Junior YearChapter 5 Don t You Want To Share
- 3 years ago
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I had another day off today. They were still working out the kinks caused by Kimberly, my main love interest in the film, quitting. The press had been all over her about why she left. For now, she was going with the ‘safety on set’ story. Leaping crocodiles were enough to scare anyone. I had a feeling if the studio pushed back, she might reveal the whole reason she made her exit, mainly Laurent forcing her to have sex to get the role.
Because I’d been one of the people that Kimberly had slept with at Laurent’s behest, Frank Ingram, my publicity agent, wanted to have a chat.
“Tell me everything,” Frank said.
I noticed that Caryn, Cassidy, Fritz and Paul all seemed to show up to my suite about the time Frank called. I made a hand motion that they should all leave, but Caryn shook her head ‘no.’ I gave up and put him on speakerphone.
“You want the facts? Or do you want me to tell it to you chronologically what happened?” I asked.
“Let’s do it in order, and if I have questions we can come back to them.”
“I was born in ... ow!” I complained when Cassidy jabbed me in the ribs.
“Don’t make me really hurt you,” she warned.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, and then got serious. “Kimberly came to my suite a couple of times with a group in the evenings. We all would watch movies, some cocktails were served, and I played a little poker. There was never much one-on-one interaction. I liked her, but it never was going to be anything other than us working together.
“After a few nights I shut down the after-work get-togethers. I did that for two reasons. One was that I didn’t want to get the reputation as the ‘party guy.’ Since then I’ve lent my DVD collection, player and monitor to others who want to hold a movie night,” I said.
“What DVDs were played? Please tell me they weren’t porn,” Frank worried.
“No. Rita James wasn’t happy with my movie knowledge. She gave me classic movies that highlighted good acting.”
“That’s a relief. These gatherings never turned into anything other than what you described, correct?” Frank asked.
“No, we were good. If anything was going on, I had my security people with me and they would have stopped it,” I said hopefully.
“Frank, this is Fritz. David’s right. There wasn’t anything sexual or illegal happening that you need to worry about.”
“Good, good. Not that I think David would be into anything illegal ... the sex...” Frank left hanging.
“Anyways,” I said to get the conversation back on track, “Kimberly showed up after work one night. She seemed nervous and I thought about sending her away, but ... ah ... ya know ... she went down on me,” I finished in a rush.
“I think I get the picture. Unless you did something kinky, let’s assume I can figure the rest out,” Frank said.
“What do you mean by kinky?” I asked to tease him.
“If you don’t know, have Fritz send you his recent browser history,” Frank said.
“Hey,” Fritz said, sounding offended.
We all just smiled at him and he took it the way Frank intended instead of getting offended. It was hard to offend an ex-military guy.
“Nothing kinky,” I assured Frank. “Cassidy woke me up in the morning and told me that Kimberly was much younger than I thought she was. I’d guessed she was in her early twenties. It just seems that all the actors playing teens are about that age.”
“So you had no idea she was younger than you?” Frank asked.
“No, but I probably should’ve asked.”
“How did you find out that Laurent asked her to come visit you that night?” Frank asked.
“Cassidy told me. She and Kimberly had started to become friends. There aren’t that many people our age here, so they bonded.”
“I won’t even ask why she didn’t warn you ahead of time,” Frank stated. An excellent topic I needed to talk about with Cassidy. “What did you do when you found out?”
“I gathered my team and we came up with a plan. Cassidy was assigned to watch Kimberly to keep Laurent away from her. I called Bev Mass to see if she could find out anything about Laurent and if he’d done anything like this before. Ari talked to the studio and expressed our concerns.
“There wasn’t much we could do when Kimberly wouldn’t go against him for fear he could damage her career,” I said.
“Now that she’s quit the film, she doesn’t have that same constraint,” Frank reasoned.
“I got the impression that this happened before with other roles she received. As much as I would like to expose the ‘casting couch’ dirty little not-so-secret, I can’t make unfounded accusations.”
“True. I don’t think she’ll say anything, but if she does, I need to be ready.”
“That sounds expensive,” Caryn chimed in.
“What is peace of mind really worth?” Frank asked.
“But he didn’t do anything wrong,” Caryn said.
“You think the press will care? I thought you had that figured out by now,” Frank shot back.
I sighed. I’d only recently gotten a graduate-level education in how the press might react.
“Do what you need to,” I said.
“Two more things...” Frank began.
“Yes?” I asked.
“When were you going to tell me about you hooking up with the Cuban dancer?”
I turned to Paul with a confused look on my face.
“The picture,” he reminded me.
The club owner had shot a promotional photo of the two of us.
“I didn’t hook up with her. I just danced with her and she asked me to get her a job,” I said.
“Doing what?” Frank asked.
“I put her in touch with Adrienne about modeling. I sent Adrienne pictures of Bianca and she’s supposed to get back to me if she thinks Bianca could do it,” I said.
“What kind of pictures? From the rumors, when you left her dressing room, she was only in her panties and bra,” Frank said.
“How the heck did you know that?” I asked.
“I would assume she or one of her people leaked it. You know how that works,” Frank said.
Yes I did, unfortunately.
“David, you’ve got to get your head in the game a bit more than you’ve been doing,” Frank said. “Now, our last agenda item. We’ve got a settlement with the outlets that kept the ‘anti-feminist’ story going after we’d sent them the unedited footage of your interview by the feminist activists. They’re going to run a retraction on their broadcasts, the same ones they published the doctored videos on. They’re also paying all your legal bills, including my fees.”
I was perplexed.
“Why didn’t Ms. Dixon run it by me?”
“Your mom and dad okayed it. You’re still a minor, remember?”
I didn’t even need eyes to see Frank’s smirk.
“Seriously,” he said, “I’m glad it’s done, and it’s time to let that whole issue die a rapid and quiet death. Tracy’s video is what tipped the scales, because it showed the outlet actively fabricating negative information about you, rather than just taking on faith something someone else gave them.
“From this point forward, you’re going to be vulnerable to people wanting to tag you with this kind of stuff, so at least try to be more careful, okay?” Frank asked.
“Okay, I’ll be more careful,” I said.
Sometimes having a high ‘Q Rating’ really sucked. I consoled myself with the thought that the PR and legal money I’d been hemorrhaging was being replaced, at least.
I called Coach Conde because I wanted to do some batting practice today. He suggested that if I would pay a few American dollars, he could organize some decent pitching. I warned him that they couldn’t be professionals, because I didn’t need trouble from the NCAA. So far, I’d only seen him pitch batting practice, and with all due respect, Cassidy could hit him. I told him to set it up.
Fritz, Paul and Cassidy joined me for baseball practice. Cassidy was feeling better and told me that I wasn’t getting out of sixty minutes of hell. It looked like she planned to kill me today because she’d packed my weighted vest.
Coach Conde showed up early with a couple of pitchers I’d not met before. One was a big lanky kid who looked to be my age or a little older. He was at least six-six, and as he warmed up he threw some serious heat. His only problem was he was a one-trick pony that only threw a fastball. He would be perfect for the closer role, but he needed to learn to throw a changeup. Otherwise, players would just learn to time his pitches and light him up. That was exactly what I did.
After I parked him three straight pitches, the tall kid started to get frustrated. Coach Conde stepped in and reminded both of us that this was batting practice. He changed the focus to situational hitting, which forced me to try to hit the ball to different locations and even to bunt.
When the kid began to tire, the other pitcher was brought in who was much older. I would guess that he was in his late twenties or early thirties and had command of all the pitches. He was a crafty veteran who set you up with his varied pitches and locations. There were times he had me tied up in knots, trying to guess what he would throw next. What he didn’t have was a commanding fastball.
Then he broke out a pitch I had never faced before, the knuckleball. I honestly didn’t think he knew where it was going. I watched a baseball move in ways I didn’t know were possible. You throw the knuckleball with minimal spin. The lack of spin causes the air to push on the seams of the ball, the effect of which is an erratic, unpredictable flight path. It was almost like the ball was dancing as it approached the plate.
The reason why most pitchers don’t throw the knuckleball is that you really can’t control the pitch. That became apparent when a couple of them hit me. He apologized, but I asked him to keep throwing them. As a hitter, the knuckleball forced me to focus. Eye-hand coordination is what separates the average from the good hitters. In baseball, the difference isn’t that much. Just a few extra hits could cause your batting average to jump.
I knew when I went to try out for the Under-18 team that everyone there would be good. Someone had told me there were 760 high schools in my state alone. If you figured there was an average of fifteen baseball players for each school, then that was over eleven thousand kids. You had to be in the top four or five in a state our size to be invited. I would have to shine to separate myself from the other 107 participants who were already the best-of-the-best.
What I found was that when I focused hard enough, I began to drop into the zone. That was what I called the state of awareness where everything but hitting faded into the background. I did something similar when I played football. My mind would block out everything that was off the field, and I became hyperaware of my immediate surroundings. When that happened, my performance became much better. I discovered that I quit thinking about what I should do at the plate. When I was in LA, I was given the foundation I needed for hitting. Since then my focus was on the proper technique: good base, hands back, track the ball’s release point, nice level swing, and the other millions of details you needed to have happen to hit the ball.
Batting against a veteran pitcher throwing knuckleballs helped me fall into the zone. It was just me and the pitcher, and I just hit. I didn’t need to think about how. I’d done this enough that the muscle memory was there. It was like throwing a football; after you did it like a bazillion times, you just did it. It was the moment I became a hitter. With the switch flipped, I saw the ball and my body reacted.
For the next twenty minutes it was like I couldn’t miss. The crafty veteran threw everything he had at me and I hit it with authority.
When we were finally done, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I paid both pitchers the equivalent of $30 each, which made their day. Coach Conde had told them they’d earn $10. I also gave Coach Conde $40. He was much cheaper than Bo Harrington had been. Of course, they wanted to know when I wanted to do this again. I had less than a month until I would be at the tryouts. Coach Conde assured me that he could find more pitchers for me to practice with.
During practice, I played center field and rotated with their regular starter. He didn’t seem happy, but Coach Conde told him to settle down. After we were done, Cassidy ran me through sixty minutes of hell. The Cuban baseball players thought I was nuts.
After baseball, my security team and I went to the dojo. We were in the middle of working on our forms when one of their instructors came over to introduce himself. His name was Carlos and he had an interesting offer.
“I’ve watched you practice and have noticed that you use a rather conventional approach. I was wondering if you would like to learn some effective ways to protect yourself?” he asked.
“You teach here?” Fritz asked.
“Yes. I was also in the Cuban army and taught hand-to-hand combat. Over the years I’ve learned a thing or two and thought you might be interested in some backstreet wisdom.”
We agreed and Carlos began our lesson.
“What is the most powerful strike you can do?” he asked me.
I thought about it for a minute.
“Probably a side kick. My legs are stronger than my arms and can generate a lot more force.”
“Good answer. Show me,” he said.
They had an oversized heavy bag. It touched the ground, which made it harder to move. I found my range, set my base and then kicked the bag as hard as I could. I was able to move the bag with a strong kick.
Carlos walked up to the bag and swung his arm as if he were throwing a hook, but hit it with his forearm. I watched in amazement as the bag moved more than my kick had done.
“How’d you do that?” Cassidy asked as she suddenly paid close attention.
“You can get more force using your torso and hitting the bag with your bone. I believe you can do more damage with a ‘bone strike’ than you can most other ways. Feel your forearm. In the middle, it is soft with muscle, but on the outsides, it’s hard. You can feel the bone.
“It’s the same with a ‘palm strike.’ You can knock the air out of someone easily, but if you tilt your hand back and strike with the heel of your palm and wrist, it’s bone. You can do some serious damage,” he explained.
I felt my palm and recognized I’d been using the meaty part of my palm when I hit someone. I felt just a little down and he was right. I could feel the bone.
“Here’s a tip,” Carlos said. “If you are in a fight with just one person, go ahead and use your fists and pound his jaw. The trick is to keep your fist tight at all times. Most people tighten their hand right before they hit someone. See this bump,” Carlos said as he showed a bump on the back of his hand.
“I learned that lesson the hard way. My opponent lunged forward as I threw a punch and because my fist was loose, I ended up breaking a bone in my hand.”
He was right. I normally had my hands loose before I threw a punch.
“What if you’re in a fight with multiple people?” I asked.
“Then use the palm or bone strike. If there are multiple attackers, the odds are that you will need to grapple with them, and you don’t want to have to take time to clench your fists,” Carlos explained.
“It sounds like you used to mix it up,” Fritz said.
“I’ve been in a bar fight or three in my time,” Carlos admitted.
“How would you go about it?” Fritz asked.
He pulled Paul onto the mat.
“Normally they will get in your face. You want to be in a defensive stance so you can protect yourself without being obvious,” Carlos explained.
He showed us how he would cross his left arm across his chest and held his right arm so that his elbow was against his side and his hand was up around his chin, as if he were thinking.
“With my arms like this I can bring up my left to fend off a punch or use my right to push them back if they get too close,” he said and demonstrated with Paul before he continued. “Because they are going to want to get in your face, if you can’t talk them out of it, you strike first by head-butting their nose with your forehead. It will stun them and give you a chance to jump them and give them a pounding.
“If they try to head-butt you, tuck your chin and let their nose hit your forehead. You end up with the same result,” Carlos taught.
“How do you use the forearm strike?” Cassidy asked.
“I’ll show you how to knock someone out with just one strike, and even you can do it,” he said to Cassidy.
“Hang on. She doesn’t need to know something like that,” I worried.
“You be quiet,” Cassidy threatened.
“Would you agree that Mike Tyson was probably the boxer best known for knocking people out?” Carlos asked.
“I’d agree with that,” Paul said.
“If you watch his fights, he is targeting just behind the ear with those massive hooks. I contend that he used palm strikes instead of hitting with his glove. Right in that area, you will feel a soft spot behind the ear, and if you feel a little lower that is where the jaw attaches to the skull. If you strike someone there, it will rattle their brain and it will be lights out.
“Who’s the toughest one of you?” Carlos asked.
“David,” Paul, Cassidy and Fritz all said at once.
This sounded like a setup.
“Would you volunteer? I promise not to hit you hard,” Carlos said.
“Sure.”
I’m not the brightest guy sometimes.
“Get into a fighting stance with your hands up.
“You can see he has covered up and getting a punch to his jaw is not going to be easy. If I do a bone strike from the side, I can hit him right behind the ear. Note that I bend my elbow slightly so that when I hit him I won’t hyperextend it,” he said as he demonstrated in slow motion.
“Are you ready? I’m just going to give you a little love tap,” Carlos told me.
I just nodded. He didn’t hit me hard. I sort of saw a bright flash and then I was on my ass and Carlos was holding me up in a seated position and rubbing my neck.
“You’re okay. Just breathe,” Carlos coached.
“Crap. How long was I out?” I asked.
“Just a couple of seconds.”
“I want to try,” Cassidy said.
“Your dad wouldn’t be happy if he heard you got knocked out,” I said.
“‘Stupid boy,’ I want to knock you out,” she clarified.
“No one is knocking anyone out. David has had concussions in the past and I’m not willing to risk it,” Fritz said, to earn himself a bonus.
I was a little unsteady, so Carlos helped me up. We practiced on the heavy bag doing our new strikes.
It looked like you were making a wild swing that would miss. The end result was devastating. You would be at your opponent’s mercy if you were lying on the ground like that.
Cassidy went with me to the concert with Luis and Sarita. The venue was an outdoor setting and they charged us $85 per person for a table closer to the front where there was a big band with dancers. I overheard another tourist say it reminded her of a Las Vegas show. It lasted a couple of hours and I was entertained, but I was tired of feeling like an ATM. I got the feeling that Sarita was using me to see things she normally couldn’t afford.
After the show was over, Luis wanted to go to a bar.
“I’ve got to work tomorrow. I think I’ll head back to the hotel.”
He seemed deflated.
“Why don’t you give him some money and I’ll come back with you,” Sarita suggested.
I think Cassidy had figured out I was being hustled. The problem was Mr. Happy reasoned I’d already spent almost $400 for the evening. I might want to just go with the flow. I handed Luis the equivalent of $20 and we left.
“You and I need to talk tomorrow,” Cassidy said when we got off the elevator.
“I look forward to it,” I responded, with my sarcasm level set to 11 out of 10.
I took Sarita back to my room and we had a good time. She wanted to spend the night, but I wouldn’t allow it. She was a little upset when I told her I couldn’t see her Friday night. Cassidy was right. This had gotten out of hand. Sarita reminded me that I needed to give her ‘cab money’ to get home.
I vowed this would be the last time I saw her.
Friday May 27I woke to Cassidy smacking my butt.
“Get up,” she prodded.
I grabbed her and pulled her into bed with me. She let me wrap my arms around her and snuggle.
“What are you thinking?” Cassidy asked.
“That you have too many clothes on,” I teased.
“Slut.”
I kissed her neck.
“Stop that or I’ll tell Fritz that you sexually harassed me.”
“If I’m going to have to pay you for the lawsuit, I might as well make it worthwhile.”
“Don’t make me knock you out.”
“Fine, be that way,” I complained.
“What’s the deal with Sarita?” she asked, to circle back to why she was there.
“She’s my ‘Cuban girlfriend.’”
Cassidy had heard Fritz and Paul talk, so she knew what the phrase meant.
“You need to stop before this gets out of control. I talked to Fritz and Paul and they’re worried that it might get out. You don’t need to be doing something like that,” Cassidy warned.
“I know. At first, I thought she liked me. She threw me off when she invited me to church. I decided last night that she’s going to bleed me dry if I keep seeing her, so last night was it. If you want to go out with Luis, that’s fine,” I said.
“He’s a sexist pig.”
I had to laugh. It was the Cuban culture, where men were men and women knew their place. I made a note to myself to never say that to Cassidy now that she knew how to knock me out easily.
“Does that mean I don’t have to go out with him anymore?” Cassidy asked.
“You never did. I hope you know that,” I said, a little worried.
“I do. I’m just teasing you.”
She pushed me out of bed.
“Now go take your shower. You have to work today,” she ordered.
Now, this was how every scene should be. I spent the morning as background. My job was to sit in a lounge chair by the pool and watch pretty girls in period swimsuits.
“Dawson!” Laurent yelled to get my attention. “I’m not buying your performance.”
I wanted to flip him off. I put my lounge chair down another notch so I was more reclined.
“Better!” Laurent yelled.
The man irritated me, and I now had to worry about nodding off while I soaked in the rays. I didn’t think it would be right to get paid for sleeping.
When I got back to my room, Cassidy made me go out to the beach and we did sixty minutes of hell. Over dinner, we practiced Japanese. Cassidy had made sure I learned some each day.
Word had gotten out that I wasn’t going out tonight. Caryn had organized some food and a bar setup. Instead of watching a movie, we had music and soon had a party going. Most of the people were from the crew. The actors all wanted to go to the place I’d been to last night. The crew didn’t want to spend $85 just to get in.
The suit that the studio sent to watch Laurent had shown up. His name was Bob Trimble. It didn’t take long to figure out he had an agenda.
“What can you tell me about Kimberly leaving?” he asked.
“Crocodiles are scary.”
“Did you hear anything about her relationship with Laurent?” he asked.
I motioned Caryn over and we took Bob to my bedroom and closed the door. I told Caryn what he’d asked.
“Where’s this coming from?” Caryn asked.
“Your agent talked to some of our studio execs and filled us in. I was asked to confirm what Mr. Gould said.”
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I hadn’t planned to run this morning because we had our game against St. Joe today. That meant I could sleep in, or so I thought. I heard the door open and Duke bolted to go outside. Peggy told him to hurry up, and for some reason, he minded her. “What are you still doing in bed? Aren’t you running today?” “I have a game today and don’t want to tire out my legs.” “You should probably get some cardio,” she suggested. I really am a ‘stupid boy’ sometimes. I had no idea what she meant until...
Mom was subdued when I entered the kitchen. I just went up to her and held her. I didn’t say anything; nothing seemed right. She finally pulled back, still in my arms, and looked up at me. “David, you can’t know how proud of you I am. You account for far more of my grey hairs than you should, and there are times you act like the goofy kid I still want you to be, but you’re growing up. “Your dad and I talked a lot last night, and I understand why you handled those women the way you did. I...
Duke and I took the boys running in the morning. They seemed to enjoy the runs since it got them out of the house. Peggy had to finish writing a paper for one of her summer classes. I gave her a hard time about being a slacker. That was until she explained how much time the boys took up each day. That shut me up. I was impressed that she could handle raising the boys and going to school. I just seemed to be able to take off and assume everything was being taken care of. I vowed to spend more...
To the Victor Goes the Spoiled There were only two further demonstrations of the might of the 'Two Mile Island Nation' necessary before America surrendered. A tactical nuclear missile strike was attempted. Eight hundred meters of Cheyenne Mountain, in Colorado, the cornerstone of American Defense was lifted ... shaken, and dropped back in the hole from where it had been. There were many dead. A second strike using a larger warhead was attempted. The Pentagon was removed ... well eight...
I stepped out of my apartment and all but fell on my ass. Duke looked at me like I’d tried to kill him. It had sleeted yesterday and it froze overnight. I began to wonder why I hadn’t just stayed in LA. My part of the shoot had ended yesterday. The cast and production staff had a going-away lunch for me. I’d found several new friends, especially Zak. He was older than I was, but he was a lot nicer to me than Craig Wild had been. I really hadn’t figured out that all the hazing was just him...
Jet lag is a pain in the rear. It wasn’t this bad flying west. It had taken me a full day to get over the worst of it. When I went to Japan, it had lingered until about Wednesday before I’d reset my internal clock. When I got home, I felt exhausted and irritable. They call it circadian rhythm and it gets disrupted when you travel across multiple time zones. Your body clock, which is set by exposure to light, signals when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep. Saturday, I went to...
When we arrived in Chicago, we went and got our suitcases from baggage claim. The flight to Japan left in two hours, so we went to the car and dropped off our gear. Paul and I had packed separate bags for Japan, which we grabbed. Paul looked at his phone. “They’re here,” he said, letting me know that everyone going to Japan had been dropped off. I gave my family hugs. “I loved this guys’ week. I can’t wait to see what you plan to top it next year,” I said. “We could go to the nudist...
“What are you doing?” Bianca asked. “Sketching you,” I said, and showed her my drawing. The morning light and the image of her lying in my bed had inspired me to get out my sketchpad and pencils. “Can I have it?” she asked. I signed it and then tore it off the pad. It wasn’t complete, but you got the broad strokes. For goofing off, it was more than enough, as far as I was concerned. I heard the door open and wasn’t surprised when Cassidy came in. She took in the scene and gave me a...
Hi all, Welcome to Mark’s Junior Year story. For full enjoyment, please read Freshman Year + Sophomore Year to understand. If you don’t have the time and want to jump right in, I’ll be adding a chapter soon of a recap of the first two years. This is the third instalment of the series and can’t wait to get it under way! You’ll find the find the first chapter in the chapters below.
After our run, Peggy, Duke and I went to the kitchen to find Megan feeding Little David. I went and picked up Coby and kissed his forehead. “Good morning, Daddy,” Megan said. “How was he last night?” I asked. “I could almost set my watch by him waking up and fussing. He’s a good baby, though,” Megan said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you being here. Getting a good night’s sleep is exactly what I need right now,” Peggy said. “That reminds me. I want to get you a thank-you gift,...
I’d made an appointment to meet with Coach Hope before football camp. I wanted to talk some sense into him concerning Phil, Yuri and Roc and their desire to come with me to Mexico. He’d said he might suspend them for the first game if they missed the first week of fall football practices. I thought I might bribe him, so I went to Granny’s West and picked up coffee and cinnamon rolls. I knew they always put me in a good mood, so I assumed they would for Coach, too. “If you have what I think...
Author’s Note: This is from the Sophomore Year at the beginning of the Fall semester. Uncle John I look back and it’s hard to imagine that it’s been over a year since my nephew, David, came to spend the summer with me. When he arrived, he was a confused and angry young man. You might ask what teenager isn’t. I don’t know, but my sister-in-law may have been even more pissed than he was. My brother is a lucky man because he found Carol and they had two wonderful children. In many ways, I’m...
Duke nudged me to let me know he needed to go out. I looked at the clock and saw I’d only gotten four hours of sleep. At least he’d let me sleep in a little bit. When we went down, we found Precious had waited for him. While the two of them ran around the backyard, I went back up and put on my running gear. When I’d come down again, Duke had found his ball and decided that it had to come on our run. I didn’t feel like negotiating with him and let him take it. He led the way, and when we got...
Cassidy woke me up. “Get up, get up, get up!” she said as she poked me in the ribs, and then noticed I wasn’t alone. Megan popped her head up and then scurried off to the bathroom. “You are a bad, bad boy,” Cassidy scolded. I cocked my head sideways. The only flaw in Cassidy’s logic was Megan had on the same clothes she’d had on last night. I tried to remember what had happened. We were drunk; well, I was drunk. Kent and Hana had gone to their rooms, or so I hoped. Megan made sure I got...
Bianca nudged me awake. “Hmm,” I grunted. “I know this is a completely irresponsible question, but ... where are my sister and Anabella?” “Last I saw them they were with this older guy. I’m sure they’re okay.” The protective big sister reared her ugly head. “Okay, okay, okay ... Fritz made sure they were put into cabs and sent home,” I explained. “I’m so dead,” she moaned. I pulled her to my chest and kissed her forehead. “Eva said you’ve been working really hard and needed a good...
I stared at the ceiling, happy to be home. There was something to be said for sleeping in your own bed. Something was missing, though: my trusty hound. It had been too late last night to get him from the farm. I glanced at the clock and it was almost nine. I guess I’d slept in. I got dressed and went downstairs, where I found Precious sunning herself on our driveway. “Hello, evil cat. Did you miss your buddy?” I asked. She lifted her head and our eyes locked. I decided it was best to just...
Most everyone went back home today. I think it would be easier to count the ones that stayed: Mom and Dad, Brook, Halle, Zoe, Pam, Tracy, Beth, and Caryn. Caryn had arranged a charter to take the rest of them back. Tim and Wolf had called and gotten permission to miss a few days of two-a-days to come to watch me play. They’d get a full week of practice in next week and then school would start. I’d be back for the first day of school. I really didn’t mind that I would miss the grind of...
I. Moving In August in Missouri is always terribly hot, except when it rains, and then it is just bloody hot. It is constantly humid, some of the worst humidity the North American continent can muster. He may have bitched about it a lot, but really, Logan didn’t mind too much. The heat and humidity just meant that all summer long, the girls wore really short shorts and mid-riff baring tank tops and cute little sandals. He didn’t want to know if it was over a hundred degrees on the day they...
Traveling to London with Rita James was an experience I’ll never forget. When we landed after the seven-hour-plus flight, and with the six-hour time change, it was about 11:00 a.m. All I wanted to do was go to bed and get about eight hours of sleep. Rita made me go to the men’s room to wash my face and change my clothes. She reminded me of her lovely daughter who had picked out my wardrobe for me when I lived in LA. Jeans and a t-shirt weren’t cutting it if I was to be seen with her. I put...
Miranda getting out of bed woke me up. When the shower started, I followed her into the bathroom. She’d just started to wash her hair when I stepped in behind her. “Let me,” I said. She had a shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one that smelled like strawberries. I put that away and got out my supplies. Someone needed to educate this poor girl. Mine smelled of ginger. Adrienne had turned me on to Paul Mitchell’s Awapuhi, or Wild Ginger, shampoo and conditioner. I used it during the winter months to...
I came downstairs to run and found my mom and Paul drinking coffee with Melissa. “Sit,” Mom ordered. “What was last night about, and what the hell is ‘redneck crazy?’ From what I heard, you may very well be more than my ‘stupid boy,’ and we’ll have to get your head examined.” Oh, boy! “Pam basically told me she wanted more out of me. I guess it was my ingrained ‘do the right thing’ upbringing that kicked in. If Pam wants to marry me and we bring up Coby as a couple, I’m willing to do...
The change in weather was welcome. We left fifty-degree weather to arrive to a high of eighty-five today. I stopped at the hotel gift store, bought sunscreen, and then met everyone for breakfast. A couple of preteens wanting autographs stopped me on the way to our table. The Star Wars effect was still in force, no pun intended. “I just got a text. All our gear just arrived at the boat,” Brook said. Brook had arranged for most of our stuff to be shipped ahead of time. Neither of us really...
Your name is Greg Smith and it's your junior year of high school at midtown high and today is the first day of school. You are so stupid that you have been held back and are eighteen years old.
TeenThe day I dreaded was finally here. I had to tell my two ex-best friends the truth of what had happened to them that caused our friendships to fall apart. Looking back, a lot of it was my fault. I’d brought Brandon into our midst. I’d trusted my lawyers when they recommended him to be my PA and help with recruiting. I’d been too trusting and not looked into why he’d left Harvard. Since then I’d requested that Caryn make sure everyone had a background check. I even made them check into people...
We were all told to meet at the Embassy Suites in shorts and t-shirts. I’d put my game uniform and gear into a duffle bag. Most of the guys had done the same, but a few still had their uniforms in the clear plastic bag they’d been given them in yesterday. We were ushered into a large ballroom where we were met by all the coaches and staff. We were then assigned teams. I was put on the team called Pride, along with twelve other boys. Once the teams were announced, our coach pulled us all...
Today was the primary election. Polls showed that the governor and Senator Dixon were well ahead of their challengers. Bev Mass was actually down a couple of points. A white police officer shooting a young black man with a history of mental illness was too much for the people of Cook County. If the officer had waited for the Taser unit, which had been called, this would have been a nonevent. To shoot the man sixteen times was too much, as far as I was concerned. Bev agreed and had the officer...
After school I went home to load my car for the trip to New York. I then picked up Kendal and Pam. I think they both thought we planned a month’s visit to the Big Apple, if the amount of luggage was any indication. I, on the other hand, only brought a garment bag and one of those suitcases on little wheels with a telescoping handle. I missed the Charger, because we ended up having to load some luggage in the back seat of the Jeep with Pam. Once we were on the road, my phone rang. “Answer,”...
It felt good to get home. I’d loved my vacation, but there is something about sleeping in your own bed. Being gone all week had made Zoe, Halle and Pam anxious to see me, but I’d promised Caryn I would sit down with her and talk about a budget. She wanted Brook and me to come to her new office, because she wanted to show me what had been done so far. They had gotten the office decorated. I was impressed that there were pictures of the farms and a variety of my movie and modeling images....
Dad and Greg joined Fritz, Halle and me surfing. It was funny how Fritz always got the surfing duty. Bo Harrington and I’d had lunch in Houston so we could talk football. He’d told me that I shouldn’t be surprised if I was told I couldn’t do things like surfing once I was on a college team. It was dead certain it would be banned if I made it to either Major League Baseball or the NFL. Greg was learning, so it was good that the waves were staying small. He had the same gleam in his eyes as...
Cassidy and Kimberly cornered me at breakfast. “I hear you have a new girlfriend,” Cassidy announced. “Haven’t had one in over a year. I think the last official girlfriend was Harper, a year ago last spring,” I said. I rubbed my forehead to fend off the headache that was sure was to come on if this line of conversation continued. “Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” Kimberly asked. “He has this dumb rule where he only ‘dates’ girls. All his girlfriends call him a ‘stupid boy’ because he...
I smiled when my guys hit the lobby in their new clothes. The three amigos all looked good. We all stood out, compared to the other ballplayers. It wasn’t that the others were dressed badly; they just looked like teenage boys. I wore the sport coat I’d gotten in Japan with the graphic on it. I also wore an Abercrombie light blue button-up shirt under the jacket and cream-colored slacks with my new oxblood-red leather tennis shoes. To finish it off I wore my Japanese designer sunglasses. I’d...
“How’s the girlfriend hunt going?” I gave him my best put-out teenager look and ignored his barb. I guess it was too much for Tami not to tell my mom. What surprised me was Mom thinking it necessary to clue my dad in. I was sure that Uncle John would want to sit down and ‘talk about it.’ “Come on, we need to talk football,” Dad said to change the topic. That instantly put me in a better mood. We went to the nice restaurant and I found Dad had gotten us a big table. I figured that Wolf and...
Allard and I signed in and then went next door to a deli to grab a quick sandwich. I came back to Fritz giving me the stink eye. “I know, I know,” I said, holding up my hand. “Who’s this?” Allard asked. “This is Fritz, the head of my security, and I’m in trouble for leaving the hotel without him,” I admitted. “I could be with you 24/7 if you’d prefer,” Fritz threatened. “I’ll make sure he lets you know,” Allard assured Fritz. I don’t think he wanted Fritz in our bedroom. What he didn’t...
People were supposed to start arriving today. I’d gotten a text from Ridge, from USC, which said that he and Bill were done with their finals and would be at Bill’s house tonight. John Phillips, from Kentucky, called to say he was driving over today. It looked like we would have a football get-together. Emma Stoned and Maria Dowe were on the same flight with Ridge and Bill. Ben Cowley and Zak Verwood had been booked on a flight from LA that would get to Chicago around 1:00 tomorrow...
After several rounds of negotiations, my dad won the trip to London with me. I was going to test for the Han Solo role in the yet to be titled Star Wars prequel. They were doing the casting now because of the new movie, Rogue One, which was filming now. The Han Solo character would make an appearance as a cameo. Marvel used the same strategy for their new Spider-Man by casting Tom Holland early in order for him to cameo in Captain America: Civil War before appearing in his own film. The...
Sheri's mother Rhoda loved her daughter too much! (Does that sound impossible?) One of hollywood producer's worst nightmares is the overprotective, doting yet bossy mother on the scene. They not only have to deal with possible child tantrums and their associated interruptions, but also mothers and THEIR emotional baggage, which includes PMS and its aftermath! Sheri (unfortunately?) was beautiful, poised, talented, well funded for perfect teeth and posture, and a camera "natural". But all...
Author’s Note: I’ve been working to create a version of the Stupid Boy stories for a wider distribution. One thing that was pointed out was that the stories were too long. To that end I broke them into smaller books. At the beginning of each I’ve added an Interlude to introduce the readers to a more in-depth look at different characters. Kara Tasman is featured in the next chapter, so I thought you might enjoy reading about her. Note that this is from the Freshman Year timeframe, right after...
Cassidy must have friends in high places because she contrived to be my security today. When I got to the set, Kitty and Anita met me and informed me that we were shooting scenes on an old yacht today. Laurent planned to do other scenes, so I didn’t have to deal with him. It was an absolutely perfect day to be out on the water. There was a light breeze, which made the heat and humidity bearable. Cassidy looked like she planned to get some sun while I worked. She had on white shorts, a...
When I got to school, Mona was waiting for me in the parking lot. “What happened to our deal?” she asked. “You weren’t there. Kim and Tracy didn’t play fair.” “They flirted with you!” I nodded. “Men!” she shouted, and stomped off. The rest of the cheerleaders had seen what happened and had some choice comments. I was ready to tell them to back off when Zoe walked up and kissed me. “What was that for?” I asked. “For asking me to be your date for the Homecoming Dance.” I hadn’t asked...
I was given a picnic table to paint. Wolf showed it to me before school. They’d painted the top and seats orange and the supports blue like I’d asked. My idea was to paint our bulldog logo in the center of the table. Stacy said she would pencil it in for me; I just had to paint it. When we were done, Wolf would have the shop class seal it to protect the design. I found Pam leaning against the wall in the hall, holding her back. She looked like she was ready to pop. The doctor had said she...
Junior High Hazing By sissy_babs When I was a young boy of 11 or 12 I was in Junior High School. It was that early in life that I first started to fantasize about cross-dressing and forced feminization although I had no idea what either was. All I knew was that I liked to wear some women's clothing and I felt that I should have been born a girl. I later realized that I didn't want to be a woman. I liked girls, not boys. I just wanted to occasionally wear girl's clothes. At that...
When I got to the park, I picked a running trail and began to lengthen my stride. It felt good to be able to just zone out and enjoy the morning. It was chilly, but not so cold that it was a distraction. I misjudged the trail I was on and ran further than I normally did. By the time I got back to Adrienne’s, everyone was already up, except Adrienne. What I found surprised me. “Did you see this?” Pam asked, holding up the newspaper. I looked confused, so she shoved it at me, got up...