It was the first day of 6th grade when Jehan got off the bus and walked to class with his friends. Hitarth came running over, excitedly announcing that there was a new girl in class. That girl was Shayena, who had just moved from New York to Rajkot. By chance, or maybe fate, they ended up in the same class. At first, they were just classmates, but that changed when they were paired up for a school project in grade 8. Between brainstorming ideas and finishing assignments, they discovered they shared the same taste in music: from Selena Gomez’s Naturally to Demi Lovato’s La La Land and Gift of a Friend. They came from different backgrounds, which meant they never ran out of stories to share. That spark turned into countless late-night chats and hours spent talking on the phone, laying the foundation for a lifelong friendship. When Jehan was going to NYC for the first time, Shayena gave him a list of her favorite childhood spots. They kept building more memories together as the years went by. Some of their best memories from those school years were from a trip to Sri Lanka. With Jehan’s iPod and Shayena’s headphone splitter, they listened to their favorite songs together. On that trip, they became part of a tight-knit group of friends who spent countless afternoons sitting on the porch swing at Pooja’s house, playing Mafia or Monopoly late into the night, and celebrating everything from Holi to New Year’s Eve. Those moments gave them a glimpse into each other’s worlds and slowly but surely, they grew closer. Through it all, they became each other’s biggest cheerleaders. When Shayena sang her heart out at the TGES Idol finals, Jehan was her loudest fan. And when Jehan’s robotics team competed in the 2014 First Lego League finals, Shayena stayed up to watch the livestream and cheer them on as Jehan’s team won the Third Place Best Programming Award. From the very beginning, they have supported each other's ambitions and dreams. As time went on, life took them to different colleges. Shayena went to Swarthmore College, while Jehan pursued his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Computer Engineering at Purdue University. But during the pandemic, while the world felt distant, they found their way closer together. Shayena’s mom lived just two hours from Purdue in South Bend, Indiana, and she often drove Shayena back and forth so the two could spend more time together. Those days reminded them of what truly mattered: the comfort of being together, even in uncertain times. When Shayena started at Stanford Medical School, Jehan was still finishing up at Purdue. Fortunately, he was able to complete his Master’s online, and during Shayena’s second year, he moved to California, becoming her biggest source of strength through the ups and downs of med school. Last March, both Jehan and Shayena were secretly planning proposals for each other. Jehan had been preparing to propose during their upcoming trip to Europe that summer, but Shayena beat him to it with Kamya’s secret help—completely surprising him when she proposed the day he returned home from the airport after a trip to India. It was a moment full of laughter, joy, and the kind of love that perfectly captured who they are together. Back home in California, they’ve made countless adventures of their own: driving down the coast to Monterey to share Ghirardelli ice cream by the ocean, wandering through the aquarium, and taking spontaneous trips to Pacifica Beach for Taco Bell. Today, some of their favorite things to do are the simple ones: binge-watching Modern Family or How I Met Your Mother (for the millionth time), cooking together (with Jehan as head chef and Shayena as the not-always-successful sous-chef), visiting their local bookstore, picking out little gifts for their baby nephews, and going on long walks with their fluffy chow chow, Hazel. What started as a school project and a shared iPod grew into a friendship, blossomed into a love story, and now carries them into forever.