So here it is, Cody's Story - Dreams & Clipped Wings.

This is still rough mostly just dialogue at the end but here it is.

He had taken the easy way out; out of trouble, and eventually, out of Sacramento. The easy way worked at the time. Take the review board’s deal, see a shrink, and return to school after a week; even be allowed to continue with the sports team. It was just sex, just a way to get off. He had mentioned that reasoning so many times, he even began to believe it himself, that was, until he returned to the locker room.

That’s where Cody’s ‘easy way’ ran into resistance. The guys were all smiles as he walked in and began to dress down. Their eyes, however, told the truth; the way they would inch away ever so slightly, or be sure to hold something over their crotches whenever he was around. Normally such modesty wouldn’t have bugged him, but this was far from the abashed nude strutting that he used to witness.

It used to be home, despite the stink and the noise; the locker room had always been there for Cody. Little else could buttress camaraderie like stripping down after a game, win or lose. He knew all of his teammates; he had seen them in all of their glory. He knew, for instance, that Mike Brummond had acne on more than just his face and back. Tommy Hill had an appendectomy scar, and Adrian Mire looked better wet than any kicker should have right. Besides not having any physical secrets from one another, the team pretty much hung out together, parties, the quad at lunch, and the Shell station after school.

They were all his friends, his brothers, his family, and just like his real family, they turned on him without actually turning their backs on him. Cody could have handled outright rejection, he would have preferred it, but that isn’t what happened. He returned to a school, absent of Jacob, and to a locker room where he had become some sort of stud hero. The perverse hero worship that his brothers showered on him skewed reality. On the surface, it was slaps on the back for getting his, but inside, he wanted nothing more than to tell them all off.

Even the loss of their trust didn’t affect Cody, it was the talk. The stories of Jacob at a party, naked and greedily latching onto anything offered. Stories of how he had blown the entire starting string in a hotel as congratulations for winning an away game. The lies spread by his, by Jacob’s, teammates, spread with such vicious bravado, chipped away at his defense, one story, one retelling at a time.

“He used to suck me off every Saturday,” Mike would brag, looking as smug as he could with a cocky grin and pockmarked face.

Cody didn’t have to wonder whom; he went from their teammate and friend, to their tool and f**K-buddy. Standing there, Cody barely nodded his head to the comment, intent on dressing and leaving the locker room behind him.

“He was good wasn’t he,” Mike continued, rubbing parts of his anatomy that Jacob had never touched. “I wish he was still around I could use him right about now.”

“I sucked his cock too,” Cody snapped, slamming the door to his locker.


“What was that?”

The stale smell of sweat dissolved like fog in the afternoon sun, as the busy bustle of the locker room faded into a comfortable, quiet office. Cody’s cheeks rushed with crimson, realizing what he must have said out-loud. He tried desperately to divert his eyes of the balding Dr. Jimenez, and his steady, un-judging gaze.

“I said, I sucked his cock too,” Cody repeated, feeling the same pressure on his chest he felt in that locker room three years ago.

“And you told this to,” Dr. Jimenez paused to check the notes on his pad, “to Mike?”

The pressure doubled as Cody slumped back in supple leather chair he was setting in, feeling the man’s steadfast gaze as he began to regretfully shake his head. “I agreed.”
Dr Jimenez nodded as he sat back in his chair, his expression blank and unperceivable to Cody. “How did agreeing make you feel?” he asked, already knowing how Cody would answer just by the nature of his defeated body language.

“Like shit,” Cody answered making eye-contact with the psychologist. “Like I had taken the best thing in my life and thrown it away. I may as well have spit in his face and called him a worthless faggot for the way I didn’t defend him.” Cody fidgeted in his seat a moment before he continued, “But I should have said that, I should have shouted it, I should have looked at all of those bastards that claimed to be his friend, and said it.”

“You claimed to be his friend,” Dr. Jimenez pointed out, leaning forward, placing his elbows on his desk and lacing his fingers. “You claimed to be more, maybe not to him, but to yourself you claimed more, and when the chips fell, you walked away. If that’s what you wanted to say, then why didn’t you?”

“You see those commercials on TV? Two kids, a dog, the new minivan?” Cody asked dodging the doctor’s question.

“Yes.”

“You ever wonder what happens to those families when the cameras aren’t there?” Cody continued.

Dr. Jimenez thought about the question for a moment, “No, I realize that those families aren’t real, when the cameras stop; each of those actors go back to their own place, their real lives.”

“My family was just like that, living the American lie, and when everyone stopped looking, the smiles faded into unfeeling.”

“How so?” the doctor asked scratching notes out on a legal pad that never seemed to loose a page.

“The morning I was caught with Jacob, Mom made breakfast, just like she did every morning. The next morning, there was a pack of pop-tarts next to an unplugged toaster, and she had gone off to my aunt’s house. When she did come home, all I saw when she looked at me, was disappointment and disgust.”

“Could you have just been projecting your own disappointment, your own disgust onto her? Using her as a mirror of your own self worth?” Dr. Jimenez quipped.

Cody emitted a bitter laugh, “Yeah, because I canceled my internet account and cell phone, and wasn’t allowed to use the house phone, or check the mailbox. I dropped him like the plague.”

“Well, you certainly didn’t defend him outside of the bubble your parents put up around your home life.”

You're right that it's rough, but there's the making of a good story there -- someone who feels that he's betrayed himself as well as his 'friend'. His actions in LiS were a step towards rehabilitation, but I wonder how long Cody will be berating himself... could it be the rest of his life?

Are you looking at a short story that explores what he felt, or a novel as he works his way through his issues?

Graeme

It's going to a multi chapter story, theres a few more things I want to get into the plot. This is where I wanted to start it however. I know Im relying a little hevily of LiS to frame the history, I may have to aleviate that at some point in the narritive. I also have to work in boyfriends and friends and what happens when things dont work out too well.

Don't worry too much about the history. The way to do it would be to think of an over-arching title to the "series" and then make LiS as book one and this as book two. You end up with two inter-related but independent stories, with a defined order. Yes, you can try to put in the background to make book two more independent, but there are a lot of authors out there where they assume you've read earlier books in the series to get the full understanding.

Graeme

PS: And if you need an extra beta-reader, you know where to find me...

I love it!!!!!!!!

I was so hoping that we would hear more about Cody!

IMHO, Graeme is right... may authors do assume that some detail from prior books is ok... For example, Tom Clancy makes references to "the day the bomb went off in Denver" in later books, without much elaboration. It's understandable without reading the prior books, but not in detail, just like Cody.

BTW, I shall, in the interests of not stating the obvious, refrain from announcing that Shadowgod left us with another cliffhanger.

Steve,

I agree too with Graeme and CJ. But I'm kicking myself for not popping in here earlier and reading this .

One question, yes already, it has to do with the timeline. You wrote this:



So I take it that this is 3 years post the incident that caused Jacob and his mom to move. Since LiS took place over the senior year of the characters, does this mean that we are a couple of years past both Cody's and Jacob's graduation. Maybe I'm over analyzing this, but it did occur to me. I guess it would be one minor obstacle in referencing LiS.

Definitely going to enjoy it though.

Steve

Ahh well. Cody and Jacob never graduated together. though it would take place basically 1 year after we saw Cody in LiS. so in the LiS time line there was the lockerroom incident, then a year later Jacob moved to So Cal. Some ten months later Cody made a appearance in the story.

Speaking of, there won't be much Reference to LiS in the story.

and do you mind if I join in the kicking

Only if you pm me when you release the first chapter . If you promise, then kick away .

All I can say is to quote Homer Simpson.....DOH!!!!

A thought on Cody...
Will we get to see how he and Jacob met and became friends? Perhaps in reminisces?

Why? What benefit would it be? The impression from LiS was that they second string players, so had a lot of time off the field to fill in. Somewhere, somehow, one thing lead to another and... they got caught

JAcob said they were closer than that, that's why he was so hurt. I'm very much looking forward to another story set in the LiS universe, no matter what it's reference to the original LiS. I'm sure there will be similarities (Like every chapter ending with a mind-numbing, reader-terrifying, nail-biting cliffhanger) but, from reading the above, I suspect there will be vast differences too.

I don't, however, see this as a sequel to LiS, but more of a spin-off, which is even better. It won't preclude new chapters of LiS AND it can stand on it's own and be a very different story. I'm very much looking forward to seeing more Cody!

However, I do have to wonder: Will Shadowgod use this story to solve some of the long-standing mysteries of LiS, such as what flavor of lemonade they had at the restaurant that time?

Probably not. Some things are supposed to remain as mysteries. And since there is only one flavour of lemonade in Australia, I don't see it as a big deal....

Ahhh, but LiS was set in Southern California, where they have all manner of bizzare things, including, but not limited to, pink lemonade. (Lemonade in the US isn't clear, fizzy stuff like 7-up. It's non-carbonated and actually made from lemons. Would you call that "Lemon squash"?)

I do think it's a mystery from LiS though. Indeed, I recall declaring it a cliffhanger in that chapter.

I've had American lemonade, and it's different from what we would call Lemon Squash. Our Lemon Squash is a lemon flavoured (and usually lemon coloured) carbonated drink, similar it style to 7-up.

But CJ, if there was any question to the "type" of lemonade, Shadowgod would have cleared it up. If it was as you say, possibly pink lemonade, he would have said pink lemonade, raspberry lemonade would have been raspberry lemonade. Do I need to go on, or would it be good enough to say that when they ordered lemonade they got lemonade.

Steve

Damn, just realized he didn't specify if it was from concentrate, freshly squeezed or from crystals

As to your spoiler spaces, exactly! Yes indeed, he left us hanging.

Bear in mind the two-out-of-three rule for defining a cliffhanger:

#1 There must be something left unknown at the end
#2 The chapter is written by Shadowgod (the King of Evil Cliffhangers)
#3 The ending is extremely tense, involving peril in some form.

So, as long as you have two out of those three, it's a cliffhanger! (and often, in Shadowgod's stories, he goes three out of three, which is something no other writer can claim!)

LTMP chapter 7:

1. Was Gabe going to get away? Unknown....
2. Okay -- not written by Shadowgod
3. Was Brandon going to get hurt in the chase? I noticed that Helen was worried at the end of the chapter....

Two out of the three. Yep -- proof, by CJ's own definition, that he uses cliffhangers

Sorry Shadowgod for hijacking your forum for the moment....

ACK!!!

Echidna!!

You are neglecting the "Shadowgod sneaking in cliffhangers during the Beta" situation!! For proof, I'll cite the Shadowgod Cliffhanger at the end of LTMP 17! I mean, he darn near signed it!

However, as I mentioned before, only Shadowgod has gone three out of three on the above cliffhanger definition.

While I think it is inappropriate to discuss stories by other authors in this forum, I will do so this once.

We only have your word that Shadowgod sneaked in that cliffhanger. Since you have already stated that you don't believe you use cliffhangers, your word has to be suspect whenever dealing with a cliffhanger situation.

Sorry -- as the author, you have to take responsibility for the chapter that is posted. It is your chapter, and therefore your cliffhanger -- and you have just acknowledged it IS a cliffhanger, so we have a certified cliffhanger in your latest story


In YOUR cliffhanger definition, as you described above. Please don't assume that the rest of us use that definition of a cliffhanger.

Ack!!!

Graeme, don't you trust me? I'd never use a cliffhanger...

Well, I do agree that we shouldn't discuss LTMP here without Shadowgod's ok.. Umm, Shadowgod, is it ok? Ahh, well, he hasn't answered so that must mean no. Ok, so, therefor, your post isn't valid at all.

Hrmm, Graeme, you have raised a valid point: Should I credit shadowgod, in the chapter credits, with any cliffhangers appearing in said chapter? I wouldn't be saying there are any, just paying due homage to the King of Evil Cliffhangers, Shadowgod. I think that's an excellent idea you have there Graeme...

And Graeme, what could possibly be a better definition of a cliffhanger than the one I posted?

And now, in honor of Shadowgod been as we are in his forum, I give homage to,

The King of Evil Cliffhangers, Shadowgod!

I thought we agreed on this it was going to go to a vote in the members choice poll...

Well, yes, and if you loose, you will have to surrender your title. BUT IF YOU WIN, FAIR AND SQUARE, you have to accept your title, fair enough?

And, umm, I notice that someone shadowy edited my post, thus removing what I'd put there for any inanimate forum readers..

There's only a few people that can do that, and you're one of them.

True, but Shadowgod can edit posts in his forum. He's evil like that, ya know.

Hey, I just read this. Who you calling inanimate????

Steve

LoL! Actually, I was referring to web searchbots.

and this is why I removed redundancies.

Awww, you're so mean, you won't let me have any fun.

Sooo, speaking of Cody, any idea what the story will be called?

You could always let me name it... I'm very helpful like that, you know.

While Shadowgod appears to be a really nice person, he never struck me as gullible.... I don't think he'll be letting you name his new masterpiece.

I was going to suggest "Hanging on for dear life..."

How about "Getting his goat"?

can one hope for 'the silience of the goat'?

damn plegerisim laws

But... but.. but... I already AM pretty much silent... It goes with being a lurker, after all...

I still think "Hanging on for dear life" sounds good. Or maybe "Falling so far". Or hrmm, maybe "Spinning in Surreality" becuase its a spinoff of LiS... Or hrmm, "Cody".

"The sacrificial goat"?

how about "Stuffed and Mounted"? I think I can work that into the story line somewheres...

Now, that is either a cold statement, or it is an excellent double entendre. Psst... I love double entendres.

It doesn't have to be a cold statement. It could be how Cody feels at times -- like he's on display and isn't allowed to change. Like he's supposed to be one thing and one thing only for the rest of his life.

Seriously, I like the title. I can picture a great story from it. Now if you can have Cody go out to Arizona for a bit of hunting at some point in the story, it'll be perfect!

Is he going to be hunting goats? lol

That's up to the author...

I was secretly hoping for the author to answer. It's not a secret anymore. OOPS!

Nah, he'll leave you hanging. He is, after all, the King of Evil Cliffhangers, so leaving the reader hanging is something that comes naturally to him.

whatever queen....

Could I include hunting in the story... possible. But there are such more devious things to do with goats in northern california... Like the booming Goat Cheese idustry up that way

I had my suspicions that nothing would be revealed about the hunting expidition, but it was a worth a try. I can be persuasive but only in person.

Oh , trying to milk a male goat. This could be interesting !!!

Ummmm.... that's not milk.

But your majesty, surely you wouldn't do something mean like alluding to me in a story? That would be so unfair!



Lol...




ROFL! Yes, but don';t tell Shadowgod; he might revert back to the hunting idea.

Hunting it is I guess...

I tried more humane alternitives CJ, the natives just wouldn't have it.

Oh, and Cody's Story has a name!

Dreams & Clipped Wings

I may even try that whole chapter name business as well

I suggest using a spear. Please, bring me the head. I shall have it stuffed and mounted upon my wall.

I love the new title! I was, I admit, partial to "Hanging by a thread" or "on the edge" but I Love Dreams and Clipped Wings.

Hrmmm. Wings... Where do birds sometimes roost? Cliffs...




ACK!!!

Awww, now what have I ever done to be so picked on?

Funny you say that because so do Goats! well not goat goats per sey but Mountain goats anyhow

Anyone ever ridden Big Thunder Mountain?

Ever notice the goat perched all by his lonesome chewing on a stick of TNT?