What Are the Odds

"See, the problem," he said, "is that this city is filled with too many people who went to college together. They have their friends, they're keeping their relationships, because they don't know they're terrible."

"Well," she said, "that's not exactly fair. You don't know that they're all terrible."

"Think about your college boyfriends."

"'K."

"Do you still wish you were with any of them?"

"God no."

"So—"

"But," she said, "you can't apply that to everyone. Each relationship is different."

"Ew," he said. "Gross that you said that."

"Agreed."

"Think about the person you were. Are you that person now? I know I'm definitely not."

"I guess I'm not either," she said. "But neither were they. The boyfriends. They're probably all changed now, too."

"OK."

"So wouldn't it make sense to stay in it and grow together?"

"No one wants to grow together when you're twenty. I couldn't care less about growing when I was twenty. Did you care about growing when you were twenty?"

"Well..."

"No, of course you didn't. You know what you did care about?"

"What...?"

"Say it. Come on, say it."

"...I cared about sex—"

"She cared about sex, ladies and gentlemen!"

"But that's included in the growth! That's not a separate part. You want all parts growing."

"Ooh, yes indeed you do."

"Ew," she said, "shut up."

"OK, so growing," he said, "that's fine, I'll agree with you, OK, I'm all for growing. But to decide to grow with someone at age twenty, before you've really seen anything or done anything or gone anywhere is stupid. And not only stupid, but a disservice, it's a disservice to you and your partner."

"I never liked the word partner."

"Yeah," he said, "neither did I."

"But what if that's the person you're meant to be with?"

"The odds of that are so, so, so, so small."

"But they exist."

"Well, of course they exist," he said. "They're odds, they exist everywhere for everything. But those odds... You don't know the world. You think you do. But you don't. And the you find out that you never really can. You're still a kid, and staying with the girl from your philosophy class who you made out with at some frat row party, because you like the same music, and you're both staying in the city, and you're both from the Midwest. It's a foolish way to live your life."

"Yeah, but that's what you are at twenty," she said. "A fool."

"It's just... It's a big city. And there's so many people. And everywhere you look someone's holding someone's hand. And it's a difficult thing to break into, you know?"

"Yeah. Well. Here," she said. "I'll hold your hand."