Almost-

There was a boy with two middle names
and he lived almost-alone.
He had scars that weren't accidents and not his fault.
On his seventeenth birthday a girl moved in next door
and he found out that cheap bottles shatter
and embed into your skin,
then his almost-father fell asleep
and he left so he could be really-alone.

There was a boy with eyes as pale as the sun
and he was almost-beautiful.
He knew all the constellations by heart
and loved to be outside when the leaves fell.
Once the girl-next-door found him sleeping
under the trees and when he woke up she was gone;
later he realized she'd stolen his heart
in the form of spiral notebooks.

There was a boy with a shy smile
and he was almost-happy.
He was always sure it could be worse,
but his heart was too soft to harden to all of life's breaks,
and his skin was too bruised to soften the blows.
He had calloused hands and broken ribs;
one day he let her see the scars.

There is a girl with bright eyes
and she is almost-relieved.
She has the heart of a beautiful boy in her dresser
and she misses him.