Krista

Yep. Colt got really snarky... shameful thing.

Four chapters. For now. I have a chapter titled 19.1, if I choose to allow that to remain something I am willing to post, there will be five. That number may change again, if I continue further. I am back to writing this story some, sadly. But I am doing so with the thought that, if it falls to the wayside or I'm not happy with it, then what I've added so far doesn't impact the ending or the story too much. And the Chapter document numbers do not match Posting numbers. So that's why that is titled 19.1. Because numerically and within the timeline it falls in the middle of 19 and 20. I am my own worst enemy with this, I'm seeing.

Yes, I have used the Mood toy.. err tool. And I can't remember all of them. I'm almost sounding stereotypically female aren't I? Before you answer, know that you will receive a generous sampling of a mood if you do. Tread carefully. As far as military goes, I wish I had an answer, because I know there have been family members, distant to me like great grandfathers, great uncles, etc. that have served and I should do better to at least know their names and how they served. Just overall be more knowing of where I came from. It is something I can rectify though, maybe I will. Most of my husband's friends are former and/or recently retired military. Marines and Army.

Celia said no more busted knuckles. I wonder if he remembers that? We don't know if Jaxton is the type to come at him like that or not. Maybe most of his tactics has to do with running his mouth and not using his fists. He might melt like a snowflake if someone got into his face and meant it. Or he could be very good at running his mouth and throwing punches. And, yeah, Joel has already shown he's more than ready to defend himself.

And, I got the bug to where it didn't allow my huge response to all this post. So I will just say: Yes, he is prickly. But what you explained aren't excuses, they're realities. Up until now Roy has been a periphery figure that followed Jonny around. Someone that Joel did not like, or held little respect and caused him torment for which Roy was a witness or possibly a lesser offender. Roy also did not denounce his friendship with Jonny. Jonny also vouched for Roy. Jonny will not be in prison forever. So, that makes Roy dangerous to let in. He also says things that annoys him, so there's that. And he's mostly fine with everyone else. Trace, Lacey, Celia, Colt - although their banter/communications can be prickly, but it is both of them doing that, Gavin, and even Lorianne despite being scared of her. He was prickly with Coach Finn, but neither of them knew what they were stepping in when they first met. That might have been doomed from the start. He's prickly with Davin, because Davin has this entire picture already in his mind. He sees the utopia that is Joel being their teammate for the season. That batting average and fielding advantage. The perks of spending time with someone that has a lot of shared interests and that he can kiss. So yeah, he's adding pressure. And any pressure for someone that's in a state of mind that Joel is in, isn't going to be well received. It is also pressure Joel has felt for a large chunk of his life. Pressure that recently exploded in his face. So yes, the two people that he is the most prickly with are the two people attempting to scale the walls. And you are correct, we're still less than a month into all this change.

Oh, Colt knows of the altercation. News like that didn't stay contained to the cafeteria three minutes after it happened. Social media and access to wifi and phones made sure of that and Colt has more connections than Joel does. Joel doesn't have many at all, so any attempt to get ahead of anything to 'stem the tide' or contain the fallout wouldn't work for him yet. And boys... I am trying to behave myself when it comes to Joel and boys.

I just have to mention couch and he changes his tune. And we have a nice couch, but that also means he has to share the living room at night with one hundred pounds of bluetick coonhound/black lab mix that snores loud enough that you can hear him over the television, and a little beagle that has toxic toots. When someone sleeps downstairs, they want to cuddle too and won't sleep in their beds. So yes, the mention of couch straightens him right up. No one wants to be the little spoon to a one hundred pound dog.

Knocking Jaxton's ego down a few pegs will do Jaxton more harm than breaking arms or fingers, I'm thinking. If you break his bones he becomes a "fallen hero.." you prove him out as less than he is, then he won't be able to cope. But that would mean Joel would become one of the 'monsters' he's scared of.

Oh yikes. 😮 That's a very terrible painted picture of a possible outcome, isn't it? I do wonder how long Westley would keep the secret. Or Cody for that matter. Kids who don't see an issue with something, because Cody doesn't agree with the decision to kick Joel out, might no longer feel the need to protect his secret. Maybe in an attempt to seek help in getting Joel back. But, I don't know if there are any monsters lurking in Tempton at least not as bad as his own mother.

*high pitched* uuuuuuhhhh! The one asking the question. No need for confirmation or polls.

Three tents in one night... there's probably a good Golden Girls meme floating around for this very thing. I don't hold it against my husband for knowing the stats of players that his father and grandfather watched. Or how to estimate the score of a rack on a deer at 200 yards away, etc. So you're not broken for not knowing. You just have different interests. I once saw a woman complaining that her husband called and asked what size diaper their baby needed -- failing to see that he was the one currently out buying them, mind you. And another woman asked, "Does he change the diapers any?" And when the woman complaining about that answered, "Well yes.." the woman who asked just nodded and let that answer rest. He may not know the size of the diaper, but he's helping where he knows he can. It was just something that stuck with me as I've went along with him. We do bicker about things... I threatened to put him on the couch recently.

Well I can safely say I haven't.

I thought the very video was posted on GA? Paris 2024 - Anthony Ammirati *whistles* I'm too much of a lady to post such a thing... but I'm pretty sure I saw it on GA.. lol.

Yeah, I actually think I behaved and wrote the next three chapters well below 17k. I think two of them were just above 8k. But chapter 19.1 is being written.. so that's adding to the word count, which I have not added to the total in my "Character/Note" sheet. The last... maybe not last chapter, the hell if I know.. being 26k of that. Mercy. It is all getting way too complicated at this rate. I fear I've fallen well off my rocker.

Joel and Colt banter. Never did I think I'd see the day where I read those words. For two people that don't like talking, they worked themselves up to a banter. 😮 Progress made. Proud of them both. Lacey would agree, he does need more riding lessons.

He is allowing tentative little feeler thoughts to come through. Maybe to see how his body responds to them. Realizing he's calm, maybe more calm than he would be at Tempton. He's not totally recoiling from having slightly off-the-back-foot way of thinking that's going to turn him around and lead him back down the same road he's been on for ages. He's done it some before, but those thoughts were allowed to die before they got their second breath. Maybe he'll not let all of these fall out of his mind so easily. Cody is missing. It is during the school week, but they've not really held up their end of that bargain that Trace only made, and Joel's father reluctantly saying he'd consider it. I don't know who is winning out in that war. The thought of Trace having communications with them, at least to get documents and such needed to better help Joel live with them -- Trace probably mentions Cody and that promise. But yes, he is still missing. And yes, Joel needs him.

I think he'd choose outcast, because that would give him an out. It would take more of an effort to be a traitor, I'm thinking. lol. Neither sound good. Maybe day three will be a totally different experience. Bad and good? The weekend is approaching too, a respite before the war all over again. Maybe his better more calmer judgment will see Jaxton's arm and nose properly functional and not busted, broken, or bruised. It is too bad that people like that only can get a bruised ego by getting their noses busted up for them a few times.

I felt the words, "little side romance," they sting... oh poor Davin. *hands him a comfort cookie* And yeah, he does risk missing things. I think he knows that. That's why he's teetering on those ideas. If he was headstrong in his thinking, he'd be far more blind to it and possibly wouldn't realize anything lost until it was too far gone to salvage. And, there are a lot of voices in his head attempting to tell him how to be, who to be, what to do, how to do it. They're small, they're attempts to be helpful. Friendly, even. He's just not where he needs to be in order to consider that it is just advice, and not pressure. If he is as good as he is, he will miss out on future opportunities. Opportunities that he would grab in a second if he thought that he'd be helping out the Connley family and get rid of some of that lingering guilt. Despite Celia telling him that it wasn't his to hold on to.

Smacking around the QB successfully might get him left alone, sure. If that fails, then I don't think he'd be able to stay there either. Very risk. vs. reward. I think everyone involved loses in that scenario, most of all Joel. Being homeschooled by Celia might not be a pretty picture, she'll probably demand more from him than his teachers. He does need to better establish what he actually wants. Right now, he's being pulled by so many thoughts, directions. I'm not surprised he's not sleeping. and sigh.. Roy. Those brown eyes.

Ohhh.. maybe he'll stop being a prickly butthead. Davin doesn't seem to mind for now.

Opens document: Learned to Lie 19.1 (which I can't even remember where that falls in numerical form here at this rate, 26.1? 25.1?) Scrolls to the bottom where I left off: Colt, buzzed and teetering on a loose pile of rocks along the gentle flowing water of the river... --- if that's all it takes, consider that guaranteed. The boy's about to get soo wet, and clothe-clingy.. and jeans sagging to the top of his rounded butt cheeks. (I didn't ruin that with the use of the words butt cheeks did I)? And yes, I agree. I think that's the very lesson he does need to learn. And he needs to realize that he's living that life now and it perfectly okay to let go of the fear and guilt and welcome it. When he realizes that, he does need to get out of his own way. He needs to give himself a talking to. People have talked to him about this a few times. Maybe it will sink in. Hold right on now. Baseball is nowhere near the top of the list of boring sports if Golf is just above it. I mean, the only time pole vaulting caused a stir is when that one dude's dick cost him a medal, but it really bounced in slow-motion, didn't it? I do know the dude you're talking about, but I'd have to look up the spelling of his last name and I'm not going to. The only way I'd go see a theatrical release about baseball is if the title was: Jockstraps. And it was a musical, because curiosity would get the better of me.

Yeah, you don't disrupt Football season before the first kickoff. My goodness, I hope he calms down. And he did stand up for the entire table. Jaxton's anger might be more about what Lorianne did to him... spurned him, I'd guess. Davin and Rissa seem to think that's the reason. And, him wanting the "new kids" to know where they fell in his eyes anyway. It was a surprise for Jaxton when Joel did react that way. People saw him do it too.

Our boy could be a hopeless wreck of a lost cause. Jeremiah is also secretly rebel hot with his tattoos, scowls, and I'm not going to put up with bullshit whole snack, and Joel has barely noticed. I don't know why I put in so much effort if he's not going to appreciate what I do for him. Jaxton, the new Jonny? Also, for TBY readers, Jaxton's name is entirely intentional. I didn't want it so on the nose and call him Jackson, but yeah. Imagine me writing Jackson to the level of jock-bully-shallow that I have so far with Jaxton. I did a little bit, but the POV saved him eventually.

I don't know what's happened... Just because Davin and Joel are in the kissy-sneaky phase. I may have to write a very wet Colt, with a see-through shirt scene and slide that in somewhere. Put him in a pair of tight fitted ass-showy jeans as well. Colt needs this. Otherwise all he's got is Sierra. And yes, the school names are confusing to me. I actually had to CTRL F and change them more than a couple of times. Tempton is located in Johnston County, which I hardly ever name outright. I just refer to it being Tempton, but it is actually Tempton High. His new school, Fletcher, is Fletcher County High School, which shares the name with the county. It is too much work for little effort I put into this nonsense. I have no idea why Tempton broke the mold and decided that it wasn't going to be named after the County it is located in. As far as we know it is the only High school in that county. But like you said, that's not the issue. Although I just spent more letters in making it so. I do think he's starting to see that, or he's not really connected the two dots, but he sees that the same issues Tempton has, Fletcher matches to the letter. Trace told him that he might need to think about not being so backed into a corner, that it may be the only way he can feel differently. Maybe he'll connect the dots to the advice and get ahead of all this and allow himself to finally fall into the place he actually wants to fall into.