About Prove It
by Chris Owen
178 pages / 51000 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-253-8
Ebook zipped file contains -
html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub, and paperback
Warren and Silas meet for the first time at the age of five. It doesn't
go well.
When they reach junior high they have a truce in place and Tal, a new guy in
their class, acts as a catalyst, bringing them together as best friends.
Together all through high school, they survive school plays, Tal's
girlfriends, Silas' boyfriend and Warren's endless studying. College is more
of the same, until Silas and Tal coax Warren out of the closet.
For Warren nothing changes, but for Silas the world has unexpectedly changed
forever. He had no idea he was in love with his best friend at all, and when
he finally tells Warren the reaction is another surprise.
Prove it.
Warren knows all about Silas, knows the tricks, the games, the very best and
the very worst about him, and Warren loves him back. But Warren also knows
that if they're going to be together it's got to be forever, and he can't
just risk everything for what might be another one of Silas' whims.
Silas has to prove he loves Warren, and he wants to do just that. But how do
you win the heart of someone who knows you better than anyone else?
Review
Tory Temple, author of Heat and Flashover, writes: When you’ve known
someone since pre-school, there are certain things you have the privilege of
understanding about them. Such is the relationship between Warren Geddis and
Silas Cook. Two friends who have grown up together, the boys have seen each
other at their lowest and highest points, witnessed relationships, shared
common and uncommon interests, and pretty much navigated their way through
school on their separate but entwined paths. When Talbot Pelto comes along
during middle school, he manages to slide easily into Silas’ and Warren’s
friendship. So then there are three.
Prove It is like watching the plot of your favorite movie develop. There are
surprises and unexpected twists in the relationship between Silas and
Warren, and Tal is always there to help things along when it seems his
friends need it. I loved watching their friendship grow and flourish into
the inevitable. As usual, Chris Owen’s writing paints a beautiful picture of
the emotion that flows through the characters and you understand their
motivation immediately. The story is well balanced and very real. The
complexity of the leading men added to my enjoyment of the book, and by the
end, I felt as if I knew these people intimately. I’m always partial to
clean writing and a story that makes me cheer, and Prove It doesn’t
disappoint. Consider this one a must-read.
Sample
"We'll be here all night at this rate." Warren fell
back in his chair, jamming against Silas' hand. "Hey!"
"Sorry." Silas adjusted his position. "So, I think I've got my mom talked
around to letting me get that new game I was telling you about, with the..."
His voice trailed off and Warren turned his head to see why. Then he nudged
Tal.
Silas was watching a young man walk past them and up the steps of the stage.
"Who is that?" he asked, his head tilting slightly to the side. "I don't
recognize him."
Warren shrugged. "Someone's brother?" The guy had on a college hoodie and
there were car keys dangling loosely from his fingers. "Does it matter?"
"Apparently," Tal murmured. He lifted his chin at Silas and Warren turned
around in his seat to look.
Silas was staring as the newcomer crossed the stage. Sherilynn broke away
from Madison to talk to him, apparently protesting his presence. Warren
wouldn't say that Silas' eyes were bugging out, exactly, but his mouth was
literally slack-jawed and he was watching intently. Then he blinked rapidly,
three times and once more, and his face lost all color. He went white in an
instant, so fast that Warren was alarmed into reaching for him, but then
Silas' eyes narrowed and the color came back to stain his cheeks red. Silas
nodded sharply, apparently to himself, and stood up. "So. All right, then."
Sherilynn went back to Madison and the young man came down the steps,
pausing at the bottom to scan the rows of seats. He blinked and rocked back
a little when he spotted the three of them, or maybe it was just Silas. Then
he smiled and went to sit at the other end of the front row.
"What the hell?" Warren stopped talking, his own jaw going slack as Silas
marched past him, all the way down the row and took the seat right next to
the stranger. Within seconds they were shaking hands and smiling at each
other, chatting away with no apparent awkwardness.
"Well," Tal said slowly. "That was interesting. If only it worked that way
with girls."
Warren stared at him.
"Look." Tal lifted his chin again, this time toward the piano. The girl in
the middle of the group was looking at them. As soon as she saw them looking
back her eyes dropped and she giggled at the girl next to her. "That's
Gabrielle Verner. She's hot."
Warren looked at Gabrielle. She was smallish and blonde and had darkly lined
eyes. She appeared to be clean, and her hair was shiny. "I guess." Warren
looked down the row to where Silas was talking with his hands and the guy
was laughing, clearly charmed.
"And yet," Tal said, "I can't just go up there and talk to her. She's got a
posse, for one."
"And you've got a girlfriend, for two."
"There is that." Tal grinned at him. "Or whatever we are. I haven't seen her
in a couple of days."
The posse at the piano broke up and two of them headed to the director.
Gabrielle, however, was on a direct path to Tal and Warren.
Tal sat up straight and became intensely interested in a speck of dust on
his shoe. Warren snuck another look down the row to see Silas on his feet
and the guy smiling up at him, nodding at something Silas was saying.
"Hi, Tally." She giggled and walked right past them. "Warren." She
pronounced it "worn".
"Hi, Gabrielle." Tal looked up and smiled at her, watching as she walked all
the way around to the stage left stairs and back up to meet her friends.
"I have to go." Warren stood up, his notes clutched tightly in his hand.
"Tell..." He had to think and try to order his thoughts, prioritizing his
words and putting a sentence in order. "Tell Mr. Howell that I had to go
home, but I'll come in tomorrow morning before school to clean up and make
sure the props are done."
Tal was looking up at him, his lips pursed. "And what do I tell Silas?"
"Nothing to tell." There wasn't. "Tell him to call me after supper. Or you
guys come over. Whatever." He nodded. "Come over after supper. We have to
get through that history stuff. Okay?"
"Okay." Tal gave him a long look. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He was about to fly apart.