Stand by Me

Thirteen

"What died on your face?"

"It was an accident. I wasn't looking where I was walking.", Cody answers, looking away from Edith.

"Oh. No. No, mister. Look me in the eyes and spit it out."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You got punched, didn't you?"

"No!", his voice cracks a tad.

Even though I didn't know him for a long time, I could clearly make out that he was lying.

"Does it pain?", I finally speak.

"Just a little. Does it look bad?"

"No.", I lie. He looks like a pirate wearing an eye patch. It looked that bad.

"How did it happen?", I ask.

"I told you. I wasn't looking",he rolls his eyes in frustration.

"Oh please, Pinocchio! Your nose will cut through that window glass if you lie anymore. I can clearly see the fist mark on your face!"

"Cut it out, Edith! I don't wanna talk about it.", he began walking away.

"Cody, wait!", I try to stop him.

"Later, Nessa." I don't want to push it. So, I just let him go. Poor Cody. My frowning eyes meet Edith's.

"Don't look at me. I was just stating the obvious.", she put her hands up in the air.

"You could have at least played along for a while."

We parted separate ways when the bell chimed. I thought of asking Cody about it at lunch. I remembered when he told me before about being bullied in the beginning. What if he was going through it again? He didn't even want to talk about it. How bad could it be?

I have History. I make it to class in time. I had opted for block scheduling, so, the duration would be longer. I also had to work on that essay that was given about the Russian Revolution.

Today is Friday, which meant that I had to work after school. I'm supposed to meet Max and Chris, hopefully. Edith cannot stop talking about it. God, there's so much to do on a Friday night.

~§∆§~

"Wanna talk about it?", I hinder the silence between us.

It is lunch hour and Cody and I are waiting for Edith.

"I'm not sure",he sighs.

"Do you still have that picture with you? You know, the one you and Edith showed me the other day?"

"No. Why?", I arch an eyebrow. I instantly remember that there's still a copy on Edith's phone but I prefer to keep it a secret.

"No reason. Just asked out of curiosity.",he instantly looks away. I want to shoot more questions but I stop myself as Edith makes her way towards us.

"Hello kiddos!", she greets us.

We get into talking. Normal gossip. When you have someone like Cody with you, you cannot stay away from the term gossip.

We are in the midst of having our lunch when...

"Nice face, West!"

Jay Rollins.

He had to ruin it. What does he want? Can't he just quit annoying people?! Cody got up.

"Knock it off!", I said standing. I had no idea from where I was getting all the guts. Maybe it was something I ate.