ログインThe ground turned transparent beneath Josh’s feet. His hands stayed frozen. His eyes snapped toward the full-length mirror and caught the raccoon-textured mess of his hair. He couldn't move. He wouldn't.Memories didn't just drift. They flashed. Tristan’s face. The lingering heat on his lips. Hands pressing hard and real. It felt like love then but now it felt like a wrecking ball hitting his life. Why meet someone who dragged so much chaos into his orbit? What now? The walls weren't just silent. They seemed to be peeling back their lips and getting ready to laugh.Underneath his lids black circles had burned in. He hated them. Tears leaked. Last night hadn't been a dream. It was a nightmare he was still wearing. No one would understand. Not now. Not ever. He sobbed and his throat tightened until it hurt. Nerves plucked at his spine. The water thrusted down his cheeks and stained his features. Everyone would see that dirt.Bang! Bang!The door rattled on its hinges. "Hey! Kid, you’re
Josh’s body went rigid. Chains held him. Cold ones. Metallic. This presence ate him alive. Every fiber. Every breath called to him. It was as if the air tried to pull back the sections that diffused into his body. It did not want to connect to Josh’s lungs.No. Britney witnessed it. She saw how their lips pressed into each other. His heart started to tear. Piece by piece. His mind cut off. A blank space sprinted inside his stomach.Strands of his hair froze. It felt like it was supposed to happen. Even the air watched Josh with dark, predatory eyes. The walls sealed his lips.Then his hands moved. They tore away from Tristan’s burning cheeks. His mouth tasted sin. Sin meant beer. Sin meant trouble.Josh pushed his hands out. He stood up. He stepped away from the bed. Tristan remained there. His eyes widened. A shock of electricity volted in them.“Britney,” Josh spoke up, “it was a misunderstanding.”Josh tried. His steps became heavy. Frantic. He lifted pounds of secrets inside his c
It was too loud.The air felt thick. It tasted of spilled vodka and cheap sweat. Everything in the room was inappropriate for Josh’s sense of order. His mind mashed together shallow, useless thoughts. Why had he agreed to this? His stomach ached with the sudden tension.The furniture had been shoved aside. The carpet was stained with a dark, sticky liquid. It was a mess. Josh hated messes. He lived for lines and logic. He lived for everything to be in its place. But right now, his fears were clawing at his mind.This house was a nightmare of imperfection. He shook his head. He knew he was changing. He was becoming part of that imperfection too. He realized that judging others didn't change anything.He looked around the room. People were everywhere. It felt like a farewell party for a group of teenagers who had no vision for their future.Then he saw them.Josh’s chest hardened. Then it broke into pieces under a heavy hammer.He spotted Thomas. His best friend."What is he doing?"
“There’s this party… and I wanted to invite you.” Tristan asked with his hands pinned behind his back.The air played its part in the darkness, collecting every light it could catch in its own net and placing them inside a transparent jar.“I’m thinking that you’re inviting me, aren’t you?” Josh spoke with his finger on his chin, pressing into the coldness of the night.“Yes,” Tristan’s eyes lit up wide. “And I want you to go with me and have fun for a while. I mean—”Josh cut him off.“Sorry to announce, but I’m not coming. There’s one task I have to do before graduation as the Council President. You should, too. You’re the vice.” Josh threw the responsibility right at Tristan, whose jaw dropped into a massive loop.“And what was that?” Tristan stepped forward, crossing into Josh’s personal space.Josh let a smile settle on his cherry lips. His hand drifted toward Tristan’s smooth forehead, which felt like a cushion made of skin.“Our statement! Our vocabulary and a long text to expo
This day left Josh and Tristan feeling so jittery and restless that they could barely stay still. The two of them were inside the gym, where everyone had already gathered and the rest of the group was already mingling about.Josh kept scratching the skin on his hands while Tristan stood beside the coach, both hands resting firmly on his hips. Josh gave Tristan a soft, cute smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. Everyone else was loud and chatty, but the atmosphere felt calm and cool. A gentle breeze seemed to blend perfectly with the quiet stillness of everyone around, whether they were sitting or standing.“All of you, this is our very last class here at school. And to all of you soon-to-be graduates, don’t you dare forget me,” their coach said. Right then, tears started to well up in the coach’s eyes, and Josh felt a deep, heart-tugging emotion washing over him. His cheeks felt cold and stiff.“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.The air in the gym crackled with sudden intens
After class, the two students leaned against the front of the school’s massive building. Students walked past them. Phased right through them. Glances were made, probably because of how brutally Nathan had died.“You know what, let’s go,” Tristan said. Josh tapped his foot on the ground, his head drifting toward the pavement.His heart clenched, wrapped tight like it was sealed in plastic.“Of course, let’s go,” Josh said.Then he spotted Thomas. Jonathan dragged him along with a smirk that made Josh’s stomach twist. It contorted his features.His best friend was really in love with a guy. How disgusting was that? A guy with a guy? That was basically a sin to heaven, where sins were banished to a burning heat, a spice that stung the skin and the eyes until they rotted and melted.“Are you fine?” Tristan asked. His eyes scanned the landscape of the field and spotted Jonathan and Thomas.“Looks like both of them are having fun to themselves,” Tristan commented.“Probably because they’re
The sun streaked and hit the hallway’s pavement. The tiles reflected a sink of face mopping around the student’s lips clamping onto ears to ears.Josh approached with a slight expression of hallow shakyness in his cheeks.No one waved at him. No one spoke or yelled a treachery welcome to his ear—ev
“Josh. Mr. President. I’m truly sorry for acting like such a jerk to your face,” Tristan said, stopping for a breath. “I don’t know why you’d throw the necklace I gave you.” Inside Tristan, it felt like a storm was brewing, with lightning striking through the dark vision of his mind. Tristan rea
“Please stop, please stop, please stop, please stop,” Josh muttered under his breath.He felt like the whole world had slowed down to a crawl.He opened his lids. His jaw dropped, and his stomach tensed up as if a giant hand were squeezing the very air out of his lungs.Josh’s hands felt heavy and
Inside Josh’s room, his body felt crushed by the silence, like a prisoner trapped in a narrow cage being killed slowly by the weight of his own walls. The moonlight loomed outside, casting cold streaks across his bed as he laid down. A sharp, prickling fear crawled over his skin, a shiver of dread







