"The Boy Who Would Never Love" by Moises M

 

Everything used to be fine until his father died from kidney cancer at early childhood. After his death, his mom decided to marry a man called Henry who seemed kind and gentle at first but sooner and later turned out to be an abusive drunk who was emotionally unstable. From a somber home, a boy who was the only child , a silhouette hammered from silence and shadows. His eyes had dulled after being reflected with pain of his surroundings, always being reminded that his existence was a nuisance. The world was unkind and it started right from birth, it would make him feel how ugly life can be each time he takes a step. His mom tried everything to make his life somewhat meaningful. Working 2 jobs to support her family. While Henry layed around the house smelling like cigars and cheap booze. The boy always hated him, wished he never came into his life and his moms. Knowing that his mother deserved better, he respected her love for that pitiful man. Living in an abusive household led him to be emotionally deprived. Trapping the heart of the boy with sharp barbed wire that would keep him away from the warmth of connection. Love was something foreign; a mirage in the barren landscape in a boy who would never love

 

Years later, the boy started his first day at Green Wood high school. He never made friends in junior high so he expected little to nothing of human interaction especially making friends. One fateful day in his colorless picture, life added a touch of color. Her name was Luna, a name that made the sight of bloomed roses look insignificant. With her elegant movements she made people laugh so much that you could hear them reverberating through the gloomy hallways. When these two locked eyes during passing periods it was like two stars colliding with each other creating a supernova of love at first sight. Luna leaped into his reality with her wild spirit leaving an unforgettable mark on the boy's colorless life. Her laughter sounded like music notes breaking through heavy air. Aura brimming with joy and warmth. The polar opposite of the boy who would never love

 

At first, the boy brushed off this new feeling of warmth and curiosity thinking that it was a mere coincidence. Not knowing this person will bring light and color into his world. Weeks pass since they locked eyes, the boy begins his daily routine of no human interactions and constant sadness. After biology class, he decided to take a different route to his next period just because he had a gut feeling to. On route to his next class he turned the hallway corner where time suddenly decided to slow down. The millisecond the boy hit the corner he bumped into someone carrying a stack of books. Books and pages went flying like a Tom and Jerry scene leaving the boy and the student slumped on the floor. Instinctively the boy apologized for bumping into them while picking up the scattered pages and books they dropped. A sudden soft, gentle voice asked “Hey, are you ok”. He looked dumbfounded, recognizing the girl as the same one he locked eyes with several weeks ago. Lost in words like those cliche love stories you see on TV,  he gathered all the pages and gave them to her then immediately marched away shaking like a soulless corpse. All throughout that day the boy couldn’t stop thinking about her, replaying the incident over and over again in his mind thinking about how clumsy and stupid he is. He started to feel embarrassed and disappointed for marching away without saying a single word. Which made him decide that he should apologize again the next day. The next day arrived and he was so nervous that he felt sick to the stomach but was determined to apologize for his actions. While walking through the same route as yesterday he finally saw her, her aura, her hair, her appearance, her eyes, her smile made him see color in his gloomy dark existence. The boy sucks up all the courage he could muster and introduces himself to her and apologizes immediately in a shaky tone of voice. She also apologizes and introduces herself, sparking fire in both of them. After that they became inseparable, passing the highschools seasons together. Their friendship was like a blossoming rose, with the vibrant spirit of Luna she unlocked different types of emotions and feelings that the boy never knew existed. Luna loosened the chains that wrapped around the boy's heart. Yet, the shadows of his abusive childhood lurked and forced the boy to distance himself from the only person in his life that gave him the warmth he never had. Fearing that his abusive past that lingered would harm her in any way. Until one night, where they both decided to meet up under the gleaming moonlight sky. These kindred spirits sat on top of a hill looking up at the night sky counting the stars together, fearing that this would be the last time they would meet. Luna says “I only see you for who you are. Not the shadows, but you”. The words carry a sense of reassurance and understanding. While shedding tears, the boy then finally acknowledged the warm connection between them was love, something that wasn't in his vocabulary or in his life. Their love story has barely just begun, spending their teenage life together until the day of graduation arrived. Their high school experiences suddenly became a thing in the past. They both decided to explore uncharted territory of adulthood together leaving the creeping shadows of the past behind. In the end, the boy who locked eyes with a girl on an ordinary day became the cliche love story everyone knows. Not only changing the boy’s life into a beautiful painting but lead to the boy who would never love to be loved.