Hookups with Hailey: Love at First Kiss

August, 2020

This column was written for and published in the publication Tiger Trends.

I wasn’t allowed to date until I was sixteen, so by the time I got to Princeton, I was ready for some romance! Quickly, however, I was introduced to the odd affairs of Princeton, insanely centered around hookups. To further explore this scene, I’m excited to present weekly interviews featuring two Princetonians who have hooked up! They revisit their encounter by separately answering questions about the experience. Read about how they met, who made the first move, and whether they ever spoke again in Hookups with Hailey!

Q: How did you meet?

John: We met at this eating club. I don’t remember which one it was, maybe Cloister, Colonial, Cottage, something like that. And… I don’t remember.

Jane: We met in the basement of Colonial. He had a sports recruit and wanted to show off so they started talking to me and my friends. That night’s a little fuzzy to me, but I’m pretty sure we followed each other on Instagram.

Q: Who made the first move?

John: I made the first move because I’m dope and I got game. I don’t know, I was in her DMs.

Jane: Both of us in a way? He would respond to a bunch of my Instagram stories for like a month and he was really sweet. I was into it and I’m a huge advocate of making the first move, so I messaged him one night out and literally asked if he wanted to make out.

Q: Who initiated the intimacy?

John: I guess she may have initiated the intimacy because she invited me over to her room at one point.

Jane: Me all the way haha. It was a night out and I was in the mood to kiss! We hung out for maybe an hour before I left him to go to an eating club, but I was having so much fun with him, that I texted him and left the eating club to meet back up after like ten minutes.

Q: Was it awkward at all?

John: A little bit at first because I was a little nervous, but then it quickly became not awkward once we started hanging out more.

Jane: Not really. I remember asking a ton of weird questions from this New York Times article, when was the last time he cried, what does he think of before going to sleep, and some others. In hindsight, it was kind of weird, but I think it really broke the tension. And I didn’t scare him off, so I guess it worked!

Q: How was the intimate experience? Any notable details?

John: It was good. It was a lot of fun obviously.

Jane: It was good! We just kissed for like three hours but I was really into it.

Q: Would you/did you reach out again after?

John: I did reach out to her again.

Jane:I texted first, the next day I think. Pretty sure I told him that I had fun.

Q: Describe your relationship one week after the hookup?

John: It was good, we were hanging out. It was really cool, we were, you know, doing a lot of fun things.

Jane: I left town for the weekend, but then we hung out a couple times and talked a lot more. We really started to connect.

Q: What about one month after?

John: It was great. Big stuff happened after that month, so super lit.

Jane: A month later, we were dating dating. I was head over heels.

Q: If you could go back, would you do it again? Would you change anything?

John: I would one-hundred percent do it again. I would’ve… I don’t know. Nah, I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s going perfectly.

Jane: Yes, yes, yes. I would not change a thing. We’re in a really good place.

Q: Any lessons/takeaways from the experience?

John: Damn, that’s a rough question. The experience is still going so...hopefully it goes on for a long time.

Jane:I had some pretty bad hookups my first month at Princeton. I was becoming really disappointed in the whole scene romantically, but I think I learned that the right one comes around eventually.

*John and Jane are both aliases for the two students.