Formal was on Saturday, and while it was fun, Operation: Find-a-Date was an ordeal in itself. Conclusion: my guy game is twice-rejected, outlook grim. My ego is rather bruised after asking two guys to formal and ending up dateless both times. Well, I wasn’t exactly rejected, but guys at Cornell seem to have much busier schedules than I do, and formal would have conflicted with their full agendas. By the time Invitee #2 bailed out on me for a hockey game (I know, right? I can’t compete with the Lynah Faithful.), I was ready to give up on formal altogether.

I ran into my friend Garrison the weekend before formal. Things have a strange way of working out because while Garrison had always been a potential date, I was chicken to ask because before last weekend, I hadn’t seen the guy in a month. He agreed to come to formal, and I am so glad he did. Garrison was the best date I’ve ever brought to one of these shindigs; talkative, funny, and a decent dancer. Not to mention that the guy cleans up very well in a suit and is rather cute. Fine, really cute.

I think I have a case of Post-Formal Crush Syndrome. Symptoms include holding onto the memories of dancing the night away and the feelings of one-night-only exclusiveness. Formals are a breeding ground for crushes, since everything revolves around you and your date. What I’m confused about is why my mind keeps hanging onto Saturday. I know that Garrison is not thinking twice about formal, that it was just a fun night with a female friend. I know that I’m probably just being a movie sap and wishing that I could reenact a hot kissing scene a la the Notebook (P.S. I didn’t like that movie, but you have to admit, those make out sessions make your heart melt.) However, my case of PFCS is probably giving Garrison the wrong idea.

The thing is, as much as I may enjoy the thought of having a significant other, I have no desire to commit to anything, not just because I’m a commitment-phobe, but because I just don’t have time or the energy to keep a relationship going. Plus, it’s college, why tie yourself down when there are plenty of other fish out there? Still, the hard part of my college relationship experience (or lack thereof) is finding a guy that you would want to spend more time with, and having said guy reciprocate. So when you actually find one, you don’t want to pass him up. But, what’s harder is accepting that in most cases, these cool guys are just like you–they “just want to be friends.” The only difference is that girls have very swoon-able hearts, thus are more likely to fall into the relationship trap, while guys run away from anything that has clinging potential.

So to the guys: Relax. Not all girls have tunnel vision towards settling down. And don’t freak out about PFCS, it’s the result of a random burst of chick-flick-sappiness. In the end, movie make-out sessions don’t mean anything unless you enjoy each other’s company first. And to Garrison: Let’s spoon!