Irritable1

I think Headstall has a point though. The current boyfriend is not the same person as the last one and you can't know how he'll react till you talk to him. And maybe you accept what he has to say and maybe not, but at least you could give him a chance to speak for himself.

I think if he were a girl this kind of inappropriate attention would be called out as the invasion of privacy that it is. Were I his parent I'd be really angry.

Until someone more knowledgeable responds---I'd be extremely careful. If someone feels they have to hide who they really are, the mere fact of the deceit is a stressor on the relationship already. And then if you keep a secret for a certain length of time, it can get harder to reveal instead of easier. It's not the same thing, but I've known straight Indians who kept American-born partners secret for years, because once you've started the pretense, it's hard to stop.

Oh my gosh, Roy is such a goner. He hears Chad say, "We're more friends than anything," and his heart plummets--as mine did! Even I couldn't tell at first quite why I felt like crying! And then Chad demonstrates again that he's "involved" and Roy hears angelic voices Really skilled writing, Cole, I love it.

I am absolutely delighted with Rob and Eric's parents. They're awesome, specially when they stomp on Rob. I can only imagine the hand gestures Rob was making behind his mom's back... Hee. And I don't mind being Eric. He's got a clue about how normal people behave, i.e. not giving away other people's business to everyone!

Wow. This is pretty creepy.

Wow, this is fantastic. Simple, elegiac, and crisp. My only suggestion would've been to change "be" to "been a tennis phenom?" Really, really nice.

Yeesh. Tim has it right. "Toxic" is definitely the word.

Oh please. An actual chick would've quietly put the jock in her handbag and never even HAD the conversation.

You get back behind that desk, you little devil, and stay there! OH MY GOD I AM SO CONFUSED :facepalm:I refuse to believe Ren is innocent in this whole horrible mess. I think Jonah should go into a monastery. And oh lord, should he really have gotten into bed with Chris?

Chad the supportive protector I was like, Wait, when did Chad become the confident one? and then I thought through the evenings events a little bit and it all made sense. Poor Roy, I'm pleased Chat could see through him. And good for Peterson for getting over his anxieties! I'm all warm and happy..

Awww, I'm so glad Joe's better and getting some positive attention on all fronts Why did he not use the L word back though??? I mean, ok, it's obvious how he feels, but still!

The sweetness in the last two lines is just so great

Ignore my question if you wish, but is the responding body yours or another's? I was thinking of it as the disconnection and near-paralysis one feels in the early morning sometimes... I love the marimba reference and the unspecific optimism of "new things" !

Tom Magliozzi died today. His radio show will be more familiar to East Coast Americans. He was one half of Click and Clack.

What a sweet chapter But I do think it's time for Robin to stop teasing poor Kieran with this We have to talk stuff. It's really not very nice. And Rebecca needs some kind of medical treatment, this is so far beyond normal...

My darlings, have you seen this already?

Hee. I was with Dave for a minute, i.e. YOU BETTER DUCK, but now I'm feeling pretty good. We end the chapter with Jonah in Ren's arms, not furious about anything, Ren is being very loving, and let's face it, that's a better note to stop on than we've had in a while. I am still sad about Michael, but on the bright side, now it turns out that Jonah actually has one relative (Stephania) who has not yet meddled in his life at all, at least not during this story? Maybe she'll get to be the deus ex machina at the end?

Every time I see this title I get excited at the idea of owls transforming into cars.

It's so funny how the T or T gestalt changes from block to block. The first year we did it, in our old neighborhood, one woman said, "I HAVE WAITED SO LONG!" My kid was the first one she'd seen on Halloween in 3 years but she'd got her porch light on and her candy ready Edit: My Glint is a vending machine this year and she's got a bag of tokens for people to feed into the machine and she'll give them candy. Someone needs to be close at hand to carry the tokens. I don't know how she's going to juggle all the bags. Edit2: heehee. Glint kept count of Elsas. 23.

I was so relieved that they finally spoke to each other instead of to everyone else in the vicinity! I wasn't tricked by the title--I knew you wouldn't dare have Nelson turn Eric down --but I did wonder if the eavesdropper had started a whole new round of gossip? And then they're in the same room and finally on the same page... sigh, young love... And then all of a sudden Nelson's thinking, "He's taller than me, but I could take him." It's one of those martial arts things, isn't it? I seem to recall girls talking the same way at one point...

I took the day off so I could attend the Halloween school concert without guilt and arranged a deadline for last night. The #%&%$^s moved the concert to Monday and I worked all last night instead. We're in a very heavily decorated and trafficked neighborhood, it gets super crowded with elaborate haunted houses set up on people's porches and little kids stopping in their tracks, terrified by the displays I'll probably just wear a sparkly witch's hat, helps with visibility. Any more costume just makes it difficult to find my companions in the dark and the artificial fog.

Ok, that was hilarious, but I still feel bad for poor Gareth.

Awww. You made me well up a few times with this chapter, Cole! Including in the hardware store parking lot... The bit with Chad crying in the car... even though we know that Roy will never give up Chad for Peterson, I still felt so terrible for Chad, as anxious as he was. And then you just had to quote one of the saddest moments from Tales of the City! I always thought Jon was a snobbish jerk, to be honest. Who would give up Michael Mouse just because of that incident? Weirdly, the one person I didn't feel so bad for in this chapter (for once) was Peterson. So, it turns out that he wasn't in denial all that time, and he's actually had a long, passionate love affair, and every prospect of another one, with a cute younger guy who thinks he's wonderful. I guess I'm being insensitive, but I don't see what he's got to mope about! I just hope that Chad heeds the advice Peterson gave him. All in all, a very satisfying chapter, even if they didn't fling themselves at each other yet