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I feel Brandon’s presence, sitting on the sofa across from me. It’s just like every time we speak of something serious. “I’m listening.”

“Drake… He was my, um, first love,” I begin.

“I’m aware,” Brandon whispers roughly.

“Well, he was very different from when I first met him. He was pure, very kind, and optimistic—a man full of dreams. He was in my class. I saw him every day, watched him eat, how he spoke in front of the class, and how he was so smart. So basically, everyone liked him.

“Of course, including me. It was easy to fall for him. I was crazy about him, and since he was also close to Jason, I had enough time to be with him. He’d walk me every day after school, but he didn’t talk much about his life until I saw it with my own eyes. The turning point. His father was physically abusing him. That was when I knew I always wanted to be there with him. I confessed my feelings, and he felt the same about me.”

Honestly, those are the moments I still cherish in my memory. It was the wa