jkwsquirrel

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the comments and likes. Interesting discussion as always. I will just add a few notes of my own! The diagnosis of Billy isn't the latest challenge for him to conquer. It has been the challenge from chapter one. Billy has always had trouble relating to people and expressing his emotions appropriately. That's nothing new, it's been there all along. This chapter is here to help shed a little light on why that has been the case. Every once in a while, someone would ask me if there is something wrong with Billy because of the way he was acting. I always said no, because I, like Paula, don't see it as something wrong with Billy. it just is. I think we all have those areas of our lives that we don't quite understand. I also didn't want this story to be "the one with the boy with Asperger's who falls in love with the ADHD kid." Hopefully, you just experienced life as this young man has lived, struggling to find his place in the world and just hoping he's one of the normal, ordinary kids, but realizing he's far from ordinary. Regardless of whatever labels we can come up with to explain our behavior, I think for many of us, all we want is to find love and acceptance. As for Brett, give him a while. He's been through a lot and it's hard for him to process it all. When the stress got to be too much for him he reverted into that bratty little asshole we all knew so well earlier in the story. Give him some time to think about things, and he'll find his way. Thanks everybody!

I knew I had to do it. I knew I had to talk to Brett sometime. It was driving me insane to be without him. But every time I saw him he was surrounded by people. Two weeks had passed since that day when everything had fallen apart. I didn’t know where to turn. To my surprise, there was no mention around the school of Joey’s parents breaking up or anything. I thought for sure by then that word would have gotten out that their marriage had fallen apart. Nor was there any news about Brett’s m

Did you know there’s no direct line from Erie to Pittsburgh bus lines on a Friday night? Yeah, I know that now. Just one of many things I learned as I had to find a way home after Brett ditched me in Erie. I spent a few hours in a bus station in Cleveland in the middle of the night as I waited for the connecting bus. That was fun. I had no idea how I was going to get from Pittsburgh back home. I thought about calling mom to come get me, but that was just too embarrassing. In the end, call

Thanks again for the comments everyone. I can't really take the time to answer all of the comments. Check out the forum page if you want the inside scoop to my own fucked-up life. Just know that I've greatly treasured the conversation. There's no right or wrong way to feel about how this chapter all worked out. You can hate Billy, you can still hope there's some good in him, you can think Brett was right or wrong for what he did, it's all awesome. I appreciate the passion!

Brett’s mom had a little party for Brett on the Sunday before our big road trip to celebrate his eighteenth birthday properly. It wasn’t a big gathering, but it made Brett happy to see everybody before he returned to school the next day. He ended up with a bunch of names on his cast and his mom bought him a new laptop which meant that I’d be getting his old one. She also got him some Yankees tickets for a three-game series in June at Yankee Stadium against the Pirates, and a hotel room for Br

Thanks for the comments everyone. I really appreciate it! Things are going well.

It always takes me a moment when I wake up in a bed besides my own to get my bearings. I found myself thoroughly tangled with Dustin, who continued to sleep peacefully. Sometime during the night, I’d turned around to face him. His arm was still draped over my body, but now he was using my arm as a pillow. Our legs were intertwined. There would be no way to pull myself away without waking him. And I didn’t really want to either wake him or disengage myself from his body. Yeah, I know I sho

In a what-if scenario, what if Dustin had grown up in a normal, well-adjusted family? Can you imagine if this sweet little boy had grown up in a family that nurtured and supported him instead of stomping every last bit of hope out of him, to the point where he wanted to end it all? We can survive without food, water, even air for a while, but we cannot live without hope, so someone wise once said. I enjoyed your thoughts on Brett. Designer baggage indeed! As for Billy? Yeah, I'm not quite sure when the heel turn took place, but he's definitely crossed over into full douchebag territory. I do love a redemption story though!

I envisioned the sex scene in this chapter as a picture of where the boys' relationship has gone. (I don't just throw sex in the story, it always has a purpose if it's "on screen.") Billy's still a broken character at this point. Sure he cut his hair and fixed his sugar, but he's still wounded. In particular, his moral compass is broken. Lying has become too easy. In this chapter, he saw Brett as a tool for his release, rather than someone whose feelings mean more to him than his own. Coming on his face was just another way of violating Brett's boundaries.

Dustin's a good kid. This was a dangerous chapter, because Billy has fallen so far that if Dustin had offered Billy might have given in to temptation. How can someone so smart be so stupid, right? Good idea with the dance, but I can't compete with a timeless American classic!

Dustin is only now beginning to become the person he should have been without the abuse he went through. We'll get Em's reaction next chapter. What we are seeing now is the cumulative effect of all of Billy's lying to Brett. He's so disconnected from the reality of the moment, thinking that he can hold together all the pieces of the dam that is falling apart all around him. The collapse is inevitable.

Nothing wrong with wanting justice, of course. But what Brett is upset about is the selfish and jealous side of Billy winning out. Brett knows what being consumed with jealousy and selfishness did to him, it got his ass kicked and made him an all-around jerk. He's afraid Billy is headed in a bad direction. You're not the only Billy-Dustin shipper! Of course, the that is the one rule of WAR that cannot be broken, Billy and Dustin can never get together. Kill Billy's dad? Break Brett's leg? Turn Billy toward the dark side? All fair game. But never can Billy and Dustin finish what they started that night after the card game.

Indeed. Just Billy disregarding Brett's feelings once again. It's become too easy for him.

Yeah, neither one is my idea of a good time. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Not like Brett to seek revenge, right?

Well Billy did, at least! Poor Brett's eye... Maybe a few months earlier Billy might have considered it. Now it's personal. Billy won't be giving up anything to her. Billy would have been bad for Dustin. Dustin would have let Billy run him over. As for Brett, we'll see!

It's a sign of Billy's arrogance, his disregard for Brett's feelings. He's blinded himself to what's right in front of him.

I can't compete with a cultural classic! Such pressure! lol!

Glad you liked it! This was one of those moments where reality takes over. Not every sexual experience is awesome for both partners. (And it also shows how Billy is totally misreading Brett and taking him for granted.)

Brett is right, it burns! You may be right about hell breaking loose! Should be interesting!

Ride 'em cowboy! lol Glad you enjoyed it!

Excellent as always, Comsie! What's really fun is when your readers start shipping your protagonist with the rival! It's fun to play in that sandbox.

As March turned into April, the light at the end of the tunnel was getting closer. Only two more months and school would be behind me. I decided on a college. I was going to go to the University of Pittsburgh. I hadn’t decided what to study yet. It didn’t matter at that point. It was nice to know that my education was going to be paid for by Brett’s parents. I felt guilty about it at first, but after a while, I didn’t feel so bad. After all, they had been lying to Brett for years. They

Alas! All I do is copy from Word and paste it in the box. Well, thanks for going through the extra step to read it!

Did this chapter render okay? is it previous chapters that had trouble? I just hate plain Arial text for stories, that's all. So dull.