Hunter Thomson

David's actions are incredibly unhealthy and are going to lead to something horrible happening to him. This is classic dissociative disorder, and it pains me that no one can see it. Of course, the only professionals who might recognize it aren't able to see him, so that could be why. My heart's breaking for Twoey. Everyone he loves destroys him in some way. I find it amazing that he's able to keep trusting people after all that keeps happening to him. I hope that he doesn't become jaded and give up trying to find someone that truly loves him.

The whole sex tape issue was really, really disgusting. Nicely done. That was exactly the reaction I would have had if I was David, and it came off as very natural in his reactions. David's new teacher sounds exactly like how we're all being trained to be teachers! I recently finished my degree and they were drilling it into us that we shouldn't feel constrained to just use the textbooks the schools provide anymore, and to focus more on critical thinking and bringing in new source materials whenever possible. I love that you incorporated that into your chapter. Fills me with pride as an educator, and shows you did some research before you started writing.

Thank you both for your kind words of encouragement. I'll be okay, just going through a bit of a moment.

Thank you for your review. I appreciate the passion you have for the characters and the problems they are facing.

Do you ever get the feeling like you're not good enough? Yeah, that's me. This guy. The one with more awards on his shelf than he knows what to do with, who's helped shaped and pass legislation in the face of bitter and personal opposition and who's repeatedly distinguished himself academically and politically. I know what I've done with my life so far, and right now all I can muster is a "so what?" I'm still dangerously underemployed. I'm 26 and live with my parents. I have no immediate prospects for work in either my political field or my educational field (though there are a few people pulling strings for me in the teaching world), and I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe I'll be working full time in the near future. Frankly, this isn't where I thought I'd be, and it's playing hell with my plans that I made for myself. The plan was to be teaching or a full-time worker by now, building up my contacts in the community and preparing for a run at municipal politics next year. I'm not ready. No one thinks I'm a serious candidate in spite of how well I acquitted myself before. I'm seen as a gadfly, and by all rights people are correct. I have nothing in my life that signals I'm a serious being. I'm supposed to be one of the people who helps shape my little corner of the world, maybe make things a bit better than they were. How am I supposed to accomplish anything like combating homelessness when I can't even land a job? I hate this.

I think Devin expected a chance to at least explain what had happened. There's no easy way to talk about issues like that, but now there's an unresolved hurt between them. Pain like that festers and makes things worse. I'm pretty sure Devin already knows how it feels to be worthless and treated like garbage.

No one officially has Thanksgiving on a Saturday, but some families find it easier to do it on the Saturday, depending on the work schedules of those involved. Generally, that would apply to shift workers who may not have a typical Monday-Friday 9-5 job. It was actually pretty common in my own house to have holiday meals on the wrong day because Dad or someone else wasn't available on the real day. In this case, Devin's making up for not being there on Thursday by taking an extra holiday day on the Monday. There's a lot of hurt and anger between Alex and Devin. Trust is hard to repair when its been broken like this. But you're right, there wasn't really any other way that things would go down, especially with their two personalities.

Ten years later: “Hey, where’d everyone go!? Why’s it so dark in here?” A young boy’s voice is heard, as he enters his home and sees no one is there and all the lights are off. It’s pitch black, and for a moment he thinks about leaving and going back to school or his friend’s place. The boy is short, with dirty blond hair and a penchant for the colour green. Another boy stops beside him. Quieter, and with self-assured confidence. His black hair matches the black workout clothes he enjoys wear

Things began to pass by rather quickly after that encounter with Vincente in our dorm. He was spending most of his time either with the his new frat or with the tennis team, so while he was still officially living with me, he also didn’t spend a lot of time there and didn’t even sleep there all that often. That both disturbed and relieved me, as it meant I didn’t have to deal with him freaking out again, but I was worried about when it would finally happen. Going home was going to be great, it

This is something that often gets lost in the stereotypes. There's a belief (exemplified by a LOT of YA and teen media) that jocks or other athletically inclined people are not intelligent and academically capable. It's nice to see that particular stereotype being broken down.

I don't want Alex to hurt either. Alex is very innocent... but it's the innocents who are almost always the first to get hurt. Having said that, pain is necessary for growth. Alex will grow from this, and perhaps that's a good thing.

Campus is large, even in a smaller town like Walla Walla. Vincente doesn't have much experience being around queer people. That's his upbringing. How do many of react when we see things that we haven't experienced much firsthand? Alex is fifteen now, so he's the same age as the characters in Twoey. That comes with all the attendant stress and worries that most teenagers start to have. Alex is a smart guy, but he's also in love for the first time. They both are, they don't know how to act and what to do.

Alex's mother is an interesting character. She's very focused on her career, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but it often makes her appear like she doesn't care as much about Alex, which is why Alex was left alone at the house so much when he was younger. Still, she does care, and she's got some good advice here. We never learn about what Devin was like before the series of attacks. Maybe he always was a selfish, uncaring person. Maybe he wasn't, and what Sean did to him profoundly changed him in ways he didn't expect. Perhaps it doesn't matter; we judge characters based on their current actions, not how they used to be. Everyone matures at their own rates, in their own ways. Sometimes it takes making mistakes before people find their way again.

Dearest Thorn; Happy birthday. You're a wonderful person and I hope you enjoy your special day.

SkinnyDragon; You have an amazing ability to make people connect with your characters. The absolute fear I felt at the end of chapter 27 has been replaced by the incalculable sorrow I feel about the death of Danny. Danny was a bright light and clearly loved the people around him. More than he should have, more than was safe for him to do so. There's something especially tragic about someone so innocent and full of life being killed, and the specific circumstances of his death and Twoey's critical injuries only serves to highlight how sad the deaths are. David's thoughts are reflective and introspective, but they're also very insightful and a moving tribute to his fallen friend. For those who are not strangers to death, this chapter is poignant and heartbreaking, but also very well-written. I can't imagine the catharsis you felt in writing this.

I've been allover this song lately. Love Shawn.

Being a teenager is hard. There’s all these different people putting all their expectations on you, and most of the time you feel like you’re going to explode from everything that’s happening. I don’t just mean the stuff going on with other people, I mean the stuff going on inside your head too. I hated it. All the expectations from family and friends and society and myself. It was all piling up. Worse, I was realizing I was gay. This wasn’t something I wanted to realize when I was only fourtee

I left Bryce behind and got changed in silence, wondering who saw us and how much they saw. Hopefully it wasn’t someone I knew or who could use it to get back at me in some way. I wasn’t looking forward to being outed, but if that was a stranger who saw us then it might not happen at all. At least that was my hope. Once I was dressed, I started to walk back to my dorm. I tried not to think about what just happened. Besides, I was exhausted from baseball and my extra practice with Bryce, and it

Bryce is the first openly gay person Devin met in college. He's very different from Alex and even from Sean. They also spend a lot of time together, so in that sense it makes sense that they're starting to see each other in more than platonic views. Alex always gets the worst of every situation with Devin! Maybe this is good for Alex. Maybe it's not. Too soon to say.

It wasn't that Alex and Devin were a bad match, in fact you could argue they were both very good to each other. Just, as you said, it's a bit of a different situation for Devin now. More to the point, physical distance makes everything more challenging. I don't comment on the morality of relationships, that's not my place as a person or the author. I can say that Devin is obviously still thinking about it and how he should be acting, and that's always been part of Devin's personality. Not gonna say who it was, you'll just have to tune in. Someone remind me not to end a chapter on a cliffhanger for once.

Dearest Comsie; Your stories continue to delight and inspire. I hope you have many more happy, joyous and wonderful birthday, and that today is the best you've had yet.

Oh, gosh! I thought I got to all my reviews! I'm very sorry I haven't replied to this one Robert. It's a bit late to be saying anything, but Bryce is certainly someone who's got his eye on Devin. Perhaps not the only one, considering how big the school is compared to his old hometown. I love frat parties. So many memories. Or at least hazes of memories.

Hello Robert, thanks for checking in with another review. Which horny baseball jock are we talking about here? You know that I can't answer direct questions about the plot, you'll just have to find out who was leaving the locker room in next week's installment. Bryce is very out. He's supremely confident in himself and it shows both on and off the field. Or at least that's how he presents to society. People often put up fronts when they don't want to see, or have others see, what's actually underneath. One of the things that's worried me most about writing is that people wouldn't connect to my writing or characters. I'm glad to hear that you and other readers are making sincere, genuine connections to what I'm writing.

Hello Bubby1234. Thank you for reading and your review, I believe this is your first time reviewing for me, so thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts. Devin is what his life circumstances have made him. I'm not sure if you have yet, but reading The Last Out will help provide more context about what makes him act the way he does. It's the first book in this series, and while they're stand-alone novels on their own, reading them in order can help provide a bit more information about the characters that puts their current actions into context. I hope you continue reading, as there continues to be changes in the contours of Devin's relationships and his freshman year experience.

Hello Jaysalmn, thank you for reading and for your review. I'm sorry to hear that you found this chapter to be a disappointment. May I ask what it is that you found to be disappointing? The characters do change and evolve over time, just like real human beings. It must be hard to maintain long distance relationships, especially with someone so much younger and in a totally different life-space. Having said that, just as people change in one direction, they can also change back the other way.