Zander flipped through the pages of the newspaper, skimming through the small print intently. "Let's see what news there are this time..."

Jack rolled his eyes as he leaned against his metal locker. "Why do you even bother reading that thing anyway? That stuff is full of bull."

"Because it's interesting!" Zander argued indignantly. "The paper has its benefits, even though some of the stuff is crap that sends certain people over the edge."

"And it was that crap that made me discover my own insecurities and sent Cody to the hospital," Jack deadpanned, unconvinced.

"Hey, you might forever hold a grudge against—" Zander's eyes widened as he turned to the second last page. "Uh..."

Jack didn't like that look on his friend's face at all. "Oh lord. What happened? What'd Samson write about me this time?"

"It's not about you, it's more like..." Zander slowly spoke and he turned the paper around so Jack could have a glimpse at it.

Like Zander, Jack's eyes widened. "Jesus, how is that even..."

Zander shrugged. "I don't know. Samson probably overheard us talking a few days ago. Remember how Anton said the chances of him being bisexual are the chances that Cody will get a girlfriend?"

"What's this about me getting a girlfriend?" Cody suddenly appeared.

"Anton—MMPH!" Zander would have continued on if Jack hadn't roughly clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Nothing!" Jack lied quickly. "Nothing important!"

Cody raised an eyebrow slightly. "You're terrible at covering stuff up." He sighed. "Whatever, I could hardly care if it's about Anton. Do you guys know where Spencer is?"

"At his locker, why?" Zander asked, managing to pry Jack's tight hand off his mouth.

Cody held up the textbook he was carrying. "I need to give this back to him. He let me borrow his science book so I could make up all that work I missed out on when I was absent last week."

"I could return it to him for you if you want," Jack piped up. "I have first period with him."

"Alright, cool." Cody handed the book off to Jack. "Thanks. I'll see you guys around." He walked off.

Once he was out of earshot, Jack sighed in relief and turned to Zander. "Look, I don't think Cody should know about what's in today's paper. Anton will undoubtedly see this at some point, and if Cody knows about this, there's a huge chance he's going to use this against Anton. Both of them still have some bad blood boiling, if you haven't noticed."

"Wow, I had no idea, even though I was alone and stuck listening to the two of them fight over something stupid last night at the dance." Then, easing the sarcasm, he agreed, "But you're right. Cody might be sympathetic, but those are some pretty slim chances."

"What are you guys talking about?" Just like Cody, Anton abruptly appeared, making the two other boys jump in surprise.

"Dude, don't do that!" Zander yelled. "Why does everyone just randomly show up like that?!"

"Sorry," Anton apologized, not looking or sounding very sincere. "What's that?" He stole the newspaper from Zander and glanced at the page.

"Uh, you might not want—" Jack began, but didn't finish.

"What the hell," Anton stated flatly, glaring at whatever article he was reading. "Samson, you douchebag. How did he even get this kind of info?"

"I'm guessing he overheard you mentioning that stuff about bisexuality," Zander answered, "and he used that to his advantage."

"Whatever," Anton sighed, shoving the paper back into Zander's hands. "Look, I'm just gonna to pretend that I never saw this. I'll just keep quiet." His eyes fixed on Jack. "And don't beat him up for me. You've provoked him more than enough. If we just ignore this crap, then he'll stop. Trust me, I know."

"But there's always that chance that he'll never stop," Jack pointed out.

"Then at least we won't be motivating him even more. He has to grow bored of this at some point."

The bell rung.

"There goes the bell," Anton remarked. "Come on, Jack, let's go." He didn't wait for him though, as he quickly walked off.

Jack, grumbling under his breath about how karma wouldn't catch up to Samson if nobody did anything about this, followed suit.

"So..." Jack trailed off as he tagged along behind Cici, leaning forward, becoming uncomfortably close to her.

Cici, however, didn't seem to mind the lack of personal space. She shot him a side glance. "So what?"

"How was the dance with Spencer?" Jack asked knowingly, his voice holding a teasing tone in it.

Cici raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought girls were the ones who were supposed to ask stuff like that."

"Just answer the question!"

Cici shrugged. "It was fun."

Jack frowned in disappointment. "That's it? It was fun? There were no sparks flying or any chemistry going on? That's depressing."

"Again, aren't we girls supposed to be the ones to ask stuff like that?" Cici questioned. "Are you sure you're not female?"

Jack cringed at the low remark. "Yes, I'm very sure. And what's wrong with guys asking girls stuff like that?"

Cici shrugged again. "It just doesn't happen a lot. Anyway, yeah, we just had fun. Nothing more to it. What did you expect?"

"Nothing much." Except me and Zander wanted to see if Spencer had any luck with you. "Just curious. But don't you think, I don't know, you guys are a good pair together?" Nice, Jack. She's right, you really are turning into a romance-obsessed girl.

Cici blinked. "Do you really think that?"

"Just speaking hypothetically."

Cici hesitated, then answered tentatively, "Not really. I mean, I just can't picture the two of us together. I'm not too into having a boyfriend or anything like that. I've always thought of myself as forever single."

"How come?" Jack couldn't help but ask.

And there it was again. Cici suddenly appeared like a child again, a lost child who didn't know where her mommy and daddy were. Jack, beginning to get used to these momentary relapses, quickly added, "I was just curious. Don't answer if you don't want to."

A relieved look became visible on Cici's face, and just when she opened her mouth to say something, the late bell rang. She sighed. "Now I'm late for class. I better hurry and go. Bye." She hurriedly walked off.

Jack didn't really care if he was a little late to his physics class, since his mind was occupied somewhere else as he headed off. He frowned. Cici's evading of his innocent questions was getting rather repetitive. It was as if the topic of the inquiries reminded of something she found bothersome. But what exactly was it?

"Wait, so...Anton got slammed by Samson for being bisexual even though there's absolutely no evidence that he is?" Spencer made sure he heard right, hearing the full details about the reasons behind Anton's bad mood for the first time.

"Yup," Zander confirmed, then shot a disgusted look at the lunch table where Samson was sitting at. "I swear, I'm about this close to giving that little bastard a piece of my goddamn mind."

"Guys, I told you, I'm fine!" Anton spoke up irritatedly. "I couldn't care less about what happened!" However, his body language said otherwise. His fingers were clenched around his burrito, squeezing the poor life out of it.

Jack, taking notice of this, hesitantly said, "Uh... Beans and cheese are being squeezed out of your food right now..."

Anton looked down at his hands, then disgustedly dropped the burrito on his lunch tray. He took his napkin and wiped his hands clean.

"What happened to his burrito?" Cody appeared, carrying a lunch tray and joining the group.

"Nothing," Anton snapped angrily. "Why can't you mind your own lunch?"

Cody scoffed. "Wow, touchy."

Spencer gave his brother a questioning glance. Zander simply looked back with a Cody-doesn't-know-about-it-and-we-don't-want-him-t o-know-because-for-all-we-know-he's-just-gonna-rub -it-all-in-Anton's-face-and-nobody-wants-that-so-y ou-keep-your-mouth-shut-or-I-will-kill-you glare. Spencer got the point and kept quiet.

"You know what, I feel like all of you are hiding something from me," Cody was continuing. "Like there's something bad that you don't want me to know. And it annoys me. A lot. So maybe you guys should just tell me what's going on before I blow my top. And you don't want me to blow my top."

Anton gave the rest of them a raised eyebrow. "So you didn't tell him?"

"I don't know, should he know?" Zander asked.

Anton exhaled in exasperation, kind of catching on to why Cody was still oblivious. "Guys, really? Look, I couldn't care less if Cody knows about this. If he's going to make fun of me for it, then let him make fun of me. I still wouldn't care." He stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading over to my locker. I don't feel like having company right now, so don't follow me." The snappish teen headed off.

"Okay, so he basically just admitted that you're keeping a secret from me," Cody said, crossing his arms. "What's up?"

Jack began to ramble in one single breath, "Okay so you know that newspaper that always talks bad about us and this week Anton got slammed by Samson for being bi even though he's not and even though he says he doesn't care he clearly does and we didn't tell you because we didn't want to risk you ridiculing him for it and thus bringing him down further." He inhaled deeply after that long rant. "So yeah, that's what we've been hiding from you."

Cody, somehow managing to soak Jack's almost incomprehensible spiel in, raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "So you're pretty much saying that the entire reason why I didn't know about this until now is because you thought I would rub it in his face? Just what kind of person do you all think I am?"

"Do you really want an answer to that?" Spencer inquired nervously. "Because I'm pretty sure you'll kill each and every one of us slowly and painfully if we offered an honest answer."

"Well, lucky for you, that was rhetorical," Cody replied flatly. "I'm just gonna ignore what you're implying by that and move on. So Anton got slammed by his former best friend? Harsh. And he says he doesn't care because...?"

"He claims that answering to what Samson wrote about him would only motivate him to go on with this whole newspaper thing," Zander explained. "He's got a point though. They split up, and naturally, Samson didn't take it too well, so he got his revenge. If we irritate him further, he'll just continue on with what he's doing now."

"I don't give a shit about that," Cody said back bluntly, standing up. "I'm buying a milkshake. Don't ask why." He went to the lunch line before anyone could stop him.

"What's he gonna do?" Jack asked in concern. Knowing Cody, he wasn't buying a milkshake just because he was in the mood for one, especially after he finally learned what was going on with Anton.

"Who knows? Just pray he's not gonna do anything too rash," Spencer answered, keeping a fixated eye on Cody.

The line was short, so Cody had gotten what he wanted without waiting too long. He went back over to the lunch table, but did not sit down again.

"What're you going to do with that?" Jack asked cautiously, carefully eying the milkshake in Cody's hand.

Cody shrugged casually. "You'll see." He picked up his pizza and took one last bite out of it before handing it to Zander. "I don't think I'll finish this, and I'm against wasting food, no matter how crappy it tastes, so could you continue on eating this for me?"

Zander's eyes gleamed and he swiped the pizza from Cody's outstretched hand. "Hell yeah!" He took a giant bite, and noticing the odd looks Jack and Spencer were giving him, he defended indignantly, "What?! I like food! Both of you, especially you—" He looked at Spencer. "—should know that by now!"

Jack nodded his head slowly. "Okay... I'm just gonna ignore the fact that you just shared an indirect kiss with Cody and focus on why Cody says he won't be able to finish his lunch." He looked at Cody, who was still standing up. "So...why?"

"Like I said, you'll see. Just watch me. Anyway, I'm gonna go and try to find Anton 'cause I wanna talk to him." He added before anyone could say anything, "And I'm not gonna say anything mean...this time."

He went in the direction of the cafeteria exit, and as he passed by Samson's table, he stopped right behind the taller boy. He took a huge sip of his milkshake and commented loudly (loud enough so even his own friends could hear him), "Oh my god, I can't believe I chose to buy the banana flavor. I should've bought mango. I hate banana. Oh well, I'll just toss it in the garbage can." Swiftly, he dumped his entire milkshake on top of Samson's head, just as the latter was turning around to see what was going on behind him. "Oops," Cody apologized sarcastically. "Sorry, I thought that this was where trash was supposed to go, since you look like garbage and all that." Not giving Samson the chance to punch his lights out or whatever he was planning to do, he exited the cafeteria.

Back at Jack's table, the remaining three boys shared a smirk with each other. "Aw, did you see that?" Zander cooed. "Cody does love Anton deep down."

Spencer snickered. "If you ever say that to his face, you're asking for a death wish."

It didn't take long for Cody to find Anton. The latter was at his locker like he said he would be. "Hey."

Anton turned from twisting his locker combo to Cody. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Cody leaned against the wall of the lockers nonchalantly. "They told me what happened. So you just became another one of Samson's victims, eh? Sucks, doesn't it?"

Anton glared hard at him. "Are you trying to rub it in my face? 'Cause that's annoying."

"You said that you didn't care."

"Caring and thinking that something's annoying are two different things," Anton argued. "Just because I'm annoyed doesn't necessarily mean I care."

"True. Anyway, to answer your question, no. I'm not here to get all cocky on you. What I'm about to say is gonna utterly destroy all the pride I have, but I feel for you. I really do. I think you're a douche, but you're at least better than Fisher."

Anton looked confused. "Why are you saying this?"

"I got slammed by him too and ended up in the hospital two weeks ago, dumbass. I thought you had a good memory."

"What? Hey!" Anton exclaimed, offended. "I didn't mean that! I meant why are you suddenly being so nice? You're not nice! Not to me, at least!"

"Oh yeah, that," Cody sighed. "Listen, I'm only doing this for Jack. I have a feeling the poor guy's fed up with our fighting. Hell, it's not just him, it's Zander and Spencer too. They hate the way we fight, probably because we attract attention and disturb the peace or something like that. I don't like fighting with you all the time. It makes my throat sore. Anyway, my point is that I don't think that one of us is going to leave this group of friends anytime soon, and we might as well at least tolerate each other from now on."

Anton kept silent for a minute, but then added, "But we're not friends."

"No. It's still too early for that. And I don't think we can get along long enough to actually become friends."

"Good. 'Cause then it'd be too awkward for both of us."

Awkward silence ensued.

Cody cleared his throat. "I just hope I don't have to stand up for you again like that. I felt weird dumping a milkshake on Samson's head for you."

Anton stared at him. "You... You dumped a milkshake on his head?"

"What? I always wanted to do that to him, but I forgot. What happened to you reminded me to do it."

"Ah." Anton nodded slowly, then asked, "What flavor was it?"

"Banana."

"You should've gotten blueberry. He hates blueberry."

Cody gave him a look. "Oh yeah, tell me that now. I could always go back there and get a second one so I could do it again."

Anton snorted, then waved a hand. "Nah, it's fine. He doesn't like banana either. I'm just saying he hates blueberry more."

Another awkward silence befell them.

Cody rubbed his arm tentatively. "Do you wanna go back? I think the others are expecting me to get you back over there."

Anton nodded. "Sure."

Walking out of the school, Jamie was rambling excitedly, "Oh my god, that was such a cool rehearsal! You guys totally rocked your roles! Especially Cody! He was so much like Pitch!"

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Cody muttered.

"How do you even know how the real Pitch would act like if there isn't even a real Pitch?" Spencer questioned.

Jack chuckled somewhat nervously and ruffled Jamie's hair. "Middle schoolers. They're just so imaginative at times."

Jamie only frowned at Spencer's claiming that there was no real Pitch. However, he dismissed it and tugged on Jack's arm. "Jack! You promised you'd take me to see a movie if you lost the bet!"

"I was hoping you'd forget about that," Jack grumbled. "Fine."

"What bet?" Zander asked.

"Whether or not you'd be good at playing the Jack Frost role," Jamie gave the honest answer. "Jack was being a pessimist and said that you would probably suck as much as the people who auditioned."

"If you were the one who ended up having to watch Fernando Chavez's audition, you would've been pretty doubtful too!" Jack defended himself. "Besides, I already admitted that Zander's mildly decent at it!"

Jamie rolled his eyes. "Whatever Jackie, you still lost the bet. Now you have to take me to the cinema."

Jack gave him a weird look. "Since when did you go from an innocent sixth-grade boy to a sassy twelfth-grade girl? It's weird. And Jackie? Don't call me that." He sighed. "But you're right, I lost the bet. What movie do you wanna watch?"

"Warm Bodies!" Jamie shouted enthusiastically. "I heard from Monty that it's really good!"

Jack raised one eyebrow. "Isn't that the movie about that zombie dude who ends up falling for a human? You wanna watch that?"

"I'm going for the action, not the romance!" Jamie protested. "I just heard that there are guns involved!"

"I'm worried for your future if you're that excited to see people get shot with bullets," Jack deadpanned. "But fine. Let's go." He and Jamie separated from the group and walked in the other direction down the sidewalk.

"Have fun on your date!" Zander called out to them, grinning like a madman.

Jack only turned his head to him, a death glare plastered on his face, clearly getting the message across: I'm killing you the next time I see you.

Zander, completely unfazed, turned to the rest of them. "So what about you guys? Heading anywhere?"

"I'm gonna go visit Carrie again," Cody replied. "I went with Jack on Monday, but I wanna see if I can handle going alone this time."

"Ooh, can we come?" Spencer asked earnestly.

"Uh, did you not hear me say 'alone'?" Cody questioned flatly. "'Alone' as in by myself. Not with you three."

"What? You don't like our company?" Zander feigned a hurt expression.

"No," Cody answered unhesitatingly. "I don't care if your question was rhetorical or not, I'm just speaking the truth."

"Nice to know you care," Zander muttered, all traces of humor gone.

"Aw, come on! Can't we come along? You have tons of chances to go visit her alone! If Jack can pay his condolences, why can't we?" Spencer begged.

"Do I even want to know why all of you seem so determined to go see her gravestone?" Cody rolled his eyes. "Wanting to see someone's tomb is creepy."

"It's the curiosity pecking at our brains," Anton said. "And what do you mean 'all of us'? I haven't said anything yet."

"Considering these two want to go so much, you're obviously gonna tag along with us," Cody pointed out. "You know deep down inside your soul I'm right."

"Just because I know you're right doesn't mean I can't say something about it," Anton mumbled.

"Do you wanna start something?"

"Okay!" Spencer intervened quickly before things could start getting out of hand. "It's settled! We're all going together to see Carrie!"

"I never said you could—" Cody began to say.

"Come on, let's go!" Zander took Cody's arm and began dragging him. Spencer did the same with Anton.

"Hey, we can walk on our own!"

"Don't fucking touch me!"

Zander let go of Cody's arm and gave him his best authoritative, mature, reprimanding glare. "Would your sister be happy to hear you using that sort of language?"

"You fail at acting like a parent. And I'll have you know that Carrie was worse than me when it came to language," Cody informed. "She dropped F-bombs more than I did. She was a lot like me."

Anton, having managed to pry Spencer's grip off of him, asked, "So she was like a female version of you? Are you sure she killed herself just because of rejection?"

"Anton!" Spencer scolded.

"Hey, insecurity runs in the family." Cody shrugged. "And yes, I'm admitting that I'm insecure, and if you—" He pointed dangerously at Anton. "—say anything sarcastic about it, I'm kicking you where you'll never want to kicked."

Anton held his hands up defensively. "I wasn't gonna say anything!"

They reached the cemetery, and Cody led the way inside. Once at Carrie's grave, Zander piped up awkwardly, "So... How does it feel to have a dead sibling?"

"What is with all of these people? Am I the only one who has a vague sense of what to say and what not to say out loud?" Spencer asked himself aloud.

"You don't have any sense either if you're talking to yourself out loud like that," Anton pointed out.

"I'm sorry, brother, but he really burned you with that one," Zander agreed completely. "Think things through before you speak."

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Cody sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have let you guys come here. Jack's more bearable than any of you."

"What?! Come on, why would you think that?!" Zander exclaimed in indignation. "We're all friends here!"

"Not when it comes to me and Cody," Anton disagreed. "Remember?"

"I meant besides you two. You two are just an old married couple who bicker all day and night."

"Your metaphors need work," Cody said. "There's no way I'm marrying him out of all people."

"Yeah, well, you need to stop taking everything so literally," Zander shot back. "Why are we even talking about this in a graveyard? It's just wrong."

"That's it. I can't properly pay tribute to my sister with you three around," Cody decided. "Never mind, I'll just visit her another day. On a day when you three have already died and are permanently out of my life."

"You know you love us deep down," Zander supplied. "You love us yet hate us. It's called tough love."

Cody rolled his eyes. "You watch what you say, because you're second on my List of People Who I Need to Smack."

"Really? Who's first?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Anton... Duh."

"You do realize that I'm standing right here, right?" Anton reminded everyone irritably. "God, everyone's a critical douche."

Cody waved it off flippantly. "Oh, who cares what you think." He began walking towards the exit. "Let's just go already."

Zander, Spencer, and Anton were following him, and Anton was innocently peering at other gravestones as he walked past them. Let's see... Thaddeus Burgess, the founder of the town... Beezy Miller... Beezy? That's amusing. God, this part of the graveyard is filled with colonial people. Pippa Overland... Heh, probably Jack's ancestor.

"Hey guys," he said aloud. "This Pippa Overland person has the same last name as Jack. Do you think she could be Jack's great-times-eleven grandmother? I mean, it's possible."

Cody, looking back at what caught Anton's attention, remarked, "Oh yeah, I saw this grave last time too, but then I figured that it was probably a coincidence or that Jack's family really traced back to 300 years ago."

Zander frowned. "You know... I get this really weird feeling like I've heard the name Pippa before..."

"Jamie has a friend named Pippa. Maybe you overheard him talking about her?" Spencer suggested.

Zander shook his head. "No, no, that's not it. I think that Jack mentioned the name Pippa once before..." He groaned in frustration. "Why can't I remember?!"

"You have a sister back home?"

"You could say that."

"What's her name?"

"Pippa."

Zander's eyes widened as realization hit him. "Oh god..."

"She was eight the last time I saw her."

"Why do you sound like you haven't seen her in a long time?"

"'Cause I haven't."

"Holy—WHAT THE HELL, JACK!" Zander hollered at the top of his lungs. "GODDAMMIT!"

"Oh my god, dude, don't yell like that!" Anton, being the one standing closest to him, winced and rubbed his now throbbing ear.

Zander, ignoring him, grabbed his brother roughly by the shoulders and shook him. "Spencer! Remember that time we went over to the Bennett house for Christmas dinner and Jack mentioned he had a sister?!"

"He has a sister?!" Cody and Anton said in unison.

Spencer frowned for a brief moment, but his face lit up when he realized what Zander was talking about. "Oh yeah! I remember! Wasn't she named—" He put two and two together. "...Oh."

"I think me and Cody are both completely lost here," Anton commented on the sidelines. "Can someone just hurry up and explain?"

"Jack told us he has a sister named Pippa!" Zander told them. "That's what we're freaking out about!"

Spencer frowned. "Uh, you're freaking out. I'm keeping my cool."

"Shut up."

"Wait, so this is all because Jack's sister just so happens to have the same name as someone who lived 300 years ago?" Anton questioned. "That's nothing to make a big deal out of. People share the same names all the time." He paused, then turned to Cody, who had crouched down by the grave next to Pippa's. "Come to think of it, why's your sister buried near all these people who lived centuries ago? And what are you doing?"

"She was originally buried somewhere else, but then we moved her coffin when I transferred," Cody explained, not taking his eyes off the grave he was now staring at. "And I'm inspecting." He carefully examined the dust-covered grave, which was obviously not as well-kept as Pippa's or Carrie's. "Because I just have a hunch about this..." He gingerly wiped off the dust, making the name on the stone visible. His eyes widened. "Yup, now even I think things are getting really weird."

"What?" Anton kneeled down next to him and looked, resulting in an identical reaction. "Oh god..."

"I'm a little scared to see what you guys are looking at, but whatever," Spencer said as he and his brother also took a closer look at what intrigued Cody so much.

Jackson Overland

December 1, 1694-December 20, 1712

Silence fell over all of them, until Zander turned to Anton. "You still think this is no big deal?"

"Hey, maybe...these two dead people were Jack's great-great-whatever grandparents and he and his sister are named after them," Anton suggested weakly, clearly not believing himself.

"So you're saying that they were husband and wife?" Zander scoffed. "Come back down to Earth, Anton, this Jackson Overland person only lived from 1694 to 1712, meaning he was eighteen when he died. And the Jack we know is eighteen. Coincidence or not coincidence?"

Anton opened his mouth to retort back, but could find no words to say.

"The headstone says here that this guy died by falling into the lake during winter," Spencer read. "It also says he's a hero, whatever that's about. Hey Zander, remember when we went skating over winter break and we mentioned to Jack about a person who fell through the ice and drowned a few hundred years ago? I think this might be him."

"Oh crap," Zander muttered when he remembered. "And remember how Jack suddenly became a smartass and made up this really weird theory about why the body was never found?"

"I actually heard from Mom that actually happened once, like, way back then in the colonial times. This guy who was around our age drowned in the lake and they never found his body."

"Eerie. Maybe the fish ate his corpse."

"Uh, from what I know, there are only small fish in the lake. I don't think they could decompose a body completely before someone goes down to look for it."

"Fine, then what's your theory on what happened, genius?"

"The Moon decided to resurrect him."

"Bro, this is all adding up somehow," Zander began to rant. "What if... What if... Jack is somehow the same guy who drowned 300 years ago? It doesn't seem possible, but that's like the only explanation for all of this! It's creepy as hell, and I don't wanna think this way, but I can't help myself!"

"Zander. Zander! Come on, you look like you're about to have a heart attack!" Spencer grabbed his brother by the shoulders, attempting to soothe him.

Zander took a couple of deep breaths, calming himself down. "Thanks. But seriously, what's up with all this weirdness?"

"It's probably just me, but I've always thought that Jack seemed to be hiding some huge secret from everybody," Anton piped up. "Like he'll mention something that's happened to him before any of us have met him, but then he won't explain any further details no matter how many times people peg for answers."

"I get around enough to know that you're not the only person in this world who feels this way."

Cody sighed. "I never thought I could agree with you, but you're right. He was like that to me when I was still in the hospital."

"I know I seem like a perfect guy to you and everyone else. But the truth is, I'm not. I've gone through the most terrible things anyone could ever go through. I was a lonely kid, and I hated myself for being pretty much unnoticeable. And I'll admit I've done some pretty rash stuff to get attention. In short, I was an attention-seeking bastard. But then I somehow managed to get over it. It still hurt, but it was just enough for me to move on. And eventually, things got better. I'm still a little lonely deep down, but I know that'll continue to change."

"What'd he say to you two?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing!" Anton snapped.

Cody only growled menacingly at poor Spencer.

Spencer held up his hands. Yikes.

"That pretty much confirms it," Zander declared, completely disregarding the way Cody and Anton were harassing his innocent brother. "Jack's hiding something. And we need to find out what."

Spencer looked slightly skeptical. "We are? Isn't that invading his personal space?"

"He invaded me and Cody's personal space," Anton pointed out. "He can't expect us to mind our own business if he doesn't do that, right?"

Spencer didn't look convinced. "But..."

"Come on," Zander pressed. "Invading someone's personal space isn't always bad. If Jack never got through to Cody and Anton, we would all still be a threesome, Anton would still be a dick, and Cody would probably be dead."

"He's right," Cody agreed.

Spencer sighed and gave in. "Fine. But if he ends up yelling at all of us, I'm turning the blame over to the rest of you."

Despite his reluctance, one question lay on all four boys' minds: Just what was Jack hiding?

...I like writing Cody. He's fun to write. Especially when it comes to his relationship with Anton.

But anyway, I wasn't feeling this chapter until I got to the graveyard part. This whole discovery thing was something I was really looking forward to.

Fun time with replies now:

GhostGirl58: Probably in like...five chapters? Maybe less.

storygirl99210: Did you expect Anton to be accused of being bisexual? I'm sure you expected the stuff that happened in the graveyard, but did you expect the newspaper thing?

readandwrite4evernever20: YES YOU TRIED BOBA. YOU TRY BOBA AND YOU WON'T REGRET IT. I always get the original flavor, but I've tried the taro flavor a couple times a few years ago. 'Twas lovely. And I wouldn't have gotten the concept of two Cupids if I didn't notice how nobody seems too sure about what gender Cupid is. And I couldn't decide, so XD

RandomKrazyPerson: How in the world are Cody and Anton like me and Hatsu? D: As far as I know, I've never tried to strangle Hatsu :P

Lovepuppy316: Yay time to teach people vocabulary :D A person who likes the dead is called a NECROPHILIC, young one. It's pronounced neh-cro-FEE-lick. And the fetish itself is called necrophilia. It's pronounced neh-cro-FEE-lee-ah... Why am I talking to you like you're a preschooler? Sorry about that XD And oh my god you come up with the most interesting predictions ever. And I seriously doubt everyone still remembers that Anton has red hair.

feathered moon wings: I update as soon as my chapter is finished. Sometimes it takes longer than other times, since it all depends on how busy I am, so yeah, I guess it's random in a way.

akizaki14: ...Why would I... Why would I write any JackRabbit when I said that I didn't like the pairing all that much? :/ And considering the dance is over, I strongly doubt it. Baby Tooth is just...silent on Jack's shoulder for the time being. That's all I can offer as an explanation.

Faliara: ...That actually was what I was already planning on doing XD It's official, you're psychic.

rantingsarah: Ugggggghhhhh I'm trying to input more Baby Tooth and Wynter in this story, but it's not working fml

pearlsofwisdom: They can if they want to. But no.

Up next: A chapter that will most likely turn out crappy, and it centers around the Cici subplot.

Review!