Y/N sighed, placing her pillow over her head. London and Bailey were up late yet again, chatting away about the weirdest things. Right now, they were talking about London's hotel back on the mainland and how she had met Zack and Cody there. Y/N didn't know that her father owned a hotel, let alone multiple. Though she may have been friends with the ditzy girl, she didn't really listen to her when she spoke. She was the craziest girl she had met. 

Bailey laughed and then snorted, which was the last straw. Her sister had never been one to stay up all night chatting with her friends, so she didn't know why she was acting like that now. Y/N shot out of bed, silencing the two girls. She stormed out of their shared room, the cool floor of the ship biting at her bare feet. She slammed the door behind her, taking deep breaths. Y/N knew she was overreacting, but she didn't care anymore. Too many things had gone wrong lately. 

Y/N shuffled down the dark hallway, wrapping her arms around her waist. She wished she could have grabbed a sweatshirt before running away, but she wasn't thinking. She allowed her brown hair to fall into her face. Her feet led her to where she first met him: the juice bar. Everything seemed to go downhill when she met Zack Martin. 

When Y/N first met him, she instantly liked him. There was something about him that she just clicked with, and he seemed to reciprocate the feelings. That's when she realized that she liked him more than a friend. She was a little surprised because he wasn't like the country boys back home, but maybe that's why she liked him so much. He was so different than everyone back in Kettlecorn, and she was happy for that. 

But then he started being mean. Whenever they were around their other friends, he would always say something slightly mean to her and then act like he was just kidding. Who does that? Y/N was tired of it after awhile, so she slowly distanced herself from him. She was better off on the sidelines, watching as he flirted with every single girl that he came in his view. Even though it hurt, she let him do it. They hadn't even talked about their feelings, so why should she be jealous of all those other girls? It didn't matter anyway because she always clapped back at him. Maybe he figured that she didn't like him like that. 

Y/N looked around and saw that she had made it to the juice bar. The lack of moonlight startled Y/N. The last time she was on deck, it was sunny, and that was earlier that day. She slid into the barstool, laying her head on her arms. The night was slightly on the cooler side, but it didn't bother Y/N. Sure, she was used to the warm nights back home, but that didn't mean that she liked warm weather. She actually despised warm weather, so this cooler weather was a blessing. 

Y/N sucked in a deep breath, lifting her head. Her heart dropped in her chest and she let out a small scream when she saw someone standing in front of her. He was behind the juice bar, so she knew that it wasn't Cody. "Zack?"

Zack gave her a short grin, which sent her heart fluttering. "I'm sorry if I scared you," he said softly. "I just couldn't sleep . . . and I came out here."

"Same," Y/N said, quickly standing up. She brushed her pajama pants off, wondering why she chose her dorkiest pants to wear. "Um, I'll see you later. Goodnight."

Y/N slowed her gait so that Zack wouldn't see her rush away. An awkward tension hung in the air, and it was made more awkward when Zack called out, "Y/N?"

She spun around, hope blossoming in the pit of her stomach. Maybe he was going to apologize to the months of mean comments and they could finally talk about their feelings. "Yeah?"

Zack shook his head, saying, "Nevermind. Goodnight."

"Night." Y/N slowly turned around, her heart heavy. She was disappointed that he didn't say what he was thinking, but she knew it was going to happen. Zack wasn't the most reliable person, especially when it came to emotions. She was done with him. 

---

London dragged Y/N out of their room, saying, "Our friends are waiting for us! Come on, come on, come on!"

"I don't want to go," Y/N whined, digging her feet into the tiled floor. "I'm tired, London! I just want to go to sleep!"

"You've been in bed all day. I'm surprised you even got yourself presentable enough," London babbled, making Y/N roll her eyes. "But somehow you always look better than Bailey, and that's saying something."

"You know, sometimes you are rude," Y/N said, laughing, "but you're funny."

"Thank you!" London grinned, flicking her hair away from her face. "You're funny too."

Y/N allowed London to lead her toward their friends. She really didn't want to go, but she couldn't say no to London. Even if the girl was ditzy, she did like her. Maybe she should listen to her more often.

Their group of friends were standing around on the deck, chatting amongst themselves. Y/N saw Zack standing with Woody and her heart constricted. She remembered what happened last night. Y/N was slightly embarrassed about the way she acted last night, but she couldn't help it now. She hoped that Zack forgot about it anyway. She wasn't that important where he had to remember her anyway. 

"Finally," Bailey said, laughing. Y/N and London walked over to her and Cody, and Bailey wrapped an arm around Y/N's shoulders. "I've always known you were slow, but this just proves it."

"Bailey," Y/N said, rolling her eyes, "back on the farm, you were always slower than me. Stop lying to our friends."

"I have to agree with her," Cody said, nodding. "I have calculated it and you are always five point six seconds late to every date."

Bailey pouted and then said, "Whatever."

"Okay, guys," Zack said, clapping. Y/N turned around and saw that him and Woody were closer to her and London. "Now that everyone is here -" Zack gave her a glance - "we can get started on our fun day."

"I'm so sorry I was late," Y/N said, throwing her arms up into the air. "It was the first time, probably will be the last time."

"I tried to get her to hurry up, but you all know how she is," London said, giggling. "And the outfit she chose to wear is absolutely hideous."

Y/N held in her anger, crossing her arms over her chest. She stared straight ahead, wondering why Bailey or Cody wasn't standing up for her. They always were picked on, so why weren't they standing up for her? 

"Yeah, Y/N could've picked a better outfit for todays events," Zack said, chuckling. 

"You know what?" Y/N said angrily, turning toward him. "I'm tired of you being rude to me. I was going to say something last night, but I didn't. What did I ever do to you to make you act like that?" She glared at him and then turned to everyone else. "And you guys don't need to be mean either. What's the deal?" She pointed to Woody. "He's my favorite person here right now. Same with Cody. You want to know why? Because they weren't being mean to me!"

"What's going on here?" Mr. Moseby said, sounding annoyed. "Why is Y/N yelling?"

"Because they are not good friends." Y/N was too mad and upset to even begin to think about what she was saying. This had been going on for too long now, and she was done with it. "If you guys don't mind, I'll be leaving."

Y/N turned to leave, but Mr. Moseby grabbed onto her wrist. "Now, now, Y/N, we can get this settled." Y/N sighed. "Who started this?"

Y/N glanced around the group and saw Cody and Woody smiling at her. She wouldn't say anything about them because they were the best people there. Her eyes landed on Zack and said, "Him."

"Oh, of course he started it," Mr. Moseby said, sighing. "You two, come with me."

"Good luck!" Woody said, waving his meaty hand. 

Y/N walked on the left side of Mr. Moseby while Zack was on the other side. "I didn't start anything today, I swear," Zack said while they were walking away from their friends. "I don't know why she said that."

"Because you're the one who started it a long time ago," Y/N snapped. "Trust me Mr. Moseby, Zack started picking on me for reasons unknown."

Zack was unusually silent as they walked near the edge of the ship. The water gently lapped at the side of the ship, calming Y/N down. She realized that they were nearing Mr. Blanket's office. She was a little creeped out by that man, so she hoped that Mr. Moseby wasn't bringing them there. 

"You two are going to see Mr. Blanket," Mr. Moseby said, making Y/N groan. "I know he's a little weird, but his methods do work."

Mr. Moseby stopped in front of the glass door, a frown on his older face. "I want you guys to figure out what's going on between you two. I'm too tired to do anything myself, so have fun." He opened the door and shoved the two teenagers into the room. 

Y/N tripped over her own two feet and she nearly fell flat on her face. However, she caught herself on something and was surprised to find that Zack had reached out toward her. That was what she had grabbed onto to keep herself from falling over. "Oh," she said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Zack let go of Y/N's arm and walked into the room. "Mr. Blanket? Where are you?"

There was a loud rustle and Mr. Blanket hopped up from under his desk. He hit his head coming up and his bug eyes bulged out of his head. He let out a curse and then slapped a hand over his mouth. "What are you two doing here?"

"Did we interrupt something?" Y/N said, noticing his ruffled clothing. "Because we can come back later."

"No," Mr. Blanket said, slowly shaking his head. "I'm not busy."

"Okay," Zack said awkwardly, "Mr. Moseby sent us here to work on our troubles."

Mr. Blanket walked over to his tall cabinet, rummaging around for a second. He hid something in his hand and then slowly walked over to Y/N and Zack. "I hope you guys won't hate me for this." Before Y/N or Zack could do anything, Mr. Blanket launched himself toward them. He slapped handcuffs onto their wrists. Y/N tried to pull away from him, but he closed the cuffs tightly. "This will help you two work on your troubles."

"How?" Y/N asked angrily. "I can't stand being in the same room as him, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way."

"That's not true," Zack shot back. He tried to cross his arms over his chest, but he realized he couldn't because of Y/N's arm. 

"I don't believe you," Y/N said with a roll of her eyes. 

"I swear I'm telling the truth!"

Y/N opened her mouth to yell something back, but Mr. Blanket screamed. He literally opened his mouth wide and let out a shrill scream. Y/N tried to cover her ears, but she could only cover one. 

"Okay, you can stop screaming now!" Zack said loudly.

Mr. Blanket's scream died down, and he took a deep breath. A pleasant smile appeared on his face. "You two will be handcuffed together for twenty-four hours or until you can be nice to each other."

"But - Mr. Blanket!" Y/N said, her eyes wide. "What if we have to go to the bathroom?"

"I don't see the issue."

"I'm a girl and he's a boy."

"I still don't see an issue." Y/N and Zack glanced at each other. "If you think it's an issue, just figure it out." Mr. Blanket walked back toward his desk and Y/N saw a puppet underneath the desk. She realized that it was a Ms. Tutweiller puppet. 

"Let's go," Y/N said, dragging Zack out of the room. 

"Y/N, stop!" Zack yelled, pulling her to a rough stop. He turned toward her, a frown on his pretty face. "This is all your fault."

"How is this my fault? You're the one who was mean to me!"

"I was only mean to you because -" Zack stopped himself from speak, shaking his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter anymore."

"You always seem to stop yourself," Y/N said, shaking her head. "I must not be that important to you." Y/N glanced away from him, biting her lip. Her wrist was irritated by the handcuff, so she played it off like she was annoyed by it. "Let's just try to get through this day without fighting."

The day went so slow. Y/N had to work with Zack and they figured out a way to go to the bathroom. However, she had seen other people be mean to Zack, and she finally stood up to the last guys who were teasing Zack. 

"Do you have anything else to do?" she snapped at the guys. She noticed that their skin was super tan. They looked like surfer guys. "We don't want you here."

The guys turned their attention to her. The main guy sneered at Y/N and said, "What's it to you?"

"I'm the only one who can be mean to him."

"Is that so?" the guy asked, leaning against the counter. 

"Yes," Zack said, jumping in. "She is. Now get away from here before I call security."

The two guys scoffed and walked away. Zack was staring at the counter, his face blank. "Are you okay?" she whispered to him. Zack didn't say anything but he did tug her away. The handcuff was cool against her skin and it wasn't irritating her wrist anymore. Zack led her toward his room, and he collapsed onto his bed. She stood awkwardly at the edge of the bed, leaning toward him because of the handcuff. "What's the matter, Zack?"

"Everybody compares me to Cody." The words exploded out of his mouth, making Y/N jump. "They always tease me that I don't have a girlfriend like him or I'm not as smart as him. Why do they do that to me?" He looked over at her, a hurt expression on his face. "And then you came and you didn't do that. I had to mess it up, though, and start treating you like I don't care about you. But I do!"

"What are you saying, Zack?" Y/N asked softly.

"I care about you more than I should. But I ruined it. I ruined everything."

"Maybe not." Y/N smiled slightly, shrugging. "Because I like you too."

Zack whipped his head toward her, a surprised look on his face. "You like me? Since when?"

"Since I met you," she said, nodding. "There was something about you that I couldn't forget." She brushed his bangs out of his eyes, smiling softly. He dodged her hands, shaking his head. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Why would you like me after I hurt you?"

"You have a reason why you acted like that, right?" Zack nodded so she said, "And what was it?"

"I was mean to you because I didn't want to like you," Zack said, sighing. "I was afraid of what happen if I told you."

"I was afraid too, which was why I was mean back." She quickly kissed his cheek and grinned when she saw his cheeks redden. "Surprisingly, I'm not afraid right now, though." 

"Me either," he said, laughing. "So, what do you say? Would you like to go out sometime?"

"I'd love to," she said, giggling. "Let's go tell Mr. Blanket that we made up."

"Good idea." Zack stood up and helped Y/N up. He grabbed her hand gently, giving her a small smile. She smiled back and he led her to Mr. Blanket. This time, the counselor was sitting in his chair, sleeping. "Mr. Blanket?" He didn't move. "Mr. Blanket?"

The weird man screamed, opening his eyes. Once he saw Zack and Y/N, his scream died out. "Oh, it's you two. Did you reconcile your feelings?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Mr. Blanket stretched as he stood up, and then started rummaging for the key. "Hm, where did I put it?"

Y/N should've gotten mad at Mr. Blanket, but she was super happy. She couldn't believe that Zack liked her back and that they were going on a date soon! She let out a giggle and Zack glanced at her with a weird look on his face. "What are you laughing at?"

Y/N couldn't help but laugh even harder. Zack eventually joined in, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Things had a way of working itself out, and Y/N was glad that she was finally with Zack.