To Have Loved [BxB] Book I ✓

Chapter 37

a/n: So this new writing method has actually been working out pretty well and I think I can confidently say that there will be consistent updates from now on every Friday. Anyways, I thought everyone deserved a solid bonding chapter for these two, so here it is. Also, as a bonus, I'm gonna leave a brief interpretation of Elias' poem in the comments next to it. You guys can interpret it however you like though, I just thought because it's not spoiling anything and would not otherwise come up again, it might be nice to know. If you don't want to know, just don't check the comments under the first part of the poem. That's all for now, I will see you guys again with another chapter next Friday, have a great week!

On Saturday night, Kayden found himself in Elias' dorm, sitting on the bed with his legs crisscrossed and his laptop in front of him. 

"So, I didn't exactly start writing the paper per se, but I did almost finish the outline." 

"Almost meaning you didn't finish the outline?" Elias asked, looking up from his laptop. 

"Almost meaning I didn't exactly write it out on any physical paper, but it's all up here, so we're good," Kayden said, tapping the side of his head with a little smile. 

Elias looked at him for a moment. "I'm sorry, you spent a week brainstorming?" Elias asked, closing his laptop and folding his hands on top of it. 

Kayden let out a guilty little laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I mean, it sounds bad when you put it like that." 

The blond sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Alright then, tell me what you have for the paper. What are your ideas? I'll write them down for you and structure it." They'd gone through this process for most of Kayden's essays when he got stuck. Elias found that sometimes if he had Kayden verbalize his plan and helped him put it down on paper, the assignment was less likely to be left to the last minute because of Kayden's usual anxiety around starting. If there was a plan in place, all Kayden had to do was follow the steps and that seemed to give him a certain comfort. 

Elias reached over and pulled a pen out of the mug on his side table that had been repurposed as a pen cup, opening his notepad to a fresh page. "Let's start with the introduction. What's your opener?"

Kayden thought for a moment. "I was thinking about starting with a line from a famous poem, maybe something by Robert Frost or T.S. Eliot, then I'll analyze it." 

Elias shook his head, shifting a bit. "No, you'll want to save that for the body paragraphs. Starting off with a quote is fine, but you should use it to make a point or pull the reader in. Remember, the introduction is meant to introduce the topic, it's not supposed to be the meat of the paper."

"Okay, so what if I start with a quote and talk about the feeling that it elicits, and then I can talk about poetry in general, and I can lead that into the first point where I'll analyze the quote."

"Yeah, that could work well for an introduction. What's your thesis?" 

"What about...Excellent poetry is defined more by its ability to connect with an audience and evoke a certain fervor rather than purely by its grammatical quality."

"Ooh, 'fervor', nice," Elias said with a small smile, writing down Kayden's thesis. "How about in the first paragraph you take the quote from the introduction and analyze it, then in the second paragraph, you talk about the themes, style, and techniques. You can use the third paragraph to talk about related poems, and then pull it all together in the conclusion."

Kayden considered that. "Yeah, that's a really good idea," He said with a nod. "I guess I should start working on this thing." 

"Yeah, I have a few poems to work on if you want to try and get the introduction done while we're here," Elias said. "But, do you need any help finding the quote? I've got a few poetry books lying around."