Rip Cord by Jeanne St. James

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The story told here is probably my secret dream: a high school reunion where the geek guy takes his vengeance on his previous schoolmates finally stealing the attention of the dream man of all of them, guys and girls alike. When Gil was in high school he had a crush on Rip Cord, the bad boy and football player star of the school; obviously Gil has never had a chance with him and he left high school with his dreams unfulfilled. Actually it’s not that Gil after high school changed so much, he didn’t suddenly become a hot shot or the most desired man, and he is now a nice guy, an accountant with a good job and some good friends. But in the end, he is still the same geeky guy, shy and with a bit of self-esteem problems. So, when he receives the invitation to his 10 years high school reunion, Gil would be not of the idea to go if not for his girl best friend that practically drags him.

Things are not going so well, Gil is trying with all his strength to be again a wallflower when he spots Rip; now a professional football player, Rip is not changed so much, he is still the same bad boy. But in one thing he is changed, he is now more than interested in Gil, and the boring night suddenly becomes an adventure with Rip and Gil revisiting their teenager places, but with a change in the script, now it’s not Gil who is secretly spying Rip, it’s Rip who is chasing Gil, in the locker room, in the shower, in the hall…

There are a lot of unanswered questions, after the first encounter with Gil who fulfils his secret dream; he actually has the courage to ask to Rip why he was so detached and uncaring during high school, a question to which Rip actually gives a not so good answer. Then there is the role Rip is playing, the forever bad boy, the strictly top macho man… something that let me think that Rip is not yet arrived to fully accept his sexuality. And then there is the future, what will be of these two when real life will make its appearance? All in all this is a short story, it lasts only a night, and we don’t know what will happen when they will test the relationship with everyday life. But probably, that was not the purpose, the real purpose was to finally give to all the geeky guys inside us a dream night to remember for life.

http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Rip+Cord/exact_match=exact

The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/850354.html