If Jamie's mother had found out about the sold house down the street, she surely didn't say anything about it. She simply carried on like usual, and honestly, it was making Jack a little nervous. Even though he had made it no secret that he didn't want Mrs. Bennett to find out about the house, it was beginning to bug him a little. He wasn't sure whether or not she knew, which was partly why he was so uncomfortable, but it was also because whenever Mrs. Bennett opened her mouth to speak to him now, his breath would get caught in his throat, paranoid that she was going to talk to him about his fib.

Now, they were sitting around the dinner table, and at some point Mrs. Bennett had asked how the play the other day was (She would've asked earlier, but she decided Jack's headache the previous day came first). Jamie was now rambling on about it, while Jack continued his spacing out, having barely heard the question at all.

"It was pretty awesome!" Jamie was saying excitedly. It obviously wasn't as cool as the actual thing, but it wasn't like it was lame. "Jack's such a good actor!" Clearly because all he's doing is being himself. "Though I think Santa could have had a better Russian accent... What do you think, Jack?"

Jack snapped out of his reverie and he looked up from his spaghetti. "Huh? What? Sorry, I wasn't really listening."

"I asked you if you thought Santa's Russian accent could've been better in the play."

"Hm? Oh, that. Um... It was alright."

"Jack, are you okay?" Mrs. Bennett asked him in concern. "You've been acting distracted lately."

"Fine. Just...fine," Jack sighed. Before Mrs. Bennett could get the chance to insist that he was not fine, he stood up and picked up his plate. "I think I'm gonna eat in my room instead..."

Mrs. Bennett frowned, but complied.

Jack sighed again once he sat down cross-legged on his bed. As he dug into his pasta, he couldn't help but consider the option of just admitting everything to the woman who took him in as if he was one of her own children.

"...So what do you think I should do?" Jack inquired Cody after completely spilling the beans about his issue. "Should I tell her or not?"

Jack had thought Cody would be the best one to go to for this predicament. The others were undoubtedly going to advise him to tell Mrs. Bennett the truth, but he still wasn't sure if he could bring himself to do so. However, Cody understood secrets that one preferred to keep, so Jack figured that Cody's advice was the best for this.

But right now, Cody was staring at him with a blank look on his face, and, much to Jack's dismay, his only response was, "Did you say something?"

Jack groaned and put a palm to his face. "Cody, I'm trying to ask you for your help!"

"Right. Because your problems always come first."

Jack frowned when he noticed how deadpan Cody sounded (though this was how he sounded like most of the time) and said, "But I really need some word of advice. I don't think I can decide on my own whether I should tell Mrs. Bennett the truth."

"But what about me? I'm under tons of stress right now too." Noticing Jack's now curious look, he continued, "My dad's visiting. He's coming to pick me up this afternoon and I'm not looking forward to it."

"So...you're pissed that your dad's coming to see you?" Jack was instantly reminded of Jamie and his own strained relationship with his father. "Cody, you really should be happy that he still tries to spend time with you."

"I'm not pissed, I just..." Cody sighed and muttered, "I just don't want him to pick me up from school. He embarrasses me a lot."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Embarrasses you in what way?"

"If you end up running into him, I can guarantee you that you're not gonna believe he's my dad."

"Okay, that doesn't really let me know much about him."

"Enough about me. What's up with these?" Cody reached forward and took a pair of glasses off of Jack's face. "Where'd you get them?"

"Oh yeah, these." Jack took the spectacles back from Cody and put them on again. "I found them by the curb this morning on the way to school. Picked them up, and tried them on out of boredom. And coincidentally, they ended up being perfect for my eyes."

"Jack, you can't just randomly take some glasses and put them on like they're yours."

"Finders keepers. Besides, I told you I found them on the side of the road, so whoever owned them didn't want them anymore. It's not like they're gonna hunt me down just to get them back," Jack pointed out.

"Can't argue with that."

"Cody~! You're so adorable like always~! My baby boy has grown so much~! How are you doing? From the words of your mother, it sounds like you're doing much better than before!"

Cody shot each and every one of his bewildered (and slightly amused) friends a death glare (Don't. Say. A word.) right before he was tackled in a spine-cracking hug from Hugh Gray.

"Ack! Okay, okay... Dad, come on, you're crushing my bones! Ow! Let go!"

When Mr. Gray set him down and he could breathe properly again, the former immediately began looking him up and down and remarked, "My, you really have grown!" He sighed nostalgically. "I still remember the time when you were still a wee little baby. When you were first born, you would always pee on me whenever I changed your diaper."

Oh god. He's starting already, Cody couldn't help thinking. He could hear a couple of the other guys snorting behind him.

"Anyway, got a girlfriend yet, son? Or a boyfriend, you know I don't mind—" He noticed the twitchy eye Cody was starting to get, then continued, "Did I touch a nerve? Sorry there. I love you anyway. So how was school?" He looked at the rest of the guys and added, "Who are your friends?"

Cody paused, not sure if it would be a good idea to answer, but finally said, albeit a little reluctantly, "That's Jack, Anton, Zander, and Spencer." He gestured toward each one as he introduced them one by one. Spencer waved politely while Zander greeted, "Hey! Nice to meet you!"

Mr. Gray's eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh yes! Cody told me about you on the phone!"

"Dad..." Cody's voice held a warning tone.

"He... He talks about us?" Zander asked, clearly taken aback.

"He called you," Mr. Gray began, pointing at Zander, "a big idiot who didn't know when to keep his mouth shut! And he called you, dear Spencer, an even bigger idiot who was a huge wuss about everything! And finally," he concluded, turning to Anton, "he called you a bucket of slime who had no idea where to ooze!"

"What does that even mean?" Anton wondered aloud.

"You don't wanna know," Cody snapped.

"Did he say anything about me?" Jack questioned.

Mr. Gray thought for a bit, but then shook his head. "No, I don't believe so."

Failing to notice the visibly relieved look on Cody's face, Jack contemplated on how he should feel about this. Of course, he was grateful that Cody hadn't made some snide remark about him like he did for everyone else, but it still kind of stung that Cody didn't even attempt to mention him briefly.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gray had begun to look at his surroundings, making comments about some of the students he spotted. "Man, if that kid's pants sagged any lower, we'd get a full view of his ass... God, she needs to wear a longer skirt... Dag nabbit, kids these days... Is that girl your girlfriend?"

Cody slapped his forehead. "Dad, that's the teacher. Oh my god, where's the car?" He desperately began looking around for his father's vehicle, hoping to get away as soon as possible.

"What? Embarrassed by your old dad?"

"..." Cody didn't say anything; he only shot his father an extremely dry look.

"Oh! Remember when we went to grandpa's and he told you about that time I fell in the pond looking at frog spawn, and you didn't know what that was and did exactly the same thing? Came back in with tadpoles all on your head!"

Even Spencer couldn't help but snicker at that.

Cody pinched the bridge of his nose and began taking long, deep breaths. "Cody, it's okay... He's been announcing this kind of stuff in public for almost eight years now... Cool it..."

"Also, do you remember when you were three and we went camping, and that older boy pulled down your trousers and you peed in his face?" He chuckled. "Good times, good times..."

"Dad, you bring that story up every time I see you, don't you think you should stop—"

"I remember that one time when you strutted around the neighborhood naked with nothing but a red blanket tied around your neck. Not that your usual outfit choices were any better. You walked around in just a T-shirt because you used to hate wearing underwear. You liked Winnie the Pooh a lot, used to have Piglet on the front of your shirt!" Mr. Gray laughed at the memory.

At that point, none of Cody's friends could hold it in any longer. All of them, especially Anton, were practically bowling over with laughter. Who would have thought that Cody Gray, out of all people, would have so many childhood embarrassing moments (accompanied by an even more embarrassing dad)?

"In my defense, all of that stuff was before I started kindergarten," Cody said grouchily.

Hugh looked down at Cody's pants. "Say, now that we're on the topic of your outfits, these skinny jeans make your legs look awfully thin. We oughta feed you more. You used to love your food, got it all over your face!"

"Dad..."

"Cody, did you know skinny jeans ruin your reproductive system."

"...No, Dad, I did not know that." But I don't care. Do I look like I'm about to use my reproductive system anytime soon?

"I'm for real here, skinny jeans squash the testes."

In the midst of the gigantic roar of laughter from the rest of them, Jack somehow managed to stumble over to Cody while clutching his stomach and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Dude... Your dad...is hilarious..."

"Oh yes, um... What's your name again?" Hugh emitted a tiny laugh sheepishly. "I'm getting old, so my memory isn't as good as it used to be."

"That's Jack," Cody told him before Jack could say anything.

Mr. Gray began to scrutinize Jack more closely. "God, he's thin. He needs some brisket. Want to invite him for a sleepover?"

"Dad, no. We don't say sleepover. That's not cool."

Mr. Gray completely ignored his son and said earnestly, "Jack, come over for a slumber party!"

"Dad."

"Sure thing, Mr. Gray!" Jack accepted once he regained enough control of himself, shooting Cody an evil grin before heading back to the rest of his friends.

"They say sleepover in England, right?" In a very bad English accent, he rambled, "Tiddly pip pip ho! Buttered crumpets!"

"Dammit, Dad!"

"You're getting loose with your tongue, watch your language!" Mr. Gray scolded.

"HE'S SAID WORSE!"

Cody whirled around and pointed a menacing finger at all of his friends. "Who said that?! I'll kill them!"

Mr. Gray clucked his tongue in disapproval and tweaked Cody's right ear. "Cody, you naughty, naughty boy!"

"Ow!"

Letting go of Cody's ear, Mr. Gray started, "Anyway, Codester—"

"Dad, can you not?"

"What? Don't like that name? Hey, what's up, Codester?"

"No."

"Little man!"

"I am seventeen years old. Don't you think I've outgrown Codester—and little man—by now?"

Mr. Gray pouted. "Excuse me, I'm a grown up."

"Sometimes I wonder how that's possible."

Jack didn't bring it up since he was too busy guffawing, but he couldn't help but remember that the rest of them were eighteen, meaning that Cody was the youngest. He inwardly smirked and made a mental note to point out this very interesting development to the rest of the boys (It would give them a reason to baby Cody, though that probably wouldn't be such a good idea considering Cody was very capable of cutting them all to pieces. Well, they'll all have to make sure Mr. Gray was around when they behaved that way).

"I am hip, Codester," Hugh was saying to Cody, then hissed in pain and put a hand on his hip. "Ow, my hip..."

"Dad, what the—"

"Haha! Gotcha there, huh, son? Hey, there's something on your shirt." When Cody looked down, he flicked his nose smugly. "Hehe, gotcha again!"

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"Booping your nose. Boop!" Hugh began tapping on Cody's nose again.

"Can you please not do that?"

His father obeyed, but then changed the subject right away. "Hey, do you want to see a magic trick?"

"Uh..."

"Okay, so a young teenage boy has unkempt hair, got it?"

"Oh no," Cody muttered, already knowing where this was going. "Please don't..."

"Then I, the magician, begin to ruffle his hair up—" Mr. Gray lunged forward and began to, obviously, ruffle up Cody's hair. "And thus, voila! It ends up being even messier than before!"

Cody freed himself from his father's attack on his hair, and, while smoothing out his hair, he argued, "How many times do I have to tell you?! That's not a magic trick! What makes you think it's a magic trick?!"

Hugh frowned momentarily before brightening up again. "Cody, you know, to be the coolest dad in the world, I started listening to what you cool kids have been listening to."

"Oh yeah?" Cody asked wearily, not sure if he wanted to hear anymore.

"Yup! Fall Out Boy!"

"Oh. My god. Dad."

"And you look like Pete Wentz!"

"I DO NOT!"

"You kind of do, actually..." Spencer interrupted, his laughter ceasing for a minute. "Except more youthful...and your hairstyles are similar..." He trailed off once he saw the daggers Cody was currently shooting him.

Ignoring the twin, Mr. Gray ranted on, "Not only that, but I heard you cool kids like Miley Cyrus."

"Oh god, please no..."

"Twerking, I believe you kids do at dances?"

"Dad, no, we don't twerk."

"Why not? It seems like fun!" Hugh then began to make a fail attempt to twerk. "It goes something like this, right?"

"Holy fuck, Dad, no—"

Hugh grabbed his right ear and tweaked it just like he did with his left. "Bad language! What did I just say about watching your mouth?!"

"Ow! Will you stop that?!"

"Anyway, I heard that this generation of cool kids also like Bieber!" Mr. Gray said proudly, triumphant that he did his research.

Fucking no. Cody took a deep breath, then let out a very, very flat, "No."

"Oh, well, that sucks... Anyway, I remember when you were circumsized!"

Cody's horrified scream was lost under a roar of laughter from the small audience, which had died out for the past few minutes.

"Dad, did—did you really j-just—" Cody sputtered out.

Mr. Gray tilted his head innocently. "What?"

"Oh god, why did you bring that up?" Holy shit. "What relevance is this?! What does this have anything to do with the music we all listen to?!"

Hugh shrugged. "I just felt like bringing up good ol' memories. I mean, it's not anything to be embarrassed by! I had it done too!"

"Dad!"

"Wait... Did we even circumsize you?"

Cody looked utterly terrified (The rest of them swore that this was the first time they've seen him this way).

"Haha, you keep falling for whatever I say! Of course we circumsized you! I remember when you were circumsized, you pissed all over the man!"

"Wh—"

"It was funny as hell." Mr. Gray laughed at the memory.

"Cody, what's up with all this stuff about you pissing when you were a baby? Did you not have any bladder control back then?" Anton questioned, a notebook and pen in his hands.

"He really didn't!" Hugh informed him. "And even though that was enough to deal with, when he was a baby, he'd open up his diapers and smear poop all over the walls! That silly boy!"

Anton burst out laughing again and began writing furiously in his notebook. "This is pure gold!"

"Are you—Are you seriously writing down everything he's saying about me?!" Cody exclaimed, glaring dangerously at him. Without waiting for an answer, he added, "Why?!"

"Uh, for future blackmail purposes?" Anton replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe. "It's about time I get some dirt on you."

Hugh grinned in amusement, and asked, "So Codester, have you got the talk yet?"

"One, yes, I got it when I was eleven. Two, even if Mom didn't give me it, I would eventually get it from the Internet. I've learned all I can learn from the Internet."

His father gasped in shock. "Cody! Have you been looking at porn?!"

"Dad, no—"

"Yeah, he does!" Jack chirped, glancing at Cody with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Wanks off all the time!"

"Jack, I do not! You know that!"

"Do too!" Anton jumped in, still busy writing stuff down.

"Anton!"

After those events, one thing led to another, and somehow they were currently looking at Cody's baby pictures. It turned out Mr. Gray kept all of the family's old photo albums in his car trunk, and all of Cody's friends were thoroughly enjoying it. There were photos of everything Hugh claimed his son did as a toddler, including the poop smearing and the red blanket fiasco. At one point, Cici (who had passed by them just when Hugh got the photos from his car and, out of curiosity, had joined them in learning more about Cody) had gushed about how cute baby Cody was, and Anton had jokingly commented, "Yeah, what happened?" At that moment, Cody completely snapped. He didn't throw a fit—he didn't even say a word—he just sat down on the curb, buried his head in his knees, and remained silent, not even going to bother trying to stop his dad anymore. The rest of them assumed that he was just feeling overwhelmed by the arrival of Cici and basically the embarrassment overall, so they thought nothing of it.

They were all looking at nine-year-old Cody, who was grinning from ear to ear. Next to him was a teenage girl who appeared a couple years younger than all of them, undoubtedly his late sister, who had a much smaller smile on her face.

"Cody's sister was cute," Zander commented quietly so Cody, who was only sitting a few feet away, couldn't hear. It was quite obvious that he was in a terrible mood, and bringing up the main source of his grief likely wouldn't help any. "And they seem like they were really close. I'm starting to get why her suicide affected him so much."

"Yeah... You know, Cody's barely recognizable in these pics," Jack was saying. "I mean, you can tell it's him, but he's, like...smiling."

All of the photos featured a very cheerful Cody, which was definitely not something any of them could ever picture in their mind. He had so many expressions, and none of them were the deadpan, unimpressed one he now had on everyday.

It then occurred to Jack that he'd never seen Cody utter even a small smile in person before. He looked towards the sulking boy, and he frowned deeply. Carrie's death must have really changed him...

"You're right," Mr. Gray, in one of his few serious moments, was saying. "No matter what was going on that day, he always had that adorable smile on his face. But then, Carrie died..." He turned the page, and the first photo in the top left was one that resembled the Cody they knew much more. His smile had completely disappeared, and even though there was still a trace of childish innocence (and therefore, not completely identical to the Cody now), there wasn't that much of a difference. "So he just stopped. I haven't seen him happy in literally years, and I have a hunch that's not because I'm not there with him most of the time. I'm sure his mother is the same way. The closest thing to a smile he's ever had for the past eight years is the occasional, extremely sadistic smirk he gets whenever he's fantasizing—and enjoying—someone else's pain. But I suppose that doesn't count."

Jack recalled the time all of them had gone to the twins' house and he busted down Spencer's door. That huge smirk Cody had at the time was something he couldn't forget, mostly because smirking wasn't something he did everyday either.

"The amount of photos we took also died down, and whenever he does agree to have his picture taken, it's either for the yearbook or because we told him he had to. Of course, there was one particular event that happened when he was fourteen that made me especially upset..." As if to emphasize the situation, Hugh began sniffing like he was getting ready to burst into tears. He turned the page again, and there was Cody with a buzz cut, most likely on the first day of high school. He clearly did not want to have his picture taken, having his arms crossed and a begrudging look on his face. "He buzzed all his hair off! And it was all because of a wad of gum!" Jack had to bite his lip to prevent himself from breaking down into a fit of laughter—Hugh obviously did not find the topic of Cody's hair any sort of laughing matter, and furthermore, he didn't want to make Cody feel worse than he already did. He glanced at the other boys, and they weren't trying to hold laughter like he was. They didn't even seem to blink at the photo, most likely because they had all seen Cody with that hair back in freshman grade (although Jack had a feeling they had a similar reactions when they first saw it). As for Cici, she only blinked in surprise and could only utter a tiny, "Oh."

"Doesn't he look ridiculous?" Hugh wailed, seeming to have read all their minds. "I told him he could've just used peanut butter to wash the gum off, but no! He thought that was too much trouble and the quickest way was to shave it all off! Of course, it's grown back out, but I just can't convince him to get a little trim to get it back to the glorious hair he had before! Now his hair looks emo!"

Cody definitely heard all of that, but he still didn't get out of his position on the curb.

"Anyway," Hugh finished, "I should probably take him home before his mother starts to worry. Do any of you need a ride home?"

"Nah, I drive home," Anton courteously turned him down. "Thanks anyway."

"I don't want to trouble you too much, so it's fine. I'll walk," Cici also said, leaving while waving goodbye.

"Is it really okay?" Spencer inquired skeptically.

Hugh shrugged. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't have asked. Son, you okay with your friends coming along for the ride?"

Cody did not budge.

Anton went over to him and said, "Dude, come on. Don't be so butthurt."

Still no reaction.

"...Cody?" Anton nudged him. When that still didn't provoke any response, he called back to the others, "I think we broke him. He's lost it. Do you think we went too far?"

At that moment, Cody finally raised his head and stood up slowly. "Yes, Father, I am perfectly okay with it, as long as you drop me off at home first," he spoke in an eerily calm voice, staring at Anton with an equally icy expression.

Despite the seemingly harmless words and the stoic look, Anton couldn't help but feel a little creeped out by Cody. There was just something that made him appear more than a little terrifying, and Anton swore he could almost see this sinister air radiating from him. He had a feeling Cody was trying to make him receive the message of, Get the fuck out of here before I decapitate you with my own bare hands.

Oh yes, message received. "Um... I'm just gonna get going now..." Anton said stiffly while slowly backing away from Cody as if he were a bomb that was about to detonate any second. After a few minutes of this, he abruptly turned around and bolted.

Cody turned to face the rest of them, his unchanging expression successful in sending shivers down everybody's spines. "I'm just going to wait by the car, if all of you are just going to keep on having idle chit-chat." With that said, he turned on his heel and strolled away.

"Okay... Yikes, that just friggin' scared the hell out of me," Zander said slowly. "No wonder why Anton ran away."

"My poor boy. He's upset now," Mr. Gray sighed in chagrin. "You know, even though he appears to get angry at people all the time, that's actually more of a behavioral habit he has going on. When he's truly angry, he gets like the way he is right now, which, believe it or not, doesn't happen too frequently."

"Wait, really?"

"My son is a lot less hot-tempered than he lets on. He's complicated like that. But anyway, enough about that. It's time to get a move on." He closed the album and began making his way to his car, followed by the three boys.

Cody didn't say one word during the car ride (To be fair, none of them did), so it was pretty hard to tell if he had calmed down or was still mad. So when his dad dropped him off at his house, Jack decided to see for himself and ask lightheartedly, "So when will our sleepover be?"

Cody only stopped, turned around, and stared at Jack menacingly for a moment before giving the most sadistic smirk anyone had ever seen. "Whenever you want. I think I'm gonna enjoy this sleepover. I'll make sure something good comes out of it." His smirk grew (if that was even possible), and he turned back around and walked into the house.

Oh yeah, he was definitely still irritated. Jack couldn't help but think nervously to himself, This 'something good...' Is it something along the lines of you cutting me apart with scissors while I'm sleeping? Because even though that may be 'something good' for you, it's not 'something good' for me.

As if he knew what he was thinking, Zander turned to Jack and asked, "You alright?"

"Fine," Jack said stonily. "Absolutely fine." On second thought, or sleepover could wait.

Once they gave Hugh their addresses, they continued on their way. The twins were much more talkative for the rest of the ride, considering Cody wasn't there any longer to bring the temperature down twenty degrees. Jack, on the other hand, still kept silent—not because of Cody's cryptic threat (He recovered from that fairly quickly), but because he realized that arriving home meant possibly having to face Mrs. Bennett. He tried hard to think of something to say to prevent himself from being speechless when she confronted him. Sadly, he couldn't think up something good enough, and he involuntarily sighed aloud.

Spencer looked towards him. "What's the matter?"

Jack shook his head in dismissal. "Nothing. It's no biggie."

Soon after, they arrived on their street, and the twins immediately shot out of the backseat, calling out their thanks as they ran over to their house. Jack undid his seat belt and was about to get out as well until Hugh stopped him with a, "You know how I said he doesn't talk about you, right?"

Jack halted, curiosity taking over. "Yeah? What about it?"

"I lied. I only said that because I didn't want your friends to get too offended," Hugh admitted.

"Why would they—"

"Because my son had nothing but good things to say about you. Obviously, I know about what he tried to do a couple weeks back, and I did visit him in the hospital for a bit, and I can tell you straight out that he was at his lowest point. He was so upset and down on himself, and I hated seeing him like that. The reason why I even came to visit today was to check up on him, see how he's doing. Though when I talked to him on the phone the other day and he brought you guys up, I just knew he was doing much better. Sure, he didn't really have any compliments coming out of his mouth, but I figured just the fact he was talking about other people was a start. Then he mentioned you, and once he did, he couldn't stop rambling. I've never seen him talk about someone else so much."

"...Oh." Jack didn't know what else to say. "That's...nice."

"And even though he doesn't show it, I can tell he's really thankful for what you've done for him. If you didn't reach out to him, he would probably not even be alive right now." He finally turned around and grinned at Jack. "So, on behalf of him, thank you."

"You're... You're welcome," Jack mumbled awkwardly. Having a private talk with his friend's dad about said friend in a car was definitely not something he expected.

"And who knows? Maybe that smile that's been missing for so long will surface again..." Hugh continued, though he now sounded more like he was musing out loud to himself. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't hold you back like this. You can go."

Jack exited the car, but he didn't move from his spot until Cody's father drove off.

Much to his relief, Mrs. Bennett still appeared to be oblivious to the newly sold house down the street. He felt more at ease when he had the assurance that he had more time to figure out what to say to her. After thinking about it for a long time, he decided that once he figured out what he wanted to say, he would just tell her on his own because he found it too suffering to just play along until she did bring it up for real.

Right now, he was thinking about this very problem as he fed Wynter. "What do you think I should say?" he asked her. Great. Now I'm talking to a cat. Once I've got my problem with Mrs. Bennett sorted out, I'm making Cody recommend me his therapist.

Wynter remained silent and only stared at him. Jack couldn't help but think she was being quieter than usual; she normally emitted a meow whenever she heard him speak. Oh well, it's not a big deal. He reached forward with one arm and ruffled the fur on top of her head until—

He winced and bit back a hiss when he felt a sudden pain on his hand. He jerked his hand back and saw tiny teeth marks on the area between his thumb and the index finger. Wynter had bit him. He stared at the usually tame feline, and asked, "What is up with you today?"

In the middle of the night, Jack woke to a noise. Still drowsy, he couldn't make sure if it was just his imagination, so he dismissed it. However, just when he was about to fall asleep again, he heard a door creaking open. He sat up, now fully awake, and his head snapped in the direction of his door. His door was indeed slightly open, and standing in the doorway was none other than Wynter the little kitty. Baby Tooth had also woke up, and was now taking her invariable place on Jack's shoulder.

Jack sighed and wearily got up off his bed. "How did you get in this time? You've been acting so weird today..." he grumbled as he approached the feline. He was about to pick her up, until something suddenly shot out of her body. Jack yelped and stumbled backwards, staring at the unrecognizable thing that just appeared out of Wynter, who was sitting and licking her paw as if nothing just happened. Slowly, the unidentifiable item raised itself up, and now Jack could see it was a person. But wait...

Jack almost had a heart attack once he finally realized what he was looking at—himself. His winter spirit self, complete with a mocking sneer and very, very dark eyes.

Immo's here, hehehe.

Now before I forget, I have to give credit to my dear pals KokoLolo and McVitie for coming up with every embarrassing thing Cody's father says/does about his son in this chapter.

Also, if it wasn't clear, Ariel was being possessed by Immo last chapter, and Immo had control of Wynter in this one.

And HOLY BOBA can I just apologize for the fact that I have such a detailed characterization of Cody while all my other OCs are underdeveloped? Sorry about that. I'm clearly choosing favorites here, and also Cody is just easily the most complicated character out of all of them.

Replies:

Faliara: Yeah, I meant a future book.

Doctor Skittles: Omfg your review I love you to bits. Yes, keep up with the random bitching :3

agent000: Haha, well thank you for the positive review, I certainly appreciated it XD Anyway, I'm sorry if you aren't satisfied with what I wrote at the beginning of this chapter, but it was the best I could do. Sorry I wasn't as detailed about it as you probably wanted me to be D:

McVitie: ARIEL WAS BEING POSSESSED BY IMMO BUT IF YOU WANT TO SAY THAT SHE'S IMMO THEN SO BE IT

storygirl99210: Nooooooo, the people moving in aren't the Guardians XD The people moving in are a single father and his two kids, a girl and a boy. (And the girl has a major part in the sequel too cough).

Julchen M. Liddell: ANNA NO. ANNA WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN PG. GET OUT OF HERE. Cody just deserves every award, gah, I love that little stubborn boy. By the way, you have yet to tell me about your moray eel experience. Imma go ask you about it on Facebook right now.

Writeous: Aaaaaahhhhhhhh your headcanons are wonderful. I am officially making each and every one of them canon (at least, as close to canon an OC could possibly be). Also I read Cas Bakes Dean a Pie... I have a feeling the author wasn't being serious when they wrote that. (Love your long review)

feathered moon wings: Possibly :P Our dramatic reading isn't up yet, but it will be soon :)

Lolxxx: I never officially said he was bi, but deep down, I just know he is ;) And sure, I'll marry you, haha. Also, not snarling. Snarking. Snarking, as in Cody's making unnecessary and sarcastic remarks about Hazel's flat chest. Though he already does make sarcastic comments like everyday, so.

Review!