Happy February 15th! The real holiday is here: everything for Valentine’s Day is half off at the stores, and you can make a reservation today without the three-hour wait times.
So I’m making dinner for my partner tonight, we worked yesterday and couldn’t celebrate. Cooking got me reminiscing about my very first Valentine’s Day with someone other than family or those little classroom exchanges we did in school. It was with my high school boyfriend during our senior year. Looking back, it’s amusing, but it felt a bit rough at the time, considering how things went.
I had this cute picnic idea in mind! I made some Betty Crocker pasta salad with tuna and boxed brownies, and we even grabbed some Subway sandwiches. For two broke high school kids, that was pretty much a feast! We chose the La Brea Tar Pits as our destination because I had been there once before on a school trip, but honestly, I wasn’t really feeling it once we got there.
To get there, we took the metro, which was a big deal for me since it was my first time going without my parents. I was nervous about getting lost since I’m not the best at following directions!
Once we got to the tar pits, we faced our first little hiccup: he thought he had two free tickets but only had one. I had to buy my ticket, which was super frustrating because he didn’t have money, not even a little emergency cash. Thankfully, I had a $50 bill from my dad for emergencies, and at that moment, it really felt like one!
Our second problem was that when I begged my mom to take me to the store for everything, I convinced her to let me get some fun additions, like sparkling cider—the non-alcoholic kind! But it was such a struggle to open the bottle that I ended up with a little cut on my finger that I still have. It was a weird bottle, and no one had a bottle opener or wanted to help kids they thought were trying to drink underage.
We had this chaotic moment as we ran around the tar pits trying to manage everything, all while I was clutching my bleeding finger. I was surprised that no one there had a first aid kit; you’d think a public place would be better prepared!
After all that, we missed our bus and had to walk to the metro station, which honestly wasn’t too far, but it definitely added to my frustration. At a CVS, I grabbed some water because I was so thirsty! I realized too late that I had bought a single-use metro pass instead of an all-day one. Thankfully, he had a monthly pass, so he was able to swipe me through. I felt so sneaky at the time, worried we’d get caught! I just remember thinking the cops were going to arrest us.
On the way back home, I remember showing him a song that I was really obsessed with.
Don’t ask me the name of the song now. I don’t know. But I just remember he interrupted it to say, “I love you.” I didn’t say it back because I was still caught up in how the day had gone, which I realize now was pretty inconsiderate. It’s funny thinking about it, but yes, that was my first Valentine’s Day!
We ended up breaking up shortly after, and I had to scramble to find a last-minute prom date. Looking back, I understand now why things didn’t work out; I feel like that was a bit of a harsh move on my part. I really hope you all have a much better Valentine’s Day than my high school ex-boyfriend did! Sending lots of love your way. Bye!
