Red Mango

seventeen

         

8:29 AM

Cody jolts awake when a streak of sunlight flickers through the translucent truck windows. She's a morning person, regardless of the discomfort of the leather in the backseat. Leo, much to Cody's astonishment, also seems to have accepted the delight of an early-morning stroll, as he has vanished from the drivers seat. Cody shakes off the wool blanket from her legs and lowers her gaze to see Kit, asleep.

He looks at ease. His long, dark eyelashes shut against his cheeks and the gentle, repetitive heaving of his chest is somewhat calming. A lock of his brown hair has fallen across his eyes and Cody, absent-mindedly, tucks this strand into the rest of his hair. He's pretty, but no longer in a boyish way. He's grown past that a long time ago.

A smile tugs at the corners of Cody's lips, before she briefly catches a glimpse of Sutton's dormant being in the passengers seat. Someone clearly wanted her to hang around. Someone whose name rhymes with Cleo.

Cody cautiously slips out of the truck, striving to make the least amount of sound possible. Kit stirs in his sleep, but does not wake up. She tugs on her converse, not concerning herself with the laces. Her feet meet the dusty ground as Cody treks through the dunes, her shoes sinking deeper into the sand by every step. She distinguishes a silhouette seated in the curve of a sand dune, watching the sun ascend the horizon.

"Good morning," Cody treads down the dune, dropping her weight into the empty space beside Leo. He slowly turns his head, unmoved by the unexpected presence. It takes a second for a drowsy grin to emerge upon his lips.

"Good morning, sunshine," Leo says. His voice is raspy from the hours of laughter that followed their separate sprints to safety. Leo had staggered into a collection of shrubs after being introduced to his emergency bottle of liquor. When Cody and Kit returned to the car, they found a scratched up Leo and Sutton, in fits of unceasing laughter. What else transpired between the two, Cody doesn't wish to know. Silence passes over the two friends. Leo seems to take this as an opportunity to put Cody's feelings on trial.

"You like him, don't you?" having anticipated this confrontation, Cody glides her tongue across her lips, entirely impassive to the inquiry. She knows that this question has been lingering on the table for a long time and postponed to the very last possible moment.

"Of course I do, Leo. But what am I supposed to do? Ignore the fact that I will lose three of my closest friends to a petty crush," Cody sinks her hands behind her into the sand as her eyes flutter closed for a second of doubt. How does Leo, out of all people, prompt this kind of concern in her.

"You really don't see the way he looks at you, do you?" he smirks at Cody's obliviousness. Amusement traces Leo's features and Cody can't help but groan in frustration. She prioritises her friends before herself without a second of uncertainty. It's always been like that and to alter the the usual measures, is like kicking a football with your left foot when you're a righty.

"Does that matter?" Cody exclaims.

"Of course it matters, Kit likes you, you like him. It's simple, not AP Algebra," Leo watches Cody with a look of disbelief. As if her decision to discard her friends goes without a second of consideration. But Cody knows better.

"No love story is simple, Leo," she mumbles and cups a fist full of sand in her hand. Cody presses the sand from her palm in a movement that resembles a turned hourglass. She's not equipped to dive into a debate about her sentiments regarding Kit and Leo knows this all too well. Still, he successfully drives the honesty from between Cody's lips.

"Said who?" Leo guffaws.

"Shakespeare," following a concise moment of deliberation, Cody spits out the first literary genius that enters her mind. Only because a large majority of writers tend to exaggerate the consequences of love. This induces another cackle on Leo's behalf. He's not fazed.