Façade: Through the Eyes of the Codemeister

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Greener Pastures

Seventeen hours.

It had been seventeen hours since Beth arrived at the Playa des Losers.

Why was I counting?

Because in the past seventeen hours she had volunteered to be a nurse. No, not a C.N.A. that knows how to poke IVs in you or anything… just a "I will wheel you everywhere I want to go and talk to you about whatever I want to talk about and you have no say in the matter" nurse.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Beth. In fact, she's a really good friend, and a real sweetheart. But… I'm not the kind of guy that wants to hear about a pig giving birth every five minutes… If she wants to talk about something like that to somebody, why not Zeke? He's a farm boy.

But no. Something told her that I was interested in hearing about afterbirth shooting out of a pig. And if I could move my arms, I would punch that something.

We were in the outdoor pool area. I began to distract myself by watching Katie, who was at the pool-side "bar", having another Sadie-withdrawal moment.

I felt bad for her. She and Sadie were really close (obviously), and I could only imagine the pain going through both of their hearts right now…

"Um… Cody? Are you lishtening to… oh… oh, I get it…"

"Hmm?" Beth's voice had broken me from my thoughts.

"It'sh Katie, ishn't it? You like her, don'tchu?"

That caught me by surprise. "Not really, no."

"Yeah. Right. It'sh okay, Cody. I undershtand. I'm jusht not ash pretty ash shome of the other girlsh, huh?"

I sighed. Here we go. "Look… Beth… I get it. You like me. And really, I like you too, as much as a guy can like a girl that almost drowned him in the lake," I made sure this was emphasized for a reason, "but I just… don't like you that much. I'm sorry, but maybe you should find someone else."

Immediately, I felt guilty—no, not for Beth's sake, as selfish as that may make me, but because it made me feel like a hypocrite. I couldn't let go of Gwen; how could I expect Beth to let go of me? Though I will admit I didn't even get the impression that she liked me until I saw my elimination on the tape.

An awkward silence followed. Now I never liked awkward silences, but at least this one gave me a chance to think about what to say. And I finally did: "Maybe you should set your sights a little… higher."

"…What do you mean?"

"Well…" I thought for a moment, "…is there anyone else you like?"

"…I dunno… Jushtin?"

"Well, there you go!" I gave her a smirk. "I hear he's single."

She laughed. "Yeah, right… like I'd ever get a chanshe at Justin."

"Don't sell yourself short, Beth," I said, trying to reason with her. "Justin's narcissistic. I bet he'd never get involved with someone… hotter than him," I was trying to use my words carefully, "because then he'd… uh… look worse by comparison, you know? He probably just wants a normal, non-flashy, down-to-earth girl."

"…You think sho?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, feeling the self-esteem rise around the two of us. "And hey, if he doesn't work out, try Ezekiel. He lives on a farm, too. You probably have a lot in common."

"Oh, I dunno… Ezekiel shaid thoshe mean thingsh that firsht day…"

"…Oh…" Right. I forgot. The girls aren't exactly fond of Ezekiel. "Well… I hope things work out then with you and Justin."

Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, but this time it wasn't a bone-crushing hug. "Thanksh, Cody. You're the coolesht."

…I am?

I am, aren't I?

…Beth?

…Damn, she left me here, didn't she?

"Ugh…"

"Hey, need someone to wheel you back?"

I looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey, Katie. You're looking better than you were."

"I am, actually. Thank you." She walked behind me, and soon after I began to move. "So… you're a little matchmaker, aren'tcha?"

"Hmm?"

"Sorry. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Beth."

"Ah."

"You know… I think someone should make it up to you. I mean, you like a girl, and you match her up with another guy, and then a girl likes you, and you match her up with another guy… I think you should get matched up with a girl sometime."

I attempted to shrug, but I couldn't move my arms. "Well… when I find the right one, I find the right one, I guess…"

"Well…" I won't lie, the sing-song tone in her voice concerned me a little, "If you want, I can match you up with someone."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, no… it's not necessary."

"Come on, at least hear me out."

I sighed. "Alright. Who?"

"Sadie?"

…Should've guessed.

"Before you say anything, I think it could work out. Seriously! I mean, you're cute, she's cute, you're smart, she's smart, you're sweet, she's sweet… I think it could work."

"…"

"…Well?"

"…I'm cute?"

I heard a giggle, and I smiled. "Of course, silly! You're so cute." She lightly pinched one of my cheeks, and I chuckled. "I think you two will be great."

"…Thanks, Katie."

"Hee hee… no problem, Cody."

-X-

I don't regret that decision. No, not by far.

Sadie is a wonderful girl when you get to know her. Sure, she and Katie together can be quite a handful, but there's a whole lot more to them than what most people see. As air-headed as they (well, Katie, mostly—I think half the time Sadie just goes along with it) can be, they can actually be pretty smart and thoughtful.

And if you ask me, my relationship with her was the closest one I had to a relationship that actually worked out.

But I'm getting ahead of myself again.

-X-

"Alright, dudes!" I heard Tyler shout, once again holding a videotape over his head. "New episode of Total Drama Island here!"

I chuckled. "Man, who was this excited about the tapes before Tyler got here?"

"No one," Katie said with a giggle. "Actually, he was the first one to start watching the tapes, at least as far as I know. I didn't know about the tapes, and I think everyone else didn't really want to watch them at first, but Tyler kinda got us pumped to watching them."

"Huh… I wonder why he's so excited about them."

"I think it's because he gets to see Lindsay," she explained.

"Oh… duh. That makes sense." Seriously, people definitely don't give Katie (or Sadie, for that matter) enough credit. I didn't even think about that for a second… Ever since she started sitting with our little "crew" in the cafeteria yesterday (after she decided to be my "matchmaker"), she's surprised me with her knowledge of romance and relationships. If only I had that kind of knowledge, maybe I'd have better luck out there in the dating world.

So, we met up in the TV room yet again, waiting for Tyler to pop in the next video. Apparently, Chris was still coming up with a title for the episode—it said "Working Title – Whatcha Got Cookin'?" on it.

Boy, I really hope they don't use that…

Tyler was about to press play…

CRASH!

What the hell?!

"Did I miss anything?" Izzy kipped up onto her feet, surprisingly not getting any severe cuts from the glass shards of the window she had just jumped in through.

"…How did you kno—?" Noah was cut off by more of Izzy's rambling.

"Sorry I'm late. The dolphin driving the semi truck ate my skirt so I had to get him to cough it up… but he wouldn't give it up, so I'm going to have to buy a new one… damn…"

"…So that's why you're in your underwear?"

I laughed, now noticing Izzy's skirt was missing (when you can only see someone from out of the corner of your eye, you usually don't pay attention to detail very well).

"So, everyone here?" Tyler asked cautiously. "Just making sure—don't want anyone breaking through windows during the episode. No? Alright."

He pushed play, and the episode began…

-X-

Love it? Hate it? Say whatchu want about it. (All of the boys and all of—okay, this joke was absolutely terrible, and I'm sorry you had to deal with it).

Anyway, I know the chapter is somewhat on the short side, but I didn't want to start the "episode commentary" near the end of a chapter only to split it up and do the rest of it in the next. Might as well keep it together, eh?

And the Cody/Sadie thing is really a gift for a friend… okay, a request… okay, a demand. Anyway, I hope I do a good job with it. I don't want to disappoint my friend. XD