What does every chick flick of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s include besides Molly Ringwald, a raging house party, or a glimpse into Nicholas Sparks’ imagination? Yup, you guessed it! It’s the stereotypical nerdy-girl-loves-hot-jock love combination! Ironically, the standard still applies today. (Except we certainly aren’t labeling ourselves as “nerds,” we are collegiettes™ gosh darn it!)
Every girl has that one, perfect god-boy she would kill to be asked out by; the boy who not in a million years would even glance her way. Here are a few tips and tricks that will help YOU snag the stud muffin every baker wants!
Dress Yourself Up!
Of course it’s not all about looks, but anyone would be lying through their teeth if they said they’d choose Seth Rogen over Ryan Reynolds as their semi-formal date; even if Seth picks you up in an Aston Martin and feeds you Nutella and strawberries on the ride over. Face it: looks do matter!
Physical appearance is the first thing we notice about the opposite sex. And with the ratio of girls to guys being 500 to 7 here at JMU, if you want to catch his eye, you have to dress the part! Seeing your crush at a party Saturday night? Use darker make-up colors and show some skin (careful though, don’t give him the wrong impression). Seeing him at Carrier instead? Try setting your alarm an extra 5 minutes back so you have time to put on a little make-up and do your hair.
Also, ditch the baggy sweats! Yoga pants are a much more preferred form of cotton comfort in the eyes of guys. (Double-check your pants transparency by bending over in the mirror before you walk out the door though – no one wants to see how much you ‘love pink.’) Taking the time to put a little more oomph into your ensemble everyday will not only make you look more appealing to him, but also feel better and more confident when you meet him. Make that boy check out more than books at the library!
Frequent his Places (without stalking him, of course)
Head to the parties where you think he or his friends might be. If he’s in a fraternity or on a sports team, try one of their parties! He’s bound to be at the gym, library, dining hall, bookstore, Quad, men’s room (if you’re really considering going in there to see him, think about where you want to tell your children you first met), or on the bus.
The more he sees you, the more visible you will become each time. You will also be creating more opportunities for yourself to talk to him! I’m not saying it’s ok to do a drive-by, or even a walk-by if he lives on campus, every evening at six just to see him going out to dinner. You will literally drive yourself crazy doing this and wrongly assume he has been kidnapped by pirates or abducted by aliens if he does not come outside by 6:40. What I am saying is, you have to go where he goes if you want him to ever acknowledge your existence.
Act Confident…
If you’re shy, quiet, and need to break out an inhaler every time you watch McDreamy prep for surgery, you will never land your boy toy, let alone any guy. It’s perfectly fine to be a bit reserved (hey, I am too). But sometimes, you just have to fake confidence to get what you want.
Confidence is the number one trait in a girl which guys love; any girl’s magazine will confirm it! This is 2011, ladies, so channel your inner Sadie Hawkins, march up to that beefcake, and start talking! I guarantee he will be very impressed.
…And Unavailable!
Boys want what they can’t have. Especially those cocky, athletic, frat-tastic ones (that we usually regret having feelings for). Remember how Joey resorted to bribery to try and get Katarina to go to prom with him in 10 Things I Hate About You? Well if there is one thing you want to covet from Kat, besides her chance to roll around in the hay with Heath Ledger, it is her talent to appear uninterested.
Kat may have been doing it because she really was uninterested, but her ability to remain calm, cool, and collected drove Joey wild! Justine, a freshman at JMU, says, “When I first met my boyfriend, I thought he was way out of my league. I flirted with him, but tried to keep our contact to a minimum in the beginning, that way he would want to keep coming back for more!”
It is fine to play hard to get with a guy in the beginning. However, once you know you got him, tone it down or else he’ll just start getting annoyed and skedaddle!
Approach Him!
Eye contact, eye contact, eye contact! I cannot stress it enough ladies. Eye contact lets a guy know you want him, without you having to say anything. Samantha Jones knows exactly what I am talking about – she once made a man stop dead in his tracks after looking at him! If after a while he starts to hold your gaze, then you’re going places! (Warning: if he starts to stare back but in a, ”why is this chick sizing me up like I am a sales rack at Forever 21” kind of way, you are not going places. You are going home.)
If you’re at a party, then the next steps are really simple. Give a subtle smile, “casually” bump into him and ask him a question like who he knows there, if he is pro “free Weezy,” or even where the bathroom is!
Once the ice is broken, just be yourself and get to know each other! If you are elsewhere, do not let intimidation overcome you. Chances are his surrounding posse won’t even notice you when you strut up, and if they do they’ll be wishing it were them you were coming up to! Just act natural; like you ask out random cuties everyday and everything will flow smoothly!
Try not to get heartbroken if you are rejected. In the end, you can’t make someone like you (oh, that silly chemistry), but it is always fun to try! Dating is a game of ins and outs. Remember that no one is out of anyone’s league and that we’re all one big team!