A/N: Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter, but before we get to that I just want to address something: This is not, I repeat NOT in ANY way a Cody/OC. Nothing against them in general, but you will not find that kind of a romance within these pages. Now, romance in general may be a possibility, but I assure you that if we do go there it will be taken slowly and will not be a major part of the plot.

And since it's not been mentioned before I'd like to dedicate this story to anybody who has ever been involved or known someone involved in a drunk driving accident. The greatest danger is found within ourselves, and always remember to think before you drink.

Enjoy!

"…Talking to Justin about this whole thing and he thinks we should go for it. Doesn't really matter, though, 'cuz Dylan's not into it and-,"

"-And Dylan's suddenly the entire band?"

"Nah, man, but you know how it is. One person's out, we're all out-,"

"-And how's that working for you?"
"Actually not bad…"

I shyly approached Ben and Griffin from their spot behind a few lockers at the far end of the school. Having unsuccessfully completed my round around the cafeteria I had proceeded to wandering about the first floor to find his tentative new friends and had, ultimately, found them mostly hidden from the world.

They were hard at work in their conversation and though neither was eating anything they seemed in no hurry to leave. I faked a small cough.

Ben looked over his classmate's shoulder and Griffin turned around expectantly. When he saw me he grinned and scooted over, patting the ground as he did so. "Hey, Cody," he said cheerfully.

"Hi," I said quietly, awkwardly sitting down Indian-style and staring down at my uneaten slice of pizza and carton of apple juice.

Ben seemed to peer at me carefully for a moment before seeming to reach a conclusion. "That guy from Sully's last night, right?"

I nodded.

"So, you like our show?"
Again, I nodded though this time I showed more exuberant enthusiasm. "Yeah!" I said genuinely. "You guys were really good."

Griffin smiled next to me and scratched his nose. "They've decided they're better than Sully's now," he said in mock solemnity.

I looked up in time to see Ben roll his eyes and yawn. "All I'm saying, Griffin, is we're never gonna get famous if we never get out of this coffee-shop phase."

"Better than the garage-stage, though, isn't it?" I piped up hesitantly. Griffin laughed and Ben emitted a faint chuckle. I felt relief that my wan attempt at humor hadn't fallen flat—that would have been more embarrassing than my snort the night before, not to mention potentially devastating to my fragile social life.

"Watch, Ben, the day you leave for wherever some agent is gonna walk into Sully's, see whatever replacement band they hired, and you'll have missed your shot at making it big, man,"

I felt compelled the laugh a little at this (not that it was particularly funny, just that, well, friends do stuff like that, you know?) and as I did so Ben shot me a playful glare. I took a bite out of my pizza.

Ben glanced casually at his watch, let out a hissing swear, and sprung to his feet. "I'm late for my meeting with Falder!"

I blinked. "The principal?"

Griffin cocked his head a little. "What did you do now, Ben?"

He laughed and shook his head. "I don't even know," he said as he hurried away. Griffin snickered and drew his knees up so that his chin rested on them. I took another bite out of the piece of pizza.

"So what do you do?" Griffin asked me after a few minutes, eyes curious and glasses slightly askew.

I shrugged. What do I do? "I read," I said slowly. I mentally kicked myself; what kind of geeky answer is that? I READ. "And, uh, just…Like, hang out, and stuff…" It was an incredibly lame reply, but Griffin didn't seem to pick up on that.

"Cool," he said, nodding. "I like to read, too. But I mostly paint."

"You paint?"

Griffin nodded, looking down modestly and fixing his glasses so that they perched straight. A glint of sunlight coming down from the shunted windows made his hazel eyes appear bright gold.

"Yeah," he said, shrugging. "It's just something I've always liked to do. It's nice to, like, to have your painting there in your room at night, you know? So that when you had a hard, um, day, or whatever you can just escape in it, or something."

I smiled. "That's really cool," I said. Because it was.

He returned the expression and laughed lightly. "I'm working on this one now and it's just, like-," he gestured with his hands as though trying to find the right words. "Like, everything I want to say, you know? Just one big sentence, really. Only painted. I've been working on it for months so it's kinda…" he shrugged again. "My entire life encompassed on that canvas. Just-," again, he struggled to find the words. Apparently unable to locate suitable adjectives, he said, "I dunno, but…"

"Wish I could see it," I said genuinely. I fought back a hopelessly idiotic smile, but it was hard work. I just wanted to get up and shout to the world that I, Cody Martin, had made a friend! Three of them! I got this cliché warm and fuzzy feeling in my stomach and yawned to cover up my wide grin.

"Dude, you totally can!" said Griffin eagerly. "You should come over after school. Or hang out this Friday, or whatever. You could come see my paintings and hear some of Carly's stuff."

I grinned, unable to help myself. Screw pride. "Carly's stuff?" I echoed.

Griffin nodded quickly. "Yeah," he said. "She writes songs. Like Ben." He slowly smiled a troublemaker's smirk and laughed shortly. "See why I think they should hook up?"
I snickered, but then my smile faded as I saw the back of Zack's head disappear as he unknowingly walked past us and down the hall. Griffin raised a brow and followed my gaze, biting his lip when he saw what I'd seen.

"So do-do you and your brother get along?" he asked politely.

I immediately shook my head. "No," I said shortly. I sighed. "But my mom wasn't all that, uh, impressed when she met you and Carly yesterday, so…"

Griffin coughed harshly and nodded. "I don't really blame her," he said fairly. "We did make a bad impression, right?" I nodded apologetically. He shrugged. "Would it, like, be okay if we stopped by later tonight to say we're sorry for using all your towels? We did waste, like, six of them…"

"No, it's no big-," I started to wave it off, but then stopped as I relieved what

he was getting at. "-Yeah," I said slowly. "Yeah, that might be a good idea, man."

He nodded airily and coughed again.

I took another bite out of the pizza.

Since Zack and no longer walked home together I didn't know that he'd gone home sick until I actually got home. Mom was making tomato soup, a dish she only prepared and served when someone in the suite was sick. I carefully set my backpack down to the left of the door and walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Cody," said my mom, smiling and spooning the soup into a bowl.

"Hey," I said, furrowing my brow. "Zack's sick?"

Mom sighed and nodded. "I think he's got that virus that's going around," she said. I looked at her skeptically.

"There's a virus going around?"

"Cody," she said, tone one of warning. I recoiled my future arguments and leaned against the counter. "He's not faking it. The people in the office took his temperature and he's got a fever."

I didn't know what to say to that so I said nothing. Mom had felt compelled to give me a twenty minute lecture last night in regards to going places with people she didn't know without telling her, while I had desperately tried to defend the appearances of Carly and Griffin. Neither of us had really made an impact on the other, and Zack certainly hadn't helped any with his "opinions" on the matters.

Mom disappeared into the room I shared with Zack, and I grabbed a binder and sat down at the kitchen table. I had forty five algebraic equations due the next day, and they certainly weren't going to solve themselves.

I was in my room searching for an extra pencil when I heard Zack mumble something in his sleep. I froze. He was sniffling in bed and I slowly turned around so as to see if something was the matter. I frowned when I saw tears running down his cheeks and my mouth dropped open slightly.

What the-

"Um," I said awkwardly, unsure of what to do. What the hell was wrong with my brother? "Z-Zack?"
His eyes fluttered open and he looked at me, eyes red-rimmed and forehead sweaty. "What?"

I opened my mouth and then closed it, unsure of what to say. I hated this guy, right? "Are you, like, okay, or whatever?"
He sniffed, wiping a quick hand over his eyes. "M'fine," he said indignantly, glaring. Wonderful. Even when he was sick my twin was a jerk. When I didn't look away he narrowed his eyes even more. "What?" he snapped angrily.

"Never mind," I said hastily, moving towards the door.

"Er-wait, Cody-,"

I paused, rather pissed off at him. Still, I turned around expectantly. "Yeah?"

He bit his lip, opening his mouth and clearing his throat. "I just wanted to say-," he sighed and broke off, running a hand through his hair and looking uncomfortable. "I guess I'm just sorry about how I've been acting, okay? It's just-I have a reputation, now, you know, and I don't wanna blow it-,"

I shook my head impatiently. Load of crap. "Whatever," I said. "Don't worry about it. I'm okay." But don't make fun of my friends, ass-hole.

He said nothing else. I left the room and blamed his "confession" on the fever.

Around seven that night someone rang the bell at our suite and a flutter of nervousness burst within my stomach. My mother, oblivious to the scheme, answered it, pulling away in surprise when she saw who stood before her.

"Hi, Mrs. Martin," said Griffin cheerfully, smiling. "I just wanted to thank you for letting my sister and I use your towels last night. I was very nice of you."

Mom half turned to me, and I took her momentary silence to be that of shock. "Oh-," she sputtered, clearing his throat slightly. "You're welcome," she said and I was heartened by the fact that her voice wasn't cold or judgmental.

Griffin just smiled at her politely. "The three of us went to a little café downtown and we were listening to the music and I guess we just sorta last track of time…" he shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry if Cody got in trouble, or…" his sentence trailed off and I hid a smirk behind a pillow.

"Well," said mom. "Thank you for coming over…?"

"Griffin," said Griffin. "And my sister's Carly."

"Thank you, Griffin. I'd invite you inside but Zack's got the flu."

He shrugged, still exceedingly polite, and nodded once. "That's okay," he said, raising a hand to greet me. I returned the gesture. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cody." He once again looked back towards my mother. "Bye, Mrs. Martin."

Mom shut the door slowly as he walked off down the hall and then turned to me. "That was the boy who was here last night?" she asked me.

"Yep," I said.

She looked at me closely. "He seems nice," was all she said.

I grinned and went back to my homework.

Reviews are definatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone who reviewed before!

-Nixy Angel