J & S

When Jeremy asked Sophia to the sixth-grade dance—or so Sophia claims (because honestly, who really remembers sixth grade?). But their story also began again, fifteen years later, in the most unexpected place: an optometrist’s office. Sophia was conducting some tests when something about Jeremy sparked a distant memory. She couldn’t quite place him, but there was a strange sense of familiarity. A few days later, while lying in bed, Jeremy had his own epiphany. He leapt up, scrolled through his oldest Facebook photos, and there it was—the very first picture he had ever uploaded. A blurry, pixelated snapshot of a group of kids, including one familiar face: Sophia. No wonder their conversation had felt so effortless—it turned out they had been classmates in sixth grade before Sophia moved away. Armed with this revelation, Jeremy saved the photo to his phone, ready for his follow-up appointment. When Sophia hesitantly asked if they had met before, Jeremy didn’t say a word. Instead, he pulled out his phone and showed her the picture. Her jaw dropped. For a brief second, she was alarmed—why did this stranger have a childhood photo of her? But then it hit her. This wasn’t just a forgotten classmate. This was her old crush. Fate, however, wasn’t done weaving their story. A few months later, when the Neowise comet was set to light up the night sky, Jeremy—knowing Sophia shared his passion for astrophotography—sent her coordinates deep in Joshua Tree: 34°11’14.4”N 116°13’24.7”W. He wasn’t sure she would actually show up. After all, it was the middle of nowhere, pitch dark, and the road was anything but Prius-friendly. But then, through the silence of the desert, her headlights appeared. They spent the night under a blanket of stars, cameras clicking, laughter echoing into the vastness of space. And somewhere between the constellations and shooting stars, something fell into place. The universe had given them a second chance. And the rest? Well, that’s history.