History Hates Lovers • Cole Mackenzie

007: Loving Isn't Wrong

"Xavier, have you seen Diana?" Anne walked up to the boy who stood alone.

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry." Xavier responded, apologizing.

"Well, thank you anyway." Anne bid goodbye and went off to look for her lost friend.

Xavier stood, still alone. Cole had run off with Josephine which had left him without a friend, once again. The boy hadn't bothered to look for Cole, knowing that he was safe with Josephine and there was no need for protection.

"Ah, rich boy. We meet again." A voice says from Xavier's left side.

Xavier turned and was, yet again, met with the painted face of the first man from earlier. Xavier gave a slight smile and imitated tipping a hat that he did not have.

"Where has your 'friend' gone off to?" The man asks.

"He went with Josephine, though I'm not sure if he is still with her or not." Xavier responded.

"So, was I right?" He questioned.

"Right about what, sir?" Xavier tilts his head.

"That boy, you do have feelings for him; do you not?" The man responds.

At this, Xavier's face flushed pink. "No, why ever would you think that?"

"Well, you are awfully protective of him, and I see the way you look at that boy. You don't see him as just a friend." The man raises his eyebrows. "But I may be wrong, who knows?"

Before Xavier could respond, the man was already long gone. Though, this interaction had left him with many questions. One being:

'Do I like him?'

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"I'm going to trade my puff sleeves for a top hat. Or maybe I'll wear them together! Because maybe that is me." Anne said, dancing with Cole in her temporary bedroom.

"I think it might be." Cole responded, sitting with Xavier.

Diana was sitting on the top of the bed, a mopey look on her face, while Xavier sat on the end of the bed with a concentrated face.

"Oh, and Diana, Cécile Chaminade, did she inspire you to play and play and play some more?" Anne asked the sad looking girl.

"Aunt Josephine kept her lifestyle a secret. My parents certainly don't know." Diana ignored the question. "That... Must mean it's wrong."

Xavier's eyes shot over to the girl at the mention of Josephine being gay as wrong, making his blood start to boil slightly. Anne grabbed a book and opened it, starting to read to Diana.

"'To my Gertrude. Someone will remember us, I say, even in another time. Forever you have my heart. Jo.'" Anne read out.

Diana scoffed at this. "Two woman could never have children. It doesn't make sense."

"How can you say that, when such beautiful words were written from one to another?" Anne calmly questioned.

"It's unnatural, Anne!" Diana exclaimed to the girl.

Xavier physically flinched at her words, not speaking up in fear he would spill feelings he has yet to discover and be thrown out by one of his oldest friends.

"If your aunt lived her life feeling something was wrong with her, that she was... Broken, defective, or unnatural... Then one day, she met someone that made her realize that wasn't true," Cole quickly glanced at Xavier before looking back at Anne and Diana. "There was nothing wrong with her, and she was... Fine... Shouldn't we be happy for her?"

Xavier smiled and blushed at what Cole said, feeling better about accepting his own feelings and discovering more about himself that would make him feel freed.

"I think it's spectacular." Anne said to Diana. "There's so much more possibility."

"It's nice, knowing someone could feel like themselves by just being with the one person they cared about." Xavier spoke up. "Why should we take that type of love away from anyone?"

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Ms. Keisha? Ms. Keisha? Oh my fucking god, she fucking dead.

*EDITED*