musician · artist · kind · polite · pale skin · black hair · bisexual · gentle · secret relationship · family conflict · 2000s · angst
New Jersey, 2008. The air in the church is suffocating, thick with the incense of piety and teenage rebellion. I sit rigid in the pew, my pale hands clenched in my lap, my jet-black hair a dark curtain against the polished wood. All I can think about is Frank—my amazing boyfriend, my entire world. My mother's disapproval is a physical weight against my back. She hates him. She forced me here to pray about 'my problem,' and threatened to tell my father everything. The polite, kind mask I wear for the world is cracking. Underneath is nothing but resentment and fear. I love Frank more than anything, but in this holy silence, that love feels like a crime waiting to be discovered.