.:Chapter 07:.

Trouble in Paradise

"Hey Cody, I need to tell you something," Zack said. Cody looked at him curiously, as the two walked back to the Tipton hotel after school. They had been walking in silence, which wasn't too different for the two of them; if they weren't talking about school, complaining about Mr. Moseby's new rules for them, or trying to guess what their mother was going to be making for that dinner, they didn't talk. There was only so much they could do to get over the long school day.

"What's up?" Cody ran a hand through his overgrown hair. "You've been really quiet lately." He shrugged. "More so than usual, anyway.

"Knowing how smart you are, you probably already know," Zack muttered. He cleared his throat and hitched his backpack up his back. "It's about this basketball thing," he said slowly. "I'm sorry that I haven't been…supportive of you and Tapeworm," he said a bit begrudgingly. "You must have really worked hard to get as good as you are now."

Cody shrugged modestly. "Yeah, we practiced a lot," he said. "I mean…Tape and I, we both know that we aren't that athletically…gifted, but we did try really hard to get a lot of practice in." He shrugged again." Crys, Pat, and No were really helpful when it came to getting the basics." The corner of Zack's lips turned up. He lifted his head, giving his brother a sly look. "What?"

"Nothing." Zack shrugged. "Just that if a girl's involved, you seem to jump at it sooner than you used to." He rolled his eyes. "Whatever happened to my nerd of a brother that did nothing but talk about school and books and tests and experiments? The last thing that was on his mind was girls."

"I grew up, Zack," Cody said with a laugh. "And I realized that you can balance the two." He reached out and shoved Zack on the shoulder. "Besides, this is coming from the guy that has steady girlfriend. Last I checked you were the one that seemed that he was destined to end up in jail and have a horde of girls writing you letters in prison." He gave an evil smile. "But, knowing you, it could still happen. I'm betting on the next five years while I'm working my way up through the political system."

"Dream big," Zack said sarcastically. The twin boys laughed a little. Zack let out a sigh. "But, seriously, bro, I really am sorry for-"

"You don't have to say sorry Zack," Cody interrupted. He shook his head. "Really. Don't. It wouldn't be you. Besides, I know it was a shock; it was a big shock to me, too, when Tapeworm suggested that we try. But then Max said that it'd be a good idea and…"

"Yeah," Zack agreed. "She's always been the most athletic out of all of us, so she probably saw your potential and everything." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and check to see if he had any new texts. Nothing new. Zack pursed his lips for a moment then put his phone away. Usually his phone was loaded with texts from his friends, it seemed like everyone was busy lately. "Or whatever they call it now."

"You can't give a simple apology without a way to insult me at the same time can you?" Cody rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, bro, it'd be against the code of brothers if I didn't," Zack said, patting his brother on the shoulder. Cody shook his head again and sped up, reaching out to take the door as they arrived at the Tipton hotel. He pushed the door open and the two walked inside to see it as busy as usual. However, Mr. Moseby was as fretful as ever, walking back and forth across the lobby, barking orders to whomever crossed his path. "I wonder who's coming to the Tipton this time. I haven't seen it this packed since that wedding way back when."

"Let's find out," Zack said. He and Cody walked across the Tipton hotel and over to Esteban, who was listening and nodding to whatever Mr. Moseby was saying. "Yo, dude." He tapped Esteban on the arm. The bag boy turned to Zack and Cody, a smile frozen on his face. "Did you get botox or something?"

"Not after what happened with my mother," Esteban replied, finally dropping his smile. "We put her outside to scare little kids off of our property." He turned back to Mr. Moseby, seeing that he was still talking, not acknowledging whether or not Esteban was even listening to him. "What can I do for you little blonde peoples?"

"What's going on?" Cody hooked his thumbs through the straps of his backpack. "The place is packed."

"We have a convention coming in," Esteban replied. "As far as I'm concerned, it's some of the bigger enterprises around; all of the CEOs are coming in for some big meeting of some sort." He shook his head. "It's got Mr. Moseby up in a tizzy."

"You mean he's finally lost it?" Zack's eyes lit up and a smile slowly started to form its way onto his face, mimicking the mischievous ones he usually got whenever he suddenly had an idea. He looked over at Cody, who seemed to have the same smile.

"Not that he really had it," Cody agreed. He tilted his head to the side, watching as Mr. Moseby walked back and forth across the lobby, his voice rising as each word came out of his mouth. "Do you think that we should try and calm him down?" He already swung his backpack in front of him and was digging in it.

"Cool him down is a better way to put it," Zack agreed. He fished around in his backpack and took out a water bottle. Carefully, he uncapped it and handed it over to Cody, who passed him a slingshot. Zack took out another water bottle and uncapped it as well. He and Cody placed the water bottles in the ammo pouch and slowly pulled their arms back, taking careful of Mr. Moseby. "Ready…aim…fire!"

Zack and Cody let go of the water bottles and they shot across the Tipton lobby, smacking Mr. Moseby in the face and chest, soaking him with water. Zack and Cody laughed and high-fived each other as Mr. Moseby sputtered. Enraged, he turned to face the twin boys before storming over to them. 'I should have known that you two would have come around to ruin something," he said in a low growl. His dark eyes moved behind them. "Where are partners in crime?"

"They moved out ages ago, Moseby, you know that," Cody said patiently. He flipped his hair out of his face, his smile widening as Mr. Moseby gave him a suspicious glance, as if expecting Sydney to come popping out of his backpack. It had been a long time since the Jacksons lived in the Tipton hotel. All together, they and Zack and Cody had nearly driven Mr. Moseby insane with the pranks and plans that they had set up day after day. It didn't help that they always seemed to get sucked into whatever scheme Zack came up with at the drop of a hat.

"And yet, they somehow seem to be around whenever you are," Mr. Moseby said. He then smiled, though it looked more like a malicious grimace than anything else. "What can I do to keep you two out of my lobby and out of my hotel as the big business people get here?"

"Fifty bucks each," Zack piped up. Whether it was gifts, a bribe, or money, Zack always took the cash option, it was the one thing that could get him to do whatever someone wanted the quickest. Even his parents had figured that giving him an allowance made it so that he actually did his chores and even his homework, rather than anything else.

"Forget it." Mr. Moseby crossed his arms over his chest, his clothes making a squelching sound, dripping water to the floor. His face seemed to empurple as the four watched rivulets of water create a puddle on the floor. He lifted his gaze to Esteban, who had been silent throughout the exchange. "Clean this up!" He snapped.

"Right away, Mr. Moseby!" Esteban saluted the hotel manager then hurried off to do what he was told.

Mr. Moseby took a step closer to the twin boys, his glare narrowing even further. Zack and Cody calmly looked back at him. Now that they had gotten taller than the hotel manager, they weren't too intimidated by the threats that Mr. Moseby could throw their way. How many times had he threatened to kick them out of the hotel or make it that their mother could never sing in the city of Boston again? Too many times for them to remember. However, now that they had gotten older and taller, they didn't take any of his threats too seriously.

"If you do something to ruin this, and I know you'll try, I'll make sure that your mother decides to ship you as far away as she possibly can, maybe even to Antarctica, for college," Mr. Moseby said. He eyed Zack. "Maybe this one anyway," he corrected himself, pointing to Cody. "Because god knows you'll never make it to college."

"I've been saying that for years," Cody agreed.

"Ha ha." Zack rolled his eyes. He reached out a hand and patted Mr. Moseby's shoulder. "You can try all you want to get rid of us, Moseby, who knows what the future will bring." He gave Mr. Moseby one last evil smile before the two walked away and stepped into a elevator that arrived at the lobby. Once the doors closed, Cody pressed the button for their floor and they rode it until it stopped, dinging the doors back open. "You'd think by now Moseby would actually try to make his threats actually sound scary."

"He's getting old, Zack, what do you expect?" Cody said. He opened the door to the suite and walked inside, finding their mother sitting on the couch, a box of pizza in front of her. She barely looked away from the TV, seemingly enraptured with the movie that was playing. "Hey Mom."

"Hey," Carey replied. She sat up straight as the movie went to a commercial. "Who's getting old?"

"Mr. Moseby," Zack replied. "What else is new?"

"You have to admit, it's hard not to get gray hairs with you two around," Carey replied. She then noticed her son's pointed stares at her brown hair, which used to be short and blonde. "Yes, I make sure that no one knows how old I am. And it's all your fault," she said haughtily. "The perpetual stress did nothing for me and now that you can…or Cody can take care of yourselves, I should be able to pamper myself."

"Whatever you want to call it," Zack said. He dropped his backpack to the ground; it emanated a loud thud as it connected with the floor. He walked over to the pizza box and looked inside. Bacon and Sausage pizza, his favorite. Zack's mouth twisted to the side as he thought about the new diet that he was supposed to start. It wouldn't be too bad if he had at least one slice of pizza, right? He picked it up and took a bite from the tip, snapping his head forward and back to catch the cheese that was connected from his mouth to the slice in his hand.

"Help yourself," Carey said, pushing the box closer to them. "You two are the only ones that like pizza this much." She pulled her legs up onto the couch and watched as her sons got settled on the couch and chair. "Did you get your bags packed? Your father's going to pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Zack muttered. "He says that he's going to take us skydiving this time." He grinned, seeing the stricken look on his mother's face. "Just kidding," he added. "Don't want you having a heart attack when you're trying to act so young." He laughed harder before taking another bite of pizza. Ever since his and Cody's father, Kurt, had moved back to Boston after his band had 'broken up' he and Cody spent every other weekend at his place on the other side of the city. It was a good time for them to bond and they were able to see their father more than they used to, which was just as cool. They didn't have to worry about the rules that their mother set, they could do guy things, talk about guy stuff, and stay up as late as they wanted to.

"So what are your plans for tonight?" Carey glanced at the TV, checking to see if the movie was back on. Zack glanced at the logo in the corner. Lifetime. Of course, it was the closest thing she could get to an even more exciting life. "Are you going to hang out with your friends? It is Friday night after all."

"I'm working with Christian," Cody replied. "There's a really big project that he's working on now so I'm probably going to be over there for a while." Zack made sure not to look at him, usually opting to make some sort of fun of him for being a nerd or for having ulterior motive of wanting to go to the Manning house so much. It wasn't his fault that Cody was so transparent about everything.

"Zack, are you going to go too?" Carey turned a pointed look to him.

Zack took a large bite of his pizza, hoping to stall for time. He knew that she was getting to the point of asking whether or not he was going to find a job anytime soon. They always seemed to get back to that topic of discussion if they weren't arguing about his grades. Was there ever a time where he did something right? It doesn't seem like it, Zack thought. He finally swallowed his bite, having enough time to figure out what to say.

"I don't want to be a scientist, Mom," He said patiently. "I'd rather get all of my teeth pulled out than work with him, no offence," he quickly added to Cody, who shrugged.

"I didn't mean that you, specifically, had to work with him," Carey said evenly. "I meant, maybe he has some connection for you to get an interview or something." She stood up and, taking the pizza box with her, moved around the couch and walked it into the kitchen to wrap up the extra. "It's never too early to get some sort of connections to get a good job."

"Mom, we haven't even started college applications yet," Zack protested. He then lowered his head, realizing that was a mistake in itself. Great, now we're going to get on that conversation, too. He exchanged glances with Cody, who perked up, immediately coming to Zack's defense.

"Don't worry about it, Mom, he's already been looking at a couple of places," Cody said. He meticulously cleaned off his fingers with a wet nap he pulled from his backpack. "I'm sure that he's going to hear back from them, too. His resume is actually pretty good."

Carey looked at her twin sons over her shoulder, arching an eyebrow. "How does he have a résumé if he hasn't had any jobs?"

Cody snorted. "D'you think everyone tells the truth on their résumés?" He slowly, sadly shook his head. "Mom, you don't know a lot about the world if you think that everyone tells the truth all the time." He looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, we should probably get going over there."

"Sure," Zack agreed. "Let's go."

"Ow! Ow!" Riley tilted her head to the side as the toddler squirming in her arms continued to pull on her hair. She reached up a hand and grabbed onto the tiny one and slowly pried the fingers off of her dark tresses. "Ow." She winced, finally lifting her head, looking down at the toddler. She giggled and squirmed in her arms. "Are all kids like this?" She turned to her uncle, who was sitting next to her on the couch, looking over something on his laptop. "I don't remember my brothers being this way."

"Yeah, kids like to grab everything," Christian said with laugh, looking down at his eldest niece. "If it's something that's not nailed down, you want to be careful with it." He and Riley jumped at the sound of a loud thump and then a crash.

"I didn't do it!" Sydney's and Aaron's voices drifted down the stairs.

"Whose idea was it?" Noah's then came afterwards.

There was a brief pause then, "what are you looking at me for?" from Patrick.

Christian sighed loudly, reaching out a hand and pressing it firmly on the top of his laptop. It clicked closed and he set it aside on the cushion next to him. He turned to Riley, who was now bouncing the toddler up and down in her arms. "Don't look at me," she said, raising a hand. "You were the one that wanted to take us all in; we wanted to stay at the Tipton."

"Hm, could a certain blonde have anything to do with it?" Christian teased.

"Cody? Nah," Riley dismissed. "The best thing about him always being around was that I had someone to talk to and he could help me with my homework." She got to her feet as there was another thudding sound, as well as someone knocking on the door got their attention. "You want to deal with the monsters? I know that Rhu or Crys would if they weren't busy."

"I'd rather you do it, honestly," Christian said with a laugh.

Riley smiled. "I wouldn't be dealing with them, I'd be too busy murdering them all," she joked.

"Who says that's a bad thing?" Christian reached out and mussed her hair. He was her uncle and they were moderately close, but he wasn't going to overstep his boundaries to give her a kiss on the forehead or the side of the head like any father would. They usually stuck to hugs, high-fives, and mussing of hair. Christian turned and headed towards the stairs, letting out a weary sigh. "Just tell Cody that he can start working on the program that I have up on my computer, he knows the passwords and everything."

"No worries, Uncle Christian," Riley replied. Shifting the toddler up on her shoulder, she walked over to the door and pulled it open, taking a step back for Zack and Cody to come inside. "Hey Cody, Christian has everything set up for you on his computer," she said, directing him over to the couch. She then turned her attention over to Zack. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored, Sweet Thang, is that a problem?" Zack replied.

"There's going to be a problem if you keep calling me Sweet Thang," Riley replied. She went back to the living room and sat down on the floor, handing the toddler a toy car, which she started to roll around on the floor, making car noises. She tried to keep a scowl off of her face, knowing that it was going to bring up a bunch of questions, but she couldn't help it. The mention of that name always drove her crazy, not always in a bad way and not always in a good way. It affected her more than she originally thought it would.

"You've been saying that for years and you still haven't done anything about it," Cody pointed out. He carefully took off his shoes before sitting down on the couch, pulling the laptop into his lap and powering it up. He leaned forward, typing in the password, already concentrating on the figures and equations in front of him.

"That's because she loves me," Zack said with a grin, sitting down next to his brother.

"Love isn't the word I'd use," Riley muttered, keeping her eyes on the toddler. "Barely tolerate, sure. Besides, I'm sure that Max isn't particularly fond of the nickname either." She rested her chin in her hand, finally lifting her gaze to Zack's. Her eyes narrowed for a second as she studied him; he wasn't the short, high-pitched, slightly chubby guy that she had grown up with anymore. Now he was, not that she'd say it out loud, attractive in his own way, and had matured in some aspects. It wasn't a surprise that girls had flocked over him as they kept going up in grades. She didn't think that he would have been able to choose one for a girlfriend, though was moderately surprised to know it was Max. "You call Maddie that all the time, and its fine for her. But it's a special nickname that's reserved for her, if anything you could at least try to be a bit more unique."

"Which is why I always call you, Ri," Cody said with a sweet smile.

"Which is why you're my best friend," Riley confirmed.

She was actually taken aback that she had become such good friends with him. She could admit that when she first met him, she jumped to conclusions and thought that he was only someone that was too aware of germs, getting in trouble, and was too invested in science, school, homework, and being an all around good person. But he always managed to prove that he was more than that, and that's something I really like about him, Riley thought. Her smile widened a little. Of course I can get him to do my homework for me and that's a plus.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Zack raised his eyebrows.

"Yes!" The toddler replied, taking her gaze away from her toy car. Riley and Cody laughed as Zack scowled.

"And who's this?" He asked.

"This is Jenny, she's the daughter of one of our neighbors," Riley explained. "I babysit her sometimes when I have the chance." She shrugged. "It's a small way to get some money." Riley rolled her eyes when Zack and Cody snorted. "Yeah, I know, I'm one of the last people that need money, but still, I'd rather earn it doing something I like."

"You don't like to sing anymore?" Zack sounded surprised.

"No," Riley said slowly. She wasn't even sure what she felt about singing or performing much anymore. After she and her siblings had 'retired' from their band to focus on their schoolwork, it hadn't been as big of a thrill to pick up a guitar, write a song, or perform. It may be because she had spent so many years doing it and the appeal had worn off. Every now and then she would find herself working for hours on the guitar, trying to perfect a song, writing down random thoughts that could later become lyrics, or singing under her breath when she was doing chores. She still loved music as much as she used to, she just never thought about practicing it to the point that she had before. "It's sort of complicated. I don't even know, really." She ran a hand through her hair, a troubled expression sliding onto her face.

"Well, if you ever think about starting it up again, I'll be right there in the front row," Cody promised.

"Thanks Codes." Riley beamed at him.

Zack rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of jobs, have you found one yet?" Riley reached out her hands and helped Jenny stand up, holding tightly onto her as she started to sway back and forth. "I'm only asking because I heard at the Tipton daycare is looking for someone to help them in the afternoons and the weekends. And you and Cody did such a good job with them before."

Zack snorted again. "Ha! And have to deal with those monsters trying to kill me?" He shook his head before leaning back on the couch, stretching out his legs. "I don't think so!" He rested his cheek in his hand, a haunted look coming to his eyes as he thought about it. He and Cody had managed to lose every single person the day care and with Esteban's help, they ran around, trying to find each and every kid before they ruined the Tipton hotel.

"A hotel wide game of hide and seek?" Riley shrugged. "I'm just saying, it was fun."

"You weren't the one that had to catch them," Zack reminded her.

"No, but I had fun watching," Riley said. She smiled at him. "Seriously, you should think about it. You could probably even get Uncle Christian to be one of your references if you need it." She sighed and let out another 'ow' as Jenny grabbed her hair and started to pull. "Please don't do that," she warned. "Now go get your stuff together, your Mom's gonna be here soon."

"Ok, Ri-Ri," Jenny said and walked over to the backpack that she had in the corner of the room. She bent down and started to pick up the crayons that were scattered all over the place.

"You should think about working at the Tipton daycare, Riles," Cody suggested. "You're good with kids and because you and Rhu basically raised your brothers, watching a lot of them at once shouldn't be too difficult."

"I'll keep it in mind," Riley said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She let out a weary sigh. "But by this time of day, especially after swim practice, I 'm exhausted and this is just after one of them." She raised a hand, stifling a huge yawn.

"If that's the case, then why don't you come with me and I'll put you to bed," Zack flirted.

"Not unless you want to be punched in the stomach," Riley returned. "Or be slapped with a harassment charge." With a sudden surge of energy, she called over to Jenny. "Would you like to see that? Would you like to watch me punch Zack in the stomach?"

Jenny clapped her hands together. "Yay! Yay! Punch him in the stomach."

"I'm really feeling the love, Sweet Thang, thanks," Zack said dryly.

Riley's eyes flashed as she went over to Jenny and picked her up along with her belongings. "I told you before," she said. "Stop calling me that!" She seemed thoughtful for a minute. "By the way, your new spot on the team…power forward…" she prompted. Zack nodded. "Don't feel so down about it, I think you'll really surprise everyone with what you can do." Her eyes moved to Zack's phone as he got a text. "Max, right?"

With that, she left the living room to Cody's low whistle and Zack's mumble for his brother to shut up.

"Hey, thanks for the help with my homework," Max said to Tapeworm as she gathered her books together and shoved it into her backpack. "Now that I got this done, I have the whole weekend clear to do what I want."

Tapeworm smiled and nodded, putting his own things away. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs, and grabbed the bottle of root beer that was sitting in front of him. As he took a sip, he glanced around his kitchen, taking in the 50s theme that his parents had set it up as. Even he and Max were sitting at the kitchen table that had been stylized as a mixture of a restaurant booth and the backseat of a convertible. Max was sitting in the booth part of the table while Tapeworm opted for the chair, being able to stretch out his long legs.

"Don't worry about it," he said, lowering the bottle from his mouth. His throat burned with condensation, his eyes watering a little from the sting. He let out a loud burp, to which Max wrinkled her nose and laughed. "I'm glad to help. Besides, it barely repays you for helping me with basketball and everything. I haven't felt this good at anything physical in a long time."

"You weren't that bad," Max tried to reassure him.

Tapeworm tried not to let out an obnoxiously loud laugh. Even he knew he wasn't that great when they played in middle school. Yeah, he was able to get onto the court, but he never made any points or got a shot at the basket. Being so tall, he was typically used to block the members of the opposing team the best he could. Max and Zack got all of the glory being point guard and small forward. Even his parents didn't show up to the games after Tapeworm told them that there wasn't any point. He was glad, however, to see that the Jacksons, Christian, and Carey went to every game as well as the Montgomerys, who were like his second set of parents.

"Ok, you weren't great but you weren't bad," Max said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to compose a text. A smile slid onto her face, her thumbs flying over the keypad. "Beside, practice makes perfect and we're on for practicing tomorrow. Bailey said she'd help out, too."

"That doesn't surprise me; Bailey'd probably agree to do a running of the bulls if we asked her to. She's always been adventurous," Tapeworm said. He watched as Zack send off a text and waited for her friend to buzz again. Once she received a text in reply, she smiled and started texting again. To Zack, probably Tapeworm's upper lip curled. "How do you manage to go out when you already have so much to do?"

"Scheduling, dude" Max replied, barely looking away from her phone. "Bailey helped me out with it. Besides, we're not going out this weekend, he's going to his Dad's house, remember?"

"Right, I think Cody mentioned that," Tapeworm said. He finished his root beer and went over to the sink, filling it with water so he could rinse it out later. "Anyway, I'm good for practice tomorrow, but then I have to get started on my history paper. And start looking at school to apply to. Mom wants me to stay in Boston, but Dad wants me to get as far out of here as I can." He shrugged. "I don't even know what I want to do. If I could get money by eating and sleeping, or even being a case study, I'm good with that." Max laughed and sipped her backpack onto her shoulders. The two walked over to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He reached out his arms and wrapped them around Max's shoulders, giving her a hug. Max hugged him back, patting him on the back as she did so. Tapeworm rested his chin on her head as he always did, to make fun of her short stature compared to his taller one. When the two pulled back, before he could stop himself, he bent his head down and gave her a kiss. Max kissed him back for a second before he quickly jerked his head back. Fuck, fuck, fuck! What'd I just do?

"That wasn't good," Max said under her breath, taking a step back away from Tapeworm. He avoided her gaze, instead, choosing to stare at the design on the carpet. The argyle print he always hated was now suddenly very interesting.

"I-I'm sorry." Tapeworm ran a hand over his face and over his short hair. "I didn't mean…" He let out a breath of air. "I'm sorry," he repeated quietly.

"No." Max shook her head. "It's not your fault, It's…uh…I don't know." The two stood in silence for a while, looking at her feet. "It's not that big deal…"

Tapeworm looked at her as if she were crazy. Not that big a deal. How does she think this isn't a big deal? He didn't mean to kiss her, but…he wasn't that sad about it either. Having been her best friend for a long time…his feelings for her had changed since they were kids. He wasn't surprised that she ended up falling for Zack, he was outgoing and charismatic and from the secret that he had kept for her since they first met the twins, she had always thought that he was cute. It was his own fault, now that he thought about it. He was the one that told Zack to ask her out on a date in the first place, after she had kissed him at that basketball game. "I just helped you cheat on your boyfriend," he reminded her. "Who's one of my best friends, I must add!"

"He didn't seem to have a problem with it before," Max muttered. She crossed her arms over her chest. Her face, which was usually set in a smile or was in a tough look, appeared to be ready to crack.

"Max…" Tapeworm trailed off, not sure what to say. He had seen Zack and Max have problems over the years as they had grown up; from being afraid to tell each other that they liked each other, to that disaster of a first date, to almost ruining a basketball game because of said date, to dating, then breaking up because they got too busy for each other, then going back out again.

Now this.

He used to think that they were meant for each other, now he wasn't so sure.

"I'll see you later, Tape," Max cut him off. Clearly she didn't want to talk about it. Tapeworm didn't want to either, not right now. Who knows what would come out in the open? It wouldn't be able to be taken back and everyone else would find out…

She's right, Tapeworm thought as he opened the door for her. It's better not to talk about it now. He waited for her to leave before closing the door behind her.

Things I've eaten today:

Breakfast

-Banana

-Cereal

-Milk

-Orange Juice

-Water

Snack

-Chocolate Bar

-Gushers

Lunch

-Turkey sandwich

-Milk

-Apple

-Cookies

-Carrots

Dinner

-1 slice of pizza

Zack circled the section of his notebook marked dinner and wrote: stay consistent next to it, starring it for the next time he went back to the page. He then studied the workout routine he had scheduled for the next morning for a few moments, figuring out how to work it into the weekend with his Dad. "He'll probably work out with me. Then we can have some time to talk."

A/N: Like I said before, the story mostly focuses on Zack and is mostly from his POV, but there are other times in the story where it needs to be from the POV of other characters. More friendship moments as the story goes on.

I hope you guys liked the chapter.

Cheers,

-Riles