She’s perfect.

She holds out her hand, gently touching the fingertips of mine.

She’s got the most beautiful eyes, her smile makes my whole world shine.

Her little giggle melts my heart.

I cannot bear to see her sad. To see her hurt.

I love her.

She’s the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. 

I wish to spend every moment with her. May it be laughing, crying, cooking,

I want to do it all with her only.

I love her.

I wish she would accept herself. 

Accept her love for me. We both feel it. 

I wish her parents would accept her. I wish they would love her no matter whom she loved. 

***

She tilts her head close to my shoulder. She lets it rest softly, letting out a sigh. She takes her hand and places it on the opposite side of my face. My right cheek. She gently taps it a few times before bringing her hand down so it holds mine. I can’t see her face. But I know she’s smiling. I know she’s happy. 

***

I wish my parents too would accept me for who I am.

My love for drawing.

My love for dancing. 

My love for her.

I love her ever so much.

***

Briefly, for a second, I hear her say “I”

I wish for her to continue. I wish for her to finish her sentence, to hear her voice whisper the words I ever so wish to hear. I love you.

I want to say it to her too. I want to tell her how she makes me feel. 

How she makes my heart race. My blood rush. 

I feel alive. 

***

After minutes of silence, staring into the far distance as we sit on the edge of the mountain, she sits upright. She reaches into her pocket, her breath shortening. She’s nervous. 

She takes a small box out and wraps it carefully with her hands around it.

***

I told my parents. 

I told them how I felt. Who I was. Where I belonged.

They said I wasn’t normal, and that God made a mistake with me. They said I must fix my feelings or else they would find someone else who would help me fix my feelings.

I knew I couldn’t be fixed. 

I didn’t need fixing. 

There was nothing wrong with me.

***

It’s a sunny day. It’s quite warm considering we are a few thousand feet high. Mountains surround us, with a vast valley view ahead of us. 

Occasionally, a cool breeze flows by, but her warmth is enough.

***

She said her parents denied her.

They questioned how she could possibly be this way, that both of them were normal, so how did she become such a disgrace. 

How could she love a girl, they were in disbelief. 

But even so, all I can ever think about is her. All I want to do is talk about her, with my family, my friends, my classmates, like my parents talk about each other. I wish to have happy stories with her like the ones my parents have. 

I wish we could be accepted. 

I know I can’t stay quiet anymore. 

Any more silence will only hurt us more than it already has. 

***

She opens her hand, revealing the box to make it more clear. It’s rectangular. A nice, even shape. 

It has sparkles all around. The box itself is blue, velvet material. 

She brings her right hand to the front of the box and slowly lifts it open.

I wish to see what’s inside, but she brings her hand and places it over my eyes. 

***

It’s me and her against the whole world. 

No one else understands. 

Or maybe they do understand. 

Maybe there are others out there who feel the same way I do, but they just won’t accept it yet. 

Maybe they feel embarrassed or ashamed of themselves, like I too had felt at first. 

I am constantly made fun of every day, given awful looks of hatred and disgust. 

She tells me to ignore it, that when we’re together, nothing else matters, and I tell her she’s right, but the looks and comments that people give as we walk together hand-in-hand in the school hallways makes it hard to ignore.

***

I long for the day where we live in a world where straight people and gay people can laugh together, play together, help each other…

I am gay.

I am gay, and I am proud to be gay. I am proud to be part of the LGBTQ+ community, where I can be who I am. But it is unfortunate that as much as I would love to freely express myself, I cannot because I am constantly held back. 

My parents, her parents, my friends, her friends, our classmates…

They say we have a problem, one that needs fixing. 

But we don’t need fixing. 

***

The wind blows against my face as she slowly removes her hand off my eyes. Before me I see the vast mountains no more. The only thing that I can see is her. My world.

At last, I see a small, shiny and clear object inside the box, sparkling in the sun’s eyes. Inside the object, I see a little rainbow. 

‘It’s us,” she says. ‘Who we are, where we belong… this is our community.”

She takes the object out, a beautiful ring, fitting perfectly on my ring finger as she slides it on.

She keeps her hand there for a few moments, observing how far we’ve come. I do the same. 

‘I love you,’ she says. It seems unreal. 

My heart races, trying to wake myself up from this dream. 

This dream that I had been having for so long.

But at last, it is not a dream. She really loves me. 

She is my whole world. She’s the reason I push forward, no matter how difficult the day.

I love her too, so much that it cannot be put into words. 

I’m a girl, yet I love another girl. 

I’m not ashamed or embarrassed. I have no reason to be.

I’m perfect just the way I am. 

My love for a woman makes me no different than having a love for a man. 

I might not be normal to all of society. 

But I know there will be a day where I will not be looked at as outrageous or abnormal. When I will be seen as someone just as anyone else. Truly in love. And that this love will be just as perfect as any other.

And I hope that I can live to see that day. 

***

So here I am. Hand-in-hand I sit with her, staring ever so deeply in her eyes. In the eyes of the most beautiful person.

‘I love you too,’ I whisper heartily. ‘I love you forever, Jasmine.’ 

She truly is the most perfect one.

Forever and ever

I love her.