Thanks for the reviews! This chapter was actually very fun for me to write, I hope it's fun to read!

I don't own Zeke's Pad.

I was crushed into my bed by Jay, who had his hands squeezed around my neck.

"Any harder and I'll sue you for attempted murder." I joked trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Why waste time? Your family can sue me for murder." He said menacingly.

"Jay, cut that out." He glared at me but let his hands fall back to his sides. He was still sitting on top of me, and maybe it wouldn't be that bad if we were in another situation.

"How could you lose it?" His voice held so much unadulterated hatred and disappointment that I flinched.

"Look, I'm not happy about it either but we have to calm down! You're the one with brains so you have to figure something out."

"Why am I even friends with you?" he sighted, resigned.

"Cause I have a cute smile?" I tried.

He hit me with a pillow.

"I have a theory" He said after we moved to the living room. "You know that new teacher?"

"You mean Mister Anderson?"

"Yeah, well, he arrived at the same day you lost it. I don't believe in coincidences. And he was looking at you strangely."

"Jay, everybody looks at me strangely, I'm like honey in the forest full of bears."

He put two fingers on his temple.

"Don't make metaphors. Ever."

I scooted closer to his sitting form on the couch and put my head on his shoulder.

"Jay?"

"Get off."

I ignored him.

"Jay, what are we gonna do?"

"First, I'll chop your cock off if you don't fucking move!"

"You won't." I smirked and leaned up to his ear. "You like that part of my body too much."

Suddenly, my head was on the couch and Jay was in the kitchen.

What am I doing? That was mean. I have no right to harass Jay because of a misfortune I created.

"Jay, I'm sorry!" I shouted in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Shut up!"

Z&J

Having a suspect was in no way making things easier. After a small chat, which consisted of Jay yelling at me, we figured the best method was to spy on the teacher.

That's how I found myself on a roof, dressed all in black and holding a torch and binoculars. It was really uneventful in this guy's life. He mainly sat down before his TV or computer.

The guy wasn't old, about his thirties. He had short brown hair and bright green eyes. You might call him good looking, but there was also something strange about him. A certain air of someone who knows he's smarter then you.

But then again Jay had that kind of air all the time.

Speaking of Jay, my dear friend, of course, left me on this mission alone. Okay, so maybe he was in the process of researching the info on the Internet, but still. It would be a much more interesting spying mission if I wasn't so alone.

My phone vibrated and after checking if it was Jay (more times then not it's Jay, or mom, and when it's not it ends up being 'that' kind of fan), I answered.

"You found something, sweetie pie?" I said mimicking my mother's voice.

"..."

"What's wrong, honey?"

"If you ever call me like that again I'll hang up." he said in a deadpan. "Seriously, for a moment I thought it's your mother."

"See?" I said excited. "I told you I'm good at pretending woman's voices. Rachel's gonna be so jealous of my abilities."

"..." I could imagine him rolling his eyes. "You want a prize for that?"

"Depends on the prize?" I smirked.

"Cut the bullshit. I have bad news."

"What did you find?"

"Nothing, completely nothing. The web doesn't know this guy exists, no facebook or tweeter account, no nothing. He's not even on our school's site yet. What about you?"

"Same. He just watches TV and sits before a computer. He's the most boring guy I ever saw."

"How can he sit before a computer and not leave a sign on the Internet?"

"Maybe he doesn't use the Internet." I suggested.

Jay spluttered like the very idea seemed absurd.

"Dude, everybody uses the Internet. It's like a library with everything."

"Yes, calm down, Jay. I don't know what he does. You're the genius here."

"Of course I am. Moron."

"Then think of something."

For a while it was quiet. I was getting more and more distressed by the situation when Jay eventually spoke.

"I have an idea."

Z&J

"That's your idea!?"

We were both dressed in black now, we even had the caps (I don't know why Jay has them in the first place). I hold a torch for Jay to open the damn window.

Did I forget to mention that it was two in the morning and we were breaking into the school building? Because that's what we're actually doing.

"Shut up. If the janitor hears we're screwed."

I pouted but followed his order.

The principal's office was kind of creepy. You know, the scary stacks of papers everywhere. Jay went straight to the computer and told me to keep watch by the door.

Whenever I tried to ask him something he ordered me to shut up, so eventually I stopped asking.

Turns out we weren't very lucky because ten minutes later I saw the janitor.

"Jay" I whispered urgently. "He's coming."

"Wait a while, I'm just going to –"

"No time."

I closed the door and clicked the computer to shut it off. I looked around and tried to find a good hiding place.

Jay took my arm. "Came here, moron."

He pulled me down under the desk, where he was already sitting.

It was a very uncomfortable place. I know I should probably think about the threat but when I looked at Jay I was surprised. In his black clothes and looking cautiously to the side the sound of footsteps could be heard he looked like a real spy. Like in a scene from a movie.

He looked at me. I was practically kneeling above him so the distance between us was really minimal. I would be embarrassed to say that, but my heart kind of sped up for a moment. I couldn't help it! This was really like in a movie, and Jay seemed ….. almost cool.

"Zeke, I asked you a question." He was glaring at me.

"What?"

"What was the janitor doing? Was he washing the floors?"

I tried to remind myself exactly where I was.

"No, he wasn't holding anything."

"Ok." He said and went back to looking like a hot spy.

… I mean to looking to the side of the sounds.

But really it was dark, and the only light was from the moon. And he was so damn focused.

I shouldn't be in this damn movie. A pretty girl should.

I (not so unconsciously) leaned a bit. I seriously don't know what I was planning.

Ok, I knew, but it was not a good plan.

Right in the moment centimeters were between us he turned his face and looked at me.

"What are you doing?" His voice was clueless.

I can't believe that I was feeling embarrassed. I quickly returned to my previous position. "My knees started to hurt. It made me unstable."

He raised his brow. "Well, the janitor passed the room, so you can give your knees a rest."

Z&J

"Did you find anything?" I asked when I caught my breath. For obvious reasons (mostly because we're two chickens) we ran the whole way to my place.

He heavily landed on the sofa and I sat next to him.

"I believe so. I found the guy's CV. He had various jobs, but he was never actually a teacher. I have no idea why they hired a man like him. He's actually a technician."

"By that you mean?"

"Computers, tablets, phones. He worked in some of the most recognized world's firms. Somehow, in the meantime he found a while to be an actor too, but I don't believe it's relevant."

"So what's your theory?"

"He probably knows that your pad is magical."

"Oh" I had no good answer to that. What could I do? If he deliberately stole it I could never get it back.

"We must break into his flat." Jay said.

"Oh, ok." than I took a moment. "Wait, what?!" Usually, I was the one with the crazy ideas.

"I don't think he's stupid enough to hide it there, but we must take the chance."

"How?"

"Oh, don't worry your idiot head over it. Tomorrow we're not going to school."

I looked at him and smiled.

"What?" he barked.

"Jay, you're awesome."

His face completely changed but I could not read the expression. "I have to go." He said quickly and by the time I understood he was already by the door.

"Jay, wait."

"What?" He turned around and when I approached him, he took a step back resting his back on the door.

"It's late."

"So what?"

"Wouldn't it be better if you stayed?"

He looked at me incredulously. "I will be fine."

"Come on, Jay." I grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.

He looked down at my lips. So I guess it was his mistake.

I pushed him against the door and leaned in. His mouth was how I remembered it; warm, wet and open.

And he slapped me. It wasn't even that painful, but it hurt my pride pretty bad.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He hissed. "We're in the corridor! Anyone could see us!"

"Jay, it's three in the morning, nobody's up." I tried to reason.

"Am I the only one who sees the problem here?" He said exasperated. He left without another word.

Z&J

It took me five minutes to decide to follow him. When I opened the door he was already out of sight, so I went to a place where I would have gone to in this situation.

To the playground.

He was sitting on the swing, rocking gently. The night wind was freezing, and I could say he was cold, because he had almost an identical black attire that I wore.

I approached him slowly from behind, letting him hear my steps. He didn't flinch when I took control of the swing so I guessed it was alright.

His hands were right below mine's on the chain. I rocked him slowly with the wind.

"Do you remember how we met?" He asked suddenly in a far away voice.

"Dude, that was ages ago!"

But I remembered. It was here.

I went back to that day. I think it was a spring day, I'm not sure. I don't remember how old we were, just that we were in kindergarten. I filled the elements that were missing but I remembered the general idea.

It was sunny, probably afternoon, because all the kids were out. I knew most of them.

On this swing sat a kid with a round face and even rounder glasses. I saw him in kindergarten, but he rarely talked with anyone.

I was in the middle of making a piece of art in the sandbox. Ike was running around with his friends pretending the stick is a sword. Other kids were uninterested in my occupation. Mom and Dad stayed with Rachel, who was a baby at the time.

I looked up and saw the strange glasses kid. The sandbox was right opposite the swings so the kids could jump off and not kill themselves in the process.

"Hey, you." I said trying to sound like Ike. Ike had a lot of friends and everybody liked him.

The kid looked at me.

"Yes, it's you I'm talking to."

"Yes?" His voice was as high as a mouse's (ok, I made that up.)

"I want you to come here."

"Why?"

"To see the birth of a great artist. You're not going to lose that chance, are you?"

He looked at me with wonder. Then he slipped off the swing and came to stand before the sandbox.

"What is it?" He said looking at my sculpture and squinting his eyes.

"It's a dragon, of course, stupid."

He pouted as if he never was called that before.

"Well, you're stupid. Dragons don't exist."

"You're lying! Mom said they do. Your mom didn't tell you that they're just hiding?"

I didn't expect that he would throw sand into my eyes. I started crying quite loudly which alarmed my mom.

She quickly run to me leaving dad with Rachel.

"What's wrong, honey?" She said kneeling before my little frame.

"He threw sand into my eyes!" I pointed at the villain.

But when I took my hand of my pinching eyes I saw that he was also crying. Not like me, he was quiet and hid his face with his palms as though he wasn't allowed to cry.

My mom talked to the kid. Strangely his tears made me forget about my stinking eyes.

"Where are your parents?" She asked gently.

"In.. hic... they're working... hic." It was hard to hear him in between the sobs.

My mother looked at me sternly. "Zeke, keep an eye on him for a moment for me, okay?"

I nodded and silently watched while the boy cried. After a moment my mom returned with two apples. She gave one to me and the other to the surprised (and still crying) Jay.

"Listen boys. Don't eat sweets. Eat the apples. If you eat them someday you will be strong men. And I know right now you are mad at each other and sad, but if you forget it and eat in peace with each other I guarantee you will want to become friends." She smiled in her perfect mom way.

I returned from my thoughts to the present moment. It was still very cold. I could see the beginnings of the morning.

"From that moment your family just treated me like one of their own." Said Jay with calmness "Just like that."

"Yes, I know my parents are great, you said that a dozen of times."

"You don't understand. If your mom saw us..." He shifted slightly. "Your parents, Ike, Rachel and you... You are the only things I've got, the only family I really posses. And I can't –" he took a deep breath. "I can't afford to lose that."

It was quiet for a moment. My hands slowly drifted down to rest on top of his and I squeezed them lightly. A while passed with me just holding his hands and rocking the swing.

"Whatever you do, they won't give up on you." The words sounded sour-sweet in my mouth. "And if they do, then I'll stand on your side. Even if it means they will give up on me, too."

For a long time he remained silent. In the end he said "Let's go to my house. It's closer." With a voice that held no emotion.

Z&J

Although I slept only for two hours I was well rested. Me and Jay didn't cuddle at night or anything like that, but when I turned my back to him he scooted a bit closer. Our warm backs were touching and strangely this was the most calming and peaceful feeling I ever experienced.

So, the end if this chapter. I almost forgot how fun writing this story was.

Well, review, so hopefully I will remember till the next chapter!