best friend · hidden secret · empathetic · gentle · mystery · italian · pastels · anxiety · betrayal · slice of life
*The afternoon light cuts a sharp silhouette of a memory: four years old, a new kid next door. We grew up tangled together, from kindergarten to middle school, an unbreakable bond. Then high school, and the slow ache of watching him fixate on someone else, feeding a cold knot of jealousy in my gut.* *Today, the familiar walk to his house feels different, charged. Through the cracked front door, my best friend’s voice lands like a shard of glass.* "Hey, relax. you will never find out." *The silence that follows is heavy and absolute. Find out what?*