CHAPTER FIVE

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

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

Later on that same day, everything was as it should be. Well, with the exception of the buzz about the big party that was planned for that Friday night. It seemed everyone now knew about it...except for Bunny Lowenstein somehow. And between classes, Zack and London were talking.

"So, which do you like better?"

Zack was looking back and forth between two new rings on London's fingers. One was gold and the other platinum, but both had huge diamonds attached to them them.

Zack paused. "I think I like the gold one better."

London nodded. "Yeah, its more..."

Zack interjected. "Traditional?"

London frowned. "Darn. I was going for shiny..."

Zack just looked at London, but London continued talking. "So, are you going to Bunny Lowenbrau's thing on Friday?"

"Yeah...I might."

London smiled. "Good. You know, I'm not going to bother if you aren't going to be there..."

Zack smiled, but they were soon interrupted by the school's bell ringing.

London was still smiling. "See you there?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah..." And with that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked off towards his next class. He looked back to see London still smiling, but he didn't realize it was because she was looking at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of her locker door.

After school that day, Zack was hanging out with Maya in a local park near the school. Maya turned to Zack.

"So, have you heard about Bunny Lowenstein's party on Friday night?"

Zack sighed. "Yes...And I really really really want to go. But you know I can't. Not unless Cody goes too."

"I know, and I am working on that. But, so far, he's not going for my girl." She paused. "He's not...you know?"

"A fan of Broadway musicals?" Zack paused. "Well, actually, he is, but he is straight. I'm sure of that."

Maya raised her eyebrows. "How do you know?"

Zack paused. "Well, lets just say several years ago, Cody and I were helping the hotel's engineer/handyman Arwin do some work when we accidentally poked a hole in the wall. On the other side was a room full of a high school girls' soccer team in various stages of undress. Cody was looking just as much as I was. Plus, I once found a picture of Kari Byron is his desk drawer."

"Who?"

"You know...the redhead from Mythbusters."

Maya just gave Zack a look before she continued on. "So, he likes athletic types?"

Zack shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is he said he'd die before he would ever date anyone who didn't take their studies seriously and couldn't carry on a conversation about a 'myriad' of topics. Whatever a 'myriad' means..."

Maya nodded. "Okay, he likes brainy girls. What else?"

Zack just gave her a look. "You're asking me to investigate the inner workings of my brother's twisted mind? I don't think so!"

Maya sighed. "Well, nothing else has worked. We need to go behind enemy lines here. We need to find out what makes Cody tick so I can give the information to Bailey."

Zack paused. "Well, I guess we could go through his side of our room and see what we can find..."

Maya smiled. "What are we waiting for then?"

An hour later, they were both in the boys' room at the Tipton hotel, and they were going through Cody's desk drawers.

"Here we go. Class schedule. Reading list. Lecture series tickets. Orchestra concert series tickets..."

Maya just looked at Zack. "Lecture series tickets?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Cody loves those kind of things. He dragged me to one of them once, and I just about died of boredom."

They continued looking around, and Zack was going through Cody's clothing drawers.

"Lets see. Sweater vests. More sweater vests. Ah ha!"

Maya looked over at him. "What?"

Zack grinned. "Cologne!"

"So?"

"It means Cody wants to smell good and eventually have someone close enough to him to smell it."

Maya nodded and paused. "And what kind do you wear?" She walked over to him and got real close to him.

Zack swallowed. "Ummm...I not wearing any right now. And I like to keep it a secret. You know...leave you guessing."

Later that night, Bailey was sitting alone at a booth in a diner. Not her first choice of places to be, but her Mom was waitressing there while her Dad was beginning his first night as a fishmonger at one of Seattle's wharfs. Bailey had the privacy to do her home work plus get a meal on the house. She was nibbling on her chicken fingers when Maya and Addison slid into the booth across from her.

Maya smiled at her. "We have some more information about Cody for you."

Addison spoke up. "But first, you actually eat your chicken fried?"

Bailey just shook her head and turned back to Maya. "So, what do you have?"

"Well, I was talking to Zack, and I learned Cody likes athletic girls."

Bailey just stared at her. "Are you saying I'm not athletic? I'll have you know I was the three time junior steering champion when I was younger!"

Addison and Maya looked at each other not quite sure what that meant before Maya turned back to Bailey. "We were just checking. Also, Cody also likes brainy girls. He has said he would never date anyone who doesn't care about school and who couldn't discuss a wide range of topics."

Bailey sighed again. "I have a 5.0, and I'm on the honor roll. I think I have that covered."

Maya paused. "Okay...Anyways, I also found out that Cody loves to cook, he loves astronomy and stuff like that, and he's a fan of classical music..."

Bailey nodded. "Alright, I can work with that."

"And tomorrow night, the Seattle Philharmonic is having a concert of classical music in the park. Cody has tickets to attend. You might want to make an appearance there yourself."

Bailey sighed. "Classical music? Really? I'm more a fan of country music myself..."

Maya smiled. "Assail your ears for one night then. This is your chance to make waves with Cody for once. Get him on his own turf, and if you can't dazzle him with your brilliance, dazzle him with your bull..."

Bailey cut her off. "I get the idea."

The next night, Cody and Woody were attending the philharmonic's concert in the park. Cody was laying back on a blanket with his eyes closed enjoying the music. Woody was sitting next to him rummaging through the picnic basket that Cody had brought.

"Doesn't this music just speak to you, Woody?"

Woody said nothing as he feasted away on some potato salad.

"Woody?" Cody sat up and opened his eyes to see his friend going to town. Cody couldn't help himself but to laugh.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it."

Woody looked over at him. "What can I say? I appreciate good food!"

Cody just shook his head and laughed. "That's what I like about you, Woodchuck. You are who you are, and embrace it."

Woody was looking through the basket. "Ummm...Cody...you didn't pack anything to drink."

Cody looked over his shoulder. "My bad. I'll go get us some waters. Be right back."

Cody headed over to the refreshment stand. Of course, unbeknownst to him, Bailey had been observing him the whole time from the refreshment stand. Seeing him coming right for her, she panicked a little and turned her head.

"Two waters, please." Cody pulled some money out of his pocket and paid for them. He grabbed the water bottles and was about to walk back when he noticed something. Rolling his eyes, he walked over next to Bailey.

"If you're planning on asking me out again, you might as well go ahead and get it over with..."

Bailey turned to face him. "Can you keep it down? I'm trying to enjoy the show."

Cody paused and just stared at Bailey for a minute. "You know...there's something different about you today."

Bailey smiled back at him. "Just me." She took a drink from her own bottle of water. "You know, I don't mind them playing Bach or Mozart or Beethoven or even Brahms, but it would be nice if they paid some homage to the lesser known guys like Boccherini or Schobert or Hellendaal..."

Cody just stood there in complete and utter shock. "You know who Boccherini, Schobert and Hellendaal are?"

Bailey got up and began walking away. "Of course. Don't you?"

Cody continued standing there completely flabbergasted. He never saw this coming at all, and now he was feeling something about a girl he hadn't felt in a long time – intrigued. Quickly, he ran up to join her, but he still didn't know what to say.

Bailey turned to him and smiled. "You know, I saw you over there really getting into the music. I have to say, I've never seen you look so irresistible..."

Of course, just as she said the last part, the orchestra had stopped. And as she was speaking louder to be heard over it, every one close in proximity heard her say that to Cody. And they all began laughing. Among those laughing was Cody, and even he wasn't sure why he was doing so.

Bailey felt a little embarrassed, but tried to smile it off. Finally, she turned to Cody again. "Come to Bunny's party with me..."

Cody just looked at her for a moment. "You never give up do you?"

Just then, the orchestra began playing again, and Bailey groaned in frustration. And to make matters worse, Cody was beginning to walk away.

"Was that a yes?"

Cody looked over his shoulder. "No."

"Was that a no then?"

Cody looked over his shoulder again. "No."

Bailey shouted. "I'll pick you up at 9:30 then."

Cody just waived over his shoulder as he made his way back towards Woody. Bailey just stood there with a little smile on her face.

To be Continued...