Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the new characters!

I read over my previous chapter, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew that I changed who opens the door. It is no longer her mom, but her sister. I also read my notes, and what I said about this chapter's summary. Yeah, it didn't really play out like I thought because I thought of some twists! Hope you enjoy!

FORWARNED NOTE: This chapter contains harassment and some slight cussing. If you are uncomfortable or do not feel that the rating is high enough for what happens, I would be MORE than happy to change the rating to suit you. Anything to keep this story posted!

College Years

Chapter 12

New and Somewhat Scary People

Cody took in his surroundings as Sarah made her rounds around the room, hugging, kissing and laughing. The room was brightly lit. It had light blue paint with white trim. White, fluffy couches sat against the back two walls, caddy-cornered. A fireplace was on the wall to Cody's left, and was next to another double-doorframe, which Cody assumed led to the dining room. The carpet was white and fluffy, the kind you can lose your toes in, but not like shag. Pictures of Sarah's high school graduation, her senior picture, and her childhood lined the back wall. In fact, it seemed the whole back wall was dedicated to Sarah. The wall to Cody's right had a family portrait and other family pictures surrounding it. The opposite wall had paintings. Cody had to hand it to them, they were organized.

As for the people sitting there, Cody was a little worried about them. Danny was standing beside him, leaning against the doorframe, smiling. Cody could tell by her eyes that she was happy that Sarah was home. Cody looked around the room at the people.

On his left, sitting on the couch was an old man who looked like he was about to wet himself from laughing so much. Next to him was an old woman, who appeared to be his wife, with exuberant eye make-up. Next to her was a little brunette girl wearing a pink-dress sitting on the lap of a curly brunette with tired circles around her eyes. Cody thought to himself, That's got to be her mother…Next to them was a man wearing a black sports jacket and khaki pants with a beer in his hand and ice in his eyes. Sitting on the arm of the couch was a young blonde girl, an older teenager, maybe 17, wearing jeans and white sweatshirt with what Cody assumed was her school's name on the front. Standing beside her was a slightly younger teenage boy with brown long hair and the most electric blue eyes you could ever see.

Sitting on the next couch was another older couple, staring at the floor. They didn't look too happy. Next to them was an older version of the electric-eye boy. Cuddling next to him was a woman in khaki's and a black blouse. Next to her was a sullen teenage girl with platinum blonde hair, clashing nicely with her blue sweatshirt. Standing beside the couch was a man who looked to be in about his mid-twenty's and wearing a red baseball cap with "Cavaliers" on it.

Sarah had finally made it back to him and was pulling him into the room. They stopped at the way-too-excited old man and his astounding-eye-make-up wife. Sarah introduced them as 'Mee Mee' and 'Pap Pap', her mother's parents. They moved to the pink-dress-girl and the tired-circles-woman she was sitting on. They were Sarah's aunt Clarice and her cousin Gina. The beer-and-ice-eyes-man was her uncle Mick, Aunt Clarice's husband. The teen on the couch arm was Sarah's younger sister Hannah, who winked at Cody when he was introduced to her. The electric-shock-eyes-boy standing next to Hannah was Sarah's 15-year-old brother Andrew. The next set of bored looking older people were introduced as 'Monna' and 'Granddaddy', Sarah's father's parents. The older-version-of-Andrew-man turned out to Sarah's father, Charles. Cody gulped when he shook hands with him. Luckily they moved on before they could get into troubling conversation. The woman cuddling next to him was Sarah's mother, Lorraine. The platinum-hair-sullen-girl was Sarah's cousin, Annabelle, and was upset because she had been dragged here, instead of getting to go out with her boyfriend, even though her parents didn't come. The Cavaliers-hat-man standing next to the couch was Jeremy, Annabelle's older brother. He attended the University of Virginia, hence the "Cavaliers" hat.

Cody found himself bombarded with questions, handshakes, and different conversations to follow as Sarah's family swarmed him.

"So what's you're favorite college team?" Jeremy asked.

"What are you career plans?" Monna asked.

"Just how old are you?" Hannah asked.

"So, you youngster you, you up for a little male bonding, just the guys of the family, doing a little camping and fishing. You know, the guy stuff?" Pap Pap suggested.

"How far have you gone with my little girl?" Sarah's father asked with a grin. Cody gulped again.

"Oh, you're such a cutie! I wish Ernie and Patrice could see him!" Aunt Clarice said, pinching his cheeks. Ernie and Patrice were Annabelle and Jeremy's parents.

"What kind of music do you like? I like everything, really. Except metal. I can't stand metal. Or country." Andrew asked. (A/N- gasp! no country? What a sad tragic life…)

Sarah interrupted them all and shouted, "Y'all! Cody just got here! Back off for a sec, will ya?" They stopped and backed away from him, leaving a 2-foot circle around them. Sarah sighed, smiled, and shook her head. She whispered to Cody, "My family…"

Dinner conversation was loud and personal. More questions were asked. He found out a bit about each member of the family. Mee Mee and Pap Pap had been married for 50 years. Aunt Clarice had been divorced twice, and Uncle Mick was her third husband. Gina had a small, overactive bladder, so she wet herself quite often. Hannah was 17 and had just broken up with her boyfriend of 2 ½ years but wasn't too upset about it, according to her. Andrew was very interested in sciences, and hoped to become a scientist one day. Monna was Charles' stepmother, and Granddaddy was very into golf. Charles and Lorraine were thinking of having another child, much to the dismay of their own children. Cody couldn't help but cringe as he thought about that. Annabelle was a very popular teen who disliked mashed potatoes for some strange reason. Jeremy, last but not least, was home for the weekend, but would be returning to UVA on Sunday.

Around 9, when dinner and dessert were finished, Cody had alone time with each person. As he moved from person to person, he started feeling more at ease. These were nice people, and they seemed to like him. He came to Hannah and said, "So what colleges are you thinking of applying to?" She smiled and batted her eyes and said, "Oh, probably University of Oklahoma. It's a nice school."

Cody was watching her apprehensively. Why is she batting her eyes like that? He replied, "Yeah, Sarah and I like it."

"How are you and Sarah doing? Good? Bad? Does she pressure you at all? I mean, she's a smart girl. She can make any man feel…intimidated. So…you guys okay?" She had a hopeful expression on her face.

"Well, I suppose I get a tad bit intimidated sometimes…but I'm a smart guy myself so it's all okay…"

"Oo, you must be, to keep up with Sarah!"

"Yeah…"

"Hey, can I show you something?"

"Um…sure…I guess…"

He followed Hannah towards the stairs. She led him up the stairs past a lot of boxes and then down a hall, finally stopping at the door at the end of the hallway. She opened the door to reveal a blue room filled with boxes and pieces of furniture scattered throughout.

"What'd you want to show me?"

"Oh, it's in the bathroom. I'll go get it. You just stay here."

Cody admired a picture leaning up against the wall as Hannah went into a bathroom that was off to the left of the door. A few minutes passed and Cody knocked on the door saying, "Uh, Hannah?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going on?"

"Oh, what I'm trying to get, it's…it's…it's on a high shelf…on the bottom of a stack of stuff. Um…I'll be out in a minute…just stay there!"

"Do you need any help?"

"No! I'm fine! Just stay in there! You can sit on my bed if you want."

Cody shrugged and looked around the room. Boxes were everywhere. A double bed was on the back wall with a fluffy white comforter. He walked slowly towards it and sat on the corner, not wanting to look suspicious should someone walk in unexpectedly. 5 more minutes passed and Cody said again, "Are you sure you don't want help?" He heard from the bathroom, "No, that's alright! I got it!" 5 more minutes passed. Cody was starting to get impatient. He was about to yell again when he heard a throaty, sexy voice say from the bathroom, "I'm ready…"

(A/N- no, it's not finished yet! But I wanted to gloat that I'm leaving you on a mini-cliffhanger. We'll jump back to Oklahoma in a little bit. mischievous grin )

Maddie was helping Zack study for his finals, which were only a month away, on the floor of their room. Both were trying to forget that they had just had their first fight. Things were spinning out of control. They barely knew each other anymore. Zack closed his eyes and whispered, "I love you, Maddie. I love you. Isn't that enough?" Maddie looked up from the sheet of questions she was drilling him on and stared at him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"What do you mean, Zack?"

"What we fought over earlier. My age. I know that I'm 18 and you're 21 and that it's got to be weird for you but…but I…I love you! Isn't that enough?"

"Zack…"

"Maddie, I love you. Why does age matter?"

"Zack, I don't know what to say…"

"Say…say that it's more than enough for you to be happy. Say that age isn't important. Say that you love me despite my age, despite what people may think, despite my childish tendencies, despite your insecurities!"

Maddie looked back at the sheet of paper on her lap, trying to find her voice. Zack stared at her, waiting her response. When she didn't give one, he got up and went to the door. He turned around and said, "Guess not." With that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him. Maddie started sobbing, her tears falling quickly and soaking her legs. She got up shakily and went to her bed, lying down on it and sobbing uncontrollably.

She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew she was opening her eyes to the sound of someone closing the door. She quickly wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up saying, "Who's there?" She could see the faint outline of a person stop at the dresser and turn to face her. A whisper came, "It's just me." Maddie let her breath out. She replied back, "Zack…what you said earlier…it's…it's not that age is a problem. It's not that I care what other think. It's not that I don't love you…because I do…it's…I don't know anymore, Zack. I just don't know anymore."

"What don't you know? If you love me?"

She got off her bed and stood in front of him and said, "I know I love you. I care for you more deeply than I've ever cared for someone before. I love you with all of my heart."

"While that's quite a flattering thing to say…I still don't understand. Why is this a problem if you love me so much?"

"Because…because I don't know where this is going, Zack!" She turned around and flipped the light switch, flooding the room with light and burning both of their eyes. When she had adjusted to the light she continued, "I don't know where this is going, Zack…I…I don't want to hurt you."

"Then don't!"

"It's not that easy. I'm leaving school at the end of this year and…and I don't want to hurt you by leaving you behind."

"Then don't! Maddie—"

"Zack. I'm telling you. I love you. But…I just…I don't know anymore!" She paused, trying to regain her composure. She took a quick deep breath and said, "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Don't leave me."

"It's not that simple."

"Only because you're making it harder! Maddie, when two people love each other, that's more than enough to get them through the hard times!"

"Zack…"

"Maddie, we've been arguing and fighting and making up all night. I'm tired. Can we please just make up and get some sleep?" She smile despite herself and hugged him. They each crawled into their beds and were asleep within minutes.

Back in Oklahoma, Cody was still sitting on Hannah's bed, waiting for Hannah to come out of the bathroom so he could see what she wanted to show him and leave. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. The door of the bathroom swung open and there stood Hannah, wearing next to nothing. She was wearing a black tube-top (A/N- I hate that word) which didn't even come close to covering her midriff and black running shorts rolled up six or seven times. Cody's eyes widened and he stammered out, "Uh—uh—Hannah—uh—what—what do you—why are you—what are you wearing?"

She said in that sexy voice again, "Oh this? Don't you like it? I could…take it off…" She started lifting the shirt off and Cody jumped up off the bed and grabbed her hands saying, "No. Definitely not. No, no, no, not good."

"What's wrong, Cody? Don't you want me?"

"Hannah, I'm with Sarah…"

"Yeah, but don't you feel, I don't know, intimidated by her big brain? That's what scares the other guys off, you know…"

She whispered into his ear, "I can show you a good time. No books, no logic, no brains required. What'd you say?" She kissed his cheek and made her way to his lips. Cody, still holding her wrists, turned and pushed her on the bed. She said, "Oo, fiery. I love that in a man!" She lay back and said, "Come on, Cody…you know you want to…" He threw her a disgusted look and said, "I love your sister, Hannah. Sorry. You may be a nice girl deep down but all I see is a slut, desperate for some action with a college guy. I love Sarah and that's not about to change." He turned quickly and left the room, flying towards the stairs and soaring down them. He went into the living room and grabbed Sarah's arm. He said quickly, "Can we leave?"

"Cody? But why?"

"I'll tell you in the car. Right now I want to go."

Sarah nodded, worried and concerned by Cody's hasty request to leave. She made her rounds on the family, making up excuses for their quick exit. Cody shook hands with the men and received hugs from the women. Before he knew it, they were heading towards the door. Before he closed the door after them he looked up the stairs. Hannah hadn't appeared at the stairs yet. What Cody didn't know was that Hannah was upstairs, planning. Hannah didn't face rejection well, so now she was planning her revenge on Cody and her oh-so-loved sister, Sarah.

Sarah drove, because Cody was a little too shaken to drive. While they drove, he told Sarah what happened. He wasn't sure whether he should tell her everything, because he didn't want to start anything in her family or start a fight between them if she didn't believe him. Worse, what if Sarah accused him of cheating on her? Still, he decided to tell her the whole story. It wasn't in his nature to lie, and not telling the whole story fell under his definition of "lie".

"So I went upstairs with her to see what she wanted to show me, right? So she goes off into the bathroom and she's taking forever so I ask what's going on and if she needed help because I was trying to be a nice guy and get your family to like me. She said no and that what she was trying to get was on a high shelf and she told me to sit on the bed and wait. So I did. But she was still taking forever. So I asked again and I got the same response. So then the door of the bathroom opens a bit later and she's standing there wearing, like, practically nothing and I'm like, 'uh, what's going on?' and she like, came at me! She tried to get me to…you know…go all the way with her!"

"And….and did you?"

"Of course not! I started saying off, 'I'm with Sarah, your sister and I love her' and she starts asking more questions about intimidation and if I feel intimidated by you being so smart and that's what drove other guys away and I didn't know what to do…so I threw her on the bed and—"

"Oh my God! Don't tell me you…you…"

"Sarah, of course I didn't! I threw her on the bed and then I left to come get you so we could leave! She attacked me!"

"Oh wow, I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear that…" She paused and then said,
"That bitch. She's my own goddamn sister and she goes after my boyfriend. How dare she! She's sexually harassed you! Oh man, you can bet I'm gonna call my mom when I get home and tell her what happened! This is so unacceptable."

"So you're…you're not mad?"

"Do you not see me ranting here? Duh, I'm mad!"

"No, I mean, are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know, I was just worried you might be."

"I mean, you didn't give into her, right? You…you didn't…do anything…did you?"

"Not that I know of! If I led her on in any way, I am deeply sorry and I honestly didn't know I was doing it."

"I believe you."

He smiled and the rest of the ride was silent.

A/N- Oh wow, I'm finally done with this chapter!

Note #1- As I sit here, typing this, it is February 12, 2006. If you don't read this for quite some time, I am really sorry. Currently, I am grounded for having an account on My internet connection has been taken from my computer and my parents are unsure if I am to receive it back. If you are reading this, it means I found a way to update on my dad's computer or my parents were nice and gave in. Right now, I don't know. I hope to keep you updated.

Note #2- I hope I did an okay job with her family. I had a vision in my head and I tried to get it on paper, but it wasn't really easy. A lot of the names come from people I know (Andrew is my cousin, Jeremy is a person I know at school, Hannah is my BFF, Mick is my most hated uncle, Charles is my BGF (best guy friend) Mee Mee is what one of my cousins calls our grandparents, Pap Pap is what another set of cousins call their grandfather, Monna and Granddaddy are two of my grandparents, and I think that's it) When I went back and looked at the names, I realized that one of the aunts names, Clarice, rhymed with another aunts name, Patrice. I thought it was funny and I didn't really feel like changing it. : D I hope their personalities came out a little bit. We will see more of her family in upcoming stories, so keep them in mind!

Note #3- I know that the "fight/make-up" with Maddie and Zack kind of ended quickly, but there were some things I was going to say but I needed to save for the last chapter and the first chapter of the next in the series. Sorry if it's a little odd.

Note #4- I used the term 'saying off' in here. It's a term I use and hear at school. You don't want to say 'yell' because they didn't yell, you don't want to say 'and I was like' because too many 'likes' make you sound a bit ditzy (and I say 'like' quite often…hmm…) and other words just don't fit or are overused (i.e- 'said' 'cried' 'exclaimed' honestly, can you hear someone tell a story and be like there goes my 'like' again 'and I exclaimed…' 'stammered' 'spit out' etc.) I know it's a little weird, but it fit so I thought I'd use it.

Note #5- As was said before, there was slight cussing and some harassment happening in this chapter. Seriously, if you have a problem with the rating, please let me know and I will be more than happy to change the rating.

Note #6- ADVERTISING TIME! I just started typing up a NEW STORY (dun dun DUN!) it is titled 'Help!' It comes from an experience I just recently witnessed. It's the Suite Life of Zack and Cody…reversed! Some new people arrive at the Tipton with the same problem Maddie and Zack have, a 12 year-old liking a 15 year-old, except it's the 15-year old crushing on the 12 year-old! They receive help from Maddie and Zack and learn to deal. Does it sound okay? Like I said, I recently witnessed this situation, and the idea came to me. I hope you read it and like it when it gets posted!

So, that's it! Please review and THANKS A BUNCH to all my previous reviewers! I love you all SO MUCH!

Hope to hear from you soon,

Love,

DC