[ WP ] Talk to me about love

Loralei wanted to speak with me after class. She said that it was regarding the essay she turned in to the writing prompt - What is love? There was a look of deep concern on her face, so we sat down right after I announced to the last group of people about the change of my office hours and they left the lecture hall. 
 
 I assumed that she wanted to speak with me because she turned an essay she previously turned in three weeks ago. 
 
 Instead, she laid her books down and told me that she did n't quite understand the last prompt. Her voice cracked and her eyes welled up. She told me that she had asked her boyfriend to help with the assignment. They contemplated the meaning together - then realized that they had a lot of different values and could n't compromise to an agreement. They had broken up. I felt horrible. She insisted that she tell me what I was expecting from the assignment. So I gave her an answer: 
 
 `` Oh, sweetie. Love - 
 
 Love can be a lot of things. 
 
 A beautiful unity between people where happiness blooms every second. Whether it's to one person or to 50, well, that's up to you. 
 
 A tragedy that will absolutely ruin you and possibly another person's life. It can eat away at your mind, your heart, your soul. Sometimes love can be like that. 
 
 Or it can be a melancholy bitterness. Perhaps a moment where you realize that you care so much for another person, but you do n't fit into their lives so you know you have to leave them to be. Or even a moment where you're sitting with someone you believe that you love and you think `` I could do so much better''. 
 
 An eternal chase, maybe? Where the human quest for perfection can never be realized because there's always more that can be improved on. Or maybe even worse, an eternal chase for love that can never be quenched because of jealousy or hatred. But hopefully an eternal chase for love because you simply want to share yourself with many. 
 
 It can be none of these. Or it can be all of these. Or bits and pieces that you believe you want or need. 
 
 Love can be whatever you want, sweetie. But whatever you make it out to be, just remember that it's up to you and no one else. It will always be your choice, no matter how hard someone tries to change that.'' 
 
 She stared at me blankly and sniffled, her cheeks red from rubbing away tears. She said she still did n't understand, but that it helped her feel better to hear someone else's answer. Then she was gone. 
 
 Dammit, that was n't the point at all. Thinking that, though, I feel like a hypocrite.
