Chapter 57
Again, I don't own any of these characters
It was the week of their Jeopardy air date, and Cody and Bailey decided it was time to let everyone in on the surprise. So, they sent out a mass email to their family and friends telling them to tune in to Jeopardy on Friday night. They didn't say why except that everyone would be happy that they did. The only one that was different was a separate email to Marcus. In the email, Cody said that when Marcus had time, Cody wanted to talk to him on a webchat.
There were numerous replies of curiosity, but Cody and Bailey sent out another mass email just telling people to watch and they would explain everything later. Everyone finally agreed, and Cody received an email back from Marcus saying he would be online Thursday night. So, that night, Cody and Bailey set up the webcam and were ready when they saw Marcus come online. Soon, they were all able to see each other.
"Yo! What's up?"
Bailey smiled. "Marcus! How are you doing?"
"Back in the studio, working on a new album..."
"How's Melanie?"
"She's good. She's coming over later to hang out..."
"Good. Tell her we said hello..."
"Will do. How about you two? Everything doing alright?"
"Everything is great. We're both in New Haven this summer working. Classes start back in a couple of weeks..."
"Good. Now, why am I watching Jeopardy tomorrow night?"
Cody grins. "Lets just say you may see a couple of people you recognize..."
"Seriously?"
"There's a good chance..."
"Awesome...Let me guess, you can't tell me how you did, right?"
"That's correct..."
"Oh well. How's the wedding coming along?"
"Well, we have a date set now..."
"Let's hear it...I'll go ahead and put it in my calendar..."
"June 26, 2014..."
"That's less than two years away..."
Bailey grinned. "We graduate in less than two years..."
Marcus shrugged. "Why am I not surprised?"
Cody laughed. "Anyways, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Name it."
"I was hoping you would agree to be one of my groomsmen..."
"You know I will...I'm honored."
"Thanks, Man...At some point closer to the actual wedding, I'll need you to get fitted for a tux, and I'm sure Zack will be letting you know when the bachelor party is..."
"Can't wait...Hey, Melanie is here. I need to go, but keep in touch, guys..."
The next day, Cody and Bailey only worked a half day and both were back home by 1:00 that afternoon. After changing out of their scrubs and showering, both packed clothes for a weekend and were on the road for Boston (Porkers in tow). A couple of hours later, they were back in Boston and back in the Tipton. Of course, with Cassie working the front desk, they couldn't sneak past her. They told her they would have dinner ready for them in the suite at 7:00 and had a surprise for everyone. After dropping their bag off in the suite, they went and told Carey and Arwin the same thing.
At 7:00, everyone was gathered in the teens' suite. To make things easier, pizza had been ordered. Everyone sat around and peppered Cody and Bailey with questions about their surprise. But both just smiled and said everyone would see shortly. Finally, 7:30 arrived, and the TV was turned on to the proper channel. Cody just told everyone to sit back and watch.
"This...is...the...Jeopardy College Team Championship. Here are our final three quarter finalists...Sophomores from Duke University, Howard Jenkins and Waldo Murphy...Juniors from the Ohio State University, Missy Thompkins and Greg Moss...And Freshmen from Yale University, Bailey Pickett and Cody Martin...And now, here is the host of Jeopardy...Alex Trebek..."
Zack, Cassie, Arwin, and Carey just look at Cody and Bailey in complete shock. "But...but..."
Cody chuckled. "Well explain everything at the first commercial break..."
"Thank you, Johnny. Welcome ladies and gentlemen. We would like to welcome you to the final quarterfinal round of our College Team Tournament. So, to our teams, good luck. Here we go. The first round is the Jeopardy round. And these categories now in play...State Capitals...Agriculture...Name that Toon...'P' Soup...Opera...and Before and After...Yale, you have control of the board..."
As per usual, half of the answers in the first round are asked before a commercial break is taken. Cody deferred to Bailey and she immediately went for the Agriculture category, and proceeded to run right through it. Next was Cody's turn, and he went straight for Opera and matched Bailey by running through it as well. Of course by then, the teams from Duke and Ohio State were rattled. Cody and Bailey next chose State Capitals, and between them both, dominated it as well. Going into the first commercial break, the score was 9,000 to 0 to -400 (Team Duke tried to answer an opera question but got it wrong.)
The first commercial break came, and immediately, Cody and Bailey's phones began to blow up with calls and texts. But they decided they would deal with those later and concentrate on the four sitting with them just staring at them.
Cody smiled. "I guess we should explain. That is how we spent our first week of spring break..."
Zack just shook his head. "So, there was no Lake Havasu then...Why didn't you tell anybody?"
Bailey shrugged. "We didn't find out we were going to be on until we got back from Christmas. We didn't want to get everyone's hopes up before we went. And after, we had signed confidentiality agreements, so we didn't think it would be nice to tell people we had been on and not tell them how we did..."
Carey laughed. "So, we don't get to know how you did?"
"Sorry, Mom...You'll just have to watch..."
Zack laughed. "Well, looks like you two dominated the first round..."
Before more could be said, the show came on, and Alex Trebek did his brief interviews with the contestants. Finally, he got to Cody and Bailey.
"Alright, I understand you two aren't an average team. You two are actually engaged to be married?"
"That's correct, Alex. Bailey and I will be getting married after we graduate."
"I also hear you both had an interesting high school experience. You met at a high school that was on a cruise ship?"
"Yes, sir. Cody and I met and fell in love at Seven Seas High on the S.S. Tipton. It was an educational experience we would recommend to anyone..."
"Well, let's set sail into the rest of the Jeopardy round...Team Yale, you still have control of the board..."
Cody and Bailey maintained their dominance through the rest of the Jeopardy round, but were unable to keep a shutout going. And both other teams groaned when Cody and Bailey found the Daily Double in the Before and After category. But, they weren't too greedy and didn't make it a true Daily Double. At the end of the Jeopardy round, it was Team Yale 17,300, Team Ohio State 1,200 and Team Duke 900.
"Team Duke will be picking first in these categories of Double Jeopardy ...Astronomy...Animals...Mythology...Revolutionary Quotes...Baseball...and Home Economics..."
Double Jeopardy went about as well as the Jeopardy round did. Cody and Bailey didn't know if luck was shining down on them or not, but the categories just fell in line for them. They didn't get both Daily Doubles, but they did get one of them. And Cody's dominance of the Home Economics category was a sight to be seen. However, with their last second true Daily Double, Team Ohio State was able to get within half of Cody and Bailey's total. The scores going into Final Jeopardy were Team Yale 31,600, Ohio State 15,800, and Team Duke 5,600.
"Well, it looks like it will come down to Final Jeopardy and this category...American Presidents..."
After the final commercial break. "The category is American Presidents. Here comes the clue...This is the only state to be the the birthplace of two Presidents who served simultaneously...Thirty Seconds, Good Luck..."
The famous Jeopardy theme music began to play as the camera panned on the three teams as they wrote their final answers.
"Team Duke...You answered Virginia...I'm sorry, that is incorrect. You wagered...$5,600 leaving you with zero...Team Ohio State...You answered Illinois...I'm sorry, that is incorrect as well. You wagered...0...Leaving you with $15,800. We'll see if that holds up. Team Yale...You answered Kentucky...That is correct. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were both born in the Commonwealth. You wagered, $1 leaving you with $31,601 and a spot in the semi finals...Lets meet who will be joining them as our other semifinalists...Team Harvard...Team Princeton...Team Stanford...Team Kentucky...And our other semifinalists...Team Georgia...Team Arizona State...Team Cornell...and Team Ohio State. Tune in next week as we have our semifinals and finals. Join us for that, won't you? So long everyone..."
Zack turned to Cody and Bailey. "Only $1? You could have destroyed them! And it looked like you two let up in Double Jeopardy..."
Cody laughed. "We did. That was our strategy for the quarterfinals. We said if we had a big lead, we wouldn't take chances and only wager enough to make sure we got into the semis..."
"But why?"
Cody paused. "Think of it like this. You're the head coach of the UCONN basketball team. In the first round of the tournament, you have your opponents put away with ease. Do you keep your starters in the game and risk them getting hurt?"
"Of course not...Ohhhh I think I get what you're saying..."
Carey spoke up. "So, when are you on next?"
Bailey smiled. "Tuesday night..."
Cassie spoke now. "Can you tell us against who?"
Cody and Bailey look at each other and shrug. "I guess that would be okay. Georgia and Arizona State..."
Zack chuckled. "First Kurt Warner, then you made up for that with Steve Nash, and then you had to go beat up on the hometown team, huh?"
To be Continued...