Notes from the mooooooon,

Yeah I've already got another chapter. This is basically what I'm doing when I'm not working on classes or with friends. It's been really fun just writing this and my other story as the ideas hit. This chapter was pretty much written in one sitting last night, and all the cool ideas I had for this chapter kinda just flowed as I was able to naturally connect this chapter to the last few.

Anywho, time to respond to reviews!

Guest: Bridgette was a spur of the moment idea, like much of this story. But it worked out. I liked adding a non canon friendship to her friend group since I don't care for most of Pahkitew's cast (Generally too gimmicky, or were just annoying).

ImHereToKillChaos: Noah and Harold's relationship with Cody is so fundamentally important to this story and I'm glad people like it. Cody is younger then the other two by a decent bit in this story. Also yeah, DodgeBrawl time!

Joel Connell: How I wanted Cody and Sammy to develop was key for this story. I need it to create tension since unlike competition fics I don't have the natural tension created by challenges and eliminations. This may be a slice of life story but I also want there to be a sense of stakes between these characters. So naturally I chose to explore these characters beyond the surface.

Thanks to all who review! It makes my work feel so meaningful and I appreciate every comment I get!

Please check out Total Drama: The Fifth Generation if you haven't. I know it's an OC fic but it's another project I've been working on and I want to get some more eyeballs on it!

Now I present: A Loser, a Dodgeball, and His Glowing Smile

Sammy stood towards the back of the pack while the club manager addressed the club. "Alright, rules are simple. I mean, c'mon, it's dodgeball." Tyler started. "You get hit, you're out. You catch it, you can tag a teammate in. No going over the line, and no hitting people on the sidelines." The athlete listed off. Sammy and the rest of the club nodded in agreement. "Now we have 15 so I'll be ref! Now who wants to be the captains?" Hands shot up throughout the crowd, including Cody's. Tyler scanned the members of the club, his eyes narrowing. Then he grinned. "Alright, our first captain today will be Owen!"

"WOOHOOOO!" The larger boy, Owen apparently, cheered. He sprinted up to Tyler and shook his hand frantically like he was accepting an award. "This is awesome!" He said, picking up Tyler in a bear hug. Sammy thought she heard the sounds of Tyler's bones breaking. When Owen put the jock down however, he seemed fine enough. Sammy pursed her lips, and hoped that Owen had no plans to hug her. She could handle a lot. She had to if she wanted to be a cheerleader. After all, before she could do a flip she had to fall. A lot. But a hug with 500 pounds of force behind it? That was probably her limit.

"We need one more captain. Hmmmmm…" Tyler thought for another second, tapping his chin repeatedly. "Come on over, Codemiester!"

Huh someone else used his nickname Sammy noted. She wondered if maybe it wasn't just some self-appointed title. Cody on the other hand, pumped his fist and did a silent 'yes!' before strutting out into the center of the gym, a confident grin in tow. Sammy still wasn't certain if he was actually confidence, or if he was simply exuding his usual false bravado. She supposed the game would tell her that.

"Cody, you get first pick." Tyler said. The tech geek looked across the entire gym, but made his decision pretty quickly. Owen sulked. "Maybe don't nearly crush me next time dude." He gave the big guy a pointed look while stretching his limbs. The idea of picking teams brought back some less then fond memories of the playground when she was younger. Sammy pinched her hand. Let's not dwell on it! She told herself.

"Can you not pick Izzy?" Owen sulked, pressing his index fingers together while he made puppy eyes at Cody. For a man of his size, he pulled it off pretty well, Sammy thought with a nod.

Cody grinned. "No worries man." He assured the big guy. "Sammy." He pointed towards her with a snap and a smirk.

"You look new." Tyler noted as she walked up and stood next to Cody. "Nice to meet you!"

Sammy nodded. "Nice to meet you too." She gave him a smile. The manager seemed pretty chill, in spire of the crew he had around him. She noticed Cody looking over, his grin faltering a bit, and turned to him. "Guess we're on the same team." Cody's grin returned.

Owen shot up, sending a vibration through the gym. "I choose Izzy!"

"The Haroldinator!" Cody chose instantly. A tall, lanky redhead with a goatee ran forward and gave Cody a high five. Sammy could hear his loud breathing.

"Welcome to dodgeball club." The 'Haroldinator' said in the driest tone imaginable. Sammy imagined that if a desert had a voice, his would be it. "It's always good to see people interested in the art of dodging balls."

That's just being a girl in a college is what Sammy wanted to say, but she assumed the ginger haired man wouldn't get it. She was probably right. The rest of the picking process went by without too much more fanfare. The only other notable teammate was a quiet, but imposing women with extraordinarily defined muscles. A detail Sammy found weirdly attractive. The rest of her team seemed normal-er.

"Alright!" Tyler spoke up, placing seven big red rubber balls along the center line. "The first team to knock out all seven members wins the round. Most rounds won at the end of club wins the match!" A weird ruleset, but no one argued with it. "Now everyone to the back wall!" He ordered. Sammy placed her hand against the wall, leaning forwards. "Ready annnnnd…" WHEEEET!

Everyone sprinted forward with the whistle. Sammy, along with the buff girl, Eva, made it first. Sammy wrapped her hands around a ball and jumped back to safety, but saw Eva push back two balls with her. Smart move, Sammy noted. She looked forward to the enemy team. They'd grabbed the other four balls, and passed two of them to Owen. The large man wore a sinister grin. Sammy watched as most of her team, including Cody, backed away. While she followed suit, she noticed that Eva did not, opting to hold her ground.

"Bring it on big guy!" Eva yelled toward Owen.

"Ohohoho, don't worry, I will!" He said before charging forward and throwing a ball. Well, throwing was an understatement. That ball cannoned towards Eva. Sammy had the urge to dive out of the way, despite being half way across the room from her. Eva held her ground, and simply blocked the ball with her own, lobbing towards Cody. He grabbed it after a single bounce.

"That was nothing!" Eva said, taunting at Owen. She then aimed, and shot her ball past Owen, nearly slamming the green girl in the chest. She casually leaped into the air, doing a backflip… right back into the ball's path. Tyler blew his whistled and pointed at Izzy, who cacked manically. Sammy, not wanting to be left out of the fun, ran forwards and shot her ball towards Owen, who simply caught it. Sammy snapped her fingers as Tyler called her out, and let Izzy back in.

"Sorry!" Sammy said as she walked to the sidelines, a touch of disappointment forming in her chest.

"Don't sweat it!" Cody replied. "I'll catch you back in- WOAH!" He just dodged out of the way of an incoming missile from Owen. "Just, wait for me to catch as easier throw."

Damn these guys are insane! Sammy watched as balls went back and forth across the practice gym. Cody plays with these guys? She wondered, glancing over at the tech geek. He hadn't thrown a ball, but whenever the other team pushed up, he would spin the ball and wind up, sticking his thumb out and closing his left eye. For whatever reason the opposing team would point and yell before backing off. Every time his team would take space and threaten the other team. She didn't understand why, but they seemed wary of Cody. The game proceeded slowly and methodically, each team playing safe but taking shots when they could. People would feed each other balls, and double up on their throws, making it risky to try and catch out. All while calling out information and barking orders to each other. Eva and Owen were the clear powerhouses of each team, but it never felt like they were playing without help from the others. It was so much different from gym dodgeball, where only a few people tried and it was just chaos.

Eventually, the tide swung. A stray ball caught Eva as she went to dodge a bullet of a ball from Owen. It left the score four to three in favor of the other team. Sammy assumed the round would be over in the next instant. The opposing team pushed up and threw balls at Harold, trying to get him out. He dodged elusively, performing… ballerina dance moves? Not a single ball even grazed him. He looked like he was in a state of absolute flow. It was then that it happened. Cody threw his first ball of the game. As the ball left his hand there was a shit eating, genuinely cocky grin. Much different than the false bravado he'd served her at the café or in their classes. His eyes were trained on Owen, who had pushed up all the way to the line to try and get Harold. But the ball missed, by a wide margin. It was headed towards the wall. Yet everyone watched with a sense of horror… as the ball curved. Sammy wasn't sure what the hell happened when the ball curved midair, breaking into Owen's back. She pinched herself, yet the pain didn't jolt her awake.

"What the hell was that?!" She asked Tyler, who started laughing.

"That, was Cody's curveball." Tyler said, watching as the opposing team regrouped, leaving it a three on three. "Dudes got some nasty throws."

"No, I saw it curved I mean how?" Sammy asked, her eyes wide with bewilderment. Tyler just shrugged. She watched Cody's eyes light up. A giant, almost childlike grin appeared on his face, showing off the gap in his middle teeth. So, I was right. He can look cute.

"I don't know." Tyler answered. "We kinda just accept that he does it."

Sammy turned back towards the game. "Fair enough." Cody did a little air guitar solo, rubbing in his small victory to the enemy team. Cody waved over at her, obviously having overheard her and Tyler talking about him. He suddenly donned the false bravado he always looked at her with. A look she'd started to hate. Perhaps hate was strong. After all the lie on his face wasn't with ill will.

But she hated people who lied, and Cody's fakeness absolutely counted.

The game went on, but the pace slowed down. Slowly but surely, the enemy team got whittled down. Harold could easily bait and grab stray balls by hanging around the center, and Cody could snipe off anyone who got aggressive with help from their third teammate, a guy named Jeff. While it should have been boring to be knocked out so early in the game, it ended up being interesting. The push and pull of the match, the comradery, in dodgeball of all things. Cody, Harold and Jeff triple teamed the last guy. Well, more like a double teamed. Despite Harold's best efforts, his throwing was far worse than his exquisite, seemingly untouchable dodging technique.

"Good job guys!" Sammy cheered as she walked back onto the court. She noticed Tyler setting the balls back up in the corner of her eye.

"Sorry you were stuck on the sidelines so long. It can be hard to catch against these guys." Cody said, rubbing the back of his head.

"No worries," Sammy waved her hand. "I learned a lot. There's a lot more going on then I expected." She admitted. "I'm gonna crush it this round!" She declared with a smirk.

"Yeah girlie! Get it!" Eva shook her fists. Despite the win, the buff women didn't even break a smile.

"Is she always that intense?" Sammy whispered over to Cody.

"Only when competing." Cody said, moving back to the wall. Tyler blew into his whistle, and Sammy ran forward again. This time, she rolled two balls back towards her team, and ducked towards safety. Their team got ahold of four balls this time. Sammy kept a close eye on the ebb and flow. She got her hands on one of the balls after a failed double up onto Eva, leaving their team with a six to one ball advantage. Even Sammy could tell that was a mistake. They tossed their remaining ball to Owen as Cody wound up, threatening a curve ball.

"Push up!' Eva barked as the opposing team fell back, no balls in hand. Sammy moved up with her team. With little room left to dodge, Owen and Izzy both ate two balls apiece, though Sammy's was a bit wide. She frowned, but figured she would get another chance. Cody held onto a ball and Jeff tossed his up to Eva. "Fall back!" Eva said. After those two picks, the game fell back into a push and pull, with neither side making much progress. Perhaps slowing the pace so much was a mistake. Eventually Jeff failed a double up, and got caught out. This let Owen back into the game. But in spite of the tension hanging in the air as they played, Sammy found herself smiling. She found herself helping with double up attempts and blocking balls for her teammates. Owen's throws were overwhelming, and Cody wasn't given a chance to try and fish for a safe out. His throw was incredible, but was also slow enough to be caught. With the way the opponent was playing, it was nearly impossible for him to get an out. With each minute their numbers dwindled, leaving only Cody, Eva, and herself after the opposing team got fed up with Harold and quadrupled up on him, knocking the lanky nerd out of his graceful leap.

"We've got to get Owen out somehow!" Sammy said between breaths. The big guy's throws were exhausting to dodge, and Sammy wasn't keen on having to eat one of them.

"They just keep blocking my throws!" Eva said, shaking her head. "And none of you are have strong enough throws to double up with me." She said, before slamming a heater towards Owen, who blocked the ball back onto other side of the court.

Sammy slid over towards the Cody. "We need to double up the next time they push up." She said, keeping her eyes trained forward.

Cody narrowed his eyes forward. "Alright." He nodded. "We'll go for the guy in blue, Evan. He backs up slower than the others." Sammy trained her eyes on their target, and split up. Sammy nodded to Eva. She ran forward and tossed a ball, missing her target but feeding them a ball and false confidence. Evan and Owen rang forward, trying to tag Eva. They threw at her, but she dove out of the way, landing with a roll.

"Now!" Sammy called. She dashed forward and thew her ball as hard as she could. Her arms fell to her side as the ball flew past a dodging Evan and bounced harmlessly against the wall, while Cody's ball curved around and hit him in the back.

"Sammy watch out!"

A blunt pain shot through Sammy's chest. She wasn't sure how, but she ended up on her back, two concerned and spinning Codys looking down at her. "Are you okay?" He asked, motioning to someone. "That looked awful."

Sammy raised her head from the floor. The pain had subsided, leaving her with only some dizziness and the feeling of being out of breath. "I think I'm fine." She groaned. Cody offered her a hand. She hesitated for a moment, but took it. The geek pulled Sammy up onto her feet. She put her hands in front of her to balance herself out. "I might need to sit down the rest of the round." Tyler led her over to the wall, while Cody looked on. He looked guilty almost. Sammy pressed her back against the wall and slid down. Once she was sitting, the cheerleader took a long drink of water. The pain was mostly gone, and she watched while the club resumed play. The game was still close, but eventually Owen got a double up onto Cody, and despite Eva's raw skill she simply couldn't find an opening and was eventually caught out.

Sammy joined the next round. She still sucked at throwing and catching, but very good at dodging and grabbing stray balls around the center, giving support to Cody and Eva as they whittled away at the enemy team. Without saying much of anything to one another, she also found herself trading spots with Harold to draw fire between cycles of throwing and dodging. Despite all her soreness and general tiredness, she felt herself having just having fun. She would catch herself just smiling at nothing as she dodged a ball or passed to a teammate. In many ways, she found herself comfortably in a supporting role, just like in cheer. They relied on her, and she relied on herself. Cody found an opening pick a distracted Owen early on. Yet again, his eyes were sparkling with wonder. That confirms it. He's cuter when he isn't trying. Sammy was quite aware of the irony in that statement. Though not quite, 'I'd go out with him cute'. At least yet, she concluded. The game continued, and the single pick from Cody turned into a full team wipe as the opponents scrambled to make up the Owen sized hole in their team.

"You're getting pretty good at this." Tyler shot Sammy a grin while the teams took a water break between rounds. Sammy nodded while she drank her water. "Are you and Cody, y'know, a thing?" The jock asked. Sammy nearly choked on her water.

"No!" She wheezed, getting the water out of her airways. "Why would you ask that?"

"I mean he invited you right?"

"That doesn't mean we are dating or anything." Sammy looked over towards Cody, making sure he didn't hear anything. "He's just a guy I know from class who helped me with some homework."

Tyler nodded. "That's cool. Usually, guys will bring their girlfriends. So, I just assumed." He explained. "They did pretty early though. But you seemed like you were having fun out there."

Sammy nodded. "Yeah, this is surprisingly refreshing." She looked around at the club members. They were all laughing amongst each other. Even Eva was cracking a smile. "I didn't expect dodgeball to have such a tight knit community." The cheer team had lots of close friend groups amongst them, but the size and power dynamics at play made it much less friendly than the dodgeball club. The other girls wanted to be important and stand out. They wanted spots on the varsity cheer team. Here it seemed like no one was really interested in one-upmanship, but rather trying to just enjoy it for the sake of the game. "I think I'll definitely come back next week." Sammy said.

"Sweet. I'm sure Cody will be happy to hear that." Tyler said, looking out at the short geek with a smile. "I love my girl but man having a girl who's into your interests is the dream."

"Cody and I aren't dating!" Sammy protested quietly. "I don't even like him that way."

"But you clearly enjoy talking to him enough to come to his club." Tyler countered. This was true. Despite her misgivings about his fakeness, she found talking to him was still fun. "And he's clearly got thing for you. This is the first time he hasn't picked Harold first." Sammy wasn't surprised at that.

"I'll keep that in mind." Sammy simply said.

"Hey, what are you two talking about? I heard my name." Cody asked suddenly, causing Sammy to flinch. Sammy thought of an excuse, a convenient lie, but came up blank. I can't just say 'Oh we were talking about how I'm not into you'!

Luckily Tyler found a more convenient truth. "We were talking about how awesome it is she enjoys dodgeball, and that she's glad you invited her." Cody's face brightened, joy dancing from eye to eye. His wide, genuine smile brightened up the room. For the first time, that glowing smile was directed at her. This was her first time seeing this smile up close, and it made her reconsider. "Alright let's get the next rounds going!" Tyler interrupted, before blowing his whistle.

The next hour went by quickly. Sammy felt her performance deteriorating as the games went on. Though considering how late it was, that could be said for everyone. Cody's curveballs curved less, Eva and Owen's cannons became more like gunshots, and Harold skipped the ballerina dancing and opted for ninja dodging techniques. The plays became sloppier and less coordinated, but that in itself was fun, though Sammy found herself getting accidentally hit more and more. By the time the final whistle had been blown, Owen's team had won three to two.

"Really good job out there everyone!" Tyler congratulated the group. "Next week we are right here again. See you guys!" Sammy waved as she stepped out of the gym. The door didn't fully close as Cody followed her out of the gym, throwing on a sweater over his tee.

"Hey Sammy, do you need a buddy to walk back with?" Cody asked, wearing a concerned frown. "It's pretty late." Sammy cursed internally, almost forgetting about the time due to how tired she felt.

"I think I'll have campus security give me a ride, but thanks." Sammy declined as they reached the lobby of the gym. "I appreciate you looking out."

"Yeah of course!" Cody blushed slightly. "Thanks for coming out and trying. I know it's a stupid hobby and all but…"

"I don't think it's stupid." Sammy interjected while tapping away at her phone, calling one of the late-night campus shuttles. Cody's blush turned to bewilderment. "When you get excited about something it's infectious." She felt herself smiling. "You don't need to avoid being yourself around me." Sammy wasn't sure why she was telling him this at first, but by the end, she'd started to understand.

"A-alright." Cody said. He looked over and saw Harold waking out into the gym lobby. "Well, I'm gonna leave with my roommate then. Get back safe!" He waved back at her as he jogged over to Harold. The two started talking, but she couldn't hear them. Sammy confirmed her ride, and laid back in the seat. Her eyes were pointed at the ceiling, but she wasn't looking at it. She had another thought on her mind,

That real smile of his might actually be 'I'd go out with him cute'.

Another Sammy focused chapter!

I've found writing her more detached, somewhat less outright emotional POV very fun. It's really fun just writing between two distinct voices, and with this chapter I really feel like I have this story down in terms of writing style. There's a ton going on beneath the surface that I now need to actually plan out so I can develop it properly. Thank you all who are sticking with the story!

Till next time,

Anonymous Winton