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By Olivia Janis, Taylor Johnson, Mackenna Stewart

The minute we stepped into Chipotle with a Chipotle bag over Senior Casani Barlett’s head, Chipotle customers were breaking their necks looking at us. Some would say it caused a catastrophic scene, but fear of embarrassment can never be a reason to stop potential love. 

If you are one of our loyal followers, then you would know it’s about that time for Taylor, Mackenna and I to be the cupids at Lovett. Based on a Google form we sent out, Seniors Casani and Cleo Wynn were chosen to go on a blind date. 

On January 31st, Cleo arrived right on time for her blind date. Unfortunately, we had to wait almost 30 minutes for Casani to arrive. Cleo made a joke about how her “blind date’s” tardiness didn’t even help her narrow down who he might be. (Lovett guys gotta work on punctuality).  

When Casani finally did arrive, Taylor and I quickly placed a large Chipotle bag over Cleo’s head and left her at our table. We sneakily went around the restaurant, found Casani and put the bag over his head (it was quite a struggle). We led him into the restaurant and tried to reassure everyone that a kidnapping was not taking place. When they were both seated at the table, we did a count down and then ricocheted the bags off their heads. 

Their reactions were priceless: they both looked surprised but kept their composure. They both admitted that when they heard they were being set up, they had other people in mind for who it might be. Cleo said she thought it was going to be Chris Mance or Landyn Murphy, while Casani said he thought it was going to be Celine Areu (we did not tell him this at the moment, but that was another match up we got in the google form). They both agreed they weren’t entirely shocked to be paired together. 

Cleo and Casani have known each other since the seventh grade. When I asked them what the last class was that they had together Casani confidently replied freshman English, to which Cleo quickly corrected “No, chemistry.” We asked if they still had…um…chemistry… Casani said they did at the beginning of sophomore year. Taylor and I took note of this, and realized we might have to relight past sparks. 

But that was the past, so now we needed to focus on the present. First, we just had to double-check that they were both single. They both confirmed this, agreeing hat they were not actively looking but open to the idea of having a bae. Next, we needed to know their “types.”  “Black, tall, and curly-haired,” said Cleo. This description fits perfectly with Cleo’s celebrity crushes, Michael B Jordan, Aaron Pierre, and Shemar Moore. Casani, however, said he did not have a type, but his celebrity crushes were Saweetie and Latto, so that helped give us some ideas. They both actually match for their types.. so far so good. 

A big part of dating nowadays is assessing someone’s red flags and your own. So, we asked them what a red flag in a partner was for them, and if they had any of their own. 

“I think a red flag in a girl is if they still talk to their ex,” said Casani. He believes his own red flag can be his communication skills. Cleo said a red flag in a boy is if they have too many female friends, and her own red flag is struggling to apologize or admit when she is in the wrong.

Now that we got the red flags out of the way, it was time to hear what their version of a “perfect date” is. 

“Main Event (arcade and bowling) then Chipotle,” said Cleo. Taylor and I had a mini celebration because we hit the second half of her perfect date right on the nail. Casani’s “perfect date” requires quite a bit more of a financial commitment. “I would say TopGolf and then a fancy restaurant,” he said. While we all thought that Nobu was more of a one year anniversary type deal, Cleo was pleasantly surprised with his answer. Maybe one day we will open our Instagram feed and see a cute, aesthetic photo of Cleo and Casani at Nobu (for the first date of course). 

As astonishing and appetizing as it was to talk about Casani’s expensive taste on first dates, we kept the date rolling at the slightly more downscale Chipotle with some personal questions about their favorite personal attribute. 

“I would say my smile,” Casani said with little to no hesitation. 

Cleo, who sat and pondered her response a little more, said, “I feel like I’m easy to talk to” and also added that she loves her freckles. In any relationship, it is important to not only see yourself as a part of the couple but to also pay attention to how you view yourself individually. 

When it comes to dating, some of the most defining experiences for a person come from their past relationships. As someone enters a new relationship from a past one it can be easy to carry a little bit of “baggage.” 

“I think it’s character development,” Cleo said when asked if her last relationship ‘made’ or ‘broke’ her heart. 

Although she’s only dated one person, the experiences she has had have been quite positive and made her a better person. 

Casani has also grown from his past experiences. “I wouldn’t say any of them broke me,” he said confidently, adding that they may have even helped him as a person. With that being said both Casani and Cleo are “letting life be life” when it comes to finding a new potential partner. 

We’d spent enough time talking about the past, so we transitioned to discussing the future. 

“What do you think your future looks like?” we asked. This caused an enormous outburst as Casani innocently responded “With her?” He pointed to Cleo. We were able to clarify that we meant their personal future in the next 10 years. However it was very bae-like of Casani to consider his blind date in his future endeavors. 

Grad school, engaged, and in New York were on Cleo’s list as most pressing. Casani on the other hand sees himself on the big NFL stage playing football for a team in California or New York. I can see it now… Pro football Player Casni Bartlett and the intelligent, artistic Cleo excelling and thriving in the Big Apple. I think it’s safe to say that this power couple has some impeccable aspirations. However in the short term, Cleo and Casani are most concerned with knowing where they’re going to go to college. 

As for romantic futures, we wondered if they were currently even searching for a bae or just letting life flow on by. Cleo said, “I’m just living in the present” and Casani nodded his head in agreement. 

We asked Casani and Cleo what they admired about each other. Casani ricocheted his response, “I would say after all that has happened between us in the past she doesn’t let that affect how we are together.” 

Cleo had a more simple and concrete response: “he is funny.” 

We then had a little bit of a challenge for the prospective baes to see how well they knew each other. The first question we asked was about their preferred music taste. 

Cleo answered quickly and confidently, “R&B and rap but mostly rap.” She was very much correct. Casani then said, “R&B,” which was also very much correct. 

Then we had to ask them if they knew what car they drove. “I picture him having a big SUV,” said Cleo. Casani then got a bit angry and responded, “Well, actually I drive a truck.” Casani on the other hand was quick to know the car that Cleo whips: a white Volvo. Hopefully, he hasn’t been stalking the woman. 

Next question was favorite food. Casani thought that Cleo’s favorite food was Korean which was very much not correct but Cleo said, “Ok good enough.” Cleo then thought that Casani’s favorite food was just simple pizza which was an accurate guess because Casani said his favorite grub was Italian. 

The next question was more personal. We asked them to name each other’s three closest friends. They were able to do this task very well, praise the lord. 

They even knew each other’s hobbies and the date was going extremely well. We then asked them what their safe foods were for a first date because some foods can get extremely messy. For example: wings would be slipping and sliding all over the place which is not ideal for the first date. They both answered in unison, “Chipotle.” We chose the perfect place for their date.

Now everyone brace yourselves for the most important question of the century. It was time to find out if we had been successful matchmakers for these two lovely individuals Cleo and Casani. 

Would you guys go on a second date? 

A brief moment of silence passed, then a miracle occurred. They said yes.

By Alexis Dalton

Hadley Young

Hadley was surprised when she found out she was one of this year’s senior crushes. “I guess I’m glad I got it,” she laughed and told me. “I guess it means people think I’m a good person… or nice and approachable in some way.” 

Hadley remembers her old senior crushes, but she was hesitant to reveal their names. Let’s just say that they were also nice and approachable people.

Right now, Hadley’s hardest class this semester is AP Literature and Composition because she must go over to the dark side a couple of times a week. Well, maybe not… that’s just the name of the AP Lit course she’s taking, but the name is daunting. On a similar note, her favorite class is Psychology with Dr. Myers. “I’m really interested in criminology,” Hadley told me as she explained their current unit. “I love true crime podcasts, so it’s interesting to learn about that stuff in school too. 

Hadley used to be a Lovett cheerleader, but her Lovett sports career recently came to an end last fall once their season was over. Now she enjoys her newest hobby: Pilates. “Some of my friends started taking classes and I thought I’d try,” she told me. “I’ve seen a lot of videos online and it just looked really fun!” 

When she’s not listening to true crime or doing pilates at Pace Atlanta, Hadley loves to hang out with her friends. She enjoys going out to dinner with her friends and then later watching shows together. Right now, her ideal night with friends is getting a chicken and rice bowl at Cava and watching the new series Landman.

Of course, we can’t really know Hadley without knowing all her current favorites…

It was hard for Hadley to pinpoint her favorite food, for she explained to me that she wasn’t picky. She decided that, aside from Cava, her current food fixation is avocado toast. “The Daily has a really good one,” she told me.

Her favorite movie right now is The Longest Ride.

Hadley loves Gracie Abrams. “I am really in my Gracie phase,” she told me as she pulled up her playlist to find her favorite song. “This is so basic, but my favorite is probably That’s So True.” Basic or not, I have to agree – it’s a great song to blast in the car.

Not to bring down the mood or anything, but I had to mention the dreaded word– college.

Like most seniors in February, Hadley hasn’t decided where she’s going to spend her next four years. “I’m very excited and grateful for my options, but I haven’t made my decision yet,” she explained. Nonetheless, Hadley is looking forward to a change. “I’m really excited to meet new people,” she said, smiling. “And I’m ready to have more freedom and be more independent.”

For future reference for the friends Hadley is going to have in college, three words she would use to describe herself are positive, responsible, and kind (if we weren’t already friends, that would sell me!).

Lastly, since this is a Valentine’s Day article, I had to ask her a Valentine’s-esq question. If she could go on a date with a famous person, who would it be? “I would go on a date with Scott Eastwood,” she said, who is the main character in her favorite movie. “Or just the classic Glen Powell,” she added. Can’t go wrong with that!

JD Thomason 

JD Thomason thought it was “interesting” being voted as one of this year’s senior crushes. “I’m kind of honored,” he laughed. JD remembers one of his past senior crushes being Bradley Williams (props to him for name-dropping).

JD’s most difficult class this year is AP Calculus AB. His two favorite classes are AP Microeconomics and AP Statistics. When I asked him why, he said  they were “fun.” As someone whose schedule is humanities-coded, I didn’t quite understand what was “fun” about these classes. “I like my teachers a lot,” he assured me. “We do fun activities and I have good classmates.”

If JD could talk to his younger, pre-AP Calc-Micro-Stat self, he would advise him to be less stressed. “Spend more time doing things you love,” he said. “Enjoy more stuff.”

The stuff JD enjoys doing right now includes playing video games, fishing, and working out. “I play a lot of EA Sports College Football, Madden, and Fortnite,” he told me. “And I like to fish in local ponds.” One of his newer hobbies is playing poker with his friends.

JD also is a big football player. He’s been playing for twelve years and will possibly be continuing his football career in college. “I’m either going to Georgia or playing football somewhere,” he explained. “So we’ll see.” 

After a long day of fishing and poker-playing, JD gets to go home to his four pets. He has two black labs named Jesse and Leland and two cats named Rick and Lucy. 

As per usual, we had to go through all of his favorites… 

JD’s current favorite food is wings from Three Dollar Cafe. “The Hot Lemon Pepper ones are the best,” he told me.

His favorite movies are Goodfellas and The Shawshank Redemption.

“I’ve been listening to some Eagles recently,” he said when I asked what his favorite song was. “So we’ll go with Hotel California.”

To get in the Valentine’s Day spirit, I asked JD which famous person he would want to go on a date with, if any. “Livvy Dunne,” he said quickly, laughing. 

As for the words he would use to describe himself: “curious, funny, and hardworking.” Sound like the perfect person to fish at your local pond with and then grab some Three Dollar wings.

By Mylee Dubin

If you ever see a tall blonde boy and a lively brunette girl with highlights walking through the halls, chances are you have come across the power couple that is Gisella Brok and Ezra Duffield.

I sat down with the smiling duo to talk about their relationship, but it took us several minutes to start because we all couldn’t stop laughing.

I’m not sure what it was, but before I could even get my first word out, Gisella and I were caught in a fit of giggles, while Ezra silently laughed along with us. Not one of us knew exactly what we were laughing about, it was just so silly to us.

We finally calmed ourselves and began talking. Somehow, I had caught the couple on their 9-month anniversary. Mazel tov! It was a perfect day to chat. 

I asked them how they first met and they both shrugged their shoulders. Very helpful. “I don’t know, we were just kind of like friends for a while,” Gisella said. “We were in the same advisory,” Ezra added. Gisella also said they had several mutual friends which helped get them to know each other better.

When I asked them what their first impressions of each other were, Ezra immediately commented with a smile, “She was really nice, really positive.” So sweet, I could cry. 

Gisella asked me, “Very first impression?” I nodded and she joked, “He was a guy in my advisory.” 

But on a more serious note, she answered again (for real this time), “I also thought he was really nice…and we just went from there.” 

Though they had known each other since they first met in advisory and had been friends, they didn’t start dating until after prom of their junior year in April of 2024. “I talked to her the whole time at prom,” Ezra gushed. Gisella showed how close they were at prom by crossing her middle finger over her pointer finger. Their bonding continued the day after prom when they got Waffle House.

Also, let the record show that Ezra asked Gisella out, for all of those who are wondering.

In terms of what makes their relationship work so well, the pair both agree it was built on trust. “I’d say trust and communication,” Gisella said.

I asked if there was a challenge they had faced as a couple. We all fell into another fit of laughter. Though there haven’t been any challenges of a serious nature, Gisella confessed her own challenge is “having to take the highway to his house.” She mentioned later on that she doesn’t actually have to, especially if it’s raining, but the back roads are confusing. Gisella is a fellow Waze warrior.

When I asked what their favorite memory was with each other, the only response I got at first was, “Lake.” I pushed them to expand on that already extensive answer. “There’s a lot of [fun things] we got to do when we were up there,” Ezra said. Since it is Ezra’s lake house, Gisella mentioned how fun it is to go to one as someone who doesn’t have one. I feel you girl. My motto is: be nice to everyone because you never know who has a lake house.

“I really just like being on the water,” Gisella said. “We went on the boat a lot and that was really fun.” Gisella then jumped up and said her favorite memory from the lake trip itself was “when I flung him off the jetski.” Ezra was a little less violent and said his favorite was “just seeing her enjoy it.” Gisella and I collectively “aww”ed at that sweet sentiment. 

Gisella also said there is a restaurant on the lake that they like called Pelican Pete’s that is usually pretty full, but they got to go there for her first time at the lake. 

I then asked what their favorite activity to do together was in general. “Eat,” said Ezra. Gisella has a pretty well-known column in the OnLion known as Gisella Eats, so this didn’t surprise me in the slightest. He added that he has been introduced to many different foods since they have been together. 

Gisella did say she just enjoys the lake the most, because it is also fun to go in the winter. Clearly, nothing comes close to “lake”.

When it comes to a unique quality about their relationship, Ezra said, “I think we both have kind of the same mindset when it comes to health and fitness and stuff.” He also really values that they can “joke with each other a lot without overthinking it” or just thinking too much about certain things. 

Gisella personally enjoys that they both enjoy going to the gym and going on runs together. “It doesn’t beat the lake though,” Gisella warned. I figured as much.

Finally, I asked what the two had learned from each other. This made the two think very hard. This was their Goliath I fear. Ezra had to take several breaks, each time saying, “Give me 30 [seconds]” though it was more like minutes if you ask me. 

Gisella spoke up and mentioned one thing she knows Ezra had learned from her. “He learned he likes poke,” she said. 

On the other hand, Gisella now knows all of the “actual rules” of football because of Ezra. “I know a ton about football [now], I’m an expert.”

By The OnLion Staff

You put your romance questions on our survey. Here are our answers. Keep in mind that we do not have any expertise or licenses. We are writing with the intention to, um, entertain. If you find anything useful or profound, good on you!

My boyfriend is absolutely addicted to geoguesser, should I have an intervention?

Interventions can be a good idea. However, Geoguesser is a great way to work on beating the stereotype that Americans don’t know geography. Additionally, if he gets really good, this could benefit you. In fact, Geography is an important category in Jeopardy. If he gets so good, sign him up. If he wins Jeopardy, ask for some of the prize money (typically around $20,000 per show) because you signed him up. I am usually a big fan of interventions, however I don’t think it’s necessary in this case.

How do you talk to someone on social media without being weird or creepy?

Starting a relationship online is definitely challenging. You don’t know the person so you don’t know how they would respond or interpret certain texts and this tends to lead to a lot of overthinking. However, there are many ways to go about this without coming off as “weird” or “creepy.” First, you never want to come off as too strong and just jump into a conversation out of the blue. For example, if you receive a snap from someone and it is just their average snap picture don’t go and text them that you like the way their hair is done or ask why they were outside in the picture. If you do that, you are blowing your cover and showing how much you look at their snap, and it can definitely come off as creepy. Personally, the simple “What are you up to?” text will always suffice. In addition, if you have a class with someone, starting a conversation about the class is always a great technique as it is not completely out of the blue and is something y’all can relate to. Finally, you want to be “chill” over text and give each text some time before you respond. Oh,  and never use emojis, they tend to send creepy messages. 

What should you do if you don’t have any classes with them?

This can be challenging, but there is a solution to this. First, find all their social media pages and follow requests/add them, but don’t make it obvious; space it out because you don’t want to be creepy. If they don’t answer, then you may want to give up, but if they do then start to make a move.

How can I get my chopped friend a super hot girlfriend?

If they are on something like the football team, that increases their chances. For example, if they’re starting QB, they’ll probably bag or at least be able to get a hot girlfriend. Although it’s somewhat shallow, it’s also true. Or suggest they date someone in a grade lower than them (unless they’re a ninth grader). There are quite a few of those relationships here at Lovett. However, the best advice is for them to integrate themselves into a social group with the girl.  Almost every relationship that is in the same grade is in the same social group. 

Does he want me if we make eye contact?

There are multiple ways to answer this question depending on the person. According to Mylee Dubin, “in my world it does, but I’m also delulu.”  On the other hand, Lyla Nelson says, “No, he does not want you, but he may think that you are pretty.” I think that it is hard to say that simple eye contact could mean that the guy wants you because I think it depends on whether you have talked to them a lot in person. Say he comes up to you in person to talk to you after making eye contact for a while. Then I would say that Mylee would not be delulu in that situation. But if it is just some eye contact here and there then I do not think that the guy wants you.

How can a third party tell if someone is already in a relationship without actually asking them?

There are multiple ways to go about finding the answer to this. First, you have to do some intense internet stalking. Go to their instagram and look at all their posts. If there are some photos where they are standing extremely close to someone else and it practically looks like they are getting married, definitely assume that is their bae. If they are tagged you can even go stalk their page to verify. (If they are not tagged, this is a longer process where you have to go through their followers and try to find that individual.) Now, if you go to their instagram and you see no photos where they are with another individual, you still may not be safe. You have got to check the comments. Heart comments, excessive commenting, or inside jokes could possibly be indicators that the commenter is their bae. Now this other way is a little more bold. If you have access to your crush and are able to speak to them, sometimes you just have to assume they have a bae and say something like “Are you seeing your girlfriend or boyfriend (depending on the situation) this weekend?” They will probably be like “What? I don’t have.” They might even ask why you thought that and just hit them with the “Oops sorry, I guess I was thinking of someone else.” Another way is learning from the grapevine. Sometimes you just have to ask around. But make sure you are asking people not directly in relationship to your bae so if they find out someone was asking about their relationship status, your identity could be hidden. Otherwise, the only other option is to just YOLO and be like “You got a bae?”

How do I make them start talking to me?

The only answer I truly have for this is what I call “plotting.” Plotting is when you tell everyone you know that you are plotting on that person. (Make sure not to be too creepy or plot too much because at Lovett it will most likely get back to them). But honestly, that is part of the plotting plan. This could be a good thing or could backfire so you kind of have to take a risk. When it inevitably gets back to them by the Lovett gossip, they will either give you a chance and add you on snap or be freaked out when you refer to them as your “husband” to your friends when you have never spoken to him before. A CRUCIAL step to “plotting” is to also make sure they do not have a girlfriend or situationship because if their significant other finds out you’re plotting on their man, you will have an entire friend group out for you. Overall, it is a bit of a gamble, but it may be worth the risk to pull the man you have never spoken to before.

How do you get someone out of your league?

OK. When I first read the question I briefly wondered if they meant, How do I take someone who is in my social group and push them out of it? And that didn’t seem like a very nice thing to want to be able to do. Of course, if that IS what they want to do, then one method might be to stage some kind of situation where this “someone” might embarrass themselves publicly and then be rejected by their friends. BUT, I have to assume that what this person meant with their question is: How do I get someone to DATE me who is out of my league? And presumably, they meant ABOVE them in the social hierarchy? Then again, I’ve seen movies where a cooler person in high school falls for someone who is “lower” than them in the social hierarchy and tries to hide it. Or there’s the Stephen King book Carrie where the girlfriend of a cool kid convinces her boyfriend to take the very uncool Carrie to the prom and he actually falls for her but then she’s drenched in pig’s blood and gets very, very angry with the student body. But if this person wants to date someone above them, they might consider going the Can’t Buy Me Love route (a big theme in this year’s V-Day issue) and offer to rent them for a few weeks with the hope that they’ll fall in love. If they’d rather not take that path, they might try to develop a talent or skill that will get them lifted up to the social status of the person they like. Or perhaps by showing how funny they are, or how kind, or charming, they might just win the heart of this person and make them see through the emptiness of the whole notion of leagues. 

By Taylor Johnson

Recently a new trend has arisen on the internet: Bring Back Men Who Yearn. When I saw this I was a bit confused. I did not understand the concept of yearning, so I took it upon myself to do some research. 

First I looked up the definition of yearn. Google defines it as having “an intense feeling of longing for something, typically something that one has lost or been separated from.”  

I was still a bit confused so I asked my friends at my lunch table if they had seen the recent trend on TikTok. Senior Alaysia Georges perked up. “My for you page on TikTok has been filled with bring back men who yearn edits,” she said. For readers who are not familiar with TikTok, a for you page is the part of TikTok where you scroll through videos and it filters the videos by what you like. 

I was curious to see one of these edits so she showed me. It was from a popular romance movie The Notebook. In The Notebook the main character Noah vows to fix up a house for the woman he was falling in love with, Allie. Years later after they parted ways she saw in the newspaper that he had built the house of her dreams for her. “That is the definition of yearning for a woman,” said Alaysia. “Men in this generation would never do such a thing,” said senior Lane Caldwell. 

This then caused me to have a brilliant idea. I wanted to see if men used to yearn at Lovett a long time ago, so I went to chat with Mrs. Gilmore. “These days men’s yearning at Lovett is sending a snap,” said Mrs. Gilmore. Ouch.

Mrs. Gilmore met her husband at Lovett back in the early 2000’s. They were high school sweethearts which is very rare these days. I asked Mrs. Gilmore if her husband yearns for her. She nodded quite hard. 

“Guys at school actually had to talk to girls in the hallway to ask them on dates since our flip phones barely even worked,” said Mrs. Gilmore. I don’t think I have ever heard in my 7 years at Lovett that someone asked a girl out on a date in person. It always happens with a little text on snap and rarely through text messaging app. 

So how does Mrs. Gilmore’s husband shows that he yearns for her? “By sending me a text every day in the middle of the day saying that he misses me even though I saw him a few hours ago,” she said, laughing. 

“This is a prime example of yearning,” said senior Louise Beery who was working as a student aide in her office. Yearning was starting to make a lot more sense to me. I wondered what Mrs. Gilmore would do it if she did not receive a mid-day love text from her husband. “I would assume he had died,” she said laughing. She explained to me that she is so used to his texts that she would be sad without them. “I like that my husband yearns for me,” she said. 

She thinks that it is very important for current-day Lovett students to learn how to yearn more for their baes. “I think nowadays that might scare some people away,” said Louise. I agree with this because I think we are all so used to yearning over social media that if it occurred in person an outburst would occur. 

I also learned that there are other ways to yearn than just texts and asking someone out on dates. “Another example of yearning is when guys pay attention to a girls favorite food or flower and get them for her,” said senior Henry Walter. A certain person in my life with the initials F.G. has bought me flowers during hard times and he’s written me letters. I’m pretty sure he’s getting me a pickle bouquet for Valentine’s Day. The guy knows me well. And it’s much appreciated.

Senior Chelsea Daniel in our free period shared her own modern example.  “When a man triple or quadruple snaps you,” she said. “This is why we need to bring back the old way of yearning or yearning in movies like The Notebook,” senior Ella Williams chimed in. 

From all my research learning about the new trend “bring back men who yearn” I concluded that men no longer yearn and it’s a major problem. This is why they are baeless.

By Mr. Newman

At a pivotal moment early in the 1987 teen romantic comedy “Can’t Buy Me Love,” Ronald Miller (played by a young Patrick Dempsey many years before he became “McDreamy” on Grey’s Anatomy) stands in a shop at the mall, ready to purchase a $1000 telescope he has been saving up for by mowing lawns all summer. 

But then…

Across the mall from him, he sees Cindy Mancini, one of the most popular girls in his school, desperately trying to exchange an outfit that she (secretly) borrowed from her mother and that got stained at a high school party.

Ronald stares at the cash, at the telescope, and at Cindy. The music builds. And he runs over to Cindy to make her the following proposal: I’ll pay $1000 to buy your mom a new outfit if you agree to date me so that I can be popular. While she’s perplexed, she accepts his proposal, and what starts as a cynical (and pretty bizarre) transaction becomes, well, if you know anything about romantic comedies, you know what it becomes. 

So why do I bring up this eighties gem?

Well, Ronald gives up the opportunity to glimpse the wonders of the cosmos with a fancy telescope, so he can experience the wonders of dating a pretty girl. According to a current TikTok meme that Taylor Johnson informed me about, this would make Ronald a man who yearns.

I wondered about the priorities of Lovett students when it comes to dating in high school. Was it a universal goal to discover what it’s like to go out with someone? 

In other words, do Lovett students, in general, yearn? 

Or would most Lovett students be just as happy with their version of a telescope, and, for now at least, leave Cindy Mancini to fend for herself?

Well, to start with some data, according to our survey, when we asked students how important it was for them to date someone in high school, with 1 being “Not important at all” and 5 being “Very important,” the responses basically formed a bell curve, with 27 percent choosing 1 or 2, 31.6 percent putting their answer right in the middle, and 39 percent choosing 4 or 5. 

One way to look at those numbers is that students would, overall, like to test out the romantic waters before graduating. But one could also say that about half of Lovett students are somewhere between actively uninterested and indifferent.

I figured I’d poke around beneath the statistics by talking to some students about their thoughts on dating. I chatted with a few seniors and a few freshmen. 

First, here’s the status update for each (Note: I’ll be referring to the students by their grade and a letter that does not correspond to their first name.)

Senior A: Dating someone.

Senior B: Not dating. Haven’t dated yet.

Senior C: Dating someone.

Freshman D: “Talking” with someone.

Freshmen E, F, G: Not dating. Haven’t dated yet.

Regardless of their status, all of them said dating was not a major priority for them when they came into high school. And for the ones who are dating now, that shift in priorities really only happened when the opportunity suddenly or finally presented itself. 

For example, until this year senior A was focusing on school and baseball. Then, about a month ago, things became official with someone he’d been unofficial with on and off for some time. “Third time’s the charm,” he said. 

But nearly all of them put family, friends, and school at the top of their priority lists. Freshman D mentioned wanting to have a strong relationship with God as well as success in school and on the lacrosse field. Senior B tossed college applications onto her pile of priorities.

That doesn’t mean these students don’t think about romance at all. 

“I think it’s fun,” freshman D said, “and I like people along the way.” But she doesn’t think it’s a necessary thing. “You don’t have to be dating someone. It’s just like if you want to.”

Senior C said she was weirdly obsessed with the idea of dating her freshman year, but that cooled off sophomore year. Then junior year, a shared sports activity “magically” led to a relationship. 

Freshmen E, F, and G all acknowledged the impact a crush can have on one’s ability to focus on other priorities. “If you like someone, I think it revolves around your head way more,” freshman G said.

As seemingly indifferent as a good number of these students seemed to be, they all feel Lovett has a pretty robust dating culture.

“I feel like there’s some people that I know are definitely dating,” freshman E said, “but there’s some that are just…”

“Talking,” freshman G finished.

Freshman F also believes it’s more of a talking culture: “Texting, getting to know people, then actually becoming official.”

The seniors factored in the element of time running out. “People want to at least know what it’s like to date at some point in their high school,” senior A said. 

“People are being like, whoa, we don’t have that much time left, and just yolo-ing, I guess,” senior C said.

The freshmen, who have many more years ahead of them, were mixed on whether they would be disappointed if they reached the end of high school and had never dated.

Freshman G and F said they would have some concerns. “I’d be so depressed,” freshman G said. Freshman F agreed. “I think I’d be like, what the heck, what am I doing wrong?” she said.

And yet, while they felt that it would be worthwhile to get some dating experience before college, as freshman E put it, “It would be great if I did, but at the same time, it’s not something that’s just weighing on me where I need a boyfriend.”

Even the seniors could be fatalistic about it. Senior B doesn’t think anybody is “really out hunting for it.” Instead, she thinks that if it happens “they’re like, okay, this works.”  

I asked Senior A, who is dating someone, how he would have felt if fate hadn’t brought that romantic opportunity. “I don’t necessarily think I would’ve missed out,” he said. “But I mean, I’m happy I didn’t miss out.”

Once a student does become involved in a relationship, it can be a challenge sometimes to balance it with other priorities that may have been at the top of their list for most of their lives.

“I feel like after you’ve been dating for a certain amount of time, then there just is a certain amount you have to hang out,” Senior C said. “You have to make sure that you’re giving. It gets hard, I guess, at a point. It’s balancing time with your friends and then your boyfriend in a way. Because I always want to make sure that I’m not just ditching my friends all the time. Some people will just get a boyfriend and go off and it’s like, that’s their only friend.”  

Finally, I asked them how they would handle the “Can’t Buy Me Love” dilemma. I figured it could be a good litmus test for how much they yearn.

Senior B said she would have spent the $1000 on clothes for herself. 

Senior C said she wouldn’t spend that much money on someone else. “The guy should be the one giving up the money for me,” she laughed. “That’s how it should be. Roles reversed.”

And freshman F had a problem with the basic premise of the movie. Setting aside the ethically problematic nature of renting someone to become popular, she just thinks that relationships should be grounded in a genuine connection. “I would rather develop that by myself than force it,” she said.

Still, she can get inspired by storybook romances. When she watches them she thinks, “Oh, I wish I had that. Like, oh, that’s so cute. I want that. But I also think some of it’s like…”

”Unrealistic,” freshman E finished. 

Similarly, freshman D said that while she loves the eighties romances, the stories they tell don’t happen. “I love ‘Can’t Buy Me Love,’” she said. “But that doesn’t relate to what we’re talking about.”

I laughed when she said that. I hadn’t yet told her the inspiration for this article was that movie. 

It was good to know that young people were still finding it. I remember watching it as a teenager back in the eighties. I’m pretty sure when Ronald and Cindy rode off into the sunset on his lawnmower, I rewound the videotape and watched it through again. 

Let’s just say I was a young man who yearned. Yes, I enjoyed hanging out with friends. I wanted to do well in school. And I enjoyed playing tennis and acting in the school plays. 

BUT if I was filling out this year’s Valentine’s Day survey when I was in high school, I likely would have clicked “5” when asked how important it was for me to date, let’s say, Sarah Ketchum. In twelfth grade, it finally happened. To paraphrase senior A, the fourth year was the charm.

Yet, perhaps you’re more like senior B, who is open to it, but also not out looking for it. 

“I’m indifferent,” she said, with equanimity. 

So then she wouldn’t describe herself as a woman who yearns? 

“Not at all,” she said.

By Megha Lakha

“Honestly, we should run the stats of the probability of a high school relationship making it to marriage,” Ms. Howard said.

Ms. Howard was trying to conjure up ideas about two very different topics: math and Valentine’s Day. 

After all. math is all about concrete answers, statistics, measurability, blah, blah, blah… but love is about spontaneity and unpredictability. 

You might never associate the two things with each other but it turns out they’ve got a lot in common. 

First, there is the obvious pairing of math and love’s relationship: actual math. Mr Amar was quick to mention how romantic relationships are often mirrored by mathematical graphs. 

“Things that grow quickly and may have a limit, like some parallel lines can be faded lovers that never meet; they’re always in each other’s orbit but never get together,” Mr. Amar said, showing me a graph on his laptop. “This graph touches on one point, so as the lovers get together, they have this moment, and it’s exciting, and then they part.”

Mr. Amar also explained how “you can get kind of cheesy with imaginary numbers” which can represent surprising moments in relationships. “And suddenly, things that could’ve never happened happen, kind of like the cosmic-ness aligns.”

Another math teacher, Mr. Adams, shed some light on maths’s connection to the attractiveness of a partner. “There’s some stuff out there related to the symmetry of your features and things, so maybe some loose geometric concepts,” he said. 

“As far as statistics go, half of all marriages end in divorce,” he added. Ouch, that’s some tough math,

Mr. Adams also told me that the most attractive mathematician is Pythagoras, from the classical period of ancient Greece, but Mr. Adams said that Pythagoras doesn’t compare to the girl who sat in front of him in his sophomore Algebra II class.

When I talked to Mr. Kennerson, he was quick to pull up some statistics about Valentine’s Day. “2.58 billion dollars are spent on Valentine’s Day,” he said. “And the average American spends $185 on Valentine’s Day.” That’s pretty pricey if you ask me.

For my final stop, I ventured to Ms. Howard’s lively period 3 Precalculus class. Ms. Howard said, “Well If I wanted to talk about how many different possible pairs we could make out of the group of students here at Lovett, I  could use combinations to figure out how many possible pairs there are.”

She needed some help thinking about math and Valentine’s Day’s kinship, so she asked the class for ideas. Junior Tristan Sindoni blurted out “3.1459… like pi and because Valentine’s is on the 14th- ‘3.14.’” Junior Emme Donaldson shouted out “Oh, pi, aye!”

I also asked Ms. Howard about who she viewed as the hottest mathematician. “So that’s disturbing on many levels,” she said. “I cannot answer that, but my favorite mathematician is Descartes.”

Personally, I’m not a fan because of his rule on signs I learned last semester in pre-calc. If only it wasn’t about finding the positive real zeros, but about getting a sign about who to fall in love with. Then again, identifying the real human zeros out there might save me a lot of heartache.

By Jacob Ying

On a frigid January night, hot cocoa by my side and laptop on my legs, I sat down and watched Pretty Woman. For two hours, I sat in my candlelit TV room and observed. It was my first foray into rom-coms and romances.   

I’m a huge lover of movies. I’ve written about quite a few before, but I had never explored romance movies. They never interested me. But with Valentine’s Day coming up, Mr. Newman and fellow reporter Eliza Pieschel encouraged me to watch and write about some classics. 

I chose to view three films: Pretty Woman (1990), Pride and Prejudice (2005), and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999). For a genre I had previously ignored, these films pleasantly surprised me. 

First of all, their light social commentary impressed me. While they were not world-changing films about complex issues, they did not aspire to it and did an excellent job saying something instead of nothing. 

Pretty Woman portrays class divides, greed, and social responsibility; Pride and Prejudice explores class divides and family; and 10 Things I Hate About You depicts different facets of feminity and independence.  

I really liked Pretty Woman. I loved the way it set the scene in LA, and I particularly enjoyed the way the filmmakers contrasted Edward and Vivian’s worlds. The humor was unforced. 

I also appreciated the film’s characters. Each had a satisfying arc with changing motivations. The entrepreneurial Vivian goes from viewing Edward as someone to take money from to someone she loves. By living with Edward for a week, she realizes she can fix her broken life. Edward shifts from viewing Vivian as someone to exploit to someone to spend his life with. And through his interactions with Vivian, he has a change of heart in his business plans, moving from destroying companies to preserving them. 

Pride and Prejudice wasn’t my favorite. I found it slow and boring, mostly, but I understand I am not the intended target audience. Although I found the Jane Austen classic’s plot dull, I thought the cinematography was top-notch. Everything felt high-quality. The sets transported me to the English countryside, if only for the film’s two-hour runtime, and the shots were masterfully composed. 

I did love Kiera Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet. Her independent, headstrong, and charming portrayal was excellent. Her acting was subtle and real; Elizabeth Bennet became someone you could know in your life. 

10 Things I Hate About You was fun. The reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew was a silly film with cheeky humor: I laughed more watching it than Pretty Woman. With a short 97-minute runtime, the film packs a lot in.

Some characters are better than others. Cameron, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Michael (David Krumholtz) both felt pretty shallow. Cameron just wants the pretty girl. Michael just wants to get back at someone he feels wronged him. Larisa Oleynik’s Bianca is more complex. She is caged by her sister, but she mostly just wants the same thing as Cameron. The romance between Julia Stiles’s Kat and Heath Ledger’s Patrick romance felt forced. I’m not convinced a real Kat would change her heart so easily. 

None of these films were perfect, but my experience watching romance movies was much better than I expected. Each featured some great songs. They all had a coherent message they delivered through fun and witty characters. After watching, romance still isn’t my favorite genre, but it isn’t my least favorite either. 

It’s hard not to get swept up in the idea of going on a shopping spree with someone who’s learning to love me.