Long after the sun rose over Camp Wawanakwa, Cody finally awoke. Looking around, he realized he was the only one left in the cabin. He didn't feel too bad; there were no challenges anyway. He sat up with a yawn and stretched.

Stepping out of bed, his foot hit something. He smiled as he saw the book. He honestly couldn't believe that three days into a book, and he had already read most of it. Although, that was probably thanks to Noah patiently helping him whenever he had a question… And he had A LOT of questions. On his end, Noah was amazed. He didn't think Cody would actually like the book, but he did, and Noah couldn't help but smile every time he saw Cody reading.

On his way to the lodge, Cody realized that he hadn't changed out of his pyjamas. He didn't feel like walking all the way back to the cabin, so he shrugged, deciding to just keep them on.

'Half of them probably didn't change either', He thought to himself.

Walking into the lodge, he expected to see people eating at the tables. Instead, everyone was crowded around one table, whispering to each other.

''What's going on?'' Cody asked, ''Where are Chris and Chef?''

"According to this, they'll be back this afternoon,'' Geoff said, handing Cody a note. "We have to make breakfast.''

Before Cody could answer, Heather sighed loudly, her arms crossed.

''What's the matter?'' He asked.

''You guys are so naive,'' She said.

''What? Why?''

Even if Heather was Cody's friend now, she was still mean and rude, for that matter, "Uh, hello? This is obviously a challenge.''

Leshawna sighed, ''Girl, you need to get that out of your head.''

''You can say what you want, but I'm telling you, it's a challenge.''

Gwen groaned, hands on her hips, "Oh, shut it, Heather. Leshawna's right, and you know it."

''Ugh, whatever.''

''Girls, girls,'' Geoff stepped in between them to try and break the tension, "I'm sure we'll all feel better once we eat. Why don't we just make breakfast?"

Heather sighed while Gwen smiled and nodded.

''Alright, we need a head chef!'' Geoff said, then Bridgette put on her hand on DJ's shoulder.

''What about DJ?''

''Oh, no!'' DJ said, waving his hands.

''Why not? We all know you're a great cook!'' Cody said with a big smile.

But DJ was hesitant. The last time he cooked, Owen puked it out. So it was safe to say his confidence was shot.

''Oh, come on, dude! Cody's right!'' Geoff told him, smiling and patting his shoulder. ''You may have screwed up a few times, but you can't give up!''

At the blonde's words, DJ's determination strengthened, ''You're right, man.''

''Of course, I am!''

DJ took a deep breath, ''Let's get cooking!''

''Now you're talking!'' Geoff exclaimed, high-fiving the chef.

DJ started off by assigning tasks to the campers. Eggs, bacon, toasts, fruits and pancakes.

Cody ended up with the pancakes. He gulped; he didn't think him being in the kitchen was a good idea; the last time he tried to cook, there was burnt food, and he had cut himself. He even fainted when he saw the amount of blood running down his arm. Half an hour later, he found himself lying on the sofa, his hand wrapped in a bandage.

The campers who weren't assigned anything settled in the dining room. Cody and the others went to the kitchen, getting their necessary materials ready. Cody sighed and grabbed the bag of pancake mix. Luckily, the recipe didn't ask for too much. So he grabbed his ingredients, a mixing bowl and some measuring cups. Pouring the ingredients into the bowl, he went to grab a wooden spoon to mix… only to find he didn't grab one.

"Here," He saw the spoon before he saw Noah, "I didn't see you grab one," Noah explained.

Cody smiled, "Thanks, man."

''There's no more place in the dining room,'' Noah told him, a bag of potatoes in one hand, knife in the other, "Mind if I squeeze in here?"

"Go ahead; I'm not using the whole space."

''Alright.''

As Noah placed the potatoes on the counter, Cody smiled at him, showing his tooth gap. Noah smiled back, peeling the first potato. It wasn't long before the mixture was ready. Cody looked at the stove with the empty pan sitting on top of it. He sighed.

Noah chuckled, ''Nervous?''

''Huh? N-no,'' Cody stammered. ''I-I just don't want to burn myself.''

''I see.''

Cody poured a pancake into the pan. He wasn't expecting it to smoke. He immediately backed off, not wanting to get hurt, but he bumped into Noah.

Noah looked over his shoulder, ''Are you alright?''

''Y-yeah! Yes, I'm all good. Yes,'' Cody stuttered.

Noah, who had quickly picked up on Cody's habits over the past few days, didn't believe him, ''Right…''

Cody nodded, trying to keep his confident persona, and approached the stove. He waited a minute and then tried to flip the pancake. For a second, he was sure he did it right, but sadly, not only was the pancake burnt, but half of it also stuck to the bottom of the pan.

''What were you expecting? You forgot to put some butter,'' Noah told him, cutting his potatoes in eights.

Cody looked down, feeling bad.

Noah saw it, then shook his head, "Don't worry, it's a rookie mistake,'' Noah said. He finished his potato and wiped his hands before walking over. He took the pan off the heat and scraped the pancake into the garbage, ''Just try again.''

"Maybe I should just get DJ to make the pancakes."

But before he could even take a step, Noah had grabbed his hand, pulling him closer to the stove, ''You need to trust yourself,'' Noah told him, still holding his hand, "Let's try again."

Cody didn't miss how Noah said let's and not just him. It warmed his heart… and his cheeks. He did not want to disappoint, ''I guess you're right."

"Of course, I'm right,'' Noah told him, which made Cody laugh.

"Well, first off, the heat's on too high." He turned the ring down and placed the pan back on top. Next, he melted some butter into the pan and gave Cody the spatula.

Cody's hands trembled, but he scooped some mix into the pan. Noah placed a hand on his shoulder, as comfort of course, and smiled, ''Don't forget, Cody. Trust yourself.''

Cody took a shaky breath and nodded, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach. He didn't understand why he was nervous around Noah all of a sudden. Well… In all fairness, it wasn't so sudden. He realized it 2 days ago when he asked Noah about one of Socrates' theories, and he found himself having trouble breathing and talking correctly.

"Cody?" Noah's voice shook him out of his thoughts. He glanced over, and his breath hitched. God, when did he get so cute?

"Cody! Time to flip it." His attention was immediately back on the pancake as he hurried to flip it. He was pleasantly surprised when the pancake was a perfect golden brown. He smiled excitedly, looking back at Noah.

''There you go. Better than before, right?'' Noah asked.

"Thanks!'' Cody said.

Noah smirked, ''Glad I could help.'' One pat to Cody's shoulder and Noah went back to his potatoes.

And that's when it hit.

He had a crush on Noah.

DJ walked over, doing his head chef rounds as he called them.

''You guys good?''

Cody nodded numbly, but Noah smiled, "Just about done."

He made a few more cuts and placed the last of the potatoes in another pan. Then, he walked around the boys to place the pan onto another round. He reached to turn the round on, but DJ stopped him. "I can take over from here; why don't you go help set the tables?''

Noah shrugged, ''Sure, boss." With one last pat on the shoulder, he left the kitchen.

Cody scooped another pancake into his pan, ignoring DJ's knowing glances.

''What?''

''He digs you.''

Cody almost dropped the spatula, "What?''

''Oh, you know what I'm talking about,'' DJ told him, his arms crossed. ''I saw you two. That was more than a friendly pat on the back; his hand lingered.''

''H-he was just helping me!'' Cody tried, but DJ wasn't having any of it.

''Hm-hm.''

"I'm sure it didn't mean anything like that…" Cody didn't realize it, but his whole face fell, and DJ certainly didn't miss it.

"Would it actually bother you if he DID like you?''

Cody froze for a moment, just staring at the cooking pancake. He had a crush on the guy; of course, he wouldn't mind if he liked him back, but what were the chances of that? He sighed.

DJ smiled and pat his shoulder, "There's nothing wrong with you liking another guy, Cody. You know that, right?''

''I-I know, but I don't think he likes me back.''

DJ raised an eyebrow, "And why's that?''

Cody sighed, moving the pancake from the pan to the plate, "The guy ran away when he accidentally cuddled me during the Awake-A-Thon, remember?"

''You did the same thing, dude.''

''Because I was shocked! I-I didn't expect that to happen, DJ!'' Cody said, ''Not to mention the huge crush that I had on Gwen. I spent 3 seasons liking her… She didn't even like me back…" He sighed.

"But this past week, I think I've realized that the person I want,'' Cody trailed off but sighed. "Is Noah… It's funny; I used to think he was such a know-it-all that only cared about himself and his stupid ego… but I was wrong."

DJ couldn't help but smile.

Cody blushed as he continued, "I've spent the last 10 days with him, and it's been the best 10 days I've ever had. He's a great guy. He doesn't have a high tolerance for stupidity, but he does care about other people. He's patient with me when I have trouble understanding something; he makes sure to explain it in terms that I understand without making me feel stupid. And that smile! He doesn't do it often, but his whole face brightens up when he smiles. He doesn't realize how cute he is!" He sighed, "But like I said, there's no way he feels the same.''

''And as I said before, I'm pretty sure he digs you,'' DJ told him and smiled. "You guys would be cute together."

Cody smiled at the thought.

DJ patted his shoulder, ''Let's finish these pancakes and potatoes, shall we?''

Luckily it didn't take too much longer. They put everything in their serving dishes and brought it out to the dining room. Cody looked around to see where he could sit, and then he saw Noah waving him over. The bookworm had saved him a spot. Cody tried to hide the blush as he made his way over. This happening right after his talk with DJ was almost too much.

''DJ didn't treat you too roughly?'' Noah asked with a teasing tone.

''N-not at all!'' Cody said with a nervous laugh.

Noah raised a brow, ''Are you sure?''

''Y-yeah! M-man, I'm hungry!'' Cody changed the subject way too quickly. Noah wanted to comment on it, maybe even tease him some more, but decided against it.

As Cody shoved an apple slice in his mouth, he could feel his heart beating quickly. There was no way he could deny it. Not at all. He liked Noah, and there was nothing else to it.

But now, the main issue was whether or not DJ was right. Was it possible that Noah liked Cody back?

Man, he sure hoped so.