Cody Brown bio

Cody Brown was born to Richard and Lauren Brown on January 10, 2007. A two-year-old sister, Katy, welcomed him home.

Cody was always happiest when he was with his big sister. As soon as he could crawl, he followed her all over the house so much that Richard and Lauren nicknamed him "Puppy." Whenever she got out of his eyesight, he cried until he found her again.

However, things changed when Katy turned ten. She no longer wanted her little brother hanging around all the time. When Katy locked her bedroom door, Cody would pound on it and beg her to let him in. Eventually, he'd go back to his own room until he heard Katy's door squeak open, and he'd run to be with her.

Richard came home from work one afternoon and found Cody fast asleep outside Katy's bedroom door. He woke his son and took him outside to teach him to catch and throw the football. On the very first toss, the ball hit Cody right in the face. His broken nose convinced Cody that sports weren't for him, and he was perfectly happy for Katy to be the athlete in the family.

As Katy made more friends her own age, Cody spent more time alone. When Katy started cheering in the ninth grade, she and the other cheerleaders often gathered at the Brown house to practice their routines. Cody sat silently, out of sight, and watched them. He learned all the cheers and shouted along with them from the stands at ballgames.

Cody understood from an early age that Katy was his parents' favorite. He made straight As in school, but he always felt he was in Katy's shadow, both at home and among his peers.

When Cody started high school, he decided to try out to join the cheer squad as the school mascot. He already knew all the cheers, and inside the costume, he could be anonymous and still be a member of the group.

Other YHS students considered Cody part of the cheer squad, but he never felt the cheerleaders accepted him as part of the team.

He thought Hugh Shapiro, the only male cheerleader, would be an ally, but he teased Cody as much as the other cheerleaders did. When Katy heard Hugh and Jennifer making fun of Cody, Katy slapped Jennifer and ordered her to leave her little brother alone. Cody heard about the incident later and was shocked to hear that two of the cheerleaders were actually talking about him.

Katy's defense of Cody disappeared when it came to her boyfriend, Tim Howorth, who liked to give Cody wedgies or "Indian burns" every time he got the chance. His family laughed at Tim's roughhousing, but Cody hated it and hid out in his room whenever he heard Tim's car drive up.

When Katy told Cody she was running for homecoming queen, he got busy making posters encouraging others to vote for her. He never stopped looking up to his big sister.