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The first time Victoria got a glimpse of Javi was on Instagram. Sahara and Victoria had JUST learned the dance to Kate Bush’s ’80s classic, “Wuthering Heights.” This was the height of Victoria’s “Denton Cool” era. Sahara asked if she could post their first attempt. Victoria let her post it—even though she’s not the best dancer, it was still fun to try. After Victoria got home, she checked to see who had viewed the story, and there, under the long list of names, she saw Javi’s. She clicked his profile and saw him for the first time. He seemed cool—typical Denton artsy guy. But why did he view her story without following? Was he just trying to get followers? Did he think she was cute? The next time Victoria saw Javi was on the wonderful dating app, Bumble. She recognized him right away. She swiped, and it was a match. She scrolled through his profile. She was kind of sort of talking to someone and had kind of sort of told herself she wouldn’t talk to anyone else to keep things from getting too complicated. But they weren’t exclusive, and it was just a message, after all. Another look through Javi’s profile told Victoria he would be the “typical Denton band guy”—not good for the long term, but fun to flirt with. So, she messaged him. They talked about music and movies, but he responded too slowly, and Victoria thought that was a red flag (she would later find out he was just employed). Victoria had limited time left in Denton, and if she wanted to make the most of it, she was not going to fall for the same tricks she had before. So, she ghosted. She went on more dates with someone else, except… he turned out to be a dud. He didn’t even like Family Guy! So, she was back to where she started with only a month left in her college town. About a week later, Sahara invited Victoria to her friend Javi’s show. Wait. Javier? Turns out it was the same guy she had previously ghosted. Out of curiosity and a “do it for the plot” mentality, they showed up at the show, and Victoria saw Javi for the first time. Was he that cute on his Bumble account? Because he was VERY cute in person. Looks like she had made a mistake, and Javi now had the upper hand. Victoria watched Javi play and felt butterflies in her stomach. Ohhhh, she should not have come here. Javi’s friend, Sam, and Sahara tried to get Victoria to talk to Javi all night. But she couldn’t do it. She was too scared. The next day, Victoria woke up with the feeling of failure. She hadn’t talked to Javi, and now there was no way she ever would. She checked her Instagram story, and there, amongst all the familiar names, was Javi. He had looked her up and viewed her story again. BUT HE STILL DID NOT FOLLOW HER. This was her second (or maybe third? She’s lost count) chance. She followed him and waited. Javi followed her back but did not message. Victoria went the whole day waiting. She realized that since she had been the one to stop talking to him first, she needed to be the one to take the first step. She called up her friend Alana and asked if she wanted to go to East Side. They went, they got a drink, and Alana told Victoria to stop being a baby and message him. So she did. But before she did, she said, “This will either be something that fails and I laugh about in a week or a funny story I one day tell at our wedding.” Glad it was the latter.