jkwsquirrel

14 chapters is just about average for WAR stories!

Latest chapter, Castle Manuever, is up! Only 3 chapters left!

“Can I sit with you?” Tyler asked as I sat in my usual spot in the cafeteria, alone. “Uh… Yeah, sure,” I replied. No one had ever asked to sit with me before. “How’d it go at home?” “It went,” Tyler said, sitting down in the seat next to me. “Mom cried. Dad went for a drive and has been weird ever since I told him. Like, he doesn’t know what to say so he doesn’t say anything. My brothers… Well, Jimmy said he’d kick my ass when he came home from college and Chris asked me if I’d sucked

You hit the nail on the head all over the place here, Spikey. This isn't the same Dustin who had found peace at the end of Dustin's World, this is Dustin on the road to becoming the hopeless, defeated, and angry young man he was at the beginning of DW. In his search for a father-figure, he's reached out to Mr. Hartley, who is using him to do his dirty work while he lurks behind the scenes. Hartley's influence that is feeding Dustin's worst instincts. He's picking up Hartley's condescending nature. But in the end, he's being used just as much as Aiden is.

It's like an "out-of-Billy" experience.

Quite the roller coaster! I think we can feel angry with him for the way he went after Dustin even if we understand it was coming from his own woundedness at the way the older boys were treating him. We know just how sensitive Dustin is about what happened to him. Aiden hit the raw nerve that got Brett destroyed when he touched it long ago. After what Dustin did to Brett, it's a good thing Doug was there to stop him from really going off on Aiden. We'll explore the regret Tyler has over the way he acted in the next chapter. Why was he acting like such a tool in the earlier chapters if he's really been in love with Aiden all along?

She's known what's been going on between these boys from the beginning. Aiden doesn't hide anything from her, so the biggest sign of trouble is when he starts hiding things from her. With Tyler, there's literally nothing to hide. Aiden and his mom can appreciate Tyler's lindo trasero together.

The playing field is definitely more even between Ty and Aiden. Aiden was out of his league with the big boys.

Seriously, is Aiden's mom (her name is Anna by the way) the only person in town who's ever heard of condoms?

I'd like to think I excel at writing characters you'd like to punch in the face. From my point of view, I thought Aiden's mom handled the situation as best she could. From the initial shock to just wondering what her son's gotten himself into, to seeing there's really something there that might be good for him. And then there's Dougie... Yeah, who knew that quiet anxious young man was a completely different person in bed? (Well, I did, but you know...)

I think you'll find this story is as much a story about the boys and their fathers as it is about the love story. George has his moments, and he truly loves this strange young man who has taken the place of his little boy.

Billy is a "shoot first ask questions later and feel bad about shooting first" kind of guy.

They might just be important! lol

Yep, she knows her grandson. She knows he's blaming himself for what happened, but unable to tell him so. As for Brett, we'll come to see that Billy's family pretty much is his family.

Hey all! new chapter is up! I hope you like it! Yeah, I keep getting earlier and earlier...

I couldn’t believe I was on a date with two seniors. Doug and Dustin had picked me up at my house around seven o’clock and we went bowling. Dustin was a really good bowler, even though he said he was rusty. After bowling we went to Eat’n Park in Belle Vernon for a late dinner. Doug insisted on paying for everything. I was starting to get nervous as Doug drove us back to Dustin’s place. I wasn’t entirely sure what was going to happen during the after-dinner portion of the evening. They could have

A little bit of real life in that scene. That's how my dad used to sleep. His chair had more than one little holes burned into it!

Thanks Dodger! I'm very glad you found it. I hope you'll enjoy it.

We'll find out very soon! We're still in the game, after all!

I seem to remember Brett getting a lot of hate during his spoiled "Brat Reilly" phase. At least he turned out okay! I must say it has been fun to only experience Billy from afar. He's just out there doing his thing, oblivious (as usual) to what's going on around him. The scene where they end up seeing each other across the cafeteria is as close as they get, and they're separated by this chasm - living in two different worlds. As for Aiden's mom - Well, I had to have at least one parent who wasn't a fuck-up at some point! (Even St. George slapped the bejeezus out of Billy that one time.) Of course, Aiden just sees her as trying to ruin his whole life. He really has no idea. We'll see how stalwart Aiden is about that "just friends" thing very soon!

“So, can we be friends again?” I asked. “You’re like the only one I have.” Boy, if that doesn't tell the story of why he's so desperate!

That's the vibe I've been going for with Aiden. He's on the fence, trying to figure out what's right and listening to the wrong people. He doesn't want to be a bad guy, but he keeps digging himself in deeper.

Thank you! Poor Brett. "It won't to tell you..." Oops!

And just who will his real friends turn out to be?

Life sucked. Family sucked. School sucked. Everything sucked. That was my attitude the week following Dustin dumping me. Yeah, I know, we technically were never together, so he couldn’t really dump me. Kind of like how I couldn’t be kicked out of a club that no longer existed. It still hurt. It still sucked. I still missed him. Dustin seemed unaffected by the whole thing. He was joking around with his friends like always, maybe even more. He didn’t initiate any conversation with me, an