Timidly

12 | when he confesses

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Costello P.O.V

COMPARING DONNA TO anyone is impossible. She is her own person, a girl blossoming into a gorgeous young woman that any man would be lucky to have.

I know this. I remember our meeting in The Mirror Garden, how her eyes trailed over me like I was a sculptor and she a curious observer. I remember trying to play it cool through our first conversation, and then gushing like a schoolboy when arriving home. Nina keeps reminding me of this.

When someone can make you feel joyful, and thankful to wake up the next day in hopes of seeing their face, it's love.

Even if I've never seen Donna naked, she is still art. Even if we've never been intimate, It wouldn't change my feelings for her. One night tangled in the sheets would only strengthen our bond, not change it.

Maybe we're not offical, maybe this could only last for the remainder of the summer, but as a writer, it's obvious.

I love Donna.

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I MENTALLY THANK Aaleigha for everything as she collects her things. Straightening her pencil skirt and grabbing the clipboard, Aaleigha rubs my back, smoothing out the tension.

"Don't forget, there is always someone in this universe who cares about you-" She says this with pure genuine and heart.

"See you later, kid" Giving me the most non-subtle wink, Aaleigha disappears out of the room, leaving Costello and I in an eerie silence. He fiddles with his fingers, a habit I struggle with when nervous.

"You really scared me..." His voice is quiet and weak, the opposite of typical Costello. When his gaze reaches mine, tears glisten in his eyes, threatening to spill.

"I know...and I promise it will never happen again. I momentarily forgot about everyone who made me happy, and instead focused on the reasons I hate my life"

Costello settles in the purple-fabric seat Aaleigha previously occupied, taking my hand in his. He squeezes tightly, but not for me; for him. I patiently watch as Costello collects his thoughts. He looks me dead in the eye, his mouth ajar. It's obvious he's going to tell me something.

"I had a Manny when I was your age-" Costello pauses, shaking in his seat. "-his name was Dorian, and he was Nina and I's closest friend; practically our brother. Dorian was a closeted gay. No one, not even his parents knew, apart from us. We supported him through it all, because a person shouldn't be defined by their sexuality. When the news of him being gay got out, certain people targeted him. It was no longer safe inside the walls of our school, or even his home for that matter"

Costello stares down at his lap. "One weekend, Dorian's parents went out of town, and so I packed a bag and went over to where he lived. I thought we could maybe hang out, play some video games; focus on anything but the harassment my buddy had to endure. But the house was deathly silent. And when I opened the door into his bedroom I-"

Costello wipes his nose on the end of his sleeve. "-he was dead, Donna. Dorian was lying on his bed, a note beside his bleeding body detailing why he couldn't continue living in such a heartless, senseless world"