No wonder I hadn’t been able to find it the past few days—it had been in his possession all along. I had spent hours writing all kinds of Alternate Universes for Harry Potter in it; it was almost all filled up.
The only one who had the privilege to read from it was Ashley, and even she didn’t bother because she wasn’t into the fan fiction scene.
But more importantly, this hobby of mine was something I was keeping under wraps at school because people tended to be judgmental.
Did he read it? Was I about to be socially doomed?
I was so flabbergasted that I didn’t even have the strength to compose my facial expression. He looked concerned at the panic I must have been displaying as I reached out for my notebook.
“Hey, um, are you alright?”
“Did you look in it?” I asked him in return, hating the shrillness that crept into my voice.
The concern on his face faded into obvious guilt as he glanced away. “Well, uh, your name wasn’t on the cover, so I had to open it…”
I wanted to hit myself. Why did I start writing my stories on the very first page? Why didn’t I leave the first page with just my name?
Wishing that I could just wake up from this nightmare, I groaned. “Did you … read them?”
Abruptly, he lowered his head. “I’m so sorry! I read everything! I know that it was a violation of privacy, and I knew I should’ve stopped, but your writing was just so good!”
I straightened up. That was not what I was expecting out of this conversation. “Really?”
With wariness in his light-brown eyes, he looked up at me. “Yes … I liked the time travel one the most.”
I felt like my brain was being flooded with contradictory emotions. The sheer joy of hearing someone praise my writing and saying that it was so good they couldn’t stop made me want to sing and dance right there in the hallway. Conversely, I was still horrified that he had opened my private notebook and continued reading my stories without asking me. Obviously, the situation could’ve been worse—he could’ve sneered at me for being a pathetic fan fiction writer, but instead he was apologizing and telling me how much he liked my work.
I didn’t know whether I wanted to squeal in joy or snap at him for peeking into my notebook.
Seeing that I was at a loss for words, Cody added, “I also wanted to talk to you because, well, I was really happy to find a fellow fan fiction writer.”
“Fellow?” The word fell out of my mouth before my mind could fully process his sentence.
“I write Harry Potter fan fiction too,” he said, smiling hesitantly.
I clapped my hand over my mouth before I could accidentally let out a scream of excitement. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah! I can show you some of my stories, if you’d like—” he broke off, looking uncertain.
“I’d definitely love that,” I said, nodding eagerly.
We looked at each other with mirrored expressions of ecstasy and enthusiasm.
Running a hand through his brown hair, Cody winced as he said, “And I’m, well, really sorry about reading your notebook without asking. I know I should have stopped after the first page.”
“I … you really shouldn’t have read my notebook without asking,” I said, and his face fell even further. “That said, if you hadn’t read it, I wouldn’t ever have known one of my schoolmates writes fan fiction too. So … I forgive you. I’m just glad it wasn’t a diary. Just ask me next time if this ever happens again, okay?”
His smile resurfaces again. “Thank you. I swear I will! You know, I really loved how much focus you placed on the backdrop and scenery of the settings. It felt like I was right there with the characters when I was reading them.”
“Thank you,” I said, so pleased that I felt like I was about to float.
I couldn’t believe he appreciated and noticed the effort I put into that. While Maddie and Natalie were obsessed with romance in stories, I was a sucker for scenery and world-building; they drew me right into the book. Sometimes I felt like my writing was a bit overkill, but I thought that since nobody else would be reading my stories I had the right to go as overboard as I wanted.
Cody checked his watch and said, sounding a little disappointed, “We should get going. It’s almost dinner time.”
“You’re right,” I said with dismay after checking my own phone. “Let’s go.”
We fell into a leisurely stroll in the direction of the dining hall.
“Please don’t tell anyone about this, okay?” I said, trying but failing to keep the worry out of my voice. “That I write fan fiction, that is. Only my closest friends in school know.”
Laughing, he flashed me another easygoing smile. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Apart from you, no one else in school knows that I write it.”
The relief that washed through me was almost palpable. He had way more to lose by approaching me than the other way around. Then I started to feel bad for him, because at least I knew that I could entrust my secret to Ashley and the others.
Suddenly, an idea hit me. “Hey, you should sit with us for dinner! My friends already know that I write, and I promise that they’ll absolutely keep it a secret for you too. We can talk all we want, and they won’t judge us.”
“That sounds great,” he said. “If you’re sure they won’t mind.”
“They definitely won’t,” I promised.
Our light footfalls in the corridors and the cool evening breeze that skimmed past my face made me feel super refreshed for the first time in the past few days. I’d finally found my notebook, and along with it a new friend who wrote fan fiction like I did. The next few weeks were going to be great; I could feel it.
“Hey, guys,” I said.
Ashley, Derek and Melissa all stared up at Cody as we reached my usual table. Beside me, he fidgeted visibly and gave them an awkward smile.
“So, who’s this?” Derek asked, grinning mischievously at me. “Are you introducing your boyfriend to us?”
Rolling her eyes at Derek, Melissa smacked the back of his chair. “Seriously?”
Ashley shot him a deadly stare. “As if she would have a secret boyfriend without telling me. Chelsea doesn’t have a death wish.”
“Obviously, Ashley is right,” I told him, shaking my head as I sat down with my tray. “Guys, meet Cody. He’s a fellow member of the book club I’m in. I invited him to eat with us, so be nice.”
“Hi, everyone, it’s nice to meet you,” Cody said, waving at them.
“Hey, I’m Derek. It’s nice to meet you too,” Derek said, halfway getting up from his seat to offer Cody a swift handshake. “I was kidding earlier, by the way. Don’t mind it.”
“Yeah, I could tell,” Cody said, returning his smile. “It’s cool.”
Mid-bite into her burger, Melissa waved airily at him. “I’m Melissa. It’s nice to meet you too. We haven’t had new people sitting with us since forever, so forgive Derek’s idiocy.”
Derek’s dark-brown eyes narrowed in response, and he kicked lightly at her chair leg.
Brushing her long wavy fringe away from her face, Ashley smiled at Cody. “I’m Ashley, and it’s great to meet you too.”
He sat down next to me. “Thanks. I’ve heard from Chelsea that you guys are really close.”
“Yeah, we’ve been friends for, what, three years now?” Melissa shrugged.
I tried not to burst at the seams with my overflowing enthusiasm as I leant forward in my chair. “Guys, you won’t believe this. He writes fan fiction like I do, too.”
“How scandalous!” Melissa mock-gasped, and then laughed at the deadpan look I sent her way. “Just kidding. Good for you. You’ll finally have someone to talk with all about this.”
“Hey, doesn’t this mean we’ll be freed from your fandom rants?” Derek said hopefully. “Congrats, this is good news for everyone involved!”
Cody laughed at the irritation on my face.
“You guys can be so annoying.”
Ashley raised her eyebrows. “Is that why you asked him to sit with us?”
I wiggled my own back at her. “You know me so well.”
I loved Ashley so much—there was almost nothing in my life I wouldn’t tell her.
“He also doesn’t want this getting out, so keep this quiet, okay?” I said to them.
Melissa looked offended. “Who do you think we are? We won’t tell anyone.”
“Of course you won’t, I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page,” I said soothingly. “Here, please accept my grape soda as an apology.”
“Maybe we can meet tomorrow after lessons are over,” Cody said, starting on his own food. “I’ll bring my notebook so you can take a look at what I’ve written.”
“That would be great!” I nodded in excitement. “We can meet by the—”
A very loud throat-clearing sound interrupted me.
Ashley’s attention was trained on me, her light-brown eyes narrowed. “Weren’t we supposed to study together after school tomorrow?”
My hand flew to my mouth; I’d completely forgotten.
“Oh, right! Sorry, Ash!” Forcing my disappointment down, I said to him, “Sorry, Cody, can we do the day after tomorrow instead?”
“No, it’s alright! I understand,” he said, his tone reassuring. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
Ashley sighed. “Actually, Cody, if you don’t mind, you can join us tomorrow too. It’d just be Chelsea and me, and we usually revise our own subjects.”
My wide gaze flew to her. “Really?!”
Cody looked surprised at her invitation, but quickly regained his composure to smile at her. “Thanks, I’d like that.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling that if I don’t do this, you wouldn’t be able to focus on studying tomorrow, anyway.” She looked at me pointedly before shrugging. “And you know the only reason we have these study sessions is because I can’t concentrate when I’m alone in my room.”
I batted my eyelashes at her. “Have I ever told you you’re the sweetest girl I’ve ever met?”
“Yes, every time I do you a favor.” She rolled her eyes exasperatedly at me. “So you can stop now, thanks.”
I beamed at her.
