GiannaD

__** 1. Who are Bryon and Mark? **__

 * Bryon and Mark are the main characters from this book, and they are both sixteen years old. Bryon and Mark aren't actually related. Since Bryon's mom adopted Mark when he was a little boy, the two boys have been best friends ever since then. Mark and Bryon are different because Bryon is known as a big tough guy and is well feared by many neighborhood kids. Whereas Mark certainly does not display the tough guy image and is much small and slender in size. **

__** 2. Who are the two young people Bryon meets at the hospital? **__


 * Bryon meets Cathy, who is M&M's older sister. Bryon also meets this other boy his age in the hospital named Mike Chambers. Bryon met Cathy when he went to the restaurant in the hospital and Cathy was his waitress. Bryon met Mike Chambers after he ate his food from the hospital restaurant and went to Mike's room in search of Mark, who was visiting Mike. **

__** 3. What kind of relationship does Bryon have with Charlie? **__


 * Bryon and Charlie have a very close relationship. Bryon once dated Charlie's younger sister and their relationship never changed after the break-up. Another reason is that Bryon and Charlie still see each other very often, especially because Charlie lets Bryon play pool at his bar. Also, Charlie said he would trust Bryon with his wife, if he had one. Bryon looks up to Charlie as a role model because Charlie is successful at his bar. **

__** 4. What happened at the dance? **__


 * Bryon took Cathy as a date to his school dance and he happens to run into his ex-girlfriend, Angela. Then, a little while after that Curtis and Mark were just sitting on top of the car, when all of a sudden this guy attacked Curtis and Mark. Mark got hurt because some guy went to attack Curtis and Mark went out to help Curtis. That's when the guy slammed Mark with a beer bottle on his forehead. Right after that happened, Curtis came and found Bryon to bring him to help Mark. When Bryon finds Mark he was lying on the floor unconscious and one side of his face was covered in blood. Bryon was in shock by the incident and tried not to panic. One of the cops at the dance had put the fighter who beat up Mark, **** which they found out was set-up by Angela, **** in handcuffs. Bryon was so nervous about Mark, so he stayed with Mark in the ambulance and at the hospital. When it was all over Bryon took Mark home and Mark rested for a while. **

__** 5 .What does Bryon begin to discover in his private conversations with Mark? **__


 * Through Bryon's private conversations with mark he discovers how Mark really feels about Bryon's family. Mark considers Bryon as a brother since Bryon was always there for him, especially the whole time when Mark was in the Emergency Room. However, Mark states that he doesn't feel like Bryon's mom is like his mom even though he thinks she treats him great. Mark considers Bryon as his family, and the only family he has. Also, Mark brought up the conversation of how their gang started to split up. For example, Mark said back then they were all like brothers and they would've died for each other, but now that has definitely changed. **

__** 6.What happened to Charlie? How do Bryon and Mark feel about it? **__


 * After Mark and Bryon left Charlie's Bar, they heard someone calling them to come into the dark alley. It was Dirty Dave and the other Texan, the guy Bryon hustled at pool. When Bryon and Mark went into the alley, one of the Texans pointed a gun at Mark and Bryon. Then Dirty Dave was about to give Bryon and Mark a lesson when all of a sudden Charlie came to their rescue. Just as the Texan fired the gun at them, Charlie dove toward Bryon and Mark and he tackled them to the ground to protect them. As a result, Charlie was shot right above his left eye and was pronounced dead at the scene. **


 * For the first couple of weeks after Charlie's death, Bryon felt as if he was slowing down and everybody else was speeding up. For example, his mother finally recovered and returned home after being in the hospital for a while and his ex-gilrfriend, Angela, got married. However, Bryon had a hard time moving forward with his life. He wouldn't talk to anybody about the event besides Mark and Cathy. Bryon considers Charlie's death a big deal because Bryon feels that it was their fault that Charlie died in the first place. Additionally, Bryon states that Charlie had a successful business and had his whole life ahead of him. He was all set and Mark and Bryon just ruined all of it. Bryon kept thinking about how Charlie told him to be careful when he was hustling the Texan at pool. However, Mark feels that things happen in life and there's nothing much to do about the situation. **

__** 7. What do Mark and Cathy think of each other? **__


 * Mark and Cathy don't like each other. Cathy does not like Mark because she thinks Mark is rude. She also told him that she's not sure what to make of him. Mark does not like Cathy because he feels that she is always analyzing him and she is constantly bugging him. Also, Lastly, Mark and Cathy became jealous because they both want to spend more time with Bryon. **

__** 8. What does Mark do to Angela? Why? **__


 * After Angela falls asleep on Bryon's shoulder at the lake, Mark began to cut off Angela's hair. Mark cut all of Angela's hair since she set up Curtis and Mark at the dance, almost killing Mark! When Mark was finished cutting off all Angela's hair, he tied it up very neatly. After he was all finished, Bryon thought that even with all her hair cut off and with her black make-up smeared all down her face, Angela was still beautiful and will always be! **

__** 9. In chapter seven, what does Bryon begin to discover about his good friend Mark? **__


 * In chapter seven, Bryon begins to discover that he and Mark are drifting further and further apart from each other, and they both realize it. Mark feels like the older they get, the more he's losing Bryon. In addition, Bryon discovered that the reason why his parents shot each other was because of Mark. Mark told Bryon that one day he was under the porch, when he heard his parents fighting about how Mark's eyes didn't come from either of his parents genes. Also, Bryon and Mark both have been contributing money to the household, but Bryon thinks that Mark is getting the money from gambling. **

__** 10. What happens to Bryon at Terry Jones’ house? How does his attitude change? **__


 * When Bryon first got to Terry Jones' house, nobody was there. So Bryon decided to wait for them to return home when all of a sudden, Angela's two brothers, Curly and Tim, came up to Bryon. Curly and Tim knew what happened that night with Angela, so Bryon decided to actually tell them the truth for once. Bryon had told Curly and Tim that it was a bad mistake and that he was sorry that it happened. However, they were angry with Bryon so they took turns punching Bryon, while their friends pinned back Bryon's arms so he was vulnerable. Bryon's attitude changed because he told Mark that he didn't want Mark to get even with the boys that had beaten him up. Bryon thought that it has gone on long enough and wants it to stop because the the getting-even just keeps going around in circles, and Bryon just wanted it to stop! **

__** 11. In chapter nine, what happens to M&M? Why does this move Bryon? **__


 * When Bryon and Cathy get to the free-lovers' house, M&M was having hallucinations from the LSD drug. M&M kept mentioning hallucinations about large spiders that were eating his stomach and holding him down. M&M would try to jump out the window, and he became more suspicious and scared of his surroundings. Bryon is moved because he always thought M&M was a good kid and he never thought M&M would do drugs or anything like that. In fact, Bryon even considered M&M somewhat of a little brother. Also, I think Bryon took this side of M&M kind of shocking because M&M never acted like this before or did anything like this before! Another thing is, M&M keeps accusing Bryon and Cathy of begin spiders and, therefore, he does not want to see them. **

__** 12. What shocking discovery does Bryon make in Mark’s bedroom (chapter 10)? What does he do? **__


 * After Bryon got home from the hospital, he wanted to smoke a cigarette and remembered that Mark had them stashed under his mattress. But when Bryon reached under the mattress, he didn't grab at packs of cigarettes but a long cylinder-like container instead. To Bryon's surprise, he found hundreds of little pills that came rolling out. At that moment, Bryon figured out that Mark made his money by selling drugs. It all made sense to Bryon at that moment. He then realized why Mark knew about the hippies' house and how Mark even knew the hippies. From that shock Bryon was feeling, the only thing he thought to do was to call the Police. So, he did just that! **

__** 13.How does Bryon’s relationship with his friends and his attitude toward life completely change? **__


 * Mark and Bryon's relationship was destroyed when Bryon called the Police on Mark and got him arrested. At the trial, Mark would not even look at Bryon, and said that he would never forgive him for what he did. When Bryon visited Mark in the Juvenile prison, Mark was very angry with Bryon. When Bryon mentioned something about them being brothers, Mark laughed and said "That was then and this is now". Mark also told Byon that he never wanted to see him ever again and, therefore, Bryon never went to visit Mark in prison again. **


 * After Bryon got Mark arrested and Cathy came to visit Bryon, he ruined their relationship because all the feelings he had towards Cathy were all gone. As a matter of fact, he didn't love her anymore and she didn't love him either. Also, he never called Cathy again and she knew he wouldn't. Cathy also started to go out with Curtis, so all Bryon's chances with Cathy were gone. **


 * Bryon and M&M's relationship will never be the same either because Bryon feels that M&M makes him feel sad and upset. Bryon thought to himself that he wouldn't even mind if he didn't run into M&M ever again. Before everything happened, Bryon practically considered M&M a little brother to him, and they will never have that relationship ever again. **


 * Bryon changed his life completely because now he went from loving all of these people and having them be a big part of his life, to losing all of them and hating the people he loved the most. Unfortunately, Bryon now does not really have anybody in his life except his mom, who he's not even close to. I don't think Bryon will ever be the same and will never forgive himself for what he did to lose the people in his life that meant that world to him. **

__** 14. How does Bryon feel at the end of the book? **__


 * At the end of the book, **** Bryon feels too mixed up to worry about caring for people, and he wishes that he was the kid he used to be when he had all the answers to his problems. He wishes he could go back to that time so he could fix everything he did wrong and not live his life thinking about "What if" and everything he could have done instead. **

__** 15. What do you think about this book and what life message does it teach? **__


 * I thought this book was a fantastic book. it was very dramatic and emotional. This book taught me and explained how life was for teens and how they delt with their lives. I found that the time line of the story was very unpredictable because you would never guess what was going to happen next. I think the main message in this book is that the relationship of people can change over time and as a result of how they treat each other. Like Mark would do, we should live our life while we can, but we should deal with our problems as they arise rather than just cast them aside like Mark did. We should also be like Bryon, and do what we feel is right, and not what others feel is right. For example, Bryon called the Police on Mark because that's what he felt was best for his friend Mark. Change happens all the time and we should make the best of it. Lastly, this book taught me how lucky I am that I have enough money just to do pointless stuff. For example, going bowling or to the movies. Kids today really take what we have for granted and don't really appreciate it as much as the teens in this book would have. Bryon and Mark had to help bring in money to help Bryon's mom; whereas, most kids today don't have to work or worry about money. They just rely on their parents to make the money for their households. Those are all of my thoughts regarding this book. **