Week Three: Things Get Legitimately Comedic And Also I (Finally) Go On A Date (Maybe).
When I left you last week, I’d been solidly ghosted by Jason on Friday night, which I wasn’t feeling too worried about, since I had a date set up with Jack for Tuesday night. (Note: as with everyone else that I mention, I’ve changed these dude’s names — but they DO both start with J. So I’m juggling FOUR J-names. Rough times.)
After a busy weekend, I spent most of the day on Tuesday with Harper (my best friend) (not actually named Harper… she picked it. Who knows). I was not really doing my usual panicking about dating, though I was talking kind of fast and was a little all over the place, which Harper was nice enough not to mention until I brought it up.
The Tuesday night date with Jack was an unusual situation, since I matched with and started talking to him well before ThursDating began — if memory serves, we started talking right before Thanksgiving, and very, very intermittently throughout the time between Thanksgiving and my leaving the city for winter break. It was actually a conversation with Harper about the anxiousness associated with potentially meeting Jack that was the impetus for doing ThursDating in the first place — I liked him, I said, and wanted to go on a date, but felt that I didn’t have the ‘dating skills,’ and too easily got heavily invested in the prospect of a long-term relationship (uh, Tinder History #3). From that talk (and another, with my sister) came the idea for this project at the end of last semester.
I was not on my best behavior and didn’t respond to Jack’s last message once I was home for break, but once I returned and got into ThursDating, Harper convinced me to shoot him a message (he’s been her longtime favorite prospect of mine. It’s like the Bachelorette. She might as well have a fantasy league) and see if he’d still respond. He did, and we’ve been talking intermittently for the last few weeks. He eventually asked me out last weekend, leading to the hopeful note at the end of Week 2.
So it’s Tuesday, it’s about an hour before the date, I’m blathering at Harper, redoing my eyebrows, the usual, and I get a text from Jack. His roommate got locked out, he said, and he had to go let him in. He was super apologetic, but frankly, I was too busy laughing — the one and only time that I bailed on Colin (Tinder History #3) this summer, I used the exact same excuse, basically verbatim, to do so. I don’t believe in karma, but… man, that’s karma for ya.
So Jack bailed/had to bail, but I couldn’t hold it against him, and we set up a new date for Thursday night. Shit happens. Harper and I go to get margaritas, and I’m relatively blithe about the whole thing, though two times in a row of a date not working out is starting to feel intentional. I’m attempting to drown this feeling in tequila when my phone buzzes.
It’s Jason. It’s three days later… and he’s sorry. He wants me to text him. I laugh for the next 400 years. What is this??? As soon as one drops me, the other one swoops in. It’s like Batman and Bruce Wayne, or Mrs. Doubtfire — if I never see them in the same room, I’m gonna get suspicious. Once I’m done laughing, I tell Harper. She and I have another good laugh, and I decide to let Jason swing a little, but that I’ll eventually get in touch with him.
On Thursday, the day of our date, I text Jack a bit, and then decide to finally shoot Jason a text. Jason, surprisingly, responds immediately, and we talk throughout the day. The evening rolls around, and my last text to Jack hangs unanswered in the (virtual) air. It’s 6pm, then 7pm, then 8pm. Nothing. By 8pm, I have no choice but to write it off. He bailed. Again.
Three dates planned, zero dates executed. But once again, literally AS I realize that it’s now Thursday night, and I no longer have a date for the weekend, who should text… but Jason? He wants to get a drink on Friday. I’m dumb enough to say yes. So that’s the plan. Maybe he’ll actually show up this time?!
I’ll hit y’all back later this weekend with what happens next… in WEEK THREE OF THURSDATING.
For reference, here’s a simplified series of events:
- Jason ghosts me on Friday.
- Jack asks me out on Saturday.
- Jack bails on me on Tuesday.
- Jason texts me on Tuesday.
- Jack bails on me on Thursday.
- Jason asks me out on Thursday.
- Jason and I go on a date on Friday???
