Graeme

My guess is that Dylan will let their secret slip. At 13, he's young enough to make mistakes, though if this is a common occurrence, he may have developed the skills to stay silent. We'll have to wait and see, but I'm betting on Coach K and Mrs. K being able to find out the truth Shawn and Dylan have already made a mistake with inconsistent stories. It's just a matter of time now, in my opinion

I'm wondering if anyone overheard Todd and Aiden's conversation. Aiden may need to worry about more than one guy who seems at least gay-neutral, if not gay-friendly.

Aiden needs to remember that there's a huge maturity gap between a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old. It's not unreasonable for Jason to have grown-up, though he still needs to be cautious. Just because Jason is older, that doesn't mean he's matured or that he hasn't developed poorly in a social sense.

Unless he's got some long term strategy, Jason doesn't strike me as trying to psych Aiden out. He's playing, yes, but eaxctly what he's playing is hard to work out.

I like complex characters, and the 'villain' is certainly turning out that way Interesting that we learn that the 'incident' occurred four years prior, but in that time the word hasn't spread. That shows part of Jason James's complexity -- he seems to want taunt Aiden, but he doesn't appear to want to out him, either.

A fairly typical start, but there's nothing wrong with that. Stores of ex-friends can still be interesting and all you've really done in this chapter is to give the back story. Time to see what happens next

Zac still doesn't understand what Adrian is going through, but that's okay because he also needs to get through his own challenges. School is looking positive, but there's still plenty of scope for stress...like his first track meet as an openly gay athlete. Adrian needs to make the next move if he wants Zac; Zac will keep his distance until then.

Bradley and Troy would have resisted going to bed until Steve left. For some reason, they seem to like him As for the lawyer, I'm not going to comment; I don't want to be sued for defamation. Helen seems pretty competent, even if she's lacking in some important social skills...

Thank you! Alan's weathered the initial storm in reasonable condition. He still has challenges ahead, but he's settling down and becoming less frantic.

Merideth and Bob run a small business. They can absorb some costs for a period of time, but if they're paying someone who isn't doing the work required, they'll eventually go broke, putting everyone who works there out of a job. I hope I've made it clear that they don't want to let Alan go, but financial necessities may require it.

Thank you! When I was younger, my mother stayed home, too. Unfortunately, life (and housing costs in particular) have become so much more expensive in relation to incomes that most families now require both parents to be working, at least part of the time.

Childcare availability here in Victoria hasn't been made any easier when one company bought out most of their competitors...and then went broke. That was a few years ago, but even before that happened there was a waiting list for a spot at a childcare centre.

Thank you! Unfortunately, when something drastic and unexpected happens, that usually means a tsunami of associated changes accompanies that event. That's what Alan and Peter are finding. They'll find their feet eventually, but it'll take time.

It makes sense. They believe they have not only the law but also the moral right on their side. Once it gets in front of a judge, what other option is there but to hand their grandsons over to them?

“They’re having fun,” Carol said. Alan nodded. “I don’t know where they get the energy. I’m just enjoying not doing anything.” Carol laughed. “You’ll get used to it. Once you sort out his routine, you’ll breeze through the days. Most of the time, at least.” Alan and Carol were sitting down and watching Bradley run around the playground with Mike, Carol’s son. They had arranged to meet at the local park so the boys could have a short playdate. Their conversation was interrupted when Alan’s pho

While humans have a tendency to fear the worst, most of the time we're disappointed Zac's finding out that things aren't going to be as bad as he feared. There will almost certainly be some who will act as he expected (though I'm thinking that Kenny may have had a wakeup call and is probably more confused just now than homophobic), but he knows that he also has people who will support him. That's much better than he had feared.

This chapter shows one of the things I like about this story: the characters are human. With a short look inside Shawn's head, we see that he and Garret aren't that bad. What I also like is the coach's view on his role. He didn't say it was to make them the best footballers; it was to keep them in line and turn them into gentlemen. In other words, as a high school football coach, his job was to get them ready for life... I hope Shawn's explanation to Ryder as to why the team has been standoffish sinks in. I can understand a fifteen-year-old, separated from all his friends, building a wall around himself. He needs to make a few openings in that wall to allow friends to enter. He may not have realised that before, but he does now. PS: Don't forget that there's also a discussion thread in the forums for this story

Ouch. I hadn't expected this story to match something that happened in real life. I hope I haven't brought back bad memories.

Happy birthday, Lacey! I hope you've had a great day

That is a big step that Zac has taken. Everyone needs to take it at some point, but it is tough to do regardless of when you do it. I'm proud of Zac

A wonderful journey, thank you I, for one, have enjoyed Toph's evolution, his metamorphosis from that frightened young man that Gary mentioned, into the still anxious but much more well rounded and loving man we saw at the end.

I think they're all Cia... From the left: Angry Cia...someone forgot to post a new chapter for one of her favourite stories. Crazy Cia...someone not only forgot to post a new chapter, but someone they accidentally deleted all previous chapters. Happy Cia...new chapter (and all previous chapters) found. Either that, or she found an unopened bottle of win. One of the two... (runs away and hides on the other side of the Pacific Ocean and hopes that's enough distance to stay safe)

It's interesting how the coach handles Ryder, Shawn, and Garret. He knows they're going to have to work together, and I can see he's going to push them until that happens. I personally don't blame Shawn and Garret too much for what's happened. It must be pretty intimidating for a pair of seventeen-year-olds (I'm guessing Garret is a similar age to Shawn) to be challenged by a fifteen-year-old, and especially one that's not only supposed to be better than them (according to that magazine article) but is also the coach's son. Their pride is at stake and they're acting to assert their position in the 'tribe'. They just don't realise that that is the wrong approach with their new coach. They'll learn, or they'll be off the team. Their coach wasn't bluffing on that one, I could tell.

I missed when you started posting this story here. I started following the story recently at Nifty, but it's so much more convenient to read it here. I just have to wait for you to catch up with what posting what you've already written I'm looking forward to re-reading this story and then, hopefully, reading some new chapters...

Was Mephistopheles really a devil/demon? If we go by behaviour, I would say not. He was an aggrieved spirit looking for justice. And he found it I'll be honest and initially I wasn't enjoying the story because I was afraid that there would be some demonic twist at the end. There was definitely a twist, but it was more angelic than demonic One of the interesting parts of this story for me is the ending. It's obvious that both boys experienced the same things, but with the other in the role of the possessed body. Both clearly completed their missions, which says something about their similar characters, too. Since this all started with the candle that Brandon obtained from Carol Bridger, I wonder exactly how much she knew about the two guys, and whether she worked with Mephistopheles to get the 'right' outcome? Overall, a great and enjoyable Halloween story. Thank you!