Billy Hargrove might rule the corridors of Hawkins High as the bully. Yet, behind closed doors at home, he's the victim, tormented by his own father. His mother abandoned him, so he has no defender against his abuser.
But at school, Steve Harringto...
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Steve can only watch with a heavy heart, as Nancy disappears into the night, leaving him alone with his secret. The weight of his untold truth presses down on him, a burden he's carried for too long. Yet, it's a burden he can't release.
Nancy is the only ex-girlfriend he still remains friends with. He pretended he got over her, and the fact that she started dating Jonathan so soon after she dumped him. He also stopped acting like an arrogant jerk, which was the main reason why she left him.
Steve and Nancy are friends, and he doesn't want to lose that.
The hateful words of his father replay in his mind, the news story of the young man attacked and hospitalised, the way society seems to turn against those who are ... different. In the conservative town of Hawkins, being gay isn't just taboo. It's dangerous.
What if Nancy hates him for it? What if his friends turn away, his family disowns him? The potential consequences are too great, the risks too terrifying.
Steve grips the steering wheel tightly. He knows he has to keep his secret safe, but at what cost?
The haunting realisation that he might have just lost a friend settles over him. He feels a sense of loss, of isolation, of a future filled with loneliness and fear. Yet, he made the only choice he could, given the circumstances.
As Steve's thoughts delve deeper, another layer of secrecy emerges. Two major secrets ... both holding me in chains. One tied to his past mistakes and the other to his very identity.
Steve often catches himself wishing he could just be honest. Not just about Caleb, but about who he truly is. To not flinch at questions or comments that hint at romance or attraction, at every mention of girlfriends.
Is this the life I'm doomed to lead?
A maze of lies and secrets?
One day, will the weight of it all become too much?
Would the people that Steve cares about ever accept him and understand him, if they knew all of him?
******
Nancy makes her way into the cold embrace of the night. She continues her internal debate. Her anger surges.
How dare he?
How could he keep something from me, reject me like that, and then just leave me out here?
The wind howls through the barren trees, cutting through her coat and stinging her tear-streaked face.
The cold rejection in Steve's car swells inside her like a scream.
Doubt and insecurity grip her chest. Questions without answers swirl in her mind.
Had she been wrong to feel that connection with Steve again?
The mystery of what he's hiding, the refusal to kiss her, it all points to a part that scares her. Not because of what it might be, but because of what it represents—a barrier between them that she doesn't know how to overcome.
She needs to find out what is Steve hiding.
Nancy's return home is marked by an oppressive silence. Her father has fallen asleep on the couch, and the kitchen lights hint at her mother being there. Nancy stalks after her bedroom without announcing her presence.
She crawls into bed, the sheets cold and uninviting. She can't shake the feeling that she lost a part of herself. The girl who had laughed, loved, and trusted seems like a stranger now. In her place is someone broken by the very people she opened her heart to.
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