What's in the quintessential Austin rom com? Our script has tacos, bats and campus police

Happy Valentine's Day, Austin! We didn't get you chocolate or flowers, but we did get you an Austin-based romantic comedy movie we've written. It's just what you wanted? Amazing!

But seriously, we need an Austin rom com. This writer reached out to American-Statesman's readers, our newsroom and her group of gal pals for assistance in making a quintessential Austin movie and this is what we came up with:

The movie starts at the University of Texas.

We've chosen the classic haters-to-lovers romantic comedy trope for our film. So, the movie opens on UT sophomore Katie and her best friend Sal, short for Sally, at the Wendy's inside Jester Dorm. Sal is urging Katie, a classic, stereotypical nerd, to live a little. Katie's head is always in a book. She's always calculating things on a calculator. She's constantly highlighting a textbook as a frat party rages on behind her. You get it.

Sal tells Katie that her best friend, we'll call him Sam, has a friend in town that weekend and they're going to take the friend to Sixth Street. Enter our male lead: Carter. Katie obviously has to study and takes a lot of convincing, but Sal gets her out onto Sixth Street with Sam and Carter.

Katie is just trying to get through the night. She's got to get back to her flash cards. Carter is super hot, but also super annoying — he doesn't have any flash cards to return to. Katie is not a fan.

Carter wants her to start breaking some rules. Carter quotes director Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused:" "You just gotta keep living, man."

As the group walks back to campus, Carter runs to Littlefield Fountain and suggests the group jump in.

"Absolutely not," Katie says.

Sal, Sam and Carter get in anyway and get caught by campus police! Oh no! The group, including Katie, gets arrested. Katie is furious. She hates Carter and doesn't want to see him ever again. And she doesn't, for a while at least.

Ten years later, Katie and Carter are both working professionals in Austin, unbeknownst to each other.

Katie is a sports reporter at fictional paper, the Austin Daily, and Carter is an architect. These are two professions rom coms love to employ their characters in. (Quick note: We absolutely are not using the journalist-sleeping-with-a-source trope here. Not a thing in real life. We wish Hollywood would stop doing that.)

Carter's architecture firm gives a big press conference about a new high-rise for downtown and Katie's colleague Tim, the architecture reporter, attends. A photographer, Mikala, also attends. She is back in the office sifting through photos when Katie catches a glimpse of her computer.

"Who is that?" Katie asks Mikala.

"Oh, that's Carter somebody," Mikala says.

Katie frantically texts Sal. Could he be the Carter that had her arrested 10 years ago? It is, Sal confirms. Carter moved to Austin within the last six months and is going to be at Sal's housewarming party that weekend, Sal explains.

Katie would have appreciated a warning.

This is where our lovers reunite for the first time since college. Katie sees Carter hovering over a bowl of queso at the party. She approaches him and says: "It's so weird seeing you out of handcuffs."

Carter responds: "It's nice seeing you at a party for once."

Woof. Rough start for our lovers, but there's some obvious tension between the two. Carter is still super hot and so is Katie.

The pair start to run into each other at various Austin parties and then Carter joins her morning running club, not knowing she's in it. On one morning, Katie's car has a flat tire and Carter offers to give her a ride to the Hyde Park bungalow that her parents bought in the 80s. Katie reluctantly takes the ride. Carter pulls into Taco Joint on their way home.

"What are you doing? I need to get home! I have work to do," Katie says.

"You need to live a little," Carter says.

Katie keeps her cool while they pick up a couple bacon and egg tacos with green salsa, but once they're back in the car, a fight ensues. Katie is yelling. Carter is yelling. These two just can't get along! But as Katie leans toward the cup holder with the salsa in it, Carter misreads the move and goes in for a kiss. She doesn't hate it. In fact, it's what both of them have been looking for all along.

It's love montage time.

God, is there anything better than a rom com's falling-in-love montage? Our montage will include all the recommendations we got from readers, coworkers and friends.

We see Katie and Carter taking a photo in front of the "I love you so much" mural on South Congress Ave. They have a picnic in Zilker Park. The pair does a polar plunge at Barton Springs Pool. They fend off grackles in an H-E-B parking lot. They laugh on a date at Peter Pan Mini Golf. They see Matthew McConaughey while walking their rescue dog Willie Nelson on the hike-and-bike trail. Oh right, they have a rescue dog now and they moved in together.

They're in love. It's cute.

A conflict arises.

Carter's firm is going to build condos on top of Ann W. Richards South Congress Ave. Bridge and Barton Springs Pool, and it's probably going to have to knock down the UT Tower, too. Worst of all, Katie learns this from Tim, the architecture reporter, and not her man.

Tim mentions it at a newsroom meeting and Katie is like, "Wait. My Carter?" Yes, her Carter.

Katie panics and images of her beloved town run through her head — families watching bats emerge from the bridge in awe, her quiet mornings swimming laps at Barton Springs Pool, and her college memories of the UT Tower lit up in orange after every win.

Katie bikes through South by Southwest foot traffic to their shared container home in East Austin and confronts Carter: "You just weren't going to tell me you're going to destroy the city with condos? What gives?!"

And Carter explains: "Babe, the cost of living is just so high. I have to do this project to keep a roof over our heads."

Katie says she doesn't know if she can be with someone cruel enough to tear down the gems of the city. She says she's going to sleep on Sal's couch for a while.

The final scenes involve turtles and bats.

Carter is sad. Katie is sad. Everyone in their lives is remembering the love montage.

We see another montage and this one is just about Carter. He's wearing a hard hat and a suit. He's pointing at blue prints. He's shaking people's hands. But he also starts to learn about the history of the landmarks he's helping to tear down — they're places that bring the community together. He starts to realize he's the bad guy.

What's a guy to do when he realizes he is about to rip apart the fabric of a community? Visit the turtle pond at UT obviously. He looks at the turtles in the pond and thinks of other turtles in Barton Springs Pool. He realizes the condos are not worth losing Katie over and they can just move to Kyle or Buda if they need to! He calls Sal. She doesn't pick up. He calls Sam, who is still best friends with Sal. "Where is Katie," Carter asks.

"Sal has family visiting so they went to the bridge to watch the bats, I think," Sam says. (A classic Austin move when visitors are in town.)

Carter races through downtown on foot. He grabs an electric scooter but it requires him to download a new app, so he leaves it behind. He trips over one of those people who try to get you to sign up for some cause. When he reaches the bridge, it's packed.

Carter weaves in and out of the spectators and joggers and bikers. He spots Katie under the bridge in front of the newspaper building. He gives an impassioned speech — she was right, he shouldn't destroy the town.

The pair kiss just as the bats come out from under the bridge.

The screen fades to black and Willie Nelson's "Texas on a Saturday Night" plays.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Happy Valentine's Day, Austin! We wrote a romantic comedy to celebrate