Cody rushed away from Mrs. Tutwiler' cabin. His vision blurred through the tears forming in his eyes. He cursed himself for tearing up again. His breathing became labored as he pushed through people on the deck and ran through a door and down the stairs. He exited on a random floor and hurried down two corridors of cabins before he felt a wave of dizziness hit him like a hammer. He leaned against the wall, breathing fast. He swallowed, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. Why was this happening to him?! Cody slid down the wall slowly, leaning his head back and trying to breathe. His whole body was trembling, vibrating by almost, with a fear stemming from some unknown source. His brain was going places he hated-dark, scary places.
Not scary like when he and Zack would stay up late after their mother had left for a late show and watch horror movies.
Scary like wanting to hurt himself.
Scary like when you're in a pool and you try to see if you can touch the bottom of the deep end, and on your way to the surface, you run out of air. Your head feels like it's gonna explode, and your lungs burn. That moment when you feel like you're going to die. When you finally reach the surface and you can't get enough air into your body fast enough. You feel weak.
But that didn't make any sense. He wasn't in a pool, and he would never hurt himself...Would he? 'No! Don't be stupid! Of course not!' He told himself. Cody shook his head, blinking hard, trying to clear his head of the disastrous thoughts. He put his head down on his arms, the dizziness getting to him.
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Cody had no idea how long he'd been sitting there. His breathing had returned to normal, and the dizziness and nausea had ebbed away slowly. He was still shaking, his head was pounding, and he was exhausted, but other than that he was back to "normal". He still had his head down. Cody had a weird feeling in his stomach that he couldn't place. Like he was being watched? To be honest, he didn't care enough to check. That is, he didn't care, until someone announced their presence next to him. Then, his heart dropped and every fiber of his body screamed at him to run.
He was sitting in the hallway, head down, when someone cleared their throat. Cody jerked his head up to see Mr. Moseby standing next to him. "Please don't run." Was the first thing out of Mr. Moseby's mouth. How did he know Cody wanted to run? Was it that obvious? Cody's heart pounded out of his chest. "Don't get up. It's alright." Mr. Moseby said, slowly bending down and sitting down on the floor against the wall opposite Cody. The teen was completely on edge, and he pressed himself against the wall.
"You know, when I was your age, I never really liked the ocean very much." Mr. Moseby said. Cody frowned slightly. "I know. It's silly. I loved swimming, but the ocean always scared me. The sharks, the dark, the depth. I never told anybody. I thought they would make fun of me. I thought they'd laugh. So I hid it. My friends caught on eventually, though. They'd invite me to the beach and I'd tell them I was busy. Sometimes, I'd even get my mother to say no for me." The manager chuckled. Cody looked at him, confused. "One day, I agreed to go to the beach. All my friends ran towards the water, and I held back. I stayed by the towels. One of my friends, Jazmine, noticed, and she asked me why I didn't look like I was having any fun. I lied, naturally, telling her I was sick. She didn't buy it, you see, we were quite close. She knew me very well. Well, I gave in and told her I was scared. And you know what she did?" Mr. Moseby looked at Cody, who shook his head. Mr. Moseby smiled.
"She took my hand, helped me up, and led me down to the edge of the water. She held my hand as the water came up and touched our feet. When she saw that I was about to run, she squeezed my hand and told me it's not so bad. She took a step out further, and encouraged me to follow her. I was terrified. But she helped me. Eventually, we made it to where the water went up to my knees. And I was fine. The rest of our friends ran up. They were all excited to see me in the water with them. Jazmine told them why I'd never gone with them before, and the rest of them all high-fived me and smiled. They were glad I told them. And once I had, I could have fun with them again. And they never laughed at me. They never made fun of me for being afraid of the water. They never pushed me to do something I didn't want to, unless they were sure I'd be okay with it." Mr. Moseby crossed his legs.
Cody pulled his knees up to his chest, curling into himself. He was fairly certain he knew what Mr. Moseby was trying to do, and he hated it. "Whatever is going on with you, your friends aren't going to laugh at you, Cody. They're not going to make fun of you, or judge you. In fact, they're all quite worried about you." Mr. Moseby said gently. Cody just stared at the floor. Mr. Moseby frowned upon noticing that the teenager was shaking. "Are you alright?" He asked. Cody didn't answer him. Mr. Mosby sighed. "I've known you since you were around seven, Cody. Despite our disagreements and your shenanigans with Zack, I want you boys to know that you can trust me. If you're feeling sick, you have to tell me so I can help you." He said. Cody shook his head. "Why not?" Mr. Moseby asked. The boy just wrapped his arms around his knees tighter. "Cody, I-"
Before Mr. Moseby could finish, loud footsteps echoed through the hall. Cody and Mr. Moseby looked up just in time to see Zack and Bailey run around the corner towards them, followed by Marcus, Woody, and Maya. Cody leaned away, and Mr. Moseby stood. "Stop!" He said strictly. The teens all stopped. "I'm sorry, Mr. Moseby! I-I tried to stop them! But-they wouldn't-" An out of breath Marcus was cut off by Bailey. "Cody! What the heck is wrong with you?! You scared everybody to death!" She said. "Yeah! What's your deal, Man?" Zack agreed. Cody shook his head, choking up. He stood up, and Moseby turned to him. "Cody. Please, ignore them." He said. "Ignore us?!" Bailey questioned. "Cody, go to your cabin. I'll be there shortly and we can talk. Okay? Please? I'm trusting you, Cody. Just go to your cabin. Alright?" Mr. Moseby ignored the others, locking eyes with Cody. Cody glanced at his friends, and then back at Moseby. He nodded slowly, walking away.
"Cody!" Zack yelled. "Zachary Martin!" Mr. Moseby said. Zack looked to the manager. "I instructed you to wait on the Sky Deck." Mr. Moseby said, very clearly angry. "Yeah, you also told us to go back to our cabins..." Zack said. "Mr. Moseby, what's going on? What did he say??" Bailey asked. "Nothing. He said nothing. You never gave him a chance to!" Mr. Moseby said loudly. The group of kids' expressions fell. "I gave you those instructions for a reason. I was planning to talk with him, and then tell you guys what's going on. If you had listened, you would know what is wrong with Cody. Now you don't, and neither do I." He continued. "We got worried!" Zack defended. "You don't think I'm worried?" Mr. Moseby challenged him, and Zack shut his mouth.
Mr. Moseby sighed, softening his expression. "I understand your concern. I apologize for raising my voice. But when I give you specific instructions, I expect you to listen to me!" He said. "We're sorry, Mr. Moseby. We're just worried about Cody." Bailey said. "I know you are. Now please, go back to the Sky Deck, all of you. I'm going to go see if I can get Cody to talk to me at all. I'll come and find you when we are done. Understand?" Mr. Moseby said, and the group of teenagers nodded. "Go." Mr. Moseby instructed. Maya, Bailey, Zack, Marcus and Woody all turned and walked away. Mr. Moseby turned and walked the opposite direction, towards Cody and Woody's cabin.
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Cody moved from sitting on the foot of his bed to pacing and back to the bed. It was a bit hard for him to breathe, but he tried to stay calm. Someone knocked on the door, and Cody froze. He didn't move. Another knock sounded, followed by a voice.
"Cody? It's Mr. Moseby."
Cody stood up and slowly walked to the door. He opened it and let Mr. Moseby in without meeting his eyes. Mr. Moseby shut the door behind him. "Thank you. I'm sorry about that. I told them to stay away, but, they're worried about you." He said. Cody remained silent as he sat on the foot of his bed again. Mr. Moseby walked over and sat on the end of Woody's bed so he could look at Cody. "Now. Where were we?" He sighed. Cody just stared at the floor. Mr. Moseby looked at him. "Cody what's going on with you?" He asked straight out. "You skipped class, according to Mrs. Tutwiler and your friends you haven't been sleeping, you haven't been participating in class discussions...That isn't like you."
Cody shifted onto the bed fully and crossed his legs under him. He stared at the bed sheets, keeping his head down. "Did something happen? Did you hear bad news? Did something scare you?" Mr. Moseby asked. Cody shook his head a little. Mr. Moseby's expression turned serious. "Is someone picking on you? Bullying you?" He asked. Cody shook his head again. "Cody, if someone has been bullying you, please...You need to tell me or Mrs. Tutwiler-" Cody cut Mr. Moseby off. "No, no-one's bullying me. I'm fine." His voice was raw and quiet. Mr. Moseby nodded. "Okay. I'll take your word for it. Then what did happen?" He asked. Cody fell silent again. "Have you talked to your mother recently?" Mr. Moseby asked. Cody shook his head again. "Your father?" Mr. Moseby inquired. Again, the boy shook his head. Mr. Mosby thought of other questions to ask, when Cody spoke.
"What-What have they been saying...? About me...Zack and, Bailey and them..." He glanced up. Mr. Moseby met his red, tired eyes. "They're very worried about you, Cody. They want to know what's going on. Bailey's blaming herself." He explained. Cody closed his eyes, sighing. "She's blaming herself?" Cody asked. "Well...She's scared, Cody. They all are. Bailey told me the two of you got into a fight?" Mr. Moseby hesitated. Cody nodded. "I...Don't even know what happened. She hates me." He said. Mr. Moseby chuckled.
"Cody, she does not hate you. That, I can assure you. She and Zack are the most worried of all." He said. Cody frowned. "Zack?" He said, and Mr. Moseby nodded. "Yes, Zack. He's been pestering me the most, along with Bailey. They refused to go to their cabins when you skipped school today. They insisted on helping find you." He told Cody. Cody looked down. "I'm suck a jerk." He said. Mr. Moseby frowned. "What do you mean?" He asked. Cody swallowed. "I yelled at them. At Bailey. And at Zack." He said. "Why?" Mr. Moseby asked. Cody shrugged. "I was mad." He said. "Why were you mad?" Mr. Moseby pressed. Cody sighed. "They sent Zack to...It doesn't matter." He started, standing up and walking away from the bed. Mr. Moseby stood as well.
"It matters to them." He said. "Whatever. I'm fine, so, it doesn't matter." Cody said. Mr. Moseby walked a little closer to Cody. "You're fine?" He said. Cody just nodded. "Alright. So, you just decided to cut class for fun?" Mr. Moseby challenged the teen. Still, Cody remained silent. "And, you fought with Bailey for fun too, then, yes?" Mr. Moseby continued. "And, yelled at your brother, and Marcus, Woody, and Maya. Just for the heck of it. And-" Finally, Cody cut him off. "Stop. Just...Stop." Cody sat down on the sofa. Mr. Moseby walked around and sat down on the small table in front of the sofa. "Cody, you're exhausted. You're upset, you're tired...What's going on?" He asked Cody seriously. Cody blinked quickly. He didn't answer. Mr. Moseby sighed. "Cody. You're not fine." He said quietly.
Cody lowered his head, covering his face with his hands. Mr. Moseby moved to the couch and sat next to him. He gently put his arm around Cody's shoulders. "You can talk to me, Cody." He said. Cody stood abruptly, jerking out of Mr. Moseby's arms. "No. I can't." He said flatly, walking towards the door. "Cody, wait!" Mr. Moseby stood. "Just forget it." Cody said. He opened the door, and jumped. Zack, Maya, Bailey, Woody, and Marcus were stood listening at the door. Cody avoided eye contact. "Your plan didn't work. You can stop trying now. Just forget about it." He said, pushing past Zack and walking down the hall. The kids all looked from Mosby to Cody. Then, Zack took off. "Cody. Stop!" He said, grabbing his brother's wrist. Cody jerked his hand away. "Get off of me!" He said, turning to glare at Zack. Zack grabbed his arm again. "Make me!" He said, dragging Cody backwards. Zack was slightly stronger than Cody, and he pulled the younger twin back into his cabin. "Zack, stop!! Get off!!" Cody protested, but Zack ignored him. "Mr. Moseby, politely, get out." Zack said. Mr. Moseby raised his eyebrows. "I said politely." Zack said. "Everybody get out. Please." The others looked at each other. "He said 'please'..." Marcus noted. "I know." Bailey commented. "He's serious. Let's go." Maya said, ushering the others away. Mr. Moseby glanced at Zack. "Mr. Moseby, lock us in here. Don't let us out." Zack said. Cody's eyes went wide. "What? Z-Zack, no..." He tried, but Zack ignored him. "Don't let us out until we talk things out." Zack continued. "Zack, no!" Cody said. Mr. Moseby seemed unsure, but he obeyed Zack's wishes. He closed the door, and it locked.
Cody bolted to the door and tried to open it, his chest closing. "No, no, nononono. M-Mr. Moseby!! O...Open the door!" He said. "Why are you so afraid to talk to us?" Zack asked him, not realizing how upset Cody was getting. He was breathing hard, and shaking. Cody pounded on the door. "P...Please!!" He choked. Zack walked over to him and grabbed his shoulder, trying to turn Cody around. Cody pushed Zack's hand away instantly. "Don't touch me!!!" Cody yelled. Zack stared at his brother. He saw it.
Cody's eyes were wide with terror. He was breathing way too fast to be healthy, and his whole body was shaking violently. "Whoa, hey...Calm down." Zack said, lowering his voice. Cody shook his head. "I can't...Let me o-out!" He struggled through hyperventilating. "Cody, take a deep breath..." Zack said nervously. Cody looked like he was going to pass out. He walked towards the door, and Cody jumped back. "No!" He yelled. Zack stared at him. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Dude." He said. Cody didn't look convinced. Zack knocked on the door. "Moseby, open the door! Cody's freaking out!" He called. The door's lock mechanism clicked, and Zack opened the door. Everyone piled in the room quickly.
They had just enough time to get a glimpse of Cody scratching at his chest, desperate to get oxygen into his lungs. "Cody-" Before Bailey could ask what was happening, Cody bolted from the room. "Cody!" Zack started to run after him, but Mr. Moseby stopped him. "Zack. Stop." He said sadly. Zack struggled away. "No! Something's really really wrong with him! He couldn't breathe!" He yelled. "Getting worked up yourself isn't going to help him." Mr. Moseby said. "I don't care!" Zack said, but he wasn't shouting as loud. "He was hyperventilating! Someone has to go after him to make sure he's okay!!" Bailey said, gesturing to the door where Cody had fled. Mr. Moseby held his hands up. "Everybody calm down. I understand your concern. I honestly don't like to do this...But please, all of you go to your cabins." He said. Immediately, the group of five all started talking at once, protesting.
"What?! We can't just leave him!"
"He needs our help!!"
"We can't just let him be alone!"
"He could be hurt!"
"No way! We have to help him!"
"I'm his girlfriend. Let me go!"
"No! I'm his brother! I know how to talk to him!"
"I'm Cody's best friend! Let me talk to him!"
Mr. Moseby sighed. "Quiet! Quiet!! I'm sorry, but I need you all to go to your cabins. You don't have to go individually, you can all go to one cabin if you would like. But I need you off the decks." He said. The teens all looked at each other. "Please, don't argue. This time, I really need you to listen to me. Something is wrong with Cody. If we want to find out what it is, I need to talk to him away from all of you. I promise to report back to you all immediately. You will be the firsts to know." Mr. Moseby said. His serious and concerned tone stopped anyone from protesting. "Good. Thank you. Now, where can I find you when all this is done?" Mr. Moseby asked.
Again, the teens all exchanged glances. "Um-My room?" Maya was the first to speak up. Everyone nodded, not really interested in suggesting somewhere else. "Very well. Please, please, stay there until I come and talk to you. This is important." Mr. Moseby said. The kids all nodded. "Thank you. Go on then." He sent them off. When they left, Mr. Moseby closed Cody and Woody's cabin door, and went off to find Cody.