Dandelion
“Come on! You won’t join tinder or bumble, at least try this out!” Marisa was practically screaming in the packed dining hall. Most people were too focused on work or in their own conversations and luckily didn’t notice.
“I don’t need to join some matchmaking site to meet anyone,” Lana replied.
“That’s not why I suggested it. At least this one is limited to college students. Besides, it’s in beta mode and Ty’s group really needs as many students as possible to sign up.”
“You joined it?” Lana asked. It was weird for Marisa to join a dating app when she had a boyfriend.
“I mean, Ty sent it to me over the weekend. There is an option to look for new friends, so yeah.”
“Fine! I’ll join your boyfriend’s app. As long as you help me set it up.”
Marisa’s smile stretched from ear to ear. Groaning, Lana covered her face with her hands. This was a bad idea. Knowing Marisa, this would be the only topic they would speak of for the rest of the week. She took Lana’s phone and typed in the web address as Lana finished her plate of bland pasta, missing her dad’s homemade fettucine.
“Ok. It’s loaded. Name. Lana. Pronouns: She/her. Sexuality- do you want me to continue doing this for you?”
“No, I can do it.” Lana took back her iPhone while Marisa leaned in over Lana’s shoulder to offer her valuable expertise on dating site profiles.
“Okay, Sexuality: Bisexual. Age: 19. Major…undecided isn’t an option.”
“Just put whatever department you marked down on your common app. Literature or art, right? Those classes always seem to be your favorite.”
“I put Film, actually.” Lana moved on to her desert: chocolate chip cookies.
“I didn’t know you were into filmmaking. Is that why you are up late on your laptop some nights?”
“I liked writing scripts in high school, but they’re not very good. I’ve been trying to get back into it.” Lana played with a strand of her dark-brown hair.
“Well, I definitely think you should put writing in as one of your interests. Others?”
“Star Wars. Cooking. I guess photography.” She was mumbling. Even knowing Marisa now for six months, Lana still felt shy around her roommate. Marisa was always sure of herself: outgoing, fun, with her major pretty much set already in freshman spring.
Lana filled in some other details before the Dandelion logo flashed on the screen.
“What now?” Lana tensed as Marisa’s smile grew even larger, as she excitedly hugged Lana, her curly black hair tickled Lana’s neck.
“Now,” said Marisa, “you do the quiz.”
“I have a class in an hour, this better not take too long.”
“It won’t. Ty and his CS group made it to be short. Every few days, the app might ask you to do a few more questions to help with their algorithm.”
“How is Ty doing, Marisa?” Lana raised her eyebrows, teasing her friend.
“He’s great! Actually he should be joining us any moment. He’ll be so glad to hear you’re signing up! Now do the quiz!”
“Fine. I’ll fill it out quickly.”
Question one: What describes your religious views?
“Agnostic but raised protestant. Are the questions all fill in the blank?”
“Not sure. The friend version is different.” Marisa stole a chocolate cookie off Lana’s plate as they moved on to the next question.
Question two: Political Affiliation?
“Liberal. Voted democrat. Are you sure this is different than that campus matchmaking quiz last semester?”
“Yes, Lana. I swear. These questions are just to form a baseline.”
Lana narrowed her eyes at Marisa, who shrugged and looked around the crowded dining hall for her boyfriend.
“I think the rest of the questions require more in-depth answers. What’s next?”
Question three: If you could swap lives with anyone from the past who would it be?
“What does this have to do with dating? Besides, it’s not like two people who put the same people will be 100% compatible.”
“I’m not sure. I put Frida Kahlo. Besides the unibrow.” Marisa scrunched up her forehead, making Lana laugh before she got up from the table to go refill her lemonade. Alone for a moment, Lana returned her attention to the question. Who would she switch lives with? A female photographer? Someone in the film industry? Some pampered European royal who didn’t have to work a day in their lives? This was frustrating. She didn’t really like the thought of any of those. Remembering her English paper, Lana made her choice.
“A female spy in the French resistance during World War II. That’s really what you’re choosing?” Marisa returned to her seat and Ty sat next to his girlfriend.
“I’m writing about this novel that is based on the French resistance and it’s really interesting, I swear.”
Ty glanced at Lana’s screen to see what she was talking about.
“You’re joining Dandelion!” Ty’s grin matched Marisa’s. “Please spread the word, we need at least fifty percent of the freshman class to join if our algorithm is going to work at the best level.”
“How many students is that? Six hundred?”
“Seven hundred and twenty-three actually.” Ty began eating his chicken tenders and Marisa stole one off his plate.
“They’ve already had over three hundred profiles set up in the past week.” Marisa said before taking another bite of chicken.
“Okay,” Lana moved on to the rest of the quiz. “I’m still skeptical about dating apps. No offense Ty.”
“Don’t worry. I get it. Our compsci professor assigned my group to this project, we didn’t choose it. The whole project is more about putting aside any preconceptions about certain types of software or sites for this project, and I have never joined one.” Ty confessed.
“Really!” Marisa looked at him in feigned shock, “I have to break up with you, I mean, that’s a deal breaker. If you don’t believe in the power of online matchmaking to create happy couples, then we’re over.”
“Very funny. Now, Marisa, can I eat my other cookie, or do you want it too?” Lana asked.
“Sorry, but they just- “
“Taste better off someone else’s plate.” Ty and Lana finished the statement for her in sync.
***
After lunch, Lana had Environmental Science, a class she was taking to fulfill freshman requirements and not out of interest. She took notes halfheartedly, her foot tapping anxiously as she thought about Dandelion. It wasn’t as if she had to keep her profile if it turned out to be a bust. Lana hadn’t gone on a date since the previous summer, when the girl she was seeing, Kristen, had ended things before any real relationship could bloom. Kristen hadn’t wanted to go off to college with a brand-new relationship that would immediately become long distance. And Lana couldn’t blame her. She had been feeling the same way but didn’t want to be the one to break things off. Opening up to someone she had only known for a short time was hard for her. She was introverted and tended to get anxious in large groups. Lana didn’t know how to move on, even seven months later.
When her class ended, Lana went straight to her dorm across campus. Marisa and their third roommate were both absent, so Lana decided to take advantage of the judgment-free zone and finish the Dandelion quiz. The next few questions were mainly about preferences: movies or tv-shows? Music or podcasts? Introvert or extrovert? Lana answered, movies, podcasts, and introvert.
Imagine you are operating tracks for a city trolly system. If you leave the trolly on its current path, five innocent bystanders will die. If you switch the trolly to another set of tracks, only one bystander will die. What do you choose?
Lana didn’t know how to react. Were the other members in Ty’s group crazy! What made them think the trolly problem would help match people together! She chose the first option, not wanting to be directly responsible for even a hypothetical death.
Which setting would you choose for a first date: movie theatre, party, coffee shop, bowling alley or museum?
Definitely the coffee shop. Lana was as addicted as the average college freshman. She liked how cozy coffee shops could be, with baked goods and mismatched furniture. Lana finished the remaining questions, and the Dandelion logo popped up. The flower lost all its seeds again and again, as if an invisible presence making a wish. Based on Ty’s insights as one of the app’s creators, it would take ten to twenty minutes to load any results. Lana switched tabs, pulling up her English paper and pretended her possible Dandelion matches weren’t on the back of her mind the remainder of the afternoon.
***
“So did you get any matches yet?”
Marisa moved her desk chair over to peer over Lana’s shoulder.
“I haven’t checked yet. My English paper is due tomorrow.”
“Well then take a break for a minute and open Dandelion. Come on Lana, now that I’m not single it is my mission to get you to go on at least a date with someone. You wouldn’t even entertain the idea of meeting any of Ty’s friends or reach out to the girl you got matched with on that campus thing last semester. At least look at this!”
“I don’t need to date someone to be happy.”
“No, you don’t, but you at least need to be open to the idea! Did something happen in high school to make you wary of relationships?”
“It doesn’t matter, just give me a second.” Lana saved the document she had been working on and switched over to her internet browser, clicking on the Dandelion tab.
“Ooh- five matches. Not a bad start. You get more on the friend version, so this is my first time seeing how the dating matches work. Could I- “
“You are not facetiming Ty so he can see this. Lunch was bad enough.”
“Okay fine. Click on one of them already!”
Lana picked one which turned out to be a girl named Jules. She and Marisa looked over her profile, then two other girls and a guy before moving on to the fifth and final match.
He was cute, with brown-framed glasses and dark, curly hair.
“Neil. Also a freshman. What answers did you have in common?”
“He is also liberal, podcasts over music. And the trolly problem.”
“That’s it? Every other one you had six or seven answers in common,” Marisa scrolled over his profile, having taken over the computer after the second profile.
“Wait trolly problem?” Marisa asked.
“Yeah, the philosophical question.” Lana was confused by her friend’s reaction.
“I didn’t know there were such intense questions on this! What was Ty’s group thinking?”
“I had the same reaction. Maybe the algorithm messed up and gave us a question that is supposed to come later. Ty did say it is still being beta-tested, you know, the whole reason I agreed to join in the first place.”
“Can I at least text him and ask if it was a mistake?”
“Sure, but I’m returning to my English homework.”
Ty checked for any glitches in Dandelion’s code. While it was rare, the trolly problem was asked of users at random, and wasn’t a mistake. Neil and Lana were the only match pair who had both been asked that question and chosen the same answer.
Marisa pestered Lana to reach out to one of them the rest of the night, only stopping when she got caught up doing Chinese homework.
***
Two days passed and still Lana hadn’t messaged Jules or Neil or any of her matches. None of them had reached out either. She was writing a new screenplay in the dining hall when she got a notification from Dandelion.
What podcasts do you like?
Lana pushed her food aside to open her phone. It was from Neil.
Dateline, Nightvale, some ones about world news. You?
Political shows mainly. Dateline’s cool.
What made you join this site?
One of my friends is in the group who developed it. She asked our whole study group to join.
Oh- Who is your friend? Ty’s girlfriend is my best friend and got me to join.
Annie. She’s in my comp-13 class.
Are you a CS major then?
Yeah. Wbu?
Film maybe. Technically I’m still undecided.
“Who’re you talking to?” Marisa set her plate down, taking the seat across from Lana.
“No one- absolutely no one.”
“Then why did you have Dandelion open?”
“Neil messaged me. I was politely responding. Is Ty going to be joining us for lunch again, I have some questions about the trolly thing?”
“Don’t change the subject. And yeah, he’s coming soon. Isn’t Neil the one with the least similarities to you?”
“Yeah, him. Except the trolly problem.”
“Right, the trolly problem. What did he say?”
“Asked me what podcasts I listen to. He apparently joined because he knows one of the other creators. Annie- do you know her?”
“Yeah, I’ve met her briefly,” Marisa said as her boyfriend walked up to the table, “Hey Ty- do you know Annie’s friend, Neil?”
“Um, yes.” He sat down besides his girlfriend. “Why?”
“He’s the match we asked you to investigate. The whole trolly thing and the only one Lana’s messaged.”
“He’s nice. Very talkative. Annie asked him to help us spread the word around campus about Dandelion.”
“So, he’s almost my opposite. Are you sure the match wasn’t an accident?”
“Yeah, and actually I think the two of you would be compatible. You’re both sarcastic and I think he’s into old movies, which Marisa said you like.”
“Yeah- you should ask him to hang out with you- go see the movie being put on by the film club this weekend or something! And since he and Ty kind of know each other, we can tag along if you want- “
“I’ll think about it.”
The trio continued eating, with Marisa carrying most of the conversation. Ty worked while eating and flirting with his girlfriend. Lana tried to ignore their mutual teasing, with Marisa once again stealing food off his plate. Lana would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t wish for someone to make her feel as happy as Marisa and Ty seemed. She had almost had it the previous summer, but she hadn’t committed. She had let Kristen break things off without any arguing. She had given up, afraid of being closer to someone. But Marisa was her friend and she had grown more comfortable being vulnerable with her, especially since they lived in the same dorm. Maybe Lana could take a leap of faith for once.
“You have a new notification- is it Neil?”
Lana tried to keep her expression from revealing anything as she opened the notification.
“Yeah, it’s him. Asking if I want to grab coffee tomorrow.” Had he guessed she had picked that answer on the quiz? Even if it was a coincidence, Lana thought it was a sign to at least give him a chance.
“Yes- say yes! You have to Lana, at least consider him as a possible friend!” People stared at their table after Marisa’s shouts filled the dining hall once again.
Lana laughed at Marisa’s over the top reaction, having already chosen to do the very thing she proposed, as she typed out an answer.
Sure. Does 10:30 at Dunkin work?
Alexis Enderle is a junior at Tufts University, majoring in English with a minor in French. Alexis is usually drawn to fantasy and science fiction, but occasionally turns to realistic stories as well. She grew up in a suburb of Nashville, TN, and is never found without reading material. She is on Tufts’ Varsity Fencing team and enjoys painting when she isn’t reading or writing.