Wow. About time I got around to reading this.

This story is very different from your others. It's got no fantasy, action, etc. But you do seem to like writing romance. (Nothing wrong - it's a good genre when used correctly.)

I loved how you had Michael speak in the beginning. A talking dead guy that isn't undead - very original! And his words define his character superbly.

The best thing about this story is the characterization. Almost everyone is defined percisely. The one relatively undeveloped character is Al, but then, he doesn't turn up too much, so developing him would be optional.

I love all the obscure references. It's okay if the reader can't pick them out - it just has to make sense to the reader. Plus, it's great comic relief.

My one piece of criticism is conventional. You have way too many paragraphs that can be combined without any change in the sentences. It makes the page shorter. Plus, to me, it would make your writing less "choppy" and more fluvial.

Take it easy at school. Don't worry about writing. I've got the same problem. And update your blog, will you? You can also pass that last message on to Aria if you want.

Quite a heart-wrenching chapter, this one. I actually came to near tears - or maybe that's because I just completely fluked my RS exam, and I have a huge Science one tomorrow I haven't studied for yet. *Sighs* I am beginning to be intrigued by the whole connection between Matthew and Michael - I hope to learn more about that in the future. I'm sure you'll put it off great.My favorite character right now is Nigel! Great touch of humor. ;) I'm not sure I like Michael and Jamie and all those people too much at the moment, so I hope you'll be able to make them a bit more likeable. But then again, I'm just **. XDStill looking forward to more!

You DO mean "helped Jamie inside too" instead of "two", right? XD Interesting chapter. ^^ Looking forward to see how things go. I like how you're playing on the idea that Jamie feels that bonding with Matthew is like an insult to Michael's memory. Great fun reading about Napoleon! Lol.

i loved the part where Jamie told Mike about Matt. the emotions there were very real.

haha, rubber wristband fads? interesting(:

& the pacing of the story is just fine, you don't need to worry about it. just go with the flow sometimes. Haha.

Yay! An update! ^^

Firstly...

o.O Gosh! Calculus...were you THAT amused by the 'little pebble' thing that Mrs T was talking about? LOL...that part about differentiation and stuff...so random lor!

Mrs Thatcher is REALLY like Mrs T, huh? ;)

And LOL...I guessed correctly! Sep 16th IS Mike's b'dae! WAHAHAHA! XD actually, it's quite obvious, so I can't really say I'm a genius or a mind-reader.

And Oh my gosh...I love Nigel! Seriously! HAHA...the part about Star Wars, young Skywalker, Yoda (even if I don't watch the show, I roughly can understand all these references. So there :P) But yeah...he's so adorable. XD

On Matthew...LOL...he's not so Anpher now. Actually, I have no idea what to make of him, since we've really seen quite little of him as of yet. But the part about the 'brick style' swimming was cute...so was the metrosexual.

"Teachers (including those on a permanent caffeine high)"

ER... RIGHT!

"Those precious questions the teachers had so painstakingly thought of would be put to better use with someone they found to be daydreaming in class."

It might be me, but I had a little trouble understanding this. But again, I'm slow. SO XD

On Sherrie...

Thank God you toned her down...last chapter, I went o.O at everything she did. Right now, she seems like a mad, hyperactive, but overall a nice person. Seriously. She's MAD. Kinda reminds me of the Cherie we know. XD

Livestrong...LOL. Didn't we discuss this topic sometime last year? XD

"“You mean you’re one of those new-age sensitive guys?” "

SELAMAT! XD

I have a question. Who's Rachel? I can't seem to remember her... (*goes to check*)

"“It’s alright. We weren’t really planning for any discussion tonight anyway,” Matthew said coolly, the playful tone disappearing from his voice,"

I'm not sure, but I'm a little puzzled by this. Why "coolly"? Or is this an obscure and vague hint about the connection between Mike and Matt? o.O

"The situation back home had not been as easily solved as that in school. For one, after being informed that he would not be going over to Matthew’s house that evening, Nigel who was already decked out in aluminium foil (which was supposed to be his ‘armour’) and armed with a toy lightsabre, packed his other ‘war’ equipment into an old, toy wagon (ceremoniously dubbed the Falcon) and was about to head out of the door when Jamie caught him and dragged the squirming young Jedi back into the kitchen where their mum was."

Again...I shall say this again. This part was so cute. Seriously. I can see why you love writing about Nigel...he's just so awesomely cute XD

"“Is it against the teachings of the Jedi?” Nigel asked."

and this part...LOL. So innocent... XD but so adorable.

"freshly cut white orchids "

WHITE ORCHIDS! JESSE! *faints*

Also...the last part about Mike...gosh. That was really really sad. :( all the reminiscing about the past, and the telling Mike about Matt...

"The cool breeze continued to blow, though was more subdued then. Gentle and soothing, it blew lightly across her teary face and into her hair like a pair of hands gently raking through it like quiet wisps – like Michael’s hands when she sought comfort in him."

Extremely well-written. It's like the spirit of Mike's around, that kinda thing. Reminds me of a Korean movie I watched, where the guy said that people become the wind when they die, so their presence live on...but I digress XD

“You know what? I think you’ve helped me come to a decision,” she announced, her voice shaking slightly, “I think I’ll help their band play for Christmas… I think you’ll really kill me if I ever stopped playing…”

I'm a little puzzled by this. What made her change her mind? Or was it because of the 'talk' she had with Mike about Matt, that she decided to give Matt a chance? :S

"Jamie shook her head, trying to dispel that slight tinge of disappointment within her, stood up and dusted herself. She looked down at the headstone one last time for she didn’t know when she would be able to bring herself to go all the way up there again. The headstone was a very real and prominent reminder of what they all had lost."

Again, extremely well-written ^^

The "happy birthday" at the end, well done too. Very impactful. =)

Haha...anyway, sorry I wasn't more helpful. Just cheong-ed through my physics and calculus homework, cross-eyed now X_X

And why the long wait for the infamous Anpher-dry-humor? :(

HAHA...update soon!

yep, I definitely enjoyed this. it was amusing haha! I'm glad you changed Nigel's age, I was thinking in the last chapters that he seemed a litle imature for a 10 year old. can't wait for the next one!

can't wait for the next chapter. i like the pace of this story. (: the war between Michael and Jamie was funny!

Woo…another chapter!! ^^

Firstly, for the usual annoying nit-picking I do… *guilty*

“However, the thought of having to go another night without dinner and the rest of the month without his allowance was so mortifying that he grudgingly decided to tag along”

…hmm…mortifying? If I’m not wrong, mortifying means something like “embarrassing”…why would no dinner and no allowance be embarrassing? I think “horrifying” would have been more suitable…not to mention, cuter =P

“especially when the ‘candy store man’ was concerned”

“where”, not when. I think… =S

“sending the rest (including the dog) into peels of laughter”

“peals”, not peels. =P The image of orange peels keep coming to mind, actually. XD

“No one can ever replace Mike she whispered softly to herself repeatedly

Tiny mistake here. There should be a comma and a “ between “Mike” and “she” =)

Ok…I’m done with the nitpicking. Now to the actual review!! =)

LOL…first comment…Nigel’s so cute! I swear, how come all eight-year olds aren’t more like him? Eight-year olds nowadays are just spoiled brats with lousy attitudes. Seriously.

HAHAHA…the thing with the doggy was so hilarious. I was laughing away like mad when I was reading it… (btw, Napolean being a golden retriever…does it have anything to do with Xu Zi Qian? XD or rather, his cameo role doggy? =P)

“An over-active eight-year-old plus a French conqueror who had been dead for years by then would have resulted in a very, very, lethal combination”

and

“An over-active eight-year-old with a stubborn and possessive nature, plus a golden retriever named after a long-dead French conqueror with an obsession for tennis balls would equate to a very, very, very, lethal combination.”

Although the last quote was quite…*cough* HAHA…I nearly died reading it. Cos the “golden retriever named after a long-dead French conqueror with an obsession for tennis balls would equate to a very, very, very, lethal combination.” Sounded like the French conquerer was the one with an obsession with tennis balls, not the dog. You know, like the “I scrubbed the garage with my little brother” thing. XD

Anyway, Nigel’s honestly my fave character…LOL…when he announced that he won a battle against Napolean, I nearly had a seizure laughing. I started having a mental image of Nigel vs the French Conquerer with the tennis ball fetish, part 1 (aka Frog Prince XD).

Ahem…anyway…

“sending the rest (including the dog) into peels of laughter.”

This is a little strange. I’ve never in my life seen a dog go into peals of laughter.

BTW…what are safety shoes? o.O I’ve never heard of ‘em. Seriously. Smart of Jamie though.

HAHA…love this chapter. I love all the cute and funny bits you add in here and there, especially the “war” Jamie and Mike won. Seriously, it was so cute, if not a strange analogy to use, but yeah, it was so hilarious, with all the “giants”, “cavalry”, “merciless heels”, etc. LOL…the young Jamie and Mike was so adorable. And mad. I mean, what were they doing at the amusement park alone? o.O

Ok…so we’ve got 3 very sad, and very confused people. Maddie, Jamie and Nigel (aww =P) trying not to treat Matthew as a replacement for Mike.

“The room itself was like a mini-studio ** living room. In one corner stood a makeshift stage with a miniature drum set, amplifiers, mikes, keyboards and the assorted yet towards the centre of the room was a small coffee table with a couch, beanbags and arm chairs around it.”

Whoa. The Lewis family must but a damn rich family. *raises eyebrow* wow…amplifiers? But why a mini drum set? Wouldn’t a complete one make more sense? O.O

Anyway, love the whole Napolean thing…especially all the references to Napolean (the French guy, not the doggy), like Waterloo… LOL. And gosh…that lasagna sounds so nice. Cheese!

Good simile (is that what you call it?) of the microwave thing…lol, laughed when I saw the diffusion thing. Bio plays such a huge part in our lives, yar? =P

“Standing next to Maddie with his arms crossed and amusement shown in his blue-green eyes” …that sounds so Anpher. =P

Ok…anyway, awesome chapter, I absolutely loved this! It was seriously what I needed, a good laugh (after reading some pretty angsty stuff prior to this, actually). Hope you update soon!!

Hope you’re coping okay with Dot and all. Take care!

(btw, my “CHUGGING” worked. =P)

another nice chapter. Only a couple of mistakes:

"Mrs Thatcher’s lesson that morning ran as per normal"- I'm not sure if per normal sounds right here, maybe just use "normal".

"“Spoiled sport,” Maddie laughed as they rounded the corner approaching Jamie’s house"- I'm pretty sure here that the right word is spoilsport...not 100 percent, though.

How did Jamie ever start hanging out with Sherrie? She definitely has a unique personality, and is more than a little annoying...lol. Al seems funny though, and I'll have to wait some more before I can get an opinion on Michael. I also like your sarcasm about math too...

good job on the chapter, can't wait for more!

this was a nice chapter, a good continuation of what you have already set up in the first chapter. I found one error:

"Literarily friends from the crib" "literarily" should be "literally". but that's something that spell check can fix.

it was really cool the way you introduced Matthew, and I'm glad that you explained more about how Michael died. nice character development, plot progression, and all that good stuff. off to the next chapter!

yay, another awesome chapter!! I can't wait to see what the band practice will be like and what will unfold between Matt and Jamie!

I'm glad you told me to read this, and luckier still that you told me on a free night, when I actually have time to read. :) It's lovely, and who can resist the blatant hotness of Matthew when you shove it into our faces so? Love the "world of mathematics" bit! It's hilarious.You have a fantastic sense of humor, my dear. ;) Keep going, since I'll probably actually be excited enough to read this. XD It's a great piece of light reading.

OMG. *dies laughing* seriously ar, you...

Firstly, some nitpicking (get the not-so-good first before the good, right? ^^)

1) "Mrs Thatcher’s lesson that morning ran as per normal – or at least to Jamie who could be found zoning out on more than one occasion throughout the entire hour."

Donno, feel that it would be better if it's "or at least to Jamie who HAD FOUND HERSELF zoning out..." etc...feel that it's sounds smoother and flows better this way. But of course it's up to you la... =P

2) "A large majority of the class could be found eyeing our new blue-green eyed boy"

Hm...I think "eyeing THE new..." would sound better. =S

3) "Sighs of relief as well as the sounds furniture movement could be heard as the class slowly buzzed back to life once more."

Furniture movement...o.O is it me, or are you quoting JELTs? (you know who I mean :P)...if you are, gosh, then nothing to say...but if you're not...I think "Sighs of relief as well as the sounds OF DRAGGING CHAIRS..." would sound better. But if it's about JELTs... ;P then hey, whatever floats your boat. LOL.

4) "They had a free period then which was supposed"...

Haha...comma problem again. There should be a comma before the "which". I think.

Wait, scratch that.

"They had a free period then which was supposed to be spent doing self-study but you’d have to be as crazy as a certain mathematics teacher in Ridgewood High to actually believe that you could trust a class of seventeen year olds to sit quietly at their seats studying the wonders of trigonometry and logarithms."

Er...enormously long sentence without any punctuation in between. *dies laughing* Scary...=P LOL. I think there's something wrong here.

5) “No, but definitely something tall-”

hm...someone, not something =)

6) "Hint taken."

Erm...I think "point taken" sounds better? *coughs*

Ok, ok. I know you're probably waving a sledgehammer while you're reading this right now (no guesses where it's heading towards)...so I'll just shut up now. Sorry for the nitpicking. =P but since I used to edit for you before you post, I'll still continue helping you to pick out mistakes, then.

Anyway...

gosh...*dies laughing again* What was the IPod thing, and apple stuff about?!?! *bish* I really need to bar you from gate-crashing next time. =P And seriously, Sherrie is really sounding like Sherry...even the looks. I mean, Sherry has frameless glasses too...yar. =P Mad girl, you two.

Ok...Matthew sounds really...nice so far, good sense of humor. XD

“Why don’t you ask the board? I’m sure it appreciated all that undivided attention.”

HAHAHA...maybe someone should say that to YOUR math teacher, huh? XD

Ack...I don't like Sherrie. Even though I'm okay with the real-life Sherry...the one in your story is a little too scary for me. *shudders*

"You’ll find that most teachers here in Ridgewood High seem to be on a permanent caffeine-high but Mrs Thatcher takes the term to new and catastrophic levels" LOL...love Jamie so far. Was actually quite surprised she got over her shock of seeing Matthew and the resemblance to Mike so quickly...and kinda got comfortable chatting with him so fast also...but I guess if he's similar to Mike (as seen from your summary), it'll be natural for Jamie to warm up to him since Mike was her best friend. Yup.

"They had a free period then which was supposed to be spent doing self-study but you’d have to be as crazy as a certain mathematics teacher in Ridgewood High to actually believe that you could trust a class of seventeen year olds to sit quietly at their seats studying the wonders of trigonometry and logarithms."

Spoken like a true expert indeed. =P Sometimes, I wonder just why teachers actually bother setting homework when they're absent, giving us free periods to do them, when they know perfectly well that all we're going to do is sit around and chit-chat. Weird. Then again, there's the key-word for you. T-E-A-C-H-E-R-S. ^^

"As much as Al felt that interrupting someone in mid-sentence was considerably rude, the pros and cons of what would follow had Matthew finished the sentence far outweighed simple manners…

Far outweighed…"

HAHAHAHAHAHA...so cute. Gosh, you're so mean to short people lor...And hope it's not directed at me, or any of the short people we know. GR...2 more cm and I'll be 160, you know. The 6, definitely looks better than a 5. -.- Sigh. Idiot. Bullying short people. Hmph. =P

"“Maddie had a brother who studied in this school before. He excelled in swimming and academics but he left the school last term,” Al explained as best he could, given their current situation. Though unnoticed by Matthew, he also gave Jamie’s hand a reassuring little squeeze."

AHH...so sad. oh man...but I'm kinda surprised that it's not a sensitive topic among this group of friends...cos usually, when a close friend dies...it'll normally become a very sensitive topic. Oh well...

"Palm-tops (the plant, not the actual electronic device), iPods (key chains, not the actual electronic device) and Apples (the fruit, not the brand name of said electronic devices) were some of the presents she suggested to a very exasperated trio."

...no comment.

o...haha, Nigel's so cute. So bratty. So little-brother like. HAHAHAHA...so childish somemore...10-years-old still so childish. Hai...

"waving the toy gun in his hand as an emphasis" and "“I didn’t lose to it! It was the one which self-destructed! Not I!”"

That's it. Nigel's my fave character so far... XD I'm serious.

Gosh...the guitar part was so sad. Esp the ending. Very well-written, this paragraph:

"Carefully and slowly, she strummed the first few chords of the song, commanding herself not to cry with each and every word she sang. However, all control and resolution broke as she reached the last lines of the first stanza and she couldn’t help but choke her way through them, leaving the lines and chords in broken shambles and disarrays…"

Ah! Really brought forward the emotions and sadness out...gosh. Great job! The lyrics are also really apt. =X

"My cookies… - pokes -"

You heard what I said before. After you finish watching the VCD =P

MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Great job, please update soon! ^^

wow. this story is so good. I can't wait to read more, I'm already entrigued.

oh gosh. I think I'm going to kill you now.

"never really did have much of a liking for jam and today in particular, it just seemed to sour the mood even more."

"Mike’s voice still rang clear in her mind. There were those times where he would purposely distort her name – pronouncing the first syllable as ‘jam’, then stretching the next to infinite proportions – just so to spite her. This, she recalled, would always warrant him a playful slap on the back until the time when he could easily outrun the raging ‘Jam-ie’ of course."

... you're dead. Seriously. AH!

LOl...okay, anyway...back to the chapter. Sherry and IPod Nano...lol. Were you so inspired by the gatecrashing of Comp Club last term? HAHAHA... mad la, you. But the whole IPod Nano thing was so random lor...

HAHA...the destroying of alarm clocks remind me of Vincent, seriously. HAHAHA...and the little brother is so cute! So...little brotherly. Reminds me of my little bro (baby cousin, the one who got drunk XD)...

Hm...anyway, this chapter is really good, gives an intro to all the characters, and Jamie's background and family. And we finally know how Michael died...gosh, so sad lor. Sadist la, you. And the part about Maddie and the three lines thing was so sad. :(

Mrs Thatcher reminds me of alot of teachers in our school, actually =X You should be able to guess who they are, right? ;)

Aha...Matthew. (gosh, it reminds me of Max and Jesse. ^^) But it's weird...like which crazy teacher introduces a student by his full name, complete with the middle name? Of course, it adds to the dramatic part...so yep.

Haha...the humor's good so far, very dry, and balances out all the sad points, for example, right after a sad part, then Jamie (gr...now I notice about her name) will say or do something quirky...yep, you get the idea, hey?

Lol...yay, shorter chaps. Not that longer chaps aren't good, they're just easier on the brain so far. Good pacing, great storyline, awesome start! Good job!

About the Michael's POV, I didn't really expect the rest of the story to be in his POV...yep. Cos, I mean...it's kinda weird right? It's ok in the case of the prologue, since prologues are supposed to be kinda quirky and weird and stuff. Though I'm not sure whether having his POV in further parts of the story will work. But hey, it's a cute idea, I'll just see how it turns out!

*sledgehammer* that was for the jam. AND my sledgehammer can defeat your squeaky mallet of doom anytime!

Let the power of Lincoln and Kennedy lead you on! UPDATE SOON! =) ^^ ;)

(Ok, I'm mad. And obsessed. And NO COOKIES. Because of the Jam thing. Hmph.)