AN: Hi all, I have writers' block on We Belong Together so I started this new story combining two of the best shows on Disney Channel. I'm still trying to work on WBT but enjoy this for now.
Zack and Cody walked through the lobby of the S.S. Tipton, more or less ready to start their junior year of high school. Of course, Zack was looking forward to another year of pranking Moseby and checking out the girls. Cody was actually looking forward to school and only had one girl on his mind. He and Bailey had to spend the summer apart and he couldn't wait to see her again after only talking, texting, and emailing each other for 3 months.
"Zack let's head up to Skydeck and get our welcome packets and room keys, we can drop our stuff off down here then come back for it. Cody said as he saw other students leaving their things with a crew member to watch them.
"Alright let's go, I can't wait to have my own room again after sharing with you for 3 months. If I have to hear you say goodnight to Bailey and then argue over who should hang up one more time I was gonna go crazy."
"At least this year I know to bring industrial-strength air freshener."
They took the elevator to the Skydeck and got in line behind a bunch of other students. After a few minutes, someone walked up behind them and put their hands over Cody's eyes.
"Guess who!" they whispered
"Bailey! I missed you so much this summer." Cody said turning around with the biggest grin on his face.
"I missed you too Cody."
They gave each other a big hug before Zack interrupted
"Bleurgh! Enough that I had to listen to Cody talk about missing you all summer, do you have to be so sickenly sweet immediately?"
Hello to you too Zack, I may have missed you a little bit too.
"Of course you did, I'm me."
Suddenly London barged onto the Skydeck, "Make way for the rich girl, my daddy owns this boat!"
"London it's so great to see you, are you ready to be roommates again?" Bailey asked
"Ha ha ha, no. As a present for my gooder grades last year, Daddy is letting me have my own room! Yay Me! And a second room for my closet!" London shouted excitedly.
"Oh that's great London, I wonder who my roommate will be then. Maybe this year I won't need a lock on my closet." Bailey said
"Not my problem." London said
The group made it to the front of the line to Ms. Tuttwieler, "Welcome back students for another year at Seven Seas High."
Yeah yeah, give me my room key, the porters need to start moving in my fall wardrobe.
Yes London, Ms. Tuttwieler said, who had learned how to best deal with her last year. "Here you go, and please read at least some of the welcome book this year. "
"Whatever, see you later everyone, I have to organize my closet." She said as she walked off, dropping the welcome book on the ground.
Bailey and the twins walked up next. "Cody, Bailey it's great to see you again, I know at least the two of you are excited for the new school year, Zack remember that we have a brig."
"It's good to see you too Ms. Tuttweiler" Cody said
"It already feels great to be back on the boat." Bailey said.
"Noted." Zack said, "Now give me the key to the Zack Pad."
"Actually there have been some roommate changes for the three of you. Bailey as you know London will have her own room this year, it looks like you will be rooming with…" Tuttwieler paused as she scanned her list, "Addison."
"Oh that's good we're already great friends." Bailey said.
"And Zack you will not have your own room this year, Woody will be rooming with you."
"Aah man, no more Zack Pad?" Zack whined.
"No." Ms. Tuttwieler said.
"Ms. Tuttwieler why isn't Woody rooming with me again, not that I'm complaining?" Cody asked.
"We have a new student joining the class and we thought you might be the best match for him due to…um… certain circumstances. I encourage you to meet him when he arrives, but if you have any concerns Mr. Moseby will answer any questions or work with you to find a solution." Ms. Tuttwieler's grin slipped for a moment before returning.
"Alright," Cody was a bit confused and wondered who his roommate will be. "I'm sure everything will work out fine."
"Great! Here are your keys and welcome packets. Today is just focused on move-in, and activities will start tomorrow and are explained in the packets."
"Thanks, Ms. Tuttwieler." the three said as they walked away.
"At least we all have the same rooms so we won't get lost, and here Zack you'll probably need this more than I do now," Cody joked as he tossed Zack a can of air freshener.
Yeah, I'm sure Woody and I will have fun this year, our room will just be the home of Smash and Trash.
Bailey separated from the twins after they grabbed their luggage and went to their rooms. Cody's roommate still hasn't arrived, but Woody was in Zack's room to greet them with an enthusiastic hug.
"I missed you guys so much. I had to spend the whole summer with Steve." Woody pouted
"It's great to see you too Woody." Cody squeaked out as he was still being crushed in a hug.
"Maybe you can let us go Woodchuck." Zack said.
"Sorry, I'm just so excited to be back. Cody I'm sorry we won't be roomies this year, but Zack I think you're more my style."
"I couldn't agree more, now you can see how a real Martin man lives." Said Zack
"Cody do you know who your roommate is?" Woody asked
"No, not yet, but Ms. Tuttwieler was acting a little weird about it."
"Who knows, but he can't be any weirder than you are." Zack said.
"Well I'll see you guys later, I should start unpacking." Cody said.
"Yep see you later Broseph." Zack said.
"See you Cody." Woody waved goodbye as he closed the door.
Cody entered his room and started unpacking his things, putting away his clothes in the closet and dresser, organizing his school supplies on his desk, placing a picture of Bailey prominently on his nightstand. Then he went into the bathroom to organize his toiletries.
Zed walked up the gangplank nervously, it had been quite a journey to get to this moment, just the trip alone traveling to Boston where the ship was docked had been exhausting. On the flight he had needed to go through extra security checks just because he was a Zombie, he had worn a hoodie and sunglasses to try to hide his Zombie features from most of the public to make things easier on himself for the trip, but he still caught plenty of people staring. No one was screaming though, outside of Seabrook, most people weren't as aware of zombie features since most had never seen any. That was why he was doing this, to get away from Seabrook's anti-zombie laws, see the world, and be with a certain cheerleader.
He saw a sign saying students go to the Skydeck and he eventually found it and got in line. He, unfortunately, didn't see anyone he knew yet. He got to the front and smiled at the lady handing out room keys.
"Hello, I'm Ms. Tuttwieler, I'm the principal and a teacher of Seven Seas High Welcome."
"Hi, I'm Zed."
"Ohh, your taller than I thought you would be." She said, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to just pop up. I and the rest of the staff are glad you are here, you can let me or Mr. Moseby know if you need anything."
"Thank you, but I just want to be treated like any other student here."
"That's what we want too Zed," Ms. Tuttwieler said with a smile, "your application was very impressive. In fact, we paired you up with one of the three people who had a better essay than you did. His name is Cody and he is one of the nicest and smartest students at this school. We think you two should be able to get along, but seriously let us know if you have any problems."
"I hope everything will be fine, thank you Ms. Tuttwieler."
Zed grabbed his stuff and walked down a few floors, marveling at all the grand locations on the ship, he was awed by everything, and a lot of it looked like it could be fun. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
Addison: I just got on board and ditched my parents where R U?
Zed: I just got my room key, and heading to meet my roommate. I hope this goes well.
Addison: Everything will be fine just remember why we are doing this. See you soon!
Zed: See you soon!
Zed finally found his room and slowly opened the door. It looked like his roommate was in the middle of unpacking but wasn't in the room. He closed the door and stretched out his arms and let out a loud sigh "Aaaah!" from hauling his luggage.
Just then the bathroom door opened and in walked Cody, he froze in shock for a moment upon seeing Zed in his room, he timidly looked up since Zed unfortunately towered over him like most people.
"Hello," he said softy,
"Hi I'm Zed" Zed said with a smile.
"I'm Cody."
"Don't worry I know what you're thinking, I promise I won't eat your brain. My Z-Band keeps me calm and in control."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just surprised is all. I never thought I would ever see a real live Zombie much less room with one. Tutt acting weird makes a little more sense now."
"Wait, are you not afraid?"
"Maybe a little," Cody admitted, "but I've researched a lot on the Zombie Outbreak in Seabrook, its fascinating that an accident at a power plant could cause such a massive mutation in the human body."
"You've studied Zombies? Like in school?" Zed was surprised, even Seabrook didn't really study Zombies other than the history of the attacks on people.
"No, that was my own personal project when I heard about it, it made me wonder what other changes the human body can go through if put under environmental stress." Cody explained.
"Wow you really are smart, Ms. Tuttwieler wasn't lying"
"Well, I like to think I work hard and always do my best in school and I've always loved it."
"I like to think I'm the same way, I'm probably not as smart as you, and what I really love is football."
"Ohh, I played once. I'm the guy that ended Kurt Warner's career."
"Really that was you?"
"Yep, that was my first and only game, and why I can never travel to Arizona again."
"Haha nice, I've actually only played a handful of actual games myself."
"Why's that?"
"I got on the team freshman year, and I led our team to the state championship for the first time ever but then my Z-band got messed with and malfunctioned." Zed said not wanting to get into too many details. "Long story short I didn't hurt anyone but that ended my football career, and most of the zombie integration in Seabrook, we were all sent back to the basement after that. That's partially why I'm here now."
"That sounds harsh, one mistake ruins it for everyone."
"I know, but that is why this school is going to be so much better, according to my girlfriend there aren't Zombies anywhere outside of Seabrook, and the US so nowhere else has any anti-zombie laws in place so I can just be a normal student."
"Is your girlfriend here too, is she a zombie?"
"Yes she's here, somewhere, I haven't seen her yet, but no she's just a normal human. That doesn't bother you does it?"
"No of course not, I understand the heart wants what it wants. From the moment I laid eyes on Bailey I knew she was the one for me."
"I know the feeling something sparked inside of me when first saw Addison."
"Her name is Addison then, now they'll be two on the boat, Bailey is rooming with our friend Addison. Is your Addison 98 pounds of pure power too?"
"Well she does throw a solid punch and she claims her low kick skills are deadly."
"Well then sounds like I should try to stay on her good side."
"Hey stay on my good side and she'll be a piece of cake."
"Sounds like a plan."
Cody's phone then vibrated in his pocket,
Bailey: Hey we're almost moved in, want to meet Addison and I on the Skydeck in 30 minutes?
"Hey my girlfriend is almost done unpacking how about we finish and then head up to the Skydeck."
"Sounds good, Cody, I have feeling this is gonna be great year. Hopefully I can find my Addison soon."
"I couldn't agree more man."
Cody: I'll be there, you can meet my new roommate.
The two boys quickly unpacked their things, when Zed entered the bathroom to store his stuff he began to notice how meticulous Cody was, it didn't bother him, but he hoped his lower level of organization wouldn't cause any issues. When they finished they started climbing up to the Skydeck.
Addison walked slowly through the hallways looking for her room, she had already been to the Skydeck and gotten her key from Ms. Tuttwieler. Her head felt hot and itchy. Part of the deal her parents made was that she would wear her wig while on the boat so that she could be seen as normal and better able to make new friends. She had planned to take it off as soon as possible, but now being around the smiling faces rather than being the pariah of Seabrook for the last year she started wondering if her parents were right all along. She decided to keep it on for now no matter how uncomfortable it was.
Addison found her door and slowly opened it. Inside a brunette girl was busy unpacking her things. She turned around and smiled with surprise.
"Hello, I'm Bailey Pickett, who are you?"
"Hi, I'm Addison."
"Oh, sorry, I was expecting you to be my friend Addison, but this is good too, happy to meet you."
"Thanks, I'm just starting this semester."
"Oh well trust me this boat is the best place ever. Where are you from, I'm originally from Kettlecorn, Kansas."
"I'm from Seabrook, California."
"Wait isn't that where the Zombie Outbreak happened 50 years ago."
"Yes it is, but zombies are not bad, thanks to their Z-bands they act just like everyone else." Addison was quick to defend her friends near and far away.
"Oh I know I did a research paper on Zombie Rights a few years ago."
"Really?" Addison was shocked she had never met any other human who thought Zombies deserved rights before.
"Yeah once the Z-Bands were made effective there was no logical reason to keep them segregated from the rest of the world." Bailey explained.
"You're honestly the first human I've ever heard say that."
"Really, wait when you say human?"
"Oh I have lots of Zombie friends back home, they are a lot more accepting of people compared to the humans of Seabrook."
"Wow, I have a million questions, but it can wait, lets get to know each other as we unpack."
"Great Idea."
They tossed questions and answers back and forth as they unpacked. Addison learned that Bailey was a farm girl but also a true academic, with a list of experiences on the boat that Addison could only dream that she would soon experience. Bailey learned about Addison's passion for cheerleading and how she wanted to find something similar she could do on the boat.
Eventually they got to the topic of boys.
"My feller is a few hallways away, his name is Cody and he is the sweetest, smartest, and most romantic person I've ever met." Bailey gushed.
"Where did you guys meet?" Addison asked.
"Here on the boat. We bonded by working on homework and projects and going on all sorts of adventures. Apparently, he came up with a 6-month plan to win me over. I kind of wish he had made a move sooner though so we could have more happy memories together."
"6 months? How did that even work, Zed definitely couldn't wait 6 months for me, although I probably couldn't have waited either." Addison admitted.
"I still don't know all the details, but the moments that really won me over was when I was homesick so he threw a Mulch Festival for me on the boat, then during Spring Break he went through an insane competition to get tickets to a Hannah Montana concert for me. That was our first date. So who's Zed?" Bailey asked.
"My boyfriend, he's here somewhere on this boat, and he's a Zombie." Addison said.
"Awe, let me guess with how Seabrook is you two are practically Romeo and Juliet." Bailey assumed.
"Yeah, that's the main reason we decided to come here together, that and both of us felt stifled in Seabrook by its intolerance of anything not normal." Addison explained.
"I understand I would hate it if a whole town was saying I couldn't be with Cody for no logical reason." Bailey said.
"Yeah, my parents especially hate him and Zombies so this was our one shot to actually spend time together."
"So how did you meet and start dating Zed?" Bailey asked.
The two girls continued to talk, Addison explained how they met in a Zombie saferoom and she punched Zed in the face on reflex, and then he caught her at the pep rally which led to them meeting in the safe room where they started dating.
Bailey explained how last year she had to pretend to be a boy to get on the boat and then was found out the first day, and then explained more of the exciting things she had done with Cody and the rest of their friends.
Bailey sharing how she had to hide herself originally, almost made Addison take off her wig, but she still wasn't sure of herself. Eventually they finished and headed towards the Skydeck to meet Cody. Addison still didn't know where Zed was.
When they arrived, Cody and Bailey each led their new friends to the Smoothie bar, they automatically hugged and each turned to introduce their roommates when they were surprised.
Zed and Addison had each frozen when they first saw each other with huge grins growing across their faces. They then sprinted towards each other and collided in a hug, both holding each other tightly not letting go for nearly a minute. Zed lifting Addison up and off the ground. Both were completely absorbed into the fact that the place they were meant to be was in the other's arms.
"Addie I missed you so much." Zed whispered into her ear.
"I missed you more." Addison returned.
"It's great to see you, but why?" Zed whispered as he reached for a strand of her blonde wig.
"It's…I'll tell you later. I know we can be together under the broad daylight here but I think we're making a scene." Addison said.
"You're probably right." Zed admitted as they slowly untangled themselves.
They turned towards their new friends but each kept an arm wrapped around the other.
"Cody this is Addison." Zed stated
"Bailey this is Zed." Addison said.
"Hi nice to meet you, Zed this is Bailey." Cody said, now holding onto her hand.
"And Addison this is Cody." Bailey finished.
They exchanged handshakes all around and continued getting to know each other. Cody and Bailey offered to buy the others their first smoothie. Zed and Addison gratefully accepted and were quickly in love with them just as much as the rest of the passengers.
"Mmmm what's this called again?" Zed asked.
"A Banana Fofana." Cody answered
"This is great so much better than vanilla," Zed said smiling at Addison as she giggled from the inside joke. "But I'm gonna go hit the restroom quick." he gave Addison's hand a squeeze before walking off. The other three continued to talk.
Zack and Woody then walked up to the Skydeck, both were laughing. "I can't believe I got Moseby to jump overboard again." Zack said
"I know what did you even do to him?" Woody asked
"I simply said Hi Mr. Moseby and he hopped over the guardrail into the harbor again. Good thing they have child-sized life preservers for him." Zack said.
"Let's get a smoothie, I'm thirsty." Woody said.
"Sounds good Woodster, oh wait," Zack said holding Woody back. He could see a short blonde girl in pastel blue sitting beside Cody and Bailey at the smoothie counter.
"Look at that the old Zack attack is gonna get his first catch of the year, and school hasn't even started yet." Zack said to himself.
"OK I'll watch so I can learn some moves for Addison." Woody whispered back with a grin on his face.
Zack walked suavely up to the counter and sat in the seat next to the mystery girl and put his arm over her shoulder.
"Hey there Sweet Thang, If you're bored by these two nerds I know plenty of places on this boat that we can have a great time together. How about you and me tonight, Neptune Lounge?"
"Zack don't-" Cody started to say but was interrupted
"Don't get any ideas buster, the only thing more deadly than my high kick is my low kick." Addison warned him with a frown on her face.
"Ohh feisty I like that in a woman." Zack said with a grin on his face.
"And the only thing deadlier than me is my boyfriend. So you really don't want to get on his bad side." Addison said throwing off Zack's arm.
Zack immediately put his arm back up. "Well I don't know you so you must be new I bet your boyfriend is still on land. Don't worry what happens at sea stays at sea."
"Trust me he's here, I don't know who you are but stop right now." Addison said.
"I'm Zack Martin, Cody's better-looking twin I really think you and I could be extraordinary."
A deep voice growled behind Zack. "No you won't be. Now she asked politely for you to stop, and I won't be so polite a second time."
Zack turned around surprised but kept his confident smirk on his face, then slowly looked upwards as he saw Zed towering over him. He was shocked at the pale skin, red eyes, and vibrant green hair.
"What are you supposed to be?" Zack asked timidly.
"I'm a Zombie, and I'm her boyfriend. My name's Zed not that its nice to meet you, Zack, you don't deserve that Z."
"Zombies are REAL!?" Zack yelled turning towards Cody for an explanation.
"Yeah, I told you about them remember. After you were freaked out by Zombie Mom, Mom tried to calm you down by telling you zombies aren't real and I corrected her, they were created in an accident 50 years ago in California."
"Again Zombies are real, and you would rather go on a date with him than me?" Zack asked Addison.
"Yes, unlike you, Zed is always kind and a perfect gentleman, you could learn a thing or two from him, and he won't eat your brains or anything, but I would highly recommend you leave." Addison warned for a final time with a glare on her face.
"Yeah, you don't have one so you'd be safe." Zed said.
"Oh uh yeah, sorry about that." Zack said nervously, "I'll be on my way honest misunderstanding."
Zack then turned tail and ran from the Skydeck Woody following close behind.
Cody and Bailey both sighed with relief once Zack was gone.
"Sorry about that, Zack is my brother, I should have warned you what he can be like around girls." Cody apologized.
"It's no big deal, we're used to dealing with jerks that are full of themselves." Addison said.
"Are you sure you're OK?" Zed asked.
"Yes, he was just being annoying and making me uncomfortable, Cody and Bailey were trying to stop him the whole time, and you know I can defend myself if needed, and you came back right away. Everything is fine." Addison reassured him.
"If you guys want we can give you a tour of the school deck, and a bunch of other fun places that we like to hang out." Bailey said trying to change the subject.
"Oh yeah, that would be good. This place is a maze. What are your favorite places to hang out at?" Zed asked.
"Well besides here on the Skydeck I would have to say the library." Cody said.
"For me besides the Skydeck, the marine biology lab. Sue us we're nerds." Bailey said.
"That's alright you should always be yourself that's the coolest thing." Zed said.
What were your favorite places back at home? Bailey asked.
"The Light Garden," Addison answered
"The Zombie Saferoom at school." Zed said at the same time.
"Really?" They both said looking at each other.
"I thought yours would be cheer camp or the gym or something." Zed said.
"And I always thought your favorite place was the football field or the powerplant." Addison said.
"Well, neither of those places is where I met you."
"But the Light Garden was our first date, our almost first kiss."
"Awe that sounds so cute!" Bailey said, "You know Cody, with these two around we may lose our most sickenly sweet couple title. Just out of curiosity what do you mean almost first kiss?"
"We were about to kiss after dancing at a Zombie Mash." Zed started to explain.
Addison continued "And then the Z-Patrol showed up and cut the power because it was after the Zombie Curfew and brought me back home, they knew me because my dad is chief of the Z-Patrol"
"While I ran and hid because they would have taken me to Containment if they found me alone with Addison after curfew." Zed said.
"So I assume a relationship between a human in a Zombie is a big deal in Seabrook but how did people react?" Cody asked.
"Well, the Zombies don't care, after the first few days of school where Addison was the only person acting like zombies were just like everyone else, and me saving her got me on the football team, everyone loved her, except Eliza was a little leery but even she accepted us completely after Addison came to the Zombie Mash." Zed explained.
"The humans aren't so supportive. Bucky, my cousin and cheer captain tried to force me to stay away from Zed and the zombies or he would kick me off the team. Then my parents hated Zed the moment they found out he was a Zombie and after the homecoming game, they pretty much forbid us from ever seeing each other." Addison said.
"We've had to do lots of sneaking around just to even see each other. Which is why we are here now." Zed said.
"My parents think I only wanted to come here to get out of Seabrook and start my life over without the judgment of the rest of Seabrook, they have no idea Zed is here." Addison said.
"My Pops does support us though, and he knows I'm here for Addison. The only people that know the whole story are Pops, my sister Zoey, and our friends Eliza, Bonzo, and Bree." Zed said.
"We tried to convince them to come with us but they couldn't for different reasons. But we'll be fine on our own, and were already making friends."
"You'll learn fast here that we quickly become family on this boat, besides Zack I can guarantee you'll love everyone else in our group." Cody promised.
"Would you look at the time it seems like it's getting late, we better head back to our rooms before curfew. " Bailey said.
"Good idea we don't want Moseby on our cases before the ship even sets sail." Cody said.
They all head to the girls' cabin before giving each other hugs goodnight.
"Don't worry Addie. This is gonna be our year" Zed whispered in her ear.
"I know Zed, Gar Gar Gaza" Addison whispered.
"Gar Gar Gaza." Zed returned.
"Goodnight Bailey, its been 3 months since I was able to do this in person." Cody said.
"Trust me I've missed it just as much as you, and now we can do it every night." Bailey promised.
Then the boys returned to their cabin. They all went to bed ready to begin the new adventures of their new school year.