So I forgot to say this last chapter, but what Anton was exclaiming in Japanese pretty much translates to: "WE DID KISS ARE YOU STUPID YOU'RE AN IDIOT YOU IDIOT YOU'RE A STUPID IDIOT YOU MORON."

Also, a little discontinuity error that I want to apologize for. Okay, so I said Jamie was there to watch the play last chapter, but apparently I had already said he was participating in it before many chapters ago. Oops. Oh my god, guys, this makes me feel so embarrassed... Sorry. I had completely forgot about that. So much stuff has happened in this story that even I forget some of it.

"He's what?"

"Down with a headache," Spencer repeated himself, answering Anton's question. "Pretty bad one too."

"What caused it though?" Anton pressed on persistently. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the type to randomly get headaches from time to time. At least not when..." He glanced over at Cody, who only raised his eyebrows at him. "...anybody's fighting with each other."

"I'd bet anything that it had something to do with his high phase last night," Zander put in grumpily. "Helium is like his unique version of alcohol. He's having some variation of a hangover."

"That's some funky logic there," Cody remarked. "Just saying."

"Hey, it's either that or he got it when he suddenly passed out and hit his head on the ground halfway home," Zander deadpanned back. "And he would only get a headache from that if he had a concussion, and he didn't even hit it that hard. I'm sticking with my helium theory."

"Shouldn't we, like, visit him after school or something?" Spencer wondered. "I mean, just to check up on him and make sure he's...back to normal. We wouldn't want him to call Zander Squidward Tentacles again, would we?"

"You know, I'm still trying to figure out why he called me that," Zander muttered. "Do I resemble a Spongebob character to you guys? Don't answer that, by the way. But sure, I'll go see him."

"Yeah, me too," Anton agreed.

Cody kept quiet until he saw everyone else looking at him. "What? If I don't say no, them that means yes. I mean, I have better things to do than go visit idiots who tried to hump someone in the balls last night while drunk on helium, but you know what, I'm in a good mood, so I've ultimately decided to do all of you a favor and accompany you, therefore gracing you with my presence. I really don't care about how he's doing, and even though I'd rather do something else... I'm coming anyway," he finally said, looking away.

"You know, you could've just said yes without having to go into that," Zander stated knowingly.

"Yeah, and besides, you're making it really obvious that you really do care," Spencer added somewhat nervously, dearly hoping that Cody wasn't going to lash out at him for his contradiction (He still was a little scared of him).

Anton swore he saw Cody's cheeks turn a little pink. "No, I don't!" the latter snapped. "Do you think that I care about how he's doing even though he's most likely okay?! Yeah right, no way. But...I'll still go. And..." He must've felt his face growing warm, since he covered it with both hands. "...I'm heading to class." He walked off, still with his hands on his face.

Anton shook his head in mock disapproval. "Stubborn."

Jack settled himself down comfortably on the couch and turned on the TV (He figured that he should start watching after all), only to flip through the channels and discover that there wasn't anything on that he was even remotely interested in. He sighed and turned the television off again, just as Jamie entered through the front door.

"Hey," the younger boy greeted him. "How's your head?"

Jack shrugged. "Better than it was this morning," he answered. "How was school?"

"Nothing special. Oh yeah, and your friends decided to drop by."

A grinning Zander popped his head through the doorway. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh." Jack blinked as the rest of them all made their way in. "Hey. What are you guys doing here?"

"No reason, we're just here. For the record, I'm only here because they made me," Cody said.

Anton shot him a look, offended. "Nobody made you! You came on your—" He stopped once Cody put both hands on his neck. He rolled his eyes but said nothing more, deciding that he'd rather be strangled another day.

"You two." Jack shook his head. "Anyway, Mrs. Bennett took me to the doctor to check up on the cause of my headache. Turns out that I'm allergic to helium and breathing even a little bit would cause me to behave strangely and then have a bad headache as an after effect."

Zander shot Cody a smug, triumphant look.

The amused smile on Jamie's face fell and he turned to Jack. "Oh yeah, I need to talk to you about something. Remember how you lied to my mom and said you were eventually moving into that house down the street?"

"Uh, yeah, I remember," Jack replied, a little surprised. Nobody, not even Mrs. Bennett, had brought it up for a little while, so he himself had let it slip his mind. Needless to say, he was taken aback by the sudden reminder of it from Jamie.

Jamie nodded somberly. "Yeah. Well, you know that realtor sign that's always standing in front of the house so people know it's for sale?"

"Yeah?" What Jamie was trying to get at couldn't be good, judging from his tone.

"You know how we pass by it while coming home from school and, um... It's sold." Jamie fiddled with his fingers uncomfortably. "Sorry."

Jack had a clearly lost expression on his face. "...What?"

"Somebody else is moving in, Jack."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing seeing that too," Zander remarked. "Seems like a nice house—um, hey Jack, why are you screaming into your cushion?"

Jack stopped screaming and took the cushion away from his face, looking very panicky. "I... I told Mrs. Bennett that my family already bought that house but haven't properly moved in..."

All his friends only stared at him, letting this piece of information sink in. Cody broke the silence by exclaiming, "Why the fuck would you want to do that?!"

"I needed a backstory to why I just randomly showed up on her doorstep two months ago, okay?! How would've I known that I was unlucky enough to have somebody else buy the house before I got my powers back?!"

"Still shouldn't have taken that risk," Spencer argued. "It may have been better for you to just say that you were a distant friend of Jamie's and didn't have anywhere to stay for the time being. It's not very credible, but at least you wouldn't be freaking out about this problem right now."

"Oh, gee, then maybe I should just go over to Father Time and ask him to change that," Jack snapped caustically. "I doubt he would do that big of a favor for me, so no, that won't work."

"...We could kill the people who are moving in," Cody suggested. Once he saw everyone else's horrified expressions, he quickly added, "Kidding! I'm kidding! Mostly..."

"Right... Well, um... You know, maybe you should just tell Mrs. Bennett the truth about you," Anton advised. "You told us, didn't you?"

Jamie nodded. "I agree."

None of them thought this was possible, but Jack's look only grew more terrified. "What?! I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"What if she ends up hating me for lying to her for so long and doesn't allow me to stay here anymore?!"

Jamie sighed. "Jack, you know my mom's not like that! I'm sure she won't kick you out of our house out of sheer anger. I mean, I'm not promising that she wouldn't be a little...shocked by this, but she won't hate you!"

"Dude, just do it," Zander said. "You're just being paranoid."

Jack was silent for a moment or two, but then gave in. "Fine... But can't I wait until she actually discovers it herself? I don't want to tell her anything if she isn't even suspecting me..."

"Chicken..." Zander mumbled.

"Hey!"

"Hi."

Jack slammed his locker door shut and glared hard at Ariel. "What?"

Ariel feigned a hurt expression. "Oh, Johnny, that hurts. Don't you want to see me?"

"I think it's perfectly clear that I don't want to see you, after I found out you were a deceiving slut. Just what do you want?"

Ariel simply ignored his question and remarked, "If this is how you treat women, it's no wonder why you're still single. Your attitude doesn't really match up with your looks."

Jack sighed in frustration. "Look, I don't have time for you, alright? The last thing I want to do is deal with your skanky crap. I've got too much on my plate right now, so just go away and leave me alone."

"Hey, what's going on?"

Jack turned around to see Zander. He pointed at Ariel, and stated, "Your ex is trying to screw with my head again."

Zander's eyes narrowed once he caught sight of Ariel. "Oh. It's you. I thought you were smarter than to try to victimize the same guy twice."

Ariel rolled her eyes scornfully. "Does it have anything to do with you?"

"You and I both know that it has very much to do with me."

"Do you really think that, or are you just trying to be a drama queen?"

"If anyone's a drama queen, it's you."

During this exchange, Zander had walked closer until he was face to face with Ariel while Jack stood by the sidelines. However, the latter decided that it was best if he stepped in before the spat escalated from mild retorts to a screaming match. "Zander, come on. We both have better things to do than this. Let's just go home."

Zander didn't stop scowling at Ariel, but agreed. He began walking in the other direction, and Jack was about to follow him until Ariel grabbed his shoulder, turned him around, and slammed her mouth right onto his. He stood frozen for a moment, but once he realized what was happening, he desperately tried to push her away, but Ariel proved to be stronger than she looked. After a few seconds, his protests ceased and his arms fell to his sides, suddenly feeling very weak and sluggish.

Zander must have noticed that Jack wasn't coming, because he turned back around, and once he saw what was going on, he immediately screamed, "What the hell!" He hurried over to them and pulled Jack away from Ariel. "What the hell was that?!"

Jack couldn't tell if that question was directed towards him or towards Ariel, but just in case it was for him, he began to stutter once he felt his energy returning to him, "I... I don't know... She just..."

Ariel only crossed her arms and glared at the both of them defiantly.

Zander shook his head. "Ugh, never mind," he said irritatedly. "Come on, let's go."

Once they were a safe distance away outside, Zander questioned again, "What exactly was that?"

"I don't know! She just grabbed me and kissed me! And then I started feeling all weird like my strength was leaving me! Not that I've ever been kissed before, but from what I heard, kisses don't do that! Or at least usual ones don't! Did you ever feel weird when you kissed her?"

"Heh. No. Mainly because we actually never kissed when we were dating," Zander said a little sheepishly. "But you're right, kisses don't do that, and I don't see why hers would be any different. Now that I think about it, you were turning a little pale when I saw her getting all over you, like you were about to pass out."

Jack rubbed the back of his head. "Well... She really caught me off guard... Maybe the shock just got to me?"

Zander stared at him disbelievingly. "And cause you to feel lifeless? Yeah, right, come on. You know that's not it."

"Whatever. Whatever it was, it's probably...nothing," Jack sighed. "Let's just go. I'm fine now, but I still feel a little exhausted."

Meanwhile, back inside the school building, Ariel had the faintest feeling that something was leaving her body, and she blinked, with absolutely no memory of what had occurred during the past few minutes.

Short chapter. Deal with it. It's only a filler leading up to next chapter.

Also I will admit that the family moving into the newly sold house will have a major role in the sequel.

Replies:

SkyHighFan: I'm sorry, but I don't see why you're so upset about this, and I really don't see why you say it 'sets the story on fire.' The play isn't even remotely important in this story, so why? I can understand if you were disappointed by my backing out of my promise, but there's no need to slam me into the dust like that—I would've preferred it if you said it in a much nicer way. I didn't want to let you down, and I apologized for it. However, if you're still going to say stuff like this, I don't know why I even bother to say sorry.

Faliara: Nope, I've never read the books either, though I want to. Also, I heard that Jack was coming in a future book.

Writeous: Ooh, what's your OC headcanon of Cody? :O I'm curious, TELL ME. I love you to bits by the way (Let's see if you would end up being my thousandth reviewer, assuming I'd get that far ;))

McVitie: LOLO WON'T TELL ANYONE WHAT CHAPTER SHE'S ON. IS SHE EVEN STILL READING I DON'T KNOW. AND YES, THANK YOU FOR GETTING YOUR SIS TO READ THIS. I APPRECIATE IT A WHOLE LOT.

Lolxxx: Maybe sometime in the sequel ;P You're certainly the first one to say that you ship Zander/Jack XD That doesn't necessarily mean you're the only one though. Also, mind if I tell you something? Cody's lucky lady (extra emphasis on lady XD) happens to be the one moving into the newly sold house they were all talking about this chapter. Hazel Campbell is her name. Has a widowed father and a happy, little brother (Also, might I mention that she has a flat chest and Cody will tend to snark about it a lot)

Julchen M. Liddell: I love you for that review jesus christ

feathered moon wings: ...I read part of My Immortal. Me and my friends are planning to record a dramatic reading of it, by the way. (Also, take it from me. Anton liked kissing Cody) Also, Cody won't stay single for long. That's his whole subplot in the sequel ;) And I still need to figure out what I want to happen with Immo fml

Dee Dee: My favorite color is any shade of blue or purple. Why do you ask?

ZeroLuver567: We are actually going to record a dramatic reading of My Immortal and analyze it as we go along, haha.