Brandon Darcey doesn’t quite know what he’s going to do for his girlfriend for Valentine’s Day.
After all, this is the first time that the high schooler has had a girlfriend on the most romantic holiday of the year. While he’d like to shower her with gifts the fact that he doesn’t have a job is limiting his options on that front.
But he has a few ideas up his sleeve.
“I don’t want to give it away, but you can do nice things for people without a lot of money, and I want to make it something public,” Darcey said. “She’s awesome and I think she’s going to like it a lot.”
Such is life when you’re in love as a teenager.
But Darcey’s limited budget isn’t unique to people his age.
And for those who still want to do something special for the one that they love, it just creates a sense of urgency for something that’s unique and creative as opposed to store bought – something that students like Reina MacArthur said they look forward to mapping out a month in advance of the actual date itself.
MacArthur, who said she’ll be celebrating her second Valentine’s Day with her boyfriend, has managed to save up some money in order to buy him the video game he has wanted since November – the one gift she’ll be able to purchase for him.
But how he’s going to get it, she said, will be the real treat.
“I’m going to do a scavenger hunt for him based on places that we used to hang out and stuff like that,” she said. “I saw the idea in a movie and I thought it would be a lot of fun and it would make the day memorable even if we don’t have the money to go out to dinner like our parents do.
“I think it makes it a little bit more personal. I think he’s going to like it.”

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.