Chapter Six: Glued Together at the Seams

"Incoming!"

The four people sitting around the table turned as one, not wanting to miss the scene that was going to play out in the hallway.

"Whoop!"

"Leshawna, are you ok-aaAAH!"

Another thud followed the first one as Bridgette hit the ground. Applause and laughter erupted from those safely inside the dining hall.

Leshawna propped herself up on her forearms and scanned the occupants of the dining hall. Within seconds, her expression morphed into what Sadie thought a bull might look like if you locked it in an ice rink and waved red flags in its face. "DUNCAN!" she hollered.

Abruptly, Duncan stopped laughing. Sadie couldn't figure out what the expression on his face was. It looked foreign on the delinquent, as if his face wasn't used to presenting itself in that manner. As Sadie stared, she realized it actually looked a whole lot like guilt.

Duncan rearranged his face into an uncaring half-smirk and pushed the heels of his hi-top sneakers against the floor, propelling his chair away from the table with a jarring noise. "I'm outtie," he said. "It's been fun."

Trent, momentarily cheered up by his buddy's antics, raised his eyebrows knowingly. "Not going to stick around to talk to Leshawna?"

"As much as I would like to," Duncan said, already loping out of the room. "I'll pass. Later."

Moments later, Leshawna made it into the dining hall. She stood in the doorway, panting slightly. Grease stains marked her shirt and on her arms, butter shone in the fluorescent lighting. "Where is he?"

Those three words stuck such fear in the others that they instantly sold out Duncan and jabbed fingers in the direction he had disappeared to. Leshawna jogged in the direction of their pointed fingers, sharply focused on the task of hunting down and possibly murdering Duncan.

"He's doomed," Cody said, voicing the thought passing through everyone's heads.

Now that Duncan was no longer present, Sadie felt the need to help Bridgette. Somehow, the fact that one of her friends was floundering through a butter-covered hallway hadn't particularly bothered her until that moment. Duncan's very presence was a bad influence. When you spent time with him, you were somehow pulled along as he blatantly thumbed his nose at the rules of everyone and everything. Only Leshawna proved able to resist his particular brand of magnetism.

She crossed the small space between their table and the propped open double doors. Once she stood at the edge of the buttered, she only had time to have a vague impulse to run before Izzy barreled into her head-first.

As Izzy rambled through an apology and a long-winded explanation of why skating head-first was infinitely superior to regular skating, Sadie lay flat on the tiled floor, only able to focus on gulping in air. From her position on the ground, she traced the swirling gold patterns on the ceiling with her eyes. The patterns were somehow calming. Her back ached with the memory of the injury that had just been dealt to it.

Cody's fluffy-haired head appeared in her line of vision. "Are you okay, Sadie?"

She noted the concern he emanated and used all her effort to rocket into sitting position. Her smile was only a few levels short of its usual effervescence. "I'm, like, fine," she said, feeling a bit dizzy from sitting up so quickly. "Help me up?"

"Let E-Scope!" Izzy said, grabbing Sadie's hands. Izzy used altogether too much force to yank Sadie to her feet, leaving Sadie with a distinct feeling that Izzy was out to get her.

There was a loud banging noise, followed by the pounding of sneakers against the floor. Sadie looked quickly enough to see Duncan appear from behind a cluster of large potted plants. He made a mad dash across the room, running with a desperateness that led him to take flying leaps over chairs that happened to be in his path. Another loud bang sent him scooting under a table.

This time, Leshawna's figure could be seen standing in the doorway behind the potted plants.

Duncan's spiky green head poked out slightly from the white tablecloth. He retracted it quickly once he saw Leshawna stomping into the room.

"Where?" she said simply, her glare like a knife.

Faced with that glare, Sadie wanted to cower under the table with Duncan. She mustered her courage and pointed in a direction opposite to the table Duncan currently hid under. Unfortunately, this was not the direction Cody or Trent pointed. She corrected herself and pointed towards the main doors. Thankfully, Leshawna didn't seem to notice and turned around to go back the way she came, likely with some plan to head Duncan off instead of passing through the greased corridor again.

In a case of extremely bad timing, Duncan stuck his head out again as Leshawna passed his table. The tip of his Mohawk very nearly brushed her legs. He disappeared under the table again just in the nick of time. Leshawna only glanced downwards in time to see the tablecloth swaying slightly.

Leshawna had just begun to lean down to investigate when Izzy let loose a cackle and leapt onto the closest chair. From there, she hopped onto the table and set across the room, only stepping on the tables. Once she reached Duncan's hiding spot, she began jumping up and down, laughing maniacally all the while.

Though Leshawna's concentration on finding Duncan and straightening him out rivaled that of a chess grandmaster, Izzy's antics completely distracted her. She breathed in deeply, tilting her head in confusion. Then, she thought better of attempting to comment on what had just occurred and returned the way she came.

Besides the thudding of Izzy jumping up and down on the table, the room was as silent as a school hallway during summer holidays. Duncan emerged slowly once he ascertained that the coast was clear.

"Not a word," he said threateningly. He individually glared at each person in the room. An especially furious glare was reserved for Izzy. "What the hell?" he snapped. "What are you doing?"

"Izzy just saved your scared little butt," Izzy pointed out. "So yelling is so not nice."

"My butt didn't need saving," he said. "And I wasn't scared."

"Mr. Table might have a different story." She hunched and began stroking the surface of the table. "Don't you Mr. Table?"

"There's no point in even talking to you! You're insane!"

Sadie recoiled, shocked by the fury in Duncan's shouting. Cody grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Hush, Mr. Table, don't you cry. Izzy's going to sing you a lullaby," Izzy crooned. She continued petting the table. Duncan seethed, punching a fist into his palm. "Don't be afraid of poor old Duncan. He's just sad because Courtney dumped him."

Sadie stifled a gasp and tightened her grip on Cody's hand.

Duncan's response to this jab was delayed. Almost incapacitated by anger, he stood motionless. Everyone in the room broke out into a cold sweat, waiting for his reaction.

They didn't need to wait long. He shoved at the bottom of the table Izzy stood on, knocking it onto its side with a great clatter. Izzy threw herself to the ground. She caught herself with her elbows, narrowly avoiding performing a faceplant.

Even Duncan seemed shocked by what he'd just done. He stood with his hands still extended from pushing the table, looking from the fallen table and Izzy to his hands. Table. Izzy. Hands. Table. Izzy. Hands. His expression shifted from shock to bewilderment. Then, it settled into blankness. He dropped his hands to his sides and walked away, leaving the room the same way he had entered it.

"Has anyone seen Duncan?" Sadie said. She looked around the lobby as if she expected Duncan to pop out from behind one of the couches.

Cody wasn't the person to ask about Duncan's whereabouts, considering that he hadn't been more than ten feet away from Sadie all night. There was no possibility of him knowing anything she didn't know. Sadie's question was posed less because she expected an answer from him and more because it had been circling her mind for a while. Still, Cody made an attempt to offer some response.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe Leshawna's seen him?"

Sadie's head was pounding so hard that it felt as if it were attempting to replace her heart. She released Cody's hand to knead at her temples. Cody, still reveling in his role as a solicitous boyfriend, immediately leapt on the significance of this small action.

"Does your head hurt? Do you want some aspirin?"

"Oh, um, I'm not sure if it's that bad," Sadie said. She smiled, as Cody's solicitousness made her feel well-taken care of.

"No, don't worry about it," he said, hopping to his feet. "I'll go get you some. I'll be right back."

With an enthusiasm that was reminiscent of a puppy, he bounded off to fetch the aspirin for his girlfriend. Sadie slouched into the back of the sofa, her head lightly touching the wall. She waited for Cody in this pose and didn't raise her head when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Girl, have you seen Noah?"

Sadie slowly repositioned her head into a normal posture. Leshawna came into view. "No, I totally haven't. Why?"

A few tiny lines appeared between Leshawna's eyebrows as she settled onto a pose with one hip thrust to the side. "Well, Bridgette said…." She placed one arm on that hip and used the other to count off what she was saying. "That Trent said that Ezekiel said that Noah might have talked to someone who saw Duncan."

In Sadie's not insignificant experience with gossip chains, once the number of people involved exceeded three, someone was usually getting something wrong. "That's, like, kind of a long shot," Sadie said.

Leshawna's sigh was weary. "I know, but I've got to find that boy."

Suddenly, an inkling as to what the identity of Leshawna's crush was began weaseling its way into Sadie's mind. "Why do you care so much?" she said, showing an extraordinary amount of tact for someone who was usually as tactful as a sack of bricks dropped from the Empire State Building. "I'm sure he'll appear eventually."

"Yeah, but I'm scared he'll do something stupid before that," Leshawna said. "I've got to keep him outta trouble before he blows us all up. He was bad with the pranks when he was trying to impress Little Miss CIT, but now that she dumped his ass I'm scared that he'll kill us all."

Sadie nodded sagely, feeling in the know about her friend's love prospects. "Where have you looked for Noah?" she asked. "I think I know where he might be."

"I checked most of the usual places around here," Leshawna said. "And I am not dragging my bootylicious self up all those flights of stairs to check every floor for Noah just because some delinquent flooded the lobby for a dumb prank."

"His room is only on the third floor," Sadie said.

"I checked there," Leshawna said, giving Sadie an odd look. "I went and asked the front desk where he was. But I don't want to check every single floor for him."

"Oh, I gotcha," Sadie said. "I can show you where he might be. It's kinda a long walk though."

"I've got nowhere to be."

Sadie turned out to be correct in her guess at Noah's location. He sat slouched in a wicker chair in the tiki hut across the island, reading a book with an indigo cover.

"I didn't know this was here," Leshawna said, scanning the tiki hut.

"Hey, Noah," Sadie said, bouncing over to where he sat.

"Where's the boyfriend?"

It gave Sadie a swelling feeling in her chest when he said that. She smiled. "He's not here."

He closed the book. It was Pride and Prejudice, the same one he had been reading the last time Sadie encountered him here. "What do you want?" he said.

"Leshawna wanted to ask you if you'd seen Duncan," Sadie said.

"Oh. I haven't, but Ezekiel said he had."

"Wait, what?" Leshawna said. She began muttering names and counting them off on her fingers. "Bridgette said that Trent said that Ezekiel said that Noah said…."

"Did you really come looking for me based on that?" Noah said, waving his book for emphasis. "All I know is that Ezekiel said that the 'scary doo'd with the big hair nearly ran him oo'ver in the hallway, eh.'"

Sadie giggled at the impression.

"What hallway?" Leshawna said impatiently.

"Probably the top floor hallway," Noah said. "He goes up there when he doesn't want to see anyone."

"Thanks!" Leshawna said over her shoulder, hustling out of the tiki hut.

"When did she start being Duncan's personal police?" Noah asked.

Sadie dragged a wicker chair up to his, making a loud scraping noise against the bottom of the hut, then answered. "I think she likes him," she said conspiratorially, plopping into the chair.

"Hmm, fascinating," Noah said, shaking his head slightly. "I guess you can't account for taste."

"Duncan's not bad," Sadie said.

The right side of his mouth lifted slightly, making him look even more condescending than usual. "Really? You think so?"

"Sure," Sadie said noncommittally, feeling that this might go in a bad direction.

"This is coming from you? The girl that's dating the guy who is possibly as far from Duncan as you can get?" He chuckled quietly.

"Cody's, like, pretty tough," Sadie said, feeling the need to stick up for her boyfriend. After all, he was her boyfriend. (She got a thrill from just thinking that word. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.)

This time, Noah's laughter was several decibel levels higher and lasted for a full five seconds. "Yeah, he's totally badass."

Torn between the urge to snicker and frown, Sadie's mouth contorted into strange positions.

"Laugh. You know you want to," Noah said dryly.

Sadie held out, wrestling to hold a frown in place. Eventually, she succumbed to stifled laughter. "But he's, like, so sweet!"

"Never said he wasn't," Noah said. "It's fine if you like that sort of guy."

"Well, what kind of…." Sadie bit her lip. "What kind of person do you like?"

"Girls. I like girls. You were about to say guy weren't you?" Noah snapped open his book and stared at the page blankly.

"No," Sadie said slowly. "Well, maybe. Sort of, yeah. I'm just used to thinking that you're gay, it's hard to remember that you're not."

Noah didn't respond. Sadie didn't see a bookmark and she doubted that he had opened it directly to the page he'd left off at. His eyes weren't moving either. She assumed that he was using the book as an excuse to ignore her.

"Hey, I'm totally sorry." She leaned down, trying to peer up into his face. "Really, I know you're not."

"Whatever."

A cool gust of wind went through the tiki hut, blowing Sadie's hair across her face. It matched the frigidity on Noah's face.

"So c'mon, what kind of girl do you like?"

"I don't know. A nice one." He was still staring at the book.

Sadie was about to respond when her phone buzzed in her pocket. (Thank god they let her have a phone at the Playa this time! They'd made her sign loads of non-disclosure contract thingies, but it was so worth it.) She wiggled it out of the tight pockets of her shorts. Cody had texted her, asking where she'd disappeared to. Oops. She hadn't meant to ditch him like that.

"Cody?"

"Yeah," Sadie said. She glanced up from her quick text telling Cody where she was to meet Noah's eyes for a second. "He was wondering where I was."

"I was wondering how long you guys could survive apart. You're like angler fish," Noah said.

"Those are in Finding Nemo, right?" Sadie asked. She was dismayed when Noah nodded. "Those aren't cute at all!"

"You missed the point."

"What was the point?" Sadie asked. "Wait a sec, I need to text Cody back. I, like, can't do that while I'm talking to you."

"Multi-tasking too much for you?"

"I, like, usually can. You're just distracting me too much."

Noah gave her approximately two seconds to finish texting. "Done yet?"

She pressed the send button with a flourish. "Done."

"Seriously? How much time do you usually spend texting?"

She giggled sheepishly, getting the feeling that her texting speed wasn't quite something that Noah admired. "I like texting," she said. "It's, like, really fast."

"That's really profound."

"But it's true!" she said, her tone slightly whiny. She waved her phone for extra emphasis and accidently dropped it in her enthusiasm. Using some reflexes that were faster than she would have given him credit for, Noah caught the airborne phone only a few inches from her hand. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him. His hands were really cold, she noticed as she took the phone from him. "You have, like, freezing cold hands!"

"Some of us can't sustain high temperatures in our extremities when we're outside for hours," Noah said. "Unlike you. You have an oven for hands."

"Yeah, that's why I always used to hold hands with Katie when we were little." She paused, and her words melted into the air like ice cubes she couldn't refreeze. Her mood dropped into the abyss.

"There you go again," Noah said, leaning forward in the chair. "You act like she's pure evil or something."

"She is," Sadie said to Noah's knees.

"Riiiiiight," Noah said. "You two make absolutely no sense. You're best friends-"

"Not anymore."

"Shhh. I'm giving you advice. I don't care if you take it or not but don't interrupt. Anyway, make up with her. You're best friends. It's actually scary how close you are. Who cares who was wrong-"

"She was."

"You know what? Forget it. Be stupid. Keep being mad at your best friend for absolutely no good reason."

"It is so totally a good reason! She tried to, like, make me leave her and Trent alone and she insulted me!"

It really wasn't possible to look any more incredulous than Noah did at that moment. "Wait, really? That's what you two fought abut? Katie wanted to be alone with her boyfriend? Seriously?"

Sadie was no longer capable of doing anything other than pouting childishly.

"Okay, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Noah continued. He put a hand to his forehead and shook his head in disbelief. "It's really weird that you're mad about that. Part of the point of being someone's girlfriend or boyfriend is so you can be alone with them. Trent probably wanted to be alone with Katie at least a little."

"She insulted me too," Sadie said stubbornly.

"How? Did she say that pink wasn't your color?"

"Pink isn't my color? Pink is so totally my color!"

"That was sarcasm."

"Oh," Sadie said. She started chewing on her lip, feeling silly. "She, uh, said that I hadn't had a boyfriend before."

"Why was that an insult?"

"I dunno. It was just, like, embarrassing."

"Really? Is it? I've never had a girlfriend and I'm not really ashamed of it. High school relationships are stupid anyway."

"Sadie!"

Surprised, Sadie looked up to see Cody run full speed into the tiki hut. He slid to a stop in front of her, nearly tripping over his feet into Noah as he did so.

"Watch it, Codemeister," Noah said. He stood and edged around Cody.

"Where are you going?" Sadie asked.

"Back to my room. I've ruined my eyes enough reading in this light," he said, ambling away.

"You could stay," Cody said half-heartedly.

"No, I've already had my dose of stupid for the day," Noah said. He snickered. "Apologize to Katie, Sadie. That's really the dumbest argument I've ever heard of."

"Maybe," Sadie muttered.

"Whatever."

Stuck in her own thoughts, Sadie stared at the screen of her cell phone. Cody sat in the chair Noah had vacated. "I brought you aspirin," he said lamely, offering Sadie a small white bottle.

A/N: Forget it. I won't guarantee you any regular updates. I won't even guarantee that I'll finish this story. At least this way I won't be lying to you in the end. I've generally disappeared from the fanfiction circuit and have moved into working on my serious writing. This is sort of my break from that.