Cynus

Stay tuned for consequences. When this story is all said and done, I'll hope I've caught you off guard a few times, even while I've also led you directly to where you expected. That's the ultimate goal for most of my stories, to take you down a convincing path you anticipated, but realized the journey is completely different from what you expected it to be. Get ready for some big changes. Thank you for the review!

Travis won’t talk to me. I’ve been trying for days, and now I don’t know what to do. The day after he texted me, he showed up at school with a black eye and a limp, but he ignored my attempts to talk with him. I don’t know what happened, and I don’t think I’ll be able to find out. I’ve tried texting him and emailing him, and nothing works. He didn’t even come to gym class on Friday or the other class I share with him, either. I finally found a friend here, and already he’s gone. Fuck. A

There will be more this time tomorrow. I think my favorite parts of writing this were the family interactions, which is unusual for me, since I'm really not much of a family man. I'm glad you enjoy them as much as I did. And yes, there certainly is more than meets the eye with Travis. I hope you enjoy the reveal once it's made. He has his reasons for what he did. Are they good ones? Only you can be the judge once he makes them known to us. Thank you for the review!

Since Clint is my inner child, I had to create a family for him which I thought represented my ideal. Clint needed to be protected, after all, since I'd want my inner child safe and secure in his home environment. I hope that if I'm ever in a position to serve as a father figure to a person, I'll be like Clint's dad. I look forward to your response to chapter five. Thank you for the review.

Travis' grandparents do have a great deal of influence on him, as to what that entails... you'll find out soon. There's more to him than meets the eye, that's all I'll say about it. I'm excited for you to find out just what that means, though not excited enough to spoil it for you. We should all get a pizza at Salvatici's, don't you think? Thank you for the review!

Clint and Angie will have that conversation, I promise. Maybe they'll even do it with Nikola standing over them, working in his father's pizza restaurant (This is a solid twenty years before Cup of the Worthless, after all) Travis' motivations will also be made clear sooner rather than later. I don't know if you'll agree with him or not, but he does have his reasons for saying what he did. There's a lot going on in our little friend's world, and there's far more to him than meets the eye. Thank you for the review!

Travis certainly has his reasons, whether they're good ones or not will be up to you to judge once you learn them. I won't spoil anything for you there. But his role in the story is certainly not over yet, and we'll see a lot more of him as we progress further. All of the major players in the story have been introduced already, though there are a few minor characters to come who do influence things. I like to think that the only reason Clint hasn't told Angie is because he doesn't want to change the relationship he already has with his sister, and despite the unlikelihood of her being a homophobe, he fears upsetting her more than anyone. She's the closest person to him, and he doesn't want anything to alter that. I hope you enjoy chapter 5. There are answers there, and it's one of the most important chapters in the story. Thank you for the review!

I'm glad you noticed the Salvatici's. I don't really know if my readers will find this story more or less straightforward than my usual work. If I had to guess, I imagine it's more straightforward than usual, though I do still try to misdirect everyone. Angie will know soon enough, just you wait and see. We'll know who her mystery man is, too. Chapter 5 gets a little crazy. Thank you for the review!

Self-esteem has never been a Clint issue, at least not the kind that debilitates you. He might counteract a small lack in his confidence through bravado, but he definitely believes in himself, and for that matter he believes in everyone around him, too. Travis and Donny don't quite know what they're in for, yet. Thank you for the review. Sorry my reply is so late.

A very merry day of existence to you.

Donovan Sharpe. I never saw that coming, and I’m still thinking it over. I’m a bit wary about trusting anyone who keeps the company of a guy like Brent, but he did fix my phone, and he did give it back to me without any questions asked . . . for free even! I guess I’ll just have to find out which Donny is the real Donny, though I should ask Travis for more details about him, considering the comments Travis made the day we met. Travis! He doesn’t know I have my phone back, yet. I need to

I made this today. http://www.mongolfood.info/en/recipes/tsuivan.html

A very merry day of existence to you.

That's what I love about the countryside. It seems to work that way no matter which rural community you belong to. I lived in Icheon, South Korea (Not to be confused with Incheon) for six months, and that place had a sense of community like nowhere I'd ever lived before or since. Its certainly not a completely lost art.

Good on you.

Will do. That sounds lovely, actually. I developed my skills in this regard as a missionary. It's quite refreshing to do it without the churchy bit. Hehe!

I personally believe that the sickness in our society, the one which leads to the upwelling of depression, anxiety, violence, and bigotry, is rooted in the same cause for all symptoms. Terry Pratchett put it bluntly when he said, “Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” Others have expressed the same sentiment in different ways. A famous saying, usually attributed to the current Dalai Lama, is “People were created to be loved, and things were created to be used. The reason the world is in chaos is because everything is the opposite.” I’ve pondered this recently, seeking answers for the chaos in my own life, and I’ve come to understand a few things. We are depressed, anxious, violent, and bigoted, because either we are being used, or we are doing the using. It is a problem within society as a whole, and we are all victims of it in one way or another, whether directly or indirectly. We go to our jobs, we go shopping and spending all in the pursuit of money or things; we worship both in our society, while neglecting the people around us. At the same time, our coworkers, friends, family, and everyone we pass on the street is doing the exact same thing, neglecting us in the process. In this age of increasing connectivity, we have never been more disconnected from each other. Humans are tribal people, forming likeminded groups as easily as any other primate, yet we’ve lost that somehow. Even in the groups we are a part of, we rarely connect fully. Instead, we pull out our phones and text those who aren’t there. We email and check facebook(our false tribe) instead of engaging fully in conversations with others. I’m not saying this in order to convince people to give up their phones, or to try and convince people to stop pursuing money or nice things. Those things are tools, and they are great to use for all manner of purposes. What I’m asking for is a perspective change; I’m asking you to look at the world in a different way, and to take a moment to appreciate those around you who may be going through the exact same things you are. A good friend of mine, Greg, shares a lot of my perspectives on this issue. A few weeks ago he posted about the subject, and asking a lot of good questions. One observation he made was that it’s now considered rude to make eye contact with people at the grocery store. Striking up a conversation with a complete stranger is almost a taboo. His remarks sparked an idea for me, and out of that idea The Hello Project was born. Greg and I decided we would pick a grocery store and go there together, meeting random people and complimenting them without any strings attached. We had our first ever event yesterday, and it was a blast. We set out with these adorable business cards which read: “Hello. You’re awesome. Keep it up!” We split up and approached different people, striking up conversations or complimenting them, and then handing them a card and walking away. In the space of an hour, I had meaningful conversations with ten people, learned most of their names and a little about them, and left them with a smile. Marcus is a gay writer who lived in both Anaheim and Boston. He’s really bisexual, but he prefers men over women. He loves cats, but owns a dog instead. His favorite genre is horror. Terry loves the San Francisco 49ers, and his favorite color is orange. He often matches his hats and his shoes, and has a wide collection of both. He was shopping with his wife because of a death in the family, but despite that he had a smile on his face and greets life with optimism. Rebecca believes that everyone is a beautiful mess; we all have problems, but we all have beauty. She has a tattoo of a thorny rose bush on her right bicep, intricate in black and white. Beneath the tattoo is written “A beautiful mess”. She had the tattoo done by a local artist, K. Olsen, whom she collected carefully to make sure the tattoo would be done properly. Liz loves butterflies. She has a shirt and earrings which both depict them and often wears them together. In college she took an etymology course but only caught one butterfly, instead catching mostly beetles and grasshoppers. She came to the store because the weather finally wasn’t too hot. Layton loves San Pellegrino. It’s his guilty pleasure. He’s tried every flavor, but the grapefruit one is his all-time favorite. He’ll give the Aranciata Rosa another try based upon my recommendation. He came to the store just to stock up for the summer. Clayton and his wife (she didn’t offer her name) were at the store preparing to host their grandchildren for a week. They were buying all sorts of candy, sweets, and soda to spoil them. Clayton is nearly blind and walks with a leading cane to help him make sure he doesn’t run into things. He refused my card on the grounds that he couldn’t read it, and he’d forget what it said soon after I gave it to him. Teri and Lillian are mother and daughter who love cutesy things. They fell in love with the summer ceramic platters on display, and we spoke briefly about ceramics in general. Then they asked me what I’d spent the day doing and I told them about the farmer’s market down the road where I’d spent my morning. We spoke at length about that, with them showing increasing interest as the conversation continued. They decided they wanted to check out the market and will do so soon. They loved the cards I handed them so much that they were excited to hand them out to someone else and help them have a good day. I then met a woman who was waiting in the deli for her husband to finish shopping. She was escaping the hot weather, and taking a much needed rest. We didn’t speak much about anything other than how the weather had been changing so dramatically, and though this may seem a cliché topic for strangers to discuss, in that moment it was simply the most important thing. I didn’t get her name, but we were smiling all the same. The last man I met was Sean. He had a long but well-groomed beard, blonde and gray. I complimented him on his beard and then gave him the card, not wanting to hold him up for long. He stopped then, laughed at the card then gave me one in exchange and told me to call him up if I ever needed beard care products and he’d give me a deal. I thanked him then let him go. It was one of the best hours of my life. I loved meeting all of these people. I had a handful of unique moments and unique conversations in such a short time, and I’d given those people a reason to smile. I haven’t had an experience like that in a long time, and it was beyond awesome. I’m positive each of those people is going to remember this moment, at least for a little while, and my hope is that each of them will feel a little less alone in this world. Hopefully, the pressures of society (depression, anxiety, violence, etc.) will fill a little less oppressive this week, and they’ll think of this as a bright spot. It may not be much, but don’t forget to smile at the people around you. Remember that people are to be loved, not used. Remember that in a brief moment, you make a person’s bad day become a little less awful, or make a person’s good day even better. We all have both, and we could all benefit from a little more community. Be well, and don’t forget to say ‘hello’. You are awesome. ~ A. Stranger(Cynus)

Yep. Clint is my little fearless inner child. I mentioned in the first chapter that Clint is both short and scrawny (which is how he fit into the locker in the first place). But that mouth of his sure protects him from less courageous individuals, eh? The Travis and Clint storyline will only continue to grow more complicated, especially with Donny in the mix. Trust me though, you'll like where the rabbit hole takes us in the end, though the journey may be fraught with peril. A lot of threads going already; are you ready to see how they tie together? Thank you for your review, as always. I look forward to seeing what you think of the later story.

So you noticed Travis' instant attraction to the idea of Clint's twin sister, huh? Good eye. Obviously I can't spoil what happens there, but I think everyone will enjoy it when Travis and Angie meet. As to his sexuality . . . I'm not going to touch on that at all. Feel free to speculate as much as you want, THAT I'll have to remain tight-lipped about. Sheila's reasons for being a total bitch will also be made clear. In time, anyway. It's true she has a complex history with Travis, and we'll get to see quite a bit of it as the story progresses. There's two sides to every story, after all. I didn't think about it this way, but I believe you're right. It probably is Clint's strength of personality which attracted Donny to him. I love learning new things about my characters from my readers! Thanks! I appreciate your review. Thank you for your comments. I look forward to hearing from you on future chapters.

The funny thing is, I created Sheila on a whim. I didn't know exactly where this story was going to take me when I started writing it, and when I reached this chapter it was as if there was a big flashing sign that said "INSERT BULLY HERE". She ended up being a fun sparring partner for Clint, and so I'm glad I included her. Donny is a complicated character. I don't know that I can say much more about that at this time, but there's a lot in store for him. He has a tremendous amount of bearing on the plot, so pay close attention. Travis is every bit as complicated as well. I learned a thing or two about complex characters over my last few stories, and this, I believe, has been a great culmination of that. Thank you for the review. I look forward to your thoughts on future chapters.

I have yet to read that story by Ronyx. I've read a couple of his other tales. I'm rather fond of "Birds Don't Sing Before A Storm". Perhaps, upon this comment, I'll have to check out "A Delicate Situation". Thank you for the review!

Thanks, Lux. I look forward to hearing more from you as the story progresses. Thank you for the review!

Thank you for the review, Spikey. Heavy themes are somewhat unavoidable for me, unfortunately. It's really at the core of my writing style, probably because I am a rather dark person in reality. I did aim for this to be lighthearted at the same time. Did I miss the mark? Only time will tell, but I was pleased with this story when I finished it. One thing I'll add here is that, as with much of my work, not everything is as it seems. I set out to hide some things in plain sight, which is a common strategy I employ, and hopefully when these things are revealed you'll enjoy them. Indomitable is a great word to use for Clint. Maybe that should have been the title? Maybe I should consult my thesaurus more diligently in the future. Clint has plenty of spirit in store for anyone who messes with him, that's for sure. Donny . . . Oh boy . . . there's certainly a lot in store for Donny and Clint as well, and that will be readily apparent in the upcoming chapters. But I promise, there's a lot of good included, though it will not be a remotely smooth ride. I appreciate your comments.

Welcome, Donim! I think I'm going to like your stories.

The showers taunt me. I’m the only kid in the school who wants to use them, and I didn’t bring anything to protect my cast. It’s times like these which remind me how much of a hypocrite I can be. Ever since I came to this school I’ve wondered how the other students can stand not showering after gym; I’ve wondered what they’re afraid of. Yet, despite how I feel about it, I’m not brave enough to lead the way. Until now; and now I can’t. By the time the doctors take the cast off, I’ll prob