Home

By Ansley Hall

Author’s Note: Most newspaper articles would probably feature interviews and quotes from members of the greater Lovett community. As much as I would’ve loved to include that here, because I know lots of people who love these stories as much as I do, most people I talked to were uncomfortable with associating their name with the LGBTQ+ community. I say all this because, despite how deeply unserious this article may seem, being queer is still incredibly challenging in our society at large and within Lovett. It’s important to remember that Valentine’s Day is a celebration of all love. ❤️

1. Heated Rivalry, dir. Jacob Tierney (TV-MA)

If you’ve been online at all recently, you probably saw this one coming. Featuring internet sweethearts Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams as professional hockey players, Heated Rivalry has taken pop culture by storm. It’s a loveable story about Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov, two queer hockey players who fall into an unexpected romance. In addition to just exploring the progression of their relationship from a “situationship” to something more official, it also grapples with the struggles faced by queer people in relationship to publicly coming out, especially in professional sports. Shane and Ilya find strength in each other, though, and through fellow major league hockey player Scott Hunter, who comes out by kissing his boyfriend, Kip, in front of a packed stadium in one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen on TV recently. Seriously, I was bawling my eyes out. This show is the perfect love story about love beating the odds, and I couldn’t recommend it more for a Valentine’s Day binge. Are you coming to the cottage?

2. But I’m a Cheerleader, dir. Jamie Babbit (Rated R)

But I’m a Cheerleader is arguably one of the most influential queer movies of all time, and for good reason. It’s a rom-com that follows Megan (Natasha Lyonne), a high school cheerleader and model student, as she reckons with the fact that she is a lesbian and is whisked off to True Directions conversion boot camp by her friends and family. At True Directions, queer boys and girls alike are ordered by director Mike, played by RuPaul, because of course, to engage in stereotypical gendered activities in order to reinforce their straightness. This backfires spectacularly, and Megan ends up falling in love with fellow camper Graham (Clea DuVall). Together, they learn to accept themselves for who they are, and they break free of True Directions. This is a cult classic that’s truly equal parts romantic and hysterical.

3. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

You probably had to read The Iliad or The Odyssey for English class, but The Song of Achilles gets into the often-unnoticed romance going on in the background of those epics, and is frankly much more interesting than boring Greek poetry. Sorry Homer! Madeline Miller reimagines The Iliad through the lens of two characters: Achilles and Patroclus. To be fair, this is a very loose retelling, so if you’re a purist beware. Achilles and Patroclus meet when they are young, and fall in love as they grow up. Eventually, they are forced to fight alongside each other in the Trojan War, with a tragic ending (spoiler warning, I guess? Do books inspired by poems that came out in the 7th century BCE even require one?) Achilles and Patroclus’ love literally transcends the mortal plane, and it doesn’t get much more romantic than that. It’s an epic love story. 

4. Red, White, & Royal Blue, dir. Matthew Lopez (Rated R)

Red, White, & Royal Blue is the rom-com to end all rom-coms. This is a perfect movie (and a pretty good book too!) in my humble opinion. It stars Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz, son of the US President, and Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry Fox of England. Also, Uma Thurman, sporting perhaps the worst southern accent in film since Daniel Craig in Knives Out, is Madame President Ellen Claremont. What more could you possibly want? Alex and Henry fall in love, nearly breaking international relations as we know them. Things aren’t all sunshine and rainbow flags, though; the pair must navigate the pressures of representing their countries, coming to terms with their identity, and forced outing to the public. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but I will say  a sequel titled Red, White, & Royal Wedding began filming this January!

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Despite what the title may suggest, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is in fact a queer love story, and a phenomenal one at that. The novel is told through an interview with aging old-Hollywood starlet Evelyn Hugo by an unknown journalist, Monique Grant. In a shocking tell-all, Evelyn reveals that, despite her seven marriages to men, she is bisexual and had a lasting love affair with fellow actress Celia St. James for most of her life. Evelyn recounts her career and rise from the very beginning, including her struggles with racial identity and the pressures of Hollywood. It’s an emotional read, to say the least. Evelyn and Celia have maybe the most devastating situationship of all time, but there’s a happy ending…ish. It’s definitely worth a read if you didn’t already read it for AP Lit: The Lucky Ones last semester (and worth a re-read if you have!)

By Parvi Anand

Love is usually expressed through words, actions, or moments we remember. But for millennia, people have also shown love through art. Paintings, sculptures, books, and handmade creations often express feelings that are hard to explain out loud, especially if we aren’t Shakespeare or Taylor Swift.

Most often, we show our love THROUGH art, but sometimes we fall in love WITH art. Take the Greek myth of Pygmalion, for example: a sculptor creates a statue of his ideal woman named Galatea and falls deeply in love with her. His love is so strong that the goddess Aphrodite brings the statue to life. While that may be a myth, it shows how powerful art can be and how real emotions can form through it.

To see how students today connect love and art, we sent out a school-wide survey asking what artwork reminds them of love. The responses varied widely. Some students named famous works like The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, and Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss. Others mentioned Romeo and Juliet, explaining that literature is also a form of art. Modern examples included the iconic New York City photo of a sailor kissing a nurse and the book Red Rising, and artwork showing a repeating couple from a student’s family collection.

Some of the most meaningful responses were simple and personal. One student wrote about making a homemade poster to ask someone to be their girlfriend. Another said that anything handmade feels like love. These answers show that love in art is not always about famous works, but also about meaning and intention.

This idea connects closely to how Mr. Smith, the Upper School Fine Arts teacher who teaches ceramics and foundations of art, views love in art. He explained that he first fell in love with art because it could be useful. “Someone once gave me a handmade cup,” he said. “When I used it, I felt a connection to the person who made it.”

As a teacher, Mr. Smith enjoys watching students grow through the creative process. “Art can be frustrating at first,” he said, “but I love seeing the moment when things finally make sense and students get excited about their work.”

For Mr. Smith, love in art comes from both the process and the final product. He believes artists should enjoy making something by hand, while also caring about how others will experience it. “I want people to see the thought behind what I made and feel that I enjoyed making it,” he explained.

Art can also help people express emotions they cannot easily put into words. Mr. Smith believes this is especially true in ceramics. “There is a quiet language in art,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t even realize what you’re expressing until the piece is finished.”

Creating art can also teach students self-love and patience. In ceramics, mistakes happen often. Clay can collapse, crack, or turn out differently than expected. Instead of seeing these moments as failures, students learn to accept them as part of the process. “A lot of times things don’t work out the way you want them to,” Mr. Smith said. “You learn to enjoy the process and be kind to yourself instead of calling it a mistake.” 

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, ceramics classes take part in a special project. Students create small bud vases using two pinch pots and usually glaze them in pinks and reds. “The day before Valentine’s Day, I bring ion flowers for the students,” Mr. Smith explained, “and they get to choose some and make a small arrangement for someone they love.” 

When asked about his favorite romantic works of art, Mr. Smith pointed to ceramic artist Ayumi Horie. Her work often shows love in playful and subtle ways, including birds, hearts, and reflections. “Sometimes the love is obvious, and sometimes it’s more quiet,” he said. What makes her work especially meaningful to him is that it is functional. “Sharing cookies on a plate or having tea with someone from a pitcher and cup set becomes an act of love,” Mr. Smith explained.

So next time you’re confused about your feelings… maybe just make someone a piece of art instead! 

By Ella Harvey

When most people watch sports, it may be because it’s their favorite team, because their parents went to college there, or because they’re supporting the hometown team. However, there’s another reason you may not have thought about: how attractive the athletes are. 

Recently, we asked students their opinion on the most attractive sport and who their athletic crushes are. 

So what makes a sport “attractive?” Is it the sportsmanship, the physique of the players, or their athletic abilities? I decided to ask around to see what people had to say about it, leaving their names out of it, knowing that this can be quite a shyness-inducing and controversial topic. 

I spoke with a number of people and soccer is a popular choice. “Soccer and lacrosse because there is running and fitness,” one person said. “Soccer because they are sweating and moving and the uniforms are tea,” another added. 

On the survey, many sports were combined as equally attractive, with 41% of survey takers picking basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. 

“Once the basketball shoes come on, my eyes are drawn!” one student wrote. “Basketball is one of the hardest sports to be good at, so when someone is good, it instantly draws my eyes. Even if someone is not conventionally attractive, if they play basketball, it’s GAME OVER.”

Skills aside, the real appeal seemed to be basketball players’ physiques, “because they are tall,” one person said. Another, “because they gotta be quick and tall.” Someone else narrowed their focus: “Basketball, because Lebron.”

With basketball, baseball, and lacrosse in a three-way tie, everyone also had opinions about why some are more attractive than others. 

One girl stated, “Lacrosse because they are more underground and nonchalant, unlike baseball. Baseball is overhyped. The sport is also more interesting.” Another respondent replied with just, “Lacrosse, self-explanatory.” 

Now, we will never know what is so self-explanatory about lacrosse, but we can assume at least one self-explanatory part is that “they are sweaty.” Wow. Lacrosse can also be quite an aggressive sport; most of the time, players must be defensive and muscular to succeed, which may help explain why the sport and its players are considered attractive. (I tried lacrosse in middle school, and I can safely say that aggression does not come universally in the lacrosse player pack, and after every practice, I had grass stains and bruises everywhere…from other players’ aggression.)

There were also many opinions about baseball. Popular baseball crushes were Dansby Swanson (but only when he was on the Braves), Matt Olson, Max Fried (also when he was only on the Braves), and Shohei Ohtani. 

“Baseball is the most attractive sport because you have to have a lot of intellectual skill and you have to be strong and fast,” one girl told me. Another girl stated, “It is not just their looks that draw you in, but they have charisma and passion for the game.” A friend next to her disagreed: “Baseball is at the bottom. I hate how tight and dirty their pants are.” 

Not surprisingly (given that we live in the south and it is practically a ritual), football was ranked as the most attractive sport to play by around 20% of the people who filled out the form. 

In the poll, one person cited football “because it demands a lot of physical endurance, time management, and determination. Many sports are slow, but football highlights leadership, trust, and teamwork.”

While you have to admire the high-minded perspective there, not everyone is so classy. “Football, because they usually have muscles,” a student wrote. I asked the girl what she would think if they played both football and baseball: “You just win. That’s just it. It’s over, that is very attractive.”

The overall votes for football as the most attractive also translate to their athlete crushes. Of the 37 people mentioned as an athlete crush, 15 were football players, including Joe Burrow, Jaxson Dart, and Arch Manning. The biggest athlete crush of all was New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Now, despite Drake being 23 and recently married to his wife, who he has been dating since seventh grade, there is a lot of love for Mr. Maye. 

I interviewed one girl who is a Drake Maye (and his wife Ann Micheal Maye) fanatic, just wanting her to talk about what makes him so great. Her response, “Can I talk about Drake Maye? Where do I even begin?!” she replied in probably the most fantasized tone I’ve ever heard. 

“Well, first of all, he is taking the Patriots to their first AFC Championship for the first time since 2018, he is bringing back the Patriots dynasty. He is an all-around great person, and he is very humble in all of his interviews; he is just a sweetie,” she said. 

As we talked, she came to the realization that she doesn’t even have a crush on him; she just admires Drake and Ann Michael Maye’s relationship. “I think he’s not even my athlete crush,” she said. “I just love him and his wife.”

She is not the only person who admires him (and apparently his wife). There is now a social media account called @DrakeMayeLover (has over 335,000 followers on Instagram) and a new account @AnnMichealMayeLover. Each account discusses the media’s love and appreciation for Drake and the couple. One super fan wrote on Instagram: “If you’re ever sad, just remember that the earth is 4.53 billion years old and you’ve somehow managed to exist at the same time as Drake Maye.” 

Along with Drake Maye, University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning, and Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson received numerous votes. 

One girl told me that, “On TikTok, I have a favorites section of Arch Manning edits, that me and my friend send to each other.” If you are confused with what an edit is, it’s basically a mix of short videos of the person, with a dreamy filter and music. 

If you’ve been wondering, women athletes didn’t get many mentions (perhaps a story worth investigating), but gymnasts Livvy Dunne and Suni Lee were both popular options. 

And not everyone is obsessed with classic sports. One person wrote:“Archery, because it reminds me of simpler times.” There were also answers like squash, boxing, cricket, and ping pong. Perhaps this one was due to the popularity of the Timothee Chalamet movie, or maybe just the senior guys out in the Williams Plaza.

By Tanisha Naik

From watching Tom and Zendaya secretly launch their relationship through paparazzi to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce turning football games into full-blown concerts (alas, not in this year’s Super Bowl), celebrity couples have a way of capturing our attention. 

We obsess over Beyonce and Jay-Z as the ultimate power duo, admire Rihanna and A$AP Rocky for making parenthood look effortlessly cool, and root for couples like Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco because their happiness appeals to us. 

Whether it is their matching outfits, the way they support each other’s careers, or the way they look sitting together at an awards show, our favorite celebrity couples give us something to talk about, cheer for, and mourn over when they collapse. 

Based on the Valentine’s Day Survey sent out by the OnLion, the most common responses were actors Tom and Zendaya, Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner, Olivia Rodrigo and Louis Partridge, and actors Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse. Other responses included Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, Miles Garret and Chole Kim, Tom Brady and Alix Earle, and Bryce and Maddie Crawford. Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie got a shout-out, but they’re only together on their show.

I also spoke with a few students and asked about their favorite celebrity couples and why. From movie stars to singers to athletes, students chose celebrity couples from all corners of pop culture. 

As for singers, senior Wyatt Botha said he likes Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, describing them as having “good vibes and good fashion” and calling them a great couple overall. Freshman Ariana Bandyopadhyay pointed to Louis Partridge and Olivia Rodrigo, who are no longer together; however, she liked Louis Partridge as an actor and Olivia’s music, making them a great “crossover couple.” Senior Izzy Cheroff likes Dove Cameron and Damian, describing them “as actually the cutest people.” 

When it comes to movie stars, senior Judd Ebert chose Scarlett Johansson and Colish Jost, explaining that he likes them because “they both are funny.” For senior Nicholas Holland, Tom Holland and Zendaya stand out because it’s “cool they can do movies together and both be successful.” Junior Elizabeth Dellinger chose a younger couple who you might have seen in the movie Regretting You, McKenna Grace and Mason Thames, noting they both “just have innocent faces.” 

Beyond Hollywood, students also looked to the sports world for their favorite couples. Junior Teo Demenkow pointed to Josh Allen and Haliee Steinfield because he thinks that Haliee has been helpful to Josh Allen. “He made him a better player,” he said. Junior Quinn Black said, “Jared Goff and his wife,” admitting that his admiration comes primarily from being a fan of Goff. Sophomores Mackenzie Cummings and Mary Adams King said they admire Drake Maye and Ann Micheal Maye because “they are just so sweet,” and noted that they met back in middle school. 

So why do we admire celebrity couples? Senior Zara Hebb summed it up best: “They seem like they have it all, and they are super influential.” 

By Malaya Madison

Statistically, less than 2% of American Marriages are formed between High-School Sweethearts. (According to the Accolade).  

College, new responsibilities, just plain growing up…there are so many things that can get in the way.  

But meet Aaron and Meredith Schunk, the couple who are in this 2%. They graduated from Lovett in 2016, and their love story only continued when they left the Riverbank. I Facetimed with them at their home.

Aaron Schunk is a baseball player who originally signed with the Colorado Rockies, and in December 2025, signed with the Atlanta Braves! And Meredith has worked in the pediatric intensive care unit at the Children’s Health Care of Atlanta, and she is now back in school to become a nurse practitioner. 

They have continued to watch one another grow into who they are today. “There have been so many ups and downs, but we’re doing it all together. So that’s what matters,” Meredith shared. 

The two have known each other since middle school, and were in similar friend groups. Freshman year, Aaron and Meredith had hung out at numerous football games together and became closer.

2012 changed everything. Aaron asked Meredith to be his girlfriend the day after Valentine’s Day because they had plans to hang out, and he “thought it’d be cheesy to do it on Valentine’s Day,” Aaron said.

This is how the couple started dating. “We met when we were 12 or 13, started dating when we were 15. So we, we’ve been together forever, it feels like,” Aaron said. 

In high school, the challenges the couple faced were mostly related to extracurricular activities.

They solved this challenge by squeezing in any time they could to see each other. “Going to the same school and being in the same grade was very beneficial,” Aaron said. “ We spent a lot of time together throughout the day, so that when those extracurriculars took up time, that was obviously time we didn’t spend together.”

Even then, the couple still ”FaceTimed a lot and spent a lot of time after school after extracurriculars, after homework, spending time with each other too.”

Their relationship has grown tremendously, just as they have individually. When asked when they knew that they could see a life with each other, Aaron shared, “I told her I wanted to marry her my senior year, so I saw it very early.”

Not only was Aaron committed to their relationship, but he was also committed to baseball at the University of Georgia in 2014. 

When they started picking colleges, they realized that this commitment would take a lot of responsibility, and they didn’t want to compromise each other’s goals.

“I said that I wanted her to go wherever was going to be best for her education,” Aaron said. 

Meredith went to the University of Virginia, which is 7 hours from UGA.

“We had to learn how to do the whole communication thing with long distance,” Meredith said. They told me that this was definitely the hardest part of their relationship. Aaron said it was frustrating to be apart after “four years of almost seeing each other every day with school.”

During college, communicating and visiting each other was key. Because Aaron couldn’t go up to Virginia much because of baseball, and Meredith couldn’t come down much because of her sorority and nursing school, the timing was hard.

They advised any couples going through this to “learn how to communicate really well with each other and have good expectations for your communication.” 

(If you’re reading this, you should most likely take this advice, because they have been together for over a decade since freshman year.)

Aaron and Meredith have gotten married, bought a house, and welcomed a dog. “It’s kind of crazy how much of our lives we’ve been together for. We’ve seen high school, college, and started our first jobs. And, we’ve moved all around the country for baseball for him,” Meredith said.

While they’re older now, and have been through a lot, they “still feel like best friends in middle school, and still get the same butterflies.”

By Malaya Madison

When teenagers are in love, relationships can feel much more intense and emotional because of natural hormones and because many of us are experiencing love for the very first time.

And there are many other challenges teenagers face in relationships, like not being able to drive, attending different schools, having strict parents, and not having funds.

Out of 124 survey respondents to the Valentine’s Day survey, 25% of Lovett students are in a relationship (ranging from brand-new to over a year old), and maintaining it is harder than it seems. 

One of the biggest challenges is attending different schools. 

Different schools can foster more yearning because you see each other less, but they can also cause trouble. When students were asked about obstacles to high school relationships, 44% of respondents said that different schools can heavily impact them.

For example, my friend’s boyfriend goes to Westminster, which is right down the street, and she hasn’t seen him in three weeks (which is crazy, since they’re only 6 minutes apart from each other every day). This just shows that even when schools are closed, busy schedules make hangouts rare. 

Many couples have issues with different schools because, as high school students, our lives are centered around schoolwork, sports, and the people we go to school with. 

“I feel like the point of a teenage relationship is to date someone inside of school,” freshman Luca Nelson shared, “so you can be cute and talk throughout the day.” 

Being at different schools requires a lot of coordination, which wouldn’t be necessary if the couple went to the same school. 

If you think different schools are hard, imagine being in completely different states as a teenager.

Junior Copeland Stukes is experiencing extreme long-distance because his girlfriend lives in Panama City Beach.

Stukes makes the drive to Florida about once a month to visit, or sometimes they switch it up, and she comes to Atlanta, but he says, “That is not enough.”

Small check-ins and continuous calling can help to “keep the flame alive.” 

His girlfriend is attending Emory College next year, which Stukes is “really excited about because they will be closer to hang out.”

Coordination also takes a toll if the couple cannot drive. 41% of respondents think that not being able to drive is one of the toughest obstacles a couple can face. It limits spontaneous meet-ups and makes you dependent on your parents for hangouts. 

It also makes it hard when one partner can drive and the other cannot, due to an imbalance in responsibility and money. “My girlfriend doesn’t have a car, and I always have to drive to her, and it costs a lot for gas,” one respondent shared.  

This is especially tricky for freshmen. “We have to depend on other people’s schedules most of the time, which determines if we can hang out,” freshman Scottie Turner shared. 

Senior Vade Stedman started dating fellow senior Emerson Courage last year, so driving wasn’t an issue for them, but time was.  

Schedules can play a big role in high school relationships. Sports, clubs, and school events can draw couples together but also draw couples apart. 

He said they try to “find time for us, even if it’s something quick,” Senior Vane Stedman shared.

Stedman also said that family dynamics can definitely impact a relationship when trying to find a balance. 

Stedman said that his family is more “fend for yourself,” when it comes to meals, while Emerson’s is more about shared dinners. He said right now they are “working on not going out every night or not eating out.”  

Balancing school and extracurriculars is already challenging. When you add a relationship, it makes balancing more difficult, as a teenager is also learning time management.

Sports can be a major focus due to practice and games. When asked about how sports affected her relationship, freshman Diarra LaBarrie stated, “Basketball gets in the way of hanging out a lot, but we do get to see each other because we both play it.”

While parents can sometimes be helpful with a ride, they can also be very strict and think their kids should focus only on what’s most important to them. 48% of survey respondents cited strict parents as a key obstacle to romance. Of course, strict parents can heavily influence many aspects of our lives every day.) 

When the parents are dictating the relationship, it makes it feel as if you aren’t truly finding a connection with somebody; more importantly, your parent is forcing the connection to be how they want it to be, whether it’s stronger, weaker, or nonexistent.

It’s also hard to be young and in love, because we often don’t have much in our bank accounts to fund our big romantic dreams. 33% of respondents said that lack of funds played a big part in their relationship. There can be a lot of pressure, especially around holidays, for expensive gifts and dates. Most teenagers have a lot on their plates, so having a job doesn’t really fit in, which means they rely heavily on their parents not only for rides but also for money to spend on their partners. 

For the above reasons, and many others, including the reality that most teenagers don’t spend the rest of their lives with their high school sweethearts, falling in love in high school probably means it’s going to be bumpy and is good practice for future long-term relationships. You know, when you can drive and when you have some money in the bank. 

That doesn’t mean there won’t be some of the same obstacles in terms of finances or location, or even the approval of your parents. 

And that also doesn’t mean that there aren’t some high school sweethearts who managed to make it through to the other side. 

I met with Lovett alum Aaron Schunk, and his wife, Meredith (Bond) Schunk, both Lovett Class of 2016. She is currently in school to become a nurse practitioner. They have been together since 9th grade. (You can learn more about their relationship here.)

Their biggest challenge in high school was extracurriculars: Aaron played baseball, and Meredith played soccer.

The couple shared that even now, the challenges they faced in high school are mostly the same. “The fact that he’s still playing baseball just kind of makes it still seem kind of similar,” Meredith shared. “And I’m in school right now, so it’s almost like we’re back to square one.” 

By Bridget Valls

After re-watching The Notebook for the fifteenth time, I was in awe of how Noah met Allie. To set the scene: Noah and Allie meet at the carnival. He tries to talk to her, but she has no interest (even though he’s played by Ryan Gosling). So he reaches for one of the passing Ferris wheel seats and dangles from it as it rises until she agrees to talk with him. First of all, I will be spending more time at carnivals. And second of all, after my jealousy faded, I thought about all the meet-cutes I have heard about in my life.

Starting with my grandfather. From the time I was little, he told me about meeting my grandmother, and it has been my dream since. He was working at a car dealership, and she was just 16, looking for her first car. He fell in love with her immediately and was able to sell her the car of her dreams. (I never asked him whether he made her a particularly good deal on it.)

Someone on our survey also wrote about a romantic grandparent story: “My grandfather met my grandmother while working construction through his sister. She was initially unflattered by him, but the day they were out, it started raining. Being the gentleman he was, he picked her up and carried her over the puddles.” This honestly just made me sad because I have yet to experience this yearning. And I’ve had to walk through a lot of puddles. Maybe romance really is dead. 

My AmStud teacher, Mr. Nas, was sure to change my mind about this. Sitting in his class, I decided to ask him how he met his wife and if it was a “meet-cute.” My friend, Lane, butted in and guessed “SNAPCHAT,” and let’s just say Mr. Nas looked appalled. 

Mr. Nas’s story was the exact opposite of meeting someone on Quick Add. He met his wife at Middlebury College at the first event of the first weekend. They both were entering the school as athletes. It was “love at first sight,” he said, and we are all happy to see them still together 15 years later. 

But let’s not completely dismiss social media. Dr. Ezell had no shame in telling me he met his wife on Twitter. “I was working as a music critic and was in a network of other writers on Twitter,” he told me. Somebody he followed posted something, and he saw that this woman replied. He looked immediately at her profile picture and thought she was pretty. He followed her, and she followed him back. Soon after that, she posted a picture from a book, and Dr. Ezell made his move and asked what the book was. He went straight to the bookstore and bought the book, and they chatted about it on Twitter. 

For 6 months, they talked all the time on Twitter, but she was in NYC, and he just moved to Austin. He bought a ticket to visit her, even though they had never spoken on the phone. (BOLD move). But they decided after New York visit that they were going to give this a try. One year later, she moved to Austin, and they married two years later.  

And what about here at Lovett? Have any meet-cutes taken place beyond a flirty chat in math class? Are there any JUICY stories? 

“ya me and my hallway husband and we make eye contact, and just like know we’re in love,” one respondent said on the survey. No offense, but this response made me feel a little better about my own sense of delusion. Does your “husband” even know y’all are making eye contact? 

Another student wrote that “their English teacher made their assigned seating together the WHOLE year on purpose because she thought they’d be cute together.” This would definitely be my favorite teacher, but I have not gotten this lucky. You’d better invite that teacher to your wedding, is all I have to say. 

Speaking of English teachers, I was eager to know Mr. Newman’s story. He and his wife met on an airplane on the way to the same study program in Jerusalem. They sat near each other, and she asked him, “Do you like Cornell?” Mr. Newman, being humorous, responded, “I wouldn’t be here if I did like it.” If you know Mr. Newman, you know he had no ill intent with this comment, and any of his students would know to laugh. Unfortunately, his now-wife wasn’t sure whether he was being rude. He clearly made up for it somehow because they became best friends, started dating a year later, and celebrated their thirtieth anniversary back in September.

The next person I interviewed was my other Amstud teacher, Dr. Turner. (Sophomores, sorry to inform you, he is retiring. He is the best!) Who wouldn’t wanna hear about the love story between two teachers at the same school? He told me that he and Ms. Turner (Director of Civic and Global Engagement) met in college at UGA. They both were journalism majors and worked for the student newspaper, the Red and Black. HE recalled first reallynoticing her during a presentation she gave when she was wearing pink Converse high tops. 

But they did not start dating until after college, when they got a job at the same newspaper in Augusta where they both lived at the time. And they loved working together so much that they even came to Lovett together. “She got an offer here, and I just tagged along,” he said. I asked him how this dynamic worked at home. “We try to limit work talk at home,” he told me. Dr. Turner thought for a moment when I asked who made the first move. “If you ask her, she will say she made the first move,” he said after a beat. 

I knew as soon as I heard this, I had to hear Ms. Turner’s perspective on their “meet cute.” She clarified that she indeed made the first move. “I asked him out to a bar, movie, bowling, and my house, but he thought I was just being very friendly,” she said she said. She told me her first impression of him was when he hosted a meeting, getting people to join the Red and Black, and she thought he was cute and smart. She even remembers that back in college, she saw Dr. Turner across campus and dropped another guy’s hand, who she kind of had a thing with at the time. I also wanted to hear her perspective about how the work-home dynamic worked for them. “We talk about Lovett all the time, we love the school,l” she told me. We really are losing a power couple with these two retiring. 

And how about future power couples with Lovett origin stories?

There’s the student who wrote on the survey about getting hit in the face with a backpack because the person they liked was taller. That same person wrote about a friend who ran out of money in middle school at the cafe, and the boy behind her bought her Nerds Gummy Rope. Tells you a lot they still remember.

Another student just wrote “Painting class,” leaving all of us to imagine the story. Perhaps it involved accidentally spilled watercolors? 

And plenty of people explained why they’d never had a meet-cute: too single, too tired. One wrote: “What even is that bro?” 

But there’s room to hope. A student wrote about their parents meeting at church. Isabella Ying just told me about how her mom interviewed her dad for a job, and he said he liked the sound of her voice. Isabella was unclear whether he got the job, but she was pretty clear he got the marriage.

So. Safe to say everybody wants a meet-cute, no matter if it is through a DM, a plane ride, a college class, or Nerd Rope salvation. 

See you at the carnival. I’ll be dangling from the Ferris Wheel.

By Valeria Benitez

With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s almost guaranteed that a few surprise couples will suddenly appear. One day, someone’s single and the next they’re not, with everyone left wondering when exactly that happened. Welcome to what Gen Z calls hard launching and soft launching

For those unfamiliar with the terms, hard-launching a relationship usually means posting on social media with no context. A full-face photo. A caption. Maybe even a matching profile picture. It’s known as a “hard” launch because before that moment, no one knew they were dating. And sometimes, no one really reacts. As one student put it, “I made my profile picture a picture of us…nobody really cared.”

Soft launches, on the other hand, thrive on mystery. You’ve likely seen a “soft” launch post of a hidden face, a hand across the table, or a photo taken from the passenger seat. One student admitted to posting “that I went to Boston and was with a guy but didn’t show his face.” Another kept it even quieter, limiting it to “my private story on Snapchat.” The primary goal of a soft launch isn’t to shock people.

But not every launch happens online. In fact, some of the biggest hard launches happen completely offline. Walking into Menchie’s together at peak hour on a Sunday night? That’s a hard launch. Going anywhere at West Paces on your first date? That’s a hard launch. Going for the Jalisco and Baskin-Robbins Combo? That’s a hard launch. One student summed it up perfectly: “Pull up with any man to Menchie’s…goes great until you run into his ex.” Basically, nowhere near Buckhead is safe if you want to keep your relationship private.

Trust me as someone who spends way too much time in the Menchie’s parking lot with my friend debriefing, I always catch a random couple.

School has its own way of exposing relationships, too. Sitting next to the same person every day, walking together between classes, or suddenly never being seen apart, tends to raise questions. For some, there was never a plan to launch anything at all. “We just started talking a lot at school,” one student explained, “and people caught on.” Another recalled how their relationship went public when “somehow our advisor found out and told so many people,” instantly turning this private relationship into a big deal.

Indeed, not all launches go smoothly. Some are accidental or regrettable. One student shared a story of a three-day relationship that became widely known after a single heart emoji was misinterpreted. What was the result? “Apparently, we dated for three days until I broke up with him and everyone knew,” they wrote. Sounds like my delusional friends who think making eye contact across the hallway means they’re practically married to the person.

Others described being forced into making their relationship public before they were ready, or having a soft launch unexpectedly turn into a hard launch when a partner posted it on their main account. The truth is, no one is ever safe when it comes to keeping secret relationships; everyone always finds out.

Snap Map deserves its own mention in the relationship launch exposure. For some couples, it has become the ultimate accidental hard launch. Leaving Snap Map on means your location updates in real time, and suddenly, people notice two Bitmojis in the same place every night together or out on a date. That raises a lot of questions. Clearly, Ghost Mode is the way to go if you don’t want people getting curious.

Then there are those who choose not to participate in this hard and soft launching generation. Some students avoid posting out of embarrassment, while others reject the entire concept. “I have never participated in this societal ritual and don’t plan on it,” one wrote. And sometimes, skipping the launch creates even more chaos, like the student who “didn’t even tell people we were officially dating, then broke up, and everyone was confused.”

In the end, relationship launches aren’t really about love or romance; they’re about the perception of love and romance. Whether your relationship is revealed through an Instagram post, a Menchie’s run, or Snap Map exposing your entire routine, the moment people notice, it’s official. So as Valentine’s Day approaches and couples continue to appear out of nowhere, remember: you don’t choose the launch. The launch chooses you.

By Valeria Benitez

Talking. That has to be one of the worst stages during a relationship. 

“How was your day?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“What did you do today?”

They’re the last person you text before you fall asleep and the first person you hope to hear from when you wake up. You get butterflies when you see them in the hallways, and you don’t know if you’re oversharing… or not sharing enough.

So much can happen during the talking stage. You’re still getting to know each other, trying to figure out their personality, their humor, and their intentions, all while desperately trying not to give (or get) the ick. Maybe both of you are talking to other people at the same time, or maybe you don’t even know what your relationship stands as.

That’s the thing about the talking stage: nothing is clear.

You never really know you’re in it until you start going on dates, texting constantly, or calling each other more often. Until then, everything feels like a guessing game.

How do I know if I’m in the talking stage?

Some people (like my friends) think they’re in a talking stage just because of eye contact and small glimpses in the hallway. Personally, I don’t think that qualifies. To me, a talking stage means actual effort. You, well, talk regularly, and there’s interest on both sides.

It’s when the conversations go from “what’s your favorite color?” to “what are you scared of?” or “what do you want your future to look like?” It’s not a relationship, but it’s nothing either. It’s that exciting/confusing space in between.

What qualifies as a talking stage?

A talking stage usually includes:

• Consistent communication (text or calling at least once a day)
  
• Mutual interest (not a one-sided delusion, even if sometimes it turns out that way)
  
• Flirting, even if it’s subtle (complimenting a smile or their basketball shot…or even a “mean” flirt, like saying “I did so much better than you on this test.”)
  
• Getting to know each other emotionally, not just casually (going beyond quick-add on Snapchat)
  
• A sense that something could happen (holding eye contact just a bit longer…)

There’s no label, no commitment, and no guarantee, just potential.

And sometimes, that’s the scariest part because you don’t know where your relationship stands.

How do you leave the talking stage with someone you’ve never met in person? (I know I struggle with this one.)

This is where it gets complicated. When you’ve never met face-to-face, it’s easy to build an idea of someone rather than knowing who they truly are. Sometimes people make a version of the person they like without even speaking to them in person. Leaving the talking stage usually means one of two things:

• You meet in person and see if the connection is real.
• You communicate honestly.  If you want to continue, you go on more dates. If you don’t, be respectful enough not to lead them on, or like many of my friends, just a quick unadd on Snapchat.

Curious about talking stages, I asked Bridget, who was sitting next to me, to tell me her worst talking stages and dates she’s been on. Expecting to only receive one, she instead gave me a whole bunch, which will keep you entertained.

“One time I went on a date to a movie theater, and I paid for everything, including the movie ticket.” 

Another talking stage date she mentioned was actually with me on this double date, where she told me that the guy said he hoped his card didn’t decline because he had spent all of his money on Crash Royale. Spoiler alert, it didn’t decline, but instead he ordered butter pasta from the kids’ menu in order to have enough money to pay for both of their meals. Keep in mind, before this, they were going to take us to Cross Creek, but they didn’t make a reservation, so it got really full, and we had to go to White Hall sports bar, while we were in nice clothes. 

She also mentioned how, by far, her worst date was when she went to the Braves game on a date, and he said he got them game tickets, but they were standing room tickets. 

Yet another time she mentioned, which was more recently on a date with a talking stage, they went to Jenis, and “all my friends showed up and made it awkward” (yes, I was one of those friends). I asked her if she had a best talking stage, and she said  “I wish I had one,” but then added that “Actually, the talking stage with the guy from Jenis was good, but it was y’all [our friends] who ruined and inflicted it.”

I asked her (and Maiya who was sitting with us) what the best part of a talking stage is: “The chase is the best part,” they both agreed.

Maiya added, “Talking stages are nice because you have a fixed idea in your head and you don’t know any cons about the person yet, so that’s why it’s nice.” But the worst part has got to be “When they start hinting at dating.”

I asked her for stories, but she just told me she would tell me them “off the record, but they can’t go here.”

Seeing Lane through the window of the newspaper, roaming the halls instead of being in AP GOV, I asked her about her worst talking stage. “When he brought me to Roswell road, and we went to the tennis court,” and for the best talking stage, well, “There’s not one…” 

And while it’s confusing, awkward, and emotionally exhausting, it’s also the stage where hope exists the most. Many of my friends consider talking stages more fun than actual dating. Because anything could still happen. So maybe it’s not the worst stage after all. After all, we are still in high school, and not all of us have to (or want to) show up in the Couples Corner in the OnLion Valentine’s Day issue.

“I just got the ick.” A term so thrown around by Lovett Students and the world, it has lost its potency, and the line is often blurred between a tolerable, possibly charming quirk and a catalyst for a relationship coming to a tragic end. 

Falling ill with the dreaded disease of the “ick” can last anywhere from a few seconds to being a full-blown deal-breaker. The “ick” is a spectrum.

As always, we asked the student body for their actual deal-breakers, the most severe case of the “ick.” Here are the results: