Well not really, but that was the first time that Ashley and I spoke. At that point in time, she and I were about to get on a plane to travel to New York and on to Milan, Italy. We had spent the previous term in a study abroad course together. Together, but not on speaking terms. When we talked in a group setting in the airport, I remember thinking she was funny. About week into the trip and in the city of Innsbruck, Austria, the sickest girl on our trip (literally very ill), asked if anyone wanted to go on a hike in the area. Me, tired of being cooped up in small restaurants and stuffy streets, said that I wanted to go. I was surprised that Ashley, who had been miserably sick for the entirety of the trip, was interested in doing anything moderately active at this point. She’s cute though so didn’t question it too much. We ended up walking around Innsbruck with a few others from our trip, hanging out in a park and travelling up into the fancy neighborhoods in the hills. One thing I will always remember about that walk was that she didn’t complain at all about how far we were going when everyone else did, she stayed in good spirits and led everyone. We hung out that night at our hotel in Innsbruck with a group where I bombarded her with questions about her life – I get obsessed very quickly. She seemed confused as to why I was so interested in her, but she found out soon enough. Over the next couple of days we spent more time with each other; we walked through a rainy Garmisch-Partenkirchen and had a couple of flirty and lazy days in Munich. All was going well until I held her hand for the first time, I kind of freaked her out. Later that day when we had some time alone, she asked me, “What are we doing?”. I told her how I felt about her, and she asked why I felt that way. The answer was pretty easy for me: she was strong, goofy, and very much valued her friends and put others before herself. I guess that answer was good enough because we’ve been together ever since!