Graeme

Brad is the one that interested me in this chapter. His reaction to Melissa isn't the one I expected from someone with a reputation as a player. Either he's actually fallen for Melissa (though still being unable to keep it in his pants around other girls), or in his mind he has to be the one to break up with the girl, not the other way around. I'm inclined to think it's the latter, but I could be wrong. At least Kyle and Buddy have no met, even if it's just in one class, and they were very tentative with each other. It's a start...

LOL -- yes, I know. That's why I've scattered summaries of previous events through this and latter chapters. But I also need to keep the story moving forward, so it's a balancing act, as so many things are. I've only been to one NYE party at the Rocks and that was over 30 years ago, but I still remember a lot of details. Things have changed since then, but there are some parts that are still the same. Thank you! To get the most out of this series, you really need to read the novels one after the other, but I'm also trying to make the stories understandable for those that don't have the time to go back and re-read the earlier novels. And oops on Ollie's surname 😞 It's actually not that unlikely for all of them to get into the University of Sydney. University entrance is easier and simpler here in Australia than it is in the USA. There will be more details in later chapters, but in effect, all Year 12 students (seniors) in Australia get a summary score called the ATAR for their studies. Each university course has an ATAR score associated with it. If your score exceeds the ATAR score for the course you've applied for, you'll get in. There are exceptions (fine arts also requires a portfolio, some universities require an interview for medicine, etc), but the majority of course acceptances are simply done through the ATAR score. The uncertainty comes in if a course has limited places, plus the students only see the ATAR score that was required the year before. The current year's ATAR score requirement may differ, though generally by not a lot. In summary, Neil, Liam and Clarissa know what their ATAR scores are, plus any subject prerequisites (such as doing sufficiently well in English and one of the mathematics options to get into Engineering), so they can be fairly confident as to whether they're likely to get in. Liam didn't do well enough to get into Engineering purely on his ATAR (he could still get in because universities can give subject bonuses to students who did well in certain subjects, or bonuses for non-academic issues such as a rural background, disabilities that could've affected their ATAR score, etc), so he applied for additional courses for which he does have the requisite ATAR score.

Thank you! Sorry about the time delay between chapters, but I want to make sure I can post regularly. I would prefer to post weekly, but if I did that, I would run out of chapters before I would finish the story.

@Timothy M. you know I can't comment on most of what you said, but I can clarify one point. Yes, this is set between the last chapter of Leopards Leap and the epilogue of that story. To remind the other readers, the epilogue of Leopards Leap occurred mid January, 2015, so this chapter is set about two weeks before that. However, the prologue of this story is around June 2014. It was set against the USA mid-term election primaries, and well before the actual election (which was in November 2014). It;'s the one that was set back in time and that time gap is why I made it a prologue rather than as the opening chapter. Ben's role in football hasn't been mentioned so far, but I saw him as a midfielder (the same as Jim and Dave). That's another reason for having Charlie as his mentor, since Charlie is also (now) a midfielder. However, it's not a requirement that the mentor have the same football role as the rookie since the mentor's role is more about fitting into the club culture and settling in as part of the team, rather than about their football skills.

Thank you! Yes, there was a lot to cover. I wanted to reintroduce the old characters as well someone new, all without (hopefully) making it too confusing...

Neil Rosewood lay on Liam’s bed, his head resting against his boyfriend’s chest. In a few hours, the year would be over and 2015 would begin. A few days after that, he and Liam, along with their friend Clarissa, would be moving to Sydney. It was a gamble, as university offers had not been sent out yet, but all three had done sufficiently well with their Year 12 exams that they were confident they would be accepted as students by the University of Sydney. In Neil’s case, he didn’t have a lot

Yes...and who is Brad going to blame if Melissa accuses him of cheating on her? Kyle's in trouble...

As usual, Ron paints a wonderful (but necessarily beautiful) picture with only a few words. We have a good understanding of several characters already, even though it's only one chapter, but it was the one paragraph where Buddy's mother was mentioned that really caught my eye. One short paragraph that painted a strong portrait of the woman who is 'raising' the young man

It looks like I missed some comments...

I like how they gave Thanos justification for his actions. He's not a pure evil villian. Indeed, in his eyes what he's doing is heroic and noble, because no one else has the willpower to do what he sees as necessary. But I didn't like the movie, overall. Firstly, it visually excellent, but it lacked a reasonable story line. It was largely a lot of little scenes all bundled together. Yes, they had a common theme, but they didn't blend well (and neither did all the humorous dialogue -- too often I felt it was inappropriate to have humour at that point in the story). I especially didn't like the ending, because the only way I can things going forward is to do a reset of some sort (probably via the Time stone) and that's a real copout if they do that. I may be pleasantly surprised and there's another resolution, but I'm not happy with the way the MCU is heading with this movie.

Ollie is the romantic of the group, even if he sometimes confuses romance and sex...

Did you think you were the only one?

Thanks, @Sammy Blue. Unfortunately, chapter one won't be posted until May 12th, so there's a bit of a wait before you see the next part

@Timothy M....as usual, some of your speculation is spot on, and some is off the mark. You'll need to wait to find out which is which.

Er, @Timothy M., Jim got drafted by Carlton, not Collingwood. The two teams are traditional rivals. Collingwood may have been interested in Jim, but we don't know as Carlton drafted him first.

I've asked but Jim and Tony told me it was none of my business It's based on a real radio station in Melbourne. Joy FM is Melbourne's gay and lesbian radio station, but rather than use them directly (especially as I don't have a lot of details on how they operated), I made up Pride FM as an 'equivalent' station. Richmond, where the radio station is based in the story, is where a number of radio stations are based.

LOL, I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say you're probably right.

Thanks, Tim! It was a long chapter, but I needed it to be so I could bring the story to a conclusion after the reveal. And, yes, that scene with Matt is one of my favourites, too.

Thank you! While the stories have set against the background of a sport, I have tried to make the stories about the people so the reader didn't need to know or appreciate the sport to enjoy the stories.

Robbie only saw the attacker with the mask on. He believes it was Jose, but he has no evidence to support that belief in a court of law. The DNA evidence from the spit could've been used, but the paramedics and hospital staff who treated him didn't know to preserve that evidence (the police only found out afterwards about the attacker's saliva when they questioned Mason). Robbie can testify that there was an attack, but he has no evidence to confirm the identity of the attacker. Only Mason can do that.

Thank you, everyone! I've been working on this story for quite some time now, but the writing has been slow. I'm hoping that posting regularly (every two weeks for now, as @wildone has indicated) will make me find te time to write. I'm currently working on chapter 11, so there's plenty in the pipeline, but I need to write faster. @Timothy M., I knew I could rely on you for a comprehensive review, even if all you've got to work on is the prologue. Firstly, I won't confirm that Mason is the one being hunted, since you haven't met the other new characters yet. However, even if it were him, he wouldn't expect the street gang involved in hurting Robbie to follow him to Australia. Mason is the only one who can identify the attacker, so if he's left the country, the gang member involved would be safe since the police can't confirm it was him without Mason's testimony. That's also not something Mason can record -- he has to wait until the police catch Jose and then testify that Jose is the person he saw shoot Robbie. As for the witness protection program, they wouldn't use it for something like a failed homocide of a lowly convenience store clerk. At the time of the prologue, Mason and Jeremy have just finished or are about to finish high school (primaries in California are, from memory, held around June). That will mean they're probably 18 or 19.

@ColumbusGuy I hope you enjoy the current AFL season. Sadly, my favourite team (Geelong) haven't been doing as well as I'd like.

It was about time. It's been over a year since I last posted a story.

Thanks, everyone! Yes, the new story includes an African-American character, but many of the old favourites will also be included. Chapter one will pick up after the events in the last chapter of Leopards Leap, but before the events in the epilogue.

The Leopards have scattered, some interstate and others to different parts of Melbourne, but the events of 2014 continue to bind them together. In the meantime, new Leopards and new friends have their own challenges that must be overcome. This includes one newcomer who is unaware he's being hunted.