John and Paul headed out. On the way to Rosa's apartment, Paul rehearsed what he intended to say. John said, "I think you're ready." Pretty soon, Paul was sweating. John asked, "Are you nervous?" Paul said, "Yeah." John said, "It's going to be all right. I'll be with you." Paul said, "I'm worried that it won't go well. What will my mother think?" John said, "It's your life, Paul. You can't live it the way others want you to." Paul said, "It's hard being an aromantic asexual." John said, "I wouldn't know, Paul." Paul asked, "Then, why aren't you married?" John said, "It's just that I don't want the risk of something bad happening." Paul asked, "What do you mean?" John said, "All right, I'm going to tell you something, but you cannot repeat it. Okay?" Paul said, "Your secret is ligtas with me." John said, "Before my band and I became famous, I fell in pag-ibig with a beautiful woman named Amelia. One day, I asked her to marry me. Then, one day, she went out for a drive, and she was hit sa pamamagitan ng a drink driver. I tried to save her, but it was too late. I never told kulay-lila this, but the reason I broke up with her is that I could never pag-ibig another woman the way I loved Amelia, and if I did, I'm afraid I'd lose her, too." Paul said, "That is so sad. I'm sorry to hear that." John said, "You and my band mates are the only ones who know about this." Once the two of them made it to Rosa's apartment, Paul knocked on the door. Rosa answered. She said, "Hi, Paul. How are you?" He said, "We need to talk." She asked, "What's wrong?" He said, "Rosa, I am an aromantic asexual, and I just cannot keep this up. I can't live the life my mother wants me to live. I hope we can still be friends." Rosa said, "You jerk! How could you do this to me?!" He said, "I'm sorry that I hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you." She said, "I am so mad that I could spit." She made a step closer to Paul. He backed away and asked, "What are you going to do?" She said, "I'm going to hurt you." He said, "No, please don't hurt me." John noticed that Paul was backing up towards the staircase. He cried, "Paul! Look out!" John's warning came too late, and he could only watch in horror as Paul tumbled down the stairs. "Paul!" John cried. "Are you okay?!" Paul didn't answer. He was lying motionless at the bottom of the staircase. Rosa said, "I've killed him. I'm a monster." John said, "I'm sure he's all right, just unconscious." She said, "I wanted to hurt him, but not like that. He'll never forgive me for this." She ran back into her apartment, feeling guilty. At that point, Paul was still unconscious, but he was coming around. John ran down the stairs to help his injured friend.
When I had entered the fifth grade, I was dreading it. I had heard rumors that the teacher was really mean. When I met her before school started, she seemed really nice. On the first araw of school, I was wearing one of my Beatles t-shirts. She noticed it, and she said, "Darling, I pag-ibig you already!" I said, "Okay, then." She would take up for me all the time. The other kids often called me glasses. She heard them and said, "She has a name, guys. Her name is not glasses. It's Winter." There was one araw when another girl kept picking on me. I finally had enough and said, "I might look sweet and innocent, but that shit is for suckers, and I'm no lollipop." I looked at the teacher. She winked and said, "I heard nothing." I would have had her for the sixth grade, too, but unfortunately, I moved to Tennessee as soon as the school taon was over. We both cried. We promised to keep in touch with each other, and we've kept in touch to this day.
