(back)

Dating can be a rollercoaster

You have clicked your safety belt together, and the rickety cart shifts with every move you make. You’re not sure if you really want to do this, but the mixed emotions inside you convince you otherwise. Sound familiar? Welcome to the most exciting, nerve-wracking roller coaster: dating.

When you think about it, dating is exactly that—a roller coaster. You’ve stood in line for what seems like forever, and then it’s finally your turn. As you walk through the gate, you raise your eyes to meet his. That fluttery feeling of excitement bubbles up inside you again. You’ve thought about how great this is going to be for a really long time and now, for just a second, a snitch of doubt pops into your mind. You quickly push it aside and tell yourself that it was meant to be. The warning voice comes over the speakers reminding everyone to keep their hands and feet inside the cart at all time, and to be really careful. The cart pulls to a start, and suddenly, you’re moving. The chains click together, pulling the cart up a huge hill. You’ve made it! You are officially a couple now—exactly what you wanted! Or is it? You smile as you remember your fingers linked together, him giving you your first kiss. Then as the days go by, it seems the more you are with him the less you seem to feel the strong attraction you did at the beginning.

Whoosh! Suddenly you’ve taken the huge fall. Do you know who you are? Do you know what you’re doing? A feeling of fear suddenly covers your whole body as you envision the huge drop that’s about to bring you tumbling down. You feel like your safety belt is going to tear you apart, and all of a sudden you realize that you’re way out of your comfort zone. All that you want is for this horrible nightmare to come to an end. You wish you had never been attracted to him, never agreed to go out with him. You wish it had all never happened. Yet part of you still longs to have his loving arms around you. This whole experience has opened a new set of emotions you never knew you had. Yet all good things must come to an end. Roller coasters come in many shapes and sizes, each one being different; just like dating, Every person’s experience will be different. Some will be better than others, some will be awesome, and some you’ll wish had never happened. Some things are hard to end, harder than words could ever explain. But slowly and surely, they comes to a halt.

Carolyn Edwards, from Thornloe, Ontario, is in grade 10 at Temiskaming District Secondary School.

Article provided by