Chester57

Joe is certainly capable of building a bomb-- as I mentioned a while back-- but would he? I think that Belle, Jack and the rest of the group would simply stop speaking to him. The rest of his classmates might not be so benign and some could actively persecute him. Add to that the heavy guilt that his father will lay on him and, yeah, he could be pushed over the edge. I've been thinking about who might possibly support Joe through the shit-storm that is to come. Maybe Tara? Joe used to have a crush on her and it's possible that she might have sympathy for him. Tara is probably still feeling like a bit of an outsider at her new school. She is reluctant to get a boyfriend possibly due to weird feelings about the threesome last summer. Since Joe will soon be persona non grata maybe the two of them will connect?

I'll take one in 2XL!

Joe has at least one sibling-- a younger sister named Stacey, now 11 years old. She was mentioned in Chapter 1. He will catch Hell from his dad (and probably his mom). Joes' only hope is that Jack eventually lets it slide.

I see Sam as the biggest loser so far. He will have no supporters except for his sister and if he is forced from the team he would have to transfer to another school to continue playing ball. The only thing Joe has going for him is that he and Jack go back a long way so he may at least be partially forgiven down the road. Amanda will have the sympathy and support of her family and friends, as well as her brothers standing by her at school. Doubtful that she will turn to prostitution.

Same to you, my friend!

I've got a feeling that when the dust settles, it will be up to Helena and Jack to pull things together. She seems like a strong, level-headed girl who would be up to the task of trying to fix a bad situation-- just like Jack. I hope when the two of them start talking that she reveals more about Sam and her family's past.

Now that I think about it, this is the most likely explanation-- Occams' Razor, as Joe Long would say. Amanda probably has suspected for a while that Sam was attracted to Joe and vice-versa. A girlfriend would notice changes in body language, speech and mannerisms that others would miss (the same goes for Belle). Amanda had already confronted Sam about this earlier in the day and he admitted it. She is completely heartbroken and humiliated, which is why she tells her mother that she is sick. In fact, Amanda may not come out of her room for a month. Later at the party, Sam realizes that he is now unattached so the warning from Jack no longer applies. He and Joe let their guard down and have some quick and dirty sex but are caught by Belle (who suspected, also) and the rest is history. And so, too, will be the both of them.

Damage Assessment: Craig- He will have no chance in the election and be seriously burned out and depressed. Remains to be seen what his parents will do to him. On the plus side, he has Becca, Belle,Jack and Kayla for support. Joe- Loses Belle. Loses his tough guy reputation and becomes a laughingstock. Don't even want to think what his father will do to him. Will keep Jack and Kayla as friends but nobody else. Sam- Loses Amanda and the rest of the group. Remains to be seen if he will be removed from the baseball team-- officially or by peer pressure. Will have strained relations with Helena and her friends. And if any of the neighbors heard Belle scream and called the police then you can add a lot of delinquency charges.

After what Jack has been through in the past year or so, I don't think he could be blackmailed personally. He is no doubt ashamed of his voyeuristic tendencies, but he wouldn't let anyone hold that over his head. The only thing that might do it would be a credible and direct threat to his family and/or friends.

And in the "life imitating art" department, did you see that story this morning on Drudge about the two Washington teen brothers running a prostitution ring?

I hope Jashley is still on a roll with his writing because I think that Chapter 43 is going to be epic. There is going to be great drama when Jack has to explain to Amanda (and his parents) what happened. Can you imagine Joe and Sam at school the following Monday? Somebody better put them on suicide watch-- you can add Craig to that as well. I'm starting to realize just how all-encompassing this "fracturing" theme is. First Kayla's family, then the group and now maybe the Harrisons.

Assuming that Amanda is pregnant-- and assuming she did know about Sam-- then maybe she got in her revenge already by having Alan do the deed. And why is Rhona, who is in her twenties, hanging around at a homecoming dance? I think she was waiting for the two bleacher girls-- Kim and her friend-- to finish and bring home the cash. Jack didn't recognize either girl but said they were wearing party dresses. So Rhona drops them off and then picks them up when they're done while Evan and his buds provide security in case there's any trouble. Like trouble spelled J-A-C-K.

Last year it was. Craig and Jack had their fight at Homecoming and by Halloween they were friends.

No, we don't. That got me thinking that Homecoming is probably going to be strange and weird. If the group goes to dinner there will be ten of them sitting at the table this year. Should make for interesting conversation. Something will happen at the dance but I don't know what.

I'm not sure that Jack would be the right person for Amanda to turn to in the event that Sam decides to dump her. He would be thinking, I tried to fix this before and look what happened! Her mom and dad? They told her to break up with Alan and get a "real" boyfriend. Maybe she'll talk to Kayla but I wouldn't count on it. Speaking of Alan, it remains to be seen just how serious he is about Kelly. She seems to be crazy about him but I wonder if the reverse is true. Remember in the car Alan said, "Worst case scenario, everything just goes back to the way it was, right?" I know he was referring to the situation with Jessica but maybe he was hoping for something else as well.

If it had been one of the girls in the group then Jack would have recognized her voice. Let's go by the theory that if a name is introduced then that character will soon become integral to the story: Angela Bellucci.

It is a very good point. The other people who heard Brad scream that accusation would have just let it slide in the heat of the moment but Belle, Jack and Kayla know the truth. Belle will go to Joe and say "you can't have it both ways, it's me or him". Joe will resent the ultimatum and may very well choose Sam.

"A"-minus. Like Holden, your critique is a little whiny.

As I said earlier, it was the same at my school. They were positively anal on the matter. If you so much as accidently dropped something under the bleachers you could kiss it goodbye-- you weren't allowed to retrieve it. The incident that sticks in my mind, however, occurred during my sophomore year. A couple seniors (boy and girl) were caught and got 2-week suspensions. The school hushed it up but my sister (also a senior) knew the girl involved and pointed her out to me-- she was worth the risk! So after that, the phys-ed instructors started taping up long strips of crepe paper at the ends of the bleachers so it was easy to see if anyone tried to sneak by. Nowadays, I wouldn't doubt that they have motion-sensor alarms under there.

I haven't seen any episodes. Can someone give me a quick synopsis of the series? I understand the first season is on Netflix.

Or one of her ex-minions. Belle is very perceptive and probably has the Joe/Sam business figured out by now.

Granted, that would explain why Ted's physical condition didn't raise a ruckus at home. Wait a minute... Do you mean their parents are gone-- as in they assumed room temperature and now reside in the basement freezer chest with no one the wiser? (just kidding) Seriously, I think it is very unlikely that Ms. Locke could be Jessica and Teds' legal guardian. That would require court action and you don't keep something like that a secret. The school administration would have to know and shortly thereafter so would everyone else. I'm still thinking their relationship is based on blackmail.

Well, the girl spoke quite a bit. Even if Jack couldn't see them clearly, he recognized Matt's voice so I assume he would have known if it was Kayla speaking as well.

The more I re-read the chapter, the more I'm convinced that Jessica is playing Jack and Kayla. That sob story about her folks cutting off her allowance doesn't really wash. She is an accomplished actress and can probably manipulate both her parents at will-- remember the Halloween party (with alcohol) at her huge house? Chances are she needs a job a lot less than she says. Jessica tells Jack that she is trying to "distance herself" from her posse. Huh? What is a Queen Bee without a bunch of slavish worker bees to serve her? What is any celebrity without a fan base? I don't think she would give up the top spot in the high school hierarchy, not with her Senior year on the horizon. Also, how could her parents not know about Brad and what happened? What, they didn't notice that Ted got beaten to a pulp and had a black eye? If Brad started a fight in front of the school that required the police to haul his ass to jail it would have made the papers and been the subject of gossip for weeks. Nope, Jessica is spinning half-truths and lies. I'm curious as to how she knows that much about Ms. Locke. Yes, possibly they're sharing a bed or possibly it's blackmail.

Yes, Rhona is still pretty much a mystery as all we really know about her comes from her conversations with Jack. The fact that her brother Evan's group of friends are all afraid of her suggests that she has some serious power over them. Maybe she is their connection to the ring? Rhona could be "middle management" for ring, but she may be smart enough to run it herself. Another thing that made me laugh was Matt forking over wads of cash to his favourite bimbo for the BJ. How times have changed! Jeez, back in my Junior year if I had $25 to my name I was living large. And I know just how Matt got the money-- "Hey Mom, can I have $200 to order my class ring?" "I don't have it, dear. Go ask your father." "Dad, I'm getting a blow job after school today. Can I have $200?" "Oh, alright-- here. Make sure your mother doesn't find out about this."