It starts with a glance at your phone. Just one. A little later you’ll pick it up, hold it, open it, just to make sure you don’t have a missed call or text. You’ll glance at it in the pocket of your bag during class. At home, maybe you’ll check your computer for an email or IM. Nothing? Where could he be?

An hour later a friend stops by. “Maybe he’s busy,” she offers. “Maybe he doesn’t realize you haven’t seen each other in a day and a half.” No, you’ll say. He’s not working or sleeping or busy: displacing all logic, you are 100% positive that he doesn’t want to see you and no longer likes you (even though you’ve been dating since October) and you’re furious. The next time he asks you to hang out you vow to say no. Better yet, you vow not to answer your phone. That will show him he can go 41 hours without talking to you. And then the phone rings. It’s him. Abort plan….obvi.

One would think that if two people have been in a relationship for an extended period of time they wouldn’t have to talk as frequently. One would think. But the fact is, while a girl knows that it isn’t reasonable or feasible for a boy to spend all of his time with her, he should still want to. So if a girl does not hear from her guy in a day and a half, it must be because he has forgotten about her. He must not like her anymore. Otherwise, he would have called.

My older brother took a girl to dinner last week. During the days that followed, he confessed that he was so caught up with work that he honestly forgot to call her. After four days, he decided it was probably too late. “I’m sure she just assumes I’m a jerk. But had she called me, I would have loved it and things would be fine. We’d probably be going on another date.”

But if you like somebody, how can you just forget about them? A girl would never do that. Then again, we can talk on the phone, wash dishes, put on makeup, read a book, and think about our ex-boyfriends all at the same time. What’s that joke about men only having enough blood to run one organ at a time?

Of course this isn’t true of all guys. They are, however, lucky enough to be endowed with a brain that has the ability to focus on one task at a time, so chances are when they’re playing basketball all afternoon, they’re not wondering what time they’ll be seeing you later that night. And keep in mind: just because he’s not calling you, doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about you. Girls, how many times do you call your boy just to let him know you’re thinking about him?

Sophomore Stephen Hansen says girls shouldn’t get discouraged if he doesn’t frequently call just to chat. “Sometimes…there’s nothing to talk about. What are we going to say, ‘oh, hey…whatcha doin right now?'” But boys, when you think it’s pointless to call, remember this one thing: we eat that s— up.