I wrote a poem for a girl once, back in high school. It was an angsty, acrostic rant about love and relationships and shit, where the first letter of every sentence spelled out “do you want to go to prom anyway”.

I walked away while she read it, trying and failing to stay cool, but I was still within her eyesight when she finished and said no.

Part of me wants to think so; I’m making a lot more money than they did at my age, even accounting for inflation. Aside from my car note, I’m debt-free. All objectively good things.

They had each other though. I’m a few years older than they were when they had their first kid, and they’d been married for a few years before that. I’m alone, and after I had some bad experiences, I don’t bother with dating. Whether that’s “better” than what my parents did or not, I don’t think it’s fair for me to decide.