Summerabbacat

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" Methinks some of the Storm players may be using performance enhancing drugs, thereby potentially giving them an advantage over teams not using such drugs. Such drug usage will leave a stain not only on the team, but also on Coach Thorburn, particularly if he is involved in any way facilitating the said drugs for the players to use. I think Peter is being unnecessarily aggressive towards West now. West has not given any indication he is going to do anything to harm him, either verbally or physically.

That I can well believe, but seemingly the "rumour mill" has not been active either. Perhaps Micheline has infiltrated "the network" to shutdown any gossip about her son.

Devon keeps popping up all over the place, and his first question always seems to be "do you have a boyfriend?". Methinks he may be unlucky in love/lust. It is hard to believe Will and Andrew's relationship is apparently a secret at the school where they both work when both were outed individually and as a couple whilst still students at the same school. Seemingly Jesse only knows because his brother, Turd, disclosed it to him.

West has his work cut out to convince anyone he is gay, but particularly Peter. It seems the intervening years between being in Will's English class and now have been difficult ones for Peter, with continued bullying likely. West's parents are gems.

It appears Peter is still being picked on at school, and disappointingly it appears his brother Bobby, now known as Robbie, may either be part of the taunting, or do nothing to discourage or stop it. Jessie is a Gadreau, and although perhaps not as big of an arsehole as his brother, Turd, he may still share his limited view of the world. It appears West is too butch to believed as gay by Peter. Clearly the latter's gaydar is not well developed yet. Jenny-Lyn and Mel. The former I feared may be something like Jennifer, the skanky ho who outed Will. So far she appears to be relatively harmless. The latter is vile and not worth my wasting words on. The scene in Zaphod Beeblebronx reminded me of when I first moved to Sydney from rural Australia. Suffice to say they are not memorable times as I had zero interest in "picking up chicks", even if only to satisfy my then friends urging me to do so.

I shall try not to savage Jason Jensen, whom I assume becomes a pastor/minister/priest, but if he is a zealot I may have to be allowed a little leeway to tear strips off him. LOL.

West, presumably a descendant of "the" Theodore Harding, and I like the portmanteau of his two given names, Wesley and Theodore, to form the name by which he is known, so much imaginative than had he been known as Wes. Dad has leant Joey, his 16 year old son, his mobile phone for the night. Are you crazy Papa Harding? Either you are or Joey is an exceptionally mature 16 year old. An entertaining start to Book 3 in the series @Topher Lydon.

A delightful conclusion to this story. Peter McCormick could not have found himself in a more supportive environment than the one he has "fallen" into. Perhaps if Jared and Will take the time to occasionally visit and or acknowledge him at school this may have an impact on the cowardly bullies who are making his life a misery. Marvellous story @Topher Lydon. Now it's onwards and upwards to the third story in the series.

Indeed so @drsawzall. What has Will done that the minor major cannot forgive him for? Is it that Will "chose" to be gay, that he chose not join the army, that he was born to a mother who clearly should not have had children and a father who wanted a mini-me, a little soldier? The man is a fool, although I must applaud him for his quick action in rescuing Peter from what could possibly have been a life-threatening situation. Peter needs support now, and the bullies at school need a fucking hiding.

My opinion of Gran plummeted in this chapter; she is a little too much like her odious son for my liking. Her admonishment of Will and direction he remove his hands from his pockets because that is what a gentleman would do, complete bullshit; and her demand he go and have a drink with a man who beat him and threw him out of his home just because he donated his sperm and he is her son, degrading to her grandson. Is Gran not disturbed by the treatment of her grandson by her son? The minor major should be in jail for what he did. And he is so pretentious, wearing his uniform all the time. Unless he is required to do so, he is just stroking his ego. The only good thing which may emerge from this very uncomfortable meeting is finding little Peter McCormick. As for Gran, she should just fuck off and return home unless she is prepared to refrain from interfering.

It appears RJ believes he IS the Pride Centre, and that all others present are his minions to do his bidding as he sees fit. Firstly, we do not know the "nature" of the kiss between Linda and Kerry i.e. was it a simple peck on the lips or was it a full-on pash, with tongues duelling for supremacy. If it was the latter, then grow up Linda and Kerry, many people don't want to see this kind of behaviour in public regardless of the gender of the participants. The adage "get a room" does have sensible application at times. Secondly, it is obvious to me the logical thing to do would be to have some straight allies visit the Sportsplex and kiss, and if they are also asked not to do so, end of story. If not, then video said straight allies kissing and present it to the Sportsplex management as evidence of selective enforcement of their policies. RJ's "solution" appears unnecessary at this point in time, more about stroking his ego than resolving what may not be a case of discrimination at all. Frankly, the bullying of little Peter McCormick is more pressing than the alleged discrimination against Linda and Kerry.

Peter should tell his twin Bobby who the bullies are. If the bullies hunt him in a pack of three, then he could even the odds up a bit by having Bobby help him smack the living daylights out of the three bullies. I imagine Bobby might rather enjoy such an activity.

If the purpose of the Pride Centre is to serve as a meeting place for gossip, partying and seduction then it is in "capable" hands, however, if its purpose is political, for want of a better descriptor, then it is in trouble. Of those present, only Devon asked pertinent questions, with the others either impertinent or totally ludicrous. Apart from Devon, the others present may as well have been cheerleaders in Charlene's group.

Very sad indeed, and an indictment on the school. Nothing can be done for Mrs Casey now, but her cat is a different story. I hope someone takes the cat in and looks after him or her.

Hopefully

Clearly Corcoran followed Rick and Adam from Adam’s apartment complex to the Imperial Hotel. He is becoming increasingly brazen, suggesting to me his sanity is deteriorating further and his lust for revenge growing stronger and stronger. He is toying with Rick, playing a game of cat and mouse. Like many of my fellow readers have commented, Rick’s opportunity to corner Corcoran and apprehend him is very limited as Corcoran is likely to have slipped away before Rick can get through the crowd. I just hope Deborah’s optimism is not misplaced in this case.

A little like premature ejaculation, it was over way too soon, the fun had only just begun. I am pleased to read you are contemplating revisiting Aaron and Brad in the future @Odie as they complement each other well.

Wonderful story telling @Gary L, particularly with the historical facts woven in so naturally. Almodóvar, have you been reading this? Here is the basis for your next cinematic masterpiece. Now I know you are not a disco fan @Gary L, but this Eurodisco masterpiece from 1977/78, a massive hit in your birth nation and mine, was from a Spanish duo. The "message" in the song could be one Ximo might have delivered to Gerardo or vice versa:

It's Fitzpatrick.

Liam is very self-aware as evidenced by this thought of his, which I found highly amusing given one of his biggest concerns is the large, in his eyes, age difference between himself and Adrian: "I turned off the TV and stomped upstairs like a teenager sent to bed without dessert. I wasn’t sure why I was this worked up, only that I was. Irritated, restless, unmoored." Mark's counsel was wise but will it penetrate any of the morass clogging Liam's mind. Excellent chapter @ChromedOutCortex.

The vacuous cheerleaders Charlene, Geraldine and Julie. For their sakes I hope they are attractive as they certainly have not been blessed with intellectual capacity. In their defence, their idiotic questions to Will about being gay are not necessarily those which only teenage cheerleaders would ask. Lisa learned something regarding her prior impetuous judgment of Brody. Will this result in any forgiveness on her part, only time will tell. It may be that too much water has flown under the bridge for them to ever be anything but friends should they ever achieve to be just that. Without the creatures from Venus apparently many of the creatures from Mars get DSB @drsawzall. Who woulda thunk such a thing possible?

I have never owned a car and have not driven one for 41 years, much to my mother's relief as it is she who "taught" me to drive. I was a terrible driver, no patience and prone to driving too fast. I have no peripheral vision now, which would make me a menace on the road.

I have been in Will's position, and I would have been fucking furious if I had been yelled at like Andrew yelled at him. Andrew should NOT been the one to teach Will to drive. The driving scene as noted by my fellow readers was rather amusing though.

Andrew in fuchsia coloured hot pants. Delicious. Whatever little Peter McCormick's sexuality, he has a mother who is concerned for the physical safety of her son. I daresay as they mature Bobby may be protective of his twin as it is he who brought the bullying to his mother's attention.

I think @Topher Lydon deliberately left out Andrew's rumpalicious rimming of Will otherwise the devices on which we readers' read this chapter e.g. laptops, mobile phones, may have short-circuited and possibly caught on fire, thus causing a catastrophic fire like the one shown above in @drsawzall's comment. Will and Andrew have such wonderful supportive friends in Jared and Brody, real "bro's". Both also have a terrific sense of humour and playfulness, something males often lack with each other.