#I think Charlie might have fun playing games or building forts with troy and abed they could play night crawlers together

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I sincerely think if Dennis Reynolds and Jeff Winger were to makeout, it would benefit them both immensely, in fact, it’d be good for their health

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you know too much || cody and bella

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: art building // spring 2021.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: cody x bella.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: none.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: cody holds up his end of the agreement.

Cody begrudgingly entered the art building and went to the correct room to find Bella. He realized he was already five minutes late, but he went to the water fountain and took a long drink. Cody was dreading entering the room. It was part of the deal though, and he was willing to make it work. With his bag resting on his shoulder, he walked into the art room and shrugged it off his shoulder to put it on the ground as he pulled up a stool next to Bella. "Abs" said Cody as the chair made a loud noise as he moved it under him. Slouching down to be at her height he smiled, might as well fake it till you make it. "What kind of art are we doing today? The Ghost scene with the pottery? Am I just posing? What's the deal" he asked.

Bella had came in an hour earlier to do all her prep. This was the last project for the semester and she wanted it to be accepted into the exhibit that was being held after this term was completed. She kept checking her phone to see the time, nervous that Cody wasn't going to show up at all. Thankfully he did, but the moment she heard that nickname, her heart sank. All it did was remind her of her ex boyfriend. "You could just call me Bella." she flinched a bit from the noise the chair made. "I did my ceramics class last semester, but if that's something you're interested in, you can borrow my tools. I'm going to be painting. One subject, two styles. Realism and expressionism. But I need photographic references so I will be taking pictures of you. I apologize in advance, photography is unfortunately not my forte." Bella looked over at the clothes he was wearing before grabbing a tape measure. "Can I take your measurements? Just from the waist up?"

Cody didn't know why she was acting so weird at the nickname, he just wanted to do something nice that could be like a them thing. Something very tangible that would show people that they were dating. But, he guessed she was as hard to please as his ex. This was going to be a nightmare. Cody nodded and stood up, "just don't put me in a skirt and we're gucci" said the boy, laughing a little to himself. He was bi, but when it came to clothes he definitely dressed like a straight man. No expression there, just clean cut and awkward. "I also happen to be a pretty good model, a girl last semester used me for her photography class. It was kinda fun" he said with a shrug as he put his arms out so she could measure him better. "I don't know too much about art. I was supposed to go abroad for an exchange my sophomore year, get a little cultured. But I opted out of it because of you know" said the boy, making conversation. He wasn't sure why he was sharing so much, but that was the extent he knew about art. His missed opportunity.

"I feel like with your height you'd look really nice in a skirt." Bella said as she looked Cody up and down for a second. "But I don't want you to be uncomfortable so I won't. I don't think this will be a full body painting anyways, I want to focus on your face more. Adding a nice shirt won't hurt though." She began to take his measurements and write them down in her notebook. Bella assumed he was talking about his ex girlfriend, and she already promised she wouldn't bring her up again. "I'm sorry, hopefully you'll get to travel soon. It's never too late to go and explore. That's the beauty of art, it will always be there. It's all around us." she smiled to herself. Bella believed that there was some good that could come out of this weird situation they were in. She spent most of her life trying to avoid people like Cody, but if they had to spend all this time together, she might as well get to know him better. How bad could it be? "I think that's why I admire photography so much. It makes one fleeting moment last forever. Do you enjoy photography? I was doing some fake girlfriend research by looking through your instagram and saw that post you made."

“I might do a summer program. It’s just hard with sports” Cody explained, he definitely wanted to go abroad. It felt like a right of passage, they all had their place that they felt was their second home. He was hoping his would be Amsterdam, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. He faltered when he realized she had put actual thought into this and looked through his Instagram, he had given hers a peruse for the same reason. He just assumed he was more in this than her. “It’s the only class I’ve enjoyed here. I guess I’m just not a school person. My teacher said I have the eye, not really sure what that means. I’m not an art guy. I’m an athlete: head empty” said the boy, realizing that he was talking about himself a lot. He never really talked about himself, usually just about other people or tangible things. Cody found himself opening up like he did with AP, and that was a dangerous game. “How did you know you’re an art person? Clearly you have passion for it if you’re going to defy your parents plan” he asked to turn the subject to her.

"You must have that natural talent for it, that's a great gift to have. If you have anything you'd want to show, I'd love to see it. Sometimes art could be really personal so I understand if you don't want to show people. There's some stuff I keep to myself." Bella told him with a friendly smile, sure she wished she was better in the photographic field, but she enjoyed what she was good in. "You could always be both, like Troy Bolton. But switch the kind of art and the kind of sport, unless you like musical theater and basketball too." Bella kept quiet once she finished the measurements, did he have to include the part where she was defying her parents' plan? Was it that obvious that they weren't supportive? "So when I was younger, I didn't speak too much. My mom thought something was wrong with me, but I think she was just being dramatic." she shrugged her shoulders as she started to jot down some notes for herself. "They took me to a specialist and she first suggested writing to express my thoughts. I didn't enjoy that cause it felt like homework, so then she suggested art and that one stuck for me. It was a kind of release for me, but it wasn't so literal. I did it my own way. Sorry, I don't know if that made sense."

"How about this?" said Cody as he took a picture of her and posted it to his story, "photography and an evil scheme" he teased. He didn't really show the pictures he took last semester to anyone, it was something he kept to himself. He hadn't really thought to why he did that. "Somehow, I don't think High School Musical is the answer to every situation" said Cody with a shrug. Cody had to laugh when she said she had to be taken to a specialist, "A specialist, are you fucking kidding me?" he was laughing pretty hard at that. He wasn't laughing at her, not necessarily, but it was too funny not to laugh at. She was always surprising him, he thought she was just comfortable being weird. Letting her freak flag fly. She never seemed worried about what people thought, the only weak spot being her parents.

Bella looked like a deer in headlights as he randomly took a picture of her, "I would appreciate a warning, Cody Summers." she said with a small frown, hoping she didn't look completely stupid in the picture. "I'm sorry, are you more of a Camp Rock person?" she asked jokingly. Him laughing at her didn't feel too great, she just stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. She regretted bringing that up, she simply could have told him she found art when she was a kid, but her rambling got the best of her yet again. "No I am not kidding." she mumbled. "It wasn't my decision, but I guess I'm grateful that something nice came out of it. I'm not sure what I'd do without art." Bella walked over to her canvas and started outlining a rough sketch at first. "Is that how you feel with your sports?" she asked, wanting to take the attention off of her.

"I promise at the end of this I will look stupid so you can post it, or I'll send you an embarassing photo" said Cody shrugging it off. She looked pretty in the photo, and a little mad. It was perfect, very believable. No one would buy that they were a completely happy couple, but a fun one they definitely would. He noticed her mumbling, and he almost felt bad for laughing. It was just so hilarious that she'd been tested. "Sports has been a natural thing, especially with Charlie taking an interest in it. Dad really liked the idea of us doing sports. So I got into it, it was the only way I could play with Charlie and Marshall when I was little" he explained, sports wasn't really a question at home. It was just the answer when it came to the boys, there wasn't time for the arts. Charlie was sensitive sure, but he never did anything other than the baking.

"Maybe I'll post a picture of you in a skirt. Then we could be even." Bella said with a smile, it was mostly a joke, but she wouldn't mind posting a funny photo of him. As she was listening to Cody talk about sports, she couldn't help but wonder if that was his actual passion or not. It didn't have to be, but she hoped he had some kind of passion in life. "But is that how you feel with your sports?" she asked again, she wasn't sure why she was being pushy about it. "Like it's almost apart of you? Like it's your calling?" she asked with big eyes.

"You have to make me a skirt first" said Cody with a small chuckle, "you know us Summers, it's tailored or nothing" he said, mocking Channing's voice with the last line. When she asked if it was his calling, he just shrugged. "I mean, it's something I'm good at. I'm okay at plenty of things, but shouldn't I spend my time doing something I'm good at?" he replied. Cody just kind of followed in Charlie's footsteps a lot of the time. It felt like the easy answer, because Charlie was arguably the happiest of them all. To be happy was the goal, to be comfortable. It was still hard though, being in the shadows. "What is a calling anyway? Some excuse people throw out when they want to change everything about their lives for no reason or upset people who love them" he added cynically.

Bella thought that his first statement was some kind of invitation to take his measurements and actually make him a skirt, so she quickly picked up the measure tape once again and walked up to him. "I'm not that good with making clothes, but skirts are generally easy. Maybe I can even get someone from the fashion design department to make it." she said with such excitement, maybe a little too much excitement. Cody was just so tall, the skirt would look great. "Hm, I guess. But I would like to focus on what I really love instead and get better at that." she shrugged her shoulders, they seemed to have two very different mindsets. Especially after hearing what he said next. This is why she did like get pushy about topics like this, there were just some people that viewed things so negatively. It made her think about how she was upsetting the people who loved her. "Maybe changing everything about your life isn't so bad. Especially if it's for something you love. As long as you're not hurting someone, of course. But there's a difference between hurting those people and those people just not being supportive."

He hadn't been serious at all, but he figured wearing a skirt would probably pull him a pretty big favor. She had a fair point, but people just not being supportive. He wasn't going to give her that one though because his parents had his best intentions in mind. They always did. They had high standards because he should meet them, and it wasn't like he was actually good at anything besides sports. His photography teacher was just being nice because he actually paid attention in class. "I mean that's why sports medicine is the way to go for me right now. Sure, the classes are boring but it'll be meaningful work for when I'm a washed up athlete" said the boy, wondering if he was sharing too much again.

Bella frowned up at Cody once he referred to himself as a washed up athlete, "You should be kinder to yourself." she mumbled, though it was pretty rich coming from her, Bella was her worst critic. She was always putting herself down, especially when it came to her art. It was just never good enough. Nothing she ever did was good enough. "I'm sure you're great." She had been to a few games, but she couldn't exactly pin point him out on the field. They all looked like little ants out there to her, and they moved too quick for her to read the names on the back of their jerseys. "Just getting to play college football is a big deal. So many people don't make that cut. Have you tried pursuing football professionally?" she asked, trying to stay on a topic he would like. "I know that's really difficult, but you're pretty much one step away from it. It's very possible."

"The odds of that are very slim, and I don't know if I want to commit like that to a sport that can really fuck with your brain. College seems like enough" said the boy. He had given it some thought, but he wanted something more stable. Something where he couldn't peak so easily. He was worried he had already plateaued in his football abilities, "I mean with art you can always improve or change styles and master something else. With football there's just ... football" he explained. He wasn't sure if he was making sense, but with art there was always something new or exciting it seemed like, football hadn't changed much.

"That makes sense, I was terrified of flag football back in p.e. class. I can't imagine actually tackling people." Bella understood where Cody was coming from, there wasn't much change in football, and if you didn't absolutely love it, it may not be as exciting after all those years. "Maybe you can try some other sport in your free time. I tried tennis because I really enjoyed wii tennis. Not the same thing at all. Who knew, right?" Bella let out a quiet laugh, she was one again rambling and she didn't know why. "Then I tried badminton. That was a lot more like wii tennis, I was quite a fan." She backed away from him once she finished the rest of the measurements and felt rude for bringing the topic back to herself. It's not like what she said was really important. "There'a a world of possibilities if you want to try something new."

Cody listened to her as she rambled on, and somehow he was actually paying attention. She had a way of commanding a room in a weird way ... he couldn't take his eyes or ears off of her. Maybe that's why she attracted so much negative attention from his friends. People don't like what they don't understand but still like on some level. "If we ever need to prove we're dating to our siblings, a family event of wii games would probably do the trick" said Cody with a small laugh. It was a family favorite, especially because Channing was horrid at wii sports. How can you be bad at Wii games? Excellent question, but Channing found a way. Just Dance was more her speed, so they always voted on Wii sports. He ignored her questioning about him trying new things, it just wasn't in him to do anything new. To break the mold was scary, it was just one of those things were he was destined to live here and work a 9-5 until it was time to move on to the next 9-5.

Bella smiled at Cody and nodded, it was going to be difficult for her to be around his family and lie the entire time, but something like wii would probably help her relax and just have fun. "I will never deny the wii. She has a very special place in my heart." Bella had some fond memories of her siblings playing games together when she was younger, but as time went on, the more separated she felt from them, so she kept those old memories close to her. "Wii resort was a popular one with my siblings. We used to have board game nights as kids. Oh, and uno. They loved uno. Fiona was ruthless when it came to that one." Thinking of those times warmed her heart, but it quickly made her realized how different everything was. "Are you close with them? Your siblings, I mean."

The thing about the Summers household was that it was very closed doors. By the time they were old enough to make their own food, they were all eating in their rooms and shutting their doors behind them. Claire and Charlie definitely set that trend, especially when they had friends over. The tolerance for my little sibling has to come was very low. "Not really. I'm on good terms with Courtney, and not necessarily on bad terms with anyone. We just don't really spend time together unless it's mandated or requires more than one person" he explained. He didn't exactly have a want to know his siblings better, it was an accepted thing at this point. Also, they weren't exactly great people. Maybe him and Charlie would become better friends at some point, but that was down the road. "What about you and your siblings? Close?" he asked.

Bella knew Cody came from a big family like herself, but she had hoped his relationships with his siblings were a bit different. It’s not that she had actual problems with her siblings, it was just that she didn’t have too much of a relationship with them at this point, and sometimes she blamed herself for that. The older she got, the bigger the divide became. Her siblings were just so much like her parents. Granted, they were a lot better than her mom and dad, but they still had that overly professional, composed, sometimes harsh personality. “I guess we were when we were younger, but not so much anymore. They’re more closer with each other. I think it’s the age difference.” she shrugged. “But one of your cousins go here, right? That must be fun for you both.”

He nodded when she mentioned Stevie, "yeah, me and her don't really get along. Her parents don't really let her hang out with us anyways, and my parents aren't exactly approving of it either. So I definitely let that get the best of me. Plus Courtney and Channing were really cruel to her, so the animosity was always there" he explained. He knew he didn't treat Stevie well, but he was following the example. Stevie didn't like him anyways, why bother being kind? "Do you know Stevie well?" he asked, worried about what might have been said about things he definitely did.

Bella listened quietly, maybe bringing his cousin up wasn't a great idea. She assumed they were cool with each other, because Stevie just seemed to be cool with everyone she knew. But her parents were also pretty weary of that side of the Summers family. The Langston's cared a lot about reputation, and Stevie's family didn't have a great one. "I know her, but not well." she answered, looking back and forth between her rough sketch and Cody. "Our groups would sometimes mix." she said, referring to the art and music kids. Bella didn't exactly have her own group. "I do know some of the people in her band. The ones that graduated with us. Miles Cambric, him and his family were always nice. Maybe I should get to know her better, I do see her around often."

Cody didn't really like the idea of Stevie and Bella hanging out, Stevie was a pretty good sleuth. She could smell societal bullshit from a mile away, including a fake dating scheme. He didn't take her as one who would out them to their families, but who was to say. Maybe he should be nicer to Stevie to save his own ass. "If you want to, but she's definitely going to ask you why you're dating me when you could date someone else. Repeatedly probably. She really doesn't like me" he warned, hoping that would stop her. He didn't want to be controlling, that was something that his ex really imprinted on him as bad. Alexandra was deeply controlling and manipulative.

Bella had always been someone that was easily influenced. She thought the other person had her best interest at heart when telling her to do or don't do something, and that usually wasn't the case. But did she ever learn? No, not really. "Oh, so should I stay away? At least for a while?" she asked. It was just easier for someone else to make the decisions. That and she was already starting to get questioned by her friends as to why she was dating Cody. Their friends never seemed to mix well. "It's not like I've talked to her too much anyways."

"Maybe for the best" said the boy, nervous about getting found out too quickly. "You have complete freedom to do whatever you want. It's just a warning. My friends have been asking a lot of questions, but luckily with guy talk I can just shake it off pretty easy. I know your girlfriends might not be giving you the same easy time" he said with a shrug. He never really knew what to say, but he found the words just pouring out of him when he was around her. It was kind of like talking to a weird reflection of himself.

Bella couldn't help but laugh a little when he said she had complete freedom. Of course this wasn't the case, but it sounded like he was gifting her it. She quickly saluted the boy and smiled, "Thank you, Cody Summers. Because of your generosity, I will also grant you complete freedom to do what you want. Please do not make me regret that." she said jokingly. "Yeah my friends have been asking. I just say I really like you and you shouldn't deny what your heart wants. They still question me about it though." she shrugged. "How do you answer? Maybe my answer isn't believable enough."

He saluted back. The question wasn't going to paint him that well, because he usually would just say that she was really good in bed. It was an easy way to stop the suspicions. They would be going on about the fact that she's so weird and he would come back at them about how weird girls do the craziest stuff. "I usually just say the sex is really hot" he said, cleaning up what he usually said with his friends. "That it was something that I didn't want to let get away from me so it made sense to go ahead and give dating a shot" Cody added.

Bella was having a decent time with Cody so far. She was scared that he'd be pretty rude, especially because helping out with her project was not something he suggested. Thankfully, that hadn't been the case yet, but hearing him speak now sort of reminded her why she wasn't too fond of his crowd. Couldn't he have just told them he liked her? It made it sound like he was just using her for sex, and if she had to lie about dating, she at least wanted it to look like a sweet relationship. Now she looked like she had a type, that type being shitty people. "...I'll just stick with my answer then. I uh, don't think saying something like that to my friends would sound more believable. They'd probably question me even more than usual." she forced out a laugh.

It was weird. For the first time he actually felt bad about his friends. Like they should be better. That he should be better. He shrugged it off, "it's just whatever works to keep things going. My parents have been awesome the last while. No questions about anything, my mom is sending cookies later. I played a game of basketball with my dad the other day" said the boy, trying to move off the topic. "Have things been going better for you at home?" he asked. He was hoping this would pay off for her too. If she bailed then things would be hard again, and he wasn't interested in that.

Bella looked over and smiled at Cody, it was nice to know that he was getting something good out of this. She wasn't sure if he was in the same boat as her, but Bella always wished for a better relationship with her parents, and it seemed like this whole plan was helping with that. "That's really good, I'm happy for you." she said sincerely. "Yes, a bit. My mom has been in a really good mood lately. I told them both about this project and they said they wanted to go to the exhibit." Her smile widened as she spoke about the exhibit. It was the first time they ever showed any interest in her art. It may have only been because she mentioned that the work was based around Cody, but she would take what she could get. "My siblings also wanted to hangout with us both. Veronica said she would bring her girlfriend, and she's really sweet. She owns the bakery in town with Laney Kestner." she began to explain. "Nate isn't seeing anyone, and Fiona is always a mystery, so I wouldn't be surprised if she had someone with her."

Cody smiled, this was good. As long as she was getting what she needed from her family then their agreement was in the clear. The second it stopped benefitting one of them it was over, and he wasn't ready to be back in the dog house with his family. "Bassist Bakery, I know the one for sure. Me and Val hung out a few times" he said with a nod, "their cupcakes are really good. I'll pick some up sometime soon. For the gram of course, but we'll still get to eat them so that's good" Cody added. "Is Nathaniel okay? He's so uptight. Whatever happened with that girl he was seeing? Charlie was talking about how they were going to be engaged" he asked, curious to know what was going on. The guy had a whole tree up his ass basically.

"Mm sounds like a delicious plan." Bella nodded. The food around here was pretty good, but nothing could beat the local businesses in their hometown. Her expression softened as Cody mentioned her brother's ex. "Oh, Cordelia. It was kind of rough, my whole family makes it very known that they do not like the Maddox's anymore, at least most of them." Cordelia's younger sister was always a favorite, so she got a pass. "They were, my brother had bought the ring and was going to ask her, but right before he could, she broke up with him. Then not too long after, she was with another man. A little suspicious but I don't want to assume anything." she explained. "They were together for a while, and it seemed like he really loved her. But between you and me, she was a pretty rude lady." If there was something Bella and Nathaniel had in common, it was that they were really bad at picking their partners.

He was surprised to hear the whole story, it was definitely cleaned up around town. The big families, if done right, could move their way around a scandal very secretively. No one wanted their names rubbed in the dirt. "That's crazy" said Cody, shocked honestly at the story. "That's really uncomfortable, I had no idea. Honestly, I felt the same way with redacted. I had a lot of plans for the two of us" he admitted. He knew he asked her not to talk about Alexandra, but it reminded him of it and he felt weird even saying something. Like he shouldn't have.

"Yep, she's married now and has a kid so Nate tries to avoid her as often as possible. It's kind of hard when we all live in the same neighborhood, and she's always trying to put her nose into his business. Like I said, rude lady." Bella wasn't too sure if her brother would want her talking about this, but she just hoped Cody wouldn't bring this information back to Charlie. She stayed quiet for a moment when he mentioned his ex. Bella had promised not to talk about Alexandra, but she didn't want to seem uninterested either. "I'm sorry, but maybe you could still see those plans through, just with someone else, or even yourself. Like that trip you mentioned before, you should still do that."

"If my ex had a kid, I would also avoid at all costs" said Cody laughing a little. He already did avoid his ex at all costs, but every time she asked for something he was at her door in minutes. "Plans are a little late, they were about staying together for college. So approximately four years too late" he replied, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. "Enough about her though, sometimes I don't know when to shut up" said the boy, shocked he was sharing so much. It was something about how they had both been treated so poorly by the same family, like they had this trauma bond. He couldn't keep sharing like this. It wasn't good.

"Oh, I get it. I shouldn't have suggested anything, sorry. I promise, no more mention of she-who-must-not-be-named." Bella always tried to look at the bright side of every situation, but sometimes, like now, it would only make her look stupid. Or at least that's how she felt. "You're fine. I bounce back and forth between both extremes. Most times I don't speak too much ... hence the specialist back in the day." she mumbled. "But sometimes I can't stop talking. My mouth starts moving faster than my brain and I don't know when to stop or what I'm even saying. Then once my brain catches up, it's like, what was I talking about? where was I going with this?" She was very much proving her point in this moment. "I think I overwhelmed Landon, I couldn't stop talking when I was around him." Bella immediately shut her mouth the moment she brought up her ex, she didn't really intend to mention him. It just sort of came out.

Cody didn't know a lot about Landon, other than the fact that even Cody thought the guy was a pretentious douche. It was definitely something he didn't like about being over at Alexandra's house: Landon's presence in the building. "They both suck" he replied simply. Cody just didn't want to get into it, he didn't want to know her like this. Like they actually cared for one another. Like they were friends. They weren't. This was a deal, a deal they were both putting up with until a better solution came along. //END