Chapter 2: Summer's End
Usually Zack liked being out in the sun on the S.S. Tipton, but on this day he was silently cursing the sun for beating down on him while he and Woody swabbed the deck. Woody fiddled around with the mop and somehow managed to only cover an area of about 10 feet in three hours. Zack on the other hand was making good time and becoming increasingly frustrated with Woody.
"Woody will you pick up the pace already?" Zack called out.
"Hey it's really hot out here," he replied.
Zack didn't mean to yell at him, but he was beginning to think that Moseby was being overly harsh, especially since they didn't hurt anyone or break anything. He had been bored all summer and having his friends back on board had brought out the mischievous side again. He couldn't help it if he needed a little break from the monotony. As Zack rounded a corner he saw Cody coming his way and sighed.
"Wow this is the most cleaning you've done in some time," Cody joked, but the look on Zack's face told him not to push it any further. "So what made you guys decide to do that anyway?" Cody added.
"I don't know, boredom and spontaneity I guess," Zack said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Well try not to get into any more trouble. We're going to stop in Jamaica today and you won't want to miss out," Cody said.
Zack perked up at the idea of going onto the island and started to pick up the pace.
"Woody hurry it up or we're going to leave you on the ship today!" Zack called out.
"What?" he replied.
"Nothing," Zack said.
Zack was beginning to think that he'd never get done when suddenly five men with mops came around the corner and began to work.
"What are you guys doing?" Zack asked.
"Miss Tipton sent us to finish swabbing the deck. She said you and your friend could use a break," one of the men said.
"Sweet!" Zack said and handed his mop to Cody before leaving.
Cody then handed it to one of the workers and followed Zack back to the deck.
"What was that all about?" Cody asked.
"I don't now, but London has just become my new best friend. Hey Woody we can stop now," Zack called out to his friend.
Zack left to go find London and it didn't take long before he came across her sitting on a deck chair talking on her cell phone. As he approached her he caught the end of her conversation.
"Okay Maddie, talk to you later," she said.
Zack's heart skipped a beat. With all that had happened that morning he had forgotten that Maddie was heading back to Boston already and would probably be home.
"You are amazing," Zack said once she hung up her phone.
"I know, it's a gift," she said with a smile.
"So is Maddie back in Boston?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, I guess her Aunt Arctica got tired of her and sent her back," London said and Zack was amazed that she still didn't know what Antarctica was. "Zack you know I'm only joking, I looked up Antarctica awhile back," she added upon seeing the look on Zack's face.
"Oh, yeah I knew that," Zack replied.
"I told her to bring me back a Penguin though. I hope she brought me one of those cute ones that dance," London said and this time Zack couldn't hold his laugh in.
London looked unsure how to take his outburst, but Zack quickly changed the subject.
"So are you looking forward to going to Jamaica?" he asked.
"I've been there a few times now," she said as she started leafing through a magazine she found on the chair next to her.
"So you're not going with us?" Zack said, trying not to sound too disappointed.
"Oh no I'll go, you guys will need a tour guide right?" she said with a smirk.
"Why do I have a feeling we'll be touring all the best shopping districts on the island?" Zack asked.
"Because that's how I roll," London said without looking up from her magazine.
Cody and Bailey joined them on the deck looking excited to go on land.
"Hey guys, what do you have planned when we get to Jamaica?" Cody asked.
"Shopping," London said.
"I'm just going to wing it," Zack said.
"Well Bailey and I are going to start off by going to the Alligator Pond, then a safari boat tour down the Black River, and perhaps a birding tour as well," Cody said.
"Aren't those all the planned activities their doing? Live a little Cody," Zack said.
"I happen to like what they have planned. Besides if I go with you we'll both end up having to clean the whole ship," Cody said and Zack just grinned like it was a compliment.
"Well like I said I'm going to just go with whatever comes to mind. I'm gonna run to my cabin for a few minutes. I'll see you guys on deck later," Zack said and headed for his cabin.
Zack had planned to send an email to Maddie to see how her trip went, so he took advantage of the time they had left before heading to shore. When he arrived in his room he opened his laptop and found that he already had an email from Maddie waiting for him.
"Sweet," he thought to himself.
Maddie told him about how interesting it was to observe the research being done in Antarctica and how cold it was as well. She then went on to tell him a few funny stories about her stay, but what really caught Zack's eye was when she talked about her boyfriend. Zack became frustrated as he had hoped she had broken up with him by now. They had been dating for almost a year now and it drove Zack crazy. In the email she told him that her boyfriend had something special planned for her return home and Zack groaned at the thought.
"I bet it's something lame," he said to himself.
Zack sent a reply back telling her that he was glad she had a good time and he tried to be cordial about her boyfriend, even though he hated to do so. He secretly hoped that her time away had made her forget about her feelings for this guy. Zack hit send on the email and then left his room to rejoin his friends.
He found them lining up on deck to leave the ship and jumped in line with Cody, Bailey, Woody, and London. London waved at him as he stepped up and gave him a smile. They filed off the ship and down to the dock below where Ms. Tutweiller was waiting for them.
"Okay everyone stick together please. We will form into two groups. Those who want to go to the planned tours around the island come with me, and those who don't want to go will stick with Mr. Moseby, but by all means please stay with your group!" she said above the noise.
Cody and Bailey went with Ms. Tutweiller while Woody, Zack, and London stuck with Mr. Moseby. Mr. Moseby noticed this and looked like he instantly regretted his decision to lead this group.
"Okay everyone we will be taking in a little bit of the culture of the island. With London's help we will be visiting some of the shops and restaurants of the island," Moseby said.
The group moved into a small area where shops were set up for tourists. All sorts of homemade jewelry and other items were being sold. Zack and London walked over to one that had some beautiful items for sale and London looked through them. She had a look of curiosity, but she didn't seem that impressed. Suddenly the shop owner saw her and came over.
"Hello dere pretty one, how are you today?" he asked.
"I'm fine thanks," she said without looking up.
Zack was a little wary of the man as he eyed London.
"A woman as fine as you would look good in some of my best jewelry," he said and reached up to touch her hair, but suddenly a man walked over and slapped his hand away.
London jumped back in shock as the man pulled the salesman away.
"You bumbo clot! Do you not know who dis woman is?" the man asked in anger. "Dis is London Tipton," he added and the salesman's eyes went wide.
"I apologize Ms. Tipton, I did not know," he said. "Feel free to look at whatever you like."
London smiled politely at the man, but she left the store without buying anything.
"Wow you're pretty well known around here," Zack said as they walked on.
"Oh yes, Daddy owns an island not far from here and comes here all the time," London said.
"Zack, London, don't wander off!" Moseby called from down the street.
Zack half way waved to show that he heard, but he was too busy talking to London to care. The two of them spent the day together, eating the local cuisine, looking at shops, and talking about the island. They came upon a group of people playing music and London grabbed Zack's hand.
"Dance with me," she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
London didn't even answer, she pulled him over and started dancing to the music. Zack couldn't help but laugh as her idea of dancing made it look like she was either trying to swim through air or push invisible people out of the way. Even them men playing the music had a good laugh.
"She dances from the heart my friend," a man said to Zack.
Zack stopped and watched for just a second as she did her best to move to the beat. There was something about her that he just couldn't explain. A year of being classmates had given him a new outlook on London and over the last day he had begun to see her in an even newer light. She might have gone on forever if her cell phone had not rang. London stopped and walked away from the musicians to talk.
"Oh hi Maddie, yeah I'm in Jamaica," London said into the phone.
Zack was snapped back to reality and the mention of Maddie made him feel even more confused. He loved Maddie, so these new feelings were conflicting to him. London moved out of range for Zack to hear, but he didn't dare eavesdrop so he stood back and watched her. The man from before walked over to him and said, "Hold on to that one, she has a genuine free spirit to her. I can see it in her."
"Huh? Oh we're not together if that's what you mean," Zack said.
The man just laughed and patted Zack on the shoulder before walking away. Zack had no idea what he meant by that. Zack was lost in his thoughts when Woody walked up to him.
"This place is really nice. I got this cool seashell necklace," Woody said and showed it to Zack.
"Yeah...that's nice," Zack said without looking.
"Are you okay? You're doing that thing again," Woody said.
"What thing?" Zack asked, this time turning to look at him.
"That thing where you zone out and just stare off into the distance," Woody said.
"I just have a lot on my mind is all," Zack replied.
The three of them rejoined the group as the day wound on. As dusk began to set in they all gathered on the beach for a bonfire. Cody sat with his back against a log and had Bailey in front of him. Cody wrapped his arms around her and let her lean into him as the two of them shared a kiss. Zack decided he had enough of seeing that so he looked out across the water and just took in the beauty of the sunset. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice London sit down next to him.
"This makes me wish that Summer wasn't about to be over," Zack said.
"I know, I just want to be done with school," London told him.
"You still have one more year, just like us," Zack reminded her.
"I knew I should have actually showed up for school for all those years. I can't believe I'm so behind," London said in frustration.
"It's okay, if you had then you wouldn't be here with us," Zack said to her, trying not to sound too over eager.
London smiled and lightly shrugged her shoulders. As the sun went down it became a little chilly on the beach and Zack found that London was inching closer to him for warmth. He didn't mind this at all, especially when she began to lean her head down towards his shoulder. Just as she was about to rest her head Bailey asked her a question.
"I heard Maddie was back from Antarctica. I'd love to hear about her trip," Bailey said.
Zack silently groaned to himself as London engaged in a conversation with Bailey for awhile. Sadly London never got that cozy again for the rest of the night and by the time they headed back to the ship Zack was lost in his thoughts again. When Bailey mentioned Maddie the inner turmoil came back. He decided to head for his cabin and check for a reply from Maddie.
Meanwhile on deck Cody, Bailey, and Woody talked about their day for a little while. It wasn't until thirty minutes had past that Woody finally noticed Zack had not returned.
"Hey where's Zack? He never goes to bed this early," Woody said.
Woody decided to head to Zack's cabin to see if he was okay. He knocked and there was no answer at first. He knocked again and heard Zack say, "Who is it?"
"It's me Woody," Woody replied.
Zack opened the door slightly and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling up to talking right now. I just want to be left alone for a bit."
It wasn't very light in the hallway, but Woody could tell Zack was upset.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I don't want to talk about it right now. Sorry Woody," Zack said and then returned to his cabin.
Woody came back to the group and Cody asked if everything was okay.
"He's real upset about something, but he wouldn't tell me," Woody said.
Suddenly London appeared on deck looking very happy.
"Guys guess what! Maddie got engaged tonight!!" London announced.
Woody and Cody exchanged glances and instantly knew what was troubling Zack.