LITERARY: "Love Unimpeded" by Eric Paulin

It was a one-syllable sound that started it all. We were silently taking our Physics test when I heard that very familiar blip. The notification sound of a gay dating application.

"He's gay?" I asked myself. There wasn't any sign that my good looking teacher was gay. I had been having this huge crush on him since day one, and that subtle sound rang in my ears like the angels singing from the heavens.

I finished my exam in the speed of light. I did not care about my score anymore. All I wanted was to spend my review break to scan the application and scout for him.

Just as I handed my paper, I exited the room with my phone already in my hand. I was the first one out. I lowered the brightness of my screen and within a second, I was in.

And there he was; his unmistakeable silhouette was etched on the upper left corner of my screen. Although his face was obscured, I knew it was him. 

0 feet away.

I could not get it out of my mind. The teacher that my fragile and innocent mind had been dreaming belonged to the same world as I. "Does it mean we have a chance?"

***

One month in and we were already dating. Or was it just me who considered those strolls and hangouts (and a few intimate nights) as dates? I was well aware of the consequences of what we were doing. But what could I do? The heart would always win over the brain.

And then one night, my fear became a reality.

"I have a boyfriend now. We should stop seeing each other," he said on a lowered voice, which almost sounded nothing against the downpour that evening.

It was my first heartbreak. A heartbreak that should not have been in the first place.

***

We started seeing each other again after 11 months. They were done. The entire duration of their relationship, I was so bitter that I blocked him on social media. However, he found a way to reach me out and ask me out again. He confessed that if I was not his student, he would have wanted to be with me instead of that cheater guy he'd been with. I replied, "I didn't really care, actually... You as my teacher? So what? Nobody needs to know about us."

With that, he smiled and held both my hands in a tight grip. "Then let's make it work! Can we, now?"

I bowed my head. "I have a partner now."

That was my second heartbreak. Still with someone time wouldn't allow me to be with.

***

We were almost done when I started thinking about my teacher again. Me and my boyfriend always fought. We didn't agree much on things; on a lot of things.

That is why the exact same day our break up became official, it was my teacher who I first contacted.

After the usual how-dies, I immedietely asked if he was single.

He was.

Timing was finally on our side.

We agreed to meet that day at the plaza. That was where we used to hang out and talk about wonderful things. My heart screamed with joy with the thought that finally, maybe, we could now be together. I was already out of High School, making it more reasonable to finally be his.

I waited at the plaza with my smile never leaving my face. I could already feel the triumph of our love now unimpeded.

But he did not come.

After two hours, not a single reply came. I went home, defeat overwhelming my thoughts.

***

Sir Bert was on his way to the plaza with excitement enveloping him like a sweater on a cold night. The love he had been trying to fight off could finally be now.

But with a loud bang, his life was ended, brought about by the slippery road due to earlier's drizzle.