Chapter 6

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We get to Cody's house and I grab the doorknob already knowing Cody's door is never locked. The knob twists all the way around before falling off the door completely and Cody just kicks the door open, I'm surprised the damn thing didn't fall off the hinges.
"DOORKNOB IS BROKEN AGAIN!" Cody shouts as we walk in.
"YEAH SORRY DUDE, I'LL GET A NEW ONE LATER JUST SHOVE IT BACK ON FOR NOW!" I hear his older brother yell back from somewhere across the house.
"HEY DONNY!" I shout a greeting to him so he knows I'm there too. A few seconds later he walks into the living room half dressed with his hand in a bag of chips.
"Sup Zack, staying the night?" He asks.
"Nah, I already stayed at October's last night, not coming home twice in a row is bound to get me in trouble." I tell him.
"Right, well let me know if you guys need anything. Try not to burn the place down either, I had to take out our smoke alarms from all the shit we burn around here." Donny tells us. With Cody around, I get how smoke alarms would get annoying, not that Donny isn't adding smoke of his own.
"If anyone else shows up let them know we're in the basement." Cody replies as he starts walking down the stairs. I follow him down into the big, messy room. The place looks more like the aftermath of a frat party than a bedroom with trash thrown everywhere, mostly cans and food wrappers, walls covered in spray paint, the mini fringe tipped over, and a table that's been broken and duct-taped back together. However the bed in the corner makes it Cody's bedroom, he lets people sleep on his bed during sleepovers or an air mattress he has if more than one person stays. He'll always take the couch. I take a seat on the couch next to him and he hands me a can of soda in my favorite flavor.

The rest of our friends arrive just in time to watch me cross the finish line of the racing game Cody and I were playing.
"Booyah! I am the champion!" I exclaim my victory with my arms in the air.
"Wow Zack, you've been productive over here. How's that history project going?" October asks sarcastically, knowing I haven't started yet.
"Relax it's not due til the last day, plus I can't research without my computer wiz! How do you expect a dunce such as myself to use a keyboard or read a web page?" I reply just as sarcastically.
"Jesus Cody, when's the last time you cleaned this place?" Faith asks.
"What can I say? Not all of us are saints." Cody replies.
"Just cause our parents are religious doesn't mean we're holy, after all, we hang with you and you're probably a demon!" Chris jokes back.
"Dude, your parents are nutcases saying shit like that, there's a reason I avoid your place." Mars says. It's true too, Cody thought it'd be fun one summer to shoot some bottle rockets out the window while at Chris and Faith's house a few years back and their parents lost their God-fearing shit on him. Not the worst thing Cody has ever done.
"I don't go 'cause I'm not allowed, any time I walk past your house they still scream their heads off and hold out crosses." Cody adds in a tone halfway between annoyed and amused.
"Shit like that is why I tread lightly. I'm glad they at least have enough sanity to not be major racist kind of Christians." October says.
"And staying closeted means you have to spend sleepovers in my room!" Faith replies happily. Sane enough not to do racism but not sane enough to avoid homophobia.
"Well, we can thank Jesus for one thing, at least they're not Axel!" Chris replies and everyone nods in agreement. That guy is a douche.
"Yeah, having people banned from your place means there's not many places for all of us to hang out together though. So we can chill here with the mess whenever, go to October's place once in a while, and spend about an hour at KickBurger." I remind them.
"3 for 3 on places we can and can't hang. We can't all visit the Bible thumpers, Zack's place sucks too, and Mars sleeps in a fuckin tree." Cody adds.
"Hey respect my tree man, that tree is good to me, sturdy enough to get through every storm I've ever seen." Mars replies.
"But does your tree have games?" Cody asks, already knowing the answer.
"Nah, but that's why I come to your house." They reply hopping over the couch and grabbing a controller. Chris grabs my controller before I can pick it back up and I move to the bed where the girls are sitting to see if they'll help me with my history project. Not that I'm too dumb to use Google but having help gets it done faster.
"Alright dunce, let's see what we can find." October sighs.

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