I Wanna Be, I Wanna Be, I Wanna Be Boyfriends

Chapter 9

Cody huffed out a sigh of relief as the two of them came to a stop at the riverbank. He slipped his backpack off his shoulders and dropped to the ground, rolling onto his back spread-eagle, enjoying the sensation of letting all the muscles in his body relax. "How much further do you think we have to go?" he asked Noah.

The dark-haired teen plopped himself down on a fallen tree, unlacing one of his shoes to rid himself of some of the stickers that had become lodged in his socks. "Well, we've gone almost twelve thousand steps. At approximately 1,320 steps to a kilometer, that should put us about halfway there."

Cody picked his head up disbelievingly. "You've been counting?"

"I said 'approximately'," Noah reiterated, flicking away one of the nastier goatheads. He put his shoe back on and tied it. "From here we just need to follow the river upstream. It will lead us into the hills to the supply cache."

"Sounds good!" Cody nodded, pushing himself upright. He rummaged through his backpack for their canteen and went to refill it in the stream. He took a nice long drink of the cool water, then offered it out to Noah, who gladly took it. Cody sat down on the log next to him. "Y'know, I'm actually kind of glad Beth ditched us..." Cody led in.

Noah lowered the canteen, taking notice of the other teen's proximity. "That so?" he feigned obliviousness, curious to see where this was going.

"Uh huh..." Cody waggled his eyebrows, nudging himself closer.

~~kkkssshhhttt...!!~~

"Okay," Cody wriggled in the bathroom stall, "I've been thinking about it, and I really wanna take the next step and make it to first base with Noah. But I sort of don't know how?" He scratched at the back of his head. "I mean, I know how," he clarified, "But when do I do it? It can't just be some random thing; I have to do it at the right time. But how will I know when's the right time?"

~~kkkssshhhttt...!!~~

Noah tried and failed to keep a straight face. "I think you need to cool down," he delivered smirkingly, turning the canteen upside-down over the other boy's head. Cody yelped in surprise as the water splashed over his head and ran down his shoulders, drenching him.

~~kkkssshhhttt...!!~~

"Maybe the right time is later..." Cody coughed.

~~kkkssshhhttt...!!~~

—

Another hour's travel took them out of the woods and into the grassland. They were making good time on the easy terrain. Noah had taken the backpack for now, and Cody was happily following him along with his earbuds in, listening to music as they hiked. The sun was warm and the air was cool, almost an ideal day for blazing the trail; he'd long since dried off from being doused earlier.

Without warning, Noah stopped dead in his tracks. Cody nearly slammed right into him. He pulled his earbuds out one by one. "Uh... Noah?" he queried; there was a far-off look in the other teen's brown eyes and he was frozen in place.

"This isn't the right way. It can't be," Noah murmured, swivelling as he studied the sun approaching the western horizon. "We're bearing way too far east."

"How can that be?" Cody scratched his head, befuddled, "We've been following the river just like on the map."

Noah recalled the exact same thing. He racked his brains. "Twenty-seven degrees northeast..." he muttered, mentally retracing their steps, "hit the river, follow it upstream. Upstream, uphill. The river is here." He frowned at it, then it clicked. "The river is here," he repeated. Cody's head tilted. "It's not supposed to be here," Noah explained, gesturing at it, "this stream was shown on the map as a dry river during the summer months. The winter's high snowfall must have prolonged its flow this late in the year." He hit his forehead with his palm three times in apparent irritation.