Chapter 3
"So, Emma, what's up?"
"Zack, we need to talk."
"Gosh, Cody, can't you see I'm busy?" Zack whispered, glancing at the Candy Counter Girl. "I'm trying to get a date here!"
"Which is exactly why I need to talk to you!"
"Fine…" Zack turned back to Emma, grinning and leaning against the counter. "So, I'll talk to you later. My brother wants a little chat with me." Zack chuckled. "Probably lost his blankie somewhere." Zack started to chuckle again but was cut short when Cody jabbed his elbow into Zack's stomach.
Cody smiled up at the girl. "We'll be just one minute." Cody pulled Zack away from the counter and held tight to Zack's wrist.
"Zack, I want a chance with her."
Zack started to laugh. "That's funny! You want a chance with her? Hahaha!"
"Haha, not funny."
"Ahem." Zack straightened up, holding his smile back.
"I'm serious, Zack. I want a chance with her. You always get the girl and for once, I'd like a chance."
Zack lifted his arms up, as if surrendering. "Fine, be my guest. But that's not gonna stop me from being her friend. I mean, we were friends before, when we were younger and you wanted to stay in the bus while we played."
Cody stared at Zack, stony-faced. "I know. I get it. You can be friends, fine, but I want a chance."
"Alright, I get it! You can have your chance." Zack rolled his eyes. "Now move, I want some candy."
Cody sighed as he walked back over to the counter. He heard Zack say something about "Cody needing help with some girl problems" and decided he'd leave then.
--
"Well, I've gotten one step closer," Cody thought as he stood in the elevator, watching the little numbers above the door light up as he ascended to the 23rd floor.
Upon reaching the floor he'd always lived on, Cody walked slowly to the suite. He pulled open the door and let his eyes travel around the main room. He remembered how big it had seemed when they first moved in and how small it had recently become. He smiled slightly as he noticed his mom looking at him over her magazine.
"What's up, kid?" She closed the magazine and set it down on the table in front of her. She patted the seat next to her.
Cody gave his mother a small smile and sat down next to her, where she'd patted the couch.
"So what's wrong? This cake you made is extremely good."
Cody shrugged. "Nothing. Besides, it's being fixed as we speak."
Carey raised an eyebrow and looked and Cody, smirking. "Oh really?"
"Yup."
"Well, that's good. It would be better if I knew what was going on however."
Cody shrugged and smiled a little. "That may never happen, mom. You wouldn't understand. It's a guy thing." Cody got up and moved into his room. He grabbed a book from his shelf and plopped down onto his bed, immersing himself in the words of the story.
"Huh. Look at that," Carey said, shaking her head slightly and staring at the boys' door. "He pulled my own card against me." She smiled slightly and got up to get another piece of cake.
--
"Guess what Cody!" Zack cried as he flew through the door of their room.
Cody jumped and looked at Zack. "Yeah?"
"The Candy Counter girl? She thinks you're cute!"
Cody's eyes widened. "Really!"
Zack grinned. "No! I was kidding. Gosh, can't you take a joke?"
Cody's brow furrowed and he glared at Zack for a few moments then just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So you talked to her?"
"Yeah, for a while. When she went on her dinner break, we also played some games in the arcade."
"What's she like?" Cody put his book down beside him and pulled himself to the side of his bed, setting his feet on the floor.
"Nice, funny, cute. Everything that every girl that is out of your league possesses."
Cody smiled sarcastically and said, "How nice of you."
"Anything for you, little bro."
Rolling his eyes, Cody stood up. "So she's gone?"
"Nah, she was talking to Moseby in the lobby, last I saw, which was about five minutes ago."
"But she has to get back to work?"
"Yeah, at seven apparently."
"You know Zack? I have an extreme hunger for candy right now."
Zack rolled his eyes and turned on his monitor. "Whatever, Cody. Go get your candy."
Smiling to himself, Cody exited his room and flew out the door of the suite.
"Thanks for asking if we were having dinner, honey," Carey muttered, keeping her eyes on the vegetables she was cutting at the moment.
--
"Hey, could I have a snickers bar? Oh, by the way I'm Cody." Cody paced back and forth in front of the Candy Counter, waiting for Emma to come back, practicing what he was going to say when she returned.
"Umm… Can I help you?"
Cody jumped when he heard her voice. "Oh… um…"
Emma looked at Cody, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"Yeah, could I have a Snickers bar? Alright, thanks, here's the money. Do you like Snickers? I do! Oh, my name's Cody by the way." The young man grinned nervously and giggled. "I talk a lot when I'm nervous. It's funny since I know about it. You know, you'd think I'd stop talking, right? Sometimes it's just too hard to." He suddenly stopped, smiling nervously again.
Emma smiled at Cody, taking the money and handing him the Snickers bar. "You're Zack's brother, right?"
Cody's smile faded. He nodded. "Yeah, I'm Zack's brother." He said it nicely, of course, but he thought it bitterly. "Another girl thinking of me as "Zack's brother". Great." Sighing slightly, Cody took the candy bar and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks for the candy bar."
"No problem!" She gave him another smile.
At
that, Cody turned around and headed back towards the elevator.
"Great, Cody. You fail anyway." Sighing, he hit the up
button. "Wait." He froze for a moment.
Then turned on his heel.
"Hey, you're that girl that Zack went to play with when we were younger, weren't you?" Cody walked up to the Candy Counter once more.
Emma turned around then smiled. "Yeah! I am…" Then she paused and looked at him with a kind of confused look. "I've always wondered why you didn't want to come and play."
He had to think quick. He had to think like Zack.
"Oh, I was feeling kind of sick." He made-up, nodding a few times.
"Oh." She too nodded, biting her lip. "I guess that's a good enough reason." She smiled once more at him.
"Wow, she smiles a lot…" Cody thought, almost smiling himself. "I like her smile. It's really pretty."
"Well, I better get back up to my suite for dinner or my mom will throw a fit."
"Right. I'll see you later, Cody."
"Yeah, see you!"
He already hit the up button on the elevator when Emma called his name once more. "Cody!"
Cody took the few steps over to the railing that separated him from Emma. He looked down at the girl. "Yeah?"
"Tell your mom I say hi." She smiled again.
Cody smiled too this time. "Okay, I will. See ya!" He turned around and heard the ding of the elevator, announcing its arrival at the Lobby. He stepped into the elevator and the door shut, beginning its ascension to the 23rd floor.
"She remembered my name!" He practically yelled, jumping up and down as soon as he reached the first floor so no one in the lobby would hear. "She remembered it! She remembered it!" He jumped around in circles, waving his arms around, his blonde hair flying around. He hadn't been this excited since his mom found Blankie last week, after he'd been missing for three days.
