Graeme

Thanks, Maarten! Yes, it was only a matter of time. It's a pity that neither Jim nor Ty thought to mention the photo session that Jim had to Neil. He could've told them that Men's Health was one of the magazines his father buys each month.

Thank you! Yes, there are still quite a few chapters to go. The significance of 1st May is simply that Men's Health is a monthly magazine. The new edition came out on that day.

To be fair, Neil's not going to have to wait a week to find out what happens next In case it's not obvious, that last scene occurs on Thursday 1st May 2014.

Christopher Talbot smiled as he stepped into the office. “Welcome back, sir.” Patrick O’Malley snorted. “Which is your way of saying that there’s a shitload of work to be done, and you’re glad I’m here to go through it.” He smiled. “Did anything interesting happen while I was away?” Patrick’s assistant shrugged. “Nothing unusual. I’ll let you settle in before I give you a briefing. A few items of note, but nothing is urgent.” He paused. “Did you get away as you intended?” “Yes, I did. Three d

Related, though not on precisely the same subject: Gay lawmaker threatens to air colleagues’ affairs over opposition to same-sex marriage Same principle -- public figures being hypocrites.

You think you know me too well? We'll just have to wait and see

Neil has evolved a lot over since he started interacting with the Leopards. It shows that his initial obsession with Jim wasn't deep-seated. Most teams wouldn't play someone who wasn't performing. To be honest, a VFL team wouldn't, but to keep the story under control with the number of characters, I haven't included a second squad of development players (which most VFL teams have). Normally, Dave would've been dropped to the development squad and an upcoming player would be promoted. From a story perspective, though, one of the characteristics of the Leopards is that they're a family. They look out for each other. That includes the coaches looking out and supporting a player who needs help.

Doug and Rod aren't in trouble...yet. As for Julie, yes, she can be evil at times. But she does it with a smile....

Things are certainly not looking rosy for Doug and Liam...

The players were in the car park loading their sports bags into the compartment under the bus. It was shortly after seven on the Sunday morning, and those that weren’t shoving bags were rubbing arms or blowing on hands to keep the chill at bay. “Everyone on the bus!” Will called out, and the players started to shuffle on board. Neil and Ty were at the back of the group, and behind them were the other support staff. “You’ve got some music – or something to read?” Ty asked Neil. “I’ve been told

As someone far removed from the story (though I do know of it in rough detail), I just wanted to say that I didn't read James's post as an absolution. Understanding what happened, which is what James has said, doesn't mean he approves or absolves. I read James's post and, yes, I agree with him. There is a generation that was taught to be reserved, to ignore certain things. It was the 'norm' then. That doesn't make it acceptable. That's why societies evolve. Australia is currently going through a massive investigation on child abuse allegations. It's been going for over a year and the investigators are still going out to meet with people. What has happened is too widespread for the finger to be pointed at a few individuals. There was a cultural environment that allowed these things to happen and for the people who conducted those vile acts to be escape their due punishment. I understand this. I don't approve of what happened or absolve those who shielded the villians from justice, but I understand how it could have happened. Our job is to learn from the past injustice, and do what we need to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.

:joe: Happy Birthday, Bleu! :joe:

Thanks, Sammy! I really like your summary of the various characters. I can't say any more, though, because the next few chapters will address some of your questions/comments.

The posting of that chapter did get messed up. I tried to post with a future time (to make it appear at my normal scheduled time), but the new skin didn't work. I accidentally posted it early, but via an edit of the chapter rather than an explicit publish, so that explains it Thanks, Renee!

*cough* *cough* Also, Leopard Spots.... Unless something goes wrong, it'll be a chapter a week until at least May

:joe: Happy Birthday, Ricky! :joe: I hope you like the present I emailed to you

Yes, Liam has an ulterior motive, but maybe having a good reason was all he needed to become a decent person?

Doug, while he comes over as a simple bully, is not that simple. Doug has his motivations for his actions. He certainly doesn't like Neil and doesn't think that Liam should be chasing Neil, but don't forget that the secret admirer idea was his idea... As for Deon, Deon has a few challenges ahead of him

The Neil-Liam situation is fraught with problems. But while the illusion lasts, they both seem happy. Surely, no one will be so cruel as to hope it ends? The guy at training wasn't technically a scout. He was a selector for the state team. There's an annual match between the various state competitions and he was trying to pick who would be in the Victorian team.

So life's a little complicated at the moment. Isn't that normal?

As they strode towards school the next day, Doug stared at Liam, whose grin hadn’t slipped since they met up. “I take it he sent you an email.” “At 9:32pm last night.” “And you’ve remembered it down to the minute.” Doug rolled his eyes. “Certifiably insane. He obviously didn’t tell you to piss off.” “Nope. We ended up exchanging a couple of emails, and I talked him into setting up an IM client. Can you believe he’s never used instant messaging? Anyway, after that, it was just general chatting

As has been suggested, the Writer's Corner is the best place. And, just for the record, my name has already been passed on and we're already exchanging emails

The attack on Neil where his arms were held was, as mentioned in the story, years ago. It clearly had a significant impact on him, though. It's not stated clearly, but the implication is that it was Doug, Rod, and Liam -- two holding his arms while the third hit him. Given that it was years ago, it was probably sometime in the first couple of years of the bullying, when the abuse was more physical.

Thank you! Yes, that phone call was intended to be lighthearted, as were several other parts of the chapter. I thought it was needed after the darker sections in the previous chapters.

Thanks, Timothy. I think you're original opinion of Neil was still accurate...at that time. Neil is the one changing, and that's allowing you to revise your opinion accordingly. If he had stayed the way he was in the prologue, then I wouldn't have expected your opinion to change What I'll take from your compliment is that Neil's change of character feels realistic, so thank you As for Doug, I don't like two-dimensional characters. Despite how he feels about the whole idea, Doug suggested a way that Liam could becomes friend with Neil. Doug could've kept quiet. He didn't.