His Heart

Me and Cody had just gone back home from school. Cody is an outgoing person. That’s why he has a lot of friends from our neighborhood and school. While I am the opposite. I am an Introvert. I don’t have friends at school, unlike Cody. In fact, Cody is the only best friend I have! He’s my closest friend. As we both got home from school, I changed clothes and did my homework. Suddenly, there was a knocking on my bedroom door. “Emma, it’s me Cody. I’m coming in!” As Cody opened the door, Cody walked towards Emma. Emma then put her homework aside. “What’s up Cody?” Cody sat down beside Emma. “Me and my friends are going out and play basketball. I want you to come.” Emma then smiles a bit and chuckles. “You just want me to come to show off your shooting skills.” Cody then laughed and pats Emma on the head. “Well, I guess that’s true. But you can’t deny that I am the best! I mean you already saw all my basketball matches with my friends. And I never lost. I’m the one who carries the team too!” Emma then laughed as she hit the table, slamming her hand. “Hey! What are you laughing at? You know it well that I am the best and that I never lost a match.” Emma continued bursting out laughing as her eyes got a bit watery. She wiped her tears of laughter with her finger as she continued to giggle and then spoke “Don’t be so full of yourself Cody! You never know, today some of your friends might win this match instead of you.” Emma said, in a sarcastic tone while laughing. Cody pouts then stands up, crossing his arms. “Fine! Don’t come to the match then.” Emma stands up and gets her string bag. “Alright, alright. I’m coming.” Cody looks at Emma. “I’ll show you. I will win this match. You’ll see.” Cody spoke in a confident tone. Emma just nods, then the both of them head out of Emma’s room. As Emma and Cody walked they headed towards the basketball court while they talked. When they arrived at the basketball court, Emma sat down on the bench. A few minutes later, Cody’s match with his friend starts. Emma was mesmerized by Cody’s basketball skills. Dribbling, shooting, rebounding, and defending! This was something different from what she had seen before from his other matches. He was much more focused and better! Usually, when Cody shoots and dribbles from his recent matches, he would be much more focused on the audience looking at him and showing off his skills, but this time he’s attention was completely focused on this match. After his match, Cody walked towards Emma. “I told you I would win this match. Well? I kept my word.” Cody spoke in a serious tone and pants heavily. Emma smiled at him warmly and took out a bottle of water from her string bag and a towel, then handed it over to Cody. “You did a good job Cody.” After hearing that from Emma, Cody smiled and his gaze softened on her. Cody took the bottle of water from Emma’s right hand and drank it. He took the towel from Emma’s left hand and wiped his sweat. After that, they walked back home. It was already night time as they walked. It was quiet. All they could hear on that night was a swoosh of wind as the tree leaves rustled in the breeze and cars driving past them. “Have you finished your homework? It’s due tomorrow.” Hearing that, Cody froze. “What!? There’s homework!?” Cody spoke in a surprised tone. Emma sighs, stops walking and palmed her forehead. “When we get home I will help you with your homework. I can’t believe you don’t even know we have homework. Have you even been listening to class?” Cody chuckles then rubs his neck with his hand. “Uhm…It’s not that! I probably just forgot about it. Ahahahahha…..” Emma sighs “I’ll drop by your house to help you with your homework. Let’s go.” Emma and Cody continued walking again and finally arrived at Cody’s House. As they entered, Cody’s Mom was cooking dinner. “Ma, I’m home!” Cody shouted. Cody’s Mom turned around to see Emma and Cody and then came running towards them. Cody’s Mom hugged Emma. “Hello Auntie Shelly. I am here to help Cody with his homework.” “What!?” Aunt Shelly (Cody’s Mom) looked at her son Cody with a stern, annoyed look. Aunt Shelly pulled Cody’s ear. “Young Man! You haven’t finished your homework and you went outside!? And now you’re bringing Emma to help you with your homework!?” Cody's mom shouted. Emma chuckles. “Ow! Mom, it hurts!” Cody shouted annoyingly. “Sorry about this Emma, My son dragged you in to this. You can go back home. Cody should have done his homework earlier. Tsk, tsk!” Emma smiled at Cody’s Mom. “Aunt Shelly thank you but I’ll go home later! I am willing to help him with his homework anyway. We will be upstairs in his room!” Emma replied. “Alright then, don’t make things harder for Emma, Cody. Alright!?” Aunt Shelly’s attention went back to Cody. “Okay Ma... Got It.” Emma and Cody went upstairs and went inside Cody’s room. Cody lays down on his bed. “Finally home! I missed my comfy bed.” Emma sat down on the chair and placed her notes on the table. “Emma, I’ll just take a quick shower!” Cody went inside his bathroom. “Alright! Take your time.” Emma replied. 30 Minutes Later Cody came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped underneath him. He gets another towel and drys his wet hair. “Looks like you’re done.” Emma turns around and sees Cody not wearing any shirt but only a towel wrapping underneath him. Emma’s eyes widened and quickly looked away. Emma’s cheeks flushed as she got flustered. “CODY!! Wear a shirt you doofus!!” Cody smirks and lets out a soft chuckle while he continues to dry his wet hair. “I got to dry myself up first, after that then I will wear a shirt. It’s common sense or else my shirt will get wet too.” Cody takes his homework out of his bag, and walks towards Emma. He placed his homework on the table. Emma felt their skin touch, she then flinched. She moves away from him a bit but the swivel chair loses its balance. As it does, Emma loses her balance too. She was about to fall when suddenly Cody grabbed her arm. "Woah woah..that was close. You alright?" He asked. Emma got even more flustered. She quickly pushed Cody away. Cody let go of Emma's arm. Emma lost her balance again as soon as Cody let go of her arm. Emma was about to hit her head on the floor when Cody immediately put his hand behind her head to prevent it hitting the ground. Both of them collapse on the floor. Cody was on top of Emma as his hand was still behind her head. Both their faces were so close that they could feel each others breath. They gazed at each other's eyes. Cody looked at Emma's beautiful brown eyes. He tucks a strand of Emma's hair behind her ear. Emma's gaze softened as she looked at him. After that, she slowly pushed Cody away. Cody then just realized what had just happened. "Let's go do your homework...." Cody slowly moved away. "Oh uhm....Right." He stood back up and walked towards the closet, then went to the bathroom. Emma then stands up and puts the swivel chair back in position. She then sat back down on the swivel chair and waits for Cody. Minutes later, Cody got out of the bathroom, and sat beside Emma. "Here are my notes." Emma handed her notes to Cody. "You can do the rest of your homework, right? Cody was just looking at the notes she handed to him. "mhm." he responded. "Good. I'll be off then. It's already 9:00pm. My parents are probably waiting for me. I'll see you at school tomorrow." Emma grabbed her string bag and stood up. She then walked towards the door. "Oh and, you can just give me my notes tomorrow at school when you're finished. See you." Emma left the room. After she left, Cody let out a deep sigh and looked at the ceiling. "Well, I hope when we see each other in school it won't be awkward between us." He looked back at the notes Emma handed to him and did his homework. The Next Day at School Emma was reading a book during their lunch break. Then someone from another section entered the class. It was Cody. Cody walked towards Emma. "Emma. Can we talk?" Girls and boys from Emma's class all looked at her and started whispering to one another. "Girl student 1: Who does she think she is? Just because Cody talks to her and that they are close doesn't mean he likes her!" "Girl student 2: I know, right? I think Cody only talks to her since he pities her for not having any friends." "Girl Student 3: Tsk. Emma is such an attention seeker." "Girl Student 4: Did you guys know about the rumour that Cody and Emma are childhood friends?" "Girl student 5: pffft! No way. That's just a stupid rumour." "Girl student 6: Lower your voice down. She might hear you." "Boy student 1: I always see them together. Don't you think the rumor is actually true?" "Girl student 5: nah. There's no way!" "Boy student 2: I don't know about that. I think they really are childhood best friends. I mean just look at them. They look really close!" "Boy student 3: There's no way they are close. I mean, why would Cody hang out with her? Cody the most popular and the best basketball player in our school? Hang out with a nerd loser Emma? AHAHAHAHA! Just No way Dude!" "Boy student 4: *sighs* Believe in what you believe, but I also think that the rumor is true. Emma stayed silent even after hearing all those words..Cody then looked at all of them with a death stare. "You all better watch out your mouths. I have just learned about this now. It's true that me and Emma are childhood best friends." Cody's attention went back to Emma. "You never told me about this. Why didn't you tell me about this rumor? We could have just cleared it out for them." Emma stood up from her seat and grabbed Cody's arm, then they headed out of the class. "Well? Tell me. Answer my question, Emma." Emma was hesitant at first, then she finally spoke. "I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation because of me." After hearing that from Emma, Cody was hurt. He then scoffs. "Huh. Was that what you really thought about me? That I care about my reputation so much? Really? Sure, I love hearing people praise me or complementing me. But I care about you the most than this stupid reputation. And for you to think so low of me like that hurts me. Emma, after what happened yesterday, I didn't want things to be awkward. And now this happens? If only you knew that even after all the praise I get from others, what I want to hear is from you. The compliments/praises you give me. That's enough for me. I mostly crave your attention. Not theirs. That's why I do my best just to hear from you. But Wow! I'm just a popular guy, huh?" Suddenly, both of them became quiet. Emma couldn't speak up. "No I...I'm sorry Cody.." Emma couldn't bring herself to look at Cody, so she just looked at the floor. Cody then whispered, "At least if you're going to say sorry, look me in the eyes." He then handed her her notes from yesterday. After that, he walked out. When Cody walked out, Emma was speechless and hurt by the situation. After school, Cody has a practice basketball match on the school's basketball court. Emma went to his practice as she wanted to apologize to him after his practice match. Emma sat down on the bench to wait for Cody. After Cody's match, Emma takes out a water bottle from her backpack and plans to give it to Cody and apologize after he finishes his practice. Suddenly, Emma froze when she heard a girl's voice calling out Cody's name. Emma turned to look at her left to see a beautiful girl with long wavy brunette hair and green eyes. Cody walked towards that girl who called out his name. "Thea! You came to watch my practice?" Emma just looked at Cody and Thea talking as she was just staring at the both of them in a corner. Thea handed Cody a cold grape flavored fanta (beverage). "So Thea is her name..." Emma muttered under her breath. "Thanks Thea! Anyways, there must be a reason why you came to see me at my practice? This is so unlike you." Cody drank the fanta Thea handed to him. "You are right. There is something I want to talk to you about or more like, I need to tell you something important...?" Thea giggled. "Oh? Alright then. What is it?" Cody responded with a curious look. "Not here. Let's talk about it while we walk home. If that is alright with you?" Cody raises an eyebrow. He was now more curious. "Alright then. Let me just get my things." Cody replied with a serious tone and picked up his bag from the bench. "Let's Go. I'm famished...let's go eat ramen while we're at it. Yeah?" Cody said excitingly while walking out of the court with Thea. Thea nods happily in agreement to eat ramen with Cody outside, while Emma just watches them in the corner as they head out of the court. Emma sighs and puts the water bottle back inside her backpack. Suddenly, a boy came running towards Emma, who was one of Cody's closest friends. "Hey! You're Emma, right? Cody's friend? I am Daniel by the way, but just call me Dan for short!" he smiled. "Mhm..Nice to meet you Dan." Emma replied. "You must be wondering why I approached you just now, even though we always see each other in the neighborhood whenever Cody has a basketball match with us." Daniel said with a awkward laugh as he rubs his neck with his hand. "oh uhm, yeah. Soooooo....what's up? ahahah...." Emma responded with an awkward laugh. "Oh right, you don't have to worry Emma. The girl who just walked out of the court with Cody is Thea. They are just friends since they are from the same section." Dan whispered to Emma while giving her a reassuring smile. Emma's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that. "W-what!? What do you mean...?" Emma replied with her cheeks light pink flushed. Daniel chuckles and taps Emma's shoulder. "Oh come on! Don't deny it. It's so obvious, you know? I always see the way you look at him. You like Cody, don't you?" Hearing that from Daniel, Emma's ears turned bright pink, and so were her cheeks. She felt her heart beating fast and loud. "Me...? Like Cody...?" She mumbled while looking at the ground. Daniel nods. "Yeah. But if you're not comfortable telling me, it's fine! After all, I'm his friend soooo......hahahah.." Daniel laughs awkwardly then reaches his hand to Emma. "I'll walk you back home. I'm going in the same direction as you anyway, since we are in the same neighborhood." Emma looked back up at Daniel. "Okay then.." Emma put on her backpack and walked out with Daniel out of the court. While they were walking back home, it was starting to get dark outside. It was already 5:20pm by that time. Finally, they arrive at Emma's house. "See you tomorrow Emma." Daniel waves at Emma with a warm smile and Emma waves back at him with a smile too. Daniel turned his back and was about to walk out and head to his house, but he stopped and spoke with a gentle soft voice. "Oh and Emma...take care." Daniel left before even Emma could talk. Emma went inside her house exhausted. "Mom, Dad. I'm home." she said in a tired voice. "Looks like our little girl is exhausted from school, go take a rest. Your Mom is still making dinner." Emma's father responded. "Andrew Stephen M. William! Come right here and help set up the dining table rather than watching that wrestling thing on the TV!" Emma's Mother shouted. Emma giggles and puts down her backpack on the sofa. "Uh oh Dad. Don't make Mom angry!" She said with a giggle coming out of her. "Right..You go take a rest now sweetheart. We will call you when food is ready." Emma's father replied with a smile and a slight chuckle. "Alright dad, thanks." Emma went upstairs and opened the door to her room. She changed into her pajamas and jumped straight to her bed. "mmm...so comfy. I'm so tired.." Emma closes her eyes and falls asleep. The Next Day! Emma woke up at 5:00am and took a shower. After that, she drys herself up with a towel and wears her school uniform, and combs her hair. "Another day to start school..." She mumbled and walked downstairs. "Emma go eat your breakfast. You weren't able to eat dinner yesterday. Me and your father did not want to wake you up since you were asleep and looked so exhausted." Emma's mother said while placing a plate on the table with a spoon and fork. "mhm...okay..thank you mom and dad..." Emma replied and sits down on the chair and starts to eat her food. After eating, she gets her backpack and gets ready to leave and go to school. As she headed out of the house, she looked to her left and saw Cody, who had just got out of the house as well and about to head to school. They looked at each other for a second, then they looked away from each other, then they both walked to school. They both walked in the same direction. After all, they are both from the same school. It was quiet and awkward for them as they continued to walk together to school.When they arrived, Cody went inside his class, being separated from Emma again, while Emma went inside her class too. Hours passed and it was now their recess. Cody and his friends, including Daniel, were about to head back to their class after buying food from the cafeteria. When they passed through Emma's class, Daniel stopped walking. "You guys go on ahead. I'll just do something really quick." Daniel went inside Emma's class while Cody and his other friends waited for Daniel. Daniel went inside Emma's classroom and gave Emma a banana milk and a melon pan/melon bun. Cody saw this from the window. Cody felt something he had never felt before. He felt his chest tighten as soon as he saw them together and how Daniel bought food for Emma. Cody grabbed his chest as he did not know why he was feeling like that. It was new to him. A few minutes later, Daniel came out of Emma's class. "You guys actually waited? I told you guys to go on ahead without me." Daniel chuckled. Then Cody spoke in a firm, stern, cold voice. "Since when did the two of you get so close?" Cody looked at Daniel with solemn eyes. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Daniel replied. "You know what I'm talking about." Cody responded. Daniel's eyes widened in surprise and thrill, not expecting that kind of reaction from Cody. Daniel smirked and let out a soft chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders. "hmmm...you don't have to know about that." Daniel replied, after that all of Cody's friends went silent, thinking that both of them might cause a scene. "You know what, nevermind. Let's head back to class." Cody said in a low voice. Daniel nodded with a slight smirk on his face as they went back to their class. After recess, all students went back to their classes and began another lesson. Emma sighs as the lesson begins. Even though she's the smartest in the class, there is one subject she doesn't like. Math. A few hours later, finally, there were 3 more subjects left, but before they had the last subject, it was now their lunch time. Emma went to the cafeteria to eat lunch. She was sitting alone while eating her lunch. Daniel then unexpectedly sat down beside Emma and started eating too. Cody saw this in a corner as he felt his chest tighten again. "Why do I feel like this..?" Cody mumbled under his breath. Emma never hung out with any boys except Cody himself. Days passed and Cody always saw Emma and Daniel hanging out more and more with each other. Then, something snapped on Cody. After school, Cody walked towards Emma and Daniel. All of a sudden, Cody took Emma's hand. "C-cody..!? What are you doing?!" Daniel was not surprised when this happened in front of him. Daniel smiled as he knew that Cody would get jealous and with that he would start talking to Emma again. Cody finally let go of Emma's hand when they are finally somewhere alone. "Why do you keep hanging out with him?" Cody spoke in a cold voice. "Well, he's my friend! And whenever I try to approach you, you'd ignore me! Is it because you're still hurt about what I said!?" Emma responded. "Do you know how much it hurts being ignored by you!?" Emma's eyes started to tear up. A tear rolled down her cheek. Cody's eyes widened in surprise. He did not know what to say. He embraced Emma and let Emma rest her head against his chest. Emma continues to tear up, getting Cody's uniform wet from her tears. "I'm sorry.." Cody then strokes Emma's hair and continues apologizing and comforting her. A few minutes later, Emma wiped her tears and sniffs then spoke in a soft tone. "We are okay now....right?.." Cody smiled warmly at her and nodded. "mhm..but..." Cody's smile faded. "I don't like seeing you hanging out with him." Cody said in a serious tone. "Wait...what? huhh?? Why? He's my friend." Emma was full of confusion. Finally, it hit Cody and realized what he was feeling was jealousy. "Just the thought of seeing you hang out with him makes me crazy. Like I have never seen you hang out with other guys except me! I mean I'm the only guy you're friends with.." He replied. Emma thought in her mind: "Oh. So he's jealous because I'm hanging out with another friend. Is that it? So does that mean he's not jealous because he has feelings for me...right? This is so confusing." Daniel walked towards them. "Wow, what a scene. I had my fun." Daniel chuckles. "Fun? What are you talking about Dan?" Cody asked in an annoyed tone. "Well, I wanted to see how you would react if me and Emma got close. It was fun seeing your jealous reaction, man! Although I thought this would happen much sooner." Daniel burst out laughing. Cody then laughed with Daniel. "haaaah...to think you'd actually do that for fun. We are not your toys, Dan. I'm still annoyed at you. I should have expected this from you." Cody replied in an annoyed tone and with a slight smile showing on his face. He then took Emma's hand. "See you tomorrow Dan..." Emma waved at Daniel. "See ya." He responded. Cody set his eyes on Daniel, giving him the *Don't even think about flirting with her* look. Then Daniel laughed. "yeah, yeah...see you too tomorrow, Cody." Daniel chuckles as he teased him. Cody smiled at Daniel and waved. "See you tomorrow Doofus." Cody smirked and chuckled. "That little-" Daniel sighs and just laughs it off. Cody and Emma then walked home. While Emma and Cody walked back home, It was awkward and quiet. A few minutes later, they arrived at Emma's home. "Cody, want to come eat dinner with us?" Emma asked awkwardly. "Sure. I'll just text mom and dad that I'll be eating with you guys." Cody took out his phone and texted his parents. Emma and Cody then enter Emma's house. "Hey Uncle Andrew! What's up?" Cody and Emma's father fist bump. "Hey Cody! You gonna eat dinner with us today kiddo!?" Emma's father replied. "Yes, uncle." Cody sat down on the sofa beside Emma's father. Both Cody and Emma's father are watching soccer on the TV while Emma helps her mother set up the dining table. "GOAAAALLL!" Both Cody and Emma's father shouted. "Those two are like father and son even though they aren't related, and did you know Emma? Your father would go on and on about how he would only give his blessings to Cody in the future and that no other boy compared to him!" Emma's mother said while she put the food on the table. Emma smiled. "I agree with dad. No one compares to Cody." Emma replied with a warm smile on her face without realizing she had said it out loud while she put plates on the table. "Oh my...I see what's going on here." Emma's mother giggled. "BOYSS! It's time to eat!" Emma's mother shouted. "Cody! Dad! It's dinner time!" Emma sat down on the dining table with her mother. "Let's go Cody. I'm famished!" Emma's father said. "Ok Uncle Andrew. I can smell the food over here...Is it curry..?" Cody and Emma's father went to the dining room and sat down. "Thanks for making dinner for us hun." Emma's father said to Emma's Mother, then he kissed her cheek. "Let us say our graces." All of them then gave their thanks. The 4 of them had a great time eating and talking. After dinner, Cody volunteered to wash the dishes. After that, he was about to leave. "Thank you Aunt and Uncle for having me today. The food was absolutely great. I'll be off now." Cody thanked them happily with a smile. "Send our regards to your parents Cody." Emma's mother and Emma's father replied in a happy tone and they both waved at him. "See you tomorrow Cody. Send my regards as well to Aunt Shelly and Uncle Mike." Emma waved at Cody with a slight smile. Cody nodded and waved back at them. He then left. After a tiring day, Emma went upstairs in her room and changed clothes. She took out her notebook and placed it down on the table. "I should finish this so I don't have to do this assignment tomorrow..." Emma took out her phone and opened it. "It's Saturday tomorrow...I wonder what I should do tomorrow. Oh right..Cody's birthday is next week..I wonder what gift I should get him.." Emma scrolls on her phone to find a gift for Cody. "haaah. I wonder what he meant by seeing me with Dan makes him crazy. Is he jealous because I'm starting to make friends with someone and he might feel left out since Cody is the first friend I've ever had? Or is he jealous because....." Emma shakes her head. "No no no no. There's no way ahahahah...." Emma laughed nervously. She turns off her phone and placed it back on the table. "Should I just ask him about it tomorrow?...But things might get awkward. Ughhh nevermind! I'll just finish my homework." She sighs and continues doing her assignment. After an hour and minutes, she finally finished. "Finally finished. I should go to sleep..." Emma looked at the time. It was already 12:42am. She yawns and puts her notebook and pens back in her bag. She then looked at her phone. "Hm..? A message from Cody..?" Emma opened the message. "looks like he wants to go out tomorrow." Emma smiles slightly and replied to his message. "Wait..why would he suddenly want to go out with me tomorrow? This is rare. And isn't he awkward at what had happened before we went home? I'm still confused because of him! Why is he even jealous? Gahhhhhhh! Does he like me? Or does he just hate seeing me with another friend because he thinks he might be left out by me?" Emma mumbled annoyingly under her breath. She turned off her phone and placed it on the table, she turned off the lights and she lay down on her bed. "Whatever. Just thinking about it is such a hassle. I'll just go to sleep and forget everything that happened!..." Emma yawns, then she gets up from her bed and gets a blanket from her closet. She walks towards her bed and lays down again. She tucks herself into the blanket as she starts to feel her eyes close. She finally falls asleep. 2 hours later, Emma wakes up, she then gets up from her bed then takes a look at her phone. "3:45am...? mmm.. I 'll go sleep more.." Emma yawns and places her phone back on the table. She walks towards the bed and lays back down. Emma tucks herself into her blanket and finds herself just looking at the ceiling. "I can't sleep anymore. haaaaaah...I don't feel sleepy anymore." After minutes of silence she still couldn't sleep. Emma sighs, "I'll just close my eyes. Maybe then I'll be able to fall back asleep again." Emma closes her eyes and sleeps in a more comfortable position.