Asking For The Impossible
1181 Words
One afternoon, after weeks of growing familiarity, Troy stopped Enid outside the classroom.
“Enid,” he said, taking a steady breath, “I need to be honest with you.”She felt it coming.
“I like you,” Troy continued. “I know this might be sudden, but I didn’t want to hide it.”
Enid’s heart pounded,not from surprise, but from fear.
“I’m sorry,” she replied softly. “I already have a boyfriend.”“I have a boyfriend,” she said.
Troy froze.
“Yes.” She nodded. “And I love him.”
The words sounded rehearsed. Like armor.“I shouldn’t have let things get… close,” she continued. “You shouldn’t sit beside me anymore. You shouldn’t come looking for me. And you definitely shouldn’t come to my house.”Troy’s chest tightened. “Enid, I wasn’t trying to take anything from you.”
“I know,” she said softly. “That’s why this is dangerous.”
Troy nodded, disappointment flickering briefly across his face. “I understand. Thank you for being honest.”
She stepped back, creating physical distance.“I’m asking you,” Enid said, voice shaking despite her effort to stay calm, “please stay away from me.”
The words landed heavy between them.
“For my sake,” she added. “And yours.”
Troy wanted to argue. To say something brave. Honest. Stupid.
Instead, he nodded.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “If that’s what you want.”
Her shoulders sagged in relief—and something like grief.
“Yes,” she whispered. “That’s what I want.”
But as she turned and walked away, Troy saw it clearly.
She didn’t look relieved.
She looked like someone who had just cut off a part of herself to survive.
He never pushed. Never questioned her decision.And that respect stayed with her
From that day on, Troy kept his distance.He changed seats. He stopped waiting after class. He stopped looking for her—at least on the outside.
Enid noticed everything.
The empty seat,the silence where his voice used to be. The absence that hurt more than presence ever did.
At night, she stared at her phone, Cavin’s messages glowing on the screen.
I’m doing the right thing, she told herself. I have to.
But somewhere deep inside, a crack had formed.
And cracks have a way of spreading.
Troy told himself he was doing the right thing.
He sat on the other side of the classroom now. He laughed louder with other people. He answered when spoken to, smiled when expected. On the outside, he looked fine.
On the inside, he was unraveling.
No matter where he sat, his eyes still drifted to the second row from the back.
No matter who talked to him, his mind still searched for Enid’s quiet presence.
She avoided him perfectly.
Too perfectly.
And that hurt more than rejection ever could.
During the week, Troy went out with classmates. Coffee. Late dinners. Loud conversations that went nowhere.
A girl laughed too hard at his jokes one night and touched his arm.
He felt nothing.
Another leaned close, hopeful.
He pulled away.
On his walk back to the dorm, the truth settled heavy in his chest:
I’m not moving on. I’m pretending.
He saw Enid again on Thursday afternoon, alone near the library steps, reading.
The sight of her—calm, distant, unreachable—broke something in him.
Before he could stop himself, he walked over.
“Enid.”
She looked up, startled. Her eyes widened just a fraction before she closed her book.
“Troy,” she said carefully. “You shouldn’t—”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I know you told me to stay away. Just—please. Five minutes.”
She hesitated. Then sighed. “Five.”
The Question He Shouldn’t Ask
They stood a few feet apart, the silence thick.
“I tried,” Troy said. “I really did.”
“Tried what?”
“To move on.”
Enid’s fingers tightened around her book. “And?”She swallowed. “You shouldn’t be saying this.”
“I know,” he said, voice strained. “But I need you to hear me anyway.”
She looked away. “I have a boyfriend.”
“I know,” Troy repeated. “I’m not asking you to leave him.”
That made her turn back sharply. “Then what are you asking?”
He took a breath that felt like swallowing fire.“Let me feel what I feel,” he said. “Let me care about you. Let me choose my own feelings,even if you can’t choose me.”
Enid shook her head. “That’s not fair.”
“I’m not asking for fair,” he said quietly. “I’m asking for honest.
“This isn’t romantic,” Enid whispered. “It’s selfish.”
“Maybe,” Troy admitted. “But pretending I don’t feel this? That’s destroying me.”
“You think it’s easy for me?” she snapped, emotion finally cracking through. “I asked you to stay away because every time you look at me like that, I feel like I’m betraying someone who trusts me.”
“I’m not asking you to betray him,” Troy said. “I’m asking you not to lie,to yourself or to me.”
Her eyes glistened.
“That’s the problem,” she said softly. “I don’t trust myself around you.”
They stood there, suspended between what was right and what felt inevitable.
“I won’t touch you,” Troy said. “I won’t cross that line unless you do. I just… don’t tell me to stop feeling.”
Enid closed her eyes.
“This is dangerous,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Silence.
Then, barely audible, she said, “I can’t give you permission.”
He nodded, pain flickering across his face. “I figured.”
“But…” she added, voice breaking, “I can’t stop you either.”
That was it.
Not a yes. Not a no.
Just enough truth to make everything harder.
After They Walk Away
They parted without touching.
Troy walked away knowing he had just made things worse—and somehow more real.
Enid stood frozen, heart pounding, knowing she had just let the crack widen.
That night, Cavin messaged her like always.
I miss you.
She stared at the screen for a long time
It was… complicated,she sight
And for the first time, the word boyfriend felt heavier than comfort.
Messages from her boyfriend, Cavin.
"How was your day babe?? im sorry for not disturbing you last couple of weeks,for not answering all your calls and messages.My review is still going on."
"Did you eat already?I'm leaving,going to Cebu for face to face review.Our board exam comes closer"
Enid replied dutifully, but her heart was no longer fully present. The conversations felt repetitive, distant—like reading from a script she had memorized long ago.
She hated herself for it.
- Writer
