Disclaimer: I do not own Evanescence, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Boston Medical Center, Mercedes-Benz, or the Tipton. I do own Sierra. This is one of my first major Songfic-novel ideas, and I hope you like it.
I'm so tired of being hereSuppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
Your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone!
High school took Cody. By definition, he was Zack's little brother by about 15 minutes. But Zack didn't really care. Zack and Cody were best friends. Somebody said that twins were closer than normal siblings were; double that if they were identical. Cody and Zack were that close. Zack could remember that once during science class, this new girl Sierra kept having trouble telling the two of them apart. Cody really liked her, but as you know, Cody had trouble when it came to girls. She ended up dumping in the trashcan. Zack laughed in memory. It was funny, if you were there. But in retrospect, Zack thought he really should have helped him. Zack should have told her to stop. And he should have told Cody to stop before he got in the car with her so she could drive him home.
The car crashed. Some drunk driver was driving erratically and plowed into Sierra's Mercedes. Both of them died. Sierra died instantly, because the crash was on her side of the car, and Cody died on the way to the hospital. Zack trusted Sierra as a driver, but he still liked Cody being with him, so he wouldn't get hurt. If Zack was not with him, he could get hurt. Maybe that's why I should have stopped him. Zack thought.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
Zack felt guilty. He was the one who always protected Cody. He should have stopped him. But nobody can stop what's meant to happen. And nobody can stop what will happen after that. He was at the Tipton when he heard the news. A girl who had been standing at the side of the road when it had crashed, who recognized Cody from the Tipton, which she had stayed at before (and had the boys crash through her air vent) and from school. She had sprinted to the hotel to tell them what had happened and to call 911, because she didn't have a cell phone. Zack was in the lobby, trying to convince Mr. Moseby not to take his skateboard when the girl burst through the revolving doors, shouting that Cody had been in a car accident.
Zack had never seen anybody move that fast. Maddie dialed 911 and gave the phone to the girl, then she, Zack, and Mr. Moseby ran up to the Martin's suite. Zack got there first, being the most athletic of the three. When he told his mom, it was like his world crashed. They drove to Boston Medical Center hastily, but it was too late. Cody Martin had died, along with Sierra Rodriguez. Cody was 15 years old, and Sierra was 16.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still had all of me
It was like a fog, at the high school. People were crying over the loss of two of the best students there. When Zack walked in the halls, people would run up, trying to comfort him. But no amount of "Zack, I'm so sorry about your brother" would help him stop crying. Zack was not an emotional person, but he was crying as if the world was going to end. His mom had been called up to the office more than once in the days since the accident to bring him home, and he couldn't do his work with the grief. Zack was the one to comfort Cody. Now, he needed Cody to help comfort him. If Cody died, then half of Zack died. He was even doing his homework now to try to fill the void his little brother had left behind. No doctor/lawyer in space, just to fill the void of a genius. He was even reading better. And he couldn't stop thinking about this when he sat down in the far back, wishing it had been him, not Cody.
You used to captivate me by your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me
A lot of people said Zack was the cooler twin, and Cody was often in his shadow. Little did they know, Zack always respected Cody. There wasn't anybody else whose homework he would copy, because nobody else seemed good. To him, Cody was the cooler twin, and nobody could convince him otherwise. He thought back at the time where they had been on a rip-off game show, and thought of how quickly he could answer as Zack looked on, except for the Joe DiMaggio answer.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
Two Years Earlier…"Remember, I'm the smart one, you're the fast one." Cody whispered under his breath to his older brother.
"Okay, which batter has the highest hitting record in Major League baseball?" the host asked.
"Joe DiMaggio!" Zack yelled, the moment he finished the question.
"What was that for?" Cody half-yelled as he asked the question.
"See, you're not the only smart one." Zack said smugly.
"Yeah, but now I have to do the physical challenge." Cody said angrily.
"Oh, right. Maybe you are the only smart one." Zack said, embarrassed.
Cody sighed in exasperation.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still had all of me
Why was Zack the only one who understood Cody? Whenever Cody got upset, Zack was there to comfort him. Whenever Cody got scared of a "Monster under the bed", Zack would check under there for him, reassure his little brother, and the moment Cody was asleep, he would make scary monster sounds. They had been this way for 15 years, 16 next week. Zack tried not to curse out of anger and grief, but the stress overwhelmed him and he bolted out of the class, grabbing his black backpack. The teacher understood why, but didn't know whether to stop him or not.
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
Zack ran all the way home. He ignored people yelling at him as the last bell rang. They didn't understand. Their twin brother hadn't died in a car crash. Heck, they didn't even have twin brothers. Tears and anger masked his face as he marched home, wishing that his Alter Ego was next to him to calm him down. Yet he felt alone.
He ignored everybody as he walked in the lobby. Nobody would ever understand this, and nobody on the face of the earth would ever understand him. Maddie finally sighed and grabbed him, stopping him in his tracks.
"Okay, Zack. Calm down. This isn't like you!" She shouted.
"Why Cody? Why not me. I can't calm down because my baby brother just died!" He snapped, spinning out of Maddie's grip. She felt sadness too, as he pounded on the elevator buttons, ignoring the protests of Mr. Moseby as usual.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still had all of me
"Zack, calm down. It was for a reason." Cody's voice sounded like it was in his ears. Zack shivered, and began hitting his head on the lobby walls, ignoring the screaming of Mr. Moseby. Cody couldn't be there. Cody was gone. Tomorrow was Saturday, his funeral and memorial.
"ZACK!" Cody sounded angry this time. Zack jumped, shouting, then rubbed his eyes. A figure that looked like Cody stood two feet away, faded and transparent like old window curtains. It was clear that everyone else could see Cody, but nobody else could hear him.
"Cody, why are you…I thought you were…you can't be…my head hurts." Zack stuttered. Cody rolled his eyes.
"Zack, it was either you or me. If it had been you, then I would be the one banging my head on the wall completely ignoring Mr. Moseby." Cody's voice sounded distant, like an old movie, but clear as anything. "And don't worry. There aren't any girls dumping me in trash cans where I'm going." He said reassuringly. Then he faded away quickly, like sand being blown off a statue. Zack stood, rubbing his eyes and blinking.
"Now will you calm down?" Maddie asked from the candy counter, still trying to figure out what she saw. Zack nodded. Then he slowly got into the elevator, which had been open for five minutes now, and went up to his suite, feeling reassured.
It was either Zack or Cody. And Zack didn't want Cody to feel like he did. But with what had just happened, it had changed his mind about a lot of things.
Zack was no longer the same person he had been. He no longer annoyed everyone at the hotel, he did his homework without copying, and got on the honor roll for the first time in ten years. He got scared more easily, but he knew Cody wouldn't let him get hurt.
Just like he hadn't let Cody get hurt.
Ohh…
Me…ohh
Me…
Dedicated to the thousands of people whose lives are cut short because of drunk driving. Don't drink and Drive. I mean it.
Ghost Girl 1995 here. This was more of a story than it was a regular songfic. I had a dream right after I heard this song for the first time. It's hard thinking about Cody dying in a car accident. But those two are inseparable, and Zack would be devastated if Cody got hurt. I hope you liked it. Please R&R. And forget the fact that I cried while writing this story. It could happen.