September 27, 2002
Boston
JJ
Alex had taken me to a little café in Harvard Square. It wasn’t very romantic, or at least it wouldn’t have been if I were with anyone but Alex. I couldn’t stop gazing at him, and that would have embarrassed me if he hadn’t smiled every time he caught me doing it. “When do you skate again?”
“My next competition starts next Wednesday,” I said.
“You seem awfully calm.”
I laughed. “Wa
I think the deal with the coach was all Zach. I think that's something he'd come up with whether he met them or not. As for Wally...he's a typical driven parent who wants his kid to achieve what he didn't. It's not logical, it's emotional.
I think Will matured too quickly for his age, but not as quickly as he thought he did. We see him move forward in fits and starts, which is my experience. It's not a smooth, painless process. :-(
Great observations. It is sad that Zach and his mother have largely severed their tight bond. It is a little scary to think that Zach could do that to someone who was no longer useful to him, but in this case, he had good reasons.
I think it just shows how good Zach is at planning these things out. He pretty much had that whole exchange choreographed out in his mind, and he had to know that when he provoked Alabach, it would end up just like that.
I think that Zach has always been that ways (smart and devious), but I also think that, as I said below, he's gotten more refined about it. Makes him more dangerous, IMHO.
I think that you're scariest scenario is pretty spot-on. It actually makes sense that Will would pass that name on to Brad, because Will is aware of what a total douche Brian was. I don't think Parnell has to really fear for his life with Will or Zach, but with Brad....
I'll segue off topic here for a bit. The way this has worked is that I got into a pretty big writing frenzy with Streak, so I have a reasonable number of chapters done, or close to being done. I didn't have that same thing with Valiant, so when the tough times hit, I simply don't have the reserves to throw out there.
I remember someone observing in this story or the last that Zach would be a good boyfriend, if he's allowed to have one, and I think that's true. I think that both Will and Zach have the ability to be totally committed to each other, and right now, they actually are. With the exception of football.
Thanks for the great review! I think you're pretty spot-on here, but I'd note that we've seen Zach react like this before, more or less. Once he's made his decision, he's pretty direct, especially when the person he's dealing with isn't really useful to him anymore. Sadly, that's where his parents are at right now.
You're the first reviewer to note that Parnell was Brian's last name. We'll see how that works out.
I think that JJ fits perfectly into Alex's princess scenario, but I'm not sure he'll be understanding if Alex has a slut on the side.
Thanks for the nice wishes. Busy times.
I wrote these scenes with JJ and chuckled at how much self-control he had to exert. Part of him wants to completely maul Alex, while he has to also keep himself restrained.
I think that being around Will's family has probably smoothed some of Zach's rough edges, and that's probably given him more capabilities to scheme if he needs to. He's smoother now, and more credible.
I think what you're seeing with Zach is that ruthless feature that Will identified in him. He tends to look down at his teammates, and while he uses the term "tool" in a colloquial way, in a sense, that's very real, because they are simply people there to do the job he needs them to do.
September 21, 2002
Honolulu
Zach
We’d ended up beating St. Louis High 31 to 21, which should have been a major rush for me, but it wasn’t. My ankle was fucked up again, and I hadn’t been able to play for the rest of the game. It was agonizing to watch the game, this major contest that I’d been looking forward to for damn near my entire life, and not be able to play. Every roar from the crowd, every success or failure, was sheer agony. Gehrlich had come over and trie