jkwsquirrel

20 feet is a long way down.

When your role models have all let you down, you'll seek out others to guide you. Is it too late?

He can be a scary dude when he wants to be.

Just grandma being grandma.

It was so strange to have someone besides Miss Winston teaching our biology class. Personally, I liked our new teacher. He wasn’t nearly as plastic and cowardly as Miss Winston was. I’d been spending more and more time with Mr. Hartley in the weeks after Miss Winston’s abandonment of us. He didn’t expect anything of me except for me to believe in myself. I could feel my confidence growing as I spent time with him. He believed in me. I was no longer afraid of what anyone in that school could

Let me see if I can address the delicious hate for Mr. Hartley in one post here. First of all, I'm glad for the hate for the character, since he is the villain. In WAR6 he was lurking behind the scenes until he struck at the end. This character was just begging to be explored in more depth, and that's a big part of why I came back. Let's be clear about something, Mr. Hartley is not lying about his origins. He was just a loser kid who worked hard and got himself into a position of power. Now that power has gone to his head. Anybody can turn toward their darker side, and revenge feels good. Now his attitude is influencing his minions. But understand that a good villain must think he's justified and righteous in his actions! Very few people just wake up and decide to be a villain. Everyone's the hero of their own story - as Mr. Hartley is in his own version of events. I just love the smugness and the self-satisfaction of this guy. He just revels in being right and manipulating events toward his own benefit. He's very smart, and if you read WAR you know... Let's look at who he's recruited. Aiden and Dustin. Aiden's pretty much a loser with no friends except the Alliance, and Dustin's not quite as bad but still not Mr. Confident. Someone like Mr. Hartley didn't pick a couple of low self-esteem loners and losers by accident. He picked two boys he could easily manipulate and control. They both have been abused and Mr. Hartley picked up on that right away. He knows all the right buttons to press with them, giving them a purpose and new names. They're going to make things "better." Dustin was seemingly on the road to getting his life on track right up to the end of WAR, then he pushed Billy out of his life and ended up a miserable loner in a little apartment in Charleroi. What happened? And what will happen to Aiden? You'll just have to keep reading to find out!

I walked nervously through the hallway of my school. I’d never been called to a teacher’s room before, but Mr. Hartley had sent a note to my English teacher asking for me to come to see him during his free period. I anxiously knocked on the door and Mr. Hartley invited me inside. “Have a seat, Jackson,” Mr. Hartley said. I obeyed his order and sat in the first desk in the middle row of the classroom. Mr. Hartley sat behind his desk and looked at me, his fingers linked together in front of h

Thanks! Reminds me of the old U2 song - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I didn't think Brett's comments were as much a commentary on Dustin as they were on Aiden. Aiden is totally not ready to handle Dustin. There's way too much baggage on both sides. Aiden couldn't even handle Tyler. Brett is simply pointing out the facts - Dustin would crush Aiden at this point in time at least until he learns to stand up for himself. As for the relationship between Brett and Dustin, yes, there is a truce, but they're not exactly best buddies. Brett was perfectly fine with Dustin going away until he saw how much it hurt Billy. The mutual respect would come later.

More Likely, Tyler Is Still a Tool.

Tyler won't bother him as long as Brett's around. And nothing could possibly happen to Brett in the middle of his senior year. Right? Vroom vroom.... (But if there were a bigger, stronger defender...)

Like a moth to a flame. Don't get too close!

Sometimes the wrong person has the right point.

Tyler hadn’t spoken to me all week. In fact, he seemed to be going out of his way to avoid me entirely. I didn’t think much of it, but then I started to wonder if maybe my conversation with Reilly had something to do with it. I’d asked him not to hurt Tyler, but Reilly was a wild card. I managed to get Tyler alone after history class. “Hey Ty! Wait up!” When Tyler saw me a look of panic crossed his face. “Just stay away from me, Aiden! I won’t bother you anymore!” “What are you ta

The great thing about Brett is that he's always enthusiastic about what he's interested in, at least for a while. He's also easily distracted, so he may forget the whole thing by the next morning! Aiden and Dustin - Maybe Aiden should remember the old saying "Be careful what you wish for," perhaps?

If you read the end of Commencement and the beginning of Dustin's World you know where this one is headed. CRASH!

Now you'll have to play the waiting game! lol. I try to post every week sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday. One of the fun things about Billy was that he wasn't a perfect character, and often caused his own problems with his attitude or mouth. We'll see the results of that in this story.

Thanks akuhata! I saw my "like meter" going up as you read the story! I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading it!

Thanks Lisa! Sorry I missed this comment earlier. I'm glad you enjoy my writing!

Thanks! I appreciate the compliment!

Thanks! Sorry I missed this kind comment earlier! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

The appeal of writing this story in territory we've already been through was seeing Billy and the other boys through the eyes of someone who wasn't part of his circle. This entire story is taking place all around Billy and he's oblivious to it. From the outside, Billy's an egotistical jerk. Only the people who know him know he's a jerk with a heart of gold. Seeing Brett in the role of big brother just seems natural to me. He's still a doofus, of course!

There must be trouble coming or it wouldn't be a WAR story, right?

Aiden's just trying to navigate his way through tenth grade, looking for someone to fill the void left by his father. "Big brother" Brett has a heart for losers. He collects them like pets.

And now we'll get to a side of him that Billy never saw.