The Valley

Chapter Fourteen

October 23rd, 2004—the night of homecoming. After the dance, as most people do, Jade and Cody went to an after-party at one of their classmates' houses. At the end of the night, Cody drove Jade home like he always did after they went out. Never missing curfew and always knocking on the door and greeting her parents upon arrival. That night like clockwork, he did all these things. Yet this night had been different.

"Should I park around the block?" he asked, something he did often. He would spend the night almost every weekend and sneak out before her parents were any the wiser, though they never did anything sexual. A lot like Dawson and Joey having their own sides of the bed, though they were platonic.

But tonight had been different; Jade and Cody crossed that barrier. Not only had it been their first time together, but their mutual defiling, which changed everything. He not only saw her in the nude but truly exposed, and her, him. Despite the fact Jade didn't want anything to change between them, something had. The air around them felt thicker, heavier. Full breaths were harder to take, shallow breaths less fulfilling. Every touch heightened.

"Not tonight. My parents are already asleep, which means they'll come check on me at some point in the morning. Or if they get up in the middle of the night, they'll peek in. Halloween was a Hail Mary, I'm still shocked we pulled it off," she said, smiling. But her parents weren't the reason she didn't want him to spend the night; her reasons were more selfish. She felt sanguine, transfixed by this surreal surge of dopamine. She wanted that feeling to last, and she didn't want him to come in. To dilute the adulation by riding out the night until its bitter end. If he spent the night, it would make everything feel... real. She wanted this. Just not tonight.

"Yeah, that's true, I didn't think of that," Cody said in a monotone. This was new for him too, feeling angst, unsure what to say or do. He knew that everything changed, although wasn't exactly sure what to do or how to act. Completely overthinking every word and exchange. Every body motion.

"Do you want to get breakfast in the morning?" he asked with a smile, all while panicking on the inside. Thinking to himself, Am I being too clingy? Should I walk her to the door at least? Is that going to make it weird? Would be weird if I didn't. Fuck, I shouldn't have asked her to breakfast. Jade's reply, as quickly as it might have been, felt like forever to Cody.

"Definitely. I mean, only if we can go to IHOP."

Cody smiled, and in that blissful moment, everything felt as if it were going back to normal between them. "Of course, I mean we can't go to Tom's Diner, that would just be ludicrous."

Jade leaned in and gave him a hug, holding him tight. Breaking away from the overly prolonged embrace, before turning to get out of the car, she said, "I had a really great time with you tonight, thank you for taking me."

"Thank you for coming with me, I couldn't imagine going with anyone else." He smiled, and she moved in, giving him a kiss. After a rather intense end of the night kiss, she followed it up with the traditional, "Good night."

"Good night, I love you," Cody said, the words flowing out as naturally as a breath.

Of course, this took Jade by complete surprise; stunned, she said nothing in return. She froze there in awe, eyes wide, jaw dropped.

Cody reacted as anyone in his situation would—complete panic. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dropped that you on like that. Just forget I ever said it," he muttered nervously.

Jade could tell she had freaked him out and tried her best to comfort him. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm sorry, you just took me off guard." She began stumbling over her own words, only making the situation worse.