Cian+L.

C ian L. S.E Hinton - That Was Then, This Is Now

=== 1. Bryon and Mark are two sixteen year old, foster brothers who are best friends. They live with Bryon's mother in the rough part of town and pool hustle to make money. ===

=== 2. The two young people that Bryon meets at the hospital are Cathy, M&M's older sister who is working in the cafeteria. Byron also meets Mike Chambers, a teenager, who got beaten up after he helped save a black girl from his own dangerous gang. ===

=== 3. Bryon has a great relationship with Charlie, he looks up to and respects Charlie and loves him even though he can't bring himself to tell him that. Charlie is a good positive influence on Bryon and tries to get him to stop pool hustling, get cleaned up and get a job. ===

=== 4. At the dance Marks gets hit with a bottle on his head when he was a little high, and tried to stop the guy Angela had hired to beat up Ponytail Curtis. Bryon ends up taking him to the hospital where he gets a lot of stitches in his head. ===

=== 5. In his private conversations with Mark, Byron discovers that Mark really loves Byron and considers him his true brother. Byron also discovers that Mark likes to live in the past, and does not want things to change. Byron is now upset when Mark steals the principal's car but Mark still thinks he can get away with anything. Byron is growing up and changing but Mark is not. ===

=== 6. Charlie got shot and died saving Byron and Mark from getting beaten or killed by two Texans they had pool hustled. Byron is upset and remorseful for putting Charlie in the situation that killed him. Mark considers the situtaion, just life and out of their control. ===

=== 7. Cathy thinks Mark has beautiful hair, but she really doesn't understand him and Mark tells her to stop analyzing him. Mark is hostile towards Cathy because she is sensible and mature and is taking Byron away from him. Regardless of these feelings Mark did beat up a guy who insulted Cathy. ===

=== 8. When Angela is drunk Mark cuts off her beautiful long hair to revenge the beating he got when she setup Ponytail Curtis. Byron feels bad for Angela but Mark has no pity or remorse for his actions. ===

=== 9. In chapter seven Byron begins to discover that Mark does not care about anyone only Byron, nothing leaves a mark. He is not upset about, his parents shooting each other, Charlie getting shot or M&M missing. Byron now knows that nothing affects Mark. He also sees that people admire Mark because he is fearless like a lion. ===

=== 10. At Terry Jones' house, Byron gets beaten up badly by Angela's brothers, to revenge the cutting of Angela's hair by Mark. Byron has changed and now does not want to get revenge for his beating. He is tired of all the fighting ahd wants it to stop. Mark is eager to get the Shepard brothers back and does not understand Byron's feelings! ===

=== 11. In chapter nine M&M takes an over dose of the drug LSD. He gets rescued by Byron and Cathy and mentally will never be the same again. Byron is very upset about what happened to M&M he cries and is really sorry for the sweet, innocent kid. ===

=== 12. In chapter ten Bryon makes the shocking discovery in Mark's bedroom while he was searching for cigarettes that Mark is selling drugs. Byron is so distraught and disgusted with Mark for selling drugs, because of what happened to M&M that he calls the police and Mark is arrested. ===

=== 13. Byron's relationship with his friends and his attitude toward life completely change. He has no interest in life or his friends. He feels like he is numb, in a blurr, going through life like a machine with no feelings. Byron doesn't love Cathy anymore and hated himself for giving up Mark to the police. ===

=== 14. Byron feels so mixed up that he doesn't care about life anymore. He keeps thinking "what if?". Byron has no answers for how things turned out so bad for him and Mark. Byron wants to be a kid again when he had all the answers and he and Mark were one. ===

=== 15. I really enjoyed reading this book. I could relate to both Byron and Mark. Byron had a loving mother and a good home life and therefore I think this helped him to grow, mature and make good decisions. Mark had a traumatic homelife when his parents shot each other, this affected his ability to grow, mature and make good decisions. Mark just lived in the moment and didn't learn about consequences for his bad actions. As a result the only person he really loved was Byron. ===