We met on October 1st our Junior year of Highschool. We only had one class together and when the seating chart got rearranged so I could see him, it didn't take long for me to take an interest in hearing him talk (from a distance). Being as shy as I am, I watched his interactions with other classmates and collected intel (such as his name) from mutual friends till I finally had the courage to reach out. I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to know him and at least become friends, his humor and mannerisms were intriguing. We texted casually for a few days and his dry responses and limited availability (6pm-8pm) led me to believe he had no interest in my existence. In addition he missed school the entire week limiting any possibility for us to speak in person. This continued till October 10th when he asked me to be his Girlfriend. I was completely floored and accepted. His approach to dating was so bizarre, I resigned myself to explore his mind further. Our first date went as awkwardly as any first date should. He brought me to a pumpkin patch, then a riverside trail in the nearby state park, then to McDonald's to have my first sip of water after 4 hours in the Florida heat. I was far too shy to admit I was about to pass out from heat exhaustion and he was far too dense to pick up on my many hints. Even still, I enjoyed every moment we spent together that day. By the end of the month it was already clear that my gamble had paid off. I had imagined what it would be like to spend time with him (before we ever spoke) and despite my lofty, unlikely expectations, he exceeded them. He was straightforward, honest, strong-minded, and extremely kind. All of these character traits were plainly on display October 31st when I discovered I loved him. We had no plans that Halloween so when Jimmy suggested we walk around a local neighborhood to people watch I was thrilled. We wondered around for a little before one of his childhood friends joined us. We took a detour through a wooded area and my situation suddenly hit like a brick wall; I was in a strange place, late at night, with no phone, and my only two companions were practically strangers. This realization was unsettling and got the ball rolling on my dormant anxiety issues. By the time we were out of the woods I could hardly breathe and was filled with panic and embarrassment. Any other man would have told me to relax or pried about what caused me to panic so suddenly but Jimmy handled it differently. He said an early goodbye to his friend (sorry Isaac) and held me tightly as we walked. Jimmy, being a man of little words, poured out reassurances and lifted me over every small pebble on the pathway. It became clear in that moment that even though he was far from a poet, every kind word he sent my way was firm and action-backed. I knew that was the kind of person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I first saw Payson in my pre-calc class in the corner of my eye, I remember my first memory of her was a passing glance as I left class, she was wearing a brown sweatshirt and blue jeans. My only thoughts at the time was that she was very pretty and must have been new to the school as I never saw her before and she seemed to appear after the school year already began. At the time I had no interest in dating, but to my surprise a couple days later I received a message from an unknown account on instagram stating something to the tone of “I think you are interesting and would like to talk to you more” I couldn’t tell if this was a strange pick up line or if she genuinely thought I was such a bizarre person she had to know more about me. I quickly recognized her as the new girl from my class I had never spoken to, and after talking to her for a couple days, thought she was very interesting too. She sent me a few videos of her holding spiders and her bug collection and I thought that was really cool as me and everyone I knew was pretty afraid of spiders and had no interest in insects. Being as I had little dating experience, I simply asked her to be my girlfriend after about 10 days of talking. I’ve never regretted it and have always admired Payson as the most beautiful, funny, and intelligent girl I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to see what the next chapters of life have in store for us.