Shadow086

Exactly, @jkwsquirrel. Dustin always saw Billy as his knight in shining armour, and it's when that illusion was broken that everything went to hell. Now Dustin sees that Billy's only human, but I don't know if what he told Billy is what he really thinks. I don't know how their friendship can make it through this, because Billy's not going to forget those words anytime soon. While I like Brett's confidence in himself, I don't think he fully understands what it's like to live with someone like Paula. I'm sure having to hear his mother parrot the pastor's sermon about gays does wonders for Billy's self-esteem. And people are calling him a loser, but they don't like him it's probably because he's a dick and acts like he's better than them. Brett doesn't think about the consequences while Billy thinks about them too much. It's that constant overthinking that drives Billy to inaction and makes him look like a coward.

I think you're being too hard on them for what they said to Billy. Maybe they're not maturing as quickly as we'd like, but they're getting better. I know what they were getting at with the "coward" remarks, and I agree with them. Billy never really steps up to defend others when he has to, he just sits back and hopes someone else will take care of his problems for him. Does that make him a coward? Maybe that's not the right word, but they were right to call him out on it. And let's not forget that Billy has a bit of Joey's "I'm better than all of you" attitude as well. Dustin's not being rational at the moment. He destroyed emotionally, and he's trying to blame everything on Billy because he feels betrayed. It's all Billy's fault in his mind, so I can see a reason to take his rant seriously. We see the big picture and we know it didn't happen the way Dustin says. He doesn't, so what he said makes sense in that context. Maybe later on, Dustin will be willing to let Billy explain himself, but at this point I think that if he ever comes back, he'll be Joey x 10. Billy not wanting to come out is in big part about self-preservation, but I also think it's because Billy doesn't want to get noticed. I get the sense Billy sees this town as a 'prison', and he just wants to stay under the radar until he graduates and is 'free' from the place. That's perfectly understandable, and while some people would call that cowardice for not being out and proud of who he is, I don't agree with that. I blame Paula for Billy staying in his glass closet. Her attitude doesn't give him any indication that she'd give him the support he needs if he ever came out, so of course he wouldn't. I wish she'd get her head out of the Pastor's ass long enough to see the damage she's doing to her son, but I don't see that happening unless Billy did something drastic. Personally I think that's what the next chapter will be about, but we'll see. I keep wishing Billy just got up and walked out of that fucking church during one of their anti-gay sermons.

I loved seeing Bailey open up and finally trust someone. And the way they sort of confessed to each other was really sweet. Loved the kiss! It's also good to see Bailey's mom is getting back to her old self. I get the feeling she's going to want to properly meet Declan and make sure he's no danger to her son. Declan's also a bit closer to figuring things out about the cutting, and he'll help Bailey to quit that as well. I like how well Declan's handling the situation at school with the rumours, and it was good to see the gymnastics team put their trust in him when it comes to Bailey. Although I don't know how Justin will react once the truth comes out about what happened. Hopefully he'll see Declan didn't participate in the bullying. The football team seems to be coping pretty well with the news about Chris and Eric, but I predict a loss against Frexbury. I just don't think they'll have enough time to adapt to losing two of their best players, and they'll come up short. Unless, of course, Frexbury is home to the Pitbulls, in which case Mason better watch out.

I don't know, I'm starting to think they're making secret plans to make Billy 'see the errors of his sinful ways'. I think we'll be finding out next week.

Probably, but I think we're about to see what kind of man he is. You know what Dustin said is going to eat at him. Wouldn't it be great if he suddenly decided to start making out with Brett in the middle of the school hallway? At this point I think he might actually do that, Billy can be quite impulsive at times (like what he did to Joey). Then word of it would get back to Paula, and she'd do her own stupid thing, whatever that could be. Honestly, I don't think being out would be as bad as Billy thinks it's going to be.

No, it's Paula. And like George said, she's in denial.

Pam? Who's Pam, I don't remember her.

By the way, @droughtquake, Billy's little "OMG, how did they know?!" is getting a bit annoying because you'd think he figured out by now that people can read him like an open book. He's going to come out at school and people are just going to shrug and go "Yeah, we've known that for months", then Billy will be all shocked again.

So I did. I must have seen your name pop up while I was writing that.

Billy realised it, but hearing it so bluntly from someone he deeply cares about is much different from the way he halfheartedly admitted it to himself. And I think he was shocked because he didn't expect Brett to agree so quickly. I really think he realised just how much he let Dustin down, and he's going to try to make up for it by becoming the person Dustin thought he was. This. This is absolutely it! You hit it right on the head!

I don't really know what to say, that was... I hope Dustin finally hit the bottom of the barrel, and things just get better from here. Like @Israfil, I also have newfound respect for Amanda. I don't think she knew how bad things really were, especially since she left. I noticed that in many ways Dustin's speech was the same as Joey's. But coming from Dustin, it really got through to him. And I can tell it hurt Billy to his core. I hope we see Dustin again and he doesn't turn into a complete asshole to Billy. Maybe Billy is better off keeping his distance and sort out his own problems before trying to contact Dustin again. I'm glad Billy has Brett by his side right now, and I think Dustin's words are going to make him decide to come out. If Dustin ever meets Billy again, he'll be a different person than the coward in that hospital room. Edit: Almost forgot about the next chapter title. With Dustin out of the picture, and the things he said bouncing around in Dustin's mind, I think this is when he comes out to Paula. Or maybe he finds out about her and Pastor Carl. Either way, Paula's involved. I'm starting to think it's not what we're led to believe, but that she's actually talking with the pastor to find a way to 'cure' Billy of his sinful lifestyle. She only wants what's best for him, after all.

Hehehe, that was hot! I loved his reactions to finding out about his mom and Mr. Franks. It looks like Billy's going to have a hard time accepting the possibility of a stepfather, I can see a lot of conflict there. Let's hope he's not a homophobe if things get serious. Looks like Bobby fucked things up again. I swear, that boy has such an inferiority complex when it comes to Billy that I don't know if he can stay in a relationship. My guess is Bobby told Ian not to talk to Billy anymore, and Ian got pissed off at Bobby for trying to dictate who his friends are. That's not gonna happen, because Bobby was an idiot and told Ian he was a virgin. If Billy comes out to Ian, he might start asking questions Bobby and Billy won't want to answer. The only thing on Bobby's mind is "If Ian knows Billy's gay, he's going to find out I slept with him." I mostly feel bad for Bobby and wish things worked out with Ian, but on the other hand he sabotaged his relationship by lying to him in the first place. Ian's going to find out the truth at some point, and he won't take it well at all. Maybe Bobby should be more worried about his boyfriend talking to Brandon.

I love this story, it always makes me laugh. That was another great chapter. What a day our poor Andrew had! I kinda wish Chris felt the same way, but I don't think that's the case. And if that's the way Andrew always acts, there's no way Johnny didn't figure out hoe he feels about Chris Margo. Maybe he's trying to set them up, I don't know how friendly they were before this. Now it's the first situation where the other half of 'Andris' could find out about the stories. I wonder how this is gonna play out. I would love to see the look on Chris' face if he ever gets to read the 'Andris' stories.

Great chapter, Com! I'm getting the feeling that the small groups are getting closer to meeting up. I'm also trying to figure out where they all are in relation to each other, I'll have to make myself some kind of map of the school/alien nest. And I love the little touches of comic relief you put in such a desperate situation. Looks like they're slowly getting trapped in the school. And that ending, whoa! It looks like Jason found Ren's body. But if that's the case, he should also be able to find the camera, and the video of the creatures that infiltrated the school. That could be the key to getting them all out of there alive. Please don't leave us in suspense for too long. As a whole, I think this story would make a great movie or tv show. I'd watch it for sure.

I think that came up when we were trying to guess who Brett's father is, although I don't remember who said it. Jack McKenzie probably has a second house somewhere to store all the skeletons in his closet. I have no doubt he'll try to cover this up, and because this town is full of morons, he'll get away with it. Jack's charismatic, I'll give him that, but I never trusted him at all. I had a fun conversation about this and Paula in the forum thread.

What?! No way! When did Billy's temper ever cause trouble?

Here's the thing with hypocrites like Joey: very few people get to see them for what they truly are, and those that do usually end up becoming their enemies. And remember that until now Billy thought Joey was just bullying him for no reason. Now at least he knows why Joey hates him so much (I think it's stupid and petty and none of Joey's business in the first place), but by this point there's no chance of mending this relationship, so you can't expect much more from Billy than what he did. As for the responses he got, it's a different story. Aside from Paula, who's still hanging on to her 'The McKenzies are awesome and perfect' delusions, everyone seemed to tell him "that was stupid, it's gonna come back to bite you in the ass later", not that he was wrong on what he did. They just think the way he did it was stupid, but Billy does stupid things when he's angry. And he just made some powerful enemies. Funny how Paula was fine with people spreading rumours about Dustin being a thug and a whore, but when her son tells the truth about perfect golden boy Joey McKenzie, she starts going on about not trying to damage peoples' reputations. The pastor can have her, she belongs with scum like him.

Come to think of it, aren't Joey and Brett cousins? If so, Joey's probably trying to make sure that whatever's going on to 'ruin' Brett's reputation (because turning him into a stoner didn't, right?) doesn't affect his own by association. I have no sympathy for him or his problems, he had it coming. You can't keep using your influence and reputation to bully and insult people, then not expect them to fight back at some point. Talking about George dying like it was a good thing really crossed the line. Yes, Billy has a temper, yes, what he did was against his self-interest, and yes, Billy's going to deeply regret it later, but you have to give him credit. Billy knows how to hit where it hurts the most. All Joey cares about is his reputation as the golden angel and a fine upstanding member of the community, and Billy just destroyed that in one sentence. Now the rumours will spread and Joey won't be in a position to be so sanctimonious and moralising, which is a good thing. I can already see how this could play out. They'll try to deny it, then Joey will expose Billy's secrets and say Billy's smearing him because he's jealous of how nice and wonderful and successful Joey is, while he's just a nobody faggot loser. And of course, because of how this town is, the people will keep their blinders on and accept the McKenzies' version instead of accepting the truth, and Billy will be ostracised. So will Paula, which will make her even angrier with him, because she thinks like one of them, and potentially destroy whatever's left of their relationship.

Fuck Joey McKenzie, and fuck Paula for taking his side. I get so pissed off whenever one of these sanctimonious assholes starts talking about 'reputation'. I just tune them out because that's a sign of someone who's more concerned with keeping their reputation than earning it. Billy did the right thing in calling out their bullshit, and Joey deserved every bit of what's coming to him. Now his precious Golden Boy reputation is ruined. I'm glad Brett called him out on it, though, but I hope Brett will take Billy's side against Joey. If Billy was smart, he'd come out right now, that way Joey wouldn't really have anything big to use against him. Billy can't be stupid enough to think Joey's not going to out him in revenge (oh wait, he is that stupid), so he should just do it himself and stay one step ahead. The Locked-Down Unit: I think it's pretty obvious that Billy's getting grounded after this, and Fuckface McAsshole will use that time to try to turn Brett against him.

I hope the video will be enough proof to make sure those lawyers can't get Chris to walk away from this unpunished. Although I don't know how much harm Chris could really do if everybody knows what he did and he just got away on a technicality. Two things come to mind: 1. Will Declan stays at Bailey's house for longer than he was allowed to, or will he go back to school satisfied that Bailey's okay and at least still talking to him? And if he does go back to school, what sort of chaos will he find once he gets there? 2. Like @droughtquake said, how long until he figures out the cuts? It's probably going to stay in the back of his mind for a little bit until he has time to settle down and think about it some more. It's going to be bugging him the way the lines are too clean, and maybe too recent to be caused by Chris. And he did sort of notice Bailey picking at the last cut on his hip, so once he starts putting the pieces together he's going to figures out there's something going on. I bet he won't let Bailey get away without giving him an answer.

That's why I sometimes think this is really Dustin's story told through Billy's eyes. Most of what's happened so far has revolved around Dustin in one way or another. As for the next chapter; Billy tends to spill a lot of secrets when he gets angry, and there's not doubt he'll get angry in the morning when she starts to nag him about going to church. The argument will probably starts when Billy asks to go see Dustin at the hospital instead of going to church.

We know how Paula's going to react, and George will probably try to be a calming influence. But I don't think the Pastor and Joey will even get involved, the explosion will happen before then. For the record, I don't think Jen thinks it was a lube stain in Brett's boxers... But I don't think she really minds either way.

Great, I've been looking forward to seeing more of this story. Phillip was a bit obvious about his little crush on Franklyn, but he didn't seem to mind. I'm looking forward to seeing if he's just making fun of Phillip or if there's something more to it. I'd love to see Buster's reaction if Phillip suddenly started being friendly with the hottest boy in school. I'm definitely curious about what's on Jamie's mind at the end of the chapter. It sounds like Jamie thinks Billy can't be gay because he's a cool guy, but does that mean he doesn't like gay people after all? I think he's just saying that Billy doesn't look gay. I get that Jamie wants to protect his brother from the hell of being a gay kid in high school, but he can be so oblivious to how much his words are hurting Phillip. They really need to talk this out.

I had a feeling it would end up like this. I'm just glad he survived. I loved Billy in this chapter. He didn't freak out, didn't hesitate like he usually does, he just took control of the situation and saved Dustin's life. It's a bit of a shame that it took something so drastic for Billy to finally act like the responsible adult he always claims to be. Hopefully this isn't just a fluke and we won't see him go back to the old cowardly Billy any time soon. What happens from here? Brett's mother probably knows about them now, but I don't think she really care at the moment. And I don't think the two scumbags will let Dustin stay in the hospital for months. They probably wouldn't want to 'waste' all that money on him, even if they could afford it. Someone else is going to have to step in, maybe Miss Winston. One thing's for sure, they absolutely cannot let Dustin go back to that house. Dustin is going to need a lot of counseling. Will he become one of the 'freaks'? Nuclear option? I hope this is about finally getting rid of the Smiths, but I doubt it. That's for Dustin to do once he recovers enough. The one thing that comes to my mind is this: the boys stayed at Billy's house, and they slept close to each other. And now it's Sunday. Paula is bound to try to drag Billy to church, and that's a terrible idea in his current state of mind. I'm thinking she might also make a judgemental comment about Dustin, and that will NOT go over well with Billy. I wouldn't be surprised if the next chapter involved Billy outing himself to his mother in a fit of rage over church and Dustin. It's a shame sometimes that Dustin isn't there to see how much Billy truly cares for him. It might have helped avoid this whole mess. Great job, @jkwsquirrel, it's gonna be tough to wait a whole week for the next chapter.

There are so many bad churches like that, it can become difficult not to think all churches are like that. But this shows the importance of questioning religious leaders. I'm sure there are some bad people in the congregation, but there are also a lot of people like Paula who just want to do good things and help people, but end up doing more harm because of their blind trust in the church leaders. This should usually end in Pastor Carl being exposed for the fraud he is and cast out of the congregation by the 'forces of good'. And as for Paula and Billy, I think the wedge has already been driven pretty deep. Billy appears to have grown disillusioned with religion, and I don't think Paula's prepared to acknowledge or accept that.