Ride the Waves | Chris Brown

11. Cody Jackson

Chapter 11: Cody Jackson

I walked to my class squinting one eye from the bright sun, gripping my backpack straps. The weather was being weird this week. One minute it was chucking it down with rain and the next it was too hot to even function. Senior year was exactly what I hoped it would be; from the smaller classrooms to the unfamiliar faces. It was a new start for me; I could finally, just about, walk somewhere without the whispers of those who knew- or thought they knew-anything about me. Just about. Occasionally people would talk and I'll always been known as "friend of the dead girl" but I'm slowly learning to ignore them.

I sat my backpack on the floor, and collapsed into the chair, bending down to fish my notepad from my bag. When I popped up to set it on my desk, Cody fell into the next desk.

"Good. You can take notes for me," he said. He chewed on a pen and smiled, undoubtedly his most charming.

I shot a disgusted look at him. "You're not even in this class."

"The hell if I'm not. I usually sit up there," he said, nodding to the top row. A small group of girls were staring at me, and I noticed an empty chair in the center.

"I'm not taking notes for you," I said, scribbling my pen on the front of my notebook to check if it had ink.

Cody leaned so close that I could feel his breath on my cheek. "I'm sorry...did I offend you in some way?"

I sighed and shook my head. Minus the fact that him talking to me makes it seem as though those rumours where true. "Then what is your problem?"

I kept my voice low. "I'm not sleeping with you. You should give up, now."

A slow smile crept across his face before he spoke. "I haven't asked you sleep with me," his eyes drifted to the ceiling in thought, "have I?"

"I'm not Veronica or one of your little groupies up there," I said, glancing at the girls in front us. "I'm not impressed with your boyish charm, or athletic ability, so you can stop the antics, okay?"

"Okay, Nina." He was infuriatingly impervious to my rudeness. "But you did say I could speak to you in school the other day. And you know it wasn't me who started those rumours, so how about you come over tonight. You can bring the twins?" I sneered at his request, but he leaned closer. "I'm not trying to bag you. I just wanna hang out."

"Bag me? How do you ever get laid talking like that?" Cody burst into laughter, shaking his head. "Just come over. I won't even flirt with you, I swear."

"I'll think about it."

The history teacher strolled in, and Cody turned his attention to the front of the room. A residual smile lingered on his face, making the dimple in his cheek sink in. The more he smiled, the more I wanted to hate him, and yet it was the very thing that made hating him impossible. I can tell he's a cool guy and being friends with him won't hurt. I guess.

"Who can tell me who the President of America was in 1924?" The teacher asked.

"Make sure you get that down," Cody whispered. "I'm gonna need to know that for job interviews."

"Sshh," I said, writing the teachers every word.

Cody grinned and relaxed into his chair. As the hour progressed, he alternated between yawning, being class clown and leaning against my arm to look at my notes. I made a concentrated effort to ignore him, but his proximity and the muscles bulging from his arm made it difficult. He picked at the black leather band around his wrist until the teacher dismissed us.

I hurried out the door and down the hall. Just when I felt sure I was a safe distance, Cody Jackson was at my side.

"Have you thought about it?" he asked, slipping on his sunglasses.