Finding Love: Tales from a Gay Millennial

Chapter 3: Austin

Just like that, I'm in college already. Time sure is in a hurry, isn't it?

Entering the University, however, is a quite tricky. You'll have to choose your course, and that entails your career, and basically how you'll live the rest of your life. 

Whatever choice I make, it will spell my future.

My parents chose my school for me, and I'm actually being pressured to take one of the health sciences as well. It's not really bad, but I really would have wanted to take Accountancy.

My crisis would come to an abrupt halt when my parents laid down their choice of degree for me: Dentistry.

There isn't really much to hate with Dentistry. You'll be a doctor in just 6 years, the pay is quite good, and one of my favorite aunties is a dentist so yeah, I think that's fine. 

All was fine except that I have a bad fear of blood.

While I repeated that a thousand times to my parents, they're actually quite hoping that this can help me get over it. I will have to get over it if I would want to survive in this field. With a lot of reservations, I just agreed.

"You'll make a good dentist," said Ocean over a text message.

"Thanks, babe," I replied. "I just hope I don't embarrass myself."

"You'll do fine," she assured me. "It might not be easy at first, but you'll get over it sooner or later."

"I hope you're right," I replied as I let out a sigh.

There I was, on my first day of college, entering the Institute of Dental Medicine of St. Bonaventure University. And pretty much, things were quite normal.

With Ocean still in my high school, I arranged a schedule of visiting every other week. For the first few months, it worked. When we were apart, we kept in touch via texting and calling.

Towards my first major exams though, I got very busy, and we are only able to spend even less time. And so that's when things started becoming challenging for us until it came to a point that we just both gave up. So, for the first time in college, I was single again.

Surrounded by more people, it wasn't really that hard to find someone to like. In college, people are more mature, more open to the idea of relationships, and more straightforward. I end up meeting some interesting young women from my institute, and from other institutes as well.

I found myself in an unexpected turn of events though because my next girlfriend would be someone from my high school. And yes, someone who's still in there. 

Her name's Jenna, and she's a beautiful young lady. I was sort of amazed how I got someone like that to date someone like me. But just like it was with Ocean, the distance and the lack of time together led to our relationship being short-lived. 

I was very upset when Jenna and I broke up.

That's when Austin came into the picture.

Austin is a nursing student who I met in an org I joined. We hang out with our other members of our org most of our free time. 

Austin is rather pale, around the same height as I am, and had dark, medium length hair.

After learning that Jenna and I broke up, Austin sort of made it his mission to cheer me up.

And while I initially found it weird, it slowly progressed to something I looked forward to.

Austin will be around all the time, he'll give me some snacks when I was busy with our org activities, and he would sometimes slip a chocolate bar in my bag.