I knock on his door once then twice. When I get no answer after trying for the fifth time, I open the door slowly and cautiously, peeking inside. He had his headphones plugged in with loud, audible Pop Rock blasting out of them.
He doesn't notice my presence until I sit infront of him on his bed. He ignores me though and continues to flip trough his magazine.
"Is that Victoria's Secret, summer season?" I ask, studying the cover of a woman in a bikini.
He ignores me.
"Is that Fall Out Boys?"
And guess what? He still ignores me. I look around his room and find some brand new textbooks on his desk. I don't recognize them all except for the Calculus one.
"Is that—"
"Is that a dog barking?" He asks, keeping his eyes on his magazine. Shocked, I pull his earphones off and his magazine away.
"You asshole, take that back!"
"Well, then give it back!" He opens his palm for me.
"Give what back?"
"My magazine."
"What? No," I slammed my hand on the bed, which didn't really help with my threats or tone because...it's just the bed. "I meant, take back what you said. And here I thought I could just come to fix things between us."
"Nicole," he called me when I was trying to leave the room.
"What is it, Cody?" If you're not gonna apologize then forget I even came in here."
"Apologize? Didn't you come here to do that?"
"True," I fold my arms. "But you owe me one as well."
"Fine, I'm sorry."
"Alright," I start, "Although I wasn't planning on apologizing, I feel like I should after you brought it up. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not listening to you. I'm sorry for not giving you a chance to explain your reasons. Most of all, I'm sorry for not telling you about Ryan earlier."
"Is that all?"
"If you think I'll be apologizing for dating Ryan, then you can kiss my ass 'cause I ain't doing that."
"First, apologies accepted," he smiled then winked, "see what I did there? I said apologies cause—"
"I get it!"
"Second, I don't want you to apologize for dating that douche—"
"He's not a douche, but go on."
"I want you to dump his ass."
"And why is that—as if I care?"
"Because he's one big junk-ass player."
"And you're not?"
"Honey, girls come to me willingly. Also, forget about me for now."
"Whatever. A player or not, he's still into me. If he tries anything, I'll handle it. I don't need you or anyone else to look out for me."
"We don't need your approval for me to look out for you, Nicole. We'll do it because we have to," he says sternly. "Yes, I can't keep you away from that douche—sorry not sorry—but I can at least warn you about him. So be careful and don't let your guard down too soon, alright?"
"You know I won't," I smile. "So is that the Calculus book Mr. Hamilton asked about?"
"Yup, along with T the rest of the books you'll need this year."
"You got them for me?" I ask in surprise.
"I was free," he shrugged like I was nothing important.
Even when we weren't on good terms, he did me a favor. Well, if I didn't know him I'd say I just fixed things with him. But I've known him forever, and I'm sure there was nothing broken to fix from the start.
We both lied on his bed and told jokes and stories. I realized that I missed this. I missed hanging around with him, doing stupid things and telling lame stories. I missed getting comfortable around him. I missed us.
"So when am I gonna give that douche 'the talk'?"
I decided to stop arguing with him anymore about calling Ryan that.
"What talk?"
"The 'if you break her heart, I'll break your neck' talk," he explained, proceeding to go through his magazine.
"Oh, you're not doing that," I chuckle.
"What do you mean?" He looks at me in disbelief, "I've been waiting for one one to miraculously get attracted to you and asks you out so I can give him 'the talk'."
"First of all, hey! I'm more attractive than you'll ever be," I remark before looking at my sweatpants, which went up a little to show off a part of my unshaven legs. I'd changed my shorts free dinner when I remembered I hadn't shaved in like 2 weeks. I mean ain't nobody got time for that.
Cody notices it too, so I bend down to cover the expose part of my leg.
"I've never seen anything that attractive," he comments sarcastically.
"Ha ha ha, shut up," I roll my eyes. "Second, you ain't giving him no talk. I can do that, thank you very much."
"I have an idea," he crisscrossed his legs, "you can tell him to join us at lunch I'm school."
"Really?"
"Uh huh," he nods, "We will talk to him sooner or later. And besides, he's your boyfriend now; he's bound to spend lunch with you in school. So, instead of you ditching us for him, he'll just come along with you."
"Who are you and what have you done to Cody?"
"Believe me, it's the real Cody talking here."
"Well, real Cody, thank you. I just want you to know that I'll never ditch you guys for some other guy," I say, "You know the rule: bros before hoes."
"I'm not sure if that's the case here, but I got you."740Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8RaEXF346
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I woke up the next morning to my ringtone blasting in my bedroom. I was debating whether to answer my phone or break it when it stopped in the middle of the tone. I smiled and dug my head deeper in my pillow. Then it happened again and made me lose my temper in the early morning. I answer it, ready to smack whoever has the nerve to ring me twice in the AM.
"You better pray for your sins 'cause this is your last day," I answer angrily.
"Woah, you sure aren't a morning person," I hear Ryan's voice on the other end.
"And you sure are digging your own grave, fella," I reply with a lack of humor.
"Good morning to you too, babe," he says, slightly panting.
"Why are you up so early, Ryan? And why do you sound like you just ran a marathon?"
"I just finished running," he says, "Now, get dressed because I'm taking you out for breakfast before school."
"5 A.M., running, and breakfast? We sure do have a lot in common, right, babe?"
"Don't be such a sleepy-bones and get your lazy ass up and into the shower now. You have 30 minutes before I'm at your doorstep. See ya."
He hangs up, and I go back to sleep. Breakfast, he says. He must be bullshitting me.
My eyes were just drifting back to sleep when my ringtone echoed in the room once again.
"Hmm?" I lay the phone on the side of my face.
"I wasn't joking, Shadow," Ryan's voice hits my eardrum for the second time, "I'm coming to get you."
"Just kill yourself, already," I murmur before I hear him chuckle then hangs up.
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