By Olivia Janis and Taylor Johnson
At the Lovett school, love is in the air. So much so that Taylor and I have, once again, taken it upon ourselves to match-make potential couples. Shipping has been popular for a while now, with fandoms springing up for actors and characters from new movies, pop culture celebrities, or athletes. The latest ships that broke the internet have been actors Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney from the movie “Anyone But You.” My sister still has posters of Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson from One Direction.
A little birdie informed the newspaper team via an anonymous survey that seniors Austin Abdallah and Dorian Pinkston should be shipped. After receiving this request we had to give the people what they wanted.
We reached out to Dorian and Austin asking if they were down to go on a blind date with a random person in their grade. They both were a little hesitant at first, but after learning all the details we could tell that they were a little excited.
The blind date was set to be Wednesday night. 6:15 pm. At OK Cafe at West Paces.
Originally we planned to pick Austin and Dorian up and whip them to the date. We were going to make them wear blindfolds in the car, so they had no clue where they were going, and of course didn’t know who their bae was going to be. We realized this might feel a bit too kidnappy, so we did not go through with this plan.
Instead, we had Dorian voyage to OK Cafe a few minutes earlier than Austin, so we could nab a table and yap. As the three of us met in the parking lot, we were getting excited. We were hyping Dorian up for her blind date. As we walked into OK Cafe, old people on dates with their significant others seemed to have taken over the restaurant. It was very cute and the perfect atmosphere for their date.
A waiter took us to a booth in the back of the restaurant. Hopefully, they didn’t think we were going to be delinquent teenagers. In a sense, they were probably smart, because we were pretty giggly and loud, anticipating what was about to occur. A family was about to sit down next to us, and the waiter asked if that table was OK for them. The old man heard our yapping and outbursts and quickly asked if they could be seated elsewhere. The OK Cafe was about to set on fire for the second time in history. Our apologies.
Austin texted me that traffic was going to make him late. I was a bit worried because I didn’t want Dorian to think that he was going to stand her up. Thankfully, Dorian did not seem concerned. He texted us when he arrived so that we could go fetch him. We stood out in the cold, and all of sudden, he spawned in front of us, wind blowing in his hair, and with a strut one can only classify as top-tier confidence. He was ready. When we got into the restaurant, we informed him he would have to put on a blindfold. He did get a bit scared, but he did it anyway.
3….2…1..BIG REVEAL! Blindfolds flew into the air. Smiles beamed on their faces.
“Did you know it was me?” said Austin with a chuckle. Dorian said she was not surprised because when it came to shipping her with someone, Austin was not far off her list.
Thankfully both Austin and Dorian are single. They both explained how they have not yet had a relationship in high school, although they both do agree they might have had missed opportunities.
Austin and Dorian have known each other since middle school. Austin came to Lovett in 5th grade, while Dorian came in 7th.
“Oh you did the whole Trinity program,” Austin remarked. Taylor and I shared a glance, already impressed by how much he knew about her, but little did we know it was not going to end there.
As soon as we started, we knew it was imperative to ask what their types were. I made sure to let them know that describing each other was allowed.
“Drew Starkey or Jacob Elordie are my celebrity crushes,” said Dorian.
“I like brunettes, but I don’t really have a type,” replied Austin.
I quickly peeked over at Taylor who was having a verbal outburst when she heard he was type-less. Clearly, this meant his bae options were limitless and this was good news for Dorian. was good news for Dorian.
Now that we established their dating preference, we needed to know what their preferred date would be. They both agreed that the date we took them on was not ideal. They felt as if eating was boring. That really hurt, but as experienced journalists we moved past it; however it was dually noted for next year.
“If there was something not as cringy as bowling, I would say bowling,” said Dorian.
“A movie is alright,” said Austin, “but an activity would be better.”
We established the overall consensus that Dorian and Austin preferred an engaging activity for a date.
Then aThen an interruption occurred. Our waiter came out with the food, which was, a medium basket of fries that Dorian, Taylor, and I all shared, a cheeseburger with a side of fries and a vanilla milkshake for Austin, and lastly a chocolate milkshake for me. (All the hard journalist work I (Olivia) was doing made me hungry, my apologies). Not to mention the bill for the meal broke Taylor’s credit card. She is a real one. Steve Johnson might kick me out of the Johnson residence after this occurrence.
Now that we had our food, we asked what their rules were for eating on a date. Cleary, Austin was not shy and busted up his cheeseburger with no shame, as he should. He was even diving into some mayo and ricocheting it all over his burger.
“No wings. My go-to is a burger,” said Dorian.
“I could tear up a burger too much, something like pasta is good. Not too messy,” replied Austin, despite there being a burger right in front of his face with mayo on his lips.
Austin took a moment to ask Dorian what number date is ideal for tearing up some wings. This concept has become popular on social media because it is a real predicament. Tearing up some wings can get violent and cause your bae to either be terrified and leave you or know right away that you are the one for them.
Dorian said, “Fifth or sixth date, actually probably fully dating and going out at that point.” Austin had a different view on this predicament as he said, “I feel like if you tear up wings on the second date and she is chill with you then she is the one, but if she is mad then she isn’t worth it.”
The conversation about some nice smoky wings reminded Austin of the JOE campfire. Dorian and Austin were in the same JOE group, so they had already spent some quality time in the stanky woods together.
They started recalling their favorite memories from JOE together. Olivia and I didn’t even need to ask our prepared questions because their yapping was natural and outstanding.
“Do you remember the campfire?” said Austin. Dorian cackled and said, “It was so funny.” Olivia and I didn’t comprehend what was so comical about this campfire so they had to give us a storytime.
“I was trying to go get something from my tent, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything and I accidentally ended up in the girls’ tent,” said Austin. We all laughed. A noise complaint at the OK Cafe was about to occur. because we were clearly not OK
Olivia and I then asked them what they were looking forward to. They both perked up. “Spring break.” This year the senior class is going to the Dominican Republic for their senior spring break. We might have to be sending warnings to the locals of this island to stock up on mayo.
Dorian and Austin were discussing what day they were going to voyage to the Dominican Republic. If y’all readers wanna donate and start a gofund me for newspaper, Olivia and I can rent a private jet and join Dorian and Austin to continue our journalistic observations.
Now Olivia and I wanted to test Dorian and Austin and see how much they knew about each other. The first topic of deliberation was music taste.
“I know what you like, it’s hip hop and R&B,” said Austin. Dorian was surprised when he knew exactly what music she liked. Someone has been doing some studying. Now it was time for Dorian to guess what music Austin listens to.
“I swear if you say country,” said Austin. Dorian quickly defended herself and said, “No no I know it’s not country. I think it is similar to me, like Hip Hop and R&B.” They both share the same music taste and guessed correctly about each other. Oh my, this was meant to be.
We then got excited and asked a bit of a deep question. We asked them what their favorite attributes are about themselves. Austin said, “I feel like I am a really friendly person.” Dorian agreed with this positive trait and said, “Yeah, you are really easy for people to talk to.” (Okaaay things might have been getting heated.) Dorian similarly said her favorite attribute about herself was her “kindness.” Olivia and I could tell Austin had something he wanted to say. “Spit it out,” we whispered to Austin.
“That is all you have to say about yourself,” said Austin. Oh my lord Olivia practically choked on her chocolate shake. Austin was surprised that the only positive attribute that Dorian mentioned was her kindness. We think he had a lot more positive things to say about her, but we never got to this.
The inevitable question about college finally came up. Surprisingly, the two had some ideas about where they thought the other wanted to go. “I feel like you’re not trying to stay in-state,” said Austin.
“I feel like you’re not either” responded Dorian. Wow, yet another thing they have in common. Austin revealed that he didn’t really care what college he ended up in. He applied to schools in California, Colorado, Miami, and Georgia. Taylor and I were crossing our fingers that some of their schools aligned, so that this blind date could blossom in the quads of a college campus.
“Are you going to a liberal arts college?” asked Austin. “No, but I was thinking about that for a while,” she said. Finally, he narrowed down his guesses and Dorian revealed she applied to schools in Florida.
Every year, the last question we ask the blind date couples is, “Would you consider going on a second date?” If they say yes our mission was successful, but if they say no we would just have to try again next year.
We have good news. After we asked them this question, smiles beamed on both of their faces. Nodding their heads and smiling, Dorian and Austin said, “Yes.” This was our cue to leave the restaurant and let them continue their date alone.
Olivia picked up her phone and screamed, “Uh oh my father is calling me, we have to go home now.” After this, we scurried out of the restaurant so fast we almost forgot to pay.
Taylor and I, exhausted from setting up the perfect blind date, sought out refuge at Smoothie King. After all, we’d only managed to scarf a few fries at OK. Unfortunately, it was closed so we were forced to just seek refuge in my car. We were in awe. Everything about that date was magical. The blind dates get better every year. Stay tuned for next year’s blind date. Start thinking of who y’all want to see. We do what the people want.
Perhaps someday we’ll attend a wedding that started with one of our shipped blind dates.
