SilentandBroken

Bravo to all. Glad to see Nick and Jack address their shit. Nick I think struggles most with depression more than anything else. jack, C-PTSD and depression. Sometimes more than one person struggling together can affect the other. Like, they rub off each other. this can create for some tense times. But it’s good to see both boys recognize their struggles affect the other . Nana and Jack’s mom have a good plan. oh and Jack’s “he’s winning” comment on Mr. bojangles is pure gold.

Me thinks I may have been correct a few chapters ago

If you only knew…

I agree with Al. I don’t think someone else cared. Well so much for them.

I wonder if that wine was spiked with young blood full of adrenaline…🤔

Ok. Officially hooked.. onward to my binge!

Oooh ooh I just had a thought. Check your dm’s @MrM

Clearly this girl is keeping tabs on the boy. Surprised he’s not put 2 & 2 together by now

Hmm..tough call. Maybe Prof is playing hard to get?

💯 ! They’re completely unpredictable

I can’t help but think of Dr v as a tall version of Gary Oldman

Dude, Prof is a tad creepy. But still intriguing. I like where it’s going.

Brent has a serious ego problem. Sure it’s kind of earned by his play but damn he’s got some self grandiosity going on. I worry what he’s got worked out in his head. The boys better be on the look out. If Tony’s brother has taught them all anything, they better had learned that.

So is our protagonist gay?

Comicality would love this as do I

Oh no…

Well said. You’re spot on with the barrier comment too. Unfortunately I’ve got enough trauma from narcissistic people in my life to have learned finally how to deal with them, which I guess has made me more reflective. All that started in my early teens. I was very very naive. It took years of therapy to learn how though. It certainly wasn’t something I learned by myself. Perhaps some folks are like that naturally but I had to learn how to mentally step back from my tunnel visioned life to see the bigger picture and dynamics of how people act both when they’re by themselves and when they’re in a group. It’s been hard to learn and force myself not to react emotionally on certain events/situations, and manipulation. Forcing yourself not to react what you might feel is instinctive is very very hard. I’ve also learned from others who, are very very skilled at observing people and not reacting. Trying to emulate that behavior helps but then making sure your perception of what’s really happening is correct is even harder. I get in my own head at times then second guessing myself on what’s right and what may or may not be as it seems. Trust is a fickle thing for me. My big heart wants to trust blindly, but then there are times when I can have the awareness to pull back and recognize what people show aren’t always what is their true intentions. Sometimes I don’t do that in time and boy do I pay for that mistake . There are some devious folks out in the wild looking for folks just like me. I see a lot of how I was at 13 in Sammy. Good natured, big hearted and caring and trusting but when you get burned, that tends to make you a tad less trustful on the first or second interaction. That unfortunately typically leads to self isolation which is a very double edged sword. Sure you’re safe from others but not from yourself and that’s often where if left unchecked, you can really do damage to yourself unknowingly. It’s a very scary place to be at such a young age.

Maybe that’s how he has always felt. Not having friends but acquaintances which, are different. The one constant theme I’ve noticed is trust with Sammy. He has to feel someone is trustworthy before he can even consider them friend worthy regardless how good a person Sammy is. What we are seeing here is that the group of boys that surround Andy have all gone out of their way to be affirming and supportive of Sammy. The only person Sammy has ever felt that from before them has been his father. So, yeah, acquaintances. He even stated himself that others never took the time to get to know Sammy. That doesn’t mean he has tried to let them get to know him. I think, from what It sounds like, is that he’s been to scared to do so and everyone else has just never expressed enough interest in Sammy to invest that time. To this point, the only interest anyone at school has shown Sammy was essentially hate laced racist bigotry.

Yeah, but it’s hard to talk when your lips locked to another boy’s. Discussion would be done once they come up for air. 🤣

Man, really solid character build on this story. I’m loving it. I have to disagree a little on the course of action when it comes to Brent and the Lug-nuts however. I think due to Andy’s weakened condition, he doesn’t need to be anywhere by himself. Once those idiots learn of his chemo weakened condition, Andy will become the prime target. That said, they also should be allowed to defend themselves regardless of everything else they’re risking (senior year, governor candidacy, whatever). Andy needs to be aware he’s still fragile. It sort of feels like he temporarily loses sight of that.

Perhaps.. maybe Davin will sweep him into his arms and give him the love and support he’s longing for

I think Joel’s mom sticking to her guns helped Joel make that switch. That and Celia’s acceptance of Joel once he broke the news. Also, I think Celia and Trace would be present but leave the telling of Joel’s orientation to him to Lacy and of course Lacy will just love him even more for it.

Agreed. I think Nick was triggered by Noah’s appearance. But, watching Jack stand up to him and then the others..my heart overflowed. Nick needs to focus on just what Jack did. Hopefully that would make him wake up and snap out of this funk.

Just imagine if she’s just as much of a pistol! You know most of those old dames are! That’d be awesome.

Just wait until Grams meets Miss Charice…..