Sam and I first crossed paths in eighth-grade math class, where a shared group of friends led us to sit together. What began as a simple conversation quickly turned into something more. Before we knew it, we were finding excuses to talk more often, sitting together at church events, enjoying football games, and slowly building a friendship that felt easy and natural. A few months later, as we stepped into our freshman year of high school, that friendship took a leap. Somewhere between classes, in one of those ordinary moments that turned out to be anything but, Sam asked me to be his girlfriend, and just like that, our story truly began.