Krista

After we got home, the house had just begun to smell of overcooked food. Mom rushed into the house to see Dad fanning the oven with a dishtowel. The casserole sat neglected on the counter, the top of it a very dark brown. I watched, leaning against the wall as Mom inspected the casserole, poking at it with a spoon. From the smell, it was a chicken and broccoli concoction and I was glad I had already eaten. “I think it is still good,” Mom commented as she spooned a couple of globs of the mess

I don't like either. I love the smell of coffee though, freshly brewed. It is a nice smell, but can you even call it coffee anymore if you put a ton of creamer, sugar, and such in it? That 'is' the only way I can drink it.. and decaffeinated. I am not tolerant of caffeine in my system at all.. one mountain dew or a cup of coffee overloads me and I can feel my heart rate quicken and such. So, I stay well away from both of those. As for health benefits of coffee, I do understand those. Soda on the other hand, don't have any, so I'm leaning more towards coffee than any soda drink. There is a lot of sugar and preservatives in those and diet is far worse for you than regular. I am a water drinker. I like water and since I don't do well with caffeine it is my go to drink of choice. Also, Coffee isn't carbonated so no belching and less bloat.

Happy Birthday! Happy 18th! Behave.. lol.

Happy Birthday! :D

Jesse Bradford was a cutie whilst I was growing up as well.

Yeah a King Cobra is one venomous snake that I wouldn't try to wrangle into a garbage bin... they're too agile.. lol. I'm used to the fat rattle snakes and copperheads that move slowly unless they're coiled up to strike out at you... but the king cobra.. and well black mamba can actually run a person down to bite them. I'm thinking the Brown Snake in Australia is known for that aggressiveness as well... I know so much about snakes because of the hunky Jeff Corwin and the fantastic late Steve Irwin though... I could honestly watch them two all day everyday and not get bored. lol.

Snakes have honestly never bothered me, venomous or otherwise. I wouldn't ever own one as a pet, they're a bit too high maintenance and don't show affection. I know they're just a creature that will 'tolerate' you and not 'appreciate' or 'like' you as a dog or cat would. So I've never saw their appeal past the striking markings some of them have. I have wrangled copperheads and timber rattlesnakes into empty large garbage bins and released them farther away from the house before. I typically let non-venomous snakes go wherever they please, as long as they don't begin to nest under the house/porch.. Lizards and frogs on the other hand... completely harmless and they make me a bit repulsed.. lizards more than frogs. Tree frogs and the sort are cute little things.. but lizards they're so zippy and unpredictable.. lol. Spiders don't freak me out either.. I am more repulsed by fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and roaches... blech.

Happy Birthday!

For some reason: For Sale: Baby Shoes, never worn... Caused me a sort of small sadness. As a mother babies out grow their shoes in a blink of an eye, so I was always looking for new shoes for them to just turn around and grow out of... So the "never worn," aspect of baby shoes sent my mind to the loss of a baby that never got to wear shoes... (I blame the sad country music I'm listening to right now) of course the other version that came later was.. "maybe they were just ugly shoes.." But heh. So maybe one can write a story in six words... it is our minds that run away with the rest of it.

Dragon Age: Origins Dragon Age: Inquisition I can play those for ages... I'm a story-first sort of player anyway, so I'll never really be too immersed in gaming. It took my awhile to get into Mass Effect, but after a few times playing them I find the story to be growing on me. Especially towards the end of Mass Effect 2 and into 3. To Ace: My younger brother made me play Gears of War with him... and I remember that one scaring the hell out of me and causing my brother to laugh his ass off... I'm sure it is a nice story, but mercy I don't think my 30 year old heart can take it.. lol.

Eh, scratch that. I just need to focus on writing...

Thanks for reading! Sadly in some cases the 'mother' of the child gets more attention and less scrutiny in custody hearings over children - there is just this stigma to single fathers.. but I'm seeing that change a lot. I'm glad you liked the first chapter!

A lot happens before this excerpt, but the story really takes off after it as well... I honestly think after the chapter that has this excerpt I figured out what I wanted to do with this story. This story actually started out as a Heterosexual story back in my younger days in high school. It was about a girl that had a father who wanted a son. Instead he of course got the daughter... I may one day write the story - it will be distinctly different than this one.

Hell I need to go back and read the story again... lol. I've forgotten a lot and I read through some of the later chapters and really liked the characters again. Made me miss them anyway.

Happy Birthday!

Lol. Just sic Jenny on him if he starts mouthing off. She has a good right hook on her if I remember correctly. It isn't a bad idea - there are some things I left on the table not sorted out for sure. That's okay! These features are for that purpose too! To bring light to stories that may have fallen under the radar now that they are completed and years old. If you do check it out, I hope you enjoy the story.

Maybe if my mind can come up with something really juicy for them... they ended in such a happy place that I want that to continue for them... lol. Some of my reservations about doing a sequel for these characters, is that TBY "is" going to feature those big moments heading into the Senior year that you don't get to see with SiS. Even if those characters are distinctly different, I would mostly get bogged down in those scenes if I revisited those milestones so frequently. Although, I do have small snippet stories planned for TBY after it is completed already... you can likely guess what those would be if I ever get the next chapter for that story posted.. lol. (if you're reading that story, that is). But I have been known to change my mind like the wind changes directions...

Thanks for commenting. Part of the reason I chose this story for the feature as well, is that I feel from beginning to end - it showed how I grew up a bit as a writer. I remember reading the first 10 - 12 chapters and thinking that the story was a bit rough around the edges. Then as that progressed it really got a lot better... It also had my favorite cast of side-characters. I like your review, I should really put that as a story description - it is better than mine. (I notoriously suck at those as it is) Thanks for the kind words! I hope you do and enjoy the story. You have the luxury of getting to read it as completed... the poor readers that were around when I posted it had to endure 3ish years of posting before they got the complete story... poor dears. Corey's Dad is one of my favorite characters. I 'liked' writing him. I liked the contrast and interactions that Corey's Dad and Corey had throughout the story.. especially towards the end. At least I am being somewhat quicker with TBY, yes? Maybe? lol Thanks for reading the story Graeme! I may have thought about having The Best Year being a somewhat sequel-spin off from Standing in Shadows (having all the characters being from the same school)... that would have been way too much work though... A sequel right now is so far off the table right now. I wouldn't know how I would want to approach it. I once attempted a Sequel to AYC and found it to be too dark and nearly vilifying the love interest... These characters are my favorite though, Corey's gang of friends and his parents would make it fun to revisit. I just need to think of a good reason why I would want to put all of them through more trouble, angst, and laughs. I hope you enjoy the story! You do need to catch up lady... I kid, time is so precious these days. On that note I need to get the next chapter of TBY out too... haha. I like writing "boy next door" romances. I live in a rural place now and I love where I live... and I want to think that romances can be so innocent and tender like what Standing In Shadows is about. These are the stories I continue to gravitate towards, I like the realism. I like that such common people can have stories worth writing and reading about.

Happy Birthday!

Hi! Thanks for reading. I'm so glad you enjoyed this story. It was a project that took me a long time to write, so you definitely caught it when it was complete. (I feel sorry for those that had to endure 4 years of my delays to read the entire piece). This story is about friendship.. those side characters, I think are the reason I enjoyed the story as the author of it. Andy, Keith, Jenny.. we would all do well with friends like those. Cory is also a sweetheart, his characters was a nice study. I'm sorry I just now noticed the reviews! I'm sorry about the ticks in chapter 5.. lol. A lot of people felt itchy as they read that scene. The father 'is' a favorite character of mine. I like that he was so negative, pushy, borderline abusive. It made the story and Cory's growth all the more fulfilling. Or at least I hoped so. Thanks for taking the time to read the story. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading! Yes, I can feel that the last two chapters have been the tipping point in the story. There are things Jackson will have to face head on in the coming chapters.. otherwise, he'll go crazy inside his own head. lol. There was a lot of inner-dialog in this chapter, I'm glad you liked his inner complexities.

Thanks for reading! Growing up in the south there's a saying that I think all Mothers have used in dealing with their children. It goes like this: "I'm at my Wits end with you!" Usually that is followed with a new parenting strategy that may or may not be well thought out. It definitely seems like this was a moment for Grace. I'm not sure you're being sarcastic or not, but if you aren't, I like that you liked her attempt at parenting this time. If you are, you definitely made me laugh as I read it thinking of it being sarcasm.

Thanks for reading! Now that you mention it, the forced apology was pretty small. He didn't lose his phone (for an extended period of time), he wasn't grounded on top of being grounded, and his car is still his to drive. Maybe Grace/his mother thought that knocking that ego/nothing can get in the way of my life mindset would bring him back down to Earth a little. But yes, as far as lingering punishments go, if he can get over the embarrassment he got off easy. People like to think that people are brave. If something similar happened to me, though. I would be floating down a river too, if my friends offered that to me. This is completely new to him, the thoughts in his head aren't thoughts he entertained before. He definitely hasn't forgotten about that kiss. Luke hasn't either.

Thanks for reading! Maybe Luke sees someone that is living for themselves. He may not see Jackson as someone that is selfish... or maybe Luke is prepared for that. He seems very self assured and comfortable with himself. It would take someone like Luke to put up with Jackson, for sure. Most people wouldn't... maybe Jackson will see that one of these days and calm his butt down. Maybe?

Thanks for reading! He did seem to be going along with the breeze. Only participating when he thought he needed to. I mean, he did have fun with them. They did take his mind off of Luke - at least partially. They are definitely people he trusts and feels comfortable with. Maybe a little shaky with Ally, but that was because he kissed someone that wasn't her... and I guess, even though Jackson is a bit of a brat, he seems to be a loyal one. I think if I were in his shoes, I'd be scared of what Ally would think if she found out about outside of relationship kissing.. So poor dear has that to worry about in his future, I think. After the kiss, the hand holding came. It seemed to settle them both down and allow them to escape a bit.. I mean there is affection in hand holding.. you can't hold someone's hand and feel nothing.. So I do think that 'has' to be encouraging for both of them. And Cindy is hawk eyed, yes. She is very protective, but she is also very biased, biases can skew perception. She may not like Jackson, but it may not be for 'that' reason and for what she sees in her own son... or of course maybe she does. I'm definitely not going to spill the beans on her yet. Writers have to be cruel sometimes.