Krista

Could be just her being a rude-ass and not wanting to be witness to her sister being a flirt.

Maybe...

I innocently and briefly flirted with the idea of a "Prequel." Story involving Grace, Welker, Craig, Henry, Cindy, Troy, Rick, Carrie, *can't remember Troy's wife's name. To tell their stories of their senior year, keeping in line with how I depicted them in High school. How some things have changed. Cindy was going to be more like Jackson and Henry is Luke, but more golden-retriever. It would have made her a bit of a hypocrite, but it would have made for her dislike of Jackson a bit more profound, because she grew from that. It would have had to involve something I didn't want to involve though, that I also flirted with in the original writing of Jackson's story as well, but didn't touch. Mostly to spare Luke and Henry. Troy would also be a lot more central, but I also would have had to make him being a bachelor for an entirely different reason than his wife leaving him. Grace/Cindy/Henry/Craig dynamics being the driving force of the plot though. I realized though, that since I didn't touch those major plot points in the original, I couldn't touch them in the prequel, so I decided there wasn't enough story there, unless their parents became strangers to a point from their own children.

Baseball players all day for me. At least in uniform anyway...

Jackson wouldn't have it any other way. Beautiful. Thankyou. You summed up what I wanted to depict with their friend group. I wanted people to realize that Toby, Derek, are just as much of a part of his life as anyone else. I wanted that bond to be there always. I wanted them to overlook flaws, differences, and know they're in this for long run because they've been together since birth. The girls coming along when the hormones did, but still becoming part of Jackson's family. He 'thought' he was willing to leave all that behind, not seeing the value in it, but as the days approached he knew he wouldn't ever be able to, and didn't want to. They will raise their children together, grow old together, fight and make-up, but they'll be there. These chapters leading up to the final chapter were some of the chapters I really loved writing. It made knowing that I was going to be ending it soon a bit bitter sweet, but I needed to move on. Jackson's story had played out with me, the characters is what kept me going. I also wanted them stuck in this time, not burdened by adulthood, but planning and visualizing those dreams on a more concrete level.

The more I read and write, the more I don't want to always do the, "first love is the only love..." type stories. I know in Romances there needs to be a quick transition from first to only. Like if Jackson and Luke were a thing, they would need to break up pretty early on in the writing, and then I would need to make the second romance become 'the' romance and make it worthwhile. The first one would need to be flawed somehow as well, either Jackson or Luke would need to be 'bad for that relationship' or some incident would need to occur. So, it is a bit unrealistic that all these relationships would have lasted the five years. Lily an Derek seemed more connected than Heather and Toby, who were a good match, but maybe not one that would hold together long-term. Ally's relationships didn't last. Olivia and Connor, unfortunately, but I honestly don't think Connor would have survived her, so maybe he dodged a bullet with her... lol. I wish I could explain the Coaches not being there, but none of my coaches came to my wedding... I'd say scheduling conflicts would be the bigger issue, or everyone moving on. He was only with Tony for a few months after all. Scott for four years... but a college coach would be busy and somewhat distant, as they have a lot more of a demand on their time, I'm guessing. Either way, them not being there is because I forgot about them. Which is what I should have led with... lmao.

Oh gosh... you've started another one. Good luck. You might find a running theme in my stories (another one that I wish to break from, mind you). Other than C names being all over the place. This one is a lot worse on that front, I think.

I will not entertain all this slander with a comment. 😮

Oh no, you most certainly will not downplay the fact that it could snow on your head in the middle of damn July. Not when I endlessly make fun of you for it. I feel vindicated and I will be rubbing it in, even if there's just one little frozen delightful flake landing on your forehead.

Not to leave you hanging without a comment, but I'm going to leave you a little bit in suspense, because I'm going to be rereading this chapter. I know it is the confrontation chapter. I want to see the words for myself. I do remember Cindy being overwhelmed by the lack of support coming at her from all angles. I think she also showed a lot more humanity in this passage, but I can't be sure I'm remembering correctly or not. (okay so maybe I didn't leave you in suspense and talked a lot anyway) I will never pressure anyone into coming out, most people have that fear for a reason. Something has given them a reason to pause. So, I simply wish everyone going through such a dynamic with the people they love strength. Everyone we know is fighting some sort of battle that no one sees, or understands. So, strength. Thank you. I struggled with her. I knew I needed to land her well or people will not see her value in the writing. There are many reasons why I struggled, but some of them are spoilers so I'll not get into that until you're finished and if you want to know, you may ask me again.

Only a few have admitted, to clarify.

Ah, I thought you were alluding to a permanent goodbye and that Luke is seemingly indifferent.

and I'm totally saying this preparing to be proven ass-end wrong in the coming chapters when I finally declare what time of year it is, because I forget stuff like this all the time, so. You can't trust these people called authors, their either evil and know they are... or they're forgetful like little innocent me.

Mid-July would be my guess. *whistles* not the beginning, not the end, but leaning towards middle-late? School calendar-wise, not meteorological, unless you're living in who knows where Canada @wildone where it very well could snow in July. Right?

But, Jackson shot him down either way. lol. So, Jackson for the win? I left that whole interaction vague, erring on the side of comedic if I'm remembering correctly. I don't know, getting a tattoo of a watered-down version of your favorite bible verse in the handwriting of someone you're with seems like a very permanent and real step for someone to take. It would be an odd one to take if he's indifferent and wanting to say goodbye?

You do have to wonder if his resilience is there, because he's not alone. He has Trace talking to him and Celia and him both giving him their attention, in a non-threatening way, a distraction. He's getting parental guidance and... instincts on him, and he would be missing that without them. They're making sure he's eating, safe, and they're keeping him up and moving. I'd hate to see Joel without all that happening in these moments. I think the story would have ended with chapter one... But yeah, your assessment of people who have gone through trauma is very insightful and true.

Although, you have to be a little bit careful when you're throwing out kisses and saying they're only dangerous if you mean them. Because, a lot of things happen with a kiss, all day long, unsuspecting. Children have been conceived by starting with meaningless kisses, for example. Not a fear with these two, but yeah. Both of them throwing that out here is already walking a very unstable road. Ryan is winning with history, a tenuous connection with Skylar and some kind of internal struggle that pulls at people. That tends to be all it takes in romance for people to pick a side, because we want these characters to get what they think they want. I was all for villainizing Gabe for Ryan's sake. Then Ryan shows that he's emotionally immature and emotionally immature can go either way and it can bring with it a lot of pain. Still don't know what Gabe is all about, only puppies should fall in love that quickly and Gabe is no puppy. He has to show me more evidence that he's a true golden retriever and not someone that's just going to leave someone searching for their dignity. Also, as a former bad girl (not really, even though some of you are scared of me), Madison's game is weak. She needs to bitch herself up or step out of those shoes already. Lastly:

So far, I say you're spot on. I wonder if some of this is because Joel was showing Westley up a bit. Stepping up, showing a future that for whatever reason Westley has no ambition with confronting. Or, is it just he's a grade A asshole... and has always been...

do I have to? Edit to add: I did add his last name to chapter 1, just to be safe that I didn't do more oopsies afterwards.

Thank you, that is a goal I set out to achieve with all these little coming of age/slice of life fictions I write. Real enough to be plausible anyway.

She may have a falling out with her own sister, treating her niece in such a way. Even if she felt that Olivia's dress was out of line. One shouldn't parent someone else's kids like that, at all. Disciplining, sure, but to go as far as Cindy, no. That is something you quietly handle at home instead of making such a fiery scene. If I were Cindy's sister I would have told her to back off. Yeah, Jackson showing restraint... earlier story Jackson would have gotten Cindy back for that, somehow.

A laptop. Also, know that if I could reach you right now: