CHAPTER FOUR

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, everyone tried to continue on with their lives. For Cody, it mean hitting the local organic food store to pick up an assortment of new herbs and spices. One of his passions in life was cooking, and he had grown up around the hotel head chef, Chef Paulo. It was one of his hidden talents that knew one knew about, even Zack. Sure, Zack knew Cody did cook frequently, but he just chalked it up to him trying to avoid their Mom's awful cooking. As for Bailey, she had been out running some errands for her parents when she saw Cody's car parked outside of the store. She figured it was a chance to take another shot at talking to Cody. So, she was waiting outside of the organic food store leaning against his car when he came out.

"Nice ride. A hybrid. Very sharp and good for the environment."

Cody looked up from the bottle of organic oregano he was looking at. Once he saw it was Bailey, he sighed. "Are you following me?"

"I was in the store across the street and I saw your car. I came over to say hello."

Cody rolled his eyes. "Hi." He continued to walk past her and put his bag in the car.

Bailey paused. "Not a real big talker, huh?"

Cody looked at her. "Depends on the topic. My hybrid car has never really been a topic of conversation before."

"Well, I care about the environment, so I appreciate it when I see someone else who cares."

Cody was a little confused, but he wasn't about to back down. "Why the sudden interest in me?"

Bailey just looked at him, a little bit in fascination. "You aren't afraid of me, are you?"

"Of course not. Why would I be afraid of you?"

Bailey sighed. "Because most people are."

Cody shrugged. "Well, I'm not."

That was definitely a new experience for Bailey, especially since moving to Seattle. She was so flustered, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, I bet you've been thinking of me, right?"

Cody rolled his eyes again and responded sarcastically. "Am I that transparent? You got me. I want you. I need you. Oh baby. Oh baby." And with that, Cody opened the car door and got inside.

Bailey stepped to the side, taken aback. But before she could say anything else, a little red sports car pulled up right behind Cody's car. Cody looked back in exasperation.

"What is this? Annoy Cody day?" Looking back again, he saw London get out of the car and walk right past his window. "Do you mind?"

London kept walking with a smirk on her face. "Not at all."

Cody gritted his teeth in anger before an idea popped into his head. With a smile, he put his car in reverse and backed right into the side of London's little sports car. The resulting collision left a few scratches to Cody's bumper which he could care less about. But London's driver side door was dented and her perfect paint job was ruined.

London came back out screaming. "You jerk!"

Bailey could only look on in complete fascination and actually found herself laughing at what Cody had done. She was realizing that Cody Martin wasn't like anyone she had ever met before. He seemed to buck all of the trends of the high school hierarchy and just didn't care. And now, he really intrigued her.

Cody popped his head out of the driver side window and smiled. "Whoops..."

"Whoops?"

Carey Martin looked down at her youngest son who was reading on the couch.

"My insurance doesn't cover...are you sure you aren't on steroids and that was roid rage?"

Cody sighed. "I'm not on steroids, Mom. Just tell them I had a seizure."

Carey looked at her son again. "Is this about Yale? Are you punishing me because I want you to stay close to home?"

Cody put his book down and stood up. "Aren't you punishing me because of what Dad did?"

Carey was taken aback. "Can we leave him out of this?"

"Fine! Then stop making my decisions for me!"

"I'm your mother! That's my right!"

"So, what I want doesn't matter?"

Carey sighed. "You're still only 17. You don't know what you want. And by the time you do, you'll be too old to know what to do with it."

Cody was getting angry. "I want to go to an east coast school. I want you to trust me to make my own choices. And I want you to stop trying to control my life just because you can't control yours!"

Carey was stunned. "Well, you know what I want?" But before she could say anything, she got a beep to head downstairs for a practice. "We'll continue this later."

Cody rolled his eyes. "Can't wait."

About that time, Zack came running into the suite. And immediately, he came running up to his brother.

"You just destroyed London's car!"

Cody shook his head. "So?"

Zack was getting heated now too. "Has it escaped your attention that you have gone completely psycho?"

Cody rolled his eyes again and walked away. Zack was still so angry he didn't know what to do. "Mom!"

The next day at school, Bailey was at her locker between classes changing out books. When she closed her locker door, she found London Tipton standing there glaring at her.

"Listen Farm Girl...When I pay out big money, I expect results!"

Bailey took a step back. "Look, I'm working on it."

London glared even harder. "I don't consider standing there laughing while that loser violates my car to be working on it!"

"Well, you did park right behind him. You really should have saw that coming..."

London was incredulous. "I'm not paying you to give play by play commentary. I'm paying you to do a job!"

Bailey paused. "Why do I get the sense there is some back history between you and Cody?"

"He's a loser. He's always been a loser, and he'll always be a loser. I should just have had Daddy make him disappear."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Yeah, that would be a good way to get in good with Zack. Make his brother disappear..."

London paused. "Look. I'm paying you well. So get to work!" London turned to walk away when she heard Bailey say something.

"I just upped my price."

London did a 360 on her heels. "Excuse me?"

"I want $200 a date. In cash. In advance."

London scowled. "Forget about it!"

Bailey smiled back. "Then forget about his brother..."

London wanted to say something, but she bit her tongue. She pulled out two more one hundred dollar bills. "You better be as good as you think you are."

Bailey kept smiling. She was rather enjoying this whole thing. For the first time since she had moved to Seattle, she was having fun. Already, she didn't like London Tipton and everything she represented. So, milking her for more money didn't bother her. In fact, she hoped it would teach London a lesson of some sort. But beyond that, there was something about Cody Martin she couldn't quite put her finger on. But whatever it was, she was looking forward to finding out what it was.

After school, Bailey was in the art room working on her project again when Maya and Addison approached her with apprehension. She noticed them but tried to ignore them. Finally Maya spoke up.

"We know what you are trying to do with Cody Martin..."

Bailey turned and looked at them. "What do you mean?"

"We know London Tipton is paying you to try to date him."

Bailey sighed. "So, are you going to tell him?"

Addison shook her head. "No, we're here to help you!"

Bailey looked at them in confusion. "Huh?"

"Look, we set this whole thing up. London is just the pawn in all of this. You see, my friend Maya here has a thing for Zack Martin too."

Bailey shook her head. "What is it with him? He's just your typical Abercrombie & Fitch wannabe..."

Maya got defensive. "Hey!"

Addison held her back. "Look, Maya's love for him is pure unlike London's who just wants what she can't have..."

Bailey paused. "So, you two really set this whole thing up and want to help me?"

Addison smiled. "We're your girls!"

Maya paused. "You know...in a non prison kind of way..."

Bailey shrugged. "Why not?" It didn't matter to her either way who Zack chose. "Let me know when you have something for me."

Addison smiled again. "Friday night. Bunny Lowenstein is having a party."

"So?"

"It will be a perfect opportunity for you and Cody to go out..."

Bailey paused to consider that. "I'll think about it." And with that, she walked away.

Addison grinned. "And its a perfect opportunity for some revenge." She showed Maya a flier for a World of Chocolates party Bunny was hosting.

The next day, both Maya and Addison stood at the top of a stairwell with large stacks of the flier. But they had been altered. Instead of a World of Chocolates party, it now said it was a real party with free beer.

Maya looked at Addison. "You ready?"

"Lets do this!" And with that, they dropped the fliers down the stairwell and watched as they floated down and other students grabbed them.

To be Continued...

Author's Note: For those who have seen the movie, I will be following the script fairly closely. But, there are certain parts I have substituted more SL related facts or changed some aspects to make them more in tune to who the SL characters are. So, some parts will not completely line up with what happens in the movie.