Once the first person asks their date to a dance, whether it be Homecoming, Turnabout or Prom, a frenzied panic ensues.

Those with boyfriends and girlfriends silently breathe a sigh of relief and take a seat, comforted by the fact that they won’t have to engage in the high stakes game of New Trier dances. Even three months premature, once that first date is secured, no one is safe.

All it takes is one girl asking out her Turnabout date before winter break to send a ripple of drama through an entire grade.

Once everyone is taken and you’re scrambling to find a date, awkward Facebook messages ensue. You might have not spoken to this person for a year or two, but you take the plunge with the initial, “Hey!” After awkward small talk and fake laughter, you find out if the other person already has a date. If so… you have to finish this small talk with a weird goodbye. If they are in fact dateless, you swoop in and ask that person ASAP.

Now what happens to these who had a date, but it fell through? Relationships end, new ones begin, and the date situation gets pretty complicated. After a breakup, couples can still decide to go together and promise themselves it won’t be awkward, they can decide not to go at all, or they can find another date entirely.

The next stage is marked by the time for all newly single students to scramble to find any willing individual to go to the dance with them. The problem is that no one wants to have an awkward night with a complete stranger, but then again if no close friends are available, the pool of people to choose from is already limited.

Mutual friends are suggested who have a place in the group, and drama and stress increases. Friends ask potential dates of other friends, ex-boyfriends and girlfriends try to avoid being in groups with each other, or someone gets mono…the morning of the dance. There is really no solution to that.

After finally securing your target (date), now you need to find a group. Your friends, your date’s friends, acquaintances, classmates, Facebook friends, complete strangers you had no idea are in your grade let alone attend the same school; some groups are great, some were obviously thrown together in the name of necessity, panic, and potential friendship. It could be fun, maybe.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who you end up going to your high school dances with, unless of course you get married and happily spend the rest of your life with them. But that’s your business.