Before the party, she had mild expectations for summer, concerts in the park, time with friends and her family. She had no idea something special would happen.
After that night, True and Fezco became inseparable. Though they both had separate lives and their own sets of worries, they spent as much time together as possible, creating a magical bubble that made all the bad things go away.
Before the party, she had mild expectations for summer, concerts in the park, time with friends and her family. She had no idea something special would happen.
After that night, True and Fezco became inseparable. Though they both had separate lives and their own sets of worries, they spent as much time together as possible, creating a magical bubble that made all the bad things go away.
Before the party, she had mild expectations for summer, concerts in the park, time with friends and her family. She had no idea something special would happen.
After that night, True and Fezco became inseparable. Though they both had separate lives and their own sets of worries, they spent as much time together as possible, creating a magical bubble that made all the bad things go away.
For Fezco, the beautiful and charmingly awkward girl was like the rising sun. True came with sunshine, the mystery of the moon, the allure of the stars, the wonder of the galaxy. She was like no single person he’s met in his young life. Fezco’s reality was raw, one other teens could never fully imagine or understand. It was gritty, dark, dangerous, depressing.
True shined light into the darkness and gave Fez something he didn’t think he’d ever have. Though girls showed interests here and there, and at parties some were more forward than others, he never thought a girlfriend would be part of his story. Not with what he did. It was simply too dangerous to bring someone into that. So, he kept people at a distance and didn’t get his hopes up for more. Until her.
For True, the quiet, highly observant, protective, guarded boy with green eye’s quickly captured her heart. Fezco was special, deep, beautiful, complicated. She never judged him for his circumstances or made him feel less then. Fez loved that about her.
Through their growing intimacy as the summer days pass by, Fezco enjoys seeing True open up. In only two weeks, Fez found out how silly and playful True was. That’s why he gave her the nickname Mariposa.
Everyone knew True loved butterflies, especially the blue ones. As fez watched her open up and blossom before his eyes, he started to see her like a butterfly too. True came out of her cocoon that summer and Fez enjoyed every moment of it.
True was good with Ashtray too. That was extra points in Fez’s mind. She would even help with little things in the house, like checking on his grandma and making sure he ate.
Like True, Fez was happy. But he was worried too.
He was far from a normal teen. He was raising his little brother, caring for his immobile grandmother and running two businesses. Though he tried not to think about it, Fez was logical too and Trues’ closeness to his lifestyle made him uneasy.
His bubble with True was a dream, their dream. But reality remained unchanged. It didn’t matter that she had nothing to do with that world, took no interest in it, and even avoided rooms if he was doing anything drug related; all it would take was one mix up, bad timing, one wrong place and wrong time and all this shit would involve her too.
Fezco loved her too much for that to happen. True had goals, big things to do in this life and Fez wanted all that for her. He knew, being involved with him could only hold her back, or she would pay a price later on.
Early on, though neither of them felt shame for the other, they kept their relationship a secret. True was mainly worried how her mother and father would react when they found out what he did. She didn’t want to add that stress to the already hurting household. And for Fez, he didn’t want True to be used as one of his weaknesses.
So, they snuck around, True used her friends as cover when she slept over and spent long periods of time with him. It was going smoothly and no one but her friends knew. True was sure her mother didn’t pry too much because of how overwhelmed she was, plus True was a good kid. Leslie didn’t have to worry about her along with everything else.
It was the middle of summer when True blurted out the words that laid in her heart for weeks. When Fez said them back, True felt like she was floating on air.
Flashback
True scribbled in the notebook, trying to calm her thoughts with writing, but it doesn’t work. She looks over at the window and readjusts the headphones on her head. She doesn’t see Fez walk in but knows it’s him when the bed dips behind her.
“I like walking in and seeing you here, foreal, it’s nice.” He says warmly. She slides the headphones down to her neck and turns to face him.
“I like it too,” she cups his face and kisses him, “if i could, i’d sneak you into my room more but it’s really hard to do.”
“Don’t even worry about it, I get it -” Fez smooths his hand over her hair while gazing into her eyes, “we make it work.”
“We do.” She smiles and drops her gaze.
Those pesky words are dancing on her tongue again. The words she wants to tell him so bad. But then there’s the fear. What if it’s too early? Too fast? What if he doesn’t feel the same.
Fezco notices the energy shift and pulls True into his arms, against her chest.
“You okay? Somethin’s been off since you got here. Your family good?”
“They’re good…” she trails off and contemplates telling him, just to finally get it off her chest, no matter the outcome. “There’s something I want to say but I’m so fucking scared to say it.” Her eyes meet his.
“You can tell me anything, you know that.” He reassures her.
“I…” she searches his eyes, “I love you.”
As soon as the words leave her lips, she’s met with relief, but just behind it she feels that voice of doubt trying to push its way through.
Fez smiles, his eyes soften as he caresses her face, “True, I’ve been in love with you for a long ass time. Maybe even before you felt the same.”
About 20 minutes later they arrive at the park; it’s quiet, empty, serene. True brings Fezco to her favorite spot, a little nook by the edge of the park, overlooking the river.
They sit and dangle their legs over. There’s a slight mist in the air but the stars are still visible in the sky. The party was over stimulating and only made her anxiety worse, but this, this is exactly what she needed.
That peaceful lull in conversation returns. Though they chatted the whole way over, after they left the house any silence moments felt natural. True stares up at the skies and thinks about the constellations, when she was young her mother pointed out all the ones she knew. That was where her love for astronomy and stars began.
