A Messy (Not Reliable) Guide to Situationships

2. The Camping Trip.

Between the months of September and November Cuban universities take turns hosting a Camping Trip for their students in the same location. We call them 'campismos'.

The camp is a huge space separated by 4 different sections. The best section is Los Cocos, which has rooms with air conditioning and semi-decent bathrooms; the worst is La Laguna, which is plagued by frogs, vicious ants and the cabins don't even have mattresses most of the time.

I got invited to the trip by Eliza, the girl who sat next to me during my first year. She was a quirky redhead who spoke way too loud sometimes and liked being in charge. She needed a girl to fill a cabin meant for four and I was available. It's funny to think about it in hindsight. I didn't really know Eliza or the other two girls. One was a complete stranger named Mikaela, from another classroom; and the other was Lys, who I had only spoken to the first day of school and never since.

Our assigned cabin was in La Laguna and it wasn't long before we decided it was inhabitable. Another girl from my class, Cynthia, had two free beds in her section, Las Caletas, so we decided to relocate there.

Cynthia was very popular. She had a great body, pretty face, charming, charismatic, and was dating one of the hottest guys in our faculty. It was impossible not to like her. She wasn't even self-absorbed or conceited. The girl had no flaws.

The dynamic of the Camping Trip was basically hanging out and socializing during the day (maybe jumping in the pool if you were brave enough to catch an infection) and then at night there was a big party in each sector. People tended to go to the most crowded one, logically.

I don't remember which section we were in that night. I do remember wearing a dark purple dress with sandals and being really nervous. We met up with a few of Eliza's friends from the Student Residence (a building students from other provinces stay in while completing their education).

The idea of having a crush wasn't foreign to me. I had several ones in high school but none of them ever amounted to anything. To say I was completely inexperienced in the art of flirting and getting a guy's attention would be a stretch. I had read enough romance books at that point to know how to act if I wanted someone to notice me. That night, I wanted a specific guy to look at me.

Would you believe me if told you I don't remember the guy's name? I think it was Jorge/George so let's stick with that. He was white with black hair and had average-height. He was attractive in the nerdy kind of way. This is a mostly-accurate recollection of what happened that night:

(The dance floor is packed. We are outdoors under the night sky, which means everyone is sweaty. I dance alongside my classmates. Eliza seems to be having fun and Alexa has joined us and is dancing in the middle. I'm surprised because she seems very shy most of the time. I guess she's drunk already.

I see George. Eliza introduced us earlier when we were in a big group chatting about school and other stuff. He didn't look at me once and I want him to. I think I won't enjoy the rest of the night unless I get his attention. Someone pushes him forward and he takes it as an opportunity to get closer to our group. He seems to be distracted and not having much fun. I know what I have to do)

Me: You study chemistry, right?
Jorge: I do
Me: Is it hard?
Jorge: Calculus is definitely harder than I anticipated.

(I nod, thinking about what to say next. We're supposed to be dancing not screaming at each other to try to have a conversation)

Jorge: You're in Eliza's class right?
Me: I am
Jorge: How is Russian treating you?
Me: I'm convinced our professor hates us. It's been tough for sure
Jorge: But you like it?
Me: Oh yeah. I like it