We had a storytelling exercise in our speech class wherein we were told to share our most unforgettable experience. Since I couldn’t think of any unforgettable story to share, I wrote this one instead. Fortunately, I received a high grade because of this. And my classmates and my professor were moved by what I shared. I just thought of sharing it with you, too. Here it goes…
When you encounter a fork in the road, be sure to take the right path. I happen to run across one, and it was a big turning point for my life. Mine is a story about love, friendship, and the risks and complications that come with both when they meet in a complicated intersection – a fork in my road.
In my life, I consider only two persons as my real best friends. One’s a girl; the other one’s a boy.
I met her nine years ago at a youth camp in a nearby church. I may say that we got along very well. She tells me her stories, I tell her mine. Years went by and our friendship started to grow until we became real best friends. I say “real” because what we have is something real and genuine. No adulteration. No vested interest. No strings attached. She’s like an older sister to me. And she said that she found a brother in me. We are best friends for eight years now.
I met him four years ago in school. We both passed the school paper’s qualifying exams. We got along pretty well. He tells me his stories. I tell him mine. We practically became part of each other’s routines. From going to school, covering news stories, and doing press works, to washing our clothes, cleaning the house, eating, and yes, sleeping. I may say that in him, I found a constant companion. He’s a real brother to me. And what we had is the kind that I’m willing to defend.
Until everything seemed to fall apart. We reached a forked road and the decisions that each of us has to make changed the course of history.
I fell for her. Paulo Coelho, in his book The Zahir, says that love is much like a dam. When you allow even just a trickle to form, that trickle will start to form a big crack that will eventually collapse the entire structure. And when that happens, there’s no stopping it. Getting past the first stage of whether to tell her or not was difficult. Will telling her about how I feel bring about positive outcome? Or will it restrain the free, “no holds barred” friendship that we nurtured for a long time? What if she doesn’t feel the same? And what if she does? I love her. And I need to find out nonetheless.
Guess what I did. Yes. I told her. Her answer was vague and indistinct at first. But to cut the chase, luckily, she feels the same. She told me she loves me. What started out as friendship began to rise to a whole new level. You know, it isn’t everyday that best friends fall in love with each other, especially in our case. She’s a couple of years older than me, and I’m definitely so out of her league. And knowing that my best friend feels the same about me is something… no, not something, it’s everything!
But I’m sorry to burst your bubbles. No, that’s not the end yet.
Unluckily, he is also in love with her. I wish I could tell you the whole story but that will take me another 45 minutes to narrate, and the last thing that I want to do is to bore you with my emo cheesy story.
Causing pain to my best friend is never in my Christmas wish list. I’m the kind of person who treasures friendship a lot. Tell you what; I choked myself up in tears many times because of this. I’m not the typical guy who walks up to a girl, asks her name, and says, “Hey, I think I like you. Would you mind going out with me sometime?” I rarely fall in love. And when I do, I want it to be the kind that opens a million flowers in a field. I want it to be perfect. Well who doesn’t? But this is far from being a perfect love story.
Now what do I do? Should I forego this chance of a lifetime so as not to hurt my other best friend? Doing so will hurt her. And I wouldn’t want to hurt her. More so, what we feel is something true. I know that I love her. More importantly, I know that she loves me just the same.
Will you call me a traitor and a friend-deserter if I choose to pursue what I feel? Hard as it seems, I did. I had to choose between two options.
Today is actually the first year of when it all started. August of last year. After a year, she’s still with me; we are still best of friends. Just best of friends. But he isn’t anymore. I’m not so sure if things are still going to work out just fine someday. Regretting isn’t good, especially when the decision that you made is what your heart dictates. The road ahead is still fuzzy and uncertain for the three of us. I just hope things will turn out for the better real soon.
Apparently, fairytales are only for those who sleep. Not all roads lead to a happy ending. And not all “once upon a time” end with “and they live happily ever after.”
And when you encounter a fork in the road, be sure to take the right path.
