by Hannah Samilin
Samantha Reyes* and Victoria Cruz* started out as classmates for a summer class, nothing more, nothing less.
They’ve seen each other around campus before becoming classmates, but there was not much that they had in common: Samantha was a liberal arts student and Victoria was an architecture student. The two rarely talked, but they did start noticing each other more often.
During class, Victoria would glance at Samantha every so often and she found that she noticed even the minute details. She would notice when Samantha would wear a different color of eyeshadow, when Samantha was having trouble keeping awake during class, or when Samantha’s hand was covered in residues of lead from drawing because she was left-handed. It became a recurrent thing that Victoria tried stopping, but she was enamored by this girl that she barely knew.
Samantha, on the other hand, found out about this new ability that she had: she was quick to find Victoria in a sea of people. When she happened upon a crowded place that Victoria was also in, she would be able to find her with no problem. Maybe because Victoria stood out from the crowd because of her hair with purple undertones, or because she just had that commanding aura around her. Samantha didn’t know how or why, but she was intrigued by this girl that she barely knew.
Both didn’t have the courage to approach first, too terrified of the other’s reaction if they did. Then an opportunity presented itself: they were paired for a paper, and they took full advantage of that fact.
It started with talks about the paper, then it drifted to their favorite places and food, then about their families. It seemed so natural – them talking in close proximity.
It didn’t take too long for them to follow each other on social media. Habitual comments on each other’s posts became frequent late-night talks, they would talk about their worries and stress to each other. The two of them kept in contact even after the new term started. Samantha and Victoria saw the best worst of each other, and the attraction grew stronger. And that scared them.
Sexual preferences never came up during their talks. Samantha said that if she found out that Victoria was straight, it would have destroyed her.
“Here was a girl that understood me to a degree that she didn’t find my habit of adding ketchup to almost everything a disgusting enough reason to stay away,” Samantha joked.
Turns out, Samantha didn’t really need to worry all that much.
Victoria confessed first on Valentine’s day. Although she was horrified beyond belief, she figured that even if she got rejected, she would be fine with staying just friends. Victoria didn’t get rejected though (as you probably would have guessed by now). Now, they’ve been together for a year and a half.
“The past year and a half have definitely been the happiest I’ve ever felt in a while, honestly,” Victoria’s tone was brimming with joy. “I can’t believe it took me that long to confess.”
The two of them are closeted still, with both of their families devout Christians. They fear the worst would happen if they came out to their families. Every time their families would bring up boyfriends, marriages, and pregnancies, they flinch as if they’ve been slapped.
“We don’t blame them though,” Victoria said, then she sighed as if she remembered a memory too painful to recall. “I mean, they’re used to the usual man-woman thing. This is something completely new to them.”
Be that as it may, Samantha and Victoria are hoping for the best and hope for the day that they would be able to finally express their love openly, and be accepted by a society that seems to reject their very existence.
Samantha and Victoria started out as classmates for a summer class. Now, they are each other’s significant other, nothing less but hopefully, something more in the future.
*This is based on a true story but Samantha and Victoria are not their real names. Samantha is a Liberal Arts student and Victoria is an Architecture student.
Edited by Anna Katrine Vitor