Lisa

I'm really worried about Tony. Could Evan have beat his own brother up so badly and left him unconscious in the woods? I'm praying he'll be ok. I like the little flirting here and there between Sammy and Mike. It was cute. Can't wait for chapter three, Billy! =)

What a powerful chapter, Sasha! It was so emotional, I was crying right along with Nate. And I used to HATE NATE! I'm warming up to him now. That was some breakthrough he had: acknowledging what he did to Clem (on purpose), feeling guilty about it, realizing that he didn't want Clem to be stronger than him, b/c lord knows, he must be the strongest one in the relationship, otherwise he might be "the girl". God forbid! All that crying was so cathartic. He finally broke down in sobs b/c he never let himself do that before. B/c of course it wasn't "manly". Men don't cry and all that shit. And Taylor was there to hold him and comfort him and thankfully, he let him. I hope now he can fully see and understand the error of his ways. I do agree with the reviewers who said he really needs to get away from his father. His father is toxic; he's a poison who has been infecting his son, and Nate has to get away from him. That's the only way he'll get the poison out of his mind. The more he sees his father, the more his father reminds him of what real men do and don't do and all that other shit. Oh, I really liked 'outstanding at throwing a party in a field'. lol. Terrific chapter, Sasha!

Wow, Dolores, that gave me chills. I thought that was terrific.

Well, now we know at least how Nate became so homophobic. His father's a piece of work all right. Mooning over a friend like a lovesick girl - what an ass. Is that the way Nate's grandfather is? What the hell did his mother ever see in him? What a cold bastard. Good for Taylor for sticking up for himself and kicking Nate out. That's what Clem should have done from day one. Clem was one big enabler; he let Nathan get away with treating him like shit, physically and verbally abusing him and God knows what else. Taylor is much stronger than Clem; he's not gonna take any crap from Nate. When Nate was watching Clem crying at the funeral he was disgusted to see Ashlee comfort him. Deep down inside I bet Nathan was screaming out for someone to comfort him. All he's knows from his father, his male role model, is being nasty, angry, rough...so naturally that's how Nathan acts. He's going to emulate his father no matter who he's with. That's all he knows. It's unfortunate that Clem enabled him for all those years, but Taylor won't put up with that shit. Taylor was trying to comfort Nate and Nate WANTED the comfort; he just couldn't let himself be taken care of b/c that's not manly, that's not what men do. Men don't cry and men certainly don't want to be comforted. What a horrible way to grow up. Excellent chapter, Sasha! On to the next one!

Jonah did a very brave thing by letting Ren and Sandro go. I couldnt do something like that, but it does show that Jonah grew up since the beginning of the story. I loved Tim's review (as I usually do), so I can't really add anything else. I also liked how Jonah went up to the tower where he does all of his serious thinking, to make the all-important decision: Ren or Sandro? Great job, Addy! I'm looking forward to the epilogue (well, not really b/c then the story will be over). I'll miss these guys. You'll just have to do a sequel then!

CJ fits in so well with all of his dads' friends. I am feeling bad for Doc - all the signs are pointing to his partner cheating on him and they all know it. I hope for his sake it's not true, but it's not looking good... Great chapter, Carlos!

You should have heard me scream "OH MY GOD!!!!!" the second time Lanny went after Michael and did that knee thing. What a douchebag, number one to even listen to your crazy-stupid girlfriend, woops! Sorry, FIANCEE, and number two, to risk the umps and coaches not believing it was an innocent accident, and getting booted from the game, and number three, doing this to someone who used to be on your team, who was a so-called friend or aquaintance - Lanny is one asshole. And YAY for Kendall for running to the ice regardless of the consequences! And for punching that d-bag in the nose! lol Michael's mom is just the best! I'm glad she was able to tell Kendall what she and her husband have known for quite some time. Great chapter, Gary! Oh, there's this advertisement in front of a liquor I pass every day. The ad is for Kendall Jackson wine. So naturally, each and every time I see it (a few times a day), I think of your Kendall!!

That was so sweet!!!! Even sweeter than the swiss chocolate and the hot chocolate! But swiss chocolate AND chilli...I don't know about that! lol

I'm glad Casey's drunk of a father is locked up. Hopefully for a very, very, very long time. I'm glad he can't hurt Casey or anyone else. I also think Casey's "mom" doesn't even want to TRY to help her son. Ok, yes, the kid looks like her asshole of an ex, but HE IS YOUR SON - YOUR FLESH AND BLOOD, and hell, if her husband beat her how the HELL could she have let her child go with him? I think that's just as bad as the d-bag "father" beating up on Casey. And it seems with her it's one excuse after another - all being how weak she is mentally. Enough is enough. Take the self-pity and get some damned help - your child needs you. And who even knows if what Ellen told Casey is the truth. The "mother" could have just told her to say that when/if Casey called back. I wish Casey told the CPS guy about Jesse James, woops! I meant Jessie AND James! I'm sure Jessie would take him in in a heartbeat. Oohh, maybe Sam and his grandfather are a foster family? Just a thought... And Casey didn't honestly think that he could just walk out of there and no one would go looking for him? lol Great chapter, Rusty! Oh! I just realized Casey's name - KC - was that on purpose? lol

Great story, Carlos! As I've said before, I really loved the banter between Wood and Woodie and also Mary Ann and Abe. They were all so funny. I'm glad that weasel Stan confessed to everything. I can't believe what a racist pig he turned out to be!!!

'Uptown Funk' is such an awesome song! It's a song ya just gotta crank up. Fall Out Boys' new song is pretty good also. They seem to be getting better the older they get. lol

That Mary Ann is a pisser!!! I was cracking up reading her dialogue. lol And the way Wood and Woodie talk to each other was pretty funny too. Woodie actually tells his dad that he's gonna smoke a bong. Omg. lol And the meaty tube line from Wood. lol Hey, did anyone ever make fun of their names? I read a story on another site and the teenager's name was Woodie and there were kids that made fun of his name. And good for Woodie for punching that d-bag stepfather of his. He definitely needed to be taught that he couldn't push Woodie around anymore. I was wondering if they ever found out who spray painted those words on Abe's door. You went right from July, when it happened, to August and nothing else was said about it. I kinda had the feeling it might have been Stan. He was acting strange for awhile, right? Maybe he was jealous b/c Abe and his friend Wood hit it off so well and where did that leave Stan? Even though Wood still invited him to do stuff, maybe he felt left out, you know? Maybe he felt that Abe sort of stole his friend (even though that wasn't true), and he wanted revenge. But we never found out what happened with that and if anything like that happened again. Looking forward to the next chapter, Carlos! Too bad it's such a short story.

Man, I do love me some ABBA. I'll read your story just based on that! lol

Wow, what a chapter, Billionaire! My computer just combusted due to all the heat coming from my screen. Damn, now I have to go to Best Buy and buy another one. I'm sending you thr bill. I hope you're happy. So yeah, good thing you changed the rating! lol Yeah, the warden is certainly a scuz bucket! Omg, what a dick. I didn't understand the last sentence though. What do you mean that Rhys had a lot of messages or something with messages. What did that mean? Looking forward to chapter two!

Heya Billionaire. I haven't read the chapter yet, but I just wanted to let you know that if the story has violence and sex, you'll need to change your rating. You rated the story for everyone, but it's not for everyone. I believe you have to rate it mature b/c of the violence and the sex. I don't believe that teens are supposed to read this type of story. Check with Cia, A.J., or Myr, they'll know exactly how it should be rated. Ok, NOW I'll read it. lol

As creepy and/or obsessive it it, I thought the whole explanation about the bracelets was really romantic (well, in a creepy and/or obsessive way! ). It made me cry (again) reading why Michael thought Ren wanted them and the whole thing about the hair eventually breaking, but as long as Ren can still feel them he has hope. I also wished that Ren had heard Jonah's "I love you too, you moron.". I love Sandro, you know that, but I know how much Ren loves Jonah, despite Ren's stupid mistakes. For goodness sakes, he had a picture of a dove tattooed on his body!! BEFORE THEY WERE EVEN GOING OUT!!!! Ok, so he may be a bit obsessive (ya think? lol), but he loves Jonah and he apologized and told him he should have never said those things to Chris about Jonah and he only did it as a defense mechanism b/c he was so hurt that Jonah would believe he could actually cheat on him with Eric (of all people!). Can't wait for the next chapter, Addy! Oh! Haha, I can read it tomorrow!!! I'll make sure to have my Kleenex with me, just in case.

Yes, I agree with all your readers: Candy and Lanny (if his name was Landy they'd rhyme. lol), deserve each other; they're both bullies in their own way. I think Michael's gonna whoop his ass on the ice, so hopefully Lanny will be eating his threat. I'm so stoked that K&M will be talking after the game. Michael's mom is so damn smart and I hope he remembers what she told him about confessing his feelings to Kendall. Not that he shouldn't, but he should remember that Kendall may not believe him at first, after all, in the six years they've known each other Michael has been straight as an arrow. It may be hard for Kendall to understand Michael's epiphany. Terrific writing, Gary! I'll make sure to have my Kleenex ready for the next chapter!

Ditto what Daddy said. If not for Ricky Sam would still be wallowing in his self-disgust. When Sam was pushing Alex away it was as if he was using one of his defense mechanisms. He was pushing him away b/c he thought eventually Alex would be looking for something else from him and he just couldn't do that. I've read that rape victims find themselves disgusting, tainted, dirty...just like Ricky had said. Sam just didn't want to put himself in a position where he would have to say no to Alex, so he made it about Alex smothering him with all his attentiveness. Granted, Alex may have been hovering over Sam too much, but I think the fear of Alex expecting something from Sam, drove Sam to push him away. I hope they can work this out. I think in conjunction to the therapy with Daniel, Sam should think about group therapy with others who have gone through the same thing, male or female. It might help hearing how other people handle this. Great chapter, Val!

CJ seems very mature for being only fifteen. I don't really know what to say about what Cesar and Brett's friends talk about in front of CJ. I think I agree with LL about the ewww factor. Turning it around, if CJ was a girl and all the friends were straight and Dragon was joking (I hope joking! ), about leaving King (who I guess would be female, so we'll call her Queen for now! lol), for CJ, it would definitely be an ewwww, perv pedo moment, that might very well make the female CJ very uncomfortable. Your CJ, however, lets it roll off of him and doesn't pay his dads' friends any mind. I mean, I guess it's good that the Elite Eight don't have any problems discussing sex stuff with a fifteen-year-old, but was it really necessary? Does CJ really need to know that Dragon and King sometimes bring a third into their "sexual activities"? I don't think CJ needs to know anything about what goes on in his dads' friends' bedrooms, or living rooms, or dining rooms, or kitchens... I know you said in LL's review response that the banter is based on personal experiences, but a seventeen-year-old boy is still generally more mature than a fifteen-year-old boy. A fifteen-year-old boy was a fourteen-year-old boy not too long ago. Oh, and did you ever live in Canada or the UK for a period of time? I noticed you wrote 'humour' instead of 'humor'.

What's up with Casey's father? Is he lying dead in a ditch somewhere? See, it's not what you know, it's who you know. James is a very resourceful kid, knowing exactly who to call to find out where Casey lives. =) And what an awesome friend James is turning out to be! Letting Casey borrow his bow and arrow after just meeting him puts a lot of trust in Casey. I hope the father doesn't find it and sell it, as Casey said he would. Great chapter, Rusty!

Cleaning out my Closet is a really sad song. I can't imagine how bad Eminem's childhood was. I find his older songs are sadder than his recent ones.

What a great chapter, Gary. I felt Michael's pain when Kendall just blew him off like that. But Michael's mom is very smart. It's so true that you can't just turn off an emotion like love just b/c you don't want to love the person anymore. It doesn't work like that. And as Irri said, Kendall has loved Michael for six years; that's a long time to be pining over someone. Especially someone you see every single day. Kendall's love for Michael will be there for a long time to come. I like Moondoggie. Like the others, I think he'll be a good friend to Kendall, despite his feelings of wanting to be more than friends. And now he put that little seed of hope in Kendall by mentioning that maybe Kendall's wrong about Michael. Maybe Chet should have told Kendall that Michael going out with lots of women doesn't mean anything; it's obvious he hasn't found what he's looking for and he won't b/c he's only looking at women. Now Michael's eyes are open and he realizes what he's been missing in all of those relationships: Kendall. =) I also loved the falling-asleep-with-hoodie scene. That was really sweet. Terrific chapter, Gary!

I also think this Bo Burnham song is really sad.

I love the song Headlights, mainly for Russ' voice, but the words are really good, very sad. Eminem's songs are actually really poignant. Legacy is the one that makes me cry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBclhs0eYTg

So THAT'S what they're calling it these days: acrobatics! lol You had me rofl on that one, Carlos! Loved the line (I'm paraphrasing here): "You can fucking say fuck" - omg Cesar is funny! So is Brett. And not only is Brett gorgeous, he's also loaded. Great catch, Cesar! Cesar is funny emailing The Eight and giving them daily updates on CJ. Can't wait to meet these interesting guys!