jkwsquirrel

W.A.R. was a war at times! I think Dustin's line, "The guards are gone but the prison is still running" is very true. You can heal from trauma, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still impact you.

Thanks! To the kids, Mr. Reilly is almost a force of nature. But he's a young man with his own baggage and life outside of being the band director.

I got a lot of inspiration from Eminem's "Headlights" for this chapter. Why keep fighting a war that neither side wants to continue?

Every three-way scene I've written has ended in disaster and regret for the characters. Like real life...

Andrew is auditioning to take over Nick Jenkins' role as chief blabbermouth.

Kyle is good for Jake. (But then, Ryan was good for Jake too and we know how that turned out...)

Jake and Danny, sitting in a tree... Erm... I mean... no! That would never happen.... Maybe...

“Brett, it’s your turn.” The sound of a baby crying and his husband poking him in the shoulder awakened Brett from the precious little sleep he’d been enjoying for the first time in a week. He rubbed his eyes and checked the time. Three o’clock. Brett hadn’t woken up at three in the morning in his entire life. He’d stayed up until then many times. But there was something unnatural about waking up long before the sun. “I thought it was your turn,” Brett sai

It took Jake a moment to realize he wasn’t dreaming when he woke up with Kyle’s warm arms wrapped around him. He snuggled closer to his boyfriend and felt Kyle squeeze him more tightly. “I love you,” Kyle whispered in Jake’s ear. Jake smiled for what felt like the first time in forever. It had only been a few weeks since they’d been together last, but it felt like an eternity. “Don’t go back,” Jake sighed, snuggling into Kyle’s chest. “Stay with me forever.” Kyle he

Danny's not wrong about his feelings. From his point of view he was seen as the bad guy after what happened at last year's band camp... twice. He feels like he's returning to the scene of the "crime" going back. Caleb - I included him to show that Mr. Reilly was right about the kind of leader Danny could be. Is he the best player? No. But he sees people and is a great motivator. Mr. Reilly knew the band would need both Jake and Danny this year, especially while he's away.

Kyle's known these two for a long time. I think he's more concerned about Jake's abandonment issues becoming a crisis. Notice how Jake immediately changed as soon as he wasn't alone. Beneath the responsible leader, Jake's still the kid whose parents divorced and fought over him.

Chapter Four – Shadows Jake awoke in the morning to find himself alone in the dorm room. Overnight, Danny had managed to remove every trace that he’d been in the room, and all his belongings were gone. Jake sat up in bed. He sighed and felt like going right back to sleep, like maybe the whole fight could just become a bad dream instead of a horrible reality. He didn’t even bother to take a shower or brush his teeth before he grabbed his phone and called Kyle. “The person you

That's what I should have had Billy say! lol

Jake thought it was weird that Danny had chosen to sit in the back of the bus on the way to Clarion University for band camp. He worried that Danny would get carsick and kept looking back from his usual seat at the front of the bus next to Mr. Reilly to make sure he wasn’t turning green. “I just want to hang out with the other seniors and not have to listen to you and Mr. Reilly talk about marching practice,” Danny had said as they boarded the bus. Danny was definitely regretting the d

Thank you! If you're looking at what's next, I'd read Aiden's War before Dustin's World. Aiden's War is like WAR 6.5.