Billy Chase - 104

[Former Member]

Where's this week's Billy Chase? I've been checking every 20 minutes or so since some time Wednesday afternoon, but that doesn't seem to have made it appear. After the bit about whatshisname being the tutor in the last chapter, I was really looking forward to this one. You picked the wrong week to be late, Com

 

In other news, when Chapter 104 shows up online, this will be the discussion thread for it, I guess.

 

PS: "Whatshisname." How's that for covering up plot spoilers AND covering up the fact that I forgot his name? I feel so clever... ^^

[Altimexis]

Oh yes, it's there now.

 

Just as Billy starts to wonder for the first time, we are inevitably drawn to wonder if this is the calm before the storm. There are so many hanging issues and Billy seems to have touched on most of them in BC 104. Bobby is still a time bomb waiting to go off and Billy is beginning to realize this. He knows it's coming, but he keeps putting off doing anything about it, making a blow-up almost certain. What will happen when Bobby blows up and potentially outs Billy to the school? Or will he just go to Brandon and scare him off? To me this is the biggest hanging thread in the story.

 

However, Sam is another interesting hanging thread. Billy actually got up the courage to ask Sam if he thinks Billy acts gay. I think this is Billy's way of testing the waters, but the answer he got back was a bit more than he bargained for - not only doesn't Billy act gay, but Sam would certainly know if his best friend were gay - come on now. So this leave Billy torn - come out to Sam and risk losing him as a friend because he's gay, or come out to Sam and risk losing him because he never told him he was gay. Of course, the longer Billy waits, the worse it will be, particularly now that he's tested the waters. Too bad Billy's only 14 (how many years has he been 14 now?) and doesn't know this yet.

 

Now what about Jamie Cross, Billy's secret long-time crush? I can't recall if we ever learn if he's a junior or a senior, but what is he doing talking to a lowly freshman like Billy? Why would he invite him to a party for juniors and seniors? Does he like Billy, or does he like Billy. We all know how hot and popular Billy is, even if he's the last person to know it. I'm betting it's the former, just because Billy's a nice guy and very popular, but who knows. What would Billy do now that he's got the boy of his dreams, only to find that his original crush - the one he thought was impossibly out of reach - wants him? There are so many things that could happen at that party - I don't even want to think of all the possibilities. At least it's pretty far off, in Billy Chase days, anyway. I wonder if Billy will take Brandon to the party.

 

So what about Brandon? I think the scene with Brandon was amazing - he totally opened up to Billy - if Billy doesn't get it yet, then he's way to dense to be allowed to live, even if he is only 14. Brandon just expressed it so well, and it's exactly the sort of thing Aaron went through in my story, Love in a Chair. Brandon tried to ignore his feelings and to pretend that his JO fantasies were just a phase, but then he fell in love with Billy and he couldn't ignore them any more. Brandon's afraid of being gay. He couldn't have been much more direct - maybe Billy could hide his emotions and stay in the closet, but Brandon was way too far gone to hide his emotions - that's why he's been avoiding Billy.

 

An interesting irony here is that Brandon actually wondered allowed what he's going to say to his dad. Billy, on the other hand, is so busy hiding in the closet that he hasn't even thought about what he'll tell his dad, or his mom, or anyone for that matter. The bottom line is that while Billy accepted his being gay much more quickly, Brandon is actually dealing with it. Billy is a freshman and he has at least two boys chasing after him and maybe an upper class man interested in him and he's popular and visible - his risk of being outed while still only a freshman in high school seems a little high to me, and when that happens, things could spiral out of control for Billy. As I said, it's too bad he's only 14 - he needs to do some grown-up things, and doesn't know how.