THE DAY... I TOLD MY BEST MATE
BOLD CREATIVE
BODY AND SOUL
Martin Orton and Darryl Butcher
Emma Colyer
Words and Direction
Founder and Director
Greg Villalobos
Sophie Jones
Workshop facilitation and Creative
Head of Teen Spirit
Mathew Bethnal
Jed Marsh
Workshop facilitation and Direction
Head of People
Becca Wiseman
Nimisha Tanna
Letterer and Print
Head of Programmes & Policy
Ben Wright Character design and Illustration
Will Milton
Scene planning, layout and colour
OPM
Matt Syms
Sally Neville
Additional character design and background illustration
Associate Fellow
Ewan King
Additional colour work
Director Analytical Studies
Ali Assaf
Annie Hedges
Armand Goono
Adaptation and planning assistance
Associate Fellow
THE DAY I TOLD MY BEST MATE... is based on real kids experiences with HIV in their own words. Bold Comics may well read and possibly accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories or artwork revolving around comunity issues involving young people. Published by BOLD INK Comics. Cover and compilation copyright 2009 BOLD INK Comics. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2009 Bold Creative. Visual elements including all characters, their distinctive likenesses and related elements featured in this publication are tradmarks of Bold Creative. BOLD INK Comics is a trademark of Bold Creative. The stories, characters and incidents featured in this publication are not entirely fictional. COMICS@BOLDCREATIVE.CO.UK BOLD INK Comics is located at: Bold Creative, 13a Boundary St, London, E2 7JE. Printed in the UK. Cube Printing. ISBN: 1-BOLD-2009-1 ISBN 13: 978-3-5657-3647-6 Cover illustrations and design by Will Milton Logo design by Becca Wiseman
THE DAY... I TOLD MY BEST MATE
FOR MORE INFO:
martin@boldcreative.co.uk OR darryl@boldcreative.co.uk
The football pitch, lunch break...
My story is about this kid,
Who sort of, has feelings for this girl...
...but doesn’t know how to tell her.
“eh, hey...”
I can’t believe she missed it.
Now he is pretty nervous, and sort of wondering whether or not he should try making a move...
urghh... But I don’t know how she is going to react.
“hmmm...”
huh!
huh!
noooo nooo noooo.
“Hey, I’m real sorry...”
n, Oh ma re. u s s pre
So, he goes on for a year or two just wondering what could of happened if he had done this or that.
And it becomes really awkward...
so he tries to take his mind off things but everything just kept reminding him.
It’s almost like everyone in the house was avoiding bringing up the subject.
He really needed someone who he really trusted to talk to...
...So he decided to take a risk and trust his friend.
“Yes mate. what you up to?” “see you in 20.” “s’up?”
“nah - park. You up for it?”
It was really awkward and there was this sense of fear... cos although he knew and trusted his friend...he wasn’t sure how he would react...
...Whether or not the friendship would actually continue beyond that day.
“I’ve got something really important to tell you.”
“and, it’s like, it’s just been hanging over me for a while now...”
“…And you know, I trust you so much as a friend…”
“…And it’s important that you know, cos I ain’t keeping secrets from my best mate.”
“What’s up man, tell me!”
“So, basically, it’s like this…”
“…well, when I was thirteen I was diagnosed with HIV…”
There was a deadly silence.
“…and yeah, that’s it, in a nutshell, right there.”
“Hold on, back up man. You’ve got HIV!”
“What… you’re kiddin right?”
“No. I just need it like out in the open you’re my best mate and I’m hoping we can move on from here…”
“yeah.”
“Jeeez man… I can’t believe it…I’m shocked, I dunno what to say…”
“Is it bad? Are you going to die?” “I can’t believe it…”
“No, no – I’ll be fine if I take my treatment. I’ve got medication for it.”
“I thought you were going to tell me something else.”
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“You know what… that girl!” “Yeah that girl…” “Oh man, that girl! How you gonna tell her?! Jeez man it’s a lot.” “Tell me about it.” “Listen, I don’t know what to say right now. Jeez, I ain’t heard anything like this in my life.”
“What… you serious?”
“I need some time out. This is too much.”
“I’ll call you…”
“I’m sorry man, I just need to take this all in. I just dunno what to think right now.”
It was a bit weird for a couple of weeks…
…but after a while... they became stronger cos of the trust.
“Hey man.”
“S’up?”
“You know, I been thinking…”
“…I really appreciate you telling me that stuff.”
“So you told her yet…?”
“Nah man, I don’t know what to do.”
“You know what I think. If it’s what you really want then you should do it.”
“But you know, that’s some heavy stuff to take in trust me.”
“I reckon, if you’re worried that things won’t end up how you want them to, then just don’t. Carry on the way you are until you want to tell her.”
“It’s up to you man.”
For a long time he kept on telling himself he was going to do it‌ But he kept on bottling it at the last minute.
Then when he finally decided to meet her‌
... !
to Find out what happens next, email: theday@boldcreative.co.uk
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To find out more about BODY AND http://www.bodyandsoulcharity.org/
SOUL visit our website at:
Body and Soul is a unique UK charity supporting children, teenagers and families living with, or closely affected by HIV. Accessing Body and Soul is often the start of a journey, which changes the devastation of an HIV+ diagnosis into positive strategies to manage the impact of HIV.
As part of its 2009 Public Interest Research, OPM has been working with members of Teen Spirit, Body and Soul’s group for young people aged 13 and upwards on this piece of youth led research. The group has collaborated with Bold Creative and produced a personal true story with universal themes.
I Cry by Tupac Sometimes when I’m alone I Cry, Cause I am on my own. The tears I cry are bitter and warm. They flow with life but take no form I Cry because my heart is torn. I find it difficult to carry on. If I had an ear to confiding, I would cry among my treasured friend, but who do you know that stops that long, to help another carry on. The world moves fast and it would rather pass by. Then to stop and see what makes one cry, so painful and sad. And sometimes... I Cry and no one cares about why.