By Erin Fencl

Dating in high school is a totally normal thing, but when it comes to the first date, things can get weird. Five brave high school students told their stories to provide insight into how freaky, awkward, and just plain crazy adolescent dating life can be. Here are their stories:

The One with the Good-Intentioned Mom

This first date started off on the wrong foot. Let’s set the scene: she just moved to this new school and made friends with this guy. She was really only interested in being friends, but he was craving more than just friendship. He would constantly ask her out day after day, and she would politely respond with a strong no every time. Then one day, she was Facetiming with him when he asked her out to a movie with a bunch of his friends that she had never met. Her mom happened to be standing near and got up to the camera and told him that she would go out with him to this movie.

The date ended up starting out quite normal; he bought the tickets and they went into the theater. When she agreed with her mom to go she thought they were going to see a war movie, but after it was too late she realized it was a horror film. When it started he kept asking to hold her hand and she declined again and again. When he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere he decided to try a different tactic. After a lot of persuasion, he got her to give him her hand to show her a “trick.” As it turned out he did the “crack an egg in your hand” trick and they ended up hand-in-hand, fingers intertwined, for the rest of the movie. “I’m not kidding when I say there was a pool of sweat that was sitting in my hand, and when he finally let go there was enough sweat to last my hands a lifetime! That was gross.” When she finally got home her mom just laughed at her and said sorry in that mom tone that we all know. The takeaway: don’t let your mom set up your dates.

The One with the Deal-Breaking Question

The next story starts off with yet another girl who is pressured into a date. This odd pair met in school when she first transferred to Mount Vernon. “He kept on begging me to go out with him so I finally said whatever let’s just do it.” They decided on a movie date and were going to see “Black Panther.” Everything leading up to the date seemed fine, but once the movie started things got a bit weird. “It was pretty much the middle of the movie when he put his arm around me. I didn’t really think about it too much because that’s a normal thing to do. But then he reached down to my left hand and started stroking it really weirdly and then leaned in and asked me, ‘Do you moisturize your hands like eight times a day?’ I was really weirded out and pushed his arm off of me.” After the date was over she decided she definitely wasn’t planning on seeing him again. This guy didn’t really get over her right away, so she had to push him away gently and eventually, he left her alone. The takeaway: if you ask weird questions you’re not getting a second date.

The next story starts off with yet another girl who is pressured into a date. This odd pair met in school when she first transferred to Mount Vernon. “He kept on begging me to go out with him so I finally said whatever let’s just do it.” They decided on a movie date and were going to see “Black Panther.” Everything leading up to the date seemed fine, but once the movie started things got a bit weird. “It was pretty much the middle of the movie when he put his arm around me. I didn’t really think about it too much because that’s a normal thing to do. But then he reached down to my left hand and started stroking it really weirdly and then leaned in and asked me, ‘Do you moisturize your hands like eight times a day?’ I was really weirded out and pushed his arm off of me.” After the date was over she decided she definitely wasn’t planning on seeing him again. This guy didn’t really get over her right away, so she had to push him away gently and eventually, he left her alone. The takeaway: if you ask weird questions you’re not getting a second date.

The One with the Party Crashers

To go along with the theme, we have yet another movie date. “So I was in eighth grade and he was a freshman. We met through marching band because Mr. Weber brought me up into the pit.” They started off by talking and eventually he asked her to go see the Batman Lego movie.

It was an early out at school that day, and when they went to the movie theater they ended up being about 15 minutes early and no one was there. They got popcorn to share and awkwardly sat down in the theater. Since it was their first date and they didn’t know what to talk about they chatted about random topics particularly about their families. Then out of nowhere, a huge crowd of little kids burst into the theater screaming at the top of their lungs. It turns out that there were a bunch of birthday parties that had requested that particular showing of the movie. Instead of being upset about it, the couple decided to embrace the loud and obnoxious children and still have a great time.

In the end, they both had enjoyed the movie but neither of them had eaten any of the popcorn because they were too awkward to reach over to grab it. They are actually still together two years later. The takeaway: if screaming children can’t ruin your fun, surely nothing can.

The One with the Relentless Texter

For this next story, we have a cute little lunch date. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Well, this guy picked up his date at her house and on the drive to the restaurant he could tell that she was a little shy. “She didn’t talk to me very much and was on her phone for pretty much the whole way there.” When they got to the restaurant and sat at their table, she was still on her phone texting one of their shared co-workers, instead of talking to him.

As their food finally came out she finally put down her phone and started to eat. When he looked back at her she had only eaten what seemed like two bites and was already asking the waiter for a takeout box. So like the gentlemen he is, he paid for both of their meals and they left the restaurant.

The drive back to her house was just as awkward for them because she was still only focused on her phone. He dropped her off back at her house and then went to drive back home, but when he was only halfway there he got a text from her saying that she didn’t want to go out with him ever again. The takeaway: if she’ avoids talking to you, she’s not into you.

The One with the Disappearing Date

The last story is actually fairly cute because they were so young when it happened. She was in seventh grade and her date was an eighth grader. Their date was on a Friday at the home football game. “He asked me if I was going to the game, and I said yes because my mom worked at the booster club, so I kind of had to.”

At the beginning of the game, they met up and started just walking around the stadium talking. However, this only lasted for about an hour, before he decided he had to go to the bathroom. Just as anyone else would, she didn’t think anything of it and let him go. She waited with her friends and it ended up being about 30 minutes before she realized he wasn’t back yet. She stayed until the end of the game and still saw no sign of him.

Luckily for her, she was still young and didn’t really care about having a steady boyfriend. Even afterwards at school they never talked about it and just gradually fell apart. The takeaway: if he runs away he’s not the one.

As confirmed by these five stories, dating in high school will always be a nightmare. Hopefully these stories will help you on your first (or next) date be better, or at least less awkward. The takeaway: Good Luck.