''Ian Romero, the person I hate the most in the whole wide world. He turned the entire school against me, and then just left me alone in the hell he created.''
There's no one Cody Walker hates more than Ian Romero, who is the reason he has been bull...
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*Ian Romero's POV
The next day I had talked things through with Ade and apologised for the way I had acted. As understanding and cool a friend he was, he had just patted my shoulder and said: "Don't worry about it, man, we're cool."
Just like that we had made up our first fight and things were more or less back to normal. More or less, because I could feel some tension between us and Oat every time we hung out. They still disagreed with Cody — and now with me and Ade as well — but they hadn't brought it up after that one time.
I had decided to do as Cody wanted, and I prayed it was the right choice. I'm not sure how I could live with myself if something happened to him, especially not when I knew I was the one who had caused this trouble to begin with. I would drag him to see the principal if there was even one reason to believe he was in danger, but meanwhile I had conceived other ways to keep him safe.
First of all, we couldn't be with Cody at school all the time. There were inevitably occasions when he was alone, so I needed to make sure Cody could protect himself in moments like that. So, there I was, on Saturday morning, waiting at his door.
"Oh, it's you again." Mylo opened the door for me, his lips pressed in a tight line.
"Yeah.. I promised to come pick Cody up." I told him and smiled diffidently.
"He's not ready yet, so please come in." Mylo prompted and I humbly did as I was told.
"Okay, so. I have one question for you. What are your intentions for our Cody?" He asked then, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms on his chest.
"I really like him and I want to take care of him.. so, good?" I rambled nervously.
Then Mylo started walking towards me and lifted his arms in the air. His blue eyes didn't stop staring at me the entire time, he didn't even blink. My brain sent me an emergency signal: He's going to kill you, run for your life!
But then Mylo wrapped his brawby arms around me and gave me a respectable bear hug.
"Your trial time is over, welcome to the family." He started grinning.
"Yup, we like you now." The dark haired guy, Kobe, showed up from nowhere and came to hug me too.
What's going on?
That was when Cody walked in the room and once he saw what was happening, he burst out laughing. In a genuine and lighthearted way. I can't blame him for finding it funny though, since my discombobulated expression must have been a sight to see.
"I see.. If Kobe wasn't just trying to choke you to death, I guess they think you're cool now." Cody grinned.
I had instructed him to wear sportswear and that's exactly what he had done. How could someone look so good wearing simple black sweatpants and a grey hoodie? It might also have been that smile on his face..
"If I wanted to choke him to death, he would be dead by now. But I did inject him with poison, it should take about an hour or so.." Kobe said casually and smiled sweetly.
"It's a much more painful way to go, but hey, it was nice knowing you." Mylo patted my shoulder and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, what?" I gaped at them, as confused as ever. Cody took my hand and pulled me towards the hallway.
"Don't listen to them, they're total dorks." He sighed and waved his hand to his roommates: "See ya, I'll be fine."
Only when we were out of the door and striding towards the martial art club, I opened my mouth: "They're quite possessive.. and a bit weird, no offence."
"Believe me, I know." Cody turned to look at me and he was smiling again. I wanted to ask him why he was in such a good mood, but I didn't want to risk losing that smile.
After that we walked in silence, not that there would have been much time for a conversation, since the martial art club was only two blocks away.
"Kickboxing? So this is where you get all your muscles." Cody muttered, looking around in the lobby curiously.
"Oh, someone's been checking my body?" I smirked and Cody rolled his eyes. Then he looked away almost like he had seen something exciting in the unoccupied lobby, but I knew he was just trying to hide his nervousness.
"Okay, so, I'm going to teach you a few basic moves of Krav maga." I told Cody as soon as we were in the spacious training room. There were just a couple of other trainers that day, so we could take a corner of the room and practice in peace.
I started by showing some ways to get his wrist twisted free if someone grabbed him and turned out Cody was a quick learner. It was actually a lot of fun and I was glad to be there with Cody even if he didn't learn that much from it. I really hoped he did, though.
"This one is called Pluck and Strike." I explained, placed my hand on Cody's chest and gently guided him towards the wall. When his back hit the wall, I leaned closer and lifted my hand on his throat. I held his neck like I was trying to choke him, but I made sure I didn't really do so.
"Is this supposed to be so, eh, hot?" Cody mumbled and blinked his eyes, clearly taken aback by the sudden proximity.
"Shh, don't make this harder than it already is." I whispered in his ear and it took everything from me to not start making out with him right there and then.
"Fuck you." Cody muttered, his cheeks reddened from embarrassment.
"I wish." The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop myself, but I quickly recollected myself and continued: "Anyway.. When someone grabs your neck with one hand and presses you against the wall, you need to act fast."
"First, tuck your chin down like this." I began, showing the movement to Cody. "Good. Now, take your non-dominant hand, grab my wrist and pull it down toward the ground."
"Then you should punch my face with your dominant hand. I know you want to hit me, but please do it gently." I joked and Cody mock hit my jaw.
"You can also rotate your hips like this." I held Cody's hips and adjusted his position, which was a horrible mistake, because it really made my thoughts go off the track.. I had to clear my throat before I could continue giving instructions.
"And then you should kick my groin, but let's leave it for now." I laughed nervously and added: "If they try to hurt you again, don't hesitate to use these moves. Don't try to cause real damage though, unless it is absolutely necessary."
"Yeah, I've got this. I think." Cody nodded.
"Good. What I'm going to do next is something I don't want you to do with them, just so that you know." I leaned in to kiss him, not caring if the other trainers saw us. I pressed my body against his, my hands still on his hips.
Cody was right, I thought, this is hot.
♡♡♡
Question of the day: Whose POVs do you like the most? Any comments about the characters? Or the story in general?
