And They Say, "Äll's Fair, In Love and War" is story where Megan in high school, dealing with her mom (who is struggling with her role as a single mother) and a relationship with a delinquent. The story reaches a climax when Megan fights her mom in the parking lot outside her high school. I wasn't sure how I felt about the opening paragraph. It worked fine, but I feel like the story would have been served better by starting after the first line break. It still sets up the story, but doesn't give away the climax and it also grabs attention more since there are things happening/characters being introduced and not just a personal reflection. The description of Shawn's crimes is pretty funny, very dry humor. I couldn't really figure out the relationship with Shawn, however. There are times when Megan mentions romanticism and love and even an engagement, but there is no display of emotion between the two. She even says "There weren't any tears of happiness, or even a joyous embrace."
The build to the climax was well done, it took two nearly and a half pages of build from when I realized they were going to fight until the initial strike landed, but it was all a good rise. I do wish there had been a bit more dialogue surrounding the mom's confrontation with Shawn as once again, I feel like this is a strength here that is under-utilized. I really liked how the fight doesn't play out at all like how she thought it would in her head. There is a lot of weak attempts at strikes, and as Megan begins scraping her mother with her cleats, her mom grabs her by the hair. This was my favorite part. Megan realizes, "Oh, shit. This is why girls pull hair in fights..." I got a little confused towards the end when she's talking about the Spanish teacher, but I liked the story overall
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