Thank you for the kind comments, and here's another chapter especially for you!

I do not know how I filled the space with only two scenes, but whatever ^^

The next chapter might take a while, because I'm participating in an exchange program and I'm leaving this week. To… the USA! Finally! AND I'll get to stay in New York for an extra week, too! YAY! *London-like hop-and-clap-fit*

I mean, isn't it weird that I've been writing about people in the USA for ages but I've never been there? That's been tough about writing this story - I really don't know what high schools are like at all and whenever I'm writing a school scene, I just cross my fingers and hope I'm not writing crap ^^ So this trip might actually improve the quality of my work!

Either way, I hope you'll enjoy chapter 10 – in which Cody makes a tiny, dramatic decision and Zack is positively surprised.

:)

*********************************CPOV*********************************

Zack was a very annoying person to support. Even with my arm around him, he seemed determined not to accept my help, struggling as hard as he could while hardly even putting any weight on me. His face was set in a straight, concentrated expression, but when I snuck a glance at him in the elevator door, I could have sworn he was smiling.

Oh, smile while you can, moron, I thought grimly. You sure as hell won't be after Mom's done with you.

Sure enough, when we entered the suite, Mom reminded me of a chameleon. Within a heartbeat, her expression changed from desperate to disbelieving to hopeful to relieved to angry before it finally settled on that cold, stern look she always put on when she was really, really pissed.

"Cody, go to your room," She said in the matching voice. "And shut the door."

I obeyed immediately. While walking, I looked back at my brother, who was still standing in the middle of the room looking like he was about to attend his own funeral. Which, in a way, he was. Smirking, I pulled the door shut and sat down on my bed.

For several minutes, I battled with the desire to eavesdrop; then, I decided to stay where I was, figuring that since Mom would start yelling sooner or later anyway, it just wasn't worth the effort.

So I slumped back into my pillows and allowed myself to relax. I breathed in and revelled in the relief of knowing that Zack was okay; that for the moment, fear and worry were overcome. Smiling, I let my gaze wander through the room – until it came to rest on the small, crumpled piece of paper looking out from under my nightlight.

Immediately, the smile dropped from my face. I stared at the paper for a moment, and then I sighed and picked it up. The numbers were slightly blurry because my hands had been sweaty when I'd clutched the paper inside my pocket all the way back from the park. It didn't matter, because I knew them by heart.

617 570 4479

How many times had I wanted to dial those digits during the past few days… Just as many times as I had decided that there was no way on earth I could do it. Not with the current situation being as it was. No matter how mad I was at Zack, I knew I could never betray him like that.

I remembered what he had said earlier that evening, before all the drama had started. You don't have a love life. You're unable to get a girlfriend on your own… Somewhere inside me, I felt a familiar sting, but I willed it to stop. After all, I knew Zack hadn't been serious. How could he be, now? He had simply been trying to tease me into calling Sydney. That much was obvious. The part I just didn't get was why.

Actually, there were a lot of why's that I didn't have an answer for. Why Zack? Why me? Why did it have to be my life that was so messed up and just plain weird? Why did life have to be so very unfair?

I sighed again and resolutely crumpled the paper in my hand. Then, I got up, walked over to our tiny window, opened it, and dropped Sydney's number into the night.

I watched it float down, fluttering in the wind, and when I couldn't see it anymore, I imagined it passing by window after window after window. And each window held a snapshot, a moment of a different story. There were people, living, breathing people, with hopes and feelings, worries and countless memories, and they were probably asking themselves the very same question.

Twenty-one parallel universes lay below me that I would never even know, and yet the sense of there presence calmed my anxiety, my desperation and my childish demand for an explanation. Fate, I realized, didn't explain itself. Things just happened as they did, and all that we could choose was to surrender, resist, or embrace.

When I returned to sit on my bed, I left the window open.

***********************************ZPOV***********************************

When Cody disappeared into our room, with an expression that I thought was way too smug, Mom was still standing in the kitchen area, motion- and expressionless. It was the calm before the storm. I took a deep breath, looked down on my shoes and braced myself for what was probably going to be the rant of the year.

No whining today, I told myself. Whatever she said, I would take it; whatever punishment she gave me, I wouldn't complain because I knew I completely deserved it for scaring her – and Cody – the way I had. For a split second, I felt a sense of pride at this new-found maturity, but I guiltily pushed it down as far as it would go.

When Mom finally spoke, she caught me by surprise.

"Oh, Honey," She said in a voice so soaked with emotion it could have been in a three-star soap opera, and within the blink of an eye she had crossed the space between us and was hugging me tightly.

I didn't quite understand what was happening, but so far, this was going way better than I'd expected. Hesitantly, I placed my hands on her back and gave her a little rub. Eventually Mom let go of me and sat on the sofa, motioning for me to mirror her. I did.

Some part of me was still on guard, waiting for the yelling and the guilt trip and the punishment – or at least some tears. But she just looked at me for several long, confusing minutes. Then, she gave me a smile and said "I'm sorry, honey."

I stared at her blankly. This was definitely not something I'd expected. Frankly, I didn't even know what she was apologizing for. As if she had read my thoughts she went on:

"I should not have made that stupid comment on your love life. It was absolutely inappropriate and I want you to know I'm genuinely sorry." Oh, right. Now I remember.

"Stop it right now, Zack! Cody's right. Plus, your… love life is not too busy, is it, so maybe you shouldn't be handing out advice!"

Well, hell yeah that had been inappropriate! In fact, I could feel some of the anger from before returning, but the apologetic look on my mother's face was so sincere that it was impossible not to forgive her.

"That's okay," I said, "You didn't mean to hurt me."

She shook her head. "No," She said, "I really didn't. But that's not what I'm trying to say. My point is that it's actually none of my business. I mean, you're sixteen, almost seventeen now. It's a little hard for me to remember that sometimes, but I need to learn to give you some space and respect your privacy."

She smiled, then narrowed her brows and hastily added: "As long as you're not sleeping with anyone, that is, because before you do that, the two of us will need to have that talk your father never quite could get the guts to initiate."

I winced. "I promise there's absolutely no hurry, Mom."

"Uh-huh…" She gave me a look that told me just exactly how much she didn't believe me and I couldn't help but chuckle.

This amazed me. I realized that the last couple weeks, I hadn't laughed nearly enough. I had constantly felt angry, betrayed, and bitter. And now here I was laughing at how, out of all the lies I had told my Mom recently, this simple truth could only sound like the most obvious lie of all to her. Something had taken the bitterness away, and I couldn't say I didn't like it.

Mom, of course, interpreted my chuckle the only way she could. She wriggled her finger at me, but her eyes were smiling.

"Well, I'm glad you seem to be feeling better," She said. "Even though it's hard to believe from the looks of you…" Shaking her head, she let her gaze wander over my injuries, not amused, but not too shocked either. She'd seen me look way worse.

I was already beginning to hope that I might get away with this whole thing when…

"Sweetie, even though I swear I won't nag you, you know you can still come to me with anything, right? Remember that. I'm your Mom, and I will always be here to love and support you no matter what happens or what you come to be."

She knows!

The thought flashed through my mind like a lightning bolt, surprising, shocking and no doubt tugging some thunder. I stared at her in shock. How could she know? We'd done everything! .. Well, actually, we'd done nothing, which was everything we could do in order to keep the secret. So how the hell could she possibly know?

My Mom frowned and pursed her lips. "Too much? … Yeah, I figured it might be…"

I must have looked like a fricking frightened guinea-pig, because she laughed and reached behind her back to hand me a book. "The kids are all right – How to raise a son." My eyes widened. I recognized this book; it had been on her shelf for about as long as I could remember.

"Well, I would have thrown that out years ago, but I just didn't think you'd ever read it!"

Mom laughed again. "Me neither. But today, I just thought to myself 'What the hey?'". She shrugged. "It turns out it's actually really good. Yeah, I now know exactly where I've gone wrong with you boys!"

She grinned widely while I tried to frown and raise my eyebrows at the same time. "Well, that's… wonderful!"

Obviously, she did not get the sarcasm. "I know! I'm telling you, this book is going to change your lives. It's really fun!"

"Yeah," I said, "I bet it's just fantastic to learn how much more screwed up your kids could have turned out if only you'd made a few more mistakes?"

"Oh, yes, that too," She said, taking the book back. "But mostly, it's fun because it has this little personality quiz you need to have your kid fill out. It really gives you a chance to put aside all your assumptions, get some perspective, and figure out exactly what their individual needs are."

"Umm… Then shouldn't we take the quiz first?" I asked, slightly confused. Mom waved dismissively.

"Oh come on, honey, let's face it: I'm your Mom. I know better."

I blinked a couple of times, but decided to let this one go. Mostly because I didn't know how to answer without giving away my biggest secret.

"Anyway," She continued, "Based on your answers, you have been identified as a Player." She flipped around a little before holding the book out to me again. The page featured a black-and-white sketch of a boy with a baseball hat, shoulder length hair, a band t-shirt, baggy pants, a skateboard under one arm and a basketball under the other.

The scary thing was, he looked a lot like a cartoonified version of me.

"The Player," It said below the picture, "Is the character found most often in high schools today. As opposed to the Nerd and the Rebel, he likes to go with the crowd and puts a great amount of time, money and effort into becoming and remaining a part of the group. Therefore, he is an easier target to peer pressure. If unprepared and unwatched, he may feel forced to do things which endanger his well-being and/or seemingly contradict common sense; however, impossible as it may sometimes seem, if you just follow the advice on the following pages, your favorite Player is most likely to grow out of the wildest phase and find his place in the adult world without much difficulty."

"Umm," I said, at loss for any better comment. "Good to know."

Mom beamed at me. "You have no idea how relieved I am. And here I was thinking you'd turn out to be a complete failure! You see -"

I tuned her out as she started talking away in a cheery voice, not needing to hear about this. I was much more interested in what Mom's book of magic had in store for Cody, and I felt I had a pretty good idea which type he was.

Reading the characterization of the Nerd, I found myself chuckling again, which alerted Mom to what I was doing. She took the book from my hands and put it down on the sofa again. Smiling, she extended her arms to give me a hug. I quickly backed away and held up my hands in a defensive gesture.

"Oh, right," She said apologetically and instead settled on ruffling my hair. I immediately felt a desperate desire to reach up and fix the mess, but she kept looking at me intensely. Then, just when it was becoming very, very weird, she said:

"I love you, Zack."

And no matter how hard I'd been trying to be a big boy, and even though I would rather have swallowed a hedgehog than admit it, her words made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside just like the pathetic little momma's boy that I really was.

I hope you liked this chapter and are looking forward to the next as much as I am! :)