It was Halloween weekend in Santa Cruz. Alina's best friend Azu was visiting from out of town, and her cousin Hana invited them to celebrate at a friend's party. Before heading over to the party, they made a pit stop at another one of Hana's friend's houses. Hana's friend happened to live with seven people, and one of them was Kevin. Kevin was working late that night at a lab on the UC Santa Cruz campus. He planned to go out with friends but told them to go ahead. He stopped by his house and discovered his housemates in the living room with a group of visitors that included Alina. He introduced himself, and the group headed over to the party. After a long conversation and a dance, Kevin asked Alina for her number, and the rest is history.