Hello, Hello

Chapter One

Shut Up Izzy

"You did did did diddiddiddiddid…"

"Shut up. I did not."

"Diddiddid."

This has been going on for hours. No matter how vehemently I deny her baseless accusations that I have a crush on Cody, she continues to insinuate just the opposite. It's wearing my nerves thin. I try to ignore her, but her constant repetition of the word did is impossible to completely block out. It doesn't help that she keeps creating new melodies to sing it in, either.

Sometimes, I honestly envy the juvenile delinquent type like Duncan. If I were Duncan, I could have punched her by now, but since I'm Noah, not Duncan… The sad truth is, it would literally hurt me more than it would hurt her. I'm not accustomed to using violence against others. I tend to let them do that themselves. The last one standing is the pacifist, right?

"Did did did… Diddiddid… Did diiiiiiid diiid…"

I'm almost ready to admit it, just to get her to shut up.

Almost.

"Izzy. Oh my god. Shut. Up."

My aggravation rolls right off her like the water in her orange hair. I raise my book higher, so that I can at least block my view of her with intelligent words. But I can't concentrate enough to actually read them.

"She is starting to get annoying."

I lower my book to see Eva. She looks like she's going to do me a favor and punch Izzy. I raise one eyebrow, waiting for it.

"Isn't she?" I say over the chorus of "dids" in the background. How did her parents ever put up with her? I think I might have committed suicide by this point.

"Someone should permanently rip out her vocal chords," Eva agrees. The way she says it, while cracking her knuckles and all, gives me the impression she's signing herself up for the job. While the promise of this spectacle greatly amuses me, I've been wondering something ever since Izzy brought up the whole awake-a-thon thing.

"Where is Cody, anyway?" I ask. "I'm sure he'll back me up."

Eva snickers. "Sure he will."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I place my book down on my lap, annoyed by her tone. Is she implying what I think she's implying? Because if she is…

"Pssst…" I hear a voice from a bush behind me. I twist around in my seat.

"Harold?"

"Shhh, I'm still hiding from Courtney."

Understandable.

"What?" I ask, noting that Eva has gotten up. I'm keeping an eye on her in case she really does decide to rip out Izzy's vocal chords. "Do you want me to sneak you something? Because I'm sure you're aware that comes with a price tag attached…"

I don't need his money, but I'm not about to help him for nothing.

"Cody's over by that pool."

It seems my sentiments aren't shared by Harold, though. Lucky me.

"Oh. Thanks." I didn't really want to find Cody right this instant, but I do look in the direction Harold gestures towards and Cody is, indeed, lounging by the pool. He's wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks. His eyes are closed and his arms are behind his head. He is the very picture of relaxation. This annoys me. How does it come to pass that I'm hounded by Izzy, and he gets to lie there, unmolested?

…Okay. That was a really bad choice of words.

Don't be immature. Do you even know what molestation means? It's not only sexual in nature.

Anyway, Cody's lying over there, enjoying the sun, while I'm stuck watching Eva wave a fist in a threatening manner at Izzy. Now that is amusing. I find myself smirking at the girls. Is she really going to attack Izzy? After watching for a moment, it doesn't appear that way.

I sigh and turn my attention back to Cody, halfway across the resort. I might as well ask him to corroborate my story. I'm not exactly sure why he's not getting heckled as severely as I am—or at all, really—but I'm fairly certain that he can't be thrilled that people are accusing him of being kissed by me.

All right. After a brief assessment of the situation, it's obvious why he's sunning happily while I'm getting harassed. I can see why it doesn't effect his reputation as badly as mine. He was the one who received the alleged "kiss," which is entirely different than being the one who initiated it…

Not that I'm confessing to anything.

I get up out of my chair, my thick summer reading in hand. I know if I leave it here by the ignoramuses, it will only be destroyed; thrown in the water, torn to shreds, colored in. Who knows what lengths these animals would go to just to get on my last nerve?

I stand directly in Cody's line of sunlight. I stare down at him. His eyes are still closed. I can smell the coconut scent of sun block. His skin is a warm peach. My eyes wander to the waistband of his swimming trunks. His stomach is flat and I can see the vague curve of hip bone peeking out. My gaze gets stuck on his navel and I find it hard to swallow.

I force myself to focus on his face instead.

"Cody," I say in my best demanding tone. He jumps and blinks up at me, startled. It makes me wonder if he was napping this whole time.

"Yeah?" He looks at me from a tilted head, one eye closed, the other squinted halfway shut. He lifts a hand up over his eyes to shield them from the sun that passes my shoulder and directly into his face. His mouth is set in a grimace, and I can sort of see his little gap.

"Listen. About the…incident…"

"Did did did…" I hear a giggle from somewhere behind me. I roll my eyes, then turn to glare at Izzy, my free hand on my hip.

"I thought Eva took care of you?"

"Diddid diiiid…"

It's useless trying to fight her. Her eccentricity is a worthy adversary. Perhaps too worthy. And does she have to be standing right there?

"Can't you see I'm trying to have a private conversation with Cody?" I glower at Izzy. This causes her to giggle again. I have an idea where her mind is wandering, but I can't be sure. Not with Izzy. I turn away from her, doing my best to ignore her.

"What incident?" Cody asks.

I stare at Cody. Is he serious?

"What do you mean, 'what incident'? You know."

Cody still looks puzzled. Don't tell me he actually managed to forget! The luxury of being stupid and foolish!

"I don't know what incident you're referring to."

"Didiiiiie diddid!"

I'm aware that Izzy is still right there, up my butt, so I move closer to Cody and lean down.

"Can we go somewhere private?" I whisper as quietly as I can with Izzy blabbing nonsense behind me. Cody's eyes widen.

"Wh-whaat?"

I recoil, realizing how that must sound. "That's not what I meant!"

Izzy must have heard what I said. I can hear her stifling a laugh. When I look over at her, I can see her covering her mouth. I glare at her. At least she stopped singing that ridic—

"Diiiiid did diiiid!"

Never mind.

"Look, would you just humor me here?" I cross my arms and frown down at Cody. Cody sits up, looking dubious. What, does he think I want to jump his bones or something? As if.

I lead Cody away from the poolside and into a quieter area by the rooms. We're in the shade now, and it feels good after standing with the hot sun beating down on me. Cody's no longer squinting. He stands with his hands awkwardly at his sides, then rubs one arm, waiting for me to say something.

"This is about…" I lower my voice. "The incident."

"You said that before, but, dude, I still don't get what you're saying."

"You know, during the challenge where we had to stay awake the longest. The awake-a-thon?"

Cody blinks. I can tell he's thinking about it. One of his eyes ticks half closed for a moment.

"The kiss!" I burst out, flinging my arms out for dramatic effect.

Cody blinks again, looking taken aback. "Kiss…? Oh. Oh!" I watch comprehension dawn on his face.

"Yes, oh! That incident."

Cody looks distinctly nervous now. He averts his gaze and his hand stills. He is no longer rubbing his arm.

"Just so we're clear," I said. "I didn't kiss you while you were sleeping."

Cody's eyes dart back at me. God, why does he always look so puzzled about everything?

"But, you just…"

"I know what really happened," I hiss, stepping forward. How dumb can he be? "But if you tell people it's not true, maybe they'll shut up about it already."

"Izzy's the only one who's talking about it," Cody pointed out, tilting his head and squinting at me weirdly.

"It's only a matter of time before somebody like Duncan gets in on it, too," I remind him. He looks nervous at the mention of Duncan. Nobody wants to be tormented the way Harold was and it's easy enough to forget all about Duncan, given the fact that he has yet to join us at the loser's resort.

You know, now that I think about it, losing was the best thing that happened to me during my time on the Island.

And don't get me wrong about Duncan. I know perfectly well how to handle clowns like him. It would just save me a lot of plotting and manipulation if Cody would just agree to go along with my version of the events of that night.

"I don't know…" Cody said, scratching idly at his chin. Why the hell wouldn't you deny it? "I mean, what if they start picking on me next? I'd rather not even bring the subject up. If I do, they'll assume I've been thinking about it all this time, and…"

"And you haven't?" How could he not think about it? He'd been kissed and spooned by a guy! Me, no less! It was a life-changing moment. Not the way you're thinking. I mean because of the whole Izzy not shutting up about it thing.

"Not really." Cody shrugs.

How can he be so nonchalant about it? He woke up with a guy spooning him and sucking on his ear! I admit, this all sounds very incriminating. In my defense, I'd been awake for a prolonged amount of time out in the wild with non-nutritious food as a diet and my dream was very vivid…

"Except…" Cody's voice interrupts my reminiscence. Thank god. I don't want to go there again.

"Except?" I prompt him.

"What were you dreaming about?" He regards me with curious eyes. He seems troubled by something. I feel something akin to panic rising up in me. Why is he asking me this? What had I done, other than make out with his ear?

I slap an exasperated hand to my face. Why? Why is he asking me this?

"Why does that even matter?"

Cody shrugs again. "I don't know. You were the one hanging onto me and…" He trails off, looking embarrassed. "Heheh."

"It's not funny," I inform him sourly.

"Sorry." He says the word immediately, as if he expected my reaction and his face actually shows remorse. "It's a nervous habit."

"Why did I ever sign up for this?" I mutter, turning away from Cody. My hand goes to my face again and I shake my head. I could be at home, doing something productive with my life.

"The money?" Cody suggests.

I sag against the wall. "Yes," I agree. "The money."

"Noah and Cody… Sitting in a tree…"

"Oh, that's it, Izzy!" I fume. "I'm not listening to any more of this!"

I storm off to find the little troublemaker, leaving Cody to stand alone in the shade.

+Several Hours Later+

It's night. It's peaceful and quiet. I can hear the sound of the ocean waves lapping ashore and I lie in my bed with one arm tucked behind my head. I'm curled up on my side, staring out the screen door of my room. Izzy finally got bored of messing with me and suddenly became interested in scuba diving again. I swear, if the girl wasn't so intriguing…

I'm having trouble falling asleep, despite the lullaby of the ocean outside. I keep hearing her "dids" ringing through my memory. Some of her little jingles were actually pretty catchy. I also keep replaying my conversation with Cody. I'm still incredulous that he can be so nonchalant about the whole situation. I guess it's not a big deal for him. He wasn't the aggressor. Just a victim of some crazed gay fantasy. Nobody's going to question his sexuality.

I sigh and haul myself out of the bed.

Outside, it's nice. A little breezy. The ocean is calm and soothing and the sky is like a giant dark comforter draped over the island. I can see the moon, half hidden by clouds. I sit in the sand by the water, just out of reach of the current tide. Sitting so close to the water, my head resting on my knees, I feel myself being lulled to sleep…

"Noah?"

I start awake and look up.

"Cody?"

He's wearing his pajamas and his brown hair is slightly disheveled. But his eyes are alert, wide awake. He's been awake for a while. He sits down next to me in the sand.

"Can't sleep?" I ask, then regret it. What a stupid question. Why else would he be out here?

"Nope. Harold's snoring could keep a grizzly up. Heheh." He winces. I remember he was mauled half to death by the Island's resident grizzly and grimace as well. "I thought about what you said."

I look at him with surprise. "What did I say? Refresh my memory."

"About the whole…uh…" He rubs the back of his neck. "Incident. Heheh."

"Oh. Right. So, did you come up with a decision?"

"Uh…" Cody gets really quiet. This bodes ill. I look over at him. Did he decide not to help me? It wasn't like the situation could get worse without his aid. I notice he's not looking at me. He's staring into the dark ocean.

"No," he admits after a long pause.

"Then what were you thinking about?" I ask, only slightly irritated that he was wasting my time.

"You."

I jerk in shock at that single word. Me? I stare at him, almost slack-jawed like a stupid ape-head jock.

"Wh—" I start.

"N-not like that, dude!" Cody hastens to clarify. I scrutinize him, but I can barely make out his silhouette in the dark. I might not be able to really see him, but I think he might be blushing. "I just meant that I thought over the things you said."

He goes quiet again. I'd already known that. Why was he repeating himself? He remained silent, until I'd begun to give up on him saying anything more. Then:

"What were you dreaming about?"

I stand up.

"I'm really tired." I yawn for good measure. Cody looks up at me. In the slant of moonlight peeking through the clouds in the sky, his eyes look extra bright. The way the moon highlights his hair makes it look soft, despite the current mess it's in. It makes me want to…

I reach out and ruffle his hair.

"Huh?" He looks bewildered.

"Goodnight, Cody."

To Be Continued. As to be expected with TDI, there will be a lot of chaos in the chapters to come. Also, this style of writing is experimental for me, but I thought it would fit the fast pace of TDI better than my usual third person limited omniscient. It will be told entirely through Noah. Sorry to disappoint anyone who wanted to known Cody's immediate thoughts. Feedback is appreciated.