On Feb. 14, red and pink lights glow from every store window and the greatest love hits ever float out of all the 5-star restaurants.

To most people this is the most romantic time of the year, but to me it’s the worst.  On Valentine’s Day, nothing goes the way it should. Someone is always crying and another friend is breaking up with someone else. I personally have a V-day curse of my own. Every Valentine’s Day since I can remember has been drama filled and tear stained.

Sure in elementary school all we ever did was cut out paper hearts and write generic cards to each other with a taped lollypop attached. Then we grew-up and we had to actually think about what we would do. Middle school was then filled with annoying over sized bears and “anonymous” single-stem flowers. No one could really do anything without a parent hanging over them or having to go Pizza Hut, because they didn’t have any money to go anywhere else. Middle school was filled with red flowers and butterflies, but then that night people would be complaining about what did or didn’t happen and how their date was a complete disaster.

Now we are in high school and not much changed. There are still bears, hearts and flowers, but now they are accompanied with diamond earrings and driving ourselves to dates. This year will most likely be spent like most, with my friends watching old movies and shows. I will be by my phone though, waiting for the Valentine’s Day drama to begin again. –Stephanie Hofmann