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Cody loved the rain. Everything about the rain was absolutely wonderful. From jumping in puddles and dancing in the downpour to sitting indoors with a cup of warm hot chocolate and watching raindrops race one another down the window - everything about rain held a sense of cosiness, of warmth. When it rained, the world seemed to slow to nothing, time slipping by only in the sense of a favourite TV show or an album filled with old, half-forgotten songs.
When he was young, he remembered one time when it rained, and the roads even flooded! Ten he had eaten whatever he wanted for dinner, and stayed up past his bedtime and had gone outside to pretend he was allowed to go to the swimming pool, getting wet for the sake of feeling the water glide along his skin. Then he’d gone back inside and had a steaming hot shower and taken his secret notebook out from under his bed and written down the lyrics to a song about the rain. It had been a perfect few days, and even when his parents stared him down - they never shouted, though Cody somewhat wished they would, casual disdain was so much worse - he knew he didn’t regret any of it.
Duncan hated it when it rained. Rain was so gloomy. It made it impossible to go out, to cruise about the neighbourhood and find fun. Yeah, he sometimes did wander out into the rain to see what it was like - but he just couldn’t see the appeal. It was wet - whoop-de-doo. His stupid brother and his stupid ‘no, water makes thing wet’ could also go eat a pineapple with the skin on. When it rained, it made the grey seem greyer, the dark shadows extending out from their hidden cracks and crevices to dominate the city, grow and twist and distort. Downpours led to the pipes bursting, to long periods without water - to some twit on the news reporting on where ‘the rain event’ was - even though everyone knew it was here!
Worst of all, was perhaps the fact that when it rained, it reminded him of when his grandpa had slipped and broken his hip; had spent months in the hospital teetering on the edge of life and death. Even though he had pulled through, the bills had nearly bankrupted his family - his parents took extra shifts, his eldest brother changed his life to become a police officer so he too could help pay off the debts.
“Of course they sent him south,” sighed Duncan’s mother one night. “Over the border where it costs us everything for the treatment he needed.”
“And was it worth it?” asked Duncan’s father. To Duncan’s horror, there had been no reply. That night it had been raining too, and the constant patter of droplets against his window had nearly driven him mad.
***
It was raining at Camp Wawanakwa, and all the campers were trapped indoors. Chris had wanted to do some sort of challenge in the woods - but the sudden downpour had the contestants holed up in the dining hall. Chef and Chris had left the island to go do whatever it was that they did, leaving the remaining contestants (of which there were still quite a few) to do whatever it was they wanted.
So naturally, Cody had broken out a pack of cards and shuffled them expertly, asking who wanted to play.
“Yeah, sure,” Duncan said, sliding into the seat beside Cody. “What’re we playing?” The campers grouped around the pair, until a group of around ten had coalesced. Cody considered, looking about the group.
“Bullshit.”
“Huh?”
“The card game Bullshit! I’ve got an extra pack of cards, so we can make it as crazy as possible.” He distributed the cards evenly, then explained the rules.
“It’s simple: discard your cards by putting them down - but you have to tell us what you’re putting down. Example–” Cody placed three cards face-down on the table. “Three Jacks. However, I could be lying - and if you think I am, you call Bullshit, and we flip the cards over. If you’re right, then the person who put down picks up all the cards, but if they are all the same card, then the person who called Bullshit picks up the deck. You want to be rid of all your cards. Oh! And Jokers are wild cards, so be careful.”
“Yeah, sounds cool.”
“And we get to swear as much as we want. Good game idea pipsqueak,” Duncan added, ruffling Cody’s hair.
After that, all hell broke loose. DJ threw down
ten Queens
- and then when Leshawna called it, he revealed
eight Queens and two Jokers.
Then Leshawna had almost all the cards, and called Bullshit so many times that Heather (who was sitting on the other side of the dining hall filing her nails) began to parrot her. Lindsay turned out to be incredible at the game, and whenever someone picked up the deck, they always would turn to stare at her.
“You put down a five, seven and a two Lindsay?”
“Yep!”
Duncan and Cody shared a look.
Another surprisingly good player was Cody himself. He was a little sneak, managing to slip almost entirely under the radar - and if Duncan wasn’t seated beside him, Duncan would barely spot him. He was entirely too easy to miss, and he used it. Damn, he used it.
Somehow, Cody managed to ditch the vast majority of his cards in a matter of rounds. Duncan looked over.
“Where’s your cards?”
“Leshawna probably has them.”
“Hey!” the table laughed.
“No but seriously - you cannot have ditched that many cards already.”
“And yet…” Cody retorted, fluttering his cards as if they were a fan.
Duncan kept a close eye on Cody after that. For some reason, it seemed like more cards would leave his hand than he declared, not that anyone else noticed. Duncan stared at Cody for a bit too long.
“Dude? Dude! It’s your go dude!”
“Oh? Sorry,” grunted Duncan, grabbing three fives and adding them to the growing pile.
The game continued, until Cody placed down his last two cards, quietly saying “two threes.”
“Bullshit!” called Courtney. “You cannot have two threes!”
Cody turned over the two cards: there was one three, and a Joker.
“I think I won,” he said calmly. The table erupted in a mixture of cheers, groans and one very focused Courtney scooping up the pile and poking at Duncan to get him to put his cards down.
Duncan only had two cards himself - two sevens. He put them down, called them, and then noticed that somehow Cody had slipped from his side.
Eyes darting around the dining hall, Duncan spotted Cody at the door, staring out into the downpour. The water had risen in the lake, swallowing up most of the beach. They had thankfully moved all their belongings off the sand and tied them down on higher ground, but even still, small pieces of junk floated by - things like empty cans and what looked to be half a deer’s leg.
“Great - dinner’s cancelled,” joked Duncan. Cody laughed a dry, humourless laugh.
“I was looking forward to that.”
Cody clicked open the door and strode out onto the balcony. Duncan - reluctantly - followed.
The two stood side-by-side on the balcony of the dining hall, looking out over the campsite. The firepit was a lake, the green between the cabins a raging river.
“I hate this weather,” huffed Duncan. He stopped, stunned. Had he really just told
Cody
of all people that?
Yes, yes he had.
“Really? Why?” Duncan paused, considering for a few moments. He heard the uproarious laughter from inside the dining hall - Heather had spilt her beloved nail polish on her crop-top. Then, he looked out into the rain.
“Not here. Come on.” Duncan grabbed Cody’s hand - and plunged into the rain. The two sprinted through the downpour, the ground squelching under their shoes. Cody readjusted Duncan’s grip on his hand, then put on a burst of speed towards the bathrooms, surprising Duncan into following him.
The communal bathroom was on a bit of a hill - so it was well above the boggy marsh that the campers used as a football pitch. It had also (thankfully) been cleaned as a reward for making it almost halfway.
The pair flung open the door and stepped into the bathroom. Cody began to laugh.
“That was crazy!” he managed to say between wheezes. “We just… I think my shoes are done for.”
“Yours and mine,” said Duncan. He toed them off and kicked them over by the door. Cody followed suit, then peeled off his socks and draped them over the towel-rack to dry. He hopped up onto the sink-counter, and leaned back on his palms as he waited for Duncan.
Duncan peeled off his socks, then his shirt.
“God I hate the rain,” he groaned again.
“You still haven’t told me why,” Cody reminded, a smile beaming on his face.
“What, do you enjoy the rain?!”
“I do,” replied Cody. “But I asked you first.”
Duncan sighed, and told Cody his story. Cody - to Duncan’s surprise - listened to it all, not saying a single remark - not laughing at him, not belittling him. Just… listening.
“And so then my brother got his job as a cop - and he was always busy, and he never did any of the fun stuff we used to do together. He… he never liked me after that, thought I was childish. And my other brother agreed. We never really spoke after that.”
There was silence for all of three seconds. Duncan watched as Cody digested the information, thinking it over in his brain.
“I think… that your family ruined the rain for you. And what they said and did… wasn’t right. I… I don’t really know what to say.”
“Then tell me why you like the rain,” Duncan said.
So Cody did. He seemed so carefree when talking about
hating his parents
and how much they mistreated him. It was honestly somewhat frightening.
“So yeah - even though they scolded me for using up water and not eating healthy, I really liked that week. It was nice being allowed to stay up and watch movies - or go out and see friends.”
“When was this again?” asked Duncan slowly.
“I was… fourteen I think? Well, that was the most recent instance.”
“That’s messed up dude.”
“I know,” sighed Cody. “But what’s the point of being all hung-up about it?” Cody pulled at his soaked shirt, trying to get it to dry. Duncan rolled his eyes.
“Come here,” he said, stepping forwards and grabbing the shirt. He heaved it up over Cody’s head, then placed it beside his own. Cody blushed, the red trailing down his neck to his collarbone.
“Hey… wanna go dance in the rain?”
“What?”
“Do you want to go dance in the rain,” Duncan repeated, pointing with his thumb at the door. Cody started, then grinned.
“It would be my honour,” he said, taking Duncan’s hand and leading the taller teen out into the rain.
They set up a phone under the overhang of the roof, then began to dance. First, they grooved to rock (Duncan’s choice), then disco (Cody’s), then finally - classic. Cody took Duncan’s hands and placed them in the correct place, then the two swayed and rocked to the beat, twirling in slow, precise steps. Neither minded about the mud squelching between their toes, nor the rain running rivulets down their skin. All they cared about was this moment.
“You know,” Cody began. “There’s this saying in Japanese:
koi no yokan.”
“And what does it mean?”
“Well…” Cody blushed again, and Duncan took note of how the blush highlighted the sharp features of Cody’s face and collarbone - he really was just so skinny.
“It doesn’t translate well, but it sort of means… Well, it doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will.”
“Cute saying.”
“Yeah…”
“Cody…”
“Yes Duncan?”
“I… think I’m feeling that coy no toucan.”
“Koi no yokan?”
“Yeah… can I… kiss you?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Cody chuckled. Duncan placed his hand on Cody’s cheek, and leaned in.
Kissing Cody was like coming home after a long day to loving arms and a warm smile. It was soft, and a bit slippery thanks to all the water, and absolutely perfect.
They leaned back, smiling softly at one another.
“We’d best go have a shower - we’ll catch a cold otherwise,” Cody chuckled.
“Together?” asked Duncan cheekily. Cody pinched him on the arm.
“Not yet,” he sniggered.
***
The rain means something new for Duncan and Cody now. It’s a symbol of the future, of the past, of dancing and laughing and emotions. It’s a memory of a first kiss, of not taking a shower together that time - and of card games and the surprises that come along with it.