Work Text:
“What is love?”
That was the topic that was written on the board, the teacher quickly explaining that this would be a bellringer of sorts. What do you think love is?
Some kids snickered while starting to whisper song lyrics to friends, from Haddaway to Foreigner, while others seemed lost in thought.
The sound of pencils and pens scratching on paper filled the room joined by the jittery tapping of feet, clicking of pens, and tapping of the eraser part of the pencil onto the desk.
All the sounds in the room somehow came into harmony, which undoubtedly freaked out the people in the music related classes (especially music theory), but it all became white noise.
She gave us 15 minutes to spew onto the paper what we thought love was, and here is all I had to say:
Love is something that could be felt for anyone really. For family, friends, even strangers.
Love doesn’t always have to be romantic, it can be platonic too.
And romantic doesn’t always have to mean passion, it could be as simple as holding someone’s hand.
As simple as a hug that makes butterflies fly around your stomach and your face flush.
As simple as a kiss on the cheek.
As simple as simple can be.
Love can be difficult. It can make people irrational. Sometimes we can’t think straight when that special someone is near because all we can think about is that they are here, so close yet so far.
Love isn’t like the movies, or the romance novels, or the comics. Love is complicated. It’s not a person-meets-person and falls in love at first sight. Attraction at first sight? Yes. But love at first sight? Never.
Love is a feeling, at least at first it is, and then it turns into something more. ‘Cause it’s not always passion.
It’s trust. It’s communication.
It’s disagreeing and then trying to understand one another.
It’s a choice. It’s a commitment.
It’s something that even when the feeling fades, you decide to stay, because you wouldn’t know what life would be without them.
Love is when you are so comfortable with someone, that things don’t need to be passionate, they just need to be compassionate. You need to try to understand one another and also understand boundaries.
Love is something so pure, so light, and so beautiful. It’s so rare to find in its most innocent state. In the state that allows us to be vulnerable towards one another. In the state that is its strongest.
It’s almost nonexistent, but it’s there, hidden under all the things we think of as “romance” and “love”.
If only people didn’t confuse lust for love, then we would see so much more of it.
An alarm rang signifying time was up.
Most of us closed our notebooks or slid the paper consisting of our writing back into our binders and backpacks. Some switched their writings with one another, curious about their take on “love”.
Some lightly teased their friends, ruffling their hair or just poking them with a smile and eyes that said it all. Some huffed, but ended up laughing with their friends who could barely contain their laughter.
“So-“ The buzz in the classroom slowly toned down as she clasped her hands together, getting up from her desk, and walking back to the front of the classroom. “-let's continue on with today’s lesson.”