I was done with Cody until he was done with Heather. He kept trying to talk to me, but I ignored him, promising myself that I wouldn't speak to him. I even walked home to avoid seeing him on the bus. I also noticed that every time he tried to approach me, he was alone.

On my way home, about a week later, I had to walk by Heather's house. The street that I usually took was closed for repairs. I picked the wrong day to trek home on foot. The witch herself had her arms thrown all over Cody, and they were making out, right there on her porch, in full view of the world. I was appalled. Heather, with my Cody.

What are you talking about? You never had the nerve to ask him out. He's not 'yours' anymore. He's Heather's now, I thought. I filled with rage. Grabbing an open, half-empty Gatorade bottle off the street, I chucked it at them as hard as I could. Then, I sprinted away before they could see who threw it. I heard Heather shriek from behind me, so I knew I had hit my target.

I ran all the way to my house and into my tiny bedroom. Breathing hard, I threw my backpack on the floor and started pacing around. I tried to block the image of them out of my mind, but I couldn't. It was pasted onto the inside of my eyelids. How can I break them up?! I knew I could never get Cody to see the evil in Heather. He would never admit to it. He's too nice to break up with her...

...but Heather is far from nice. She would break up with him in a heartbeat. Smiling, I started scheming, working with the chink I had discovered in their armor.

It took me all night, but my plan was ready to put into action. There was no use waiting another day, even though I was in dire need of a nap. But instead of wanting to murder Heather when I saw her holding hands with Cody, I merely smirked. Just you wait, Heather. Your boyfriend is not what he seems.

Between first and second period, I activated phase one. I waited ten feet away from Cody's first class, with a water bottle at the ready. When I saw him walk out of his classroom, I 'accidently' bumped into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, trying to make it as believable as possible. He bought it.

"It's okay. I have an extra shirt in my gym locker," he replied, not even looking at me. His eyes were focused on his soaking wet shirt. Now, fingers crossed he still had the same shirt in his locker. Otherwise, my plan wouldn't run as smoothly.

One year, my family played secret santa with each other, and Cody wanted to play with us, not having any brothers or sisters of his own. We let him join in, and one of my older sisters drew his name. She begged me to switch with her, but I refused. What's the fun in that? She asked me to tell her more about him, and all I said was, "His favorite color is red. Now leave me alone!" So, for Christmas that year, Cody got a red t-shirt that said, "My favorite color is red!" in big white letters. That shirt has been sitting in his gym locker, just waiting to be worn.

The second part of the plan was going to acquire some assistance from a certain stalker. I knew she had the same third period as Cody, since I've heard him complain about it several times.

"Hey, Sierra!" I called.

"Ugh, what do you need, Noah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Why would I do that?" I see she was still holding a grudge from when I mocked her in third season.

"It involves you touching Cody." She couldn't say 'no' now.

"Ooh! What is it?"

"I need you to mess up his hair. Get it as close to normal as you can."

"Okay! Why?"

"Because it looks stupid, and it's annoying me!" I couldn't reveal my plan to her, because she might spill it to Cody.

"Okay!" She skipped off happily. I smirked with satisfaction.

During third period, I took the bathroom pass and left the classroom. Time for the third and final part. I looked around the hallways, but they were deserted. Good. I went to my locker and pulled out the box of leftover ribs that had been sitting in my refridgerator for forever. No one was going to miss them, plus they were going towards a good cause. I opened Cody's locker. No, I didn't break in, I know his combo. I looked around nervously, half-expecting Cody to walk down the hallway and see me. I had to make this quick, just in case. I found his lunchbox, and, as I had expected, there was a salad. I replaced it with the ribs, and carefully put the lunchbox back exactly where I had found it. On my way back to class, I took the liberty of dumping the salad in the trash. Now, I had brought back the three things I knew that Heather had taken away from Cody: the color red, his old hairstyle, and his love of meat.

At lunch, I knew I had to eat in the cafeteria to see if my plan worked. I haven't been, since Cody was the only one I would sit with. I looked around for someone else to sit with, because sitting by myself would be too suspicious. My options were limited though, because I had managed to tick off a lot of people at this school over the years. When I saw Ezekiel sitting by himself, I knew I had to just suck it up and go for it. Ezekiel was this really weird kid, and this was his first year at a public school, after being home-schooled. But at least he didn't know me very well.

I sat down and immediately said, "Listen, this is a one-time thing. After the bell rings, never talk to me again. In fact, starting now, don't say anything. And never tell anyone about this. We're not friends." Okay, so I was a little rude, but it was worth it.

"What are ya doing, eh?"

"Shh!" He was going to make this harder for me, but I could see Cody, in his red shirt, perfectly. Sierra did a good job with his hair. I'll have to thank her later. Or not. Whichever is easier.

Heather walked up and sat next to him. They kissed. Ew. Then, she got mad about something, though I could probably guess what it was about. If only I could hear what she was bitching about!

"Oh, you're looking at Heather! Sweet! Who's that loser she's dating, eh?"

"God! Shut up!"

Heather pointed at Cody's hair, and then his shirt. She scooted away from him, as if he were a disease, but she still stayed with him. Come on!

Then, that poor sucker Cody pulled out the ribs. He was confused as to what they were, but he realized too late. He tried to hide them from her, but she saw. She stood up, yelled something, then stormed off. He attempted to call after her, but then gave up and put his head down. Yes! It worked! I happily got up to go to the library, no longer needing to sit in the smelly cafeteria.

"Hey, where ya going?" Zeke called, but I didn't even turn around.

That afternoon, Cody called me. Keeping up with my promise to myself (I won't speak to Cody until he and Heather are finished), I answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Noah. It's me, Cody."

"Yeah, I have caller ID, nitwit. Shouldn't you be off snogging your girlfriend?" It came out before I could stop myself.

"Actually... we broke up." Cody sounded on the verge of tears.

"Oh." I wanted to kick myself.

"So, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"I want my best friend back."

"Okay."

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, I'm listening."

"If you're going to be an ass about it-" But I hung up. I don't know why, but I did.

That method of getting out of a conversation doesn't always work, though. It's a lot harder to slam the door in the face of your crush when they're standing on your front porch.

"Noah, please listen," Cody spoke as soon as I opened the door.

"I don't-"

"JUST LISTEN!" he yelled. His sudden exclaim startled me, so when I was silent, it was more because I was shocked, not because I was following his instructions.

"I was stupid, okay? I made a mistake. I should never have kicked you to the curb. I should have realized something was wrong earlier that I did. I don't know what was going through my mind at the time. I'm sorry. So so so sorry. Incredibly sorry." Okay, geez I get the point. "I understand if you don't want to be to be my best friend anymore, but I at least want forgiveness. Please?"

I stared at him with shock. He must've thought I was still mad at him, so he started to walk away. When he reached the end of the driveway, I finally snapped out of it and realized what was happening. He was getting away. I bolted out the door, even though I was barefoot. I caught up to him and hugged him from behind. I almost knocked him over. He wasn't sure how to react at first, but then he turned around and wrapped his arms around me in return. After a minute, he broke away and I led the way back inside, wordlessly. It wasn't until we were in my room with the door closed when I realized he had tears streaming down his face.

"Dude, what's wrong? I forgive you, okay?"

"No, it's not that. You'll think it's stupid."

I almost laughed out loud, but I stopped myself. As if anything Cody could say would make me love him less. "Tell me. I promise I won't laugh."

"Well, okay." He bit his lip and his chest caved in, both of which I know are his nervous habits. I smiled at him encouragingly. He took a deep breath, and began. "Ever since I was little, I was afraid that... that I would never be... loved." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "My parents always ignored me, I hardly know my other family members, you're basically my only friend... I was absolutely thrilled when Heather agreed to go out with me. I mean, someone actually liked me! But then I realized that she didn't love me for me too late. Then, she broke my heart. Not because I really, you know, loved her, but because she was proof that I could be loved. Do you understand that?"

I couldn't look him in the eye after that speech. "Yeah, somewhat."

"I always felt I could never be accepted."

"Why? You're perfect." I winced after I said that, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well, I never told you, and I should have, but... I'm bisexual."

I looked up at him in shock, but now he refused to look at me. I did not see that coming. But, as long as we're confessing things...

"I know one person who likes you just the way you are."

"Sierra doesn't count."

"No, not her." I crept slightly closer, and he suddenly realized what I was implying. As if reading each other's minds, we both reacted the same way at the exact same time.

And, if you really must know, Cody's lips tasted like candy.

Yeah, it's NoCo. That's all I have to say.