Susie, 22

Where are you from? 
I'm from a really small town in Northern California — so small that if I said the name, people would know me.

How do you think the men are different here in Berkeley?
In my small town, they're all very conservative and religious, and they tend to be military-oriented. Here, there's a lot more intellectual conversation.

Are you a student?
I am.

Have you only dated students?
Yeah. I like people my own age. The oldest I've ever dated is two years older than me.

Are you single?
I'm in a relationship.  

Closed or open?
Closed. We have sex, but just with each other. I definitely know people who have open relationships. A friend was in a really long relationship, and being open was more free for her, but I would get really jealous. If you're in an open relationship, it's more likely that they won't be honest with you, that they'll try to spare your feelings, and maybe won't tell you the truth about some things. If you're not honest with each other, then it won't work.

Have you ever been cheated on?
Yes. So I have a big thing against that.

What happened?
It was years ago, in high school. He was younger than me, and I was going off to college. He wanted to get laid, and I wasn't doing that, so...

Have you and your boyfriend ever had sex on campus?
No.

Do you want to?
Yes.

Where would you if you could anywhere?
I don't know. I do know, but I don't want to say.

Any crazy exes?
No crazy exes, but crazy breakups. I was dating someone and it became a long-distance thing, and his friends out of nowhere messaged me to come visit. So I'm like, I'm going to come visit you. And he's like, great! So I bought a ticket. Then he's like, I think we need to talk about things. And I'm like, I just bought a $200 ticket to come see you. He could have just broken up with me on the phone.

How long have you been with your boyfriend?
Eight months.

How did you meet?
He lives in my house. Our house is like a love shack. Lots of couples. We both were attracted to each other. It finally became apparent to me that he liked me. We went on a night walk and had a really fun time just talking, and I started tickling him, and then we just came home, and held hands on the couch until five in the morning.

How long did you wait to have sex?
I think like a month.

Has someone ever offended you in the bedroom?
Yes. Definitely. With exes, they don't really care what you want. They just do what they want.

Have you ever spoken up? 
Yeah, and it didn't end well. That's why they're exes.

If you could change something about the opposite sex, what would it be?
People have individual personalities, so it's hard to lump them by sex. But as a sweeping statement, I would want men to be less stubborn. But that's horrible, because I'm really stubborn.

Anthony, 29

What do you do for a living?
I'm a server right now, and in school.

Have you ever had someone slip you a number on the job?
I had someone give my boss his number to give to me, but it was a way older gentleman. I told my boss not to take numbers from strangers like that. And yeah, I've had people tell me that I'm cute.

Do you flirt to get the tips?
Of course. That's the industry. Be a little flirtatious, get bigger tips.

Are you single right now?
I am single.

Tell me about your most recent date.
It was a few weeks ago, with this guy who had asked me out. He actually works in the area too, and he's just been kind of pursuing me. He finally got the nerve to ask me out, so we went out on a date. It was fun.

Did he romance you?
He was trying to. I think he's super-nice, super-cute. I'm just taking it slow — I'm not trying to jump into anything serious. And it's a little too intense. He really, really likes me, so I'm keeping him at arms' length. Just dating. I told him I'm not looking for anything serious.

Why not?
I'm open to it, but I'm not trying to rush anything. I've just got a lot on my plate now, so it would be hard to make a relationship work. I don't want to be unfair to someone. I don't want to be only halfway in it, and they're trying to commit.

What's the craziest date you've been on?
One time, I met this guy online, and we had planned to meet up. So, he came over to my house, and I have a cat. And all of a sudden he got really stuffed up, and it turned out he was really allergic, and his eyes were watering and his tongue was itching. So I gave him an antihistamine, and we're talking, and all of a sudden, he spits something into his mouth — and it was his front tooth. His tooth just fell out, while he's was having this allergic attack. I don't know if it was related. It was the first time I'd ever met the guy. I felt so bad. It was so awkward.

Did he go to the hospital?
No, but we kind of just parted ways and never called each other again. You know, when teeth start falling out...

...that's your deal-breaker.
Yeah!

How would you impress someone you were trying to pick up?
I don't really have game when it comes to that. I'm usually the one being pursued, so it's awkward. I'm working on it though.

It's a skill. 
I've got some friends who are great at it. They're big ol' whores.

Do you like cocky men?
Cocky can be sexy. Especially if they have the goods to back it up. There's a fine line, though, between too cocky and just cocky enough. If they're too cocky, they can become ugly. It's like, "Oh, really, dude? You think your shit doesn't stink? You're God's gift?" So I try to just limit those to one-night stands.

Any one-night stand that sticks out as your most memorable?
There was one that was really good. He was an Australian boy just in town visiting. We went to his hotel and had a really great night, and I never heard from him again, but it was amazing. It really turned me onto Aussies.

Olivia, 23

Where do you live?
Down in L.A. now, but I lived up here for years, went to college here, and would like to move back.

How are L.A. guys and Berkeley guys different?
L.A. guys take longer than I do to get ready, and there's so much more ego and annoyingness that goes into their whole way of presenting themselves. It gets a little exhausting. I guess I'm dating more down there than I did up here. I'm actually trying to have a relationship, as opposed to just sleeping with people. It's not really working out so well. Most recently, I had gone out with this guy like five times, and I kind of felt like I had to talk myself into liking him in the first place. So, I didn't sleep with him, which I was very proud of, for a whole five dates. I got a fancy meal out of it and everything. I got wined and dined. Then he sent me an email saying that he thinks I have one foot in L.A. and one foot elsewhere, and he doesn't want to continue in fear of eventually having to end things. It was a very weird cop out. And he wrote like three paragraphs. This whole long explanation bullshit. So I wrote back, "I guess I don't see it that way, but okay."

And things ended?
Yeah. When it first happened, I was like, ouch, but I didn't actually care that much. Plus it's also totally true. I do want to move back here.

Why the choice to slow down the one-night stands?
When I was in school, I feel like I was focused and not fun, so I took a year-ish to be a little bit of a mess, the way that normal people are in college. But I've been moving towards a healthier lifestyle in all ways, so that sort of came with it, I guess. Not drinking as much, exercising more, taking care of myself.

Do you think taking care of yourself contributes to feeling sexier?
Yeah I think so. And if I'm not out drinking, I'm not going to hook up with as many people. I'm going to be at home cooking my dinner, so I'm going to want someone to do that with. It's probably a maturing process.

Where do you work?
I'm a bartender.

What's the craziest thing someone's done to try to get with you?
People say ridiculous things, but it's usually when they're super-drunk and don't have a chance anyways. I get a lot of boob comments, but that's also because they're usually out when I'm working. I mean, I work for tips.

Have you ever gone home with a customer?
Yes. But I don't really like when someone I hook up with casually knows where I work. I like to keep those worlds separate. I dated a coworker once, which was a terrible decision. I got dumped, and had to work with him afterwards. It was sudden, and right before I was leaving for a three-week vacation. It was a dick move. So then I came back, and I switched up my schedule. I worked it out.

Do you stay friends with exes ever?
I can stay friends with hookups who were buddies first, but the people I loved, I can't do it. It just doesn't work. My high school boyfriend — I don't consider us friends because we're so different at this point, but I would go meet him for a drink. Not a big deal. It really depends on the ending, and how much time passes in between.

What was your most romantic move?
There was a drive-in movie near where I lived in New York. We went to see a double feature, and I baked a cake and brought it with us. It was adorable and cute. But nothing like rose petals on a bed. A little too much romanticism is gross in my opinion. If people try to hold my hand, I just cringe, because all that happens is your hand gets sweaty.

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