The Last Place You Look
Chapter Five: Puck and Oberon
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Here's another update for everybody. I hope you like it.

OBERON:This falls out better than I could devise.
But hast thou yet latch'd the Athenian's eyes
With the love-juice, as I bid thee do?
PUCK:I took him sleeping-that is finish'd too-
And the Athenian woman by his side,
That, when he wak'd, of force she must be ey'd.
-Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

London spied Cody standing inside the elevator, and called to him to hold the door for her.

"Thanks, Cody," she said. "Without you I would've missed it. Business ties a girl up sometimes, you know?"

"What kind of business?" Cody asked.

"I was just trying to help Maddie out with something."

"What was it?"

"Oh, she was complaining because Esteban never talks to her anymore," London said, completely forgetting that she meant to keep this fact a secret.

"Well, she's been so cold to him lately." Cody said defensively. "How could she expect him to keep treating her normally if she won't do that same for him?"

"Oh," London gasped. "Did I just say that? But I told myself I wouldn't let that get out. Poor Maddie, she's already so embarrased she can hardly stand it."

"But why is she so upset over one little thing he did?"

"Wait," London said, not entirely sure of what Cody was talking about. "Remind me what he did again?"

So he related to her the story of the grape juice spill. "And they've been distant ever since Maddie found out about it, thanks to my evil twin," he said. "Honestly, why does she care so much if Esteban likes her? Zack likes her too and she doesn't treat him that way."

"Esteban likes her?" London screeched. "Maddie never knew that!"

"She didn't?" Cody asked, equally shocked. "Then why is she being so mean to him?"

"She's not. She's just afraid to talk to him because she thinks he thinks she's a weirdo."

"Where in the world did she get that idea?"

"Well, he hasn't wanted to be near her anytime recently."

"Of course he's does. She's the one who doesn't want to be near him."

"Oh, she wants to be with him alright. One day at school I caught her writing their names together all over her notebook."

Now it was Cody's turn to screech: "When did this happen?!"

"I guess it was about two weeks ago." London said.

"So that was why she got all huffy when I asked her about Esteban," Cody said. "I thought it was because she didn't want him to like her. If I had known it was because she did, I would've told Esteban right then, because that was the same time he said her name."

"And that was when I tried to talk to him about Maddie. No wonder he seemed so uninterested," London realized in a rare moment of lucidity. "He was just trying to keep me from figuring out he liked her too."

"So," Cody said, trying to sift through all of this new information. "Maddie doesn't know how Esteban feels about her, but he thinks that she does."

"Right," London agreed,

"And Esteban doesn't know how Maddie feels about him, but she thinks that he does."

"Right again."

"And they both think the other doesn't like them back, because they've both been ignoring each other so much."

"Uh huh."

"But the only reason they've been doing it is because they thought their feelings weren't reciprocated. It's all been a vicious cycle."

"Um...sure." London said as Cody's verbage began to get a little above her head. To her, the words "vicious cycle" conjured up a silly image of a bicycle with sharp teeth, and she didn't even want to guess what "reciprocated" meant.

"But if they do really like each other," Cody continued, "then they've been avoiding each other for no reason!" he concluded triumphantly.

"And they can start being friends again!" London added.

"But it might be hard for them, since right now they're both so mortified they can't even speak to each other, " Cody said, his face falling.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to think of a way he could get his two friends to start communicating again. He couldn't just go up and say "Hey Esteban, Maddie likes you. Now go talk to her." First of all, Esteban still hadn't admitted that he liked Maddie. And there was still the problem of Maddie telling Cody not to meddle in her and Esteban's affairs.

"We have to force them into a situation where they have no choice but to face each other," London spoke up.

"What kind of situation? And how do we do it without letting them know we're behind it?"

"Listen and learn, little one," London said, tapping her head knowingly. "I may not be great at most subjects, but I could teach a class on -

"Matchmaking?" Cody suggested.

"No," she said. "Fixing up your friends."

This would be the third time that Cody and London tried to help the their friends. Separately, the twin and the heiress had unwittingly done more harm than good. What would happen when they worked together? Would they cause double trouble, or would they turn into a winning combination? Would the third time be a charm, or would three misses strike Maddie and Esteban out?