Krista

Oh my... don't encourage him!

Maybe he'll keep those balls the size of baseballs. He may need them after doing what he did.

Jaxton might have learned that some of the student body that he's trying to rule over don't appreciate it. Rissa made her point quite clear at least. I think it is safe for me to say there were two warring thoughts in his head about his plans. Well three, if you count... "what the hell am I doing?" But he went along with it anyway. The other two were pretty much what you said. To get ahead of it, take power out of it. And, to sneakily have them focusing on that with him and not anything else. If they see 'that' they can't see 'this..' sort of thing. On a sadder note Lorianne kind of did the same thing. Let them see the slut so they can't see how much that hurts her. I don't think he says it, but I wouldn't be surprised if she inspired him a little bit with that.

They're written, but they're not edited. My shoes aren't the ones that will get you anywhere. How about you do all the cooking and I do all the drinking, and we skip toes altogether? Hmm.. the husband wants to sneak in some venison offerings this year, because our oldest daughter recently hunted one, and then he got one this evening. So we're kind of... overstocked on that. I told him no. He's a bit sullen about that. And his sports teams have sucked this year, it might just be ball talk that saves the day.

No one told on you. You're loud enough to tell on yourself, you manage to do that all the time. As for my dinner preferences, I don't get much of a say. Being the one trusted to do the majority of the important cooking I get told that the family would prefer both a ham and a turkey. It has been a tradition for years that has trickled down to me. Not to call my mother out, but the woman could burn air... and up until recently, most of my sisters did not live within the state which is the central hub for my family to congregate for dinners such as these. So it is also my house that gets wrecked and I have to stress clean before and after the dinners. There are other things that I get suggestions on about cooking like burgers, chicken, and vegan suggestions. I've started to insist that picky eaters bring their own food. I am one person. I may sound grumpy about this... I'm mostly not.

I am the dessert maker, bird cooker, ham baker, house cleaner, and all of that... sooooo... we may not even get a new chapter next week.

oooh! That sounds so interesting. I like playing the villain, I think it suits me.

And we do remember that Celia planted this whole thing into his brain, right? She told him to think of ways to break the ice... and there he went and done it. Done and dusted. Probably the most efficient he's been about listening to anyone really. It may also just be his growing frustration getting the better of him. Consequences likely wasn't thought much about. There were hints that people didn't care about him being from Tempton. That there wasn't this hard line between him and everyone. He could still co-exist and that people find him a bit of an oddity, but not an unwelcome infringement. He's gaining friends... if he lets them be that for him. Lorianne, both sets of twins, maybe even the grumpy 'trio' at their lunch table.

Yeah, Joel has been just 'there' on the line about baseball for ages now. Unwilling to not consider himself anything but a Tiger. Worried about how that would look. How his high school legacy would play out now. How he could possibly play with people and for a school and team that he's been in a rivalry with since the eight grade. That's a lot to overcome, history can be a heavy sort of baggage to carry around. He does miss it though. If he didn't miss it, he wouldn't have entertained the Coach's first meeting. He would have simply said no to any interaction.

Hate you? When did I say hate? I didn't. Also, rabbit holes... I hate that I get hooked on something and tunnel vision right down them from time to time. History ones can be jarring though. So can true crime rabbit holes...

I would laugh and say, "no... the handy didn't motivate him to do any of this..." and I will say this knowing that I can get a lot of things checked off my husband's to do list if I even make an off-hand comment towards any promise of... well I'm too much of a lady to say. I mean, this is the same sort of reactionary Joel we've gotten since Chapter one. He's just putting his efforts into different things today, it seems. There's one thing we do know though... the boy doesn't tolerate being bullied or being the ass of jokes. He's usually very proactive in stopping that. Busted knuckles, school chants, and poor fashion statements included. Cody's birthday is looming. He has about a week and a half of school to survive first though. And yeah, maybe he's hoping that if he shows their traitor tactic isn't working, that he'd then be allowed to fall back under the radar a bit and in doing so, can be back on track for his plans. The way social networking works and teenagers, this will get back to Tempton. Roy very well could be the very person that connects all of that too, despite being in the same sort of boat.

There has to be a lingering question: Is this kid going to be an unwanted distraction? Joel has been in the school for less than a week and he's already had issues. So, if he does convince Joel to join, he might have a career as a peace negotiator, but he may also might not even want him? Tempton doesn't have him on the roster. He's no longer a threat. If he's going to be a constant disruption at school and possibly facing disciplinary action that takes him off the field... what good is he? As a coach, that would be a question in the back of my mind. I mean, he's good.. but is he good enough to overlook things.

Yeah, he definitely went with: "If they think I'm a traitor, I'll prove them right." It was already coming, it was a wave that he couldn't stop. So letting it hit him might prove out to be a winning strategy. Or it could blow up in is face. Either way, that's the focus... and he might feel better if that focus was there and not anywhere else. but then again, make a lot of noise you attract attention.

There are new aspects to him that were always there. He's just expressing them differently. If that makes sense. I can see where people are thinking it seemed like a switch being flipped. In a way it was, but was it just flipping 'back' instead of flipping to something for the first time. He's always been a bit of a mixture of reserved and bold, depending on what he was willing to be part of or let other people see. Like, he was able to become friendly with the twins. He spoke easily with Lorianne, Sierra, and others at the falls. He's shown multiple times that he's not going to be walked all over by people that are trying to be asses, or make him the butt of jokes. He waved a gun in Jonny's face in chapter one. He beat his ass for him in chapter six I want to say. He stood up to Colt. He stood up against Jaxton multiple times already. So it has been there... it has just been overshadowed. But yeah, there are limits to him. Definitely.

He would be a traitor either way, wouldn't he? If he embraced the Maroon and Mustard (loved that by the way), he'd be a traitor to everyone back in Tempton. If he insists on not being part of the baseball team, and not embracing Fletcher County, then he's a traitor. Or it could be just their past rivalry coming into play. A Tiger behind enemy lines. Enemy has a bit of a badass feel to it. They wouldn't want to elevate him to "Joker" to their "Batman" sort of status. Traitors are universally hated though... no one celebrates a traitor. Also, teenagers aren't inventive. T-raitor. T-iger. They both start with a T. That could be all it took.

I wouldn't want any of them taking this on as a challenge. I'd bet some of them could get rather creative about it. I'm not too far removed from my teenage years to not remember stupid things... and I thought my teenage years were rather tame. Hearing my husband talk about his, I know for a fact they were.

He still told Lorianne that he cared a lot about what people thought. I think caring a lot is what led to all this. Maybe he'll come back down to earth after today... maybe not. Was this even out of character for him? He had his personal fears, sure. We all have our secrets we want to protect. His just happened to be one that he elevated to the point he placed himself inward a bit and kept people at a distance. And... Davin's hand is not cold. 😮 Colt's are totally cold though... poor circulation or something, I'm sure.

Probably not Colt. Colt doesn't talk about heavy things very often and probably not about this. Now Trace and Celia, yes... they will want to talk. They always want to talk. Joel did, didn't he? Very spectacularly accomplished, I would say. People who were skipping school or out that day probably already knew the "Tiger" went full idiot before lunch. After lunch, there would be no doubt... He wanted to get ahead of what he thought was going to be the only outcome of his final year of school, right? There will be a fallout from that decision, there always is.

Shhh.. don't tell the boy he's done all that with his little day of... poor decisions. We'll be back at like Chapter four. We're still only halfway through his poor decision sort of day. Maybe he can turn it around a bit? Who knows.

Sighs.. My horse was tall too, she was over 16 hands.

The next morning, I woke up when I felt movement beside me. Glancing over at Davin, I saw him tossing the covers off his legs as he slid out of bed. I hadn’t heard any alarm until my mind focused on a buzzing I could barely hear. Watching him kneel down, to look for his phone and when the buzzing died, I grunted and rolled onto my side turning my back to him. “You better get up,” he said and I opened my eyes and looked at the digital clock on my nightstand. Seeing that it was about the time

Triathlons get rather interesting if the weather is hot. They have a hybrid suit suitable for swimming, biking, and running. Then they just start stripping as the biking and running portions get going. Very interesting if they're wearing white suits and start pouring water over their heads. Also, most of the camera angles are from the back... lots of runner-bouncy-butts. Just saying. Just don't watch the finish... they start collapsing, puking, and looking all gross.

It was Joel's online... "exploring," that got him into this mess. So, he's well aware of how and where to go to find it. The only laptop other than his chromebook in the house is Trace's, and he's just gotten access to a phone. So, who knows.. the guys might get brave enough to swap pictures. Although, they pretty much share a bed every night, of late. So there's not much of a need. As far as social media goes. It is proven out to be rather toxic with me. I don't allow my children access. They do not have accounts. I know they don't because I am very proactive with their devices. I do not have any social media accounts with any information on them. I also agree that too much screen time is bad for people, not just teenagers. People in general. It isn't healthy, we shut our minds off too much when we're staring at a screen. It becomes too easy to shut out the outside world if we wish to. And there's growing studies that people are falling into depressive states, because of their algorithms and scrolling tendencies. They're calling is "depressive scrolling.." which, new psychology is always sort of knee-jerk, but it is still medically studied to a point. And we're seeing people get far too comfortable talking to AI... to the point where people have ended their lives. So yeah, this whole internet space is good and bad... can be enlightening or extremely toxic. Addicting is pretty much a guarantee.

He's a total Jack Russell. Yappy, scrappy, and full of energy. Also, I think Jack Russells make about every veterinarian's "worst behaved" breed lists, so there's that too. He's definitely not a Golden retriever or a lab. Not Collie... not bad ass enough to be Doberman or something along those lines. So yes... Jack Russell fits...