Another Word for Love By Rayelle Cato This senior year, walking down the familiar street, I fell in love with my best friend. No, not like that. It was not a romantic thing. I love her already, she's one of my favorite people. But I felt something stronger than that. I scoured the internet, trying to find a word that matched my feelings, and came up empty. So I decided I was in love with her. Platonically. Let me set the scene. We were walking down the street, her laughing and shouting, talking about Twenty-One Pilots. More specifically, their album Trench . It was a concept album and she was telling me the theories she had. She was speaking in a new language. I knew some of the words but I could not really follow. But the way she was talking and laughing made me want to listen. She laughed and talked, and smiled, and was dramatic. But I couldn’t take my eyes away. Cars zoomed by and there might have been people around us walking but I did not notice. It was just her. Her with her named bookbag, her with my phone in her hands, her voice, and her expressions. She probably listened to that album 40 times, going back and listening for clues and hidden messages. She probably changed her theories 30 times after listening to their previous albums and finding new messages. I have listened to the album 23 times making my theories so I can talk to her about them. She hugged me approximately 60 times. Most of the hugs were given because either she or I was sad or angry. We walked together after school approximately 95 times. She lives close to our school and it was on the same path as the bus stop. She probably made me go to the lunch line with her 523 times, breakfast, and lunch. I would try to hide or sneak away and she would hold my hand or purse so I could not leave. I usually walked with her when she had to ask a teacher something or wanted to get some water. I do not have the best memory, but she is one of the people I will never forget. I fell in love with my best friend. She is one of my favorite people in the world. I learned that I am platonically in love with her. That love does not always have to be a romantic attraction. I love her, my other friends, my family, etc. And it feels great. I am glad that I learned this. That I can love someone, maybe even fall in love with them and it is not romantic. Maybe my next assignment will be to create that word.
Congrats to Rayelle as a first-year Bard College student.
Reprinted with permission from Goucher College
Page 18 I BelongMagazine.com , Autumn 2020. All rights reserved. Published by Unified Efforts, Inc., Baltimore, MD, https://unifiedefforts.org
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