A Colored Joy

across the universe

This one might be tricky but I wanted it to feel authentic and real to the story and fit someone's life.

Y/n's p.o.v
I talked to him on the phone all day, my Tagalog with still kind of bad. I tried my hardest but ultimately he had to speak English for me a few times. His name was Rizal, and we weren't in love yet. It had started with me wanting to learn Tagalog so I could talk to a Filipino exchange student at my school but I only learned a few words. I would ask her how her day was hoping to get it right, but she was shy and never responded. So I took an online pen pal course so I could practice writing in Tagalog hoping that it would make my speaking better. Now can read and write but speaking is still a chore.

Rizal and I had been talking for months now, he spoke fluent English and so did I. I was teaching him Spanish and he was teaching me Tagalog. He picked up Spanish way faster than I picked up Tagalog, he spoke eloquently I could even use bit of Spanglish at times. I felt bad for being left behind, but he always reassured me. He was sweet, patient, and soft spoken. I like when he told me stories, he would try and use all three languages at once. Which was normal for us most of our conversations were in Spanglish in Tagalog mixing together and it was almost our secret language. When I didn't want my mother to hear something we were talking about I'd speak in broken Tagalog, and when Riz didn't want to be teased he'd speak in Spanish. He became my best friend, I never thought I could lean on anyone I did with him, we knew secrets and fears and dreams of leaving our houses. Riz considered me his only friend. I'd try to introduce him to other friends I had but they never seemed to click. So we kept to ourselves and got comfortable. He was the person I called when I'd had a bad day, and he did the same to me.

I sat on my bed texting Riz and trying to read my sentences allowed. I did nothing but fumble over my words and ultimately get frustrated, English isn't even my first language so it shouldn't be too hard to learn Tagalog. Yet I fumble and mispronounce and replace words with others. My first language is Spanish, Tagalog has some Spanish and Latin roots so I thought it'd be easier. Turns out the pronunciation is the one thing that's going to stop me. He encouraged me to keep going. Rizal became my rock, and I missed being able to see him. We video chatted a few times, he showed me around his house and his town. I loved seeing new places, he saw a lot of my town to. We stayed like that for a while.

It's been a month, I haven't talked to Rizal in weeks. I've been lonely without him, all I want is to talk but I can never reach him. After a long day of school and after school band practice I come home to fall asleep. My mother decided I should clean the entire house though, so I spend hours tidying and moving things. My mother gets dressed for some reason, tells me she's going out and dinners in the oven. After cleaning I shower, put on some old pj's, and put my hair in a bun. I sit on my bed and scroll through my phone, ready to sleep.

My mom calls me downstairs, I come down the stairs and walk into the living room, only to see Rizal standing there. My mom standing beside him. "Hija, I know how much this boy means to you. I heard the way you talk about him. So I wanted you to meet him, he seems to make you happy." She sounded like she didn't like this idea at all, but to be honest she wasn't okay with me dating or having male friends. She hugged me, "Now, I'm going to finish dinner and you are going to finally meet your friend." She kisses my forehead and walks into the kitchen. I look at Rizal for the first time he's in front of me. I walk over and hug him, he hugs back even tighter. "Hi, it's been awhile y/n." He smiles at me. I should kiss him, I think. Before I can, he kisses me first. Our lips lock passionately and for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm living, and loving every second of it.

For the rest of the night we ate and talked, and our hands never let go of each other, for once we weren't across the universe.

A/n: this took way to long man