CHAPTER THREE

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

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

The next day at lunch, Maya and Addison were gathered in the corner of the lunchroom. While Maya wasn't exactly enthused about this idea, she still hadn't come up with a better one. So, it was with great reluctance that she gave Addison the green light to proceed. Addison smiled, headed over to the table that London Tipton was sitting at and sat down in a chair next to her. London looked over at her and just stared at her.

"I think you have the wrong table, Candy Girl..."

Addison gave a nervous laugh and looked around. "Oh wow! Is that a peach fruit roll up? You really don't see a peach fruit roll up much anymore. Where did you..."

London cut her off. "I think you should leave before something bad happens to you. Daddy can make you disappear and never be heard from ever again..."

Addison swallowed. "Okay, I came here to offer you my help..."

London laughed. "And just how can you help me? I'm London Tipton after all..."

"I can help you get the one thing your money can't buy you...Zack Martin."

London paused. She grabbed a marker out of her purse and began drawing on Addison's face. "You have my attention now. Speak."

Addison was unnerved by London's action but continued anyways. "Well, the word is that his Mom has changed her rule. Zack can date now once Cody does too..."

London smirked. "Yeah, good luck with that. I mean...look at his hair and his butt...not to mention his pasty skin...and do I even have to mention the clothes he wears? What girl in their right mind would want to go out with him"

Addison frowned. "But he's the identical twin brother of the guy you want to date..."

London gave her a funny look. "What's your point?"

Addison shook her head. "Anyways. My point is maybe there is a girl out there who would date him if you made it worth her while."

"What do you mean?"

"You know...grease her palm a little bit."

London was confused. "You want me to put grease on her hand?"

Addison sighed. "No...I mean pay her to go out with Cody!"

London paused. "Oh..."

Addison pointed at Bailey across the lunchroom. "And I think she would be the perfect candidate."

"Her? Did she once eat a whole chicken whole?"

"Everything but the beak and the feet. So, clearly, you can see she would be a wise investment."

"How? I mean look at her...It looks like she gets her hair done at a dog groomers...she has pasty skin...and look at the clothes she wears. They're hideous!"

Addison smiled. "See...they have so much in common already."

London paused to consider that. Then she turned to face Addison. "Not a bad idea. What's in it for you though?"

"You know...if I see you walking down the hall and I say 'hello', you acknowledge my existence and say 'hi' back..."

London sighed. "I see. Cool by association. I'll think about it."

Addison nodded. "Good." She continued to sit there at the table.

London rolled her eyes. "We're done here!"

"Oh yeah...ummm...bye."

Addison got up from the table and made her way over to where Maya had been staying out of sight. Maya looked at her expectantly.

"Well?"

Addison smiled. "Worked like a charm...I think."

Maya sighed. "I'm still not sure this is a good idea though."

"Don't worry about it. While London is busying getting Bailey on board, you'll be spending time with Zack and getting to know him."

Maya nodded. "Well, I do like that part."

Addison nodded and paused. "I have dollar signs on my face, don't I?"

Later that day, after school, everyone was at the Cheevers High athletic fields for one purpose or another. Cody was busy during soccer practice. While most were wary of him, they still couldn't deny that he was probably the best on the team...if not the most aggressive. Meanwhile, Bailey was sitting on the bleachers reading a book. It was too nice of a day to be inside especially if people would leave her alone. London, on the other hand, was in a pink track suit, hanging out with her entourage. But all day, London had been thinking about Addison's idea and decided it was worth a shot. So, she made her way over to where Bailey was sitting. Bailey sensed she was there and sighed.

"Can I help you?"

London paused. "Ummm...Had any good chicken lately?"

Bailey rolled her eyes. "That's original. What do you want?"

London shrugged that off and pointed to Cody out on the soccer field. "You see that guy out there?"

Bailey looked over. "Yeah. What about him?"

"That's Cody Martin. I want you to go out with him."

Bailey just gave her an incredulous look. "Excuse me?"

"Look. I can't go out with his brother until Cody starts dating too. You see...their mother is uber strict and won't let Zack date unless Cody does too. So if I can..."

Bailey looked back down at her book. "Sorry. Its a touching story, but its not my problem."

London just looked at her. "Would you be willing to make it your problem if I were to generously compensate you?"

Bailey's head snapped up. "What did you just say?"

"I said I'm willing to pay you to go out with Cody..."

Bailey paused. While the thought of being paid to go out with someone wasn't high on her list of things to do, the money would be nice. After her family had lost their farm back in Kansas, they had to move to Seattle and live with her Aunt and Uncle. Her Dad was struggling to find a job, but it would make things a whole lot easier if she could bring in some money herself. She had offered to get a job after school, but her Dad had flat out refused that. He wanted her to keep her grades as high as possible in hopes of getting a scholarship for college. And maybe it would be nice to actually get to know someone here in Seattle. Ever since she had gotten there, people had treated her as an outsider or thought of her as stupid due to her accent. Of course, that one incident her first week probably didn't help matters any either. She looked over again at the soccer field and at Cody Martin. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit he was really cute. While she didn't know much about him, she had heard some stories. But free money to date a guy? Bailey knew it could really help her family, so she couldn't pass that up.

"How much are we talking about?"

London smiled. "How does $20 sound?"

Bailey paused. She had heard London Tipton was kind of stupid. Why not find out if it were true. "Nope. Even going to the movies alone would run over $100 and that's not including Sour Patch Kids. And Cody definitely looks like a Sour Patch Kids kind of guy..."

London sighed. "Fine. Here's $200. Take it or leave it, Trailer Park."

Bailey smirked. "Deal...Paris."

London scowled as she forked over two one hundred dollar bills and walked off. Bailey sat there holding the money in her hand. While this money would certainly help, now came the hard part. Scrounging up all of her courage, she walked down on to the field to where soccer practice had just ended. Cody was standing by a bench pulling a bottle of water out of his bag. Bailey took the plunge and walked over to him.

"Hey there, Cutie...How are you doing?"

Cody looked up at her in surprise before his defenses kicked back in. "Sweating like a pig, and yourself?"

"Actually, pigs don't have sweat glands. They roll around in their own feces to keep cool..." Bailey wanted to kick herself immediately after saying that, but she covered as best as she could. "But it is a good look on you..."

Cody sighed. "My mission in life. But, it obviously struck your fancy, so the world makes sense again..."

Bailey paused. This wasn't going like she had planned. "So, how about you pick me up on Friday night then?"

Cody just looked at her. "Friday? Uh huh...Whatever..."

Bailey smiled. "It'll be fun..."

Cody stopped and looked at her. "Do you even know what my name is?"

"I know a lot more than that..."

Cody rolled his eyes. "Doubtful...Very doubtful..." And with that, Cody walked off leaving Bailey standing there in shock but a little impressed at the same time.

Watching this all unfold from the bleachers was Maya and Addison. Maya turned to Addison.

"We're screwed!"

Addison tried to cheer her up. "Hey! I don't want to hear a defeatist attitude. I want to hear you upbeat!"

Maya plastered on a fake huge smile and sounded cheerful. "We're screwed!"

Later that night, in a suite on the 23rd floor of the Seattle Tipton, Cody was standing in front of the bathroom mirror after washing his face and moisturizing. Zack walked in behind him.

"You know, you look enough like me that if you tried, you could have all of the babes hanging off of you..."

Cody rolled his eyes. "I doubt that..."

Zack smirked. "Well, you would have to lose the hostile attitude and actually be nice to people."

Cody sighed. "I don't care what people think."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't..." Cody paused. "You know, Zack. You don't always have to be what people want you to be. Its okay to be yourself."

Zack shook his head. "I actually like being adored thank you very much...And you might like it too if you tried"

Cody looked back in the mirror again. He had tried that once, and it had ended horribly. He had vowed he would never let it happen again.

To be Continued...