All Friends Check-In (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

5. Grounded on the 23rd Floor

I was playing a platformer game on my Game Boy SP after having completed a section of my homework. Glancing up for a bit, Carey arrived in the lobby after her show ended. 

My concentration on the game got cut off when Zack and Cody arrived in the lobby wearing their rollerblades. I slid my handheld game console into my backpack.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Carey asked.

"Winning!" he replied.

"Excuse me. Hi Mom," Cody remarked after accidentally knocking over one of the staff members.

"Cody!" Carey shouted, "Stop! Right now!"

"Guys! The lobby isn't a roller rink," I called out hoping to calm things down before Uncle Marion came around.

"Look out!" Cody hollered, "Look out! I can't stop!" He rollerbladed through the luggage ramp and knocked over another staff member. I ran over to assist him.

"What is going on?" Uncle Marion demanded, "If it's not one thing, it's-- MAMA!" He panicked on seeing one of the guests trip over the golf bag that had been knocked over.

The man who tripped used my uncle as a landing cushion. A vase that was nearby wobbled. I quickly dove over and caught it as it fell off the side table. Uncle Marion and I both sighed in relief.

"Mr. Moseby, are you ok?" Carey asked with concern.

"Here at the Tipton, it's the guest that matters, not the manager," my uncle replied.

"You matter to everyone, and me," I told him as Tuck, one of the staff carefully took the vase from my hands.

"Look what you guys did," Carey reprimanded the twins, "You broke Mr. Moseby."

A couple more staff helped lift the guest off Uncle Marion while I got back on my feet and assisted him.

I overheard Carey tell the twins that they were grounded for what had happened. That's what happens when they try and turn the lobby into a roller rink!

"Mr. Moseby, I'm sorry," Carey apologized, "You won't see them down here for a long, long time. Till they go to college."

"Or prison," Uncle Marion remarked.

Seeing him in pain, mainly in his lower back, I grabbed my backpack and followed my uncle in case he needed my help.

The following day at school, Zack and Cody confided to me that they were broke after Uncle Marion paid a visit to the suite to show Carey the bill. The twins had rented a ton of video games and pay-per-view movies and even had their underwear drycleaned, which I found weird. I suggested using the local library to borrow DVDs to save Carey the wear and tear. Plus, I offered to let the twins borrow any of the video games I owned.

After arriving back at the Tipton, there was a huge crowd of reporters and paparazzi. I had a feeling that there was a popular celebrity staying at the hotel as a guest. Whenever a popular person arrives in town and books a room, news always spreads like wildfire.

At first, the boys and I had trouble getting through the crowd as staff members prevented them from getting into the building. The twins had to let the staff know that they lived in the hotel. The majority of the staff knew who I was and let me and the boys inside.

I took a seat on one of the couches and reviewed my homework assignments while the twins made their way to the candy counter. Uncle Marion came around pursuing a photographer who had snuck inside. He told me that center fielder, Bobby Carillo, and Ursula, a lingerie model were getting married at the Tipton the coming weekend. My uncle trusted me to not say a word of it knowing that I was good at keeping my lips sealed.