A few days later and things had mostly calmed down, Zack, Woody, and some of their other friends questioned Cody about where his, in Zack's words, "smoking hot girlfriend" was but Cody always just brushed any questions off and said she was busy with her classes and other similar excuses.
Cody and Bailey just laughed to each other whenever this happened but were thankful that was the only questioning that was going on. They had the beginnings of a plan in place, but they wanted to make sure everything would work out on their terms. Step one of that would be to convince London to help them out to hopefully get rid of the biggest potential obstacle in Bailey's risk of being kicked off the ship.
Despite the routine the two of them had formed, and had no problems with, they both knew that when the truth came out Mr. Mosby and their parents probably wouldn't see it the same way, which is why later today after school they had a plan in place to talk to London and hopefully convince her to help them out.
Bailey was more than ready to begin their plan, but little did she know, she was about to discover another reason she wanted to show everyone the real her, and that Cody was all hers as soon as possible.
Their Home Economics teacher had eaten some bad shrimp or something and was going to be out sick the entire week, and since Mr. Mosby knew of Cody's prowess in the kitchen thanks to Chef Paulo, Cody will be the substitute teacher this week. Bailey was more than excited to see this side of Cody, especially since he often complained about the relative lack of fine dining on the ship, at least for the dining options the two of them could afford, so she couldn't wait to learn more, and honestly other than frying scrambled eggs and churning butter on the farm, she could hardly cook a lick.
Bailey and Woody were seated beside each other in the front row of the Home Ec. room, and while Bailey was happy to see at least one guy willing to take home ec, she knew it was mostly because A. the class involved food, and B. Addison was also in the class although so far this entire semester, Woody hadn't had very much luck on wooing her over considering he always forgot to tell Addison the patient was a pony, and their marriage project hadn't gone nearly as well as it did for Cody and Bailey.
Cody walked in and explained the substitute situation, and while at first most of the other students groaned at the idea of Cody teaching them, he quickly showed off his culinary prowess by transforming a tomato into a rose.
Bailey half expected Cody to give it to her, but instead, he handed it smoothly to Reina, another girl in the class, and seemed to be ignoring her. Bailey tried to shake it off because obviously she was still a guy so it would have been weird of Cody to give her the tomato rose, but she didn't like the way how the students' complaints disappeared and instead were steadily being replaced with decidedly flirty smiles. She had a bad feeling in her stomach that she wasn't the only one thinking Cody looked cute in his chef's get-up.
"OK so to begin with, who knows what an egg is?" Cody asked after his first two recipes were obviously a bit advanced for this beginners' course.
The whole class raised their hands excitedly and Bailey launched into an explanation of her own, just like whenever she and Cody were working on their homework together. "I know everything there is to know about eggs. I've collected them, canned them, and even pulled them right out of the cloaca." She saw some confused faces so she continued, "You know the single, multi-purpose opening in the chicken's-"
"OK, let's save the chicken talk for the lunchroom." Cody interrupted her and walked back over to his desk in the front. "Let's learn how to crack an egg, or shall I say four eggs?" Cody suggested, picking up two eggs in each hand and smoothly cracking them apart.
All the students gave him a round of applause, which Bailey joined in as well.
"When you're done with that, we are going to be making a Meringue, so everybody picks up their whisk."
All the students looked blankly back at Cody.
"The thing you used as a wand when you were a kid and dressed up as a fairy princess," Cody suggested, and this time he got plenty of nods in understanding as everyone picked up their whisks.
Woody went over to Addison's table to once again attempt to flirt with her, which Bailey knew was nothing new, but Cody also stopped at Addison's table too.
"Oh no, Addison. You don't need to go full speed for this." Cody stepped in close to Addison placing one hand on her back and the other holding the whisk above her hand. "Light touch, like this," he said and guided her whisk in steady, even circles.
"Oh, that feels right," Addison said, smiling flirtily at Cody.
Cody stepped back after a moment, "that way the egg whites and the sugars can become one. Whip it up to a peak, and then let it dance across your taste buds." Cody dipped a spoon in Addison's bowl and gave her a taste.
"Mmm. I'm speechless." Addison smiled flirtily.
"That's a first." Bailey couldn't help herself from biting out sarcastically.
"Ooh! Me, me me! My turn." Reina called out and Cody walked over to her with Addison's bowl to give her a taste too. "Mmm, my tastebuds are dancing, they're doing the merengue," Reina said and shook her shoulders, and the whole time she had her eyes focused on Cody.
"Oh, very good." Cody chuckled and smiled and walked back to his desk in the front of the room.
"Um, aren't we supposed to be whisking?" Bailey asked loudly.
"Yes, that's right Mr. Pickett," Cody replied, and Bailey once again couldn't help herself from looking at Cody in surprise. With how flirty he seemingly was with all the other girls, and he couldn't even use her name?
The class continued and it was more of the same, every girl in the class was holding onto Cody's every word, but also seemingly needing lots of guidance on how to perform the simplest steps, especially mixing. At the very least he was using everyone's last names, so it wasn't just her.
The biggest thing was that this was a side of Cody she had never seen before, how he was so confident working with others like this. Besides working with her on homework, any other time he tried to explain science or math or history in their other classes, it usually wasn't long before Bailey was the only one still awake. But now all the girls in the class were acting like Cody was some kind of kitchen Casanova.
Finally, after class ended later that day, Cody and Bailey were back in their cabin working on their homework like normal, even though still all Bailey could see in her head were the girls all leaning in close to Cody to give him taste tests of their cooking or swarming him to feel his muscles when he kneaded the dough.
"Hey Bailey, are you alright?" Cody asked.
"Don't you mean Mr. Pickett?" Bailey asked sarcastically.
"Hey, that's only during school hours. Any other time, you're my little Hay Bail." Cody said.
Bailey couldn't help blushing and laughing at that, "Ok I know, but…"
"But something's bothering you, what is it?" Cody said he knew her so well already.
Bailey sighed and then looked up to meet Cody's eyes, "OK, well excuse me if I'm upset because all the girls fawn all over you."
"What?" Cody asked.
"I can see the way they flirt with you, and you don't do anything to stop them."
"Really? They're flirting with me?" Cody asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, it's disgusting how they're all throwing themselves at you," Bailey said, crossing her arms in anger.
"Tch, Yeah disgusting," Cody said, doing his best to sound like he agreed with that statement. "All of them?"
"How could you not notice?" Bailey asked.
Cody smiled and reached out to grab Bailey's hand, "Cause you're the only girl I notice. Even if no one else does right now, that will always be the case."
"Aww." Bailey smiled and reached out to pull Cody in for a hug which he happily returned.
"But how come you've been treating me so coldly in class? The whole Mr. Pickett, and is especially tough on my grade and my cooking technique."
"Well, I'm the teacher, I can't show favoritism to my favorite girl." Cody said, "and also no offense sweetie, but to be honest, you're a million times better than my mom at cooking, but eh, your culinary skills could use some work."
"Oh, well how about some private lessons sometime?" Bailey asked, leaning in close to Cody.
"If we can arrange that, I will be happy to be your private tutor any time." Cody promised. "Maybe someday you can show me how to fix and build things. Did I ever tell you that Woodshop is the only class I've ever failed?"
"As for woodshop lessons, I feel like Mr. Mosby would have a panic attack if he saw any of us holding so much as a hammer. Thank you Cody, but also it isn't just today, but I want to show the world that you and me are together, so can we go talk to London and get the ball rolling on our plan?"
"I don't see why not," Cody replied. "Let's go."
So the two of them made their way down to the girls' hall where they knew London's cabin was and knocked on the door, but they were surprised when Zack stepped out of the room grinning happily.
"Hey Codester, Bailey, what are you doing here?"
"We need to talk to London about something." Cody answered, "What are you doing here?"
"Making twenty bucks. And all I have to do is sneeze! Later Broseph, and Bailey." Zack said.
Cody and Bailey just shook their heads at each other as London finally came to the door.
"What do you two want?" She asked.
"London, there's something we need your help with."
"Um Cody, you know helping people isn't my thing." London reminded him.
"Yes, I know it isn't your usual style, but I know you help your friends out when they really need it, and we could really use your help. Plus we don't want to be a simple charity case, we want to make you a deal."
"OK, step into my office," London said slowly and walked back into her room. Cody and Bailey followed and closed the door behind them to make sure they had plenty of privacy.
"Ok, brain boy 1 and brain boy 2, what do you want from little me? And why should I help you?" London asked as she sat on her bed, which Cody and Bailey quickly noticed was both of the twin-sized beds pushed together.
"OK, first off London, where's your roommate, Padma?" Cody asked.
"Who? I don't have a roommate. I'm London Tipton."
"Yes, but according to the ship's manifest you're supposed to, aren't you?" Bailey asked.
"Oh, you mean my student maid." London scoffed, "I got rid of her ages ago. I mean it's bad enough that Daddy's making me stay on this stupid sea school, but sharing a room with a student maid? Can you believe he would make me do that?"
Cody and Bailey looked at each other nervously for a moment. "Um, London, just how did you get rid of her?"
"It was so easy, I just let her have some of my jewelry and she was happy to leave on a worldwide shopping spree." London laughed. "Maybe I should have gone with her, too bad Mosby had security guards at the gangplank." London pouted.
"OK, so you really don't have a roommate?" Cody asked for confirmation.
"No I don't, and you better not tell Mosby!" London ordered.
"OK, we won't tell him for now." Cody promised, "but we will need to tell him eventually."
"No you don't, but fine I know how this works, so you have dirt on me, what's in it for you?"
Bailey stepped forward. "London, I have a secret too. You see…" Bailey pulled down her hoodie and took of her baseball cap, letting her long brunette hair tumble down over her shoulders. "I'm a girl, not a boy."
"Aha, I knew it!" London cheered. "Yay me!"
"Wait, you knew?"
"Well yeah, just look at your clothes, even for a poor person you're a terrible dresser, and seriously, I don't think I've ever seen you without a hat on, which probably means you're hiding something about your head, plus even though you could really use some makeup to cover up that hideous face of yours, I could tell from when I first met you, that you do not have the facial structure of a guy."
"Wait London, you knew since our first day on board?" Bailey asked in even more surprise and shock.
"Yeah, I don't know or care about all the science-y, history-y, math-y smarticle stuff like you two, but I know fashion and I know makeup, and you could really use an upgrade in both, whether you're a guy or a girl," London stated plainly as if everything was a matter of fact.
"Well, London I have to disagree with you there, Bailey will always be the most beautiful girl in the world to me," Cody said loyally.
"OHHH! Wait a minute! Bailey's that girl you went to the dance with!" London shouted, "Are you two dating?"
"Yeah, we are." Bailey smiled and laced her fingers with Cody's. "But even more than missing out on the educational adventure of a lifetime, I don't want to be forced to go home and be thousands of miles away from Cody."
"I don't want to be separated from Bailey either," Cody stated just as strongly.
"OK, so what do you want me to do? Why would Bailey be sent off the ship?"
"The reason I've pretended to be a boy in the first place was because when I applied all the girls' spots were already taken up. But since Padma's gone now, and you have a spare bed…London, could I please be your new roommate when I do reveal myself?"
"No way! Why would I do that, I mean look at these tiny closets! I've had to open a fake store on this stupid boat just to fit my fall wardrobe onboard. And that isn't even counting my shoe submarine!"
"Because," Cody stepped forward this time. "We're willing to bargain. I know I stopped producing Yay Me! last summer since I was so busy at physics camp, and math camp, biology camp, and chemistry camp. But here is my offer. I will return to being your producer on Yay Me! once a week, and in exchange, you offer to let Bailey stay in your room, and be her new roommate when we tell everyone else the truth."
"Hmm." London thought for a moment. "OK, but I do have some conditions… One, I still get half of your closet."
"Deal. I can still keep some of my stuff in Cody's room." Bailey nodded.
"Two. You're a farm boy, I mean girl, how are you with dogs?"
"Oh, I love dogs." Bailey replied, back on the farm we have these two coon hounds Old Dan and Little Ann-"
"Good, Daddy and Mr. Mosby didn't let Ivana's butler come on the ship with us, so you'll be her new butler." London interrupted her.
"Your dog's….butler?" Bailey asked in surprise. "What do I have to do?"
"Take her for a walk twice a day so she can take care of her business and get some exercise, feed her, groom her, just the basics."
Bailey sighed in relief, knowing London she had feared just what being a butler for her dog would entail. "Oh, is that all? I'm happy to do so."
"And Cody, I will take you back as my producer. Chelsea was horrible this summer, and I tried to get Woody to do it, but he was even worser! But this roommate situation is only going to be for this school year." London said warningly.
"Deal, but London, maybe now that you and everyone else can get to know the real me, I hope we can start to be really good friends as roommates."
"Mmm, I don't think so." London decided, "But I am willing to help you out with your situation. Do we have a deal?"
"Deal," Bailey nodded and held out her hand to shake London's, but Cody held up his own to stop her.
"Hold on a minute Bails, one thing I do know is that it's best to always get the terms in writing when working with a Tipton."
London smiled and put her hand over her heart. "Aww, Cody. You know me so well. But fine, you write up whatever terms you want, I'll have someone read them over for me and then I'll help you out when you tell Mosby."
"Thank you, London." Bailey reached out once more, and this time, she, London, and Cody all agreed to the terms, even if just verbally for now.
"Thanks, London, we'll write up our terms and hopefully have a contract for you tomorrow," Cody reported.
"Whatever. But I want at least one more week of being by myself, before you interrupt my private room."
"No problem seems like we have something to work on anyway. But thank you again London."
"Yes, and let us both know if there's ever anything else you want from us to repay you."
"We'll just have to see about that." London shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention to a white canvas that was covered in a large brown splatter of something. I have other business to attend to as well."
"Alright, see you later London." Cody and Bailey both waved goodbye, and Bailey put her hat and hood back on so they could safely make their way back to their own cabin, and when they did both let out matching sighs of relief.
"Well, stage one is complete," Cody said as he pulled his laptop out of his backpack and set it up on his desk.
"Yeah, good call with the Yay Me card."
"Thanks, but if there's anything that London has been truly passionate about that isn't directly related to her own money or clothes, it was always her web show, and even if I have to wear makeup again, it will be worth it for you."
"Aww, Codykins." Bailey smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Although with all my time being a boy, I wouldn't mind seeing if you can pull off being a girl…just like in your beauty pageant days." Bailey couldn't help herself from giggling.
"Haha, do you want me to draft up our contract or not?" Cody asked teasingly.
"Oh don't let me interrupt you. Although, do you think we could squeeze a few more terms inside?"
"Well, I know for a fact London isn't going to read this, she'll probably forward it to one of Mr. Tipton's lawyers or something who will decide for her, but we can at least try to put in whatever we want. What do you have in mind?"
"Oh, just a few ideas." Bailey smiled conspiratorially, and the two of them got to work outlining everything Bailey could possibly need to live with London, because Cody could speak from experience, even with him producing Yay Me! for her, he had a feeling London would have even more difficulty in sharing a room than he and Zack had had over the years.
A few hours later they were finished with the contract and were once again cuddled up on together on Cody's bed to watch a movie on his laptop, both just simply enjoying the time they had to be together.
"Cody, so now that we have a plan to get me to stay on the ship…how do you think should tell Mr. Mosby and everyone else? I know you, Zack, and London know him best, so what will make him least likely to send me packing back home?"
"Hmm, how to keep Mr. Mosby happy?" Cody said sarcastically, "Believe it or not, I know a lot more about how to make him mad than how to keep him happy, but let me think…"
"Gee, I wonder why?" Bailey grinned at him.
"Like usual, I blame Zack for most of it." Cody defended himself, "Well for one thing, we make sure we do it on the day his pocket hankie of the month is delivered, so he at least starts his day in a good mood, and maybe tries to convince Zack not to pull any pranks for a day or two to help keep his stress down. We should also have some sort of argument ready if we do need to convince him of all the good things you bring to the ship and that you're not some hooligan."
"Hey, he hasn't called me that yet."
"That's because you're always with me instead of Zack. Poor Woody was a hooligan by his second week on the boat thanks to Zack."
"Well, not to brag, but you know Ms. Tutwiler said I had the best admissions essay of the class, and you and I are currently tied in the class rankings with straight A's. And I don't think I've specifically gotten in trouble with Mr. Mosby unless all of us are involved in one of our crazy adventures."
"Yeah, but I'm just thinking we need more than just we're dating each other. I know he's automatically going to have a cow about us secretly sharing a room when we're different genders."
"Yeah, I think we'll just have to take whatever punishment we get from that and hope he doesn't send me home." Bailey sighed. "Home. Oh feathers, Mosby is going to be one thing, but how do we tell our parents?"
Cody swallowed nervously too, and held Bailey close to his side as she became slightly panicked. "Bails, I don't have a good answer for you, but well… I do know it will be better if we tell them before they get a call from Mr. Mosby."
"Yeah, I know you're probably right." Bailey calmed down thanks to Cody's calm demeanor. "I think my mom will be a little mad but my dad…he didn't want me leaving the farm in the first place, it's only thanks to Mama and Grammy that I was able to convince him to let me go. Something like this will make him want to bring me back home and hogtie me so I can't get into any more trouble. And of course, if he ever does come on board you'd probably be in trouble."
"Really?"
"I don't know." Bailey admitted with a sigh, "But I can only assume the worst since he always calls all of us his little girls at home. How do you think your parents will take it?"
"Well…" Cody said slowly, "My mom will definitely freak out and probably be on the ship the next day to chew me out. And if I'm lucky she won't drag me back to Boston with her. As for my dad, to be honest he'd probably congratulate me, but still be very surprised and I don't know maybe disappointed too. But I do know my mom will be the real problem. But I agree if we want any chance of staying together, it has to be us to tell them and face the music, not let Mosby, or even worse Zack tell any of them."
"I know you're right." Bailey nodded, "So do you think just go to Mr. Mosby and rip off the Band-Aid?"
"Yeah, I think that's our safest bet… and we need London there to offer her room to you, and if needed, draw some of Mr. Mosby's ire when we tell him why she has an open bed available in her cabin."
"Yeah," Bailey nodded, "oh also I'm pretty sure if there's anyone else who wants us to stay on the boat, it has to be Ms. Tutwiler." Bailey pointed out.
Cody smirked, "Well she should, considering we're the only reason her classes are managing a B average. It's just like your admissions letter, if we point out how much you bring to the school, and me too, because I could insist that if they kick you out, then its only fair that I'm punished the same way."
"What? No Cody! You can't give up Seven Seas High for me." Bailey reached out to squeeze his hand.
"Bailey, if, if you did have to leave, and I had to stay, there is no way I would be able to focus here. Literally every great memory I have on the ship is only because of you, I wouldn't be able to sleep in this cabin, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the Skydeck, I wouldn't be able to focus in class or in our study spot in the library. Without you, Mr. Mosby might as well throw me I the brig the rest of the school year. Whatever they do to us, they're doing to both of us, agreed?"
"OK, agreed, and I get your logic, even though I broke more rules, they probably won't want to get rid of you any more than they want to get rid of me because of all the positives we bring to the school."
"Exactly." Cody nodded. "Now before we turn in for tonight, there is one mistake I know I've made today."
Bailey turned her head to look deep into Cody's eyes. "What mistake?"
"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable when I was teaching this morning. I promise you will always be the only girl I notice, whether you're standing right in front of me, or God forbid, we do end up thousands of miles apart. That will never change. I care about you way too much to ever worry about other girls again."
"Aww, Cody, I know I was just stupid today."
"No, you weren't. Honestly, one thing I am excited about revealing yourself to the ship is finally being able to show everyone how much I care about you any time I want."
"And I feel the same way about you Cody."