Sunday, August 29, 2021

Love between Friends

By Ramon Torres




Sitting as they were, he nestles up to her partner and looks her tenderly in the eye. No one like her understands him so well, and that is what has given rise to the other classmates in the school to comment
 



Sitting as they were, he nestles up to his companion and looks her tenderly in the eye. She knows him perfectly. She knows that when he takes that position, it means something is wrong and he needs to tell her. She stares at him, as her delicate fingers curled into the boy's curled hair. No one like her understands him so well, and that is what has given rise to the other classmates in the school to comment maliciously.

Maybe you, right now, are thinking it is a couple of lovebirds in love ... One hundred percent error! They are nothing but excellent friends.

Woman-man friendship is as natural as that established between people of the same sex, only that the ill-thought always try to discover ulterior motives, anchored in secular positions long in disuse. If my grandmother had to grow up in a nun´s school and my mother in an exclusive school for young ladies, today our youth participates together in almost all projects, without distinction of gender.

Maybe this year you have had agricultural activities in a mixed camp. Would you limit yourself to relating to or counting on the friendship of someone of the opposite sex? Surely not. The circle narrows even more if you study in a boarding school, where the exchange between girls and boys is part of everyday life.

Friendship and... None of "That"

Purita, from Cienfuegos, confesses a deep admiration for her friend Aristides: " I can talk with him about things other people would scandalize," she explains. "We share thougths, objects, and he is very tender with me. I've known him since high school and I was always attracted to his company, without thinking about the 'other thing'. One day we decided to rent a cabin and go hiking alone. We had to sleep very close; however, nothing happened."

What are you saying?! – you will tell yourself – No one believes that. There is something down there.

And you may be right: there's something. He looks for in Purita some qualities other girls lack; she looks for in him the paradigm of a man she would like among her possible candidates. On the other hand, the closeness of their bodies does not make their hair stand up, as ot happens when either of them is approached by another person they like (sexually speaking).

Opposites Attract

I keep the experience of girls whom I loved very much... as friends, and if one thing I believe is friendship between a man and a woman is not impossible.

Maybe one day you will be surprised fantasizing about that person and that will disturb you; however, it is the most normal thing in the world. We all know that opposites attract, and you are not made of iron.

Once I confessed to an eternal girlfriend of mine that I liked her appearance and that was why I was so worried about taking care of mine, because she was a swittie pie and, although I saw her with different eyes, her physical attractiveness was indisputable.

I'm not the only one who believes in that kind of friendship. A survey  carried out some time ago by Somos Jovenes magazine among 50 students in Havana showed that more than three quarters considered that a man and a woman can become good friends.

Although almost all of them declared to consider a person of the same sex as their best friend, most agree on the possibility of a bisexual friendship. It is not easy for others to understand it, especially as years go by and that approach becomes more "electric".

But now you are young and you should not upset for what may happen, because if in the end you and your girlfriend reached "that", I do not think that will ruin your life; in short, you have already known each other and this will always be an advantage. In most cases, the camaraderie forged in advance will help you to solve the differences.

 

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