It was my first semester at U.S.C., so I had to make a good impression on campus. While waiting for my first class to start, I watched a cool, confident adonis in his athletic gear take slow strides down the stairs and say hello to who-I-assumed were his teammates. At first, I wasn't impressed with his fitted cardinal shirt and gray Nike sweatpants, but when he spoke up in class, I was blown away by his responses. Over the next few weeks, I found myself interested in what he had to say. James just wasn't your average jock, so I didn't mind having him as a colleague for a group project. I never would have guessed that he had developed an interest in me... where this interest grew into something more during the last semester of our senior year.

So technically, I met Nikki during my sophomore year at U.S.C., but she still had a B.F. (boo) and I still had several “acquaintances” at the time, so nothing really transpired. Little did I know, all that would change in one fateful class session during the last semester of my senior year at U.S.C. I had actually showed up to class early in hopes of finding my trademark seat in the back of the class at a table with two seats. I sat at an empty table and pulled out my laptop. Right before class started, I saw Nikki walk in. Although this wasn’t the same Nikki I had seen a year-and-a-half earlier, this was NICOLE that walked in the class, and I saw her walk towards me. Me being slick (like I always am) looked up at her once, acknowledged her, put my head down, and said to myself, "Is that Nikki? She looks real good - maybe she will sit next to me." Luckily, she did (boo ya!). I said hello and pretended to not be looking at her when the whole time I was looking out the corner of my right eye like, “Man, where has she been this past year and a half?”. Anyways, I slowly made my move. I asked her some formal questions just to feel her out, throwing out a few lines like “Hey, you look nice,” or making a joke. She laughed, not the loud-Nikki-laugh (oh man is it loud), but the cute girl laugh that tells you to stop (but really, she wants you to keep making jokes). Needless to say, we talked through the whole class and didn't hear anything the professor said. When class ended, we kept talking, and I offered to walk her home. She said, “I would like that,” and the rest is history.

We took a walk around his parents' apartment complex because James insisted that we get some fresh air after lunch. When we reached the pool area, we saw Jamie with her arms spread out, talking about where she would have things set up for her New Year's Eve Party to their godsister. He opened the gate and led us inside. I walked a few steps towards Jamie and felt James let go of my hand. I turned around and saw him bend on one knee. Within seconds, I looked at Jamie with her phone in her hands and turned to look at James who held out a red box with a ring in it. He asked me the question, and it took a few seconds for me to realize what had just happened. I shouted "YES," and we were engaged. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you.