Unfortunately for me, the rest of the week didn't go as solidly as the previous night had. As soon as I realized what I had done, I banged my overly large head against a book so many times, I had a nice red bruise on my forehead.
This is what you get for breaking your own rules.
"I'm human," I whispered to myself "I have the right to love"
At what cost? Losing your best friend, reputation, and your mind?
"Shut up!" I whispered again, louder than intended.
With the internal conflict and the literal arguing, I was beginning to feel like Gollum from Lord of the Rings.
"We is in love precious, there's no going back for us now"
------------
I pranced down the stairs to find the usual crew seated at the juice bar.
"What's up Noah?" Cody yelled at me, a grin spread across his face.
"Practicing for my next football game, how about you?" I sneered, taking a seat at the bar between Cody and Courtney. He laughed and swiveled in his seat to face me.
"I just heard Izzy got eliminated tonight" he said, taking a sip of the classically too-sweet lemonade.
"Lord have mercy on us" I muttered
"No kidding," Courtney butted in, "she's top notch insane"
"And you're one to speak," I spat backwards at her, "you're the one chasing Harold around with a pineapple on a stick"
I wasn't facing her, but I could practically hear her eyes narrowing at me. Lucky for me, and literally everyone else in the area, she didn't speak.
At about 7 that night, Izzy arrived at the Playa and had a great time terrorizing the shit out of poor Harold. Honestly, I'm shocked the dude hadn't committed suicide or something with the whole Courtney thing.
The pool deck area was now officially major chaos, so I booked it up to the safety of my room, and to no surprise, Cody followed me up.
"What's up short stuff?" I greeted when he closed the door behind him.
"I figured I'd escape before I became Izzy food" he chuckled, taking a seat on the couch.
"So you came to my room?"
I popped my hip out in a sassy manner that couldn't have looked anything but absolutely homosexual.
"I guess so" he grinned.
I took a seat next to him and pulled out Catcher In The Rye.
"Whatcha reading?"
Cody leaned across my lap to look at my book, but I didn't move at all, so he squirmed his way until he was completely sitting on my lap.
"This seat's taken" I muttered, not looking from the book, although it was a bit more difficult with the little dude all u in my business. Oh, how easy it would be to just wrap my arms around his skinny torso and pull him close to me.
To be fair, it would be just as easy to wring his neck and throw him out the window into the pool, so I didn't act on any impulses.
"Noah can we go do something?" he groaned, obviously dissatisfied with the lack of attention I was giving him.
"We are doing something" I snarked, staring at the book, but not exactly reading it.
"I mean something fun!" he whined.
"I don't know about you but I'm having a bunch of fun"
Cody squirmed again, knocking the book out of hands.
"Fine," I gave in, "what do you want to do?"
"Swimmin.."
"No" I interrupted.
"Well, Trent and Justin are holding a movie night in the lounge in at 10" he said, scratching his arm.
"What's playing?" I asked, picking up my book and setting it on the table.
"I'm not sure" he shrugged.
"Fine, but I'm going to be grumpy tomorrow"
"You're always grumpy," he giggled "I'll meet you there"
---------------
Holding off going out into the wild until absolutely the last minute, I left my room at 9:57 to head down to the lounge, taking my blanket and a can of Sprite.
Managing to get down a minute to the hour, I tucked myself into the tiny spot between Cody and Trent. I twisted my head around to ask Trent what they were playing.
"The Exorcist" he replied with that 'bad boy' smirk that he really can't pull off.
"Oh no!" I heard Cody gasp from my other side.
"What's wrong man?" I asked, twisting his way
"I d-don't do horror movies" he replied, looking a good bit nervous.
"You'll be fine you chicken!" I teased.
"Chicken?! WHERE?" I heard Tyler yell, knocking Lindsay off the couch in his panic.
"Chill out bro" Justin consoled him, in more a frustrated tone than anything. The guy crawled out of his track suit turtle shell and took his seat back on the couch.
It seemed like most everyone was there. Courtney didn't make it, probably too busy pouting her too-tight pants off. Eva wasn't there, but no surprise. And Izzy and Beth were both gone, but no one was complaining.
I turned around again to see Cody with a shocked expression plastered on his face.
"You'll be fine man" I said, patting his shoulder. He muttered a word of hesitant acceptance and snuggled up under his blanket.
Ten minutes into the movie, Lindsay screamed loud enough to knock out Tyler, Cody was completely hidden under the blankets, DJ had passed out, and Harold had peed his pants.
"Do you want to just go upstairs?" I whispered through Cody's blanket. I saw his head nod so I stood up.
"Sorry Trent, me and the lady are whomping out early" I apologized. I beckoned for Cody and he trailed behind me, wearing his blanket like a hood. I led him upstairs and to my room. Once he had shut the door, both of us had settled on the couch.
"You alright Code-meister?" I asked insincerely, smirking in my sarcasm.
"I told you I don't like spooky movies" he defended, his face looking slightly embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it kid, we can do something on our own"
"Like what?"
--------------
I sat down on the side of the roof, looking down at the pool deck below. It was lit up, but completely empty.
After I convinced Cody to sit next to me, we sat in silence, breathing in the Canadian summer air.
"Noah, I've been thinking" he muttered, taking me by surprise. Not enough surprise to knock me off the roof, thank the Lord.
"About?"
He cleared his throat, and stuttered trying to find the best way to start whatever was on the little dude's mind.
"I think I'd be willing to give us a try" he stammered, his head facing away from me, and his feet swinging off the side of the building.
"Oh yeah?" Was all I could manage without completely losing my genuine, bona fide Noah composure.
"Yeah" he replied meekly.
Jesus Christ this is happening! Oh my God I'm an idiot! No, no I'm thrilled!
I'm a thrilled idiot.
"So I guess if we're going to do this properly..."
I grabbed his hand gently and held it between us.
"Cody Anderson, will you do me the pleasure of going out with me?"
Spoken like a true gentleman. Hell yeah I'm smooth.
"I will" he responded, grinning his gap tooth grin. And if I wasn't mistaken, his childish cheeks were flushed as well. Not like I wasn't red as firetruck though.
"Wicked" I laughed, trying to sound sarcastic, but my nasally tone ended up with me sounding like Jude from 6teen. He giggled in response, and looked away again.
-----------
From the top of the Playa one could see every part of the small, cheapskate island Chris has us arrested to. But beyond that, one can see the beginnings of the dock where each of us first arrived, and one by one each of us will leave Camp Wawanakwa. There are currently six contestants left on that island, and one of them will receive one hundred grand in cash.
Unfortunately I no longer have this opportunity, but do any of those losers eating fish carcasses for breakfast get to call Cody their boyfriend?! Hell no!
Sorry Gwen, you had your chance.
"It's getting dark" I mentioned to Cody, who was probably half asleep.
"Yeah" he sighed, looking out beyond the Playa.
"Wanna head inside?"
Cody nodded, and stood up. I followed him down the ladder and back to the form hall. He stopped in front of my door.
"Don't you have your own room?" I teased half-heartedly.
"Yeah, but the exorcist, and the demons, and the dark" he whimpered like a four-year old wanting his mommy.
"Fine" I said, opening the door. He shut it behind him and immediately went into the bedroom to lay down.
After I went down the hall to the bathrooms, and changed into sweats, I laid down next to him. I suppose I didn't realize how tired I was until my big-ass head hit the pillow, but it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.
------------
When I woke up, it was still completely dark and my eyes were still droopy, so it must've been the middle of the night. And it took me a while to register exactly what was going on when I saw a sleeping Cody rolled against the wall.
Once my brain was awake enough to remember why he was there, I felt my head get light and my vision go blurry for a moment.
I'm dating Cody Anderson.
That's right. I conquered my biggest hurdle: submitting myself to someone else.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not letting myself become soft or vulnerable or anything, I just have a partner in crime, per se.
I looked over at Cody, whose chest was riding up and down softly with each breath. His hair was ruffled against the pillow, and his blanket was wrapped around his shoulders like a burrito.
He looked absolutely cuddly, but considering he hadn't been together twelve hours, I decided against physical affection for now.
I laid back down and kicked the covers off of my overheating body. I rolled onto my right side for I was facing Cody, even though I couldn't see his face.
Being in bed with someone gives you an odd feeling of not being alone, but not being interactive. It felt more like being watched, so it made it harder for me to fall asleep the second time.
I rolled over to my other side and shut my eyes, and managed to clear my mind enough to fall back asleep to the unusual silence of the Playa.
-----------------
I wrapped a towel around my waist and walked awkwardly down the hall to my own room. When I had woken up, Cody was still asleep, so I went to go take a shower.
When I unlocked the door to the room, he was sitting on the couch, surfing through channels. He cocked his head in surprise when I came through the door, and was slightly embarrassed to see myself wrapped in just a towel.
"Morning Cody" I hummed as I shuffled past him to get into the bedroom. I shut the door, even though it probably wasn't necessary, but I figured that like any relationship, it should be taken slow.
I decided it was warm enough for a T-shirt, but I still put on a zip hoodie on over it, just for comfort. I used the tiny, smudged mirror on the bedroom wall to groom my hair, and then joined Cody in the front.
"How'd you sleep?" I asked him, settling into the sofa. That was something boyfriends asked, right?
"Pretty good. I didn't have any nightmares this time" he replied, looking a little uneasy.
"Do you usually?" I asked with probably more concern than necessary.
He shook his head, but still had a vaguely disturbed look on his face.
"No, it was just the whole exorcist thing" he said, smoothing out his hair. He shook it out like a wet dog, and then ran his fingers across his scalp. I see a lot of guys do that, but I never do. I like my hair a certain way, and should anything ruin its order, it will bring out my inner bitch. I'm an outer bitch too, but my inner bitch is worse.
"Well good thing you're rested, because I'm taking you on a date today" I said without thinking. I don't know why I did; I had no plans and there really isn't much to do at Playa De Lame.
"Ooh, sounds fun" he responded enthusiastically. Perfect, now I have to find an appropriate first date at this tropical prison. Maybe I can ask one of the guys for ideas. Straight people are always great at being overly romantic.
"Cool, well if I'm going to get this planned, I'm going to have to ask you to leave" I offered in a suggestive voice, mostly for the humor of it. He obliged and left to go hang out at the pool, and I began to consider what I could do for the guy, but effectively got distracted when Big Bang Theory came on the TV.
To my newfound luck, the episode featured a romantic pairing going on a cheesy television date at a mediocre restaurant.
But then, my gay, unromantic brain got an idea.