LOVE IS ESSENTIAL

Alex

The busy hustle and bustle of university life had never interested Alex. Today, as every day, she was sitting alone, looking at her peers as her yellow ponytail flew in the wind. There are times he wonders what it's like to be in the middle of a crowd, to trust those around him, but he always comes back to his bubble of safety. A lonely, closed and inaccessible heart.

He sat quietly on the grass in the shade under the tree he claimed to be his since the first day of school. This was his second favorite activity. He would sit there, watching and working on his homework during breaks. Sometimes he would lie on his back on the ground and watch the sun shining on the bright green leaves and the pale blue sky as the background of the canvas. It was peaceful, safe, and most importantly… his.

"Hi Alex! It's good to see you." He looked up when he saw Jacob approaching.

He was in his senior year, and they often sat in the same row as his classmates' casual companionship... which he was able to achieve. There was absolutely no guarantee that he would crash next to her as if they had been best friends for a long time. He suddenly had an instinct to slide sideways.

"Oh, yes, hello," Alex replied, startled.

"I knew I'd find you under this tree." He nudged her with his elbow. "You seem a little lost in your own world."

"Yes, I enjoy being alone," he hinted.

Oh, absolutely. Me too. Absolutely." He certainly hadn't taken her hint. "Would you like to sit down together today? So in class. We can compare grades. You always seem to have the best intuition and I'm sure you have a lot to teach me."

"Well, you know what? I actually feel a little cold." He began to stuff the books laid out in front of him in his bag. "I don't think it would be a good idea to sit next to me in case I accidentally make you sick. Excuse me." He walked away from her, ignoring her desperate attempt to flirt with her.

It was flattering, but he couldn't let that happen. Although he was tall with spiky blond hair and hazel green eyes that you could get lost in, he knew it was bad news. The perfect magazine cover boy in every way.

If She was a regular college girl, she'd be all over the date. But there was nothing normal about him. She wasn't interested in a college crush that made no sense.

Alex couldn't let her take care of him. She didn't want to deal with him. She continued to persuade herself, but there was more to it than indifference, she.

She was scared.

Not necessarily her, but she's afraid of being in a relationship with anyone. She is afraid of falling in love and being crushed again, she. It wasn't easy to give yourself completely to someone, just to have them take everything with them when they go. She has also learned that when you tell someone about your dreams and goals, they will use it against you when you are vulnerable.

No, he wasn't physically hurt, but the scars he left behind in his heart weren't meant to be erased.

All of his peers lead normal lives, walking the same path, leaving almost a trail on the grass as he commuted to and from his classes, as if completely absorbed in their daily routines. All of them seemed oblivious to the world off campus.

Watching them normal made her feel like she was missing something, she. But she knew it was best for her to be a woman in the shadows. So he watched them instead, as if his life were a movie. She was the audience of everyone else's show, she.

She loved watching friendships built around laughter or banter, but she never quite understood why she couldn't keep up with them. He had no trouble meeting other girls as a child, and although many of these friendships persisted, he struggled to form new ones.

There was a never-ending list of men coming in every day trying to have pointless conversations with her. She had always wondered why the boy sitting alone under a tree in the shade looked like someone who needed to go and talk. But it never failed.

She wasn't trying to be rude, but she couldn't bear the thought of sitting around for an entire lunchtime chatting and accepting another date later, just to be just as polite, which she didn't want as much.

Instead, he focused on school and his photography. And not to get hurt again.

Plus, Jacob was just one of many encounters that day. He knew that if he changed his mind and wanted to join a group, he would have much better luck.

Alex had chosen to keep it to himself. After all, it was college, and if he started hanging out with people, parties would be involved.

Parties with men, men she tells herself to stay away from. It was all bad news. Staying away, hiding from the world was the easiest way to never get hurt.

His heart would never be broken again. He couldn't, especially not so soon.

He shook his head, trying to clear it. She needed to focus on going to class, so she started walking again.

She came to her last class of the day and sat in the back row, making sure she was alone. A few rows from Jacob himselfHe watched her sit in her seat.

When Alex saw Jacob sneak in, he felt bad for lying to him, but he knew it was for the best; He didn't need the distraction.

He sat and listened to the hour-long lecture, trying not to fall asleep on the boring topic his professor had chosen to teach today.

"Well, students, you're free to go," said the professor when he had finished. He took his books and walked out of the dormitory door.

She hurried to her room, still early and excited to begin her favorite part of the day. He had a new abandoned place he wanted to photograph, the old slaughterhouse. He loved to get lost in old buildings and their architecture. It sparked the imagination for new projects.

Her bright pink photographic bag lay in the corner at the foot of her twin bed, right where she had left it. Inside were lenses of different sizes, ensuring that he was prepared for whatever he was going to encounter.

Alex took in the scenery as he drove to the edge of town, enjoying how spaced out the houses were further from campus. It was late autumn, so the trees were leafless and according to him, this was the best time to take pictures.

She stepped outside with her bag thrown over her shoulder and noticed that a small area of the fence had fallen. He decided this would be the perfect place to come in, so he climbed the old rusty fence and the short retaining wall next to it.

Back on the floor, she unzipped her bag and grabbed her camera. He looked around, trying to find the perfect place to start, the one magical piece to spark his imagination.

She noticed him. The falling old bricks lit a light in his eyes that ignited his entire session. He lost himself in the photos he took, covering the rest of the world. Noise, stress, school. Everything is left.

Until a sharp scream pierced the air.

This brought him back to reality and froze, he began to hear another voice to indicate that he was not alone. If the screaming started again, he looked around, trying not to make a sound, to find the person who needed help.