I met him when I was working my way up among the top players in every weekly Diamond League. For 10 out of 15 minutes of my morning XP multiplier, I got caught under the spell of his black sweater and hipster glasses. I don't know who added whom first, but I do know that whoever it was, was in for a quick surprise when the "X follows you back" notification popped up.
His name was Robert. He was learning Spanish from German while I was learning German from Spanish. That was how, between translations and matching the pairs together, I daydreamed the day we would be sharing a language tandem in the Schengen area.
To impress him I won (once again) the weekly Diamond League competition. That was how he first reacted to the announcement of my first place.
Robert had Duolingo Plus and a flawless streak of over 1,000 days. For every notification that appeared to me, my heart reactions went back. And my actual heart leapt when I saw that the reactions back from him became hearts as well, instead of the standard congratulations for each achievement.
Thus the weeks of our Duoromance continued. Hearts went back and forth on each achievement and each streak milestone met.
One day, his reactions disappeared.
It seemed strange to me the first couple of times, but I decided to keep my reactions consistent so that he could see I was serious about us.
His reactions came back, however, as the standard "like" that you give to any standard contact you follow.
I stopped reacting and sank into the deep well of the eternal love that was not. I lost my essential motivations, and my unease translated (from German to Spanish) into a gradual decline in my gaming quality. I lost my almost 30 weeks in the Diamond League, and like a leap into the void, I found myself free-falling through the Obsidian, Pearl, Amethyst, Emerald, and Ruby leagues before landing on Sapphire.
It was falling down Sapphire when I woke up. I could only go lower if I stopped playing daily, but that would have meant losing the most valuable thing to me: My humble 710-day streak. And if in the middle of my end of the semester and also in the middle of my vacations I was able to maintain my streak, it would survive my broken heart and the rebuff of my Duocrush.
That was how I started to climb back with determination. I won Sapphire without difficulty. I kept going, always on top, through Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst and Pearl leagues; and that's how I earned gems and also positive reactions from my fellow players, who saw me hitting rock bottom and then saw my reborn. Robert also reacted with his standard reactions, but in order to grow, I had to leave that story behind.
Finally, I returned to Diamond after winning the Obsidian League. It was a triumph of dignity, effort, resilience, and streak. Robert gave me a heart but I didn't react; my illusion had been left behind, right in the Sapphire League.
I used a streak protector a few weeks later, but that's already part of another eternal love story that didn't prosper either.
A few days ago, Robert changed his profile photo and turned 1,500 days of streak. Although it is true that the latter was the merit, the heartfelt reaction I gave him was to his hipster glasses and his honey eyes.
Today, he gave me a heart for doing more than 10 lessons in one day.
...I may fall for a second time under the spell of his eyes and glasses...
But from Diamond, I won't fall again.
