this must be the place

1730 North Federal Highway Boynton Beach, Florida 33435

Ryan and I met one fateful morning, at 7:30am, in a classroom full of bright and bushy freshmen on our first day of highschool. Unbeknownst to me, Ryan was immediately smitten at my bold personality that he got to experience in 1st period. Luckily for him, he would see me soon again in 3rd period: Spanish II. He chose his seat ever so stageically, giving him a view of me, a few rows back and a few seats over, stealing glances whenever he could. It didn't take long for me to approach him, cracking his shell of introversion by force. As the weeks went on, Ryan and I had our first real interaction when we volunteered for a FAU vs. Navy game, where I notably crushed all the guys in arm wrestling, Ryan included. Despite Marcus, Ryan's dad, being AT the game, Ryan insisted on getting in my group for the carpool ride back to school campus, with the goal of getting my phone number (I was completely oblivious). I took out my uniform bun- my hair poofed out, frizzy and dry, and I felt inclined to compare my hair to a lion's mane- Ryan laughed awkwardly, unaware of how to produce a compliment to counter my claim. It was in this moment where we exchanged phone numbers, or rather, I took his number, forgetful that I had not given him mine. Ryan was too shy to bring up this unequal exchange of information, leaving me wondering why he hadn't messaged me days later. It wasn't until I used the excuse of needing help on a Spanish project (because yes, unfortunately Ryan is one smart gringo) to send him a message. I'd like to say the rest is history, but there's still a few months between this moment and when we got together. As homecoming rolled around in October, I roped many of my friends into attending the dance, Ryan included. I could tell he was nervous about my invite, since he sent me a picture of his outfit, asking for my opinion (approval) before leaving the house that night. When I saw him there, inside this dimly lit, neon covered gymnasium, I hugged him, said hi, and quickly handed him my purse to go dance with my girlfriends (he held my purse for the entire night). Looking back, I'm not the biggest fan of my dress choice, but years later, Ryan still remembers how he felt when he first saw me, saying "it was the most beautiful I had ever looked." I was bummed when Ryan had to leave the dance early- his sister Kayli was touring colleges the next moring and he was tagging along- LITTLE DID WE KNOW, as I left my friends and the music to say goodbye to Ryan outside the building where we could both hear each other, what would blossom from this fateful night. Weeks prior, I had been probing questions at Ryan about the identity of a crush, the existence that had been undesirably revealed by a friend of his to me. Back to homecoming night, I probed more questions at Ryan, where the topic at hand was who this mystery crush was. His bright red cheeks did a poor job at hiding his affection throughout the night, so after we said goodbye, I texted him later with the intention of getting a solid answer. After some back and forth, Ryan begrudgingly revealed I was his crush, and texted "I hope this isn't awkward." My response? "It's not, I've kind of maybe, possibly maybe, had a crush on you too- maybe" (real subtle Isa). The texts went on as follows: R: "Oh thank god" ... R: "I didn't expect this to go well" I: "So what does "this" mean?" R: "I have no idea. I'm not good at this" ... R: "...Does this mean bf and gf?" And NOW the rest is history! Us two crazy, cringey, totally in love kids are getting married- 8.5 years later! I love you so much Ryan.

Isa's version has the vast majority covered, but just to add a little bit to the story. I had always been a very quiet kid, a bit of a loner, and Isa was the opposite when we met: outgoing and friendly to everybody. Once I met her in 1st period of the first day of high school, I had this feeling about her. I didn't realize what that feeling was until a couple weeks later at an FAU football game. It just clicked in my mind that I wanted to be with her. I took my passive move at that game and tried to exchange numbers, but only Isa would get a phone number that night. I had to wait until she texted me out of the blue one night, asking about a project we had in Spanish class. I still remember one of the first things we texted about was her project about an elephant with a red balloon. At the homecoming dance on October 20, 2017, I took my shot in a really cringey way, but she was charmed somehow and we started dating. Since then, over the last eight years, our love has only grown. Our families quickly merged into one after a short time together. She is truly my best friend in this world, and I am so lucky to have her in my life. She is my person, my lobster, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.