Page 60 of The Other Brother

“Did you ever finish that song you were writing at the beach?”

“I’m still fiddling around with it, but I recorded a version.” Cody hesitates. “Do you want to listen to it?”

“Of course, I want to.”

Cody pulls out his phone, his brow creased in concentration. He finds his app and presses play on an audio file.

The music seems to float out from his phone. I flick a glance at him, and a faint blush treks its way up his cheeks. The song starts off slowly with this kind of haunting sadness but builds to an incredible crescendo.

“Holy shit, that’s amazing,” I say when it’s finished.

The flush on Cody’s cheeks spreads down his neck, and he bites his lip.

“Seriously, Cody, I’ve got goose bumps.” I show him my arms.

“You like it?”

“I love it. It’s sad but happy too. A happy kind of sad. Does that make any sense?”

He just stares at me. One of those potent Cody stares that should come with a warning.

My cheeks heat under his scrutiny. “Sorry, my music interpretation skills aren’t that advanced. You’re about to tell me it’s actually about when zombies take over the earth, aren’t you?”

“No.” He clears his throat. “It’s about… uh… longing for something. And you just gave the perfect definition. It’s a kind of happy sadness.”

“It’s very cool.”

“I’m still playing around with it.” Cody drops his eyes. “Anyway, we better get back to biology.”

Oh yeah, biology, that’s right. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing here.

I take a deep breath and try to clear from my mind all those pesky thoughts that want to dwell on other things besides biology. Like how Cody’s quiet confidence is attractive, but when he lets me see the real him, somehow, it’s even more attractive. Damn, I really should write Valentine’s Day cards.

We’re still studying when Mum comes home. She bustles through the dining room, carrying a bag of groceries, coming to an abrupt stop when she sees us.

“Oh, hi, Cody.” She fixes a smile on her face that is a few notches below genuine.

“Hi, Julia,” Cody replies.

“Cody’s just been helping me with genetics,” I say, leaning back and stretching.

“I should get going,” Cody says as Mum retreats.

“Yeah, okay.”

If he was anyone else, I’d ask him to stay for dinner. But having Cody around the dinner table with my parents would be awkward, multiplied by a factor of cringeworthy.

I follow him as he walks to the front door.

“Same time next week?” he says as he opens the door.

“Yup. You, me, and my biology textbook. It’s a hot threesome.”

Cody scratches the side of his face. “Um… yeah.” His eyes meet mine, trapping me. There’s something about Cody that makes him impossible to look away from.

“See you then,” I say in an attempt to break the spell.

“See you.” Despite saying the words, he doesn’t leave. Instead, he stays in the weird moment between us.