It was the end of the 7th grade Washington D.C. trip in March 2012, and Emma had developed a tiny crush on the cute curly brown-haired boy who stood next to her in the White House security line, then wooed her at the Spy Museum by asking her about her favorite type of fruit. She was smitten, but she knew it would never last--the distance between their two middle schools (in the same district, mind you) was simply impassable. Emma had already begun to grieve her lost love as she stepped through the airport security line. Later, upon boarding the returning flight, Emma came to the realization that her assigned seat had already been claimed by an unknowing classmate. Not being one to break the rules, Emma contemplated asking for her seat back until she noticed that the window seat next to Brandon remained unoccupied. She knew this was a chance she had to take. Her heart leapt as she approached him, clad in his purple Monster-branded snapback and Red Hot Chili Peppers zip-up hoodie. Emma adjusted her side bangs, straightened her tie-dye shirt, and asked as cooly as possible, "can I sit next to you?" Brandon beamed and gestured for her to take the window seat. After some brief small talk, Brandon pulled out his wired earbuds and asked Emma if she wanted to listen to music with him. Being long before the time of noise cancellation, Brandon cranked up the volume to the maximum level to cover the dull roar of the plane cabin and made his first selection- Strawberry Swing by Coldplay. Then he played Green Eyes by Coldplay and Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers before Emma swapped out her iPod to play Paper Bag by Fiona Apple. The whole time, Emma couldn't help but think about how unbearably cool he must be, and her crush grew stronger. In the small plane seats, their knees bumped together, their shoulders touched, and their heads leaned in closer, lassoed by the white rubbery earbud string. Each second of the plane ride was cemented into Emma's memory, and she knew in her heart that this wouldn't be the last time she got to sit next to Brandon. Fast forward to July 2013, the summer before Freshman year of high school, and Emma and Brandon had become close friends. They spent many nights talking, texting, and Facetiming, but Emma had accepted at that point that Brandon only saw her as a friend. However, one night, Brandon dropped the bomb that he had grown strong feelings for her, and it changed everything. They hadn't seen each other in person since the night of the plane ride more than a year earlier, but during their first double movie date with their friends (shoutout to Grace), it became obvious that the feelings were incredibly strong. Finally, Brandon and Emma officially started dating on July 23rd, 2013! Now 11 years later, after high school, undergrad at Iowa, a move to Minnesota, Brandon's first graphic design job, an orange kitty named Eddie, Emma's grad school program, Brandon's second job, buying and renovating a home, and Emma's first full-time job as a school psych, they are more in love than ever and are so thrilled to finally make their love legally binding. <3