Want To Hook Up With Your High School Crush Over Thanksgiving? Here’s How

For the most part, Thanksgiving is about spending time with family and friends, eating plenty of turkey (or tofurkey!) and stuffing, and being grateful for the most important things in life. And between the cooking, traveling, and Black Friday shopping, there’s a lot happening — but that doesn’t mean you can’t make time for a former flame. (The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is practically a national holiday dedicated to hometown hookups.) Still, that can be easier said than done. If you’re wondering how to hook up with your high school crush over Thanksgiving, you’re definitely not alone.

“The best-case scenario for a hometown hookup over Thanksgiving is that it happens with no drama whatsoever,” Lindsey Metselaar, host of the We Met At Acme podcast, tells Elite Daily. “You get to either re-connect with a high school ex, or hook up with another high school friend you always had a crush on, and then you go your separate ways when you leave the hometown again.” Sounds amazing — but, um, how does one go about such a thing? According to Metselaar, the key is to keep things simple and straightforward.

Remember, there is not one single perfect way to reconnect with someone. And no matter how many times you play out this scenario in your head, there’s no way to know for sure how it’ll go. But if your Thanksgiving goal is a hookup (à la Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”), Metselaar says that there are some flirty ways to up your odds.

Keep Your Expectations In Check

Before you reach out to your old crush, check in with yourself. What are you looking for from this encounter? Are you excited for a festive fling, or hoping to spark a real relationship — even if it winds up being long-distance? When it comes to hooking up with someone from your past, it can be all too easy to get swept away in the fantasy. No strings attached isn’t for everyone (and that’s totally OK), but try to figure how you feel ahead of time to avoid disappointment later on.

Metselaar stresses how important it is to keep these hookup expectations in check. These pre-Thanksgiving flings usually cool off by the time you leave town. “If you start to put pressure on this Thanksgiving hookup to be something more, then you will likely only experience disappointment,” she tells Elite Daily. (Not an ideal way to spend the holiday.)

So before sending out any Thanksgiving texts or replying to any Instagram Stories, make sure that you’re OK with a hookup that does not lead to anything more serious — because chances are, you won’t be seeing this person again (except maybe at the next holiday party).

Alternatively, if you’ve had your eye on someone since, like, sixth-grade gym class and you really think you two could have something special, consider telling your crush what you’re looking for before things get hot and heavy.

Have A Couple Of Hookup Options

If you’re anything like me, you probably had more than one crush in high school, so definitely don’t limit yourself now. That doesn’t mean you need to send a “You up?” text to your entire contact list (in fact, I’d advise against it), but you can certainly check in with a few different people to see how they’re spending the holiday season.

Metselaar tells Elite Daily, “It's so important to put those eggs in multiple baskets. Not everyone will be available!” In other words, if you want a successful Thanksgiving hookup, keep your options open.

Try texting “Happy Thanksgiving!” to a few of your old flames. If they’re interested, they’ll keep the conversation going. And then you can get into questions about what they’re doing for the holiday, whether or not they're in town, and if they’re single. Soon enough you’ll be able to narrow down your prospects and make a plan to see each other.

Keep It Casual

The great part about a hometown hookup is that there’s very little pressure to make it a long-term thing. And according to Metselaar, it’s “very important” to keep this hookup as casual as possible.

Whether you are close friends, practically strangers, or strictly high school crushes, she recommends keeping things friendly and drama-free — and leaving them that way, too.

Post-hookup, Metselaar recommends saying something like, “This was fun!” and leaving it at that. According to her, the key to a successful Thanksgiving hookup is “having no expectations” — no matter how often you doodled hearts around their name in math class.

Happy celebrating! And remember, even if your dream Thanksgiving hookup doesn’t work out this time, there’s always New Year’s.

Expert:

Lindsey Metselaar, host of the We Met At Acme podcast