A Class By Himself

[Agincourt]

This discussion is about the multi-chapter story A Class By Himself which currently stands at 18 chapters. It is unfinished.

 

I am going to try not to mention any significant spoilers, but readers should be warned.

 

As the story opens, young Derrick, the protagonist, has transferred from his old familiar school in the grittier part of town to a fancier, preppy school because Derrick is so smart. The new school is populated with obnoxious rich kids who resent Derrick's presence. It is presided over by a completely clueless principal who could not be more ineffectual. Its computer system is wide open to hackers, including one student who gleefully alters records right and left. Derrick is ashamed because he comes from a humble home, where his mother has to struggle to make ends meet. His father died several years earlier.

 

Derrick's one salvation is meeting one particular rich kid, Tanner, who is not like the rest. Derrick and Tanner discover that they are both attracted to one another, and in the course of the story fall hopelessly in love. Tanner's family despises Derrick because he comes from the wrong side of the tracks, and treats Derrick with unspeakable rudeness. Tanner, however, persists in adoring Derrick, and the feeling is definitely mutual.

 

As Derrick and Tanner become more smitten with each other, events conspire to frustrate their attempt to be together. By around chapter 6 or 7, one particular adversary appears whose demented obsessiveness is almost ludicrous in its extremity. This adversary is one of the other rich kids, and he has the emotional maturity of a three-year-old. Yet in the face of all the depravity that this kid brings about, Derrick somehow maintains a noble ability to see some good in him. Derrick also displays a stubborn ability to ignore or reject any help from all the resources around him in dealing with his situation. He has the typical teenager's approach of assuming the entire world's problems fall on him alone.

 

The adversary's most potent threat against Derrick is blackmail, threatening to out Derrick and Tanner at school. Inexplicably, Derrick doesn't think to conceal a small recording device to capture what this adversary has to say in private, which, if recorded, would represent a weapon against that adversary ten times more powerful than any threat made by that adversary. And Derrick has an entire neighborhood of old friends, headed by his friend Joel, who would almost certainly be happy to run to his rescue if they were but asked. But nothing like this occurs. As a result, Derrick is pushed further and further into a desperate corner.

 

I began reading this story in the naive belief that with 18 chapters posted, it was probably complete. I was wrong. It became clear to me by chapter 17 that there was no way it was going to be wrapped up by chapter 18. In fact, when I finished chapter 17, I then skipped to the very end of chapter 18 and determined that the story was unfinished. I almost didn't read chapter 18, in fact, but finally decided to do so. In reality, nothing of consequence actually happens in chapter 18; it is just angst and aftermath from chapter 17.

 

This is a strong story, and it becomes particularly strong in the chapter 16-17 region. However, I would estimate that it is anywhere from 6 to 10 chapters away from being finished, possibly more. At the current rate of posting (one or two chapters per year), it could be 2014 before we see a conclusion. I'm not sure in retrospect that I would ever have started it had I known this.

 

I wish the uncompleted stories had some sort of notation to indicate that they are still "in progress," so that readers could choose whether to get started with them. It's kind of Truth in Advertising.

 

In the meantime, in this story, I hope that Derrick will find a way to empower himself and quit being such a punching bag for every force of adversity. In a just world, a number of his fellow students would be in juvenile detention on criminal charges, and the school principal (and probably a number of other administrators) would be fired immediately for corruption and incompetence. Or, in a variation on that theme, Derrick's friends from the old neighborhood would see to it that the lacrosse team members can never play another game, and on top of that they would be framed so they get busted on whatever charges the friends can contrive. Somehow I suspect this won't happen, however. Derrick's soft spot for the adversary mentioned earlier, coupled with his general reluctance to do anything particularly courageous, pretty well assures this.

 

Sorry if this post sounds kind of frustrated. I know that this is a big project to finish, and I know that certain parts of chapters 16-17 must have been extremely difficult to write. I'd like to see the story completed sometime soon, but the odds of that seem pretty slim. Sigh.

 

A

[Mark M]

OMG I LOVED this story!!!! seriously i've been waiting months for comsie to get around to this and Savage moon but both seem to be on hold :'( with a story thats like 180+ chapters long......i'm almost tempted to read that one! while i wait!

[option]

bump

 

would be nice to have some idea if this story will be finished

(hopefully before steve jobs has the internet banned )

[Benji]

bump

 

would be nice to have some idea if this story will be finished

(hopefully before steve jobs has the internet banned )

 

..........I have been following MOE (My Only Escape) and this one for years, I do wish Dom would finish one of them, I know one of them is based on life and he has a hard time approaching it, so it is a given that take all the time you need. The other, I would like to see closure on.