True Friends, True Love

You know how there's always that one guy, the one that everyone gravitates to, the one that all the girls have a crush on, the one that becomes popular effortlessly? Alfred F. Jones was that guy, with his cool smile, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and amazing personality, Alfred stood out. All of his friends were the most popular students, the kind that have the big houses and throw insane parties. Actually, it is at one of those parties that our story begins.

Alfred sighed and leaned back into the cushions of the couch, resting his head in his hand. All around him, his peers were either high, drunk, having a serious make out session, or a combination of those three. All night, girls, with their judgments clouded by alcohol, have tried to make a move on him. He turned every one of them down. He told them that he wasn't in the mood, but the truth was, he just wasn't attracted to girls. Ever since he was little, he knew he was gay. He never was comfortable with it, and always tried to conceal it. He never told anyone, not even his own brother. He was afraid that if his friends found out, they would leave him. They weren't exactly the most… accepting of people that were different. He closed his eyes, clenching his jaw and let out a breath through his nose. He felt the couch dip next to him as someone sat down. He turned; ready to tell of another desperate sophomore, but the face he saw was not familiar, or even female.

"Are you not enjoying the party?" The stranger inquired. Alfred stared into this boy's beautiful violet eyes, not recognizing the thickly accented voice asking him the question. He jerked back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, um, I'm sorry."

The boy smiled slightly and chuckled. "I said, you are not having fun, da?*"

Alfred scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, not really."

The stranger's eyes flashed. "My name is Ivan."

Alfred grinned at him. "Mine's Alfred. Nice to meet ya. Hey, where are you from? I like your accent."

Ivan brushed his shaggy pale blonde hair out of his face. "I am from Saint Petersburg, Russia. I moved here recently."

Alfred's face lit up. "Really? Dude, that's awesome!" He was so excited that he and Ivan talked the whole night through.

Alfred glanced down at the time on his phone. "Ah, shit, it's 2 AM. I need to go." He stood up to leave, but Ivan caught his wrist. Alfred turned to face him as Ivan rose off the couch. Alfred never realized it, but Ivan was taller than he was. Ivan gently tugged on his arm, forcing Alfred closer to him. Alfred blushed. He had never been this close to another guy before. Then, Ivan leaned down and gently kissed him. The whole room went silent. Alfred could hear the pictures being snapped. He stared up at Ivan in shock and horror. He could feel his face heating up and his heart beating faster. Slowly, he backed up, trying to put as much distance between Ivan and himself. Once he got to the door, he turned and fled, tears streaming down his face.

By the time Monday came around, the photos that were taken had been shared on every social media site known to man. The whole school knew about it. The table at lunch that Alfred sat – once overflowing- was now abandoned. Only he sat there, picking at his food. One of his former friends passed by, "accidently" bumping into him, causing him to spill his milk all over Alfred's chest and hands. The cafeteria burst into laughter. Alfred glared at the offender and shook his hands dry. When he looked back, there was a hand holding a napkin in front of him. His eyes traveled up the arm to the owner and were met by twinkling hazel pools. The girl was short, with long, wavy brown hair and a flower stuck behind her ear. Alfred took the napkin with a meek "Thank you." The girl smiled and sat down next to him. "My name is Elizaveta. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Alfred. Ditto."

Elizaveta waved her hand off to the side. Some of her friends appeared behind her. She starting naming them off, pointing to each one as she said their name.

"That's Kiku, Antonio, Amelia, and Katarina."

One by one, they sat down at the table. Alfred was stunned.

"But, don't you know who I am… what I am… what I did?"

Elizaveta let out a short bark of laughter.

"Of course we do! You think we care? Half of our group is gay, anyway." She leaned against the table, not even attempting to be lady-like. Alfred eyed her. " Are you, you know…?"

She smirked. "Me? Lesbian? Oh no, I'm perfectly straight. My boyfriend doesn't have this lunch period."

Alfred nodded. "Oh, okay."

She leaned in closer to him. "Hey, you know, you really should get together with Ivan. You two make a cute couple."

Alfred stared at her. "Are you serious? Do you know what my friends would think?"

Suddenly, Elizaveta turned serious. "Look, I don't see any of your so-called 'friends' here now. If they don't support you no matter what, they aren't really your friends. But us," She motioned to the people sitting around the table, laughing and talking. "We will be here."

Alfred was speechless. No one had ever said something like that to him before. He sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"Are you saying that you'll be my friends?"

This time, it wasn't Elizaveta that answered.

"Si, mi amigo, we will have your back all the way through," Responded the boy that was called Antonio.

Amelia grinned, adding, "Liz here helped Toni get together with his boyfriend, Lovino. Been together almost two years."

"Wow, really?" Alfred turned to Elizaveta. "Is that true?"

She shrugged sheepishly. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for cute couples."
She leaned in to the center of the table, and everyone else followed suit.

"Alright, you guys, so here's how it's gonna work…"

*Sighs* And I finally come around to edit and make it into an actual story! I'm so sorry y'all, please forgive me. But I'll try my best to actually keep this thing updated! Love ya, my pretties!

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