I met Tyler on the first day of our Research Methods class at Cal State San Marcos. I sat down with one empty chair between us, hoping to avoid any awkward small talk. But when I glanced over, I immediately noticed his bloodshot eyes. I thought, “I can’t believe this guy got high on the first day of class!" Then, “Great. Another dude I’m gonna have to carry through the semester and feel obligated to answer late-night homework questions for—because apparently, I’m incapable of pretending I was ‘already asleep’ and ‘didn’t see the text.’” What I didn’t know at the time was that he wasn’t high—he was on Accutane, which dried out his eyes and caused the redness. And ironically? Even though he studied less than I did, he ended the class with a better grade. On that first day, our professor told us to get the names and numbers of the people around us—we’d be working on a year-long group project. Tyler and I exchanged numbers, and not even a day later, I texted him asking if he could walk me to my car after class the next evening. I had just received an email (which, as it turns out, was from Palomar College—not CSUSM) about an attack on campus. The man hadn’t been caught yet, and I figured, better safe than sorry. Research Methods was our last class of the day, so I asked Tyler if he’d walk me to my car. He said yes, of course—because he's that kind of person. Funny enough, he ended up having to drive me to my car because I couldn’t find a spot in the parking structure and had to park way across campus! Whoops. About a week later, we were meeting in the cafeteria when he asked, “Are you friends with Jesse?” And in my head I’m like, “Jesse? How does he know my best friend—someone I’ve known since elementary school?!” Turns out, they’d had classes together and even gone to the same youth group at church. Go figure! Not two minutes later, Jesse walked up and said, “Ohhh, that’s the Tyler you asked to walk you to your car?” She had thought I was a little crazy for asking a guy I’d just met to do that (fair), but when she realized it was him, she was completely relieved. Tyler and I started spending time together between classes—booking study rooms in the library, ordering from World of Wings at the food court. One time, he even convinced me to skip a quiz in our class. I know! Shocking, right? If you know me, you know that’s not something I do. And yes, skipping it definitely hurt my grade. To this day, I still don’t understand how he talked me into that. We started texting and talking about all the silly things two people getting to know each other talk about. I knew pretty quickly that I liked him. But there were a few things I learned that really sealed the deal: He listened to The Black Angels. (Like, who even knows The Black Angels?!) He stuck around even after I told him I'd be his girlfriend, then immediately took it back because...relationship trauma. And he said the only doctor show worth watching was House MD. And the rest, as they say, is history...