Lisa

Another great chapter, JC! The ending made me cry too. Axel is so sweet and so romantic. Lucky Xavier! =) I found the part where Jake tied up their mom to be pretty funny. I mean, the lady is sick, how much of a physical threat could she possibly be? lol I'm glad Xav is back to help Jake. A thirteen-year-old should not have all the stress that he has had. For that matter, Xavier shouldn't either. I can't imagine kids nowadays taking care of everything that Jake and Xavier do on the farm. At least I can't imagine MY kids having that much responsibility and stress. And I should have mentioned this in my email to you: your writing has definitely improved since you started writing the story, and I know that as you continue writing, it will only get better. =) And for those kind words you said at the end of the chapter!

'Whore chic' - that was so funny! I love the way Dave has no hesitation about defending Mandi to those other girls. They're just jealous they don't have a hunk of a boy to take THEM to the dance. Gay or not. lol And why are they on Mandi's case? I thought being a fag hag was the in thing to be. =) Dave and Nick are such good friends to Alan and Matt. Now A&M will know how the other feels and they can take their relationship to the next level. Great chapter, Thorn!

I'm sitting here with tears running down my face b/c the whole chapter was just so sad. And you're so right; this chapter wasn't anything like "Half Jack". My heart just broke for Tania. I won't call her Anthony b/c she was never meant to be Anthony; she was meant to be Tania. She was just born into the wrong body. Craig broke her. She was happy; she was on her way to becoming who she really was supposed to be: a girl and here comes Craig and in his rage and confusion and maybe even love, he destroyed her. And I think when he raped her, he destroyed himself too. And I think when she killed herself, a part of him died too. And now he's all grown up and he meets this girl who has a brother who probably reminded him too much of Tania and after awhile, he just lost it. Again. And yes, Paul was right, he is partially to blame. Terrific chapter, Thorn. So, so sad.

Eli and Noah are so funny together: "I'll kill the bastard!" "I'll kill the bastard!" They had me cracking up! Someone should really do something about that bastard Derek! I love Eli's mom - she's so intuitive. She'll be so nice and sweet to Noah, he won't know what hit him. lol Great chapter, Rob!

Jeez, I want someone to bring me cinnamon rolls and coffee too. What a great way to be woken up. lol Eh, Mark will be fine with Trey's family. Plus, it's important for Trey, so he has to go. Looking forward to meeting the folks too!

Comsie!!! You always leave us hanging! You're going to named the King of the Cliffies. lol This was a cute chapter, though. I love the way Evan just stares at Greyson trying to wrap his head around the fact that he's there in a hotel room with this famous kid. And Greyson's so cute b/c he doesn't get it. He's so down-to-earth and nice, when he could be stuck up and nasty. Great chapter, Comsie!

Adam, this was truly one of the most powerful stories I've ever read. The emotions between these two boys were so powerful throughout the whole story I found myself grabbing for the Kleenex in almost every chapter. This story is a masterpiece and you are a master at weaving the plot, the emotions...the love Andy and Matt have for each other, the love that is bigger than both of them, into a fantastic journey for the readers. As I've told you before, I purposely put off reading the last two chapters b/c I didn't want this story to end. I have laughed and cried along with Andy and Matt and I never wanted to say goodbye to them. Maybe one day we can re-visit them in a sequel, just to catch up and see what they're doing. In my HEA, I have Andy, Matt, Angie, and Julie all living together as one big happy family b/c I never want to see Andy and Matt apart again.

Adam, I had to go back and reread the prologue before I r&r'd the epilogue. Now the beginning and ending flow together so nicely. I need to read the first chapter over too. lol

Couldn't have said it better than CW did in your first review for this chapter. I want to smack Andy upside his stubborn head! He's so positive that Matt is going to forget him. He's so positive that the miles apart will mean their hearts are distancing themselves. Why can't he just trust Matt? No, Matt can't predict the future, but how many times does Matt have to say that Andy is his? That Andy can never leave him? That Matt will never leave Andy? Jesus, how many people have ever experienced that kind of love and devotion and commitment? This was a terrific chapter, Adam. As all your chapters are. The epilogue is so short I'm afraid to read it! I'm going to start crossing my fingers that Andy doesn't fuck this up. =)

Terrific chapter, Mikey! I love Marcus - I think he is turning out to be such a terrific friend. I also like Brian, despite how he started out. You have me so curious now b/c at the beginning of the first chapter I assumed that Tony and Marcus were together, but they seem to be such good friends now that I see Marcus as just that - a good friend and not a boyfriend. So I am curious. lol Looking forward to chapter three!

I meant to comment about that Duck Dynasty reference. I was going to ask you if you were going for irony here, when I noticed that that was the prompt. lol

You made me cry all over again reading about Gunni's mom leaving, only b/c I can relate so well to that, except I'm not the one leaving, but my kids are. I'm glad Dmitri explained a little bit to Gunni of why Siggi is so nasty to him, not that that's any excuse...but at least he knows Siggi would be nasty to anyone who took Anwar's place. (I know I spelled his name wrong, sorry. You think I'd know by now. lol I'm just too lazy to look it up on Word.) Drunk Dmitri is funny, except when he drops Gunni! lol

Jackie to the rescue! At least she's good for stuff like this! lol Just kidding. She's a good sister, looking out for her brother. At least she's learning to back off. Mark was so cute thinking he forgot something. I think everyone does that. As long as you have your phone and your wallet, (and a credit card), you can buy anything else that you forgot. lol

I remember too, Addy!!! But I happened to catch this thread JUST AS ZACH WAS PUTTING SPOTIFY ON HIS COMPUTER AFTER YOU-KNOW-WHAT!!!!! So that song came on first (ha, no pun intended!!!!!), and it stuck in my head (ok, I admit, I was singing along to it), when I was reading the postings here. =)

"We Were Us" by Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban

I ditto what everyone else said. Like Suvitar, I cried the whole way through. Practically ran out of Kleenex when I read about TJ. And poor Devon, not being able to move on b/c he loved TJ so damn much. Shit, now I'm crying again. The way you started the epilogue with Gram's death and then sending the boys on their vision quest (which I had no idea what it was before this, besides a movie with Matthew Modine and Madonna, lol), was just ingenious. Bringing Zak and Dusty's dads as their guides was such a great idea and just the whole vision quest with these two characters, who were the start of the whole series. "Riding Lessons" started with Zak meeting Dusty at the ranch and then it grew from there. You managed to bring in character after character but still keep the story real and entertaining. And each new character that was introduced I became attached to (well, except for the bad guys like Cody and Carter and his gang). I feel that these guys are a part of my life and I hate to see them go. I just want to keep reading about them. Forever. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to whatever stories you're planning on writing with some of the characters in them. I also ditto everyone else who said you should publish this. It's an incredible series, Andrew, and I know it would sell like hotcakes. =)

Yep, Miracle did sell his soul to the devil. There's no way he can get out of this now. See, I thought it was too easy that Jaemin goes to Brandon and tells him he's his son and he confesses to killing Brad, and Brandon just goes along with it. Maybe his wife threatened him if he didn't call the cops? Gotta say, thank God Sterling was there to save Miracle! Oh, one thing I questioned: I really don't think if you called a police station and asked to speak with someone they just locked up, they would hand the phone to the person. lol I think the person is allowed his one phone call and that's it. But maybe I'm wrong.

Actually Matthew, I was laughing pretty hard. lol Yes, as majjen said, a woman can't get pregnant after a hysterectomy b/c during a hysterectomy, all or part of a woman's uterus is removed. So yeah, men can't have these. There were a few questions I had during this chapter. I made notes: 1. Was Ray texting and driving when he texted Andrew about the flash flood warnings? 2. What does the BBB have to do with shops closing b/c of bad roads? The highway department in conjunction with the mayor's office would most likely make that decision to close the roads. I thought the BBB was the organization where you could file a complaint about a business, report a business for something, check on any complaints brought against a business, etc. They don't have anything to do with closing stores. Wouldn't that just be the owners of the stores themselves who would decide to stay open? But then if consumers aren't going out and the roads are closed, then why would they bother? 3. First the 911 operator asked Ray if Frank was breathing and then a few moments later she asked him if he had a pulse. Wouldn't that be like the same thing? Can you have a pulse and not be breathing and vice-versa? And last but not least, 4. "Get in the bus." or "Get in the ambulance"? Sorry Matthew, I'm not usually this critical, just wanted to make sure of what I read. Now, on to the review! I hope Frank's going to be ok. I know Ray will blame himself if anything serious is wrong with him. I'm so glad he finally has a family to call his own. He needs to tell them about idol, though. =) Looking forward to the next chapter, Matthew!

Oh, no more ANGST!!!!! lol What an awesome chapter, Thorn! You wrote the concert with such detail that I could picture Nick up there belting out his songs. I bet now all the groupies, boys and girls, will come out of hiding and he'll be bombarded at school. lol I used to do that - develop crushes on the lead singers of the bands who performed in the high school talent shows. lol I'm such a groupie. I think Mandira's mom is totally awesome! Mandira is lucky to have her. And of course it's FANTASTIC that Craig got what he deserved. But five years - I would have thought it would be a bit more. Oh, and you spelled lasagna wrong; it's with an 'a' at the end, not an 'e'. It's my favorite food, so I should know. lol Shit, now I'm hungry.

I have to say, I'm really disappointed in Andy. I know he's only fifteen and his hormones are running rampant, and he's a nympho anyway, but he should have never gotten in Mark's car. I'm glad once it was over he felt guilty. As he should. Randy's assholeness (is that even a word? lol), just keeps increasing each chapter! lol What a tool. Funny though, I like Mark. He seemed sweet and he didn't really pressure Andy. Hopefully the glass breaking on the picture of Andy and Matt won't mean seven years of bad luck for Andy. And hopefully it doesn't symbolize the 'breaking up' of A&M's relationship.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y C A S S I E!!! I hope you have an awesome day, Cassie!!!

Kitt!!! I love all your story prompts! This one is really cute. I'm with Kate though on those horoscopes. lol

Oh, I forgot to point out that in the last chapter the school in New Hampshire was called Lexington Academy, and in this chapter Brandon called it Lancaster Academy. I forget what it was in previous chapters, but for some reason Lexington sounds more familiar.

I ditto Bob. Every time I'd see a new chapter posted, I would get so excited b/c I loved reading about the gang. It was like they became part of my life, like my extended family. =) I was so proud of Chris and Luka for being so brave. I'm glad Carter and his asshole homophobes will be behind bars for quite some time. I hope the authorities considered what they did to Spin and Luka a hate crime. Can you get more jail time for that? I'm looking forward to tomorrow's chapter. Great work, Andrew.

Matt is good; he's not led into the path of temptation. lol Andy, on the other hand, thinks with his little (or maybe it's his big head, lol), head more than the noggin that contains his brain. Randy continues to be his asshole self, only caring about himself. Good chapter, Elias!