Mosdenea

Chapter 27--The Art of Unimaginable Contentment

Campus was buzzing. When classes started up suddenly it felt like love was literally in the air. Couples took over the sidewalks. Everyone was holding hands. A few guys got their girlfriends giant gifts or balloons. Girls surprised their boyfriends with baskets of food. Anyone who was single seemed to be watching from the sidelines—unsure what to do. They either looked distraught or laughed off at the happy (and not so happy) couples.

Valentine's Day, I thought with a small eye roll.

People love Valentine's because it's the day of love. Personally, I hate it. Not because I think it's a bad holiday, simply because it seems like a pointless one to me. I mainly feel sorry for men. There's this connotation that men have to give their girlfriends extravagant gifts on Valentines in order to prove themselves to their loved ones. And there only seems to be two sides of Valentines—utter joy and love—or sadness and despair. It's a weird holiday—and definitely not my favorite.

People typically say that the only way to truly enjoy Valentines is to be in a relationship. I've had my fair share of Valentines with a boyfriend but even then—I don't get it. Sure, it's nice to be pampered with gifts. And showing our love to one another isn't necessarily bad...it just seems like a lot more pressure when there's a title to something so simple. There's no need for Valentine's Day to show someone you love them. But for some reason, it's a holiday where you're supposed to.

Now, I'm not one hundred percent hating on the holiday. Usually with Jeromy, we would go out to dinner and enjoy ourselves. He once bought me a stuffed bear that said, I Love You Beary Much. And I would buy him a new videogame or something. Seeing his face light up was always an amazing feeling. This year however, I was even more excited. I didn't want Aaron's face to simply light up. I wanted it to glow. Which was an issue because I still had absolutely no idea what to do. The stress I was feeling to live up to Valentine expectations was causing me to dwindle.

I sat by the coffee shop watching yet another couple give each other goo-goo eyes as they openly flirted with one another. They made me happy but I was also cringing on the inside. I looked down at my phone, texting Kellie. Where are you? I asked.

On my way, She answered quickly. Give me a second.

I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair. Tapping my fingers against the table I went to social media to see if anything was new. Logan had posted something about being back home. I smiled inwardly—somewhat sad he had left. Lo had gone home a few days ago. Before leaving, he decided to teach me some dance moves that I was supposedly going to practice with Aaron.

"We used to have a dance," Lo said to me after he showed me a few dance moves. The two of us had moved all the furniture in the living room to create an open area.

"Oh yeah?" I had asked, "Was it Footloose?"

Lo laughed, "No. We had a whole dance number to the song Surfin USA by the Beach Boys."

"I can't imagine Aaron dancing to that," I commented.

Logan grinned at me, "You'd be surprised with the amount of things Aaron has done to make us all happy."

Before Lo left, we both made sure to get each other's information. He promised to visit as soon as possible. But first he had to go and figure out his circumstances back home. It didn't stop the fact I was sad when he left. Logan was an amazing dancer, but better yet—an amazing person.

"There you are," I said to Kellie as she took the seat beside me. She was grinning from ear to ear. Her curly hair more wild than usual. "Where have you been?"