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

Chapter 10

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Cody hummed to himself thoughtfully in the bathroom stall. "So Noah sabotaged Heather's plan to embarrass Gwen, and Gwen sabotaged Heather's plan to get Noah lost. Nice. Guess they're even-Steven now."

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They'd only gone a couple of steps when frightened screeching rang off the trees around them. Cody halted. "Did you hear that?" he asked his travelling companion. "It sounded like one of the girls."

They looked between one another, silently communicating an agreement to investigate. They followed the sound as it continued, hurriedly, but cautiously. As they approached the cliffside, they found the source of the screaming. Cowering in terror were Katie and Sadie, a big black bear only a few meters from them. It hadn't turned aggressive yet, but shifted on its paws, its snout sniffing at their pink sandals. The two girls clung to one another for dear life.

"Noah, we've gotta do something!" Cody gripped his arm tightly.

"We're helping the other team win challenges now?" Noah's eyebrow tweaked.

"This is different," the blue-eyed boy said with concern. "They're in real trouble."

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"There's a thin line between 'heroism' and 'stupidity'," Noah said flatly. He swiped his open hand through the air dismissively, "Common sense says turn around and walk the other way."

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"You always have to play the knight in shining armor, don't you?" The dark-haired teen huffed a light sigh. "Alright, we'll help." He eyed the situation. "It's a black bear, so all we should need to do is to look tall and intimidating, and it should scare off." At least, that's what he'd read— he'd never had to test it in a practical application.

"Okay," Cody agreed to the plan, waiting for more that never came, "...How are we going to do that?" Neither of them was exactly big. Wordlessly, Noah walked to his rear and crawled up onto his shoulders. "Whoa!" Cody wobbled unsteadily a moment, surprised. He gripped Noah's knees. "Oh, well, that takes care of taller," he chuckled.

"Sleeping bag," Noah instructed. Cody carefully handed it up to him. The brown-eyed teen unzipped it, holding it by the corners to drape behind them so they'd look much bigger than they really were. "Ready?" he asked the boy beneath him, "Once we go out, we can't turn back. We have to hold our ground."

Cody pinched his lip between his teeth, but he nodded firmly. "Got it."

"Whenever you're ready," Noah said. He balanced on top of Cody's shoulders with his arms outspread as the teen on bottom walked them out of the trees. The black bear, as well as Katie and Sadie, noticed their approach, staring in mixed surprise and stupefaction. "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" Noah vocalized while Cody stomped his feet. "I smell the blood of a pair of dumb-dumbs!"

"Hey..." Katie said with slight offense.

The black bear's ears twitched, taking an uncertain step back from the approaching twosome. It snarled, exposing its teeth. Noah waved his arms in response, "Just try it, Baloo. We've met way scarier than you and her name is Heather." Cody gave a small snicker.

The bear pushed itself up onto its back legs menacingly. Katie and Sadie both gasped. "N-Noah..." Cody whispered upward worriedly, starting to tremble.

Noah felt his own conviction waver. "Keep it steady," he delivered downward. "We're not going anywhere," he said to the bear, careful not to make eye contact, "Now back off."

The bear gave an anxious huff through its nostrils, clearly wanting to stay but unsure. Finally it lowered back onto all fours, turning tail and retreating into the forest. Noah wiped the back of his hand across his brow.