More Than Friends | Cody Herbinko

Made in the USA

I manage to not scream in terror as I feed Andy his bugs and clean out his terrarium. I let him out and sit in my room for the rest of the day, watching music videos and trying not to think about Cody. Andy sits on my arm, looking around the room as I watch Little Mix's video for "Wings". 1D's "Drag Me Down" video gets suggested, and I make an incomprehensible noise.

"Cody," I groan, making "Wings" full screen so I won't see the suggested videos. After watching "Salute" again, I've re-watched all the music videos for Little Mix. I move over to Nicki Minaj and go to "Va Va Voom". Of course, this now reminds me of the time I was singing with Cody in his Jeep. 

"Fuck," I mutter under my breath before going to Black Veil Brides. That, in turn, reminds me of the time Cody had to help me with my bra. I go back to Little Mix, and "Give Your Heart A Break" by Demi Lovato is suggested. As I'm debating whether to watch it or not, I feel Andy crawl up my arm before resting on my shoulder. 

Although Demi reminds me of the time I dressed up before going to meet Arden, I click on the video before making it full screen. The video is one of my absolute favorites, and I find myself smiling as Demi sings. As she's looking through the pictures of herself with her boyfriend, something occurs to me. I stand up, the video still playing, and go to my desk. I take out the pictures of Cody and me from the photo frames and everywhere else I had them. I gather all the photos of us and go back to my bed, careful not to knock Andy off my shoulder. Demi is making the collage of pictures in front of her boyfriend's place, and I flip through my pictures. 

"Something big," I whisper, staring at a picture of us together. I vaguely feel Andy start to grab my hair and try to climb up onto my head, but I stay focused on the picture. Cody had taken the picture, and we were kissing on my bed. We were both smiling against each other's lips. A tear falls onto the photo, and I brush it away before rubbing my eyes. The video ends before going on to "Made in the USA". Tears blur my vision as I watch the video. The lyrics hit me hard. Our love was made in the USA, quite literally. We aren't supposed to break, and neither is our love. Our love can't break. I may have cracked it, but that doesn't mean it's over.