"Damn it!" Squib threw his racquet across the empty locker room.

"Everything okay in here?" Cameron asked, entering slowly. Squib simply glared at the other boy, and then proceeded to gather his equipment. "What's your problem?"

"What's my problem?" Squib spat, "Did you not see me out there? I was destroyed!"

"I thought it was 'just a game'?" Cameron said, keeping his distance incase Squib blew up again.

"It's senior year," Squib was closing up his gym bag, "if my rankings slip, I'm finished. If I want to get anywhere I have to do good," with that, he shot one last glare at Cameron and stalked out of the room.

"Hey, Squib," Cody chirped, walking into his room.

"What?" He snarled, not looking up from his homework.

"Geez, what's wrong with you?"

"I had a bad match, okay?" Squib sighed.

"Well, we're watching a movie tonight, so I thought…"

"I'm busy."

"Squib," she sighed, taking a seat on his bed, "come on. So you had a bad match, so what?"

"Look, Cody, I know you're not a player, but this is-,"

"Senior year. And if you expect to succeed in the tennis world, you've got to get out with stellar rankings," she finished. At Squib's confused look, she explained, "I heard Gunns lecturing Adena earlier. Apparently he's passing the same speech through the entire student body." Encouraged by Squib's small smile, she continued, "It's only one match, right? You've got all year to make it up. Come to the movie. It'll make you feel better," she promised, flashing him a smile.

He sighed, a grin forming on his lips, "Okay, sure."

"Good," she rose, "seven o'clock, in the Open."

"Hey, Cody," he called just before she was out the door.

"Mmm hmm?"

"Thanks."

She smiled once again and was out the door.

"Hey, Cam," Cameron turned around to see Adena walking behind him.

"Hey," he smiled, "what's up?"

"Not much," she fell into stride with him, "So, you have a match today?"

"No, not until tomorrow afternoon," he told her. "You?"

"Yeah, but just some group D kid. I'm not worried."

"You never are," Cameron laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! It's a compliment," he quickly assured her, "You're confident. That's a good thing. I like that."

"Aw," she smiled, slapping his arm playfully, "Cam!"

Cameron chuckled, "So you coming to movie night?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Adena beamed. They reached a corner, and she started to turn toward the girls dorms. "See ya, Cam!"

"Bye, Adena."

As Cody sat on the couch between Nate and Squib, periodically glancing over to the other couch where Cameron was sitting in between Adena and Tanis, she paused to consider that maybe these weren't the best seating arrangements.

Things actually weren't too bad over on Couch Cameron. One of the girls would start slowly moving closer, the other would eventually catch on and glare, and girl #1 would sheepishly return to her place. Lather, rinse, repeat. Cameron, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to this little drama playing out on either side of him. Either that, or her was a very good actor. Whichever it was, Cody was actually starting to find the whole scene rather amusing.

Her ship, however, was quickly sinking. She could tell something was wrong by the way tension seemed to radiate off the boys to her left and right. That, and they both had an unnaturally tight grip on their respective armrests. She was pretty sure marks would be left. She, being as charmingly naïve as she was, had actually thought the night would go okay. Squib had calmed down considerably since their chat, Nate's father was out at meetings, putting him in a great mood, and they had both agreed to stop fighting. All that changed, of course, before the movie had even begun. Apparently it just wasn't in the male genetic makeup to put aside a grudge for two hours and watch a movie with friends. And she kept hearing weird noises; she was pretty sure one or both of them had started grinding their teeth. It was getting annoying. Plus, Nate's neck vein was doing the throbbing thing again. Cody thought he should probably get that checked…

"Hey, can someone pass the popcorn?" Cameron asked, his eyes not leaving the screen. Adena and Tanis both dove for the bowl resting on the coffee table in front of them. The result was two very loud shrieks, a pile of tangled limbs, and an overturned bowl of popcorn.

"I'll get more," Adena offered quickly, struggling to right herself, "Give me a hand, Cam?"

"No!" Tanis shouted, rising shakily to her feet, "I'll get it! Come on, Cameron!"

"No, I will!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

At the sight of poor Cameron looking small and afraid on the couch, glancing between the two, Cody decided to put him out of his misery.

"I'll get more," she stood up, "Adena, come with me." While Adena looked horrified at the thought of leaving Tanis alone with Cameron, Cody was fairly sure they wouldn't return to the sight of the two having passionate sex in the Open, so she grabbed Adena's arm before she could object, dragging her along. Right before they reached the door, though, Cody had an urgent thought and turned to Cameron.

'Watch them,' she mouthed, gesturing between Squib and Nate (she was fairly certain the grinding had gotten louder). He smiled, nodding.

"Switch places with me," Cody said as soon as the two girls entered the kitchen.

"What?" Adena asked, confused, putting a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"In the Open! Switch places with me!"

"Are you kidding?" Adena look appalled, "And leave her alone with him?"

"Okay, first of all," Cody began, "I thought you didn't like Cameron anymore."

"Well, I, uh-,"

"And second," she interrupted Adena's embarrassed stuttering, "they won't be alone. I'll be there."

"But, I can't just, it's, I, no-,"

Cody rolled her eyes and sighed, "Look, I promise to make sure Tanis doesn't maul Cameron in the middle of movie night. Happy? Now switch!"

"But why?"

"I can't take it anymore, Adena! I just can't!" Cody grabbed her friend by the collar, pulling her closer, "You have no idea! I thought things would be better! But NO! Teeth grinding, and glaring, and the poor couch, and the neck vein, and-,"

"Whoa!" Adena gently released herself from Cody's grasp. "Calm down, Cody! Breathe!"

"Sorry," Cody smiled sheepishly, breathing deeply, "It's just so…."

"Okay," Adena laughed at her friend, who was clearly at a loss for words, "I'll switch with you. But- You have to promise to watch Tanis like a hawk! If she gets too close to him, I dunno, hit her on the nose with a newspaper or something."

Cody laughed, "Thanks, Adena," she poured the finished popcorn into a bowl. As the two made their way back to the Open, she spoke again, "But, seriously, why do you care so much about Tanis and Cameron? I thought you were over him. Not to mention, Tanis already has a boyfriend."

"I am over him," Adena insisted. At Cody's raised eyebrow, she confessed, "At least, I thought I was…"

"But Tanis has a boyfriend!" Cody reminded her.

"Puh-lease," Adena huffed, "have you seen the way she's been hanging off him? That obviously doesn't matter to her. But that's fine."

Cody looked at her, puzzled, "But you just said…How is that fine?"

"Because nobody messes with Adena Stiles."

Nova-Janna: I was actually thinking of the Smash Mouth song. The only lines I know are,

'Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?'

…it seemed appropriate. But I've been looking for the American Hi-Fi (love them) song all day, so hopefully it'll come up.

Alright, so, a million cookies to anyone who can figure out how Black Betty applies to this chapter. Because I sure can't. I've just been listening to it all day, 'cause it's freaking amazing.

Wait for it...

WHOA, BLACK BETTY! (BAM-BA-LAM)