London Fever [Suite Life]

Chapter 8 - A Serious Roadblock

I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Things start to get a little serious for our characters...

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She loved having a boyfriend, and a long-term one at that. She was in only one long-term relationship before, and that was Lance, the hotel lifeguard back in Boston. Other than that, this was it. No one in her family thought that she would have a long-term relationship, considering her father's last wife only lasted two days. That meant that her father confessed his love and proposed to his wife in less than that time. Two weeks passed and she still hadn't told Zack that she loves him. Maybe she would tell him on this little date they planned to go on.

Now, what should she wear? Of course, Zack would like her in anything she wore, but she wanted to look extra beautiful for him. She pulled a purple dress out of her closet as her phone rang from her purse. She went to answer it.

"Hi, Daddy."

"London, hello. How has your day been? Did you go to all your classes today?" He used that fatherly voice.

"Yes, Daddy, I did. It was a bit creepy with the teachers giving me looks, making sure I didn't leave early. Not that I have before," she added, knowing that she and Zack had snuck out of class before.

"Well, that's good. I'm glad that you are doing better in your studies, at least, that is what Mr. Moseby tells me."

She sat on her bed. "Yes, I'm doing better. I have a permanent study buddy now."

"Oh, yes, that new boyfriend of yours," he breathed. "But I don't know if he's having a positive influence on you, considering the things that boy and his brother have done in the past."

She knew he knew it was Zack. In fact, she knew he knew about their relationship from the beginning of it. "Well, he's not like that anymore."

"Are you sure?"

She paused, thinking about her and Zack cutting class on a few occasions and almost playing hooky that very day.

"London, your silence is not comforting. He really is a bad influence on you."

"No, no, Daddy, he's not." She tried to use her pleading voice.

"Why do you think I requested that your teachers make sure you go to class every day? Because I have heard from them that you and that boy have left the classroom now and then."

Oh, my teachers are going to hear a mouthful from me later! "But that was only a few times, Daddy. I promise, we won't do it again." He sighed in agitation and was silent for a moment. "Daddy?"

"London, I want you to do well in school and in your life, and you cannot do either when you do not take school seriously and the boy you're dating doesn't either. You're nineteen years old. You need to be done with high school already."

She was smart enough to know where her father was going with this. "Daddy, please, don't touch Zack, okay? I gave him those ideas, leaving class and all that. Please, don't throw him off the ship."

"I'm not going to do that, London, at least not literally throw him off the ship. You know, I was shocked when I found out that you were dating one of the twins that nearly destroyed both my hotel in Boston and the ship you're on. I haven't said anything, knowing that you were the happiest I've seen you, but... I'm afraid I have to put my foot down this time."

London's heart started to pound, and tears stung her eyes. "Daddy, no, please, don't say it."

"I want you to break up with this boy and focus on your schoolwork and getting your high school diploma. In fact, no boys until that happens."