Ethan and Allison had several encounters before they ever officially met. First, Allison took a picture in the 8th grade while at an event, and in the background is Ethan working the same event. Then, Ethan saw Allison in the halls of BHS but never stopped her to say hi. Then one day, while at school, Allison's little cousin LeighAnn took a video of her, and just over her shoulder, you can see Ethan. Finally, before they officially met, Allison worked in a grocery store, where Ethan's dad often would repair the refrigeration there. He would go through Allison's line and would often tell her about his son. At the time, Allison did not think much of it. Then, one day, he brought his son into her checkout line. Before Allison could say anything to Ethan, he asked his dad if he could sit in the car. They would see each other many more times before they officially met, all of which Ethan felt too nervous to talk to Allison.

When they were in high school, they each had their own respective friend groups and therefore hadn’t really met. One day, Allison was eating alone, which was not a common occurrence, so it caught Ethan off guard. He decided to walk over to her table and ask if he could sit there. She had thought he asked to take the chair; defeated, she said he could. To her surprise, he sat down. There they talked until the bell rang, and then she made him promise that this would be their table and they would eat there every day. By their next lunch, Ethan was back to sitting with his friends. Allison thought it was a one-time thing, so she started to eat by herself. Then, there came Ethan with one of his friends. To his surprise, this was actually one of her friends from elementary. By the end of that lunch, his entire friend group had moved to their table. That night Allison had gone home to tell her mom about “this boy named Ethan,” and he couldn’t stop talking to his friends about “this girl Allie.” Since that day, they haven't stopped thinking about each other and have never spent more than a week apart in nearly six years.