RAELENE 2009. Halloween. It’s a simple story that is not a meetcute. There was Jose, and there was me. Boy meets girl through mutual friends. And then we part and don’t see each other again after that. Just a simple meeting that bears no weight to me. Little did I know that he was going to be someone special. JOSE I wouldn’t say NO weight! This was at Jordan's house in high school, and some of the Dance World Academy girls were there. Raelene was barefoot on the couch and messing around with an acoustic guitar. She was LOUD. Unforgettable voice—didn’t know how a voice like that came out of a girl like that. Cute, though.

RAELENE You don’t think much of the people you cross paths with in your life, nor do you think of anything about a friendship becoming something more. We didn’t meet again until Fall 2011 when we were both on Project D together. It’s not fate—at least it doesn’t seem like it yet. It wasn’t until a house party at Justin’s that I was asked the question: “Who are your top 3 PD boys?” Number one? “Jose, easily.” Not thinking much of it, I asked Jose who his top 3 PD girls were. He said his number 3 pick, then number 2… “—and then number one is you.” It was a thought that grew to be more, snowballing into a full-blown crush that had them both reeling from how gradual yet sudden it all was. How did one person that was just a random stranger you met one Halloween become a friend that you can easily laugh with and joke around with? How did that friend become someone who took up your every waking thought and made the butterflies in your stomach flutter wildly and out of control? (How was it so easy for them to worm their way into your heart and make a home out of it?) This was not just a crush, some fleeting infatuation that wasn’t meant to last. No, this was something more serious. This was something that would plant itself, take root, and grow into a love that would last forever. JOSE I do remember this house party; people were doing hookah in the Liwanag family garage. It was deep enough into the night that people started to lose track of who was in which room with whom. We stole away a moment to have a one-on-one conversation—our first of any real consequence—in the garage once the hookah circle had dispersed. Zero chance I would've admitted she was number one on my PD Girl Power Rankings if she didn't inflate up my ego first. That wasn’t all we talked about—I can’t remember the specifics, but we were holed up in the garage for a while (I wonder who noticed). Can't remember a single second of that party after we talked—the night had already peaked.

RAELENE Hehe... I did say no. ;) But only because I wanted to do something out of a cheesy rom com that is too embarrassing to recount, but all you need to know is that Britney Spears’ “Sometimes” and Project D was involved. JOSE She’s too embarrassed to say that she choreographed a partner dance and basically set up a flash mob at rehearsal to ask me out. She was down bad.

RAELENE Three and half cocktails in, I looked at Jose and took a breath— “Let's get married.” Jose (on cocktail #5) sipped and swallowed. “Okay.” “As much as I don’t want one, my parents want me to have a ring.” He took his phone out, and I told him exactly which website to go to and which ring I wanted. “I can get you one right now.” I leaned over to look. “I'm a size 4, okay?” Jose tapped on his phone, its light burning into both of our eyes in the extremely dim lighting of Attaboy. Some more taps and a couple of minutes later—“There. I got you the ring.” “Wow. Thanks." I gave him a goofy smile and pat his head. “Good job.” He gave me a strong thumbs up. JOSE I can neither confirm nor deny the number of beverages...but this is how it happened. Blame Paypal and cocktail bar lighting.

RAELENE After being a couch potato and letting my life spiral out of control after Jasmine and Matt's wedding, I reluctantly set forth to get the apartment in order. The first spot to hit was the bed. Pulling the duvet back, I went to fix the pillows. Underneath one of them was an encyclopedia-sized textbook, titled with a phrase I hadn't seen since the first spurts of our relationship. And I thought, 'Oh. He's definitely going to do IT today.' Fighting the temptation to open it, I put the pillows back and fixed the rest of the bed. JOSE I'm not a surprises guy. I still nailed this.

RAELENE I looked up from my phone to see that book in Jose's hands. "Hey." With a knowing smile, I took the book and opened it to find— "Oh my god. These are—” "Yeah. All those emails." Flipping the pages, I recognized all the words—from a 19 year old girl, to a boy in Japan, about everything and nothing, from dance choreography, to bands, to tsismis about friends, to musings about life and what each of theirs could be. I reached the middle of the book to find a ring box sitting cozily in cut-out pages. The last page with words said "Will you marry me?" with options for "Yes! :D" and "No >:(" "I know this is just a formality for both of us and that we don't need something like this to prove anything, but with or without this ring, you are it for me. There’s nothing more that I want than to spend the rest of my life with you. "Will you marry me?” I said yes. You know. After I cried. Like a baby. JOSE I told you, I nailed this.