Take On Me

The Unforgiven (The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody)

caution: contains spanking of minors.

(The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody is a Disney Channel Original TV series that aired from 2005-2007. It tells the story of twin brothers who move into a prestigious hotel, where their mother, Carey Martin is hired as lounge singer. Zack and Cody spend their days wrecking havoc on the hotel much to the dislike of Mr. Mosby, the hotel manager. Other characters include, Estaban the bellhop, London Tipton, the daughter of richest man in the world, and Maddie Fitzpatrick, the candy counter girl.)

***

As soon as they were through the doors, Carey Martin pointed towards the elevator, aiming dangerous look at her twin sons. "Hotel room. NOW." There was no need for the order as it seemed, for Cody was moving alacrity for the elevator, while Zack was right on his tail, shooting a nervous look back his mom while they waited for the elevator until they decided that it was quicker to use the stairs. She watched until they were out of sight before sighing, plopping down one of the lobby's armchairs, rubbing her temples.

"Is everything alright, Carey?" It was Mr. Mosby, the hotel manager. He must've snuck up on her, which was unsurprising. If there was anything slightly amiss, he was immediately aware, and trying to everything better for the good of his hotel. Despite his drama, Carey enjoyed Mosby's company and often wondered why Mosby didn't demand a raise for all the trouble he went through for the hotel.

"It's my boys." She sighed, still rubbing her temples.

"Oh no. What have they done now?" At his tone, Carey looked up at him, giving him slightly pointed look. Mosby flushed, and offered a smile. "I meant so say, um..how surprising?" It was no secret that the boys wrecked havoc on the hotel any given day, and poor Mr. Mosby always had to clean up the mess.

"Don't worry. Nothing happened here. It's a school thing."

"Ah." Mosby sighed, shaking his head. "I assume Zack was highly involved."

"That's the thing," Carey threw her hands up. "It was BOTH of them. But I do think Zack highly influenced Cody."

"There's a shock." Mosby muttered under his breath.

"I heard that." Carey commented dryly. She shifted, so she was facing Mosby, and propped her arms on her knees, and resting her chin on folded hands. "Apparently there was a similarity between the boys's History report, and upon further investigation, it looks like they were both written by Cody."

"Oh dear." Mosby shook his head, sighing. "That's not good."

"Tell me about it!" Carey rubbed her temples again. "I don't know what to do."

"Are you quite certain this was something Cody intended? Or did Zack merely copy Cody's paper?"

"I can tell when my sons are guilty of something. And from the look on Cody's face, he was definitely involved. I think he's surprised that they got caught, but he's not innocent."

"I'm sure this will affect his grade average?" Mosby said, a hint of sympathy in his voice.

Carey glanced at him, once again marveling on how a hotel manager who was tortured daily by her sons, could care so much about their wellbeing. "Indefinitely. I'm going to have to break the news to him."

"I do not envy you." He carefully touched her shoulder, a gesture of comfort before turning on his heel and walking back towards his desk.

Carey stood as well, straightening her shoulders. She hated the next part as any parent should. But there were minor offenses, which granted a week of grounding at most, and then there were major offenses, which required a bit more. Her sons knew it as well, because as soon as she appeared in the principal's office, the twins hadn't looked her in the eye. The car ride home was equally silent.