Moving to College - Francesca

Well, looking back, I've had some doozies of bad dates in the recent past. But I feel this blog is missing out on some of the terrible relationship stories I have to tell as well. So, as I take a break from some first dates (my liver is about to quit), I'll reminisce about the relationships I am so glad are over.

David is one of the people I'm most happy to not be dating. He was a really nice guy, with serious abandonment issues. I mean, we dated when I was a high school senior, and within two weeks had declared his undying love for me. I was moved by someone who was so into me, and I was 18...I really didn't know any better. I continued dating him, pushing off talks of marriage, because, let's face it, I was 18 and I did know better. I thought the relationship would fade the fall after high school, as I was going to college in another area code, and he wasn't. Little did I know that he had other plans...he told me a week before I was to move up to college that he had just signed a year lease for an apartment in the same town. Well, it was a nice gesture, and I didn't know if I wanted to break up with him, but I did know I wouldn't handle a long distance relationship.

Fast forward to the first week of classes...I'm on a campus of 26,000. By my math, that's almost 13,000 guys, most of them between the ages of 18 and 25. I haven't been in the vicinity of this many people before...and I see there are many options of other guys out there...my eyes are opened! It really was too bad for David that he chose this particular day to seal his fate by proposing to me. My reaction was just like something out of a movie. I pointed, laughed, and told him I wanted to be single again. Now, some may say this was harsh, but the results of the next few months proved it to be appropriate.

Did I mention we worked together at a department store, and that he was my ride, since I didn't have a car and the store was 7 miles away? Because that was the case. So not only was I forced to still face him, I had to befriend some other people pretty quick to get to and from work. This resulted in three male coworkers going totally postal and thinking that by giving me a ride home or to work on occasion meant we were dating, and almost resulted in a massive fight in the break room. I quit the next day. But that wasn't really David's fault. The fact that he created new regulations for my dorm to lock doors, since he'd come in wandering trying to "build a friendship instead", or the fact that he would call consistently at 2 a.m. drunk, made the entire situation unpleasant. Now, I could understand a rough breakup for a couple that had been together for years, but for three months? Even I'm not arrogant enough to think I warrant that kind of response.

The moral of the story...when the guy is clingy in the first week, it is a warning sign. Don't let this happen to you or your friends...cut them loose. The sooner, the better, since a week is still a long relationship to them.