She's Alive

ISABELLA

My mother stood with her hands placed in front of us. She stared at me, waiting for me to continue. I thought about everything that had happened this past year, but I wanted to start at the beginning for her. Start where this all began.

“I knew I was gay when I was thirteen, maybe even before then. It may have been the day you pulled me away from Lana’s sleepover, which she totally kissed me first, by the way. I remember you being so furious with me. You kept saying, ‘Oh, what are people going to think?’ and ‘What will they say?’ You looked at me like I was a…a…freak. Like something was wrong with me.

You made me feel like it was the worst thing in the world. So, from that day, I kept that part of me hidden. Just to please you, and it was killing me inside. I didn’t even notice until I met someone who didn’t look at me like you did.

Zira and her mother accepted me without a second thought, and you know what, Mother. Their acceptance hurt even more than your displeasure