College C: I

There are Commandments. They must be followed. Lesson #1: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife (read as pal's crush/significant other/ex).

The tale begins innocently enough as a potentially covetable specimen steals onto the scene...or more often than not...swaggers in (amidst collective sighing and fainting) and begins to flash that dazzling smile, turning it on full blast for the benefit of the already weak kneed other half of the populace. Then the race begins. One person has to just mention it and then the epidemic is unstoppable. There's a new case of "iwantiosis fatalis" everywhere you turn to look. For most, it's an interesting experience. The swooning and the helplessness. To others, the spectacle of all those reeling bodies is priceless, guffaw-worthy even.

But the laugh dies on the lips. The silence presses in as you realise you stand alone. Friends have fallen prey and you have no way to reach through the haze and shake them out of their pitiful/pining/euphoric/manically depressing stupor and the fog creeps tentatively. It all begins at your fingers. Your good intentions twitch and die. Swiftly, painfully. You don't notice anything out of the ordinary until you become a part of the group that he/she hangs out with...sometimes...but often enough. You're a goner too.

But there are people who have more of a chance with that (lets make this easier for me to talk about...let's use the gender i associate this thing with...) King of Charisma. They're the ONE who has more potential simply by virtue of getting there first... So you back off. Reluctantly. Sometimes you know that the now-crush will go on to become her significant other and you seethe. You plot. You cov-v-v....

Shit! Commandment!