going to forgive Zack for punching someone in front of passengers, but he doesn't care. At least Chris learned his lesson.

Speaking of Haley, it's her turn to present her history paper. This is one that he actually did... with Haley's help. But he refused to be like Chris and use her—he asked for her help and she gave him ideas. And once his paper was written, she read it over and gave him pointers.

"I wrote my paper on Mary Antoinette," she began and Zack jumped out of his thoughts. She continued, and he didn't really pay attention to what she was saying. It was those eyes again. And admittedly, her mouth. He recalled how much he wanted to kiss it back in her room when he went to see if she was okay after he punched Chris. She had just drank that full bottle of water, and her lips were moist from the liquid. He couldn't help but stare and want to make his lips moist with that same water as well.

There's no stopping it... his feelings for Haley are growing faster than Woody's appetite. And that's really saying something since the guy's always hungry.

Zack let out a breath. Yes, he has it bad now, and for a girl who is still insulted by people because of her appearance. Sure, she has zits all over her face, but her hair is sleek, her eyes are beautiful, her mouth is intensely inviting, and her figure... let's just say that her form-fitting pink shirt and skinny jeans made heat travel from Zack's neck to his hairline.

Applause jolted Zack out of his thoughts and Haley went and sat down. He watched her as she did so. She sat a row over and three people in front of him. Since when has he had it this bad for a girl? A girl who thinks that he thinks of her as just a friend?

Someone nudged him and he looked over at the guy sitting next to him. "What?" Zack asked.

"It's your turn to present. Miss Tuttweiller called your name three times already."

"Oh," Zack said and stood up. He went to the front of the classroom, paper in hand, and about started speaking, but he made the mistake of looking at Haley. His voice caught up in him, and he had stage fright for the first time in his life.

"Um..." he started, not remembering a thing that he, Haley, Bailey and Woody were rehearsing the night before in Cody and Woody's room. All the paper had on it were notes for his presentation. He looked to Miss Tuttweiller. "Um, Miss Tuttweiller..."

"Don't tell me all that's on that paper is a title," she said.

"No, for once I actually did my report." The whole class gasped. Is it really that shocking? Yeah, maybe it is. For him. "I just... need a bathroom break."

Before his teacher or anyone else could respond, he left the classroom and went down the hallway. He leaned against the wall near the restrooms. "Man, what is wrong with me?" He slapped the paper over his face.

"A lot of things. Where do you want me to start?"

He put the paper down and saw his brother standing there. He let out a huff through his nose. "Miss Tuttweiller sent you after me," he surmised.

"Yeah, but I also wanted to see what was going on with you. Last night, you did surprisingly well when you rehearsed your report in front of us. Actually, this is by far the best assignment that you have ever completed on your own. The only assignment, really."

Zack looked away from him and leaned his head against the wall. "Yeah, I know. I was ready for it, but... I guess I just froze."

"Why?"

Zack didn't respond as images of Haley entered his mind. He hoped that his and Cody's twin telepathy wasn't turned on. "It was Haley, wasn't it?"

So much for no twin telepathy. Zack still didn't respond.

"Thought so."

"No, I just," Zack started, but stopped. There is no point in hiding it from Cody. He already knows about his feelings for Haley. He let out a sigh. "I don't know what's going on with me, man. I've liked girls—a lot of girls—in the past, but... Haley's different. I can't stop staring at her when she's around, and when she's not, I can't stop thinking about her. I even dream about her when I'm asleep. It's driving me nuts!"

Cody nodded, and a smile spread across his face. He gave Zack that sly look. "Ooo, Zackie's in love!"

Zack's eyes bugged out and he stared at his brother. "What? No way!"

"You so are, Zack. And it was obvious to see from the beginning. And..." He poked his arm as that sly grin came back. "She so is in love with you, too."

Zack slapped Cody's hand away, and he couldn't help but break a smile. "You think?"

"Of course I do. And I'm surprised that you two haven't gotten together yet."

"Maybe... I just like being her friend?"

"Or you're too shy to actually ask her out. Which isn't like you at all since you ask out most girls when you first meet them. You're kind of turning into me in that regard."

Zack's eyes widened and he looked back at Cody, appalled. "What? No way am I turning into you."

"Then ask Haley out already. Why would she say no?"

"One word—Chris. He scarred her."

"But you're not Chris. You actually care about her."

He has a point. "I'll do it when I do it, okay?"

"Fine. Let's just get back to class. And try your best to look at the back wall and not at Haley."

"Hey, I was..." he started to protest, but Cody was right in surmising why Zack spaced earlier. "Fine. Whatever. Let's go."

The two guys left back to the classroom and Zack presented his report. And all the while, he stared at the back wall.

The next day, Haley wasn't in their first period class. Zack crumpled up a piece of notebook paper and tossed it at the back of Bailey's head. She touched the back of her head and looked behind her. "What?" she asked him a second after the bell rang for class to start.

"Where's Haley?"

"She's sick. She texted me earlier and said she caught a nasty cold yesterday and woke up with bad sinus pressure and a fever."

"Haley's sick?" Cody asked from the desk next to Bailey. "We should send her flowers." He looked behind him at Zack, a smirk on his face. "Or someone else should."

Zack crumpled up another piece of notebook paper and threw it at Cody, knowing exactly what he meant. Miss Tuttweiller started the class and all Zack could think about was Haley, shivering with a fever. Should he do something?

Throughout the rest of the school day, Zack thought about what he could do. Cody's idea was lousy—what could flowers do? Make her mood better, yes, but cure her? He should find some cold medicine somewhere. After his last class, and without his friends and brother suspecting anything, he walked into a convenience store on the main deck and went down the pharmacy aisle.

"Here it is," he said and took a small box reading "Night and Day Cold Medicine" off the shelf. He payed and headed to the girls' cabins. He stopped at Haley's door. What if she's asleep? Sleeping helps someone get over a cold, too. He about turned away when he heard a sneeze on the other side. She's awake. He knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, the door opened. Zack's eyes widened at Haley's appearance—her blonde hair was disheveled, her cheeks where red and acne-ridden, her eyes watery, and her nose chapped red. She also wore a lavender-colored bath robe, and under it, light-blue PJ's that had little yellow ducks all over them.

"Zack?" she asked in a nasally voice.

"Hey. Heard you were sick."

"Yeah, I am. Horribly." She sneezed, but turned away as she did so. When she looked back at him, boogers were oozing out of her nose. He made a face.

"Um... you have a little something there," he said, pointing to his nose. She sniffed and then moaned.

"Oh, man... this is so disgusting," she whined.

She pulled a tissue out of her robe and turned and walked into her room. She blew her nose, and Zack heard an impressive amount of snot come out of it.

"Whoa," he commented.

"Yeah, I know. I think I caught this from some kid who touched one of the servers at the buffet yesterday. I knew going for the coleslaw was a bad idea."

Zack stepped into the room and noticed the mess on the floor—it was almost as bad as his, only his floor was covered with food and clothes, not just clothes... and a bunch of used tissues. It didn't phase him. "Coleslaw is never a good idea. The stuff's nasty. It's the one food that I won't eat. It's like little white worms slathered in mayonnaise."

She nodded and blew her nose again. She stuffed that soiled tissue into her robe pocket and put a hand to her forehead. "Ow, my head. The sinus pressure is killing me. And I ran out of medicine, too, so this fever isn't going down."

She went and sat on her bed, and Zack pulled out the little box of medicine from his jeans pocket. "Well, I came at the perfect time, then. I came here to give you this."

He tossed her the box and she caught it. Her eyes widened when she saw what it was. She looked back at him, her eyes grateful. "Thank you, Zack. This was so nice of you."

He shrugged a shoulder and smirked. "No problem. I just had that lying around and thought that you would need it."

"Thanks again."

She opened the box, but started looking around. "What?" Zack asked.

"My water bottle. Where is it? It was on my bed earlier."

She stood and looked around her bed, and Zack looked around on the floor. He stepped up near the bed, and his foot stepped on a round something that was underneath some used tissues. He slipped and fell, and he took Haley's arm on impulse. They both toppled onto the bed... with him on top of her. His eyes widened when he found that his nose was touching hers, and he felt most of her body underneath him. His face started to heat up intensely, and his heart started to hammer like a bass drum inside of him.

"Found your water bottle," he muttered and he heard her gulp. He stared down at her blue eyes as she stared up at him. She shifted her legs a little under him, and the feeling of that sent something shooting through his system.

He couldn't take it anymore.

He leaned down and touched her mouth with his. Loving how wonderful it felt, he moved his mouth over hers and handled some of her hair since his hands were near her head. She froze for a moment, but she relaxed and he felt her mouth respond, as well as her hand gripping his shirt at his shoulder. That made something good pulse through him again, and he started kissing her like he hasn't kissed any other girl before, and he felt their teeth clank together.

He didn't want to stop. He kissed her mouth again and again, and she was responding to him in the like, and the back of his neck was beginning to sweat from the heat of their embrace... and her fever.

Zack's mouth disconnected from hers and he immediately sat up and went and stood near the door.

"Zack," he heard as his heart raced faster and harder than it ever has before. "Zack," he heard again, but he left out the door and ran to his cabin on the other side of the ship, slamming the door shut once he was in it. He leaned against the door, panting from the running, and touched his mouth. A wide smile formed. He fist-pumped the air, the reaction to that kiss taking over.

"YES!" He jumped on his bed and started jumping up and down. "Woohoo! You go, Zack! Yeah!"

The door suddenly opened and in came Cody. "What the heck are you yelling about? People on the other side of the ship can hear you."

Zack jumped off his bed and regained composure. He said calmly, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Cody questioned. "That's a pretty astounding nothing, considering how loud you were yelling."

"I was just..." Zack started, but couldn't think up an excuse. He suddenly sneezed, three times in a row. Cody's eyes widened.

"Oh, you went to go see Haley!"

"No, I... Okay, fine. Yeah, I did. I went to giver her medicine, and the sickly air in her room probably made me catch that cold." He sniffed.

Cody smiled in that sly way, and Zack prepared himself for this one. "Everyone knows, Zack, that someone can immediately get sick if there is direct contact with a sick person." He leaned in. "You were in direct contact with her, weren't you?"

Zack stepped away form his brother. "No way. I just gave her the medicine." He sneezed, proving Cody's point even more. "Dang it."

Cody pointed a finger at him. "Ooo, you kissed her!"

Zack's heart jumped and he didn't respond, and that was answer enough for Cody, along with his flaming cheeks.

"Oh, you're blushing! You so kissed her, Zackie!"

There was no way he could hide it now. "Okay, okay, so I did. But it was an accident."

"You can't just kiss a girl on accident, Zack."

Zack huffed. "Fine. So I slipped and ended up falling on top of her. Her eyes and her mouth were so close, I just couldn't help myself."

Cody put a hand to his heart. "Oh my, Zack, scandalous!"

"That's just how it happened. And..." He smirked and popped his t-shirt collar. "She totally kissed me back."

"Well, of course she did. She's crazy about you." He brought Zack into a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Okay, okay," Zack protested and pried his excited brother off of him. "I have to admit... I'm happy, too."

"Hence you cheering earlier. It's about time, you know. Bailey, Woody and I were waiting for you guys to start dating." Zack sneezed again. "And... I guess you guys will spend the first few days of your relationship getting over a nasty cold." He stopped and brought his arms out in front of him. Alarm encumbered his features. "Oh no, I just embraced a sick person! Shower!"

Cody ran from the room and Zack laughed. He went and sat on his bed and thought about that kiss. He can't wait to do it again. But first, he has to ask her out.