Ever wonder why you always hook up with your ex when you go home in the summer? Well, in 2012, "How I Met Your Mother" introduced us to the phenomenon known as "Graduation Googles" the overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that consumes you once you realize everything is ending.
What they never thought to prepare you for was something I like to call "Homecoming Googles."
It's built on the same principle, but only in reverse. College or post-grad life wasn't anything like you thought it would be so when you come home for a certain period of time, you find yourself back in the place where everything seemed to be perfect and tempted to revert back to old habits.
Even if you don' t seem to feel this way, the laws of the universe always seem to make at least one person feel this way and it's almost always your high school flame right before summer break.
1. It starts out with a like
I was always a firm insister that Insta likes mean nothing...until I found the direct correlation of the number of likes I get from people I went to high school with and the timing of school breaks were directly related. You've been lingering in the back of their mind and now suddenly you're on their timeline? They see it as a sign from above.
2. You get the initial unexpected SnapChat
It's not even a regular SnapChat, its one of those "LOL" or "So true!" comments that just had to send you in response to one of the stories you put up. You didn't need to know they laughed out loud, but they needed you to know.
3. Then they're snapping you all the time
You're getting live updates on the hour; they're drinking beer, their paper is taking forever, the new Post Malone album is absolute fire. You didn't subscribe to their vlog updates but here you are getting them anyway. But the more alarming thing is...you find yourself snapping back.
4. A streak is born
You two are snapping every day which quickly transfers to texting and using far too many exclamation points for a normal conversation. Without even realizing you're using old slang and nicknames you haven't used in years. And then someone sends this text...
5. "Wanna grab a coffee when we get home?"
Everyone knows grabbing coffee with an ex is the universal sign someone wants to get back together, but you go anyway because it's THEM. Your prom date, your first kiss, an old friend, and besides you're just going to catch up. What harm could it do?
6. Then coffee turns to drinks
7. And then long drives around your hometown and to all your old date spots
8. Suddenly you're kissing in the back seat wondering how on earth did you end up back in Sophomore year of high school.
I am in no position to tell you what to do, but if I learned anything in life it is that it's never good to step back. Chances are you two broke up for a reason, and just because they seem safe and familiar does not cancel the other reason out.
Have a little fun and go back for seconds or stop yourself before you get in too deep, either way, do it safely.
