Awkwardness, braces, bangs, and cracking voices-- all of the ingredients for lasting love. It was 8th grade, and we had just finished running the warmup lap in gym class when this cute girl approached my group of friends. We texted for a short while, as I built up the courage to ask Karla out. They gave us a week, then a month but no longer than that. Well, after a decade of loving each other and ourselves, four years long distance at different universities, and two hearts bound to each other, its time we make it official.