On the evening of February 14th, I found myself alone in my dorm room at Ocean State University, watching Netflix. Most of my fellow students were out with their partners, celebrating the romantic holiday. I didn't have anyone to spend it with, but I didn't mind. I was content to spend the evening alone. I hadn't had a girlfriend since high school and while I'd flirted with some girls at college it had never progressed past casual make out sessions at parties. I didn't have a roommate to hang around with either -- because I got the smallest room at the end of the hall, it was a single on a floor otherwise filled with doubles.
I was sitting on my small couch wearing a workout t-shirt and gray sweatpants, about four episodes deep in a TV show binge. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. I got up to answer it, and when I opened it, I was surprised to see Kelsey, the pretty girl who lived across the hall in the other single. Our floor was co-ed, men on my side of the hall and women on the other. She looked sad and lonely.
"Hey Johnny, do you mind if I hang out with you for a while?" she asked. "My boyfriend broke up with me last week, and I don't want to be alone on Valentine's Day."
I didn't know her that well, but she was stunning, and I'd nursed a little bit of a crush on her for a while that I'd never pursued because I knew she was in a long-distance relationship with somebody who went to another school. I guess that had ended. I nodded and stepped aside to let her in. We sat on my couch and talked for a while, a little awkwardly as we got to know each other better, the TV forgotten in the background.
"Do you want a drink? I've got water and some beer," I offered.
"Oooh, Mr. Rulebreaker, I thought we weren't supposed to have alcohol in the dorms," she smirked.
"Yeah, benefits of being in the small room, nobody is ever here, I hang out in other people's rooms mostly," I replied.
"A beer sounds good then honestly, been a rough week."
"I bet."
I brought out a couple bottles. We made small talk for a bit, which eventually led to me asking her where she was from.
"A small town about an hour west of here, Jansville, do you know it?" she asked. The look on her face said she already knew the answer was no.
"I don't, I'm actually from out of state, I don't know the area around here that well," I say apologetically.
"Don't worry, you're not missing much," she replied. "Basically, everything outside Ocean City here is just half-empty small towns with nothing interesting going on. If not for the college here this would probably be the same way, we barely even get tourism despite being right on the water."
"I get it," I responded. "Where I'm from isn't that different, although I was lucky enough to live just outside the largest city in the area, so it wasn't totally dead. What do you do for fun?"
"My favorite thing to do has always been going to the beach -- it was nice that it was only an hour away, so we came down here fairly often growing up. I also like hiking, which is how I met my ex, although why I'm talking about him out loud right now after that prick left me via text right before Valentine's Day, I'm not sure," she said, with a sad smirk.
"Don't worry about it, it's alright if you're having a rough time, can't go anywhere around this building without decorations, it would drive any single person mad," I said, trying to help her feel better.
She laughed. "Honestly, you're not wrong, I hate it. We were happy a week ago, I thought, but apparently the two-hour drive from his school was too much and he didn't want to do long-distance anymore. At least that's what he told me, but my friend who goes there told me she saw him out with another girl the next day, so who knows how long that's been going on. Douche."
She continued, rambling a bit. "I mean, I wasn't planning on marrying him or anything, and we probably should have just broken up when we left for college, but still sucks that it was right before Valentines Day, and now I have to be alone and sad instead of just alone, and rambling to a stranger about my problems, and I should probably stop now."
"It's alright, I get it. He must not be very bright though, because I'm not sure how anybody could want somebody else when they had you already," I blurted out without thinking.
She arched an eyebrow at me. "Trash talking my ex while hitting on me on Valentine's Day, huh?"
"Uh, I didn't mean to say that out loud, I'm sorry," I quickly stammered. "It's just, I've had a crush on you for a while and I'm a bit nervous. I shouldn't have said anything now though, that was tactless of me."
She giggled. "I was joking with you, I appreciate the sentiment, nice to know I've still got it. I take it as that means you're single, too? I wasn't sure if you just had a distance thing going on or skipping Valentine's Day for some other reason."
"Yeah, flying solo, as they say. Haven't gotten too involved in dating since I got here, been too busy with classes to go through all that upfront trouble of finding someone."
"Oh damn, I wasn't even thinking about that yet, dating is going to be hell again, college guys suck," she said.
It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. "I'd like to think some of us are alright," I said.
"Oh shit, sorry, I didn't mean you," she said. "I just don't feel like getting on the apps in this town after listening to a few of my girlfriends talk about the guys they've been meeting. They all just want to hook up with as little effort as possible. Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with getting some, but like, try to at least treat the girl like a person instead of a walking vagina, you know?"
I coughed and laughed at the same time at her statement. "I guess I do now, that sounds awful. Honestly, I got off the apps altogether because half the girls I met were just trying to sell OnlyFans subscriptions and the other half were boring as all hell, my back would hurt from trying to carry the conversation." She laughed.
"We wouldn't want that, what with the healthcare system in this country," she played along. I stole a chance to look at her while she did. Her smile was beautiful, perfect, pearly white teeth surrounded by full lips. Her face was freckled and framed by shoulder length light brown hair. Her gray-blue eyes positively shined back at me. She wasn't wearing much in the way of makeup, and it's clear she didn't need it; she would have been the prettiest girl in any room wearing a school sweater and Christmas themed pajama pants, which is how she was dressed now. I smiled at her banter and continued.
"Plus, the number of swipes I need to get a match makes my thumb cramp. I know I'm not, I don't know, Chris Evans or somebody, but I'd like to think I'm a decently attractive guy and I still struggle."
"No way, you're super handsome, I would have thought you'd clean up on there," she said, then hesitated a bit.
"Who's hitting on who, exactly?" I laughed.
"That's just fair play," she said, sticking her tongue out at me. "Just take a picture in those gray sweatpants you're wearing right now, and you'll do fine." The sexual tension in the room with us was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"You've been checking me out? And here I thought this was just a conversation between friends on Valentine's Day."
