“Will you be my special friend?” he asked me one hot Texas summer night. We’d known each other for months, and I was already in love with him. We shared an awkward kiss and then sprawled on his backyard. The next year he moved to Chicago, and we sent mixed tapes and letters back and forth. He returned the next year so we could merge our mixed tapes. Two years later he convinced me to move back to Chicago with him. He dumped me the next year.

—Zooey

Postscript: Yet another year has gone by. We’re still friends, but neither of us has found a new special friend.

0

A racquetball-aholic, I asked my mom to find me a suitable adversary. She recruited this fella from her office. When I walked into the racquetball court at the local YMCA, he was already there practicing his moves. A sweatshirt hung by threads from his neckline. He wore Converse high-tops cut off at the ankle; his shoelaces were untied and flying loose with each whack of the racket. He was certainly a vision.

—Susie

Postscript: That was 26 years ago. This morning we woke up together from our cozy bed, in our old house. We retired the rackets to the basement some years ago due to our ancient knees.

2

We had been on two dates. He liked Wilco and bikes and had a bunch of beautiful tattoos. We had made out, held hands, laughed. Then one night he called me up to chat, told me he had bought his housemates some pastries, and then asked me if I believed in greed as an inherent human value. We spoke for three hours, and I knew.

Postscript: We just signed the lease for a place with a punched-tin ceiling.

—Yana

0

After spotting a tall, cute guy at a bull-riding event, I walked up to him, doing my best to be cute and sexy, and promptly spilled my beer down the front of my shirt. It didn’t seem to matter, though—or maybe it was the spill that caught his interest. We went dancing afterward and haven’t been able to get enough of each other since.

—Kitasha

Postscript: We’re complete opposites, but it’s working for us!

0

A friend handed me a water bottle full of vodka, and I proceeded to wash the whole thing down within 20 minutes in front of new friends and a new crush. Predictably, I ended up vomiting in the hallway, the stairwell, and outside underneath a tree. My new crush held my hair back, and in the morning I woke up tucked into his bed while he slept on the floor.

—Bwynn

Postscript: We dated for 2 years, he turned out to be a bit too sensitive. And whiny.

0

My friend was interested in him first, but it didn’t work out between them. The more she talked about him, the more he grew on me. Eventually, I couldn’t deny it.

—Noah

Postscript: He decided he liked men, and we dated for two years. Things fall apart.

0

I made fun of her. She shoved me into a chair. We went on our first date two weeks later. It’s good to know that fifth-grade habits still apply in college.

—B

Postscript: We dated for two months and then split.

1