Almost 26K into draft two....

I am at page 34, and just finished the scene that was on page 38 in the first draft, which is the turning point in the first third of the tale. I still need a lot more B-plots but plan to weave those in once Qirjin does his reveal of not being all that normal soon, which will be a nice juxtaposition with the weird stuff seeping into the story. So far Jonas has bit his tongue at the odd things Qirjin has gone or refuses to talk about but that point is about to end and the story shift gears. The fun part about the relationship building between both boys is that they are both aware of how unlikely it is on the surface -- become friends quickly, and within two weeks become more than that -- and both are leery of that. Jonas is convinced he'd abused Qirjin's friendship/trust of him, while Qirjin is terrified that he somehow used his gift of wishing to make Jonas fall in love with him. That both explanations are partially right will only add to the fun as the story goes on.

As a narrative level,the story is becoming about the gifted, how they're hidden and just how much Qirjin simply doesn't know or never actually thought about. What seems to be common sense to someone on the outside (i.e. how DO the gifted really hide themselves?) is something he's never thought of since to him that's just how the gifted live and the way the world is. The worldview of all the characters will be nicely shaken up and how they deal with it, and an antagonist who has actually not shown up yet at all, should prove interesting. Even if I am probably breaking rules in that the antagonist has yet to be mentioned by name -- his younger sibling has shown up briefly, but Qirjin hasn't been able to explain what she is to anyone else, or even knows what is going on himself.

Now, however: work!