More Than Friends | Cody Herbinko

Love Hurts

Cody stops me. "Wait!" He suddenly runs in to a makeup store beside us.

"What are you doing?" I follow him and watch as he looks in the perfume isle.

"Looking for a little gift for her." He picks up a pretty vial of perfume by The Body Shop.

"She'll love it." I nod, a fan of the brand myself. He goes over to check out, pays for it, and gets it wrapped.

"Thank you!" he says to the cashier before taking the small bag. We start walking toward Starbucks again, and Cody gets out his phone. "I'll call her."

"Go ahead." I nod as we go through the restaurant area. Starbucks is at the end of the row, so it's the closest route. He puts his phone to his ear, and we hear a ringing noise near us.

"What?" Cody whispers, looking around. The mall isn't too crowded, and the ringing can be heard pretty well.

"It's coming from one of the restaurants." I look over at an Italian restaurant and almost do a double take. I go closer and peer through the clear glass of the restaurant. I gasp and step back. A blonde girl that I'm 99.9% sure is Lindsey is sitting at one of the tables with... a guy.

"What. The. Hell," Cody says beside me, putting his phone in his pocket. The ringing stops, the girl glances this way, and her eyes widen. Now I'm 100% sure. It's Lindsey. Cody huffs and leaves my side. Before I know what's going on, he's barging into the restaurant and is headed to her table.

"Cody!" I chase him inside, to the dismay of the waiters, waitresses, and customers.

"What the hell is going on?" Cody demands, his eyes filled with rage.

"It's not what it looks like!" Lindsey shrieks, bolting up from her seat.

"Who the hell are you?" Cody ignores Lindsey and asks the guy. He stands up, and I notice he's much taller than Cody. He has jet black hair and piercing eyes that are almost black. He has a mean face, and I'm immediately scared for Cody.

"I'm her boyfriend. Who the hell are you?" he snaps, staring Cody down.

"Jared..." Lindsey tries to defuse the situation.

"I would like to take this outside," Jared says menacingly.

"Fine!" Cody snaps, spinning around and walking out. I follow him while Lindsey scrambles to pay the waiter. I can hear her apologizing to him frantically.

"Cody, this is a bad idea."

"I'm not looking for a fight. I'm looking for an explanation," he replies angrily. We walk outside to the back of the mall where no one will bother us. Jared keeps cracking his knuckles as if he's trying to scare us.

"So what the hell is going on, and who are you?" Jared demands, glaring at Cody.

"She's dating me!" Cody retorts before looking at Lindsey. "You fucking cheater!"

"What did you just say?" Jared steps between Cody and Lindsey.

"You fucking heard me!" Cody growls, throwing the bag of the perfume at Lindsey. It falls at her feet, and the glass bottle inside shatters, the perfume spreading outside the bag.

"Cody." I touch his arm tentatively in an attempt to calm him.

"Who's this?" Jared asks in an agitated tone, waving this arm at me. "And why are you dressed like shit?"

"I'm his best friend," I snap, staring him down. I drop my bag at my feet. "Sorry, but I don't dress to please other people, especially people like you."