Krista

Maybe someone needs to tell them that their sexual tension can be cut with a knife. I don't think they're aware... 😮 Do they have sexual tension? Are they supposed to? I'm the author, I should probably be able to answer those questions. There 'is' some tension between the brothers, but I think it has more to do with Faith and Gavin's release of tension than anything. Or maybe not. Maybe they're just going through a cycle of unrest... maybe they'll get back to their banter just as easily as the tension came... twins tend to do that, and we as un-twins have to deal with that, I guess...

Sorry for the delay in these responses, I've been away. Taking a bit of break to focus on family, work, and just overall home life for a bit. I needed it. I do love and appreciate all the comments and support y'all have shown me with this story so far. Thank you.

Thank you! Yeah, the timeline is still like three-ish days, give or take a few hours, to a half-day.... who knows we're thirteen chapters into this baby. But, yes... it is a short span. A year would be a short span for something like this. Hell, five years. When your world is turned on its head overnight, you don't recover from that. When you lose everything you've tried to protect... both to keep, and because you're afraid, you don't simply come back to yourself. Joel will 'never' be exactly who he was three days ago. Right now, he is no longer a loved son. Right now he's not longer a baseball player. People may see that as a good thing, because they 'hope' Celia and Trace can help him... but three days in, he doesn't know that. I do like the twins, whilst writing them I did struggle and hope with fingers crossed that their voices were differentiated, but similar. That I gave them their own organic feel instead of a walking, talking, and fast eating mirror of one another. It is a balance in making the sameness of twins who are similar both in looks and in personality... but different as well. I wanted to do them that way, because my twins are not that. They do have similarities, as in they like to be close to one another, prefer the same classrooms for classes, etc. But, they are different. Very distinctly different. The twin dynamics are still there... as they age that's become less so, but I think that has more to do with one of them being male and the other female. Aww.. Lacey might feel a little lost in the shuffle of things. A new person in the house, a crowded house usually, her brother might have put in a bit of distance since the girlfriend came along, and Celia and Trace are maybe not prioritizing her as much as they used to... maybe she feels like she needs to be a bit louder to be heard. I don't see her that way, but I could be author blind. Celia and Trace... are giving Henry a run of his money for being my favorite parent characters. I still like Henry though... lol. There needs to be more Cody's in the world. And.. you 'may' be right about Colt... maybe. and yeah, Westley probably needs the Jonny Lundst approach, if we're honest... I do wonder if they would find his search history a huge fault with him though. At least his parents do seem to think that 'anything' of that nature wouldn't be tolerated. We only have gotten to see one version of that outcome. With the busted up laptop and Joel exiled, we won't get to see that play out. Westley will 'mess up' though. He might have 'just enough' motivation to manage doing that.

Another pretty version. I mean honestly, unless you sound like a cat caught in a fan... the song does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. It is one of the better written songs out there... I do prefer a more melancholy approach to the song. Lang started out a bit Jazzy. I do like her though, she has a very full and soulful voice.

It was beautiful, if only the shuffling around and overall noise didn't take away from playing a bit in the background. I did like that you could tell that people were stopping to listen... or maybe the crowd was possibly dispersing more around him and off camera, as it did become slightly less distracting as song got closer to concluding. Thank you for sharing.

Yeah, I am raising twins. I am all too familiar with their dynamics. The picking, their own separate language, the protectiveness. In my siblings there are three sets. Girl/Girl, Girl/Boy, and Boy/Boy. The boys are the worst, they roast one another and they're getting older. They're eighteen, so their language and ways to prank, pick at, and such has... gotten worse. I would say, "grew with them," but I'd say it went the other way... lol. The older they got, the more juvenile their language/antics got. They are not really based on Gavin or Davin either. I would say Gavin and Davin are tame by comparison so far... I mean, I've thought my brothers were going to have a full on fight, but then they'd just blink and bust out laughing... and here I am ready to turn the water hose on them. I remember them crying the first time their school separated them into different classes in the third grade. They had to make arrangements for them to be put back together, they weren't ready. My twins are the same way, they want to be in the same classes and they're approaching the dreaded teenage years and still prefer it to be that way. My daughter at the moment is far more protective over my son, but like I said, he's a soft little puppy compared to her as it is.

Rude behavior, Steven. And, you're a teller of half-truths, as usual. There are times when you've sent me... surprise links to look at all the time. Terrible news articles, unfunny jokes, less than ideal things. And most importantly, crappy ass music. So, I am erring on the side of caution when it comes to you. Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' is probably the crown jewel of the 'best' songs you've ever sent me. And, wasn't it just a few weeks ago that you told the GA world that your poor computer had to be taken to a specialist, put on anti-biotics, and cleansed. Seems to me like someone 'needs' to be careful around you when you're flinging links out there for someone to click. Being willy-nilly about that sort of thing is how one ends up in such situations. Just saying.

Just point me in the directions of the characters that get off scot-free when it comes to such... things. I may need to put some fear into a certain Wildthing when he gets cheeky...

I wonder if 'all' of Gavin's teasing of Davin about not having a girlfriend, stems from Gavin having one himself. The, "I have something you don't... ahhahah" is it juvenile? Possibly. Will he change? No. That is how they show their love, constant picking and fussing, none of it serious, but bystanders think they're ready to throw hands... or he may know, twins often do know the other twin best... but is Gavin even looking at Davin so deep as all that? Who knows, Gavin has his own distractions in the form of Faith. Pretty, quiet, not as gossipy Faith. Apparently she also has parents that leave her unattended for stretches of time... the fox in the hen house, so to speak. And yeah, I think it is safe to say from this chapter, both twins are over their parents attempting to give half a shit halfway across the world. An Elephant that isn't going to magically go away... either. He's going to have to see that decision through, he's running out of time.

Aww sorry, I knew when I wrote it... it would be a heavy bit of reading. It might have done with a little brevity mingled in. There's only so far down the story can go before it starts ticking up, I'm hoping. Shameful parents.. sigh. At least they were all lucky to have landed on a third and good set, so it seems.

He might have all the puzzle pieces face up and ready to assemble... let's hope he has the patience for that. And yeah, it is abandonment and neglect... they're putting a lot of weight on the care of other people, not caring if it happens or not...

Hmmm.... yeah, I do think people get tired of a situation and think they have to leave for a lot greener pastures, so to speak. Small towns die off from people seeking what their hometowns cannot offer them... or at least a better array of people. I think Davin would be okay, if he just got out of that house and away from those nagging thoughts that his parents will come back 'for' him.. and not just the.. check in for a week like any other place they may be staying at the time. And Davin has a crush on Colt? Ohhh since when?! I love juicy gossip. Spill that tea..

There are people younger than me that still have those sentiments passed down, it is generational here. There is no such thing as "real country" music anymore.. not since Haggard, Lynn, Twitty, Hank, Cash, the Carter Family, Jones, etc. I do have large spectrum of music I do like, but yeah the majority of it is country, light rock/alternative, pop, and a small sampling of R&B. It does depend on the song though, if I like the song I can get into it no matter the genre... I'm not a music snob.

Probably... or at least forced to read parenting for dummies volumes 1 through 10. Or both jail and lessons. The window is closing though, their children are growing up... maybe one day both sets will look back and realize what they've missed. I wouldn't put a huge bet on that though, from what we've seen.

I wonder if either of them are comfortable in making the first move?... Or... are there any moves from Davin to actually be made? It is still all theory, his interest and why... he opened the door to his home, he put himself on the same shitty-parenting island that Joel has been on since he arrived. Is that the only common ground Davin wants with him? Because he's not getting that common ground from Gavin, not anymore... Gavin has moved on... so it seems. maybe.

Ohhh.. @Lee Wilson has a character body count? 😮 Curiosity might get the better of me...

I do wonder if even he has let Colt, the Connleys or maybe even Gavin see him like that. I can see Gavin telling him to suck it up, as he seems to have already moved on from the fact that their parents aren't the parenting type, and are rather cold in the process. Very clean house, antiseptic and sterile are interesting words to use. Too bad I didn't use them 'in' the writing. but I'm glad to see them here. And, I think Davin would let off steam by trashing the house in one epic grand party, with paint, alcohol, and poor judgment... lol Anything to get the parents on the next flight home maybe...

Possibly. Lol. Checks out, they seem like 'those types of people...'

He would have much preferred to stay at the Connley ranch, I'm thinking. What he was expecting, most definitely wasn't what happened. And yeah, he's always made the decision to limit his alcohol use whenever he's around people. I doubt he's ever been more than slightly buzzed his whole life. Didn't want to risk letting go. He has too much of a battle with his own strict control, unfortunately people with secrets tend to be that way.

Yeah, they could have, but it wouldn't have changed anything. Might have embarrassed the parents. But, I'm thinking the only ones that would've truly been punished would have been the twins. As in, taking them away from everyone and putting them into boarding schools for most of the year. Or likely worse, 'taking them with them' and then ignoring them. Who knows... And who would have thought that Davin and Gavin could be gentle with anyone or anything... I wonder if that stays that way...

I've been saying that I'm retiring after about every project I've ever done. I said it after TBY, I said it after Ridley, yet here we are. 😮 I do say it 'mostly' in jest, because I've been doing this since 2003ish. That's a lot of years. I do have 'Ellis' chapter one written. Although, it doesn't really bode well for that story to still just have the one chapter. I've not been overly focused on this story to where I can't write Ellis. I've been trying to come up with a good idea for the Creature Feature anthology, but I've been rather unsuccessful about it. I did have 'two' ideas, but they seem to be scaled to large for a short story, as it would take a lot of setup and words are limiting. So yeah, I have nothing planned after Learned to Lie, that I will 100% say I'm committing to, but also... the retirement statement is a half-joke. We should appreciate the authors here for however long we have them. That is the only thing constant about GA, is that things can change.