Krista

I'll confess, I read offline some during my downtimes at work. So I didn't get to respond to each chapter, and I've lost my organic reaction/train of thought from when I first read it. Blue is most definitely not the most stubborn being in that campsite though, by the end of this chapter he is a distant third. I'll jump forward to where I'm at now though.

Well, a lot of my own thoughts from the last chapter were resolved with this one. So... I wouldn't understand, glad I don't really, what Coy is actually going through. It is also no small feat back then to pack up and leave, it takes timing, planning, and a lot of good health along the way. I also realized that the western aspect was a bit lost on me. I slighted the three guys shot in the back. That was just something you didn't do, you faced your foes head on, there was honor in that. It struck me about midway through reading this chapter, what a terrible act that would have been. It should have been more clearer to me, but that is my lack of awareness with the genre... not the writing. The writing has been really good. I do understand Coy's reluctance to be alone. I understand Boone's stubbornness to want space. The conflict with those counter weights of thought was bound to happen once brought to light. I don't think either of them are listening to the other though and they're beginning to talk in circles, I hope it frustrates them as much as it is starting to frustrate me. (I would say, in a good way, but in future, if that keeps your regular readers from the torturous plotting, I'll not say it).

I think they need to heed the Sheriff's warnings. Will's nasty reputation may have actually saved them from bars and judgment too. I would have thought he would be more inclined to not believe their story. Even with the testimony of three dead men on their character. Although that likely would have helped as well. We're only seeing bits of Will's actions after the fact. It would feel different if we were witnessing first hand, and allowed inside Will's head a little through his dialog and mannerisms. Which could also lend weight to my thinking of Willard being too lenient on Boone, especially after hearing the timeline of events and the seemingly preventable death of Dan. It is still rather impactful, we know Boone's motives and I'm not blaming him for having them. Self-preservation is a good enough reason and he had two lives to protect. Also, forgot: He was also giving the opportunity to allow Coy to decide just who his brother was, and that I felt was worth waiting for, otherwise I felt it could have broken what little time they have left together. And maybe sent Coy spiraling.

I really, really, really liked the descriptive storytelling in this chapter. Boone's notice of Coy while riding behind him, with the bunching of his shoulder muscles, and the fly, the sweat, all came together to really paint the scene out nicely. The leaning cottonwood, the riverside camp. Very nice. Did cowboys really name their horses in westerns? The few westerns I've seen, the horses were rather expendable and I can't recall names, aside from the tamer westerns, but the true gritty ones? Mouse is an interesting name for a horse, but the description of her made the name fit in better. I honestly hope the good deed doesn't lead to hardship, Coy may have to pay for some of Will's crimes, maybe not with Willard, but maybe some of the other victims. I doubt he's going to be allowed to be blameless, but that's me breaking my own rules.

I'm not a speculative person, I like to read in the 'now' and either accept what comes or rail against it and keep reading. lol. So I'll do that with this story. Boone comes across very likable, steady headed, a bit pessimistic and guarded. Back in the old west, I'd imagine someone like him needing to be rather guarded and careful. Will definitely gave him a lot of reason to hate him too. Which is what some of the pessimism is from, the outcomes of Will's meanness led him to have relationships tested, bonds a bit broken, and the loss of friends and that's just in the first two parts. Coy too for that matter not by his own actions could cause him pain, if Boone cared enough for Dan to entertain a life without both brothers. When someone you can't have eclipses someone you could spend a long happy life with, it is a bit gut wrenching to play with that decision time and again. Especially if they know, at the end of it all they'd still choose the way they did. I'm not sure if Dan will be mentioned much in the coming chapters, but I would like to know more about him. If not, I'm also aware that his role in the story may just be another weight/guilt Boone must carry for awhile longer. Maysie is a simple and pretty sounding name as well.

Ahh, I started reading something on GA, finally.. look at me go. I read this first chapter last night, I really like the language and flow, along with the dialog in your story telling so far. It does feel authentic, although, I'm not all that accustomed to Westerns in general. I definitely want to see Coy a little less drunk. It is always interesting to mourn someone with seemingly little to no redeeming qualities, who have done bad things. As far as we know now, spiteful, greedy, and maybe even just plain evil. Coy is likely remembering Will some, for when he was little and innocent too, aside from being his last blood relative left. Despite everything, knowing that fact alone may hit harder. I also know that morality was very different and survival wasn't guaranteed without grey area sort of living. I'm actually shocked *clutching my pearls shocked* that you chose Will as the name for such a terribly motivated character. Usually Wills are the heroes. If that was intentional, I salute you, because in numerous fiction I've read that had a named Will, the Character is made of gold.

Ohhhh Happy Day!!! Christmas has come early. Now you can keep the cheeky one in line better. Very much deserved for all that you have done for GA over the years.

Yeah, Luke stood up to his mother in public and in front of Jackson. I wonder if there will be a fallout from that or not? And yeah, Cindy in Welker's office would be a great selling ticket on Ticketmaster at this rate. Damn right it is. So, poor Jackson. I wonder if it would be difficult even for him, student sections are only so many available seats too, I think. Which would be where he would want to be, and I doubt he'd be able to get a ticket otherwise. I honestly cannot remember every saying that Grace experimented with a woman? If so, it was completely unintentional and definitely not Cindy. Cindy would probably react to the situation similarly to a cat being put into a bathtub with water. And she was happy and a bit lenient in seeing Shay dancing so closely to Luke. Mind you, when all four of them were involved she had to draw a line.. lol. I wonder what that looked like to her, really. Seeing her son in that light. Sometimes I wish I was inside her head. Him smiling, maybe looking a little awkward, a little scared to have a girl's butt grinding against his crotch... as a mother of two boys, I will never chaperone a dance so that I can safely say that I will never see that happening. I am a mother of two girls too, so... a yikes on either/or.. on that one. 😮 😮 😮 Aww, Luke has left his mark on Jackson. I'm glad you mentioned the growth and Luke's influence on him for the better. Cindy characters, although I feel like I'm writing her on the more extreme spectrum so far, are pretty commonplace. It is out of love and worry, I get that part of it, but with little compromise it morphs into control, and for her in her extreme it has become rather ugly at this point. So I am aware that the focus would be more on her actions and maybe not the actions of the other characters. Jackson was a bomb that rippled from the first time he stepped foot into the park restoration project. I guess, if you've also already been told some troubling things, from Grace, and maybe witnessing true worry and fear over Jackson's past... ill thought out plans and repercussions, as well as his likely reputation leaking outside of school. She would preemptively worry, and judge. Who wouldn't be guilty of that to some degree, especially when that person takes an interest in befriending your son. Is it fair, not really, but she isn't solely without justification for some of it. A lot of it though, goes beyond that, so I would agree with the vendetta. To be honest, who is to say up until this year Cindy wasn't like this? We're only seeing her 'after' Jackson came into Luke's life. Henry is also a very patient, and calm sort of person. The opposite of Cindy herself really. If I were to write this story from Luke's point of view, the dynamics would look completely different. Albeit there would be a lot of problematic things, I mean she did take him out of school, segment him from his friends, and etc. So those would be frowned upon. But, maybe those outbursts aren't all that common inside her own home, where she feels safe and it being a Jackson free zone. Not saying she isn't full of flaws and all that though. But maybe she is someone Henry can love despite them. Lol. 😮 you think so? 😮 someone probably paid good money for that house.

I understand that, I was on an anti-anxiety medication throughout a very stressful time in my life and it dampened everything, my writing suffered, my motivation to continue college suffered. Migraines are awful as well, I've never truly had them, but my mother suffers from them from time to time and I couldn't imagine.

I am so sorry that I am more than a year late on this response. Sorry about the loss of the fries, but I am also glad that you liked the burger. I do keep rereading this story to keep it fresh. I have forgotten some of the aspects I wished to cover - I made mental notes and never returned to them and jotted anything down. Major plot points, I do remember, because they're rather straight forward. Which is why I am hesitant to write it. If you know the outcome at least in part - because Jace has always spelled out his plan. That was to somehow get back to his mother and save her. Then will you still enjoy the journey? You may not know which way that decision will go, for him. But would you still read it, knowing? I would also have to do a lot of research to make any outcome believable. But, I also write for myself mostly, and me knowing that won't really bother me... as I always knew where I wanted to go. I am also winding down on my current project. I'm not giving false hope, I hope. I don't make promises, because I break them and I don't want to do that.

Oh mercy, they'll be no living with you.

After we arrived at Rick’s, the first thing I saw was the silvery white Limo with Derek leaning against it. When he saw us pulling into the driveway he pointed to it and I rolled my eyes when he posed with Lily shaking her head at his side. Toby had one of the back windows rolled down and was half hanging out of it with his solid black mask already on. The only downer was Bailey Fucking Ashton standing in a pink vest holding his jacket with Ally standing next to him looking perfect. “Wow,”

Oh gosh, I'm going to have to split Chapter 51 up into two parts. The good news is, part one, or what will become Chapter 51 is already written.. lol.. bit more of a buffer between what is done, and what is left to do before the posting schedule catches up to me. 21 pages and almost 12k words, it was getting too big. Also, sorry if I'm annoying you with these little updates, typically I would do that in a Status update, but since we don't get notifications for those anymore - it is just more visible here. Trying to be transparent with this story and all my future projects going forward.

I would like to think we're all guilty of all of her points. So that I am not alone in thinking... "damn I'm guilty as fffff.." -- I'm also a bit tired, so I'll make the attempt at a less knee-jerk cheeky response later. I really felt a lot of those points and how impactful they could be for the people around us and in our personal bubbles.

Yes, she did. But was it also a passive aggressive dig at Cindy, having them do that right in front of her? lol... nah Grace wouldn't do that. It is funny that @wildone and I were discussing the parents last night. And, I was discussing scenarios that I would cover if I were to do a prequel with those characters. Craig, Grace, Cindy, Henry, Derek and Carrie Tate, Troy Marks, Troy's estranged wife - I named her, but I can't remember it now, Steven Welker... and some of the issues I would like to bring up, that were never discussed in the current fiction presented with Jackson's story. And a certain scenario that I put forward that I thought about, didn't really put Craig and Grace, that involved Cindy, and to a certain extent Henry, in the best light. And, let me tell you, Steven in very little words said.. "No, you absolutely can't do that, Craig and Henry are blameless..." and I went on to ask, "What has Grace done?" And he unloaded a laundry list, albeit way shorter than Cindy's, I'd imagine. But they were things that I didn't even think about with her... like her hiding the fact she got Luke that certain X-Mas gift, without telling anyone. Etc. So I got to thinking, well maybe Grace would be a bit of a sneaky sort of person that looks innocent on the outside of it all. Where as Cindy is full blown Cindzilla. But you know, Craig and Henry must be protected, they're doing the world's work. Scott being a new coach, and having former athletes transferring out was very intentional. I wouldn't have picked Georgia or any D-1 school for that matter, with out that being a factor. D-1 Schools are competitive for scholarships, I'm not saying he wouldn't land one at a smaller school, which would be more within the realm of realism that is still D-1, but I wanted to, as a final decision - because it was a goal that I could picture better. It also had to be a school geographically closer, for the same reason that farther away schools wouldn't even have him on their radar, unless he was nationally ranked, top tier, and with many accolades to his name. I mean if I said that a Coach from a school no one has ever heard about offered him a scholarship, would that have had much of an impact on Jackson's story arc as a whole? I'm not sure that it would, but I'm assuming most of my audience would know the University of Georgia at least. I actually scanned lists of Universities that had swimming, because I worried endlessly about what it would look like if I chose certain schools. And, the drawbacks of not choosing a school similar in history, notoriety, and current rankings vs. former rankings. I intentionally left the bigger goal schools out entirely, the ones where the programs are so storied, so heavily favored, Jackson wouldn't be on their radar. If I chose Texas, California and other powerhouses, all the believability would go out the window. As it should, those schools would be looking at way bigger fish, a lot longer than just one season and really choose from those interested who best fit their programs. They can be that picky, even with my stipulation that it was a new coach coming into the program. Writing is exhausting at times, when faced with stuff like that. There was also a huge.. Eff it moment, when I realized I was wasting time and Georgia fit that too, so that I could get started on actually writing those scenes.

ah, I do not like being so far ahead of my writing and posting. I never know what to say and what not to say. So I will say nothing, but I want to acknowledge the comment. It was thoughtful, and the vision of Cindy with a megaphone marching around holding a sign is scary. I personally like her being a more Cindzilla character myself, just havoc and destruction in her wake... no innocents left behind. lol.

Could you imagine Tony's reaction to that? I wouldn't want to be within a twenty mile radius. I think he would have sent them packing, Tony has the ability to ruin careers if he sees fit, he threatened as much for Aiden back when they pulled their other stunt. I guess with Cindy being the primary villainous voice in this chapter, I wanted to balance it out on the Townson brothers a bit. But yeah, a second sabotage did cross my mind, numerous times. And maybe it will.

Changed the status to In Process because I am fairly confident I am going to complete the story before all the unposted chapters are edited and become available.

Woops! It didn't include this into the Multi-quote... but I think I remember y'all not really like them to begin with.. lol. I forgot after I sent it and... laziness will keep me from redoing it. lol. I needed to reference some older things, to make the story feel full circle. I don't think I have dome that enough really. I have sprinkled in some things.. like I feel Luke has reminded Jackson about some things when they first got together. Then I think Charlie asked Jackson how Luke and him started dating, and he answered with.. "He kissed me and I didn't punch him..." or something like that. (I do hope that was already written and posted, if not it isn't a huge spoiler) Also, Gooooo DAWGS! It may not be the most realistic college for him to get into, last minute and with little notoriety, but this is fiction and I'll run with it if y'all let me. --- I am well into Chapter 51, so hopefully I'll get that finished before we get 48, 49, and 50 posted. That should be the last chapter... until I write either one huge Epilog or a series of shorts that tie into the events in an order of when they would naturally happen. I thought about doing that with Are You Christian and never got around to it, but I think I like these characters enough to do a couple and see where they go. Jackson has a ton of unfinished business left from where I am, so maybe I can fill it up and wrap the story.

I think that would hurt the meteor and teach Cindy nothing. At least Henry would find the meteor interesting, I guess. Hmm.. I wonder when the other shoe will drop as well... and will it make a thud... or a small crater? Of course 'I' know the answer to that... but this story is also wrapping up, so I need it to be a neat little package. Hopefully the rest of what is to come is impactful enough to bring it all home. The ending to this story has been set in stone my entire time writing it.. it is the one thing that has never waivered as I began forming out Jackon's character and Luke's. So... we shall see! Cindzilla may or may not be chanted in the next chapter... lol. I also don't think Grace intended to put certain things in Jackson's head, maybe it will backfire. She has learned from the past maybe.. not.. to do that, as he seems to take things to the extreme... I am excited for parts 2 and 3 of Prom to come out, I hope I didn't over do it. If I did, blame my femaleness and nothing more, because I went all out, unabashed and unashamed. 😮 😮 Well.. the guy has to still graduate without Welker being hot on his ass... He's not out of the woods yet. lol. No.. I was entirely excited when my Prom rolled around, I wanted it to last well into the night... but I'm also female and well... I expect my prom to go and be a certain way. I can see where Jackson may just want it to start, be over, and let his real plans come into play.

“Alright,” I groaned after I hit the wall for the last time during practice with Emily. It was a private practice, she made good on her word to work a decent breaststroke into me. “We’re done, right?” “For the afternoon,” she answered smiling as she jotted down my time. We did a run through my four hundred individual medley, just to see how it went. Looking at the video replay of the race, it looked like a completely new swimmer jumped into my lane when I turned for home during my breaststr

The Best Year. I'm hoping to finish it out in the next two chapters.

DST is something that I am rather used to. I wouldn't mind seeing it go, but I'm not all that flustered that it is still around either. It is just something that's... here. As far as reading goes, I am rereading my own story. (Yeah, I'll toot my own horn). Mostly because I can't remember half of what I wanted to use to wrap the story with, so a refresher course is in order. Also, Steven if you're late again:

I'm in the process of rereading my own story for myself, so I'm hoping to be touched by this as well. When you're 300k words in, some smaller plot points become forgotten.