Enter the half-joke, half-serious concept of “silver springing” someone. It’s the idea that you and all the love you bring with you are unforgettable — like a ghost that will eternally haunt them.

Unrequited love is a painful yet universal experience caused by strong feelings for someone who does not or cannot reciprocate, such as a close friend who only sees your relationship as platonic. This type of feeling is often romanticized due to its idealized portrayal in the media — I myself am guilty of finding it so romantic when it comes to Mr. Darcy’s initial one-sided love for Elizabeth in Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice.”

For the first time in my scholastic career, my life seemed to align with the storyline of a book. In class last week, we read William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which includes...