Junior Year Box Set

Inner Circle: Mom and Dad / Greg / Uncle John / Grandma Dawson.

I felt that I needed to add some people, but they weren’t quite at the level that included my family. These were people I felt were in my corner, and I could tell them anything, and it would be kept in confidence. They just were my inner circle, like my family was.

Inner Circle / Nonfamily: Peggy / Beth / Mrs. A / Mrs. Glade / Pam / Cassidy / Suzanne / Kara.

My middle circle would be people I trusted and liked, some a lot. With time, they could move up. Maybe one of them might someday work their way into the family level of trust. These people I considered my best friends.

Middle Circle: Tracy / Tami / Wolf / Tim / Zoe / Rita / Halle / Brook / Paul / Fritz / Yuri.

I decided to refine the list and add people I thought I could trust most times but hadn’t quite earned it yet. These were people I imagined would eventually work their way to the Middle.

Middle Circle Level 2: Phil / Roc / Caryn / Sandy Range / Frank Ingram / Adrienne and Tyler / Ms. Dixon / Kendal / Mary Dole / Granny / Johan / Moose / Coach Mason / Coach Haskins / Bo Harrington / Lily / Chuck / Sarah / Kat / Harper / Missy / Megan Crowley / Little Tony.

I admit I struggled a bit with where to place Little Tony. After all, I didn’t really know him that well. But as I thought about him, I realized that Middle Circle 2 was where he belonged, for a variety of reasons. Although he could be scary at times, so could my mom, and all of our interactions to date had been positive. He’d shown up to support me when there was no need for him to do so. While Tony had admitted to being part of a Mafia family, he was working on getting them going straight. And I didn’t know of anything he’d done that was criminal, only that his father had, and Tony was working to fix that. He was on my side against Brandon Rigby, and as the old saying goes, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’

In the end, I remembered what Uncle John had told me about trusting my gut. My gut told me I could trust Tony.

The outer circle was made of people who I could trust in certain situations, but who didn’t necessarily have my best interests in mind. They would do what was best for them if our interests ever came into conflict.

Outer Circle: Coach Hope / Teammates like Ty, Jake, and Ed / Classmates like Jan and Lisa / Mona / Chubby Feldman / Eve / Cindy / Tom Dole / Devin Range / Flo / Jane / Kevin Goode.

Business Circle: Mr. Morris / Mr. Hill / Saul (?).

Then there was everyone else.

Outside the Circle—Top Half: Community and acquaintances / Ford Models / Acting colleagues.

The next group was the people I had to have my guard up for, at least a little.

Outside the Circles—Bottom Half: The media / Strangers approaching me at parties.

That one sucked. Who wants to evaluate people approaching them as if they’re potentially hostile? That was a place where I needed to trust my instincts.

Then there were the people who meant me harm.

Not Trusted (Bottom Circles—Innermost): Alan Douglas / Tommy Cox / Bill Rogers / Brandon Rigby / Brad Hope / Luke Herndon / Mike Herndon / Baby Dick / The feminazis.

Finally, there were those people who were nice enough but who likely would throw me to the wolves without thinking twice if it served their interests.

Bottom Circles—Outermost; Under-the-Bus Types: Cal / Angie / Sasha / Thomas Fox / Deb Thomas / Don Rigby / Roy Thompson.

I took a breather and got a soda and then came back to the list. I was finding the exercise enlightening. It helped me see where I felt people fell in my life. I sat back down and got back to work.

Now, for a plan for dealing with them.

Me: Trust myself / Get advice from trusted advisors for blind spots, weaknesses, areas of inexperience.

Innermost Family Circle: Trust them and love them. Be aware of their blind spots or areas where family or others came first to them. Make accommodations for those areas.

Innermost Friends Circle: Be good to them. Keep them close. Let them know I trust them and that I care about them a lot. Let them know they can trust me as well.

Best Friends Circle: Treat them much the same as Innermost Friends Circle. Consider it long and hard before getting them involved with anything inside my boundaries. To do that, I’d almost have to move them up to the Innermost Friends Circle.

Middle Circle 2: Friends who aren’t as close: Treat them like those in my Best Friends Circle. Get to know them better.

Business People: Be friendly, be helpful. Remember that while I’m in it for the long term, it’s still business.