Well I first wanted to start out by saying that a A/N of yours mentioned that you don't respond to negative comments because it doesn't bother you but you then went on and on repeatedly defending your work. Obviously negative feedback/comments do offend you and that's fine, it makes you human, there's no reason to make excuses about it. I just wanted to point out the fact that you were contradicting yourself and let you know that it is okay to be bothered by negative nancy's. Clearly the majority of the people who have read this story liked it and that speaks for itself. Was the story perfect in my opinion? No. But that's MY opinion and someone else will have their own opinion. All that matters is YOUR opinion, if you are happy with the story, then that is all that matters.

The whole rape or not rape talk: I wanted to point out that in your story you clearly say that while drunk, Nikki still remembered what happened but CHOOSES to ignore it. I think what this boils down to is geography. I think some readers are upset because in some states, if a girl is intoxicated and a minor, that is considered not only stachatory rape but rape period. At the same time in some states a 18 year old sleeping with a 16 year old isn't stachatory rape because at 16 they are considered able to make their own decisions and choices towards sex. I think the bottom line is... this is a work of fiction, not real events, and in said fictional event, the character did not feel she was raped. Yes she was hurt by his actions of taping it and treating her badly but she felt she slept with him willingly. That being said, even if the character felt she WAS raped, this is a fictional story and in being a story the author could have wrote that the character later killed the rapist, fall in love with the rapist, or dress like a chicken and sang twinkle twinkle little star to the rapist. Why? Because this is a story and in the realm of the authors imagination, anything can happen. If you don't like that, don't read the literary works of others.

Finally the review of the story: -Spoiler warning: dont read on if you dont wanna know some spoilers-

I thought it was a creative twist to a slightly cliche story (boy and girl have something in their past keeping them apart but they can't seem to stay away from each other).

I liked how dark you were willing to be, I hate when people try to play it safe so as to not get lynched by readers.

I appreciated that you made Derek such a prick to Nikki at first but I think the transition between "I hate her" to "She's okay" was too fast. I think they should have spent more time "in between" and had him play with Nikkis emotions more.

I liked that you sort of hinted about Katie maaaybe not being honest about being pregnant, or maybe it not being Dereks kid.

I like that in the end it WAS Dereks kid because it made the story more real. Too many writters are too preoccupied with making the reader happy and giving them what they want and that gets way to predictable. I hate predictable stories, I hate when you know from the very beginning whats going to end up happening and your story was definately not predictable.

I love that you made Nikki leave. So many writters would have gone for the easy "happily ever after" and had her put up with all the BS of Dereks reluctance to grow up and be honest and realize that although Katie is his baby mama, she's not his girlfriend. I think too many writters would have written it where Nikki stayed, put up with it, it wasn't easy but we made it through because he's worth it BS and I think that's a horrible message to give these young girls who read these romance stories. If it's not right, move on, care more about yourself then the other person. What it came down to, was that someone had to love Nikki enough to put her first and Derek wasn't able to do that (and thats okay too because he was young) so Nikki had to be that person to put herself first.

I loved the ending by the way. It was completely open to interpretation. It was the happy ending because if you wanted to imagine that Nikki and Derek end up back together and now that they are grown up and Cassidy is grown, they can finally be together without obstacles. At the same time, if you dont' want them together because you feel Derek blew his chances with Nikki and didn't deserve her, then that could have been a possibility as well, you could have just imagined that she harbored no ill feelings towards him and decided to help his daughter fulfill her dreams. That's personally how I imagined it because as far as Im concerned, I wouldn't give him a chance now. He kept lying and not letting Katie get between them and repeating the same mistake over and over, letting Katie manipulate him and now that the daughters grown and all that and it would be easy, if he wanted a second chance, I'd say no. Especially since he ended up marrying Katie, even though it didn't work out I couldn't respect him for that. When they broke up in high school and he went back with Katie, there would have been no going back for me after that.

However I have to admit that there's one thing I'd change about the ending, I hate that Nikki didn't have any kids. I would have personally have preferred she had maybe been married shortly and had a child. It's just a little sad that she has her dogs picture on her desk and has no life of her own outside of her work. I know she didn't want to be in love again but I'd personally have forced myself to move on just in spite of the guy who didn't do me right. But Im stubborn like that soooo lol.

Enjoyed the story, look forward to reading more. Sorry this review is a novella :D. ~Aloha~

This was amazing. It had me on edge and i found it difficult to tear my eyes away (seriously i was up til 5 am attempting to finish it. didn't work...). I love how you ended it and I'm glad you didn't use the cliche where girl gets boy at last minute and they live happily ever after. This ending was perfect. Fantastic job on such an amazing story. If it ever becomes a book, I'd definitely buy it :)

I wanted to start off by saying that this was such a great and unique story. I loved it from the beginning until the end. It such a great read because it is just so different from anything else out there. I applaud your creativity ). I also wanted to ask if you planned on doing a follow-up to this story. It would be great to find out how everything ties together in the end...but maybe it's just wishful thinking on my end.

So, thank you very much for putting this story up. Truly a great read. I am excited and I am looking forward to reading your posted stories and being alerted on new ones. Thanks again!

I absolutely loved this story! I have to admit this was the first story I had no idea how it would end and I was on the edge of my sit the whole time. I don't have an account yet, but planning on it. Just curious, if there will be a sequel to this story? Great story again!

Wait...did Andy ever see the car? If he didn't, how did he know about one, the other, or both?

I must say, when I started reading this story I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I found myself getting quite into it as it developed. I love your development, and I especially love how this story ended. I thought it was very potent. It was a pleasure to read :)

i absolutely love it, and i really think u shud do a sequel...it would have been nyc for them to have met again - maybe not necessarily fall in love, but let her let go of something shes been holding on to...

I'm so happy I stumbled across this story!

It's the best I've read, beautifully written. I don't see how anyone could have a problem with it.

I absolutely enjoyed this, great job!

(And I'm serious when I said it's the best I've read) :)

This was the absolutly BEST story i have ever read in my life! not kidding i laughed, got mad, cried (alot by the way)it was sssssssssssooooooooo good. And i commend you on your awsome writing skills! the only thing i wish is that it had a more romantic ending where Derek suddenly popped up but i realize this is more realistic. But anyway still the best story EVER! :)

I kno I should have reviewed in the last few chapter,but I was really busy reading it it was that good. I can't wait to read the rest. :D

Great Story! If you change your mind, I would love to see a sequel. These two definately deserve a happy ending together, in my opinion.

*sighs* So brilliant... There better be a sequel... *the sound of clicking is heard* Damnit...

I highly doubt this is how interviews go on in real life. Plus, it's illegal to ask personal questions from an interviewee. And in big publishing firms there are hiring managers to do all the interviewing, and all the big shots only interview people up for important positions. I don't think they even interview interns, they evaluate resumes and then might give a call or something.

I have to say this first... I love you! xD This was one of the best stories I've read... But I also hate you! For not letting Nikki and Derek end up together... Still I love this story and even though I didn't like how you didn't put them togehter, it was the perfect ending, leaving readers with a REALLY important question for them to answer themselves: The story ended but Nikki and Derek didn't end. You left us off with something to think about and I love... and hate how you did that. :) I like to think that Nikki and Derek DO end up together after the epilogue... ;)

Thanks soo much for writing this story and you're a great author.

Good job on this and I wish the best of luck for your other stories! :)

xoxo JCqueen

O my goodness. I cannot even begin to say how I love this story. I love the writing, I love the characters, I love how things flow and go along, I love how the people turn out: Realistically. I cannot even begin to say how much I hate it when an author suddenly changes their character's mind/personality halfway through the story so they can have the ending they want. Nikki went back and forth in her head some, but she was always Nikki. She made mistakes but they were hers and they suited her; she didn't just up and do something weird for no reason, and I love that. She was like a real person, and so was Derek and Alex and the others. They felt all the pain and hurt and joy that goes with real life and they acted like real people, like their real selves would. And that made everything fit into place.

This story was incredible and it felt so real and full of emotion, don't be worried though! I'm not getting all confused about what's reality and what's fiction! XD. But I could easily follow along and be causght up in all the pain that came with what happened. That just means the story was so well written and lifelike that people can relate. After all who wants a Mary-Sue to be happy and perfect all the time? People may like to read happy endings because they make us happy but we don't like it to be so fake and plastic. A world of Barbies is for little kids not reality. And that's why I'm glad the story ended the way it did. With all the crap going on it just really wouldn't have been quite possible for Nikki and Derek to be together through all that. So I'm glad she left, I'm glad she was strong enough to move on and get better and build herself up and go grab the world. And to satisfy the little romantic part of me that crys since they couldn't be together, the ending is left open in such a way that they might possibly meet again and be happy the second time around.

So to continue on with my babbling novel-type review, I just wanted to say that your story is awesome and your character Nikki is incredible in her strength to move on after being torn apart and I admire that since I have to say that I'm a little like Nikki. I think Love is the best and scariest thing in the world. Being the strongest emotion and the one most easily turned into other much more bitter feelings, but that's why when you have it you should hold onto it, but if it sours and turns bad you have to let it go. This story expresses that very well and I'm glad to have read it. I do hope that if it ever came down to it, I and every other girl or guy would be strong enough to walk away and leave the 'sour' love behind.

So not to sound too dramatic or sad because even though it made me cry a little since its so lifelike, this story also makes me happy and hopeful. :) I hope this review assures you of your writing talent and the 'coolness' of this story.

signed, Someone who writes, someone who lives, someone who someday hopes to love, and someone who hopes to have the strength to survive life and love and be happy and more alive from it. 3