jkwsquirrel

CHAPTER 85 IS DONE! PART SIX IS DONE! THE WAR IS OVER! So go check it out! And let me know what you thought of this whole venture!

As the days passed by after graduation, I was beginning to get used to the idea that I was free. June passed by as uneventfully as it could, considering I was now sharing my room with my boyfriend and his pet snake. I had thought that moving in together would become a non-stop sex-fest, but it wasn’t. I mean, yeah, there was a lot of sex, but knowing that we could have sex any time we wanted was more appealing than actually having sex anytime we wanted! We’d had experience living together before

Today's the day! Years of work and planning! It ends tonight, right back where it all began. Another Day at the Park...

Looks

Hey, just a note that I am working on the last chapter. Should be sometime next week, hopefully. (this is why I worked so far ahead!)

Well, last chapter was rough. Rough to write, maybe rough to read too? I don't know. There was just a lot of things I needed to do to tie things up and it felt to me like I tried to do too much with it. That's kind of why it took longer to put out. I'll be honest, things pretty much wrapped up with the prom, but like Lord of the Rings, the journey isn't quite finished yet. So a couple of things: Billy could never be valedictorian, and he had to do it nobly. He couldn't just be screwed out of it, he had to let it go. If he'd just been screwed, he'd have been bitter and angry for a long time about it. So instead, he had to let it go. He had to swallow the pride that had been his downfall for so much of the story and let it go. Therefore, it couldn't be Mr. Taylor who took it from him, and that's the whole purpose for Jeremy Hartley's presence in the story. Billy could have fought back. Maybe he should have? But he didn't. He made peace with not getting something that he wanted. Dustin... Boy, I wish that I could write Dustin as being completely cured and over what happened to him. I just can't. Too much happened to him. Someone mentioned it in the comments and it's absolutely true, Dustin's going right back to his old behaviors, having random sex with anyone he can, only now he's not charging for it. That would be the set up for the Dustin sequel, but, I'll leave it up to your imagination how that goes, or you can look up Dustin's World on nifty. Obviously, that story is now taking place in an alternate universe, but you get the idea - Sarah Taylor bombs out of school and hooks up with Dustin, Dustin finds true love, in the form of a preacher's kid named Nate Stevens, Dustin's dad comes back and causes havoc. It's all there, just that I never got around to updating it. Oh, and I wrote that in a time when my life was very bitter and it shows in the writing... if you thought WAR was angsty - beware! Billy's speech - underwhelming by design. Billy is a planner, not a spur of the moment kind of guy. Most of why he's so stressed out throughout the story is because things are not going according to his plans and he's stressed out. So yeah, he just mumbled a few thoughts and got off the stage as quickly as he could. Plus he's a total introvert, so the idea of speaking off the cuff in front of a thousand people was already stressful enough. But it made the point. School was never about learning facts for Billy, it was about learning to navigate people. Brett's fucked up family - To the surprise of no one except Brett, Jack and Jenny have been in a secret relationship all along. Yeah, was there ever any doubt about that? Where I wanted to go with that whole storyline is this- it doesn't matter how respectable someone is, they can be just as awful as anyone else. It's easy to look at a character like Frank Smith and know that he's a vile monster. But at first, DOCTOR Reilly gives the impression of respectability and prestige. "Look at how wonderful she is! She must obviously have it all together! She's rich and famous! She writes such great books! She's a DOCTOR!" But Jen knows the truth, it's all a house of cards. Her respectability is as flimsy as can be. And she fights so hard to keep that flimsiness a secret because once it wobbles the whole thing is going to crash. Jack's reputation was the same, all built on lies and false impressions. I'm still not sure whether Brett or Dustin was the more neglected boy. If not for Billy's parents and grandmother taking him under their wings, Brett would have been even worse than Dustin, and probably would have ended up dead by age 30.

Guess what? We're back! The next-to-last chapter is up!

“It’s just a stupid title,” I said, hoping to calm Brett down yet again. It had been a week since Mr. Hartley had threatened me by threatening my best friend’s future. I had told Brett about it right away. Every time I thought he had finally calmed down about it, he brought it back up. “No, it’s more than that! You can’t let that asshole do this to you! You just can’t! Not again. I’m so sick of assholes trying to manipulate you!” “Brett, I get it, and I appreciate your suppo

I don't mean to. I'm working on it when I can. Won't be too much longer!

Just a quick head's up - I won't be updating the story this week. Life is just a little too busy at the moment. Hopefully I'll get it taken care of for next week, but it's a big chapter. We'll see. Shouldn't be too long of a delay. And don't worry about me, all is well!

Thanks Lisa! I've missed your reviews! I'm glad this chapter was meaningful for you! I do think both boys will grow from their experiences, and in some ways that has happened. As for Billy's list of names, I just thought it funny that they were all rockers!

Thanks Lisa! Paula and Dr. Reilly have both come a long way from where they started! As for the end of the story? Afraid so! All good things... as they say!

I hadn't thought about any of this. Doesn't mean it didn't happen. You'd think Dustin would mention it though? Though he is pretty protective of his former johns.

Yeah, my thought was that Dustin is 18, though it's still illegal to record someone like this without their permission. Oh totally. But Billy would have to tell someone and they would have to find the evidence, and Mr. Hartley isn't that stupid.

I think Mr. Hartley is hoping that Billy will learn to play the game long after there's any way he can get back at Mr. Hartley for what he did!

Yeah, that's what I was going for! Sometimes the bad guy wins the battle, but the good guy wins the war.

This is it. Real life writes the plot sometimes!

No, I don't think Mr. Taylor knows the kind of man Mr. Hartley is. I can't judge whether it's right or wrong to hope he gets hit by a bus! lol I don't think she was afraid that Brett would hit her, I just think she realized she was in a room full of people who just saw her strike her child. Of course, she tried to blame Billy for everything as soon as Brett left. That said, I've really enjoyed the slow-revealing villainy of Dr. Reilly. I've said it before, but Brett is, on some levels, just as abused and neglected as Dustin, it's just more easily hidden behind her money.

Some times the bad guys win the battle and lose the war. Billy never needed to be valedictorian to prove how smart he was.

Dustin - Put yourself in his shoes for the last month. Where does Billy go when Brett's not around? He goes to Dustin. Now that Brett and Billy are reconciled, Dustin sees himself being demoted, as usual, all while Billy sings the praises of his glorious monogamous relationship, a relationship that the boys stayed faithful to even when they were separated. Dustin just didn't want to hear one more time how much Billy and Brett love each other, and let's face it, Billy can be a bit judgy about Dustin's sex life, even if he doesn't mean to be. So no, Billy's intent wasn't malicious, but Dustin didn't want to hear it and shut it down before it made him throw up. Mr. Hartley - Oh yes, absolutely unethical and even illegal activity. Of course he would justify his actions with his "any means necessary" philosophy. I'm glad you saw that from his point of view, he's the hero, doing what it takes to get what he wants, for the betterment of everyone. And if he has to hurt a few people along the way, so be it. But I think it's true of any community that there are those who push the boundaries for their own purposes, or for what they think is the greater good. Not everyone within the gay community in Billy's world is supportive or even nice. Mr. Hartley scoffs at playing nicely with people. He got done what Pastor Carl and John Taylor couldn't do. The homophobes in charge failed, but the gay teacher got Billy to surrender, and I think it's because he understands Billy far more than Billy wants to admit. Mr. Hartley is playing chess while the others are playing checkers. He didn't even tell Billy to keep it a secret. He didn't need to. He already won before the game even started.

Don't expect Billy to keep this one hidden, at least from Brett. He learned that lesson!

I think that was Brett's thought too, just enjoying the chaos of that scene. By the time Billy gets home, I'm sure Mr. Hartley will have made sure that video has no connection to him. He's not stupid, which is why he's so dangerous.

Thanks! The town just gets more corrupt, it really doesn't matter who is in charge. All Brett needed to do was bring popcorn to that meeting.

Actually, there is something illegal about filming students in a high school bathroom! lol I don't think Mr. Hartley cares all that much at the moment. I think Brett's more hurt than angry.

Too bad the principal be retiring! I didn't even give the poor guy a last name.