Lady Em here. This is the first piece I've ever tried to write in first person, so bear with me lol!

(Cody POV)

"Bailey?"

"Cody?"

Bailey smiled awkwardly and began speaking, for which I was immensely grateful given that the unexpected shock of seeing my ex-girlfriend here had rendered me speechless. What was she doing here?

"I didn't... expect to see you here." Bailey said, pushing her long, straight hair behind her ears.

I laughed nervously. "Me neither. What are you doing here?" I didn't mean to sound rude, I just needed a few more seconds to wrap my head around the situation. I mean, the odds of running into her here, now, in the L.A. Tipton, had to be astronomical.

Bailey plucked at the fabric of her t-shirt, which was similar to mine, except, of course, that it read 'Kansas'. "Looks like I'm doing the same thing you are... What are the chances?"

I smiled, startled, at her question, wondering if she'd been working out the numbers in her head as well. When it came to academic nerdishness, we were usually right on the same page. "Not good." I said. Together we started back up the stairs. "I didn't know you were into Jeopardy!"

"Oh, I have been for a while." she answered. "The Game Show Network is one of the only channels we get in Kettlecorn even when the transmitters are down. Which they always are."

"No kidding." It's a common theme in Bailey's Kettlecorn stories that nothing is ever working due to an almost-unnatural surplus of natural disasters. Twisters rip off the roofs, locusts kill the crops, mudslides clog the sewers. It's really no surprise that getting decent television reception there would be nigh on impossible. I know Bailey loves her hometown, but I think London has the right idea on this one- if I lived in Kettlecorn, I'd move.

"Is Zack here too?"

"Yeah," I answered. "He and my mom are here with me."

"Awesome. I missed you... guys... over the summer." She blushed a little, looking like she wished she hadn't said it. "I mean..."

"We missed you too." I said quickly. She couldn't imagine just how much I had missed her.

"Oh!" Bailey remembered something, raising a suggestive eyebrow. "Does he know that Maddie's here, working on the show?"

I frowned. If Maddie and Bailey had already seen each other, why couldn't Maddie have given me a heads-up? "Yeah, we saw her already. It's going to be great catching up with her again... Especially for Zack." I agreed, letting my tone match hers. I doubted Zack's chances with Maddie had gotten any better since the last time we'd seen her, but you never know, right?

"I'll bet."

A vaguely uncomfortable thought occurred to me. "Hey, do you realize what this means?" I asked her as we reached the top landing. "We're going to be competing against each other."

"So... business as usual, then."

The remark stung a little- I hadn't meant to bring up a bone of contention from our former relationship, I'd just been stating the obvious. I've always had the tendency to get a little carried away during competitions, and when we were dating, Bailey's also-competitive nature had often exacerbated the problem. I didn't intend on letting that become an issue here. "Well, we probably won't be competing directly against each other." I tried to brush off her comment. "I mean, putting us in the same round would just be too much of a coincidence! I just meant, in a roundabout way..."

"Yeah..." Bailey agreed. "I kind of hope we don't end up facing each other directly."

"Scared?" There I went, being competitive again. I didn't know what made me say it; I was pretty confident in my abilities, but I knew firsthand what a worthy opponent Bailey could be.

She snorted. "No, I would just feel kind of bad about crushing you."

"Dream on." I replied, holding the glass door to the conference room open for her. We stepped into a luxurious glass-walled conference room filled with other teens, each wearing a shirt like mine and Bailey's, identifying them by state. Most of the other contestants were staring out at the amazing view of the city... but I was still feeling a bit distracted by the girl beside me.

Our friendship had been tenuous at best since our breakup last spring... would pitting ourselves against each other in a serious competition kill our relationship for good?

(Switches back to deathlyhallows123)

Cody noticed that Bailey waved her hand as in to say so long. He could go on and on about her. But instead, he decided to go sit with another kid, also wearing a Massachusetts t-shirt.

"Hey, I'm Cody Martin. I see you're also from the Bay State."

The kid he was talking to was relatively short, stocky with dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and very bubbly.

From the start Cody knew he would like him.

"Hey, I'm Barky. Don't ask me where I got that name, but I like it. How do I know your name? Because I feel like I've heard the name Cody Martin before," Barky said, extending his hand in friendship. Cody gladly accepted it.

"Well Barky, I was commended for my work on John Kerry's campaign in 2008 and I did and am campaigning for Governor Deval Patrick. Maybe you campaigned too and read my name there?"

"No. I mean yes, that's one way I heard about you, but I remember something else. I know I am going to look like an idiot, but do you know my cousin Woody Fink?"

Cody's jaw dropped. First Bailey, now Woody's cousin. "Yeah I do. He's my roommate at Seven Seas High!"

Barky shook his head. "Woody, Woody, Woody. Are you aware that he's here right now? I invited him to come watch the show."

Cody just laughed. Woody would be here, as the Tipton would offer great food for him. He was about to say something else when he heard another voice speak.

"Alrighty! Let's get this show on the road!" an energetic woman roared. "I'm Maggie, as you all know. This is Robert next to me. Say hi everyone."

"Hi!" the energetic group of teenagers yelled back, and Maggie began to speak.

"Contestants, be aware that you guys are really accomplished! About 40,000 teens tried out, and we only took 15. Those are the odds you have surpassed!"

Everyone clapped loudly, cheering themselves on.

"Well let me tell you how this is going to work. You know the basics and the format of the tournament. But what you may not know is that there will be a live marathon tournament for the ten game Teen Tournament. It will be live, so you literally have a few minutes to change. This will go on from 4 to 9, and every major news or sports channel in the country will be broadcasting this. Mr. Tipton has secured the coverage and rights if we tape in this hotel, which we gladly will. As you know, today is Sunday. You have the whole week to sight see, play practice games, and simply hang out. I'm sure by your rooms you guys will have a party sooner and later, and the only request we make is don't break anything!'

Everyone laughed.

"Well, we also have made you wear your state t-shirts. We have ten states being represented here, as we have 2 people each from Massachusetts, New York, California, Michigan, and New Jersey, and one person each from Minnesota, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Kansas. Genders are also split as equally as possible, with 8 boys and 7 girls. But back to the states. In each quarterfinal game, two states will get their own category, one in the regular round and one in Double Jeopardy! So brush up in your states. Here are the game schedules. In the first game, we will have Brian from Minnesota, Jeffrey from New York, and Barky from Massachusetts. The second game will be made up of Gina from Michigan, Vikram from New Jersey, and Tamika from New York. The third game will be made up of Melissa from Pennsylvania, Rima from Michigan, and Jonathan from California. The fourth game will be made up of Lauren from California, Xichang from New Jersey, and Bailey from Kansas. Finally, the fifth game will be made up of Tyrone from Rhode Island, Daisuke from Hawaii, and Cody from Massachusetts. Any questions?"

There was silence from the teenagers, and Maggie finished up.

"You will have practice games available via your television by tomorrow afternoon. The buzzers and game remote will all be there by tomorrow. You can come down and practice with the buzzers any time before Friday. Please make sure that you are prepared, but don't over study. We will have meetings like this on occasion if necessary. I've wasted enough of your time already, but I do have one more thing to say."

"Marcus Little is coming to this hotel to help write a Jeopardy rap. We have signed him to work with us. Marcus, please come on out."

Marcus came out and waved to everyone. Every person cheered.

"Hey guys, I'm here to write a rap. I want all of you to be in the music video, which we will film after the tapings during Saturday. Well, I have to go do a show right now, so I will talk to you all tomorrow. Peace!"

And just as quickly Marcus came, he left. Maggie then waved everyone off and they drifted down the stairs, and Cody soon found himself next to Bailey.

"So your facing a Jerseyan and a native son, or rather daughter. Good luck Bailey, I know you will do amazing."

"Cody, the tapings aren't until Friday, but thanks anyway." Bailey giggled, and this caused Cody to go back to his room in high spirits. He knew that something good would come this week.

Cody just relaxed on this bed. First Maddie, then Bailey, then Woody, and now Marcus. He had no doubt London would be here sooner or later. Cody threw himself on his bed. This was going to be an awesome week.

A/N: So how was the second chapter? A big applause for Lady Em for giving me her part! Don't worry, you'll get my political humor in here sooner are later. Also, the majority of categories we will go into will be related to history, politics or geography. However, this story contains only a little about politics and don't be warded off if you don't like politics. London is coming, and I am sorry but this isn't Zaddie. Maggie and Robert are actually talent searchers for Jeopardy! I have met them at my two auditions. Please, I want 15 reviews in total before the next chapter. 15! Also, I find it kind of rude to just put a story alert without anything else. Please either review or add an author alert or a favorite story or author or something. I just want to be aware how much you like this story. Any suggested stories for me I will read and review if they are Cailey definitely, and be other pairings if necessary. Please read and review!