Discovering Love // phan

  Dan was trying his hardest to focus on the words in his textbook, studying for a quiz, but the the couple next to him were distracting him greatly with their locked lips and fierce noise-making. It was quite disgusting, the way they so publically displayed themselves, and Dan was struggling not to vomit.

  "I love you." The girl said, having finally pulled away from her boyfriend. When Dan heard her say this, he snorted loudly, and the pair glared at him. He looked away, deciding to gather his stuff and just move. He didn't feel like going through any drama with lovesick chicks today.

  There was no such thing as love, at least in Dan's point of view. Sure, there was deep affection and even mild obssession, but calling it 'love' is just trying to sugarcoat it and give it a deeper meaning than neccessary. It was played out, and frankly, it was starting to piss Dan off. Because in high school, the idea of being in love was strong in all the hearts of girls, practically suffocating the halls and classrooms.

  He was walking these same halls, twenty minutes before class, once again awed by his peers ignorance. Why were they so easily convinced by society that everyone had a 'soul mate', someone entailed perfectly to their needs and wants? It was a question that haunted him everyday, and never failed to keep him occupied.

  The bell finally rang, as he put his things in his locker, and Dan headed off to his first class.

  Usually, English class was his favorite class, because Dan was a huge fan of reading and enjoyed the book projects they got. But as the teacher started lecturing about their new lesson plan, Dan knew that this was going to be the one lesson he hated.

  "Love." Was the first thing the teacher said, facing his class. "One of the most powerful feelings that man can possess, but also the most rare. There are countless books written about it, millions of songs portraying it. There's even an entire holiday about it, although not just on the basis of 'love', entirely."

  All the girls were on the edge of their seats, listening to every word the teacher said, and even some of the boys were interested. Dan was glaring at the ceiling, wishing to anything above him that he could be anywhere else right now. This was a whole new torture for him.

  "Mr. Howell." Dan snapped his head to the front. "You alright there?"

  Dan flushed, as all the students turned to look at him, but nodded as he turned his gaze to his desktop.

  "Have you ever been in love, Mr. Howell? Even if it was some blind kind of love, or petty crush at the time."

  Usually, Dan didn't like to start and contreversy in class, preffering to keep his thoughts to himself, but he didn't want to just go along with this bullshit.

  "I don't believe in love, sir." He said, ignoring the glares that the girls threw at him. His teacher looked a bit surprised at this, but then laughed.

  "Not even a smidge? Most teenagers are head over heels for at least one person."

  "Not me. I think its a bit overrated, just teen hormones going haywire."

  "But what about older people? They seem to believe in love as well, can't be teen hormones for them."

  Dan had actually pondered that possibility before, but had nonetheless, come up with an argument.

  "I think that, as teens, people let these hormones convince them that love is a real thing, and when they get older, the idea just never goes away, and they can't stop believing in it. Like an addiction, I suppose. They become starved for attention, for love, and never let the idea go that someone will surely come along and sweep them away. Just a head case, really."