Middle School Romance

I know that romance has been a recent theme, but I am in Rome. This story has to be told, an epic about a friend we will call Jack and a lady he swoons after named Jill. Remember those relationships we watched blossom in Jr. High. Well here I am a graduate student witnessing it again. At first it had the potential to be cute. Cute is a word I try to avoid. The awkward tension was suffocating. Jack following Jill, sitting next to her, eating with her, spending every waking moment next to her (even laughing at her primitive jokes that even a grade schooler knows are lame). The hunt was obvious so much so that the undergraduates got it. Romance takes time and even the most pathetic lamest tiger is thrown a bone every once an a while, not that Jill was a bone by any means, but that Jack's game was so elementary that it should have been animated in a flip book. Progressing at the standard adolescent pace, Jack caught his doe, but not before a lengthy chase. To be fair, there isn't much alone time--we all have roommates and are quite busy with school, making the task of love slightly more challenging. The humor was stifling as public displays of affection were tirelessly withdrawn at a sluggish pace. Now they openly hold hands, and some of us have even seen them sneak a kiss, to the giggles and whispers of those around them. Alas we can all finally stop holding our breath and sit back, snicker, and make jokes to their faces. Easy tiger.