A/N: This story is dedicated to my long time best friend Hayley, who has helped shape how I see the world in more ways than one. For that, I thank you.

Volante296

Disclaimer: I do not own TDI in anyway. All I own is the character Hayley and the story plot. Oh, and CTES, which I completely made up on the spot.

I had never felt this strongly about someone until this day. Until I met him.

I walked through the large, glass doors and into the severely air conditioned building. I was burning up so much with nerves, I barely noticed. It was my first day at CTES (Course for Technologically Excelling Students) and I was so worried.

Not that I wasn't capable with a computer, I mean I was top of my grade in anything to do with technology. It was that I didn't know anyone else that was going to this holiday course.

I continued up the blankly white corridor until I reached the door that read 'Room 1: Designated meeting area for CTES'. I could hear my tall black boots tapping out my heartbeat as I walked, as if it was building the suspense.

I pushed open the doors and stepped sheepishly into the crowded room. It was almost exactly as I had expected. The room was full of a bunch of stereotypical geeks, all staring up at me. I hated this aspect of my interests. I was always the only un-geeky person involved, but this time, I realised that I wasn't alone.

There, in the middle of the group was a guy. A normal guy. He was completely free of any thick glasses, braces, thick acne or pants so high he could that you could barely tell that he was wearing a shirt at all. Actually, he was kind of cute.

It was just another day for me; I had been to this technology holiday course heaps of times before. I was busy having an animated discussion with my long time friend Jamie about the new animated Star Wars movie, when I noticed a new face in the room.

She was standing in front of the doors, looking around awkwardly. She was wearing a pair of long, black, lace up leather boots over faded black skinny jeans with a hot pink singlet top that adorned a large, black skull at the front. She had long, chocolate brown curls that rested just below her shoulders and large, shiny hazel eyes. Overall, she was very pretty. We locked eyes for a moment and she gave me a faint smile.

I slowly walked over to her position in front of the door. "Hey, I'm Cody Carter." I offered. "So, I guess you're here for CTES then?"

She nodded weakly and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. This happened a few times before she actually spoke. I love that I have that affect on girls. "Hi," She began in a shaky voice, "My n-name's Hayley McDowall. Sorry I-I'm a little nervous, it's my first day."

Well, maybe it wasn't me making her speechless. But hey, a guy can dream.

We hit it off really well. We were both interested in the same things, but sometimes had different views, which I loved to hear from her point of view. We sat together for all the lessons of day one and got in trouble for talking a few times. She was a really nice, really interesting girl and I felt this really strange connection. It was a bit weird really, since I'd only known her less than a day.

Currently, we were in the middle of making fun of Mr. Winchester, the leading teacher of the 3 day course. "And," I started talking through fits of laughter, "He's like a dinosaur. Have you seen how he walks?" I started doing a very jerky impression of a Velociraptor, which made Hayley start laughing hysterically. That's something else that I liked about her, she wasn't all girly about things and didn't giggle all the time.

"And I've heard that his hair isn't even real, it's a-"

"Alright everyone today's activities are over, now clear off!" Mr. Dinosaur shouted to the room. Everyone else started filing out of the room except Hayley and me.

"So," I said, breaking the awkward silence, "I have to do lights duty, want to help?"

"Lights duty?"

"Yeah, you know, going around making sure that all the lights and computers are off, that sort of thing." It was a bit of a downside to have to do extra duties and stuff, but I guess that's what you get for coming every year to this since you were 10.

"Ok, sure." We set to work, walking around the room, checking computers and flicking switches. On occasion we bumped into each other, which resulted in a few laughs here and there, but we made quick work of it.

Now it was time to go.

We walked in silence to the front door of the small building and started down the stairs. We were on the last step, when he tugged on my arm and pulled me to a stop.

"Hey, it was really cool hanging out with you today. And do you want to hang out again tomorrow? I mean there's still 2 days left but, you know."

"Sure, that sounds great," I replied, "I had a lot of fun today, once I got over my shyness."

"Yeah, me too."

We had been so busy talking that we hadn't realised how close we had been getting. Now, we were completely face to face, our noses almost touching. I was shocked to see how intimate our position actually was. I could see the same shock I was feeling mirrored on his face. We both jumped away like we'd been electrocuted by each other and looked away awkwardly.

"Well I guess I'll be seeing you then." I said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course." And with that, I walked away.

I was silent the whole car trip, something which my mum picked up pretty quickly. "Are you alright darling? You haven't said a word. Did something happen? Did the course not go very well?"

"No mum. It was great. Even better than I expected."

That night, all I could think about was Cody and just how close we'd gotten. Both friendship wise, and well, physically. He even managed to slip into my dreams on a few occasions. Though I'd rather not say how he appeared…

A/N: Ok, that was a little weird to finish on but seriously. For all those girls who are reading this, you can not say that you haven't imagined a hot guy topless. I mean come on.

This story was a request from a few people who read my story 'the yacht party'. Which, consequently you don't really have to read to be able to get this but you might want to check it out anyway if you like CxD stuff.

I would also just like to point out that Cody's love interest in this story isn't actually based on me. It's based on my friend who is as in love with Cody as you can actually be with a cartoon character.

Volante296