Valentine's
Valentine
Cody Herrmann
Dr. Cole
Writing Across the Curriculum
November 28, 2013
A Snarky Retelling of Valentine’s Day
I feel as if many non-fiction works recount the most tragic and influential moments of a person’s life. I’ve decided that I’d like to share with you a single night. It isn’t all that special (though it was Valentine’s day) it was merely a simple, romantic evening. I don’t want you to finish reading this and say “Wow. This guy is deep” because quite frankly, I’m not. I just want you to look into the life of someone else, to fill their shoes, and to know what I thought during a single night. Since most nights are filled with video games and homework, I thought it best to pick a day where something somewhat interesting happened. So you’re welcome. Otherwise this stream of consciousness would include Call of Duty and the latest episodes of Walking Dead. Not too exciting unless you’re into spoilers unfortunately.
Let me just start by saying Valentine’s day is nothing more than a hallmark holiday, created simply to convince people that they need to spend money on one another. But for some reason I always get caught up in the hype surrounding it. I had recently started dating a girl named Alyssa. It had only been about a month and we had been friends back in high school so we knew each other fairly well. At this point I was crushing very hard. I really liked her and I wanted to to do something special for her. I had visited her at school a couple of times already and I thought to myself “Hey! You should surprise her!” SO with that
I’m a planner when it comes to these types of things. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a romantic at heart or if it’s the fact that I feel like a super spy when I give each phase of my plans a cool codename. Regardless, Operation Cupid was a go.
Unfortunately, Valentine’s day was on a Thursday which meant that if I wanted to make a surprise visit, I was going to have to leave that same night. It’s a fifty mile trip give or take which meant I’d be spending a hundred miles worth of gas round trip. For one night. I don’t care how selfish that sounds, have you seen the gas prices lately?! Any rational person would have been thinking the same think. Of course, she was definitely worth it. What’s a few bucks compared to that beautiful smile right? There you happy now?
A few days prior to Valentine’s, I contacted her friend on Facebook asking her when Alyssa would be home that night. Apparently they were having a pasta dinner with tons of friends so there went my ideas for a romantic meal. Oh well saved me a few bucks I guess. She said they’d be there at 6 and I told tem I’d bring them some Italian bread to eat with their pasta.
Getting gifts is hard, making them is harder. I wanted to make a bouquet of origami flowers because I thought it’d look original. But I let my friend talk me into making them out of duct tape. It’as a lot easier but I thought they’d look better than they did. So after making about half-a-dozen, I picked the best one a put it in the vase I got for it. Then I filled it up with candy (Reese’s of course) in order to make it stand up. The other part of the gift was the pure fact that I was there. I told her I had work that night! She was totally unaware of my super, secret mission.
My plan hit a snag however. Now you have to understand, I had only visited a few times before. It was really easy to get lost especially since I had never driven there in the dark. Anybody could have done it! I wound up being late by about twenty minutes. Before anyone says, “Well why didn’t you leave earlier?” My answer to you would be that I didn’t want to be to early and ruin the dinner plans they had. I know that’s silly but I didn’t want to mess up that friend time because they all seemed close.
Anyways I finally managed to get there. Once I did I realized I hadn’t exactly formulated an entrance. The entrance is key! You don’t want some corny approach that leaves you looking dumb or foolish. I pondered whether to make a cutesy type phone call. Maybe have her check for something I may have dropped the weekend before but I figured she would see right through that. I wanted that element of surprise! I decided to just knock. Why not? It always works in the movies. And by God if Tom Cruise can do it, so can I!
This tough talk makes it seem as if I was overly confident. Let me just set the record straight by saying I was scared out of my mind. I was so nervous I couldn’t stop shaking. I was tempted to just call it off because I was afraid my voice would crack. Literally every possible scenario of me messing something up was running through my head. I was tripping or stuttering, or even dropping the vase that I had in my book bag on the floor. With every glimpse into the future I trembled.
Luckily I managed to swallow my fears and nervousness. The knock on the door was still a heart-racing moment. Someone hollered for me to come in and I slowly opened the door. AS it opened I was able to see the right side of the room. It was full of girls! There must have been eight of them all sitting on that side. AS the door opened they were revealed one-by-one and as I went up the row I kept thinking that’s no her, that’s not her, that’s not her.. until finally, I open the door enough to find Alyssa sitting in the middle of the room on a stool with a mouthful of pasta in her mouth. She looked at me as her eyes went wide. The pasta fell from her lips and she shouted my name, “Cody!?” It was the perfect amount of surprise and appreciation.
Not quite knowing what to do with a roomful of her friends watching we awkwardly embraced in a strong hug and I began talking to her in a whisper, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” She smiled at me and I thought to myself, Yeah, definitely worth it. What is it about a girl’s smile that has so much power over a man? Not just any girl but that one girl. The one you want, the one you need. It’s that smile that every man works towards. It’s that smile that makes us feel complete.
At that moment I felt complete. Her happiness flooded over me and I swear we were both glowing. I almost forgot about everyone else in the room but their “Awww’s” and googley-eyed staring were quite overwhelming and I felt a bit awkward. We flt it so strongly that everything we said to one another was a whisper. I pulled out the vase with the single flower and candy and she stared at it in disbelief. She absolutely loved it; apparently hand-made gifts are her favorite. Score one for me!
Later I found out that Alyssa’s roommate had told everyone about the surprise (excluding Alyssa of course) and they had all come over to see it. Of course I also found out that they had all stalked my Facebook page which was semi-creepy but my valentine assured me it was normal for girls. O well at least I had her friend’s approval. It didn’t really matter though because that night was about her not me.
The problem was that I hadn’t made plans to do anything because she had already eaten. I wasn’t too sure what there was to do on her campus at night so I let her
decide on what to do. Unfortunately she decided to go for a walk. I guess a movie was too cliché or something but that walk was COLD. It had to have been in the low thirties and I was not dressed in enough layers. Despite the weather I actually had a great time. We had a casual conversation about the surprise and then that random banter that couples usually throw back and forth.
We somehow ended up on a bench and were looking at the stars. One of her friends stopped by and she talked to her for a bit. I remember looking at her, all bundled up in her scarf and warm black petticoat. She loves scarves, as in she owns about twenty. It’s a strange addiction but she looks great in them so I don’t complain. Her red nose was the cutest thing to me. All I wanted to do was kiss it, maybe warm it up to its normal hue.
After leaving the bench we stopped by some very interesting arches with a very relevant back story. Apparently, her college used to separate the dorms by gender; boys on one side of the campus and girls on the other. These arches, dubbed the Kissing Arches, were the halfway point where couples would say farewell to one another. If the couples kissed under theses archways, legend says they would be together forever.
And what do you think we did? Of course we kissed! Come on its one of the most romantic nights of the year. I signed my life away for romance. That’s what I call sacrifice. I don’t believe to heavily in those supernatural myths but I feel as if it added to the atmosphere of our little jaunt.
As we walked back she clung to my arm. I don’t know if it was simply to stay warm or to just be as close as possible to me. I’d like to think it was the proximity. The walk back was fairly quiet and we didn’t say much. I may have worked in a few corny jokes just to make her think I’m funny but other than that, not much was said. I think we were both just enjoying the night air.
Back at her apartment we sat on her bed and watched a random movie on Netflix. I don’t remember what it was but I know we didn’t really pay attention to it. When it finally came time to leave she offered for me to spend the night but I couldn’t. I figured it would ruin the magnitude of the surprise and I had class very early the next day anyway. I was quite pleased with my plan though and I’m fairly certain she was as well. The only problem is how to live up to that again? Because we are still together and now that Valentine’s day is approaching again, I’m drawing a blank on what to do. Go me.
Dr. Cole
Writing Across the Curriculum
November 28, 2013
A Snarky Retelling of Valentine’s Day
I feel as if many non-fiction works recount the most tragic and influential moments of a person’s life. I’ve decided that I’d like to share with you a single night. It isn’t all that special (though it was Valentine’s day) it was merely a simple, romantic evening. I don’t want you to finish reading this and say “Wow. This guy is deep” because quite frankly, I’m not. I just want you to look into the life of someone else, to fill their shoes, and to know what I thought during a single night. Since most nights are filled with video games and homework, I thought it best to pick a day where something somewhat interesting happened. So you’re welcome. Otherwise this stream of consciousness would include Call of Duty and the latest episodes of Walking Dead. Not too exciting unless you’re into spoilers unfortunately.
Let me just start by saying Valentine’s day is nothing more than a hallmark holiday, created simply to convince people that they need to spend money on one another. But for some reason I always get caught up in the hype surrounding it. I had recently started dating a girl named Alyssa. It had only been about a month and we had been friends back in high school so we knew each other fairly well. At this point I was crushing very hard. I really liked her and I wanted to to do something special for her. I had visited her at school a couple of times already and I thought to myself “Hey! You should surprise her!” SO with that
I’m a planner when it comes to these types of things. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a romantic at heart or if it’s the fact that I feel like a super spy when I give each phase of my plans a cool codename. Regardless, Operation Cupid was a go.
Unfortunately, Valentine’s day was on a Thursday which meant that if I wanted to make a surprise visit, I was going to have to leave that same night. It’s a fifty mile trip give or take which meant I’d be spending a hundred miles worth of gas round trip. For one night. I don’t care how selfish that sounds, have you seen the gas prices lately?! Any rational person would have been thinking the same think. Of course, she was definitely worth it. What’s a few bucks compared to that beautiful smile right? There you happy now?
A few days prior to Valentine’s, I contacted her friend on Facebook asking her when Alyssa would be home that night. Apparently they were having a pasta dinner with tons of friends so there went my ideas for a romantic meal. Oh well saved me a few bucks I guess. She said they’d be there at 6 and I told tem I’d bring them some Italian bread to eat with their pasta.
Getting gifts is hard, making them is harder. I wanted to make a bouquet of origami flowers because I thought it’d look original. But I let my friend talk me into making them out of duct tape. It’as a lot easier but I thought they’d look better than they did. So after making about half-a-dozen, I picked the best one a put it in the vase I got for it. Then I filled it up with candy (Reese’s of course) in order to make it stand up. The other part of the gift was the pure fact that I was there. I told her I had work that night! She was totally unaware of my super, secret mission.
My plan hit a snag however. Now you have to understand, I had only visited a few times before. It was really easy to get lost especially since I had never driven there in the dark. Anybody could have done it! I wound up being late by about twenty minutes. Before anyone says, “Well why didn’t you leave earlier?” My answer to you would be that I didn’t want to be to early and ruin the dinner plans they had. I know that’s silly but I didn’t want to mess up that friend time because they all seemed close.
Anyways I finally managed to get there. Once I did I realized I hadn’t exactly formulated an entrance. The entrance is key! You don’t want some corny approach that leaves you looking dumb or foolish. I pondered whether to make a cutesy type phone call. Maybe have her check for something I may have dropped the weekend before but I figured she would see right through that. I wanted that element of surprise! I decided to just knock. Why not? It always works in the movies. And by God if Tom Cruise can do it, so can I!
This tough talk makes it seem as if I was overly confident. Let me just set the record straight by saying I was scared out of my mind. I was so nervous I couldn’t stop shaking. I was tempted to just call it off because I was afraid my voice would crack. Literally every possible scenario of me messing something up was running through my head. I was tripping or stuttering, or even dropping the vase that I had in my book bag on the floor. With every glimpse into the future I trembled.
Luckily I managed to swallow my fears and nervousness. The knock on the door was still a heart-racing moment. Someone hollered for me to come in and I slowly opened the door. AS it opened I was able to see the right side of the room. It was full of girls! There must have been eight of them all sitting on that side. AS the door opened they were revealed one-by-one and as I went up the row I kept thinking that’s no her, that’s not her, that’s not her.. until finally, I open the door enough to find Alyssa sitting in the middle of the room on a stool with a mouthful of pasta in her mouth. She looked at me as her eyes went wide. The pasta fell from her lips and she shouted my name, “Cody!?” It was the perfect amount of surprise and appreciation.
Not quite knowing what to do with a roomful of her friends watching we awkwardly embraced in a strong hug and I began talking to her in a whisper, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” She smiled at me and I thought to myself, Yeah, definitely worth it. What is it about a girl’s smile that has so much power over a man? Not just any girl but that one girl. The one you want, the one you need. It’s that smile that every man works towards. It’s that smile that makes us feel complete.
At that moment I felt complete. Her happiness flooded over me and I swear we were both glowing. I almost forgot about everyone else in the room but their “Awww’s” and googley-eyed staring were quite overwhelming and I felt a bit awkward. We flt it so strongly that everything we said to one another was a whisper. I pulled out the vase with the single flower and candy and she stared at it in disbelief. She absolutely loved it; apparently hand-made gifts are her favorite. Score one for me!
Later I found out that Alyssa’s roommate had told everyone about the surprise (excluding Alyssa of course) and they had all come over to see it. Of course I also found out that they had all stalked my Facebook page which was semi-creepy but my valentine assured me it was normal for girls. O well at least I had her friend’s approval. It didn’t really matter though because that night was about her not me.
The problem was that I hadn’t made plans to do anything because she had already eaten. I wasn’t too sure what there was to do on her campus at night so I let her
decide on what to do. Unfortunately she decided to go for a walk. I guess a movie was too cliché or something but that walk was COLD. It had to have been in the low thirties and I was not dressed in enough layers. Despite the weather I actually had a great time. We had a casual conversation about the surprise and then that random banter that couples usually throw back and forth.
We somehow ended up on a bench and were looking at the stars. One of her friends stopped by and she talked to her for a bit. I remember looking at her, all bundled up in her scarf and warm black petticoat. She loves scarves, as in she owns about twenty. It’s a strange addiction but she looks great in them so I don’t complain. Her red nose was the cutest thing to me. All I wanted to do was kiss it, maybe warm it up to its normal hue.
After leaving the bench we stopped by some very interesting arches with a very relevant back story. Apparently, her college used to separate the dorms by gender; boys on one side of the campus and girls on the other. These arches, dubbed the Kissing Arches, were the halfway point where couples would say farewell to one another. If the couples kissed under theses archways, legend says they would be together forever.
And what do you think we did? Of course we kissed! Come on its one of the most romantic nights of the year. I signed my life away for romance. That’s what I call sacrifice. I don’t believe to heavily in those supernatural myths but I feel as if it added to the atmosphere of our little jaunt.
As we walked back she clung to my arm. I don’t know if it was simply to stay warm or to just be as close as possible to me. I’d like to think it was the proximity. The walk back was fairly quiet and we didn’t say much. I may have worked in a few corny jokes just to make her think I’m funny but other than that, not much was said. I think we were both just enjoying the night air.
Back at her apartment we sat on her bed and watched a random movie on Netflix. I don’t remember what it was but I know we didn’t really pay attention to it. When it finally came time to leave she offered for me to spend the night but I couldn’t. I figured it would ruin the magnitude of the surprise and I had class very early the next day anyway. I was quite pleased with my plan though and I’m fairly certain she was as well. The only problem is how to live up to that again? Because we are still together and now that Valentine’s day is approaching again, I’m drawing a blank on what to do. Go me.