Alright so before chapter 2 starts I would like to thank zorbo678 and linkmeister16 for commenting last chapter and to linkmeister16, I can as well, the real challenge is naming all 719.

Cody woke up in bed in the nurse's office, lying down on one of the many beds. His head was still ringing, but not nearly as bad as when he had first got hit. He had no idea how long he had been here, but no one was monitoring him at the moment so he decided to just to lay down in his bed and collect his thoughts. He was able to focus pretty decently so he guessed he probably didn't have a concussion, which also probably also meant he hadn't been unconscious for very long, only just long enough to get him to the nurse's office.

He got up out of his bed and tried to stand up straight. After initially wobbling a bit, Cody was able regain his balance and walk over to the front desk. Once he turned the corner from patient's beds to the front desk he almost ran into someone who was walking the other way.

"Oh sorry!" the female voice exclaimed.

Surprisingly enough Cody recognized the voice and identified it as Bridgette's. Sure enough, he looked up to see the blonde surfer girl standing in front of him. Jokingly, Cody remarked, "Whoa Bridgette if you wanted to knock me out again all you had to do was ask."

Bridgette, who was clearly feeling guilty apologized even more vehemently than before. After about the eighth rapid fire sorry, Cody said, "Relax Bridge, it was just a joke," he then put his hands up to show he meant no harm, "It takes a lot more than an accidental knock on the head to make me mad."

The blonde surfer chick smiled in relief, "I'm sorry Cody, I just feel so bad. I didn't mean to throw it that hard… I just…"

Cody waved his hand as if to show that it was of no significance to him, "Seriously it's okay."

The two stared at each other in silence. Cody began to regret forgiving Bridgette's apologies so quickly, not because he was mad, but just because he didn't want to be trapped in an awkward silence with nothing to say. Seriously, what was he supposed to say to the girl who had just made him go unconscious during PE? Up until this point, the two of them had never talked, making this possibly the strangest first interaction he had ever had. Bridgette clearly wasn't going to leave until she was satisfied that Cody was okay, and Cody wasn't about to tell her to go away. Eventually, after about ten seconds of uncomfortable nothingness, Bridgette finally said, "Well since you're awake… I'm going to get the nurse to check on you."

Bridgette left and came back about twenty seconds later with a nurse. She did a few tests on Cody, like shining a like in his eyes and asking him some basic questions, to make sure he didn't have a concussion. After she was finished with these tests she gave her prognosis, "Well there aren't any signs of a concussion, but you should probably still rest here for a while," then she directed her attention to Bridgette and ordered, "Make sure he doesn't fall asleep."

With that the nurse left the room, putting the two of them in an awkward situation again. Attempting to break the ice, Cody said, "So thanks for staying with me Bridgette. That's really cool of you but you really didn't need to."

Bridgette smiled, "Well I am the one who put you here. I feel like if you have to be here, so should I."

Cody smirked, "Yeah, if I have to miss out on class, you should definitely have to suffer too."

"Hey, I didn't say it was solely for your benefit, did I?"

"So you're saying you planned this all on purpose?"

Bridgette giggled, "I guess you'll never know. All I'm saying is that I really hate going to history class."

"Hey I didn't say I disapprove of you methods, just tell me about them next time."

The two smiled at each other. There was a silence this time, but it was no longer uncomfortable. Now it was like a silence between friends, or at least acquaintances, but they definitely weren't strangers anymore. Bridgette finally said, "So Cody, sorry again about knocking you out and all."

"If you apologize again I'm going to kill you."

"Fair enough, but I do feel extremely bad about it still so let me at least take you out for ice cream or something after school today."

Initially Cody was going to turn her down and say it wasn't necessary, but once Bridgette mentioned ice cream, Cody's sweet tooth took over. He responded a bit too eagerly, "That sounds great!"

Bridgette was visibly pleased by Cody's response as she sat back in her chair and smiled, "Good, then meet me after school in the parking lot. You'll know which car is mine."

After their plans were set, the continued talking for a good fifteen minutes when the nurse said that they had to get back to class. Before they left Cody changed out of his gym uniform and into his normal outfit, which someone had retrieved for him, and Bridgette did the same. The nurse told Cody that if he had any problems to come back immediately, but he had no plans of returning again. Together, Bridgette and Cody walked out of the nurse's office and towards the history classrooms. They both had the same history period, so they continued their conversation into the hallway as they walked to their room. PE was already almost over when Cody got hit, and apparently he had been unconscious for about twenty minutes. Add on to that another twenty or so for the time they had waited in the nurse's office, and Cody figured they had successfully wasted almost three quarters of third period. Once they arrived at their destination, Cody had a moment of brilliance. He stopped abruptly before opening the door and turned to Bridgette, "I have an idea."

Bridgette tilted her head ever so slightly, "Yeah?"

"Since we've gotten out of most of this period already there's really no point to doing any of the work, right? We would already be so far behind there isn't a point today is there?"

Bridgette grinned and rolled her eyes, humoring Cody's slothlike logic but not taking it too seriously. Cody continued, "So what if we walk in there and I play up the head injury thing a bit. You pretend that you're watching over me and neither of us will have to do any work!"

"I like the way you think Mr. Anderson."

With their plan in place, now all that was left was execution. They had to make it look convincing enough that their history teacher would believe them, but not so overdone that it seemed acted out. Finding the compromise was a lot harder than it might have seemed though. Cody threw his arm around Bridgette's neck as if to use her as a stilt. At first it seemed like that was overdoing it because this provided very little relief in actuality, especially for a head injury, but after Cody decided to add a few medium level moans and groans he and Bridgette were convinced they would be able to help sell the performance.

"Lights, camera..." Cody said putting on a sickly face to help with their ruse.

Bridgette scoffed, "How cheesy can you get?"

Cody grinned, "Action."

Bridgette opened the door to reveal the classroom in the middle of a lecture. Their teacher, Mr. Barkus, turned his attention from his slide on the PowerPoint to the newly opened door.

"Bridgette! Cody! How nice of you to join us!" he said enthusiastically. Despite the seemingly sarcastic and stereotypical words, Mr. Barkus truly did mean what he said. Unlike many other teachers, Mr. Barkus loved his job and was very eager to teach his students. For that reason he was either his student's favorite or least favorite teacher. Cody like him a lot, but that didn't mean he necessarily felt like learning what Mr. Barkus was teaching.

Before Bridgette could even utter a word about why they were late, Cody let out a moan that sounded suspiciously like a cartoon ghost from Scooby Doo. Needless to say, Cody was laying it on thick.

Bridgette attempted to speak over Cody's ghastly moan. Raising her voice she said, or at least attempted to say, "Sorry, Cody got hurt in PE. He had—"

Bridgette was interrupted by another large moan. She regained her composure, "He hurt his head on the hardwood. The nurse told me to monitor him in class for a while."

"Oh my!" Mr. Barkus said rather melodramatically, "Cody are you okay?"

Cody outstretched his arm as if to reach for Mr. Barkus before muttering, "Mistah... Barkus… HISTORY!"

Mr. Barkus's face was priceless. Partly horror, and partly uncertainty he ushered Bridgette and Cody to take a seat in the back of the class. Bridgette gingerly helped Cody into his desk and brought up their passes from the nurse's office before taking her seat next to Cody. The lesson continued on as if it hadn't been interrupted at all. Cody continued his delirious act through the whole period, obnoxiously moaning every five minutes or so. Bridgette seemed like she could hardly control her laughter the whole time, which made Cody feel somewhat proud. The period went by relatively quickly, and by the time it ended, it seemed like barely any time had passed at all. Together, they walked out of Mr. Barkus's class and once outside they said their goodbyes until after school that day.

Cody couldn't help but marvel at how quickly his day had changed. Up until gym today, he only had a select group of friends, and of those friends they were all of a similar social circle to begin with meaning they were pretty much destined to meet eventually. And as if that wasn't enough, it had taken awhile for him to earn their friendship anyway. Basically, it was difficult for him to make friends, but with Bridgette they had come from two completely opposite aspects of the social spectrum and only united through sheer coincidence, yet it was as easy talking to her as it was Noah or Gwen.

As he made his way to fourth period he couldn't help but smile. It may have sounded crazy, but he was glad that Bridgette had hit him with that dodgeball not only because he had a new friend, but also for the much more superficial reason of bragging rights. Noah would be so jealous.

Fourth period was a blur, as Cody couldn't focus to save his life. By the time the lunch bell rang, Cody never heard more from his Spanish teacher than, "Good morning class." He made his way out to the lunch room and found his friends in their normal spot in the corner of cafeteria. Cody was only the third to arrive so he put his backpack down next to Beth and went to go get lunch. Harold came with him and together they waited in line, shooting the breeze over some obscure TV documentary Harold had found last night and how the historical inaccuracies were so atrocious it was unbearable to watch.

"All I'm saying is that the first foreigners in North America weren't Leif Erikson and the Vikings, but Asian nomads who made their way into Alaska over the once formed ice bridge and moved down into warmer climates. That documentary crew had it all wrong! If you would have been there Cody you would have been just as upset as I am!" Harold ranted.

Cody really didn't care about what Harold was saying, but he wasn't going to disrespect him by totally ignoring him. That being said, Cody wasn't against messing with the guy. Cody tried to pull off his most sincere face and innocently said, "Gee, I don't know Harold, I always heard Christopher Columbus discovered America."

Knowing that this would set Harold off, Cody braced himself. Harold gave his signature phrase, "Gosh! Cody I am offended! I thought of all people you'd know your history!"

Harold ranted on and on, but Cody just tuned him out. Cody had known Harold for quite a long time and knew what set the guy off. They had been friends for the longest time, but Cody and Harold had never really been the best of friends. It wasn't that he didn't like Harold, it was just that Harold was a bit… irking. Too much of him was never a good thing, but that being said, he was still a good friend, Cody just preferred him in small doses. The two got their lunch and Harold was still making Cody pay for his joke by talking his ear off. They walked back to their seats, Cody getting more homicidal by the moment. In their absence Noah, Sierra, and Ezekiel had appeared rounding out their group. These were Cody's best friends, not that he had very many other friends to choose from. Aside from Gwen (who used to hang out with them but now was with her boyfriend Trent), Cody didn't really talk to anyone else on a daily basis, or even a weekly basis for that matter. That being said, he really did love his friends and would give up the world for any of them.

"I see you didn't wait for me." Noah said glaring at the lunch in Cody's hands.

Cody stared at Noah and nodded his head towards Harold who was still ranting, "Don't worry, karma's already bitten me in the butt."

Noah chuckled, probably knowing Cody's pain, "I'm sure. Seems like your head is feeling better."

"Ya, the nurse—"

"What do you mean Cody's head is feeling better?! Do you mean my Codykins got hurt?!" Sierra butted in.

It took a minute for Sierra to calm down as Cody told the dodgeball story to her and the rest of his friends that weren't there when the incident happened (which was only Ezekiel).

After he was done Sierra spoke clearly, enunciating each syllable of her words clearly and subtly gaining volume, "I will KILL BRIDGETTE!

Cody panicked, knowing Sierra might actually attempt to do so, "No Sierra it's all fine! I talked to Bridgette. It was a total accident. We're friends now."

Noah scoffed, "Cody, being hit by a dodgeball doesn't count as being hit on. You've never talked to the girl before today. How could you be friends already?"

Harold defended him, "Actually Noah, a recently published developmental psychology article says that on average it takes only seven minutes to develop a friendship."

"Whatever," Noah replied with his constant pessimism, "It's not like she'll ever talk to him again anyway."

"That is where you are wrong my friend," Cody said regaining his confidence, "Because we are meeting up again tonight."

The look on Noah's face was priceless. For once, the know-it-all had nothing to say. Ezekiel on the other hand, did, "Yo homeboy got skillz!"

While Ezekiel might have been enthusiastic, Sierra looked on the verge of tears, "Why must you do this to me Cody? I would never hurt you like she does… Don't go back to that… to that Cody-beater!"

Cody-beater? Sierra made it sound like what Bridgette did was on purpose. Cody needed to set things straight, but before he could Noah snapped out of his temporary shock and latched onto the Cody-beater bandwagon with all the sarcasm he could muster, "Oh Cody, we wouldn't want you going back to mean old Bridgette!"

Harold, who usually used his useless factoids for good, decided to turn on Cody as well, "Cody is showing signs of Stockholm syndrome in which the afflicted feel the need to stay with their abuser."

"Cody you can't turn back into an abusive relationship!" Beth exclaimed. Cody could see this was quickly becoming more than just a joke, and soon enough he would be forced to abandon his plans with Bridgette. He needed to stop that before it happened.

Cody called attention to himself, "Very funny guys, but trust me, I'm fine. Sierra, Bridgette is not a Cody-beater, so don't worry. We are only going out for ice cream as a way to pay me back. Now I need you to promise you won't curse Bridgette to a thousand years of damnation behind my back. Okay?"

Sierra reluctantly agreed, and with that came the end of the Cody-beater teasing. Well, almost the end. Everyone had stopped but Noah who would occasionally make offhand references to Cody's new friend, or "friend" as he called it putting quotes around the word. Apparently his best friend just couldn't accept that something good involving a girl had happened to Cody for a change.

The rest of lunch, and the rest of the day for that matter, seemed like just a giant waste of time. Cody couldn't wait till school ended, not just because of his meet up with Bridgette, but also because he was done with it all today. Somehow, this day seemed longer than any other, and he really just wanted a break from all the action.

Cody made his way out to the parking lot and found his car. He owned probably the crappiest car in the history of cars, a 1987 Yugo, and he was proud of it. The bright red paint job didn't help it seem any cooler either, but sadly it was the best he could afford under 200,000 miles. When Cody had bought the car the salesman had persuaded him that "its crappy look was what made the car such a ladies magnet" and that "it would become retro in a couple years". Sadly, that had not yet happened. Cody peered out into the rest of the parking lot, looking for Bridgette's car. She had told him to meet her in the parking lot, but he had no idea what kind of car she drove, where it would be, or even what color it was, so it was safe to say that he probably wouldn't be going anywhere soon. Cody slumped up against his car, waiting for the time to pass, slowly counting the minutes. He waited for what seemed an endless amount of time, though in reality it was probably only ten minutes. Finally after about half the parking lot had cleared out a large, sky blue colored Jeep pulled up next to him.

"Oh no." Cody mumbled, realizing that this was probably Bridgette's car. He looked through the windows and sure enough it was Bridgette. The surfer girl rolled down her window and motioned for Cody to get into the passenger's seat, to which Cody complied, albeit slowly. He sat down on the leather seat and glared at Bridgette, who was wearing a pair of silver reflective aviator sunglasses that, frankly, looked ridiculous on her. The exchanged pleasantries while Cody clicked his seat belt on and the two sped off to go get some ice cream.

They decided on quality over convenience. Instead of going to the Marble Slab only a couple of blocks away, they decided to go to The Ice Cream Parlor (yes, that was its actual name) which was all the way across town. Bridgette figured if she was going to beg for Cody's forgiveness, she couldn't half-ass the effort, and Cody wasn't about to argue. The car ride took about 15 minutes, which, by car, was actually quite the substantial amount of time to travel for ice cream. When they finally got to The Ice Cream Parlor Cody couldn't help but feel like a little kid next to Bridgette. He was used to looking younger than his actual age, but standing next to Bridgette he felt smaller than he ever had. He had never cared about his height when he was around his friends because in that scenario it didn't matter what people thought, but with a girl… it was a little embarrassing looking like a kid Bridgette was babysitting. It probably didn't help that she was taking Cody out for ice cream either.

The two walked inside and sat down at the bar and waited for the bartender to make his way over. The Ice Cream Parlor was decorated like a vintage ice cream bar from the 60s with a jukebox in the corner and everything. No one besides them was there, which Cody found kind of sad. When this place was busy is when it was the most fun. A teenage bartender (probably around their age) wearing the full uniform of white slacks, a white dress shirt, red suspenders, and one of those In&Out hats, finally came out from the back of the shop and made his way over to where Cody and Bridgette were sitting.

"Can I take your order?" the teenage waiter asked nonchalantly. Cody frowned, the employees here were supposed to overly enthusiastic, but this guy wasn't having any of that. He probably felt like he had sacrificed enough of dignity wearing the dorky uniform.

Bridgette ordered a double scoop of vanilla ice cream while Cody ordered a double chocolate fudge sundae. The waiter left to go make their orders.

With nothing happening around them, there was a silence for a second. Bridgette broke it by informing Cody, "You know, I was actually going to apply for a job here this summer."

Cody opened his mouth and put up one finger, as if he had some comment to make about this surprising bit of trivia, but had nothing to respond with, so he just left it agape. Bridgette laughed at Cody's response, "Ya, I know right. Can't you imagine me in that get up."

This time Cody had something to say, "I would seriously reconsider your options if I were you. That outfit… Ya, just don't."

"Why, don't you think I would look sexy?" Bridgette teased, gesturing with her hands down her body.

It was fair to say that Cody was more than a little bit caught off guard by this remark as his entire face lit up red. Bridgette could apparently tell because she giggled at his discomfort causing Cody to blush once again.. He regained his composure as best he could after a display that bad, "Ya, if by sexy you mean like a total dork," Cody considered what he had said, "So ya pretty much perfect for me!"

Unlike Cody, Bridgette was unphased by Cody's remark, "I know, I know, but I really need the money… So, The Ice Cream Parlor, prepare for your next employee, Bridgette Young. And Bridgette Young, prepare to be made fun of by all your friends this summer."

"You know I wouldn't so that kind of stuff so loud. The waiter-dude might spit in your food."

"Who? Alejandro? He wouldn't do that. He's so nice. I talked to him about getting a job here and he said he'd put in a good word. And trust me, he knows how bad the uniforms are."

Cody didn't know the guy, so he took Bridgette's word for it. Just then, Alejandro brought out the two ice creams in old, vintage glass bowls and served them to their respective owners. He then went into the back room, leaving the two alone again.

Cody sat there looking down at the deliciousness before him and before Bridgette could say anything Cody was digging in. Cody heard Bridgette give a little chuckle, probably in disbelief of Cody's love for ice cream, and pretty much any sweets in general.

"So Cody," Bridgette said taking a break from her vanilla ice cream, "Why haven't we talked before today."

To absorbed in his ice cream and not really thinking Cody responded, "Cause you didn't hit me with a dodgeball before today."

Bridgette punched his arm, "No seriously."

"Hmmm…" Cody pondered taking the question much more seriously, "Just different social circles I guess. Different lives that didn't cross till now."

"Yeah… I guess so…. I guess it was just a fluke. A good fluke though."

"Naw," Cody rejected, "I don't believe in flukes. Everything happens for a reason. Whatever that reason was, I think we were meant to meet Bridgette."

"Ya?" Bridgette questioned, "And what is that reason?"

"Who knows?" Cody concluded shrugging his shoulders.

Bridgette seemed like she was wishing for more from Cody's response. Cody didn't know what more to add. It was the most likely truth. Bridgette came from the popular kids group and Cody did not. They had an average amount of classes together, but never really noticed each other, or at least Cody hadn't noticed Bridgette. Well, that wasn't entirely true, because Cody noticed all the girls in his class and spent a large portion of his time in class gawking at them, but he had never spent any more time on Bridgette than he had the other girls.

Not really sure what to say Cody added cheerily, "But now that we know each other, it doesn't matter!"

Bridgette smiled, "Ya. I want you to know that of the short amount of time we have known each other it has truly been fun and I'm not just hanging out with you because I feel bad about dodgeball today. We definitely need to do this again."

Cody knew the words were sincere, but couldn't help shake the feeling that part of what Bridgette said was untrue. He believed her when she said that she wasn't doing this because she had to, as far as he could tell they were both having a great time, but he found it hard to believe that they would ever hang out like this again. It wasn't that Bridgette didn't mean what she said, because he wholeheartedly believed that what she was being completely honest, but what were the chances that Cody would be the first one she would call when she had time to hang out. Probably the same as her pelting him with a dodgeball again. And Cody sure wasn't going to be the one to call up Bridgette. She had a boyfriend, and Cody didn't want to give Geoff the wrong idea. Cody may be a pervert but he would never intentionally steal someone's girlfriend! Cody had never had a girlfriend, so he could imagine the anguish associated with losing one to another guy.

Cody nodded to Bridgette. He knew better than to verbally bring up these objections. He didn't want to ruin their good time by bringing up something awkward like that.

"I'm glad you agree," Bridgette said taking out her phone handing it to Cody, "Put your number in. I'll text you later to give you mine."

Cody, a little bit taken aback by the lack of subtleness, did as he was told. The two talked for a bit longer and finished up their ice cream, getting their bill which was a whooping six dollars. Cody tried to pay for his own part, but Bridgette wasn't going to hear it, as she paid the full total, even giving Alejandro a tip he probably didn't deserve.

The two left The Ice Cream Parlor and Bridgette gave Cody a ride back to his car at school. School had gotten out at three o'clock and now it was four fifteen. Cody was amazed at how long there trip had been (though half the time was just driving). He hopped out of Bridgette's sky blue Jeep, kind of relieved to no longer be associated with that thing, and hopped into his own Yugo, instantly losing the coolness he had just re-earned. Bridgette and he said their goodbyes and Cody made his way back home, with a smile plastered upon his face. Today had been a good day.

Thanks for reading! Please review and I'll update again soon, so until next, see you later.