First of all, if you like a good story with drama, action, adventure, and some good ol' fashioned love, you have come to the right place. Our story isn't like any other, it's better. Way better. And we can say that cause we lived it. You will too, after you read this tale.

My name is Cy Bryan and I'm the fastest man alive...wait, sorry, wrong start.

Stewart Hall, the place everything began. Ah, now that's the beginning I was looking for.

Our friendship began how any other normal couple's friendship does, on Zoom. That blessed medium that brings the greatest of loves together. For those first few months we got to know each other through work meetings, Among Us, and one or two calls from asking Julia how Instagram works. We then got to leave Zoomland and come to Biolaland. Our friendship continued to develop. I was dubbed "Brother Cy" and she "Big Momma." Please don't ask us how we came up with those names.

That semester was, as the kids say, "lit." I called her every day , two times a day to ask her if she wanted to hang out, go to the caf, play spikeball, tennis...you get the picture. I called her a lot, we hung out a lot. But, despite all the time hanging out with one another, feelings hadn't quite developed. We were still just the best of friends. Which I was fine with and she was fine with, but our subconsciences were not, obviously.

Summer came and went, we returned to school, and we were no longer RA's together. And boy, I realized that Julia was the most gorgeous person in the whole world! How had I never seen this before,? What was I thinking calling her "Big Momma"? I started trying to hang out with her more and "unfortunately" none of our other friends seemed to be super present. It was just me and Julia. Julia and I talking late at night, Julia and I playing tennis, Julia and I taking long walks on the beach. Cy pointing out how beautiful the moon was, sitting close to her on a couch, handing her a flower. Personally, I thought I wasn't that obvious and that my flirtation tactics were awesome. But, I found out later, my skills were not James Bond level. They were more...middle school boyish. Ouch.

Luckily, after I confessed my feelings to her she said no, reconsidered (thanks MVP Diane Vartuli), then said yes. We started going on dates and hanging out even more than we had before. It was wonderful! She got me a haircut, cleaned me up, and I became even more attractive. Plus, I was dating the woman of my dreams. What more could I ask for?

Those next few months were super fun but also super tiring. I was a full time student and working as the Missions Conference co-director and could only see Julia late at night. From the wonderful hours of 11:30pm to 1:30am. Gotta see each other no matter what. We would hang out, hold hands, and never break open hours because we are ballers and respect the law of Biola. We did spend a lot of time on the benches by the tennis courts and Spiritual Direction because it was the warmest outdoor location. That year flew by and I graduated, Julia did not graduate because she is waaaaaaaay younger than me, and we went our sorrowful seperate ways for a long distance summer.

Julia went back to Colorado to coach tennis and I went to Ethiopia to intern with a leadership consulting company, Lead Beyond (shameless plug). Every night I would find the most optimal spot in my room in Ethiopia to call her. At one point I was talking to her while standing on top of a wobbly chair because science. She would talk to me during her short breaks between lessons. We made it work but it was not nice to be apart. We both decided that we would never leave each other again. Which was a very realistic promise because our families did not live in the same state, we did not live in the same house, and we were not married.

She went back to school for her last year, 'cause remember she is so young, and I went to work my first big boy job as a Graduate Assistant while getting my MBA. Fancy. I was a staff member dating a student. She was a student dating a staff member. Very suspect. But we didn't care. We broke societal norms and the stratosphere. That year was filled with some challenges but we fell more in love, got to know each other even more, and kept having fun.

Julia graduated, found herself a big girl job working at Hilton as a marketing manager and we spent our summer in La Mirada. It was the summer we fell deeper in love, saw our future together, and (after months and months of her asking) we decided to send it into marriage. Ballers.

In the fall I began to plan the greatest heist the world has ever seen. Plan 'Engage Julia' was set into motion. I designed and purchased a beautiful ring that I contemplated, on many occasions, keeping for myself. Got all her friends and my family to buy flights and secretly come out that Christmas break for the best day ever. She didn't have a clue. About most of it. She saw her friends locations turning off in the days leading up to the engagement so that kind of was spoiled. Then the day we were going to get engaged I think I oversold a bit and she started to suspect something was up. We drove up to Lookout Mountain and I missed our turn, on purpose, and drove to a side road where my cousin had been waiting for a bit too long in the snow (I was operating on African time sorry Emmye). I knelt down and asked her if she would do me the honor of hanging out with me for the rest of our lives. She said yes. High fives all around.

Now, we are moving back into Stewart, my home for the past six years. What a full circle moment. I think Julia is really happy to move back into a college dorm. Relive the "good ol' days." Our apartment will look way better than it does now, we will buy more fish, a snake, and a hedgehog and have lots of kids, and live happily ever after.

Fin.

Actually, this is just the start of our story. Book II will be released in Fall, 2027. Pre sales open now.

Also, go follow our Youtube channel to follow our antics cause things are about to get very interesting (Cy&Julia).