Episode 11

"Somebody Has a Secret"

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

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

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

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Boston

When Zack was finally able to pull back form her embrace, he just stared at his old friend in complete and utter surprise. Maddie showing up on his doorstep was the last thing that he could have ever expected to have happened at that moment. One his initial surprise faded some, he finally got to take a good look at her. Sure, she was several years older than the last time he had seen her and had definitely matured some, but she still basically looked exactly like the same young woman that he once harbored a major crush. Of course, that thought almost made him chuckle out loud as he though of the irony of it. In his whole life, Maddie was one of only two girls he had actually deemed worth to chase after. And the other? Well, she was sitting on the couch right behind him in the suite they now shared together. But right then, the combination of shock and his hangover was preventing him from being able to say anything.

But once he was able to think more clearly, several thoughts crossed his mind The last time he had actually seen Maddie had been at Moseby's wedding close to three years prior. And in that time, enough had happened to him that he had pretty much completely forgotten all about her. They hadn't really kept in touch though he did hear bits and pieces about her from London, Cody and Bailey. In fact, the last he had heard, Maddie was now living on the west coast with her on again off again and seemingly back on again boyfriend Trevor. He briefly wondered if he was somewhere around too when he realized Maddie was now looking at him funny.

"Zack? Are you okay?"

That seemed to do the trick, and he was able to find his voice again. "Maddie? What are you doing here?"

She just smiled at him. "Oh, I just decided to come back to Boston. I kind of decided it had been way too long since I'd been home, so here I am! Plus, I'm in between jobs right now and figured it was high time for me to come see some of my old friends I hadn't seen in a while..."

"Well, its good to see you again..." He looked behind her. "Is Trevor here with you?"

A look came over Maddie's face that Zack couldn't figure out, but she quickly hid it with another smile. "No, its just me this time. I actually didn't know you were still here at the hotel until London told me. I'm staying with her up in her penthouse, and she happened to mentioned how well you've been doing lately for yourself." She looked past him and saw Maya sitting on the couch. "And from what I understand, you have a new roommate as well..."

Zack turned around too as he remembered Maya again. "Oh course. Where are my manners? Maddie, this is my girlfriend, Maya. Maya, this is Maddie."

By then, Maya had gotten up off the couch and walked to the door herself to shake Maddie's hand. "Nice to meet you, Maddie."

Maddie smiled again. "The pleasure is all mine. Actually, I've been wanting to meet you for a long, long time now." She nudged Zack in the ribs and laughed. "I always wondered what kind of woman it would take to get this one here in a serious relationship. At first, I didn't believe everyone, but they kept telling me that it was true. And then when I heard that Zack had practically begged you to move in with him, I about passed out from shock. It seems you've pulled off the impossible somehow." She laughed. "You've gotta tell me what your secrets are..."

Maya laughed too. "Thanks...I think. But, it really wasn't all that difficult. Zack's had grown up and matured a lot in the past few years. The guy you see standing here now has come along way since I first met him our senior years of high school." She paused. "But, if I may ask, who has been telling you all of these things?"

"Oh, I've exchanged e-mails with London, Bailey and Cody pretty regularly for the past few years. They're the ones who have kept me filled in on what's going on with everyone around here."

Zack looked at her with a hurt expression on his face. "Speaking of which, how come you never kept in touch with me like you have everyone else?"

"Well, for one, I didn't know you're e-mail address or phone number. And two, you could have just as easily gotten mine from one them and sent me a message or called me every now and then. So, don't put it all on me..."

He paused. "True. So, how long are you back in town for?"

Maddie shrugged. "I don't know yet. Like I said, I'm in between jobs right, but London's been trying to get me to join her company in the PR department for over a year now. Now that I'm back on the market, I'm actually starting to give some serious thought to taking her up on it now..."

Zack grinned. "You should! You and I be working together. And with you there, it would be like the old days again with you, me, London and Moseby all in the same place again."

Maya spoke up confused. "It will?"

He turned back to her. "Yeah, Maddie used to work at the candy counter downstairs. She was always getting involved in our misadventures back in the day with London, Cody, Moseby and I."

Maya's eyes went wide. "That's why your name seemed so familiar to me! You helped Cody pull off that prank on Zack! The one with the ghost in Suite 613!"

Maddie shook her head and laughed. "I had almost completely forgotten about that. I think we were the first ones ever to turn the tables on Zack. Unfortunately, he paid us back in spades before and after that. When he was younger, Zack here was quite the little hellcat. He was always coming up with some scheme or another that Cody, London, Moseby and I got constantly getting dragged into..."

"Well, you'll be happy to know I got him good myself a few weeks ago. You see..." Maya quickly explained the set up she had arranged with Arturo.

Maddie busted out laughing again. "Oh, I think I would have paid to see that!"

"It really wasn't all that funny..."Zack sighed before smiling again. "But, if you join us at London Inns, we can all have more adventures like that again."

"Like I said, I'm thinking about it. Though, it would almost be worth it to see you and Moseby almost being friends these days. After what I saw around here years ago, that's almost as mind boggling to me as Zack being in a committed relationship..."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, he's actually my boss now. And like Maya said, I have grown up a lot. Besides, when were not around each other all the time, Moseby really isn't that bad. And with me being 21 now, he treats me more like an adult rather than as a child."

"Well, he should!" She shook her head. "Look at you...you're a full grown man now who will be graduating college next spring. The little boy that I remember moving into the Tipton and that I used to babysit is long gone! And you're taller than I am now! You have any idea how old that makes me feel?"

Zack laughed. "Yeah, the growth spurt finally kicked in during high school..."

Maya teased him. "Though, he still gets upset that Cody's lasted longer. Zack really hates the fact that he's 5'11 and Cody is 6'0..."

Maddie laughed. "And that makes me feel even older. I remember when Cody was a little boy too, and not only is he graduating from Yale next spring, but he's getting married next summer! And London tells me he and Bailey have been accepted to Harvard's medical school. It blows my mind how much those two little boys have really grown up..."

Zack had to laugh at that. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, Cody and Bailey finally getting married isn't going to really change anything. They basically are already. They're actually living together this year at Yale."

"Still...he's getting married before I am! And he's about five years away from being a doctor, and you're about three years away from getting your MBA!" Maddie just shook her head and sighed. "It seems like nothing around here is how I remember it being. Even London seems completely different now..."

"Because she is. She's really come a long way since we graduated high school. She still puts up her tough exterior, but she'll actually admit she cares about her friends now..."

"I know. She actually told me she missed me. I never thought I'd ever hear her say that. But...its good to finally be home..."

Maya smiled. "Well, welcome home then. And I hope you are here for a while because I'm sure you have some more good stories about this one here that I haven't heard yet..."

Maddie smiled back at her. "I'm sure I probably do. And I'd like to get to know the woman who won Zack's heart. Cody and Bailey have nothing but the best things to say about you, so I'm sure we'll get along just fine..."

"Me too."

"Well, how about we start right now? You two interested in going out to grab some breakfast with me?"

Zack and Maya just looked at each other and grimaced. "Could we do lunch instead? Right now, neither one of us is all that hungry..."

Maddie just gave him a look. "Zack not hungry? That's a first! I..." She paused as she finally caught a whiff of something. "Why does it smell like a brewery in here?"

He began hemming and hawing. "Well...Tuesday was my 21st birthday and yesterday was Maya's. So, last night, we kind of sort of...you know..."

Maddie laughed again as she finished his thought. "Tied one on. I understand you're lack of hunger now. I did the same thing on my 21st, and felt completely awful the entire next day. Well, a belated happy birthday to you both. And from what I remember from my own, you probably won't be up for lunch either. Tell you what. I'll head back up to the penthouse and order some room service. Later, if your stomachs ever get settled down by lunch time, you'll know where I'll be..."

"Sounds good to us. And if all else fails, we'll join you for dinner tonight if you want."

"Works for me. Well, I'll see you guys later." She paused. "And if I may suggest, Tylenol and lots and lots of water..."

Once Maddie left, Maya turned to Zack. "She seems nice enough. How come you've never really mentioned her to me before?"

New Haven

About that same time on Saturday morning, Cody and Bailey were just finishing up their laundry down in Berkeley College's new high tech laundry room after having already eaten breakfast. Of course, while the laundry facilities did have complimentary irons and ironing boards for the students to use, Cody much preferred to use the ones they already had up in their room. And while their college know offered complimentary detergent and fabric softer to its residents, Cody again declined to used them. Mainly because he preferred to use a brand that was hypoallergenic and wouldn't cause his allergies to flare up. But they were able to spend the time waiting on their dryers to finish by doing their homework for their two actual classes. And even when they finished up that, they still had some time to waste. So, Bailey showed Cody the research for their food class group project.

"You know, Cody, I really do think we have the perfect topic here. And Professor Brownell seems to agree with us..."

"I know. I was kind of surprised when he told us no one else had ever done it before..."

Bailey laughed. "Tell me about it! That about blew my mind too! I know we don't watch as much television as some people do, but ever time we do, it seems like we are bombarded with those commercials."

Cody could only nod. "I remember it was particularly bad when I was laid up recovering from my appendectomy. I thought Coke and Pepsi had covered every single area that could fight over, but I guess I was wrong..."

"Well, when all else fails, go for the one battlefield you know will get everyone's attention - gender. Who knew the can of worms Dr. Pepper was opening with those idiotic commercials for Dr. Pepper 10. Now, it seems like all of the soft drink companies are designing drinks or flavors to specifically pander to either men or women..."

"And that drink wasn't even that good to begin with..."

She teased him. "I wouldn't know...it wasn't targeted to my gender." After both laughed, Bailey showed Cody the research she had found already. "Now, it does look like there have already been a couple of studies done on this topic, but we can make it more localized. We can go to grocery stores to see how they are marketing them in New Haven plus call the local stations to see which ads are aired more often. Plus, we can set up some actual taste tests here on campus. We can offer one brand designed for women and one for men and see if those are the ones the genders actually choose."

"And we can do some blind taste tests so see which ones they actually prefer the taste of..."

"Good idea! I think we have enough of a idea to write up a proposal for our professor now. And the quicker we do, the better the chances that no one else will think of it. If we get in first, it will be ours."

"Well, why don't we put it on our to do this for tomorrow morning, and then we can submit it on Tuesday morning." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "See, like I always said. Beauty and brains."

Bailey smiled at him. "Thank you, Sweetie. I..." But before she could continue, they heard the buzzers on all of their dryers begin to go off. She laughed. "Hold that thought, and I'll finish it while we begin folding everything..."

So, in unison, they began emptying their clothes out of the dryers into their laundry baskets. And working side, they began folding everything that Cody wouldn't iron when they got back up to their room. Thirty minutes later, everything was folded and placed back into their laundry baskets. And when they were done, Cody just turned to Bailey and smiled.

"Alright. Another thirty minutes of ironing, and we'll officially be done with our laundry for the week. By then, it will be close to eleven o'clock. What would you like to do with the rest of our Saturday?"

Bailey paused before a grin spread across her face. "Well, its only about a month away now. How about we go shopping for our Halloween costumes?"

He just shook his head. "Uh uh. I've already ordered our costumes, so no need for us to do that. They're being special made for us, so it will be a few more weeks before their ready. Besides, with the money we've made on trivia nights, I decided to go all out in honor of our senior years."

She just gave him a look. "Any hints as to what they will be?"

Cody just smiled. "Nope. I'm giving you the same notice you gave me last year."

Bailey sighed before she had an idea. She pulled Cody in close and gave him a long, passionate kiss. When she finally pulled back, she could tell his was completely off guard in a good way. "Does that give you in inclination to tell me now?"

He just smiled again. "Nope, but I love the methods you'll resort to to get information out of me. If my desire to keep this a surprise for you wasn't so high, that could have easily made me crumble..."

"Cody!"

He laughed. "But rest assured, Bails, keep doing that in the future, and I'll sing like a canary..."

She sighed again. "Will you at least tell me if they are going to be humorous or frightening or...?"

He wrapped his arm around her. "Actually, I'm going for humorously frightening...or frighteningly humorous. But before you resort to other avenues of trying to discover my secret, I'm the only one who knows what it is. I discussed several ideas with Tapeworm, but he doesn't know what I finally decided on. So, no asking Gertie to try to charm the information out of him..."

Bailey pouted. "This is completely unfair, Cody..."

Cody smiled again. "You remember what you told me not this last summer but the one before it?"

She just gave him a look. "What did I say?"

"You said good things come to good boys who are patient and wait. Well, Sweetie...be a good girl who is patient and waits, and good things will come to you too..."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "I should have know that would come back and bite me in the butt..."

He laughed. "I promise you'll love my ideas though. Now, what else would you like to do today?"

She paused. "Well, if that is out, I did hear the natural history museum was having a guest lecturer this afternoon that sounded pretty interesting. I believe the guy is a professor at NYU...I think his name is Geller or something like that."

"Sounds like fun to me then. Lets take our laundry upstairs then. The sooner we do, the sooner I'll get done ironing..." He paused and smiled at her. "But tonight, I do have another surprise for you. And I think you're going to love it..."

Bailey had to smiled. "Yeah? Well, I do like the sound of that. I love all of your surprises...even the ones you stubbornly still won't tell me about."

So, they grabbed their laundry baskets and began heading back upstairs. And as they did, Cody did decide to tease Bailey and dropping hints about their costumes that would both give her ideas as well as completely throw her off track. Eventually, Bailey caught on to what he was doing and took to bumping him with the laundry basket in her arms. By the time they got to their floor, both were bumping the other back and forth and laughing about it.

Of course, that was until they got back to their room and found a vase with a dozen roses sitting outside of their door.

"Cody! Is this part of your surprise for me? That was so sweet of you!"

Cody wasn't smiling though. "Ummm...Bails...those aren't from me. Remember, I only send you roses on Valentine's Day. I choose other flowers for other occasions."

Bailey looked at him for a minute. "That's right, you do..." She paused and then shrugged. "Well, whoever left these here must have put them outside of the wrong room. I'll just check the card and see who they are supposed to be for."

She reached down and grabbed the card and read it out loud. "I hope this in some small way makes up for my tardiness last week. Thank you again for the second chance you gave me, and I promise I won't let you down ever again. Besides, I would be a fool for not wanting to spend as much time with a bright and beautiful woman such as yourself as I can. Sincerely, Rob."

Bailey was surprised that he had sent her flowers, but when she saw Cody's face, she could immediately see that he was not happy at all.

Boston

Zack just looked at Maya as he tried to figure out how to answer her question. On one hand, he could follow Cody's advice and answer the question as honestly as possible with the whole truth. On the other hand, he could give her an abridged version and hope she would buy it. Instead, he went with option number three - try to bluff his way out of answering it all. So, he just smiled at her, but a nervous laugh escaped his mouth. "What are you talking about, Babe? I've told you all about Maddie before, haven't I?"

Maya wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily though. "Uh uh. Nope. You've never really talked about her all that much that I remember. You might have mentioned her name once or twice in passing, but that's it. And it isn't just you. Since I've known you, Cody, Bailey and London, I can't recall any of you bringing her name up in a conversation either. I'm just curious why you guys haven't if she was such a good friend to you all. I don't know anything about her. What's she like?"

He paused. "Well, Maddie's always been pretty cool. You know...she's just a genuinely nice and sweet girl..." He paused again. "...well, woman now I guess. And like I said, she was usually part of our adventures back in the day when she wasn't off at camp or off somewhere else..."

Maya stopped to think for a minute when the fog of her hangover finally cleared away. And that's when she finally put two and two together. "Wait a minute! Is she the one you used to have a major crush on when you and Cody used to live here back when you were kids?"

Zack sighed realizing he wasn't going to be able to talk himself out of this now. He looked at Maya and unfortunately let out another nervous laugh. "Maya...Babe...that was a long, long time ago. I was just a kid then who didn't know any better..."

She just gave him a look. "Oh? Is that so? She's the one I remember Cody mentioning that one time. So, she's the girl who used to work here who you had a thing for, huh?"

He mumbled under his breath. "Note to self – Kill Cody." He looked up at Maya again. "Yeah, that was her, but like I said – it was a long, long time ago. It was like a whole another life time ago. And – to be fair, it was well before I ever met you. You knew I had a past before I met you."

Maya sighed realizing he was right. "True, but how come you've never told me more about her then? Why keep it a secret from me?"

He shrugged. "The subject just never came up. I mean, she moved away several years ago to head out west. Last time I saw her was at Moseby's wedding, and that will be three years ago this New Year's Eve. Since then, I really haven't kept in touch with her, and I pretty much forgot about her." He paused. "Besides, I've had a lot happen to me since then that has kind of preoccupied my time..."

She paused. "Well, I guess that's true."

"It is. Since the last time I've seen her, I've gone from taking classes at a community college to looking ahead to grad school after I graduate. Plus, I have you back in my life now. With you, I don't have the need to think about other girls anymore."

"I can understand that, but I just never heard people talk about her all that much even back on the boat. And that brings up another question. How are are she and Bailey so close then? How do they know each other?"

"Well, Maddie did come to visit us on the boat once during our sophomore years. She and Bailey got to meet each other then, and they kind of bonded as they were both the targets of London's insults. Maddie even stayed in their cabin with them while she was there. I guess they stayed friends after that. And you have to remember how long ago this was. Cody and Bailey were not yet together the first time, and he was still in the midst of his six month plan to win her over."

"I guess that's been over six years then. I guess that is long enough for them to grow close." She paused. "So how come she never came back to the boat?"

Zack laughed. "Well, after what happened on her on her first visit, I seriously doubt she wanted to come back again. I mean – she almost got stuck marrying this pint sized prince. And if I hadn't stepped in and defeated the kid in the weirdest joust you'd ever see, she probably would have an unwilling princess right now..."

Maya raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

He sighed realizing that last part wasn't helping his argument. "Again – a long time ago, and again, all well before I met you or even knew you existed."

"I know, but I just don't like to think about things like that..." She shrugged. "Besides, it just seems weird to me that for someone that everyone was so close to that her name was hardly ever mentioned..."

Zack paused. "Well, I guess out of sight, out of mind would explain it, but that doesn't make the rest of us come off very good..."

"Its just I was there for a year, and by the way everyone talked, it was like she had never existed in your lives. And I guess I can understand why she didn't come back to visit again, but she didn't even show up for your graduation. I mean, supposedly, she was good friends with London, Bailey, Cody and you. I guess I just figured if you guys were all that tight that she would have. I mean, Arwin was your friend too and he showed up for it."

Zack shook his head. "I don't know, Maya. I guess I just never really thought about it like that before. I just figured she was off living her own life while we were all doing the same." He paused and began laughing. "Though, its probably good that she didn't show up for the prom. That could have been awkward..."

Maya looked at him funny. "Why would that have been awkward?"

Without thinking, he explained why. "Well, there was this misunderstanding between her and this guy she thought she was going to her prom with. Turns out he already had a date which essentially left her dateless for her own prom. Well, me being the kind of guy I am, I stepped in and danced with her that night. And she was so grateful for me doing that that she said she would return the favor and be my date at my prom." He still hadn't learned when to shut up and began laughing. "Can you imagine that? If she had showed up, I would have had two dates for it!"

She just glared at him and shook her head. "Oh, I seriously doubt you would have..."

Zack swallowed realizing he had just dug himself into a large hole. "Of course I wouldn't have...I would have just had you as a date. I would have had to let her down gently..."

"Uh huh..."

He pulled her in close. "Hey...who was it that came up with the idea of the secret prom that let us have one in the first place?"

Maya paused. "Well, you did..."

"Exactly. I came up with that so I could have an excuse to spend that evening holding you in my arms like this. Trust me, Maya. If Maddie had shown up, I would have told her my dance card for the night was already full..."

She looked at him hopefully. "Really?"

"Really. And if you still think you have anything to worry about from Maddie, then don't. She's one of the most honest goody goodies you'll ever meet. She would never try to cause any problems. Besides, she told you herself she was looking forward to getting to know you. I really think you two could end up being good friends."

"Maybe. I guess its possible. I mean, Bailey and I were never all that close in high school, but we're pretty good friends now."

"Exactly. Plus, if Maddie is here for any length of time, I'm sure you'll meet her boyfriend, Trevor."

"What's he like?"

"Well, he's ultra conservative which is funny because Maddie is ultra liberal..." He paused. "And some people say he looks a little bit like that Zac Efron guy, but I just don't the similarities..."

New Haven

As soon as he heard what that note on the flowers had said, Cody found himself clenching his fists and grinding his teeth. While the idea of some other guy sending his fiancee flowers did not sit well with him, he trusted Bailey. He knew he wasn't like Ox who looked at every other male on the planet as a threat. The real reason that Cody was upset was because of that Rob guy. Ever since he met him on the previous Tuesday, Cody couldn't shake the feeling that he knew him somehow. And his gut instinct was telling him there was something not on the up and up about him. So, the fact that he had sent Bailey flowers was causing his internal alarm to go to Def Com 5.

For her part, Bailey could tell Cody wasn't happy. But she thought it might have been due to jealousy. And for some reason, it made her remember a couple of years earlier when she about went crazy on that tall, blonde Swedish girl who was trying to flirt with Cody. Even though she trusted him, she couldn't help but let her jealousy get to her then. So, she decided to nip this in the bud before Cody had the chance to drop to the levels she had.

"Cody...Sweetie. This is not that big of a deal. I'm sure he's just trying to soothe things over after he royally screwed up last week. I don't want you to let this bother you..."

He shook his head and sighed. "I admit I don't like him sending you flowers, Bails, but that's not what's really getting to me. I just have this bad feeling about this Rob guy that I can't rationally explain. My instincts have sirens blaring about that I should be very wary of him."

Bailey sighed in relief realizing that it wasn't what she had feared. But when saw the look on his face, she knew this was really bothering Cody. "You still think you know him from somewhere, don't you?"

"I'm almost positive I do, Sweetheart. But for the life of me, I can't remember or figure out how."

Bailey paused. "Well, maybe it was like it was with Tapeworm? Maybe you knew him by a nickname?"

"Maybe..." Cody shook his head. "But if I did know him, wouldn't he have recognized me too? And if he did, why didn't he say anything?"

"I don't know..." She smiled at him. "...but, if it makes you feel any better, I have no desire to keep these flowers. They mean nothing to me, and I don't want them. Instead, why don't we drop them off over at the hospital and have them give them to a patient who doesn't have any?"

"Really? You would do that?" He shook his head. "Bails, I would never ask you to do that..."

She smiled at him again. "Of course I'll will. The only man I want sending me flowers...other than my Dad...is you, Cody." She kissed his cheek. "Besides, I don't want to give him the wrong idea. I'm yours and all yours. So, just keep remembering you that have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Cody smiled at her. "I know. Bails, I trust you completely. I try not to get jealous as I know your mine..." He paused and laughed. "Of course, we should be glad that it wasn't Trixie sending me flowers. If Ox had found out, you might have been a widow before we even got married..."

She laughed too. "Yeah, I get the feeling he would have gone ballistic. But, if he tried to get to you, he would have had to go through me first. I know I've only been taking those classes for a week, but I've learned a few things. I couldn't cripple him yet like Maya could, but no one tries to hurt my Cody Bear..." She paused and grinned at him. "But I also appreciate the fact that you didn't try to tell me what to do with those flowers. Some guys would have demanded their girlfriends throw them away immediately. I'm glad we have that level of trust between us."

He wrapper his arms around her waist. "Me too. But if someone ever did try to take you away from me, they'd have to kill me first. I lost you once, and it about destroyed me. I've vowed never to let that happen again. So, if this Rob guy has some ulterior motives, I'm going to nip it in the bud ASAP."

Bailey shook her head. "No, we'll nip it in the bud ASAP. But I'm sure this is probably all still nothing to worry about. I'm sure he's just trying to get on my good side because he knows one more screw up and I'm done with tutoring him."

"I hope so..." Cody sighed. "I just wish there was a way to find out if I actually know this Rob guy or not. That would answer so many questions..."

She stopped to think. "Well, maybe there is a way. He had to go to Master Chun to request a tutor, so maybe we can simply go ask him about Rob."

Cody smiled. "Like I said before. Brains and beauty - Bails, you really are the total package. Come on, lets head on down to his office right now..."

So after dropping the flowers and their laundry off in their room, they headed down to the first floor. And fortunately for them, Master Chun just happened to be in his office that morning. The knocked on his door before walking inside. And when he saw them, he smiled.

"Now, to what do I owe this pleasure this morning?"

The closed the door behind them before sitting down in the two chairs opposite of Master Chun's desk. Cody spoke up. "Actually, we're hoping you can help us out here. For some reason, the person you've asked Bailey to tutor seems really familiar to me. I was hoping you could give us some information on him so I can figure out why..."

Master Chun shrugged. "Let me see what I can do..." He headed over to his file cabinet and pulled out a file. "Of course, you do realize that some information is confidential, and I'm not a liberty to divulge it."

Bailey nodded. "Of course. We'd feel the same way if people asked about us."

He paused. "Its funny that you would say say that. Now that I remember, Rob did come and ask me about you two last Wednesday afternoon. He said he had something to drop off to you and forgot your room number. And he said he thought Cody looked familiar to him too and asked me about him..."

Cody looked over at Bailey before looking back at Master Chun. "Interesting. So, what can you tell us about him?"

"Well, he's a transfer student in this year from Princeton. To be honest, his record seems to be missing quite a lot of information, but that's pretty normal for someone who has very powerful connections. I think that's why he was able to get into some classes as a sophomore that usually only seniors can get into..."

Cody shook his head. "I hadn't thought of that before, but that does seem a little weird." He paused. "Do you know Where he is from originally?"

Master Chun checked his file again. "Well, he went to a boarding school in Georgia for high school, but it looks like he is originally from Boston."

Bailey turned to Cody. "Maybe that's how you know him then? Maybe you two went to middle school together or something like that?"

Cody nodded. "Maybe, but I don't remember anyone at Buckner named Rob..." He turned to Master Chun. "Can I ask what his last name is?"

"Of course. Its Cavanaugh. And Rob isn't even his first name – its his middle one. His real first name is Theodore."

Upon hearing that bombshell, Cody's eyes went wide as realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He just swallowed and stood up. "Thank you, Master Chun. You've been quite helpful. I don't think we should waste any more of your time..." He turned to Bailey. "Come on, Sweetie...lets go." And with that, Cody walked out of the office.

Bailey frowned, but she quickly followed Cody out. But he hadn't stopped outside, and she basically had to run to keep up with him as he hurriedly made it back up to their suite. Once inside, he began pacing back forth and mumbling to himself which caused Bailey to really begin to get worried.

"Cody? What is going on? It looks like you've seen a ghost!"

He turned and looked at her. "Worse! I knew he looked familiar! Its Theo!" He shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't recognize him..."

She was confused now. "Wait a minute. Who is Theo?"

He stopped pacing and sighed. "You remember that bully I told you about who constantly made digs at me and treated Zack like an organ grinder's monkey by constantly giving him things?"

Bailey paused to think. "Yeah, I remember that now. You made it seem like he was a real jerk."

Cody just gave her a look and Bailey quickly put two and two together. "Wait a minute! Are you saying that Rob is that same guy who used to do that?"

He just nodded. "Exactly..." He sighed. "Rob is Theo. He's Theodore Robert Cavanaugh..." He shook his head. "Its like his parents knew what he was going to be like when they named him. And like his namesake, it seems like he enjoys terrorizing people originally from the Pacific Northwest!" (AN: Reference to Ted Bundy)

"Sweetie, don't you think you're stretching things a little bit to compare your old bully to one of the worst serial killers in American history?"

"Bails, you weren't there. You didn't see how bad he was. If you don't believe me, call Zack. He'll tell you all about him too..."

Bailey sighed. "Cody, I do believe you in that he was that bad...as a 13 year old. But that was a long time ago, and its been almost eight years since them. For all we know, he might not be the same guy that you remember. He might have grown up. I mean, Zack and London did. Maybe he did too?"

"Does blowing off his tutoring session to play ultimate sound like he's matured?"

She paused. "Well, not really, but it doesn't mean he's the same way he was when he was just a kid..."

"Maybe not, but until we know for sure, we can't let our guards down around him!"

"Cody..."

He took her hands in his. "Please, Sweetie? If I'm wrong, its no big deal. But what if I'm right and he hasn't changed a bit?"

She looked into his eyes and saw how serious he was about this. Bailey just nodded. "Okay, Cody. For you, I'll do that."

Cody smiled at her. "Thank you, Bailey. I really do appreciate this. But remember, we can't let him know that we've figured out who he is."

Inwardly, Bailey sighed to herself. She wasn't sure this was going to be necessary, but if it was that important to Cody, she would go along with it. Besides, part of her was really wishing Cody would be wrong about this. With all they had to do for school, the last thing they needed was more drama in their life.

In Private Dorm Room in Berkeley South

Theo was laying back on his bed with his cell phone pressed to his ear.

"Hey Man, its me, Theo..."

"Yeah, this place sucks pretty bad. I liked it better when it was you and me taking on Princeton together."

"Yeah, it sucked there too, but at least with us both there, we had some fun..."

He began laughing. "Well, there maybe a silver lining though. There was this nerd I used to constantly give pure hell to in Boston when I was younger. Turns out he goes to school here, so I can start doing that again. Plus, he has a fiancee that is hot!"

Theo kept laughing. "You know it! I'm going to make his life a living hell and then take his girl away from him! Naturally, I'll dump her after I'm done with her. And get this, this guy maybe be a genius or something, but he has no idea who I am. He doesn't seem to recognize me at all! This is going to be way too easy!"

He paused. "Oh, I remember. I know I have to keep my nose clean after our last stunt. A prison cell is the last place I want to be, but I shouldn't have to resort to anything underhanded to pull this off..." Theo paused again. "But to be on the safe side, maybe you should send me some of your...special stuff. And when I'm more connected around here, I'll place an order for more of your other goodies..."

London's Penthouse

After being back in Boston a full weekend and letting herself get used to everything again, Maddie was glad to be home. She was thoroughly enjoying seeing her friends and catching up with them again. Of course, she remembered Todd and Emma, and, Maddie was happy that London and Moseby were happy. But by Monday, London was beginning to suspect that something else was going on with her friend. That afternoon, Maddie was sitting on the couch with London as they both sipped a cup of tea and watched television. Out of the corner of her eyes, London could watch Maddie frown and sigh every so often. Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, she turned to her friend and spoke up.

"So, are you ready to tell me what's really going on, Maddie?"

Maddie just kept looking at the TV and tried to deflect the question. "What are you talking about, London?"

"Maddie, you just showed up on my doorstep out of the blue on Friday night. You didn't call or let me know you were coming which is so unlike you. So, based on that alone, I know there is definitely something going on with you. Remember, I'm your friend. Talk to me."

Maddie shook her head. "I can't, London...you would never understand."

"Try me. Whatever it is, I can help you."

Maddie just sighed and shook her head. She had been hoping no one would catch on that something was wrong with her. She had figured that London of all people would have been the easiest to fool, but it was looking like she was wrong about that. And it didn't seem like London was going to let up with her questions either.

"London..."

"Maddie, just tell me what it is. I'll bet I understand whatever it is better than you think I will..."

Finally, the pressure of keeping everything all bottled up inside combined with London's interrogation finally became too much for Maddie to endure. She lost it and just glared at London before blurting it out.

"I seriously doubt it, London! As far I as know, you've never been pregnant before!"

To be Continued...

AN: I hope this episode explained a few things that may have caused confusion in the previous episode.