* * * Starring * * *
Manuela "Manny" Lopez
"The Bad Girl"
Kody Kershaw
"Kody bear"
Anastacia "Stacy" Volkova
"Neighbor/New Friend"
Amanda Kershaw
"'Hillbilly' Best Friend"
Derrick Parks
"Amanda's 'Scumbag' Boyfriend"
Love of My Life
"Apples"
Episode One
Copyright © 2008
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created originally by TV and are copyrighted to him, any reposting or archiving without written permission is an infringement on the copyright of this series. So in other words You damn well better ask before you steal it.
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Summary: In the ALL NEW premiere episode of 'Love of My Life', Manny begins to realize why her 'Kody bear' is terrified of Amanda's boyfriend, Derrick. She later meets her new neighbor, Stacy, and gets teased about it by Kody. Later, Manny takes us through this tales back story, explaining a lot more about her and Amanda's relationship since meeting some five years ago. Finally, one last meeting with Stacy leaves Manny with a question to answer and surprisingly it involves...Apples.
Original Airdate: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 @ 8:30 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW 'Slash TV')
Story Codes: ff, oral, mast
"I got news" Kody said from the door of the bedroom where she had been on the phone with her Mom (Barbara) for the better part of an hour. "I'm not sure you'll like it."
"What? You have to go home?" I asked as I looked up from the floor as I was organizing my Xbox games in the cabinet below the TV.
"Me going home is...bad news?" She asked as she walked over and sat down beside me.
"Always is" I said as she smiled and leaned against my shoulder. "You know I love having you here."
"What about all the time?" She asked with a nervous half-smile.
"You wanna move in with me?" I asked.
"You said you loved having me here" She said as I turned and she moved back so she was in my arms, her back against my chest as I hugged her.
"I sure do" I said as she smiled.
"All the time?" She asked with a grin.
"Yeh now you'll be in my hair 24 hours a day you little pest" I said as I started tickling her as she squealed in laughter. "I'll be so good to you too."
"You always are" She said as she kissed my cheek and then giving me that devilish grin, one that she gets from her sister Amanda (more on her later), she said, "Be my girlfriend Manny?"
"Bite me, tease" I said as she fell back laughing.
That's Kody, my best friend Amanda's little sister, she's 9 as this story begins. I tell you I love that girl with all my heart and in my eyes she can do no wrong. I let her get away with murder, I admit that. Probably why she loves me so much and wants to spend all of her time here. This is partly due to the fractured relationship she has with her stupid ass hillbilly minded sister (Amanda) and Amanda's drunk useless abusive boyfriend, Derrick Parks. Who Kody seems to be terrified of. For reasons which will become clear in a very short time.
See, Kody and me got a deep bond, I will hurt anyone who hurts her and well, let's just say that whenever Amanda comes over with 'shit for brains' Kody calls me and I come pick her up and let her spend the night at my place. She's actually a big help to me, cleaning up and doing dishes while I study. Then quietly playing Xbox till I have time to hang out with her. And I always make time for her, always, she comes first on my list (and in my heart), she does and this kinda makes Amanda jealous. Which only serves to make me more protective over Kody, and makes my feelings toward her grow stronger.
Maybe I should just start at the very beginning and tell you how this whole thing got started. Even before the bit of conversation that happened above. See, I always go over on the weekends and pick Kody up and she crashes at my place till Sunday. This particular week was no different, though I did arrive a little late, and started worrying when I spotted Barb and Richard's (Amanda and Kody's parents to be clear and for later reference on your part) car was gone and Amanda's was in the driveway. I prayed Derrick wasn't with her but knowing my idiot best friend he was. Just as I was getting out of the car, Kody came crashing out of the front door in a dead sprint towards me. Derrick appearing at the door as he watched her jump into my arms.
"What's wrong?" I asked Kody.
"Can we please go?" She asked, tears running down her face. "Please I hate him so much."
"Did he hurt you?" I asked.
"I feel safe with you" She said as she hugged me and carefully avoiding the question, I noticed that to, trust me. Derrick staggered out of the door and down the walk as Amanda appeared at the door behind him.
"We're babysitting and I don't want you here right now" Derrick said to me. "Kody get back in the house."
"Derrick just let her go" Amanda said from the door.
"Shut up" He barked as he came through the fence towards me and Kody clutched onto me. I did the only thing I knew to do, I snatched the bar from under my driver's side seat and pushed Kody behind me. He stopped as he saw me gripping it tightly in my hand. "What the hell? Manny what's wrong with you beautiful?"
"Come on, try to make her go back in that house" I said as I squeezed the bar in my fingers. "I'll do Amanda a favor."
"Look I'm just gonna call the cops on you if you don't leave"
"Mom said I could go with her, she told you that" Kody said as I smiled and raised my bar when he took a step towards us.
"I'll beat your god damn brains in" I said to Derrick in a menacing voice. "You touch her and see what happens."
"Kody get over here now" Derrick demanded as I held Kody in place and pushed her into the car a moment later. "What did I ever do to you to make you hate Manny? Huh? You're turning her against me for no reason."
"You're a drunk, you're a worthless bum, you beat my best friend" I said as I turned and he seemed shocked by my words. "Do you ever do anything except drink?"
"I work a hard job 40 hours a week and drinking helps me unwind"
"And fall down you slobbering drunk" I said as he glared at me and I know wanted to do me like he does Amanda and try and beat my brains in. But I fortunately had an equalizer in that steel bar in my hand. So instead of going on with the argument I couldn't win I simply turned and climbed into the car and drove off with a very happy Kody clutching my arm the whole way.
We got back to my apartment building just as a girl I had never seen before came waltzing out with a box of stuff in her arms and stopped as I pulled up in front of the building. Me and Kody both getting out as she smiled at me.
"You in apartment 3G?" She asked with a slight Russian accent.
"I am" I said as Kody eye balled the girl.
"I'm your new neighbor, hope we can be friends" She said as I smiled and heartily agreed to that offer.
"I like your accent it's cute" Kody said to the girl. "What's your name?"
"Anastacia Volkova, Stacy to my friends" She said as she looked back to me with a shy smile. Kody watching closely.
"Manny, Kody" I said as I pointed to myself and then to Kody. "Well if you need any help feel free to stop by. Me and Kody are almost always home."
"She your daughter?"
"I wish, Manny's normal compared to my fruity parents" Kody said as Stacy laughed and gave her a gorgeous smile.
"My Kody bear has a personality all her own" I said as Kody gave us both a goofy ear to ear grin. "Too much of it most of the time."
"Hey!" Kody said as she gave me a dirty look. "Take me home."
"Nooo" I said as I walked around the car and hugged her as she grinned.
"Sisters?" Stacy asked.
"No, her sister Amanda is my best friend" I said. "And Kody just sort of attached herself to me and well it just became something that's...normal."
"Where do your parents live?" Stacy asked Kody.
"Other side of town" Kody said. "I like it here lots more though."
"Yeh I see that" Stacy said as she, I believe, purposely held my gaze for a long moment. Both of us looking directly into the other eyes. Stacy finally breaking the nice moment by going on, "I got tons of things to do...sooo...see ya around?"
"You know it" I said as she smiled and a few moments later she was gone in her car. Leaving Kody giggling beside me. "What's so funny giggle box?"
"You like her" Kody giggled. "She gonna be my new Mommy?"
"Why you little..." I said in shock as Kody laughed and went tearing down the sidewalk as I gave chase. Kody swiftly gliding between the oak trees that lined the sidewalk and me like a dumby chasing her through everyone until it dawned on me that I could chase her more easily by running a direct path to the little stinker. Which lead directly to me catching her, then tripping and both of us tumbling to the grass in a heap, laughing. That's why I love Kody, never a boring moment.
As for her sister Amanda, the aforementioned Hillbilly, I've been so in love with that girl for almost 5 years now, since the day I met her as a freshman at Carr Creek high. It was at the lockers just outside of homeroom and she smiled at me and well I just melted like puddy in her hands and after that it was useless for me to resist that charm. I honestly think she never really caught on to this because if she did she'd have known all she had to do to get me to do something was give me those puppy dog eyes. My Kody bear has those same striking 'puppy dog' eyes as a matter of fact and she uses them to perfection on me every time she wants something.
I guess I should mention that it was in the summer of my 13th year after graduating from 8th grade that my sexual identity began to emerge. I convinced myself that I was in love with this gorgeous creature that lived no to far away, a boy with every thing you could want. But that only lasted until my first trip to the library and my accidental trip to a porn site. I knew instantly that what I was looking at turned me on but for the moment I resisted the idea that I was gay, that took me a few months to fully come to terms with.
I can also remember the first moment that I began to appreicate the fact that I was gay. I freakin saw Amanda naked (oh lord I love dark tans), I mean without a stitch of clothes naked, only wearing a dark tan and a smile naked. God she was breath taking. I gawked at her from behind a magazine as she pranced around her room before a shower on some random afternoon. She was blissfully unaware and I was blissfuly aware that hiding my sexual preference for a while longer was not a bad thing. She grabbed some clothes after a few LONG moments and headed back into the bathroom.
"Ohmigod baby girl you soooo damn fine" I said under my breath as I lay back on her bed and relived every second of the few moments of naked Amanda time, over and over. Of course the naked moments lead to even better fantasies as I heard the shower come on I slid my hand into my panties and started masturbating. The fantasy of Amanda realizing I was watching her and coming over to the bed and inviting me to get naked playing out in my mind. We kissed passionaitely just as my pace on my clit quickened and before I knew it she had me naked (one great thing about fantasies is there is no foreplay needed). She was now between my thighs and softly licking at my clit as I moaned her name under my breath. I lifted my butt off the mattress as I pictured her sucking my clit just so perfect and that brought me off in a body shaking orgasm that seemed to last forever.
"MMMMMM baby got back...ohmigod" I moaned in a whisper to myself just as I had reached the peak of my orgasm and ohmigod it was a mountain high that I don't think I've ever reached again. I lay there panting with a goofy smile on my face and pulled my hand out and licked my fingers as I grinned and knew that I'd love to have Amanda do me that way for real.
She came out a moment later and gave me the weirdest look when she found me under the covers partially with a magazine laid on my chest and panting with a few beads of sweat dripping down my face. I needed a nap that day.
Anyway she never figured out I was gay no matter how many hints I dropped, and I dropped plenty, but she never caught on. That was the period in our friendship that saw an endless array of losers come and go as Amanda tried in vain to find 'the right man'. But what really stands out to me from that era was my regular Friday night babysitting job with her then 5 year old sister Kody. I adored that little stinker from moment one and always volunteered to keep her for the weekend when Rich and Barb went on a weekend camping trip or whatever. Time rolled on.
So come our senior year, Amanda and I drifted apart when she started dating some scumbag biker named Derrick Parks (one and the same). He was 28 dating an 18 year old. Weird. But due to a number of reasons the whole Amanda/Derrick thing felt out of my line of sight as my life became a lot more hectic. Her name was Marsha, a freshman in College just round the bend and at first everything was amazing. Especially the sex.
Marsha was the first girl to ever do me with a strap-on. Taking my cherry one night just before my 18th birthday and making me feel like I had always dreamed that my now ex-best friend would. This night was also of note because it was the first night I spent in my new apartment and of course Marsha stayed over. Somewhere over the next few months I ran into Barb and Rich at the market and found out they were heading to Indiana on a second honeymoon, which prompted me to volunteer to keep Kody, an arraignment that ended up changing my life. Because Marsha and Kody didn't really get along so Marsha stayed clear for the next few days, me and Kody really bonded causing big problems with me and the girlfriend.
This was also the time Rich and Barb started having problems financially and to make matters worse Barb finds out she has a bun in the oven and Rich had just lost his job. And with little money coming in I volunteered to keep Kody when things got rough (and this seemed to happen quiet often). I had just graduated high school and was planning on joining Marsha at College and being 'the loving couple' as my own Mom and Dad called it. But she didn't like the fact that I was keeping Kody more and more and that's when she started to take her frustration out on me. She hit me three seperate times (one time in front of Kody) along with a now constant stream of verbal abuse. It honestly took her screaming at a terrified Kody to give me the courage to stand up to her and fire back. She couldn't handle that and dumped me.
"I love you Manny even if she don't" Kody said as she lay wrapped in my arms later that very night after Marsha had cleared out.
"Me too Kody bear" I said softly as she smiled.
"She's just stupid and mean, you don't need her" Kody said with a bright smile.
"You're mean too, should I run you off?" I asked as she jumped up and glared at me. "Huh Kody bear?"
"GRRRRRRR" Kody said as she formed her hands into 'claws' and pounced on me as we began wrestling on the bed. The room filling with sounds of laughter.
Rose Allen was next in my life. She was a serious looker who adored me in every way possible. We spent many weekends making love at my Grandpa's mountain cabin and things seemed to be getting better for everyone. Rich had found a new job and Barb had survived her pregancy fairly well and with income no longer a prime concern Kody was spending more time at home. Leaving me to explore my wild side with Rose and concentrate on my school work. But in the end I missed Kody like crazy and no amount of Rose or great sex could cure me of that for long. Sooo as always happens it seems, things turned bad again for the entire Kershaw clan. Amanda got her first of many drunken beatings courtesy of Derrick the scumbag and spent a few nights on my couch. My first rescue job. And Rich lost his job (again) and Kody came to stay with me again.
It was then that Rose began to see my emotional attachment to Kody and for whatever reason it seriously rubbed her the wrong way and slowly but surely it got to be more and more important to her. Till we finally had a huge blow up about it and I made my choice.
"You love that kid more than me" Rose said as she stood on the other side of the kitchen, "You do Manny, she's not your child, her parents are just, losers."
"You best leave Rich and Barb out of this, they're good people" I said with a finger point. "I can't help who I love, Kody needs me and if you can't understand that then...I don't know."
"Do you love me?"
"Of course I do, more than you know" I said softly and thought maybe this was the turning point in this stupid fight where Rose realized that she was making a bigger deal out of this than needed to be made. I came over and kissed her and we hugged, that's when she asked the question that broke my heart, cause I knew it was the end for us, "Do you love me more than her?"
"No" I said simply and refused to even look at her as I walked off and disappeared into the bedroom. She came to the floor an hour or so later with a douffle back stuffed full of her stuff hanging over her shoulder.
"I love you Manny Lopez" She said, "I do, but I can't deal with being second and third to a nine year old that's no relation to you or who might not even be here in a week. I love you like crazy and I know you love me too, but I have to have more."
"I love you too" I said softly. "Bye Rose"
"Bye" She said simply. She was gone from my life a few moments later. To this day I have no idea whatever happened to her. And I still miss her. :(
"Was it because of me?" Kody asked a few days later as she again laid in my arms.
"It's always you're fault" I said as I dug my fingers into her tickle spots and made her squeal in laughter and kick her feet as she tried in vain to get away. I think deep down even though she was only 8 years old at that moment she felt it was all her fault that me and Rose had broken up. Truth be told it wasn't her, it was me, my love for her that cost me Rose. It's a price I'd gladly pay again and again if I had too.
Flash forward a bit and now Amanda and I are both 19 and Kody is 9. While both Amanda and me have been in several relationships each, none have worked out exactly great. But where as I have the brains to move on and stop fighting a losing battle when someone hits me (Marsha?), Amanda is too stupid to leave the loser bastard that keeps beating on her. Derrick is seriously the lowest the form of life on this planet. But my idiot best friend is clueless to this and always goes back to him regardless of what he has done to her. See why I call her a hillbilly?
This was actually a few days after Barbara and Rich had asked me to take care of Kody for them again. Rich had lost yet another good paying job and Barb was preggy's for the second time in such a short while and this was 2 times as worse for her. Times were rough to say the least. Derrick the scumbag even lost his so-called job at the garage and had to sit at home on his worthless ass and draw workers comp for a while. Of course my hillbilly brained best friend was all ready with her excuses to defend him at every turn. Sample conversation...
"Why don't he take a job at the Wendy's on the corner?" I asked her one time.
"He's a manager at the Garage Manny, he's not gonna take a starter dead end job" She said.
"Hello earth to Hillbilly Amanda, we're just barely out of the BUSH/CHENEY era you're lucky he's even got a job" I said as she gave me a seriously dirty look. For two reasons, she's a huge Bushie and she believes every word Derrick says. So why not push her buttons two ways at once?
She stormed out after we had another screaming match over Derrick following that and as she was leaving coming up the drive was Stacy. With a box full of paint supplies and too much for one girl to handle (if I do say so myself). I know I haven't mentioned much about Stacy since that brief scene earlier but she slowly worked her way into my good graces over time. Especially after Rose and me broke up and she's been a life saver with Kody. She gladly babysits anytime I need her too and Kody adores her. I'm totally not sure if she's straight, gay or bi, but I know I've got a major thing for her (maybe even more than Amanda). That question was just about to be answered.
"Hey Manuela" She said with a smirk. Using my given name that I don't care much for. That's the sign of a real friend, she can push your buttons like that and you like it.
"Anastacia" I said as she grinned. "You painting already?"
"UH huh, you and that little sidekick of yours wanna help me?" She asked. "Please?"
"You're so cute when you beg" I said as she gave me a weird look.
"Cute huh?" She asked. "You gonna ask me out then?"
"Cute Russian girl say what?" I asked as she shrugged.
"Rose was your girlfriend correct? I heard that" She asked.
"Yeh for once the rumors were right on" I said as she smiled. "So I'm cute, you said so, ask me out."
"Maybe not a good idea, Kody takes up most of my free time" I said. "Otherwise I'd love too."
"You use that kid as a excuse" She said pointedly. "Don't give me no lip, you do. I've seen you checking me out and no I don't mind, I liked it. So I know you like me. Plus you're always friendly to me. Now I'll find a babysitter for Kody if you will let me and we can go out. What about them apples?"
"I like them apples" I said with a huge smile as she blushed and returned it. "You sure?"
"Completely" She said. "Now how about we get to painting my pad? Then we can work out the details?"
"Sure..."
Written by
TVM
Wednesday Night on...
(SPRING 2009)
* * 8:00 * *
Slash TV
* * 8:30 * *
Love of My Life
* * 9:00 * *
My First Time
* * 9:30 * *
Unsung