All Friends On Board (The Suite Life On Deck)⚓

23. In The Line of Duty

Caleb and I were standing in the hallway along with the other students. A few of them were laughing about the stink bomb Zack set off in the science lab. It stank so bad like something died in there that I was starting to get sick from it. Caleb tried helping distract me so that I didn't turn green or throw up like I had the flu. A couple of workers in hazmat suits were standing by the door to the science lab, set to go in and make sure no one passed out in there.

Uncle Marion and Miss Tutweiller arrived and on catching the horrible scent, both of them pulled out a pocket hanky from my uncle's front pocket to plug their noses. Whenever a pocket hanky was pulled out, another one popped up making the sound of a cash register drawer.

"Oh, this is where it's coming from!" Uncle Marion remarked on noting the guys in the hazmat suits, "Okay, who's responsible for this?" turned to Zack who was laughing with the other students.

On seeing our teacher and my uncle, our classmates took off. Caleb and I stood to the side trying to avoid the door to the science lab so I wouldn't get sicker.

"Why do I even bother to ask? What were you thinking?" Uncle Marion frowned at Zack.

"Well, Mr. Auckepenny questioned my ability to create a chemical reaction. So -," Zack answered.

"To prove you could set off a stink cloud in the class?" Miss Tutweiller asked cutting him off.

"Exactly! I think it's worthy of an A!"

"Oh boy," I moaned feeling like I was turning green again.

Uncle Marion turned back to the guys in the hazmat suits, "All right gentlemen, I want you to be careful in there. No human can withstand even a whiff of this toxic air."

Just then, Woody came out of the lab eating a chocolate cupcake, not even bothered by the horrible stench.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" he nodded at all of us and walked away.

We stared at him in shock. Suddenly, I felt myself getting sick again, located a trash bin and puked into it.

"Marley are you alright?" Uncle Marion asked in concern.

"I think Zack's chemical reaction has made me sick for who knows how long. Maybe until graduation," I replied after finishing throwing up, "Miss Tutweiller, remind me to not have science class with him again."

"Why don't you head to the infirmary and get checked out," Miss Tutweiller suggested.

I nodded.

"I'll take her there," Caleb volunteered and led me while our teacher and my uncle decided what to do about Zack.

⚓

Soon, I was brought to the infirmary. The nurse checked me out and suggested that I take it easy for a day or two and let her know if there was a problem. So, I headed back to my cabin and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a large T-shirt. 

While watching some YouTube on my laptop, Uncle Marion dropped by to check on me. He brought a tray of soup and a bottle of ginger ale.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as I took the tray from him.

"I'm okay," I replied, "The nurse told me to give it a day or two. What did you and Miss Tutweiller do with the resident stink bomber?"

"He's being trained by Kirby to be the hall monitor."

"Oh boy."

I had a bad feeling about it. Sometimes, Zack took things too far. Plus, it reminded me of a SpongeBob episode where the titular character wreaked havoc and terrorized the citizens in town after donning a hall monitor suit. 

"Don't worry Marley. Zack won't be making anymore stink bombs," Uncle Marion assured me.

"That's not what I'm worried about," I clarified, "Soon, he'll turn into a monitoring Nazi and stick detention slips at anyone who passes by him. And everyone at school will hate 'im for it."

My uncle found it funny even though I wasn't joking. 

"It will all be fine," Uncle Marion smiled.

I wasn't too sure about that one. 

⚓

The following day, I was feeling better. During school hours, I asked Miss Tutweiller for a hall pass knowing I would have to pass by Zack who started taking his role as hall monitor seriously. Like I warned Uncle Marion, one of my best friends was turning into a dictator of the hallways. Caleb caught on to my warning and asked for a hall pass mainly because his roommate ended up in detention.

On passing by Zack, Caleb and I pulled out our hall passes, and he let us go.

"This is a nightmare," I whispered as we turned at a corner, "I told my uncle that Zack would end up turning into a hallway Hitler, minus the mustache."

"I'm guessing he didn't take your warning seriously," Caleb pointed out.

"He thought it would do some good around here. But I know Zack. He tends to take some things too far, like this one for example."

⚓

The next day got even worse. The majority of our school ended up in detention. Miss Tutweiller had to stay after the school hours to monitor them. Caleb and I kept our hall passes on ourselves the whole time. 

At the end of the day, our classmates avoided Zack like the plague even after his shift was over. He approached Caleb and me knowing that we were the only two who never got detention. 

"Mar, Caleb, you guys are the only ones not mad at me," Zack sighed in relief treating us as if we were his oasis. 

 "More like nervous to be around you," Caleb pointed out.

"All because you went too far with your position," I added, "Like your pranks. And not to mention most of the school is booked for detention."

Sometime after Zack left to talk to my uncle, an explosion went off releasing a rancid aroma.

"Not again," I moaned as I covered my nose and mouth.

"Let's find you a bin," Caleb suggested and escorted me away from the stink bomb sight.

Turned out Zack felt the only way to get our friends back was to place himself in detention was to plant a stink bomb, the same one he set off in the science lab. But after he was brought into the classroom, our classmates surrounded him, giving him a payback for his brief reign of terror in the hallways.