Well, at least within the last 15 years or so.

In the fall of 2022 Allie and James were individually trying their hand at the dating apps and it was….interesting… to say the least. (Seriously, ask James about his distain for dating apps).

To both of their surprise, they “matched” and immediately started talking about their mutual love for pineapple on pizza and the romantic topic of politics.

Allie was interested in James, but wasn’t yet hooked because his texting game was pretty dry, yet she still appreciated that he was showing effort (James would like to add that his personality shows much better in person, to which Allie agrees). James kept asking Allie to go on a date or even call on the phone, but Allie felt that as a socially awkward person herself, she was nervous to go on a date with someone who may be “dry” and equally socially awkward, so she was reluctant to make a plan.

Now flash forward to one evening when Allie’s roommate was on Hinge and talking to a guy she was interested in. This guy asked her on a movie date and Allie’s roommate was hesitant to go so spontaneously and late at night. It was then suggested that they should turn this into a double date, and Allie would invite James. Allie thought this would be a good way to get meeting James out of the way in a low-pressure setting and felt it wouldn’t be a waste of time if it didn’t go well because it was a spontaneous adventurous activity that she would do anyways, so what’s the harm in inviting James?

So, Allie invited James on the last-minute double date and James ditched his roommates at the ice cream truck to be able to make it.

Once there, Allie and her roommate met James and they all waited for the other guy who was running late. James was not overly talkative and Allie could not tell if he was having a good time or not and wasn't sure if he was interested. Once the other guy arrived, they all headed in to watch the movie and once it was over because it was so late, it did not feel like a good opportunity to get ice cream and talk.

So they awkwardly said goodbye and everyone went to their respective cars. Allie felt kind of bad that it was an unusual and awkward double date with hardly a chance to even talk and she wouldn't have blamed James if he was not interested anymore.

However, after the date James asked Allie "so when can I see you again?" and they planned a second date from there.

That second date was at a park that we both liked going to (fun fact- we now live right next to this park) and James picked up food and bought some board games to play. We forgot that it was getting dark early at this point so we ran out of time to play the games but we decided to go for a somewhat sketchy stroll in the dark around the park, and it was then that we were able to really start to get to know each other. After that date, we continued to plan more dates, each one closer to the next. Before we knew it, we were spending every single day together and it really hasn't changed since!

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