Novels by ANGELA

OUT IN THE OPENCYRUS POINT OF VIEWI woke up to noise, I didn’t open my eyes at first because my head was pounding and my body felt pinned, heavy, wrong, the whispers kept going anyway.“—that’s him.”“I know.”“I thought he died.”“Well obviously not.”I opened my eyes. I saw White ceiling. Hospital lights. Curtains half pulled. Two nurses standing just outside my room, angled toward each other, heads close. One of them noticed my eyes were open and stopped talking mid-word. They both looked at me like I’d caught them doing something dirty.I swallowed. My throat burned. “Morning.”Neither answered. They exchanged a look. One nodded. They walked off together and started whispering again the second they were a few steps away. My heart started racing. I lay there staring at the doorway, jaw tight, chest feeling too small.Another nurse passed by. I tried again. “Hey.”She smiled without stopping. “Morning.” Already gone. They were avoiding me. All of them. Talking around me. Like I wa

I LOVE YOUCYRUS POV.“I love Doninic ,” I say, and I don’t pause, don’t soften it, don’t give her time to brace because I’ve been bracing for years and I’m done carrying that weight alone. “I don’t love you, Stella. I never did. I tried to convince myself I could, that it would come with time, that marriage would fix something that was already broken in me, but it didn’t. It just made the lie heavier. If you need the truth stripped bare, then here it is: I've been gay my entire life. This didn’t start with him. It didn’t start last year or last month or whenever the rumors decided to crawl out of the gutter. I was born this way, and I buried it because it was easier to be the son, the husband, the partner everyone expected than to be honest.”She doesn't move at first. Just stares. Like she’s watching something collapse in slow motion and can’t look away. Her lips part, then press together again, like she’s tasting every word, weighing how much damage they’ve already done. I can se

OUT IN THE AIRCYRUS POV.I swore I’d never step foot in Festus’s house again.I said it years ago, out loud, drunk and furious and bleeding from a fight that never should’ve happened. I remember pointing at the place like it was cursed ground, telling Timone if he ever dragged me back here it’d be because I was dead or desperate. Turns out desperation counts.The door closes behind me and the sound lands wrong in my chest. Too final. Too quiet. The house smells like coffee and wood polish and something citrusy that doesn’t belong to me. Festus’s place has always felt like a territory line I wasn’t supposed to cross. Clean. Controlled. Everything I’m not right now.I stand there longer than necessary, hands shoved in my pockets, jaw tight, trying not to think about how I don’t actually have anywhere else to go.Timone notices. Of course he does. He always notices.“I’m sorry,” he says, low, careful. “I know you hate this place. I know you said you never wanted to come back here.”I le

THE GRAND PLAN Dominic I haven’t stopped moving since I got here. That’s the first thing that hits me every time I become aware of myself again. Not where I am. Not what I’ve done. Just the fact that my body refuses to settle, like if I stop, something worse will catch up to me. The room feels wrong in a Foreign hotel. Neutral colors meant to offend no one, comfort everyone, and somehow they do the opposite. Thick curtains pulled shut even though it’s still daytime. My suitcase is open on the bed, clothes half unpacked, folded and unfolded again without purpose, like my hands needed something to do so they wouldn’t reach for my phone.I pace from the window to the desk to the bed and back. Over and over. The same steps, the same path, like if I repeat it enough times it will start to make sense. My fingers twitch. My jaw aches from being clenched too long. My chest feels tight, heavy, like something is pressing inward, something that won’t let me take a full breath. I keep thinking

SILENT REMORSECYRUSA week passes and it doesn’t soften anything. It just stretches the pain thinner until it’s everywhere, like I’ve been skinned and forced to live anyway. Every hour feels the same. I don’t wake up refreshed, I just surface from one kind of numb into another. I keep thinking there should be a moment where my body realizes Doninic is gone and adjusts. It never does. It just keeps waiting, stupid and hopeful, like I trained it wrong.I stop eating first. Not deliberately. I sit in front of plates and stare at them until the smell turns my stomach. When I try to force it down, my throat closes. My body rejects it like it’s foreign. Like it doesn’t deserve to be fed when the person who mattered most to it isn’t here anymore. I tell myself I’ll eat later. Later never comes.Sleep goes next. Or maybe it goes first and I just don’t notice. I lie in bed for hours, eyes open, staring at ceilings, at corners, at nothing. My mind loops relentlessly—what I said, what he said,

JUST ONE NIGHTCYRUSThe apartment was quiet. Dominic and I sat on the couch. The TV was off. The lights were dim. The only brightness came from the city outside the window, He was sitting close to me. Close enough that our thighs touched i looked at his hand. At the lines on his palm. At the way his fingers curved slightly, relaxed."You keep looking at my hand," he said."I like your hands."He turned his head. His eyes found mine. In the low light, they looked darker than usual. Almost black."Yeah?""Yeah." I reached out and traced my finger along one of the lines. "This one means something. I forget what.""It means I'm going to live a long life.""Does it?""No. I made that up." He smiled. "But I'm going to anyway. Live a long life. With you."I felt my chest get tight. Not in a bad way. In the way that happens when someone says something so simple and so true that it knocks the air out of you."You can't promise that," I said."I know." He turned his hand over and caught mine.

Chapter 50– QUID PRO QUOLeon’s heart hammered against his ribs as Aaron’s arm stayed wrapped possessively around his waist in front of Damian and the group of girls. The weight of their stares burned into him like hot needles. He could feel the whispers starting already — curious, shocked, and hungry for gossip. The quiet library suddenly felt far too public, far too exposed.He turned his head slightly toward Aaron and whispered sharply, voice barely audible over the soft rustle of pages and distant keyboard clicks, “What the hell are you doing? Do you want to ruin my chances with Damian?”Aaron’s lips curved into a slow, wicked smirk. He leaned in closer, his breath hot against Leon’s ear as he whispered back, low and mocking, “So you *are* still interested in Damian.”The words hit Leon like ice water. Something inside him snapped — a mix of irritation, humiliation, and exhaustion from the entire day. He rolled his eyes, the anger flaring hot through the embarrassment. Without thi

Chapter 49 – Public DisplayAaron pulled into the parking lot of the large public library a few blocks from school. The building glowed softly under the early evening lights, its tall glass windows revealing rows of students still studying inside. Leon shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, the oversized hockey jersey still swallowing his frame and the bandages on his knees pulling with every small movement.“I need to pick up something,” Aaron said casually, turning off the engine. “Won’t take long.”Leon frowned. “Can’t you just drop me off first?”Aaron gave him a look that left no room for argument. “You’re coming with me. End of discussion.”Leon wanted to protest, but his body felt too heavy, the low fever making his thoughts sluggish. He sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt. Aaron came around to help him out again, one strong arm wrapping around his waist for support as they walked toward the entrance. Leon limped beside him, painfully aware of how ridiculous he looked — ban

Chapter 48 – Lingering HeatThe student nurse, Ms. Rivera, finished securing the last bandage around Leon’s left knee and stepped back, peeling off her gloves with a snap. She glanced between the two boys — Leon sitting on the examination bed in nothing but Aaron’s oversized hockey jersey and his underwear, and Aaron leaning against the wall, shirtless, his muscular torso still glistening faintly with dried sweat from practice. The singlet he’d been wearing underneath his jersey earlier was nowhere in sight; he had stripped it off along with the jersey when helping Leon.Ms. Rivera cleared her throat, her expression turning stern. “Mr. Blake, while I appreciate you helping your… friend, dressing like this in the infirmary is highly inappropriate. This is a school medical facility, not your personal locker room. Please put a shirt on or I’ll have to ask you to wait outside.” yhAaron raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. He grabbed his discarded singlet from the chair where he’d tossed i

Chapter 47 – Tender Wounds They were walking slowly across the nearly empty school grounds toward the parking lot. Aaron kept one arm wrapped firmly around Leon’s waist, supporting most of his weight while Leon limped beside him. The oversized hockey jersey hung off Leon’s frame like a dress, the hem brushing against his bandaged knees with every careful step. Blake’s name stretched across his back in bold letters, marking him clearly.The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the courtyard. A few remaining students stared openly as they passed. Whispers followed them like smoke.“Is that… Leon? In Aaron’s jersey?”“No way. What the hell happened?”Leon kept his head down, cheeks burning with humiliation. Every limping step sent fresh stings through his knees, but the warmth of Aaron’s body pressed against his side was far more distracting. The jersey smelled like him — sweat, cologne, and the faint chill of the ice rink. It was suffocating. Intimate.“You don’t have to do this

Chapter 45 – White KnightLeon tried to keep moving, but pain shot through his scraped knees with every step. Each movement felt like fire scraping across raw flesh. Warm blood soaked through the torn fabric of his trousers, sticking the material to his skin in a sickening, wet cling. The camera felt impossibly heavy in his bleeding hands, the strap cutting into his palm where the rough pavement had torn it open. Every heartbeat sent a fresh throb of pain up his arms.He could hear Sonia’s heels behind him — sharp, predatory clicks getting closer.“Where the hell do you think you’re going, you little freak?” Sonia called out, her voice laced with venomous amusement. She closed the distance fast, her friends trailing behind her like a pack of hyenas scenting blood.Before Leon could even turn, Sonia’s manicured fingers snatched the camera strap again, yanking it violently toward her. The sudden jerk made Leon stumble, a sharp gasp escaping his lips as fresh pain flared in his knees.“G

Chapter 44 – Broken LensLeon kept walking, jaw clenched so tight his teeth ached. The camera strap dug into his shoulder like a reminder of the fragile thread he was trying to hold onto. *I said no to Aaron. I deleted the photos. I’m fixing this.* The words repeated in his head like a prayer, but they felt thinner with every step.He didn’t get far.“Hey, pastor’s boy!”Sonia’s voice sliced through the courtyard like a whip. Leon’s stomach dropped. He didn’t stop, but he heard the click of heels and laughter behind him. The group had circled back. Of course they had.Sonia jogged ahead and planted herself right in his path, arms crossed, glossy lips curled in a sneer. Her three friends fanned out like a pack of wolves, phones already recording. The late afternoon sun made her highlight reel perfect — mean, beautiful, and untouchable.“Running away again?” Sonia tilted her head, eyes glittering with cruelty. “I saw you talking to Damian just now. Then you were all cozy with Aaron by t