sunflower

twenty-one

i could make it for you, cause you're so beautiful.

"billy, we need to talk." said a determined josie pye as her boyfriend opened the door to his house. he looked her up and down, raising his eyebrows.

"what is it, jos?" he asked, letting her into the house.

"can we talk somewhere private?" she asked him. he nodded his head, leading her to his room and sitting down on his bed.

"so, what's up?" asked billy. he had no idea what was about to happen.

"this is hard for me to say. you know how i feel about you but...i think we need to break up." josie tried to calmly say. it wasn't easy for her, she had known billy since they were babies. they had been best friends forever. they had been dating since they were fifteen. but josie was beginning to realise she held a different sort of love for billy, and not the kind she thought she held.

"what? why? did i do something wrong?" billy asked, furrowing his brows. everything was going great. why would she want to break up?

"no, no. you did nothing wrong, i promise. i just...i've been realising some things lately. about myself and how i feel about you. i do love you, billy, but not in the way i thought i did. you're my best friend. we're jos and bills. we weren't meant to date. it was the people around us, pushing us together. please don't be mad at me, i couldn't live without you. i just...billy i have to tell you something." josie explained. she was nervous about what she was going to say, she hadn't said it out loud to anybody before. not even to ruby.

"i do understand...i just, i thought everything was going well? are you okay?" billy asked her, noticing how her skin was paler than it was two minutes prior.

"billy..i..please don't react badly. this is the first time i'm telling anyone this. but...i'm gay. i like girls." josie said. it felt amazing to finally get it off her chest. she finally said it.

billy sat in silence for a minute. he wasn't mad. he wasn't angry. he was just confused.

"i'm happy you've figured yourself out, jos. i'm just...i'm gonna need some time. okay? i don't want to lose you." billy said, taking her hand gently. only josie saw the soft side of billy.

"okay, that's okay. take all of the time you need. just promise me, you won't tell anybody what i just told you? i'm going to tell everyone soon, i'm just nervous." josie asked. billy nodded his head, flashing a reassuring smile before giving her a hug.

that went smoother than she thought it would.

——

"bonfire on the beach tonight! just us guys!" jane announced at the lunch table.

"jane, it's the end of november. it'll be freezing!" said tillie as everyone laughed.

"wear a coat you big baby. plus, it's a bonfire. the fire will keep us warm." jane said, flipping tillie off as she grinned.

"okay, i'm in." said anne. she loved the beach. and she loved spending time with her friends. this was perfect for her.

"yeah, me too." gilbert said. he wanted to spend more time with anne. everyone exchanged knowing smiles as gilbert and anne both agreed.