Chapter Four
"Are you really studying? For like, school and stuff?" Cody's mouth hangs open and his eyes boggle, resembling one of those really ugly bottom suckers that are sometimes in my National Geographic magazines.
"Mm-hm."
"But dude...It's summer!"
"Your observational skills continue to astound me."
It's that time of the week again, when the entire gang gathers in the living room to view their pornography of choice, accompanied by fattening snacks and bouts of clever-less commentary. I however, having been thoroughly humiliated last time, decide to sit this one out.
I have enough fattening snacks in the kitchen here anyway.
"Learning doesn't stop just because school ends." I explain, well aware of how exceedingly nerdy I sound. "If everyone kept at it through the summer, the first half of the school year wouldn't have to be filled with stupid review worksheets...you know, students can forget up to two and a half months of what they learned in school over the summer."
Cody crinkles his nose, in a way that I definitely don't find adorable.
"I've heard that before..." He says thoughtfully.
"From me. Just now."
"No...somewhere else..." Suddenly Cody's face lights up, and a grin that I can only describe as jackassy forms across his face. "Dude, did you get that from a commercial?"
Shit.
"You did! You totally did!" He laughs. "You got it from that...that Sylvan's Learning Center!"
"So what?" I snap, feeling my face darken. "It's a valuable...source of...information..."
I trail off, considering Cody isn't even listening to me at this point but instead giggling like an idiot.
"Oh, go watch your damn porno!" I yell sourly. What is he doing in here anyway? I grap a handful of chips and eat them violently, turning back to my calculus textbook and trying to ignore Cody's shadow leering in the background.
"...Noah?"
"What."
"...Are you mad at me?"
"Infuriated."
I look up when I don't hear anything and sigh at Cody's genuinely worried expression.
"I have nine older siblings, Cody...and Izzy. I have Izzy." I close my book. "It's going to take a lot more than that to get me mad."
"But..."
"But what?"
"It's just...you're always mad." He grins sheepishly.
"No. I am always irritated." I clarify. "And if I'm always mad anyway, why do you care if I'm mad now?"
"I don't care if you're mad." Cody says seriously."I just don't want you to be mad at me."
I think I can feel my hear throb a little.
Or maybe it's just a chip crumb stuck in my chest.
