Theater Review: Moses at Sight & Sound Theatres

Show Title: Moses
Venue: Sight & Sound Theatres
Britni's Blog Score: 10 miracles out of 10
Britni's Blog Rating: Recommended for everyone

I've just been back to Sight & Sound Theatres to see one of their latest shows, Moses. Sight & Sound, whose mission statement, to paraphrase, is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ through dramatization of the Scriptures, was rated the second most popular attraction in Strasburg by tripadvisor.com, with 97% possitive feedback.

I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed, because I have previous experience with this theater, and I've walked away impressed each time.

This event began for me with the lovely preshow that was put on for us in the lobby. The presentation was made up of four old-fashioned carolers singing a medley of Christmas tunes accompanied by Christmas music. And the finale included indoor snowfall. I mean, an actual indoor snowfall. Not just little pieces of Styrofoam or paper, but real snow.

The Plot. As the title suggests, this story was based off of the life of the Biblical figure of Moses. And I can say that, though taking some creative license, Sight & Sound offers a Biblical representation of the story.

Based on the story presented in the Biblical book of Exodus, the production follows Moses as he's born a Hebrew slave, adopted by an Egyptian princess, and called on by God to free his people.

The Characters. The characters in the production were given strong representation and were really fleshed out. When we read about them in the Bible, the focus is mainly on the great things that God does through them. Though this is definitely shown in Moses, the Sight & Sound writers have built off of the basic templates to create characters who seem more human than words on the page of an ancient text.

In this show, Moses is much more than the bearded man who talks to God on a mountain and tells the people what to do. Here he's depicted as a stuttering, fearful, and anger-ridden orphan who wants to resist God's purpose on his life. We see Moses and all of his insecurities and flaws, something that many retellings leave out or gloss over. And it makes his character more relatable and therefore easier to learn from.

The Players. The cast of the show was definitely talented. From acting to dancing to singing, everyone in this show was top-tier.

The Message. There are Biblical lessons to be learned from this production, including the importance of listening to God and the fact that how we each react to Him is dependent on the conditions of our hearts. But the entire plot is drawn up to point viewers to an even greater Leader than Moses and to showcase the sacrifice that He made for us.

My Recommendation. I recommend this show, and this theater, to everyone reading this blog. Not only is it a great outing for families, but its shows are a fantastic experience for anyone, regardless of age or religion. Even if you roll your eyes at the thought of a Christian show, the music and the effects are enough to wow the toughest critics.

My Notes. I thought that the show was entertaining, educational, and edifying. Moses is based on the Biblical book of Exodus and, as a woman who was raised Christian, I've read the story many times over. But I've never had it told quite like this. There wasn't a dull moment during this play. The plot moved quickly and was full of jokes, action scenes, and musical numbers to entertain the oldest and youngest members of the audience.

This theater is specially designed to pull you into the world of the story being told. The only effects that left me slightly disappointed were those used to create the burning bush. All considered, they probably did the best with what they had, but I wonder if they couldn't have made it look more like a bush on fire and less like a lit Christmas tree. Everything else blew me away. Everything from the brilliantly designed sets (so large, I've read, that they need to be moved by technology similar to that in GPS devices) on the wrap-around stage to the stars than twinkle overhead to the surround sound effects during the parting of the Red Sea was beautiful. They even used live animals throughout the entire thing!

In Conclusion. You should go see Moses. Or anything else that's playing at Sight & Sound. I've never been disappointed by one of their shows, and I have faith that the pattern of telling powerful stories in an enchanting way will continue.

During Moses, I was engaged, delighted, impressed, and taught. Sight & Sounds truly offers the perfect family experience.

I'm also looking forward to potentially seeing Joseph, which I've already seen once before. Though every show is fantastic, Joseph has remained my personal favorite since I saw it in the Lancaster County theater. It's been visiting with the sister theater in Branson, MO and will be returning to Pennsylvania in 2015.

Book Review: Skid by Doug Solter

Book Title: Skid

Author: Doug Solter

Britni's Blog Score: 8 racecars out of 10

Britni's Blog Rating: Recommended for teenage readers.

I recently reread what has become one of my favorite books, Skid by Doug Solter. This book was so much fun to read and it's also been a big inspiration to my own writing, as well. Therefore, I decided to write a review so I could share this book with other people.

The Plot. Seventeen-year-old Samantha Sutton is a racecar driver. Though she may not fit in with the other girls at her school or have a boyfriend or be totally into beauty, she shines when she's behind the wheel. When she's presented with the opportunity to become a test driver for a Formula 1 racing team, she jumps in with both feet, sending her reeling into a new world of expensive food, unexpected fame, and opportunities that she's only ever imagined--and that her father had imagined for her. Samantha is put to the test against family drama, racing gods, complicated romance, and her own dark secret. Will she be able to bring balance to her life and reach her ultimate goals?

The Cast.  I love how relatable and likable Solter has made his leading lady. Even though she's going through extraordinary circumstances, she's still just a teenage girl, and she's still like all of us young women who have a dream to chase. Even though she has her fair amount of flaws and failures, she fights her way through them, emerging strong and confident.

I liked the romance between her and love interest Manny, a sweet guy who cares for and respects Samantha in a way that she's never had. The family relationships in this book do take a backseat to a lot of the other action, but those too are full of tension and emotion.

There are no cardboard cutout people here. I was impressed with how Solter gave so much life to everyone on the pages. Each person in this book is an individual, which says a lot about Solter's writing ability. Manny's ex Hannah, Sarah Wolert, and Samantha's father. None of these people are ever seen in the flesh, and yet their stories are interesting, memorable. Emilio, in particular is a character I enjoyed reading. He's a formidable opponent with as much dedication as Samantha. Only he has no problem playing dirty when there's a trophy and a title at stake. He makes an intriguing antagonist for Samantha to go up against in the climax.

The Message. Doug Solter's book contains an empowering message that isn't just for young girls and women. Samantha, though facing odds stacked against her, faces challenge after challenge with daring and dedication. She doesn't let her mother's lack of approval keep her from moving to Germany, she doesn't let the racing world's sexist attitude keep her from racing, and she doesn't let her worst fear or her strongest opponent keep her from gunning for the championship.

We can all learn a little something from Samantha and her willingness to put it all on the line to reach her dreams. 

My Recommendation. The only reason that I recommend this book for teenagers and not for younger kids is because Skid touches on several mature and/or controversial topics such as homosexuality, drugs, and rape. I will say that none of these is presented in a particularly objectionable or offensive way (rape--or sex of any kind--is never seen), but some teen's parents may want to be careful. 

My Notes. The detailed imagery in Solter's book is amazing. The world of Skid came alive for me. As Samantha explored the globe in the name of racing, I traveled with her and took in the sights. Locations as well as people became characters. Racetracks are described in so much detail that I could see Samantha roaring through them, taking turn after turn, weaving her way between other drivers. I know nothing about Formula 1 or Nascar or cars in general, but Solter's use of racing jargon drew me into the story and made everything even more vivid. I was completely wrapped up in every moment, whether Samantha was on the track or off.

In Conclusion. This story is enrapturing, well written, and so very real. The views of the city are almost as breathtaking as the whiplash-inducing scenes told from within the racecar. Samantha Sutton is just an everyday teenage girl with an incredible opportunity and the courage to fight for her dreams. She's willing to put everything on the line and face impossible odds to achieve victory.

I loved how Solter brought each character to life for me. The cast is full of memorable characters, both good and bad. 

I loved this book and I highly recommend it. Since I bought it off of Amazon last October, I've already read it twice and I'll go back and read it again. This story of passion and determination will never get old. I'm looking forward to reading the second book, Rivals, which is available now. If what I've read is true, there will also be a third book to the Skid series. I'll add it to my reading list as soon as it comes out.

Nano Wrap-up 2014

This month, I've been taking a little bit of a break so I can wind down from NaNoWriMo. To be honest, most of this break has really been me working on some other projects that I haven't been able to get around to, so there's not too much rest involved there. But now that things have had time to cool down, I'll wrap things up with a retrospective look at Nano.

There were upswings and downswings and all kinds of emotions going on this November. The month wasn't without its challenges and obstacles. I lost momentum, and struggled with doubts, on and off. Several times, I wound up with a daily wordcount of 0. I had a day when I wasted time watching sitcoms and didn't write a single word. But this year's NaNoWriMo has taught me a lot. It wasn't without its writerly woes, but it's helped me to grow as a writer and to meet other writers.

The Journey. Well, the first morning I wrote 13 scenes right out of the gate and amassed about 6,000 words, getting off to a good start. My second day was a bit slower but my energy and creativity had a helpful little spike on day 3.

By day 5, I was 3k ahead of my projected twenty thousand words. I was still riding that first awesome wave and I was really excited about how things were going. This was an incredible stage of discovery for me. I'd killed off a character and added depth to the main character's love interest. I could feel Creative Liftoff brushing against my fingertips.

At the end of the first week, I was falling behind. I had big plans to catch up and get ahead the coming weekend. Even though I had a busy schedule, I was determined to fight my way back into the green.

Then week two began. On day 8, I made it past my doubt. I had an epiphany and wrote over five thousand words that day. Things took a turn for the better again as I looked forward to developing my characters, world, and plotlines.

November 9th was a 6,716-word day. Mainly it was because I'd been sprinting online with other Wrimos. Not only did it help me boost my numbers quickly, but it was a lot of fun. Seeing little snippets of what other people were writing also gave me a couple of good ideas.

On day 10, I ran into some trouble. I couldn't see myself reaching my goal of 150k for the month, and I was wondering why I'd ever even taken on the challenge. I'd run out of steam and I was having so much trouble moving my wordcount forward. Due to the loss in momentum, I struggled to come up with anything new to write.

Though my characters were great and were already revealing themselves to me, I'd somehow lost contact with them. I was stuck writing whatever stupid material would fill the blank page. I was really lost and I just needed someone to encourage me and tell me that I could keep going. Thankfully the Wrimo community is super supportive.

It wasn't easy to battle my way through day 11, either. I was creatively drained, 10k behind, and completely overwhelmed. Doubt was really settling in now. On day 16, I wrote a scene that I have very mixed feelings about. You can read it here. I think once you'll take a look, you'll know what I'm talking about.

The next rough patch was quickly smoothed over with a bout of freewriting. I'd had a lull in my inspiration and hadn't been able to pound out too many words in this particular writing session. So I decided to just freewrite.

On a side note, the freewriting post quickly became the most popular on my blog. It's over three times more read and shared than the second most popular post. I just wrote some nonsense about inner dialogue, plot bunnies, and stream of consciousness. That's not to say that freewriting doesn't free up your mind and get your creative juices flowing. It definitely does. I just don't know why the topic was so much more interesting to people. I'd love to know what was so different about this post that made everyone come back to it so I can do it again!

Most of my wordcount came from the freewriting itself, since I wrote 2.3k in those 45 minutes. There was a lot of word vomit, because my mind was wandering all over the place. But the exercise led me to list all of the major problems I was having with the plot, the research questions that I needed answers to, and the loose ends that I needed to tie up or eliminated.

I wrote no words on the day that I began the research I'd been putting off because I was mainly concerned with upping my wordcount during most of the month. A good portion of my day was spent searching for those answers, using the list that I'd freewritten several days before.

The major obstacle to show up last month was the computer issue. If you've been reading my blog from the beginning, then you know that my laptop stopped working just before Nano began, forcing me to move on to Plan B. So I untangled the mass of cords coming out of my 2001 Windows XP and hooked everything up and ran whatever programs I had to to make sure things would run as smoothly as possible. Things were going surprisingly well on this "dinosaur" computer, as long as I made sure to run the care programs one every day or two. I was working on Scrivener (which automatically backs up your work) on a flash drive, so I knew that I wasn't going to lose all of my progress. At the end of week three Dinosaur decided that it didn't want to behave anymore. Luckily, I got my laptop back a couple of days after that and, after I updated all of my files and ran the system care programs, the show was back on the road.

I also got sick last month. It wasn't end-of-the-world-zombie-apocalypse sick, though my throat got so sore that it hurt to swallow and my head ached so badly that I got dizzy when I tried to walk around. It wasn't a major health issue or anything, but it did make it hard for me to get any work done. Because of the dizziness, I spent the good part of the day sitting in one spot and watching Netflix.

I've obviously had quite the adventure this month. It's been a roller coaster. Week one began with me being ahead and confident, but it ended with me falling behind. At the beginning of week two, I'd passed up my doubts and I was back in business. Until a third of the way through, when I lost my nerve, my momentum, and my inspiration. Things spiked back up around the two-thirds mark, only to come plummeting down toward the end of the final week. You can read posts from the last and second to last days if you're interested. The entire story crumbled on me. Unfortunately, my story fell apart at the end of the month. I'm not upset anymore, because I can see that a lot of good came from this draft. However, I'm still mourning the loss of Flying Change.

So the bad days consisted of a dead laptop, a slow desktop, missed wordcount goals, lost momentum, wasted time, and failed premises. The good days were more abundant, though, and there was a lot more good this month than bad. I proved to myself first day in that I can blow my own expectations out of the water. I learned a lot about character development. I discovered that small revisions (going in and filling in the meat on the bones) can help to boost my wordcount by a lot. I found other writers online who I'd love to keep talking to after NaNoWriMo; I found blogs that I know I'll keep reading. I wrote more that I've ever written in a month, proving to myself that I'm getting closer to that elusive 150k. My speed picked up part of the way through the month, allowing me to write more each day than I've ever done before. I had an amazing comeback day and wrote my highest daily wordcount of November (and probably ever). And, finally, this blog has taught me a lot about accountability and consistency and has allowed me to document and share my experience in a way that I've never done before.

I'm sure that a lot of you have had more interesting experiences, though, and I'd be happy to hear about them if you want to share.

The Lessons. I learned quite a bit about writing in November. Even though it's nothing profound, I thought that I could share a few lessons. I'm not being pretentious or anything, but I think that writers who haven't had my specific experiences could benefit from hearing about them.

I've learned about how helpful sprints can really be. They force you to block out any potential distractions over a set amount of time. I sprinted some of the time on Twitter and some of the time by myself. What I found works best for me is to attempt #1k30min every time. I usually fall just a little short, though I did come up with over 2k once or twice.

I've learned that sometimes you have to think small. I had a day last month when I was just overwhelmed with what I was writing and I had no idea how to move forward. Unable to write that night, I asked other writers for their advice. And +Rosie Reast replied with this comment here, which I'd like to pass on to all of you.

Other times when you're stuck, it helps to write the little things. If your character has just returned to his village after battling the dragon and you don't know where to move the story, think small. Have this hero go back to doing his laundry, or have his mother cook him breakfast and drill him for details of his adventure, or have him play with the cat or the dog. These little scenes can help to move things along again and break up the intense action, giving readers time to relax before the next big battle.

Finally, save small ideas. I like to write my ideas down wherever I can. If I see a sweet foreign couple who just inspire characters based on themselves, I'll make a note on the back of a receipt or text the idea to myself.

I've learned something about time management. Yeah, I'm not the best person to ask for time management advice, but I somehow become better at it during Nano. So I have a couple of tips based on my own experience this November: write in chunks and know when to pull yourself away. This way, you'll get plenty of relaxation time while also getting in plenty of work on your novel. If you don't give yourself a break now and again, how can you be expected to be productive?

I've learned about some good resources this Nano, in addition to the resources I'd already been using. The biggest ones for me have been @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter and Scrivener, the latter of which I've been using for about a year now. Twitter, on the other hand, isn't something I've done much of before. So I discovered the sprints account recently and was hooked. Plus, when there's no sprint leader around, Wrimos like to form their own groups and write together via the hashtag #NaNoWordSprints.

I've also learned that writing my story out of order with no previous planning isn't something that works too well for me. I created characters that I loved, but very few plot-driven scenes.

The Plan. So, what do I plan to do now that NaNoWriMo is over? Well, my storyline didn't work and Flying Change fell apart on me, so I'll be taking a break from it. When I do get back to it, I'll be redistributing its parts. I've created a "rollover" file in Scrivener so that I can manage what I want to keep. Right now I have a few story ideas tucked away in these folders, as well as my main characters, who I hope will turn up somewhere else in the future.

I'll still keep my revision promise; I'll just be revisiting last year's Nano project instead of using the one from last month. This novel will need some Beta readers, so I'll be going about looking for interested writers while dealing with my own large list of things I have to read for people.

The Challenge. I dare you to freewrite. Take fifteen minutes and just write whatever comes to mind. After you've done that, review what you've just written. Is there anything of value? Anything that sparks another story idea or solves a problem in your current work in progress? I hope you find it useful. Freewriting is always useful to me.

I'll also challenge you, if you're interested and if you have work of your own that requires revision, to join us in our pledge to have our novels revised by January 31st 2015. You can add yourself to my Twitter list here.

The End.  Even though things didn't go like I'd expected or wanted this November, I'm actually really happy with how things turned out. I learned things that helped me to make it through the month. Sprinting improved my wordcount, "thinking small" helped to move me out of writers' block and increase my progress, managing my time kept my month (slightly) balanced, and the programs and websites that I've used this month were all very helpful to my process. A personal lesson came when I realized that I'd been writing plot bunnies; I discovered that planning probably works better for me.

I'd like to pay all of these lessons forward to anyone who hasn't experienced the same ones that I have. Let me know if any of my advice was helpful to you. Novel or no novel, NaNoWriMo has once again helped me to grow as a writer. I really hope that my advice can help all of you in some way too.

Should I create a resources page for the other resources that I've used? There are a few good sites that I know of and will share if anyone's interested.

Tell me what you've learned this November. It can be something about you or your novel, or something a bit more general. And if you have any great tips or resources, feel free to share them!

--Britni M

Nano 2014: Day 30

For anyone who's read last night's blog, you know that I experienced a bit of a twist that left me confused. Because I'd been trying to up my wordcount during NaNoWriMo, I'd been focusing on that for most of this month. And when I'd finally started to research some major elements of my story, I discovered that my entire premise was...not quite realistic enough. So the rug was pulled right out from underneath me and my story now has no backbone.

I've still decided to stick to my projected schedule, though. I'll just be switching this year's WIP out for the draft that I completed last November. It's been sitting on a shelve partially revised, but now I'll take it down, dust it off, and keep going. As soon as I've collected a few volunteer Beta readers (I'm definitely willing to do novel swaps) I'll just plow ahead with the rest of my revisions process. Well, not quite. First I'm going to take some time off because this month has been crazy. Maybe a week or two... Who am I kidding? I have so much writing and writing-related projects to do that I'll probably still be going for a while.

For now the novel draft I've just written will sit on a folder in my computer. I'll probably come back to it one day with some idea of how to rearrange the plot so that it works. In the meantime, there are some great little details that I can mine from this story and put into current and future works.

So, Wrimos, how did your November go? Reach your goal? Learn something new about your characters, the writing process, or even yourself? Has Nano fried your brain? It's fried mine. Commenting on a Google+ post, I wrote "photogenic" instead of "photographic" and didn't even notice that I'd done it until a stranger pointed it out. I'm sure there's a myriad of similar errors in the mass of words I produced this month.

In some parts of the world, Nano has already ended (Happy December guys and remember to give yourselves a well-deserved rest.) but where I live in NYC it's about 9:30 pm. Along the West coast of the United States it's--if I'm correct--only about 6:30. You Californians better be writing and not breaking for dinner! Just kidding. You can have a quick dinner break.

Whatever your wordcount when you cross(ed) the finish line, you're a winner for participating and for seeing it through.

--Britni M

Nano 2014: Excerpt 5

Sometime today I'm going to try to post a page that links to every excerpt of my writing that I've posted so far, so you can find it all in one place. I don't know if "today" is a realistic goal, though, so I'll just say "soon".

Anyway...here's my final excerpt for this month! It's really long (really, really long) but I had so much fun writing it and I think that it's great character development. Plus (I think) it's funny. Here you go!

“That soup was really good,” I say, setting the bowl down on Peter’s counter.

He puts both dishes in the sink and says, “Thanks. It’s not my recipe. My mom wanted to make French onion soup this time and didn’t have a recipe for it. She found this online and we never used anything else again.”

“It was fantastic.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“Don’t you mean ‘Thank you,” I laugh.

“Why would I thank you? I just told you that the credit isn’t mine.”

“True. But it was the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. Just don’t tell my mom that.”

“Takes pride in her recipe?”

“Well, it’s not that it’s bad or anything. Just not as good as this one. The recipe did come from my grandmother, though. So you have to respect that it’s a family tradition. I’ll probably ditch it at some point and use this one instead. You’ve got to give me the recipe.”

“Sure, I’ll send you an email and link you to the site.” He takes the Italian take-out we’d ordered from the fridge and puts it into the oven to warm.

“You guys must be good cooks,” I say.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, French onion soup isn’t typical bachelor pad dinner.”

He chuckles. “Well, I have company. But, yeah, I’m kind of into cooking. As long as you don’t tell anyone. Because I will have to deny it.”

“Why?” I giggle.

He rolls his eyes playfully. “It’s not good for the bachelor image.”

“Maybe not to other guys. Trust me, girls will find it impressive. Especially when they taste it. What else do you like to make.”

“I like to experiment,” he says. “I’ve done bacon pancakes and a ton of different types of omelets, some casseroles. Cinnamon potato pie.”

“Ugh, that sounds awful. What made you even think to try that?”

“A prank, actually. My lovely younger siblings swapped the apple pieces I’d cut up for my Thanksgiving pie with sliced potato chunks.”

“Oh no.”

“Yes.”

“That’s terrible. What happened.”

Laughing, he tells me, “I didn’t know what had happened until after I’d made it. Turns out it’s not so bad. It became our new traditional pie. Well, we make at least two kinds because it’s apparently not a taste for everyone.”

Looking at the fridge I see two photos clipped side by side with decorative magnets. “What’s this?”

“Oh, my mom. That first picture was our family photo taken when she was pregnant with Candice.

It’s such a cute photo. The entire family is standing in front of a tent and a fire pit. Peter, who looks so much younger even though this photo can only be four or five years old, is dumping water over Riley’s head. Bea and Molly look on in horror. Little baby Evan is clapping his hands and his face is full of chocolate cake. As the picture’s being taken, he’s smearing some onto Molly’s face. Mr. and Mrs. stand behind the wild troop of children while pregnant Ellie holds Timothy and Mr. Holds puppy Rufus, who’s squirming to jump on poor Bea under him.

“Your mom went camping when she was pregnant? That’s brave,” I say.

“We were camping in the back yard. My parents weren’t the outdoorsy type. That’s why the tent has nearly collapsed and our fire has more smoke coming from it than heat or light. Like a toxic fog machine.”

In the picture on the right, Mr is missing, but Ellie stands in the back holding Timothy’s hand and holding Candace in her arms. Rufus sits on the ground in front of her surrounded by the kids. He’s trying to lick the cake out of Evan’s hands while Evan smudges some onto his sisters’ faces. Riley is soaking wet and cringing, even though the water in the picture hasn’t hit her yet; Bea is wincing as Molly tugs on her bright orange braid. The fire is noticeably better in the newer photo, though the tent still looks like a safety hazard.

“Last year,” he explains, “Mom thought it would be cool to reenact some of our old photos. This was the best one. She has it on the mantle at home and she gave these to me, with the magnets, so I could put them on display too.”

“I think it’s adorable. It’s too bad I could never convince my family to do something like that. Mom would think it’s a waste of time. I might be able to get Tiff to go along with it, but I might have to bribe her.”

He laughs along with me. “As you can see, not all of the kids were cooperative.”

“Why’s Riley so wet already?” I wonder.

He chuckles. “It took a couple of tries to get a picture where the kids were at least partly reenacting what they were all doing. That and I added ice to the water.”

“That’s horrible!” I laugh.

He glances at the microwave clock, so I ask, “You want to go get the tv ready? I’ll make sure that the food doesn’t burn.”

He leaves the kitchen and I watch the oven. It smells so good. I’m glad we ordered from his usual place instead of the one that Mom and Dad always ordered from.

“Quick, it’s coming on!” Peter calls from the living room.

I dart out of his apartment kitchen with a take-out container of pasta in one hand and his personal pizza pan pie in the other.

“We still have a few minutes,” I say. But by the time we settle down, the show is already starting.

Agents of SHIELD comes on and I’m just geeking out and embarrassing myself. But I always get this excited on Tuesday nights.

I cross my legs under me, trying to get comfortable. I end up doing more watching than eating and I still have half a tray of past by the time the show is over.

“What do you think?” Peter asks me grinning.

“Oh what?” I ask, “The show? I love it. I adore it. It’s probably the reason for my existence.”

He doesn’t seem to get my humor the way Tiff would, but he brushes the odd comment off. “ I knew that it was going to be Garrett. I never trusted him from the start.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, but there was just something shifty about him. Sitwell, too, though I thought that he just didn’t trust Coulson. Like Hand.”

“You know, I always thought that Hand was going to turn out to be a traitor,” I say.

“Before this episode? Why’s that?”

“Because of her animosity,” I guess. “She just seemed like she was constantly watching Coulson’s team. Maybe a little more closely than I thought was normal?”

“There was always something I didn’t trust about Garrett,” he says. “I really didn’t see Ward coming, though.”

“I shipped Skyward so hard. I really wanted them to become a couple.”

Peter shakes his head. “Nah, I just didn’t.”

“But why not? Weren’t they super cute? You know, before he started killing SHIELD agents?”

“I’ll tell you what, I thought that the Whedons might have turned the tables on us and put Fitz with Skye.”

I let out a gasp. “Oh, no. Come on, Peter. What about Fitzsimmons? It’s practically already canon.”

“Their friendship and their partnership is. But I think Fitz had a crush on Skye when she first joined the team. Who knows, they still might end up together.”

“Blasphemy,” I tell him. “Fitzsimmons is real. There are no other ships with either of them. Not at all.”

“What about Trimmons?”

“No! I dislike this pairing of names! Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons only.”

“Well your shipping senses are a bit off,” he says, “since you already failed with Skyward. So what makes you think that your judgment is any better than mine?”

“Because it is!” I say. “How could you ship Skye and Fitz? That’s so wrong!”

“How’s it wrong?” he defends. “It’s exactly the same as shipping Simmons with Fitz. They’re colleagues and good friends.”

“Simmons is so much closer with Fitz.”

“She’s also oblivious to the feelings that he’s way too shy to tell her about. As much as he may like her, if he never says anything, how will she know?”

“But they’d make a perfect nerdy couple!”

“So nerds have to date nerds? And besides, Skye is a nerd, she’s just a different type. Her field isn’t anything super sciency, but she’s into technology just like Fitz is.”

“No! No, stop it. Stop trying to destroy my ship.”

“Listen, you’re last ship went down like the Titanic, so I think it’s time we stop trusting you with the shipping.”

“Fine, don’t trust me with whatever you want,” I say, “but I’m obviously right here.”

“Here we go again,” he grins. “All of this is pure speculation, of course. We’re talking about what could be coming in the future, so what makes your prediction better than mine?”

“Because yours is stupid! Who would put Skye and Fitz together? It’s ridiculous!”

“Why do you keep trying to knock my suggestions?” he asks. “You really have to convince me that you’re right, don’t you?”

“I’m not trying to convince you of anything. But I know that I’m right.”

“Can’t handle an opposing opinion, can you?”

I know that he’s joking, but I go pale when I realize how much like my mom I just sounded. This was only a playful argument I still had to knock his opinions like that. I feel a little sick right now, even though I haven’t had much to eat.

The conversation lulls and we watch a couple of commercials, casually commenting on the products, the shows, and the upcoming Michael Buble concert.

I hope my face doesn’t look as hot as it feels. I’m so embarrassed with myself. But I’d be even more embarrassed if Peter knew what it was that upset me.

“I didn’t know that Ward or Garrett were traitors,” I say, “but I always had a bad feeling about Sitwell.”

“Garrett always looked shifty to me. I never paid much attention to Sitwell. I feel like he was barely in a few episodes and then he just disappeared.”

I grin, thinking about the fate that Sitwell meets with. It was a proper end to his story, I think.

“When I was watching the first episode with Garrett and Triplett, I turned to Riley and said, ‘If ever there were a rat on that bus, it’s that guy.’”

“Rat on a Bus?” I laugh. “Is that the sequel to Snakes on a Plane?”

“Maybe,” he says. “But this time around, Fury is nowhere to be seen.”

“You mean Samuel L. Jackson,” I correct. “Nick Fury wasn't’ in Snakes on a Plane.”

“You have to think of it in crossover terms,” he says. “If he’s played by the same guy, there’s a pretty good chance that he’ll turn out to be the same guy. He’s just Fury undercover.”

“Yeah, sure.” I collect our cups and follow him into the kitchen where he loads his dishwasher.

He’s got a really nice apartment. I just hope that I can have a place like this when I move out. Probably not, since Mom will wither decorate or cut me off from my trust fund.

The kitchen of his apartment is about as big as the kitchen of my house. He has a nice, spacious living room area, too. I haven’t seen the rest of his place yet.

“It’s like how like how Transformers’ Shia Lebough is in everything. He’s clearly some kind of time traveling alien robot who just pretends to be someone different each time.

“Really? Then what does that make Nicolas Cage? He’s been probably everything.”

“He’s just a bad actor.”

“Hey! I happen to be a fan. He’s taken on all kinds of roles and done really well.”

“I don’t thing he has at all,” Peter smiles. “Seriously, the only good move he ever made was talking Jonny Depp into an audition.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say. I think Nick Cage is a really good actor. I don’t understand why people say he can’t act.”

“Well, if he know how to act, he definitely doesn’t know how to pick a good movie.”

“I’ll tell you who can’t do either of those things. Bella. Kristen Stewart has fewer emotions than a board of wood.”

“She’s okay,” he says.

“Not really. I’ve seen her in three movies. I think I’ve seen her have emotion—any realistic, convincing emotion—once. It was some horror movie I watched back before the Twilight days.”

“I think she was showing emotion in Twilight.”

“Wait, you’ve seen it?”

“I’ve got younger sisters. Riley wanted to watch Twilight one night. I don’t do well arguing over movie choices with her. She always wins. So we watched Twilight. Anyway, I think that Kristen Stewart plays the character. I get the feeling that it’s less the actress not being able to emote and more the writer creating a dull, one-sided character.”

“Hmm, I think that’s the only logical argument for Twilight that I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s not really for Twilight,” he corrects. “It’s really now. I’m pretty much directing the blame to a specific source. I don’t think even talented actors can do much with poor writing. Have you seen Dark Shadows?”

“Oh my gosh,” I scoff.

“Exactly.”

“It was a Tiff Pick,” I explain, using the nickname I’ve given to movies that I only watch because of my sister. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever watched, I think. Quite possibly. I mean, Jonny Depp is great and all, but the movie sucked. That’s really the bottom line.”

“See?” he points at me with a spoon as he moves it from his sink. “That’s what I mean. How many failures has Depp produced?”

“Not many, I guess.”

“And that’s because he’s great at what he does. And yet, even he can’t make the terrible writing work. If you didn’t know any of the actors that were in the movie, would you think any of them had talent?”

“No. Not at all. I sat there for two hours counting down the minutes. There was nothing good about that movie. Except for the occasional joke that didn’t suck.”

“But you know that Depp has talent, so I don’t think that the cast can be blamed for what the writers failed to give.”

“Yeah, that’s a really good point,” I say.

He starts the dishwasher and washes his hands and we head back into the living room.

“Tonight’s was an intense episode, huh?” he asks.

“Well it would have to be after what happened in Winter Soldier.”

“No, no, don’t tell me.”

I stare at him in horror. “What do you mean don’t tell you? You haven’t seen Winter Soldier yet? And you’re watching the next episode of SHIELD? Are you crazy?”

“Well they didn’t really talk about Captain America or anything.”

“Pfftt! Huge spoilers, Peter! I can’t believe—How could you—ahhh?”

“What? What could have been spoiled? The Hydra thing?”

“I mean, would you watch Supernatural episodes out of order?”

“I don’t watch Supernatural,” he says.

“But would you have watched Iron Man 3 before Iron Man 1?”

“I didn’t watch Iron Man 3 at all, actually. It was that it just didn’t look that good. I heard that it’s pretty anticlimactic. The first movie bored me, and they were trying way too hard with the second, so I opted out of the third.”

“You can’t just opt out of movies!”

“Why not?”

“They’re all interconnected!”

“I think I’ll be find catching up. If anything I can always go online or ask friends what I missed that’s important.”

“Okay, fine. Would you have watched Dark World before watching Thor?”

“No, but that’s different.”

“Not really. At all. The biggest thing that ever could have happened to Marvel Universe just happened in SHIELD, and you haven’t see what came immediately before this. It’s ridiculous. It’s un-loyal. It’s confusing.”

He chuckles. “Well, I guess you’ve seen it, then.”

“Four times.”

“Four times? You went back to the theater four times?”

“Uh, yeah.” Shifting in my seat, I notice the city lights outside. When did it get so dark? That happened quickly. “I went on midnight when it opened, then I went with Tiff, then I went with a few of my friends, and then Tiffany and I went with Mom.”

“Your Mom’s into Marvel too?”

“Anyway, you have to see it. It’s amazing. I’d say up there with Avengers and Dark World.”

“Whoa. Wait a second,” he says. His green eyes glint and I wonder what I got myself into. “You can’t just say that they’re ‘up there’. I need to know what your standards are, since you’ve obviously seen Iron Man and like Nick Cage.”

“Excuse you! Iron Man movies may not have been the best of the bunch, but they were still pretty good.”

“Yeah,” he scoffs.

“They were, though.”

“And I guess you’re going to say that the Star Wars prequels were just as good as the original trilogy?”

“Actually, I prefer the sequels. I don’t know why critics pick at every little thing about them.”

“Oh please,” he complains the way I had when he brought of Fitzskye. “What is there possibly to like about the prequels?”

“I’m not a fan of Phantom Menace,” I say. “Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of any of the Star Wars movies. But I think two and three are my favorites.”

He rolls his eyes in disgust. “Don’t tell me it’s because of the romance between Natalie Portman and the guy who plays Anakin.”

“No, actually.” I point my finger at him in accusation. “Not every teenage girl is into the whole romance thing.”

“You’re not?”

“Okay, well I’m not not into romance, but it’s not the guiding factor in my movie decision making. I like the prequels because of the anguish and the internal struggle.”

“But Anakin was so whiny.”

“He wasn’t whiny,” I defend.

“Have you really seen the movies?”

“Well, he may have been a little whiny, a couple of times, but that’s because he was in pain. His mother died, he felt under-appreciated, he had a secret Sith lord whispering things in his ear. He was going through inner turmoil. He was constantly being pushed to the edge physically and, especially, emotionally. Besides, Luke was just as whiny, and he didn’t have a good excuse.”

“Luke? He was a brave soldier, a dedicated jedi—”

“Like his father had been. But he started out constantly complaining about everything from doing his chores to not being able to travel to other planets. He was just annoying.”

“My point was, going back to Iron Man, that I don’t think that it was worth the time watching the movie would have wasted.”

I tuck hair behind my ear and suppress a yawn. “The Iron Man movies aren’t exactly the best in the collection, but they’re still Marvel movies. That’s enough reason to see them. At least, it’s enough to get this nerd to see them.”

“It’s not enough for me,” he smiles. The movie can be by whomever and star whomever, but at the end of the day, I need to be spending my theater money on movies that I think are worth seeing.” And then there’s that smile again. He has a really nice smile.

“Okay, then,” I challenge, “which Marvel movies do you think are the best?”

“Okay,” he says. He looks over at the television and realizes that some show’s been playing in the background of our discussion. He grabs the remote and turns it off.

We shift our bodies, settling on the couch more comfortably so we can face each other better.

“Well, like you said, Avengers is definitely top tier.”

“Yeah? And where does Dark World rank?”

Now that he said tier I’m thinking of cake. Tiers are a cake thing, right? I could definitely go for lemon meringue pie right now. Mmm. I’m not sure if that’s technically cake, though.

“In a perfect world,” he says, “it would be right next to Avengers, but…”

“But? No but. It is right next to Avengers.”

He lets out a breath. “Oh, but it isn’t, I’m afraid.

“Alright, then. How is it not?”

“I mean, there were definitely funny scenes, but I think the Avengers had more. Really I think it’s the whole drama with the planets aligning and stuff. Worlds are about to die, the red alien stuff—”

“The Aether.”

“Whatever. I just think they were trying too hard.”

“You’re a hipster,” I accuse.

“Hey, don’t say that like it’s an insult. And, no, I’m not. I just think that when you try too hard on something, people can just tell. And even more, if you try that hard, it’s not going to come out as good. It’s like a bunch of writers were sitting in a room saying, ‘Okay, we have to write the best movie ever,’ but they were so focused with their standards that they didn’t even make it good. They just let the first person with a decent idea write the movie.

“You realize that Marvel isn’t just in movies right? They started as comic books.”

“Okay, I can’t argue on two fronts here,” he tells me. “Do you want to talk comics or movies?”

“Okay, movies.”

“Well I think that they could have done a lot better with Dark World.”

“How? What could they have improved?”

“Well, besides the entire premise of planets aligning, which I thought was dumb, what about the fact that they just leave Loki there?”

“Well, they thought he was dead.”

“No, that’s not good enough. If a master of illusion who would be better off not going back to prison dies in front of you, don’t you think that you should at least make sure that he’s dead? Besides that, if your brother died right in front of you, wouldn’t you take his body back so you can give him a proper funeral? It’s not like they’re voyagers in the middle of nowhere and they don’t have the resources.”

“Well, they were both breaking the law. And Loki had attempted to take over our planet.”

“So? If Thor really cared, he’d at least bring Loki back and request that they give him a funeral like they gave his mother.”

“I mean, I guess,” I say.

“Though I think that Jane is the best of the main character’s love interests.”

“What do you have against love interests?” I ask.

“No, nothing. I mean, Jane is a really good character, I think. But for some reason, the love interests in these movies never seem as interesting as other characters. Especially when they’re woman. I don’t know who writes this stuff, but why can’t the female love interests be just as exciting as the movies’ male leads?”

“They can be,” I defend. “There are plenty of movies with strong female love interests.”

“Name one.”

Great, now my mind goes blank. “I don’t know but there are.”

“There are also lots of movies with boring love interests. Like Batman’s girlfriend.”

“Which one?”

“Rache—oh, I get it. Very funny. My point is, nobody cares about her.”

“I don’t know about that,” I counter.

“Come on. She’s dead. I mean, that’s why she exists. She was created so that she could die and make Batman/Bruce miserable. And then there’s Pepper, who does nothing but just help Tony out occasionally.”

“I think she does more than just the odd errand,” I tell him.

“Maybe, but it’s all behind the scenes and never has direct effect on the plot itself.”

“Well if you’d seen the third movie, you’d know that that’s not true. Besides, they’re such a cute couple.”

“She’s so easily replaced that they could have paired Tony with literally any other straight female character and you’d say the same thing.”

“Well, not a villain.”

“Really? You can’t see bad boy Tony with a villain love interest?”

Dang. He’s right. And now I’m considering dabbling in fanfiction just long enough to write a Tony/villain pairing.

“Still, there are woman who make a real difference in the world. Like Jane and Darcy, who literally saved the planet.

“Which is why Jane’s one of the few that I like,” he says.

I face forward again so I can stretch my legs and keep them from going numb. “Then what’s the problem?”

“With Jane? There isn’t one. I just would like to see characters like her be the rule and not the exception.”

“Alright, so you like Avengers better than Dark World. I’d put them side by side, but you’re forgiven,” I joke. “Which of the other movies did you like?”

I look at the clock and realize that it’s getting pretty late.

“Well, I haven’t see Winter Soldier yet, but Captain America was really good. I’m surprised, actually. I thought it was going to be more of a period drama, which would have disappointed me, because I’m a big Captain America fan. I’m glad that it dwelt mostly on the origin story, because I’m not really a fan of those historical war movies. Regular war movies I’ll watch, but the old stuff I usually find boring.”

I smile. Tiffany’s big into the historical stuff. She’d been so excited to see the movie, knowing it was set in World War II.

“Still, they did a really good job with it. It doesn’t feel like an old-fashioned movie. In some ways it still carries that ambiance, but overall it feels more like a superhero movie than a World War movie.

I agree. “It really isn’t like you’d expect an ‘older movie’ to be, because it was made recently. What about the first Thor movie?”

“Oh, I loved that one too. I think I’d have to say Captain America, then Thor right under it.”

“Why does Thor always come second?”

“I don’t have an issue with it, I just like Captain America better.”

“You just like Captain America better?”

“Yeah. In Thor, an arrogant a-hole learns to be a decent guy, therefore earning the powers that he had in the first place. Captain America is the story of how a worthy man became a powerful hero. He deserved what he had.”

“Do you think Steve could lift Mjolnir?”

“Of course. Do you?”

I laugh. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m sure Cap is worthy and all, but how worthy?”

“Worthier than Thor. Though, based on their appearance, I think that in a strict physical battle, Thor might have Captain America outmatched. Of course, assuming that neither has his classic weapon.”

“You might be right,” I say. I’m actually still trying to decide if he’s right. He’s made quite the accusation there. “But with weapons, Thor’s clearly no match for Cap. First off, we see that the shield can take Mjolnir easily. So there goes one strike against Thor. Second,” I continue, “if Captain America can lift the hammer—which we don’t know for sure, but if he could lift the hammer—then Thor doesn’t have a weapon. Mjolnir would be useless to him and useful to Cap, so that’s two reasons why he’d fail.”

Peter nods. “That’s the thing, really, because Mjolnir isn’t about who’s strong enough to lift it. Its weight has been calculated as only being about forty pounds. That’s heavy for a hammer, but not for the amount of destruction it could do. The whole point is whether you’re worthy to lift it. And Captain America definitely is.”

“You know, I tell him, when we first met, you didn’t strike me as the type to be a Marvel nerd.”

“Yeah? What did I strike you as?”

“I don’t know. A drill sergeant in the cavalry.”

He laughs at my accusation. “It’s a common misconception.”

“Oh? So I’m not the only one. Maybe we’re all right, then?”

“Please. There are no common misconceptions about you? Something that a lot of people think at first impression but only find out isn’t true once they get to know you?”

“Well…”

“Yeah?”

I run my fingers through my short hair. “A lot of people have made the assumption that I’m not that smart.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I shrug. “I mean, I’ve always been good in school and I even qualify for merit-based scholarships going into college. But when people first meet me, they tend to either think I’m a preppy rich brat or I’m an athlete who doesn’t care about my education.”

“That’s not what I got from you at all. I mean, I didn’t necessarily like you when we first met, but I didn’t think you were dumb at all.”

“What did you think?” I ask, fighting a bit of a blush.

“Well, not that you aren’t, um, attractive—You struck me as very confident and headstrong. I knew that you were stubborn and determined, though I didn’t realize quite how much. I knew you were someone who had a lot of passion for your education, and I knew that you were willing to do whatever it took to get yourself into your college.”

Even though he’s called me stubborn, his answer pleases me.

“What do you think about you surprises people the most when they learn it?” he asks.

That makes me think. I don’t know.

What about me is surprising? I think of myself as a little too predictable.

“I’ll tell you what surprised me,” he volunteers when I can’t come up with anything on my own.

“What?”

“Your dedication. To be honest, I thought that I’d make you quit within the first couple of weeks. But you were strong and persistent.”

“I knew you were trying to wear me down.” That should bother me, but I’m way past it at this point.

“It was harder than I thought it would be. And that’s when you earned my respect. When I saw how strong of a young woman you really are.”

“So what’s your call, then?” I ask with a yawn.

“About you?”

“Cap versus Thor.”

“Captain America wins,” he says simply. “And I’m anticipating that Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be as go as, or maybe better than, The Avengers.”

“Not better than,” I say indignantly. “I mean, I love Cap anyway and all, but—”

“Do you want a cup of coffee?” he asks.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

I follow him to the kitchen again and watch while he puts some on.

“Steve Rogers is so brave,” he says admiringly. “He was always willing to stand up for what he believed in, even before he was strong enough to win a fight. I mean, I just find that really inspiring. There’s a lot that I’d want to do if I weren’t afraid.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, never mind. I interrupted you. What were you going to say?”

“Um, what was I saying?”

I look back at his fridge and smile at the red husky in the pictures. Rufus is such a pretty dog, especially with those popping blue eyes.

“Winter Soldier isn’t better than Avengers.”

“Oh. I mean, it’s a great movie,” I continue, “but Avengers was just…everything I expected from Marvel.”

“After seeing Assembling a Universe,” he says, “I expect great things from most Marvel movies. I always did, but now there’s this extra layer of appreciation. Avengers was probably made as good as it was by the large cast of superhero leads.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Though they do crossover the characters a lot. I like that.”

“They talked about that a lot in Assembling a Universe. The old Marvel movies like Spiderman, X-men, and The Fantastic Four were licensed to other movie companies before the creation of Marvel Studios. Once Marvel Studios was founded, they knew that everything would be connected the way it is in the comics. So they started making the separate movies knowing that they’d all come together. It’s actually really cool. And I like the way even the television show ties into the movies. Who’s in The Winter Soldier? Other than Captain America and the Winter Soldier, of course.”

“Black Widow. Obviously Fury. And also the first MCU appearance of Falcon.”

“Nice,” he says. “I heard they were bringing him in. I don’t know a lot about him, but I am looking forward to seeing him.”

“It was a really good movie,” I say. “I can’t wait until the next Avengers.”

“Age of Ultron, right?”

I nod. “I mean, any Marvel movie is going to be mega awesome for me. I’m just a fangirl. And a huge Marvel nerd.”

“I’m a little more critical, I guess,” he grins. “But I do love the movies. I guess you’re not into the DC scene?”

“You are?”

Wow, I sound incredibly disappointed. That’s not how I meant for those words to come out.

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “You’re looking at a guy who dressed up as the Joker for history class.”

“What? You dressed…”

“Yep. I had a really strange teacher. I mean, he was fantastic, but a bit eccentric. Dr. Grey. We all just called him Doc. He let us do cool things like listen to the Imperial March during exams, and sometimes he’d have these special costume classes. And we’d all dress up to some theme. This one time he was Batman and we all dressed as Batman villains. It was pretty epic.”

“That doesn’t sound regulation.”

“It probably wasn’t. But I bet all the other classes were jealous of how cool our teacher was.”

“You would be the Joker,” I grin. “You’ve got the hair down. You just have to change the color.”

“Hair chalk. It took a lot of chalk to turn this fiery mess into green, but it was worth it. You’re not much of a DC fan, I gather?”

I shake my head slightly. “Don’t get me wrong. DC definitely has a lot to offer, but it doesn’t translate the same way onscreen. Why so simplistic? The Dark Knight was an awesome movie and by fat the best they’ve ever made. I might let it rank among Marvel movies. But it’s an entire movie carried by the villain. And I don’t mean Dent, because he’s way too easy to lose interest in. I’m just not used to superheroes being less exciting than their enemies.”

“Hey, Batman’s pretty cool.”

“Batman’s definitely cool Like, if he were a real person, I’d totally want to meet him and get an autograph or something.”

“How do you take it?” Peter asks, pouring two mugs of coffee.

“Do you buy coffee creamer?”

“Only because I anticipate guest wanting it. I’ve got French vanilla and a triple chocolate.”

“Chocolate please.”

He gives me my coffee and we walk back inside. “Cute mug,” I laugh, admiring the comicbook scenes on it.

“My friend went to Comic Con and brought this back for me.”

“I have one like this, but smaller and chipped.”

“Yeah, this is a recent purchase.” He lifts up his mug after taking a sip. “And I’ve got DC too.”

“I see you’ve geared us up for a Marvel vs DC debate. I have to warn you that nothing in the world can make me back down from Marvel. You couldn’t convince me in a million years’ time that DC’s got anything on Marvel. If we’re talking cinematic universes. If you wanna talk comics, then I guess DC’s okay. Not as good as Marvel, but okay.”

My cell phone rings and I look down at it. Mom’s picture is on the screen and I groan.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to take this.”

I place my drink on the end table and stand.

“If you need privacy, you can take it in the bedroom,” he offers. “Down the hall, second door on the left.”

I thank him and take his suggestion. When I’ve shut the door behind me, I answer the call.

“Where are you?” Mom demands. “It’s past midnight.”

“I’m at a friend’s house, Mom. It’s not like I’m about to be murdered by a crazed lunatic wandering the streets.” I know that she can see exactly where I am on her GPS and I’m frankly surprised that she didn’t call me sooner. Maybe she was timing it so that she could interrupt at a crucial moment of something.

I could be in the middle of an important conversation.

Well, I am in the middle of an important conversation, but what if I were on the phone with someone from Excelsior State?

“Hi, Delta, how are you? I’m from Excelsior—”

“Whoops, gotta go. My mother’s calling.”

“Who? What friend?” Mom asks.

I give a dramatic sigh. “I’m at Peter’s house. What difference does it make whose house I’m at? I could be at Kiara’s or Sarah Charlotte’s. But I’m at Peter’s. The point is, I’m not roaming the streets.”

“I want you to come home now.”

“Mom,” I say, trying to sound mature and rational. “I’m an adult. I don’t think that I should have a curfew. Besides, you know that I’m safe. So what’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?” she barks.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want my eighteen-year-old kid running around doing who knows what in the early hours of the morning.”

Doing who know what?

“Mom, I’m just at a friend’s house.”

“What are you doing?”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now! What are you doing right now, Delta?”

“We were just having coffee.”

At least we were until your call interrupted. We were just about to have an epic debate of nerdiness. But excuse me for being too irresponsible to run at the first sign of comicbook talk.

“Who else is there?”

“Mom…”

I don’t know what she’s got going on in her mind, but I’ve got the point, and she’s dead wrong. Come on, I’m not even that type of girl. I’d rather of coffee and talk superheroes than get drunk and spend the night in someone else’s—

“Delta. Tell me who’s there right now or I’ll come over there and get you myself.”

Oh, that’ll be torture. Should I just lie to keep her as far away from here as possible? My coffee is inside getting cold and Peter is waiting for me to get off the phone.

I could lie. I could say that Riley’s here. But she’ll probably demand to speak to her. Or worse. What if she called Ellie up at midnight to confirm that her daughter’s over here? Well, I guess the only choice I have to avoid life-destroying embarrassment is to tell the truth.

But I can’t believe she distrusts me so much.

“I found her pills.”

“What?”

What are we talking about now? What pills? Whose pills?

“I found birth control pills in Tiffany’s room.”

Maybe that explains away the whole mystery. Now I can see why Mom would doubt me, I guess.

Except, it doesn’t solve anything. It brings up more questions than it solves.

Is Tiffany actually taking birth control? Why would she need to take birth control? She hasn’t mentioned anything to me.

Maybe Mom’s making this up to get me to come home. What was she even doing in Tiffany’s room? Either she was snooping around or she’s lying. I can’t determine at the moment which is more likely.

There’s just dead air for a minute or so.

I realize that I’ve been standing here in the dark and I turn on the light as soon as I locate the switch. I blink as my eyes switch modes and I take a look around his room. It’s pretty neat for a guys room, I think. I mean, my room is messier than this.

The silence is awkward. I know that I have to say something to her, but I can’t say any of what I’m thinking. If I value my life, that is. Everything that’s on my mind would dig my grave even deeper.

Especially if I tell her that I’m standing here in Peter’s bedroom.

I smile at the beanbag chair in the corner, which looks like a large blue elephant. Above his bed is a black canvas that has painted on it the words, “Every goal starts with a wish and a dream.”

“Come home now,” she tells me when I don’t have anything else to say to her.

I dread having to face such a hostile environment when I could walk back into the living room and continue the conversation that I was really enjoying.

But I know that I can’t disobey Mom. She isn’t bluffing when she says she’ll come over here and get me. And she’d probably drag Tiff along in her pajamas and everything.

Plus, Tiffany probably needs my help over there. Someone needs to have her back.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” I sigh.

She hangs up before I do.

“I’m really sorry,” I say as I come back into the living room.” I know from looking in the mirror on his bedroom wall that my face is a little red right now. I don’t know if it’s anger at my mom or embarrassment at having to leave this way.

“You have to go home?” Peter, across the room from me, stands from the couch with his coffee mug in his hand.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m sorry. I had a really good night. It’s just that…there’s stuff at home. Sort of an emergency.”

“Sort of an emergency?”

“Well, it’s just a family issue. A social emergency, I guess. I just really need to go home.”

“Okay.” He puts his coffee down and takes my coat off of the coat rack by the front door. “Are you sure that everything’s alright?”

“Yeah. Trust me, it’s nothing that you want to get involved in. And if anyone does try to get you involved, you should run for the hills. Don’t look back.”

He chuckles.

I shake my head. At the world in general at this moment. Tonight was so awesome before that phone call. “It’s just a family matter,” I say, “that needs urgent tending to.”

“Well, okay. But we’re going to pick this up again, so just don’t forget where we were.”

“Not if you chain me in prison and beat me with sticks.”

“What?” he laughs.

“I apologize. It’s something that Tiffany used to say. I think my sense of humor becomes more like hers when I’m stressed or tired.”

“Which is it now?”

“A bit of both,” I admit, taking my jacket from him.

“Maybe she’s right pulling you out of here.”

“Why?”

“Who knows what might have happened if you’d have stayed.”

What? What does he mean by that?

“Out debate could have gotten way out of hand,” he jokes.

“Oh, yeah. It probably would have ended in a trip to the emergency room.” I’m blushing hard and apparently still channeling Tiffany in my jokes.

Peter puts a travel lid on the Marvel mug and offers it to me as I shrug into my jacket. “It’s kind of luke warm now. I could heat it up for you now if you want.”

“I can’t take your mug home with me.”

“It’s okay,” he laughs. “It’s not like you’ll run off to another country and disappear for good.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Not for good. I’d definitely come back to collect ransom on this thing.”

“You can return it to me when we pick up our debate,” he says.

I nod and yawn. I’m already in Dream Land. It’s horrible when I realize that I’m probably going to be up at dawn as I try to sort out this family issue. It doesn’t help matters that I’m meant to be at Avanella at eight.

As Peter reheats the coffee for me, I try to calculate how much sleep I can get if I skip things in the morning. I don’t really need breakfast, I guess. I can get by on a Red Bull. At this point, I wish that I could just get home, fall into bed, and rest forevermore.

He comes back inside and gives me the mug and walks me to the door even though it’s only like a foot or two away.

“How about next Tuesday?” he asks.

“Why? What’s on Tuesday?”

“SHIELD.”

“Right,” I say.

Do I sound like a total idiot to this college guy? That adds to his aura of sophistication, but I feel like it makes me seem dumber by comparison.

“It was nice to have a friend to watch with. I usually sit here alone and talk to the tv on commercials.”

I start to laugh, imagining this man talking to the television set the way I’d seen Timothy do.

“I think I’m better company than commercials,” I say.

“Oh, not better than,” he says in a mortified voice, mocking the tone I’d used.

“Shut up!”

He grins and I giggle.

We make good friends, he and I. I can’t believe we disliked each other so much so short a time ago.

“Thanks for coming tonight. It’s not often that I find someone who doesn’t want to murder me after I start talking comicbooks and superheroes.”

“I know. Tiff likes to talk about them, but she’s more interested in what the men look like. That’s great and all, but it doesn’t make as lively conversation.”

He’s opened the door and we’re standing halfway in this living room and halfway in the hall. “Well, I’ll see you next week.”

“Definitely,” I say.

“Good night, Delta. I hope that you deal with whatever’s going on at home.”

“I will, I say. “I’ll swoop in like the Captain America of my family and set wrongs right and stuff.”

“I hope nobody’s being tortured.”

I grimace. “So do I. I think Tiff’s got it pretty rough right now. But I guess it’ll pass, just like everything else.”

He insists on walking me out to my car, saying that it’s safer to have someone escort me, even though he lives in a really nice neighborhood that probably has no crime at all.

If only he’d heard my conversation before. Then I could refer him back to what I’d said about crazed lunatics not murdering me.

I get in the front seat of my car, strap my seatbelt, and turn the key in the ignition. Lowering the window, I lean out into the cool air to say goodnight again.

He waves me off as I pull away.

I really don’t want to face what’s waiting for me at home, but I feel so guilty already for taking this long getting to Tiffany.

Well, there you have it. That's the last excerpt from this particular novel for this particular month. I unfortunately don't know what will be happening to this project (it can hopefully be salvaged, but it's kinda a trainwreck right now), but I had a good time writing it.

Let me know what you think of this excerpt and the others, too!