The Prettiest Star

by Carter Sickels

Maybe he figured out I was queer a long time ago, before I did. I didn’t know how to say the words to myself until I was living far away from here. That was when I discovered another language, not my family’s tongue, but one that was older and bigger. I found another home.

You can disappear and never disappear. Heavy in your skin, but not here at all.

I think every gay teenager has thought this.

We live our lives not realizing which moments are special or which are ordinary—what will we remember, what memories will we try to grab onto, to hold close? All of these moments that make up a life.

Why does anyone go home? You come back to be seen, to be accepted, and to be loved.