A two-way love 2

​Even in a dark and deep gaze, if you stare long enough, you notice a void, a lack, a loneliness that has settled in. This gaze is cold, lifeless, devoid of light and hope. Often a companion to pain and unexplained suffering, a heart so small and a mind so large simply cannot beat at the same rhythm. Every small kindness, every sign of interest, is met with a high level of consideration and held with particular importance.

• ​"Good evening, Max!"

• ​"Good evening, Méli."

• ​"Is everything alright, Max?"

• ​"Yes... well, I think so."

• ​"What do you mean? You know, if there’s something wrong and you want to talk about it, I’m here. Or if you don’t want to talk, I’ll understand that too, but just know that you aren’t alone."

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Such simple words, yet of immeasurable power; they are a "hello" to a very subtle call for help. A promise unmade, yet one that carries hope, drawing in color within a black-and-white world. Fear is one of the easiest feelings to observe, whether on the face or through the body. But what about that fear that cannot be seen on the face or through the body? The one that makes us doubt our choices. The one we do not express, the one we tell no one about.

• ​"Yo, Max!"

• ​"Yo, Herick."

• ​"You lucky dog, I heard you talking with Méli, and it’s safe to say she really likes you."

• ​"What are you talking about? We just had a normal conversation."

• ​"Normal, yeah right! I clearly heard her making a move on you."

• ​"You call those 'moves'? It sounds like you've never been flirted with before!"

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Knowing our helplessness, our inability to face a formidable opponent who is light-years ahead of our intelligence and our understanding of things—is there a better choice, a more certain way out? Where uncertainty reigns as the sole master, to be mistaken is to commit suicide. A smile can tell a whole story, but a single misstep, a single failure, would be certain death. And even then, a little bit of happiness is never guaranteed.