It's Monday again! Time for a new Featured Story Selection. Today, Tiger brings us one of his favorites, From Behind Those Eyes, by Viv. If you like stories about teenagers who play sports with a bit of angst about life and coming out -- well read on, this may be something you like. If not, well, it might surprise you, give it a try anyway.

review by Tiger

About a year after I joined GA, someone pointed out From Behind Those Eyes as a must-read story, and I am glad I read it. Recently, I decided to read the story once again. The story was a good read the first time around, and it wasn't long before I was enthralled by the story once again.

From Behind Those Eyes is about a high school senior, Stephen Cooper. Stephen is a classic example of a closeted gay teen who feels that he has much to lose by coming out of the closet. For one thing, he is the class president as well as the captain and pitcher for the school's baseball team.

The story begins with a school masquerade party, an event in the story from which the title is explained. Stephen has no idea who this young stranger is, but those beautiful eyes take his breath away. The two dance, and Stephen, for the first time, comes face to face with his own curiosity and his own fears at the very same time. Who is this young stranger? Well, he really doesn't know. He spends the next chapter or two trying to find the answer to that very question.

Finally, through the events of the story, he finds out the name of this fine blond-haired, blue-eyed beau, and the rest is history. What's to follow is a story of coming out, of accepting yourself and discovering the love and romance you've denied yourself of having for your whole life.

Stephen's boyfriend has his own secrets, and although he's out of the closet, he too struggles in a lot of ways. His outing was a very traumatic experience, and we soon discover that he needs Stephen just as much as Stephen needs him.

Just like real life, there are some people who are less than accepting, if not outright antagonistic, toward their relationship. Jeremy and Tim are the story's quintessential homophobic jocks, and our protagonists may end up getting hurt, both physically and mentally, by these homophobic jerks. Will their relationship survive the storms?

The dialogue is well-written except that toward the beginning, the author sometimes forgot to start a new paragraph when featuring dialogue from another character. However, I felt that this issue took away little from the story, and I was able to look past it.

How about the sex? The sex scenes are very romantic and the words flow very well. You won't find the characters going all the way any time soon, but you'll find that their bedroom romance progresses throughout the story as the characters discover their sexuality. Rightfully so, there is a factor of fear as the two experience a lot of firsts together.

What's the bottom line? I give the story, overall, a score of 4 out of 5. It's a must-read for any gay teen romance enthusiast. If you're looking for a story about coming out and about first time love, From Behind Those Eyes will deliver with plenty of laughs and tears along the way.

As usual, our featured story can be found pinned on the GA Stories Welcome page for the next week.