Here's the third chapter!
Chapter 7: The Proposition
Later on Saturday evening at Golden Wolf Workout Emporium, Cody was in the ring as he sparred with Omnibus Bellum.
"Keep your head up, young wolf!" Omnibus advised, throwing a spinning punch at him, which he quickly countered.
Cody held both hands to protect his face with a focused look. He was walking around the ring with Omnibus doing the same. Cody saw her eyes resemble a wolf waiting for its enemy to make the next move.
Omnibus charges with a low chop, and Cody backs away. He kicked his right knee, and Omnibus blocked it with her elbow. With a yell, Cody delivers a couple of punches with his hands open.
Omnibus slapped them away easily, and trapped Cody by locking her right arm around his neck and forces him to submit by one leg as she scolded "Where has that energy gone, cub? Have you been looking at girls during this week? Is your mind somewhere that is improper?"
Cody broke free from her trap and grabbed his trainer's right arm to bring her down to the mat. But the Japanese-American beauty slid her left foot and sent Cody down on the ring; he quickly got up before she could pin him down. Cody blocked his trainer's punches as he tried to deliver one at her.
Cody and Omnibus ended up locking each other arms and staring at each other.
"Did I waste my time trying to make you into a gentleman with a clear mind and how to fight back?" Omnibus spat in dismay.
Cody narrowed his eyes on her and broke free. Omnibus twists her body to perform a double kick, and Cody dodges to the right to send a punch at her face. Omnibus retaliates by striking Cody a couple of times in the abdomen. Cody gritted his teeth; he kept his stance. Omnibus performed a double punch, and Cody broke them apart to cancel it and punch her in the right shoulder and a few more in the stomach. He ducked down, and his punch was caught by her right palm. She bent her right knee up and struck him below the mouth.
Cody wiped the blood from his mouth to glare at his teacher. He bent his right knee forward and his body backed as he raised both arms to prepare to fight. Omnibus's left hand move forward, and Cody slapped it away and charges by hugging her waist. The tech geek ends up bringing her down to the mat and locking her legs together and pinning her left arm.
Omnibus dropped her narrowed expression and smiled "Good, young wolf."
The tech geek smile and stand up. Omnibus then bowed to signify the end of their spare.
Cody bowed back, but he failed to see Omnibus quickly change her expression and charge to strike Cody below the abdomen, but he caught it just in time.
"What did we see of never taking your eye off the enemy, Cody?" Omnibus said, giving her student a firm glare that he left himself wide open.
"But I caught it," Cody was still grinning, and this caused Omnibus's glare harder.
Her left knee knocked out Cody's left knee, which made him unbalanced and he was sent to the ground with her left palm pressing firmly at his chest.
"Never be cocky," Omnibus said with a smirk, much to Cody's dismay.
The sound of clapping lifted Cody's mood, where a girl sitting on the bench called.
"Tu ètail merveilleux, Cody!"
(Translation: You were marvelous, Cody!")
Cody turned to the girl and said "Thank you, Amélie."
The girl clapping for the tech geek was the beautiful foreign exchange student from France, Amélie Limieux.
The sixteen-year-old buxom beauty came to Muskoka High around September. Her presence caused the male students to drool lustfully at her due to her incredible body figure, primarily her large chest. The female students grew envious of her beauty. Some of the most hated students spoke badly behind her back. Before the challenge, Cody and his male friends drooled the first time Amélie came to school. They kept staring at her for so long, and Sierra, Dawn, Zoey, Beth, and Izzy all slapped them in the heads.
During the time when Cody was having his sessions with Omnibus, he had seen Amélie enter the gym. The tech geek had surpassed his lustful emotions toward the pretty French girl since he had started the No Nut November Challenge. He had completely forgotten about her. Cody saw Amélie was being harassed by a couple of males who had followed her inside. He called Omnibus, and she and Mr. Nakamura demanded they leave or else. When the males refuse, Omnibus throws one of them out at the back of a passing garbage truck. This caused them to flee in terror.
Cody introduced himself to Amélie, and she remembered him from school. And she also knew about the challenge, but she didn't want to be involved in their silly game. Cody explained why he was there, which impressed Amélie. She was on her way to the gym to get her mind off being harassed by the males at her school and being hated by the females at the same time.
Feeling sorry for her, the tech geek asked Omnibus to train Amélie. The Japanese-American trainer accepted this request and trained the girl. Since then, Amélie and Cody have developed a fast-paced friendship.
Amélie's attire was a dark blue sports bra that hugged her amazing Double-Ds black gym shorts and white shoes. She had her long black hair tied in a ponytail. Cody maintained his blush, but he couldn't deny Amélie looked great.
Omnibus saw this interaction and bonked him on the head slightly before joking
"Cody, you could stare at your pretty cheerleader in your free time."
"Sensei!" Cody exclaimed, his cheeks blushing, much to the trainer's amusement.
"Go do some jump rope in the next room. Fifty jump ropes."
Cody stepped out of the ring and headed to the room to perform the exercise.
"Amélie, come to the ring," Omnibus ordered the French girl, who stood up to enter the ring. "Assume the position."
Amélie took a Doko stance and struck her teacher with her long right knee, which Omnibus blocked.
"How have the lessons been treating you?" Omnibus asked, her right fist missing Amélie.
"It's been great," Amélie said with a smile. "Ze lessons are paying off!"
"No one tries to harass you?"
"Not after I used on one of them who tried to grab my bum," Amélie smirked, and Omnibus laughed before jumping back to avoid a palm strike.
"Atta girl!"
Amélie performed offense and defense perfectly in the style of taijutsu. She was getting the hang of learning to defend herself from perverts. The last couple of days was a relief for her. After she had scared the last pervert who touched her inappropriately, no one dared to come to her. The French girl still had to deal with the haters at her school, who were jealous of her beauty and figure.
"And it was thanks to Cody who recommended it," Amélie spoke with a soft, sincere smile.
Seeing her genuine smile, Omnibus chuckles as she twists her left knee at her, which her student dodges. "You seem to grow fond of the young cub."
"Cody is le only boy who treated me like a real person instead of a objet sexuel," Amélie said, her smile grew at the thought of the nice tech geek who had helped her when no one else did. She thought the boy was like all the other boys at her school. Cody had admitted he had drooled over her and apologized. It was sweet of him to confess his guilt of being a mindless perverted boy who was influenced by his lust.
The two became friends and hung out after their sessions whenever they got the chance. Amélie talked about her life in Paris, which Cody finds fascinating. The tech geek introduced her to some of his favorite hobbies like comic books and mangas. Amélie had fallen in love with the art style of manga as she picked up a few books like Sailor Moon and Dragonball. And she wasn't the only girl who liked mangas; Omnibus also loved to read manga, which is Dragonball, which had her favorite character, the desert bandit Yamcha. The character influenced her by wearing wolf-themed gym clothes in honor of the character which had become a joke in the fandom.
Omnibus saw how Amélie kept smiling and her eyes longing lovingly. She teases "It seems you have fallen in love with the cub, eh?"
A deep red blush erupted in her cheeks.
"Mademoiselle Omnibus!" She cried, dropping her stand. Omnibus took advantage of it and sent her to the ground with a punch to her chest.
"Never let your feelings cloud your mind in the ring, dear," Omnibus said with a taunting grin.
"Vous avez triché!" Amélie accuse.
(Translation: "You cheated!")
"Taisetsuna ōkami no ko no koto o kangaeta anata no seidesu!" Omnibus spoke in her native language in a taunting manner.
(Translation: "Your fault for thinking about your precious wolf cub!")
"Get up," Omnibus switches to her professional manner. A flustered Amélie got up and took her stance. "Let's try again!"
Two hours later, Cody and Amélie had gotten out of the building after a successful session.
"That was a great workout," Cody declared, twisting his right shoulder.
"Is your shoulder ok? You didn't hurt yourself while you were alone?" Amélie asked in concern.
"I am fine, Amélie. Just need to go home, take a shower, and rest," Cody said with a grin.
"I'll see you tomorrow unless you want to meet up later," Amélie said, her fingers brushing a strain behind her ear.
"We can go to the Alamo Drafthouse later. Let's see if there are some great movies to watch."
"Splendide. A ce soir, Cody," Amélie said, planting a small kiss on his nose, much to his surprise.
(Translation: Splendid. See you tonight, Cody.)
Amélie giggled at his reaction before turning to leave. Cody is left in temporary shock, right as a smile forms.
Cody felt like he was on top of the world. To think, he started doing the No Nut November Challenge to get people, even some of his friends, to stop labeling him as 'The School's Pervert'. He was doing more than keeping his vow. He felt like a new man; he had been through the tough times during the month and gotten his first hormonal breakdown. But it was all thanks to Omnibus Bellum that he was able to keep his mind clear of sex and started taking better care of himself. He was no longer lusting after girls or hitting on Gwen. He also treated the girls with respect like the ones he had done on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
And, he has developed a friendship with the most beautiful foreign exchange student from France. Amélie Limieux.
It was such a surprise that nobody like him was hanging around with a wonderful girl who held no hatred for him. Amélie wasn't like all the other girls at his school; she was kind, friendly, and supportive. She knew about the challenge Cody was going through and the betting pool. The French girl wanted no part of the bet. That was why Heather did not involve Amélie in the hate train to force her to break Cody's spirit. By the time they were friends, Amélie showed her support that Cody would make it through the end of the month.
Lovely girl, Miss Amélie Limieux is.
He could stare at her long floating black hair that was loose after she untied her ponytail all day. Her hair blows majestically in the wind. In the past, he was too busy staring at her current attire, which consisted of a pink blouse with the two buttons undone and a miniskirt showing her long, toned legs, he never noticed her beautiful hair. He snapped himself out of it.
"Come on, Anderson. Stop looking at her. This isn't you anymore. She likes you as a friend, and that's the way you want to keep it," Cody muttered to himself.
He better head home before his aunt starts freaking out. The tech geek started walking back home.
He was unaware someone was watching the scene the entire time. The figure peeks out from the other direction and looks at the geek leaving with a devious smirk.
"My, my, Cody, you and the lovely Amélie Limieux meeting at the same gym and keeping a secret from everyone? I think that's against the rules in keeping your vow," Alejandro said. He takes out his phone to see photos of the two he had taken during their session inside. He stopped at the last pic of the pretty girl kissing the dweeb on the nose.
"I could blackmail Cody into breaking his silly vow, but that's hardly a challenge. I think it's time for me to contribute to the bet. It would be such a shame if I were the one who missed out on all the fun. Time for me to head to the bank and withdraw my portion."
Alejandro went in the other direction. As he was walking, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number to one of the people he had eavesdropped on yesterday after school.
At the Galleria Mall, Jonesy and Reef meet up at an empty store lot that used to be Underground Video.
"You got the same call, Reef?" Jonesy asked, seeing his partner-in-crime here.
"Yes."
Both guys aren't in the mood to talk since their betting business has taken another huge turn since yesterday. They don't care about continuing since their favorite horse has been doing well during the month. Tomorrow would be the start of the last week of the month, and they doubt people will be betting. They might as well accept their losses and give their shares to Heather and the girls.
Jonesy peeked inside through the entrance gate to see if someone was behind the darkness.
"If this is a prank by Jude or Broseph, I am not in the mood!" Jonesy shouted, slamming the metal gate.
The gate opens, and Alejandro appears from the darkness.
"Good evening, gentlemen!"
"Ah, fuck!" Jonesy jumped in fright. Reef stepped back as well. "I should have known you made that call!" He glares at the handsome Latino. The last thing he wants is that guy and his smug grin.
"Step inside," Alejandro lifted the gate to let in Jonesy and Reef, who entered by crawling.
All three of them use flashlight mode from their phones to see. Alejandro led them to a door, and he opened it, revealing a light. They all entered.
Both teens saw a table, three chairs, and a lamp that lit the entire room.
Alejandro sat in the chair behind the desk and motioned the two to take a seat.
"Let's start with why I call you two here. I know you two made the betting pool," He revealed, shocking them.
"Goddamnit! The answer is no! N-O! We are not giving you a cut! We have already decided to shut it down since our efforts failed!" Jonesy screamed, glaring at his most hated rival. He had dealt this shit from Heather and the girls; he is not going to give him a single penny!
"Jonesy, Jonesy. Amigo, relax. I am here to conduct an interesting proposition that will help your failing business," Alejandro said, easing Jonesy's anger.
"What kind of proposition?" Reef asked, crossing his arms. He doesn't trust what Alejandro was making.
"I heard you two made a deal with my temporary ex-girlfriend and her lovely friends. $6,000; $2,000 for the next three days. You tried bribing Cody into breaking his vow. When that fails, you initiate the honeypot method. You even had Chase convince his girlfriend to perform that dance. All three girls failed and Heather and the girls aren't giving you two more money," Alejandro explained of the failed plans the two businessmen had made.
"Turns out Cody is a lot tougher this month. Each girl we gave to convince him failed. He even turned down Anne Maria, and she was supposed to give him a blowjob!" Reef said.
"That new confidence in him is making things harder for us guys. I heard several girls complimenting him!" Jonesy added. He had to hear from the girls he had flirted with at school showing their support for Cody in making it to the end of the month. And they had the nerve to remark that Jonesy should take some lessons from Cody.
"It is quite shocking how Anderson is changing the whole school system. It's affecting the girls, the guys, and your business. I saw that it's still $22,000, which brings me to the next topic. What if I can make your business run again?"
"Like what? You, betting? I didn't know you bet, dude," Reef snorted.
"All the students are doing it. I am upset that I didn't contribute sooner. I want to place my bet," Alejandro said.
"Ok, Al," Jonesy chuckles and utters the nickname the handsome Latino teen always hated, but he remains calm with that smile. "How much do you want to bet? $200? $500? $1000?"
"Child's play," Alejandro laughs. He takes a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket and slides it across the table at their eye level. Jonesy and Reef looked at the check and felt themselves slip out of their chairs.
"$150,000?!" Reef shouted in shock.
"And the date I am choosing is on the 30th."
"You're betting that much on the last day of the challenge?! The odds of Cody losing is 150 to 1!" Jonesy shouted, his eyes widening at the clever Latino evil genius.
"Let's call it an investment," Alejandro smirked.
Reef prepares to take it in glee, but Jonesy slaps his hand and glares at Alejandro. "What's the catch?"
"What catch?" Alejandro shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't play dumb. You wouldn't bet $150,000 on the last day of November. I recalled you praising Cody the time Josh came to our school to interview us. What is the catch?"
"I am shocked you trust me so little, Garcia. I am just a humble man who is trying to help you and your partner save your temporary business. I know it seems, as you say, hypocritical of me wasting money after I had praise Cody on his vow of celibacy. But I must confess, it was all a lie," He revealed dramatically.
"No shit," Jonesy remarked.
"Yes, shame me for my dishonesty. I was only doing it for the camera. The sad truth is, I feel the same way men are feeling during this mouth when we have to refrain our sexual nature. How women shamed us in taking a challenge that involves not talking to them for one mouth. I feel a connection what you two had said about abstinence."
"Really?" Reef said, getting his attention. Jonesy let down his suspicious glance as his rival kept talking.
"Abstinence has become a joke in today's time. An idea from the past deemed sexist. Women constantly rejecting two fine men like yourselves every day. It's normal for women rejecting men if they hit on them. But, when men takes a month off of flirting every November, it upset the balance of power women held for centuries. And Cody Anderson had bring havoc in both women and men. Women wants men to flirt with them so they can reject them and frown upon abstinence. Men are forced to perform abstinence to make our girlfriends happy, or they are tired of being rejected. It's a never ending battle."
"Wow, you do understand what I was saying!" Reef grins. Jonesy understood as well.
"You preached that the Liberal media is attacking men and making them feel ashamed of their genders and the things we do," He said this to the surfer dude, who nodded in agreement. Alejandro turned his attention to Jonesy, "Staying a virgin till your forties is a double standard. Women can be virgins all they want, but men who are virgins are considered abnormal."
"Thank you! Someone understands it!" Jonesy screams, having lost his distrust over his rival.
"So, you take the money?" Alejandro asked.
"Hell yeah, we do! Reef, go to the app and enter the amount!"
Before Reef could do so, Alejandro stopped him.
"Not yet. Let's wait until midnight."
"Midnight?" Reef said, confused. "Why?"
"To get the ball rolling. Heather and the girls only gave you $6,000 to convince Cody to break his vow. This barely did anything to your business, even with your three failed Honeypot plans. Imagine everyone waking up and finding the betting pool jumping up to 150k. It's the last week of November, and people are going to start placing more bets than ever before," Alejandro explained his plan.
Both Jonesy and Reef thought it over and their eyes widened at the implication people will make once they see the new status of the betting pool.
"We are going to make so much money!" Reef cheered.
"This sounds too good to be true. What's the catch? How much do you want from this? Heather and the girls want thirty percent from it?" Jonesy asked how much Alejandro wanted after the challenge was over.
"No charge, gentlemen. I am just a friendly benefactor wishing you two good luck on your business. I hope my investment pays off," Alejandro said.
"I am still not convinced," Jonesy said, much to Reef's displeasure.
"Then I guess I had no choice but to show you two of these photos. You're going to like who it is," Alejandro opened the drawer and slapped several pictures on the table. The two looked it over, and, to their shock, it was Cody and Amélie at the gym.
"That's Amélie!" Reef shouted, recognizing the gorgeous French babe.
"And she's at the same gym as Cody!" Jonesy screamed, his eyes widening in each picture he flipped. He nearly screams more upon seeing Amélie kissing Cody on the nose. "What the fuck is this?!"
"It seems Ms. Limieux is spending time with Cody at the gym, and she is growing fond of him," Alejandro informed, shocking both Jonesy and Reef.
"Goddamnit! How does that little punk do it?! I have been trying to get Amélie to notice me, and she is seeing him! Where did you get this?!" Jonesy's anger grew as he kept looking at the last photo.
"I have been following Cody since he had taken Emma to the nurse's office. That is how I learned about the betting pool and your contributions to Heather and the girls. I was going to give the photos to my darling and her lovely friends, but I decided to use this to influence you two in case you have doubts about accepting my bet. Are we on the same side?" Alejandro explained he had taken the photos during the day and how he knew about the betting pool. His fingers touch together while looking at the two teenagers with a calculated grin.
It didn't take them to think for a second as Jonesy and Reef nodded in agreement.
"Oh, we agree! That dipshit thinks he can move on Amélie when I couldn't do it he's got another thing coming!" Reef declared, his teeth gritting.
"Pleasure doing business with you two. You can keep the photos," Alejandro rose from his seat and shook hands with them. He walked to the door and turned around. "One more thing. Heather doesn't need to know. I don't want her interfering. She'll get her cut, but you two will get more. It's best to keep my name hidden from the public. That reminds me, here's a little bonus for you two," Alejandro took out another check and handed it to Jonesy.
It was a check for another $150,000.
"Shit, Al! What do you do, rob a bank?!" Reef exclaimed.
"I withdrew $300,000 from my parent's business fund. You should have seen the sweet old lady who kindly gave it to me when I told her it was for charity," Alejandro grins.
"You're a monster," Jonesy said.
"I am the monster that is going to make you two rich."
"And what about you? Cody is so difficult to break down. It's a fool's chance!" Reef said, reminding Alejandro that the odds of winning are slim.
"You make sure you deposit it into the app at midnight tonight. Don't worry about me. I have luck on my side. You two have a great night," Alejandro declared as he left the room.
Jonesy and Reef both laughed loudly like they had struck gold.
"What a moron! He actually gave us two checks of $150,000! And he bet on one of them on the 30th!" Jonesy exclaimed.
"We are going to two rich sons of bitches!" Reef grins, pumping his fist in the air.
Alejandro leaves the empty store lot with an evil grin he had kept hold of during his conversation with Jonesy and Reef.
Everything is according to plan.
It was late at night at the Masterson's home. Cody had jumped into bed with a proud grin on his face.
After taking a shower and resting, the tech geek checked if his aunt and friends had plans. His aunt went to dinner with her friends, same goes with Taylor. His friends all have different plans. This was the perfect chance to call Amélie and tell her the news.
Like what he proposed, the two went to the Alamo Drafthouse. Interesting movies they were playing. Cody picked The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension. It was a fun night for the two as Amélie enjoyed the movie.
"Today was a good day," Cody said, looking up at his ceiling. He was counting his lucky stars. Things have been going great for him this week.
Tomorrow will be the start of the last week of the challenge, and he will succeed the challenge.
"Everything's coming up for me," He said those last words before he fell asleep as he prepared for the new week.
What he didn't know was that his luck was about to change drastically.
At the Burromuerto's residence, Alejandro was in his room. He was on his phone looking at the betting pool. It was still at $22,132. He checked the time on the screen; it was one minute till midnight.
Alejandro waited for the status of the bet to change. He looked at the timer as it finally dropped to midnight.
And $22,132 just became $172,132.
A grin spread on his face.
"Oh, Cody, I am afraid your luck just ran out," He chuckles evilly.
Uh-oh! Alejandro just made things a lot worse for Cody! Now the stakes are even higher! It's the last week of November. Anything can happen during the last week of No Nut November! What do you all think will happen?
I'll work on the next chapter during the week.
See you all later! Have a safe Thanksgiving!