“We loved with a love that was more than love,

I and my Annabel Lee.”

~ Edgar Allen Poe ~

 

“Why must he be weird, perhaps instead, he is misunderstood” Jessica spoke while her eyes glanced along the paper, enjoying the poem written by the said ‘weird’ man, a soft smile forming along her lips while reading deeper into the meaning behind such angsty words.

“He was in love with a child” Beth, her best friend of six years commented, bringing concentrated eyes within her direction.

“Yes, but times were different back when he was alive. There was no such thing as too young or too old, some children were married off after their first menstrual. Is it fair to judge him separately because he was bold in his love?” Jessica asked with curiosity, pondering if she was the only one who thought so deeply about meaningless words at the end of the day.

“It was his own cousin” Beth continued to fight facts and logic, bringing a sigh from the brunette, obviously giving up the battle of defending her favorite poet.

“Regardless, his love for her was genuine, and she felt happy to have it. Isn’t that enough?” Jessica preached, closing the book along her lap, and placing it safely within the contents of her backpack, watching as her best friend pondered the thought, shrugging briefly as though such love did not exist.

“You are hopeless you know? Their love wasn’t perfect. Anna died in the end.”

“Ah, but he died beside her. That’s what true love is. Not being able to breathe without the other person beside you.” Jessica ended the conversation with such a strong statement, and though she might just be a hopeless romantic, she still admired Edgar Allen Poe and his love for a younger woman. A love so strong, that both had died to fulfill it.

The campus was silent for once, most students already leaving for the holidays and leaving the large building to be forgotten during some weeks of partying and vacation, and yet Jessica enjoyed such a large building most during these times. There was no crowd of rushing people, no buzzing drama surrounding the halls, simply knowledge to observe within its silent contents, and imagination for the heart to run wild within its emptiness. No clutter, no chaos.

Placing her headphones within her ear, she would sit at any table she wanted, not afraid of the jocks whom may try to target her, nor the cheerleaders whom believed they owned the library. His voice boomed with life as his song began to chime through the buds, bleeding lyrics within her heart that made her smile despite her hardships. His struggles were real, they were described within his lyrics, allowing her heart to fall content that she didn’t suffer alone, that many people, even idols understood the battle of depression and anxiety.

Jessica didn’t always know such a battle, in fact she had been distant from such horrible thoughts until recently, until HE came into her life. Dressed in a suit and a tie, laced with knowledge and wisdom, she allowed herself to fall in love with a lie, a lie so beautiful that she should have known it was not real. Yet it seemed real, for the five years she spent beside him, HE had become the realest thing within her life, only to turn into an illusion when she finally decided to give herself away. A false hope she had been leaning on for support.

She could remember the way he would once smile at her, that mocking smile still dancing within the hallways and glancing in her direction, spiting her with its happiness. She could remember when he once brought her flowers and candies, and now he only brought her pain and regret, heartache, and anxiety. She couldn’t escape those beautiful blue eyes, those dazzling dimples that showed off his perfectly bleached hair, nor the memorizing smile that forever haunted her dreams. He was real alright. A real nightmare, come to life for she had allowed it to brew within her and become powerful, controlling even.

“May I study with you?” Her eyes opened to see a male standing before her, his ebony-colored hair covering his face from her, a mask to hide his bottom half. She couldn’t see whom it was, but she didn’t mind having company who seemed polite, his thick foreign accent proving his English skill was probably beginner at best.

“Sure” she smiled a false smile, something she had perfected over the course of three months of heartache and pain, something that came naturally towards her these days.

“Thanks you” she found it cute, the small added s within his words, and for a second she could almost feel a warmth within the coldness of her body, her eyes returning towards the book at hand, the music continuing to blast through the small buds. “You listen… Agust D?”

“Yes, do you?” Jessica found herself slightly surprised that someone else enjoyed the angsty music, a small nod taking his head. “Are you Korean?” She asked, another nod taking his head after a second of deciphering the words she spoke. “Ah, 안녕하시요” (Hello) It was the first language outside of her native tongue that she had learned, primarily because her role-model spoke such a language, and thus her desire to understand him had inspired her to grow.
 

“안녕하시요” (Hello) He responded, and she could tell that he was smiling from the way his mask had lifted along his face, obviously thankful that he found some