Closeted freshman student, Aries Buan, falls in love with his senior after getting partnered with him during their freshman orientation. Afraid to admit his feelings, he kept his emotion in check and watched his first love from afar, swearing to him...
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I FOUND MYSELF INSIDE Aries's car for the fourth time. The first time was when he drove me to the hospital because my mother had collapsed. The second time was when he visited our house, and the third time was when we went to a motel.
When I was in high school, I always thought I'd end up experiencing some kind of romance. I imagined it to be sweet and innocent, something like those viral videos we see where a guy heads over to his girlfriend's classroom and shyly hands her a bouquet on Valentine's Day. That was the kind of romance I was hoping for.
There's also a fact that in high school, my classmates knew I was gay. As I said, I was always open about it. I had the privilege to be open about it. I was practically an open book, but still, I wasn't able to experience that kind of romance.
There was a downfall when it came to my confidence. My friends usually labeled me as a troublemaker, but I was simply outspoken. And because of this attitude, people were afraid of approaching me to the point where the first guy to ever confess to me was when the two of us were pissing in the toilet together.
"You're Dom, right?" I remember him asking, standing just two urinals away from me.
"Yeah, that's me."
"I'm just like you, and I think you're cute. Wanna go out sometime?"
That conversation was the stupidest conversation I had, but as a high schooler, that was everything. That guy was a senior, and I was in my second year. When he asked me if I wanted to go out sometimes, he apparently meant to hide at some alley in school and make out. He also didn't want to make our relationship public, which was fine because I wasn't the guy to force someone to come out of the closet just because I felt left out.
Long story short, he graduated, and he has never talked to me ever since.
Looking back, that was such a very unpleasant memory. I was basically treated as an 'experience' or like an experiment. I should have known better since the asshole literally confessed to me in the restroom, but you know, people sometimes become stupid when they're in love.
Now you may ask, why on earth are you even telling us this, Dom?
Well, I'm sharing this short story because I'm feeling the same thing I did back in high school.
Aries feels like the senior who used me as an experience. Deep down inside me, I know how this is going to end. After going through the same thing, I should know better now, right?
Then why...
Why am I sitting in his car for the fourth time?
"You drink too much," Aries suddenly says, making me snap my head back to look at him.
"Excuse me?"
"You already drink a lot of alcohol when you're at work, right? Then you should avoid drinking so much when you're out, regardless of your alcohol tolerance. It will destroy your kidney," Aries suddenly tells me while his eyes are still glued on the road.
