Chapter 1:

15-year-old Zackary Martin looked in the mirror and flexed. Captain and MVP of the basketball team, good student, played guitar in band… what else could he want? Zack had the perfect life.

His eyes traveled around his room and the pictures placed on the walls. Tapeworm, Max, Maddie, London, a couple of other friends, and then Cody and him—age 12. Every time Zack looked at that picture, his heart wrenched. He and Carey had buried Cody last year. It was the hardest thing that each one of them had ever done, but they had to do it. There was almost no chance that Cody could be alive by now, so they had said good-bye to him. It hurt. But it had been their decision, and life was better now.

Sure, Zack still looked out the window every night and wondered where Cody was and if he was ok, and Carey still cried every night when she prayed for his safety. But it was better than going on every day, wondering if they were being selfish and petty while Cody was out there being hurt… wondering if they were having a good time while Cody was crying…

Zack shook these thoughts from his mind. It was Saturday, and he didn't want to think about any of that. He didn't want to think about Cody.

When Cody had first disappeared, Zack had hurt every night. He would wake up screaming—screaming in pain, but he would realize that it wasn't his pain. It was Cody's. He was feeling what Cody was feeling. After about seven months since Cody vanished, Zack stopped feeling them. He stopped feeling Cody's feelings, and with a painful revelation, he realized that Cody wasn't connected to him anymore.

Zack was still living at the Tipton. Carey tried to keep on going like nothing had ever happened. Yet they both knew that was untrue.

Even Mr. Mosebey missed the twins. He missed Cody, because ever since Cody had disappeared, Zack had turned perfect—and they no longer pulled pranks, they no longer caused havoc. It was as if Cody had never existed.

Maddie had been shocked. She had cried for awhile with London, who was also horrified. They helped the Martins go to the lost children center and report him. They helped make the ads that said, Have you seen this child? But they got over it too.

Only Zack hadn't.

There was only one reason for Zack's transformation. Why he went from a D student to an A student. He did it for Cody.

He knew that if Cody had been there, he would have wanted the best for his brother. And when Zack put all his effort into everything, he could forget. He could forget the pain he felt since his brother's absence, he could forget all the times they had together.

And as Zack forgot, his emotions wound up in him tighter than ever, and they screamed for escape, but he wasn't going to let them go.

He didn't want to remember.

He didn't want to remember what it was like to have a twin. He didn't want to remember what it was like to have his brother. He didn't want to remember his best friend. He wanted to forget it all, so he wouldn't hurt anymore.

And he knew it was wrong.

Because if Cody was still out there, he was holding on to everything. He was holding on to Zack, and hoped that Zack still thought about him. He needed something to hold onto. But Zack didn't want to hold onto Cody.

Zack reached a hand up to the picture, the twins' smiles frozen in time. He gently stroked the glass over Cody's face, and felt a lump in his throat. A small tear escaped, and Zack brushed it away. He couldn't remember it. He didn't want to.

He pulled his fingers away and walked out of his room, where he saw his mom sitting on the couch. As he entered, she turned and looked up, and he knew something was wrong.

"Zack," she said. "They found him. They found Cody. He's alive."

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