Disclaimer: I do not own TSL

Up To Us

Chapter 1: The Past is Prologue

Fifteen year-old Zackary Martin slammed the door shut as he entered the house of now seventeen year-old Maddie Fitzpatrick. Cody, his twin brother, was sitting on the couch reading a book. Maddie was on her afternoon shift while her parents were out of town, leaving the twins in charge of the house. Their parents, Kurt and Carey Martin, died a tragic death four months ago.

"Hey Code, whassup?" he asked, sounding cheerful.

Cody merely shrugged and went back to reading, pushing a pair of wire-rimmed glasses onto the bridge of his nose. Zack shook his head. Cody has become a whole other person after his kidnapping. He's tougher, unlike the whining kid you knew before and definitely more confidant. But gaining that, he also lost a whole other set of emotions. It's like he's walking into the shadows, getting colder…

Zack felt a shiver run down his spine. He sensed Cody looking at him and straightened up, "Our game against Homestead High is tonight, do you want to come?"

Cody ignored him. Zack gave up and retired to his room, pulling out a pencil to do his algebra homework. His grades are getting better since he joined the basketball team, where the cut was at least a 2.0. After he wrote the last answer down and double-checked it, he grabbed his duffle bag and left for the game. It was the Kennedy Cougars vs. the Homestead Mustangs.

---

The score was 16 to 16 and 30 seconds left in double overtime. The cougars would've broken the tie but bricked the last shot. Zack's teammate, Joseph, cut in front of him as Zack passed the ball. The ball was stolen in mid-throw and was going the other direction. Zack immediately ran towards the weak side and tried to box out the player. The player shot but missed. Max got the ball and passed it to Zack. Zack cut and received the ball. He dribbled to the other team's hoop and attempted an ally-oop pass to Joseph. The ball shot through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.

"Yeah!" he cheered as he high-fived his teammates.

Joseph tossed Zack a towel and they began walking back to the locker rooms. Zack's vision suddenly blurred and became hazy. His mind went blank as he felt himself falling. There was a sharp pain in his knee and everything went dark.

---

"Zack? Zack, are your all right?"

Zack felt someone shaking him and tried to open his eyes. He moaned and reached up to rub his head.

"Zack!"

He finally opened his eyes a crack and scanned his surroundings. Max's face was hovering over him, blocking the gym's bright lights.

"What happened?" he asked weakly.

"You passed out," the coach relied and helped him up to a sitting position, "You gave us quite a scare."

"Sorry," was the only word he could think of.

---

Max found Zack sitting on the railing of the roof of the gym, his legs dangling over the edge and down towards the blacktop as he gazed at the stars.

"Zack, are you all right?" she asked and stood behind the railing beside him.

He tried his best to smile, "Yeah."

"There's something wrong, huh?"

Zack noticed that she was trying to squeeze it out of him. He nodded.

"Then what is it?" she asked, "At least tell me."

He felt rather uncomfortable, "Nah. Even if I told you, you wouldn't get it."

Max seemed confused, "What do you mean?"

"Nevermind."

After a long stretch of silence, Max piped up again, "What happened to Cody?"

Zack nearly lost his balance and fell, "Huh?"

"What happened to him," she repeated, "After you met him, you never told me about anything that's happening to your life."

He swallowed. Yeah, that's right. Cody was transferred to another school because of paperwork and such, Zack never figured it out why, and he never recalled talking to Max or anyone else about his supernatural encounter. Life pretty much went on the way it was without anyone knowing about Cody.

'…And that's how it should stay.' He thought.

"Well?" she asked again.

"Some things shouldn't be rushed," Zack replied and jumped off the building.

Max gave a surprised yelp and leaned over the railing, searching for Zack. She nearly fell over too as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Gotcha." He said, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and left.

Stunned, she spun around and saw him disappear down the stairs. She chased after him but soon found the halls empty.

---

'I shouldn't have used my magic.' Zack thought as he rolled over in his bed. The twins were bunking and he got the lower bunk.

'Should I tell Max?' he questioned himself until the most disturbing thought popped into his head, 'Hey! I don't even know what happened to him!'

He stuck his head out from under the bed and saw Cody's silhouette against the moonlight. "Hey Cody, what did happen to you?"

There was no answer so Zack closed his eyes, his mind slipping off into a blank dream of nothing.

Okay, as you can see, I'm not too god at starting stories. I'd like to thank: Lauren loves tsl x3, Jenny, suite-princess, zackandcodyfan25, rockchick900, FudgeBrownie, The Silent Rumble, Sprouse-Fan, XoLilMissMwah, blazingfire03, dcloverz, myspacegurl, Blue Ice, ColtonsHater540, optimisticgirl94, and last but not least, Adam for reviewing on "Dark Angel."

This story is dedicated to my friends in Miller, Kennedy, Cupertino, and St. Simons. You know who you are.

And last but not least:

Trivia: (Crushed) After closing the door for Agnes (Allie), Zack (Dylan) was clearly struggling not to laugh

Bonus Trivia: (Crushed) When Cody wakes up from his second nightmare. His tongue was blue for some reason.