Krista

Aww, that sounds tragic. Also, if it does seem odd that I forget my own writing, I will say that TBY took a lot of years to write. I can't remember how many, so parts of this story were written a lot longer into the past than the end-date of the last chapter. I lost a lot of readers because they grew tired of my lack of posting, having to read chapters over again to know what is happening, and so on. This story is the reason I adopted the strict rule of not posting before I am finished with the writing, so I can keep a schedule. Unfortunately. At least you don't have to live through that torment if you continue your reading anyway. I am so far removed from parts of the earlier sections of this story that I can no longer remember it. The only claim to it is knowing that I was the original author. If you get a hint of my disconnect in some of my responses to you, that's more or less why... lol

He didn’t talk as I led the way across the hardwood of the living room floor. My cleats clicked and threatened to glide right over it, my feet were sore from having worn them as much as I have. Starting up the stairs, I felt him behind me. I wanted space but didn’t want him to leave my side either. I didn’t want one of them to get past him, even though all of them were out of the house leaving us to it. I wanted to get it over with before Mom convinced Cody to come back home. Being back so soon

I'll take your word for it, as I can't remember why they've fallen out, or how difficult flossing a cat would be.

Too bad he didn't hear this pep-talk.

It should be no mystery that sometimes Jackson is his own worst enemy.

I am not a good smut writer, but I am decent with dialog. I will always interject with something else during the act. I know in some circles, they will tell you that it is sometimes bad to interject and take away from the action, but when it comes to sex and sex stuff, I think dialog will forever be something I interrupt, or progress the actions alongside with. So, that is why there will always be some kind of talking there, some of it hot, some of it awkward, funny, and whatever else I think the scene may need to fill out the space. glad you liked it though.

Yeah, for once all the girls were a mess. I guess none of them are used to having long lasting falling outs with one another without anyone coming around and apologizing. I must admit I do not handle passive aggression well, I would have flipped out a lot sooner than what Heather did.

Yeah, I'm thinking anyone, but maybe Luke would have hit that door pretty hard, slamming it shut, and finding somewhere else to be. School or no school, failing, or not. Also, if he did make that decision then, he could have at least more easily finished out the semester. Finding a place might have been a bit difficult, but then again Toby is an only child with a single parent, so there's probably room. I think Grace and Craig would be like, "No, too close for shenanigans..."

Yeah, everyone who could mess up, did... not tiny little oopsies, but big.

At the rate you're going, unless you go insane, you probably will finish more than three.

A pistol loaded with a lot of ammo and no filter.

Yeah, someone else said there wasn't enough tension. That I needed to show Luke a bit high strung and anxious about the answer. The question would have caught anyone off guard. She probably didn't know the 'first' time he said it, but when he repeated it, it may have clicked. We're in Jackson's head, so we can't know for sure unless she explains it to him, which she did when Luke wasn't in the room. And yes, her answer was more or less to spare Luke, get him in the house, and off his line of thinking. I guess for me, when I know the answer will upset the child that asks the question and I know they're not ready for the answer, I will soften it and spare them. It is a lose/lose situation when someone is upset or frustrated and they ask you something and you want to lead with honesty, but you also know they're doing the asking in a very bad mental state.

Shame, because pine is one of my most favorite scents, especially natural straight from the tree. Also, weaponizing someone's allergies is a boss move, to be fair. I don't think she did that intentionally, but she knew it would happen all the same. She was just looking for that special pray the gay away concoction and it happened to need pine... but still, very bad move on her part. Also, I have to behave and post it Friday or Saturday. Ask Wildthing, he put me on a strict posting schedule and I've already broken the, "Post every Sunday, rule.." I started this whole thing with, so there you go.

Maybe for a test drive...

She started out about as rough as Jackson did. At least, most of the readers thought so and it surprised me a little until I read back objectively, and saw how early on they did a lot of parenting with little stability or follow-through and/or listening. Although, Jackson didn't give them much of a path either.

Damn it... well. Hmm.. too late to edit. Another notch along the fast moving journey of me developing a complex over people reading finished works...

The first swim competition chapter, right? Mercy that one was rough, and long, and daunting, and tiring. Made me realize that my little knowledge of competitive swimming, and my researching was a bit off. I loved the non-swimming aspects of this chapter, back to my comfort zone. I knew I needed to make the swimming as realistic as I could to make it somewhat plausible. I added a lot of fictional sports elements that weren't, but it was done in first person, creating the tension, conflicts, etc that wouldn't have settled into real life that easily was something I struggled with as well. And yeah, I think if you have someone like Jackson, who is predictable as in, you expect smartass remarks, a little untamed shenanigans, wanting to joke and be the life of the party... when a character like that distances from himself, people notice. When you add in an unknown and odd factor into the mix like a Luke, who wasn't on their radar, not a friend, and not similar in nature like a Derek, Toby, Heather, or to a point Ally, into that dynamic - almost forcibly, people with eyes can see things. But, here's to Luke and Jackson being blissful idiots in this part of the story.

Yes, I've had his story recommended to me numerous times. It needs to be on my to-do list one of these days. I am not put off by the 173 chapters, I just know that when I get into it I'll not want to do anything else... and I do need to work, raise my children, keep my husband out of the hospital when he gets into his tinkering, and do my part in adding to the word and story totals here too. Maybe I'll make a point to pick a story and read one chapter a day.

Oh, the storming of the tents... roaring and all that. I'm going to have to read this story again... lol My brains is too lost in Ridley, Elias, Learned to Lie, and such for me to remember these earlier chapters. If I didn't think I needed to start a new story idea in the coming months, I'd be all for rereading this. Luke and Jackson is by far my favorite pairing from all my stories. That's with knowing who Joel ends up with in Learned to Lie. 😮

I always thought in the back of my mind that it was youthful optimism when Jackson told him that. That all he had to do was be himself and everything would fall into place around him. It's when Jackson followed it up with words like, "I'll be here too.." or, "we'll do it together," set it apart from that feeling in my head. To me, it was him saying, you be yourself and I'll protect you as best as I can from the fallout. Either way, when I read back those passages I felt the weight every time, which I didn't when writing it.

Well, if I had let you write Ch. 1 of "Learned to Lie," it would have saved me 230,000 words and a year. As I was reading, when his mother brought out the pine oiled holy water, something she knows he's allergic to and did it anyway, it was right up there as one of the worst things a parent could do. She was willing to risk a severe allergic reaction to settle her own nerves. 😮 At least Dad stepped in, quietly as he did. The dynamics of the family did not disappoint. Now, we just have to wait and see if Ryan is worth all this lusting after... and if he has more to bring to the table than just failing grades, sweat glistened abs, and a cute smile. I laughed at way too many of the inappropriate jokes (you know which ones), to the point where I think I may need to repent. And I don't think Madison will let that slight slide, order has to be restored at their school, at least to how she feels it should go anyway. Also, Skylar Jordan River Montgomery sounds like a name that should be yelled through deep 'hollers' where banjo music comes from, not the California suburbs. I like the name either way.

Oh wow, 20 that's a really nice number of entries!

Poor Toby, as twitchy as he is. Something has to break with everything you brought up. I'm also really far behind you in responding to these comments. I remember when I started this section of the writing I was a bit over this story and struggling with some motivation. I didn't like writing in a restrictive high school setting. It is when I was very fussy with the Wildthing saying I will never do another high school story because I hated having to do similar dynamics all the time. I did not learn my lesson as Ridley = High School. Learned to Lie = High School. It is almost as if I enjoy stressing myself out.

I'll take your word for it, because I can't remember what Ally did. Olivia I know I enjoyed writing, she was similar to Jackson, but I didn't have to worry about anyone not liking her and refusing the read, she had more freedom to say and do what she liked.