Dear Cupid,

Some say being popular runs in family genes, that every member of the household will in some way be popular in school. Some say being popular is a result of good looks, and your status in school depends on how much acne you have on your face and how skinny you are. Some say being popular is just pure luck. Either way, you get surrounded by the opposite sex, and receive hundreds of likes on a picture you posted five minutes ago. Sometimes I love this life, and am grateful for being gifted with this life. Other times, I wish I could fade into the background, ignored by the world. My crush lives like this, but with a constant frown on his face, and I get confused as to why he is upset yet he's living my dream life.

Carlos Gollen is a member of the track team, not the best but also not the worst. When I walk into the classroom, he's sitting in the back corner, absorbed in one of the many Harry Potter books he owns. He looks so innocent and cute, his dimples forming when he sees something he likes, yet I can't help to think what's bothering him. I see him sometimes kicking the lockers, tears streaming down his face, but before I can even breathe, someone pulls me away from the situation, telling me to 'ignore him' and that 'it's nothing we need to worry about'. But, you see cupid, I honestly do worry about him, but my school status gets in the way of being able to talk to him. We're on two different sides of the school spectrum.

No one else in the whole entire universe knows about my small crush, and every time I see him and I'm not able to even smile at him breaks me. With the school knowing I'm crushing on a brown-haired geek who cries alone, I'll basically be a ghost to the world. So I guess you could stay I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I don't know what to do, cupid: do I sacrifice my reputation for my love life, or bottle it up until I find someone else?

Joshua Quinn

-

Hello Joshua!

Thank you for contacting 'Dear Cupid' for relationship advice, it seems you're going through a tough time.

Let me ask you this question: are you willing to give up anything for your significant other? Other people, especially celebrities, have to think about this for a while before and during a relationship with someone. Some celebs have to decide whether they are dedicated enough to give up their whole career to be with their significant other, let alone start a family of their own. So you are not alone in this situation.

People say a significant other feels more like a friend to them than a large group of people, that they feel more comfort around them and they feel safer – which is true. Both sides are giving one another their full trust to keep the bonds connected and the relationship stronger than ever, and as some friendships may not last because one end of the pair has lost faith in it, and may not care if the relationship fails as there's more friends out there in the world. I see that the friends you have in school must not care about your feelings at all if you're afraid of their reactions.

If you want something, you have to reach for it with both hands. So if you want to ask Carlos out, then go for it! But it is also good to worry about your lover, as telling each other your worries and fears is part of a healthy relationship. Ask him what's wrong, and give him support in his times in need, but never try and force it out of him, that will just place more stress on his shoulders.

Don't forget to ask other people for relationship advice as well! When you want to ask someone out, it's good to ask someone who knows them fairly for tips, but no one too close or else they can spill the beans before it's too late!

I wish you good luck in your adventures in love,

May your relationships remain peaceful like doves.

Cupid x

---

Those with claustrophobia would have fainted already if they were in Joshua's situation. Stranded in a sea of girls, all swamping him with roses and cards, with his friends on the side with their girlfriends. Joshua's circular glasses was falling down his face, and he found it hard to release his arm from the crowd's hands to push it back up into position. This happens every year to Joshua, and it always goes in slow motion, driving his head to the brink of insanity. His heart starts to race from the pressure, his vision gets blocked from the crazy arms of teenage girls trying to get his attention, his back gets pressed against the cold doors of lockers as the crowd starts to close in on him. All of this makes him feel like the celebrity he really never wanted to be in the first place. Please God, he thinks, get me out of this!

Something catches his eye, a timid boy behind the crowd walks into a classroom, his head bowed low and a frown spread across his face. That boy was Carlos Gollen, the boy that has been on Joshua's mind for God knows how long now. Joshua needed to talk to him, he didn't feel comfortable around these girls anymore, he realised that the high life is not for him. That is when Joshua pushed his way through the girls, probably hurting a couple accidentally in the process, and started to run towards class 12a. The only thing rushing around his mind was the advice that Cupid and Mackenzie had given him earlier, he needed all the support he could get at this moment.

Opening the door, Joshua was met with the face of Miss Evans, his Science teacher, and the soft whimpers of the boy in the corner. Joshua gave a quick smile to the teacher before making his way through the tables towards Carlos. Instead of absorbing himself in the Deathly Hallows book, his head was resting on the desk, silent sobs escaping from his mouth. Joshua pulled out a chair, and cleared his throat to grab Carlos' attention.

"All of you playboys want attention, don't you?" he muttered, looking up at Joshua with his red, puffy eyes. "You will do anything to make yourselves look tougher to the ladies, not even giving a thought to us imperfects that you hurt." Confused masked Joshua's face, he would never intend to hurt anyone, let alone Carlos. Lifting up his head, Carlos revealed a horrendous purple mark surrounding his right eye which he had covered before with his arms as he cried on the table. "This is the worst Mark and Cory have done so far, though. They've probably sent you here to have the final punch."

"And what made you think that?" Joshua questioned, running a piece of clean tissue he found in his pocket under a tap nearby. "When have I bullied anyone, let alone you? I personally want it to stop."

"Then why don't you leave? Stop being friends with such horrid beings like them?" Carlos' question reminded Joshua of something Cupid said to him: Let me ask you this question: are you willing to give up anything for your significant other? ... People say a significant other feels more like a friend to them than a large group of people, that they feel more comfort around them and they feel safer ... If you want something, you have to reach for it with both hands.

"T-T-That is because...I...like...you. I like you, like more than a friend, if you know what I mean, that is-"

"It's fine!" Carlos shuts Joshua up, a tiny giggle escaping his lips. "I understand what you mean. But why me?"

"Well, I guess it's because of your sweet dimples, and the way your hair curls in the rain," he began, Miss Evans had left to go do photocopying, so it was just them two. "The way you get lost in your own world with your books and have so much fun, and the way your eyes sparkle when you're happy. It's also the way you always pick yourself up after being pushed down, and can walk away like nothing happened on the outside. I have fallen for you, and I will fall with you if it means I can be with you."

Both of the boys were welling up, and just grabbed a hold of one another in a hug, sobbing out the pain. In this horrible world, where the selfish and the arrogant mix, finding yourself a selfless and caring significant other is something more than a miracle. The two boys could hear shouting and cackles coming from outside the classroom walls, most likely directed at them, but the warming embrace of their hug and then Joshua's kiss blocked out anything and everything surrounding them.

"I will do all I can to protect you, Carlos." He smiled after releasing their lips from the kiss,

"As my boyfriend, you can." Carlos grinned back, his final tear falling down his crimson cheek. Joshua knew he would never be able to show his face around his friends ever again, but that didn't matter to him. As long as Carlos' hand was interlocked with his, nothing else in the world matter to him.