CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jen was already at the house. She stayed at Cody and Alli's house while I was at rehearsal. I worriedly look over at her and she returned the look.
"Hey Ryan!" Jason said to me and gave me a big hug. I looked at Cody anticipating him to look mad, but he was smiling at me. Um...what?
"Hey. What are you doing here?" I ask him trying to sound at least a little bit excited.
"Well I actually moved to LA in sixth grade! I noticed that you released songs and stuff and decided to come see you! Isn't that great?!"
"Yeah! Just, AMAZING!" I said it sarcastically but he didn't catch on.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom then we can catch up!" He walked away and Jen ran over to me.
Cody's face went from smiling to serious. We all huddled together.
"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!" I asked freaking out.
"I don't know! He just showed up!" Jen said.
"Who is he?" Cody asked me curiously.
I decided it was better to be honest with him than lie.
"He's my ex-boyfriend. We dated in sixth grade and he moved unexpectedly. I tried calling and texting him but he didn't answer so I just assumed he forgot about me or whatever. Then 4 months ago he text me and said we were just friends, blah blah blah."
"Do you still like him though?" Cody said. He looked hurt.
"What? No Cody, that's crazy you know I love you to death!"
"I know! I just wanted to hear you say that!" He laughed and hugged me. Just then Jason came back out.
"So guys, want to go do something?" He asks.
"Um..." I started.
"Ryan and I were actually just about to go on a date!" Cody saved me.
Jen looked at me worriedly and I said "And by the way Jen, I think Jake called for you. He said it was important so you might wanna get on that!" I looked at her with my eyes wide. She silently thanked me for saving her and went off to "call Jake back".
"Okay well uh, text me or something when you want to hang Ryan! I'll be auditioning for your music video too!" He said.
"Oh cool!" I said faking the happiness in voice.
He finally left and Cody and I fell down on the couch sighing in relief.
"This is just AWESOME!" I say sarcastically.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't worry! I doubt he's going to get the part anyway!" He said trying to reassure me, which wasn't really working. "And look on the bright side, your concert is on Thursday!"
I smiled and kissed him. Why was he so good at making me feel better?
Jen came down the steps carfully and mouthed "is he gone?" I nodded my head and she sat down on the couch next to me.
"Oh. My. Gosh. This child has GOT to go!" She said.
"We know!" Cody and I said at the same time. We all laughed and Cody stood up and held out both his hands for Jen and I.
"What are you doing?" We ask.
"I want to show you guys around LA!"
Jen and I smiled at each other and grabbed Cody's hand so he could help us off the couch. He let go of Jen's but held on to mine and swung his arms a little. I laughed and kissed his cheek.
We got outside and it was so hot out! We all agreed to go back inside. So much for the tour of LA!
Casey was sitting in the kitchen texting someone on her phone.
"Hey sweetie! What's up?" She asks me.
"Well, we were going to go on a walk, but it's too hot!"
"Why don't you go to the arcade upstairs?" She suggests.
"WE HAVE AN ARCADE?!" I said amazed.
"Hahaha, yes! Go up both of the stairs and it's the 3rd door on the left!"
We all bolted up the first flight of stairs and then the second. We got to the room and I flung the door open.
"Woah." We said in unison.
I noticed a iPod dock in the corner and put on On My Mind by Cody. He smiled and walked over to the dock. He took my iPod out and put his in. He started playing my song "Liar Liar". I laughed and took my iPod from him.
"Why are so difficult?" I ask him pressing my forehead against his. He leaned in to kiss me when Jen cleared her throat. All of us laughed and we went over to play Dance Dance Revolution. There were four mats so we each got to have our own.
Jen, being the graceful butterfly she is tripped on the chord half way through the first song we did and fell on her butt. Cody and I started cracking up as I helped Jen off the floor.
"Maybe we should play a different game!" Cody said.
We walked over to the fooseball table. Jen and I decided to be on a team against Cody, since he was apparently "Beast at fooseball". After about 20 minutes, we ended up failing....epically.
We were up in the arcade for about 2 hours. When we were done, we headed back into my room to skype with Jake and Campbell. Jen was so excited I thought her heart was going to explode.
The call rang three times before Jake answered. He didn't know I was with Jen so his face lit up when he saw her! It was the cutest thing ever! We all talked for about and hour then Cody and I decided to give Jen and Jake some alone time to catch up and stuff.
We went downstairs and I saw a note on the bar.
Ry,
Drew, Monica, Katelyn, and I went to run some errands. Jesse has a friend over so they shouldn't be bothering you. Be back around 7!
♥-Casey!
It was 5:30 right now. Cody sat on the couch and pulled me on his lap. I turned the tv on and Shake It Up was on. I loved this show, but whenever I saw Bella Thorne I got kind of jealous. She was rumored to have had a "thing" with Cody, but nothing was ever confirmed. I tried not to let it get to me since I trusted Cody.
"Cody, what's going to happen if Jason gets the lead guy in my video?"
"Then I'll be there on the side to kick his sorry ass if he tries anything on you."
"Aw, someone's being protective!" I laughed.
"Nothing wrong with that! I don't want anyone touching my girl!"
"I love you!"
"I love you toooo!"
I leaned back so I could kiss him at a better angle, but I somehow ended up falling off the couch. Nice Ryan, Nice. I started cracking and so did Cody. He laid down on the ground next to me and stared into my eyes. I felt like melting every time he did that. I smiled at him and he smiled back.
"How about we try that again, without falling this time?" Cody said to me laughing.
"Sounds good!"
He leaned in and kissed me and when we pulled back we heard people coming down the stairs. We got up quickly and tried to sit casually on the couch.
It turned out to be Jesse and his friend. Jesse said hi and his friend sat on the couch next to me.
"Hey, I'm Chad!" He said sticking his hand out.
"Ryan." I said shaking it.
"So, what's a beautiful girl like yourself doing at Jame's house? He never has girls this pretty over." He winked and moved closer to me.
I glanced at Cody and he looked pretty irritated.
"Actually, I live here now. I'm Jesse's cousin."
"Oh cool! So now I can have you to myself without Jesse trying too!" He laughed and Cody stood up in front of Chad.
"I don't think we've met yet but I'm Cody, Ryan's BOYFRIEND."
"Ohhhhh, sorry I didn't know Ryan had a boyfriend. Guess she doesn't care enough about you to mention it...."
"Excuse me, but actually you never gave me a chance to expl-" I started but Cody cut me off.
"Look, I don't care if you think my girlfriend is pretty because she sure as hell is, but I would suggest keeping it to yourself and NOT hitting on her if you know whats good for your health." Cody threatened him.
"Ooooh, I'm really scared pretty boy!" Chad was standing now. "You wanna fight me?"
"Oh that won't be necessary!" I tried to say. But it was too late because Chad had already punched Cody, and he had already punched back. Both of their mouths were bleeding and Jesse and I had to break them up.
"What the heck Chad?! Why do you have to be such a jerk all the time?! Ryan obviously loves Cody and he obviously loves her too! Just back off!" Jesse yelled.
Chad left with blood dripping from his lip and it getting on his white shirt. I turned to Cody and saw that his lip was bleeding too.
"You okay babe?" I ask.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just really pissed off."
"Look at me." I said and put my hands around his neck. "I don't want anyone but you. Ever! And just because some guy comes in thinking he's all that and a bag of chips won't ever change my mind about how I feel about you. But thanks for sticking up for me."
He just smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
"Let's get you cleaned up before you kiss me!" I laugh and led him to the upstairs bathroom.
Jen walked in after her skype with Jake.
"Woah, what happened to you?!" She asked.
I explained and asked her about Jake.
"He's great! I miss him so much though." She frowns and I hug her tightly. I finish getting Cody cleaned up and went into my room. Cody had to leave at 6:30 and I kissed him goodbye.
At 6:45 I was just hanging out in my room listening to music when someone knocked on my door.
"Come in!" I yelled expecting Jen.
"Hey." Jesse said looking stressed out. I could tell he felt bad about the whole Chad thing.
"Hey!" He sat down on the chair across from my bed.
"Listen, I'm really sorry about what Chad did. I even told him you were dating Cody. I should have known better than to let him even talk to you. And as for Monica, I know she's been trying to steal him from you, but trust me, I had a long talk with her last night and I don't think she'll be bothering you guys anymore. She still likes him and wants you dead, but she won't bother you."
"Thanks Jesse! You're the best!" I ran over and hugged him. He laughed and hugged me back. Five minutes later we heard the front door open. We all helped carry the bags in and ate dinner.
I text Cody until I fell asleep around 9:30. I had to get up at 10:00 tomorrow for rehearsals. Joy! But after I got to work on Cody's video which gave me the excitement to get through the day!