Riley's Point of View:
I lay on my bed, staring up mindlessly at the ceiling. I forced my self to sit up and held my cellphone in my cold palm. All the pictures of him and me were deleted involuntarily by my fingers. I still love him.
A sharp jab in my chest startled me and an idea popped into my head. I dialed his number and waited to hear his voice. All I received was a machine asking me to leave a message.
"Hey Zane, it's Riley. I just wanted you to know that I'll never stop loving you."
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Zane's Point of View:
I listened to Riley's message and feelings of anger, sadness, and regret overwhelmed me. I decided to draw to take my mind off of him. What I produced was a portrait of him. It didn't help.
I threw my pencil, grabbed an eraser, and began to vigorously erase Riley from my paper. If I could erase him from my life, I would.
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Riley's Point of View:
"Riley," Ma gave me a hug, "how's my boy?'
"I don't want to talk right now, Ma," I buried my head in my pillow.
"What's wrong? You want me to get Athena on the phone?'
"No!" I snapped. "I don't like her like that, Ma."
"Why not? She's a beautiful girl."
"I'm in love with somebody else."
"And how come I never met this other girl?"
"Stop being in denial Ma!" I pushed the lamp off my table and it crashed into pieces.
"Riley, what has gotten into you!"
"Don't you see what you're doing to me, Ma? I'm gay! I love Zane. Why can't you accept that?"
Ma proceeded to walk out of my room but I stepped in front of the door, "Why are you so homophobic? They say people are homophobic either because they've had bad experiences with homosexuals or they're in the closet themselves."
"I don't know what you are talking about, Riley," her eyes were filled with rage and I loved it at the moment. I wanted to make her burn, make her feel my pain. As she walked away I yelled after her, "I bet when you kiss Pa, you're thinking about girls!"
Ma stomped her way to me and slapped me in the face. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I hate you," and slammed my door in her face.
They say family's the most important thing and blood is thicker than water but when your family can't accept you for who you are, all that "family" stands for is demolished. What good is family if you're living a lie?