Cody's POV
After the funeral we went to London's suite, I'm not sure why, but I think Mosby's getting sick of us. My roommate, Travis, didn't like me anyway. London isn't as air-headed as she was before Zack's death. It's changed all of us. I was never that close to Zack, I was closer to Max, although he was closer to Max than I was. They used to tease me a lot, and were always in the same class. Now Zack's gone, and it felt like the end of the world.
In London's suite, she seems to be trying to get on with life. She always had a soft spot for Zack, like Maddie had one for Max. I was just the third wheel. Or the fifth wheel, I guess. London sat down on her pink couch, and Max and I followed. She looked Max up and down, then said, "You really need a manicure," taking her hand.
"Oh-kay," Max said, London already filing and getting paint ready.
"Hey, London," I said, making her look at me. "Can I take a walk?"
"Sure! Just don't get lost," she said with a smile.
I knew exactly where I was going. Zack would do it for me, so why couldn't I do it for him? Well, Max would probably do a better job. I was Cody Martin, not Zack Martin's 'twin' or 'clone'. I wasn't Max's plan B, or her side-kick, I was Cody Martin. My own person.
But thinking about Max brought thoughts to my mind, thoughts about suicide. I wouldn't commit suicide, but Max tried. "I promise," the words repeated in my mind. "I promise. I promise. I promise." I kept telling myself that on the way to do Zack justice. But then more words came into my mind, words I'd almost forgotten.
"Promises are made to be broken,"
The thought of being a singleton (non-multiple. IE in your mom's tummy on your own) scared me. I couldn't let Max kill herself. She's with London I told myself again and again. I wanted to go back, but wanted to do Zack justice more. I'll be quick I told myself, as I was almost there.
But when I arrived the nerves kicked in, shakily I knocked on Tapeworm's, or I should say Mathew's, door. His mom, a woman I recognised, came to the door. "Oh, Cody," she said, indulging () me in a hug. "Is Max here?" she asked.
"No, just me," I tried to smile, but just couldn't. "Uh-could I speak to Mathew a second?" I asked.
"Sure, I'm so sorry about your loss by the way. I can't tell you how sorry I am. We're sending him away to a group home tomorrow, but you can speak to him now. He's in his room,"
I went up the stairs to Tapeworm's room, anger rushing through me. I burst the door open and was about to shout when I took in the sight around me. All Tapeworm's collections had been presumably disposed of (thrown away). And the majority of his youngest sisters stuff was moved into his room, and sat on the floor, was a bald Tapeworm. I paused for a moment, but then I had to shout. "You fucking asshole! You murdered my brother!" I'm not one to swear, but under these circumstances, I thought it was necessary. "You've ruined my family! I can't believe I ever trusted a dick-head like you!"
"I'm sorry, Cody," Tapeworm looked sincere, but I didn't trust him. I was there. I know exactly what happened. Zack and Tapeworm had a fight, so Zack told him there was no way in hell he'd have his permission to go out with Max (A secret we both kept was that he liked her). And then Zack pretended to be on the phone talking to Max, and Tapeworm threatened to kill him. The next thing I saw was Zack and Tapeworm by the window of the highest room in school. Tapeworm yelled; "I'm sorry Zack," then pushed him, "That I'm not sorry!"
I fought back tears. "No. You're not sorry."
"Is that all you came to say?" he asked tiredly.
"No." I stood my ground and couldn't believe what I was about to do. "I came to give you this." I punched him hard on the jaw and, before he could retaliate, ran for the open window. Putting my arm on the ledge, I jumped through easily and landed on my feet. I couldn't believe what I'd just done, I mean, for Zack it'd be no big deal, but for me?! I can do anything Zack could do.
I ran home, panting, pleased with myself. But a part of me was missing. Usually, that'd be a team effort from Zack and me, whenever anyone insulted Max. Although, usually she'd defend herself also. My thoughts went to Max. I wondered how she was doing with London. They usually could last about half an hour before they tried to kill each other. Complete opposites. London loved spending her dad's money on stuff she didn't need and spending time on hair and make-up, whereas Max liked to make the money herself, and didn't care about looks. That's where they clash. London wants to make Max look pretty, and Max hates it. She could bare nails, but she'll go mental at haircuts or make-up.
As I walk in, luckily neither's dead. Max is talking to London, and London actually looks like she's listening. As I get closer, I realize that she's talking about basketball. I helped win the championships (sorta) by the ball bouncing off my head. But they're not talking about that, they're talking strategy. Max is best at strategy, best on the team. Well, she was. I don't think she'll want to play next year. Max is changing, she's becoming more of a girl. She won't change in front of us now, and once I caught her stuffing her bra. She's been wearing her hair down recently, too. I guess she is a girl, if she wasn't our triplet she'd probably be girly anyway.
.
The next day we had to go to school. I didn't want to, and neither did Max, but we had to clear out our lockers and stuff. We took the bus to school for once, something we rarely did, and all the kids stared at us. Everyone started whispering as we sat at the front. Usually, Drew and his crew sat at the back, Drew in the middle. Now, Drew was only a row or two behind us, and his crew were at the back with...Bob?
Bob's a boy in our class with dyslexia. Zack liked him, and probably would've been friends with him if it wasn't for Max. He was particularly mean to Max behind our backs, and when she told us we immediately stopped speaking to him. I don't get how Bob became so popular, but he did. Drew saved Max's life, and has been nice to her recently, which is probably why he lost all his cool. We were never cool in the first place.
The ride to school was quiet, Max and I kept glancing to each other, but that was it. When we got to school, Bob came over to us.
"Hey, twins," he said.
"We're triplets," Max grumbled.
"Yeah, whatever,"
"Not whatever, we're triplets,"
"Lesbian," he muttered a Max made a shocked face. "Anyway, the teacher says we've all got to be nice to you, so I'm sorry for your loss.
"Fuck off," Max said, as he walked away.
"Max!" I said in shock, "Why do you have to be so mean to everyone?"
"I'm not," she replied defensively, as we walked towards our lockers.
I don't know how, but we managed to get through the day. All the teachers sympathized with us, and didn't really care that we didn't do anything. No-one spoke to us, but we didn't really care. As it was our last day before summer vacation, (we were allowed to skip the last four weeks) Drew came to say goodbye, then we left.
Mom picked us up from the bus stop, we could've walked, but I was glad to see her.
"Mommy," I yelled, stepping off the bus and hugging her. I could hear the other kids laughing, but I didn't care. I just hugged my mom tighter, so glad to see her again. She hugged me back and muttered, "Cody,"
I saw Max over her shoulder, barely even noticing us. Scraping her shoe against the floor and staring into the distance. My fears of her committing suicide grew, so I ran over to her and hugged her.
Max made one her creped-out faces and half-hugged I back. "I love you, Max," I muttered.
"Well, can you love me a little less?" she joked, pushing me off her. I suddenly realized I was hugging a little too tight, but I realized that she'd made a joke. Even if a little one, it meant stuff was getting better, a little. But it made me feel guilty. I was guilty that I was carrying on without Zack. It should've been me. I should've died. Max wouldn't have cared as much. Zack would've beat the shit out of Tapeworm, but that'd be it. That's the thing about us Martin triplets, we always stuck together. But it can't be like that anymore. We need to live without Zack.
The question: Do you like Cody's POV, or should I stick to Max? And who else's POV might you like to see?
