coming soon
Born Within the Clouds
The Book
Is it homophobic to hate it when your best friend makes out with the town bully behind your back?
When you grow up in a remote mountain town in the early 2000s, you dream of escape. Theo is 17, one day older than his best friend, Nikki, and Nikki is desperate to get out. They have been close since birth, they love each other — of course they do — but everybody keeps secrets.
At their joint birthday party the friendship cracks. The night is cold out in the secluded clearing in the forest, and the guests are dispersing. On the search for his friend, Theo roams down an unmarked trail, and he finds Nikki. He finds him making out with a guy.
Michael. He is the town bully, a homophobe who ate slugs in kindergarten. Why is Nikki kissing him? To experiment? Are they a couple? Why did Nikki never say anything? And why him: Why not Theo?