LEVITATE

From the first page of “Yacht Rock 101” by Langston Prince, I was hooked by its farcical reality and contrarily authentic relationship. This short story follows nineteen-year-old college freshman Chord and his tumultuous relationship with his Yacht Rock 101 classmate, Jude Pickett. Chord is immediately smitten by a disinterested and unavailable Jude– he quickly falls in love with her, and the two begin a superficial relationship, ultimately ending once Jude reveals she’s set to graduate in the coming months, despite Chord being under the impression that she too was a first year student. In a full-circle depiction of the ‘right person; wrong time’ trope, Chord’s infatuation with Jude is entirely unreciprocated at first– but once she realizes she has feelings for him too, it might just be too late.  

This story immediately grabbed my attention due to the absurdity of Yacht Rock 101 as a concept, as well its seeming awareness of that absurdity with lines like: “As many college romances begin, they were in the same Yacht Rock 101 class.”  I pictured a classroom lined wall-to-wall with records like Aja and Minute by Minute, with a professor who wore a captain’s hat and beige loafers.  But pressing on, the reader is quickly engrossed in the relationship that’s unfolding.  In a generation where the situationship is responsible for so many shattered friendships, lost hours of sleep, and unnecessary stress, this story is a humorous yet genuine message message for romantic young adults who find themselves in situationships of their own.

Robin Barth, Contributing Fiction Editor