Soulsearch (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Soulmate Series: Teen Paranormal Romance Book 2) (13 page)

“I spent my whole life trying to keep this a secret and you figured me out in less than a day, Paige.
 
It’s a good thing I like you, cuz otherwise I would be kind of scared of you!”

“Tell me about your partner, Zachary.
 
I want to meet him, or her.
 
It’s a big part of who you are and I want to know everything.” Paige stared earnestly into Zach’s eyes as she begged him to tell her, her unspoken affection the obvious motivation behind her curiosity.

Zach pursed his lips and averted his eyes as he contemplated the revelation he was about to make.
 
Would Paige still care for him after he told her?
 
She was expecting a happy story like Rachel’s and Rider’s.
 
Would she still respect him if she knew the truth?
 
He knew he was in too deep to attempt to deceive her now.

“My mom and dad are both twins, remember?
 
So when I was little, I just thought I was a twin too.
 
There was a show on TV with these twins named Zack and Cody, so I called my twin Cody.
 
Cheesy, I know,” Zach chuckled, letting off some tension.
 
Paige stayed quiet but her curious expression urged him to continue.
 
“I used to talk about him to my parents and relatives and they thought it was cute, you know?
 
Like I was trying to be like them.
 
I realized that no one could actually see Cody, not even me, but I was convinced that he was just invisible.
 
We used to have a lot of fun together as little kids.
 
He was my only playmate.
 
When I got to school, though, everyone told me I was too old to have an invisible friend, so I tried to forget about Cody; I ignored him, hoping he would go away.
 
He was pretty outspoken, though, and he didn’t like to be ignored.”
 
Paige’s eyes softened in sympathy as she imagined the rejection both boys must have endured.

“Cody would pester me, try to get me to talk to him, but I was stubborn and I wouldn’t listen to him.
 
I wouldn’t respond no matter what he said.
 
When I couldn’t shut him up no matter how much I ignored him, I decided I was crazy.
 
At one point, I heard about multiple personality disorder and I convinced myself that Cody wasn’t real at all, that he was all in my head.
 
That was too much for Cody.
 
He hated that I denied his existence and he found a way to make me admit he was real.”
 
Zach paused as the memories grew too intense.
 
He realized he was pacing angrily and he forced himself to calm down and rejoin Paige on the bed.
 
She nodded encouragingly for him to continue as she ran her hands softly down his arms, stopping to lay her fingers over his.

“Rider seems like a really easygoing guy, isn’t he?
 
Like he’s happy to go along with whatever Rachel wants.”
 
Paige nodded.
 
“Well, Cody’s not like that, Paige.
 
Cody is very strong-willed and…powerful.
 
When Cody gets angry enough he can take control.”

“Take control?
 
Like, of your body?” Paige questioned, disbelievingly.
 
Rider had never been able to do anything like that.

“Yes, and he did.
 
He made me look like a maniac, running and screaming and crashing into things.
 
He made me hurt myself and he made everyone think I had gone insane.
 
He only stopped when I was admitted to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
 
After that, he kept his attacks less obvious, but we fought for control a lot.
 
I knew he was real, that I wasn’t crazy, but I was determined to keep him out of my life and I was eventually able to resist his attempts to take over.
 
After a while he stopped trying so hard to control me and accepted that I wasn’t going to acknowledge him.
 
We haven’t talked to each other in years.”

Paige stared dumbfounded at Zach’s confession.
 
She never imagined his story could be so different from Rachel and Rider’s.
 
She was struck by a realization.
 
“Wait a minute!
 
Was that Cody at the prom that started the fighting?”

“Yeah, it was.
 
I mean, I was really mad at what those jerks were saying, but I never intended to fight them.
 
I just thought about punching them for a second and the next thing I knew I was all over them.”

“Oh my gosh, Zach.
 
You have to talk to Cody!” Paige exclaimed.

“I know, Paige, I know.
 
I did, actually.
 
Right after the fight.
 
We had it out in the principal’s office.
 
I reamed him out for going psycho on me like that.
 
He was actually really repentant.
 
I think he was just so happy to have me talk to him again that he didn’t even mind that I was so mad at him.
 
I apologized for the way I had treated him and I promised I’d try to let him back into my life if he promised he would never do anything like that again.”

“Oh Zach, this is so amazing!
 
I can’t believe this is true.
 
I wonder if there are others out there, too?
 
We know, or we suspect anyway, that you both came from Jessica Reynolds, but she didn’t seem to have a clue when we talked to her.
 
Is it possible she doesn’t know, or is she just a really good liar?”

“There’s another possibility, Paige.
 
Think about it.
 
What if it’s not her?
 
What if it’s….our father?”
 
Paige’s mouth dropped open in awe.

“Oh my gosh, we have to call Rider!
 
He is going to flip when he hears this!” Paige squealed and reached for her phone.

“Wait, Paige.
 
Your mom will be calling us to dinner in a few minutes.
 
Maybe we better wait till after?” Zach suggested, grasping her phone hand in his.

“You’re right,” Paige sighed, reluctantly putting down her phone.
 
“This is way too big to talk about in five minutes.”
 
Paige’s frown turned to a smirk.
 
“But I think there’s enough time for me to introduce myself to Cody.”

Zach chuffed.
 
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Paige.
 
Cody is well-aware of you.
 
That’s the reason he started the fight, you know.
 
He’s…..attracted to you.”

“What?!”
 
Paige exclaimed, giddily, bouncing on the bed.

“That’s right — my invisible friend has a crush on my girl.
 
What am I supposed to do with that, huh?”

Paige stared at Zach with a stunned look on her face, her mouth hanging open like a fish until she turned her gape into a grin.
 
“I always did have a way with the invisibles,” Paige teased and gave Zach a big, sloppy kiss.
 
“That one was for you, Cody!” she announced, wiping her wet mouth with the back of her sleeve.

Zach just shook his head in disbelief.
 
Once again, this little spitfire had turned his world upside down with a few simple words.

chapter nine

Rider was bummed.
 
He was bummed because it was Monday and his exciting weekend was over.
 
He was bummed because, in all the excitement, he had forgotten to do some of his homework and now he was going to get a zero.
 
He was bummed because Rachel had a dentist appointment that afternoon and they wouldn’t get to have any alone time today.
 
He was bummed because he spent all his money over the weekend and was forced to pack a lunch from the meager supply of acceptable food his health-nut mother kept in the house.
 
And he was bummed because his junior year was almost over and he didn’t have any idea what he was doing with his life.
 
But most of all, he was bummed because he wasn’t any closer to finding out about his past than he was a week ago when he hatched his brilliant plan to research his special ability.
 

 
His plans to go all the way with Rachel had also been foiled by the dramatic events at the prom, but Rider was kind of glad the romantic mood had been broken.
 
He wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if Rachel had wanted to take advantage of their night together.
 
The conquering hero in him longed to ravage his leading lady, but the gentleman he wanted to be demanded he protect her virtue.

Sunday had been just as anticlimactic.
 
None of them knew what else to do to further their quest, so they slept in late and frittered away the rest of the day gorging on the goodies Mrs. Donovan brought them and watching music videos on YouTube.
 
When it was time to leave for Indiana, only Rider managed to stay dry-eyed and Rachel spent most of the drive home lamenting the fact that they lived so far away from Paige.

Rachel was supposed to call him when she got home from the dentist, so after school Rider went home and locked himself in his room, hoping to deter any attention from his family.
 
He just wanted to mope a little.
 
He laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to come up with a plan, but he ended up taking a nap instead.
 
He was awoken like a princess in a Disney fairy tale — with true love’s kiss.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Rachel cooed as she hovered over his supine form, her soft hair tickling his ear.

Rider mumbled something incoherent as he took Rachel in his arms, her warm body pressed against every inch of his.
 
“I missed you,” he managed to say between kisses.
 
“How was the dentist?”

“No cavities,” Rachel said with a big, toothy grin, tucking her hair behind her ears and sitting up, her legs straddling his.
 
“Believe it or not, your mom ordered a pizza for dinner.
 
She has a headache and went to lay down in her room.”

Rider wiggled into an upright position under Rachel and captured her lips with his.
 
“You smell minty,” he murmured, probing her mouth with his tongue.

Suddenly a herd of elephants thundered past his room, pounding on his door as they went, screaming, “Pizza!Pizza!!Pizza!!!”
 
Rachel and Rider chuckled as they extricated themselves from their embrace and headed for the kitchen to grab a slice before his siblings devoured it all.

They were licking the last of the grease from their fingers when a FaceTime request from Paige popped up on Rachel’s phone.
 
“Rachel!
 
Where are you?
 
Is Rider with you?
 
We have GOT to talk right now!”
 
Paige demanded, her flared nostrils the only part of her face visible in the screen.

“Chill out, psycho girl!” Rachel giggled as she and Rider hurried back to his room for privacy.
 
Shutting the door behind them, the two squished into the bean bag chair in front of Rider’s TV and propped up the phone so Paige could see both of them.
 
Paige did the same on her end and suddenly another face appeared next to hers.
 
Paige giggled at the stupefied look on their faces as they recognized Zach, cozied up beside her, grinning happily.

“Uh, hi Zach, shouldn’t you be in jail?” Rider quipped, somehow managing to sound insulting yet friendly at the same time.

“Yeah, probably, but those goons I assaulted were too embarrassed to press charges.
 
They didn’t want the whole town to know that I kicked their….,”

“Zach has something to tell you, Rider, something you should find very interesting,” Paige interrupted anxiously.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel and Rider were both staring wide-eyed and speechless at the tiny screen, trying to fathom the news they had just heard.
 
Rider was especially astounded to learn that Cody had lived most of his life completely isolated from any kind of interaction.
 
He was struggling not to hate Zach for the horrible way he had treated his mate and he was once again blown away by how lucky he was to have shared his life with Rachel.
 
He wished he could talk to Cody, face to face.
 
As different as Cody’s experience had been, Cody was the only person Rider was likely to ever meet who understood what his life had been like.
 
He couldn’t imagine the miserable life Cody had endured, completely cut off from everyone.
 
He kind of understood how Cody could go full-on psycho sometimes.

“Zach, tell us what Cody’s like,” Rachel asked, taking the words from Rider’s mouth.

Zach open and shut his mouth like a suffocating fish as he stared dumbfounded at the screen.
 
“Um, I don’t really know that much about him.”

“Well, let him talk, then!” Rachel explained.
 
“Can’t you hear what he’s saying?
 
Just say it out loud for him.”