As most good romances do, our story begins with a frisky red-headed best friend (let's call her Rachel— mostly because that's her actual name). Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, she attended one of her first classes freshman year at Ohio University: 7 am public speaking. A less excited Matt Fujita came in and was immediately put off by this girl's eagerness. He was content ignoring her until they got paired up for a debate where they competed against the rest of the class. They quickly demolished every other pairing and an unlikely friendship was born. A year later, after staying friends, Matt mentioned to Rachel that he had signed a lease for a house on Franklin Ave for the upcoming year. Surprised, Rachel said that some of her friends had also just signed a lease on Franklin. She suggested that we all meet up for lunch, so a few days later, Rachel and I met Matt and his roommate, Alec, at Nelson dining hall and everyone hit it off. I knew that Matt and Al lived in their dorm, Lincoln, so I was surprised to find them inside of my dorm, Bromley, soon after. Turns out they had been "asked to leave" (i.e. kicked out of) Lincoln for too many noise violations and mattress surfing down the stairwell. After that, Matt, Alec, and I started spending more time together, playing pool and spending hours chatting and laughing. The next two years were filled with parties on Franklin, spending time with a growing group of mutual friends, a famous hike to Radar Hill where Matt, Alec, Preston, and I saw an incredible meteor shower, and an infamous 18 Franklin house fire (that never actually got the house, just some bushes ok??) accidentally set by me and Rachel (oops). Before we knew it, our senior year was starting. Matt and I had both recently gone through breakups, so for the first time since meeting, we were both single. I didn't think much of this, as I was still reeling from my breakup, but I started spending a lot of time at 18 Franklin with Matt and our friends. I felt safe and happy there (unless of course I was walking down the steep stairs to the basement and then I was very unsafe and terrified— "Ye First Step May Be Ye Last"). Our friends started teasing us about how we should get married and I had multiple run-ins with good friends (ahem, Ben and John) but also people I barely knew (like Courtlen?). They would corner me at bars slurring, "Whyaren'tyouandMattdating? Areyouinlove?" I would respond, "No haha, we're just friends" but I can't say it didn't plant the idea in my mind. Eventually, I could admit to myself that I did have feelings for Matt, but I knew that graduation was quickly approaching so I let the idea go. Suddenly, it was the night before graduation. Matt, Al, and I were at Pigskin hugging each other and crying. Matt and I started talking and it evolved into him saying that he loved me and people always say you should be with your best friend. I told him that I had feelings for him as well, but I was moving to Atlanta in two weeks so I wasn't sure what to do. We ended up parting ways that night and never spoke of those feelings again for the next few months. I was in Georgia and he was in Ohio. We stayed close, but I didn't feel like there was a way for us to be together so I tried to move on. The first time I came back to Ohio after I'd moved, he asked me to spend the day with him on Kelleys Island. I agreed and we spent a great day together playing pool, exploring the island, and meeting friends (who'd whisper in my ear, "We've heard so much about you"). We were in the car when he said, "I know this is crazy because we're not together but I still have feelings for you and after my school year is over, I want to come to Atlanta for the summer to give us a chance." I was excited but also nervous. That felt like a big jump and I didn't want him to resent me if it didn't work out. His response was simple: "I'd regret so much more not even trying." You know the rest 💍 Now let's party!