No, I am not dead, to those of you who were worrying about that. Instead, I'm back at school, and sophomore year is a living hell. I'm currently typing on my phone since my computer time has been reduced drastically, though I have no motivation whatsoever to type the following chapter, which is the other reason why I haven't updated lately. But you know what, I just want to finish this flawed train wreck of a story so I can move on to its sequel, which I'm looking forward to much more.

My next point. I'm thinking of creating a third story. I don't know what it'll be about or even if I'll publish it in the end.

We'll see.

Jack felt like he couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening this couldn't be happening this couldn't be happening oh my god—

This was happening. Jack couldn't say he didn't expect it, but he never thought that this would occur now, in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep. Not that he should be too surprised—he didn't exactly carry a lucky streak after all.

"How did you find me?" he finally managed to croak out. He immediately realized that he wasn't going to get an answer; his adversary wasn't capable of talking (at least, Jack's never heard him talk). As if to confirm that thought, the monstrosity taking on the form of his body only tilted his head mockingly in response.

He needed to get out of here.

But how? His opponent just wasn't going to let him leave. But still, it was dangerous if the confrontation took place in his room. There would undoubtedly be a mess, but that wasn't his biggest worry. He was far more concerned about all of the other residents—Jamie, Sophie, and Mrs. Bennett.

Mrs. Bennett. Jack quickly gulped down the feeling of guilt that rose up within him. Now just wasn't the time for his personal issues. He made one tiny movement—one that was nearly undetectable—with his right foot, and he could just feel the enemy tense, ready for an opening to attack and end this once and for all.

Yeah, right. No way was Jack going to go down that easily. With lightning speed, he grabbed the staff that was leaning against the wall to his right and clobbered Immo on the head as hard as he could manage. He bolted out of there, sensing his opportunity to flee while Immo was still stunned.

He was in the midst of opening the front door when he heard Immo, having come back to his senses, run after him. He dashed out of the house, with one last, grim thought.

I wish it wouldn't look like I'm running away...

Jamie thought he heard the front door open from downstairs. Groggily, he sat up in bed, yawning. He tried to listen for any more noises (He half-assed it, since he was still half-asleep), but it was now silent. He sighed and swung his legs over the side of his bed, feeling his lips parched. I need a drink of water. He stood up tiredly, opened his bedroom door, and went down the stairs. He briefly glanced at the wide open front door, then headed to the kitchen.

Only he never made it there. Wide awake now, he whirled around and looked at the door again, completely forgetting about what he wanted to do. He had assumed he had been hearing things, but... Why was it open then? He approached it slowly and closed the door, making sure it didn't creak too loudly. He remained there, wondering what had caused it to open. Was it a burglar? He shuddered at the thought. He strongly hoped not.

This was creeping Jamie out. Before he could register what he was doing, his feet took him to the doorway to Jack's room. He almost left again, not wanting to awake the older boy (assuming the door opening didn't reach his ears like it did Jamie's), but he ended up opening a crack in the door. "Jack?" he whispered softly, loud enough for Jack to hear if he was awake, but also quiet enough not to disturb him if he wasn't.

No answer. Jamie almost closed the door again, but something caught his eye before he did so. He couldn't see well in the darkness of the night, but there was just something off...

Eyes widening, he flipped the light switch that was to his left, and once the room lit up, his suspicions were sadly confirmed. Jack's bed was empty. Instinctively, Jamie turned his head in the direction where Jack's staff had been leaning against the wall for the past few weeks, only to find that it had disappeared as well.

Jamie went back to the front door and yanked it open, this time not caring about how much noise it made. He ran outside into the front yard and looked around frantically, shouting, "Jack!"

Not like that helped any. Without thinking it through, Jamie sprinted across the street after making sure there were no late-night cars around. He had been to the Andersons' place before, albeit a long time ago, so he was vaguely familiar with which bedroom was Zander and Spencer's. He searched the ground and managed to spot a small pebble. He picked it up and hurled it at the twins' window, hoping at least one of them would wake.

Zander had always been a light sleeper, in contrast to Spencer who didn't wake nearly as easily. So when he heard someone knock on his window with a tiny rock, it was enough for him to open one eye, though he still didn't sit up in bed. Only when that same person had successfully hit his window a second and then third time did he sigh, get up, and trudge over. He opened his window and called down, with some crankiness audible, "What do you want?"

"Zander! I need to talk to you!" Zander heard Jamie's voice from down below. "It's really important!"

"What could be so important at..." Zander eyed his digital clock. "1:28 in the morning?"

"Just come down here and then you'll know!"

Zander groaned, but complied. He left his room, went down the stairs, and opened the front door, and sure enough, Jamie was standing a few feet away in the yard.

Zander crossed his arms, approaching him, and asked, "So what's up?"

"Jack's missing. I think he left the house because the front door was open and his staff is gone too. If you don't believe me, I'll show you!" Jamie grabbed Zander's arm and attempted to tug him along.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Slow down for a bit." Zander didn't budge, still trying to process what Jamie had said (He wasn't very quick-minded when he just woke up). "What do you mean, he's missing? Like... He just left?"

"I don't know, I only found out he was gone until, you know, after it happened! Now come on!" Jamie persisted in trying to pull Zander to his own house.

"What? Bennett, I'm not going over to your house in the middle of the night."

"Why not?"

"...It's the middle of the night. I'd rather be in my own bed right now. You're actually lucky I even bothered coming down here to talk to you."

Jamie refused to give in. "Then what about Spencer?"

"You sure that's a good idea? My brother is not the most pleasant person to be around when he doesn't wake up on his own. If you disturb him right now, he's just gonna start throwing whatever he can get his hands on at you. And let me tell you, he throws hard." Zander winced at the memory of the first time he woke Spencer up.

"But then... What's Mom gonna say when she notices Jack never gets out of his room in the morning?" Jamie asked.

"Then she notices that he never gets out of his room," Zander stated matter-of-factly. "It's kinda impossible to come up with something that'll cover the fact that a person's missing. She's gonna have to find out sometime. Also, dragging me over there won't help matters. I'm no genius, if you haven't caught on to that."

"But..."

Zander sighed, knowing he'd have to make a compromise. "Look, we'll both be there in the morning, alright? We'll try our best to help then, since then we won't be, you know, half-asleep and grumpy."

Jamie seemed a little reluctant, but he finally nodded in satisfaction. "Okay. I should probably get back now. Sorry for...making you come down here."

Zander waved it off, and Jamie headed back across the street. Once he was back in his bedroom and lying down on his bed, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep again.

Unbeknownst to him, Zander couldn't either.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Spencer announced cheerfully, yanking Zander's blankets away from him. Despite everything, he actually had the habit of waking up early. "It's a bright, new day! You don't want to miss out!"

Zander kept his head buried in his pillow and grunted. "I let you sleep in until you want to get up, so why can't you do the same for me?" He stretched out a hand in a halfhearted attempt to get his blankets back, even though they were out of his reach.

Spencer rolled his eyes, ignoring the question. "Good morning to you too, dear. Now get up before I pull you off the bed."

Zander sat up and snapped viciously, "If you were in my shoes, you'd want a proper good night's sleep with zero disturbance."

Spencer blinked, taken aback. "Whoa, what's the matter with you? You're usually calmer than this whenever I wake you up. Something bothering you?"

Zander sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "It's... It's nothing. Hey, listen, I kinda promised Bennett we'd go over to his house today. Is that okay with you?"

"Uh, yeah, it is, but... When'd you tell him that?"

"...Last night."

"...At what time?" Spencer was beginning to grow suspicious.

"...Half past one. So technically, earlier this morning," Zander confessed. "I met up with him in our front yard."

Spencer groaned and slapped his forehead. "No wonder you're in such a bad mood! Why would you arrange a meeting with him at that kind of hour?!"

"I didn't arrange it, alright? It was completely unexpected. He came knocking at my window and we just talked, got it?"

"Why would he want to come talk to you so late?"

"I asked him the exact same question." Zander managed a humorless laugh. "Turned out he had some really troubling stuff to tell me."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Something about how Jack's missing. I don't know, I wanted to go back to bed, so I didn't ask for the details. But yeah, we're gonna go over across the street. Hopefully, he'll explain more then."

"You know, when he told you this, you could've woken me up and told me too."

Zander only gave his brother a dry, unimpressed look.

"Okay, no, that was a dumb thing to say," Spencer corrected himself. He wasn't self-aware of it, but according to Zander and his parents, he was a violent grouch when he didn't get enough sleep. "But maybe I would've, you know, listened if you told me that you had a good reason to wake me up."

"...Yeah, I'd rather not risk that," Zander stated flatly while swinging his legs off the bed. "Let's just go."

A nine-year-old boy yawned as he cracked open his eyes, sitting up in bed and lazily reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. He felt around, before succeeding in getting a hold of them and putting them on. He absentmindedly looked out the window, and his eyes promptly lit up with excitement, his exhaust ceasing. He leaped off the bed, went over to the other one right next to it, hopped on, and began jumping for joy.

"Zander! Wake up! It's snowing!"

The inhabitant of the other bed only groaned from under the bedsheets as he felt himself be jolted awake by his twin brother. He tried and failed to ignore him, and eventually gave in and sat up. "Is that really a good reason to wake me up? If anything, that should just make me want to sleep in more."

Spencer frowned at him. "Come on, don't be like that! It's snowing, for crying out loud! Let's go out and play!"

"What's so great about snow?" Zander was not willing to lighten up. "We get it every year and nearly everyday during winter. It's nothing new."

"But it's fun!"

"Fun? Sure, I guess the snowmen and snowball fights aren't bad while they last, but they get old. All this snow is starting to bug me."

"Really? Well you know the Bennetts from across the street? And their baby son? Yeah, he absolutely loves playing in the snow."

Zander raised an eyebrow. "Isn't he like a year old? I thought he was still bound to a stroller."

"That doesn't mean he can't catch a few snowflakes in his mouth and try to throw one snowball. Come on, it's cute. Trudging through the snow would be worth it once you see him interact with it."

Zander sighed. "You just don't give up when it comes to making me do things you want me to do, do you? Fine." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly got up. "We should probably get dressed first."

Spencer couldn't help but smile. That memory had flown through his mind as he and his brother made their way across the street to Jamie's house. It didn't seem like a very memorable one, and Spencer didn't usually recall it, but for some reason, he did at that moment.

Once he rang Jamie's doorbell, Zander turned and noticed Spencer's grin. "What are you smiling about?"

Spencer shook his head dismissively, smile not faltering. "It's nothing, don't worry."

Zander looked a bit suspicious, but dropped the subject nonetheless.

Jamie opened the door at that moment, looking more than a little troubled. "Hey guys." He automatically moved to the side to let the twins in. "My mom knows Jack's missing. She's going crazy in his room. It took so much to convince her not to call in for a missing boy right away."

"Yeah, I don't get that," Spencer piped up. "What's going on? What do you mean he's missing?"

"The dude's missing, what other meaning could there be?" Zander couldn't help but say sarcastically, earning himself a glare.

"I don't know. I just woke up and he was gone," Jamie answered somewhat miserably. "I don't know how or why, the front door was just open and there was no sign of him. And then I ran over to your house and talked to Zander."

"Why him?" Spencer frowned.

"Well he wasn't gonna talk to you," Zander snarked again, taking out his phone. "I'm calling Cody and Anton."

"Why?"

"If we know Jack has disappeared, shouldn't they too? Both of them will probably be pissed if we hid this from them and they found out."

Anton did not like waking up early. It was something he had to deal with five days a week, and even so, he never got used to it. It didn't help that back before he learned how to drive and got his license, he had to get to school extra early, since his dad was the vice principal and had to get to work.

So, on that Saturday, when Zander rang his cell phone, he was far from happy. He grabbed his phone off his bedside table, briefly glared at the caller ID, and picked up. "What?!" he snapped.

"...Geez, good morning to you too."

Anton groaned. In a more placid tone, he tried again, "What do you want? I was sleeping."

"I figured. God, at least Spencer wakes up early."

"Did you call me just to check what my sleeping habits are?"

"Huh? Nah, something happened. Jack's missing or something. I don't know. Nobody's sure what exactly went down."

Anton was about to say something until he heard Zander continue.

"Just get here, alright? Oh yeah, and pick up Cody while you're at it. I tried calling him but he didn't answer."

"Are you serious? I'm pretty sure he's still mad at us because of yesterday. I mean, did you see the look he gave me? He might've beheaded me or something."

"...Dude, are you scared that he'll do something to you if you see him today?"

"He doesn't even like me in general, so probably."

"You sure he hates you? Huh, it doesn't seem like he does to me."

"What?"

"Never mind. Just get here soon, okay?"

Zander hung up before Anton could squeeze in one more word. Anton took the phone away from his ear and shrugged. Well, if something went wrong with him and Cody later, he could at least testify against Zander for sugarcoating it.

"God, I hate the cold," Samson complained, rubbing his hands together. He breathed into them in a slight attempt to warm them up. Needless to say, it didn't work. "Why does winter have to exist?"

"Well, there needs to be some season that fills up the three months between autumn and spring, and I guess winter was the only one available," Anton replied as he tugged at his woolen scarf. "Personally, I don't think it's that bad once you get used to the temperature drop."

"I still don't like it," Samson insisted. "I never got why snowball fights and those other winter activities are so popular. How can people bear it when they're holding a freezing clump of slush in their hands?"

"Gloves, man." Anton glanced at Samson's bare hands.

"I lent my pair to Scott."

"...Your hands are like three times bigger than his. How much help could your gloves possibly be to him?"

"Shut up, I didn't think it through," Samson growled. "Now that little shit won't give them back to me. I totally should've seen that coming, he's so selfish."

Anton fought down the urge to tell him that Scott had picked up that 'selfish' behavior from the sixteen-year-old. He sighed and looked up at the snowflakes that were beginning to fall. He held out a gloved hand and a couple landed gently on it. He wasn't particularly fond of the snow like certain other people were, but he didn't dislike it. After all, it was something that came only one season each year, so he might as well try to tolerate it. But he had also noticed that Burgess had some odd winter weather at times. It appeared to snow here more often than in any other town in Pennsylvania, and occasionally it also baffled the weathermen due to the reports of a clear, sunny day (By now, Anton had learned not to trust the weather predictions). Call Anton crazy, but he had a slight hunch that all this snow wasn't just a natural phenomenon (He started thinking this after the July snowfall a few years back). He wasn't sure of this belief, but it would explain a lot. Of course, he didn't know what exactly this mystery cause could be, so he couldn't really voice his suspicions out loud—especially not to someone like Samson. The other boy would just scoff and call him either insane or idiotic.

"Hey! You coming?" Samson shouted from up ahead.

Anton shook himself out of his thoughts and hurried to catch up to him.

Anton, after he dressed, trotted down the stairs and went straight for the kitchen, where his mother was washing the dishes. "Hey, I'm going over to Jack's place."

"When will you be back?" his mother asked, without looking up from the sink.

"I don't know. I'll probably stay there till dinnertime."

"Oh, then in that case, would you mind taking Kayla with you? I'm going over to your grandmother's house in a couple hours, and she can't stay home alone."

"Why can't you just take her with you?"

"Because I don't like going to Grandma's place," Kayla supplied, having overheard the conversation from the living room and appearing. "It's boring. There's nothing to do there. And that candy jar she keeps on her fireplace is filled with sweets that are at least thirty years old."

Anton crossed his arms. "Kay, just what does the candy have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, I just felt like I should issue another complaint. Besides, if anyone would know about the candy, it's you. You ate a lemon drop a couple years ago, didn't you?"

Anton slightly cringed at the memory of the terrible stomachache he had gotten that same day. "Okay, Kayla, now is not the time to get all nostalgic about the bad experiences at Grandma's house. Do you want me to drive you or not?"

Kayla shrugged. "Eh, sure. I got nothing planned for the day anyway."

Once they were in the car, Anton said, "Hey, before we go there, I'm gonna have to pick up someone else. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Who, your boyfriend?" Kayla asked from the backseat.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Right," Kayla said coyly. "But you knew who I was talking about."

Anton only shot her a dirty look before setting the car into motion.

January 11th. It was her seventeenth birthday that day. It was also the first one she wasn't able to celebrate. She was just too busy being buried six feet under.

Ten-year-old Cody stood out in the front yard of his Philadelphian home. He stared up at the sky, where a tiny flurry of snow was beginning to come down from. He remembered the way his sister's eyes lit up whenever she saw the white powder fall from the sky. It was obvious to him, and to everyone else around him, that winter had been her favorite season of the year. And Cody had loved it too, only because she almost never seemed that happy usually. But now she was gone, and the sole reason for him to love winter had died along with her. He simply couldn't find the heart to care anymore.

He looked down at the flowers in his hand. They were left on his doorstep by his cousin, who had had the thought to pay his condolences on Carrie's birthday. And for some reason, Brody Gray had decided to leave the roses at Cody's home instead of at the graveyard where Carrie rested. Cody lifted them up to his face and tenderly breathed in their odor. They were fresh flowers; Cody almost felt the temptation to ask Brody where he got such beautiful ones, but he swallowed it. His selfish pride, combined with his tendency to focus on the past if something traumatizing had happened, prevented him from moving on from her death. However, his family had assumed he would eventually get over it. Well, he'd just have to show them that they were wrong. They'd have to face the fact that he would most likely never recover.

Let them see who would give in first.

Anton sighed as he walked up the steps that led to Cody's front door. Why did Zander have to do this to him? He turned back around, only to see that his sister had rolled down the window and was wiggling her eyebrows teasingly. He scowled back at her as he rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds, Hugh Gray opened the door groggily. It was clear that he had just gotten out of bed, what with his stubble and pajamas. In his hand was a fresh mug of coffee. Anton almost wanted to leave after seeing that sight, feeling a bit awkward with this situation. He abstained, however, and managed to ask, "...Is Cody home?"

Hugh blinked for a couple seconds, before recognizing him. Instead of gushing like he was the day before, he only turned in the direction of the stairs and called out, "Cody, you have a visitor!"

No response.

"Um, is he still asleep?" Anton questioned meekly. "I mean, it's okay if he is, but—"

"Oh no, I know he's awake," Hugh interrupted dryly. Wow. It was amazing how one person's personality could differ so much when they still had yet to get their daily dose of energy. Anton was just glad to see that he wasn't the only one who wasn't a morning bird. "He just likes to stay in bed until sometime around noon."

"Well... He needs to come down here!" was all Anton could come up with. Nice, Anton. You're starting to become Captain Obvious.

As if he hadn't heard Anton at all, Hugh called out again, "Cody Duncan Gray, if you're not down here in the next forty five seconds, fully dressed, I'm showing your visitor your childhood Halloween photos! One...two..."

"Duncan?" Anton muttered to himself. "He doesn't look like a Duncan..." Either way, he wasn't going to ask Cody about his middle name once he came down, in case it was a touchy subject for him—best not to add fuel to the fire. Speaking of which, Anton swore he could hear some frantic scuffling from going on upstairs.

Hugh had only counted to 37 when Cody practically appeared and took the stairs two at a time, all while putting his shirt over his head. He stumbled as he reached the bottom step, but managed to not fall face-first right at his father's ankles. Panting, he said, "I'm here now. Happy?"

Hugh raised his eyebrows. "You've gotten faster since the last time I did that."

"You know, looking back on it, I bet you're always bluffing when you threaten me like that," Cody stated monotonously.

"Oh, really?" Hugh smirked, then headed for the stairs. "Guess I better start getting the albums from the attic then."

Anton was almost sure Cody didn't even notice he was standing there because the latter literally latched on and clung to Hugh's leg (which was definitely not something he would ever do out in public) as an attempt to hinder him from humiliating him for life.

"No! Please, I'm sorry! You're not bluffing, I get it!"

"Too late for that, Codester, you've already asked for it. That apology won't work on me."

Cody's eyes widened, and then he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "If you don't go up there, I promise I'll have a girlfriend the next time you come and see me!"

That made Hugh stop right in his tracks. "You promise?"

Cody, seizing the opportunity, nodded profusely. "Yeah! I'll definitely have a significant other next time, like you always wanted me to have!"

Hugh smiled. "That's great! That means you'll be graduating as a taken man!"

Cody's jaw dropped. "What? ...Wait, when are you visiting again?"

"On the day of your graduation! What, you didn't think I would miss out my only son's high school graduation, did you?"

"Uh..."

"Oh yeah, by the way, you might not want to forget why I forced you to come down here in the first place." Hugh looked at Anton.

Cody followed his dad's gaze, and once he saw Anton, his expression changed from relieved to shocked, and he shouted, "WHAT THE FU—" Remembering Hugh was right there, he retained himself and instead exclaimed, "What are you doing here?!"

"I...came to kidnap you for the day. Again," Anton replied slowly, still trying to process what just happened during the past minute. "We're going to Jack's. Zander and Spencer are already there."

"Yeah, you should get going. My leg is starting to grow numb," Hugh added.

Cody, realizing he was still holding onto his dad's leg, let go and stood up. "Right. Well..." He began awkwardly, then faltered. "Let's just...go...?"

Once they were both outside and Anton closed the door behind him, Cody completely turned on him. "You know, if you or anyone else had called me and told me you were gonna come, you would've at least given me a chance to get ready, and thus none of that would've just happened!"

Anton blinked in confusion. "But... Didn't Zander try calling you?"

"What? No. Wait..." Cody took his phone out of his back pocket and turned it on. He looked up and deadpanned, "Yeah, no missed calls."

Zander, I am going to kill you... Anton seethed in his mind, once his mind processed that Zander had lied to him.

Kayla peered her head out of the car window and yelled out, "What took you so long?!"

"Don't ask," Cody sulked, approaching the car and opening the passenger door.

Anton followed, and once they had both climbed into their seats, he attempted to make small talk. "So... Duncan?"

Cody glared at him. "If you want to say something about that name, just say it."

Anton raised his hands in defense. "No, there's nothing wrong with Duncan, just... I didn't think that would be your middle name."

"Then what'd you think it was?"

"Dunno."

Cody folded his arms across his chest and countered, "Well, what's your middle name?"

Anton suddenly seemed a little nervous. "Um..."

Sensing that he wasn't about to get an answer from him, Cody turned around and faced Kayla. "What's his middle name?"

"Akihisa," Kayla said simply, prompting Anton to headdesk the steering wheel.

Cody looked back at him. "...Akihisa? What?"

Anton groaned, not bothering to raise his head. "It's Japanese. My paternal grandpa's name was Akihisa, and since he died like two weeks before I was born..."

"It sounds girly..."

"A lot of masculine Japanese names sound girly," Anton said sulkily. "If you want to laugh, just laugh."

"I never laugh. Both you and I know that."

"Can we just go?" Kayla complained, kicking the back of Anton's seat. "What are we even waiting for?"

Anton rolled his eyes and finally raised his head from the wheel. "Calm yourself, bratty sister."

Jamie was pacing the floor rapidly, glancing at the door every five seconds. He kept on doing this, growing increasingly fed up. Eventually, he plopped down on the couch and lamented, "Where are they?!"

"Patience," Zander answered offhandedly. It was amazing how chill he was at the moment. In the background, Spencer could be heard in the dining room doing his best to keep Mrs. Bennett from calling Child Services. "I've waited for Anton to drive here before. It takes a while."

"Can't you call them anyway?"

Zander rolled his eyes, but took out his phone nonetheless. He dialed in Anton's number, and after it rang a few times, Cody picked up.

"What?!"

"Wow, everyone's snappish today," Zander couldn't help but remark. "Or is 'what' just the new way of saying hello on the phone in this generation?"

Cody breathed out audibly. "Just... What do you want?"

"Where are you guys?"

"Stuck in traffic. Apparently there was an accident up ahead. It's all crowded and we're not even moving."

"Where's Anton?"

"Chilling with his deceased Akihisa grandfather up in Asian heaven. He's focused on the road, idiot."

Ignoring the temptation to ask Cody what in the world was an Akihisa, Zander said, "You know, you're giving off more attitude than usual. Are you still mad about yesterday?"

"Bring that up again and I will be. But no, it's just that Redhead over here and his sassy little sister are blasting Asian karaoke on the radio!" Cody shouted that last part. "And they won't stop!"

"Oh, is that why I hear Gangnam Style in the background?" Zander had heard that familiar beat the second Cody picked up, but had dismissed it.

"Yes! Goddammit, make them stooooop!" Cody's voice took on a whiny tone that nobody had ever heard him use before (Cody certainly wasn't shaping up to be the deadpan person he usually was today). "I'm about to go insane!"

"Uh..." Zander trailed off. "How long do you think you'll be stuck there?"

"I don't know, I think the cars up front are starting to move."

"Okay, good, you're almost out of there. And considering Anton drives as fast as he does, you'll be here in no time. So just for now, just take deep breaths and try to calm yourself down as much as you can. Okay?" Zander said gently and slowly, as if he were talking to a first grader.

Cody muttered something that suspiciously sounded like, "Motherfuckers..." In a louder voice, he said, "Fine. And don't talk to me like I'm a baby."

"Atta boy!" Zander grinned, completely disregarding Cody's chagrin at being treated like a child. He could just feel Cody roll his eyes on the other end.

After he hung up, Zander looked at Jamie, who appeared slightly disturbed. Zander realized just how weird the conversation must've sounded when all the younger boy could hear was Zander's end of the line. Deciding that it was a waste of time to explain, Zander simply said, "They'll be here soon."

"Come on, why'd you hang up?" Anton complained as he began driving. "I wanted to give Zander a piece of my mind for lying to me!"

"It's your fault that you were too busy singing along to fucking PSY!" Cody retaliated irritatedly. "Just call him out on his shit once we get there!"

"Look, it's lovely how both of you tend to act like a married couple," Kayla spoke up, causing both boys to glare at her, "but what are these things?" She held up two dresses that looked suited for beauty pageants. One was a beautiful, hot pink, strapless, dress that had a slit in the skirt, allowing for some leg to be shown. Another was a sexy, black, one-shouldered, sparkly dress that had a layer of ruffles at the hem.

Cody stared at Anton weirdly. "Why do you have those in your car?"

"Yeah, I found these under the driver's seat," Kayla added.

Anton groaned. It took all his self-control not to slam his head into the steering wheel like he did earlier. "Kayla, you know how Mom is really excited for you to grow up and go to your first dance and stuff?"

"And these are the dress choices she's giving me?" Kayla scoffed, catching on quickly. "Isn't it a little early for that? How will she know if they'll fit me anyway?"

"She used my measurements," Anton explained after a significant amount of hesitation. "I don't get her logic."

"Does anybody?" Cody retorted dryly. "That doesn't explain why they were under your seat though."

"Mom was afraid that she'd put them in the attic and can't find them afterwards," Anton moaned. "Apparently my car is the only safe place she could think of. Also," he eyed Kayla, "you weren't supposed to know about them."

"The pink one's skirt was sticking out. Considering how bright it is, did she really not expect me to find them eventually?" Kayla questioned. She sounded like she was talking to herself more than anything else.

"It was like that for a while, I'm honestly more surprised that it took you this long to notice."

"I was looking for my spare box of wigs under the seat," Kayla stated. "So if these dresses are there, then where is it?"

"Under the passenger seat," Anton sighed wearily. "Mom moved them there."

Kayla undid her seat belt for a moment so she could reach for the cardboard box under Cody's seat. Once she fastened it again, she pointed at the sticky note that she had stuck on there. "What part of 'DO NOT TOUCH UNLESS YOU ARE KAYLA SUZUKI' does she not understand?"

"You know her. She doesn't really bother listening to us," Anton waved it off. "Besides, I doubt she touched anything inside."

"Do I even want to know why you have a box of wigs?" Cody asked.

"Not only is she into yaoi manga, she's also into cosplay," Anton informed as Kayla opened her box and took out a bunch of different colored wigs one by one. "Come to think of it, why did you want to take those wigs out?"

"I lent my other box to Cupcake the other day," Kayla said offhandedly, not even looking up as she took out a black, waist-length, silky wig and placed it on the side. "I got her into cosplay. So I'm just going to use this box until she returns it."

"Who's Cupcake?"

"One of Jamie's friends. He introduced me to her."

Anton suddenly slammed down on the car brakes, throwing everyone forward, and also causing the driver behind him to honk his horn. "What?!"

"Dude, don't do that!" Cody hissed after recovering, thoroughly annoyed.

"Yeah, you sent my wigs scattering everywhere!" Kayla agreed, leaning forward to pick up the massive amount of wigs that had fallen off the car seat.

Anton completely ignored the complaints and frantically asked, "Jamie? Jamie Bennett? Since when did you get all buddy-buddy with him?!"

"Since the play," Kayla stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I actually ended up sitting next to him."

Anton decided that he probably should continue driving before he caused any traffic or accidents (and get that damn driver to stop honking), so he stepped on the gas pedal again, although he was mumbling things along the lines of, "Break her heart and I break your face, Bennett."

Cody figured that he should try making some conversation with Kayla, so he turned and asked, "So your dad lets you cosplay? He seems so serious, so I thought he would want you to focus on your studies more."

"We actually made a deal that if I improve my Japanese via manga, I'm allowed to cosplay," Kayla explained. "Well, not that it really works. I just pretend to understand my manga and then I look at the English translation of it on my brother's laptop. And, dear Andy," she added, donning a sickly sweet smile, "you tell Dad that, and I kill you."

Seemingly unfazed at the threat, Anton replied, "I actually found that out a while ago when I noticed Mangafox suddenly one of my bookmarks. If I wanted him to know, I would've told him by now."

"Yes, well," Kayla sighed wistfully, "there aren't any cons this time of year near Burgess. And you know how Dad feels about cosplaying around the house. So, in short, I have no use for these right now."

"You could always lend one of your wigs to Cody," Anton joked. "He promised his dad he'll find a girlfriend, so if he ends up not being able to, he can just find someone to crossdress as a girl."

He expected some sort of biting response from Cody, but it never came. He turned to look at the raven-haired boy, only to find him staring at him again. Not in the weirded out, disturbed way he was previously, but in the wide-eyed, dude-you're-a-fucking-genius way. Anton really wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, until he realized what he was thinking and slammed down on the brakes again.

"Just how many times are you planning to do that?" Kayla whined, picking up her wigs again.

The same car driving behind Anton from before suddenly passed by him, its driver shouting insults and giving him the middle finger. However, Anton barely acknowledged him, and instead yelled at Cody, "Don't even think about it! I am not dressing up for you!"

"Why not? You were the one who brought it up."

"I was kidding! Besides, I didn't mean me! And don't you think your dad won't buy it? Are you even listening to me?!" Anton pleaded in horror.

"Nope," Cody said bluntly. "Now drive before someone from behind kills us."

Anton, remembering where they were, sullenly started driving just when a driver two cars back was about to exit his vehicle and stalk over to him.

Cody immediately turned to Kayla again and asked, "Got a wig I could borrow? Preferably red? And give me one of those dresses."

Great, now his greatest frenemy who most likely hated him was joining forces with his eleven-year-old sister in order to pull off the biggest crossdressing event of the century. "Why do you both find joy in conspiring against me?"

"Because you let us conspire," Kayla replied.

"Because you're shitty," Cody answered at the same as Kayla.

"Anyway, here." Kayla tossed the hot pink pageant dress at Cody, along with a red, waist-length ponytail. "I'm pretty sure these will suit him."

Once Anton got a glimpse of the dress and the wig, he immediately tried to say, "Oh no, not even—" He stopped abruptly once Cody gave him a look that basically told him that no minds were going to be changed.

"You know, this wig doesn't really seem to fit the dress at all..." Kayla mused to herself. She reached for the cardboard box again and took out a makeup kit and a curling iron. "Good thing I have these in here too."

Anton couldn't help but grumble.

When Jamie heard the doorbell ring, he promptly bounded across the room and threw the door open...only to see Caleb, Claude, and Monty at the doorstep.

"Sup, Jamie?" Claude grinned. "We were just heading to the arcade, and we thought you might want to come."

"Nah, I'll pass," Jamie declined. "I have enough on my hands already."

"What's wrong?" Caleb asked.

"Well..." Should he tell them? "Jack's nowhere to be found, and me, Zander, and Spencer are trying to prevent my mom from calling the—"

"Wait, what?" Claude interrupted. "Jack's gone? Oh god, we're not going to the arcade knowing this." He then stepped inside and walked past Jamie, much to the latter's dismay. Caleb apparently agreed, because he followed his brother.

"Aw, come on!" Jamie cried. "This isn't necessary! I mean, you guys aren't unwelcome, it's just that this really isn't the time—" He sighed in frustration when he realized that nobody was listening to him. He turned to Monty. "Fine, if you want to come in too, go ahead."

"I don't think the twins realize they're not supposed to be involved in this situation," Monty commented as he came in. "I don't think they notice the gravity of it either."

"If they don't help keep my mom calm, then I'm kicking them out," Jamie deadpanned, not bothering to close the door. "At least you'll try, right?"

"Sure."

"Hey Bennett, nice job trying to keep more people from finding out about Jack's disappearance," Zander called from the sofa, drinking some coffee Spencer had prepared. "Keep that up, alright?"

"Zander, your sarcastic quips aren't needed right now," Spencer piped up. He had come back to the living room after he persuaded Mrs. Bennett to go to her room and lie down for a bit once he sensed her to be getting a panic attack ("You'd be a great therapist, you know that?" Zander had said. "Act like that when Cody's around and he'll have a better personality in no time.").

"Hey guys!" Kayla suddenly walked in through the open door, smiling from ear to ear. "How's it going?"

"Kayla, hi! Um... What are you doing here?" Jamie asked. "Oh wait, is your brother and his friend here too?"

"Well..." Kayla looked back outside at something. "I wouldn't say they're friends... More like two boys with belligerent sexual tension."

"...What?"

"Never mind. Either way, I want to introduce you all to somebody."

"I have arrived~!" A beautiful girl wearing a hot pink dress appeared in the doorway, twirling her long, floor-length skirt gracefully (dat slit in it showed some leeeeg). Her face was lightly touched with makeup, and her red hair was tied up into a perfect ponytail. A curling iron had clearly been used to make the strands bouncy.

Zander had been sipping his coffee at that moment, and once he saw the girl, he spat the liquid right back into the mug. Spencer recognized her too, and only stiffened up and stared at her as if that was going to get an explanation from anyone in the room. Meanwhile, the middle school boys looked absolutely stunned.

"My name is Antonia!" Antonia continued cheerfully, her perfectly pitched voice cracking for a fraction of a second (not that anyone except for the older set of twins and Kayla noticed). "I like taking care of puppies at the animal center and I give funds for charity! I help out children at the local orphanage! Nice to meet you!"

Jamie and Monty seemed to catch on to the reason why Zander and Spencer looked so bewildered (The name Antonia just gave everything away to them) and exchanged a glance. Meanwhile, Caleb and Claude were still stunned.

"You're so beautiful! Do you have a boyfriend?" Kayla asked innocently, clearly savoring this entire moment.

"Why yes, I do!" Antonia's already girlish voice suddenly became even higher and her eye began to twitch. "I'm... Cody's girlfriend...!"

Caleb and Claude suddenly had such disappointed expressions.

"What!" Zander shouted, finally finding his voice. "What... How... What does that even mean? Why the hell are you dressed like that?!"

"Did it work?" Cody suddenly came in.

"Sort of. I think Caleb and Claude are the only ones who still haven't caught on yet. But I guess that's only because they've never seen him before. In person, at least," Kayla replied. "So in short, I'm sure you'll be able to trick your dad, since he only saw him like twice. He hasn't seen him enough to recognize his crossdressing alter ego three months later."

"Yeah... Now can someone please explain what that means?" Spencer tried to maintain politeness, but that was kind of hard considering he looked utterly baffled.

"Cody promised his dad he'll find a girlfriend by graduation," Anton groaned in his regular voice, taking off the wig and shaking his bangs out (Caleb and Claude were now heartbroken and sulking in the corner). "And since that's literally next to impossible... Well, you know. My sister suggested we should experiment on you guys."

Zander began laughing. "Are you friggin' serious?! And the way you came in through the door! You really were putting in the effort, weren't ya?!"

Anton scowled at the floor. "Girls aren't easy to impersonate. It's safer to just act as feminine as possible. Besides, if I don't put in enough effort, Cody and Kayla will kill me."

"Yeah, you're not allowed to ruin it for me," Cody agreed.

"And I didn't curl my wig for nothing. That was actually the one I wanted to use to cosplay as Rin Natsume from Little Busters," Kayla added, then turned to Jamie and Monty. "Anyway, are Pippa and Cupcake here? Since you're always with each other and all? I want to ask Cupcake if I could have my wigs back."

"No, they're not here," Jamie told her. "But if you want, I can call them for you."

With a hint of blush on her cheeks, Kayla flashed a big smile at him (Unbeknownst to her, Anton rolled his eyes). "Yeah, thanks!"

As Jamie went to his room to get his cell, Zander felt the need to make one last remark about Antonia. "Look on the bright side, if you ever need someone to pretend to be your girlfriend, Cody's willing to return the favor."

"Who told you that?" Cody raised a brow.

Kayla smiled again, though this time she seemed kind of evil. "That gives me a really good idea..."

And that is the story of how Pippa and Cupcake came into Jamie's house, only to hear a seductive-looking girl apparently named Cordelia yell at a grinning Antonia (Anton had put the wig back on) and Kayla about how she hated them "so fucking much."

THIS IS A WHOPPING 7500 WORDS. THAT'S LONGER THAN CHAPTER 26. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY BECAUSE ALL WEEK I'VE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR NOT UPDATING FOR SO LONG.

Anyway, this was meant to be even longer and more relevant to the whole Immo thing, but I decided that this is the punishment I am bestowing upon you for raging like animals because of my lack of updates (If you want to ask why I haven't updated, do it nicely please. If you do it nicely, there's a 100% chance that I won't snap and throw a fit, like I always do whenever someone rudely pesters me. Not like you see me like that. I tend to hold it in or rant on Facebook).

As for the rest of you, thanks for being patient. Next chapter most likely won't be as lighthearted as this one (hopefully).

So am I the only one who thinks Zander/Cody (Petition for it to be called Candy) would make a pretty good pairing? I mean, it's not as good as Crouton, but still.

New poll, by the way. Go check it out.

akizaki14: Of course you like Cody. One of my personal goals for this story is to make everyone like Cody.

Lovepuppy316: I hope whacking him in the head with the stick was enough for you.

Doctor Skittles: Well then, congrats on becoming the thousandth review of this story (A thousand! That's crazy!).

Dude: I picture Cody to be pretty scrawny. He doesn't look all lanky and twiggy like Jack, just scrawny. If you want reference, then look on my profile. But good job on the drawing anyway, even though I don't know what it looks like XD

Writeous: Tell you what, you ought to try competing for the 1050th review. I'm obviously going to reach that number since I gain like thirty reviews for every chapter (though I don't think this story deserves that many). Also, your headcanon is officially made canon. Again. (Jack's hair grew back out. Don't worry.)

nique17: No question is ever too late. I didn't really think about it that way, but it's probably because Jack trusts the wind more than he trusts Anton (especially because they weren't friends at the time). He's used to the wind pulling him around while the whole Anton thing was something new.

Tilda the Bug: Your review made me cry tears of joy, like seriously (Okay, not literally, but still).

Now review. Preferably about positive things (criticism is still welcome though) and not...what I'm basically subject to every time I take a break. And, might I add, please don't complain about how much of a let down this chapter was. I know all of you (or most of you) were expecting some epic battle scene (The rest of the Guardians come in next chapter. I promise. And they'll find Jack and...yeah).