This is the story of the most romantic day of my life. It all started when I smiled lazily as I awoke to the disheartening rain of Seattle’s winter beating down on my window. The fat tears the sky sheds this time of year normally depressed me right along with everyone else, but today was the exception. The day of love! Nothing could bring my mood down today, because I just knew my moody high school boyfriend was the epitome of romance and thoughtfulness. I could only imagine the endless vases of roses he’d have sent or the chocolates and teddy bears that probably awaited me downstairs.

In a rush of excitement, I hurried to change into my best online-school outfit: a shirt, my pajama pants, and slippers. Because this was a special occasion, I opted for the blue, floral top that made my eyes pop on the zoom screen instead of my normal grey T-shirt, complete with deodorant stains and dog hair. Smiling at myself in the mirror, I sighed happily and then rushed to the door, barely containing my anticipation as I bounded down the stairs in a frenzy to see what romantic notions awaited me. 

“Surprise!” Garrett’s voice shouted, “Happy Valentine’s Day, babe!” 

“Oh my gosh,” I responded enthusiastically, scanning the room for flowers, chocolate–anything! I spun around looking for my big romantic gesture, but as I looked, I couldn’t even find my boyfriend! “Wait. Where are you?” 

“Here, babe.” His voice came again. I scanned the kitchen again, looking for the source. Finally, they landed on my laptop. On yet another zoom screen with Garrett’s smiling face filling the screen. I tried to sound excited as I responded, “Hey!” and pulled up a seat to the kitchen counter. 

“Check your inbox!” Garrett said to me, and I felt myself becoming hopeful once more. I hurriedly clicked on the outlook icon on my desktop and pulled up my inbox. I quickly scrolled through the numerous emails sent by my teachers that I’d probably never look at, titled things like “You’re failing my class we need to meet ASAP,” and “Your essay was terrible,” finally landing upon “Valentine’s surprise.” I felt my heart flutter. Maybe corona-tines day won’t suck after all? I clicked on it and waited, smiling at Garrett, still on my zoom screen, while I waited for it to load. 

The words “Happy Valentine’s day to my most beautiful-est Girlfriend!” suddenly popped up, and some elevator-music-type song started coming from my computer. A creepy bird cartoon with heart eyes was singing it, even doing a digital dance on the screen. “An e-card.” I say, “Yay!” I can’t really explain the levels of disappointment I was feeling at this moment,  but I tried to sound enthusiastic for Garrett’s sake. “Thanks, Babe!” I told him. 

And then we lived happily ever after. You know how Valentine’s Day can make or break a couple? We were definitely made. His most thoughtful e-card and romantic Zoom call really set the tone for our whole relationship, and as such, ours was a true adventure filled with heartfelt moments and love. Not.