Notes: Huge thanks to Mari and Sammy for their fantastic help and feedback!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support as always

Hope you enjoy!

That Kind of Friendship (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

"Hey, you're still here," Jadon said, approaching where Cody sat on a concrete ledge on campus.

"Yeah, I texted you I'd wait," Cody said, shifting his backpack to the ground at his feet so his friend could sit beside him.

Jadon looked down at his phone and frowned. "I gotta get a new phone. This thing is always doing that. Mia said she was texting me last night but I never got 'em. And the last one I got from you just says you're waiting outside the cafeteria building for Steve but I didn't know if you'd still be here."

"I texted I'd wait for you 'cause Steve isn't picking me up till one." When Jadon continued to examine his phone as if the missing text messages would suddenly appear, Cody nudged him. "You said you had to tell me something?"

Jadon's head snapped up. "Dude! Yeah." He nodded slowly with a cocky smile. "You're looking at McDonald's newest assistant manager." His smile morphed into a full blown excited grin.

"Dude!" Cody said, smacking his arm. "That's awesome." He held his fist out for a bump.

"Yeah, they told me when I got to work this morning."

"That's still gonna work with your class schedule?"

"Yeah, they said I can keep my availability and my schedule'll be pretty much the same as it is now."

"That's awesome, man," Cody said again.

"Yeah."

"What'd your mom say?"

Jadon chuckled. "After she made sure it wasn't gonna screw up my classes she was happy."
Cody grinned. "Cool."

"Almost as happy as she was when she heard I was on the dean's list last semester." He shook his head. "Still can't hardly believe that happened."

"Me either," Cody said. "I was worried with student senate on top of everything my grades might go down a little, but then I got the letter about the dean's list …"

"We got this college thing down, Code-man," Jadon said, bumping his fist against Cody's again. "Both got jobs, classes, girlfriends, family stuff … we are killin' it."

Cody chuckled. "Yeah."

Jadon shook his head. "Gonna be weird being, like, in charge of other people, though. Some of 'em are kids but … a lot of 'em are older than me."

Cody nodded. "Yeah, but you can do it. You're like … what do they call it? A people person."

"I guess."

They fell into a comfortable silence. After a minute, Cody huffed a small laugh, shaking his head. "Did you ever think this is what we'd be talking about?"

Jadon looked at him. "What?"

"Assistant manager jobs and student senate and dean's list …"

Jadon laughed and shook his head. "Not for me, no. But you? Yeah." Cody looked at him and Jadon shrugged. "I always knew you could do something important, if you just got the chance."

Cody paused, surprised. "J, I …" His voice trailed off.

Jadon shrugged again. "It's the truth, man."

Cody looked down, thinking. He looked back at his friend and said, "I've always thought it was really … amazing … how you can pretty much talk to anybody. You've always been like that. I used to watch in high school how you could just move from group to group and … fit in. I couldn't do that, but you had this way of getting along with everyone. If there was an issue or a fight or something, you could cool things off by making a joke or talking people down. Not everybody can do that but … you can."

Jadon smiled and looked down for a beat. He glanced back up at Cody. "You mean that?"

"Yeah." Cody held Jadon's gaze and nodded at him. "That's why I know you're gonna be good at the assistant manager job. You're good with people."

Jadon scratched at the back of his head and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Cody's lip quirked. "But you know one downside of getting this job?"

Jadon's brow knitted in confusion.

Cody grinned. "Andre and Reggie are gonna think this means they get free fries every night or something."

"God, you're right," Jadon groaned, rolling his eyes. "They already think I'm supposed to bring 'em chicken nuggets whenever I work."

Cody laughed.

Jadon checked his phone. "I gotta get to class." He stood up, picking up his backpack. He smiled wryly. "At least the clock on this thing still works."

"Later, man."

"Later." He tossed his backpack over one shoulder and gave Cody a quick fist bump. "Tell SuperSEAL I said hey."

"Okay." As Jadon walked away, Cody called out, "Congrats on the job, J. You earned it."

Jadon smiled. "Thanks, man." With a final nod, he joined the flow of students on the sidewalk leaving Cody looking after him with a small smile on his face.

A few minutes later Steve pulled up in the truck and Cody hopped in.

"Hey," Steve said, shifting back into drive.

"Hey," Cody replied as he stowed his backpack on the floor. "You just missed Jadon. He said to tell you 'Hey.' "

Steve nodded with a half smile. "How's he doing?"

"Good. Really good," he amended. "He just got promoted to assistant manager at McDonald's."

Steve glanced over. "Yeah? That's great," he said genuinely. "Good for him."

"Yeah, he's pretty excited."

"I'll text him later and congratulate him."

Cody chuckled. "Just don't be surprised if he doesn't get it. His phone has been acting weird and he's not always getting his texts."

Steve quirked an eyebrow. "Well, that might be something he should take care of with that new assistant manager salary."

Cody grinned. "Yeah." He paused for a moment. "We were talking about how … back in middle school and even in high school, we never thought we'd be an assistant manager or a student senator or on the dean's list or anything like that …" He paused again. "Well, actually J said he always thought I could do something important."

Steve smiled. "Always knew he was smart."

Cody flashed a quick smile and glanced down for a beat. "I didn't … expect him to say that, but it … meant a lot to hear."

Steve nodded. "He's your best friend so his opinion is important to you. And because he's your best friend, he knows what he's talking about."

"And I always … admired how he could get along with everyone and just … deal with people really well, you know?"

"Yeah, that's Jadon."

"I think that's really going to help him be a good manager."

Steve nodded, pulling through the intersection when the light turned. "I think you're right," he agreed. "Did you tell him all that?"

"Yeah. I don't think he was expecting it either."

Steve smiled, glancing over at him quickly. "Sounds like you guys had a good talk."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, it wasn't really long or anything …"

"It's not the length that matters, it's what you say."

Cody nodded. "Then, yeah. We did." He paused. "You know, it's weird. I don't really talk to my other friends from high school much anymore, but … Jadon and I are still tight."

"Yeah, friendships can be like that. Sometimes it's circumstances, but other times it's the friendship itself that determines if it lasts." They reached a stoplight and Steve looked at Cody. "But mostly it's about the people involved. Jadon is a good guy and a good friend, like you, so it's no surprise the two of you became best friends and have stayed best friends."

Cody smiled. "Yeah."

"You and Jadon have the best kind of friendship, Cody. One where you celebrate each other's successes, encourage each other when you face setbacks. Call each other out when you need to. Where you know each other's stories and are friends either because of … or in spite of them." He smiled. "And one where you can bust each other, because that's what best friends do.

Cody smiled back. "Like brothers."

"There's no 'like' about it," Steve said firmly. "And that kind of friendship? That brotherhood? It's important to hang on to."

"Like you and Danny."

"Yeah," Steve said, a small smile on his face. "Like us."

Cody huffed a small laugh, looking down.

"What?" Steve asked.

"I was gonna say I can't imagine us in twenty years with careers and families and stuff like that, but …" He looked over at Steve. "Maybe it's not so hard to imagine after all."

Steve smiled. "I know exactly what you mean."

Hope you enjoyed!

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