Are we just a collection of clichés and overused tropes?
It's like we were plucked exactly out of a Wattpad story from 2011.
Childishly, all cringe and predictable, like a RomCom someone lazily wrote.
Don't ask about my personal fanfiction of an unrealized star-crossed heaven.

Meet me halfway through the Science Building Walkway,
We’re set on ignoring the content warning for this impending disaster.
Not a chance we'll find ourselves in an Alternate Universe fic set in a cozy café.
Though the warmth of your brewed coffee orbs will carry me through this slow burn chapter.

I'll giggle and gossip with my friends, nurturing this lingering limerence,
Pretending I'm nonchalant and unbothered by your looping refrain—
In reality, I’m as foolishly controlled by my heart as Patroclus or Icarus.
Don't ask about my personal headcanons or what my diary contains.

We're basically a rarepair destined for overwhelming obscurity,
Not a single reader or fanfic writer will ship you and me.

- Beatrice Diane D. Bartolome
(Illustration by Erica Camille Africa/FEU Advocate)