Why Wait?

14

~~~flower garden~~~
Cody wraps his arm around my shoulder possessively. "You are not going anywhere with him," he tells me.

I sigh. "You have nothing to worry about," I say flatly. "This is just for publicity."

He glares at me. "There are other ways to get publicity."

Gah! I'm about to murder someone. I'm in one of those moods where I'm mad at the world but don't really know why. And he is not making me feel any better.

"Well, you know what? We haven't gotten around to any of those yet. So you are just going to to have to deal until stuff gets figured out."

"But---" Cody starts but Austin cuts him off.

"You are getting on my last nerve. Just shut up about it because, for the millionth time, none of this is real."

Cody is getting mad. And if I weren't so tired and mad, I'd be scared. But he is getting so annoying. He's never been the possessive type.

Cody proceeds to get out of the car and heads inside a Starbucks. Meaning he'll be there waiting until I get done.

Sidney looks at me. "Why do you put up with that?"

I look out the window. "I don't know. I guess I just kind of have to."

She rolls her eyes. "You were doing perfectly fine while you weren't dating. Now he all of a sudden shows up?"

I ignore her and turn to Luke. "So how's the new game?" I ask, knowing he's going to go on forever.

He smiles and gives me a smirk. "It's great."

I groan. "I hate you."

He laughs quietly. "Nice try, though."

"He all of a sudden shows up?" she repeats.

"Yeah," I mutter. "But he said---"

"Will it matter what he says if he treats you like craps?"

"He doesn't---"

"You know, I love you. But you really are an idiot."

I look down at my lap. "You don't know anything," I say in a small voice.

Anger flashes through her eyes. "I know enough," she snaps. "You deserve better than that."

I roll my eyes. "It doesn't---"

She cuts me off again. "And then he'll hurt you again and---"

"We're not dating," I yell over her. "Gah, Sidney. Shut up."

They all stare at me. "You're not?" Austin asks.

"No," I snap. "He took me to the park and we talked for a while. But he's still with Connie. I mean, I'm assuming he is. I just told him we can be friends."

"Did he get mad?" Sidney asks. She looks worried now.

Austin gives us confused looks. "Why would it matter?"

"Don't we have to go?" I ask loudly, trying to change the subject.

Ty looks in the direction Cody just walked. "Does he---"

"No," Sidney yells at the same time I say, "Shut up about it."

Austin's features turn hard and he glares at me. I avoid his glare and look over at Alex. "Let's go."

He nods and opens the door. We walk across the street in silence for a while. Then he holds the door open for me. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "I just... I don't really like him. Just like he doesn't really like me. But I'm kind of pupolar in school and so is he. So it's kind of expected, you know?"