It’s been a couple months since school started and a few weeks since Chicago gave us some beautiful weather–summer has definitely ended, bringing in the warm colors and cooler weather of fall. With the weather and the end of summer, it’s starting to feel a lot like cuddling season, or what I call Cuffing Season.

Your happily single friend during the summer (like really happily single) starts whining about wanting a boyfriend or girlfriend. People who just normally wouldn’t want a relationship suddenly do and it’s pretty weird and out of character except that everyone else is feeling the same way too.

It’s actually perfect timing really. Just like there’s a significant boom for engagements, there’s a significant boom for relationships. Holiday season began a couple weeks ago with Halloween, the sexy and quirky costumes were brought out (my personal favorites: the sexy loofah and the sexy ebola costume) and you hormonal nuggets were on the look-out for the guy or girl you’ve been eyeing, don’t even lie to me. The crazy stress love you’ve been feeling from your whole family coming into town and their non-stop questions of “where’s your boyfriend?” “honey, you’re still single?” “trust me, I won’t tell your mom you’re dating someone,” is starting to get to you; the freezing weather’s arrived and even though it’s not cute you want someone cute to cuddle with. One word: mistletoe; those couples on Twitter that get spoiled with presents that not even my mom gets me (I kid, I kid, Mama Velarde spoils me). Anyways, you get the point right?

What’s great is that guys and girls alike are generally ready to give a committed relationship a go. But chill okay, just ’cause everyone is feeing lovey-dovey doesn’t mean people won’t get R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D rejected, it’s not a sure thing just like always. I’m just giving you a fair warning so that if you end up taking my advice you don’t cry and then get angry at me because it’s all my fault. Letting someone know you’re even remotely interested in this day and age is terrifying, let alone letting someone know how you actually feel about them–but lets save that for another day.

Mkay, lets try this again. Cuffing Season is great for people in “things” and those two friends of yours who’ve been circling around each other for like ever. They already have a foundation, however little it may be, to a relationship. Even the two friends that have been circling each other, both of their friends have constantly told them to go for it and that the other is obviously into them. If you have an inkling, go after it, and if it doesn’t work out, at least you tried.

The thing is that sometimes people just want to be in a relationship more than they want a specific person. Ya catch my drift? That’s mostly due to loneliness and even envy, to be honest. The problem with that is it creates a bad foundation because you wouldn’t be in that relationship for the right reasons and you might not even really like your special buddy. And that’ll really hurt the other person, not because they’d know but in the end, you’d unconsciously treat them in an undeserving way. If you’re the person being treated like that, well I advise you to get out of that relationship, honey. But again, what do I know?

For the people that don’t fall for Cuffing Season’s trap, congrats friend! Keep on, keeping on. Being single is great if you embrace it and you definitely don’t need someone, it’s only high school after all.