For some, just hearing the words “Valentine’s Day” can induce vomiting. For others, it can evoke loving memories of significant others. And then there are those who remember Valentine’s Day as being just as odd as a diaper-clad baby shooting arrows at innocent civilians.

“I broke up with my seventh grade boyfriend three days before Valentine’s Day,” Michelle Partner ’16 said with a grin.

Valentine’s Day isn’t always everything it’s cracked up to be. Though it is usually involves chocolate, red roses and, for some, Adele albums on repeat, Valentine’s Day sometimes results in unexpected twists.

Last Valentine’s Day, Jack Sila ’16 gave his girlfriend, Susie Zec ’16, a puzzle to solve. He got the idea because “I briefly mentioned that I liked puzzles once,” Zec said. However, the puzzle was a background of one shade of red, and it was “impossible to solve” according to Zec.

Sila defended his Valentine’s Day gift, “I thought that the puzzle idea I had was a great and unique idea. Unfortunately, I overestimated Susie’s puzzle-solving abilities, considering it took her a half a year to figure it out,” Sila joked.

Though Zec didn’t solve the puzzle until August, she eventually discovered that puzzle said, “You’re my missing puzzle piece.”

“It was totally cheesy, but I liked it anyways,” Zec said.

While this may not have been the quintessential Valentine’s Day experience, many couples can find joy in these Valentine’s Day fails.

English teacher Anne Fernandez recounted the time her husband gave her a pink Ty Beanie Boo monkey for Valentine’s Day. She described it as “a little monkey with giant, psychedelic eyes.” While looking at the picture of it, she laughed, “Look at that thing,” Fernandez said. “Isn’t that creepy?”

Fernandez and her husband went out to dinner that night and brought the monkey with them.

“It sat on the table with us and freaked everybody out,” Fernandez said.

Even after Valentine’s Day, the stuffed animal continued to haunt Fernandez and her husband.

“So then we started hiding it on each other in the house after that,” Fernandez said. “So you’d open the refrigerator, and it would be looking out at you out of the butter tin.”

Sometimes a twist on Valentine’s Day traditions can make the holiday all the more romantic, just in a different way.