My Russian Love

I \\ MEET KYLE

College is a showcase of stressed humans on it's own. There are classes, essays, tests, exams, presentations, reading books, taking notes, talking to people, the list of stressful tasks goes on and on and on.

Add to that a couple of extracurricular activities and you get a very worn out student. In this case, you get Kyle.

- Kyle, you look terrible.

He was stumbling down the staircase as he heard a sweet female voice.

- Thank you so much. – he replied with sarcasm.

- I'm sorry, but you really do, - said Laura – did you even go to bed?

- I had dance practice until 20pm but had to leave half an hour earlier so I could get to my voice class reposition, which lasted until 22h, so I only got home at 23h, took a shower, had dinner and went to bed thinking I'd get some sleep. Turns out my housemate decided to have some fun with his girlfriend 'till 4 am.

- And that kept you from sleeping?

- I swear on my life, I tried. I even put my earphones on. But our rooms are right next to each other, it's impossible not to hear it.

- Then, why on earth are you showing up for a 9am class? That's nuts.

- I have drama club right after with the same professor, he'd kill me.

Kyle Monteiro was the son of a Portuguese woman and a British man. As a child, he always thought that by 21 he would be a fully capable adult, with complete hold of his life. Right now, he sees that he might have overestimated his own capacities.

It's the last year of his degree in Translation and, when it's finished, he will have to find a job in a field that'll probably not be hiring at all. Maybe it's for the best: despite his unconditional love for foreign languages, his mind is set on a much bigger path.

This short, skinny, not-that-pretty guy actually dreams of being a worldwide recognized musical actor. A bit of a long shot, it's true, but nothing that can't be achieved... eventually...

                Being interested in so many different themes, Kyle didn't need someone to make him happy other than himself. At 21, he has never have a girlfriend... nor (as he recently found out) a boyfriend.

                You see, as you read this, our guy is going through a phase of self-discovery, by realizing that, although he has always felt sexually attracted to women, he also feels somehow drawn to beauty of the male body. Emotional-wise, he can picture a relationship with either, also.

                Kyle was never interested in relationships at all, until he found out that he wasn't actually straight as an arrow. The doubt of whether his future life would happen next to a girl or a boy slowly got him looking at people in a different way.

                At school, on the street, at the mall, he was constantly trying to find someone he would be attracted to in the middle of the crowd.

                But love is not something you can order and wait for it to be delivered at your door. You can't choose when it happens, it doesn't really work like that. There was no point in searching.

                The first class was a bore, but drama club was next, so Kyle was pumped up. Being on a stage was the sole purpose of his life. Singing, dancing, acting... It wasn't all about the applauses or the recognition: there was something magical in training your body to do something that most humans aren't naturally able to. Associating movement to music and using that as a tool to tell a story was the pinnacle of expression.

                After this rehearsal, he got a text message from dad: "Pick up your sister at the mall", to which he replied "Can't, I'm at school". A few seconds later, another text: "After school".

                Kyle sighed deeply. There were not many things as boring as sitting in the middle of the mall, waiting for a 14-year-old diva to scrutinize every single clothes store. Already preparing himself mentally for the dull hours he would spend at the shopping place, he headed to his second class of the day.

                But, maybe, who knows, this trip to the mall held some kind of good surprise?