The Perfect Storm 2

Chapter 179

Cody hands me a red cup and I'm surprised that red cups are at every party even on the beach in the middle of nowhere. 

The sky starts to get darker and it's getting kind of cold and the breeze from the ocean that was so nice is now icy and freezing everything in t's path including me.

"Wait." Rebecca squeaks as she looks at Cody who's minding his own business and sitting down next to me on the spot he was at before Rebecca came. 

I glance over at Stephanie and Elijah who are more than comfortable with each other, holding and giving each other kisses which only makes me think of Miles; everything makes me think of him.

"Didn't you say you were back together with Miles?" Rebecca's squealing voice is sharp in my ear as she leans over to take a better look at Cody who's in front of both of us. His eyes turn sharp and his gaze intensifies into my eyes. 

He looks confused, hurt even as if he didn't expect Miles and me to be together again at all. The last time he even heard that name was probably at his dorm where I mentioned that we had broken up.

"W . . . what?" he turns to Rebecca and so do I, only to see the evil in her eyes and the playfulness in he lips.

"I'm sorry, Madison." She says to my surprise.

"I didn't know that Cody and you were fliting or anything." She adds and I frown.

"We're not flirting, I—" I begin.

"Aren't we though?" Cody jumps into my words and we both gaze at each other's eyes.

"I thought we had something there, I mean, you laughed at all my jokes, you told me about your ex . . . but he's not your ex, is he?" Cody's eyebrows furrow and I find myself at a loss for words.

"I . . . he was, but we got to back together recently," I say guiltily, even though I shouldn't be, should I?

"Sure," Cody says, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Do you want me to chase after you or something?" He spits.

"Chase after me?" I shake my head.

"I—" Rebecca jumps in and completely stops my words to say her own.

"Oh don't worry, they're doing long distance . . ." She says and then whispers the rest, "Miles doesn't do long distance." My heart drops at the words, everyone's saying that but I know he does, he wouldn't just break up with me, he wouldn't give up, it will work. 

I know it will, I have to. I don't know what to say all I can do is look at the hurt inside Cody's eyes as it looks back at me. 

I part my lips but before I can say anything, or think of anything to say, I feel something ice-cold drip into my shirt and then lie a wave, it crashes all over me. I qucikly stand up, in panic, unsure of what's happening but when I look down I know just what happened.

"Whoops, I'm sorry," Rebecca says nonchalantly as she tips her bottle to show me that every single drop spilled onto my shirt. Cody eyes the situation but he doesn't look angry or as hurt as I am. I know that if Miles was here, he'd yell at Rebecca and protect me at all costs, he wouldn't sit there, watching it all.

"Oh, sorry." Cody shakes his head.

"Uh, here. Take this." He fumbles, taking off his brown leather jacket and offering it to me. I doesn't smell like Miles and it doesn't feel as good as Miles's clothes but I offer Cody a kind smile anyway and put the coat on.

"I'll drive you home?" Cody asks and I nod, ignoring Rebecca completely as her eyes burn a hole into us.

THE AWKWARD AND BUMPY DRIVE finally leads to a stop but we're not in front of WSU, in fact, it's almost as if we couldn't be further from it. I can't help but let my mind wander with images of Cody hurting me in some way considering what I went through with Hayden but I try to force those thoughts out and instead I look at him, my eyes curious and full of wonder at the situation.