Cody was outwardly quiet as they walked the remaining few blocks to the Tipton but was a cacophony of noise on the inside. What did Zack mean by that? his brain screamed as he heard his brother saying they were made for each other over and over in his head. Was it just a random offhanded statement or was there something else behind it? Did Zack suspect something? Cody's mind was a blur.

Hiding that part of himself was becoming harder and harder. He meticulously played back every bit of the day he could remember while he and Chase were around his brother. Did he say something that was slightly off? Did he let his gaze linger a bit too long on the new boy during class and Zack noticed? Was he just tilting at windmills? Cody sighed heavily as they stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for their floor.

"You okay?" Zack asked.

"Me? Oh, yeah, I'm good. Just thinking."

"I figured. Try to keep it down a little though. I can hear the gears in your head screeching."

"I'll try to keep it a little quieter," Cody replied, throwing a little smile on his face as the elevator lurched upwards.

Trying to keep it quiet was exactly what he'd been doing ever since he'd first noticed odd feelings showing up the previous years. He couldn't explain them, they just were. He buried them for as long and as best as he could but they always seemed to dig themselves out at the worst possible times. Today might have been one of those times but he wasn't sure. He snuck a look at his brother, trying to read Zack's face for any partially hidden signs but came away with nothing.

He sighed again but kept it quieter this time as he watched the numbers on the elevator's display light up in order. Somewhere between the fifteenth and sixteenth floors he miraculously gathered the courage and opened his mouth to ask Zack if he'd meant anything with the comment but the bravery left him just as quickly before he could say the first word.

Maybe Zack already knows, he thought to himself. Or suspects and he just hasn't said anything yet for some reason. Cody turned his head down and deeply studied the remnants of a stain on the elevator's carpet so Zack wouldn't see the frown on his face.

Or maybe he has no idea, another voice in his head argued a split second later. He's not dumb but unless food or video games are involved, he can be pretty oblivious. Cody looked up from the stain and glanced at his brother's face again and found it as impassive as he had before. Zack could be thinking about how much he wanted an ice cream sandwich or singing about Cody and Chase sitting in a tree in his head or a million other things. Cody sighed a third time. "Sorry."

"You sure you're okay, Cody?" Zack asked as the car settled on their floor with a slight jolt.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just feeling a bit weird all of a sudden."

"Like sick-weird?

"No, just Cody-weird," he replied as they walked down the hallway.

"So you're just normal, right?" Zack joked, checking the door and finding it locked before waiting for Cody to dig a key from his pocket.

"I wish," Cody said as he stuck his key in the lock and gave the knob a twist. He went into the suite first and missed the puzzled look Zack gave him.

Once inside, Cody headed directly for their bedroom and settled himself down on the bed after laying his backpack on the floor nearby. He listened to Zack in the kitchen rooting through the refrigerator and freezer as he tried to stop making mountains out of molehills in his mind. For some reason, though, the day's events kept popping back in and it was impossible to get his brain back in any sort of working order. Cody groaned and leaned back against the headboard. "This isn't how it's supposed to work,"he said weakly to himself.

Cody had planned his future out and chiseled it in stone when he was in the first grade. He would escape from whatever cesspool of a public high school he had to attend and then go off to a good college. He'd graduate with a degree and lots of letters added to his name. He'd land a good job and then start working on the wife, house, white picket fence, 2.4 kids, and the dog he was supposed to have as an average American guy.

"That is obviously not going to happen," he muttered to himself. He looked at his backpack for a long second before reaching down and snagging one of the straps. Maybe algebra could help slow his mind down. Algebra was nothing if not straightforward. There was only ever one answer and no grey areas. Cody flipped through the pages until he came to the night's assignment. He looked at the first few problems repeatedly and realized he had absolutely no chance of figuring out what x was. He simply couldn't focus. Cody gently closed the book and laid it on his stomach as he laid straight out on his back and studied the whorls in the plaster above his head.

Zack finished creating his masterpiece in the kitchen and put the ingredients more or less back in their proper places. He picked up his massive bowl of different flavored ice cream and chocolate syrup and spun around to dig in the silverware drawer for a spoon when he glanced toward their room. Cody was laying on his bed with his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

He couldn't remember ever seeing Cody do that before and it struck him as odd. Maybe his brother was actually feeling a little sick-weird after all. His fingers dug two spoons out instead of the usual one. "Just in case he wants some," Zack said to himself as he hip-checked the drawer closed.

"Mom is going to kill you," Cody said as his brother walked into the room with a mixing bowl loaded with ice cream.

"Well..." Zack said as he sat on the foot of Cody's bed and took a big bite, "the way I see it is that she's already probably going to kill me for my test grade and since she can only technically kill me once, unless I'm a zombie, of course, and that's a whole 'nother story, this ice cream is a freebie. Want some?" Zack offered his brother the spare spoon.

"No, thanks though."

"There's Rocky Road in there somewhere under all the chocolate." Zack poked around the mounds of ice cream. "Here it is. You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Are you?" Zack made the extra utensil disappear before digging up another large chunk of deliciousness.

"Am I what?"

"Are you okay?"

Cody turned his head and looked at Zack as he shoveled in another massive spoonful of ice cream. There it was. Zack had just given him the opening to finally talk about the tornado of feelings he was going through with another person. The chance to unburden himself of the mental weight he was carrying was sitting a few feet away. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Zack studied his brother between bites. Cody wasn't quite Cody but he couldn't put his finger on the change. "You just seem a little different."

I am, Cody thought. "I'm just thinking about some problems and I don't know any of the answers," Cody told him, being both truthful and vague at the same time.

Zack looked at his brother thoughtfully for a moment. He sensed there was more to what Cody said than just the words, a whole hidden layer, but he couldn't see through it. "See, that's why I usually don't do my homework. I don't ever know any of the answers either and it's a waste of time," he finally said.

"You should try it every now and then, Zack. It's a nice feeling when you don't have to worry about Mom getting home and seeing your grades."

"Maybe, but I think the looming death thing is what makes this ice cream taste so fantastic." Zack savored another large spoonful. "It could be the last bowl I ever eat, you know. Like my last meal in prison or something."

"I guess," Cody said, adding a bemused shake of his head when he noticed a thin line of chocolate syrup snaking out from the corner of Zack's mouth. He pointed to it and Zack snaked his tongue out and got it.

"You're not going to melt down or anything if I go out and watch some cartoons and finish this, are you?"

"I think I'll be fine in a little while. Go watch your Sponge Bob." Zack shrugged his shoulders and left the room. Cody heard the television snap on and his brother's hearty laughter soon followed. He inhaled deeply and let it back out. He did it again and was surprised to find that he'd calmed down slightly. His head was still spinning but his brain had finally pumped the brakes and downshifted to third gear from fifth.

"Zack would have said something if he suspected anything," Cody said quietly to himself as he opened the math book again. "He couldn't help himself if he knew. He'd have to say something." Cody glanced out the door and saw Zack engaged in the cartoon and nodded to himself.

Cody's first coherent thought of the morning was today's not going to be a repeat of yesterday, is it? as he remembered the turmoil of the previous afternoon. He'd been able to finish his homework but the unsettled feelings kept making their return as the night went on. Nine o'clock had barely come around and Cody had been absolutely exhausted from the day's mental roller coaster so he went to bed a bit earlier than normal.

No, I think we're going to be fine. We're going to play it cool today. We're going to put our mask on like we always do and we'll be cool around Mom, cool around Zack, and definitely cool around Chase. I hope. Cody dug himself out of the blankets enough to squint at the red numbers on the clock. Just after five, they told him, nearly a full hour before the alarm would go off.

He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep for a bit longer but he quickly found that wasn't an option. His mind was already wide awake even if the rest of his body hadn't received the message yet. "Get up, Cody," he said to himself as he shoved the blankets back and swung his legs out of the bed. A deep yawn interrupted him while he was choosing what to wear for the day and was followed by a pair of aftershocks. "Wake up, kid," he said to himself and shook his head. The thought I wonder if Chase is awake yet? came out of nowhere as he grabbed fresh underwear.

"Of course he's not," Cody mumbled. "He's not the one nervous enough about screwing up to be awake at five in the morning." Clean clothes in hand, he left Zack's soft snores behind and passed his mother's closed door and her louder and meatier snores. He grinned to himself as he stepped into the bathroom and started the shower. He quickly disrobed and hopped into the gloriously warm water. All too soon he was as clean as he was going to get and he turned the water off.

He dressed quickly and wiped a hand across the mirror to clear a spot to fix his hair. Normally it was a very short affair but he found himself taking extra time to make sure every last hair was where it was supposed to be. "I want to make a good impression on Chase," he said to the accusing reflection in the mirror, "he wouldn't want to be friends with someone with a dead Wookiee on his head." His reflection was not impressed.

Once he was satisfied, Cody opened the door and set about his other morning rituals. He had eaten and was ready to go by the time he heard Zack's alarm go off and his brother stumbled into the living room in just his pajama pants.

"You morning people make me want to barf," Zack groggily told him as he fixed himself a bowl of cereal.

"We can't help it. You know what they say about us, Zack: the early bird gets the worm."

"That makes me want to barf even more. I'll settle for some Cap'n Crunch." Zack watched his brother bounce around the suite as he ate. The younger twin flitted from the kitchen to the living room to the bedroom to the bathroom mirror and back to the kitchen in a matter of seconds.

"You either drank a case of soda before I got up or you're back to your normal self, Cody," Zack told him.

"I think I'm back to normal."

"Uh huh," Zack said with a mouthful of cereal. "Now will you sit down for just a minute? You're making me nervous jumping around the house like that."

"I'm just ready for school, Zack," Cody explained. He sat down with Zack at the table and quickly started tapping his fingers on the wood. Zack put his free hand over his brother's and temporarily held the fingers still.

"No one is ever that ready for school, Cody. Not even on a Friday." Zack watched Cody try to control his anxious energy as he finished breakfast. He got up to put the bowl in the dishwasher and it hit him. Chase. Cody was excited about seeing his new friend again today. He hid his grin as he closed the dishwasher and turned around. "I'm going to grab a shower and get ready. Try not to shake the room to pieces while I'm gone, okay?"

"I'll do my best."

Zack disappeared and Cody tried to busy himself by watching some early morning news. He'd made it through the first few stories before his eyes began glancing at the clock and the bathroom door. "Hurry up, Zack," he muttered. His brother finally came out wrapped in a towel and went back to their room to dress. He waited as long as he could before he popped up and went to the coat rack. Cody pulled his coat from its hook and slipped an arm in. "C'mon, Zack, let's go," he called as he worked on the zipper.

"Chill out, Cody. We've still got plenty of time," his brother informed him from the bedroom. "We could crawl there on our knees and still make it with time to spare."

Cody walked to their room and leaned against the door frame. Zack had just zipped up his jeans and bent down to tie his shoes. "I don't want to be late."

"Trust me, buddy, I know. You tell me every morning." Zack stood up and stretched and let out a very satisfied groan. He rubbed his eyes and took an exaggeratedly long look at the clock and then at Cody. "You know, it's usually ten minutes later than it is now when you start nagging me about leaving. Are you extra excited about spending seven hours in jail today?"

"It's hardly jail, Zack," Cody retorted but the anxiousness on his face was clear.

"No, it's not. The food in jail is probably better," he said with a yawn. Cody wanted to bring up how Zack inhaled his school lunch the day before but Zack kept talking as they left the bedroom. "You do realize that Chase's bus won't be there for another thirty-five minutes or so, right?"

"Huh?" Cody gasped.

"You might as well be made of glass, Cody. I can see right through you sometimes."

"What?" Alarm bells and sirens went off in Cody's head.

"That's why you're so ready to go to school today, right? Your new friend?"

"I don't know if he's my friend yet," Cody told Zack as he mentally stepped back from the brink.

"He is."

"How do you-"

"I just know," Zack interrupted. "I also know that the bus he rides is one of the last few to get to school so I don't think we need to leave just yet." He pulled the heavy drapes back from the patio door and looked out. "Maybe if we wait long enough it won't be so cold."

"I don't think Mom would be happy if we waited until March to go to school," Cody said as he looked over Zack's shoulder at the cold, dark, outside world.

"No, probably not. But we don't need to leave this early, either."

Zack finally gave into Cody's nervousness and badgering, allowing himself to be pulled out the door three minutes earlier than normal. Less than a minute outside the warmth of the hotel, Zack realized they hadn't waited nearly long enough.

"You know, as much as buses smell, are slow, and are filled with annoying kids, I'd sure like to be on one right now." He shivered as he tried to wrap his arms even tighter around himself. "This is awful."

"This is Boston."

"Exactly! I still say Mom should have played hardball with Mr. Tipton and got a job singing at one of his hotels in The Bahamas or Jamaica or wherever else this kind of cold doesn't exist."

"Just think, Zack, winter doesn't even officially start for more than a month," Cody said with a grin.

"Oh, it officially started the day it went below sixty if you ask me. Now slow down a little, you're walking too fast and I'm trying to use you to block the wind."

The boys walked briskly through the cold, hands deep in jacket pockets. Cody's eyes scanned the side of each school bus that passed them and was always a bit disappointed when it wasn't the right number.

"How do you know when Chase's bus gets to school?" he asked during a lull in Zack's ongoing rant about the cold.

"Easy. One of my buddies rides that bus."

"You know his bus number?"

"Well I didn't try to know it. I just do for some dumb reason. As much as you and Mom don't believe me, I do pay attention. It's just that I usually pay attention to things that don't matter," Zack admitted.

Ten minutes later, the boys were out of the cold and at their lockers. Cody slowly emptied and refilled his backpack at his locker with Zack beside him talking up a storm but Cody was only vaguely listening while he looked through the growing crowd of kids for Chase.

"Um, Cody? You've put the same book in your bag and taken it back out again three times now," Zack told him.

"I did?"

"Yes. Now relax! He'll be here. Darren just walked by a minute ago-"

"Who?"

"My friend on Chase's bus. So if he's here, chances are pretty good that Chase is too, so calm down already. Speak of the devil," Zack said pointing down the hall, "there he is now." The twins watched as Chase wove his way through the students and made his way over.

"Hey, guys" he said.

"Hey, Chase," Cody replied and hoped he didn't look as relieved as he felt.

"So now that he's here you don't have to call the National Guard and the police," Zack said and patted his brother on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Chase and Cody said simultaneously.

"Cody here was so worried you'd got lost on your way that he was thinking about making some calls and sending out search parties."

"No I wasn't!" Cody argued and gave his brother a scowl. "I was just... a little concerned that he might get lost trying to find his way up here. This school is pretty big, you know."

"I didn't mean to keep you waiting," Chase told Cody, "but I had to drop off some papers in the office this morning."

"Well you're here now and that means my brother won't worry himself to death. Not about you, at least. Other things? Probably."

Cody rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I think I'll be okay, Zack. Thanks." He glanced down at his watch. "We should probably get to homeroom now. You ready for the day, Chase?"

"One hundred percent," he replied as he stepped out of the way of a monstrously large boy in a football jacket.

"Morning, Tank," Cody said as the kid passed.

"Hey, little man," the behemoth answered and waved.

"You know him?"

"Yep, I help him with his French sometimes. Let's follow him and let him clear the way for us." Cody slid in behind the massive boy and Chase was right behind him.

"That's a pretty fitting name," Chase said as they surfed along in Tank's wake.

"His name is actually Oliver," Cody laughed. "He's just really big and strong."

"I'll say. We barely come up to his elbow. He could stomp us flat if he really wanted to."

"Nah, Tank wouldn't do that. He's a gentle giant."

"I'll take your word for it. Hey, where's Zack?" Chase asked as he realized the other brother wasn't with them when they reached their homeroom.

"Oh, he's out there playing social butterfly somewhere. He'll be here about five seconds before the bell rings." Cody was right on the money. Zack sauntered in and had barely taken a seat before the school day started.

"Miss me?" he asked as he leaned back.

"Not particularly, no," Cody replied, barely looking up from reviewing his homework.

"See how he is, Chase? He didn't miss his own brother. You might want to rethink having him as a friend," Zack said and let his eyes flick to his brother's face and then back to Chase. Cody's eyes followed and he waited for the boy's response.

"Nah," Chase laughed, "I think I'll keep him. He seems pretty okay." Cody smiled inwardly.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Zack told him with a shrug just before the morning announcements began blaring through the room's speaker.

The boys listened with varying degrees of attentiveness as information about the day's lunch and the night's football game assaulted their ears. Zack gave his brother a smug grin whenever they made eye contact during the announcements.

The tone releasing them from homeroom sounded and the students all stood up and started to file out the door. "See? I told you he was your friend," Zack whispered in his brother's ear as they walked up the aisle.

"Okay, you were right," Cody whispered back softly. He hid it well on the outside but inside he felt nothing but relief as the trio made it from the classroom into the hallway.

"I'll see you two kids at lunch," Zack said to Chase and Cody as he split off and turned down another corridor. He gave them a lazy wave as he turned and disappeared into the sea of bodies.