Author's Note: Just so everyone's clear on some things I may have been forgetting to make crystal clear...
Kody is 17.
Italicized writing inside quotes means a text or a speaker on the other line of the phone.
Italicized writing without quotes means emphasis on a word or phrase or it is a character's thoughts.
I have not picked out names for Kody's parents. I may refer to them as Kody's mom and Kody's dad. Those of you who watch "The Fairly Oddparents" will get that. Those of you that don't and want to know, PM me. I'm not using real names in this story aside from real cities like Nashville.
And a heads up. None of my italics or bolds from my word processor are carrying over, so I have to go through after uploading to FF and redo them all. If something seems like it should have been bolded or italicized, please point it out in a PM. Thanks.
Chapter Five
"I'm looking for someone named Kody Wolfner," Cheryl from Williams Talent said.
"That's me!" Kody nearly yelped out in excitement, ears perked and tail wagging. He dashed over from Kierra's Buick to his Jeep and hopped into the driver's seat so he could hear the voice on the other line without outside noise or other wolves bothering him.
"Hey Kody. Like I said, my name is Cheryl and I was just returning your call from earlier. I'm sorry I couldn't answer, I was on the phone with one of our clients."
"That's okay, I understand," Kody said listening intently.
"Anyway, I understand you're interested in representation."
"Right."
"So listen, I saw your resume in my email, and I know you don't have a lot of professional experience, but since you seem really genuinely interested I'll tell you that we're having open calls tonight and tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. We'd love to have you stop by and show us what you can do."
"Whoa! That's great!" Kody exclaimed screaming for joy mentally. YEEEAAAAH!
"Wonderful, so can we expect you tonight?"
Kody thought about it for a second. It would be a really long day to go all the way back to Lewisville and get cleaned up then go all the way back into Nashville, and he could look really tired, something he knew would count against him in searching for an agent. "Actually, if it's okay, tomorrow would work a lot better."
"Sure, that's fine. Just bring a couple copies of your resume and headshot for us to keep and if you're under eighteen, you will need to bring a parent."
"I'm seventeen. My dad and I will come."
"Alright then, that's great. We will see you tomorrow night!"
"Thanks so much!"
The agent hung up without saying bye.
"YES!" Kody screamed. He leaped out of his car and dashed off to tell Kierra the good news.
Later that evening, at the dinner table, Kody shared with his family his good news.
"So let me get this straight," Kody's father, a short, middle aged business wolf with silver fur, said, "you have an interview with an agent tomorrow night and you want me to take you?"
"Well, yeah," Kody said. "It's not like mom can take me."
Kody's father rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his soda. One of the major family issues in the Wolfner household was parental attachment. Kody's fifteen year old sister, Megan, had severe psychological issues which prevented her from being separated from Kody's mom for any reason whatsoever. In Megan's early childhood years, she could be dropped off or left with any trusted adult wolf for any period of time. When she hit her preteen years, however, she developed multiple mental illnesses. One of these was severe attachment to the point it basically immobilized Kody's mom aside from small errands like groceries and paying bills. Megan also had claustrophobia, and the fear of being abandoned and unable to do anything about it, the latter of which tied directly into the whole separation anxiety thing. Megan would have a panic attack if Kody's mom left the house to go anywhere, no matter how short of a time she was gone, even if it was just a neighborhood walk. So whenever Kody needed an adult to accompany him for something important, his dad had to make sure his schedule at his self employed law office allowed for the errand. Megan was receiving therapy weekly at a hospital in Nashville, because no one in the Wolfner household could function properly because of her, but nothing helped. All the "therapist" did was give her pills and anger her to the point that she now yelled at and cursed several members of the family. And Kody's father was dead tired of it. Kody was amazed at how strong his parents' marriage was through everything.
"Come on, Dad. Agents are very busy people. We'll be in and out within an hour, maybe even less. All you have to do is supervise me there. And I'll be eighteen in a little over three months, so if they sign me you won't have to worry about supervising me for very long at all," Kody reasoned.
"I don't know, Bud…" Kody's father shook his head as he finished his soda and began to munch on the ice. (A/N: Because wolves are related to dogs and dogs love ice. And my dad really does that.)
Kody sighed. "I mean, what do you have to lose? I have some savings from when I worked at the sub shop last year. I'll give you $30 for the gas for your truck. I'll even drive us there!"
Kody's dad shook his head. "Nah, you don't have to do that. I'll take you. What time did you say it was?"
"7:00 p.m."
"Okay, I'll be off work then and we can go to Whole Foods or something afterwards," Kody's dad agreed. He had multiple food allergies and had to shop at Whole Foods in order to ensure he was buying high quality food that was not contaminated with anything he was allergic to. There were no Whole Foods stores in Lewisville, so whenever the family was in Nashville, they did their grocery shopping. "But what exactly can they do for you that you can't do yourself?"
"Annette says agents have access to all the legitimate auditions and can get you in and out with a casting director in minutes, rather than waiting in line for hours at rare open calls. Then, when you get a part, they make sure that you're getting paid competitive wages that are fair for the type of project you work on, and they only make money when you make money."
Kody's dad shrugged. "How come you can't do that all by yourself?"
"Well, I could but I'd be making minimum wage and it would only be background work. All the good auditions are not even announced to the public anymore. How many times do you pick up the paper and see a big advertisement for auditions for a huge major movie that's going to star… I don't know… Hayden Panettiere or Chris Carmack…" (A/N: Yeah. I just went there. Plot-Ception!)
"Well it sounds like he's done his research," Kody's mom chimed in after listening for quite some time.
"Why don't you take him?" Kody's dad replied.
Kody's mom cut her eyes and made a stupid face that screamed, Are you even serious right now?
"I'll take you," Kody's dad agreed. "But we don't sign anything until we know they're legit."
"Annette said if they are legit they won't pressure you into signing anything."
"May or may not have big news tomorrow…" Kody texted Kierra and then posted the same thing to Facebook. The wolf sat on the futon below his bunk bed. His legs were on the backrest and his back was on the seat so that he laid upside down on it. He was such a rebel.
"Does it have anything to do with what you told me earlier?" Kierra replied quickly. Kody knew that whenever Kierra replied right away, she was really interested in what he had to say.
"…Maaaaaaaayyyyybeee…" Kody replied. Drawing out the syllables in the word "maybe" was something he and Kierra did often when they were purposely withholding information from each other for the fun of it. It was one of their very many inside jokes.
"Ugh! So mean! By the way, you're going to the sleepover tomorrow, right?"
Kody gasped. He had forgotten the whole cast of the drama club was having a sleepover that Thursday night to celebrate the completion of the play. The party started at 6:00 p.m. and it was twenty miles east of Nashville out in the country. His interview was at 7:00 p.m. and according to internet maps, the agency office was actually ten miles south of Nashville in a suburb called Brentwood, which was sometimes nicknamed "The Beverly Hills of Nashville" because it was so nice and the standard and cost of living was very high. "To be honest, I forgot about it…. but yes I will definitely come. I'll just have to be a little late. I have an… 'appointment' at 7:00 in Brentwood and then my dad and I were going to go to Whole Foods together but I may just have to drive straight to the party while he heads on. Crap. I'll wing it though. I always do. ;)"
"Okay mister," Kierra texted.
Kody rolled his eyes and was about to rush downstairs to tell his dad there needed to be a change in transportation plans when his phone buzzed again. It was Garth.
"Dude, was there caffeine in that smoothie? I went to the gym before school this morning but I'm back because I have so much energy! Did 30 pull-ups one right after the other, couple sets of bench presses, and like twenty seated rows. I mean, I already did so much this morning I should be dead tired…"
Kody shook his head. "It's Starbucks, man. They put some sort of caffeine in their iced water, I'm sure."
Garth texted Kody back several symbols indicating an indecipherable curse word. Kody ran downstairs to tell his dad they would have to take two cars, both of which did not get very good gas mileage, all the way to Brentwood so that Kody could attend his sleepover. When he returned to his room, there were four messages: three from Garth and another one from Kierra. Kody started with Garth's text… erm, texts.
Garth Text 1: "Dang it… I might be getting addicted. I want more."
Garth Text 2: "Wait, just did another heavy chest press. I feel way better."
Garth Text 3: "Crap I'm so tired man… I don't know if I can drive home. I think I'll sleep at the gym tonight."
Kody typed back, "It's called a caffeine crash man. Just go home and sleep. "
"…okay, but if there's a few dumbells missing tomorrow, I was not snuggling them in my sleep…"
"What?" Kody said aloud. "What does that even mean? Note to self: never give Garth Starbucks coffee. He can't even handle one of their smoothies." Then he opened Kierra's text.
"Oh! My sister Lilly got asked out by Garth to go to dinner and a movie next Saturday night! You have NO IDEA how excited she got!"
Kody smiled. Kierra would always rave about how much of a gianormous crush Lilly had on Garth. And Kierra seemed very supportive of Garth's invitation. Maybe now was a good time for Kody to do something about his always growing crush on Kierra...
Author's Note: That's a wrap to chapter 5!
Let me know what you think! I'm open to plot suggestions, but I'm not taking OCs. Most of this lines up with my real life last year but hey, it is a story so I'll have fun with it. If you do want to suggest something, please PM me so I can directly respond to you. :)
Don't forget to ask about the Fairly Oddparents reference if interested.
Also I got a third job today. Actor. Check. Corporate retail. Check. Small business store. Check. May quit the corporate retail thing. It's gross.
I'm a busy wolfy.