Defunct Fic: Fandom: American Idol: Cookleta
So, I've been going through my hard drive in preparation to transfer stuff to my new-to-me computer and I've run across a few stories that will never be finished. I'm declaring it Defunct Fic Day. Fly free unfinished stories! Fly high!
The first is this American Idol story. It was going to be Cookleta. This is all I wrote.
::::
On the hotel bed, flinging an arm over his eyes, David sighed and tried to remember what city they’d be in tomorrow. He’d thought all of the travel would be cool, and for the most part it was, but it was also a lot more tiring than he’d ever thought possible. He could hear Archie brushing his teeth and knew without looking that the kid would have on pajamas, probably with some cute print on them, while David sprawled in just his boxer-briefs and a t-shirt, which he’d take off before falling asleep for the night.
He didn’t room with Archie often. Normally he bunked with Michael, or sometimes Jason when Michael’s wife was visiting. He almost never roomed with Chikezie because of the new girlfriend who somehow got a leave of absence from work to tag along on the tour in order to keep an eye on her man.
Tonight, Jason’s parents were visiting the tour, and Michael’s wife was in town for the week, so David was bunking with Archie. Not that he minded. He kind of loved the kid and now that he thought about it, he wondered why he didn’t make an effort to room with him more often, just to keep an eye on where Archie was emotionally and mentally. You know, just to help make sure that he was still being taken care of the way he should.
Sure, there were tutors to catch Archie up with his school work, and the kid’s parents who, except for a weekend now and again, followed the tour everywhere. At least they had their own room now, so Archie had some privacy. They looked out for Archie with an intensity that made David feel claustrophobic on Archie’s behalf. Still, the kid could use a friend and he and Archie had grown pretty close during the massive press storm after the finale. Since then, though, David realized that he’d been hanging out with the “big kids” and leaving Archie to his overbearing father and the girls, who all took it upon themselves to mother the poor kid to death. David hoped that Archie didn’t think that he’d stopped caring, and, knowing Archie, he wouldn’t say anything even if he had.
David sat up and stripped off the ever-scratchy hotel room comforter, flinging it across the chair next to his bed. He looked toward the sink and saw Archie applying the facial cream that the make-up people had given him to reduce outbreaks. He smiled as Archie began to softly sing “Songbird”. David remembered that Archie had said that he’d like to duet with Eva Cassidy when they had been on Larry King Live. David arranged the sheets, pulled off his shirt, and leaned back on a pillow. He closed his eyes and listened to Archie’s voice. He’d heard it often enough, but it still could send shivers up his spine, especially when Archie was just singing to himself, when he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.
“Ready for lights out?” David asked as Archie climbed into bed, his pajamas blue and white stripped, and his face shining with the anti-blemish cream.
“Yeah…” Archie replied, his voice a little breathless as he fought the tightly tucked sheets and covers, trying to worm his way beneath. “Is the alarm set?”
“7:15 sharp.” David pushed the button to turn off the lamp, and the room pitched into darkness except for the glow from the windows, and the occasional car passing by. He remembered now, they were in St. Louis.
“Maybe we should make it 6:50?” Archie’s voice, worried and quick, darted into the darkness.
David grimaced and didn’t move to change it. “We can be ready if we get up at 7:15.”
Archie hemmed and hawed, sounding unsure, but finally he laughed at himself and agreed to leave the alarm alone. David had known that he would. Archie rarely objected to anything except for being picked up and carried around, which David and the other guys got a kick out of doing, probably because Archie was so small and cute, and definitely because for some reason, being carried like a giant sack of potatoes seemed to freak
Archie out, maybe even piss him off, with Archie it was so hard to know, so, of course, that was hilarious.
The rushing sound of Archie moving under the sheets sounded through the room. As David waited for Archie’s breath to settle into a slow rhythm, indicating sleep, he tried to remember when he’d last called his mother, or when he’d last spoken to Adam. The days slid away from him so quickly, and sometimes he found himself embarrassed that it had been more than just a day or two since he’d checked in. Adam never seemed to care; he always told him to live his dream and not to worry about what Adam was going through, but even though everything that had happened since winning Idol was amazing, he sometimes feared that he might be missing out on the last days of his brother’s life.
David sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about that. That was the path which led to no sleep, and he needed to rest. There was another day of non-stop work tomorrow, promotional interviews, and then the show.
“Um, Cook?” Archie asked softly. “You okay? You sound kind of…I heard you sigh…are you okay?”
“Yeah, thanks, man. I’m all right.”
“Oh, good. Okay. That’s good. I just though, you know, with Michael’s wife…I mean, you know how sometimes it can be…and well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
David was silent, not sure what Archie was trying to say, when the kid started talking again, “I mean, do you ever feel…”
David waited, but there was nothing more. “Do I ever feel what?”
Archie’s breathy laugh floated over to him and David could almost see Archie’s mind spinning in various backpedalling attempts to not say whatever it was that he’d started to say and finally deciding to just spit it out.
“You know, do you ever feel…jealous?”
“Jealous? Of whom?” David cocked an eyebrow into the dark and wondered what Archuleta was getting at here. “May I ask why you’re asking?”
Archie tossed in his bed, and David could imagine him squirming, he could tell just by Archie’s breathing that he felt that he was in over his head with this conversation, which made David very curious and kind of concerned. “You can tell me, Archie, I won’t mind. I’m just wondering why you think I’d be jealous.”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Archie blurted. “Stacey’s great, I love her, and I mean you probably love her, too, but I can see how you might be jealous, you know? I mean with how she’s always around and you probably like her, I mean, what’s not to like? She’s great. I love her. You know?”
David rubbed his beard and propped up on an elbow. “Well, Stacey is great, as you say, but she’s not really my type because she’s married to my friend. That usually marks a girl off my list right off the bat. I’m not jealous. Is there some reason you’d think I was interested in Stacey?” He was truly confused by the idea of being into Michael John’s wife to that extent. Stacey was a beautiful woman, but she’d never even crossed his mind in that way.
“No, no!” Archie exclaimed. “I’m sorry. I’m not making sense. Never mind.” He laughed nervously and the sound of him slapping his pillow carried. “Never mind. I’m so stupid sometimes. Forget it.”
“You’re not stupid,” David said slowly. “I’m just confused about what you’re saying.”
“It’s okay. Never mind.”
David lay quietly, listening as Archie fairly vibrated across the way. Something was not right with this picture. He considered the last few days and remembered that he’d noticed that Archie had been a little more withdrawn than usual, and his father had held a tighter leash. David tried to trace it back further, to see if he could find a cause to explain this effect, but he came up empty.
He had almost fallen asleep when he remembered the interview a few cities back where Archie had been asked, yet again, about the female fans who cooed over him, and he’d blushed and waved it all off, stumbling over some typically sweet and naïve answer. Then the reporter had asked him how he dealt with male admirers and Archie had frozen, his eyes darting to his father, and he’d stumbled more than usual, choking on the answer completely.
David sat up in bed, flipped on the light, and looked hard at Archie’s blinking, surprised face.
“What?” Archie asked, looking around the room. “What is it? Are you too cold? You can turn the air conditioner down. That’s okay with me. I’m kind of cold myself.”
David continued to look at Archie, measuring the moment, thinking through his words before he spoke.
“Um, or are you warm? We can turn it up. I can get another blanket. It’s no big deal.”
“Archie,” David said, keeping his voice calm and level. “Were you asking if I was jealous because of Michael?”
Archie rubbed his face and shook his head like he was trying to throw the moment off, he laughed nervously, and said, “Well, I don’t know, I mean…well, it’s not like I think that…but, well, I guess I thought that maybe…and, well, gosh, okay. Yes. Um, yeah, I guess that’s what I was wondering.”
David nodded slowly, closed his eyes, and scratched at his beard, taking his time because he wanted to say the right thing. “Well, the answer is no, because Michael is just my friend. I’m not gay, Archie, if that’s what you wanted to know.”
Archuleta’s eyes widened and he shook his head, raising his hands up, pushing the entire conversation away. “No, no, no! I didn’t! I mean, why would you…? No! Of course you’re not gay. I mean, yeah. I knew that. Gosh. I knew that, you didn’t have to say that.”
David bit his lower lip and looked at Archie’s blushing stuttering from the corner of his eye. “It’s okay to be gay, you know. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Well, I don’t know about that…” Archie trailed off. “The Church of Latter Day Saints doesn’t really support homosexuality.”
David sighed. “Well, that’s too bad. Will they not let you be Mormon anymore if they find out? Is that what you’re scared of?”
Archie’s mouth fell open and his eyes grew impossibly bigger. His complexion grew ashen and he shook his head. “I don’t…I’m not gay!”
David nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m not! I like girls. You’ve seen me, Cook. So many pretty girls! I like them! I just…it’s my faith to wait until I’m married and, hey, just because I’m so busy with Idol doesn’t mean that I don’t like girls. I do! I mean, I love girls! I’m…”
David raised his hands and gently indicated a mea culpa. “It’s okay, Archie. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought that maybe you were trying to tell me something.”
Archuleta looked away and David thought he might start to cry. “Can we just go to bed now?” His voice sounded small and he ducked under the covers, turning his back to David. “I’m tired. We’ve got to get up early.”
David started to turn out the light, feeling conflicted and worried that he’d said the wrong thing. He hadn’t meant to hurt Archie or make him defensive, it’s just that it was obvious to everyone but possibly Archie himself what was going on with him.
“Oh, and can you set the alarm for 6:50?” Archie asked softly.
“Sure,” David said, reaching over to press the buttons to make the change, thinking that getting up at the asscrack of dawn wasn’t punishment enough for the soft snuffling he could hear from the opposite bed.
:::::
David noted the way that Archie faked it the entire next morning, smiling his cute smile, and acting like the conversation the night before had never happened. David kind of wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he just slapped him on the shoulder instead, and said, “See ya at rehearsals. I’m going to have breakfast with Michael and Stacey.”
:::::
And that's where the muse left me. I thought for a long time I might finish it. But, nope. This is it.
The first is this American Idol story. It was going to be Cookleta. This is all I wrote.
::::
On the hotel bed, flinging an arm over his eyes, David sighed and tried to remember what city they’d be in tomorrow. He’d thought all of the travel would be cool, and for the most part it was, but it was also a lot more tiring than he’d ever thought possible. He could hear Archie brushing his teeth and knew without looking that the kid would have on pajamas, probably with some cute print on them, while David sprawled in just his boxer-briefs and a t-shirt, which he’d take off before falling asleep for the night.
He didn’t room with Archie often. Normally he bunked with Michael, or sometimes Jason when Michael’s wife was visiting. He almost never roomed with Chikezie because of the new girlfriend who somehow got a leave of absence from work to tag along on the tour in order to keep an eye on her man.
Tonight, Jason’s parents were visiting the tour, and Michael’s wife was in town for the week, so David was bunking with Archie. Not that he minded. He kind of loved the kid and now that he thought about it, he wondered why he didn’t make an effort to room with him more often, just to keep an eye on where Archie was emotionally and mentally. You know, just to help make sure that he was still being taken care of the way he should.
Sure, there were tutors to catch Archie up with his school work, and the kid’s parents who, except for a weekend now and again, followed the tour everywhere. At least they had their own room now, so Archie had some privacy. They looked out for Archie with an intensity that made David feel claustrophobic on Archie’s behalf. Still, the kid could use a friend and he and Archie had grown pretty close during the massive press storm after the finale. Since then, though, David realized that he’d been hanging out with the “big kids” and leaving Archie to his overbearing father and the girls, who all took it upon themselves to mother the poor kid to death. David hoped that Archie didn’t think that he’d stopped caring, and, knowing Archie, he wouldn’t say anything even if he had.
David sat up and stripped off the ever-scratchy hotel room comforter, flinging it across the chair next to his bed. He looked toward the sink and saw Archie applying the facial cream that the make-up people had given him to reduce outbreaks. He smiled as Archie began to softly sing “Songbird”. David remembered that Archie had said that he’d like to duet with Eva Cassidy when they had been on Larry King Live. David arranged the sheets, pulled off his shirt, and leaned back on a pillow. He closed his eyes and listened to Archie’s voice. He’d heard it often enough, but it still could send shivers up his spine, especially when Archie was just singing to himself, when he wasn’t even aware of what he was doing.
“Ready for lights out?” David asked as Archie climbed into bed, his pajamas blue and white stripped, and his face shining with the anti-blemish cream.
“Yeah…” Archie replied, his voice a little breathless as he fought the tightly tucked sheets and covers, trying to worm his way beneath. “Is the alarm set?”
“7:15 sharp.” David pushed the button to turn off the lamp, and the room pitched into darkness except for the glow from the windows, and the occasional car passing by. He remembered now, they were in St. Louis.
“Maybe we should make it 6:50?” Archie’s voice, worried and quick, darted into the darkness.
David grimaced and didn’t move to change it. “We can be ready if we get up at 7:15.”
Archie hemmed and hawed, sounding unsure, but finally he laughed at himself and agreed to leave the alarm alone. David had known that he would. Archie rarely objected to anything except for being picked up and carried around, which David and the other guys got a kick out of doing, probably because Archie was so small and cute, and definitely because for some reason, being carried like a giant sack of potatoes seemed to freak
Archie out, maybe even piss him off, with Archie it was so hard to know, so, of course, that was hilarious.
The rushing sound of Archie moving under the sheets sounded through the room. As David waited for Archie’s breath to settle into a slow rhythm, indicating sleep, he tried to remember when he’d last called his mother, or when he’d last spoken to Adam. The days slid away from him so quickly, and sometimes he found himself embarrassed that it had been more than just a day or two since he’d checked in. Adam never seemed to care; he always told him to live his dream and not to worry about what Adam was going through, but even though everything that had happened since winning Idol was amazing, he sometimes feared that he might be missing out on the last days of his brother’s life.
David sighed and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about that. That was the path which led to no sleep, and he needed to rest. There was another day of non-stop work tomorrow, promotional interviews, and then the show.
“Um, Cook?” Archie asked softly. “You okay? You sound kind of…I heard you sigh…are you okay?”
“Yeah, thanks, man. I’m all right.”
“Oh, good. Okay. That’s good. I just though, you know, with Michael’s wife…I mean, you know how sometimes it can be…and well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
David was silent, not sure what Archie was trying to say, when the kid started talking again, “I mean, do you ever feel…”
David waited, but there was nothing more. “Do I ever feel what?”
Archie’s breathy laugh floated over to him and David could almost see Archie’s mind spinning in various backpedalling attempts to not say whatever it was that he’d started to say and finally deciding to just spit it out.
“You know, do you ever feel…jealous?”
“Jealous? Of whom?” David cocked an eyebrow into the dark and wondered what Archuleta was getting at here. “May I ask why you’re asking?”
Archie tossed in his bed, and David could imagine him squirming, he could tell just by Archie’s breathing that he felt that he was in over his head with this conversation, which made David very curious and kind of concerned. “You can tell me, Archie, I won’t mind. I’m just wondering why you think I’d be jealous.”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Archie blurted. “Stacey’s great, I love her, and I mean you probably love her, too, but I can see how you might be jealous, you know? I mean with how she’s always around and you probably like her, I mean, what’s not to like? She’s great. I love her. You know?”
David rubbed his beard and propped up on an elbow. “Well, Stacey is great, as you say, but she’s not really my type because she’s married to my friend. That usually marks a girl off my list right off the bat. I’m not jealous. Is there some reason you’d think I was interested in Stacey?” He was truly confused by the idea of being into Michael John’s wife to that extent. Stacey was a beautiful woman, but she’d never even crossed his mind in that way.
“No, no!” Archie exclaimed. “I’m sorry. I’m not making sense. Never mind.” He laughed nervously and the sound of him slapping his pillow carried. “Never mind. I’m so stupid sometimes. Forget it.”
“You’re not stupid,” David said slowly. “I’m just confused about what you’re saying.”
“It’s okay. Never mind.”
David lay quietly, listening as Archie fairly vibrated across the way. Something was not right with this picture. He considered the last few days and remembered that he’d noticed that Archie had been a little more withdrawn than usual, and his father had held a tighter leash. David tried to trace it back further, to see if he could find a cause to explain this effect, but he came up empty.
He had almost fallen asleep when he remembered the interview a few cities back where Archie had been asked, yet again, about the female fans who cooed over him, and he’d blushed and waved it all off, stumbling over some typically sweet and naïve answer. Then the reporter had asked him how he dealt with male admirers and Archie had frozen, his eyes darting to his father, and he’d stumbled more than usual, choking on the answer completely.
David sat up in bed, flipped on the light, and looked hard at Archie’s blinking, surprised face.
“What?” Archie asked, looking around the room. “What is it? Are you too cold? You can turn the air conditioner down. That’s okay with me. I’m kind of cold myself.”
David continued to look at Archie, measuring the moment, thinking through his words before he spoke.
“Um, or are you warm? We can turn it up. I can get another blanket. It’s no big deal.”
“Archie,” David said, keeping his voice calm and level. “Were you asking if I was jealous because of Michael?”
Archie rubbed his face and shook his head like he was trying to throw the moment off, he laughed nervously, and said, “Well, I don’t know, I mean…well, it’s not like I think that…but, well, I guess I thought that maybe…and, well, gosh, okay. Yes. Um, yeah, I guess that’s what I was wondering.”
David nodded slowly, closed his eyes, and scratched at his beard, taking his time because he wanted to say the right thing. “Well, the answer is no, because Michael is just my friend. I’m not gay, Archie, if that’s what you wanted to know.”
Archuleta’s eyes widened and he shook his head, raising his hands up, pushing the entire conversation away. “No, no, no! I didn’t! I mean, why would you…? No! Of course you’re not gay. I mean, yeah. I knew that. Gosh. I knew that, you didn’t have to say that.”
David bit his lower lip and looked at Archie’s blushing stuttering from the corner of his eye. “It’s okay to be gay, you know. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“Well, I don’t know about that…” Archie trailed off. “The Church of Latter Day Saints doesn’t really support homosexuality.”
David sighed. “Well, that’s too bad. Will they not let you be Mormon anymore if they find out? Is that what you’re scared of?”
Archie’s mouth fell open and his eyes grew impossibly bigger. His complexion grew ashen and he shook his head. “I don’t…I’m not gay!”
David nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m not! I like girls. You’ve seen me, Cook. So many pretty girls! I like them! I just…it’s my faith to wait until I’m married and, hey, just because I’m so busy with Idol doesn’t mean that I don’t like girls. I do! I mean, I love girls! I’m…”
David raised his hands and gently indicated a mea culpa. “It’s okay, Archie. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought that maybe you were trying to tell me something.”
Archuleta looked away and David thought he might start to cry. “Can we just go to bed now?” His voice sounded small and he ducked under the covers, turning his back to David. “I’m tired. We’ve got to get up early.”
David started to turn out the light, feeling conflicted and worried that he’d said the wrong thing. He hadn’t meant to hurt Archie or make him defensive, it’s just that it was obvious to everyone but possibly Archie himself what was going on with him.
“Oh, and can you set the alarm for 6:50?” Archie asked softly.
“Sure,” David said, reaching over to press the buttons to make the change, thinking that getting up at the asscrack of dawn wasn’t punishment enough for the soft snuffling he could hear from the opposite bed.
:::::
David noted the way that Archie faked it the entire next morning, smiling his cute smile, and acting like the conversation the night before had never happened. David kind of wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he just slapped him on the shoulder instead, and said, “See ya at rehearsals. I’m going to have breakfast with Michael and Stacey.”
:::::
And that's where the muse left me. I thought for a long time I might finish it. But, nope. This is it.