Krista

Thanks for reading! This story is a character development story that I've been really wanting to write for a bit. Jackson has a ton of growth so the ending is very wide open. That does sound like a realistic ending for him though.

Hi, thanks for reading. Jackson's Mom, Grace works as one of the top people in a factory. These small town factories run 24 hours a day 6 days a week in different shifts. Usually people near the top of the factory are "on call" most of the time and need to come in and fix mix-ups and such. Small town factories are what this one is based on, I've had family members working for them forever and they're extremely busy - too busy.. but they have to keep up demands placed on them by cooperation or they pull the factory out of the region. Jackson's reaction to seeing Luke is interesting. Is there a turning point for them coming up after Jackson realized that Luke could be fine by himself. That maybe his fear of being followed around by a "lost puppy," in Luke is hollow.. or does he want Luke as a friend? The brat is very difficult to read.. lol. I'm glad you didn't hate Jackson this chapter, he was pretty friendly and cooperative this chapter for sure. I knew after last chapter that he needed a reality check and he got one. Will it stick? We'll see.

I didn't seem to crush/bother Jackson that much either. So maybe, Jackson and Luke both know who they are.. they're just sort of unwilling to let the other one see it. But yes, it was a humbling moment to realize Luke didn't need hims. lol. Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading! I meant small group, lol. I'm glad you like the story so far.

Happy Birthday!

Congratulations! Well deserved!

After Luke left, my luck didn’t get any better. I picked at my pizza rolls no longer really all that hungry. Then I went off to practice where Coach kicked my ass around the track. Being an assistant football coach too, I hoped he would be distracted by them. Especially since the football team mostly sucked and needed a lot of attention to get them in decent enough shape. Derek and Toby were also in hot water too and spent most of practice running beside me on the track, at least I didn’t have t

Honestly, I'm not a fan of being shown how a character should look. I like to read and form my own image of them as I go along. Not everyone is like that and I'm not saying authors shouldn't post pictures swaying how we picture their characters. Good stories have creative descriptions of characters that allow for readers to form a good mental picture of them. I want my readers to visualize the characters the way they wish to. I will try to guide them, but I won't ever show them outright. We don't really like the, "face in the mirror" paragraphs. (Paragraphs like: My name is Frank, I'm 6'1", blue eyes, brown hair, six pack abs, hairless as the day I popped out of my momma, perfect teeth... etc.) So I'm just taking that to the next level and thinking that being shown, is worse than that. Not saying people who post pictures are wrong and not worth reading. Nothing like that, but as a reader I avoid picture representation of characters until I am finished with the story. Then it is fun to see fan-art, artwork, photos, etc.

I do not really use smells (bad krista, bad). I use vague - the combination of his deodorant and soap... yadda yadda, but I hardly ever do name/brand dropping. You don't really need to, they can have a specific scent tied to them. Like an artist that paints may always faintly smell of paint... or a florist may smell like a certain flower, etc. It doesn't have to be cologne specifically, it can be any smell that a person can relate to and understand.

I like the other guy better.. Tom not so much. Too small/petite for my liking. But, that speedo will so fall off as soon as he hits the water.. it doesn't have too far to go.

And what a tongue lashing he may get from his momma too. He will deserve this one, I think. lol. He isn't thinking, so you hit him on the head with that one. He reacts to things instead of looking past his own fears/worries/enjoyment and doesn't see what that will cost the people around him. His friends are of the same mold so far as well. So will he stay on their level? Leave them behind? Or will they all grow together? Even though I've posted 9 chapters, there hasn't been a lot of growth with anyone. So there is plenty of room for them to grow if they wish to.

Thanks for reading! A very thoughtful review, I think I focused so much on Luke/Jackson that the friends still feel like superficial outlying characters. There are a lot of them to manage and more important characters do need to come to light at this stage in the story. So hopefully, the friends add more depth to Jackson, Luke, etc as I go along, because they are important in the overall story, just not central. Jackson is a character I've been wanting to write for awhile now. I want him to test the boundaries on whether people will like him. I don't want to go 'too far' with that though, but the story is still fairly new and I have a lot of room for him to grow in the next chapters especially. I'm glad you like Luke, he is the only one that deserves to be completely liked at this point. Too bad his mother is a piece of work.. lol. I think in small towns where best friends.. don't really ever stop being best friends, we overlook their flaws/differences or at least get desensitized to them over the years. Cindy and Jackson's mom have known one another since grade school (although I don't think that is mentioned in the story yet) and if you keep a friend that long, you've definitely overlooked and accepted a lot about them by then. lol. I hope you stick with the story though!

Thanks for reading! Luke stood up for himself, probably surprising Jackson a bit I would imagine. Jackson doesn't get a lot of people standing toe to toe with him, or it doesn't seem like that to me. lol. If Connor was willing to take a trash can ride to save face anyway. Maybe Jackson will fix this or revel in a job well done? We'll see. He definitely relapsed though.

Thanks for reading! Some people need a good kick in the butt and Jackson might be one of those people. lol. Hopefully he'll do better, we're into chapter 9 and there has been very minor moments so far. I've never worked with a character that needed a ton of growth like him, I'm glad people think so lowly of him so far, I started this story with that very idea/hope in mind. I just want y'all to stick with him and not go too far with this character flaw.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks for reading! Jackson went back to his old habits to deal with something that - I shouldn't say surprised him, not after that talk they had at the pool. Just ahh, and is there more to what is going on in Jackson's head than 'not' wanting Luke in the same school?

I think if Jackson had you fussing at him, he'd wise up a lot quicker. You said it perfectly.. poor Luke. lol. Hopefully Jackson will surprise us and not be so ass-y. We can all hope right?

Thanks for reading! Jackson is a work in progress for sure, with those you'll get relapses from time to time.. Right? Poor Luke, yes?

Sunday ended up being a wasted day after I left to get lunch. There was no epic escape, no one was out, the town was completely dead. The people at the local McDonald's actually looked thrilled to finally see someone coming into the place to order some food. After getting my food, I didn’t stick around, instead I drove until I found one of the scenic pull offs next to the river that snaked around town. It was just past a bridge, where some drug deals likely took place after dark, it happened eno

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday! Hope you had a great one!

Body type and obesity aren't the same thing. So "plus size" and "fat" aren't either. Some people have larger bone mass than others, so they're naturally broader. Those muscles have to cover and support those bones, so the body naturally compensates for those differing types as well. These "plus size" models aren't fat, they're just a different body type than what most agencies look for in their models. He's just a hell of a lot of man, so a lot of agencies wouldn't know what to do with him, so they call him plus-size. I bet he's a good cuddler. (hopes the hubby doesn't read that)

Thanks for reading! Yeah, we can't expect our boy to change so much without a few relapses back into old habits. Maybe it won't be so bad since he's only got a bit of his freedom back and not all of it. But we'll see.

Thanks for reading! Yeah, totally missed by both of them. Poor dears. Yeah, he showed some concern and gave us all a glimmer of maturity. Maybe it will last...

Thanks for reading! Jackson's friends will come into play a lot more as the story progresses! I hope to really dive into them in the next few chapters. They have been on the periphery for awhile now - so much so we can't really take any of them seriously yet. There are a lot of characters to manage with this story, shew. lol. I actually am worried that I'm not doing that well of a job with Jackson's parents, but the story is still a wee bit new, so they can be tweaked better as the story progresses. I hope.