Forever in Sixteen Days

Lesson Number Three

Teacher Warren came inside, smiling.

"Hi! I'm Warren. I'm just about your age, but I'm your teacher. So I would prefer it if you'd call me Teacher Warren. Or, you could also call me Sir Warren. Are we okay with that?"

"Yes, Sir Warren."

"That's great! So, can we start with our class now?"

"Yes, Sir."

"If you have any questions about my instructions, feel free to approach me.  If you need to clarify something, just tell me. You can talk to me guys, I'm not that much of a VIP."

His words echoed in Lynn's mind.

"If you need to clarify something, just tell me."

Lynn felt a moment of discomfort.

Hey, Lynn, are you okay? her classmate asked.

"Yes, I am."

You seem to be uncomfortable.

"Yeah, a bit."

Why?

"Because that's Warren over there."

What's with him?

"I can take it if it's Xenna. I can take it if it's Kenneth. But I don't think I can take it if it's Warren."

You said that he's your best friend.

"Yes. He's also my great love."

Great love?

"You know, the kind of love that is unlike any other. I've never loved any other guy as much as I love him."

Love him? You mean up to now?

"I tried. I tried to let go so many times. But I end up falling for him over and over again."

Because of what?

"Because my heart still believes in that small hope of him loving me too."

Did he ever tell you that he loves you too?

"No. That's the reason why my heart keeps on holding on to that small hope. Because he never told me that he doesn't love me."

Ah, hope. One of the reasons why strong people end up weak, and weak people end up strong.

"I need to clarify things with him."

You need to hear it from him, don't you?

"Yes, I need to hear it from him. I need him to tell me the truth."

The teacher spoke, "Everything okay there, Lynn?"

Lynn lied, "Yes, Sir."

"Okay, then. For my first instruction, get a glass, then go back here."

Lynn came back with a glass on her hand.

What's with glasses? her classmate wondered. Why do teachers like to use them?

"I don't know," Lynn replied. "Maybe because glasses are mostly transparent. You can't hide anything from transparent things."

The teacher continued speaking, "There's a faucet at the back. Turn it on. If you have a stopwatch, or any device that could measure time, get it ready. Then fill the glass with water. Measure the time that the water needed to fill up the glass."

Lynn did exactly as the teacher told.

"12 seconds, Sir."

"How about when you turn the faucet on a bit more?"

Lynn said, "10 seconds."

"What will happen if you turn the faucet on at its maximum?"

"The glass will be filled up faster, Sir."

"When can you say that the glass is already filled up?"

"When it started overflowing, Sir."

"Do you have to wait until it overflows?"

"Not exactly, Sir."

"Where do you look at to make sure the the glass is filled up without letting it overflow?"

"You look at the uppermost tip of the glass. You wait until the water reaches that point. And once it does, you turn the faucet off immediately."

"Correct. In life, things are also like that, Lynn. Especially when dealing with people. You have to know their limits. And once you do, don't push them to their breaking point. Or else, you won't like it."

"I see it in a different light, Sir. I think that this is supposed to teach us that we have to fix our problems at the right time. Not head on, when we're not ready yet. Also not delayed, when we're already to late. We don't have to wait until the moment that the problem becomes unsolvable. There is a right time for everything."

"Very good, Lynn. It's good that you saw another meaning to what you just did. Great job!"

After a moment of silence, the teacher spoke again.

"I'm gonna do this my way. The two other teachers that came in gave you three tasks to make you understand what they were going to teach. I'm not gonna give you three tasks. I'm just gonna give you one. And you just finished it."

"Just one, Sir? I mean, not that I want more tasks. It's just, I'm confused. Just a bit."

"Based on what you just said, I figured that you're a fast learner. You don't need too much input for you to learn what you have to. You understand things. And that's very cool."

'Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome. Now, I think you already realized that there is something common with what the other teachers taught you."

"They were things about forever."

"Correct. And all you have to do is answer a question. Then I'll leave."

I bet you don't want him to. Lynn's classmate said.

"I don't." Lynn replied.

"Come again? I didn't catch that, Lynn."

"Uh, Sir, I was just saying that I'm ready to answer your last question."

"Good."

"What is your last question, Sir?"

"When can you say that you had a forever?"

"I honestly don't know, Sir. Because I never had one."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Maybe you just think that you didn't have a forever, but you really did."

"Couldn't it be the other way around, Sir? Couldn't it be that I thought I had a forever, but I really didn't?"

"It depends on how you would see things. How do you see them, Lynn?"

"I see them as this..."

Lynn started narrating what she had with Xenna and Kenneth, and she finished her story with, "I thought I already had a forever when they shared their infinity with me. But I was wrong. What they had was their forever. And I believe that I will have mine."

"Don't take things personally, Lynn."

"Don't take things personally, Warren?"

"I'm your teacher-"

"Yes you are! But you are also the man who gave me false hopes. You're the reason why I didn't have a forever. Because since the day that I started loving you, all I knew is that my forever would be an infinity with you!"

When she said those words, her vision blurred out. And when she opened her eyes, she was lying on her bed.

It was a dream.

The whole classroom thing was a dream.

But the lessons that she learned were all real.

And now she has to face her reality.