#this is basically it sucks to be me from avenue q but way before

[variousqueerthings]

THEY’RE SINGING!!!!

[fashionfiestashop]

Til Death Do Us Part Dog Lovers Vintage Retro T-Shirt

It is prone Q1 on our anti Q and a Til Death Do Us Part Dog Lovers Vintage Retro T-Shirt to ensure there is no promotion of violence you see that they’re trying to insinuate that you went on is it is promoting violence which is another mainstream media bullshit talking points when you see them engaging in censorship and using mainstream media talking points as their excuse then you know side there on this is why I’m moving my march from tea spring to a different platform as soon as I find but for now you can get your emergency spring now twitter Facebook histogram mainstream media they’re all engaging. The consequent golf or was it going to happen some other way if he had that attention will happen no matter what with whenever there is no answer whether we will Santos is discovered now that he has essentially caused the end of everything there will be nothing so he will be alone forever is no point having your ultimate power is like stuck their right the only way he can actually effectively matter again is my stock was himself to use the power to repair the universeand and bring it back into existence so but he won’t exist with the new rule that you kids come back come back from death but respect universe eventually he’ll just come back somehow was then owes you will be a godly more but he’ll just be back right except he was the only guy in believes that like if he does bad because he’s part of the creation itselfand because he’s a person with a personality was like a beginningand an end that like that will be the one exception to this reignite universes of fans were right as he had to be outside of it created yet so he can also be in the why it has to be our current continuity because if that were the case that means that Dan is never existedand so that any store within usand it doesn’t happen right but that isn’t the case because a course for starlet is in continuity in the stores that happen in the course merely following the steps back so you don’t but the front of the level of about whether or not like you should sacrifice yourself if you know can never existed no one or not alluded to say I have the I am I am God of the entire universe I will destroy everything in order to re create everything I do give up the power why your God well will because that is what it takes to reignite it because I look to the powerand I aghast of how work in the hotel will it take to destroy everything won’t it to pick up our but it didn’t beat him at that point he saw that all he sucked everything into him yet you actually kill everything you wantedand so he immediately resurrected I guess right or is knowing it from him all the will be over there he’s over here he’d like to it’ll take everything that is him to do it so actually not a good way no so anyway at a more lifelike will all go back in my room so I remember alland is that enoughand doesn’t know you suck you care about that as well here are some panels you know I’m not the only one was spared by your wrathand then death appears a little depth is here to get death escaped wrath maybe was in the room without warlock or maybe deficit outside of all this death was within vessels is meant to so death was watching little girl call warlock moreover Gabe is I technically desk that has to exist anywhere but yeah probably feels like I’m warlockand more will die even outside of the universe so you definitely happen so you anyway so death is thereand Adam warlock’s like you know if you make this trip it basically says come in mind that areand then death shows upand she forms into a beautiful womanand she says thank you to vandals this to talk to me directly she never does that you never done but then she leans inand kisses himand then we like this was the gesture the deaf one from the mall right not killing universe allows primary impressive it was the sacrifice right that he owned willing to die he askedand so he’s like okey doke he like how ironic that my power Avenue really ironic that like my destiny turned out to be a universal healerand so that he expels the powerand then everything is as it was only then owes his dadand that plant that he went to to chill with time convinces the planet that he went to when he was thought that infinity gauntlet Emma Gardner is his cowl is left there the global Santos mask now more picks up is like good on you Santosand then he leaves that’s normal BMV it’s like the end of the status quo that you know marble to be which is the death of the revolving door right but it’s also not trueand he is violating Mr marble still back more woman or whatever else Normal delivered while the more was a different Design of housing in which he broke it knows wonderment Unser wonderment what do you want to come back one more time but now it’s only the original wonder man before he died right you get here. He said that it makes me smart so it’s smart to pay for our military smart not to pay for veterans it’s smart not to pay for teachers all of us who do pay for those things I guess were stupid and the last thing I’ll say ready entitled to last one has never been signed has had to give Donald Trump his tax returns to show he was qualified to be vice president Donald Trump must give the American public’s tax returns to show that he’s qualified to be president and breaking his promise Elaine I have to respond to the leaders Donald Trump his file over hundred pages of financial disclosure which is what the law requires that he can review that and he’s going senator you are going to release the audit first overreaches your tax returns on a huge act since Carol Kennedy for responsible for your current dollars per year your administration do first where it protects us a security which is one of the greatest programs that the American government is ever done it happened at a time when you would work your whole life

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Line is none of that stuff medical matters is what happens on stage the campaign does believe there are some voters are still unconvinced by Joe Biden they hope that Donald Trump does allow mind to do a Til Death Do Us Part Dog Lovers Vintage Retro T-Shirt little more talking tonight is getting in the interrupted minutes of the present plays by the rules and health of those minutes may I guess in some way offers and shortcomings invited is not that sharp are carefully put together a clear and cogent thought about why he is best on the economy on October the top now the most important I need to send their fear is the president might by the rules that is the caveat in the in the footnote whatever you what is that we have to put to all of this debate analysis Peter Alexander Kuester and Sally the Biden campaign number one in a do they have a plan to deal with this Hunter Biden business and number two what is their goal for tonight do they think they can go on answer they just cannot do no harm in orderly way he playing the moment opportunity to care more for you. Closing of the borders and as you know why Europe was just designated as the hotspot right now I’m Dan because that border while ago that I was luckier through talent or through luck whatever you want but through a very collective action and shared sacrifice national determination we will overcome the threat of the virus I also announced Wednesday night following the advice of our medical professionals who are doing a tremendous job we appreciated very much and we’re suspending the entry of foreign nationals of been to Europe in the last 14 days from entering the United States citizens permanent residence in our families any of the families and returning from Europe will be subject to extra screening as well as self isolation for a period of 14 days as the World Health Organization confirmed today yeah many of the things that what we said were 100 correct including our designation before them of Europe like our earlier very aggressive actions with China this measure will save countless lives I appreciate the. The taxpayers to pay for Louisiana White House I had paper that on the state of New York is a good means that money you Tennessee you have the words the people were in California washer we had to pay for their service sucks but that’s what she wants so she’s refused to sign any bill or bring a go to the table to the floor that the Republicans come with so that we don’t need to give all this morning we arty got money this has been sent span from the last stimulus package we can just release that money to the public she will go for that she wants money food for people like the Smithsonian Museum Melanie motivated for your this is ridiculous that some of the Democrats and on they want to train as much money as we can the taxpayer to help her liberal friends who were spite in the fight for just one thing I’ll say about the Democrats they stick together is the of Nancy Pelosi recounts of the House floor tomorrow say I want every demographic come here and vote yes on this stems back to the Donald Trump brought here today See Other Shirt: Some Do Drugs Others Pop Bottle We Solve Our Problems With Wide Open Throttles T-Shirt

[theonyxpath]

Wooo! The Kickstarter for V5 Cults of the Blood Gods is going live tomorrow (or today depending when you read this), Tuesday, December 17th at 2pm Eastern US time! We’re doing this Kickstarter in order to create a traditionally printed book that we’ll print and deliver to backers and overprint more books in order to get Cults into stores!

Here are some of the highlights of the book, provided to me by developer Matthew Dawkins:

•           An in-character breakdown of the rise of esoteric beliefs among the ranks of the undead and how faith drives many of the major aspects of vampire culture.

•           A host of religions — from historic theocracies and globe-spanning conspiracies to fringe cults and mortal beliefs arising in the modern nights — introduced for incorporation into your character backgrounds or as supporting casts and antagonist groups in your chronicles.

•           The history, structure, and ambitions of the Hecata, the vampire group known as the Clan of Death, as well as a chapter dedicated to playing a vampire among the Necromancers, and the rituals for their Discipline: Oblivion.

•           Guidance on how to use ecclesiastical horror and construct cults in Vampire, making them a vivid backdrop for your own stories, including new coterie styles focused on cult play.

•           Faith-based story hooks and a full story centered on the activities of the Hecata, involving walking corpses, ghosts, ready-made characters, and the secrets of the most twisted family in the World of Darkness.

•           New Loresheets, Discipline powers, and Predator types for inclusion in your chronicles, encouraging player characters to engage fully with the material presented in this book.

Visually, as folks will see when the KS page goes live, it’ll be a gorgeous book featuring much of the same qualities and artists as V5 Chicago By Night.

Just fair warning: we continue to look for methods to cut shipping costs outside the US, yet the shipping for V5 Cults of the Blood Gods has shipping costs in line with our more recent KSs this whole year, rather than the shipping costs we were working with when we KS’d V5 Chicago By Night.

As I’ve mentioned before, we know the costs are high, but they are the costs quoted to us from our shippers here in the US, and passed on to backers. I continue to think it better to give our non-US backers a choice as to whether to back and pay the shipping costs and be part of the KS (including getting Stretch Goals, and all), rather than Onyx just not shipping outside the US as many TTRPG companies have decided to do with their KSs.

Basically, shipping costs are high, and they suck. We will keep searching for avenues that could cut those costs – never fear!

CofD Dark Eras 2 art by Alex Sheikman

Here are some brief nuggets of things we want you to know about this week, besides the V5 Cult of the Blood Gods Kickstarter:

If you haven’t seen the promos on our social media, Onyx Path is part of DTRPG‘s Teach Your Kids To Game sale! You can get the Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau core book PDFs half-off! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_teachkids.php

When I was at PAX Unplugged I sat down for an interview about art directing for TTRPGs in general, how I got started art directing for White Wolf, how art directing has changed since then, and specifically how I went about devising the look and feel and artistic style of Mage: The Ascension first edition and how the look evolved from edition to edition.

As is typical for me with interviews, I absolutely have no idea how it went. Like, did I talk too much, did I answer their questions at all interestingly, did I reveal too much? But I got a lot of really nice comments from folks about the Werewolf one, so hopefully this one sounds good to y’all. Thanks, Terry!http://magethepodcast.com/index.php/2019/12/14/mage-noir-with-matt-webb-and-the-art-of-mage-with-rich-thomas/

Lunars art by Gunship Revolution

Finally, we spent a lot of time setting up what everybody will be doing for the next couple of weeks, as today’s Monday Meeting was our last one for the year! From here until after New Years, we’re trying to give folks enough space to handle the holidays, while we still have projects rolling at full speed!

In fact, it’s not uncommon for freelancers – which is what the vast majority of our creators are – to use holidays to really dive into their freelance projects. Certainly, I always did that when I was freelance illustrating. Having a deadline is a great reason for ducking out on a long family event! (Not that I do that any more!)

But, never fear, true believers!

I’ll still be assembling the next two weeks’ Monday Meeting Notes with updates and Kickstarter news, and with some short year-end focused content! We just aren’t having the Monday Meetings those weeks.

And, of course, we hope all of you have happy holidays and plenty of time for playing in our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

V5 Cults of the Blood Gods goes live at 2pm Eastern US time on Tuesday December 17th!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast Is our Holiday Special 1: Podbean Live Test Episode! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

Just because it’s the holiday season doesn’t mean we’re stopping with our gaming streams! This week we’ve got Vampire: The Masquerade, Trinity Continuum, Scarred Lands, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Dreaming, and Mage: The Awakening, and we’ll undoubtedly be dropping a surprise stream or two into the mix as well!

Subscribe to twitch.tv/theonyxpath to keep up with our streams as and when they happen!

As ever, we’ve got a lot of YouTube content coming up too. This week, expect to see an interview regarding Pugmire and Dystopia Rising: Evolution, actual plays of Changeling: The Lost and Aberrant, and a behind-the-screen special for Scion!

Subscribe to youtube.com/user/theonyxpath to catch up on all our content!

Matthew Dawkins – The Gentleman Gamer – continues with his Gentleman’s Guide to Scion over on his channel, and will be doing a few V5 Cults of the Blood Gods videos too!

Subscribe to him on youtube.com/user/clackclickbang right here!

Mage: The Podcast recently had occultist S Rune Emerson walk through the history of Tarot and the symbology of the Mage the Ascension Tarot: http://magethepodcast.com/index.php/…-rune-emerson/

A group of podcasters and Storyteller Vault writers are looking for input on what kind of publications and podcasts WoD and CoD fans would like to see in 2020. If you complete their survey, you can be entered into a drawing for a $200 DriveThruRPG gift card. The survey is available here: bit.ly/wodcodsurvey2019

Here’s Occultists Anonymous returning with two new episodes

Episode 64: Small Details As the cabal waits to hear back about a meeting with the Union, Atratus begins to research vampires, Wyrd develops her labyrinth, and Songbird makes a phone call. https://youtu.be/UoyrYH_PM3A

Episode 65: Ignorant Fools   The cabal take the lead in meeting with the Union on behalf of the Phantasm Society, and perhaps many other supernatural beings trying to lay low. https://youtu.be/8sTnubeBl44

Red Moon Roleplaying recently concluded their Mummy: The Curse actual play and are currently running a Changeling: The Lost chronicle!  You can subscribe to their YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1wvSKstApo9vYYq1wEDtmQ

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we are proud to announce the PDF and physical book PoD versions of the Aeon Aexpansion for Trinity Continuum: Aeon, a collection of additional material that came out of the Kickstarter, including:

Information about new noetic biotech, hardtech cyberware, military weapons, and other technologies of the early 22nd century.

Rules for creating and playing psiad and superior characters within the Trinity Continuum.

Rules for playing psions in the modern day setting of the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook.

And more…

Plus we’re also releasing the Trinity Continuum Aeon Screen in PDF – all on DriveThruRPG

Conventions!

2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI. Check out David Fuller’s Athens, Ohio Scion actual play tie-in adventure (soon to be coming to the Storypath Nexus community content site) that will be running at Midwinter. The event url is below: https://tabletop.events/conventions/midwinter-gaming-convention-2020/schedule/402

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – LeBlanc working away.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Contracted.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Ready for KS.

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs

Let the Streets Run Red – Art notes and contracts finishing going out this week.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Rich doing artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Finals coming in soon.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Totally contracted.

Vigil Watch – Wrapping up AD stuff this week.

Legendlore (KS)

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

In Layout

Chicago Folio – On it.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Haven’t forgotten it.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Off to WW this week for approval.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

M20 Book of the Fallen – Getting it to PoD this week.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Approval needed, then Backer PDF out to backers.

VtR Spilled Blood

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to the KS fulfillment shippers. PoD proofs ordered.

Aeon Aexpansion – PDF and PoD versions on sale on Weds at DTRPG!

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Being printed.

Geist 2e Screen – Being printed.

DR:E – Being printed.

DRE Screen – Being printed.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – PoD proof on the way.

Trinity RMCs

Tales of Good Dogs – PoD proof ordered.

Memento Mori – Backer PDF going out to backers soon.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is the birthday of Wassily Kandinsky, a painter born in 1866 whose later paintings after WWI were completely abstract. Now most of our illustrations depict things rather than going for abstractions, but how they depict them stylistically, and why different people respond to the different approaches our illustrators use, is part of creating the moods inherent to our various game lines. There’s something else going on in our brains when we see art beyond just IDing that the piece looks like a thing, and Kandinsky was creating abstract art intended to evoke sound and meaning because he supposedly had a direct link to that part of the brain. According to popular thinking, he was one of those rare people who “hear color” and “see pictures” when he listening to music. There’s not really medical proof he indeed had synaesthesia, as it’s called, but he did recall hearing a strange hissing noise when mixing colours in his paintbox as a child, and later became an accomplished cello player, which he said represented one of the deepest blues of all instruments.

[icantcountthereasonsishouldstay]

HI RACHEL IF YOU WANT TO DO MORE HEADCANONS I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT THE GREENDALE 7 + MEMES OR THE GREENDALE 7 + MUSICALS AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE AMAZING

UMMMM MUSICALS AND MEMES ARE MY SHIT LET’S DO THIS

MUSICALS

Annie’s favorite musical is Wicked. Someone introduced her to it while she was in rehab, and she relates to Elphie a lot, which helped her cope

Shirley also loves Wicked, but her favorite is Glinda. She and Annie sing their duets together

Troy and Abed are into comedy musicals along the lines of Avenue Q, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and the Book of Mormon

Shirley was on the fence with Putnam until My Unfortunate Erection. She still doesn’t know about the Jesus part. No one’s brave (or stupid) enough to mention it in front of her

Britta hates most musicals because they send bad messages to the audience, usually about a woman choosing a man who’s bad for her. She particularly hates Phantom of the Opera because of this (or so she claims, several members of the group have seen her dramatically pretending to play the organ while listening to the overture)

Annie and Shirley do manage to get her onboard with Wicked because “it’s more about two women and their powerful friendship than romance”

Britta loves Spring Awakening. There’s literally a song called “The Bitch of Living” and if that’s not the most Britta thing, then idk what is

She also unironically loves Cats

Troy and Abed ironically love Cats

Everyone else hates Cats

Jeff didn’t really like musicals, but Annie got him into them. His favorite is Guys and Dolls (which has nothing to do with the fact that Annie reminds him of Sarah and he relates to Sky, Shirley!). He hated Phantom of the Opera for a while for the same reason. He saw himself as the Phantom and Annie as Christine (because the Phantom was a creepy older man who preyed on an innocent girl) before he dealt with his feelings about their age difference. Now, he’s not super in love with it, but he’ll still watch it with her

Pierce loves Carousel. Britta goes on a rant for an hour about why it sucks, and for once people actually agree with her because “Carousel blows, unless you’re watching it to make fun of it”

The Dean loves every musical ever made that he can base a costume or pun on

Jeff surprises Annie by learning the male parts to her favorite duets and sings them with her. He also hums the more romantic ones to her while they’re lying down together

Jeff finds out that despite loving Wicked, Annie has never actually seen it live. He surprises her with a trip to New York to see it for an anniversary

Chang loves Sweeney Todd. He just wishes there was less singing and more murder. “Chang, you know that’s the basic premise of a musical right?” “Shut up, Frankie. More murder makes everything better.” “You need professional help.”

Frankie doesn’t get or care about musicals at all

One time, Troy and Abed were listening to Hasa Diga Eebowai from the Book of Mormon, and Shirley came in and had a conniption

Britta hates Hamilton, Annie really only cares about the Schuyler Sisters, Jeff and Pierce hate it, and Troy, the Dean, and Abed are the ones who become known as “the Hamilton dudes”

Troy and Abed introduced everyone to Starkid. Everyone loves them (even Pierce who doesn’t understand most of the jokes and references) Annie’s favorite is Twisted, Troy and Abed love Holy Musical B@man, Britta likes Firebringer, Jeff and Pierce like Me and My Dick, and Shirley likes A Very Potter Musical

MEMES

Troy and Abed are the meme kings. They make Greendale specific memes, and everyone loves them

They try to keep Pierce from finding out memes for as long as possible. Whenever a new one shows up, they try to avoid mentioning it in front of Pierce because he overuses them and runs them into the ground. To this day, if someone even mentions Pepe the Frog, they’ll get at least five dirty looks and possibly something thrown at them

The human being is a meme all on its own, but there are so many other Greendale specific memes about it too

Britta refuses to use memes because “they’re just a way to distract ourselves from the horrors of the real world. We need to pay attention to people in need, not memes!”

No one ever needs to know about the giant folder of cat memes Britta has on her phone

Whenever Britta gets on an anti-meme tirade, Troy and Abed only reply with either “You mad, bro?” or “oh, shit waddup?”

Britta thinks those are both legit questions, and Troy and Abed say that if anyone tells her that they’re responding with memes, they’ll give Pierce every meme they have

Jeff has a select few he likes, but he’d never admit it because it would make him seem “uncool”

Annie likes a lot of the ones Troy and Abed show her, but she doesn’t go look for them herself. Sometimes, if she comes across one, she’ll send it to Troy and Abed

Shirley doesn’t get them. Except the minion memes. She loves those. No one has the heart (or the courage) to tell her that those are associated with uncool, white, suburban moms

Frankie hates every single meme. She thinks they’re stupid. Britta’s finally happy someone agrees with her until Frankie tells her that her that her reason for not liking them makes no sense

[tosybelle-blog]

By and Hay’s Excellent Adventure--Part IV

I settled up the bill that morning while everyone else cleaned and loaded the car. I came back out triumphantly. “Hey guys, guess what,” I called. They were done loading and basically just waiting for me, so no one really responded. “The owner wanted to compliment us. She said we were the cleanest, politest, quietest teens she’d had come through for a while.”

Jeff piped up, “Yeah, because we did all our fighting and screaming out in public.”

I ignored that and went on. “Anyway, when I told her we were headed to Ogunquit, she called up a friend of hers who has a motel up there. He’s giving us a deal: a set up almost exactly like we had here, only with three queen-sized beds, for the price of one room. Sound good?”

We had made sandwiches again and we took them into town, eating them on the sand of the beach in my dream. I must have turned bright scarlet when I realized where we were, but if anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything. This time I made my own sandwiches and labeled them with my name with Vanessa’s Sharpie. The ham and turkey with cheese on white definitely tasted better than the peanut butter the day before.

When we were done eating, we scrambled back up the beach and through town to the parking lot where we left the car. Haley stopped in one store and came out with a travel pillow, while Jordan and Adam picked up a few souvenirs. I hadn’t bought anything, but I wasn’t really upset about it. I had enough memories to last me a lifetime.

As we arranged seating for the car, Hay announced that Jeff was going to drive and that she was going to take the passenger’s seat. “What about your turn?” Jordan asked her.

She didn’t look directly at him, addressing the whole group instead. “I did most of the driving around town, and I’ll do the same thing at Ogunquit if you’d like.”

Jordan was relentless. “Yeah, well, what happened to my turn in the passenger’s seat?”

Hay turned on him, eyes blazing. “You forfeited that when I punched you in the face,” she spat.

Jordan recoiled as if she’d hit him a second time. He climbed into the middle seat with Adam, while Vanessa took the back. I looked after Jordan for a moment, confused, then sat down next to Vanessa. Jordan was directly in front of me and directly behind Hay.

I guess that Jordan decided that Hay was off-limits after that comment, so he turned his frustration to an easier target: me. My head was where he wanted to put his head, and we kept knocking them together; somehow, that was completely my fault. If I turned around to talk to Adam, I was in his personal space. If I spoke to Vanessa, I was “too loud.” It didn’t matter what I did or didn’t do, Jordan found some excuse to snap at me.

After twenty minutes of near-constant snarking, Hay turned the radio off. “You know something, Jordan Pike?” she said. “You are a miserable human being, and you’re making the rest of us miserable too. I have a song for you.” She began digging through her knapsack, searching for the right CD. A few minutes later, she came up triumphant and put it in the player. She then began fiddling with the player, searching for the right song.

When happy, upbeat music finally started, she cautioned us, “Not this part...wait until I tell you to listen. This thing doesn’t have a button to skip through to the middle of the song.”

Jeff flicked his eyes over at her from the road. “Nobody knows how to make drama like you do, huh, Hay?” he asked sarcastically. “You tell him you’re going to insult him through song, and then you drag it out over five minutes just to make the tension worse.” Hay flicked him off.

“Okay, here you go. No, wait for the chorus. The chorus is about Jordan.” I listened to the music, surprised to find it was a CD I’d never heard before. A couple of people were discussing how one had been laid off, and then started singing about it. It sounded like it might be from a musical, but I wasn’t familiar with it.

Finally, the chorus began, and Hay began to sing along. She has a very nice singing voice, but she doesn’t share it too often. “It sucks to be me,” she sang, “It sucks to be me. It sucks to be broke and unemployed and turning thirty-three. It sucks to be me.”

Vanessa leaned forward from the back seat. “This is Avenue Q, isn’t it?” she asked, delighted. Hay nodded, and I shot Vanessa a questioning look. “It’s a musical,” she responded, “Like Sesame Street for adults. Sex and drinking and unemployment and cursing. Sounds awesome. I’d love to go see it sometime.”

Hay grinned. “Me, too.” The song continued on, talking about why it sucked to be a variety of different characters, and Hay continued to sing the chorus. At the end of the song, it changes to ‘It sucks to be you.’ By then, we were all laughing, even Jordan.

When the song ended, Hay moved to stop the CD player. “Wait!” Vanessa cried, “There’s another song I want to hear.” She climbed into the middle seat, between Adam and Jordan, causing both of them to yell at her. From the middle, she leaned forward and whispered in Hay’s ear. Hay smiled and Vanessa leaned back, settling in between our two brothers. “This one’s dedicated to Adam,” Vanessa said sweetly.

Hay began flipping through the songs. “For some reason, they’re not in order on the CD, so give me a minute to find it.” She would listen to thirty seconds of the song and then name it and skip to the next. “Everyone’s a little bit racist...Fantasies come true...For now....”

I leaned forward from the back seat. “They’re in alphabetical order.”

“What?” She stopped the CD for a moment and looked at me.

I spoke a bit louder. “The songs...they’re alphabetical.”

Hay thought about it for a moment. “Oh, you’re right. I wonder how it got recorded that way.” She skipped through the CD silently for a moment, guessing where she’d find the song Vanessa had requested. Finally it started blaring from the speaker. “Vanessa, will you sing Trekkie for me?”

Adam groaned. “First you let her pick out a song for me, and then you let her sing? I’m never getting in a car with you again, Haley.”

Hay grinned like the Cheshire Cat and started singing. “The Internet is really, really great.”

“For porn!” Vanessa yelled.

“I’ve got a fast connection, so I don’t have to wait...”

“For porn!”

I don’t think I have to tell you how the rest of that song went. Adam blushed furiously. I think he was even more embarrassed in the car than he was the day that Mom had caught him using the family computer to surf for pictures of naked women. He buried his head in his hands. Vanessa put her arm around him as she sang one of the choruses. “The Internet is for porn, the Internet is for porn. Me up all night honking me horn to porn, porn, porn.” He shrugged her off.

When the song ended, Vanessa was laughing so hard she was gasping for air. Hay repeated one of her character’s last lines, “I hate the Internet!” and then joined her.

Jeff spoke for the first time in a while. “Hey, guys,” he said, “Sorry to interrupt the party, but we’re getting low on gas. Probably should have filled the tank before we left. Anyway, I’m going to pull into that service station up ahead.”

We rolled up to a gas pump. Jeff ran inside to use the bathroom, which I figured was the real reason we had stopped. Adam and Vanessa wandered off to a little ice cream hut that was on the edge of the service station. I paid for the gas and then came back out to pump it.

Jordan climbed into the back seat and was digging in the trunk for a bag of snacks we had misplaced. Hay was hanging out of the car as I filled the tank. I turned to her. “Where’d you get that CD from?” I asked her.

She grinned a high-watt grin. “From one of the stage crew,” she said, “He was singing the songs backstage all the time. I made him lend me the CD and I made a copy.” Hay scooted out of the car and came up beside me. “You know, I have some songs on that CD that are for you, too. Two of them.”

I put my arm around her as I waited for the pump to stop. “Oh, really?” I asked.

She gave me a hug but didn’t respond. After a minute, she wiggled loose. “I feel like ice cream,” she said.

I squeezed her shoulder. “You feel like Hay to me, but whatever.”

Hay laughed. “You want some ice cream, too?”

I shook my head and removed the pump from the tank. She ran off to where Vanessa and Adam were chowing down on ice cream cones. Jordan came out of the car, looking perturbed. I walked toward the building, intent on a bag of chips, and Jordan followed, right on my heels.

He tailgated me straight into the building and while I was inspecting the chips, he stood right behind me. “May I help you?” I asked him finally.

Jordan released a breath that sounded like a hiss. “Do you have to flaunt it?” he asked.

“What are you talking about?”

His expression looked pained. “Your relationship with Haley. We know you guys are together...you gotta rub it in our faces this whole trip?”

Suddenly, a couple of pieces of information clicked together in my brain. Adam had come on the trip because he wanted to spend time with me. Jordan had come on the trip because he wanted to spend time with Haley. Adam had tried to warn me. I bristled, though I wasn’t quite sure why. “I’m not dating Hay,” I said in a low, irritated voice.

“Oh, right. You are so full of shit.” Jordan rolled his eyes. “You think I’m blind and deaf? I saw you guys just now. You’re all over each other.”

I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation again. I sucked in a breath through a clenched jaw. “We are not dating.” I looked around the convenience mart. No one else was there except the bearded, scary-looking dude behind the counter. “We’re just friends. You ever see us kiss? No. Because we’ve never kissed!” By this point, I was yelling right into Jordan’s face.

He took an involuntary step back. “And why should I believe a word you say?”

I pounded my hand down on the shelf in front of me, causing it to vibrate. “Because I’m fucking gay, okay?”

Jordan reeled back from me in surprise, probably as much at my venom as at my statement. I grabbed a bag of chips off the shelf and walked over to the checkout. Jordan ran back out the door and I saw him climb into the car. I plopped some money down on the counter, and the counter guy looked down at me as he gave me my change. “Good for you, kid,” he said, “I’ve been with my partner for almost ten years. Coming out’s always the hardest part, but it’s better than living a lie.”

I gave a noise that was half laugh, half sob and ran out the door myself. I sat down on the ground around the corner and began to sob full on, loud, choking noises that wracked my whole body. Luckily, I quickly cried myself out. I was just sniffling and wiping my eyes when Jeff appeared beside me. “Everything okay?” he asked.

I looked up at him. “No,” I replied, “but not any worse than normal.” My chips had fallen to the ground and I picked them up. Somehow, in my haste, I had grabbed low sodium, flavorless baked chips. Ew.

Jeff began to speak but stopped, shaking his head. “We’re ready to go when you are.” I jumped up and ran ahead of him to the car, rubbing my eyes with my hand, hoping to avoid any further conversation that I definitely wasn’t in the mood for.

When I got to the car, Jordan was in the way back. Hay, Adam and Vanessa were in the cooler, dipping their hands in among the ice to wash off ice cream spills. I climbed into the middle seat on the other side from them, right in front of Jordan. He looked up at me. “Did you mean the last thing you said?” he asked, his voice a little unsteady.

I looked back at him. “Yup.”

He didn’t change expression, and I could see he looked like he was fighting back tears. “Okay. I, uh, well, I just needed to know.”

I forced myself to smile at him. “Well, now you do.”

***

When we started off again, I was behind the driver’s seat, with Vanessa sitting bitch between me and Adam. Adam had originally intended to sit in the back, but the vibe Jordan was giving out was enough to make him change his mind.

Although no one but Jordan and I knew what had happened, everyone could feel that something was different. Hay found a CD that was mellower and put it in the CD player. She and Jeff started talking about their overlapping musical tastes in a low voice. Vanessa pulled out her camera and started taking pictures of us all in ‘our native environment’—everyone except Jordan, that is. When she’d pointed the camera at him, he’d grabbed it from her and thrown it into the front seat. Hay retrieved it undamaged, and Vanessa figured out that it was best to leave grizzly bears alone, no matter how fun they might be to photograph.

An hour passed uneventfully. Vanessa had put her camera away and was reading The Bell Jar. Adam was staring out the window, munching on a bag of Funyons that I could smell from the other side of the car. Jordan was either asleep or just completely uncommunicative. When Hay’s latest CD ended, she started digging around in her bag for something new. I put aside the crossword puzzle I’d been half-heartedly playing with and leaned across Vanessa into the front seat. “Hay, you got the CD from Grease?” I asked.

She frowned at me. “Yeeeeeessss....”

“Put it in? Please?”

Jeff took his eyes off the road for a moment and glanced at me. “What’s this, By? You got a thing for Olivia Newton John or something?”

I shook my head at him, making a terrible face. “Ew, no. It’s actually a recording from our school production last fall. Hay played Rizzo.”

Vanessa pinched me on the shoulder and I moved out of her personal space. She continued my plea. “Come on, Haley, put it in.” Hay shook her head and glared at us both. “Jeff, help us out here. She was the star of the show. You’ve got to hear her.”

Jeff grinned at her and peeked out from behind his sunglasses. “Better put it in, Hay. They’re not going to quit until you do.”

Hay threw her hands up. “I know when I’m beat. I’ll put it in if you play Tom Lehrer later.” I gave her a bewildered look. “Oh, don’t give me that face. I know you have at least one of his CDs in your bag. I’ll give you fifty bucks if you don’t.” I just continued to look at her, my expression unchanged. “Ugh! I hate when you do this to me, Byron. I’ll get you back one of these days.” She removed a CD case from her bag and put it in.

We listened quietly for a while. During one of the songs where Haley wasn’t singing, Adam piped up and asked, “You going to do the musical again next year, Haley? I hear they’re doing Guys and Dolls.”

She shook her head violently. “No way. I wouldn’t have even done Grease if...”

Even Jordan was staring at her now. I finished the thought. “...If I hadn’t dared you.”

All the eyes except Jeff’s turned on me. “What?” Vanessa said, confused.

I shrugged. “We started daring each other to do stuff about a year ago. Stupid things that didn’t really affect anything.” She’d dared me to spell my name wrong on an assignment I’d turned in; Bryon Pike had gotten a 100 percent and the teacher hadn’t noticed. I’d dared her to use a certain spicy adjective in her next writing assignment; she’d managed to work it in successfully. “After a while, the dares started to get bigger. I dared her to try out for the play. She auditioned for Patty Simcox and got Rizzo.”

Hay was blushing a bit. “The teacher said I was the only one with the sass to pull it off, which I think is an insult.”

I waved that off. “It was a compliment and you know it.”

We grew quiet as Hay as Rizzo started singing, “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee.” When that ended, Jeff changed lanes and then pulled his sunglasses onto the top of his head. “So, Haley, if someone dares you to do something, do you have to do it?”

She turned and looked at him, an ‘oh, shit,’ look in her eyes. “Depends on who’s daring. I do have to do whatever By dares me to do. It’s a matter of pride. Plus, I know he’ll give me shit about it for the rest of time if I don’t.”

Jeff let that hang for a second. “Well, what if I dare you to do something? Do you have to take the dare?”

Hay’s eyes got even wider. “Depends on what it is, I guess.”

“What if I dare you to kiss Jordan?”

Everyone in the car snapped to full attention, waiting for an answer for that question. Nothing happened for a moment, except that Hay turned to face forward as if she were internally debating and didn’t want the rest of us to see. Jeff checked the rearview mirror and met my eyes. And in that second I knew that he knew exactly how Jordan felt. Whether Jordan had told him or he’d picked up on the clues, he was in on the secret.

Hay turned back around. “Vanessa!” she barked. “Switch seats with me?” I could see some tension around her eyes, like she wasn’t really sure she was making the right choice, but the tone of voice told me she was determined to follow through on this. She knocked everything off the middle seat of the front bench, where the seatbelt is broken. Vanessa climbed in between Hay and Jeff, trying really hard not to kick Jeff or otherwise force his attention off the road. After this was accomplished, Hay did the opposite, climbing between me and Adam, and Vanessa scooted into the passenger’s seat and buckled back up. Hay looked at Jordan in the backseat, eyes now as determined as her voice, and joined him back there.

Three sets of eyes were glued on the back seat; one watched intermittently as the road conditions allowed. Hay froze for a moment, then put her arms around Jordan’s neck and pulled him close. Jordan’s eyes grew like saucers, and his expression said he doubted she was actually going to kiss him until the second it started. The kiss went on for just a fraction of a second longer than I would have expected; by that time, Jordan’s hands had found their way to her shoulders. Hay pulled back and for a second she smiled, but before Jordan’s eyes opened she turned it to a scowl. While he watched, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand like he’d left a bad taste on it, and then climbed back into the middle seat, looking at Jeff from the relative safety between me and Adam. “Satisfied?”

Jeff grinned and pulled down his sunglasses. “Oh, yeah,” he said, trying not to laugh.

Jordan’s face was bright crimson. He picked up a magazine and pretended to be fascinated by the article in front of him, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Adam and I looked at each other over Hay’s head. I gave him a questioning glance and he nodded, with the silent implication of, “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

Hay settled into her new seat and buckled her seatbelt. We were all pretty much looking at her still, and it was her turn to blush again. “Just for the record....I hate you all,” she said.

***

Ogunquit was so not what I was expecting. In some ways, it wasn’t much different from Camden; in other ways, they were nothing alike. Let’s just say that Camden was so much more...conservative. Adam took a look around as we drove down the main strip and turned to me. “Byron. You picked the gayest town on earth.”

I looked in the same direction he had and saw two guys holding hands walking down the street, passing another pair of men doing the same. I shrugged. “Hay picked it out.”

Adam cocked his head at her. “Haley. You picked the gayest town on earth.”

Hay looked helpless for a second. “I read this book,” she said for the second time in two days. I suddenly started picturing a book: How to Get Your Best Guy Friend to Come Out Already. She’d picked this town as some kind of message to me.

I must have blushed because suddenly several sets of eyes were on me. Vanessa leaned over the seat. “What’s the matter, Byron?” she asked. She was the only one looking at me who didn’t know. “You got a problem with ho-mo-sex-u-als?” She dragged it out in a Mr. Rogers kind of way.

Hay spoke under her breath. “Yeah, a jealousy problem,” she quipped. Adam laughed, but I think only he and I heard her. Vanessa looked at us like we were crazy—which, admittedly, had been her look for most of the trip. She then picked up the map and started studying it.

“I think this town’s pretty cool. I like any town that’s this accepting of everyone,” Jeff piped up. He turned onto a side street and then into a parking lot. “Did you guys see that teen club back a couple blocks? It’s said it’s ages sixteen to twenty. We have to go there one night.”

Hay threw her hands up, glad to have found an ally. “I know, right? I saw that in the travel guide. Vanessa, you got a state ID?”

Vanessa nodded. “I had to get one last summer so I could get a job. Thank goodness, right? I’d have to kill you all if you went into a club—even a lame, alcohol free one— without me.”

We all tumbled out of the car and looked around. “So, this is Ogunquit,” Jordan said, like he’d been expecting something grander.

Vanessa looked at him. “This is a parking lot. All the good stuff seems to be that way.” She pointed back toward the main drag.

“Well, then, let’s go that way.” Jordan seemed to be taking charge for the first time since we’d left home, and, being surprised and a bit bedraggled, we let him.

As we followed Jordan, Hay turned into a walking guide book. “So there are two parts to Ogunquit. This is the village. Pretty much everything I was interested in is here in the village, but I hear Perkins Cove is beautiful.” She paused for a minute as we passed another gay couple. In a low voice, she continued. “The village is also home to Ogunquit’s very active gay social scene.”

“We hadn’t noticed,” Adam joked as we passed maybe the third gay-themed business in a couple blocks.

Obviously, tourist season was not in full blast, or even a trickle, but we still got a feel for the town anyway. Just about everyone we passed said hello to us. Like we did our first night in Camden, we just browsed shops and went inside in ones and twos. Hay dragged me into one of the gay-themed gift stores and made me look around with her at all the kitschiness. Some of the items were typical to what you’d find in a regular gift shop, with a unique Ogunquit twist.

“Oh, look, By, you have to have this!” Hay squealed. It was t-shirt that read ‘I went to Ogunquit and all I did was come out’ in rainbow letters. Even though I protested and vowed to never wear it, she picked it up and went to check out. By the time she and I left the store we were both laughing hysterically.

Adam and Jordan were once again sitting on a bench, not shopping, when we came out. Hay was silently shaking with laughter, half doubled over. I was laughing so hard I was crying. Jordan quirked an eyebrow at us. “Something hit your funny bones?” he asked.

I was having trouble breathing, but I managed to start calming down a bit. “Show them the shirt, Hay,” I said.

She was gasping for breath herself. “Are you sure?” she wheezed, looking at Jordan and then back at me. I nodded and she pulled the shirt out of the bag, which I had made her carry. It was folded with the message on the inside. “I bought Byron a present to celebrate him making history this trip.” With that, she shook the shirt out and showed it to them.

They both took a look, and did a double take. Adam started to laugh right away. Jordan looked uncomfortable. “You sure you want everyone to know like this?” he asked.

I studied him for a moment. “Well, I wasn’t planning on wearing it out to dinner tonight or anything. But yeah, I want to tell people. I’ve been gay for eighteen years. It’s about time I accept that and let other people accept it too.” Jordan’s expression changed, and suddenly he looked guilty. “I was planning to tell you, you know. Just not like it came out. And I’m sorry I got so worked up.” Adam and Haley exchanged a look, like they might be missing something, which, of course, they were.

Jordan ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck, still looking guilty. “No, that was my fault. I shouldn’t have assumed anything. Next time I’ve got a problem with you, I’ll come and talk to you about it instead of letting it build up like that, okay?”

I grinned at the rare show of humility. “To be fair, this was totally an imaginary problem with me, wasn’t it? All in your head?”

He started to protest, but when he realized I was kidding, he grinned back. “You son of a bitch,” he said.

I shook my head in mock disgust. “Don’t talk that way about your mother, son,” I said. Adam joined the two of us, putting his arms around us both.

“Aww,” Hay said, stuffing the shirt back into the bag and jumping in front of us, holding a fake camera to her face. “Where are Vanessa and her camera when you need her?”

“What about me and my camera?” Vanessa came up behind Haley. She took a good look at us triplets, still embracing, and shook her head. “Oh, my God. You three are so gay.” Hay looked around in surprise, hoping no one who might be offended heard Vanessa, but no one was near, not even Jeff.

Jordan looked at Adam, and then over at me. “Nope, just one out of three,” he said. I gaped at him for a moment, and then we all started to laugh.

Vanessa looked at him in surprise. “Wait, what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The whole story probably would have come tumbling out, for the third time in as many days, if Jeff hadn’t come racing out of one of the stores down the block and shouted at us as a group. “You guys. You have to come see this swimsuit in here. It’s got piano keys all over the ass! Come on, guys!”

Nothing like Jeff on a shopping spree to provide a good distraction.

***

We finally managed to drag Jeff away from the shopping, but not before he’d bought us all matching Ogunquit t-shirts. “I’m bound and determined to wardrobe everyone,” he’d said.

Hay had held hers up to her front. “We should all wear these on the way home. It would freak people out.”

We stopped at a takeout Chinese restaurant and placed an order, which Hay then held steady with her feet as we hunted down our motel. It was a little farther out of town than the other motel owner had made it sound, but other than that, she’d been spot on in her description. I’d gotten us checked in and we took our delicious-smelling food inside, leaving our bags in the station wagon.

Hay set the food down on the small table in the corner of the room and we all swarmed it. Every last morsel of watercress and every piece of rice was gone before too long. I looked mournfully at the empty containers. “We should have ordered more,” I moaned.

Jordan tossed a bag of potato chips at me. “Here, you can have these,” he offered.

Hay looked at the snack. “Nothing like barbecue chips to go with Chinese barbecue chicken,” she snickered.

Adam opened the door. “Hey, who’s going to help me unload the car?” he called over his shoulder as he walked out. Everyone but me followed. I quickly ate up the chips before Jordan changed his mind and then joined them.

It only took us a few minutes to bring in the bags, and then we scattered. Adam and Jordan went outside to take a look around. Jeff had turned on the television and was watching the news, with Vanessa providing commentary. I had no idea where Hay had gone—to the bathroom in the girls’ room, I assumed. I took out my crossword puzzle and tried to finish it. I was missing enough letters to drive me mad.

Some time passed. Vanessa went to use our bathroom. I tossed the puzzle aside in disgust. “Seen Hay?” I asked Jeff, who was now engrossed in a game of Wheel of Fortune. He merely shook his head. Since I’d last seen her headed into the other room, I went to the door and opened it without a second thought.

The room was dimly lit, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure what I saw. I stepped a little farther into the room and squinted. The only light burning was a small lamp on the far side of the bed. It illuminated a back, leaned over the bed, head bent forward. He was kneeling on the bed, over someone else; the other person lay face up on the bed, her arms around his neck. Her shirt was hiked up under her breasts, and his hands were caressing her bare back. Their eyes were closed and they only noticed each other as they kissed on and on. I backed back out of the room without either one of them noticing.

When I was back in the other room, I closed the door quietly behind me and then pushed up against the door, my heart pounding. Jeff looked at me quizzically. “You okay over there?”

I wanted to scream at him that, no, I was not okay. I had just seen my brother making out with my best friend. All I wanted was to erase that image from my memory. I shook my head, less in answer to his question than to clear my head. “Got any brain bleach?” I asked.

Jeff blinked. “Uh,” he answered eloquently. I forced myself away from the door and joined him on the bed. “You going to tell me what’s going on?” he added.

I reached across the bed and took the remote from next to his thigh. “Nope.”

Adam came in from outside, carrying a big bucket of ice, which he dumped unceremoniously into the cooler. I was holding the remote but just fidgeting with it. “Byron…you’re as white as a ghost. What’s the matter?”

I shook my head again. Jeff cocked his head to one side. “Don’t bother; I haven’t been able to get a peep out of him.” He reached over and took the remote back from me, wrestling it out of my hands. “Something spooked him in the other room though.”

Adam looked like he was going to continue the questions, but the bathroom door peeked open and Vanessa’s face appeared in the crack. “Haley?” she called.

Jeff looked at Adam, then at me, then back at Vanessa. “Absent,” he replied.

We could only see a sliver of Vanessa’s face, but she looked decidedly uncomfortable. “Can you go get her?” she whined.

“No,” I piped up. “She’s, um, busy.”

“Please?” Vanessa pleaded. “I need something from her.”

“Vanessa,” I said, starting to lose my patience a little bit, “I am not going to interrupt Haley right now. Is there anything any of us can help you with?”

Her face clouded over. “Not unless any of you has a tampon,” she snipped.

Jeff, Adam and I looked at each other. “I don’t know about the others, but I’m not in the habit of carrying those around,” Adam told her.

Vanessa scowled. “Well, Haley is, and if I’m not mistaken, she probably has a whole box of them in that oversize purse of hers. So if you’re not willing to go stop whatever’s so goddamn important that she’s doing, could you at least bring me some goddamn tampons!?” She slammed the door shut behind her.

Jeff looked at us. “Are we going to get Haley’s purse?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s in the other room, and like I said, she’s busy in there. More than my life’s worth to interrupt her now.”

Jeff and Adam looked at each other, probably wondering what exactly was so taboo that I wouldn’t interrupt it. “Guess one of us is going to have to go buy some tampons,” Jeff said slowly.

Without a word, Adam and I turned to each other and shook a fist three times. Jeff stared at us until we slammed our fists down, in unison, into our other hand. I kept my fist rounded, but Adam laid his flat. “Paper covers rock. I win!”

I grumbled under my breath as I grabbed the car keys off the table. “I’ll come with you,” Jeff offered.

As I was pulling on my shoes, Adam picked up the remote control and started flipping channels. “Seen Jordan?” he asked.

“Yeah, I have,” I said, and then walked out the door, causing Jeff to run to catch up.

***

I had barely pulled out of the parking spot when Jeff turned to me from the passenger’s seat. “Okay, spill,” he demanded. “What was Haley doing in there that’s got you so worked up?”

I eased out of the parking lot and drove a short way before I responded. “She was on the bed with Jordan.”

Jeff raised his eyebrow. “Were they...?”

I let out a breath. “No, thank God. But they were about a minute from second base.”

He watched me for a moment, and I tensed up even more at the visual inquisition. Finally he spoke. “Well, that’s a good thing, right? Honestly, I might have only been around you all for four days, but I can see she basically clings to you. I’m glad you two have each other, but it isn’t really healthy for you to be everything to one another, right?” He paused, looking straight ahead for a moment, making a pained face. “Oh, my God, I sound like my therapist.” A funny little laugh escaped his mouth.

I glanced at Jeff briefly, concerned. He pulled himself back together and looked at me again. I took a deep breath. “You’re right, though. Remember, I said yesterday, I worry that she’s always alone when I’m not with her. But her and Jordan...well, just two days ago, she punched him in the face! She called him a miserable human being not twelve hours ago. And just now, she was letting him feel her up. It’s just not like her, you know?” Jeff shook his head and made a ‘hmm’ noise and I continued. “I’ve been hanging out with Hay for three years, and in that time, she’s never had one date. Lots of guys asked her out, at least that first year, so she could have gone on dates and had boyfriends, and she never once said yes to any of them. So for her to turn on a dime like that...it just concerns me, okay?”

Jeff smiled kindly. “I understand. I just think it’s not maybe as big a deal as you’re making it out to be. Haley knows Jordan. She’s known him about half her life. Maybe she figured out about his year-long obsession with her. Or maybe he told her, I don’t know. Maybe she just figured she was ready for something more than a hug from her best friend, and he was right there. Whatever. In any case, is it really a bad thing if she gets together with Jordan?”

I thought about that for a minute. “No,” I said slowly, still mulling it over, “It’s not. I think I just rather would have found out by one of them telling me rather than catching them in the act.”

He laughed a little, and then turned sober. “I hate to even say this, but I think there’s a little more to it than that. I’m only saying it because I’m your friend, but could it be possible that you’re a bit jealous? Not necessarily of Jordan kissing Haley specifically, but that they have someone to kiss at all?”

And damn him, he was right. That was definitely the hardest part of being in the closet: you can’t just find a guy, like Hay had suggested I do, and have a good time. Because someone will definitely find out and then everyone will know. And anyway, I didn’t know any other gay guys to even find and get together with. I blushed, grateful that it was dark, and pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four hour grocery.

I went to get out of the car when Jeff put a hand on my arm. “Hey, Byron?”

“Yeah?” I turned to him. Jeff spent a moment trying to get the words out, and then shook his head. He looked away and bit his lip. I could tell he had lost his reserve again. “Hey, no worries, Jeff. Whatever it is, you’ll tell me when you’re ready. Anyway, you were right. Maybe you should just revel in that for a moment.”

Jeff grinned with his mouth, but his eyes looked sad. “What was I right about?” he asked.

I smiled for real at him as I climbed out of the car. “Everything. What else?”

***

By the time Jeff and I got back, Haley and Jordan had rejoined the crew and Vanessa had been rescued from the bathroom. I handed her a box of tampons and she just grunted. “You owe me big time,” I told her.

Adam and Jordan were on one bed, and Hay and Vanessa were on the other. Vanessa opened the box and dug out a tampon, which she handed to Hay. “Thank you,” Hay said, stuffing the extra in her pocket. Vanessa tossed the box aside and they went back to the magazine they’d been poring over when Jeff and I had come in the door.

Jordan was sharing a bag of chips with Adam and watching a hockey game on television. Neither he nor Hay gave any sign that they knew that I’d walked in on them, or any sign that they’d even done what I’d seen them do. I looked over at Jeff, who shrugged at me. There wasn’t any room left on the beds, so we sat down at the table in the corner. “Adam? Can we borrow your cards?” Jeff asked. Adam jumped off the bed and pulled out box of two decks, which Jeff then shuffled together. “Okay, By, you gotta teach me the secret behind that spite and malice game so I can kick everyone’s ass next time.”

I shook my head at him. “I suck at cards.”

“So? We’ll suck together.” He handed me the deck. “You deal.”

We were only halfway through the game when Jeff started yawning. He turned to the group as a whole. “So. Sleeping arrangements? We could stick to the same rooms we had last time. Or we could let Jordan and Haley have the single room and the rest of us bunk up in here.”

Absolute silence followed that statement. Hay dropped the magazine, her face blazing scarlet. Adam and Vanessa stared at Jeff, confused. Jordan’s mouth dropped open. I ducked my head, trying not to get involved. After a moment of crickets chirping, Hay found her voice. “What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, looking venomous.

Jeff smiled at her. “Oh, come on, Hay. Byron walked in on the two of you.” So much for trying not to get involved. I burned as bright as Hay and looked at the carpeting. Even so, I could feel a couple faces on me.

Hay jumped up and ran into the other room, slamming the door behind her. Vanessa looked questioningly at Adam, who nodded at her, and she followed Hay into the other room, calling after her. That left the four of us guys alone in the room together. I still had my eyes on the floor.

Jordan looked over at Jeff, looking like he was going to give him hell, but then stopped and grinned. “What the hell, Jeff?” he asked, not sounding upset, but rather giddy.

Jeff took a look at Jordan’s stupid goofy grin and chuckled. “Sorry, dude. Was it supposed to be a secret?” he asked.

Jordan got control of his expression a little bit, but he still looked happier than I’d seen him in a long time. “No. At least I don’t think so. I mean, Haley said that she isn’t sure what this is, but I think that just means that we aren’t officially dating or anything.”

Adam thumped Jordan on the shoulder. “So what exactly are we talking about here?” he asked.

Jordan’s smile turned mushy again. “Second base,” he said.

Adam looked impressed. “Whoa, dude. How did this happen? You were about her least favorite person on earth earlier today.”

“The power of an apology, maybe? Either that or I’m just that good of a kisser.” All three of them smirked.

I shuffled a foot around on the floor and inadvertently caught Jordan’s attention. “Hey, Byron. You and me are cool, right?”

I finally looked up. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?”

He looked a little embarrassed. “Well, Jeff said you saw me and Haley while we were....”

I shook my head, lowering it again, hiding behind my hair. “It wasn’t exactly my favorite image, and I’m going to need a lobotomy to get it out of my head, but that’s alright. I’ll get over it.” I scuffed my shoe around some more. “But I gotta tell you, man. You hurt her and I’ll kill you.”

Jordan laughed. “I’d expect nothing less out of you.”

***

I wish I could say Hay was as easy going about what happened that night as Jordan was, but I couldn’t. Not even close. And for some reason, she held me entirely to blame for everything.

I found that out the hard way the next time I saw her, after everyone was showered and dressed the next morning. Vanessa came in to get some breakfast. She discovered the milk had soured, so she and Jordan ran to buy some more from the grocery. Adam was styling his hair and Jeff was munching dried fruit and watching PBS kids. I knocked on the door to the girls’ room, and when I didn’t get an answer, I went in.

Hay was on the bed, flipping through a notebook of some kind. I sat down next to her and put my arm around her, just like any other time. Only this time, she shoved me hard and knocked me off the bed. “Ow! What the hell, Hay?” I spit as I sat back up, rubbing my arm where she’d shoved me. Suddenly I was glad she hadn’t punched me like she’d done to Jordan. She’s got strong arms.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” she asked, putting the notebook aside and standing over me.

Oh, crap. “Can you be more specific?” I asked.

She leaned in closer. “I mean, spying on me and Jordan last night.”

I sputtered. “I was not spying on you. How was I supposed to know that you guys were in here together? Isn’t there some kind of code for that? Like leaving a sock on the door knob or something?” She leaned in even closer, her eyes blazing. “Okay, okay. Bad joke. But honest, I just walked into the room, saw you two on the bed, and walked back out. No spying intended. I wasn’t even going to mention it to you.”

“But you told Jeff.”

I hung my head. “Yeah, I told Jeff. Listen; imagine if you walked in on me kissing your brother.” She involuntarily shuddered. “See? I had to tell someone. And he talked me down a little bit. But if I’d known he was going to blurt it out like that, I wouldn’t have.”

The outside door to the other room opened and Vanessa and Jordan returned. “We’ve got milk!” I heard Vanessa call. Haley whirled around and stalked out the door, leaving me behind without a goodbye. By the time I’d gotten off the floor, brushing off my butt (and my pride) and made it into the other room, she had a bowl of Lucky Charms and milk. I walked in through the door, and she walked back through it without acknowledging me, slamming it behind her again.

Jordan quirked an eyebrow. “What’s with her?” he asked, nodding toward the still vibrating door.

I picked up a box of Cap’n Crunch and poured a bowl. “She’s mad about last night.” Jordan wrinkled his brow. “Not about what happened between you. But about how everyone found out.”

Jeff looked chagrined. Jordan moved to join Hay next door, but I physically stopped him. “Don’t. Wait ten minutes before you talk to her.”

He looked irritated. “Don’t be a know-it-all, Byron. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

I let him go but shook my head. “Forget that I’m your brother for a minute. Forget I’m a guy. Just think of me as Haley’s best friend, okay? When she’s this upset, she needs some time to calm down. Otherwise, she’ll say something you’ll both regret.”

Vanessa interjected. “He’s right. When I went in there last night, she tore me a new hole. Even though I didn’t make out with her, or ‘Peeping Tom’ her, or share her news with the whole world,” she said cheerfully. Jeff and I both winced at the phrasing, but she plowed on, unabated. “After a few minutes she calmed down and apologized for it. And then we worked together to come up with as many insulting names for men as possible, in alphabetical order. We got stuck at Q.”

I ignored the second half of that statement for the time being. “Anyway, Jordan, trust me on this one. Eat your breakfast, and then go talk to her. And I do think it should be you who talks to her anyway, even if that makes me sound like a know-it-all.”

We all ate quietly for a while with Sesame Street as our only sounds. Finally Jeff put his bowl down. “Couldn’t come up with a Q?” he asked Vanessa thoughtfully.

***

After we ate, Jordan went into the other room, and a few minutes later, he led Haley out to join us. He had one hand gently on her back, guiding her, and she looked unsure of herself. Jordan made a joke with Vanessa, still standing there with his fingers on Hay’s shoulder blade, and when Hay realized that no one was going to make a single comment to her, she visibly relaxed a bit. Jordan noticed and eased his hand around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She looked up at him and smiled her thousand-watt smile.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t beach weather, we’d decided to spend the morning at the beach. When we’d managed to find a news broadcast, they’d said the temperature was supposed to go down for the next couple days, meaning that this was the closest we were going to get to a “nice day” in Maine in April. We all put on our windbreakers and hoodies and piled into the car.

The beach was ridiculously beautiful, even though it was maybe fifty degrees outside. We spread out a picnic blanket, and I swear, we all regressed to being seven and eight for a couple hours. We built sandcastles and tossed a ball around.

By lunch time we were covered in sand, sunburn and windburn. I ate the last of the ham in a sandwich and then took a walk down the beach alone. When I got far enough away that I could barely see everyone else, I came across a pier, one of those decorative ones that isn’t used for boats or fishing. I sat down at the end of it, staring out to the sea and thinking about everything that had happened so far this trip.

I didn’t even hear Hay come down the pier, despite the fact that it must have creaked many times over. She sat down beside me, far enough away that we weren’t touching, but reached her hand out to poke me in the side. I didn’t acknowledge her; I wasn’t ready for her to intrude on my thoughts. Finally she scooted a bit closer, still not touching me, and spoke my whole name. “Byron?”

“Hmmm?”

She looked at me and I could tell I was annoying her. But I could also tell she felt like she deserved it. “I’m sorry about before,” she said.

I still didn’t look at her, but I finally spoke. “You know I’d never purposely do anything to hurt or embarrass you.”

Hay sighed. “Yeah. I know. I overreacted.” She put her hands into her lap and grabbed the bottom of her hoodie, twisting it over and over. “This is just something I haven’t really done before. Getting close to a guy in this way, I mean. I just wanted time to think it over and maybe even enjoy this relationship or whatever it is.” She chuckled a nervous chuckle. “I also was afraid that you’d be unhappy about this.”

I shook my head. “I just want you to be happy. Even if that means you’re letting my doofus brother slobber all over you.” She let go of her hoodie long enough to smack my arm. “Ouch! You already bruised that arm earlier today. Leave it be, will ya, Hay?”

She smiled a real smile but her hands went back to the jacket. “Do you really mean that? I was afraid you’d be, I don’t know, jealous or something.”

It was my turn to chuckle. Still looking out over the water, I responded. “Jealous of Jordan for getting to kiss you, or jealous of you for having someone to kiss?” Hay’s mouth twitched, and she looked like she was about to say something, but I plowed on. “On the first, no, sorry. Gay, remember?” She smiled. “On the second? Yeah. Definitely.”

Hay smiled, a little sadly. “Well, what about Jeff?”

“What about Jeff?”

She laughed a hollow laugh. “Remember when I told you that I knew you were gay because you didn’t hit on me? Well, I had that fact confirmed for me by the way you kept staring at one of the guys in my algebra class. You are so transparent when you like a guy, Byron.” She patted my knee. “So I know you like Jeff.”

I threw my hands up. “So what if I do? He’s straight, Hay. Remember, the ex?”

She waved that away. “Trust me on this, By. Jeff likes you, too. Maybe even more than you like him.”

My cheeks grew warm as I remembered Jeff’s arms around my body. “Weren’t we talking about you, here?” I demanded.

Hay laughed again, a little happier this time. “What’s there to talk about anyway? I came, I saw, I made out.”

I turned to her finally, leaving the calming waves of the ocean on the edge of my vision. “Yeah, but why now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said: why now? I’ve been your friend for three years, and in all that time you’ve never even been on a date. And you could have, so it’s not like you were just waiting around for some guy to ask you. If I remember correctly, even that guy in your algebra class that I had a huge crush on asked you out.” She laughed again, back to sounding fake. More ‘ha-ha’ than her silent, happy laugh. “So I just don’t get it. Why not go out with some of those guys?”

The sky had started to darken with clouds, and now her face did the same. “Maybe not enough time had passed,” she said, sounding sad and lost.

I grabbed the arm closest to me. “Not enough time had passed since what?” I demanded.

Hay tore my hand off her arm with her free hand and scooted away from me, scrambling to her feet. “You’re really going to make me say it?” she asked, now adding angry to the sadness. “This is payback for outing you, isn’t it?” she accused.

“Say it, Haley.”

She backed away from me, down the pier. “Dammit, Byron. Please. Let it go,” she pleaded.

I shook my head as I got to my feet. I didn’t know exactly what she was going to say, but I knew it was big. “Not until you say it.”

She started to cry, angry, hurt tears. “I was raped,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.

In seconds I had my arms around her and she put her head on my shoulder. She cried soundlessly for a few minutes, and then wiped her face on my jacket. “I’ve never said that before,” she told me.

I eased up on the hug and put some distance between us so I could see her face. I didn’t say a word, but my expression said, “Talk about it.”

She read it right away. She pulled out of my arms and started walking back down the pier as drops of rain began to fall. “Do you remember a girl Vanessa and I used to hang out with named Diane?” I fell into step with her and shook my head. “I didn’t think so. She was more my friend than Vanessa’s. Well, she had this brother. Three years older than me and Diane. Gorgeous. His name was Dominic.”

I thought about that for a moment and remembered a Dominic Dumschat who was two years ahead of me in school. Hay was right. He was gorgeous, but more than a little arrogant. I nodded or her to continue.

“Well, the summer before high school, Vanessa and I went over to Diane’s to hang out. Dominic was there, and he started flirting with me. When we left, he followed me out of the house and asked me out. Vanessa said I shouldn’t do it, but I said yes.” She sniffled. I found myself wishing I was one of those people who carried tissues in his pocket. “The first two dates were okay. On the first, he kissed me goodnight. It wasn’t my first kiss, but it felt like the first one that counted, you know?” I knew exactly what she meant. “On the second date, he drove me home in his car and he reclined both our seats back and kissed me for a while. I was so thrilled because here was this cute senior making out with silly little freshman me.”

She stopped for a moment. Jordan was running down the beach toward us, holding an umbrella. He was still far enough away that he couldn’t hear. The rest of her story came out in a tumble of words. “But on the third date, he took me in the backseat. I was thinking, maybe we’ll lie across the seat and mess around like we had the night before. And that’s how it started.” She started to cry again. “But when he hit second base, I panicked and told him to stop. He told me not to be a tease. And then he pulled out a condom....” Hay was crying too hard to go on, but she didn’t really need to, anyway. I had the picture. More of the picture than I wanted, in fact. Suddenly, I knew that if I ever saw Dominic Dumschat again, I’d kick his ass.

Jordan joined us a moment later. “Everything okay?” he asked Hay, looking at me like I was the cause of her tears.

I answered for her. “I just told her a really sad story that ended with a dog getting hit by a car. I cried the first time I heard it, too.”

Jordan may be many things, but stupid is not one of them. He didn’t believe a word I said. “Um, okay,” he said, knowing that something more was going on. He moved to put an arm around her again, but she sidestepped him. He looked hurt and confused at the same time.

I caught Hay’s eye. “You got some tissues in that huge purse of yours?” I asked. She nodded, slowly, her tears subsiding again. “I’ll go to the car and get them for you.”

She caught my hand. “No. Jordan, do you mind? Please?” He nodded, unhappy, and took the car keys from her. After he was out of earshot, she continued the story, picking up ‘after.’ “Vanessa and I got into a big fight over it. That was the day you walked me home. She basically told me it was my fault.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “She told you it was your fault you got raped?”

Hay looked up at me over her shoulder. “Well, I didn’t say the word. I told her Dominic had gotten ‘handsy.’ She said you should expect nothing less with a seventeen year old and that she’d told me not to go out with him. I think she was really surprised when I cursed her out.” She started walking to where we could see Vanessa, Adam and Jeff smashing the sandcastle we’d worked on for hours.

I followed. “She wouldn’t have said that if she’d really known what happened.” Hay nodded, and she started walking directly in front of me. Probably so that I couldn’t see her face. “You’ve really never told anyone this before? Not even your mom?”

A head shake. “No,” she said, her voice muffled by the wind and the rain, “I didn’t want to get in trouble. My mom would have never let me go out with Dominic. Too old. So I told her I was hanging out at Diane’s when we went out.”

Jordan met us, holding Haley’s purse. She had stopped crying but her face was wet from tears and rain, so she pulled out a tissue anyway. Jordan watched her intently as she wiped her face and stuffed the tissue in her pocket. “Thanks,” she said, grinning at him. Jordan smiled back, and Hay reached out to take his hand. He looked shocked and pleased as he squeezed her hand and they walked back to our crew. I followed, a few steps behind, wishing I had a tissue for my own face.

***

We had planned to leave the beach and take a walk that afternoon, but the weather had different plans for us. We went back to the motel, tired and wet, and in some cases, emotionally drained. Hay begged off and went to the girls’ room to take a nap, while Vanessa decided on a hot shower and also retreated to the girls’ room. The four of us guys all looked at each other, not sure what to do with the next couple hours. It’s not as if there were too many options.

We played a few rounds of bullshit with the cards before we got bored with that. Vanessa had rejoined us by that point. I got up to use the john, and when I came back, Jordan and Vanessa were gone. “Emergency chocolate run,” Jeff explained.

Adam flipped on the television and the three of us vegged in front of the set for about an hour. I looked at the alarm clock between the beds and blinked. “They’ve been gone a long time for chocolate,” I commented. Jeff and Adam exchanged a look. “What aren’t you telling me?” I asked.

“Oh,” Adam said, like the thought had just occurred to him, “Jordan might have decided to maybe let Vanessa drive the car around for a while.”

I sat bolt upright. “What?”

Jeff was extremely casual about it. “She mentioned that your parents had never let her try driving in the rain.”

Internally I was screaming. Both Jeff and Adam were watching me closely, so I took a deep breath. “Oh.” They stared at me, waiting for me to blow a gasket. I turned my back for a second and took another breath. “I’m going to go take a shower,” I said, barely looking at them.

I walked calmly into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I was pretty sandy and gross, but I mostly just wanted to get away from them. As I washed my hair, I thought hard about how other people saw me. There’s one thing I’ve never understood. They tell you not to give in to peer pressure or worry about how other people think of you all the time while you’re growing up. But at the same time, they tell you to do this or that to make yourself look good or fit in. We wear deodorant and say please so we don’t offend others. There comes a time when you can’t have it both ways.

Old Byron would have flipped out that Jordan was letting an unlicensed driver behind the wheel of the car. New Byron, whoever he was, wanted to say, “Screw them. If they wreck the car, it’s on them. I have nothing to do with it,” and let it go. I wasn’t sure that New Byron was so much better.

I turned off the shower and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t look any different than I had a week ago. Same long brown hair. Same blue eyes. Same face that probably needed a shave. Yet I felt different. Older, maybe. More mature. Definitely more honest.

Jordan and Vanessa were back by the time I came out of the shower. “Bring me any chocolate?” was all I said to them.

[smile-smile-ichthys]

Behind the Scenes - Zen Fanfic - Chapter 8

Title: Behind the Scenes Game: Mystic Messenger Characters: Zen X MC, 707, Yoosung, Echo Girl Rating: Mature, it has a little smut in chapter 7 and swearing Description: For self insert month I have written a multichapter fanfic about Zen meeting me at a theatre and how we fall in love. Can we get over the issue of the possibility of a long distance relationship? Maybe it’s Echo Girl who’s our true obstacle ;) Chapters: 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Almost at the end of this fic :D thanks for the lovely comments guys it really means a lot :D

Tagging said usual peoples @obiwanmcprobie @hifftn @nitelotus @tygerlander and @basically-lol

Holding hands to work was probably my favourite thing of the day. Zen’s hands were so big and practically engulfed mine, but I loved how warm and protective they were. He kept my body close to his as we walked, being with the guy I genuinely cared about was a feeling I had never felt before. We were on a test run really, seeing how it went while I was here then, when it came to the time I had to leave then we would talk about our future. Cross the bridge when we got to it. I was happy with that decision, living in the moment was also a new experience for me, and I was enjoying every minute.

That is, until we reached stage door and Echo Girl was hanging around again.

“ZEN!” he shouted, smiling widely.

I attempted to let go of his hand, but Zen kept his fingers intertwined with my own.

“Hi, Echo Girl, what can I do for you?” he asked as we approached her.

Her face dropped when she noticed our hands, almost making me laugh out loud. Wow, if only I had been more careful at that point. I could see the anger growing behind her eyes, something I should have guessed much earlier.

“…Actually I was here to talk to Hannah here” she said, gesturing to me.

“My names Heather” I said simply “What can I do?”

“Walk with me Hannah” she said.

“I’m not going to walk with someone who can’t even get my name right” I said, refusing easily. I knew she was being patronising and I wasn’t having any of it. Me and Zen had every right to be together, and I was going to let her scare me away.

“Heather, sorry” she wasn’t sorry, the bitch.

I glanced at Zen and gave him a reassuring smile before following Echo girl into the building. I was kinda expecting her to keep the silence for a while, letting the uncomfortable tension build until I broke it. Nope. She spoke as soon as we were in private.

“You’re with Zen?” she asked.

“To be honest with you, I don’t see why that’s any of your business” I seriously hated confrontation, it always almost gave me an anxiety attack, but for some reason, I didn’t care what I felt right now. This bitch was digging into things I didn’t want her digging into.

“Oh it will be, you see me and Zen are meant to be together” she explained.

I stopped walking.

“Ok, please explain why? Zen is a grown man, I’m a grown woman, we can date whoever we want, if he hasn’t asked you on a date or you haven’t asked him then why should you two be together?” I asked.

“Me ask him? No that’s the guys job, he just hasn’t had the courage, I’ve been giving him hints with the whole coffee and script project thing…”

“Nah, nah way pet, it honestly doesn’t matter who asks who, you like him? Then you’ve missed out, you should have been more blunt, you’re too late, so” I smirked “In words from one of my favourite musicals, Avenue Q…sucks, to, be, you!”

And with that I walked away. My heart pounded in my chest from the adrenaline but man it felt good! Maybe, looking back I could have handled it better, but my confidence shot through the roof, the first time in years.

I made my way back to Zen at Stage Door and I could feel the pure heat radiating off Echo Girl, maybe even some daggers cutting into my back. Did I actually care? Nah. I felt strong, powerful, happy even. Zen could sense how happy I was when he saw me, he grinned right back at me, his smile that made me melt.

“OK?” he asked.

“Just fine” I grinned, pulling him into a quick peck right in front of Il-sung.

“Finally!” Il-sung laughed, causing us both to blush.

Since neither of us started for a few more minutes, both of us hung out with Il-sung at stage door, answering all the questions he had for us. Zen took the more embarrassing ones, thank God for that. However, when his phone rang my gut sank. Why was I so nervous about a phone call to stage door? My heart pounded more when Echo Girl came through the door with a huge smirk on her face.

“Heather? Your manager wants you in the office” Il-sung said nonchalantly.

She had done something. Normally I’d suspect my paranoia kicking in, but the way she looked down at me said she had done something. Of course, I never minded going to see the manager in the office, but this time I didn’t want to. I gave Zen’s hand a quick squeeze and went straight to the office.

I knocked and was instantly buzzed inside. Guessing by the look on her face, the manager wasn’t happy, her normal happy composure gone, replaced by a fire in her eyes. What had I done? My mind swam and sank as I began to think about everything I had done. Technically they were under my scrutiny, but I was also working beneath this woman, if I had done something she was well within her rights to scold me.

“So, we are unprofessional, dirty and disgraceful to the theatre industry?” she asked as soon as the door clicked shut behind me.

“What?” Ok, now I was more confused, I had never used those words. Never, not once.

“I’ve heard from a reliable source that you have been saying these things behind our backs, being all cheery and kind while we’re watching but once you’re in privacy you say these awful things about us as a theatre? How dare you!” she said, clearly hurt.

“What? No no I would never say anything like that! Look at the notes I’ve been taking in my…” I began to say.

“I don’t want to hear it, we want nothing to do with your company, as of today you no longer work here, I’ll be in contact with your boss” and with that I was asked to leave, not only the office but the building.

What the hell? Echo Girl was going to pay for whatever she had done.

[letsimportanttreecollection-blog]

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Is a Land Drover FreeLander 2 cheap to insure?

Both of my parent's drive 2011 Range Rovers so they have experience with the Land Rover brand- and they said that as I'm living at home.. my dad could be the policy holder and I could be a named driver. I may be buying a 2010 model when I'm 18, I'm 16 currently as people have told me that it's not really worth buying a brand new one. Just so the car is old and isn't new. I'm not in to small cars..""

""On a road trip with multiple drivers, how do you handle car insurance?""

I'm going on a road trip to the US (from Canada) with some other people, and we'll be using one of their cars. We're all driving this car. Is there car insurance we can buy just for the trip? It would suck to have an accident and affect the car owner's insurance. Thanks for any tips you have.""

How much will car insurance cost?

I live in Ontario Canada, I'm an 18 year old male, I completed drivers ed, I have good grades and I will be primary driver of a 1991 Buick park avenue. Any ideas of how much my car insurance might be?""

I need my teeth fixed i have no money and no insurance i live in california?

I need my teeth fixed i live in california i have no money and no insurance. My teeth are supper bad, im only 22. What should i do.........?""

I'm moving out of state - do I have to change auto insurance companies?

Explanation - I went through a local auto insurance company called ABC Insurance (not the real name, btw). They got me the lowest rate through XYZ Insurance, out of a different state. I'm moving out of state in a few weeks. Do I have to worry about finding a new insurance company if the one I pay my bill to is out of state anyway? After the move, I will actually be physically closer to that company... but still out of state. I never deal with ABC anyway. It's like they are just the go-between that found me that company.""

And why does an auto insurance co. want to know this??

Why when I am getting quotes online for auto insurance do they ask for my marital status and even have a spot for single parent. Would I get a better quote if I said just single? Am I penalized for being single. I'm no kid; I'm over 40.

Short term car insurance?

i need UK car insurance for just one day, ive looked at various companies such as more than and the AA but they will only do it for people over 21 and i am 20. does anyone know any companies that can do this?""

18 year old car insurance help!!!!!?

I am 18 years old, past my test back in april (2011) and I cant find any affordable car insurance!! :( Even with my parents as main drivers the cheapest im getting is around 7000... its ridiculous Has anyone found any cheap car insurance companies or ways of reducing premiums significantly?""

Im looking for people with private health insurance or no insurance?

if you have medicare, medicaid, or group insurance at work, dont answer. was it difficult to get insurance? who is ur carrier? do you have pre existing conditions?""

How much would car insurance for a 21 year old be for all state?

How much would car insurance for a 21 year old be for all state?

Does anyone knows which insurance company is better? Great eastern or prudential?

Does anyone knows which insurance company is better? Great eastern or prudential?

Car insurance?!?!?

last week i crashd my car =( and its pretty much a write off ... just got to wait for my insurance to confirm that it is. anyway im wonderin if anyone knows on avarage how long it'll take for insurance to pay out?? cheers

""New Car, Driver's Test, Proof of Insurance?""

My Dad bought me a car about three days ago and the dealership said they will insure the car for 14 days while my dad gets insurance through his company. I might take my driver's test tomorrow and I want to use this car for it. If I show the dmv the insurance papers the dealership gave me, will that count as proof of insurance for my road test? Thank you.""

Not paying car insurance?

I have currently had my permit for 13 months and I am 20 years old. My mother inlaw was telling me I could get something called my fleet affidavids license and I wouldn't have to cover insurance on the car i'm driving as long as I have the same last name that is on the insurance. I honestly can't be expected to pay insurance when i'm just now getting my license and had no transportation what so ever to get a job to make money for insurance. Does anybody know anything about fleet affidavids license or have any information that might help me out? I can't afford insurance.

Does anybody know of any cheap (but credible) motorbike insurance companies?

For a 125cc bike. thanks

Car Insurance quote question?

When I try and get a quote for some cars on either Tesco or Direct line, it tells me they cant give me a quote online and il need to ring them. Also, the browser wont let me go back, so they make you close the window and type out another quote all over again! Why do they do this? The car I want to insure is a Nissan Navara D22. I am guessing that its because its a commercial vehicle and they want to check if il be using it for commercial use. I am 18 and have had my licence for a year, and I will be the named driver on the policy, my dad being the main driver who has over 30 years NCB! I managed to get a quote for a new Navara, not the D22 version and that was about 1990. How much do you think the D22 will be? Do you think they might class it as a van and not insure me because im under 21?""

How much should i expect for insurance cost on a used 2005 nissan altima?

i know it varies, but can i get a range?""

Whats the average car insurance costs for a 16 year old male in Florida?

Whats the average car insurance costs for a 16 year old male in Florida?

Two part question--Germany Auto insurance and the IPhone?

1.) What automobile insurance companies do most people use in Germany (German companies not American) to get the best rate? 2.) Will a T- Mobile IPhone from German (T-Mobile) work in the US under a new contract or will i need to get a new phone when i return to the US?

Is auto insurance cheaper if I live with my parents or on my own?

Is auto insurance cheaper if I live with my parents or on my own?

Which is best insurance scheme Home loan insurance or Life Term Insurance to protech Home loan?

I am having Home loan 20 lacs and would like to protect the risk. Could you suggest which is best insurance scheme Home loan insurance (Protecting home loan alone) and Lime Term Insurance (protecting like not home loan). I want to know the premium which one is lower and benefit one?

Where can i get the cheapest insurance for saxo vtr?

ive just passed my test and i already had the car well before i started lessons. ime 26 with 2 kids under 16. ive been getting stupid quotes for 5000. i know its a boy racers car but it doesnt meen ime going to be doing handbrakes and racing in it. just using it to get to work and take my kids out. i got the car for 600 2000 model and really want this car cant be doing with a 1.0 L or anything under a 1.6 can anyone give me a insurance company that will give me a decent quote. thankssss

Insurance industry Q&A - what entry level insurance job ...?

what entry level insurance job would be good for someone looking to break into the industry?chicago i have 0 years experience but i have a BA degree undeclared. im fimilar with ms office software.

Would the insurance be cheaper for an 05 Maxima SE or an 06 CTS 3.6L?

I'm 17 and looking into getting a first car and both of these sound very appealing. Which generally costs more to insure?

Can I buy a car for someone and them pay insurance and registration?

Basically Drive and maintain my car? I'm buying it for her. I will register it in my name. I live in NV, so I need to register it here in NV. Title, Loan, and Registration will be in my name. Can she legally insure the vehicle, solely? Does she need to add me onto the insurance policy? Is it OK for her to drive it in Cali, where she lives, with it registered to me here in Vegas? What are some possible unforeseen problems that may arise, besides: If towed I need to get it out. If tickets unpaid or loan not paid upon, I get the flack and bad history, and fines. Please help! feedback needed! OF COURSE ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA, BUT IF I CHOOSE TO DO IT, I want to be aware of it all, just asking for some heads up and feedback, please! Thanks!""

Auto insurance what gender is cheaper to insure?

Hello everyone well i have a question regarding auto insurance me and my wife are considered new drivers now its been awhile since we had a policy i realise women typically get better rates however will she get a much better rate or just slightly better i am 42 and she is 28 and we both have good driving records

Can I drop motorcycle insurance for the winter then pick it up in the spring?

I'm 17 and am looking for a motorcycle. My mom called our insurance company (Nationwide) and had a quote prepared and they said it would be an extra $70 a month. Seeing as how it gets cold here in Ohio i don't really want to ride a bike in the wintertime. Would it be possible to drop the motorcycle part of the insurance during the wintertime and then pick it up in the springtime when I start riding again? I'll also be turning 18 in February so I think the rates would go down.

My daughter and car insurance?

my daughter just got a car for my granddaughter is it illegal not to have my grand daughter listed on the insurance policy..she does'nt want them to know she is a new driver...we live in new jersey

How much more do men pay for car insurance than women?

If a man and a woman are the ame age, same car, clean driving record, both live in the same city, and every other variable is the same. The only difference is their gender how much more would a man pay?""

""Republicans, Why doesn't the affordable health insurance website work?

Web page design is easy. I make websites about how evil Republicans are and websites where I give people free Walmart gift cards.

18 year old car insurance quotes?

I passed my driving test 2 months ago live in a small village and have a full time job i am 18 years old.recently i have been looking around for car insurance quotes for the obvious 1st cars 106s,corsas etc and the lowest quote iv had is still over 3 grand these are all of compare sites aswell as admiral quinn and direct line, surely this carnt be right? this is on my own insurance as the main policy holder, because apparently you carnt go on your parents insurance anymore. would appreciate any help Thanks""

Insurance rates????

my insurance is way too high...I have insurance with a nationwide company....and I have to have full coverage because I'm financing the vehicle. My question is..where can I go to find some cheaper insurance? I heard that smaller companies around where you live usually offer cheaper rates? Is this true?

Car insurance?

ok well im 16 and a male. my mom just bought me a 2007 lexus gs for my bday. i havnt gotten in any accedents, so i wanted to knw how much my car insurance would be. my mom said she spoiled me enough by giving me the car, so she wont help with the insurance.""

Motorcyle prices?

IM thinking about buying a crockrocket. What are the average monthly payments.......ball park... And also, what is an average montly insurance payment?""

Insurance for driving my bf car?

I am getting my driving license, how much roughly will cost the insurance to drive my boyfriend's car? It is an old petrol skoda... Thank you!""

What is the average life insurance amount people take out?

What is the average life insurance amount people take out?

Car insurance even though do not own a car?

Hi, I got my license on may and since then I drive my mom's car. So my mom tried to add my name under her car insurance and I have to pay the same amount of car insurance as her. I only drive during the summer and they told my mom that even if i dont pay the insurance now, they will still accumulate the rate starting from the day i got my license and sums it up and give it to me when i start paying insurance. So either way I would have to pay the same amount of insurance. Is this legitimate? I mean I only drive during the summer and im in school during the year. im 18 by the way and I live in new jersey""

Can I have car insurance under my parent's name?

Meaning, I am 17 on a probationary license. My parents and I currently have Allstate Insurance and I'm a part time driver on mom's vehicle. They recently bought me a car from my instructor's daughter. I would like to be an all-by-myself driver under Liberty Mutual, being they've shown me the absolute best rate, hands down. So question is- can I have car insurance under my parent's name with Liberty Mutual, as they keep Allstate? (My policy, just under their name)""

How much does it cost for car insurance?

I am 17 years old. I just got my licenses and i need insurance. How much does it cost with my parents and how much does it cost without my parents?

Do anyone have an idea about how the insurance of 1992 mistubishi expo cost for 19 years old male?

Do anyone have an idea about how the insurance of 1992 mistubishi expo cost for 19 years old male?

What will have the cheapest insurance payment? 2003 escalade or a 2012 camry hybird?

It will be my first car which one is easier to afford and which one looks better

Pregnancy insurance???????

im pregnant and i dont have insurance that will cover me or the baby. I am trying for medicaid and will probably qualify but barely. And i want to get married before the baby is born but again we might just barely qualify. Is there any suggestions on insurance plans or help with medicaid?

Classic Car Insurance for a 16 year old?

I recently got my license and am looking at getting a Datsun 240Z to be my first car. My parents are completely supportive of this choice so please don't answer saying that it's a terrible choice. I am willing and eager to learn how to work on cars. Since insurance is so expensive, I'm looking at getting classic car insurance for it. I know they aren't supposed to be used for a daily driver, but doing some math, I calculated that I won't be driving for more than 3,000 miles annually, even if I commute daily. My problem is finding a company that can insure me. Most, understandably, don't seem to want to insure anyone under 25. I was wondering if anyone knew a company that could cover me. I currently have a 3.8 GPA and am in multiple AP courses. I've heard that there are good student discounts, so that may help. Also, I need to be able to get coverage without having a second car to be my daily driver. This is probably impossible, but if anyone could help me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!""

How much could my car insurance increase if I pay a 90.00 fine that included 1 point on my record?

I have a clean driving record so would it be worth paying the ticket and watching my insurance go up a few bucks? I can't imagine my insurance going up too much for a single point, but maybe I am totally wrong. Any advice on this matter would be much appreciated.""

Do you think my dad is paying to much for insurance?

my dad is around 44 years old and he has never been in a car accident. He has gotten tickets from when he was 19 years old. He has California casualty and he has been with them for years, we live in oregon. He has a 2006 toyota tundra darrel waltrip edition 4.7l v8 valued around 20k. He told me he pays around 100 a month for full coverage. We have 2 cars on his insurance, toyota, and my eclipse. Iv never gotten any tickets(dont know if that would affect it). THE reason i ask this is because my bf's dad just got a 2006 mustang gt and they said they only pay 76$ a month. So im just curious, Do you think my dad is over paying?? THANKS""

Does adding a driver/family member bring drive up car insurance premium?

I want let my parents drive my car once in a while, do i need to add them as additional drivers or are they covered under my existing bare minimum insurance coverage.""

""If I send a demand letter to an insurance company, do I have to ask for a specific amount?""

Or can I leave it open-ended? I was in an accident in June '09. The other driver was found to be 100% at fault. I received a settlement offer from the at fault driver's insurance company that was ridiculously LOW. I replied with a letter stating that I would not accept their low offer and explained why. I'm wondering now, though, if I should have specified an amount that I expect to receive. I simply told them to get back to me with a real and significantly higher offer or I would be seeking legal representation. Did I make a mistake?""

How can I sort out this car insurance issue in the UK?

I've been living in the UK doing some studies for 3 years. When I came to the UK, I didn't know how to drive a car. Also, I found it difficult to pass the driving test in the UK and afford private driving lessons. Few months ago, I went for a 3-month holiday in my original country, Egypt. There, learning how to drive is much easier and less expensive. Besides, issuing a driving license is not so difficult as the theoretical and practical tests are not so complicated. Therefore, I decided to learn and get a national license. Based on this license, I could issue an international one from Cairo that allowed me to drive in some countries one of which is the UK. However, when I returned to the UK and decided to by car, I found a proper one for 550. I decided to buy it, but I was asked to go online to get a quote from a car insurance company. I spent the whole night trying all the websites that my friends told me about. The shocking fact is that many of them refused to give me a quote because I hold an international license, not a UK one. Even those websites which accepted that requested a huge amount of money (i.e. not less than 1, 200-1, 600) which is much higher than the price of the car itself. I wonder if there's a way to sort this out or if there's any alternative solution that saves money for me. I don't want to go through any further driving tests in the UK. Also, I don't want to provide wrong data (e.g. having a full-UK license). Your suggestions are highly valued (serious answers please as I really feel down!). Thanks so much in advance!""

Approximately how much will my auto insurance go down?

I have always been told that when I turn 25 my auto insurance should decrease significantly, I was wondering if someone can give me an idea or (if you dont mind) let me know what you were paying <25 and what your paying now at 25>. As of now I am paying $350 a month for full coverage on two vehicles (with two speeding tickets on my record at the moment at 23 years old, one will definitely be off by 25, the other one will be close, (assuming I get no more) I am going through Farmers Insurance. Does anyone have a rough idea of what I have to look forward to my 25th Birthday as a subnote I know this is being planned much ahead of time, me and the lady are considering moving out of our apartment, I want to have a very thorough knowledge of what my financial future will look like before pulling the trigger on anything. Expect wthin the year posts from me on moving business =D All constructive answers are appreciated.""

Can you be insured under the car's insurance if you don't have insurance for yourself?

What i mean is... If the car (like say your parents, or friends) you are driving has full coverage insurance on it, but you do not have auto insurance in your name whatsoever. What would happen if you hit someone. Would it file under car owner's insurance? No matter what, im assuming both the car (obviously) and the driver (ALL drivers) need auto insurance in their name? Or can you drive w/o insurance if the car has full coverage? Thanks! Just want proof before i prove someone wrong :P""

What are the fines and penalties of driving without a license or insurance in California?

Under 18 with permit only. Also loud music. Was only driven in parking lot when pulled over. Car in another persons name. Are there any fines or penalties for car owner?

Auto insurance what gender is cheaper to insure?

Hello everyone well i have a question regarding auto insurance me and my wife are considered new drivers now its been awhile since we had a policy i realise women typically get better rates however will she get a much better rate or just slightly better i am 42 and she is 28 and we both have good driving records

Can i drive without insurance?

I just got my license today I'm 16 i live in florida. my parents haven't bought my insurance yet and they say its illegal to drive without insurance. can i drive without insurance if i have my license and I'm dirving my parents car?

Adding a Black Box to my Car Insurance?

I am a new, young driver, and in order to reduce the cost of car insurance I am looking into the Black Box (I am aware of both the benefits and drawbacks). However, when finding a ...show more""

What is the average cost of health insurance in California?

health insurance for married couple above fifty

Car rental insurance necessary?

I don't own a car (so I don't have my own car insurance). I am going to a small town in Upstate New York for a couple of days. Do I need to buy the car rental insurance? It is obscenely expensive (usually close to the price of the car itself).

I want to file a complaint about two health insurances.?

I went on the Internet to try to get health insurance, this company called alliance for affordable service called me and told me that my percriptions would only cost in the neigbor hood of $10- to &50 dollars. I spoke to my Dr. and he told me that there was none of my medicines that he could change to the lower prices. I contacked the company and told them what the Dr. told me. I asked for my money back, they told me to send a letter, which I did. They sent me one back aqnd told me that they would not give me my money back. I dropped the insurance. I contacked another insurance on the internet. They called me. I sepicifity asked if they covered preexisting conditions and he asked did I mean, I told he that the Dr. wanted to do surgery on me left foot. He told me that it would cover any preexisting preplanned surgeries. The Dr. office called them and they told her that they would not cover any suegery inpatient or out. This company was Sure Care.""

Temporary auto insurance for move?

I'll be moving to Oakland California from Phoenix Arizona and I was wondering if there is such a thing as temporary auto insurance. My vehicle is not currently insured, but I can get a temporary registration from AZ DMV. That would allow me to drive my car for my move. I will be pulling a small utility trailer. I don't want to get a full 6 month insurance policy because as soon as I get to Oakland, I won't be driving the car at all. Are there any insurance companies that offer a really short policy (2 days, or maybe a week) ? I only need insurance for those two days, and so that I can get temporary registration from the DMV. Does anyone know if such a thing exists, and if so what company?""

Getting my insurance under my mom policy?

Okay, I currently have insurance at state farm under my name and I pay 200/month full converage the thing is soon im getting me a wrx sti and if i stay under the same converage it's going to be 300/month now My question is, Can I cancel my coverage get my mom to come in and get a policy then she add me to her policy and since I don't live with her she could put herself as the primary driver even though she has a car already? Would it be cheaper?""

Could anyone tell me a cheap reliable 125cc motobike with cheap insurance ?

Could anyone tell me a cheap reliable 125cc motobike with cheap insurance ?

How much would it cost for me to insure this?

If anyone works for an insurance company or knows how much this will be please help? Just passed my text and am 17years of age, how much to insure the car below? Nissan Micra 1.0 S 3dr Hatchback 51 reg Manual Petrol 35k miles""

Monthly motorcycle insurance in Ontario?

Hello there, I'm 16 and live in Ontario, currently have my m2, what would be my monthly or annual insurance rate for a 600cc sport bike or a vespa scooter? Is there an average rate? An approximate would really help, thanks.""

How's health insurance in london?pls help?

i was diagnosed with some major illness in the US and have no insurance cant afford paying for it.i heard the health insurance is free in london, is it possible to move there for recovery? if so how long would it take me to get accepted as immigrant and fully recovered?""

Do life insurance companies check your medical records after you die?

Let's say that you get life insurance and claim to be a non-smoker. Then let's say that you start smoking or resume smoking. Assuming that your medical records show that you smoked, will most life insurance companies check your records, see that you smoked, and then cancel your benefit?""

""Full Time College Student, my first time shopping for health insurance?""

I will be 20 in a month. I go to school full time as well as work around 30 hrs a week. My family has been on government health care for a while, but since my father won his social security case they are canceling our coverage by the end of the month. (With no real notice) I need health insurance but I have never shopped for it before and I would like to keep my same doctor as well as I mostly just need the insurance for birth control. I don't make much money and my fiance and I are struggling to find a place to live as well as needing to buy a car and fix my car. I just really need some good advice on how to choose a good heath care provider. and I also know it will probably be rare to find any insurance that will help pay for my birth control.""

How much insurance for a subaru wrx sti?

i'm getting the subaru as a first car hopefully

Buying Car Insurance Help?

ive called a few companies... usual 300+ Down and 200+ Monthly... they keep asking me if i have car insurance Now.. should i lie and say yes i do..and give em my amazingly Low rates from my last insurance... which was 1/2 of the one they are trying to sell me..?

I'm 27 years old and I wanna get life insurance ? Any thoughts on which type i should get . ?

simplify your answer please .

How much will it cost me to repair a paint less dent on a Nissan Sentra?

My car was recently hit without my knowledge. No one saw it and it happened while I was parked. The dent is right above the body of the tire frame and its about two inches wide. My question is will my insurance pay for it? And if not how much will a repair like this cost me? The car is Nissan Sentra 2012.

Caught with no business insurance but i have insurance?

Hi, so yesterday i was delivering food for a kebab house, i only started the job 2 days earlier and i am on a trial period so i did not update my insurance to business.... beause of this i was stopped by police and when they checked i did not have valid business insurance meaning my vehicle was seized, i am due in court and will receive 6 points which will earn my a straight ban because i have only held my license 1 year and 11 months ( just before the 12 point allowance). by the time the court date has passed i will have had my license two years... is there anyway i can escape this offence without a ban ? any help appreciated!!""

How much does your car insurance increase when you have two traffic violations in a year?

I was pulled over again for turning right on a no turn on red . The first time the insurance company said they wouldn't increase the premium. How much would it increase? $200 for the year? more?

Personal Car INsurance?

Is there a company who will insure me in a car no matter which car i drive. ie I want to get in a mates car and drive him home and am not covered by his insurance or i want to take my wifes car for the day but am not covered on hers. I need my own insurance so whichever car i get into, i will be insured in UK""

How much information can car insurance companies see when you get a quote?

I let my car insurance lapse about a year ago and have been driving without it (I know, not good) and my girlfriends dad is an agent here in ohio. he asked to quote and i gave him my information... can he see that i dont have insurance? what about my credit report?""

How much do you pay for car insurance?

I'd like to know the insurance price for a 1.8 litre car, about 5 years old, driver being older than 26 years old, and no claims bonus not included, in different countries. In Ireland I get a quote about 1,200 Thanking you all in advance !!""

Car Insurance for youth?

What car insurance company is usually cheapest for a new driver with a car in the early 90's (1991 Grand Prix) for liablity only. I would go on with my parents but the company they have forces me to pay on every car they own and its just waaaay to much for me since im just starting out in the workforce

Is car insurance cheaper in the 78212 zip code than it is in the 92692 zip code?

Is car insurance cheaper in the 78212 zip code than it is in the 92692 zip code?

How much would a job delivering pizzas affect my car insurance premiums?

I drive a 1997 Geo Metro. I have no accidents or moving violations on my record. I have been driving since August 2005. I am 25 years old. My October bill was $91.17.

Auto insurance what gender is cheaper to insure?

Hello everyone well i have a question regarding auto insurance me and my wife are considered new drivers now its been awhile since we had a policy i realise women typically get better rates however will she get a much better rate or just slightly better i am 42 and she is 28 and we both have good driving records

""Car parked on drive, do I need insurance?""

I am buying a car in aprivate sale very soon, although will not be able to drive it until April 1st. Will I be able to just leave the car on my drive without insurance or is that illegal?""

Can insurance companies access your bank account?

My freind got in a car accident and now he is being sued. He has small investments in mutual funds. Can the other oarty insurance company access his bank accounts and investment and find out exactly how much money he is worth? Other than that he doesn't own a house and doesnt have a car or any other type of assets. He is currently not working right now.

What are the books that insurance companies use?

What are books that are full of the variations of ways that people have died, that insurance companies use to produce statistics called or labelled as genre.""

I need an eye exam but i dont have insurance.?

Do most eyecare centers accept patients without insurance? Where can I go that is affordable?

What is the difference between home insurance and buildings and contents insurance?

hi. I will soon be moving into my first house with my girlfriend and its all new to me. We have been told we need a few insurances. Is there a difference between home insurance and building and contents insurance? or are they both the same thing? will they cover leaks, fire, structural damage, theft, boiler etc The house is in Newcastle UK. I would appreciate any help thank you

Can you get a cheap Motorcycle for less than $500 that can get you from Point A to point B?

My Sister REALLY needs transport to work for this summer, or she may be out of a job. Public trabnsport is not too reasonable. I was thining do to vehicle cost and insurance cost, her best bet is a bike. Doesn't matter what it looks like. As long as its SAFE and CHEAP. And can Get her from A to B I'm thinkin about $500. She is located on the north shore of massachusetts. Like the Lynn, Salem area. If anyone knows of any shops or websites that may be able to make this possible, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys! Nox""

Gerber Life Insurance?

What exactly is Gerber life. Insurance? And is it worth investing in?

What kind of insurance as i have medicare?

i was wonderin what kind of insurance as i have medicare

Should i Register my car under my dad's name to get cheaper insurance?

How does it work? Do i buy the car under his name and register it under his name? OR Do i buy it under my name and register it under my name and just insure it under him? How does it work? EZ 10 Points here guys.

America - Are you legally required to get Car Insurance?

In the UK you can't go on the road without insurance, is this the same in america?""

Car insurance quotes: What is car trim?

I'm trying to get some car insurance quotes in which one of the questions is asking for the trim of the car, with the options E Match or S Help?""

Where can i find cheap auto insurance?

i'm paying 150 a month for a 94 ford thunderbird, but i'm looking for something cheaper that i can afford. i'm just wondering how much other people pay for cars like mine...""

Who much money does it cost to start an insurance company?

I want to start an insurance company in Florida and was wondering how much it would cost to start one. Do not hesitate, give me your best estimate. Also, do insurance companies keep funds gathered through insurance policies in a fund or do they invest it? Comments? Thanks!""

I need affordable health insurance I do not fit into any categories such as low income Help!?

I need affordable health insurance I do not fit into any categories such as low income Help!?

How is my insurance so high for my 125cc motorcycle?

Well i passed my cbt on the 13th this month, turned 17 on the 10th this month, ive had my dt125 re / x 04 model for about 2 months riding on private land etc, anywhoo, i decided to look into insurances, well first i went to carol nash and got a quote for 4000??? then i tryed comparethemarket, got a insurance quote of 3600? what the ****? seriously, theres not a chance im going to be paying that **** and the insurance place is ringing up saying do you want to buy the 4000 insurance? **** no, any idea's for cheaper insurance places or idea's to get it down?""

Can California Civil Code 827 be used to enforce mandatory renters insurance?

Recently my landlord sent tenants a letter stating we have to buy renter's insurance, stating that California Civil Code 827 allows them to do this. Looking it up, I see 827 is about rent increased, not renter's insurance (and nothing about anything being mandatory). When I signed the lease with them, I was not required to pay for renter's insurance, but they claim that terms have changed and now I am obligated to pay this, and if I don't, may destroy my credit. All because of Civil Code 827. Can they actually do this? Or is this letter some kind of tactic to coerce me into signing this document and providing insurance? Thanks!""

What state or states do not require car Auto insurance in order to own a car and use it ?

I would like to know what states in USA do not require car Auto insurance for the owner or user of the car he or she is driving? If there is such a state please prove me where you get the source! And How does the driver pay off all the victims billing cost after injuring this victim and victim has a bunch of bills coming in from Hospital service? If now you agree with me that all drives should be required to pay and have auto insurance, This is the same reason is why all people need to have healthcare insurance who can afford it! Not only it will keep the insurance cost lower for average person, everyone is now guaranteed to qualify without being denied due to history, disability, or medical cost person needs, but if everyone has health insurance nation wide medical expense will be less rising; like people who did not have insurance get into accident/injury Whether falling off a cliff, get hit by a car and driver drives off, or gets injured due to snake bite. NONE of them are intentional or expected but they happen and many other! If everyone is insured the insurance pays for the medical expenses whether its $500 or $500K But if not everybody has healthcare insurance average person wont be able to afford the $full medical bill will be hunted by collection agency but still not likely to pay any more then $5000 for medical expenses! There for the rest of the medical cost falls on WHOM??? THE TAX TAPYERS OR OTHER medical service Customers!!! By raising the prices of medical expenses! THAT is why Californias Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance Raised about 57% cost in 2010 or 2011!! What do you expect if Thousand or millions of Illegal most Latino immigrant get Medical service in Hospitals like even Child birth, or emergency room, but they dont have medical insurance, cant afford it, YOU SEE that raised their insurance cost BY 57%!!! DO YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN NATION WIDE?? IF NO If you want Medical cost to remain affordable, THEN A) Support National Healthcare that everybody should have it who can afford it B) In order to receive Fed/State TAX, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from the Illegal Immigration should be attempted to be caught and exported to their main country, or should be attempted to be caught and if given full citizen ship to them only if these immigrants must server some number of years of Army, military, or Air force service voluntarily. OR be required to pay a minimum amount of $ that individual invested into the Social Security system, or minimum number of years legally work in U.S.A, if they want to receive the Social Security benefits if future. HOWEVER How many years serving , How much individual or couple invested minimum, and /or how many minimum number of years in order to qualify for Social Security service is up to the government to calculate and decide. THIS WAY Citizens Will all be able to fully pay their medical expenses, and The illegal immigration will not be as big of an issue!""

CA DUI expungement affect insurance rates?

I received a DUI back in July of 2001, and it has been affecting my insurance rate ever since. Under the new DUI laws the DUI I received (a misdemeanor) will be on my record until 2011. I qualify for expungement of this record. My question is if I do expunge my DUI will my auto insurance company be able to see my dmv record and will my insurance company be allowed to charge me the same rate?""

Can car insurance be in both my name and my wifes?

I just sold my car, and am waiting 3 months to buy a new car. My job requires that i have car insurance ( i dont know why since i dont drive for my job) I faxed a copy of my wifes insurance. Can my name be added on to the insurance, or do i need to get seperate insurance?""

Aircraft insurance rates with DUI/DWI charge?

If one is a partner in a small aircraft, what effect does a potential DUI/DWI have on aircraft insurance rates?""

Car insurance - Can anyone help?

We have company cars and Ive just told my manager that I would rather go in my car than the company car in this weather. She has just told me that its okay if I use my car because if I did have an accident, the company would claim on their insurance. How true is this? As she has lied to me before so i dont trust her. She told me that i could claim expenses and then once i put the form in, she said i couldnt so anything she says i dont believe.""

How much is insurance for and exotic car?

like a lamborghini or ferrari or porsche?

How can I see a doctor without insurance?

Hi I'm 18 years old and I have no insurance and no job..I'm really sick my back feels like its on fire and my testicles has been shrinking I also feel like theres bumps on my right testicles..I've also lost 10 pounds in a month due to my sickness I really want to go to the doctors but I can't afford it....also I live in Colorado Springs..

Can I refuse health insurance from my employer?

I am already insured under my husband and in the past having 2 insurances has caused a nightmare of paperwork. I am about to accept a job from a non-profit, so would me refusing insurance save them money?""

""New Driver, Buying Used Car, How much is monthly insurance?""

18 years of age, recently got my license more than a month ago. Looking into this 2003 Ford Taurus I found at a dealership (4 door).... Parents are saying insurance will cost around $300 a month! excluding the car payment which will be around $200 a month. For some reason, I don't believe them what so ever with the cost of the insurance. I do have to get full coverage insurance. But thats just ridiculous. New drivers, how much do you pay for insurance. Only answer if your on your own plan.""

Auto insurance what gender is cheaper to insure?

Hello everyone well i have a question regarding auto insurance me and my wife are considered new drivers now its been awhile since we had a policy i realise women typically get better rates however will she get a much better rate or just slightly better i am 42 and she is 28 and we both have good driving records

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-points-licence-affect-insurance-premiums-reuben-griggs"