notes on LOVE: day 4 | the special stare

this post doesn't have some cosmic moral at the end. this post is not to point out some beautiful aspect of love in our everyday lives that we overlook. this post is merely and just to say that couples who do the special stare creep me out.

i shall explain. freshman year there was a girl who lived on my same floor. she had a boyfriend in the ward. every night, they could be found standing at the top of the stairs, facing each other and holding each other's hands, STARING at each other. that's it. no talking. no giggling. no smiling. no looks of meaningful flirtation. no looks of even meaningless flirtation, just staring! for hours. we called it the special stare. special because we'd never seen anything like it. special because clearly this was a special moment for them (special despite it happening EVERY NIGHT). special because kind of it made us want to throw up a little.

now, these special stare couples are not just on the doorsteps of freshmen dorms.

oh no.

they are eeeeverywhere.

you know who i'm talking about:

the couples who you find sitting on the floor against a wall, the girl staring off into space, the boy scratching her back or stroking her hair meaningfully.

special stare couple usually look frighteningly like siblings (but not in an "oh that's cute" way.)

they usually both look serious as death.

we're talking this-is-the-last-moment-we'll-ever-have-together serious.

and yet neither one seems like they want to look at the other...both just kind of stare off into the distance: most commonly the girl is looking out in front of her while the boy ponders meaningfully at his back-scratching hand.

and yet, despite all this moroseness, they are never talking! serious as death, but never talking to each other about what they are so serious about!

it kind of reminds me of this movie:

and so i'm thrust into imagining the scenario that would prompt such meaningful silence:

1. they both said "jinx!" at the same time, but he got to "10!" before she did and he's refusing to say her name.
2. maybe they don't speak the same language and they're contemplating whether this is enough of a deal breaker to warrant "goodbye". or "adios", you know, depending.
3. he's writing messages to her on her back and she's trying to figure out what he's writing.
4. he's writing insults to her on her back and she's figured out what he's writing (which would explain her somber disposition).
5. they secretly are siblings, separated at birth, but they're in love, and thus they must live out their days contemplating their lives alone because they can't get married.

but seriously--WHAT ARE YOU SO SERIOUS ABOUT!?!

SANS WORDS,

SANS A SMILE,

oh for pete's sake.

if your love is that monumental,

go paint a mural

or dance in a park

or giggle yourselves to sleep.

: celebrate!

because your special stares are freakin creeping me out.